Chapter Text
The next morning Arin woke up feeling very groggy, he felt like only an hour had passed but when he looked over at the clock he saw that it was 8:30, he looked around the still unfamiliar room and decided that he should explore the house while he waited for Suzy to get up. He slid out of the bed and walked out into the hallway, closing the door gently behind him. The first place he went to was what he assumed to be the guest room, it was decorated just as nicely as the other bedroom and looked like a lot of care had went into it. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, he saw carefully frames pictures of him and Suzy, in each one they were both smiling with their arms around each other in a variety of ways, some of them even had the other people he had met the night before in them. He made some toast and went back up to the bedroom to eat it, the house was cold and he wasn't going to try and learn how the heating system worked so the covers of the bed would have to do. He carefully opened the door and slipped back under the covers, pulling them up high and leaning back against the pillows, he began to eat the toast and after a while he found himself looking at Suzy. Even when she slept she was the most perfect girl in the world, she look so peaceful and her hair ever so slightly cascaded down in front of her face, making her scrunch her nose in discomfort ever little while. He carefully studied her face as she breathed in and out, he realised that he must not have any stress in his life because there's no way he could be when he was married to someone as sweet and beautiful as her. After a while she began to move around uncomfortably as she spoke in a drowsy voice
"Arin? Is that you?"
"Yeah, you sleep well?"
"It was ok, how about you?"
"Same, I'm sorry if I woke you,"
Suzy rolled over to face him, but kept her eyes shut, she smiled happily and pushed the few loose strands of her out of the way of her nose and eyes, letting Arin get a clearer view of her
"It's fine, I'm not that tired anyway,"
She sniffed gently, almost as if she was trying to do it in secret so Arin wouldn't see her
"What are you eating?"
"It's just some toast, you want some?"
"I'll go get it in a minute, bed is to comfy,"
She smiled as she heard Arin giggle slightly, he began to wonder about this woman, she was really a mystery to him. She was so caring and sweet yet at the same time she was like a child in many ways, innocent and friendly despite all that had been thrown at her, she was really strong for not leaving him after what had happened and he admired that
"You don't have to get up, I'll get it,"
"No, I'll get it but I just want a little longer under the covers,"
"It's fine, you've been so sweet and nice to me all this time and you are my wife after all, I'll be right back,"
"Ok, but if I've fallen back to sleep don't blame me, blame the covers,"
He chuckled and went down the stairs to make the toast, as he waited he looked around more of the kitchen, seeing various other photos of him with Suzy, he noticed how happy the two of them looked and decided that he would make it his mission to do whatever he needed to do to remember her, no matter how long it took. The pop of the toaster almost made him jump and he quickly turned to butter the freshly popped toast, once it was buttered he put it on a plate and went back up the stairs, slowly opening the bedroom door and speaking in a soft voice
"Suzy? You still awake?"
He heard a small grunt and walked to the edge of the bed, knelt down and whispered to the sleeping beauty in front of him
"Suzy, I have you're toast, you still want it?"
Suzy kept her eyes shut and the covers pulled up close to her face, but she did nod slightly, signifying that she was awake and could hear him. Arin saw that her hair was blocking her face again but she was clearly to concerned with letting the covers fall to fix it, he wanted to do it himself but he still felt weird, he knew they were married and that she clearly loved him but she still felt like a stranger in some ways. He spoke gently to her as he tried to get her to wake up
"How are you going to eat this if you don't get out of bed?"
A look of confusion came across Suzy's face as she lay facing him, she began to think about how she could get past the problem at hand and soon figured out a way. She opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out slightly. Arin gulped in fear as to what she meant by the action, it seemed so out of place for her, everything else she did was sweet and gentle and now she wanted him to do...something with her tongue. He cautiously lifted one of the pieces of toast and placed it into her mouth, just as he did she bite down on it and began to chew. Arin breathed a sigh of relieve and began to giggle, causing Suzy to smile sleepily
"That's pretty smart, you don't have to even use your arms,"
Suzy grunted again and swallowed the toast in her mouth, opening again to get more, but this time Arin laughed and set the toast on the table by the bed
"No, I'm not feeding you anymore,"
"Whyyyyyyy?"
