Disclaimer: I don't own anything connected to Phil of the Future. The song used is Out of the Blue by Aly and AJ, and obviously I don't own that either.
A/N: I started this months ago, but lazy me only just now finally finished. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review to let me know what you think.
Keely stared hopelessly at the math problem, not knowing where to start. In an hour all she'd managed to do was write her name on the top of the paper, which was already more than could be said for the previous night's homework. Absentmindedly she began to doodle in the margins, but erased it as soon as she realized what she was writing. She'd written his name. The person who'd usually be there to help her with math. The person who'd stolen her heart. The person who'd been forbidden to see her.
When something's pure
How can people just say we're not meant to me
And when something's true
How can people just keep me away from you
Two weeks ago, everything had been great. No, everything had been perfect. Keely and Phil had finally moved beyond "just friends" to boyfriend and girlfriend, and Keely couldn't have been happier. After years of trying to push away her feelings for Phil she discovered that he actually returned them. No more sleepless nights wondering if he'd ever like her back, no more endless debates with herself if they could remain friends if he rejected her. Everything was finally falling into place.
And then it fell apart.
They hadn't planned on keeping their relationship a secret, not seeing any need for it. So, naturally, the Diffys found out. They should've kept it a secret. The conversation played out vividly in Keely's head.
"I'm nearing a breakthrough on the time machine!" Lloyd had nearly shouted. "We could be going back any day now, it's not the time to get attached to something in the past!"
"Keely's not a 'something,' Dad," Phil defended. "She's been my best friend ever since we landed here, and I l--"
"I don't care," Lloyd interrupted. "Who knows how much we've already changed the future just by being here, and you two getting involved will just change things even more. Keely, I'm sorry, but you need to leave."
Keely had been shocked, to say the least. She'd always been welcomed in the Diffy's house, and now she was being kicked out. Turning to Phil, she hoped he'd tell her to stay, but he was too busy staring at his shoes to make eye contact with her. Trying to blink back the tears from her eyes, Keely made her way to the front door to let herself out.
The next day at school neither Phil nor Pim were there. Worried they'd gone back to the future already without saying goodbye, Keely rushed to the Diffy's house as soon as her last class was over.
To her relief, Barbara answered the door, though she didn't step aside to let her in like she always had before.
"Can I see Phil, please?" Keely asked anxiously.
"He's not home from school yet."
"But he wasn't at school today!" she protested with a frown.
"They both transferred to the other local high school," Barbara said, not quite meeting Keely's eyes.
Keely didn't bother to ask why, she knew it had to be because of her and Phil. She turned to leave, but Barbara stopped her.
"Keely, wait. I know this is really hard on both of you. But think about it, you two are from different centuries, totally different times. What would you do when the time machine finally gets fixed?"
"We'd cross that bridge when, if, it came," Kelly said shortly, then left the Diffy's house for the last time.
Suddenly I'm all alone
Pushed away from nothing wrong
Don't you have the guts to say
How you feel about me
A beep from her watch brought Keely out of her memories and into the present. She glanced at her watch, it was already ten. Knowing she wouldn't get anything done no matter how much longer she sat there, Keely shut her math book and returned it to her backpack.
What bothered her most about the whole situation was Phil had not once tried to contact her. How hard could it be to sneak a phone call, or even drop by her house? Did he really not care that much? But what he'd said to his dad… "She's been my best friend ever since we landed here, and I l--"
What had be been about to say? Like? Love?
But it didn't matter anyway. When Lloyd asked her to leave, Phil didn't do a thing. Keely couldn't even remember the last thing he'd said to her, or she'd said to him, everything that had happened right before that confrontation was now a blur.
Out of the blue
They said we couldn't be together
I have to get over you
We've been given no choice
We have no voice
Out of the blue
Can't even call on the telephone
Don't even know, if you're at home
Since Barbara had turned her away at the door, Keely hadn't tried to contact Phil again. A part of her felt she was being stupid for being mad at Phil for not contacting her when she was making no effort herself, but she just argued back that any effort on her part would be fruitless. Stopping by the house hadn't worked, and wasn't likely to work any time soon. Calling on the phone would only work if Phil answered, and she didn't want to risk calling and having to talk to Lloyd or Barbara again.
