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.

gaze, willing them to open, willing someone familiar to step 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

the words firmly, like I believed them, but deep down, uncertainty gnawed at me. They were the kind of words you said to keep someone else calm, not because you knew

My voice cracked,

her eyes

idea what

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that things might not go back to the

What if we were unrecognizable to them? The thought twisted my stomach in

straighter, our breaths catching. A flood of passengers spilled out, pulling wheeled luggage behind them, chatting in various languages, reuniting with loved ones. None of them were who we were waiting for. Laura sagged back into her seat,

come," I said, though my voice sounded hollow

own ears.

and it'll be

eyes stayed glued to the entrance, her lips pressed

my mind began to wander despite my best efforts. I