Fix You

liam.

I looked at her for a long time, letting her words sink in. “What do you mean you don’t remember?” I asked.

“I don’t remember anything.” She said, tears slipping down her face. “Why can’t I remember?” Dr. Fleur sighed and we both looked up at him.

“I was afraid of this. When you flew back onto the street the impact must have been violent enough that it gave you amnesia.” Her eyes grew huge.

“I thought that didn’t really happen?!”

“I’m afraid it does really happen miss…” He stopped, not knowing what to call her.

“Will her memory ever come back?” I asked.

“It’s hard to say. It’s possible some of it may return to her, but she’ll probably still have huge holes of years that will never come back, if anything comes back at all.”

“Oh my God…” She whimpered. I put my arms around her and let her cry. She hugged me back, burying her face in my chest. I was a little taken aback, but just softly started to stroke her hair.

“It’s going to be alright.” I promised. I wanted to cry right along with her. All she’d done was help me and in return not only would she never be able to have a family, but she couldn’t even remember who she was. I could never imagine forgetting my entire life, my family, the guys, Danielle…

Well, her I sort of wanted to forget.

Finally the girl got a hold of herself and looked back up at the doctor. “So what am I going to do?” She asked.

“Well, we didn’t find any identification on you, but we did find a key, I would assume to a house or apartment. I would suggest you go home and try to find out who you are. Besides, photos, names, anything like that could trigger a memory to return to you.”

“…But where’s home?” She asked.

“I would assume somewhere here in Paris.”

“PARIS?! Why the Hell am I in Paris?!”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She looked at me, her bright eyes glittering.

“Do you know? I mean, you’re not French, was I travelling with you or something?”

“No. I’m from England, and by your accent I would assume you’re American. But I do know that if you weren’t so brave three days ago I’d be dead right now.” I said. She looked at me, astonished.

“What?”

“Like I said, you pushed me out of the way of a car.”

“But if I survived I’m sure you would have too.” She said. I shook my head.

“I only have one kidney, so if that car had hit me and my appendix had ruptured it could have been damaged and I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. You saved my life.” Dr. Fleur nodded, backing me up. I let out a long breath. I couldn’t leave this poor girl alone not even knowing who she was. I owed her my life now. I bit my lip, not believing what I was about to offer. “Doc, I’ll help her.”

“What?” They both asked.

“Release her to me; I’ll help her track down her apartment and hopefully her memory.”

“You’d do that?” I turned back to the girl.

“Like I said, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if you hadn’t saved me. So the way I see it, it’s only fair that I help you get your life back.” She smiled and hugged me.

“Thank you…”

“Liam.” I said, offering my hand. “Liam Payne.” She shook my hand.

“Um… God, is everyone just going to have to call me fille or something?” She stopped, her head snapping up. “Je parle français. I speak French.” She looked up at the doctor. “That’s got to be a hint right?”

“Like I said, you’re in Paris, I’d be a little worried if you didn’t speak French.” He joked. “But we do have to come up with a name for you.”

“What about Jane?” I suggested “I mean, isn’t she technically a Jane Doe? Let’s call you Jane.” She stuck her tongue out at me.

“I hate that name.” Dr. Fleur cleared his throat and we both looked at him.

“We’ll call you Aimee.” He said. A smile enveloped his face. “It means ‘beloved friend’.”

“Aimee…” She said, and then nodded. “I like that.”

“Alright, so where do I sign for her so Aimee and I can find her house?” I asked.

“Right this way.” He called a nurse to bring Aimee her clothes. As we walked into the office he closed the door and looked at me.

“Liam Payne. I knew you looked familiar, my granddaughter is in love with you.” I chuckled.

“I get that a lot.”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to accompany Aimee? I mean, aren’t you on tour or something?” I sighed.

“I told my manager I wasn’t leaving her and to suspend the tour. Needless to say, he wasn’t very happy.”

“Look, this isn’t going to be something that will just all solve itself in a few days. It could take months, years even. Don’t commit to it if you’re going to have to leave that girl all by herself once reality sinks back in.” I sighed.

“I’m not leaving her.” I said. He smiled at me.

“Good.” He handed me the form. “Sign here.”



