In the Blink of an Eye

by StarryEyedNerd

Summary:

Paul and Emma are now traveling to different realities, sent by Webby on a mission to find other gifted individuals to help against her struggle with the Lords in Black. In this first world, Emma and Paul face new surprises and struggles in their personal relationships as a Lord in Black lurks nearby to corrupt someone they know.

Or, Paul is engaged and a soon-to-be stepdad, Emma has to worry what Jane thinks about her again, and Blinky is catfishing Alice.

Chapter 1

Notes:

This story can be understood as a standalone, but it immediately follows the end of Worlds Within. The last chapter of that one explains how Paul and Emma ended up in this situation.

The dimension between worlds wasn’t as spacious as one would think, at least to human eyes. Paul and Emma traveled through a tunnel of light bordered by iridescent sides, walls, and floor that they could touch but not fully see. The floor was smooth and soundless as they walked. Darkness lay beyond the shimmering walls of this luminescent corridor, but they couldn’t see much beyond the orb of light ahead of them. A figure of light guided them forward, and if one looked closer, they could make out the shape of a beautiful ethereal woman with long white hair.

“I feel like I’m in some kind of cosmic aquarium tunnel at Sea World,” Paul murmured to Emma in awe. They were holding hands, and Paul’s steady grip kept Emma grounded. Emma shifted closer to him, her own mouth agape as they traveled further along the path that the portal from the Starlight Theater stage was leading them.

“If we see a space whale, I’m going to lose my damn mind,” Emma said.

Stars seemed to wink at them from the edges of darkness. They moved along, pulled by Webby’s power through the interdimensional plane.

“Though our time together is short, I shall explain more of what you should know and expect, Paul Matthews and Emma Perkins,” Webby’s voice reverberated from ahead of them, her voice soft and mystical.

“To find others that will help us, we must find those individuals uniquely suited to the task. Just as I found you, I must now ask you to find those others. Find them, and they will be prepared for when the time is right. When that time comes, I will appear to them.”

“Of course,” Paul said. “We said we’d help.” Emma squeezed his hand in hers and nodded resolutely.

“The worlds you once saw through the visions I sent you, Paul, shall now be reality. You will now play part in alternate timelines akin to the ones you witnessed in mere glimpses. You will both walk around in these worlds as your alternate selves.”

“Our alternate selves?” Paul repeated.

“Wait, are we going to see other versions of ourselves in these alternate universes?” Emma asked. “Do we have to avoid running into our other selves, like in Back to the Future?”

“No, you will be as your alternate selves. You shall replace your counterparts in time and place. When you have finished your mission and you leave this world, your counterparts will not have known what happened. Do not disrupt the timelines: attempt to live as your counterparts until you find what you are looking for.”

Paul began to ask more about what kind of metaphysical superimposition of identities this would be exactly, but Webby spoke over him.

“We have almost arrived. I will explain further as needed, in time. For now, find the focus of my brothers’ activities. Look for their influence, especially among key places and figures in Hatchetfield. Essentially, look for trouble.” Webby’s mouth quirked into a smile, which hinted at an inner playfulness that Paul and Emma hadn’t seen from this serious being yet. “The Black Book explains more.”

Webby stopped, as if they had reached the end of the tunnel, and Paul and Emma stopped in front of her. They could feel warmth radiate off of her like from a bonfire. This close, they could see her long, glowing white hair flowing down her shoulders and the kind, beautiful face looking at them.

“Use your intuition. Look to each other for guidance, and seek friends for help. Good luck. And thank you.”

“Wait, what do we do once we find this trouble you’re talking about?” Paul asked nervously.

“What if we need your help? How do we–?” Emma started.

The invisible floor dropped out from underneath them, and they were falling.

---

Paul abruptly raised his head from his arms, seeming to wake from a dream about falling. He stared at his computer monitor in front of him. The cursor on an Excel sheet blinked at him. It took several seconds for Paul to get his bearings as he leaned back in his chair and cautiously looked around. He recognized his cubicle in the CCRP tech support office, and it looked just the same as he’d left it yesterday.

God, was it only yesterday? So much had happened in just a few days. Emma’s graduation, pictures in front of the cake he’d made, mad visions and driving through snowfall, a maniac on stage trying to summon a god… Images of the events and their attending emotions rapidly flipped through Paul’s mind like a book’s pages in a whirlwind.

“Taking a nap, were ya?” a familiar voice cackled.

Paul startled in surprise, jolted out of his thoughts. When he swiveled in his chair, Paul’s eyes fell upon Ted Spankoffski: a man with dark brown hair, a loud tie that was offensive to the eye, the mustache of a self-described sleazeball, and an obnoxious grin, all of it put together to form the office nuisance.

“Ted!” Paul cried in joy.

Ted looked surprised at this uncommon reaction to his presence. He grinned, a little more genuinely this time.

“What, had a good nap Paul boy, or are you just happy to see me?” With one hand holding a coffee mug while another slid into his pocket in a practiced pose of ease, Ted took a sip of his coffee.

“I’m happy to see you,” Paul said, beaming. Ted was a sight for sore eyes: just as good-humored and lackadaisical as ever, a mischievous glint still alive in his eyes.

In old times, he used to brush Ted off. Avoidance was the key to avoid Ted’s teasing, his obnoxious comments, or ill-perceived “advice” about women. But now, Paul didn’t care. He hadn’t seen Ted alive in over a year, and such a thing changed a man’s perspective on who his friends were. As flawed as Ted was, is, Paul thought, he now considered Ted as one of them.

“Well,” Ted said, clearing his throat in an attempt to recover from his surprise. “Well, it’s good to see you too, buddy. Almost-married life seems to be doing you good. I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

Paul’s eyes widened at the comment. “What?” he said, hardly believing his ears.

“Now listen, it’s all good in the honeymoon phase right now, but I tell ya, it won’t last forever, Paul,” Ted said conspiratorially, already going on a rant into what clearly seemed to be a topic he relished getting into. “That’s why we need to take advantage of your situation while we can. Before a ball and chain comes with the next ring on your finger.”

Paul’s gaze immediately cut down to the ring on the fourth finger of his left hand, a simple band with a tiny blue gemstone.

He really had traveled to another universe. Paul marveled, staring at the ring. This wasn’t a dream, nor was the whole last year just one long dream that he’d woken up from. This was a whole new world. Webby had done it. In a world where he was going to marry Emma— Wait, where was Emma?

He felt suddenly bereft at the thought. It sank in as Paul remembered Emma by his side, holding his hand, right up until the ground had disappeared out from under them, and Webby’s light diminished as they’d fallen into a swirling confusion of color and darkness.

“You haven’t even been to any of the strip clubs I recommended yet! There’s even one in Clivesdale, here me out—” Ted was saying.

Paul stood up. “Sorry, Ted, but I have to get going.” A glance at the clock revealed that it was almost closing time, he noticed with relief. He had to find Emma, now.

“You’re not going to finish your report?” Ted said in surprise.

“Nah,” Paul said dismissively and shrugged.

“Atta boy.”

Paul slapped Ted’s arm, and Ted’s eyes widened again at the uncharacteristic gesture. “I’m not sure I agree with you on the other stuff, but let’s hang out soon. Okay, Ted?”

Ted smiled, crow’s feet crinkling around his brown eyes. “Sure, buddy.”

Bill appeared at the cubicle entrance. “Hey Ted, do you want a ride?”

“No no no, no thanks. I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel or anything.” Ted stretched lazily and then straightened his collar self-importantly. “Anyway, I’ve got a serious latte hottay to hit on at Beanie’s.”

“Hey Bill,” Paul smiled. He was glad to see some things never changed—and the office group was reunited once again. All they needed was Charlotte, Paul fondly thought; then he would even enjoy her and Ted’s awkward sexual tension again.

“Hey,” Bill said warmly, stepping forward to pat Paul on the arm. But what Paul thought was going to be a pat turned into a gentle grip on his upper arm, and Bill pecked a kiss next to Paul’s mouth.

Frozen to the spot, Paul stared at Bill with what must’ve been comically wide eyes. Paul made a short noise, like a strangled chuckle, in confusion.

“Sorry we couldn’t get lunch earlier, you know Davidson had me join the meeting for extra support,” Bill said.

“God, and you guys always pester me about ‘no PDAs in the office, Ted,’” Ted mimicked. “‘Don’t make us call HR, Ted,’ but hey, I got that all cleared up with Sylvia, and Charlotte was fine with it—”

In his sudden confusion, Paul couldn’t find his voice. He could hear his heart beating in his ears as he self-consciously felt Bill’s hand still lingering on Paul’s arm as he listened to Ted rant, and Paul glanced down to see there was a ring on Bill’s hand, too: it was identical to Paul’s, except that the gemstone was purple.

“Paul, are you okay?” Bill asked, turning back to Paul. He shifted closer to Paul and rubbed his arm gently.

Paul flushed with embarrassment and floundered helplessly for some kind of cover for his reaction. “N-nothing, sorry. It’s nothing. Ted was just trying to enlist me on some kind of strip-club bar crawl.”

Bill groaned. “Ted! Stop harassing Paul about that! For the last time, we don’t want to go to strip clubs with you.” Bill folded his arms, putting his foot down in full, unimpressed dad voice.

“It’s all in good fun,” Ted smirked. “I just like to see the look on his face sometimes.” He innocently took another sip from his mug.

“Besides, you know I’d have to go as the designated driver,” Bill added. “But we’re not going to indulge you just so you can make us uncomfortable all night.”

“What, not even for the bachelor party? And who says both of you could come? Maybe I’d just bring my buddy Paul. Let him have some fun before he marries the office’s biggest prude.” He raised his eyebrows at Bill. “Paul would be fun with some booze in him, but sorry to say it, you would just be a buzzkill, Bill.”

“Gee, thanks Ted,” Bill remarked sarcastically. “But neither of us are going.”

“Eh, whatever, killjoy,” Ted said. He put his arm around Paul’s shoulders, and Paul startled awkwardly at the contact. “Take a closer look at who you’re marrying, Paul; then you’ll let me know when you’re ready for a fun night out before the big day.”

Paul smiled nervously. Ted let him go.

“Come on, let’s leave Ted before he tries to pull us into anything else,” Bill said good-humoredly to Paul.

Paul nodded and hurriedly grabbed for his things. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the Black Book lying in wait by his mouse. He and Emma had both been carrying the spellbooks into the portal. Even though nothing else had carried through, it looked like Webby had sent the books through to them. So if the book was here, where was Emma? Paul’s hands fidgeted nervously before he picked up the book, and then tucked it under his arm.

When he turned back, Bill was looking at him expectantly. He held out his hand.

“Are you ready to go?”

Paul nodded and stepped forward awkwardly. Bill took his hand. “Yep.” Paul could feel his face heat up.

“How was your day?” Bill asked as they walked away from the cubicles.

Paul looked down at the engagement ring on his hand holding Bill’s. He barely found his voice, and when he did he practically squeaked out, “It’s been interesting.”

“An interesting day? At work?” Bill chuckled.

Interesting as in, one minute I’m in my own universe, the next I’m engaged to my best male friend.

“I mean okay,” Paul said quickly. “It was okay.” He shrugged nervously, and Bill gave him a small smile.

“O-kay…” Bill replied, and squeezed his hand.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay… Paul repeated to himself like a mantra. Get a grip, Paul. It’s just a new universe. You’ll get used to it. He mentally shook himself as he attempted to gather his wits. His free hand fidgeted at his side.

Paul smiled anxiously and followed Bill’s lead out of CCRP.

---

“Aunt Emma! Aunt Emma!” a small voice whispered in Emma’s ear, getting louder and more obnoxious as it started punctuating the words with a prodding finger in her side.

Emma groaned and shifted onto her side. “Tim? What time is it?”

“Time for you to play with me.” Tim poked her again, and she felt a doll being walked along her side.

Emma cracked open an eye and smiled slightly despite her sleep getting disrupted. She sat up and tried to get her bearings, seeing Tim first on the living room floor, yellow Tonka trucks and Ninja Turtles all around him.

There was a blanket thrown over her where she had evidently crashed on the couch. Had she fallen asleep after her graduation party dinner? Aw shit, how drunk did she get if she couldn’t even remember how the party had ended, or when she’d fallen asleep?

But then she noticed this wasn’t her blanket or couch. This wasn’t her and Paul’s apartment. This was…Tom’s place, but it looked so different from what she remembered that Emma hardly recognized it. The furniture was arranged differently, with new framed artwork on the walls and different blankets and decorative pillows strewn around tastefully—creating a picture of more taste than Tom had. Becky had added some feminine touches to the Houston home after she’d married Tom, but this didn’t look much like the place Emma had visited just last week.

As she noticed these things and thought back to her graduation party, the pieces finally clicked together and filled in the gaps in her memory: leaving the party with Paul, meeting a helpful psychic with a spellbook, and fighting her murderous professor that held a whole theaterful of people hostage at gunpoint. Last and definitely not least, Emma remembered the miraculous way they’d gotten out of the situation with the help of a benevolent, ethereal goddess.

Holy shit! It was true! It was all true! Emma ran her fingers through her hair and absentmindedly down her messy braid as her thoughts raced. She and Paul said they’d help, they’d go with this goddess, Webby, and they’d travel to new worlds. They were in a new universe right now!

Emma kicked the blanket off her feet and got up, leaving her nephew to play with his Ninja Turtles contentedly. Her feet treaded on plush white carpet as she walked around and located an oval mirror on a wall with a gilded frame. Emma regarded her reflection—phew. She looked the same. She wasn’t a big purple blob or an alien with three eyeballs. How was she supposed to know what other universes were like? Emma’s silky brown hair was hanging down in a loose braid, and she wore a loose white blouse and jean shorts. Her skin was a shade tanner than she remembered, but otherwise she looked the same as when she’d left her reality.

Emma turned to look around the living room in what seemed to be Tom’s house. Maybe she was babysitting Tim. She sat by her nephew on the couch and ruffled his mop of blond hair.

“Hey bud. Where’s your dad?”

Tim’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t look away from his toys. “He’s with mom.”

Fear struck Emma’s heart. Holy fuck. This wasn’t—this wasn’t a universe where Tim lost both his parents, was it? Was she raising Tim now? With Paul?

Emma sprang up from the couch. Where was Paul? This concern added itself to the top of a growing pile.

“Where’s Uncle Paul?” Emma asked her nephew, flexing her fingers in nervous energy.

Tim looked at her strangely. “Who?”

Emma bit her lip. She rubbed her hands together and clasped them in front of her, trying to dispel her anxiety. “What day is it?”

Tim gave her another weird look. “It’s Friday. You missed all the good cartoons after summer school,” he pouted.

Emma heard a clatter of keys on the table. “Tim, I see fruit loops on the table. Did your dad let you eat these for breakfast again?”

Emma’s back straightened. Feeling like she was moving in slow motion, she turned to see the person entering the living room with a big smile on her face. Her red lipstick and brown hair—the same color as Emma’s—was pulled into a trendy updo with wavy side-swept bangs that gave her a trademark look of effortless elegance that Emma had always envied.

“Emma! You’re awake. Finally sleep off that jetlag?” the woman said, her eyes crinkling teasingly.

“Mom!” Tim ran to her and hugged her legs. She patted his back.

