Alex

I was sure I was dead. I was sure I wasn't going back. I was sure it was over. But as it turns out, life is unpredictable. And though I can't explain it all, I felt myself being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner and soon as I was on land.

Actually I was on Justin. But same thing.

"Ugghh," he groaned from beneath me. "Do you mind?"

I looked down and smiled, grabbing his hair to pull his face upwards. "Justin?"

He saw me and didn't even complain about the stranglehold I had on his hair. He must have thought I was Max because he looked absolutely amazed to see me.

I rolled off his back and he stood up, stretching before leaning over to me. Then he punched my arm. "You are so lucky that we made it back. We were going to break you out you dope."

Oh, so that's why they were acting so weird in the last meeting. "You were?" Whose idea was that?"

Max picked himself up. "Justin's."

I turned to my older brother with a large grin on my face. "You tried to break me out of jail?"

He just pressed his lips together, looking kind of embarrassed. "You're my little sister Alex, nothing I wouldn't do to help you."

I nudged his shoulder, touched by the gesture. "Thanks Justin. Nice to know you really do care about me."

He gave a shrug. "Now that we're back in our own time, I can go back to family-hating you."

"You know that's not even funny after what we've found out."

He laughed and checked his watch. "We're back to just before we left. It's like nothing has changed."

Max scratched his head. "How did we get back anyway? Did you do something Alex?"

I shook my head. Unless you counted getting shot, bleeding to death and then having a sneak preview of the next ten years, no I didn't do a thing.

Justin looked worriedly to the door. "I don't care how we got back or who even sent us there in the first place. All I know is we're back. And we've got the rest of our lives ahead of us."

I nodded, just as I caught sight of a shadow in the corner. The room was half-shrouded in darkness, like it'd been when we'd left.

"Let's go back downstairs and find Dad. We'll talk more when we get home."

Justin and Max started to leave but I stayed where I was. Finally they noticed I wasn't moving. "Are you coming Alex?"

I shook my head. "Can I have a minute?"

Justin rolled his eyes. "I think we've learnt not to leave you alone."

I gave him a little push. "Just a minute. Please."

They finally left and I saw myself step into the light, a ghost of a smile on my lips. "Hey Alex."

I sat down and my future self did the same. I was honestly more freaked out now than I had been in her body.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," I told her. I had to refer to me as a her because I wasn't sure my brain could take much more.

"I know," Future Alex said with a smile, "and I'm sorry. I never meant for you to end in jail. Although I should have realised there was always a risk of that."

"I saw some memories."

Future Alex started to drum her fingers on her knees like Max and I did when we were nervous. "I did too. I didn't plan on that part happening but I guess as I returned with all my thoughts and memories and you left, we kind of melded into one person for a second."

"I thought I was dead."

She smiled off into space. "I did too but Hugh's a genius. He had everything planned out."

I sighed. There was only one thing I really wanted to know. "Why?"

"I've done some horrible things in my life. I really messed it up with everyone I ever cared about. And it all started from that competition. I wanted you to see the future so you could change it. So I - we could be different. So I'd get a second chance."

And now we could. "You could have warned me or something."

She laughed. "You would have called me crazy."

"True." I smiled. Such a weight felt like it had been lifted off my shoulders. I certainly had a lot of work to do but at least I was prepared for what was to come. At least now I could give myself a fighting chance.

We both turned and saw the portal that had taken us back was now open again. It was her time to go. She stood up and I held out my hand for her to shake it. Instead she simply hugged me and it felt as familiar as a hug from my mother.

"If it was only me you wanted to bring, how come Justin and Max came too?"

"I owed it to Justin, to make it up for not telling him Emily was cheating on him." She took a step forward before turning back. "Besides, you wouldn't have lasted a second without them anyway."

I wasn't too sure about that but I couldn't be bothered arguing. She was so close to leaving before another question burst into my mind.

"What was happening to you guys while we were in your bodies? I mean one of the memories said-"

"We were up there, waiting until we could go back," she said, pointing a manicured finger upwards.

"Could you see everything? I mean does Justin know-"

"He knows and he's upset now but if your Justin changes the future, he won't have to put up with ever being married to her. Oh and he's not really happy his teenage self scored with his wife."

I stifled a giggle as she started to step through again. But one thing was still bothering me so I pulled her back. She stared impatiently and I wondered if this was how people felt when they dealt with me. "Wait, if you could see everything, does that mean you saw me and Mason?"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Yes, I did." Then she was gone.

Justin

I bounded ahead of Max down the stairs, relishing the sight of everything that was familiar. Everything from my world; I was back where I belonged.

