Scott had been walking for a total of three minutes, according to his watch, but it felt like hours in the boiling heat. All he could think about was getting to shade and water, which the house would hopefully provide.

The sun was merciless, beating down on his back until he removed his jacket, which only helped cool him slightly. He was sure that he was going to die before he got back to Mitch. He panted and debated on taking off his shirt, before deciding against it. He didn't want to freak out whoever was at the house. He was almost there anyway.

When the house finally came into a clear clarity, not affected by heat waves, Scott felt his stomach drop in disappointment.

It wasn't inhabited, that much was obvious. The roof was nearing to be extinct, and the smell of rotting wood was almost overpowering. From his place in the doorway, Scott could see ragged furniture lying around in other rooms. Most of the walls appeared to be knocked out, with only one left standing. He could see no signs of life.

He felt tears prick his eyes, but he refused to cry. At least he had a home-base.

As soon as he walked in confidently, already mapping out what functions each room would be for, he heard something that sounded like a stringed instrument and a few muttered words from behind the one wall. His heart stopped and he froze, excitement almost overcoming him. "H-hello?" he called.

Immediately a sound akin to wood snapping followed his call, and scuffling noises came from behind the wall. "Who are you?" a voice asked sharply. Scott's heart leapt in recognition. "Kevin?" No response followed. "It's Scott!" he informed the beat boxer.

An older-looking Kevin with silver streaking through his hair appeared from behind the wall, a look of shock upon his face. "Scott?" he whispered in what sounded like horror. "What are you doing here?"

Scott half-smiled. "I, uh, got lost." Kevin's expression was suddenly cold, the surprise faded away already. "We told you to get lost a long time ago."

Scott laughed nervously. "What?"

Kevin approached him menacingly. "You aren't welcome here, Scott, not after what you did."

"What did I do?" Scott squeaked. Kevin looked murderous. "You know what you did, you—" he stopped himself and backed away, squinting at Scott. "You look younger."

Scott was hit with realization. "Kevin?" he asked warily, glancing at the other man and noticing new lines on his face. "What year is this?" Understanding flickered across Kevin's face. "It's 2024. What year are you from?" Scott tried to refrain from hyperventilating. "2014."

They stared at each other until Kevin sat down, his back against the wall. Scott sat down across from him and asked, "Do you have any way for me to get back?" he sounded desperate, even to his own ears. Kevin shook his head sadly. "No, they destroyed all time machines, a couple years back. Actually, it was the fact that we could travel through time that the world is like this now."

Scott had completely forgotten the necklace by now. He swallowed the lump of tears forming in his throat. "What?"

Kevin truly looked sorrowful. "I'm sorry, Scott. The people that went back in time changed to many things. They eventually changed it so much that Japan was able to bomb us. Not just one or two states, even, they bombed the entire United States." Scott squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into his knees, willing himself not to cry.

Kevin crawled over and pulled him into a comforting hug and muttering, "Man, it's been a long time since I've hugged you. In fact, it's been a long time since we were friends. I missed you. I missed the old you."

Scott pulled away from the hug and stared at Kevin questioningly. "Why?" Kevin looked at him, confused. "Why what?"

"Why has it been a long time since we've been friends?"

Kevin looked at him sadly. "I'm not going to tell you, Scott. There still might be a chance that you won't make the same mistake." Scott frowned. "What mistake?" Kevin smiled at him softly. "I'm not telling, remember?"

The last thing Scott wanted to do was to let the conversation drop, but his changed the subject anyway, knowing that he wasn't going to get anything out of Kevin. "Where are the others?"

Kevin pointed at the doorway. "Avi's out trying to hunt for food and Kirstie's out with Lindsey, Lindsey Stirling." He laughed at Scott's expression. "Yeah, I know. We ran into her a couple years back." Scott smiled.

"And Mitch?"

Kevin's expression instantly dropped. "Mitch is dead."

