I have to admit, watching Taylor fuss over Alice was pretty adorable. She'd let out a delighted little squeak the moment she'd laid eyes on the black and white bunny, quietly gushing over how cute she was as we carried her cage over to Taylor's room. She'd listen dutifully when I'd explained Alice's care instructions, checking three times to make sure it was alright to pick her up and smiling a little wider each time I assured her that Alice was very cuddle friendly.

Finally I head back to Victoria's room, eyeing the barricade tape that seals off Kate's door. As I walk by, I pause to read the apologies and words of support covering her whiteboard. I remember thinking they were mostly bullshit the first time around. Looking back, I actually believe that none of the students who bullied her saw it coming. I know Victoria didn't, and that she never stopped carrying the guilt of what she'd done. I wonder if the others would've gotten the same wake up call, if any of them had lived past Friday.

I'm just raising my hand to knock on Victoria's door when the room to the right opens and out comes Brooke Scott.

Because of course.

"Oh. Hey, Max," she says, her tone slightly clipped. "How are you?"

The look in her eyes isn't mean; just a little resentful. Even the first time around, it'd been pretty obvious that she liked Warren. Looking at her now, she might as well be wearing a sign around her neck that reads 'I don't hate you but I hate that he likes you'.

During my fun-filled insomnia days, I got in the habit of saying what I meant. I barely had the brainpower to do anything else. And I learned that a lot of people aren't used to that. Brooke expects to do the usual social song and dance with a fellow student; not get put on the spot by an annoyed time traveler with zero patience for this high school crap. "Warren has an extra ticket to the drive-thru. I think you guys would have fun going to the movies together."

"I..." To her credit, she recovers quickly. "He'd probably rather go wi-"

"I'm gay, Brooke."

"You're...what?"

Why do people keep reacting like that? Is it that unbelievable? Does some part of 'I'm gay' need further clarification? "That means I'm into girls. Not Warrens."

"Oh." She takes a moment to digest this new information. "You...you really think he'd want to go with me?"

"Only one way to find out. He's downstairs right now." Taking her by the shoulders, I turn her toward the stairs and give her a little push. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Brooke only hesitates for a second, then she straightens her back and marches purposefully toward the stairs. I get the feeling that poor Warren isn't gonna know what hit him.

Victoria's door is three steps away. I wonder if I'll actually make it this time. Glancing up and down the now-empty hallway, I lift my hand and give the door two sharp raps. It opens a few seconds later to reveal the one and only Victoria Chase.

"Oh. It's you."

"Nice to see you too, Victoria."

"What do you want, Caulfield?" Ah, the old 'call-them-by-their-last-name' power move. Classic Victoria.

"Can I come in for a minute?" I look over her shoulder, making sure no one else is here. "We need to talk."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me here."

"Here's the thing..." I pause, reflecting on how many times I've told people the same story. I've pretty much got it down to a routine. "This is going to sound crazy, but..."

"Oh, spit it out, already!" she snaps. "Some of us have better things to do."

You know what? Fuck it.

I shove Victoria out of the way, ignoring her indignant shout and walking into the room. Taking a seat at her desk, I spare a half-second to enjoy her outraged expression before rewinding...which proves to be harder than it ought to be.

It felt like this at the hospital, too, when I was retrieving my fake ID. And again when I was trying to stop Chloe. Time is still moving backward, but it feels kinda sluggish. Almost stiff, like trying to work a sore joint. I'm sure it's got something to do with my trip back and I've been trying not to overthink it. Whatever this is, I really hope it passes soon. I've got enough crap to deal with over the next two days without adding some kind of sprained time muscle to the list.

Fortunately, I don't have far to go. I let go of the rewind a couple of seconds after Victoria opened the door and lean back to enjoy the show.

"...o you want, Caul...field?" Bewildered, she leans forward to look up and down the hallway. I'd be confused, too, if the person in front of me vanished into thin air. "Where the...?"

I loudly clear my throat, and she spins around so fast I briefly think she might fall over. "Hi."

She glances over her shoulder, then back to me. "How did you do that?"

"That's actually what I'm here to talk about." I pull the beanie off and watch her eyes go wide as my hair tumbles down over my shoulders. "You'll probably want to sit down."

"Time travel."

"Yup."

"You're a time traveler," Victoria repeats, slowly.

"That's right."

"You, Maxine..."

"Max," I correct, probably pointlessly.

"...Agatha Caulfield, are a time traveler?"

"It's Angela. And yes, I am."

"And in the future, where you're from, we're actually friends?"

"You got it." Well, if she was going to get hung up on anything, that's probably one of the more predictable things.

"Is this a joke? Because if it is, it's a really stupid one."