“Did you wake Aunt Emma? Sorry if he bothered you,” she said, lifting her head to address Emma.

Not at all, Emma wanted to say, but it wouldn’t come out. Her legs suddenly felt wobbly, and she grasped the armrest of the couch for support. She could only stare. “Jane.”

Notes:

WOW, the TGWDLM:R digital rental was amazing! There are new Paul/Emma moments and choices I adored, and even some Bill/Paul material for shippers. I loved it, and the reprised show inspired me to work on this story I was already planning. A lot of the story is already written and just being edited. Any kudos and comments are appreciated! <3

Chapter 2

A new reality. Hatchetfield, and the same people, but with differences. Like how his buddy Bill was now his fiancé. That was the main difference.

Paul was in deep thought as he let himself be pulled along by Bill outside and to his car. Stepping out of the CCRP building doors, Paul felt a gentle breeze greet him, warm air and late afternoon sun shining brightly down. Paul squinted against the sunshine at first. It had been a dark, snowy winter evening when he and Emma had left their universe and entered this one. The contrast of where he’d been and where he was now hit even more deeply. It was strange but familiar, like that weird feeling one gets when encountering the Mandela effect. He marveled at Hatchetfield glittering in summer sunshine, seeing it with new eyes, and feeling like he was a visitor in his own hometown—because he was.

Paul’s thoughts worriedly returned to Emma. Where was she? They’d been holding hands in the portal, so Webby should have brought them here together. Had she made it through? Was she safe? He needed to try and call her as soon as possible.

He glanced down at his left hand holding Bill’s, but he didn’t see a watch at his wrist. Another change about this alternate reality hit him: his therapist must not have given him a watch in this universe.

They got in Bill’s car, a yellow AMC Pacer, and Bill chatted about his day as they drove. Paul made noises that seemed like appropriate responses, nodding, but unsure of what else to say. He just got here, so how was he supposed to know how this Paul’s day had gone? When Bill asked him more about his day, Paul just shrugged noncommittally. “Same old. I’m just tired,” he said to explain his reticence.

When they got to Bill’s house, Paul shouldn’t have been surprised. This Paul and Bill are engaged. Of course they live together, he chastised himself as he fumbled getting off his seatbelt and got out of the car. He smoothed his suit jacket and then smiled awkwardly at Bill before following him into the house.

When Bill took a turn down the hallway, Paul immediately took out his phone. The time and date flashed by—5:33 PM, July 12th—as he opened his phone and scrolled his contacts.

He had scrolled the whole list without finding what he was looking for. Paul’s brow furrowed. He went through the list again, slower this time. It wasn’t a very long list. There was no iteration of “Emma Perkins.” Not even a “babe” or “Perky.”

Damn. He never got her number, he guessed, if they never dated. Paul felt a sudden loss. All of the strangeness of this different universe was piling up, giving Paul a growing sense of dissonance. Who was he without Emma Perkins in his life? He needed to find her and figure out what they were supposed to do.

Paul cleared his throat and called down the hall. “Hey, Bill, I think I’m actually going to go run some errands.”

Bill stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hands on a towel. “What? But Alice is coming soon. You know it’s our time with her. And I got the ex to agree to let Alice stay longer since it’s summer break. She’s staying the whole week!” Bill declared gleefully.

“Oh, right, of course! Yeah, I was just going to grab a thing or two from the store. Y’know, milk and…things.” Paul stumbled over his words. Casting about for another reason to leave and coming up short, Paul just stood there and shrugged. “Nothing that can’t wait.” He smiled awkwardly.

“Don’t worry, I already got the oatmilk Alice likes,” Bill said brightly, and turned back into the bathroom.

Paul couldn’t think of an excuse to leave. Without more information on this universe, this version of himself, or his relationship with Bill and their life together, he couldn’t just walk out. Despite his anxiety to find Emma, he needed to get his bearings first and think about his next move. It looked like he and Bill had plans, and Paul was going to have to try and stick to them for now.

Coming to a decision, Paul walked further into the house. The warm lighting and patterned rug leading down the hallway was admittedly welcoming. Framed photos were tacked incrementally along the walls: school pictures of Alice, mostly, and a sweet photo of Bill holding baby Alice. After a brief pause at this one, smiling, Paul moved to the next one. His smile stilled as he stared and saw that the next photo was of him and Bill: the two of them were standing outside an apartment, arms around each other with big smiles.

Paul stared at the photo. He’d met Bill during college, that was true. Paul was getting his degree in Computer Science when Bill started joining his classes junior year. The friendly and young father had struck up a fast friendship with Paul, and the rest was history.

Paul recognized the apartment behind them—it was his apartment during sophomore year, a place he’d shared with a quiet Engineering major who had transferred to a different school the next year. The guy had been even more introverted than Paul, so they hadn’t kept in touch more than being friends on Facebook.

Paul considered history how he remembered, then the different story being told here. He analyzed how close he and Bill stood in the photo, how happy they both looked. Oh my god, we were roommates, Paul realized.

The implications stirred through Paul’s mind as he mentally reexamined his history with Bill. Sure, they’d always been close. He had several things in common with Bill. Paul was used to babysitting his nephew, so that had made his bond with Bill grow stronger once Paul started helping babysit his daughter. But an extra year of knowing each other in their younger years, sleeping in the same place? Probably with a young Alice and even Bill’s then-fiancée visiting, too. Alice’s mom had wanted Bill to finish college, but maybe in this timeline, Bill had started sooner. Paul knew that while Bill was taking classes, he got his own apartment while Alice’s mom lived with her parents, but in this timeline, that apartment had been with Paul. That might’ve been all they had needed, Paul reflected. A little more time and a little more space together. That could’ve been what tipped the scale into this Paul and Bill eventually developing a romantic relationship.

After several moments, Paul continued down the hall. He found the main bedroom at the end of it. After some trial and error, he eventually found a dresser with his clothes. First he stuck the Black Book far into the back of a drawer, hiding it under piles of socks. That would have to do for now, he thought. Then he changed out of his work suit into jeans and a sweater. Only after he was adjusting the sleeves did Paul belatedly remember that it was summer here. He glanced out of the still-light window and shook his head at himself; this was going to take some getting used to.

He pulled off the sweater, mussing up his hair and riding up his white undershirt. He was tugging down his T-shirt when he felt arms circle around his waist.

Paul jumped and gasped. He turned around enough to see Bill there.

“Hey, it’s just me,” Bill chuckled. “Sorry to startle you.”

“Sorry,” Paul apologized, blushing. “I didn’t see you. I just have a lot on my mind, I guess.”

Bill pulled back slightly and stepped up to Paul’s side, his arm still around his waist. “You’re nervous about Alice coming, aren’t you? You’ve been anxious all week, especially every time I brought it up. And now you’ve been so quiet ever since we left the office…”

Paul opened his mouth, maybe to deny his suspicious behavior, but he didn’t know what to say.

Bill squeezed Paul slightly and smiled. “I know you, Paul. You’re like an open book, especially when you’re nervous. I know you want to make a good impression. This is the first time we’ll be seeing Alice since we got engaged, and the first long visit she’s ever stayed over since we’ve been an official couple. Compared to the one-weekend-a-month visits, this is a bigger deal, and I understand that it’s more pressure.”

“I guess she hasn’t had that long to process us as a couple,” Paul said after hesitating. Paul tried to absorb the information Bill gave him as fast as he could so he could find the right thing to say.

Bill frowned. “She’s had months to get used to it. I just wish we had more time with her. She tries to fit too much in, splitting her weekends between coming here and going to visit Deb too.”

Paul could practically see Bill straining not to roll his eyes at the mention of his daughter’s girlfriend, who Bill had a slight distaste for since she was likely a stoner and always on her phone. Bill thinking Alice could do better was the same in this universe too, then.

“Listen, she really likes you Paul, I know she does. She thinks you’re cool! I know you’re worried that the engagement takes things to a more serious level and you’re worried how she’ll react, that maybe the engagement changes things. But it will be fine.” Bill smiled past his own nervousness.

Paul smiled at Bill, wanting to reassure his friend. The poor guy had enough to worry about; he didn’t need to worry about Paul’s perceived worry, too, on top of everything else. Paul was nervous, but Bill couldn’t be blamed for misinterpreting what Paul’s general anxiety was about; how could a man guess that his fiancé had been temporarily replaced by an alternate universe counterpart of his beloved in order to thwart cosmic evil?

Paul was beginning to think that he was way in over his head here.

Bill rubbed Paul’s back and then reached up on his own collar. “Now what do you think? Tie or no tie?”

“A tie is maybe trying too hard,” Paul said. “I’d go no tie.”

“Okay,” Bill nodded, fumbling with the tie as his own nerves began to show. Bill glanced at Paul next to him, noticed the sweater in his hands and grinned. “A sweater?” he said in amusement. “Are you cold?” As Paul awkwardly searched for an explanation, Bill eyed him fondly. “That predominantly says ‘friendly’ to me, which of course suits you!” Bill elbowed Paul. “You’re already dressing like a stepdad. I think it’s meant to be!”

Paul laughed a little and tucked away the sweater in embarrassment. He rooted around in the drawer for other shirts until he found a dark, long-sleeved Henley instead.

“I’ll get dinner started before Alice arrives,” Bill said. He grabbed Paul’s hand.

Looking into Bill’s warm brown eyes that were filled with nerves and excitement for his daughter’s visit, Paul’s heart softened. He squeezed Bill’s hand.

“It’ll be okay, Bill. We’ll make it a good week and a good visit with Alice,” he promised him.

Affectionate warmth glowed in Bill’s eyes. His smile grew, matching his loving gaze.

Paul had never quite seen that look on Bill’s face before, let alone directed at him like that. He felt faintly light-headed.

“Thanks, Paul.” Bill’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Having you at my side makes it all easier. You’ll always be my good luck charm.”

Bill leaned in to kiss him. Paul made a small muffled noise of surprise, but then tried to quiet his reaction at Bill’s lips on his. They were soft, with a surprising level of tenderness as they pressed against Paul’s. It felt strange to kiss a man, but also not very different at all, and it was a good different. Paul didn’t know what he’d imagined. He’d never been this close to Bill before, but it didn’t put him off. He could smell Bill’s woodsy cologne, and every time he inhaled he breathed it in as Bill kissed him.

Bill pulled away from the kiss and squeezed Paul’s hand again before leaving the room with a smile. Paul stood in a daze, rooted to the spot. The gentle weight of the kiss still lingered on his lips. After a moment, he shook himself and pulled on his different shirt.

---

Bill was tending to a vegetarian casserole in the oven when Alice arrived. Paul took it out of the oven instead when Bill went to answer the door. “Hi Dad,” Paul heard from the kitchen. He walked over to see Alice hugging Bill by the front door. She waved to Paul and smiled. “Hi, Paul.”

“Hey Alice! It’s good to see you,” Paul exclaimed.

Bill guided Alice in with her backpack and stay-over duffle bag. Kind and smart as a whip, even when Paul had met her when she was only a preschooler, Alice was a good kid. Paul had always thought so, and Bill always extolled her virtues in conversation, even in the same breath as criticizing Alice’s girlfriend, Deb. There were new difficulties once Alice had become a teenager and wanted to do things her own way, as Bill had told him about many times. They had arguments over little things all the time, but Paul knew the father and daughter loved each other, and were more alike than they were different. Alice seemed to be maturing as she reached the end of high school. She was very artistic, and through the years he’d seen or heard about the visual art or playwriting she was creating. The only difference that Paul could see between the Alice of his world and this one, was that the dyed blonde hair of the Alice he knew was replaced by her natural brunette coloring here.

As they sat down to dinner, Paul figured that in his own universe, it was still the winter of Alice’s senior year in Clivesdale. But in this different world, it was already summer, and Alice might already be preparing for college.

His guess was confirmed when Bill proudly talked about Alice’s scholarship she’d earned for a play she’d written.

“Where are you thinking of going, again?” Paul asked, hoping this wasn’t something he should already know.

Alice shyly poked at her food with her fork. “I was thinking of starting at Hatchetfield Community College for my gen eds, and then I’d see how the writing program is there. But I could also transfer to another school later on, like the University of Michigan down in Ann Arbor.”

“I’m proud of you for keeping your options open,” Bill commented. “That’s very smart. I changed majors a lot when I first started out. I even tried theater for a while.”

“You? Really?” Alice said in surprise, raising her eyebrows. “Mister ‘You-Should-Be-a-Doctor, Alice’?”

Bill chuckled. “Well, as I said. You need to explore different things. You never know what new vocation might draw your eye. It’s worth it to try new things, because you never know what will spark your interest.”

“I’m not surprised, Bill,” Paul commented after taking a sip of water. “But I’m glad you didn’t stick with theater, otherwise I would’ve had to pretend I didn’t know you.”

Bill grinned. “Maybe I would’ve just done plays. No singing or dancing, just me in a snappy suit. I think I still could’ve reeled you in with all my charms.”

To his surprise, Paul could feel himself start to blush, especially as he remembered how Bill had kissed him in the bedroom. He tried to hide his reaction with another sip from his glass.

“Do you still watch plays, if you know there’s not going to be any music?” Alice asked.

“Yeah, if Bill finds one he’s interested in going to see. It’s just musicals I think are kind of silly,” Paul explained. “I just can’t get into them, and I have the kind of memory where songs get stuck in my head for days.”

“They’re not for everyone.” Alice shrugged, and Paul smiled back at her kind brown eyes that matched Bill’s. She’d definitely inherited Bill’s easy-goingness and good will. “I hope to get my play produced some day, but before that I’ll probably be doing a ton of projects in college. I’m going to want you guys to come and see them all.”

Paul noticed Bill get misty-eyed next to him. He knew that Alice offering any time together with her dad was a big deal, and it meant the world to Bill. In Paul’s timeline, the Woodwards had had a rough year of Bill’s ex-wife moving to Clivesdale and dragging Alice along to finish her senior year in a new town. There’d been a lot of tension between the father and daughter throughout Alice’s senior year, from what Paul knew. But it must be similar here, because Bill’s reaction was delighted, surprised, and touched all in one at Alice’s casual comment.

Bill choked out, “Of course, sweetie. I’d love to. We’d love to.” Paul nodded eagerly. Bill grasped Paul’s hand under the table, and Paul tried not to jump at the unexpected contact. He held Bill’s hand supportively, and their clasped hands remained resting on Paul’s thigh as they finished their dinner.

Afterward, when they got up from the table, Bill took their plates, and Alice went to the living room with her phone. Paul stepped aside into the hallway to surreptitiously look at his phone. He wished he remembered Emma’s number. Could he call Beanie’s? But the shop had recently closed at 7:00, and even if Emma had ended up there, no way would she have stayed there for long.

“Hey Paul, help us pick a movie!” Paul turned away from his private moment in the hall, feeling unsatisfied, and joined them.

By the time everyone in the Woodward household was turning in for bed, Paul had resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t be able to look for Emma tonight, but he would leave as soon as he could in the morning. He took his time washing up after Bill, but eventually he ran out of things to do, and reluctantly exited the bathroom to join Bill in the bedroom.

Bill had just set a book down on his nightstand and looked at Paul sleepily. “Man, I’m beat. Thanks for helping me have a good evening with Alice, though. I think this visit is getting off to a good start.”

