"So will you remember me? Will you remember the way that I was?" -Remember Me, UMI

Monday
September 24, 2018
Avery Grace Memorial Hospital
4:54 p.m.

"So- so, you're trying to tell me that I'm suffering from memory loss." Liam questioned which came out more like a statement. This was about the tenth time he had uttered those words in the last hour so he was no longer looking for an answer, but instead trying to register it in his mind. And despite how many times he had said it, it still made no sense.

Dr. Jacobs had brought in a brain specialist to explain how Liam's hippocampus sucked right now and they have had similar cases like his before. Overall, there was little to nothing they could do about it.

However, with all this information he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that his mind had went completely blank on the last couple years of his life. He sat there just trying to recall the things everyone was trying to mention, but nothing came to mind.

It was almost like he had time traveled and went to another universe, except he didn't like it as much as he thought he would when he was younger.

The last person he could remember was Zayn. That was the absolute last memory he had and somehow everything before that was still in place as well. The only memories that had seemed to vanish was from the last five years or so, which Liam's mom had determined from the descriptions of what Liam remembered.

Nevertheless, Liam still had hope that this was all just a dream. That he was in bed with Zayn in this moment and everything happening now was a terrible illusion that he had yet to wake up from.

"Exactly, I know this is really hard to digest and I couldn't imagine how you're feeling right now-" Completely lost.

Dr. Jacobs continued, "but, this could be a temporary thing and your memory could restore in a matter of hours for all we know. The brain is a highly mysterious place that we only know a few limited things about so we'll just have to wait it out." Liam nods slowly because he understood what she meant, but this was all too much for him to accept right now. He couldn't exactly express himself with words at the moment.

"However, on the bright side the scans that we took of your brain seemed to have come out completely normal, so there is no brain damage." She explains pointing to Liam's scans that he briefly looked at.

He began to contemplate if that was actually a good thing, though. If everything was presumably normal there was no telling when he would gain his memory back or if it would get increasingly worse as time went on, whereas if there was something they could pinpoint in his brain maybe they could fix it. Now everything was just a guessing game, unpredictable, and he didn't like it.

However, there seemed to be one person in the from that hated it even more than he did and that was Alex. The boy had been off and on crying for the last couple hours.

"So, there's absolutely no indication of if his memory loss is temporary or permanent?" Alex asked softly beside the girl who Liam still did not know the name to.

Liam's eyes scanned over the boy's face and he saw how red his eyes were, making his heart tug a bit. This boy clearly cared about him.

"I'm sorry, but no. However, to help the situation and possibly help his progress all of you can remind him of small things; places you used to go to, stories, any remnants of the last 5-6 years."

Alex nodded along with everyone else.

"So, I will leave you all. Liam, we'll keep you overnight and by tomorrow if you are looking the same as today you should be good to go."

Liam nodded, barely listening to a word she said. There was too many things to think about right now, but the things he was so desperately trying to think about would not come in his head. Like how he knew Alex and that girl, or the accident.

The whole room had filled with silence as Dr. Jacobs began to gather her stuff to go to another room and check on other patients.

"Liam, sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Karen, Liam's mom, asked. Sympathy filled her eyes and Liam was beginning to become annoyed with the looks. Everyone in the room had the same sympathetic or pitiful look. He had always hated being pitied and just because he had supposedly lost a chunk of his memory didn't change that

"I'm fine, mom." Liam lied, but he was sure she knew that already. Who the hell would be fine at a time like this? But, did he really have a choice to not be fine?

She shot him a small smile before taking a seat beside Liam's dad, Geoff.

Liam took this silence as an opportunity to ask a few questions again since that's all he could do to get familiar with the last five years of his life that had been stripped from him.

"So, um, what's your name? I didn't catch it." Liam said slyly looking over at the girl who was talking lowly to Alex.

"It's Mia." She said just as low. To Liam the girl didn't seem to like him much, especially now that he didn't remember them. He didn't understand it though because it's not like purposely lost his memory.

"Okay." Liam said while nodding his head.

The room had been filled with silence all day and it was mostly because everyone was shocked and didn't know what exactly to say.

Even Harry was a lost of words, which means the situation was definitely serious because Harry always had a bad joke up his sleeve.

Liam, however, had sort of never experienced the shock factor of the situation, but instead was met with hours of confusion that was steadily growing as the hours went on.

The whole situation was just too bizarre that he was so sure he was stuck in a nightmare he would wake up from. How could he be about to go to classes, leaving his pregnant boyfriend in their tiny apartment, to waking up five minutes later with a whole new life? He didn't even remember the accident that got him there, which made the situation ten times more unbelievable.