"It's time to get up, don't we both have to go to work?"
Suzy finally opened her eyes to see Arin with the sun shining behind him blasting through the window, he looked almost like an angel and it made her smile
"Well good morning Suzy,"
"Good morning Arin, where's my toast?"
Arin lifted the toast from the table and handed it to her, causing her to ever so slightly poke her hands out from under the covers and grab the plate, eating with a smile on her face as he looked up at Arin like a puppy, and Arin smiled back filled with just as much glee
"So, do we have work today?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about work, we don't have normal jobs,"
Arin started to feel really nervous all of a sudden, he didn't know what Suzy meant and was afraid to find out. Part of him wanted to know out of curiosity, but another part of him wanted to make her stop talking by any means necessary, sadly there was only one thing he could think to do and he still didn't feel too comfortable kissing her
"What...what do you mean?"
His voice was sharp enough to cut glass as he coughed out the words, and Suzy noticed. She threw the covers down over her legs and sat up, grabbing his hands in hers and squeezing firmly
"Hey, it's ok, it's nothing bad or weird,"
"It's not, illegal or anything is it?"
Suzy giggled and swung her hands absent mindedly, making Arin's swing along with hers
"No silly, it's really hard to explain so why don't we go downstairs?"
"O...ok,"
Suzy brought Arin downstairs to explain the concept of making a living through YouTube, but didn't realise that she would have to explain so much more for Arin to understand. The more she explained, the more she realised how much of an alien concept it must have been to him, or anyone who hadn't heard of YouTube. When he finally seemed to understand she hugged him tight and rested her head on his shoulder, causing Arin to carefully put his arms around her waist
"What do you want to do today?"
"I don't want it to be anything to stressful, why don't we go visit all the guys so you can start to get to know them all again?"
"That sounds fun, who should we visit first?"
"Let me ring Holly and see what her and Ross are doing,"
"Ross? You mean the one from Australia?"
Suzy knew straight away why Arin asked for confirmation, she looked into his eyes and spoke with a defiant yet still gentle voice
"It's going to be fine, he doesn't hate you,"
"I promise, you two are the closest friends I have ever seen, you've known him for a really long time,"
"Are you sure?"
"Why would I ever lie to you?"
She held his face in her hands and looked into his eyes, they had a slight hint of fear but she could see the sincerity in them, Arin was really scared that he had offended Ross and that made Suzy realise how much me must have cared about being accepted again. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek and grabbed her phone from the table, turning to Arin and punching the number into the keypad
"I promise, everything is going to be fine,"
The phone rang once before Holly picked up with a panicked voice, Suzy could hear Ross laughing in the background and talking to someone else as Holly replied
"Hey Suze, everything ok? You need any help with Arin?"
"No everything's fine, I was just calling to see what you two are doing today,"
"Oh good, we were planning on just staying home, why don't you two come over so Arin can get to know us again!"
Holly nearly screamed down the phone with excitement . She felt so confident about her idea, to her it was the best idea that had ever been hatched, but she was soon cut down when Suzy replied, giggling at Holly's child-like enthusiasm
"Calm down Hols, that's what I was going to suggest,"
"Oh my god yes, that would be so fun,"
"You seriously need to chill, when will you guys be ready?"
"Give us about half an hour then come over, I need to get dressed,"
"Holly you know it's wrong to walk around the house naked,"
Suzy smiled naughtily and giggled as she heard Holly laugh back, her blush was practically showing through the phone and soon after they said goodbye and hung up. Suzy rested her head back onto Arin's shoulder and close her eyes. There was a peaceful silence between the two before Arin cleared his throat and spoke up
"So? Are we going round?"
"Yea, she said she'll be ready in half an hour,"
"I didn't know Holly was a...you know,"
"Wha?"
"A nudist,"
Arin blushed as Suzy pulled herself back from his shoulder and looked at him with probably the most confusion he could imagine on a person's face. She giggled nervously, hoping that Arin was joking, but when he kept staring at her with a bank and confused face she spoke in an uncertain voice
"What are you talking about, she's not a nudist,"
"But...you said she was naked,"
"When did I say that!"
