'So, Lea, it's been a while,' he would say, trying his best to not look too giddy and happy, but a small twitch on his face would send a corner of his mouth skywards, smiling. He would be happy, but try to not look too happy. It was how he always acted. Showing people this sort of feeling would hurt his pride.

She wouldn't hide her feelings too much though. Lea would just try to not look like she fell for him or anything of the sort. 'Yeah, it sure is,' she would reply.

'To be honest, I didn't expect this to happen.'

'None of us did. It was a must, you see.'

Hunter would chuckle and say, 'Yeah you're right. Nobody did, but you know what's surprising me the most?'

Her face would turn as red as a pepper then, because she knew Hunter had the tendency to say the wrong things at the wrong times and be completely oblivious to the fact that he said something too embarrassing.

'I never thought you'd grow this much before. I must've been an airhead, right?'

He would say it, and Lea's face would turn redder. He wouldn't change. He would still be her older brother, and she would still be the sister he missed so much.

Hunter would get nearer and make her feel more awkward.

'Maybe I should've stayed and watched you grow up?' he would ask.

She would smile at the thought. Now things might be awkward between them, but they would always stay the way they did before he left.

She would shake her head, though. 'Oh no, that can't be done. We can't wish to change our past choices.'

'True,' he would say and sit on his haunches directly in front of her and look up at her, unable to hide the smile, but she would see a small twinkle of sadness in his eyes, 'we can still apologise for what we chose, right? I'm sorry I didn't think much of you when I did it.'

'Hunter, you don't have to.' She would be upset, that he had that look. He didn't have to be like that for her.

'I promise I won't do so again. Ok?'

She would take a large inhale and say, ' I'm happy with whatever you choose.' and she would try her best to suppress that feeling within her, that selfish feeling that hated Hunter for choosing to leave her.

'I promise.'

A girly part in Lea's brain imagined that, craved for it, yearned it, but it wasn't what happened, and the rest of her conscious, rational mind knew that was just a fantasy she should dismiss.

Hunter sat opposite her on a bench, an irritated aura emitting from him. He had this scowl on his face, as if he didn't want to be there but was forced to, as if she was the most contemptible person he set his eyes on.

Lea was responsible for making him think otherwise.

'This isn't getting us anywhere,' Mark said as he unbuttoned his blazer. He forgot to take it off after class and still had it with him.

Lea tapped the table with her finger. 'You're right.'

They had to jump from a window before the floor monitor could catch them for running in the corridors, which was why they were outside on the school ground. They found themselves a couple of benches and rested there from the run.

Mark didn't have a place to keep his blazer at, so he kept it on, only unbuttoned. He wondered how could Lea still have hers on and feel comfortable. It was too stiff for him to stand it.

For a second he wondered if it was fine for them to talk outside, but then he realised how noisy it was. There were giggly teenage girls whose voices could be heard kilometres away, guys who played a multiplayer game on a DS without bothering to use headphones, kids who were engrossed in a board game who would boo or cheer at random occasions and way more. In short, it was too noisy for anyone to overhear their conversation unless they were too close or mean to overhear it.

Only, it's been well over 5 minutes and neither could Mark start a conversation nor could Lea smoothen the mood to start one.

There was a certain question he wanted to save to the last, but after wasting too much time in complete and unnecessary silence, he figured there was no point in waiting. He couldn't even start.

'Before anything,' he said, trying his best to keep his indifferent façade, 'how can I even know I can trust you?' he asked.

Lea snapped out of her thoughts and stopped tapping the table.

She didn't answer immediately.

Mark narrowed his eyes as Lea faced the sky. 'She honestly didn't have a way to convince me?'

'Well, I can't make you trust me,' she said, looking up at the sky.

Mark stood up. 'Farewell, then...'

'Wait, what?' she asked and stood up too. 'Why are you leaving?'

'Well, you'll say something along the lines of, "I don't have proof, but you really think you won't trust me?", right? I have no time for that,' he said while making his way to the other side of the bench to leave.

Lea blinked a couple of times in confusion. 'You're honestly fine with this?' she asked with raised brows.

He wasn't fine, but he didn't want to take his chances. So what if she looked like the girl in his dream? He wasn't fine trying to quell the fear and anxiety and confusion as it bottled up while trying to act cool about everything. He couldn't trust Ian as much as he wished he could, so he was kind of worried about whom to trust fully, but that wasn't a reason to let untrustworthy people take his time.

