TWENTY-NINE

Charlie gazed at her with a dumbfounded expression, not sure he had got it right.

"What do you mean he's not dead? He faked his death?"

October's shoulders slumped in despondency.

"Kind of. He wanted to die, but I saved him."

"What?"

"I was with him last night" she elaborated with a sigh of resignation. "I helped him. And saved him."

"What... How..."

Charlie brushed a hand on his face, trying to pull the strings of his mind close. He felt he could go completely insane in a heartbeat. What a crappy feeling, being so broken for something horrible and then finding out it was just much ado about nothing.

"Wait, let's start from the beginning. How did you know he wanted to commit suicide? Did he tell ya?"

"No. I just knew."

A boiling exasperation began to build up in the boy's chest.

"Please, October, you're not a fucking fortune-teller. How did you know?"

A downcast expression creased her face.

"I know a lot of things. What you need to know is..."

"No. No, no, no, no, no" he cut her off, standing up and putting distance between them. His control was starting to waver. "Don't you dare tell me something flimsy and then go with your that's all you need to know. You've said that far too many times. Stop with this bullshit. I deserve to know it all. Both because I'm a human being and because I'm your man. A grown man."

She couldn't help but softly smile. Your man. She had completely forgotten the feeling of belonging to someone. She couldn't really say it was bad. As a matter of fact, it was quite good. Comforting. Filling. Charlie was... The missing piece of her puzzle? No, that was untrue. She had no tabs to be leveled out and no blanks to be filled in. She was well-balanced, pragmatic, and fully working on her own. Just like earth. While Charlie... Charlie was free and wild, pure and clear, just like water. Both elements that could stand alone. But the two together could create... Life. The source of everything. Her lips parted at the sudden thought, however childish it was, and she looked at her man, feeling the urge to cling to him. But she swallowed, forcing herself to stay still, and didn't try to reach out. He had every right to be in his own space at the moment.

"I never thought you were a child, if this is what you think" she simply stated, following on from his last words.

An unwitting surge of warm elation gushed within Charlie's chest. She had just said out loud that he wasn't a child to her and, more importantly, she hadn't raised any objection to his first attempt to define their relationship. He wanted to rejoice, and hug her, and kiss her until they forgot their names, but the timing was so wrong. Did she really have to choose that circumstance to be so... Disarming? There was no room for endearment at that moment, not when he was struggling to keep sane, not when he couldn't allow himself to lose his focus. Not when he was in such growing need of getting mad at her.

"Then be honest" he requested, trying to keep his breathing steady and controlled.

"You won't believe me."

"Test me."

"Fine."

She took one last breath, totally aware that her speech could ruin it all. But that was the way it had to be.

"Remember when I told you I come from far away? When I told you I used to be a typist? It's not completely false, but not completely true either. It was just easier to tell that without lying and without giving too much information at the same time. I know you've been stunned by my clothes, my attitude, my mind more than once. But I'm not a rebel. Well, I am in my own way, I still hate many aspects of society, I still believe stupid rules are to be destroyed, it's all true within the context, but what you have seen so far is not a stance against the system. It's just natural for me. Because where I come from it's normal. We are free. Not completely – nobody will ever be, as long as someone makes decisions for everyone else – but more than you guys for sure."

Despite his attempts to keep his emotions at bay, Charlie's confusion and anger gave another strong jab to his guts, eager to explode. He couldn't grasp where she was going with all of that, but he was sure it would soon make sense, it had to. She was a smart woman. She had values. So she was not lying. And her words were somehow important, even if he couldn't see how yet. And she loved him. She had said that. So she was not about to jerk him around at such a delicate moment and completely shatter his existence, was she?

"Are you from some sort of remote island in the Pacific, where people are all lovely to each other, there's no crime rate, you all live off the land and everybody has an idiotic smile perpetually plastered on their faces?"

She smiled mirthlessly, knowing she had to be understanding. He was not being bitter towards her. He was already overwhelmed and things were about to get worse. Would it have been better if she had told him the truth months before? Pointless to wonder. She lifted her gaze to look him dead in the eye.

"No. I'm just from the future."

A minute had passed, then another one, and Charlie was still guffawing. He didn't seem able to stop. Why, of course not. The whole story couldn't be any funnier. Neil was dead and then not dead. She was there at that moment, but she was not from that moment. How many other things he knew for sure were about to be proven wrong, crumbling before his eyes? How long would the reality he took for granted wrest his last certainties from him yet? His head was spinning. His world was spinning. It was all too fast for him to keep up.

October patiently waited for him to regain his composure. It was clearly a hysterical reaction after the whole chain of events. And she knew that for sure, when she spotted some liquid diamonds gleaming in between his eyelashes, much to his unawareness. That was when she stood up and reached for him, kneeling down, cuddling him in her arms, stroking his hair. She watched in astonishment as he grabbed her collar and seeped his face into her chest. She was sure he would push her away.

"Bloody hell, how I'd like to fall asleep and stay out cold for the next ten years."