"When you were on the phone, you said 'you shouldn't walk around naked' Why was she naked?"
"She wasn't really naked, she said she needed to get dressed, she was still in her pyjamas,"
The blush that followed hit Arin like a truck, he felt like he would never be able to look at another person again without feeling completely embarrassed. His head dropped forward, staring at the floor as if he was trying to see through it for an escape route, but there was no way he was getting out of this. Suzy held his face in her hands and lifted his head up, looking caringly into his eyes
"Don't be embarrassed, you didn't know,"
"It was a dumb thing to ask, I'll just keep my mouth shut until I know more about everyone,"
"No, I like that you always say what's on your mind, that's what makes you so amazing, you're never scared to speak up,"
"But won't people laugh at me?"
"I'm not going to tell them, I would never want anyone to make fun of you,"
Suzy's tone was as firm as could be, part of her had to make sure that Arin could trust her and she knew that would be a tough thing for him to do, but he was already making a lot of progress. On the other hand seeing him this way made her think about him differently, he was no longer the same Arin, what if he never went back to his old self and this was who he was now? She couldn't bear to think that she would never be able to talk to the man she knew and married again and tried to push it into the back of her mind, for now she had to focus on doing what she could for him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed lightly, then kissed the side of his cheek
"I promise I'll make sure you don't feel left out,"
"Thanks, you're the best girl ever you know that?"
She giggled and blushed slightly as Arin smiled back at her, holding onto her hand like it was an anchor to reality
"Oh stop, come on, I need to get ready,"
She got of his lap and hurried up the stairs, dragging Arin behind by the hand. When they got into the bedroom Suzy sat Arin down on the bed and took a few dresses out from the wardrobe, setting them down gently on the bed so as not to ruin them. When she had placed down her three favourite choices she looked to Arin with a happy smile on her face
"Which one do you like the most?"
Arin looked at the three choices in front of him, they were all very impressive picks, they looked like they would show of Suzy's figure the perfect way, making her look beautiful and elegant yet not desperate for attention. He finally picked a nice black number which Suzy enthusiastically picked up and held against herself, looking in the mirror to see if she liked the choice
"This is a good choice, I didn't know you knew so much about dresses,"
"You don't know what I do at night, maybe I design dresses,"
They both laughed as Suzy went into the bathroom to get changed. While she was getting changed Arin looked around the room for where his clothes were kept, he finally found a small drawer with a few t-shirts in it and decided that he didn't have time for something more formal. He pulled the shirt on and grabbed a pair of blue jeans to go along with it, looking in the mirror he decided that it was not a bad choice, although he probably could have looked better. He soon heard the bathroom door swing open and Suzy came out in the dress he had picked, she span around for him to see the whole thing and smiled as he stared at her
"What do you think?"
"You look amazing, "
"Aww, thanks, you look amazing too,"
He smiled happily and hugged her, then watched as she grabbed the keys sitting on the night stand and sat back down on the bed
"We just have to wait for Holly to text me, then we can go,"
"Ok,"
Arin sat beside her and nervously drummed his fingers on his leg, Suzy noticed right away and put her arm around his shoulders
"Don't worry, you're going to be fine,"
"I know, I'm just scared I'm going to mess this up and ruin it for you,"
"For me?"
"Yeah, I can see already that you an Holly are really close and I don't want to piss her off and make you lose her as a friend,"
Suzy had never thought that was a possibility but remained strong in her thinking that Arin would impress them all just like he did the first time. She ran her hand through his hair and down his face, gently rubbing his beard as she smiled
"That's very sweet of you but you need to stop worrying, there's no way that she could hate you, and Ross loves you like a brother, he just gets very defensive about his accent,"
"You really think I didn't mess up, everyone seemed so nervous,"
"I know you didn't, I promise that if I thought this was going to be a disaster, I would tell you instead of letting you embarrass yourself,"
Arin smiled happily at the reassurance that he was doing the right thing, he figured that the nerves would go away once he got there and realised that he would have to do this eventually, so he may as well get it over with, who knows, maybe he'll like them and they'll like him. A small ping made the two of them look down to Suzy's phone to see a text from Holly
Holly: All ready now, you can come straight in, no need to knock
Suzy: We're on our way now
"Come on, let's go,"
The two got up and made their way downstairs and into the car outside. Suzy began to drive and smiled happily as the California sun lit up the road in front of her. Just like before Arin soon became a bundle of excitement and energy as every new thing he passed made him flag up a million questions. Suzy answered the onslaught of questions the best she could and soon they arrived at Holly and Ross' house. Suzy parked outside and made some final checks to her attire as Arin nervously waited for her, then soon they got out and made their way to the door, which Suzy opened and went through, followed nervously by Arin. Suzy laughed happily as a small black cat began to rub against her leg, she picked it up and began to giggle happily
"Hi Orph, how are you?"
