Chapter Text
“You’re the one that knows him best.” Toby argued.
“But what if he doesn't remember that we’re friends now?”
“Then we’ll come in and protect you.” Jim smiled, laying a hand on Eli’s shoulder.
Eli took a deep breath. He could do this. “Okay.” He walked through the door.
Steve was sitting upon the hospital bed. “Oh, hello.”
“Hi..”
“Who are you?” Eli must have looked upset to Steve because he immediately followed up with. “I’m really sorry, Uh, Doctor Lake says I have amnesia. I don’t remember you..”
Well, him forgetting me entirely is better than only remembering bullying me… “Oh, that’s okay. I’m Eli.”
“Good to meet you, Eli. And what are you? To me, I mean.”
“A, uh, a friend.” He smiled.
“Oh okay! And how did-”
Suddenly, Ms. Palchuck bursts into the room. “Steve? Is everything okay?”
A look of horror crosses his face.
Eli, shocked at this reaction, turned between Steve and his mother repeatedly.
Steve’s voice was so quiet, Eli barely heard it “Who told you?”
“Oh, honey.” Her eyes teared up. “You did..” She turned to Eli. “Could you give us a minute?”
Eli nodded silently and quickly walked out of the room.
“So?” Claire prompted.
“He didn’t remember me.”
“Wait, at all?” Toby questoned.
“At all. Something’s weird though.”
“What do you mean?” Jim asked.
“I don’t know, he seemed really stressed that his mom was here.”
“Stressed how?” Claire responded.
“I don’t know, like he was afraid.”
“Think she’d be mad about him getting hurt?” Toby offered.
“I don’t know, maybe?”
Ms. Palchuck popped her head out of the room. “Can one of you get Doctor Lake, please?”
…
Doctor Lake was droning on to Steve about the different medicines and which to take for pain, nausea, inflammation, and what to do if -
“Could you stay with him?” Ms. Palchuck’s voice interrupted Eli’s thoughts.
“What?”
“For a few days, do you think you could stay?”
“I thought he was being discharged.”
“He is, but I mean like a sleep over. He doesn't remember the past two years -”
“Two?” Eli repeated, shocked.
Ms. Palchuck nodded. “And he’s going to need someone to fill him in on his life. The parts that I don’t know.”
Eli looked towards the ground.
Ms. Palchuck sighed. “You don’t have to, but I think you’re his only friend right now. I haven’t seen Seamus, and haven’t so much as heard about Logan for months.”
“Okay.”
…
“Are these new?” Steve asked, walking over to the blue sheets on his bed.
“Uh, no?” Eli replied.
“Oh are these mine?” Steve beamed, rushing over to his trophy shelf and grabbing one. “I play football?”
“Yeah.” Eli confirmed awkwardly. He had seen glimpses of this Steve before, the kind hearted goofball, but never without the thick layer of defence like this.
“That’s awesome!” He sat down on his bed. “So mom says I’ve forgotten, like, two years. So, how did we meet?”
As much as Eli was unsure of, he was positive that he wasn’t going to tell Steve about the bullying. Steve really didn’t open up about much, but Eli spent enough time with him that he knew how terrible Steve felt about his past. He’d even tear up on occasion when it was brought up, but refused to acknowledge it.
“Well, you found this.. Uh, thing in your garage…”
…
“And now we fight creeps together.”
“That is so cool!”
“You think so?”
“Uh, yeah! Is that how I got hurt?”
Eli nodded.
“And you already figured out this stuff? Like the creeps?” Steve said, looking impressed.
“Well, mostly. But I was wrong about a lot of it…”
“That’s amazing!”
“Oh, uh, thank you.”
“So what about my other friends?”
“Other friends?”
“Well, yeah, what other friends do we have?”
Well, ‘we’ have none. Steve used to have friends but ever since… Well, they wanted to be bullies and Steve refused. As for Eli’s friends, he had Jim, Claire, and Toby. He even had several online. None of which were all too fond of Steve.
