RAIN POUNDED AGAINST THE HILTON INN'S glass in the chilly 7:30 evening. Takashi sat on the hotel's small love seat couch, in the dark. It's where he's been since six in the morning as soon as he showered and brushed his teeth. It was his first movement from the bed in days. He still wore the same deadpan expression, being motionless and staring at nothingness.

Not even Toryn's confession of regaining her memory had garnered a reaction out of him. She had delivered the message to him through voicemails and text messages days ago. It partially made him feel good, but it didn't last long. He couldn't sleep, eat or function. He had no clue what time it was, what day it was or what was going on around him. He felt weak both physically and mentally.

His phone started buzzing on the bed and he glanced at it. He tried to keep himself occupied with happy thoughts because sometimes he would hear his mother's voice. Especially when he closed his eyes. It was the most cruelest thing his mind was doing to him. So he fought sleep and always tried to keep himself busy.

He got up and walked over to the bed. He picked the phone up, dressed in only black sweatpants that began to sag a little due to the couple of pounds he'd lost during his two week stay. He saw ten new text messages and five new voicemails from today alone. Not feeling like reading anything, he opted to listen to the voicemails only.

The automated female voice machine came on, "New voicemail...today at eleven thirty two AM..." after a beep, the sound of a sniffling Braelyn came on. "Um...hi honey, it's Braelyn. I'm not calling to be annoying I'm just really worried about you. I hope you're okay, Bri asks for you everyday. I miss you and I wish you would just come home. I just want you to know I'm here for you, I love you."

The message finished as a new one came on. It started with a little static in the back and weird noises as if the person was fumbling with the phone. Takashi walked over to the hotel bedroom window, using his index and middle fingers to push the blinds apart. He peeked outside just in time to see lightening turn the world silver for a moment.

"New voicemail...today at six o' clock PM...Hey Takashi this is Tyrell...uh...bro, don't be pissed. I messed up but I spoke to your wife today... and she broke me. I told her where you are. I know, I'm sorry, but she was so distraught. The crying got to me, man. I'm sorry, don't be mad."

Takashi sucked his teeth violently, glaring at the phone as if it was Tyrell himself. The voicemail was left over an hour and a half ago, which meant Braelyn got the drop some time ago. But it would still take some time for her to get out here, which Takashi hoped she wouldn't.

Just as he was about to play another message there was a knock on his room door. He knew it obviously wasn't Braelyn. He figured it was room service. Every time they came he sent them away. The last three days they were coming frequently however, knocking more than two or three times a day sometimes. He figured the staff were beginning to think he was into some shady business and was getting suspicious of the man who never came out of his room.

Takashi figured just to ease their minds he would show his face this time, just to show them he was a normal man in hopes of them leaving him alone. He walked over to the door and pulled the latch off, opening the door. He saw Toryn and instead of his eyebrows raising, they pushed together. He was surprised, but his face only showed limited expressions these days.

He looked behind her and saw a big, burly Asian security guard. Probably skeptical that she knew the person up here. Takashi just stepped to the side and opened the door wider for her to step in. He closed the door behind him and turned to face her. She was soaked from head to toe, showing that nature had won against her battle to stay dry. Toryn was livid, the weather was so bad outside the water had started building up in certain areas. Some asshole taxi driver had sped past and drenched her in nasty flood water.

She said nothing to him as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind herself. Takashi soon heard the shower come on and he sat on the bed, putting his hands over his face. He had no clue how she found him, but he wasn't ready to deal with anyone yet. He just wanted to be left alone. What was so hard about that? He would only have needed a month or two the most. It sounded long but it really wasn't.

Toryn scrubbed her hair inside the shower, cursing loudly as she only had a tiny sample bottle of soap and shampoo. She used up both bottles, determined to scrub her body clean. She knew room service had hundreds of these things for their guests so Takashi could get plenty. She wasn't worried about using all of it. She wouldn't take the chance of getting any ring worms or infections from the puddle water outside. After hand washing her undergarments she hung them up, hoping to ask the hotel to wash her clothes.

Toryn stepped out and wrapped a white towel from the built in rack on the wall around herself. She was shivering and cold. She walked into the bedroom and spotted Takashi's duffle bag sitting on the floor near the closet. He noticed her going through his things but he said nothing. There was nothing anyone could do or say that would warrant a reaction from him.

He saw Toryn grab one of his plain white t-shirts and a pair of boxers before she disappeared behind him. Probably to get dressed. He was right when in less than a minute she appeared in front of him, with folded arms. He stared at her bubble gum painted toe nails first before his eyes slowly came upward. One of her long legs crossed over the other. His plaid boxers covered her and his plain white tee came down a little past her thighs. It had almost three weeks since they were face to face.

He was looking good still, but clearly stressed. His eyes were no longer the same and neither was his smile. He didn't look like a broken man, but Toryn knew him. If she didn't have her memory he may have been able to fool her, but she was her old self again. She knew him better than he knew himself. He was hurting. Toryn stood in front of him, her brown eyes stinging with salt water.

Takashi's eyes met her's and a dark silence fell over the room. "Why are you here?" He whispered. It was the first words he'd spoken to her in two weeks.