Paul slid into bed on what was apparently his side, trying not to show his awkwardness as he sat carefully next to Bill. Refocusing on the conversation, he smiled at his best friend. “Yeah, it did go well. You were right that Alice would be cool with everything. I think she gets that easy-goingness from you.”

Bill smiled and gave Paul a quick peck on the lips before pulling the covers over himself. “Goodnight, Paul,” he murmured sleepily.

“Goodnight, Bill,” Paul said after a moment. Then he laid down himself, his mind going in a hundred different directions. But he was tired, especially when he thought of his whole experienced day—which had started in one timeline with him and Emma fighting a homicidal Biology professor and a malevolent entity, then ended in another one, now as he and Emma had crossed over into a new world with differences and problems they still had to fully discover. His body too weary to be kept awake by his busy mind, Paul drifted off to sleep.

---

When the movie had finished, Alice said goodnight to her dad and Paul and retreated to her room. She’d taken most of her things with her when she’d had to move to Clivedale last year, but some things remained, hallmarks of more carefree times: pink twinkle lights that went around her desk and the ceiling perimeter of her room, playbills and posters of stage shows she’d seen tacked on the walls, and a collage of singers and actresses on a bulletin board over her desk—especially from her Hayley Kiyoko phase and her love for the Carmilla webseries, the latter of which inspired her own play about a sapphic vampire romance. Alice reached into her backpack resting on the purple beanbag chair in the corner, sighed, and laid on her bed with her phone.

She didn’t have any text messages. She opened her conversation with Deb and sent her a new message: “back in hatchet town at my dad’s! c u tomorrow? :3”

Alice waited a few minutes and scrolled Instagram, getting distracted. Eventually she texted Deb a heart emoji and let it go. Her phone changed to her lockscreen, which was a picture of her and Deb sitting together on a bench at Deb’s grandma’s lakehouse.

Doing a long-distance relationship was hard, even if it was just the next town over. Alice still held on to some of her resentment towards Mom and Dad that they’d divorced, and Alice had been dragged to Clivesdale. Fucking Clivesdale! Starting over at a new school her senior year was a nightmare. One of the only things that made it bearable (other than Mom spoiling her rotten to make up for it) was that she and Deb tried to see her as much as they could. Of course Deb couldn’t take the ferry ride and long drive to see each other every day, she knew that, but still, they’d made it work. Her house, Deb’s, anywhere in town… It was okay. It was going well, Alice thought, and distance just made her heart grow fonder.

Deb wasn’t texting with her as often, though. Alice tried to squash down the neglected feeling that she was being ignored. She immediately dismissed the mere idea of ghosting from her mind. They loved each other! Deb wouldn’t do that. Calm and cool Deb, who loved Alice the last two years with everything she had. Deb, who played guitar for her and painted while Alice scribbled scripts that she would turn into full plays some day. Understanding Deb, who held her when she cried that one time she got high with the smoke club and freaked out, and protective Deb, who stood up to her friends when they kicked Deb and Alice out of the club. Beautiful Deb, with her black hair and soft flannel that felt like home.

Alice sighed and pulled on her headphones, deciding to distract herself for a while, and Instagram and Tik Tok worked wonderfully. Suddenly, she got a notification that her favorite Twitch streamer was live. The picture of the streamer’s bumblebee-like icon in her email made her smile. She eagerly joined Bea Tepps’s stream.

“Lady B. Tepps” had a variety of livestreams, from playing video games, to doing ASMR, to painting artwork. She had a soothing voice, and a lot of the things she talked about, like relationships and life, were so relatable it was like she was speaking directly to Alice. Alice had become a follower and occasional subscriber, donating a few dollars here and there, and participated in the chat with her fellow “Tepperonis” and getting replies from Bea herself during livestreams. A lot of the time, Alice put on a recording of an old stream in the evenings as she relaxed.

Tonight Bea was playing Horizon Zero Dawn, and Alice settled in with interest. To the right-hand bottom corner of the video was a small screen that showed Tepps, a pretty girl with perfectly curled, long reddish-orange and yellow hair. She always wore a purple hoodie with the hood up as her signature look, frequently looking up over her iconic bejeweled and ironic sunglasses.

What Alice especially liked about Tepps was that she was from Hatchetfield, and Alice’s own age. Alice discovered her Twitch in the last year, and she’d been a devoted follower ever since. Tepps felt like a connection to the town Alice had been forced to leave. She’d never known Bea Tepps personally, but she posted enough pictures and vlogs to Instagram to make it clear she attended Hatchetfield High. She looked kind of familiar too, as if Alice had passed her in the halls last year.

Alice pulled her comforter over her as the video played, Tepps’s happy voice in the background. She wondered what Deb was doing now. Was Deb just so preoccupied getting ready for her early orientation for art school that she forgot to check her phone? That must be it, Alice reasoned. There was no other way. Deb was just so busy, she probably turned off her phone to fully focus on getting her portfolio ready. After all, she was set to leave for Amsterdam with her grandma really soon. Alice had hoped she could spend time with Deb before she left.

I’d do anything to stay with Deb, Alice thought. We’ll make long distance work. They’d done it before. A little water separating them was nothing, whether it was Lake Michigan or the Atlantic Ocean. She’d just have to keep showing Deb how much she loved her, to remind her that she’ll always be here for her.

Alice started drifting off to sleep as the livestream came to a close, with Lady B. Tepps signing off. “Thanks again to everyone who donated today for one of our sponsors, Watcher World! All donations are going towards repairing the Tear-Jerker, the tallest rollercoaster in the Midwest! Thanks for watching everyone, and I hope you have a day worth watching!'' Tepps winked at the camera.

Chapter 3

The first things Paul was aware of as he woke up was the warmth of the sun shining on him through the blinds, and of Bill with his arms wrapped around him. Paul gradually and only slowly realized his predicament as he became aware of how nice Bill’s arms felt around his waist. Bill cuddled up to Paul with his face pressed into the back of his neck as gentle breaths tickled his ear.

He was the little spoon, naturally. Of course Bill would know what he preferred, since they were engaged. He and Emma switched it up, but he especially loved it when Emma held him. But now, Bill was bigger and really enveloped him. Paul blushed as he gently tried to wiggle free and shift out of Bill’s grasp. His wiggling made Bill groan a little in Paul’s ear, and Paul immediately stilled, flushing. He was definitely not going to think about how Bill felt pressed against him down there, and he desperately dismissed his own half-hard cock as meaningless morning wood.

With a lot of time, patience, and gradually shifting the sleepy Bill away, Paul finally extracted himself from the bed at 7:30. Tiptoeing around the bed, Paul quickly got dressed and left the room. Once he was sure he had everything he needed, he headed out of the house.

His car turned out to be parked in the garage, so he took it downtown. He checked Beanie’s first, but it was only the typical morning crowd and no Emma. Paul ordered a coffee and a muffin and stood at an empty counter for a few moments, considering his options. Next he drove to Emma’s apartment. He buzzed at the entrance, but there was no Emma Perkins in apartment 2A. Paul rubbed at his mouth in worry and looked up at the building, which was quiet and not offering any clues or helpful hints on a sunny morning that appeared to be turning into another lovely summer day.

He got back in the car and headed to Tom’s house next. It was a stretch, but it was better than nothing, Paul thought. Maybe Tom could give him better insight into when he’d last seen Emma and where she could be staying.

Paul knocked on the door, and a tall woman with brown hair and blonde highlights in a neat bun answered the door. “Hello,” she said pleasantly.

Thrown off-kilter, Paul hesitated. “Uh, hi.”

The woman looked at him expectantly.

“Oh, um! My name is Paul,” he rushed to say awkwardly. “I’m wondering if, ah, Tom Houston is here? I’m looking for a woman named Emma Perkins. I was hoping he might know where I can find her.”

“You’re a friend of Emma’s?” The woman’s eyes widened, and she gave him a surprised and happy smile. “My husband’s not home, but I can certainly help you. Come in!”

Paul stepped into the Houston home, and he was surprised by how different it looked. The entryway opened to the living room on one side, and apparently the kitchen on the other. The woman entered the kitchen and he faintly heard, “There’s someone here to see you.”

Paul looked deeper into the kitchen just as someone ran at him.

“Paul!” Emma exclaimed, practically jumping into his arms. She pulled him into a big hug.

“Emma!” Paul hugged her close to him in a tight hold. He pressed his face into her wavy brown hair and breathed deeply. “Thank God,” he murmured. The tension that he’d been holding ever since he’d arrived in this alternate reality finally eased in waves of relief as he held Emma in his arms.

They pulled apart just enough to look at each other. Emma rested her hands on Paul’s forearms, just taking him in with her eyes. “I’ve been so worried about you,” Emma said, immensely relieved. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.” Paul said. He wanted to say more, but the woman from the front door was standing nearby, watching them pleasantly at their happy reunion, and with an air of expectation for explanation.

“Paul,” Emma said, her voice filled with excitement. She held one of Paul’s hands and gestured with the other. “This is my sister, Jane.”

Paul’s mouth dropped open as the dots connected, the mystery of this familiar woman finally making sense. He stared at Jane, now noticing all the tiny facial features that reminded him of Emma.

“Wow.” Paul shook himself and smiled, hoping he wasn’t gaping too much. He eagerly went to offer his hand. “Hi, Jane, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Paul.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jane said in amusement and shook Paul’s hand. “How do you know my sister?”

Paul opened his mouth, but Emma hurriedly answered. “We’re old friends. We go way back. We’ve kept in touch while I’ve been backpacking.”

Paul nodded in support of Emma’s words, all while they sunk in. Backpacking! Emma must have been traveling in this universe; that’s why she didn’t have an apartment. It also explained her attractive tan and the few new freckles on her cheeks. Paul gazed at her fondly and had a sudden desire to gather her up into a passionate kiss and never let her go.

“And we need to catch up,” Emma continued. She glanced at Paul and smiled at Jane. “Mind if I go out for a while? I know you wanted to show me some new shops downtown, but could we meet up for lunch instead?”

Jane nodded. “Sure, you go on ahead. I want to get some chores done while Tom is out with Tim, anyway. I’ll talk to you later. And you too, Paul. It’s been nice meeting you.”

“You too,” Paul said earnestly, watching as Jane Perkins walked away.

Once she was out of earshot, Emma squeezed Paul’s hand and exclaimed in a hushed tone, “Can you believe it? It’s really Jane! She’s alive here! In this timeline, she never got in that car accident.”

“It’s amazing,” Paul said. “She reminds me of you.”

“All this time I’ve been thinking about her, regretting all the things I never said and all the family stuff I never came home for, even though she never gave up on inviting me back home, time and again. But here, I finally came home!” Emma’s eyes were lit up with excitement, and Paul smiled even more brightly to see her like this. He rubbed her arm supportively as they stepped outside and into the sunshine and walked to Paul’s car.

“What’s so crazy is that I didn’t think of the implications! God, a new world, and people who were dead are suddenly alive again,” Emma marvelled, shaking her head in wonder. Paul smiled, recollecting his similar joy when he’d first seen Ted in the office again.

Once they were in the car, Emma turned to Paul from the passenger seat. “I can hardly believe that we’re actually in an alternate reality! A new world!” Emma gestured all around them at the houses they started to drive past, and the buildings of downtown in the distance. “There was a part of me that was wondering if I was imagining all of this. Like, I could believe it if Ziggy gave me especially strong shit that sent me on a really deep, hallucinatory trip, but it’s all just way too real.”

“I’m glad you’re finally believing it,” Paul said, amused. “I can hardly believe it, and I’m the one who was getting inundated with visions about different worlds like this.”

Paul turned into the parking lot at Beanie’s, and Emma gestured to the building. “I’ve been so caught up in being with Jane, I didn’t have a chance to find you. I was going to come here to Beanie’s and wait for you!”

“I was just here, before I checked to see if you were at your apartment,” Paul said. “It’s no different in this universe; same crappy coffee.”

They grinned at each other, and held hands as they walked inside the coffee shop. The shop had steadily filled in the last hour since Paul had left, and a moderate amount of patrons filled most of the tables. Emma and Paul joined the short line.

“After we went through the portal, I woke up on their couch yesterday,” Emma said, lowering her voice with so many people in earshot. “Apparently I’ve been backpacking through Central America and haven’t been home in a few years.”

“That explains your tan,” Paul said.

“Yeah, right? I told you Hatchetfield makes me all pasty. Sunlight is what I need to thrive, and that’s one of the perks of getting off this little island once in a while.” Emma prodded Paul’s chest teasingly.

“Well I think it’s sexy,” Paul declared. “You have some new freckles here, and here…” Paul gently brushed his fingers along her cheek and cupped her face. Emma smiled up at him, rising on her tip-toes to get more of his touch.

He rubbed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss. “And here, too!”

Emma laughed and rested her hands on his shoulders. “If that’s the case, I’ll happily play a game of find-the-freckles with you later. We can count them.”

“Next up, please!” the harried employee behind the counter said, a girl that neither Paul nor Emma recognized. Emma slid her hands down from Paul and grabbed his hand instead. She laced her fingers between his as he ordered another black coffee for himself and a cinnamon latte for Emma.

It was a simple order, and after a loud burst of espresso beans grinding and steaming foam whirring, they had their hot drinks in hand.

Emma took a tentative sip as they walked away from the counter and looked for a place to sit. “Anyway, where have you been? Did you get here around five o’clock yesterday?”

“I did. I ended up at work.” Paul pulled up a chair at an empty table against the wall.

Emma sat down and made a sympathetic hissing noise. “Ugh, that sucks.”

“Luckily I didn’t have to do any work.”

“Right? Like, we’re here for a reason; if I had ended up here in my apron, I would not bite that bullet for my other self and work her shift.”

Paul chuckled, and then pursed his lips in nervousness. “Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t look for me at my apartment, because I was at Bill’s. Alice is staying over for the week, and once she came over we had dinner.” He shifted in his seat and decided to just say it. “Yeah, um, turns out that Bill and I are engaged.”

Emma nearly spit out the sip she just took from her latte, but swallowed it instead, eyes wide. “What? You and, you and Bill?”

“Yep,” Paul said nervously. He placed his left hand on the table, displaying the ring on his fourth finger.

Emma grabbed his hand and looked at the ring with its blue gem, mouth agape. “Whoa. Holy crap.” She looked up at Paul, still unable to shake her complete surprise. “Congrats, I guess! Wow, who proposed?”

“I have no idea.” Paul shrugged nervously.

“You and Bill, wow. I guess you guys have always been close friends? I bet you two are cute together.” She raised her eyebrows teasingly, and she was close enough to him to gently knock his knees with hers under the table.

Paul almost didn’t hear what she said as he braced himself to say what had been plaguing him. It had been on his mind to tell her ever since it had happened. The guilt was eating him alive. Not just because it felt like he was cheating on Emma, but also the very fact of how Bill made him…feel certain things. The memory of how it felt to have Bill pressed flush against him that morning, and how he’d physically reacted to it, filled Paul with self-disgust, shame, and self-recrimination. And it wasn’t just that, either: the way Bill’s smiles and gentle touches warmed Paul felt equally as damning; each exchange that wasn't strictly platonic made him feel like he was betraying his relationship with Emma.