“Eh, I guess I’ll meet them later.”
Eli hid his relief. “Yeah.”
“So, tell me about you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah! I mean, mom said you’re my best friend. So, what are you like?”
“Best friend?” Eli repeated.
“Yeah. Was she wrong?”
“I guess not.” Eli smiled.
“So? What are you like?”
“Oh, I’m not that interesting.”
“Well then, bore me.”
Eli smiled slightly.
…
“So, we’re friends?” Steve asked once Eli was done.
What? Eli’s face fell. Is he that annoying? Of course this new Steve would think that he was a giant loser. It must be so unbelievable to think that he would be friends with a nerd like Eli. Man, he really did not want to go back to being shoved into lockers. Especially now. It was hard for him to admit, even to himself, but he definitely had a thing for Steve.
This would go nowhere, of course, but it was still there. Steve had changed a lot since they had become friends. Or maybe he hadn’t. Maybe Eli just got to see the part of him that wasn’t angry. The part that wasn’t mean. Maybe deep down he had always had this kind hearted side that he had never shown. He still didn’t freely show it. Especially in public. But it was there, and besides, Steve was pretty hot. Sports did him well.
If there was no chance before there certainly wasn’t now. Now that he had forgotten the bond they had. He’d probably go back to his old ways. Eli couldn’t handle that again, not now that he knows what it’s like to be treated with kindness. He wasn’t used to it anymore. He couldn’t survive -
“Sorry that sounded weird, it’s just that, well,” Steve interrupted his thoughts. “You know what, never mind I’m being stupid. Though, I’m sure you’re used to that by now.” He joked.
“Oh, uh,” Eli tried to hide his emotions. “You’re not stupid, Steve.”
Steve smiled. “I may not remember much but I’m sure I didn’t grow a brain in the past two years.”
“Well, you’ve gotten mostly B’s since I’ve been helping you study.”
“Really?” Steve lit up.
“Yeah, you’re really not that stupid. You just need to work a little harder than most.”
“That’s awesome! Do you think you can help me catch up? I really would rather not have a tutor.”
“Of course!” Eli replied, his worries of Steve becoming a bully again dissipating. Steve’s thought process was hard to follow on a good day, so who knows what he meant by that.
“Thank you.” Steve smiled before yawing.
Eli glanced at the clock. “Oh I guess we lost track of time.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“Well, I usually don’t talk so much.”
“Why not?”
What? Why not? Why would he? It must be super annoying. Plus, he knows Steve never really understood what he was talking about but Steve had gotten better at just listening regardless. He didn’t feel like he was boring him anymore though, well he did but that was his own insecurities rather than anything Steve was doing, now at least. Steve wasn’t always nice about it at first, calling him names and what not.
“You’re not boring me.” Steve added, making Eli realize that he took too long to answer.
“Thanks.” He replied simply.
“Do you need to go home then?”
“Oh, no your mom asked me to stay for a couple days, if that’s okay with you.”
“That sounds good! Where do we normally sleep?”
“Oh, well, we usually share a bed, but I can sleep on the floor if-”
“We can share.” Steve interrupted, smiling.
…
The next day was pretty lazy. And the day after that. They were just talking, eating snacks and watching films. Even though Steve didn’t remember anything, it was like the bond they had was still there. No Creepslaying, Eli made sure of it. Steve seemed to be doing fine but that didn’t mean that he was healed enough to do something that physical.
And, man, having Steve be so kind to him and without the thick layer of defence from before was not helping his developing crush.
…
“You sure you’re well enough to go?” Eli asked again.
Steve smiled. “Yes. Besides, it’ll be nice to meet my new, well maybe not new, friends!”