He knew maybe she was here because she was probably wondering about her living arrangements. Now that Laura was dead the house had to go on sale. He didn't think his mom had finished paying the house down so it wasn't written in a will for him. Because of that, Takashi would have to find somewhere for her to stay. The house she was in for now would probably be where he would keep her.

Toryn stared at him, ignoring his question as she tapped her foot repeatedly, arms folded and seeming upset. Takashi was confused. He wondered if he had done something to her. Then he realized. Maybe there was no food in the house. How had she been eating for the past few weeks? Was the heat in the house not working? Did she have any money on her?

Toryn watched her best friend, his brown skin not really seeming to glow anymore. The moon wasn't out so that could have had something to do with it, but she seriously doubted it. She hated to see him like this.

Takashi just watched her back not knowing what to say to her. He noticed she had her glasses on. Her huge black nerdy prescriptions. The one trait about her that was the old Toryn. She wasn't in her contacts and her hair wasn't down or in bundles. It was in a ponytail, he even noticed her eyes the size of dishes through her thick lens...she was his dork again.

Toryn's lips trembled as she came toward him, shuffling so hard, the soles of her feet could be heard scraping the cheap carpet. She dropped to her knees between his legs and stretched her arms toward him. Placing one of her small hands on the back of his head, she pulled him down into her body. His face went in the crock of her neck as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.

It was silent for two seconds. And just like that...he cracked.

Takashi burst into tears as he gripped Toryn tightly, now pulling her into his body. He held her like she personally belonged to him as his hands trembled. Hot tears raced down his face as he let out every bit of pain into her. Toryn couldn't hold her composure as she cried silently with him, his broken heart affecting her in so many ways.

The wind whipped outside harsh and unrelenting, blocking out the sounds of his agony. Toryn was almost glad for it, she didn't want the sound of a man in pain to haunt her. His body racked violently. Anyone passing may have thought he was laughing at a really good joke, but it was him unsuccessfully trying to keep the painful sounds of an imaginary knife poking at his heart, at bay.

Toryn didn't want to say something stupid like 'everything is going to be okay' because it wouldn't be. His mother was dead. A woman who had him at only fourteen and raised him. A woman who was honestly his first best friend. His first love. She was gone and never coming back. The woman he had the luxury of having in his life for twenty five years...she was now a part of the earth's soil. There was absolutely nothing she could say, so that's exactly what she said, nothing. She just stayed silent and allowed him to cry.

His skin was hot, he was squeezing her body so tightly it hurt. He sobbed, the sound of his tears resembling the hard drops of rain outside when it hit her skin. Toryn looked straight ahead across the room unblinking as her own face was cold and wet from her tears as well. Toryn was hurting too, but she could never put herself on the level of pain he was in.

While Laura did take her in and become her family, that was Takashi's blood family. And even though Toryn's feelings did come close, nobody would ever really understand how he felt. She closed her eyes, inhaling his scent as she rubbed the back of his head. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity; but Toryn didn't care. Nothing else mattered right now.

Lightening ripped through the sky, followed by raging thunder. Toryn closed her eyes which did nothing to help the stream of her tears. Takashi held onto her for dear life. After a while he had become quiet, but never broke his hold on her. She sniffled and when she tried to move Takashi gripped her tighter. She knew he probably didn't want her to see his face.

"Taka..."

The minute Takashi heard that sweet voice in his ear he knew she remembered. Just from her tone alone. It's exactly how the old Toryn said his name. He clenched his jaws as millions of tiny goosebumps took over his arms. Even though he received this news about her memory a while ago, things were way too hectic for him to really soak it in. Now that he was seeing her up close, he was soaking it in.

"You're hurting me," Toryn said softly. She hated to complain at a time like now, but she could literally almost feel both sides of her ribcage touching.

Takashi's head was pounding and he felt numb. Physically and emotionally. It had him questioning God at this point. If God was real, what kind of God would make a normal human being suffer this way? He wasn't a rapist or a murderer. He didn't pray on the poor and needy or young and old. He wasn't perfect...but why did his punishment have to be so harsh? What did he do?

"Taka I promise I'm not going anywhere, I just need you to let up a bit." Toryn pleaded softly.

Takashi finally let go like she asked, but quickly placed his elbows on his knees and put his hands over his face. Toryn stood up and felt every bone in her body crack as she did a minor stretch. She felt so bad for him knowing there was nothing she could do to ease his pain. "No Tee, don't do that," She whispered, wrapping her hands around his wrist. His muscles tightened, signaling he wasn't moving his hands from his face.

The room was quiet, the TV screen black and the plain white walls almost too clean to look at. Toryn knew better than to stand there and stare at him, looking sympathetic. So she instead pulled his head into her stomach and began massaging the top of his head, telling him random things. She talked about seeing this dress she liked at the mall, and about juicy TV shows.

