"Wait how old are you both again?" I asked, curiously.

Only because they both looked so young yet so old at the same time.

"We're both twenty-three," Keith answered with a small smile as his eyes traveled towards Starbucks, landing on Thea and his twin brother, Kody who were messing around as they both waited for their order. "But, I'm older than Kody by five minutes."

My mouth formed into a perfect 'o' as I nodded before closing my mouth.

We have walked all the way to the mall since Kody didn't want to drive in his dad's car and I somehow lost my car keys amongst my clothes back in Thea's room. I made a mental note that I would need to find it before we returned home. I sighed, my hands running down my face as I remembered the conversation I had with my parents before I left.

"Xavier, you don't need to be there," my mom had said, concern plastered on her face. "You don't need to see Thea's parents."

"Her dad requested me to accompany her," I had replied, clenching and unclenching my jaw. "And if it brings back her memories, then I would give up anything and everything."

My mom bit her lip, looking at my dad who hadn't even said a word during the conversation but only looked at me with disappointment. I rolled my eyes, expecting that look from my dad since I was basically used to it ever since I was fifteen, not living up to his expectations yet he didn't check on me or my school grades.

"Xavy, are you leaving me?" my sweet little sister, Kiki, had asked sadly.

It pained me to see my little sister sad because my parents had never really paid any attention to her since they were so busy.

"I'll be back before you know it, sweet pea," I answered with a smile.

"Promise?" she had asked with her pinky out.

I chuckled and nodded, hooking my pinky with hers before locking the promise with our thumbs. Kiki leaped in excitement before rushing back upstairs where our butler was meeting her to help her clean her room. I looked at my parents who only sighed heavily, my dad walking away towards his office whereas my mom kissed my forehead before following him.

"Xavier, do you know them?" Keith asked, nudging me as it brought me out of my world in the process.

I looked up to see three girls whispering to each other and pointing their phones at me, assuming to either Snapchat me or take a photo of me. If I hadn't met Thea, I would go up to them and use my best pick up lines and easily flirt with them to make them swoon at my feet but now, I felt like my perspectives had changed. So instead of flashing them the smile, I let my eyes travel towards Thea who was looking at her bottle of water with satisfaction.

"No," I simply answered.

"Well, they look like they want to get in your pants," Keith informed me as I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked out of the blue.

The words were on the tip of my tongue.

"I do have someone that I have a certain crush on," Keith answered distantly, his eyes trained on Thea. "But, Thea needs me."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"We're going to Sephora!" Kody shouted, waving like a maniac before taking Thea by the wrist and already pulling her to the store.

"We'll wait for you here!" Keith shouted back in response before looking at me with a heavy sigh. "She hasn't told you?"

I shook my head, still confused.

"This is between me and you," Keith whispered with a serious tone of voice. "This is Thea's deepest secret."

I arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think you can trust me?"

"Yo, I know who you are," Keith answered with a laugh. "You were there for Thea and I also know that you have a thing for her. I even know that you were in a lot of her childhood photographs that she has kept in her room."

"How do you know this?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm one of Thea's most trusted people in the whole world."

I nodded my head slowly, understanding him a bit.

"When Thea was 10," Keith started slowly, his breath shaky. "She was in a car accident with her mom. Her mom recovered quite quickly but it was such a horrifying car accident, one that I wished Thea wasn't in. One of the air bags in the car didn't work so Thea had hit her head quite hard and her injuries were most severe since the car crashed into her side."

The pieces were starting to be placed together.

"She was in a coma for a few months and when she had woken up, she suffered from memory loss but only bits of memory of her childhood were taken away," Keith continued as he sighed, looking up at the bright, blue sky as the sun radiated on our skins. I leaned in as I listened intently. "She doesn't remember the car accident or anything before that but she does remember her dad leaving her and how she had traveled for two years to get away from him."

My heart beat was increasing because never have I ever thought that Thea had suffered something like that at such a young age. I sighed, looking around, now knowing why she doesn't remember me or anything about her childhood. My eyes came across Thea who was being practically dragged by Kody from store to store with an annoyed facial expression yet I saw a smile playing on her lips.

"But that wasn't all," Keith whispered catching my attention as my eyes drew towards him, his fists clenched. "When my dad married her mom, he was very abusive to Thea for a few months when her mom wasn't around and of course, Kody and I didn't know until bruises on her body parts and cuts were visible."

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief, disgusted by the images that I was imagining in my head.

Keith nodded. "That's why we're so protective of Thea."

I nodded, speechless until something hit me. "Her dad's an FBI agent, maybe if I told him-"

"Do not tell anyone," Keith interrupted with a cold tone of voice. "Thea will tell you when the time comes. We tried so hard to trigger her memory but nothing's working."

Before I could say anything, Thea and Kody was approaching us with huge smiles on their faces and a lot of shopping bags on both of their arms. Keith and I watched Thea's huge smile dissolve and as soon as she got closer to us, she placed her bags down, her eyes searched my face as if she was trying to find out what I was hiding. It was too late to plaster on a blank facial expression for her eyes had already widened. Her eyes traveled towards Keith who instantly looked down, avoiding any eye contact with her before meeting my eyes again.

They say it all.

Betrayal and hurt were shown.

Kody sat next to Keith who was bemused as he scratched the back of his neck whilst his eyes traveled amongst the three of us.

"You told him, didn't you Keith?" Thea asked, her voice soft and small as if she was a fragile piece of glass that was going to shatter.

Keith gulped audibly and closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling. "How did you know?"

Thea frowned. "It was obvious."

"Thea, do you remember him?"

A hope sparked in my chest as I made eye contact with her. I knew Thea was racking her brain once again by her clenched jaw and her eyes, focusing very hard on my face but tears were starting to well up, knowing that she was frustrated. "He's Xavier, the guy I met through Aubree."

I felt as if I have been punched in the stomach hard, then left my insides empty.

"I can't believe you told Xavier." Her words were cold and stern.

And with that, Thea walked away and without a glance back as she disappeared in the noisy crowd. Keith gathered her shopping bags before following after her whereas Kody grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me forward, the both of us running after Keith.