He wasn't handling this properly though, and he knew it. In the end, he wasn't giving her enough chances.

'Even if I'm deceiving you, your memories will give me away,' she said matter-of-factly.

Mark stopped on his track and thought for a while. He shook his head. She was a witch. She could make him think he remembered things about her.

'I also believe you're clever and can make out the fake ones,' she said.

Mark shut his eyes as he battled inside for what to believe. It didn't take long as he soon turned around and said, 'Tell me about everyone you're connected to. You're not acting alone, are you?'

Lea shook her head and sat on the bench again. Mark blinked a couple of times as she did so. She expected him to stay?

'I'm responsible for helping you get back your memories along with my partner.'

'Partner...?' he asked.

Lea nodded with an easy-going smile. 'We need to be all together to address this though. We should meet after school.' Her eyes widened as soon as she finished the sentence. 'I forgot. I need to meet up with Derek and his friends,' she muttered as she covered her mouth.

Mark didn't know how to react to that. He stood there for a while, and that disturbed the traffic.

Lea settled her mind on something eventually. 'It can't be helped. We'll meet tomorrow after school.'

'I didn't agree to this!' he protested.

'It's the best way to get your answers.'

Why were my memories taken away?

He felt relieved when she said that though, because even though he craved the answer last night, he was afraid of it, whatever the answer may be. He ignored that fear the night before, because he felt a need to know more than that fear, and because he panicked back then too much to think a lot about it, but it grew overnight and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know anymore.

If it could be discussed tomorrow, there was no need to speak to her.

He took a large inhale. 'I... I should get going now,' he said.

Lea furrowed her brows. 'Why...?'

'There's nothing to talk about, right?'

'You're fine with that, though?'

She still didn't stand up, even though he already took a couple of steps backwards. 'I can deal with that myself, thank you.'

She stood up at last. 'What do you think you're you talking about?'

'What does she think of herself?' he thought.

She shouldn't be able to understand him. He honestly believed that. If she did, she wouldn't've ruined everything for him the day before by telling him of his memories the way she did. He was mad because she acted that way. How could she know if he was fine or not?

'I said I don't need you right now.' He turned around and marched away because he knew if he didn't leave her soon, he'll get stuck with her.

He wanted to trust her.

He really wanted to trust her.

He honestly wanted to trust her, but he denied that desire. He didn't allow himself to trust her, even if that meant quelling his feelings and not giving them a place to be vented off.

If he stayed more, he wouldn't be able to stand it. He told himself that as he marched through the school grounds between giggling girls and monitoring teachers. He had to keep up the façade, especially since he had no one to trust.

'There's Lea,' a nagging voice in his head told him.

He shook his head. Lea couldn't be trusted at the moment.

A minute passed before he heard her voice behind him. 'I'm waiting.'

He jerked forward in surprise and looked back at her with wide eyes.

'You were following me?' he asked.

She nodded. 'I'm not done with you yet.'

'Yes, you are,' he said.

Lea narrowed her eyes. 'I don't think we're on the same wavelength. I didn't bring this up since I didn't know how to start, but I thought you understood. I'm here to help you if you're unsu-'

'You think I'll tell you if I'm unsure?' he cut her off dryly.

Lea didn't reply.

'Get it now?'

She furrowed her eyes. 'Then what can I do?' she asked softly.

'Nothing,' he replied with a hint of irritation in his voice, 'that's what I want.'

'That's not what I want.'

Mark shook his head and ignored that voice.

'Listen, Lea, I barely know you now. I can't keep you close,' he said, spilling out some of his feelings at last.

'Mark I-'

'I don't know of this Hunter you speak about. I can't be him and I don't even want to think of him.'

'You don't need to be afraid of being him,' said Lea. 'Should I tell you about him?'

'What's the point?'

'A lot,' she said. She stretched her hand for him, 'there are a lot of points in it. Come on, I think we should stay somewhere calmer.'

Mark's gaze was fixed on her hand.

She smiled and lowered it. 'Oh dear, you are one thick skull. Come on!' she said with a small chuckle and led the way.

