Disclaimer:

Star light, star bright,

first star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might,

own the whole of Phil of the Future,

or even a bite.

48/18: Phil's Point of View

or

Chapter Nine -- What Really Happened ...

;0D

Thanks to okaie for writing this chapter. It's fun playing editor!
She has a different take on how our story should end.

;0)

Were they REALLY happy? Again, a search, and again, the same answer: YES. No doubt about it. They were happy together. Okay, he'd keep that one.

Were they REALLY a couple? They started out as classmates, quickly becoming friends, then confidants, best friends, quietly falling in love, and then becoming a couple. A couple torn apart by time, for sure, a little for her, a lot for him, but she was having a lot more problems with it than he was. Since he'd come back, things had been different: not going out with friends, staying inside when they wanted to be together. Her ducking down in the car if she thought she saw someone who would recognize her -- she had never done that before. They still made plans together for their future, both short-term and long; that's the thing that only couples do! Taking on the future together, the good and the bad. Couples talk problems out and solve them together, or get help doing so, but they do it together.

But her decision to end the two of them? THAT she had made without him. Keely had decided for the both of them that she knew what was the right thing to do for her, and like his parents did forcing him back to the future, she handed down her proclamation and there was nothing he could do or say to change her mind. Like a mother, she told him that this was the best for him, too; he knew she wasn't doing him any favors. She wasn't having them both make the decision as a couple of what would be good for both of them and their shared identity as the Pheely couple. No, she said it herself, she had made the decision on what was best for her and go her own way. (Damn High School Musical 2 -- I always knew that series was evil.)

Second postulation: They were a couple. Couples don't treat each other that way. No, whether it was Keely's decision or whether they had never truly been a couple, they simply weren't.

Were they REALLY in love? If -- no ... since they weren't a couple, they weren't in love. How could they be? Keely had made the decision about what was best for herself, not for them. Love is about living unselfish for another, putting their needs and comforts ahead of your own. Always thinking about the other person, Keely has felt bad about how it would make Phil feel, but empathy is not the same as love. Love is beyond tolerance, beyond sympathy, love is about devoting your point of view of what your purpose in life is to whatever makes those whom you love "happier." The quote his mother had written on her bathroom mirror suddenly came back to him:

"No success in life can compensate for failure in the home."

Maybe not the perfect example, but he recognized the sentiment of loved ones coming first, not oneself, and Keely made it clear that she was calling this break up for herself, about what she had judged was best for Keely.

So, if they weren't a couple, they weren't in love, so what had Keely been feeling all this time? She wasn't in hight school anymore, this was real life, not dress rehersal for one. Phil? Now, he knew with confidence he was in love with her and all her outlooks, mannerisms, and emotions, but he couldn't have done to her what she had done to them, especially without doing everything possible to find a solution. He looked over his three proposals once more:

First postulation: They were in love.

Second postulation: They were a couple.

Third postulation: They were happy.

Number one is out.
Same for number two.

That just leaves Three.

Using the Giggle once more was unnecessary. Her laughter was burned in his brain, her smile on his soul. She was happy when they were together, and he was happy when she was, but now Keely was declaring that they couldn't be together anymore. Despite her latest claims of her not being happy or comfortable with him, the Giggle had reminded him with memory after memory of the two of them being obscenely happy when they were together. He'd always knew that she was strong enough to handle the difference in their ages because she told him how much she loved him, loved the two of them together. He had just made a false assumption, because it wasn't love; it was happiness. Easy enough to get the two confused, he guessed. People say they love their car, a favorite book, even a cupcake, but are they really in love with them, or do they get a feeling of happiness about them and mistake it for love? Keely never intentionally tried to hurt him, to deceive him; she simply didn't know the difference between feeling happy, and being in love.

The Giggle hummed. Had he said something out loud? The screen filled with a love note from the woman he loved more than life:

.

I'm happy.

.

Really happy your next to me, want to take care of me.

Enjoy having me next to you.

The little hearts and kisses on your arm, don't they proclaim your mine?

Yes, it's too late to pull out without getting hurt so I'm not pulling out.

I don't want to pull out, I just feel safe with you there.

You can play with me while I sleep, I like it.

You can see it in my subconscious smile, can't you?

.

I love you. ‹3

And he believed her every word.

Only one hiccup: Keely had never loved him.