"So, how old am I actually?" Liam questioned. He knew he had lost about five to six years of his memory which meant he was either twenty-six or twenty-seven, but he didn't want any doubt in his mind. He already had enough to question.

"Twenty-seven, your party was nice too if you were wondering." Harry said with a small smile. "Alex planned the whole thing."

Liam didn't know how to feel about that because although everyone is trying to tell him that Alex was his boyfriend, he had no attachment to him due to him losing his memory. Sure, the boy was attractive, but it almost felt as if he was cheating on Zayn if he looked at the boy in a romantic way.

"Thanks." Liam said softly to the boy who had turned his attention to Liam when he heard his name. Alex nodded back in acknowledgement, trying to force a small smile, but failing miserably.

Alex had no idea what to do in this situation. What exactly do you do when your boyfriend doesn't remember you? Because if there was a guide, he was willing to read every page right about now.

He didn't want to be pushy because Dr. Jacobs and the specialist had advised against it so instead he kept his distance and kept his mouth shut. He felt it was the best for both him and Liam right about now.

"When did... the accident happen." Liam questioned slowly. If he had made it to his birthday, then the accident happened sometime after August 29th.

"August 30th." Harry answered. Liam noticed that Alex had tensed up at the mentioning of the day which Liam felt was understandable.

"Liam, I know you have a ton of questions and we are all here to answer them, but I just want you to take it easy. This is five to six years of information you're going to be collecting, so just take it one step at a time. Okay?" Geoff said concerned that the conversation they were having may be triggering for his son.

"Yes dad, I understand. I just really want to get some things situated in my mind." Liam answered before taking a breath.

"I get it. What else do you want to know?" Geoff inquired allowing his son to ask more questions.

Liam knew his next question was heavy, but he couldn't help, but to ask. The curiosity was killing him.

"Since it's been five to six years since I last remembered things, where is Zayn and our child?" Liam asked and he watched as everyone's face contort into a questionable look.

No one looked as if they wanted to talk so Liam could only conclude whatever had happened in the last few years wasn't good.

"Well, son...you and Zayn broke up a while ago because of issues you never really discussed with me, but the baby- well, Zayn miscarried." Karen looked completely uncomfortable and really sympathetic that she even had to tell her son that. She remembers Liam calling her and crying for hours on the phone about the loss of his child, so she could only imagine how he felt now, reliving all of that over again.

Everyone in the room wished they didn't have to explain that to him because they all knew how that loss had affected him, but he asked the question and there was really no way to avoid giving him an answer. If they had held off on telling him the truth, he would have wanted to see his son or daughter, which was impossible.

"Oh." Liam replied blinking back the salty tears he knew was coming. This was becoming more and more real.

He remembers Zayn being so happy, but nervous that he was pregnant because they were still in school. Nevertheless, they both agreed they wanted to keep their child and they would go the extra mile to make sure their baby had everything and then some. Having the baby a little earlier than they planned was only a small bump in the road that they more than willing to accept.

However, now it felt as if someone had taken all the air out of his body and he could no longer breath. All he could think was, what else could have possibly happened in the last five years?

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Everyone's face had sympathetic expressions on them and all Liam wanted right now was to be alone.

"No- no, its fine." He said swallowing a lump in his throat. "Can I just get some time alone? I just need some time to think."

Everyone began to get up in compliance to his wishes and said their goodbye's before leaving him in a room with just him and his thoughts.

Tears began to flow down his cheeks for the first time since he woke up. They were tears of confusion and the pain of his loss.

September 27, 2018
Avery Grace Memorial Hospital
9:09 A.M.

Three days later, Liam is free to be discharged and he jumps at the opportunity, ready to leave first thing that morning. Although, he was only aware of being in the hospital for a few days he was more than ready to leave.

He missed real food and outside world, in general.

Currently, he was in hospital bathroom changing into clothes Alex brought for him and he noticed they were a bit different in style than what he was used to, but nonetheless he accepted the clothes.

For the past couple days , Liam had barely paid attention to the mirror, but now he had taken a good look at himself and noticed that he looked a bit different than what he remembered. His stubble was more prominent than when he was twenty-one. His face was a bit thinner and he was more muscular, one of the more positive changes that came from his memory loss. His hair had also grown and looked a bit mangled which he figured was from being in a hospital bed for nearly a month.

Nevertheless, he could still recognize himself which he was happy about. The least he could do was recognize himself when the world around him was unrecognizable.

He walked out the bathroom to be greeted by his mom, dad, Harry, Alex, and Mia, who had all been checking on him since he woke up from the accident. Still, he hoped one important person would pop up as well.

