I Remember

Niall hesitated in answering Liam, because he wasn’t sure whether or not his company would be the best thing in the world. Every time he was around the brown haired boy, he felt somewhat nervous. He wasn’t sure if it was just because he had no memory of him or if it was something else. He furrowed his brows and ran a hand through his blonde locks, debating the suggestion of his stay in his mind. He was not only afraid to stay in the hospital for another week, but he didn’t think he would be able to do it by himself.

Niall took a deep breath and leveled his gaze with Liam’s. “Well.. I suppose if it would be alright with the doctors.. Then, yeah. That might help me. A lot.” Niall gave Liam a small, reassuring smile.

Liam’s spirits instantly lifted, and the doctors came rushing into the room; protesting Liam’s request to stay. After a long chat, Niall and Liam finally convinced the doctors to let Liam stay in the room. Liam hurriedly left the hospital and climbed into his car, smiling as he thought about the progress that Niall was sure to make in refreshing his memories of Liam.

When he arrived at the apartment, Liam quickly dug his duffel bag out from the closet and began to pack the bare minimum for clothes and necessities, wanting to leave as much room as possible for pictures and various knick-knacks that would help Niall to remember their past. Anything that had a memory behind it was shoved into the small duffel bag. Liam smiled to himself as he went through the number of items, a flood of memories coming back to him. He was excited to see how much Niall could remember, and hoped to god that his idea would work.

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When Liam arrived back at the hospital, he entered the room and struck a heroic pose, declaring, “It’s on like Donkey Kong.” This solicited a small chuckle from Niall, who vaguely began to remember the numerous times Liam and himself had stayed together at Niall’s flat. He remembered how Liam had always made Donkey Kong references, and how he found it so amusing.

“Niall? You alright?”

Niall shook his head to get rid of the glassy stare he was giving the wall as Liam’s deep voice brought him back from his walk down memory lane. Niall grinned widely at Liam and gave him a thumbs up.

“Let’s do this thing!” He exclaimed, gesturing towards the many photos in Liam’s bag.

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Niall and Liam spent the majority of the day looking over photos and watching television, though only some of the photos Liam brought with him stuck out in his mind. One of them was from their last Christmas holiday, when Niall and Liam had gotten into an all-out wrapping war, and Niall had ended up covered in tape and Christmas bows. He remembered the memory fondly, and Liam gave him a proud smile as he watched his best friend run a shaking finger over the photo’s glossy finish and smile faintly to himself.

“What’cha got there, mate?” Liam asked with a curious smile.

“I remember this.” Niall simply stated as he looked up to see Liam’s sparkling brown eyes fill with hope.

“Yeah? That was from this past year, wasn’t it?”

“It was. That was fun; I still think I won the wrapping war, though. Even though you covered me in tape, I still managed to get a couple bows on you, as well.”

“I guess we’ll just have to have a rematch then sometime, yeah?” Liam winked at Niall as he handed him another photo to look over, a glint of hope sparking in his mind. Maybe Niall would make a lot more progress than the doctors thought he would.

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At around 6 o’clock in the evening, Niall perked up from his slouched position on his bed and looked around excitedly. His sudden movement startled Liam from his position next to Niall, and he looked at him with a slight frown.

“You alright, mate?”

Niall completely ignored Liam’s question and began to stand up. “Do you smell that?”

Liam looked confused and asked slowly, “Smell what...?”

Niall bolted for the door and began to run down the hallway screaming “FOOD!”

Liam smacked his forehead and took off after Niall, shaking his head at the boy. “I guess the old Niall is back.” he grumbled to himself as he tried to keep up with the Irish boy.

Niall rounded the corner and entered the cafeteria, immediately getting in line for his dinner. Liam quickly followed behind him, grabbing a tray for each of them and handing one to Niall.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack Niall, what on this planet could possess you to run like that for food?”

“I’m just hungry, Liam.” Niall smiled at him and bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly as he received a heaping plate full of macaroni and cheese, along with a roll and some salad. There was a woman at the end of the counter handing out utensils, and Niall smiled at her as he received his, but then paused and shot Liam a side glance.

“No spoon for him; he’s afraid of ‘em.”

Liam’s head snapped up when Niall said this, and his brown eyes widened. Niall looked shocked when he realized what he said, and looked up at Liam with his bright blue orbs, a slow smile working its way onto his face.

Out of all the things Niall had remembered so far, this was by far the most dramatic progress he had made.