"Yes, Victoria," I deadpan. "I vanished into thin air and reappeared inside your room as a joke."

"Why would I possibly believe something this insane?"

"Maybe because I vanished into thin air and reappeared inside your room?"

"That could've been some kind of...of...smoke and mirrors thing."

Wordlessly, I reach up and brush my hair over my shoulder.

"Nobody likes a smartass, Caulfield." she growls, narrowing her eyes, and it suddenly occurs to me that she hasn't been swearing. It's a little weird.

"You know, it's kind of refreshing to know you didn't always curse like a drunk sailor every time you spoke."

"What the fuck do you know about how I speak?" she snaps.

Yeah, I pretty much asked for that one. It's a pretty decent segue, though. "I know you better than you think."

"I seriously doubt tha-"

"I know you got your first dollar from the tooth fairy when you were seven, but you felt a little cheated when you found out your friends all got twenties."

She blinks, surprised. "What?"

"I know you have to chew gum in the shower to keep yourself from singing," I continue, adding, "And occasionally leave that gum in the drain, which is absolutely disgusting."

"Who told you that?" She glances at the door. "It was Courtney, wasn't it?"

"Nope." I smirk. "I also know you've got some pretty intense views when it comes to the third Back to the Future movie."

"So does anybody with half a brai-" She stops, visibly angry that I drew that reaction out of her. She's not going to put up with this much longer. Time to bust out the big finish.

"And I know you spent last New Year's Eve crying and eating ice cream. You told your mom it was because a boy you'd fallen for didn't like you back...but it wasn't a boy, was it?"

Victoria's entire body goes rigid. "L-look, I don't know what you think you've heard, but..."

"It was Taylor," I finish, softly.

Victoria's mouth snaps shut so hard, people out in the hall probably heard it.

"You're in love with her, and now you're terrified of losing her because of it."

One second she's staring at me like I'm a truck barreling down on her at full speed, and the next she's on her feet, locking the door.

"No, I'm not," she hisses, looking like she wants to beat the crap out of me for suggesting otherwise.

"Yeah, you kinda are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, Victoria, you are," I insist, calmly. "For almost ten months now. Ever since she blew off her family's annual trip to spend Christmas with you. You two bumped into each other under some mistletoe your mom put up, then she kissed you on the cheek and said, 'Merry Christmas, Vicky'. You've been head over heels crazy about her ever since."

"I never...did she...?" she stammers. Very slowly, she returns to the bed and shakily sits down. "H-how can you know that?"

"You told me. Because we're friends. That's why you don't like it when other people call you Vicky. It reminds you of that kiss, and that makes you blush."

She looks genuinely scared now, her eyes jumping between me and the closed door. "Alright. How much?"

"What?"

"How much do you want? What's it going to cost to keep your mouth shut?"

"This isn't blackmail, Victoria."

"What the fuck is it, then? Some kind of revenge bullshit?" She's back on her feet in the blink of an eye, glaring down at me. Unfortunately for her, I've met way more intimidating people. "You planning on outing me to everyone? Getting back at me for what I did to Kate?"

"No, I'm-"

"You think I don't know what I did? That I don't already feel like a piece of fucking trash?" She sounds almost hysterical, her breaths coming fast and ragged. "You want to take away my best friend, too?"

She's edging closer to panic with every word. She'd told me how hard it had been for her, but I had no idea it'd been this bad. If I'd known she'd been so wound up about this, I wouldn't have pushed so hard. Slowly rising to my feet, I try to look as non-threatening as possible and take a small step toward her. "I would never do that, Victoria. Not ever."

She stares at me, wide-eyed and shaking, looking like she can't quite reconcile with the idea that I could ruin her but choose not to. The sight of it breaks my heart a little, and before I know it, I'm wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into a tight (mostly one-sided) hug.

"I'm so sorry," I continue as she slowly stops shaking. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I...I w-wasn't scared," she eventually murmurs into my shoulder, but makes no effort to pull away.

"Right. My mistake." Gently letting go, I guide her back to the bed before returning to the chair. I give her a minute to get herself together before continuing. "I was just trying to show you that in the future, you trusted me enough to tell me all that. And I swear I'll never betray that trust."

"And I'm just supposed to believe that?"

I can't help a little smile. "You are familiar with how trust works, right?"

"Whatever," she grumbles. I'll give her one thing; she bounces back quickly. "I'm already going to be a fucking pariah around here after what I did to Kate. I don't need to be the school's only lesbian, too."

"If it makes you feel better, you wouldn't be."

"I wouldn't?"

"Nope. You're not even the only lesbian in this room." It's kind of funny, how alarmed she looks. I'd be offended if we weren't totally on the same page. "Relax. You're not my type."