“Paul, it’s me.” I said.

“Liam, where the Hell are you?” I scratched the back of my head, boy, if I thought he was pissed now, he was going to lose it in a few minutes.

“I’m at a little boutique.” I answered. Aimee’s dress was all torn up from the accident, so I was taking her shopping to get something else. I’d stepped just outside the dressing room as she was trying things on.

“A boutique? What happened to the hospital?” I took a deep breath and finally explained the entire situation, every last detail to Paul.

“So you, see, I can’t just leave her, she saved my life. You wouldn’t even have me anymore if it wasn’t for her.”

“Liam, you can’t just stay there forever. You have a tour to get back to.”

“I know, and I’ve been thinking, just let Louis and Niall sing my solos, God knows we never let them sing.”

“Liam, you can’t just not be there, you’re a fifth of the band, we need you.”

“So does she. Let Louis and Niall sing my bits and tell the fans I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“How am I supposed to explain you being gone?”

“Tell them I’m taking a mental leave, I did just see a girl get mowed down a few days ago, they’ll buy it.” He let out a long sigh.

“You are in so much fucking trouble when you come back.” He threatened. I smiled.

“Thanks Paul.”

“Don’t thank me, just hurry up and help that girl.” I hung up just as Aimee walked out, tugging at her blouse.

“Does this look okay?” She asked.

“C’est magnifique.” I said, slaughtering the beautiful language. She laughed at me.

“I don’t think you speak French.” She said.

“I know…enough.” I joked, smiling. I walked over to the counter and paid for her things, with a lot of her translating that is. I walked her out the door and into the mall. We were maybe six feet from the store when I heard the reporters.

“Liam! Liam Payne!” The lights blinded us as I grabbed Aimee’s hand and we ran off. The reporters followed until finally I saw a small janitor’s closet and pulled her in, shutting the door as we listened to the reporters run past us. I laid my head back against the wall, breathing heavily from our mad mall dash. I slid to the floor and looked up at Aimee.

“Are you alright?” I asked. She sat down next to me, confused.

“Who were those people?”

“Reporters. The scum of the Earth.”

“Why are reporters following you?” Her eyes got wide. “You're not like, a murderer or something are you?” I could have smacked myself. I should have told her I was famous, but it was so nice having someone just treat me like a normal person for once. Besides, it’d been my fame that had driven Danielle away…

Dani…

I looked back at Aimee. “I… I’m kind of famous.” Her eyes grew huge.

“What?”

“I’m in this British boy band called One Direction. We’re known all over the world, we were on tour here when you saved me.”

“So… don’t you have to go back on your tour?” She asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

“I told our manager to let two of the other boys sing my parts and tell the fans I was on mental leave.”

“You did that…for me?”

“Of course. Like I said, you saved my life.” She smiled and hugged me again, I twisted around and wrapped my arms around her, this poor little lost girl. I was a little scared about how good she felt in my arms and pulled back.

“Come on.” I said, standing and helping her to her feet. “I’m guessing the pap is gone by now.” She smiled at me as I opened the door, double checking there were no cameras as we stepped out and into the thrall of people.



aimee.

As Liam and I walked to the police station to get my things from the accident I couldn’t help but steal quick glances at him. But, who could? The guy was gorgeous. He had these deep brown eyes that just seemed to go on forever. And when he smiled, it was like every bad thing in the world just vanished. And he was a singer? Boy had I lucked out. It must have his voice I remembered that woke me up. I had thought I must have been hearing an angel, I didn’t know a lot of people could sing so well it woke people from a three day coma.

But something was bothering him, he just looked so sad that I couldn’t help but nudge him as we walked into a park. “Hey.” He turned to me, locking those incredible eyes to mine and making me blush ever so slightly. I’d blame it on the cold. “What’s wrong?” He sighed.

“I’m just thinking about how the pap is going to spin that story.”

“Oh… What do you think they’ll say?”

“That I was cheating on my ex and broke up with her to be with you… or that you’re a rebound.” He ran one of his hands through his hair. “I shouldn’t have grabbed your hand, that won’t help.”

“Your… your ex?” That explained it.

“Danielle. She left the day you saved me. She was the reason I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

“Did you guys date for a long time?” He nodded.