Did Zayn even know he was in the hospital right now? Did he care?

"You ready to go?" Geoff asked.

"Yep." Liam answered looking over at Dr. Jacobs for the okay to leave.

"Okay, all the discharge papers are signed so I believe you all are free to go." Dr. Jacobs said with her infamous smile on her face. "Liam, you stay safe out there for me please."

"Yes ma'am." Liam said with a small smile before Dr. Jacobs said her final goodbye's and left the room.

Everyone soon exits the room and then the hospital. However, there was still a huge question looming over everyone's head; where was Liam going to go? Back to his apartment with Alex or with his parents?

Once they get outside his mom finally decided to ask.

"Okay, so Liam, you can either go with us back home or with Alex back to your house. The choice is completely up to you." Karen said.

"I think I'll go with Alex. It would help to know where I was living before this whole thing." Liam answered and his mom completely understood.

Liam could tell that both parties wanted him to choose them, but Alex wanted to be Liam's choice more than anything. Although, he knew the apartment he shared with Alex would be unfamiliar, he hoped it would trigger some memories.

Liam saw a small smile go across Alex's face when he chose him and he was glad he could make the boy happy for once. He hadn't seen Alex have a genuine smile ever since they found out he lost his memory.

"Okay, I will check in with you tomorrow. Come give me a hug." Karen said opening her arms to give her son a hug. Liam's father did the same before they were off.

Mia ended up riding in the car with Liam and Alex while Harry followed behind in his own car. The whole car ride was a bit awkward and no one really said much, so Liam was happy that they didn't live too far from the hospital.

Alex pulled up to a huge apartment complex that was guarded by a gate. The apartment they eventually pulled up to almost looked like a house from how big it was, a nice improvement from that tiny apartment him and Zayn lived in while in college.

"Woah, I live here." Liam asked in awe at the apartment.

"Um, yeah, we both do. We moved in about five months ago. You were insistent that I leave my little apartment I was sharing with Mia and we get a place of our own." Alex explained shyly before turning off the car.

"Well, it's really nice. We have good taste." Liam said giving the boy a smile. He wanted to make Alex smile because he knew how sad he had been the past couple days and he understood why he was. He would pretty upset too if the man he loved didn't remember him anymore.

They all got out the car as soon as Harry pulled up and made their way into the two story apartment. The inside was extremely spacious and nicely furnished.

"So, this is it." Alex announced.

Mia helped herself to the kitchen and Harry splayed his long body along their couch.

"Wow, this is really great." Liam admitted. He looked at the pictures along the wall to see they were of him and Alex as well as a few of them and their friends.

Liam examined the pictures of them smiling at each other, Alex on his lap, them kissing, and he couldn't help but feel weird. Here he was showing affection and building a life with another man when the last thing he remembered was Zayn. It didn't make sense.

"That was on my birthday." Alex said pointing the picture of them kissing. "That's when you asked me to move in with you."

Alex had a small gleam in his eyes from looking at the pictures, as if he would do anything to go back to those moments. Liam, honestly would to because then maybe he would share that same love and be able to reminisce with Alex.

However, while those pictures had meaning to Alex, they were just pictures to Liam. They didn't bring back any memories at all.

Liam noticed that Harry was on the couch mindlessly smiling at his phone so he went over to check who he was texting. He knew he needed to collect information about himself, but getting to know what was going on in his best friend's life wouldn't hurt either.

He looked at the contact to see it read "Da Queen" with a crown emoji next to it. Even though Liam lost his memory, he was sure he knew exactly who his friend was texting.

"Is that Louis?" Liam asked from behind Harry causing him to jump.

"Damn, mate, could you walk louder or something?" Harry said holding his heart and successfully shutting off his phone in one motion. Still, Liam saw his name in their conversation before Harry got a chance to turn off his phone, but Liam decided against mentioning it.

"Was that him?" Liam asked again with a small laugh.

"Yes, why?" Harry questioned.

Liam remembers his best friend being sprung on the boy for just as long as he was interested in Zayn. Louis was Zayn's best friend and at one point him, Harry, Louis, and Zayn were all really close. Harry always had a thing for Louis, but Louis never really reciprocated those same feelings. He only flirted and kept Harry pining after him like the hopeless romantic Harry was. Liam could only hope that after all these years Harry and Louis had finally got together.

"What are you all talking about?" Liam asked with a smirk.

"Nothing important, just talking how we always do." Harry answered defensively.

"Are you too finally together?" Liam asked only to hear a loud snort from Mia.

"Hell no, far from it." She sitting down on the couch with a bag of chips and a water.

