Luna rushed up to her room the moment she got back to her mother’s penthouse, hoping to avoid the gaze of her mother entirely. As she reached her room, she dipped inside and pulled off her jacket, tossing it off to the side. Feeling that she was safe now, she raised her hands behind her head and let out a sigh of relief.

  “Are you okay?”

  Luna whipped around to see Stella standing in the door behind her. “Huh?” She shook her head as she let her arms fall from her head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Your knuckles are bloody…” Stella stepped toward Luna, but Luna shot her hands into her pockets and backed away.

  “I just scraped them. Don’t worry about it.”

  Stella started to open her mouth again.

  “I said, don’t worry about it!” Luna snapped at Stella before turning around and walking to her bathroom. “You don’t have to fucking babysit me all the time.”

  “In my defense,” Stella chimed in as she followed her, “I thought you were dead two days ago!”

  “Whatever.” Luna turned the sink on and started to scrub the blood off of her hands. She stared at her hands for a while, making sure that she was making progress. She then looked up at the mirror, staring into the reflection of Stella’s eyes.

  “So…” Stella started.

  Luna shook her head and looked down at her hands. “If you’re going to ask how the party was, you can go fuck yourself instead.”

  “I wasn’t! I really wasn’t.” Stella stepped up beside Luna. Unlike everyone else, however, she kept a pleasant distance away from her. It was like she knew where the line of Luna’s personal space was. “I… well, I was going to ask if it knocked any memories loose?”

  Luna turned to glare at her.

  “That’s not the same thing, for the record. Entirely different question.”

  “It’s just more specific.”

  “But not the same question!”

  Luna groaned as she turned off the sink. “No, it didn’t ‘knock any memories loose’. I still don’t remember shit.” She started walking back into her room, but she paused at the doorway. She looked back at Stella. Part of her was screaming to say more, but the other part of her wanted to smother that part with a pillow. She shook her head and stepped into the room.

  “Well… that sucks.” Stella followed her into the room. “Maybe you’ll fi-”

  “Have you always followed me?” Luna whipped her head around again, giving Stella a frustrated look.

  “Uhm…” Stella thought about it for a moment. “Whenever you’d let me.”

  “Did I let you often?”

  “Sometimes. Depended on your mood.”

  “Well, I’m not in the mood.” She sat down on the bed and laid her head in her hands.

  “Ok… sorry, Luna.” Stella looked down at her, concern radiating from her eyes. She then slowly turned and started to leave.

  As Luna listened to her footsteps, she looked over to the picture frame that she had laid flat. “Stella, wait.”

  Stella stopped at the door, turning around to look at Luna.

  “I do remember. Not like… actual memories. But, sometimes, I feel things.” She turned to face Stella more directly, allowing herself to look into her eyes. “It’s not all the time. With some people though I just… have these familiar feelings. But I don’t know why I feel any of it.”

  “Ok…” Stella turned around and walked over to Luna, sitting down in the bed next to her. “Like what? Give me an example.”

  “Like… when I saw the picture of Dad, I felt… something that was probably positive.”

  “That… makes sense, honestly. You guys were like… really close. Ok… what about me? Do you remember anything about me?”

  Luna shook her head. “Not really. Nothing… like that, I guess. Like I said, it’s not all the time.”

  “Mom?”

  “Nope.”

  “Fair. Olivia?”

  “Nope.”

  “Shit… just Dad, huh?”

  “And Arden.”

  Stella gave Luna a look of utter shock so intense that Luna could have sworn that she had just told her that the universe was exploding. “Arden? What? What the hell did you feel about him?”

  Luna raised an eyebrow at Stella as she paused. She debated on whether or not to continue. Finally, she shrugged and looked away from Stella to avoid further loud looks. “I don’t know. He just felt familiar. His voice… I don’t know. It took me out of the fucking… freak out that I had at the hospital.”

  “Really? How…? I thought you hated him.” Stella tilted her head to the side as she attempted to piece things together.

  “Hated him? Why would I have hated him?”

  “Well… I don’t know if you hated him, but he pissed you off. Like… a lot. And you were… well, if anyone in this city has a reason to hate you, and no offense but most people do, he has the biggest reason.”

  Luna turned her head to face Stella directly this time. “What? Why? What did I do?”

  “What didn’t you do would probably be easier to answer.” Stella snickered.

  “Stella! I’m serious. What did I do?” Luna turned her body fully now, facing Stella with every part of herself.

