He was quiet for a long moment. "You make it sound like there’s hope for me."
"There’s always hope," I said. "You just have to forgive yourself first."
And this time, I also believed in my words. Because we were finally able to change the past, and now everything was going to be okay.
He looked up and down at me with a proud smile. "You’re really not the same girl who was full of revenge when we came back to the past."
"And you’re not the same boy," I replied, smiling faintly. "But maybe that’s the point. Maybe we’re both learning how to be new versions of ourselves, ones who can finally stop running from the past."
We kissed again, and then I got out of his car, walking slowly toward the house with a smile like I hadn't had in a long time. Everything had gone well, and I was finally going to be free of all the regrets I'd carried for so long.
There would be justice this time.
CHAPTER 34
Kyle
Kyle: Missing you already
Lily: I just entered the house.
Kyle: I will never stop missing you when I'm not with you.
I literally traveledto the past. I'm seeing my family young again. I'm even in contact with people who are dead in my real present, and somehow, kissing Lily has been the most magical thing that has happened to me recently.
I never thought I'd have the chance to deserve her love again. But here I was, fixing every single one of the past mistakes that had ruined me once, and making sure that this time, I acted like the man I really was.
For Lily. The girl of my dreams. The person I should have always been with all my life. Just thinking about her made my face light up. And I couldn't wait to go back to our real life to see how we could keep building our future together.
Which made me think about how everything we'd done would affect our present.
Would I go to Australia knowing that everything would be okay here and that there was no reason to run away? Would Lily stay with me for those ten years? Would I stay in touch with my friends? With Jeremy? What would Oliver's life be like?
The butterfly effect didn’t feel like a theory anymore. It felt real, something alive that could change everything in ways we couldn’t control. Every choice we made, every moment we changed, every person we helped or hurt, it was all creating a future that might be nothing like the one we came from.
But maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe the future we'd create would be better than the one we'd escaped from. Maybe this time, nobody would have to lose ten years of their life. Maybe this time, families would stay whole instead of shattering into pieces.
At the end of the day, there was nothing I could do about all these worries, and I knew it was something I'd figure out how to handle when the time came. So I decided to do something that was within my control now.
I parked outside Jeremy's house and called his cell phone.
"I'm sooo embarrassed right now, pleaseee don't be mad at me," Jeremy answered immediately.
"Don't worry, man, nothing happened, and everything went well. How are you?"
"A little more sober, and extremely stressed."
"Want to hang out for a bit so you can vent?"
"Pleaseeee."
"So come out, I'm in front of your house."
"My guardian angel."
Jeremy emerged from his house ten minutes later with a bag of snacks, looking considerably more put-together than hehad at the party. I drove us to a nearby park where we found a quiet bench overlooking a small pond.
"I know you think men like me can't help you, but trust me, I'm more mature than you think. I can help you better than you realize," I started. "So whatever's on your mind, let it out."
