Exactly

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it? Fine, fine. I don't own Phil of the Future. Happy?

Rating: K+

Another one-shot! Woot! This one, like usual, just came to me, and I rather like this idea. Tell me what you think by reviewing! Hope you enjoy it. :)

"In the future, will you wait for me?"

That was last year. Exactly one year to be exact. Three hundred, sixty-five days. Eight thousand seven hundred sixty hours. Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. Long days, longer hours, tedious minutes.

I asked him to wait for me in the future. The future was only a ride away for him. The future was a long way away for me.

He came three years ago, from the year 2121. He might've gone back to 2123. Two more years to wait. I'll keep it on his tab. One year down, one hundred sixteen years left.

For that first day, I fooled my sinking heart with a smile on my lips. His very lips touched mine. That took care of my one day. But not the rest. I should've gotten a kiss for the rest to get me through. I'll keep that on his tab. I'll tell him in the future; he'll owe me a kiss for every day he wasn't there. That's forty-two thousand, seven hundred five kisses, minus one, because of the first day.

Of course… if I'm there in the future. One hundred sixteen years is a long time. I'm seventeen now. My birthday passed without him recently, and I couldn't help remembering his gift from last year. I wonder what it would've been this year. I might have to wonder for another one hundred sixteen.

You know what I realize? This sounds like all the sob stories you always hear. The ones where you just wonder why they don't just get over it? Why they don't just find someone else? A lot of people do. But maybe they've never felt so strongly about someone else. Of course, this has been my first time. I wonder if it'll ever happen again… I doubt it.

It's kind of funny how you can actually live without living. Really, it is. I don't even have my heart right now… at least in the figurative sense. It's with him currently.

I've looked back on pictures of us a lot, so many times that after one year, the edges are worn, tattered from so much handling. But then there are the memories.

They keep playing over in my head. Over and over. He's always so amazing in them. I almost wonder if I'm remembering correctly, because he's so godly amazing. But I must be… it's him.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. Maybe I'm expecting every guy to be like him. Every first kiss, no, every kiss to be like his… ours. Fireworks.

I hope I see him again one day… if I'm there in the future. Just one hundred sixteen years: exactly.

Maybe we'll find each other, one day in the future. Or he'll find me… at least, I hope he will.

I don't think I'll ever get over him. But I hope he'll find a girl to be happy with, eventually. I can't live forever.

So him… the person who this letter is all about, the person this letter is for: Phil. I want you to be happy, because I love you. I'm holding on because I love you, because I want to wait for you. And if you love me a modicum of how much I love you, you'd want me to be happy too. Besides you, this is what will help make me happy. Even if I do hold on for the rest of my life and become that cat lady. Even if I defy the Giggle and never marry, I want you to find the girl who will make you happy. Who you love, and be with her… because I want you to be happy. Don't hold on just for me. Just… just don't forget me.

Love,
Keely
June 4, 2007

Slowly, with trembling hands, I brought the envelope to my face, sealing it and folding it down as impeccably as I could. This was meant to withstand the test of time.

With a shaky hand, I wrote his name down before bringing it to my face once again, kissing it, hoping to steal a kiss back sometime.

I slide off my chair, falling to my knees with the envelope in hand. With a quaver, I lifted the lid off of a clasped box, where all of my most prized possessions were held. A pressed flower from my sixteenth birthday, my favorite pictures, and a silver saltshaker. I ran my hand over these, feeling the ridges of the petals, the glossy, worn state of the photos, and the shiny metallic of the saltshaker before placing another thing in the box; the envelope.

He would find it… he had to.

I closed the box up, clasping it together unseeingly, hot tears trailing down my cheeks. Unsteadily, I got up, almost tripping because of my current blindness.

A sharp tap rapped on the door. "Coming," I whispered, my voice cracking as I exited my room. Again a knock, more urgent. "Coming," I called a little louder, restricted by the lump in my throat. I started down the stairs. A knock again. "Coming!" I finally managed to call, breaking through my voice as my fingertips reached the cold metal of the doorknob. I wrenched it open, entirely not in the mood for much company, just for my own melancholy.

I looked, not really seeing, my eyes blank until he called to me.

"Keely..." he whispered, his voice hopeful, apprehensive. "I found you."

"No..." I breathed as I saw, "no..." I felt faint, the world seemed to spin slower and slower, the tick of the clock more distant, the beat of my heart more disconnected. "It can't be... you can't be..."

I think I saw his head nod, through my furry vision, the world zooming back in and out of focus. Somewhere, I could hear a heavy breathing, floating somewhere around my face. I think it was me. My hand clutched the top of my head... and my knees buckled. I expected to fall, crash to the floor, like I had always done so recently.

But I didn't. Through my slow fall, I felt an arm lunge around me, accompanied soon by another, encircling my waist, gently clutching the small of my back, drawing me nearer to prevent my fall. I blinked rapidly, confused by my fall, or lack thereof. Slowly, my eyes cleared, my heavy breathing slowed, only to start again when I realized how close I was to him. But it couldn't be. It was… "Impossible," I whispered in a contradictory fashion, hope seemed to be etched into every breath I took, every syllable formed. "Impossible…"

I stared at him, longing clear in my eyes as I was held in his arms.

"Keely…"

I wanted to touch him, convince myself that he was real. Feel his cheek, his lips, all I had remembered. Maybe it was all an illusion, maybe it wasn't him holding me in his arms, but really another boy, just another boy.

I shook my head. "Impossible," I repeated, "He's supposed to be one hundred sixteen years away."

"Supposed," he replied, still cradling me in his arms. "In the future will you wait for me?" He nodded then, "It's the future, Keels. You never specifically said it had to be one hundred sixteen years away."

"Is it really you?" Waveringly, I raise my hand next to his cheek, afraid to touch, to lose this perfect illusion.

One of his hands clasped over mine, bringing it to his cheek. "Yes," he murmured, his other hand bringing me closer. "It's me. You told me to find the girl I love, the girl who makes me happy. Truth is, I had stupidly left her behind. I could never forget her…" He paused smiling gleefully as I became enraptured with his face. It was even more handsome then I remembered. "I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry for those three hundred sixty four days." Then, he kissed me. Fireworks.

He smiled suavely as we broke apart, my lungs dying for air. I leaned into him, my head at his shoulder. "It's really you…" I said with a happy sigh. "Phil..."

"Yes…" he said, holding me close at my doorstep, his breath heavy on my cheek. "Was the kiss as good as you remembered?"

I looked up at him admiringly, he was back. "It was better." I paused, "But you still do have three hundred sixty three kisses to make up."

His crooked grin grew wider. "Exactly three hundred sixty three kisses."

"Exactly."

So? What do you think?
Review, review, review, please! Constructive criticism welcome. :)
(Maybe I'll give a prize to people who review...)