"Oh, thank fucking god."

"Gee, thanks," I fire back, laughing. "You sure know how to make a girl feel pretty."

I'm a little surprised when she looks away guiltily. Though considering her recent crash course in how words can affect others, I probably shouldn't be. "I just meant..."

"I know what you meant, Victoria. You've only got eyes for one girl, and it sure isn't me. Besides, I'm taken."

"By who?" She cringes, muttering. "Damn it."

"You should probably get a handle on that bitchiness reflex." I ignore the glare she sends my way. "And it's Chloe Price, since you ask."

Of all the things I've told her, somehow that seems to shock her the most. "You're dating Chloe Price?! How the hell did you end up-"

"I love Chloe more than you can possibly imagine," I cut her off, leaning forward and jabbing a finger at her face. "So pick your next words very carefully."

"...never mind."

"Good call."

"At least I know I'm not delusional," she adds. "Not in my wildest dreams could I imagine you and Price hooking up. I mean, how did the two of you even meet?"

"On the playground." Smiling, I add, "We were six."

"I thought she grew up in Arcadia Bay?"

"Mhm. So did I, until I moved to Seattle in 2008."

"Bullshit. If you grew up here, how did we never run into each other?"

"Spend a lot of time among the peasants, did you?"

"That's...yeah, okay," she sighs. "Look, presuming for the moment that we're not both completely fucking nuts, why the hell are you telling me any of this?"

"Because I'm here to change the past, but I can't do it without your help. I'm about to ask you to do the hardest thing you'll ever do. And I have it on pretty good authority that you're going to say yes."

"I assume that this 'pretty good authority' was me?"

"Good guess."

"And why would I think that?"

"Remember the storm I told you about? In the timeline I came from, only seven people survive it. You, me, and Chloe are three of them."

Victoria blinks, slowly digesting the idea. "Just seven?"

"Just seven."

"Do my mom and dad..." she asks softly, afraid of the answer.

"No." I shake my head. "I'm sorry."

"Then who?"

"We'll get to that." I don't think it's necessary to name names yet. I don't want to overwhelm her again. For better or worse, this Victoria isn't quite as tough as future Victoria.

"How is that even possible?"

"There wasn't any warning. By the time anyone knew anything was happening, the storm was already on top of them."

"Then how did we survive?"

"Chloe and I were up by the lighthouse, so the storm missed us." I look away, still wrestling with the memory. "We had to watch the town get destroyed, and we couldn't do a thing to help it."

"What about me? How did I survive something no one else did?"

"That part is...more complicated."

"Then how about you fucking un-complicate it," She snaps.

"Actually, I'm not the person who's going to."

Reaching into my pocket, I hold out the envelope with Victoria's name on it. She slowly takes it from my hand, eyeing it warily. "What's this?"

"It's a letter."

"No shit, Caulfield." Victoria scowls, briefly looking like her regular self. "Who's it from?"

"You. You wrote it in 2015."

She blinks, looking down at the envelope. "This is from me?"

"Yep."

"You didn't read it, did you?"

"Of course not."

Tearing it open, she unfolds the sheets. Her eyes snap back up almost immediately. "This is my handwriting. I wrote this?"

"Yes, you did." I really shouldn't laugh, but the bewildered look on her face is pretty funny.

"I mean, I wrote this?" She points to something at the top of the first page. Probably Future Victoria's last-minute addition. Whatever it is, it's definitely knocked this Victoria off-balance.

"If you say so." I shrug. "Like I said, I never read it."

She gives me another suspicious look, then starts reading, her lips moving slightly as her eyes track back and forth across the pages. A whole spectrum of emotions dance over her face, from surprise to confusion to horror, and I can't help but wonder what could be evoking each reaction. There're several parts that she goes over more than once, occasionally glancing up to peer at me uncertainly.

When she finally finishes, she allows the letter to drop into her lap, and stares blankly at the wall. The silence stretches out until I clear my throat, startling her a little. "So? What does it say?"

I expect a sharp remark, or at least a glare. Instead she stands up, opens her door and points into the hallway. "Please leave."

Okay, she just said please. What the hell did Future Victoria write?

"I'm serious, Max," she insists. "I'd like to be alone."

"Victoria, we really need to..."

"This says that I can trust you." She holds up the letter. "And it says we're friends."

"We are."

"Then be my friend and give me time to..." She sighs. "This is just a lot to take in."

I check my phone. "Fine. I'll be back in a couple of hours, okay?"

"Don't bother. I probably won't be here."

"Vic-"

"I'll call you, okay?" She waves out into the hall again. "Now if you don't mind?"