Right. Friends. Something he wasn’t so sure Steve even had at this point. The team had pretty much disowned him because he refused to be a bully, and Eli’s friends didn’t really accept him either. Well, Toby, Jim, and Claire all knew about his amnesia so maybe they’d be willing to start over now. No one, especially Steve’s direct victims, were willing to forgive him. Eli was the only one and it was kind of sad, really.
It’s not like he blames them, though. Steve has really, really hurt them after all. But his friends? Abandoning him over something so stupid? That was unforgivable. Steve had gone into hiding for days after that, locked up in his room and only communicating through texts. It seemed like an over reaction to Eli, but he would never dare to say that.
Maybe they were really mean about it? Whatever.
The bus arrived. Steve usually drove them on his vespa but that probably wasn’t the best idea since he doesn't remember how to drive. Also, Dr. Lake had said no operating machinery.
Seamus was on the bus. He looked up from his phone, making eye contact with Eli, looking over at Steve, and sneered.
…
“Thank you.” Steve said, looking at the door of his first class of the day.
“Sure.” Eli replied. The school had given the two special permission to be late to class and leave class early so Eli could escort Steve to each of his classes. “I’ll meet you here when class ends.”
“Okay!” Steve walked into the classroom.
As Eli headed back to his class, he rounded a corner just to come face to face with Seamus. He jumped.
“Come on, please leave me alone.” Eli said, trying to walk past him.
Semus stepped in front of him. “You’re still friends with him?”
“What? Why is it such a big deal to you?”
“Big deal?” Seamus scoffed. “He’s been lying!”
“Lying about what?”
Seamus’ face changed. “You don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?” Eli snapped.
Seamus smirked. “Why don’t you ask Steve?”
Eli rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
…
Come lunch, Eli was getting nervous. Obviously Steve would want to meet his other friends, but Jim, Claire, and Toby were never too nice to him. Not that he deserved their kindness, but it did get to him sometimes. And now, he wouldn’t understand why they were mean.
Oh boy.
They sat down together across from the three friends.
“Hello! I’m Steve! Well, I guess you knew that, but who are you?”
All three looked shocked. They probably didn’t expect Steve to be this happy. Or friendly. They didn’t know him like Eli did, so he could definitely understand why they were so shocked.
“Well,” Eli began, “This is Claire, Jim, and Toby.” He said, gesturing to each in order.
“Oh! From your stories?”
Eli nodded.
“It’s nice to meet you. Or, well, re meet you.”
“Uh, you too, Steve.” Claire spoke uncomfortably.
That was when Steve’s enthusiasm began to waver.
This was not going well. Eli was trying his best to talk with Steve, but it was very clear that the others were unhappy with his presence.
Walking to his next class, Steve was almost silent. The atmosphere was thick with emotion. They stopped just outside the room.
“They’re not my friends, are they?”
“Well, um,” Eli stumbled over an explanation.
Steve nodded solemnly. “At least I have you.”
Then he hugged Eli.
Steve was hugging him.
Oh shit.
Eli hugged back, trying to calm his heart.
He let go. “Thanks.” And walked into the classroom.
Eli was smiling like an idiot.
When he turned around the corner he smacked directly into someone.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t- Jim?” He asked as he looked up at the person he had just rammed into.
“We need to talk to you.” Claire said. Toby was there too.
“We think he’s faking it.” Toby said bluntly.
“What?”
“The amnesia.” Jim clarified. “We think he’s faking it.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know!” Toby almost shouted. “To mess with us, to undo his past, I don't know but he’s faking it.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Uh, he’s being nice.” Toby shot back.
“What Tobes is trying to say is that we want to warn you.” Jim corrected.
“Yeah. He wasn’t very kind to you before-”
Eli sighed, cutting off Claire. “Look, I get that you don’t want to forgive him but I have.”
“Eli.” Claire spoke calmly. “We’re worried about you.”
“And thank you for that, but you don’t know him like I do. You haven’t taken the time to know him. He’s not faking it.”
“Okay.” Jim said simply. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
He wasn’t.