Inhaling hurriedly, Paul said, “He and I are engaged and I’m sorry, but he kissed me. More than once,” Paul squeezed his eyes shut in shame and retracted his hand, dropping it under the table so his hands could fidget nervously in his lap. “He thinks we’re together, and it just happened so fast, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“Hey, slow down, Paul, it’s okay,” Emma said.

Paul opened his eyes and glanced up at her nervously, but otherwise avoided her eyes.

“It’s okay, babe,” Emma repeated gently, an understanding and earnest look in her eyes. She knew that he had a habit of jumping into extreme self-reproof, and she could easily read it on his face now.

She leaned forward and kept looking until Paul met her eyes, and she smiled earnestly at him, with a hint of that look she always gave him when he did something curious or confusing, but always endearing. “I’m not mad. You said you guys are engaged here, right? And Webby said we have to basically go with the flow.”

“Live our counterparts’ lives, yeah,” Paul said doubtfully.

“Then it’s no big deal,” Emma said. She hesitated. “It’s not like, a homophobic thing, is it?”

“No! No. God no, Emma, I’m bi,” Paul said in a rush to defend himself.

“Ohh. Oh. My God. Really?” Emma stared at him with her mouth open. “Paul! Why didn’t you tell me? We’ve been dating for over a year now and you never mentioned it? How is that possible?”

Paul shrugged awkwardly. “It never came up. I mean, I’ve known for a long time, but never explored it.”

“Have you ever kissed a guy before?” Emma asked.

Paul shifted his feet nervously. “I kissed a guy on a dare at a dance once in junior high. I was bullied for weeks afterward. One of the only good things about going to Sycamore High was putting all that behind me. So it’s not something…I tell people. Or even think about that much.”

Emma reached across the table, gesturing, and Paul brought up his fidgeting hands to rest in hers. She gripped his hands assuredly and looked at him with the kind of compassion that she knew he rarely extended to himself.

“Thanks for telling me. I’m happy to know this about you, and I love you exactly the way you are. And damn anyone who ever made you feel less than or ashamed just for being you.” Emma squeezed his hands tightly, and Paul felt his heart warmed by her soothing hands and tender gaze.

“Thanks, Em,” he said quietly, a shy small smile growing on his face as she looked at him with such unconditional love.

Emma chuckled and rubbed her thumbs along his knuckles. “God, the conversations we could have been having! Who did you have crushes on growing up? I bet at least one of them was one of those old-fashioned guys from those black and white movies you like, huh? Like Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart? Was it Gregory Peck, or ooh, James Stewart? One of those?”

Paul blushed bright red.

“Aha!” Emma grinned triumphantly and kissed Paul’s cheek. “I love you, honey.” She brushed her thumb along his rosy cheek where she’d kissed him, which did nothing to get rid of his blush or his widening grin as he smiled at her.

Emma raised her eyebrows, giving him a mischievous look of barely suppressed delight. “All that talk about cinematography and storytelling, and here you just had the hots for all those dapper men in suits…” Emma muttered in amusement.

“That wasn’t the only reason,” Paul mumbled shyly, his cheeks still flushed pink. “Could we get back to discussing the more important issues at hand, please?” Paul said, embarrassed.

“We are,” Emma reassured him. “Like I said, it’s okay if you have to be affectionate with Bill. I totally understand. When in Rome, or ‘when in alternate-reality,’ and all that.”

“But you know how much I hate acting,” Paul said anxiously.

“I know you don’t like acting or role-playing, and that lying isn’t your forte,” Emma said. “Bill is still your best friend though, right? You already care about him. And he thinks you’re his fiance. I think it will come more naturally to you than you think. It will be okay. And if you’re ever really uncomfortable, you can always say no. He can deal with his fiancé acting weird for a few days while we try to find the ‘trouble’ Webby was talking about, or whoever we need to find, and get out of here.”

“If it takes days,” Paul said, realizing something. “I never thought about how long this might take. Does Webby expect us to be here for weeks or even months at a time?” His anxiety spiked just thinking about it.

“I hope not,” Emma said. “I mean, so far it’s been great. I love seeing Jane, and I hope I get to spend a lot of time with her while we’re here. But…a part of me won’t feel right until we’re back home, you know?” She smiled at a memory. “Plus, we have my graduation party to get back to.”

“Shit, you’re right. So much has happened so fast…” Paul shook his head in wonder. “I thought we could take a closer look at the Black Book. Do you still have the one you were carrying?”

“Yeah, matter of fact! It was on the coffee table right next to me when I woke up,” Emma said. “I shoved it under the couch so Tim wouldn’t start looking through it. So, I don’t have it on me right now.”

Paul retrieved his copy of the Black Book once they returned to his car. From the Beanie’s parking lot, they walked along the street downtown holding hands, the warm sunshine and refreshing summer breeze an excellent accompaniment to their stroll.

Paul suddenly stopped on the sidewalk, and Emma paused with him. “What is it?”

“I was worried about that,” Paul said, looking across the street to Miss Retro’s Throwback Diner, closed indefinitely. “If Jane’s alive, and Ted, I thought maybe Miss Holloway would be too, and we could get help from her.”

“Maybe she’s still around, even if the diner’s closed,” Emma said optimistically.

They continued downtown until they reached the library. First, they searched Hatchetfield news articles until they confirmed what they had feared: Miss Holloway was dead. From what they could glean from the article, which was very vague, Miss Holloway had suffered a fatal seizure when she was on a job helping a social worker with troubled kids. “She was one of the best of women, a true gift to this town,” the social worker Duke Keane was quoted as saying. “She’ll be sorely missed, and we’ll never forget her.”

Bummed from this news, they moved on to find a table in a secluded corner. There, they paged through the dark spell book: the copy that Paul carried that once belonged to the Miss Holloway of their universe. The handwriting was hard to read, and frequently in a foreign language, but even the forbidding pictures were information enough.

“Jeez, what the hell,” Emma said, pointing to an ugly goat creature.

“Wait until you see this one,” Paul said, showing her a being made of eyes: a large eyeball for a face, surrounded by hundreds of eyes all over its head and hands. Bat wings protruded from its back. “These must be the other ‘brothers’ Webby told us about,” Paul said grimly.

“Brothers? Jesus, what kind of parents do you have to have to look that effed up?”

Paul closed the book. “It’s probably best if we don’t look at it for too long. Miss Holloway said that the Black Book corrupts minds.”

“And basically ruins people’s lives, yeah. That’s not something you forget.”

Both feeling uneasy, neither of them said anything for a few moments. There was a mutual sense of doubt between them, a growing worry that they had joined something that was above their pay grade, so to speak. And now they didn’t even have the expert help of a friend and occult ‘specialist’ like Miss Holloway.

“And we’re supposed to help fight those things?” Emma trailed off, voice filled with doubt.

Paul mustered up some hope. “Well, that’s why we’re looking for more people who can fight against them. We’re like the recruiters, I guess, and Webby will do the rest in training them. We do have a goddess on our side!” Paul grabbed Emma’s hand soothingly. “And hey, we already faced one of them and took him down. We can do this,” he encouraged.

Emma quirked a smile. “I envy your optimism sometimes.”

Paul smiled self-deprecatingly. “It’s definitely not a constant,” he said dryly, and Emma snorted. “It’s the only way to stay right-side up sometimes, when the rest of me is like the rapid paddling feet of a duck trying to stay afloat.”

Emma grinned. “I just imagined you as a goose in a tie. Eating bread, honking at passersby in a park.”

Paul was suddenly wide-eyed as he was struck by a thought. “Do you think we’ll go to a universe where I’m actually a goose in a tie?”

“Probably, and we’ll need to team up with Peanuts the pocket squirrel,” Emma said, and they both dissolved into laughter.

“Ahh, Peanuts,” they both sighed. Paul shook his head fondly, and Emma wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.

“It doesn’t seem like we have lots of answers right now,” Emma said. “I don’t think we’ve been here long enough. We need to look for more clues.”

“Yeah, I agree. I think it’s too soon. There must be a reason Webby chose this timeline, out of all of them. We just have to find out why.”

Emma nodded and stood up from the table. “So that means I’ll go back to Tom and Jane’s, and you go back to Bill and Alice. Let’s see what we can find out.”

Paul got up and tucked the book under his arm. “Let’s meet back here tomorrow. Do you think that will work?”

“How about Beanie’s first? And let’s keep in touch about what time to meet. I’m not sure what plans I might be making with them.”

They headed back out into the calm summer day and added each other as contacts in each other’s phones.

“It feels weird to do this,” Paul said, typing his information into Emma’s phone. “It’s just another one of those weird things that proves we’re in a different universe. It’s a world where we’ve never met.” Paul gazed at her wistfully, filled with a sad wave of regret for the huge missed opportunity that the Paul and Emma of this universe would never even know.

Emma also felt a strange sort of sadness for them. “It’s weird. Not déjà vu, but…”

“Yeah.”

“Things seem like they turned out okay, though,” Emma observed with positivity. “You’re engaged to Bill,” she exclaimed, elbowing him mischievously. “He’s a good guy!”

Paul rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. “I’m just standing in for Bill’s real fiancé. It’s clearly a timeline where Bill didn’t meet Sylvia, either,” he mused. “What about you? Do you think the Emma of this world is happy?”

Emma shrugged, and then a smile lit up her face. “I must be. I have Jane.”

Paul smiled at her. He reached for Emma and hugged her, pulling her close. Emma squeezed him back, resting her head against his chest. They stayed that way for as many moments as they could, both feeling comfortable and secure in each other’s arms. Paul kissed the top of her head and they pulled apart. Their peaceful moment, feeling suspended in time in their own little bubble, had ended for now, and their new task lay ahead for them as Paul drove Emma back to the Houstons and they parted once more.

Chapter 4

Notes:

**Explicit content in this chapter: see end notes for tags.

On his way back from dropping Emma off at the Houstons’, Paul remembered about Bill. Shoot, I should get him a caramel frappe. That’s what a good fiancé would do. He returned to Beanie’s and ordered the drink. While he waited, he opened his phone and searched Hatchetfield news. Most of it was similar to his own timeline: standard stuff, like an advertisement for Crab Fest at Red Lobster, a headline story about Papa Ed’s successful GoFundMe campaign for Peanuts the Pocket Squirrel’s very own squirrel house, and calls for early auditions for the annual Honey Queen Festival.

When he returned to Bill’s, he found Bill standing at the coffee bar, his cheek resting on his hand as he somberly stirred a small cup of coffee.

“Hey,” Paul greeted him, giving him a gentle tap on the shoulder.

Bill barely glanced up. “Hey. Where did you go?”

“Just went out to run some errands,” Paul said vaguely. He slid over the caramel frappe. “I brought you some Beanie’s! Your favorite.”

“Thanks.” Bill accepted the drink but hardly looked at it.

Paul looked around. “What’s wrong? Where’s Alice?”

“She had to go see Deb,” Bill sighed wearily. “Since you went out, I figured me and Alice could have some time alone. Some father-daughter time over breakfast. But she always has that damn cell phone on her, and as soon as she got a text from Deb she jumped from the table and nearly ran for the door.” Bill sighed in annoyance.

Paul made a sympathetic noise.

Bill took a tentative sip of the caramel frappe, pausing before continuing. “I said, ‘You just got here, Alice; I thought we could spend more time together before you’re busy with all your college plans.’ And she said, ‘I’ll be here all week, Dad.’ Well of course I know that, but I want to make as much use of the time as possible, right? So I said to Alice, ‘Why can’t Deb wait? Let’s finish breakfast at least.’ But she said,” and Bill mimicked her haughty voice, “‘I can’t make her wait, Dad! Deb has early orientation soon! Then who knows the next time I’ll see her!’ And she said that she’d be back later and stormed out.”

Paul winced and gripped Bill’s shoulder.

Bill sighed heavily. “Between you and me, the day Deb leaves for college can’t come soon enough. Sure, she’s friendly, but she just doesn’t seem as devoted to Alice as Alice is to her. Alice was doing all these things that she didn’t even enjoy—hanging out with Deb’s smoker friends and trying to become vegan, all for Deb. I just want Alice to find someone she can be herself around. Someone who makes her truly happy, you know? And who is completely devoted to Alice. Where I can look at them and automatically see that it’s a good match.”

Paul glanced at his and Bill’s engagement rings. “Like you and me, right?”

Bill gave him a small smile. “Yeah, exactly.”

Bill took another sip of his drink and Paul regarded him. “I’m sorry your first day with Alice didn’t go as planned.”

“I should have expected it,” Bill said glumly.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy our Saturday,” Paul said. He bumped Bill’s shoulder with his own. “Want to go out, get some lunch?”

The thought seemed to cheer up his bummed-out friend, exactly what Paul was going for. Bill could use a distraction, he thought.

Bill took him to a new brunch place downtown that Paul had never seen before. As they ate, Paul got caught up on the office gossip of this universe. Ted and Charlotte were publicly a couple, just barely out of the secretive situationship stage. Ted’s younger brother Pete was interning as Mr. Davidson’s secretary before he went to college in the fall. The nerdy and timid young man had stopped being so tense once he had eased into the job, and he got along with everyone well; Ted was very proud of his little brother.

Bill also referenced a topic he seemed to have discussed with the other Paul; Bill had it on good authority—one of those sources being Ted’s brother—that since there was a rumor that Mr. Davidson wanted to leave to a higher position in the company, Bill was aiming to position himself to be promoted to Mr. Davidson’s job. Hence the extra meetings and workload he was willing to take on. Paul was impressed by Bill’s initiative and ambition. Bill was a cheery guy usually, and optimistic even when he got frustrated. Paul could sense that even if the extra work was a strain on Bill, he seemed up for the challenge.

It seemed that the Paul of this universe had stuck with his stable role in tech support; no extra work on the side. When Paul mentioned the online pop culture magazine Clickbaitable, Bill looked confused. “Oh, the one you read sometimes in your cubicle when there’s nothing to do and you just browse the web?” Bill grinned playfully when he saw Paul’s sheepish look.

So he didn’t write freelance movie reviews here, Paul thought regretfully, but that was fine. It was just something extra that Paul did for fun nowadays, but he understood his counterpart’s lack of interest and ambition in CCRP work. Besides, being engaged to Bill in this timeline probably filled this Paul’s time and gave his life extra satisfaction, Paul reasoned. Paul had never been a ‘job guy,’ even though to some people it appeared that he was. He wasn’t a workaholic, but just the opposite—he just did enough to get by. Paul was more of a “safety and financial security kind of guy,” after a childhood growing up so poor that he had to go to Sycamore High School with all the other kids on food stamps. After finding financial security at CCRP several years ago, Paul had been merely content. But it was only after meeting Emma that he’d realized how much more he wanted in life. The emotional safety and security she gave him, and hopefully that he gave her, fulfilled him way more than any job or paycheck.

Paul thought about the romantic relationship and friendships that made his life meaningful, and he wondered how this version of himself and Bill had become a couple. They’d met earlier and became roommates in college, but how did it happen? Was it just a natural attraction that gradually drew them together, from roommates and friends to lovers one day? But it seemed like he and Bill had only gotten together recently. Just like in Paul’s own timeline, Bill had only divorced his ex-wife in the last year. What had finally got them together, officially? Was there some kind of circumstance that threw them together, like a drunken kiss at the office Christmas party? Whatever it was, he would probably have to make peace with never knowing. Once he and Emma found out why they were here, or found who needed to be found, they’d be leaving to another universe.