"Come on, Darlie. Everything's fine. I'm here. I won't leave. You're not alone in this."

"Please, tell me you're joking" he murmured in a muffled voice.

She had a joyless smile in response, then she began to get it all off her chest.

"I'm not. I used to work with computers. They're like typewriters blended with televisions, and you can do almost anything you want with them, from watching movies to ordering clothes and groceries and having them delivered to your place. You can talk to people all over the world through them and have free access to any kind of information you need in less than one second. You can play games, listen to music and, as I said, work with them. And the world..." How could she put that to a boy from the Fifties? "The world is so different. Most of the formalities and penalties have been abolished. Language is more informal. Same-sex couples can marry and adopt children in some countries, or you can choose to be single without any fuss, and it's no big deal if you get married in your old age. Racism and censorship are not as preponderant and manifest as nowadays, they still exist but in some sort of subtle way. Choices can be made more freely. There is gender equality. Well, not all around the world and not completely, keep in mind that I'm talking about Western, but women had fought for their rights. Sorry, women will fight for their rights. And also students and workers." She paused to collect her thoughts. "What you wish is going to happen. There's going to be a massive political, cultural and sexual revolution. I didn't witness it because I was born even later than that, but it's history. The best era of all time has just started, wonderful things are about to come, you have no idea. Also bad things, just as in any revolution, but look on the bright side. The best values. Freedom. Fights for rights. Cooperation. Not to mention the best music and fashion, if you ask me. I've loved all of that all my life, but I just missed it." She briefly smiled, then her tone acquired a bitter note. "The period I was living in was a mess. You know, there are ups and downs, and history is cyclical, and I am... I was living definitely a down of the world. At least this is my opinion. It's true, we achieved a lot of goals in terms of humanity, but there's always the flip side of the coin. Language has lost its beauty. Most people are so careless. Men are no longer as gallant as you are, they're not as ready to take responsibilities as you are. Okay, diversity is commonly accepted, but sometimes just out of thoughtlessness. It's like respect has almost died. People all around me seemed quite comfortable with all the technology, the loss of values, the virtualization of life, the anesthetization of feelings, but not me. I've always been nostalgic about something I had no chance to experience in the first place. Selflessness. Moral tenets. Old values. The ones that are yet to come. And the ones that are normal to you now. I was kind of an outcast. Not in a bad way, nobody hated me or isolated me, but I was the different one. The vintage one." She tittered bashfully. "Can you believe that? And maybe that's why I got this chance. To get back to the past. To live the life I've always dreamed of. I don't know how it worked, I don't know what happened, I just fell asleep on the couch and found myself here all of a sudden. I want you to know I've never lied to you about my parents, about my past. I just omitted this... I don't know what to call it, this journey... Because I wanted to figure it out first and... Well, it's so unbelievable I'm still trying to accept it as real. And I hope you'll try to do it as well."

Charlie heard her out, unable to find words to reply, to describe his emotions, to tidy his mind up. The sorrow was gone, the anger too. And also any other feeling. It was definitely too much and too detailed to be untrue. The minutes passed in utter silence while he mulled her words over in his head. A single question kept on popping up in the midst of the vortex of his thoughts. Why would she have made it up? Answer: no reason. Striving to get a grip on himself, he tried to focus on the easiest and most immediate thing to understand.

"So if... W-where... Neil is..."

"Neil is in the future now. He took my place. I thought that could be the only way to prevent him from committing suicide. To let him live a free life. And for me, to be able to stay here with you. I realized that just a couple of days ago. I'm still not sure it's been the right decision. I'm still not sure that was the reason why I ended up here. But that's why I've always told you I couldn't make promises, that's why I said I had no control, that's why I was afraid I had to leave."

Charlie stared off into nothingness. Ironically, it all made sense. In the end, she was indeed magical and different. And she was indeed a savior. And she indeed loved him. What else could go wrong? Everything was perfect, right? But then the tornado in his mind froze. He saw images and memories standing still like under glass. Her shocked expression when they met for the first time. Every time she was about to say something and then changed mid-sentence. Every time she seemed to be quite aware of something he still ignored. And Neil... The future didn't explain how she knew about him. Something was off.

As if in slow motion, Charlie pulled himself away from her. He released his grasp on her shirt, wet from sweat and tears, and looked her dead in the eye.

"You knew Neil was going to end his own life. You knew Knox and Keating. You knew me."

October lowered her stare, feeling her pulse increase. He was too clever. Despite the amount of information, he hadn't missed the crux of the matter. Here we go, she thought. The worst part.

"I did."

Charlie swallowed.

"How?"

She took a deep breath.

"The first time I saw you, I was ten."

He frowned.

"It's been seventeen years ago."

He blinked.

"In my favorite movie."

And he cracked.

A/N:

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... May I remind you that wasting food is wrong, thus throwing vegetables at the writer is bad? Feel free to roast me instead: it's much bio-friendlier! XD

Joking aside, I hope you're not too mad at me, because there are some more things in store! So, till next time ;D