Keely had never gone so long without talking to Phil since they'd became friends, and she was now wondering how she'd ever gotten along before then.
They could be back in the future now, and I wouldn't know it, Keely thought, before pushing it quickly away. The logical part of her mind told her the Diffys had been stuck there for over two years now, and the chances of the time machine finally getting fixed in just the past two weeks was very slim. But Lloyd had said he was close to a breakthrough, and what if he was actually right this time?
But to control just how we feel
Is between you and I, not for one to steal
What Keely hated most about the whole situation was how Phil's parents were so interfering. Did they really think Keely and Phil hadn't thought about the time issue? Keely couldn't count how many times she had tried to push back her feelings for Phil, to keep herself from getting hurt when the machine would finally be fixed. Losing Phil as her best friend would be one thing, but she hadn't thought she'd be able to stand it if she lost him after being even more.
Suddenly I'm all alone
Pushed away from nothing wrong
Don't you have the guts to say
How you feel about me
Out of the blue
They said we couldn't be together
I have to get over you
We've been given no choice
We have no voice
Just wanna hear what you've got to say
Are you feelin' the same, 'cuz I'm not OK
Thought when we met, there was something more
But the others said no - they shut the door
And now she had lost him, but while he was still in the 21st century. The time machine wasn't fixed, at least, to her knowledge. In any case, it hadn't been fixed when they'd been told they couldn't be together. She'd always imagined if they were eventually separated it would be by over a hundred years, not just a couple of blocks.
Keely looked at a framed picture of her and Phil sitting on her desk. Phil had his arm wrapped around her, wearing one of his smiles that had played a role in Keely's falling for him. Suddenly full of anger, both at him and their situation, she turned the picture facedown.
Out of the blue
They said we couldn't be together
I have to get over you
We've been given no choice
We have no voice
"What, have you gotten tired of looking at me already?"
Keely snapped her head around to see Phil in her doorway, a smile on his face to rival the one in the picture. Mixed emotions filled Keely, and she wasn't sure what to say.
"What are you doing here?" she finally settled on.
"I dropped by to borrow a cup of sugar," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I'm here to see you."
"And why are you only showing up now? What was wrong with the last fourteen days?" Keely asked. She was thrilled to finally see him again, but still angry at his lack of contact.
"Mind if I come in?" Phil asked, suddenly looking somewhat nervous. Keely shook her head, and he sat down on her bed, looking around a bit before speaking. "One reason I didn't come over sooner is my parents have really been keeping a close eye on me, Dad especially. But I've also been doing a lot of thinking…"
"Hope you didn't hurt yourself," Keely muttered, though she was curious to what he'd been thinking about.
"Did I ever mention to you the first rule in time traveling?" Phil asked suddenly. "It's 'Don't change the past.' We can travel and visit, but we're not supposed to interfere. Imagine if someone accidentally interfered with the invention of the time machine, and messed things up so it was ever invented. Well then if it was never invented, the person wouldn't have been able to go back in time to mess it up in the first place."
"And what does this have to do with anything?" Keely asked with a frown.
Phil sighed.
"Time is complicated. The smallest thing can have the largest impact.Us being together is changing the past, or actually the future from this point in time, and we don't know really how much we're changing."
"So that's it?" Keely asked, trying to ignore the sudden pain in her chest. "You agree with your parents?"
"Nooo," Phil said, quickly shaking his head. "I fully disagree with their actions, this is something that should be left up to us to decide. It's just, I can see where they're coming from."
Keely took her time before she answered, taking in all that Phil had said. She understood the problem of altering events in time, but she didn't like the trapped feeling that she felt accompanying that knowledge.
"Here's the thing," she finally replied. "From my view, the future hasn't happened yet. I know obviously it has, because you're from it and you're here. But if I'd never met you, I wouldn't be worrying about how my actions are going to affect hundreds of lives in the future. Of course I'd think about the future, but my future, not one hundred years from now. I don't want to have to think about the next century, and base my actions on what's supposed to happen. I want to make my own decisions. I want to be with you."
Phil stood up and crossed the room to be standing right next to her.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he whispered, before leaning in to kiss her.
Out of the blue
We knew we should've been together
Don't wanna get over you
When love makes a choice
It has a voice
Out of the blue…