That reminded him. “Hey Bill, have there been any weird things happening in town lately?” Paul put down his sandwich as Bill took the last bites of his.

“You’d have to be more specific,” Bill said around a mouthful of food. “This is Hatchetfield.”

“Like, has anyone gone missing recently, or have there been any unexplained events…?”

Bill thought for a moment. “Not that I know of. Sorry to disappoint you. Did you want to watch that unexplained mysteries series I found? It’s so good! I can bring it up when we get home!” As they left the diner, Paul surreptitiously checked his phone, but there was nothing from Emma yet.

At home, Bill excitedly put on the History channel’s The UnXplained, hosted by William Shatner. With amusement, Paul found himself getting pulled into the stories in each episode. With no other leads in sight regarding his mission here, Paul thought that he would need to do further research later, when he could. For now, he settled onto the couch next to Bill.

They laughed at some of the dramatic parts, but found themselves leaning forward in genuine intrigue at other moments. As one episode ended, Bill stared wide-eyed at Paul. “Do you believe in aliens now? I think I believe in aliens now.” Paul chuckled as Bill went over the evidence the episode had presented, all the convincing eye-witness testimonies.

“Do you want popcorn?” Paul returned to the couch with a bag of microwaved popcorn. He sat closer to Bill so they could share, dipping their hands into the buttery bag.

Bill leaned back his head. “We’ll have to think of dinner soon. I wonder if Alice will be back by then.”

Paul shrugged. “Teenagers. Don’t worry, Bill. It won’t always be like this.”

“Yeah,” Bill said wistfully. “I’ve always heard about how kids eventually come back to their parents; it’s just this messy time right now when their social lives seem more important than family. It’s just that even though I always think of her as my little girl, she’s already 18. She’ll be off to college soon. With any luck, she’ll visit.”

“Maybe she’ll even stay here if she goes to the community college,” Paul suggested.

“You’re right!” Bill smiled at Paul. “It’s not the end of the world. It’s just the beginning.” He took Paul’s hand and laced their fingers together. His affectionate smile made his whole face brighten like a morning sky at dawn.

Paul glanced down in self-consciousness at the loving look. Spending time with Bill was so easy that it also made it way too easy to forget that they were more than best friends here. Paul cleared his throat and took another handful of popcorn with the hand Bill wasn’t holding.

They turned the show back on. As time went on, Bill gradually gravitated closer to Paul in increments: first, scooching up next to him once the popcorn bag between them was emptied and pushed away. Then, he flung a casual arm around Paul’s shoulders. It was just the kind of move Paul would pull on Emma, Paul thought self-consciously. He’d almost feel amused if his stomach wasn’t fluttering with nerves and other unnamed feelings. The uncertain feelings in Paul’s stomach heightened as Bill’s fingers lightly grazed his shoulder and upper arm. When Bill leaned his head on Paul’s shoulder, Paul decided to think nothing of it; perhaps Bill was just getting tired.

As the credits rolled for the end of another episode, Bill turned his face into Paul’s neck, placing a light kiss there. Paul jumped a little in surprise and shifted slightly in his spot. He looked down at Bill, who was cuddled around him, almost clinging like this morning. Before Paul could even think about what to say or do, Bill was wrapping his other arm around Paul’s middle and started planting kisses along his neck and jaw. Bill’s stubble grazed Paul’s sensitive skin, making Paul’s skin tingle as he felt a nervous flip in his stomach.

Paul laughed in slight panic, starting to lean away from Bill. “Hah, Bill, that tickles.”

Bill chuckled, and Paul felt the warm breath on his skin. “I love how sensitive you are.” He looked up at Paul, his friendly brown eyes filled with warmth. “Remember the weekend when you first moved in? That night on the couch?” Bill waggled his eyebrows, and Paul laughed nervously.

Bill placed a gentle hand on Paul’s jaw as he moved in to kiss his lips. Against his higher instincts, Paul felt himself be drawn in. Bill’s mouth on his was so warm, and his arms around him were so welcoming. Paul could be shy and touchy when it came to physical affection, and he didn’t trust just anyone. Years of bullying in his school years had made him cautious, and the memories of last year’s events made him flinch on bad days. But Bill was his best friend; he trusted him and his touch implicitly. It had been years since anyone but Emma had touched him like this. Paul let Bill guide the kiss, and he was surprised at how easy it was, and how simply good it felt.

As Bill kissed Paul deeply, Paul wondered what the hell he was supposed to do. A part of him, the rational part, knew it wasn’t right: it wasn’t fair to Emma, and it wasn’t even fair to Bill. I’m not his Paul. He doesn’t really know who he’s kissing! But for all intents and purposes, he was Bill’s fiancé right now. And he couldn’t hurt his best friend’s feelings. And he couldn’t ruin things for the other Paul—What would happen if he messed up this Bill and Paul’s relationship? He couldn’t let that happen. Webby had said not to “disrupt the timelines.” All while Paul was thinking this, he was pulled into the sensations of Bill as he had never known his friend before: the confidence of his movements, his large, sure hands holding Paul and rubbing along his back… His mind was at war with itself, and if his body was supposed to be the tiebreaker, then the rational part of him was about to lose.

Bill’s touches were all so gentle and deliberate, as if he had remembered just the way his Paul liked to be touched. Paul didn’t know what to do with his own hands, and they ended up resting on Bill’s broad shoulders. Bill’s legs tangled with Paul’s off of the couch, and Paul was suddenly struck by Bill’s size, eyeing the man with a pang of something like awe in the middle of their absorbing kiss. The height of him, God… Paul had never made out with anyone his own height.

Bill briefly pulled off from the kiss. Paul gasped for air as Bill shifted back on the couch, but then he was tugging Paul with him—and onto him. Bill’s hands slid down from Paul’s waist and grabbed him by the hips, and with his strong arms, Bill lifted Paul onto his lap so that Paul was straddling him.

A small squeak of surprise and arousal escaped Paul at being manhandled this way. The warmth in Bill’s eyes had grown smoldering as he gazed up at Paul, his strong, warm hands still holding Paul’s hips.

“I want to make love to my handsome fiancé,” Bill said lowly, and one of his hands strayed down to grasp his ass. Paul let out an undignified gasp, too surprised and turned on to form a coherent thought.

Bill arched up to kiss Paul, the kiss deepening fast as Bill’s tongue probed into his mouth, and Paul felt too light-headed to resist. Paul moaned into the kiss. His hands stayed pressed to Bill’s shoulders and neck for balance, but his thighs twitched and squeezed tighter against the other man where he straddled Bill’s legs.

One of Bill’s hands reached up and tangled in Paul’s hair. He lightly tugged his hair, and Paul groaned; the sensation sent more heat down to his already hardening cock. On top of Bill’s lap, he could feel Bill was in the same situation. Bill jerked his hips up against Paul and moaned into Paul’s mouth.

Paul’s own hips bucked reflexively, and feeling his body alight with sensation, he reacted instinctively and ground down on Bill’s bulge. Bill groaned and shifted up again, and soon they were in a mindless rocking rhythm. Bursts of pleasure shot through Paul as every shift of denim put just the right pressure on his aching bulge.

Paul’s lips unattached from Bill’s in a breathy gasp. “Bill—” his thoughts were cloudy, but he knew they couldn’t do this. But the thought “They shouldn’t do this” was quickly devolving into “Why shouldn’t they do this?”

Bill’s mouth had wandered back onto Paul’s neck, and the hand not in his hair had slid under his waistband and was firmly squeezing his bare asscheek.

Paul squeezed his eyes shut. “Bill—” No other words were coming to him. His fingers brushed through Bill’s soft hair.

Bill brought his hand down from Paul’s hair and palmed his crotch, and Paul’s gasp turned into a whimpered whine. “Bill…”

Bill arched up to catch Paul’s mouth in a sloppy kiss, more hurried now as he bucked up against Paul again. Paul found himself gyrating his hips, rubbing into Bill’s hand and along Bill’s erection. Bill groaned, and his hand palming Paul was now unzipping his jeans. Paul’s hips jerked up to Bill’s touch. With practiced ease, Bill freed Paul’s hard cock from his pants, and Paul made a choked groaning sound when Bill wrapped his hand around him. His thumb gathered precum at the tip of Paul’s cock and rubbed in electrifying circles, his fingers slowly brushing along the length of his shaft teasingly.

“Feel good?” Bill murmured, breathing heavily, and Paul gave a needy whimper, too far gone to care how he sounded.

Slick with precum, Bill’s hand began gliding along Paul’s cock, stroking from base to head sensually. Paul’s hands dug into Bill’s shoulders. He moaned as pleasure spiked through him with every stroke.

Their breathing grew heavier and heavier together until Paul, overwhelmed by sensation and the perfect pressure of Bill’s warm hand squeezing around his cock, came then and there. He moaned loudly as he came, spurting cum onto Bill’s hand and onto his own clothed stomach and lap.

Paul rested his forehead on Bill’s shoulder and whimpered as he rode out his orgasm. Bill gently stroked him till he was spent, and his other hand carded through Paul’s hair.

Still trembling and feeling high from the waves of pleasure reverberating through him, Paul grabbed the front of Bill’s shirt with both fists and brought Bill’s lips to his again. Bill moaned into the kiss and bucked up against Paul, his own erection still untended.

Paul frantically reached down to undo Bill’s fly, seeking to return the favor. Bill’s breathing was coming fast and felt hot against Paul’s face as he gently pulled Bill’s cock from his underwear wet with precum. Bill’s cock was thick and smooth in Paul’s hand, and he marvelled at it. Using both hands, Paul cautiously stroked Bill’s length.

“Paul…” Bill moaned, and his cock leaked more precum. He rubbed his hand along Paul’s lower back, and Paul shivered in pleasure at the touch.

Encouraged, Paul gripped Bill at the base of his cock like he knew he liked on himself, and with the other hand stroked his length. Bill groaned, thrusting his hips into the rhythm of Paul’s touch. Paul fondled his balls as the other hand stroked up, earning him another groan. Panting heavily, Paul looked at Bill’s cock and briefly wondered what it would be like to get a taste, to feel him in his mouth… Straddling Bill, it was too far of a way to lean down, but if he got off the couch and knelt on the floor… Paul imagined sliding down between Bill’s legs and taking him into his mouth, and Paul bit back a groan as his cock twitched in newfound arousal. Before he could move, however, Bill pulled Paul in for another passionate kiss. Bill moaned into Paul’s mouth, a desperate whimper escaping him, and Paul stroked faster.

It wasn’t long before, with another moan, Bill reached his own orgasm. Paul’s hand rested on Bill’s chest to steady himself as he stroked Bill with the other. Bill’s mouth fell open and he shuddered as he came, cum splattering on their laps and onto Paul’s chest.

Their chests rose and fell rapidly in heavy breathing. After a few moments, Bill opened his eyes and looked at Paul in a daze, a smile growing on his face. Paul smiled back and rested his forehead on Bill’s. Then they started to laugh. Bill leaned up slightly and pecked Paul on the lips, and gave a contented sigh.

Paul still felt shaky as he came down from the high, and he gingerly climbed off of Bill’s lap to collapse bonelessly beside him. He rested his head on Bill’s shoulder, and Bill entwined their hands. They were so closely pressed together, they were almost spooning as they contentedly rested in the afterwaves of pleasure.

“That was…unexpected,” Paul breathed, a lot of that surprise turned towards himself.

“We still got it,” Bill said teasingly, as if anyone had said they’d lost it. He ran his hand through Paul’s hair once again, smoothing it, and kissed his temple.

Paul leaned into the touch. He wrapped his arm around Bill’s stomach and held him closer, allowing himself to simply rest and snuggle up against his best friend on the couch.

Bill turned slightly in Paul’s hold so he could face him better. He gazed at Paul tenderly and kissed his forehead. Paul closed his eyes, relishing the touch. When Bill’s hand suddenly brushed along Paul’s thigh, Paul’s groin twitched, and his eyes cracked open.

Bill lightly stroked a finger down Paul’s length, which was already half-hard again. “I see we already have some renewed interest here…”

“Mmph,” Paul gave a muffled moan that he covered with the back of his hand. Bill’s one finger was too tantalizing. “There was something…I was thinking I wanted to do to you…” Paul said sleepily, but a spike of arousal was already waking him up again.

“How about we move this to the bedroom, then?” Bill murmured in his ear, voice deep and low.

Paul whimpered in need as Bill leaned down and kissed him again, cupping his face with his large warm hand. Paul felt cherished in Bill’s hold, and he savoured the feeling of being so fully encompassed like this by another man.

The front door opened and slammed shut, and Paul and Bill jumped. They hurriedly pulled apart, and Bill looked over the back of the couch. “Alice?” he called out.

Paul sat up and scrambled to button his pants, and Bill was hurriedly doing the same.

“Alice, sweetie?” Bill called out, standing up.

Only the top of Alice’s head was visible this far away from the door, and she didn’t say anything as she locked the door and stormed down the hallway.

Notes:

Explicit tags: Hand jobs, some manhandling and hair-tugging, Top Bill and Bottom Paul dynamic, dry humping, and mostly clothed sex.

Remember how Jon Matt said in a watch party years ago that Paul might be bi, but he explored it after he met with Emma? So I took that headcanon and ran with it. XD

Chapter 5

Bill scrambled up from the couch and raced to the hallway, reaching out a hand for Alice’s arm and stopping her before she made it to her bedroom. Paul followed behind, and he was shocked to see her face covered in tears and mascara running down her face.

“Sweetie, what happened? Are you alright?” Bill said urgently, his voice cracking with concern.

Alice wrenched her arm away from Bill’s grip. “Deb broke up with me, Dad!”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sor—”

“Don’t be!” Alice shouted, fresh tears streaming down her face. “It’s what you always wanted, isn’t it?” She turned and rushed toward her room.

“That’s not true! Hey, Alice, you know that’s not true—” Bill called after her.

Alice slammed her bedroom door shut.

Paul rested a hand on Bill’s shoulder, meeting his concerned expression. Bill said quietly, “I never wanted Deb to hurt Alice. This is what I always worried would happen.”

“I think she needs some time alone for a while,” Paul said.

Bill sighed and wrung his hands worriedly. “I guess you’re right.”

They stood there for a moment. Then Paul looked down at his disheveled and stained clothes. He flushed in mortification at the state of himself. Bill looked about the same. “I think I’ll um, go change,” Paul said awkwardly.

Bill glanced at him and down at himself. “Yeah, you go ahead,” he said. The worry in his eyes made it clear that he was now miles away from the intimate moment they‘d shared only minutes before.

Paul chose some clean clothes from the bedroom and headed into the shower. Now alone and left with his thoughts, Paul was filled with shame and guilt. He berated himself as he stepped into the shower. What the hell do you think you’re doing? What’s the matter with you? Bill wasn’t really his fiancé. This wasn’t his world. Why was he getting comfortable as if it was? He was acting like it because Webby told him to, but that felt like a lame excuse.

God, he loved Emma. How could he do this to her? He knew that she said she was fine with it if he had to play along with Bill; she’d even seemed amused by the whole situation. But that was when they were only talking about kissing. He and Bill just did a lot more than kissing. The hot water flowed down Paul’s body, and he remembered how Bill had pulled him up onto his lap with his strong arms and squeezed his ass. Paul groaned and had to restrain himself from touching his cock. He turned the water to the colder end and showered faster. He scolded himself as the cold water relentlessly hit his body.