“Two years.”

“Did… did you love her?” I knew I shouldn’t be prying, but I was curious. I couldn’t imagine why you would break up with someone selfless enough to possibly lose his career to help you find your memory. He let out a long sigh.

“I thought I did, but now I’m not so sure.” I felt bad that I’d bummed him out, so I nudged him again. “What?”

“She’s an idiot if she doesn’t realize what a catch you are.” He chuckled.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime mon ami.” He furrowed his brows at me, so I chuckled. “my friend.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I’ll teach you French in no time.”

“Glad to know I have mon own ami.” I laughed.

“You just said I was your man friend.”

“What’s girl friend?” He blushed. “I mean, you know, a friend who is of the female species?”

“Ma amie.”

“Ma amie.” He repeated, slaughtering the pronunciation with his British accent. I just laughed at him and he smiled at me. “What?”

“Nothing.” I lied, trying to reel in my laughter.

“Aimee.”

“No!” He got me in a headlock and gave me a noogie. We both were laughing hysterically as I tried to wriggle my way out.

“Tell me!”

“Never!” I got out and started running only for him to chase after me. I only got maybe three feet before I felt his arms around my waist and he picked me up off the ground, spinning me. “Let me down!”

“Not until you tell me what you were laughing about!”

“Okay, okay!” He set me down and I looked into his beautiful brown eyes. “I was laughing at you.” He made a hilarious face of disbelief, which only made me start laughing again.

“Why?”

“Because you, my friend, cannot speak French. I’m resigning as your teacher right now. I can’t hear the language slaughtered anymore.” I teased.

“Ouch. But what if I don’t want you to stop teaching me French?”

“Well that’s just too bad.” He chuckled at me and ruffled my hair.

“Come on ma amie,” he said, intentionally saying the words as horribly as he could, “let’s get to the police station.”

As we got to the station and walked inside I did all the talking, telling the officer who I was as Liam just stood there, confused as Hell. When I told the officer what Liam was doing he smiled at me.

“Est-il votre ami?” (Is he your boyfriend?)

“Non, c'est juste mon ami” (no, he’s just my friend.)

“Vous savez que c'est Liam Payne de One Direction, non?” (You do know that's Liam Payne of One Direction, right?) Liam’s head snapped up when he heard his name.

“Oui.” (yes)

“Juste s'assurer. Par ici mademoiselle” (Just making sure, right this way miss.)

He led us into another room where the chief sat down with the two of us. “Do you mind if we speak English?” Liam asked. I turned to the chief.

“Est-il correct si on parle anglais? Mon ami ne sait pas le français.” (Is it alright if we speak English? My friend doesn't know any French) He chuckled, looking at Liam.

“Il vit à Paris et il ne parle pas français?” (He lives in Paris and he doesn't speak French?) I shrugged as we both chuckled. “Alright.” He said. Liam looked relieved that he could finally understand someone besides me.

“Thank you for seeing us sir.” I said.

“Of course, the doctor called and told me what was going on. So you don’t remember anything?” He asked.

“Nothing before waking up in the Hospital this morning.”

“My apologies.”

“I’m sure it’ll come back eventually.”

I hope.

“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your phone was destroyed in the accident.” I sighed.

“What about the SIM card? Doesn’t that have all the information on it?” Liam asked.

“Yes, but, well, here’s the SIM card.” He held up a small bag of bits of plastic.

“Oh.” Liam said. “Can’t we call the phone company?”

“Not without a name I’m afraid.”

“Did I have a wallet on me?” I asked. The officer shook his head. “Damn.”

“But we did find a key to an apartment.” He held up a small brass key and handed it to me.

“How do you know it’s to an apartment?” Liam asked.

“Because of the type of key it is. It’s to a deadbolt, hence, an apartment.”

“Well, where’s the apartment?” I asked.

“We don’t know. Without a name we can’t look you up Mademoiselle, I’m sorry.” I sighed.

“Baiser.”(fuck.) I muttered. I blushed and looked up at the officer. “Oh, je suis tellement désolé!” (Oh, I’m so sorry!) But he just waved his hand at me.

“Ne vous inquiétez pas à ce sujet, Je jure comme un marin.” (Don’t worry about it, I swear like a sailor.)

