Thank you all for your support! More action and a buildup until he finally meets Alisha in the next chapter!

2. Eventually you will either need to die, or remove yourself from the timeline in order to prevent duplicate Simons.

-First Simon

The notebook came with a set of rules. Simon realized at first glance that they were quite arbitrary and he could break them at any time, but he decided to memorize them and hope that the past Simons had the experience he needed to save Alisha.

He had just made it on his bike in time to save Nathan, and it hurt not to tell him anything, just boot him off the bike and pedal away. That night he lay awake for hours in his bed. He knew that the next day Nathan would pretend to be a part of the Virtue squad, pretend to wave a real gun in Rachel's face and then fall to his death.

Which was okay. Simon cracked a smile as he remembered how ridiculous they all acted once it was known that Nathan was immortal. That prat, he couldn't resist the sort of power that something like immortality had. Simon shut his eyes and turned over.

God, he missed them. It wasn't just Alisha, it was everyone, just Alisha especially. He knew that he had a huge responsibility and the thought of that sort of power threatened to overwhelm him as he lay there, face buried in the pillow that should smell like her but didn't. He knew now more than ever that they belonged together.

It wasn't enough for them to die together, it wasn't enough to live together. They needed to be together, they needed to fight for their love, and Simon knew now more than ever that he would fight forever. Who knew how many cycles of this he had been going through? What if he never went back?

That might be the biggest reason he needed to step back and let Alisha start to love the present Simon. So that just in case anything happened she wouldn't need her masked savior to come down and save her; the present Simon would risk his life just as he was doing now. What if something else happened? What if something else went wrong and the current Simon never goes back in time. If he failed both of them, all of them might die.

Simon didn't sleep at all.

He woke up earlier, far earlier than he needed, and put on his body armor, boots, and black hoodie. He then grabbed his backpack and stuffed his ski mask and face protection in the front pocket, glancing at the giant clock on the wall; the first of a little less than a dozen to hit zero. He had added more clocks than the past Simons, but he was determined to save everyone. Even the people who hadn't gotten close to him, like Ollie and Nathan's brother. Nobody deserved to die, after all.

There were three pieces of paper in his backpack that he had stenciled the words 'go to his gave' in regulation army lettering. He had already walked through the building and broken onto the roof. Now he waited.

There! Simon's breath fogged up his mask and the lower edge of his goggles as he saw Kelly come outside. Perfect. And there was a light breeze too. His fingers were holding onto the paper airplane and he took a deep breath, looked up, and waited. Then he saw it – a quick little insight into the future – and without thinking he threw the paper airplane, smiling a small satisfied smile as the plane glided across the canal and hit Kelly in the hip.

He frowned.

In his timeline, she said it hit her head.

But what was a few feet difference, anyway?

He couldn't shake the feeling though. When he went back to the loft he took out the layout of the community centre he had downloaded from the city halls website, spreading it out on the table, marking the approximate times when he had to be at certain places and where he could go so he wouldn't be seen.

Simon knew that he could make a difference, that he could change the outcome of events, but could each timeline be different? It didn't seem like the people in each timeline were any different; he had come back at least four times already and if that didn't speak for his character it would be a hard thing to find something that would.

People were people, but he supposed, some things may have changed. It was that free will thing, Simon guessed. You could still chose to do things, but maybe sometimes people choose different things.

Maybe, Simon thought, the world turned a little differently each time.

The next morning was it. This was when he knew he was going to make a difference.

Do not try to talk to Lucy, or interact with her at all. She must not be approached because her intimacy issues will only be exacerbated with contact. Ignoring her is harsh, but it must happen and the present Simon needs to come to terms with this and apologize himself.

The first Simon had simply planted some razors in Lucy's room and put her on lockdown for the days that she was supposed to be at the Community Centre. Unfortunately, Lucy had run into his present Simon on her own when she was given a week to visit family. The results, while not disastrous, had affected their relationships with Seth and Nikki later in their timelines.

Simon was sitting on his bed when the countdown clock turned twelve. He left, in his full outfit and arrived at the community centre on time. He snuck in the back entrance and made his way through the building

There were footsteps and his breathe hitched in his throat as he hid behind one of the pillars in the large forum room.

It was her. Alisha walked by with a look on her face he recognized for worry, fear and, of course, determination. This was the closest he had been to her in nearly a month and Simon squeezed his eyes shut behind his mask, realizing he had been holding his breath as she walked by. It was all he could do not to run after her, hold her, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her. It was a terrible in his chest but as soon as she walked out of sight he glanced at his watch.

Four minutes until Lucy-as-Kelly would try to kill Curtis.

He went into the boiler room with the switchboard. The lights were off and he kept it that way, turning on his night vision goggles and adjusting to the lack of light. His heart was beating out of his chest and he placed his hand on the large red switch that would kill the power. The digital display hit 00:00 and he slammed down on the lights, running out of the room.

It was automatic. He had the community centre memorized and he ran into the locker room, shoved the fake Kelly out of the way,

"Hey!"

"What was tha'?"

"Curtis?" He knew that was Alisha. She was with the boy who was half dead in his hands. God, that hurt.

He threw Curtis in the boiler room with only a little difficulty and ripped the bag off his head, pausing only for a second to see that his friend was still breathing before flipping the power switch and shutting the door.

Instead of leaving immediately he went up to the room and, listening carefully, tried to follow the action beneath him. He saw Lucy running into the dark and knew that she was going to tell the police about the dead probation worker – Sally – in the freezer bin.

He was getting a little nervous, but saw himself run out as well after about half an hour. Good. Everything was going well. Kelly was helping Curtis get into a taxi and waited for Alisha.

Simon stood up and watched the two as they began to head home. It was a little reckless, but so was everything else he had to do, so he wasn't surprised when Alisha turned to look back at the Centre and saw him.

He didn't move at all, and it was only when she turned around to grab Kellys attention that he ducked down, breathing hard, but smiling genuinely for the first time in a long while.

He almost had her back.

R&R, thanks everyone!