He followed her despite himself and despite not knowing where they were going. Lea herself hasn't been on campus for a week, so Mark couldn't guess where she would lead him, but he knew for a fact that it wasn't inside the building lest their conversation might be overheard.

After a couple of minutes wandering the campus, Mark noticed they weren't going anywhere in particular. They passed by the gym, walked near the school gates and an outdoor sports field, amongst others. He guessed Lea probably wanted to distract him by having them roam around. At first, he wanted to say something about it and reprimand it, but he noticed it actually worked it clearing his head a bit.

Lea spoke while they continued their walk. 'Hunter is a lazy bum.'

Mark blinked and looked at her. She was facing the sky with a nostalgic smile.

'He's a lax kid, and usually shows indifference, so people think he's a jerk, but he actually has a big heart. He seems like a hassle for an outsider, and even some of his friends feel that way, but they know he will put the effort when it's worth it.'

He only knew her for two days.

She only saw his indifferent attitude.

The girl from the dream popped into his head again.

He didn't want to ask and left the question to himself, but it was the only explanation for what she said.

'You don't need to be afraid to be Hunter,' she said. 'You only need to be you.'

He faced the ground and contemplated everything. He only denied his trust to her out of fear. She only been showing herself as a trustworthy person, or so he liked to think.

'Do I know you?' he asked.

It was the question Lea wanted the least, but she felt obliged to answer. 'Yes...'

'Why didn't you say so?'

'It was a very presumptuous thing to do,' she replied.

He stopped walking. Lea took a couple more steps before she noticed that. She halted her steps and turned around to face him.

'We were friends?' he asked.

Lea nodded, but they were more than that. They were self-proclaimed siblings, but she didn't mention that.

'You're not keen on helping me remember you?'

She couldn't reply. He just mentioned her own internal battle.

She took a step backwards. 'I need to focus on what you need to remember first,' she said.

He raised his head. 'That's not you?'

There it was, his tendency to say awkward things.

She liked to think she was important to him, but that felt too selfish. She resisted her selfish desires, the desire to be wanted and needed by someone she cared about.

'I don't know,' she said softly.

Mark shook his head. 'Lea, please get this. There's no point in this,' he said. 'It's not helping either of us. Maybe we can sort it out tomorrow.'

'You have a problem now. We need it sorted now.' She said that partly because of her sense of duty, but mainly because of her desire to be useful.

She couldn't let him go, not yet.

'If we sort things out tomorrow it will be mostly because of my partner. He's good at that, but I can't let it stop at that.'

'What do you mean?'

That she didn't want to be a hassle, that she didn't want to be a dead weight, that she didn't want her presence to be useless around him, that she couldn't see him feel unsure about anything and leave him at that, that she wanted to be of use, that's what she meant, but she couldn't phrase that.

'Isn't there anything you need?' she asked. 'Anything you want now...?'

Mark shook his head though that wasn't true. He didn't want anything from her. That was all there was to it.

The seconds passed in silence as she tried her best to find a way she could help, anyway. She didn't want to be useless.

Mark could've just walked away, but his desire to trust her was too strong. He kept telling himself he should leave, but it wasn't easy. He battled with himself every second he stood there.

Then she said it.

'I'm going to offer you something,' she said. 'You said I can't help you now, but from now on, I want to be an ear you can speak to.'

She wasn't enough.

'I don't know what you're going through, but I can imagine a little and even that bit of imagination felt terrible.'

She couldn't understand.

'Even if I can't help you, even if I can't understand you, I can just listen and you can vent out all your heart's worries and I will listen.'

She wasn't enough.

'You'll be scared and unsure and I don't want to see you that way. If you don't want me around, that's fine, but I'll always be there when you need to say something and I'll always listen, no matter what.'

It sounded tempting, but she wasn't enough.

He also didn't want her to do that for him, even though he needed someone to lean on.

She was desperate. He could see that, but he didn't know if her suggestions were a result of an insecurity or connections.

'Were we that close?' he asked.

'We were closer than that, but I'm not speaking to anyone from the past. I'm speaking to you, Mark! So can you please hear me?' she cried out. 'You're not hearing me,' she added softly.

She was speaking to him, not Hunter.

That was all he needed.

He turned his back at her and said, 'I barely know you right now. If you're ready to build our relationship from scratch, then I guess I can give you a listen.'