He was unloyal, selfish, disgusting, a pathetic stray… A sickeningly sweet voice whispered in his mind: Never forget how worthless you are.

Paul reached out with a hand on the shower wall to steady himself and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing harshly. He bit his lip until he tasted blood. He tried to breathe and stop the emerging thoughts before they pulled him under. Dr. McNamara had practiced a variety of techniques with him on how to cope with the symptoms that stemmed from his PTSD. For instance, how to stop a panic attack before one started. One thing his therapist had taught him was how to slow anxious thoughts before he spiralled. But it was almost impossible.

How would Emma ever forgive him? If she did, it would be because she was such a good person, not because he was actually worthy of forgiveness. He was a mess, worthless…and he didn’t deserve her. She deserved better than him. Paul was simply inadequate, with all his problems, his PTSD and anxiety, and now he’d brought her to a completely different universe on a dangerous mission, and who knows when they’d get home…

His breaths coming thin and fast, Paul desperately tried to slow his breathing. Breathe deeper, come on. He breathed in and out through his nose and mouth back and forth several times until he finally managed to feel some semblance of calm. He took his hand off the wall and opened his eyes again.

Swallowing down his guilt, Paul set the water even colder, as far as it would go. The shock of the freezing water jolted him, and he gasped. The cold effectively forced him out of his head.

Shivering, Paul stepped out of the shower. He dried off and dressed in the sweatpants and long-sleeved shirt he’d chosen. Once he was back in the bedroom, he also put on a thick sweater. He suddenly wished he had the large sweater one of the nurses had given him from the hospital a year ago: even though it had been abandoned in a Lost and Found box, the warm and heavy beige thing was like a security blanket to him when he was feeling upset. Layers always made him feel safe—less vulnerable and more protected from the emotional turmoil churning inside of him. He rolled down the sleeves of this blue sweater instead, instantly feeling a little more put together and secure.

When he eventually made his way to the kitchen, Bill was sitting at the table with a solemn look on his face.

“She still won’t talk to me,” Bill said morosely. “This was supposed to be our fun week together.”

“Let’s just give her some space for now,” Paul said, glancing at her bedroom door and biting his lip. “She’ll come out when she’s ready.”

Paul absent-mindedly rubbed the sleeve of his sweater. Bill glanced up at him. “Feeling cold?” he asked, looking curiously at Paul’s sweater.

Paul shrugged. He needed to turn his focus away from his thoughts. “Yeah. Anyway, she can’t stay in there forever. How about I order some pizza for delivery? Alice likes that, doesn’t she?”

Bill shrugged half-heartedly. Then he looked up with more attention. “Get one without meat, though, just in case she does eventually want to eat.”

Paul nodded and opened his phone. He noticed no messages from Emma yet.

---

Emma cherished the day with Jane, hardly leaving her older sister’s side. For the first time in her adult life, Emma was there to help Jane with chores around the house, with her grocery shopping, even as Jane sorted her case files and organized her patient schedule for work. This is definitely an alternate reality, Emma thought as she dusted cabinets in the clean-freak way Jane had told her to. But she didn’t mind. She felt light-hearted even as she folded Tim’s laundry and saw Jane across the room putting another load in. This opportunity to spend time with Jane for the first time in years, even while doing dull shit, felt amazing.

And it was all while she and Jane just shot the breeze and talked about life. Jane seemed confused by all of her sister’s attention. She was happy about it, but still pleasantly surprised. Maybe she figured Emma would have found other things to do than help her around the house. She was flattered that Emma seemed to care about things a lot more than she used to. At least Emma had a good excuse for the sudden change in how she acted: in this universe, she’d been gone traveling without a visit home for several years. That gave her plenty of reasons for why she wasn’t completely caught up with their lives, or with Tim. It was the perfect way to catch up with her sister. In her universe, she hadn’t seen Jane for most of her twenties, a fact that filled her with regret. But now she was here, where things were different. And things were comfortable, as if she could belong here. This could’ve just as easily been her timeline, Emma marvelled.

Tom was gone all day with Tim; they had gone to a birthday party at Pizza Pete’s Family Fun Zone for one of his classmates. Saturday for Jane meant catching up on housework and resting after the work week, but she made plenty of time for Emma. After the busy afternoon they had, Emma had the perfect idea of how they could relax. Emma searched in her beat-up travel bags and backpack for any bag of pot; but damn, nothing. Either it was confiscated somewhere along the line, or she had run out.

“What are you looking for?” Jane asked, setting the table for dinner as she watched Emma roughly shake her bag upside-down.

“I thought I would treat you to some genuine grass, my sister,” Emma said with a roguish grin.

Jane rolled her eyes. “I should have known. You know I’ve never been into that.” She was still amused, though, and that counted for something. Jane had been the complete opposite of Emma in school: the high-achieving, trophy-winning, “checklist-of-dreams accomplished one by one” kind of girl. She’d always disapproved of Emma’s slacking off, especially when she hung around the other stoners during her grunge phase. That didn’t keep Jane from loving her sister, of course, and inviting her back home for every major event over the years. That she’d never visited for. Emma pushed aside the familiar guilt and smiled at Jane. New universe, new opportunities.

“It’s very therapeutic,” Emma insisted. “You should know, as a psychiatrist.”

“I think you used it as too much therapy, back in high school,” Jane quipped disapprovingly.

Emma set her bag aside and rested her arms on the back of a dining table chair. Jane laid the fourth shiny white plate down on the table beside polished silverware.

“Ha, ha. Maybe something like it would do you good, though. You have a lot on your plate, with a kid and a husband. You’ve always taken on a lot, your whole life,” Emma said, almost wistfully. “You should relax more. That’s a lesson you could learn from me. Learn to unwind a bit, Jane.”

Jane just smiled fondly, shaking her head.

“Suit yourself,” Emma said, shrugging. “It’s too bad I don’t have any on me; that would have been fun to do together. Then we could pick up donuts at that shop you liked.”

“You mean Betsy Dee’s, the vintage candy and sweet shop?” Jane said. “I loved that place.”

“Me too! Remember we would go there with Aunt Pat and Uncle Larry after school sometimes?”

“Yeah,” Jane smiled. “I take Tim there now and then. They sell ice cream now.”

“No way! Damn, I need to get over there stat,” Emma said dreamily. She could use a cold sweet right now. This universe she and Paul had landed in was a Hatchetfield in summer, and Emma loved it. She bloomed in the warm seasons. One of the reasons she’d left Hatchetfield in the first place was to enjoy the balmy climes and new sights of southern places instead of enduring more bitter Michigan winters. Even in the early evening, a warm breeze still came in through the windows, bringing in smells of freshly-cut grass and the soothing sounds of chirping and whistling birds and bugs.

“Tim’s favorite color is green,” Jane said, suddenly chuckling, “and he’s obsessed with any green food. I think it started with reading Green Eggs and Ham, honestly. You remember he actually wanted me to dye our breakfast green? Well, he’s still obsessed. Every time we go get ice cream, he wants whatever green flavor they have. I still think mint and pistachio are mature flavors for a nine-year-old boy, but if it makes him happy, I’m happy.”

Emma laughed with Jane. It felt so good to do that. This home was so much happier with Jane here. From the short time she’d seen Tom this morning when he ate a quick breakfast with them, he was really different. He was still quiet and somewhat surly, as was in his nature, and he seemed to carry a burden with him—his time in the service and the PTSD from it still stuck with him. But Emma noticed that he walked lighter, too. He was happier, definitely more settled and content. And Tim was such a normal little boy, bright and excitable and happy to share. Gone was the sulky and lonely child she had watched slowly having to learn to open up again, like a turtle cautiously poking out from its shell, in her own universe. His eyes still had their innocence and wonder, and an unconditional love for his parents. His curiosity for the world was unstained by loss and grief.

Jane walked around to Emma’s side of the table and appraised the table setting with approval, nodding to herself. “There we go. I’ll just need to take the roast out of the oven, and then we’ll be set when Tom and Tim get home. Thanks for help with dinner, by the way,” Jane said, her gratitude even more pleased since it had come from a place of surprise. “I never knew you to be so good in the kitchen.” She playfully bumped Emma’s hip with her own.

“Yeah, it’s a skill I picked up,” Emma said defensively. “Paul and I take turns cooking, so…”

“Paul? Was that the guy who came to see you this morning?” Jane asked, her eyes sparking with interest.

“Yeah.” She thought of how happy she’d been to see him and his smile, relieved that he was okay.

“He’s from Hatchetfield, right? He looks familiar, like I’ve seen him around town.” Jane commented. “So what’s the story there?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you know him? You said earlier that he’s an old friend. Are you going out?”

Emma rubbed the back of her neck shyly, a gesture she’d probably picked up from Paul. Conscious of the different timeline stuff, Emma chose her words carefully. “Yeah, Paul and I are old friends. We didn’t go to the same high schools, but we met at Beanie’s. Y’know, the other coffee shop down the street from Starbucks?”

“Hm, I never went in before,” Jane said. “But I’m going to now, if there are cute guys to see in there.” She grinned. “Soo, are you going to see him again? You guys ‘cooked’ together, went on some dates?” Jane grinned mischievously. “He seemed too interested to be just a ‘friend.’ He must really like you if you had a casual fling, more than once?” Jane lifted her eyebrows at Emma, checking to see if her assumption was correct, “and he’s knocking on the door as soon as you come to town. I’d say, don’t let an opportunity like that pass you by. You should see him again. It would be a shame if you let another good guy slip by.”

Jane held up her finger to interrupt when Emma opened her mouth to speak.

“I know what you’re gonna say. You’re an unattached lone wolf that doesn’t want to be held down by some smelly, hairy man,” Jane said, raising her hands in mock surrender. “But I tell ya, one night stands do not a good life make. Long-term, serious relationships are how you make a fulfilling life. Building a life with someone else, creating a family? That’s where the real, true joy comes from,” Jane said wisely. “And you won’t even know until you experience it,” Jane added, and she spoke with such pity in her voice that Emma wanted to scream.

She loved her sister, and the goody two-shoes attitude was one thing, but sometimes the pretentious, superior, “I have-it-better-than-you” attitude showed through whenever Jane deigned to give advice. Emma had completely forgotten how abrasive that felt. Maybe Jane wasn’t aware of her tone, or that’s just what having an older sister giving advice was like, but it had always rubbed Emma the wrong way. A feeling that Emma had long ago buried returned to her, and she realized one of the main reasons she’d never come home all those years: she couldn’t stand the pity and superior attitude Jane would inevitably show Emma. Even among the niceties, Emma felt like there was an edge of judgement to some of Jane’s words.

But Emma couldn’t be mad at Jane. She was just trying to look out for Emma, in her own way. Maybe that overprotectiveness had grown quite reasonably after their parents died, when Jane sought to fill the emotional void their parents had left behind. Even while they were raised by grandparents, aunts, and uncles, Jane had felt like she’d needed to take on a maternal role towards Emma. That was on top of being the overachieving type-A personality that had earned her her family, psychiatry degree, and her practice.

For most of her life, Emma had always embraced the role of being the slacker, the fuck-up. Let Jane get all the attention, she didn’t care. Maybe part of her dismissiveness came from the same place that Jane had changed from, just to the other extreme: while Jane had become an overachiever to make the memory of their departed parents proud, Emma had given up, knowing her parents would never see anything she accomplished ever again. Both had been natural responses; they’d all gone to family therapy, and it seemed to help, especially for their extended family to understand what they were going through. But there was a secret part of her that envied all of Jane’s accomplishments. She didn’t necessarily want what Jane had or wanted; but that approval and recognition of social achievement, and Jane’s certainty in life, that’s what Emma envied most. Jane had always known what she wanted and went out to get it.

So even with their mutual affection and the loss of their parents bonding them, the two sisters of such different temperaments couldn’t help but have their disagreements and resentments over the years. And Emma resented Jane’s implication that Emma was some miserable, unattached drifter—admittedly, it was only a few short years ago that Emma had still romanticized that version of herself; right up until the moment she’d gotten the call for Jane’s funeral. That had been Emma’s wake-up call.

Emma was surprised at her sudden strong feelings. She thought she had gotten over all that, but this complicated mixture of emotional baggage she’d been carrying around for most of her life had obviously still stuck with her, even if some of it had seemed to fade or heal over the years. Because the thing was, even if Emma could never speak to her parents again or make them proud, she’d always had Jane. She could make Jane proud. The problem, then, was the feeling Emma got when she was more often than not earning Jane’s disapproval. In the past, Emma had nearly perfected the art of insulating herself from the negative feelings when she disappointed her family and Jane. But Jane’s death in her timeline had cracked her open. And now, the disapproval of the Jane in front of her hit her harder than she’d ever expected. Her complicated feelings of grief at Jane’s loss, bittersweetness to be with this version of her now, and old lifelong envy made her head spin.

Jane’s pity at poor, single Emma grated on Emma’s nerves. Resentment flared within her. But the thing was, Emma didn’t want all those old feelings to control her anymore. She wasn’t the same person from two years ago, and she wasn’t the same person Jane had known before she’d died. Emma suddenly, desperately, needed Jane to know that. Even if this wasn’t exactly her Jane, this Jane was hers, too, in a way; and it was cathartic to talk to her, to share things with her sister again. To joke with her and do things together. She wanted her to know Emma, and without the old assumptions holding them back.

Emma sighed and gripped the back of the chair in front of her. “Jane, you’re wrong. Paul is my serious boyfriend. We’ve been dating for a long time now.” In their universe, over a year; and they’d been living together for more than half that time. For Emma, that was the longest long-term relationship she’d ever had, and she was proud of it.

Jane’s eyebrows raised so high they nearly got lost in her hair. “Boyfriend?” She said in disbelief. “When you said he was your ‘friend’ this morning, I could believe that. But it must be serious if you’re using labels like that.”

Emma stood her ground. Exactly.

“But what do you consider a serious relationship, anyway, these days?” Jane laughed. Seeing Emma’s expression, her smile dropped and she said, “Sorry. It must be a big deal for you to be seeing someone. I don’t mean to be rude or dismissive about your situation. It must be hard to date, especially with you always traveling. But, Emma,” Jane said, grabbing Emma’s hand in a so consciously “supportive gesture” that it almost made Emma want to gag, “I wanted to wait to say it, but I guess I’ll say it now: you should quit traveling. Settle down, build a life. You can’t commit to anyone with this lifestyle.”

Emma grit her teeth. She wanted to wipe that superior, patronizing look off of Jane’s face. “It is serious. Paul and I have been dating for years.” She started to think off the top of her head, embellishing and doubling down on their commitment. “He visits me all the time, wherever I am. He travels with me, and we live together for months at a time. He has a better job, so he can afford to visit me. I’m committed to him, and him to me.”

Emma crossed her arms and stared Jane down.

Jane raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I guess I didn’t expect that. To be fair, you’ve always been pretty vocal about being against long-term relationships and monogamy and all that. You said they were inventions of the patriarchy.”

In her mind, Emma grudgingly conceded that she’d ranted a lot over the years about fucking the patriarchy, especially when stoned, which was a lot back then.