"Where have you guys been? It's time to go."

Forgetting I hadn't hugged my father since I was ten, I half-leapt it into his arms and he grunted at the impact. He briefly hugged me back before setting me down. "Uh Justin? You feeling okay?"

"Never better," I said, grinning at him. I wrapped my arm around Max's shoulder and did a happy dance, dragging him along with me. "We're going home Max, we're going home."

"I'm excited too man but you're going to have to let go of me," came his muffled voice.

I let go of him just as I saw Alex emerge from upstairs. She looked a little flustered as she smoothed down her wavy hair. "Everything alright?" I asked.

She just nodded and walked ahead. "Perfect."

We got home and I went absolutely nuts, delirious at having everything back. I hugged the spell books, practised finger magic until it became annoying and just enjoyed being where I was. I took it for granted but having been away for what seemed like an eternity, so far away from everyone and everything I loved…it was just amazing to be back.

Dad watched the three of us acting oddly but decided he would be better off not knowing what was up. Eventually, I sank back into Dad's favourite recliner chair in the lair and Max and Alex made themselves comfortable on the couch.

"You know how I always said I wanted to travel through time?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding at Alex.

"If I ever say that again, I'm giving you permission to slap me."

"I'll do it!" Max said a little too eagerly, raising his hand like he would if he was in class. Alex shot him a demon glare and he slowly retreated his arm back into his lap.

"Are we ever going to find out what really happened? Who sent us there? Why? How we got back?"

Alex smiled secretly and held a finger to her lips. "Maybe it's best if we just leave it."

I stood up, flinging myself off the chair. "You know, don't you?"

The smile grew bigger on her face as she swung the freezer door open. Max and I just looked at each other before racing after her.

I landed smack bang into Harper which made me forget my pursuit of Alex. Even though we were back in a different time, I hadn't forgotten what I'd felt. And maybe my feelings weren't ready to be shared right now but in the years to come, there was always a possibility.

"Hey Justin," Harper said, barely looking up from her phone.

"Hi Harper, everything okay?"

She sat down on the steps by the staircase. "Not really. Zeke and I had a fight and I'm hoping he calls back soon."

I took a seat next to her, our knees touching through the material of our jeans. I didn't realise how hot the long sleeve blue sweater I wore was until I felt myself sweating; funnily enough I didn't think it had anything to do with the weather.

"What was the fight about?" I asked conversationally.

"He's going to a college that's about six hours away by plane. I just don't know how we're going to keep dating with this distance."

I looked up from my lap and saw Alex outside. She dashed past the window, making a face as she did, and seconds later Max followed her. I realised he was chasing her still.

I stood up, ready to help my brother before looking back down at her pretty almond shaped eyes. "If it's meant to be Harper, it'll be."

With a smile, I ran like a maniac out the door.

Alex

I may have skipped almost every P.E lesson available but I was still faster than Max who I knew hid under the bleachers every time Coach came looking for him. The downside though, was the faster I ran, the more tired I got. I was about to stop and spill all of my valuable information when an arm caught me and swung me around the corner. I was pulled into the tight crevice along with another body and we were both very tightly pressed against each other. The body put a finger to my lips as I saw Max race past and seconds later, Justin.

A swift kiss planted itself onto my lips and I edged my hands into his hair. "Thanks for saving me Mason."

"You're welcome," he grinned and together we stepped back out into the open. "I saw that you were running and I knew it had to be serious. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, just a game my brothers and I are playing," I said nonchalantly, glancing to check they were out of view. "Anyway, there's something I have to talk to you about."

He took my hand and led me to the park bench nearby. "Shoot."

"Unless, I win the competition, we can't be together."

His face changed and he looked absolutely crestfallen. "Really? But I mean, they can't force us to break up or-"

"They can." I took a deep breath. "I was going to drop out of the competition because I didn't think I had a chance at winning. But I realised that what we have is worth fighting for and even if I lose, I don't want to wonder what could have been. I don't want a future without you in it."

He squeezed my hand and moved his other one to my knee. "Whatever you need, I'll be here for you. I'll help you anyway I can."

I smiled. "I know you will." I leaned in for a kiss but was suddenly tackled to the grass beneath us. I landed with a thump and Max pressing his knees into my ribcage.

"Tell me what happened. We didn't go through all of that for you to just brush it off as one of life's greatest mysteries. I want to know who's responsible for sending us to future so I can kill them."

"Future?" Mason stared down at both of us, confused.

Max and I exchanged glances as Justin arrived, puffing heavily. Maybe some stories were better shared with others.

I smiled at Mason. "It's a really long story."

Epilogue to come guys...