The whole world seemed to stop, and all Scott felt was a numbness spreading through his body. "Oh," he said in a small voice, and Kevin pulled him in for another hug. Scott let his tears fall into Kevin's shoulder. "But maybe you can change that, too." Kevin whispered into Scott's ear. They sat there like that for a long time, until they heard heavy footfalls from right behind them. The broke apart and looked up to find Avi, a dead animal in his hand.

The animal slipped out of his grasp and thudded to the floor, but Avi made no move to pick it up. He was to busy staring in shock at the two. "What?"

Kevin got to his feet and walked calmly to Avi, who backed away quickly. "What are you doing with him?" Avi pointed at Scott accusingly. Kevin placed a hand on his shoulder, but Avi just jerked way. "Do you remember what he did, Kevin? He's the entire reason Mitch—" he broke of, his voice cracking. Kevin approached him. "I know what he did, Avi, but this isn't the same Scott."

Avi gave him a confused look. Kevin smiled comfortingly at him and explained the situation, and Avi had an expression of understanding etched upon his features. Avi cracked a reluctant grin at Scott. "So, I guess you'll be eating with us, huh?" Scott smiled back, pleased at having another person he could trust around. "Yes. It's good to know that you still have the beard." Avi laughed, and the tension between them dissolved.

Kirstie and Lindsey had similar reactions when they got back to the old house, but were surprisingly warm and welcoming when they learned of the situation. Lindsey had even said, "Welcome to the club, kid."

But Scott still found himself wondering what his future self had done to deserve that kind of treatment from his friends. Avi had mentioned something about Mitch. What had he done to Mitch? He hoped he wasn't the reason why Mitch was dead.

He spent the hour before the mammal was cooked pondering this, and was actually surprised when Avi called, "Dinner's cooked!"

"Really?" Scott said.

Avi laughed, a big, booming sound, and gave Scott a small, cracked bowl. "Yes, really. It's not fast food, but it's the best of what we can get."

The five sat in a circle around the floor and ate. Scott swirled the stew around his bowl with his spoon, tentatively eyeing the meat. Avi frowned at him. Scott smiled and quickly scooped up a chunk and stuffed it into his mouth, sending a reassuring thumbs up to the bass. It actually tasted alright, so he continued to eat.

"You know," Kevin said when they were all done eating and just staring at the fire. The sun had set a while ago. "If the current Scott was here when Past-Scott appeared, they would have caused a time warp." Scott glanced up from the fire, an interested look on his face. Kevin spoke again. "They would have created a black hole, and that would have sucked anyone and anything within a fifty mile radius in."

Scott smiled and chuckled, patting the beat boxer's shoulder. "It's good to know that you're still the smart one in the group." Everyone laughed, reminiscing in the times before the bombing. Scott continued to try to think up ways he can get back. He couldn't think of any. "But now that I'm stuck here, we're bound to run into each other sometime. Be prepared for a black hole, everybody," he said, voicing his thoughts out loud.

No one said anything in response, and so they sat there in silence. Scott shifted uncomfortably.

"Wait!" Avi shouted suddenly, interrupting and making everyone jump. He ignored their grumbling and turned his eyes towards Scott urgently. "Scott, how did you even get here?" Scott's eyes widened, the obvious answer to his problem coming to him.

He felt like an idiot.

"This necklace," he said excitedly, fishing the piece of jewelry out of his pocket. Avi rolled his eyes fondly and took the necklace from Scott, examining it.

"Did you ever think of using this?"

Scott smiled sheepishly. "I totally forgot I even had it."

Avi shook his head and showed the rock to Scott, pointing at the addition symbol. "Did you press this before you came here?"

"Yeah."

Avi looked at him with mock worry on his features. "You might be a little touched in the head if you didn't think to press the subtraction sign." Scott scowled and snatched the necklace from the bass. "Shut up."

He then stood, the necklace in his hands, his heart beating rapidly. "Well, this is goodbye, I guess," he said to them all nervously, scanning their faces. He will see them soon, but they won't see him. The actual him, not whatever he has become.