"Shut the hell up." Harry demanded making the girl smile. "I'm over him anyway, we're just really good friends."

"Oh, really? So how many people have you dated in the past five years because last I remember you were hopelessly in love with Lou and vowed to wait for him." Liam pointed out. He was truly curious about this.

"Well-um, let's see. Okay, technically I haven't dated anyone, but I've been on plenty of dates! I just haven't found anyone I've wanted to be serious with." Harry reveals only for Mia to howl out a laugh. Liam shook his head in amusement feeling bad for his poor friend.

He has told Harry multiple times that he needed to let go of his crush on Louis and allow himself to be with someone. He knew his friend was attractive and there were plenty of girls and boys that would love to be with him, but Harry was hard-headed. He was convinced Louis would realize he was the one for him one of these days.

Alex soon came back downstairs, his eyes a bit glossy, but Liam decided against asking him about it because he's sure he knew why he went upstairs.

The rest of the day the four made small talk not really bringing up anything too heavy that has happened in the past few years and watched a couple Marvel movies as well.

When Harry and Mia finally left and it was just Alex and Liam they were pretty comfortable with each other, but things were about to get awkward.

Liam knew him and Alex probably had a room with a shared bed they slept in, but again, being affectionate with Alex made him feel like he was cheating; even if it was just sleeping.

Alex got up from the couch to throw out the remaining popcorn in the trash that was in the kitchen and then came back to shut off the TV.

"Um, so I know you don't really remember our relationship and sleeping in the same bed as me might be a little weird so it's fine if you want to  sleep down here or in the guest room. I mean if you want to." Alex offered, scratching behind his neck and Liam had realized how small Alex really was.

Alex was no more than 5'4 with a very slim, petite build, very similar to Zayn. Liam always knew he had a thing for smaller guys though.

Liam hesitated before answering, "No, it's fine. I really want to do what I've been doing so things are kind of normal. So, if we used to sleep in the same bed I'll do it."

Alex tried to hold back a smile, but failed miserably before telling Liam to follow him.

They made it to a large room with a white bed in the middle of it. It was furnished almost just as pretty as the rest of the house.

"I'm just going to go change." Alex announced
snapping Liam out of his trance with the room.
"We share a closet so if you want to change, all of your stuff is in there."

He pointed to the white closet door that led to a walk in closet filled with clothes. Alex quickly grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom leaving Liam in their room to explore.

There were a few pictures scattered around the room of them that seemed a bit more personal. He avoided opening drawers and things of that nature because although, technically this was his room, he felt like a stranger invading someone's privacy.

"Okay." Liam said walking over the closet to see tons of clothes and shoes neatly placed everywhere on one side of the closet and a bit messy on the other. Knowing himself he knew the latter side must have been his.

He grabbed a shirt and some basketball shorts despite not liking to sleep with a shirt on. However, he felt it would be a little awkward for him if he didn't. He ended up changing in the closet and when he walked out he saw Alex folding his dirty clothes and placing them into a hamper.

He got a little peak of the boy's tiny shorts under his oversized shirt, that Liam assumed was his own.

Alex noticed Liam was back in their room and hesitantly moved to his side of the bed, on the right, away from the door that led to the hallway.

He got in, clearly trying to show Liam what he was wearing, but it didn't trigger any memories like he wanted it to. Alex knew Liam loved this shirt on him and although he was aware that it was silly to think a shirt would make Liam remember him, he was willing to try.

Liam followed behind Alex, laying down and leaving a good amount of room between them, much to Alex's dismay.

"So, I don't think I've asked you this, but how old are you?" Liam asked both of them just staring at the ceiling.

"I'm twenty-four."

"Okay, that's a relief. You look about nineteen so I was worried for a minute." Liam admitted in relief causing Alex to giggle.

"No, you're not a pedophile."

"Good." Liam said with a smile. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a photographer for a magazine. It's not a big one, but it's something." Alex answered shyly.

"That's cool." And then a silence lingered over them before Liam talked again. "I'm guessing that shirt is mine?"

Alex blushed lightly before nodding.

"Yeah, you used to like when I wore it, I just- I just thought maybe you would remember something from this. I-It's stupid."

"No, it's not. It's cute." Liam assured.

Liam figured maybe he could give this a try. If Alex was his new reality, maybe it wouldn't be that hard to accept it.

A/N: And that's ok for now folks!
I know there was no Ziam in this chapter, but don't worry, there will be plenty of them soon.

For now, how do you all feel about Alex?

Mia?

Harry?

Do you think Liam should give his new life a chance?

Till next time, love you all!

07/22