The cat batted his paws playfully at her face, causing her to set him down so as not to ruin her hair and soon after a voice was heard calling through the house
"Hey Suze, we're in here,"
Suzy grabbed Arin's hand an followed the sound of the voice into the kitchen, where Holly and Ross where sitting with another gray cat on the table. Their faces lit up with excitement as Arin and Suzy entered and Holly grabbed Suzy, hugging her tight
"How you been, that's a nice dress,"
"We've been good, and thanks, Arin picked it"
She looked over to Arin who had a nervous smile on his face. Holly smiled warmly at him and pointed to the empty seat beside Ross
"Take a seat you two, anyone want a drink?"
Suzy sat down beside Arin and giggled as she replied to Holly with a smile on her face
"Little early to be drinking isn't it?"
"You know I didn't mean that, what do you want?"
"I'm fine thanks, Arin?"
Arin looked nervously at Suzy, and then to Holly. He coughed and spat out the words in the most confident and natural way he could but all that he could manage was a slight mumble
"I'm ok too,"
Suzy patted Arin on the back and whispered encouragement to him as she began to talk with Holly about makeup and cosplay and who knows what else. Arin nervously looked around the room and took a deep breath before turning to Ross, who was looking back with a face that was filled with child like wonder
"Hi, I'm Ross,"
"I'm Arin, you have a nice house,"
"This is only the kitchen, there's so much more,"
He threw his arms into the air dramatically as he finished his sentence, causing Arin to laugh slightly and feel more relaxed with the situation. Ross immediately began talking again, filled with enough energy that it seemed like nothing would be able to put him down
"So you don't remember anything?"
"Um...no,"
"Really? Nothing at all?"
"No man, sorry,"
Ross seemed slightly saddened by the fact that Arin didn't remember him and Arin saw this. Clearly they did have a strong friendship and he began to wonder if he should apologise for mentioning Ross' accent before, but before he could even open his mouth Ross spoke
"Sorry if I made you feel bad when you mentioned my accent, I get pretty defensive about it sometimes,"
"That's fine, I shouldn't have mentioned it anyway, it's kinda cool,"
"Thanks,"
The cat that had been on the table was now trying to climb onto Ross' lap, forcing him to laugh and grab the cat
"No, bad Mojo, get off,"
Holly heard him and turned to face him where she was talking to Suzy, walking over and grabbing the cat gently in her hands
"Hey, don't speak to Mojo that way, he's a good kitty,"
She kissed the cats head lightly and smiled at Ross when it purred, then turned back to Suzy and continued the conversation they were having
"Only Holly knows how to keep Mojo happy, they have a special bond,"
Arin smiled happily as Ross explained the relationship she had with the cat, and soon the black cat from the hallway made its way into the room, causing Ross to lift it into his lap and pet it gently
"This is Orph, he's my cat and he's the smartest cat,"
Arin began to laugh at Ross' childish nature as he ran his hand over the cats fur and tail, then looked up at Arin with a small smile on his face
"Has Suzy shown you Mochi and Mimi yet?"
"Yeah, they are very cute, and I bet they are smarter than Orph,"
Ross gasped dramatically and lifted Orph up in one hand so that he was facing Arin
"Why don't you say that to his face?"
