Chapter 10

       It was official. I wasn't going to get out of bed anymore. I even told Mae that when we got back to her aunt's house late at night. I was just going to curl into a little ball all day and let Mae bring me food. Or I could starve to death. Either worked.

       When I woke up the next morning, I just kept my eyes close and covered my face with my pillow. Not going to get up at all.

       "Psst," a voice suddenly said. "You awake?"

       "No," I muttered.

       "The lies," Nolan said. "Come on, wake up. I'm bored."

       "No. What are you even doing here?"

       "Uh, I live here? I have for the past....actually, I don't remember when we moved into this house. Sometime in the summer, right? So....A year and a half ago, I think? I totally love having a bad memory, sarcasm included. Anyway, I'm bored so you have to wake up. That's, like, the rule of this house."

       "Since when?"

       "Since you always woke me up."

       "Well, I'm going back to sleep," I said. That was when I actually processed everything Nolan said.

       I took my pillow off of my face and sat up, seeing my room. The room in the house I lived in with Nolan.

       "Oh, thank God," I said. I was back. I was actually back in my regular timeline.

       "I'm confused now," Nolan said.

       I released a sigh of relief before flopping on the bed, ignoring Nolan. "It feels good to be back."

       "Are you ignoring me or trying to make me more confused?"

       I looked over at him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I'm going to tell you anyway. I went back in time to before I came out to my parents. It was the day Mae moved back from Miami, in face. It was horrible."

       "In your dream?" Nolan asked.

       "No, that's the unbelievable part," I said. "It wasn't a dream. I actually went back in time."

       "Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

       "Uh, yeah," I said. "It last a month and a half, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't dreaming for that long. It was horrible being that age again. You know the worst part? The timeline got messed up. Ryder broke up with Mae when she told him she was going to move back to Quebec then started dating April, Orchid was dating Felix, Alan was a homophobe, and you? You were dating Janelle."

       "....Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

       "Yes," I said. "It lasted a month and a half, Nolan. A month and a half. I was living back in Lachine for that long before Mae and I came down here on spring break. Do you know how hard it was for me seeing you post stuff with Janelle? It. Was. Torture."

       "Why would I date Janelle, though?" Nolan asked. "I'm gay, and I've known it since I was, like, five."

       "Uh, to hide your sexuality," I said. "But then you broke up with her, got together with me, and decided to be a savage and came out on Facebook by posting a picture of me and you."

       "That doesn't sound like me."

       "Well, it was you. Like I said, the timeline was messed up. Alan was a huge douche bag. You know what he did? Watch his friends beat you up."

       "Well, that's rude."

       "I have a feeling you don't believe me."

       Nolan shrugged. "Kind of hard to believe, but whatever works."

       "It was easier convincing your family in the messed up timeline that I came from the future. Then again, all I had to do was tell them everything that happens. Tulip was still a fangirl though, and even started shipping us before you came out."

       "That does sound like Tulip. What about Grandpa?"

       "Still the same. He also blocked Alan on Facebook for bashing you after you came out."

       Nolan chuckled. "Yeah, that's something he would do. So, how did you somehow end up in this so-called messed up timeline?"

       "Don't mock me."

       "I'm not mocking you. I really am wondering."

       I sighed. "Last night, I was just missing my family. You know, when it was me, my mom, and my dad so I wished things would go back to the way they were before I came out. I'm never wishing that again. I had to come out to them again and...."

       How could I be so stupid?

       That was how I came back. By coming out to my parents.

       Wow.

       Wow.

       "I'm just happy I'm back before Mae and I had to return to Quebec and I had to be apart from you again," I said. "I really didn't like that timeline. Especially Alan. I think everyone wanted to smack him with their shovel. He was a huge jerk."

       "Were my parents they same?" Nolan asked.

       "Yeah, still very supportive," I said. "Your dad even grounded Alan for a month. Alan wasn't happy but he deserved it. Anyway, can I kiss you now?"

       "Uh, we're husbands, Jerome," Nolan said. "You don't have to ask to kiss me."

       I just smiled at him. "You do not know how much I missed that word," I said before giving him a lingering kiss.

       Nolan then pulled away. "Just to clarify, we did get together by the time you got back here, right?"

       "Weren't you listening?" I asked. "You were a savage and posted a pictured of us as your way to come out. You even captioned the photo saying Met this boy by chance, and I couldn't be happier." 

       "Wow, I'm cheesy."

       "You know, I screenshotted an argument from that because you were a savage, and your grandpa was a fangirl," I said as I grabbed my phone from the nightstand before going to my pictures.

       "Jerome, I highly doubt they're going to be in there," I said. "If you really were in that timeline, I would remember all that different stuff that happened. And if I don't, then it never happened so the pic--"

       "Ooh, here it is," I said, finding the pictures and showing them to Nolan.

       Nolan looked at them. "Oh my word....That actually happened?!"

       "I told you," I said.

       "Wow, Alan really is a....word."

       "You know, you swore in that timeline."

       "I what?!"

       "I'm just kidding," I said, taking my phone and putting it back on the nightstand. "You were still the same. Apart from dating Janelle. And you were a tiny bit more brave since you came out to me and Mae before anyone else, and you didn't even really know me."

       "Wow, that's just....wow."

       "Yeah, yeah, it's wow," I said. "Can we make out now?"

       "Ew, no. Morning breath?"

       "Lame....I got mints in my nightstand."

       "No."

       "Aww."

       "....Okay, fine."

       "Sweet," I said before grabbing the mints from inside my nightstand. I handed one to Nolan before popping one in my mouth. After they dissolved, I smiled and pressed my lips on my husband's. I was never going to take him for granted again.

_______________

AND that is the end of the AU book. I normally write Final Chapter in the title of the chapter, but I didn't want to because that would be a dead give away that Jerome is back. cx

BUT JERLAN MY LOVES I'LL MISS YOU. jk jk because there's High Tide and after that ends, Jerlan's third book will come. 

So, thank you for reading this book, and I'm sorry I tortured you so much.

-Laeti