𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄.
laura stared at older adam.
she gently placed a hand on his face, like he was porcelain; like he wasn't real.
older cherry gagged.
adam and i looked at each-other.
"you know what you have to do." laura began.
"no. no, i came back for you." adam said, eyes not completely fixated on her.
older cherry made eye contact with him.
"i know." laura looked down. "but we can't have a life here. not like this. now you have to go back to 2018, and you have to put things right. you have to put an end to all this."
"this is so sad." i whispered to adam.
he didn't respond, too busy chewing.
"it's not gonna run away from you. chill." i stared at him.
he rolled his eyes.
"what do you mean put an end to it?" adam asked.
"i mean, stop time travel from ever being invented and save the future." laura explained.
"fine. come with me, and we'll-"
"your jet is meshed for your dna. it won't fly with anyone else."
i flew in it just fine, and i definitely wasn't adam, or have his dna.
what is wrong with me?
am i some weird sort of fuck up?
am i some glitch in some giant system?
am i penelope from that one movie? or is it venelope? the little girl from wreck it ralph?
holy shit.
what the fuck is going on?
"you're smart. you can figure it out." older adam insisted to his wife.
"adam!" she yelled.
"we meet in the program. we meet there! do you understand that? we can't-" he trailed off.
he met cherry in the program. he couldn't lose her.
she basically invented him.
he didn't know who he'd be without her. without her effect.
without her love.
their love.
"and that's an extremely big if, with sorian on my ass." older adam continued. "we never meet. we never happen. we never happen, ch- laura."
"we did happen." laura said, placing her hands on his face. "every moment we ever had will always have happened."
i watched as the older version of myself seemed to crumble.
her eyes were filled with tears.
oh my god, she wants him so bad.
that's so sad! and she can't have him. what the fuck? he has a wife!
it's me though, so, i agree with myself!
actually no, i hate homewreckers.
am i a homewrecker?
am i wrecking a future home by dating adam?
"every moment we ever had will always have happened. even if we correct the time stream, somewhere in us will be the echo of this one. and we will find each other. i really believe that." laura reassured.
"what if we don't? what if you're wrong? what about cherry? she's my bestfriend." adam said, terrified. "she always will be."
"i'm never wrong. we'll all meet again." laura said, tears in her eyes.
"am i gonna work a fucking 9 to 5 if time travel doesn't exist?" my older self panicked.
"hey, hey. i can't do this again, okay?" older adam begged.
"wait. i'm only in this reality because of time travel, huh?" i realized, horrified.
i began to panic.
adam was no longer being nosey and staring at the emotional couple.
"so you're going to take away cherry from me? no. i'm not gonna let you do that." adam said, terrified. "you can't do that!"
"no. this is not happening to me. i love adam!" i said, eyes welling up with tears.
"you're not gonna sacrifice me." my older self glared.
a loud beep was heard, interrupting our argument.
"what was that?" adam asked.
"they found us." laura said.
she stood up, and ran into the house. she came back out with a duffel bag. "there's a dirt road around the bed. we'll buy you the time you guys need to get to your jet."
no way this bitch is sacrificing me.
"no. i'm not leaving." older adam said. "those guys'll kill you."
"no. i've had years to rig my defenses they'll never see me coming, but if they catch you, then it's over." laura promised him.
adam grabbed my hand, and yanked me over to the car.
"i'm not losing you. hurry up." adams voice was shakey.
"i'm not gonna explode." i tried to joke.
"but what if you do! what if you just disappear? what if i'm holding onto you and you're fucking gone? and i don't remember you?"
"you won't forget me. i'm too much of a problem."
"i love you."
"i love you, too."
"adam, stop it! please!" laura cried out. "i know you came for me. but now you have to leave for me. please. we can fix this."
she shoved him into the car.
"just go, adam." older cherry encouraged.
"i can't go without you." older adam replied.
"i'm right there." she tried to joke, but she stood frozen.
i could see her entire world crash down.
my entire world crash down.
i was not going to let myself experience this twice. i was not going to lose adam twice.
i couldn't lose him.
i'm in love with him.
with my soul, my spirit, everything i've done in this world will never compare to my love for adam.
"adam, i love you." older cherry blurted. "i care about you. i forgive you. you're my.. bestfriend."
she couldn't even say that she was in love with him. that she'd always been in love with him, and always would be.
she'd spent her entire life being sad about it, and now she was going to disappear without being able to tell him.
but adam wrapped his arms around her, and i knew he understood.
"i care about you, too."
but he couldn't say love.
adam smiled, and then got into the car. we drove away, and i couldn't bring myself to look back like adam did.
"god damn it!" he slammed his hands against the wheel.
older cherry and laura ran inside the cabin as soon as the car pulled away.
laura pulled open a piece of wood in the floor, pulling out weapons.
"you're in love with my husband, aren't you?" she asked, out of no where.
"i always have been." cherry replied, while setting up her own weapon.
"oh." she said, slamming the door shut.
"i'm sorry." cherry apologized, helping her up.
"you can't control it. i just wish you would've told me before." laura spoke.
they walked to the door.
"when would i have told you?" cherry asked, walking out onto the open land with her.
just an hour ago, they were sitting there together, happy.
"i don't know, in the four years we were alone together?" laura asked, powering up the device.
the pair watched the black car get closer and closer.
"while you were grieving your husband? no. why would i ever do that to somebody? i lived with it, for twenty years. i loved him in silence so you could be happy!" cherry said, hand on the gun.
"i know. and i know he loves you too. i can't bring myself to pretend anymore. when he told me loved me, i know he was looking at you. but i didn't have anything else to hold onto." laura finally confessed, as the car pulled into the driveway.
100 feet away.
"so i guess we were both grieving in silence."
90 feet away.
"yeah."
80 feet away.
"i hope my younger self can be happy, though."
70 feet away.
"if she lives."
60 feet away.
"maybe she'll live and we won't. i pray the universe is kind enough for that."
50 feet away.
"she deserves to be happy with him."
40 feet away.
"yeah."
30 feet away.
"you know what's gonna happen, right?"
20 feet away.
"mhm. if i disappear, she disappears."
10 feet away.
"and adam will remember neither of us."
the car was right there.
laura pressed down on the button, and the black car exploded.