“It’s true,” she insisted. “We’re disgustingly cute and domestic together. We even babysit his relatives together like some kind of model power couple.” Emma didn’t mention for obvious reasons that they mostly babysat Tim in the other universe.

“Okay,” Jane smiled and clasped her hands together excitedly. “How about we have him over for lunch or dinner sometime? Is he available tomorrow?”

Emma’s mouth gaped open for a second before she collected herself. “Definitely. I’ll let him know.”

Tom and Tim returned home soon after that, and as Jane greeted them and announced they were going to sit for dinner soon, Emma saw a message from Paul reading, “How’s it going by you?” and she sent him a quick reply text.

---

Paul’s phone dinged as he grabbed the pizza from the delivery man and fumbled with cash for a tip. He set the two pizza boxes on the kitchen table and checked his phone: a message from Emma: “Lunch at the Houstons’ tomorrow! I’ll explain more at Beanie’s tomorrow. 9:30?”

Paul texted back a quick yes and called out down the hallway, “Pizza is here!”

Bill emerged from the bedroom where he’d been staring at his phone on the bed. “Thanks,” he murmured. He’d showered and changed by now, too. “I don’t know if I’m really hungry.”

“It’ll be okay, Bill. Eat.”

They tried to lure Alice with the sounds and smells of pizza. They held up the boxes outside her door, hoping some of the smell would drift in through the cracks. Then they ate their own pieces in the hallway while standing a few feet down from her door, making “mm” sounds and talking loudly about how delicious the extra cheese was.

Alice opened her door abruptly and looked at Bill and Paul with a flat expression. “If you guys start talking about how delicious the ‘sausage’ is next, I might throw up. Please get a room.” And she shut her door firmly.

Paul blushed red in embarrassment. Bill turned to Paul excitedly. “We got a reaction!” he said in a hushed tone. He went back to the table and looked much more encouraged.

“Some reaction,” Paul said and followed Bill, trying to will the heat in his face to dissipate.

“She’s not giving us the silent treatment anymore. And she’s not crying anymore. Her face was dry,” Bill added.

Seeming a lot happier and encouraged, Bill moved with a pep in his step as he filled his plate with more pizza and went to the living room to put on a movie. Paul and Bill sat quietly during the movie, hoping with time that Alice would be lured out of her room.

Sure enough, about halfway through the movie they heard a small noise coming from the kitchen. Bill almost turned his head to look, but Paul clutched his arm and made eye contact with Bill, subtly shaking his head. They stayed still and quiet until they heard Alice’s door close once again down the hall.

Bill exhaled a sigh of relief. Paul raised his hand—Bill laughed and Paul grinned, and they high-fived.

Bill and Paul continued to watch the movie. Now that Alice had eaten, Bill was more at ease, but Paul felt his tension returning. He was worried about possibly needing to fend off a repeat of earlier. What happened earlier on this couch couldn’t happen again. He didn’t know what was going on with him, but Paul guessed it was the bombardment of casual loving touches and easy domesticity that had taken him completely off guard. After the shower had cleared his head, Paul had resolved to put more boundaries between him and Bill. Paul was nervous that he would have to carefully allow some concessions, so as not to hurt Bill’s feelings, which Emma had assured him was okay. But anything beyond that was a line they couldn’t cross again. Since Bill didn’t know about the line, Paul would have to be extra careful in maintaining it.

Before they’d started the movie, Paul had grabbed a pillow and used it as an armrest between him and Bill. Bill didn’t comment on it, though—he seemed preoccupied enough thinking of Alice.

A short while after Alice had emerged to get pizza, Paul said that he needed to go to the store. It was a relief to have an excuse to leave the infamous couch of intimacy.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Bill asked.

“No, it’s fine. Stay with Alice. I’ll be back soon.”

Paul took his time at the store. After he found what he was looking for, he wandered around up and down the grocery aisles, hoping Bill would finish the movie himself. The sun had finally set by the time Paul walked out into the parking lot. It was a nice summer night, mild with a breeze. Paul tugged at the collar of his sweater, sweating slightly in his double layers of long sleeves. The sweater otherwise hadn’t bothered him in the air conditioned store. He ignored the discomfort as he carried his bag, preferring the feeling of security the layers gave him, grounding him in the present.

By the time Paul returned, Bill was sitting at the kitchen table looking glum again.

Paul put his grocery bag on the table. “What’s wrong?”

Bill’s head rested on his hand. “She still won’t talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Paul said with a sympathetic smile. “I brought something she might like?”

Paul pulled out a bag of small marshmallows and packets of hot chocolate in various flavors. There was even a shaker of sprinkles.

“Good idea. She has a bit of a sweet tooth, like me,” Bill said, with a ghost of a grin.

“Want to come in with me to bring it to her?” Paul asked, setting a small foaming whisk on the table.

“Nah, I think I’ll get ready for bed,” Bill sighed. He stood up and gave Paul a peck on the cheek as he passed him. “Good luck.”

He knew hot chocolate might not be the most summer-y dessert, but it was one of Paul’s favorite comfort treats. Who could turn down a warm cup of cocoa? Paul heated a cup of Alice’s oat milk and whisked in the hot chocolate mix. He prepared a second mug for himself. Lastly, he carefully sprinkled the proper ratio of marshmallow-to-cocoa over two mugs, then tossed on sprinkles. Paul set off down the halfway and knocked lightly on Alice’s door.

“I don’t want to talk right now, Dad.”

“It’s Paul. I just have something here for you.”

Paul heard no reply, so he cracked open the door.

Alice sat at her desk, wrapped up in a big purple blanket in front of her computer screen which seemed to be playing a Twitch streamer. The girl in the corner of the screen was saying, “—are much appreciated! Help me restore this historical and fun part of our town! Thanks for tuning in and helping me make it a day worth watching!”

Paul gently pushed open the door and entered the room as Alice’s video ended. She looked at him wearily. The mascara around her eyes was smudged, and her usually neatly-curled hair was in a messy ponytail.

Paul held out the mug to her, and after a moment, she grabbed it with a hand that emerged from her big blanket burrito.

“Your dad said you had a sweet tooth,” Paul said.

“Thanks,” Alice said, sniffling slightly. She wrapped both her hands around the mug, seeming to enjoy the warmth. She took a small sip, and Paul could see a hint of a smile beginning there.

Paul stood for a second with his mug and wavered, unsure whether to stay or turn away. He decided on the latter.

“Well, goodnight,” he said awkwardly. But then he had a passing thought, and he paused at the door. “Your dad cares about you, you know. He loves you more than anything else in the whole world.”

Alice sniffled again and rubbed her eyes. “I know. I just…don’t want him to say ‘I told you so’ about Deb. It wasn’t totally her fault, either. She’s going off to art school soon and said that she didn’t want to be holding me back with a long-distance relationship. But I just think that’s a decision we should’ve made together, right?”

Paul quietly sat down on the end of Alice’s bed, listening silently.

“I should’ve known, too. She wasn’t looking at my messages or texting much…she was avoiding me.” Alice’s face scrunched up. “It’s my fault for being so clingy. I knew she was going to leave, but I just held on tighter and kept thinking it would work out between us. I feel so stupid!”

Alice lowered her face to the hot chocolate in her hands and cried. Paul sprang up and rubbed Alice’s back, making soothing noises.

“Hey, hey,” Paul murmured softly. “It’s not your fault. And you’re not stupid.”

Alice gave a muffled sob.

“It’s never stupid to care about someone,” Paul said reassuringly. “Putting your heart out there is the bravest thing you can do. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out, but if we didn’t take the risk and put our hearts out there, then we’d never find the love we’re looking for.”

Alice sniffled and raised her head. Paul sat back on the edge of the bed, keeping a tentative hand on Alice’s shoulder as she wiped the corners of her eyes.

“Did you always know you loved my dad?” Alice asked, her voice stuffy from the tears. “You know, all those years you’d drive me to school or babysit and spend time with him? Did you know even back then?”

Paul put both of his hands on his cup now as he considered the question. “We were best friends for a long time, ever since we met in college. I always loved him as a friend first, and there were few people I ever trusted as much as him,” Paul said honestly. “Then one day it grew into something…more.” He decided to be vague, since he didn't know the full details of how he and Bill had gotten together in this timeline.

He considered what Bill had said about Alice’s relationship with Deb. “I’d say that a good foundation for a relationship is a good friendship. Being with someone you can be yourself around, and laugh and talk with, is the most important.” Paul fondly thought of how Emma had turned him on to hate-watching bad movies early in their relationship, and how that had been the starting point of them growing closer.

“That’s how it was with me and Deb,” Alice mused miserably. “She was my soulmate. I felt like I could trust her with everything. Like she knew the real me and we would be together our whole lives.” Alice’s fingers worried at the handle of her mug. “How do I just move on from the love of my life dumping me?”

“I know it’s hard,” Paul said. “And you’ve probably heard the saying that all things heal with time. But they do, eventually. They leave scars, but things eventually do heal.” Paul’s thoughts drifted to Emma, and Bill. “Life is a funny thing, sometimes. Our destiny directs us down a path that determines who we meet, and then who we form connections with as a result.” His path had never crossed with Emma in this timeline. Their counterparts had never had the chance to be something together, to make a life together.

Paul shook away the sudden wistful feelings that weren’t even for himself, but this world’s version of him and Emma. “You might find someone someday who you love just as much or even more than Deb, even if you don’t think it’s possible right now. Maybe even at college next fall.”

“At college, like you and Dad,” Alice said.

Paul smiled. “Yeah, like your dad and I.”

Alice sighed. “I don’t know if I can just forget Deb and move on like that.” She glanced down at her cocoa.

“Hey, if it's your first love—no one expects you to. Every time you love someone, it feels different. You don’t have to forget how someone made you feel, even after the relationship ends. Just…regardless of how you feel, give other people a chance. Maybe you and Deb just weren’t meant to be. Any girl would be lucky to have Alice Woodward. I think she’s a pretty smart, talented, and an all around amazing person.” Holding his mug with his elbows resting on his knees, Paul smiled up at her.

Alice smiled shyly. “Thanks, Paul.”

Paul soon departed from Alice, leaving her with her half-finished hot chocolate and her blanket bundle.

Paul quietly crept down the hallway and peeked into the main bedroom. Through the darkness, he could barely make out Bill lying in bed, seeming to already be asleep. Paul quietly walked back down the hallway to the living room and pulled up a chair at the computer. Finally alone, he started the task of researching more deeply about any strange happenings in Hatchetfield. He even searched for strange occurrences in and around Lake Michigan and the rest of the state. Nothing out of the ordinary came up, at least certainly nowhere close to being like the visions he’d once experienced: no missiles, reports of meteors crashing down, mysterious mass hysteria, or unsettling flash-mobs. Everything was quiet.

At a quarter to three in the morning, Paul gave up and shut down the computer. In the dark living room, he hesitated. Should he sleep on the couch, away from Bill? But then he remembered what he and Bill had done right there earlier, and Paul flushed. Nope, he didn’t need to think of that. He tugged at his sweater sleeves anxiously and suddenly longed for the weighted blanket from Emma. He longed for Emma, too.

Sighing, Paul got up and headed to his and Bill’s shared bedroom. He left his empty cocoa cup behind.

Shuffling past Alice’s door, Paul didn’t notice the faintest light still shining from underneath her door. Also was still at her desk, watching another old recording of B. Tepps’s videos with an unbroken focus. It was almost like she was hypnotized. She held her cell phone in front of her, open to B. Tepps’s Instagram page, where the popular streamer had written Alice directly.

“Thanks for the donations and views! U r SUCH a valued subscriber, Alice! I’m so sorry about your breakup that you wrote about in chat tonite! :( I’m here for you if you want to talk about it!
You can call me Bea!”

The messages were followed by a string of cute emojis of bugs and dragons, purple or winged critters.

Alice had tried not to fangirl too hard over this popular streamer and influencer contacting her directly. But Bea was so kind and understanding, and before she knew it, Alice was spilling her guts out to this virtual stranger. But Bea wasn’t a total stranger to her, and she didn’t act like one. She was familiar and seemed to know Alice. She understood her. And Bea went to Hatchetfield High! Even though Alice had moved last year, Bea gushed to Alice that once a Nighthawk, always a Nighthawk. Alice smiled down at her phone at that, a warm sense of belonging filling her. They talked about their classes and teachers they’d both had, and their dreams for the future. Bea wanted to be a famous influencer, but didn’t make much of that. She wanted to know Alice’s opinions on things, and Alice enjoyed the attention.

“You’re SO pretty!!” Bea gushed when Alice sent pictures of herself in a variety of outfits and hairstyles, on the topic of Bea’s own iconic look. “If I was your girlfriend, I would NEVER break up with you!” Alice blushed pink, almost giggling to herself as she read Bea’s message over and over.

Their conversation turned to a simple idea: Alice wished she could meet Bea. She was so understanding. And pretty cute. What if they met this week while she was in Hatchetfield?

Bea had even better suggestions: “What if we go on a date, you invite Deb, and we make her jealous? Wouldn’t that be a fun idea?”

Alice’s heart fluttered. She typed shakily with suppressed excitement, “Are you asking me on a date?”

Bea said of course! She gushed that Alice was awesome, and she wanted to get to know her better. “Plus, it would be less formal than a blind date, since you’ve already watched me plenty. ;)”

Alice exchanged ideas and times with Bea, forming a plan that would really make Deb jealous. This would be genius.

Alice grinned to herself and played another B. Tepps recording, listening to her and watching as she read her words on her phone. And in the double glare of blue light from the screens, there was a strange moment when her irises seemed to flash purple.

Her cup of cocoa sat beside her, half empty and completely forgotten.

Notes:

There are two more extra-long chapters for this story, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading so far :)

Chapter 6

Notes:

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Here’s an extra long chapter to celebrate. <3

**Explicit content in this chapter: see end note below for detailed tags.

The next morning, Paul woke up to noise in the kitchen. He looked at the clock with bleary eyes: 7:20. He yawned and got out of bed, sleepily putting on a robe over his pajamas. At the end of the hallway, Bill and Alice were having breakfast. Alice sat with a plate of food and a cup of coffee in front of her. Bill stood by the stove, looking like he was dressed for work with his striped collared shirt and tie.

Paul shuffled up to them. “What’s going on?”

“Hey! I was just going to wake you up soon. Here, I made French toast before we head to church,” Bill said, sliding one onto a plate and setting it in front of the empty chair near Paul.

Oh, right, it’s Sunday and Bill goes to church. Which means I go to church. Paul sat down somewhat reluctantly, wishing he could go back to bed. But the French toast smelled good, so he dug in.

“There’s fresh coffee, too,” Bill said. His hand brushed along Paul’s shoulders as he walked by and placed a mug of steaming coffee in front of Paul. The cup warmed his hands when he wrapped his fingers around it. He breathed in deeply, and it smelled heavenly. The scent alone stirred him out of his sleepiness, and when he took a sip, it was like a revitalizing breath of life filled his body.

Paul sighed contentedly and looked up at his best friend. “Bill, I love you.”

Bill chuckled. “And you love your coffee. I just have to keep making sure you love me more than coffee.”

Bill pecked a kiss to Paul’s temple, and Paul blushed, suddenly remembering that lightly joking with his friend could lead to physical tokens of affection. He glanced up at Alice. She looked up at them in amusement but didn’t say anything. She looked back down at her phone, scrolling with one hand as she ate her French toast with a fork in the other.