She had actually learned this trait in the Spice mansion. So many of the men came in there and it wasn't always to have sex. Some of them had miserable lives and they used the hookers as a listening ear. She's seen some men cry over the years for various reasons. She learned that it wasn't smart to ask somebody dumb stuff she knew the answers too or stare them in the face when they were obviously feeling some type of way. Instead you consoled them and just made conversation. Even if they weren't talking back, just like Takashi wasn't. It just made them feel comfortable and not self conscious like they were no longer men because they were showing emotion. She didn't want to bring Laura up because if he wanted to talk about it he would. It was better not to force it.

Toryn amused herself telling him stories. She had not the slightest idea if he was listening or not, but she rambled off, reminding him of some type of incident on their thirteenth birthday. The calm nature in the room didn't last long as a hard crackling followed by what sounded like a drum set falling out of the sky vibrated the building, making Toryn nearly scream. Rain started to come down even harder as thunder and lightening lit up the skies. Just when she had calmed things down, nature had put a damper on the mood.

Toryn put a hand on her heart and was getting ready to laugh to herself about how shook she just got, when Takashi unexpectedly pulled her hand. He tugged on her so hard she flew forward, falling on top of him. She put her hands out to try and brace her fall but ended up straddling his lap, putting them face to face. Before Toryn could protest, Takashi buried his face in her breasts and locked his arms around her waist. He didn't mean anything by it, he just wanted to be close to someone.

Toryn didn't know what to say in that moment. She was like a deer caught in headlights. Her fast heartbeat...she knew he could feel it. The t-shirt she wore wasn't much of a barrier against the heat of his bare flesh. Toryn hesitated but wrapped her arms around his head...it felt right. This was Takashi Maxwell. Her best friend. Taka.

Toryn rested her chin on top his head but didn't say anything.

She honestly wanted them to go back to his second house, the one she was staying at. Everything he needed was already there. She wanted him as close to her as possible because she didn't know how his mental was right now. She didn't exactly know if he was suicidal, because they had never gone through a dire situation for her to know if he would take his life or not; but she would never put anything past anybody.

"...She died in the house by herself...she was left there for hours." His voice was frail and hoarse. "...I didn't even get to say bye to her."

"C'mere baby..." Toryn whispered, lifting his chin up so she could see him. "I know, and I'm so sorry for that. Ma knows you love her, and you know that too. It was peaceful, no pain. She's in heaven where she belongs and she needs you to lift yourself up to make her proud."

His phone pinged on the pillow nearby.

"She needed me to be a son and I wasn't. She needed me to pay for her operation and I couldn't." He said, his face damp with guilt and shame. His eyelashes were wet and shiny.

Toryn put her hands on either side of his face, looking into his eyes. His arms were still around her protectively. He looked like a broken little boy. They were inches apart from each other, his large hands holding her waist. Toryn bent down and closed her eyes before kissing his temple, then the bridge of his nose.

"Don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault and you know your mother would never think that either. I'll never tell you it's gonna be okay because it won't be. And I'm not gonna tell you things will go back to normal because it probably won't. But I can tell you this," she softly swiped her thumb across his cheek, their brown eyes making direct eye contact as she rose her eyebrows. "I need you here, with me."

He said nothing else and returned his face to her chest like a shy little boy. The rain poured outside, causing cars to drench the sidewalk as they sped by. It was so hard for Toryn herself. Laura was her mother figure, her dad's best friend. She wondered how their relationship was. Her nor Takashi never got to ask. Toryn looked up at the ceiling when she felt tears of her own coming. God please do not let me start in front of this man, she prayed. She needed to hold it together, not make things worse.

Toryn felt her chin being pulled down, looking into Takashi's diamond shaped eyes.

"Yeah...what's up?" Toryn mumbled, putting her hand over his as he held her chin. His hands were slim but large and masculine. They were so big compared to her's. Her best friend really did become a man.

His phone pinged again.

Takashi's heart was running rampant. It felt like a hamster in a hamster's wheel. Just racing a mile a minute. He was breathing a little funny and his chest felt heavy, but he didn't know why. He guessed it was from his lack of movement for the past few days. "Promise me you'll never forget about me again...please."

"I promise, we'll always be together."

Takashi nodded his head and placed his hands back on her waist. They subconsciously moved upward under the t-shirt, stopping just below her breasts. Toryn had to hold her breath, suddenly remembering just how physically close they were. He closed his eyes and rested on her. He could feel the metallic shaped toy rings in her nipples against his face. If only he could go back in time and change everything. His mother would still be alive.

Toryn picked his head up, a soft smile on her face. "I love you, stink. And I'll be next to you no matter what. Nobody can break our bond." She wiped a tear forming in his right eye. "So please don't cry, you still have me and I'm not going anywhere." Toryn gave his forehead a friendly kiss, then his neck, then his cheek.

She felt Takashi's nails dig into her sides, indicating her words were getting to him. It was making him more vulnerable but it's what he needed to hear right now. She continued to kiss him and whisper words of encouragement in his ear.

Before she knew it, he laid her back on the bed and was on top of her. His pendulum swinging back and forth. Toryn's eyebrows got into a perfect arch as her mouth turned into an 'o.' She watched Takashi's face coming toward her and tried to pull her head back, but it didn't really go anywhere, already sitting on top of a plush white pillow. Takashi bent down, his voice shaking by her ear.

"Tell me you love me..."