Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card

HOME JESS

I sat next to Laura in the hard plastic chairs just outside international arrivals, the kind that made your back ache after five minutes and your patience dwindle even faster. The sliding glass doors in front of us remained stubbornly closed, with no one walking out for the last t "Nothing yet," I'd told her over and over. It didn't stop her from calling again.

Laura sat beside me, her knee bouncing like she was trying to launch herself into orbit. Her teeth worried the edge of her nail. I rested my hand on my stomach, feeling the baby kick visibly through her shirt. There was a tiny ripple in my stomach that felt more like a butterfly Laura shot me a look. "What if they don't remember?" Her voice was small, barely audible over the hum of the airport.

I frowned, caught off guard. "Why wouldn't they remember?"

Laura turned to face me fully, her brows furrowed. "Jess, look how fast you lost your memory from one little bump." She gestured vaguely, her nail pointing at nothing in particular.

I wanted to laugh it off, to tell her she was being ridiculous. But she wasn't wrong. I had lost my memories after a single fall

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down the stairs. Entire chunks of my life had vanished.

"That was different," I said softly, not entirely sure I believed it myself.

through. Laura broke the silence again, her voice trembling now. "Jess, they fell thirty thousand feet. Thirty thousand. You don't just walk away from that... At least, I don't think you do. What if— what if-" "Stop," I said sharply, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly. Her

said to keep someone else calm, not because you knew them to be true. Laura sniffled,

won't be." My

snapped toward me, her eyes wide and glistening. "You don't

didn't. The truth was, I had no idea what to expect. We'd waited for this moment

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that things might not

twisted my

pulling wheeled luggage behind them, chatting in various languages, reuniting with loved ones. None of them were who we were waiting for. Laura

said, though my voice sounded hollow to

own ears.

and

glued to the entrance, her

began to wander despite