Arin leant forward and stared into Orph's bright eyes, trying to stop himself from laughing as he did so
"I think Mochi and Mimi are smarter than you,"
Ross moved the cats arm as he replied in a high pitched voice
"No, I'm smarter,"
They both laughed at the absurdity of what they were doing and soon they began to talk about the memories Ross had of the two, meanwhile Holly and Suzy had also changed the topic to Arin, with Holly making sure that Suzy could count on her
"I mean it Suze, it's got to be tough on you,"
"It's not that bad, he's not scared of me like I thought he would be,"
"Why would he be scared?"
"If some guy you didn't know told you he was your husband and brought you to a house you didn't know, you'd be scared,"
"I guess you're right, but honestly, you can call at any time, even if it's super early in the morning,"
"I get it Holly and I really appreciate it, but we'll be fine,"
"Alright, have you ever thought about hanging you're hair color?"
"Ugh, Holly we go over this all the time, I'm not changing it,"
The two began to playfully bicker about Suzy's hair as Arin and Ross chatted to each other, Ross looked over to the girls and sighed, then giggled as he looked back to Arin's confused face
"What are they talking about?"
"Holly's trying to make Suzy change her hair color, they talk about that all the time,"
"I like her color now, it's a good combo,"
"Yeah ,It's really cool and cute,"
Suddenly Ross felt someone lean against his back and hug him slightly, he almost jumped out of his seat when he heard Suzy giggle and talk to him
"Thanks Ross, I think you're cute too,"
"Oh...Suzy, I just meant, like, the hair is nice hair..."
He blushed and looked to Arin who was smiling happily at the joke, then looked down to the floor in defeat. Suzy giggled and patted his shoulder
"It's ok Ross, I like that you think I'm cute,"
"Oh, ok,"
He kept his gaze on the floor while his blush almost melted his face. Holly came over and sat on his lap, lifting his head and looking into his eyes
"Awww, is Ross embarrassed?"
He giggled as she spoke to him and smiled when she kissed the side of his face lightly then turned to face Arin, who had been joined by Suzy
"I hope Ross didn't talk about stupid stuff with you Arin, he can be silly like that,"
"No he was cool, we talked about our cats and stuff,"
"That's good, do you guys have any plans for dinner today?"
Arin looked to Suzy for an answer and she smiled back with her usual beautiful smile, patting him on the shoulder as she replied to Holly
"No, you wanna go out or something?"
"We could stay here and I'll cook,"
"I couldn't ask you to do that, why don't I help,"
"Aww Suzy you're too kind,"
The two girls hugged and began to discuss potential ideas for dinner, Arin turned his attention back to Ross who was smiling happily at him
"So...before the accident, we were good friends?"
"Hell yeah! Loads of people thought we were brothers cause we knew each other so well,"
"You know a lot about me?"
"Yeah, do you have any questions? I'll answer anything,"
"It's kinda a weird one, like really weird,"
"Come on, tell me,"
Arin looked over to Suzy who was still occupied with Holly and then turned back to Ross, avoiding direct eye contact and blushing slightly
"Does that other guy who was at my house hate me?"
"Who? Dan?"
Ross almost fainted with disbelieve when Arin spoke, imagining a world where Arin hated Dan was crazy and made him want to cry, but his pain was quickly dispelled when Arin spoke again, this time in a slightly more hushed tone
"No, the one with the beard,"
"Oh Barry, no, why would you think that?"
"I don't know, I just feel so unnatural with everyone, the only reason I feel comfortable talking to you is because Suzy told me how nice of a guy you are, I don't really know anything about the others,"
Arin looked down in shame at his revelation, blushing and hoping that Ross would see it from his point of view, thankfully Ross did and he quickly tried his best to make Arin feel better
"Hey it's ok, I would be scared too, you want me to tell you about them?"
"Sure,"
Ross began telling Arin all that he could about Barry and then Dan, time suddenly flew as Arin began to listen intently to the stories of what Dan and Barry got up to with him. Before Arin knew what had happened Holly called over from the other side of the room
"Ross? Could you help me lift these plates over?"
"Sure, hold on Arin,"
Ross got up and went over to the counter to lift two plates back to the table, setting one in front of Arin and one down at his seat. Suzy and Holly soon joined and they all began to eat
"So what were you guys talking about?"