  “Well… so, he used to have a crush on you in school. Like… a huge crush on you. Like… borderline in love with you. It pissed you off a lot. You were always trying to avoid him and telling him to fuck off, but he never really… got it I guess?” Stella shrugged. “You were generally pretty bitchy toward him. But the only thing that ever got him to lay off was… well, one day you just got really sick of it. So, you asked him on a ‘date’. Gave him a location and everything. Then you sent your boyfriend at the time instead and…”

  “Andrew?”

  “You met him again?”

  “Yeah. Seemed like a prick.”

  “Yup… everyone saw that but you. Anyway, well he beat the shit out of him. Told him to stay away from you. I don’t think he ever really forgave you for that one. Which… I guess worked as intended.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Luna stared at her with a much more quiet look of shock. “That’s… kind of fucked….”

  “Yup! Sure was.” Stella nodded, running her fingers through her hair. “That was just the big thing mostly. You were always mean to him. You were mean to most people, but you really didn’t like him.”

  “Why… the hell did you like me?” Luna squinted at Stella.

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” Stella chuckled at Luna before shrugging. “I just didn’t hate you. Couldn’t really bring myself to. But I wouldn’t say we were… friends at all. You definitely didn’t want to be. But also… I mean, you were always kind of protective of me. In a… very Luna kind of way.”

  Luna furrowed her brow. “What is a ‘Luna kind of way’?”

  “Well, you acted like you wanted nothing to do with me, but then if someone did anything to hurt me you would ‘handle’ it. One time, this boy that I had a crush on told me that I was ugly, so you keyed his car.” Stella couldn’t help but smile as she reminisced.

  Luna raised her hand up just slightly, looking at her knuckles once again. All emotion drained from her face and her eyes started to lose focus as more questions started to swim around her head. Eventually, she turned to Stella as she decided on just one. “Do I seem different? Or… just the same as I was?”

  Stella raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side as she thought on it. “Well…” she pursed her lips briefly before continuing, “if I am being honest, you do seem familiar. I mean, you look the same. Sometimes, I see like… a little bit of who you were coming out. But…” she sighed as her eyes wandered to the picture frame, “Mom doesn’t want to admit this, I can tell. I know that things are different though. I had to… well, I had a whole conversation with myself about it in my room earlier. I know… it is natural for me to look at you like you are the same person. To expect the same things from you. But you are different, and you having lost your memory only makes that divide larger. So… I guess I’m trying to figure out who you are now.”

  Luna sighed as she closed her fist and returned it to her side. “Me too.”

  Stella nodded, giving Luna a reassuring smile, though most of Stella’s smiles seemed to be reassuring to Luna. “So…” she pivoted the subject, “about Arden, right?”

  Luna raised her eyebrows at Stella, but she did not speak.

  “I mean, the fact that you recognized his voice over like… everyone else. That has to mean something, right? I mean… what if you didn’t hate him? Or… maybe you didn’t even know and-”

  “Stella.” Luna narrowed her eyes at her. “Forget about it. It isn’t important.”

  Stella frowned and slumped over. “Well… I guess it isn’t but… maybe you should at least talk to him?”

  Luna’s stomach plummeted at the thought. “I… don’t know if that is a good idea.”

  “Why not? I mean clearly… well, I guess not completely clearly but… maybe you could at least apologize?” Stella lowered her head, raising an eyebrow at Luna.

  Luna scoffed. “I don’t even remember doing it. How would apologizing do anything?”

  “Well… he kind of deserves to hear it. Especially since he is the one that found you and got you to the hospital. And he is the one who helped you stay calm.”

  Luna sighed as she shook her head. “I guess. I don’t… even know where to start.”

  “Grab a pizza at Lust for Crust. It’s a place just a few blocks from his apartment. It’s his favorite.” Stella nodded at her as she pulled out her phone. “I’ll text you the details.”

  Luna raised her eyebrows at her. “How do you even know that?”

  “Just because you hated him, doesn’t mean that I did too.” Stella looked up at Luna as she finished typing. “Now go get his ass!” Stella hopped to her feet. She looked down at her phone again before grimacing. “Maybe get some sleep first.”

  At Stella’s words, Luna finally realized just how exhausted she felt. She sighed at Stella before nodding. “Yeah yeah… fine.”

  Stella smiled brightly as she skipped over to the door. “Let me know how it goes!” As the door shut behind her, Luna was alone again.

  Luna tilted her head back, stretching her neck as took a deep breath. She slowly raised her arm and knocked on the metal door a few times.

  The door opened a few seconds later to reveal Arden wearing much more casual attire than his usual uniform. “Luna? What are you doing here?”

  Luna held up the pizza, raising her eyebrows at him as a silent question.

  Arden just sighed and shook his head. “What are you doing here,” he repeated.

  “I came…” She sighed as she lowered the pizza. “I wanted to… apologize.”