Kirstie stood up with him, tears in her eyes, and she ran over to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and whispered into his ear, "You have no idea how much I missed you, Scott. And I'll miss you even more when you leave." When she pulled back, he gave her a watery smile. "I'll miss you too, Kirst."

Next was Avi, who nearly squeezed Scott to death. "I'll miss you. I wish I could go back with you. It's like Hell on Earth here."

"If it really is, you should stay here and change that fact," Scott said, grinning and placing a hand on the shorter man's shoulder.

Kevin also gave him a crushing embrace, and even Lindsey gave him a hug.

Finally, when all the goodbyes were finished, Scott's finger hovered over the subtraction symbol. He took one last final look at them. "Avi, I could kiss you, I'm so grateful. Thank you for thinking of this." The bass laughed. "Save that kiss for Mitch, Scott."

Scott's finger had already pressed against the marking, but he still had enough time to shoot Avi a look of surprise. "How do you know—"

Then everything went white.

The next thing Scott knew was that he was sitting, blinking blearily, in his bedroom at five o'clock in the morning. He stared at the necklace in amazement. That small thing had just taken him a decade into the future and right back again, only a few hours off. He glanced at the clock again, an idea settling into his brain. He knew exactly how he would apologize to Mitch.

Soon enough, Scott was standing in the kitchen, all the supplies for pancakes, eggs, and sausages lied out before him. He was going to make Mitch the best breakfast-in-bed in the entirety of space and time. It was going to be epic.

He left the ingredients on the counter and watched TV until eight, so that Mitch could sleep in and also have a warm breakfast. He whipped up the eggs and pancakes as the sausages cooked, and breakfast was made by nine. He placed the food onto two trays and walked into Mitch's room, assuming he was still asleep.

He wasn't. Scott was startled to find him fully dressed and sitting on his bed, reading a book. Mitch's head shot up as soon as Scott waltzed in. "Scott?"

Scott's heart was pumping so hard that he was worried Mitch could hear it. "I brought you breakfast," he held up a tray. "In bed. As an apology for my bitchy-ness last night."

Mitch stared at him for a few seconds before his expression melted into one of happiness and disbelief. A huge grin split his face. "I didn't think you'd apologize." Scott smiled back and sat down on the edge of Mitch's bed, passing him a tray. He was a little hurt that Mitch thought so lowly of him, and he vowed to change that fact.

Mitch took the tray from him, giving him a stern look and saying, "Scott. We need to talk."

Scott sighed and scooted closer to his crush, his heart fluttering as he did so. "I know, Mitch. I'm really, really sorry."

"Do you mean that? Or are you just saying it?"

"I mean it. I really mean it, Mitch," Scott pulled the boxed bracelet out from behind his back and presented it to Mitch, who audibly gasped. "What are doing?"

"I'm giving you an apology gift, not proposing to you, idiot. Now, take it before my arm gets tired."

Mitch laughed and took the box from him gently. "You didn't have to Scott, I've already forgiven you." Scott felt warmth rush through him and he felt like he could fly. He was forgiven.

"I wanted to get you this. Go ahead and open it." Mitch gave him a look that clearly said, 'are-you-sure?'. Scott nodded enthusiastically.

Mitch flipped open the box. "Whoa." His expression was one of shock as he lifted the bracelet out. "Oh my God, Scott!" he flung his arms around Scott, who hugged back just as tightly. "Thank you! It's gorgeous!"

"No need to thank me," Scott said softly, never wanting the hug to end.

He suddenly thought of the necklace. He should show Mitch what it could do. "Mitch? I have something to show you. It's not another present, so don't get too excited." Mitch giggled into Scott's shoulder, obviously elated. Scott practically melted at the sound.

"Alright. Show me this 'special object'." Mitch said, his tone amused.

Scott grinned. Mitch was in for a shock. "I will."