"I was telling Arin about Danny and Barry,"
"I hope it wasn't anything weird, I don't want you to scare him,"
"Don't worry Holly, it was just some stories and stuff, "
Holly turned to Arin with a warm and welcoming smile on her face, speaking as she passively rubbed her free hand up and down Ross' leg
"Arin you tell me if he freaks you out and I'll send him right back to Australia,"
Arin giggled as Ross looked at Holly in mock horror, then they all broke into fits of laughter. Suzy patted Arin on the shoulder, making him turn to see her smile as the laughter died down. Seeing her smile made Arin forget any of the anxiety and fear he had over not knowing who he was, it was almost as if he didn't need to remember, because he had the most amazing wife in the world who was willing to put up with what must have been a horrible experience. When they finished eating Suzy turned to Arin and spoke in a hushed tone
"You felling ok?"
"Yea, I feel a lot better now,"
"Awesome, I knew you had it in you,"
The two hugged and shared a brief kiss as Holly and Ross smiled in joy, then Suzy turned to Holly to excuse herself
"Holly I think Arin and I should be going now, you've been too kind,"
"Any time Suze, you know I'm always here for you,"
"I know, we'll see you later, bye Ross,"
"See ya Suzy, bye Arin"
Arin said goodbye and followed Suzy out of the house and into the car, he got in and watched the world fly by as Suzy drove them home. Suzy began to notice that Arin didn't have the same energy he had when they were on their way there and nudged him slightly as she drove
"Everything ok Arin?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired, that was a pretty good day,"
"I'm glad you had fun, and If you're tired then why don't you go to bed, I'll wake you when we get home,"
"No it's ok, I'll take a nap when I get home, if that's ok,"
"Of course it is, you don't have to ask my permission, It's your house too,"
"Oh, ok,"
When they got home Arin went upstairs to sleep while Suzy sat in the kitchen with her laptop, flicking through Tumblr and Twitter to see the vast amount of empathy from the fans, almost everyone was understanding and didn't mind waiting as long as they got Arin back. As Suzy sat she began to wonder what her life would be like now that Arin didn't remember her, she realised that she wasn't going to lose him because just liked he first time she met him the bond was there and strong, he trusted her more than anyone and as far as he knew they had only known each other 2 days. Suzy closed the laptop when she noticed the time on the clock, it was getting close to eleven at night and if she didn't go to sleep right now then she was probably going to be really tired tomorrow. She went upstairs and slowly pushed the bedroom door open to see Arin lying on the bed fast asleep, she smiled at his sleeping form and turned a lamp on so that she could find her pyjamas. She undressed and grabbed the pyjamas when she heard a sharp breath and a thud behind her. She turned to see Arin on the floor with his face a dark red color, quickly pulling on a shirt and trousers she ran to his side and held his face in her hands
"What happened baby? Are you ok?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look, I just woke up and when I sat up you were there and you didn't have any clothes on so I turned to look away and I fell, I'm not a creep or anything I swear,"
"It's ok Arin, I don't mind and I know you're not a creep, shhhh, come here,"
She hugged him tight as he hook in fear, he began to calm down and felt the shock melt away when Suzy gently kissed he side of his face
"I don't care that you looked at me, you're my husband after all, you don't have to be embarrassed,"
"Thanks Suzy, you're such a nice person, and you're not angry at me?"
"Hell no, how could I be angry at you, I love you,"
"I love you too,"
The two kissed then Suzy helped Arin up, when he got up he got back into the bed and watched as Suzy got in beside him, turning to him and smiling while talking in her soft and sweet voice
"I mean it baby, I love you and I'm going to help you through this, no matter what that takes,"
"Thanks, I can't believe I have a wife like you, you're so sweet and caring,"
Suzy blushed and got closer to Arin, leaning on his chest as he put his arms nervously around her, eventually he leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, making her smile as she drifted off to sleep. Arin soon followed and they fell asleep in each other's arms, the feeling of protection making Arin sleep like a log with no problems that night while the warmth of his body and beating of his heart made Suzy sleep the best she had in years.