“What happened to English?” Liam muttered. The chief laughed at him.

“I am sorry Mademoiselle, but there’s not anything else we can do.”

“I understand. Thank you for your time.” I stood and Liam and I shook his hand. As we were leaving he called me back.

“Mademoiselle!”

“Oui?” (yes?)

“Apprenez-lui une volonté française vous? Il est à Paris, après tout.” (Teach him some French will you? He is in Paris after all.) I laughed.

“Je le ferai.” (Will do.)

“Et mademoiselle?” (and miss?) I turned back to him and he smiled. “Bonne chance.” (good luck) I smiled and ran back over, hugging him.

“Merci.” (thank you)

“Aimee!” I ran out after Liam, waving to the chief as we exited the building. I jogged to catch up to Liam. “What did he want?” He asked.

“Just to say good luck.”

“That was nice.” He commented. I think he was going to say something else, but his stomach growling cut him off. “Let’s go get some real food. And please for the love of God, no jello.” I laughed as he looked sick.

“Were you eating all my hospital food?” I teased.

“You were asleep, you didn’t need it.” I chuckled as we walked to a small restaurant. The waitress immediately recognized Liam, which I could tell he didn't really care for.

“Monsieur Payne!” She cooed. “How can I help you?”

“Table for two please, preferably somewhere in the back.”

“That I can do.” She said, grinning and leading us to the very back of the restaurant where there was a small booth with curtains.

We sat down and she pulled the curtains shut, leaving us with a menu. I laughed. “So is this where you always sit in restaurants?” I asked.

“Yep. You’d be surprised how many people would interrupt your lunch to talk to you. So eventually you have to do this.” I nodded as he looked down at the menu. “What the Hell is escargot?” I chuckled.

“Snail.”

“What the fuck?!” He said, dropping the menu like it was the dreaded escargot itself. “These people eat snails?” I chuckled at him again.

“It’s a delicacy.” I assured him. “Here, you should get this.” I pointed to an item on the menu.

“What’s that?”

“Soup.”

“I think I can deal with that.” He said, grinning and turning his head back to the menu.

“What’s it like?” I asked. He looked back up at me.

“What’s what like?”

“Being famous.” He sighed.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked, looking a bit sad. I nodded and he sighed. “I hate it.”

“Why? You get to fly all over the world, have adoring fans-”

“I also never get a shred of privacy. People know everything about me and I’m constantly being photographed. I mean, my buddy Lou, who’s also in the band, got a picture of him taken while he was in the shower and now his ass is all over the internet.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah, forgive me if I’m not thrilled about millions of people seeing my ass.”

“But, you also make millions of people happy, and you’re voice is so beautiful, you’ve got to share it with the world.” He furrowed his eyebrows again.

“How do you know what my voice sounds like?” He asked. I blushed.

“I heard you sing to me, that’s what woke me up.” I admitted. I scratched the back of my head. “I actually…” I stopped.

“What? You actually what?”

“No, it’s dumb, never mind.”

“What? Come on Aimee.”

“I thought that you were-”

“Can I get you two anything to drink?” The waitress asked, pulling back the curtain.

“Um, water’s fine.” Liam said.

“I’ll just stick to water too.” I said, looking up at her, but her eyes were locked on Liam.

“Alright, are you two ready to order?”

“Can we have a few more minutes actually?” Liam asked. She nodded and closed the curtain again. He leaned across the table towards me. “So, you actually what?” I blushed.

“I thought I must have died, because I thought you were an angel singing to me.” We both turned bright red as he sat back. I sighed. “I told you it was stupid.” I said, pressing my face into my hands. Great. Now he probably thought I was some fan girl who was madly in love with him.

“Aimee.”

“UUUUHHHH.” I groaned. “Why do I say things like that?”

“Aimee.” I looked up at him through my fingers. He smiled and pulled my hands away from my face. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Really?” He nodded. “I’ll have to be careful, might give you a big head.”

“Ah, we wouldn’t want that would we?” We both started laughing and in that one moment, I wasn’t just some girl who’d lost her memory. I was Aimee, Liam’s new friend.

And I couldn’t have been happier.