  “Stella told you?”

  Luna nodded slowly. “Also told me that Lust for Crust is your favorite place so…” she raised the pizza again.

  “Hmph.” He pursed his lips as he looked her over. Unlike in the hospital when Luna was hurt, he seemed apprehensive to even be talking to her at all. “Never thought I’d see the day when Luna Vance actually apologized for something. When I imagined this moment, I always thought it would be with you remembering what you did. Showing real remorse for it.”

  Luna grunted, wincing at his words. She shook her head as she handed the pizza to him. “This was a bad idea.” She took a step back and started to turn around.

  “Wait.” Arden sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look, I can’t eat this by myself.”

  Luna turned slightly. “Sounds like a you problem.”

  Arden shrugged. “Could still use some help.”

  Luna briefly looked down the hall to her escape. This time, she couldn’t envision it. She sighed before turning back around and walking into Arden’s apartment.

  The apartment was far smaller than any she had seen since she woke up. It was well kept enough to not seem messy, but it was clearly lived in. The cushions on the couch were tossed about, there were papers and datapads scattered all throughout the living room, and the TV was on with a video game paused on it. The walls were much closer together than Luna was used to, and she could practically see the whole apartment just from where she stood in the doorway. Something about that relaxed her.

  Arden sat the box down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch with a sigh. “I guess, even if you don’t remember, I appreciate the gesture.” He reached forward and opened up the box. “The pizza definitely helps.”

  Luna slowly walked up beside him as she watched. When the box opened, the overwhelming smell of artificial cheeses and meats and lab grown spices filled her nose. She watched as Arden reached forward for a slice.

  “Honestly, you’re not going to regret coming all the way down to the residential district even just for the pizza.” He took a big bite before nodding toward it. “Go on, have some,” he encouraged with his mouth full.

  Luna watched him silently for a moment longer before turning toward the pizza. She bent over and grabbed a piece, lifting it up to inspect it.

  “Come on, I know it may be a bit cheap for your blood, but this is the kind of shit that you can’t just get some personal chef to make. It comes from real passion and love. Something I think the commercial district really lacks at this point.” He leaned back on his couch, caring very little for any grease that might drip onto the cushions.

  Luna darted her eyes toward him and narrowed them. “You’re getting philosophical about a fucking pizza.”

  “You will too when you try it.” He grinned at her.

  Luna rolled her eyes before taking a bite. Despite the way Arden had built it up, it tasted hopelessly average. The cheese was gooey and the crust was flakey, but there was so much grease in just one bite that Luna felt like she could drink it. She chewed for a moment before looking at Arden, who was staring at her expectantly. She finally shrugged, chuckling briefly with her mouth full. “It’s not bad.”

  “Not bad? Come on, that is the best pizza you’ve ever had!”

  “Considering I don’t remember having any other pizza…”

  “I’m not wrong, see?” Arden grinned at her.

  Luna snickered and shook her head. “I guess you’re right.” She slowly lowered herself to the ground, sitting next to the table and leaning her back against the couch. “Maybe I’ll have to come to the residential district more often to get a slice.”

  Arden looked at Luna as she spoke. He smiled at her briefly before nodding. “How are you adjusting by the way? I’m sure the commercial district must be a step up from wherever you were before.”

  Luna shrugged. “Probably.” She shook her head as she took another bite. “I don’t like it though…”

  “Why? I mean, you used to like it before.” Arden started to reach forward for another slice.

  “I wish I could tell you why, but I don’t remember.” She let out a frustrated grunt. “All I know is that now… it just feels wrong. All of it feels wrong.” She stopped herself from continuing. She looked over at Arden for a moment, meeting his gaze before shaking her head and turning away. “Forget it.”

  Arden smiled briefly before pursing his lips. “Well… okay yeah, let's forget about it for a second. Why don’t we just….” He looked at her for a moment before nodding at the TV. “Wanna play?”

  Luna looked up at the TV where Arden had paused the game he was playing. “Did I… like video games?”

  “Hell if I know. Does it matter?”

  Luna blinked and furrowed her brow. Thinking that it mattered felt so silly to her now that she actually thought about it, but some part of her felt like it needed to know. She looked up at the TV before finally shrugging. “Alright, sure. You’ll have to teach me how.”

  Arden nodded at her as he leaned forward to pick up his controller. “Oh, I figured. Who knows, maybe you’re a natural like your sister.”

  Luna raised her eyebrows at that, but she didn’t dwell on it for too long. The two spent the rest of the night playing video games together. They never once talked about anything from before Luna was found for the rest of the night. It was the first time that Luna had let herself relax since then. It was the first time that things felt normal.