Paul was pleased to see that whatever tension had been between Alice and Bill from the night before seemed to have dissipated. They were getting along amicably; when he’d walked in, they were smiling as if they’d been having a good conversation. Other than the tired look in Alice’s eyes and the dark shadows underneath them, she seemed okay. Maybe she would get over Deb faster than they expected.

When they finished breakfast, Paul washed up and dressed in his work suit for church. They needed to hurry to make it for the 8:10 service. It was a clear sky summer morning when they stepped outside, and Paul enjoyed the fresh breeze on his face. This summer season was a welcome respite from the winter weather in his own timeline, so he might as well enjoy it. But he hoped that he and Emma would be able to return for Christmas in their own world sooner rather than later.

Bill drove them in the yellow AMC Pacer. Paul was mildly surprised when they pulled into the parking lot of a church he didn’t remember; he’d babysat enough to know what church the Woodwards went to. Paul didn’t say anything, figuring that the Paul of this universe should know what church they go to. But he got a hint when he noticed a sign by the front door that declared All are welcome! over a rainbow flag.

Alice noticed Paul looking at it as they passed by, and she said, “I still think you guys should’ve kicked those elders’ asses at the old place and sued them for discrimination or something. Grace Chasity was the one being a horrible bigot, calling you names behind your backs.” She grit her teeth. “I can’t believe that little uptight prude wasn’t kicked out.”

Bill grimaced. “She seemed like such a sweet girl. I’m glad you told me. No, I wouldn’t want to keep attending that church knowing the pastor and elders secretly disapproved of us.”

“And not so secretly,” Alice seethed.

“And having the Chasitys glaring at the back of our heads? No, thank you,” Bill added. “I wish you’d told me sooner. I’m sorry if anyone else ever made you uncomfortable.”

“Well, it was easier for me because I never brought Deb.” Alice shrugged and suddenly looked down, a sad expression overtaking her face. She wrapped her pink cardigan tightly around herself.

Paul adjusted his suit jacket self-consciously as they walked from the sunlit sidewalk to the shadowed pavement in front of the building. He walked with Alice and Bill, suddenly on heightened alert to anyone staring at them. Luckily, there was no such attention, and they filed into church and went through the service without a problem. Paul was rusty, not particularly enjoying the performative aspect of the service, especially when dads of Hatchetfield started to sing loudly and off-key. Paul tried not to cringe too much, and he did not sing. The Paul of this universe must really love Bill to do this at least once a month.

Between the slow readings, long sermon, and lengthy communion period, the service went for over an hour. Paul tapped his foot impatiently and checked his phone: already 9:30. He’d promised to meet Emma now. Alice kept glancing at her cell phone, too, and Bill reminded both of them in stern whispers to put their phones away.

As they walked out after the service, Paul noticed with relief that all the people were friendly, and the pastor even shook their hands like everybody else. Paul hated the idea that he might add extra difficulty to Bill’s life by being in a relationship with him in this timeline, so he was glad that wasn’t the case, at least anymore.

It was ten to 10:00 by the time they finally made it back. As soon as they’d stepped inside, Paul began to say, “Listen, Bill, I can’t—”

There was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Paul said, and opened it to see Emma. She wore an unbuttoned white blouse over an olive green tank top that complimented her wide brown eyes, and short jean shorts that revealed her toned legs. The freckles along her face were more visible in the sunshine, and her long brown waves were shiny in the sunlight. Paul’s breath caught at the sight of her. She was absolutely lovely.

“Emma!” Paul smiled brightly at her, simply taking her in with undisguised affection. He wished he could kiss her, but with a mighty effort he restrained himself from leaning down and pecking her sunkissed cheek. His hand twitched in the effort to not grab her own. “I was just coming to meet you,” he added quietly.

She smiled and nodded, her gaze trailing over Paul in his suit and tie, and then she glanced behind him as Bill walked up.

“Who’s this?” Bill asked.

“I’m Emma Perkins,” she said, and reached out her hand to shake Bill’s. He took it and shook it warmly. Paul thought he noticed Emma looking at Bill’s other hand, which sported his engagement ring.

“I’m an old friend of Paul’s,” Emma explained, and Paul recognized her best customer service voice, polite and rehearsed. “I’ve been traveling, and last month when I knew I’d be back in town this weekend, I called him up and asked if he wanted to get lunch.”

“Yes, Emma’s an old friend,” Paul repeated, only a tad awkwardly as he tried to improvise on the spot.

“Oh, well come on in!” Bill said, ushering her inside. “We just got back from church. I’m Bill Woodward.” Bill gestured to the living room, but no one was in there. “And somewhere around here is my daughter Alice. Our daughter,” Bill corrected himself, throwing Paul an affectionate grin and grabbing his hand. Paul gave Bill a small smile and stepped aside so Emma could come in.

Glancing at Paul with raised eyebrows, Emma followed him and Bill the few steps into the kitchen.

“So how do you know Paul, Emma?”

“We’re old high school friends,” Emma said after a small pause that only Paul noticed.

Bill turned to Paul with a frown. “You told me you didn’t have any friends in high school,” he said half teasingly, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh that’s sad,” Emma mumbled to herself as Paul rubbed his forehead in embarrassment. “But how totally modest of Paul! Of course he had friends. Well, he was a friend to me. He let me cheat off his tests sometimes.” She grinned at them. Paul admired how easy it was for her to come up with lies on the spot. “Go Timberwolves!” she shouted, pumping the air with her fist.

Paul jumped a little at Emma’s sudden declaration and shared a private look of amusement with her. Too much? her raised eyebrow and grin seemed to say. Paul tried not to laugh.

“Yeah!” Paul said with a thumbs up, trying to match her enthusiasm. “So, we should totally catch up,” Paul concluded, coughing slightly. “I’ll see you later, Bill.”

Bill furrowed his brow. “Wait,” he said, and pulled Paul to the side an extra two feet away from Emma, his hand lightly holding Paul’s forearm. “But it’s our weekend with Alice. It won’t be the same once we go back to work tomorrow. We won’t have as much time with her.”

“It will be okay, Bill. You go enjoy father-daughter bonding time with Alice. We can meet up for dinner later.” Paul hesitated, hating to see the sad look on his face. “Maybe we can take some vacation days this week, huh? Then we can spend more time with Alice while she’s here.”

Bill beamed at him. “That’s a great idea, Paul! I love how you think.”

Paul smiled and patted Bill’s arm, ready to pull away. But before he could, Bill rested a gentle hand on Paul’s cheek and kissed him deeply. Paul stood stiffly as Bill brushed his other hand through his hair, down his neck, and rested it on his upper back.

Bill broke the kiss and smiled at Paul. “Have a good time, then. We’ll see you later.” Paul nodded, and Bill pecked him on the lips again before releasing him from their embrace, briefly squeezing Paul’s hand as he walked away.

Bill waved to Emma. “It was nice to meet you!”

Paul’s face was burning. He avoided Emma’s gaze as he walked past her to the door and she followed him through. When he closed it behind them, he turned to see Emma staring at him with a shocked expression.

“Oh my god,” Emma said. “He was totally, like, marking his territory and claiming you, right in front of me!”

“Gross,” Paul tried to laugh, still feeling the deep blush on his face. The heated kiss reminded him of memories and feelings he desperately didn’t want to think about.

They walked to the end of the driveway and Paul stopped in front of the discarded bicycle in the grass.

“You rode a bike here?”

Emma rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, well, I don’t have a car here and Jane doesn’t have an extra working one for me to borrow. Can we take your car?”

Paul wrangled Emma’s borrowed bike into the back of his car, and they drove downtown. For a few moments Emma was quiet in the passenger seat and glanced at him repeatedly.

“When you didn’t show up at Beanie’s, I rode right over here. I didn’t know you were busy playing the Brady Bunch with Bill and Alice,” Emma teased.

“Yeah, uh, Bill goes to church about once a month, and I didn’t have an excuse not to go,” Paul said, turning onto the street to go downtown. “It was actually a good morning with Alice, considering. There was a lot of drama all yesterday evening since Alice and Deb broke up.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah. It took Bill and I forever to get her to come out of her room and eat, let alone talk to her.”

They arrived at Beanie’s and took a table near the wall, closer to the Beanie’s counter and farther away from the other patrons’ tables.

“Coffee?” Paul asked Emma, heading to get in line.

“Yeah, I guess so. Better than nothing.”

Paul bought a black coffee for himself and an iced Americano for Emma. The blonde teen barista at the counter was someone he didn’t recognize, but her nametag read Brooke. Hm, and they have nametags, Paul noticed idly, thinking how in their universe there weren’t any.

He took the lid off of his hot coffee and took a tentative sip while he waited for the iced Americano. A teen guy with floppy brown hair was next in line, talking to his taller friend. “Yeah, Miss Mulberry says we’re going to do The Barbecue Monologues next fall! You should audition with me, Rudolph! You’d totally kill it.”

The other boy shrugged shyly. “Maybe. What about you, Brooke?” the teen timidly asked the barista.

She leaned in conspiratorily to the floppy-haired boy. “I just set a fire in the dumpster outside.”

The boy was in awe. “Sick.”

The barista passed Paul the iced Americano and Paul turned away, shaking his head in wonder. At least Bill didn’t have to worry about Alice doing dangerous stuff like that, he thought. Their table was only a few steps away, and he handed Emma her drink. “Thanks,” she said, and poured in creamers and sugar packets she had ready and waiting. Once they were settled, they pushed their chairs close together.

“So yeah, yesterday was figuring out what to do when Alice came home so upset,” Paul said. “I did ask Bill if he’d noticed anything strange going on lately, but there was nothing. I did more research last night, too, but didn’t find anything that stood out to me.”

“Yeah, same here,” Emma frowned. “Local news had nothing. I just spent the day with Jane, and Tom and Tim when they came home.”

“How’s that going?” Paul asked, taking a proper swig of coffee now that it had cooled longer. It tasted somewhat burnt, but it was drinkable.

“It’s pretty great, actually,” Emma said, her face lighting up with a genuine smile. “I never thought that I’d talk to Jane again. It’s amazing. And seeing Tim so carefree and happy?” Emma reached forward and squeezed Paul’s hand. “It’s amazing.”

Paul smiled and held her hand back. “I’m glad to hear it. Speaking of the Houstons, you wanted me to have lunch there today?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah. So, Jane’s a wonderful person, one of the best older sisters you could ask for, truly; but she can also be super judgemental. She was getting on my case about how I’ve never had a long-term relationship and I should get more serious about my life and settle down already.”

“Yikes.” Paul winced sympathetically.

“Right? And like, I’ve never wanted Jane’s life exactly. Her perfect life with the family, the job, the house, everything checked off like items on a list. But…I still care what Jane thinks. And the thing is, I’m not the same person I was two years ago. I want to be able to show Jane more of who I am now. I’m different since returning to Hatchetfield. I’m not the same aimless drifter I used to be… I graduated!” She held up Paul’s hand in hers and excitedly gestured between them with her other hand. “And I’m in a serious relationship! My Jane never got to see that.”

“I understand, completely. But…this isn’t our universe. Webby said things will just go back to the way it was when we leave and the Paul and Emma of this world come back. Won’t Jane find out then that the us of this timeline don’t even know each other?”

Emma shrugged. “Well, I don’t know what will happen when we leave here. I don’t know if our other selves will know what happened here, or if things will go back to normal. Maybe this Jane’s Emma just goes traveling again, I don’t know.

“But while I’m here, I want Jane to know me. Seeing her now after traveling is just like turning the clock back. I never thought I’d get this chance.”

Paul nodded resolutely. “Then we better go to that lunch. We won’t disappoint her.”

Paul took hold of Emma’s hands in both of his and brought their clasped hands to his chest, right over his heart. “I’m here for you, Em.” Emma’s warm smile matched his own, and her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Well well well,” came a voice from behind them. Paul abruptly dropped Emma’s hands and sat upright.

Ted Spankoffski appeared from behind Paul and stopped in front of them. “Who are you?” Ted asked Emma, his arms crossing as he looked between the two.

Before either could answer, Ted tugged on Paul’s arm. “Paul, over here,” he said impatiently, gesturing a few feet away near the bathroom door. Paul cast Emma a quick look before he let Ted pull him away.

“What the hell, Paul? Are you cheating on Bill?” Ted asked once they were a few feet away. Genuine hurt shone in Ted’s eyes, and Paul was taken aback by Ted’s tone.

“No, Ted, of course I’m not cheating on Bill,” Paul said patiently, hoping that keeping calm would placate Ted. “That’s Emma Perkins. She’s an old friend; I’m just showing her around.”

“Oh, you’re ‘showing her around’ all right,” Ted scoffed. “How many times have you ‘shown her around the block,’ Paul? I saw how close you two were sitting, looking at each other with heart eyes.” Ted pointed his two fingers back and forth between his eyeballs and Paul’s repeatedly.

“Ted, man, I’m telling you it’s not like that,” Paul sighed.

“Seriously, how could you do that to Bill?” Ted said, clearly upset as he gestured wildly toward Emma. “He loves you so much. I never told you, but the engagement pictures made me cry, they were so amazing. Bill’s story about how he proposed was so fucking beautiful.” Ted grabbed Paul’s upper arms. “You can’t just throw that away!”

Paul exhaled and resisted the urge to push Ted off. “Listen. I would never hurt Bill, okay? As long as I’m in this universe, I’m Bill’s. We’re getting married. Nothing’s going to change that.”

Ted analyzed Paul searchingly for a moment, seeming to look for the truth in his eyes. He dropped his hands from Paul. “Okay, sure. If you say so. But listen, Paul. You guys are my best friends, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt, okay? I just want to make sure that you don’t mess things up. You have a good thing going.” Ted attempted to shrug nonchalantly to cover the fact that he’d almost started crying. He avoided Paul’s eyes. “I’m kinda jealous—the love you guys have isn’t something you see every day.” Ted’s shoulders slumped, his expression suddenly melancholy as he seemed to be lost in a memory of his own. Paul watched him curiously; there was something sadder at the edges of Ted that he had only caught glimpses of before.

Then Ted shook himself and squared his shoulders. “You’re too boring to cheat, anyway! I know you love Bill, what am I saying?” He slapped Paul on the back. “Please consider me for best man, okay? I would do an amazing job and give you guys a bachelor party you would not for-get.” Ted enunciated with excited emphasis, wagging his eyebrows at Paul.

Ted glanced behind them and pointed his thumb in Emma’s direction. “Anyway, if she’s an old flame trying to rekindle things, just tell her to put an egg in her shoe and beat it, okay Paul?” Ted slapped Paul on the back again, and with a sly grin, he swaggered away.

Paul stood there for a moment, watching Ted leave as his friend’s assumptions rang in his mind. Ted’s words had filled him with guilt, alright, but not in the way Ted had intended. “You’re too boring to cheat, anyway.” Unbidden, memories of Bill flooded his mind, every tantalizing touch that heated him up, and Bill’s sure, experienced strokes… Guilt rushed in just as fast as the memories had come. And just as fast as I came, Paul thought, and his face instantly heated up, his ears burning. He immediately pushed the thought aside in mortification before more memories could surface.

Paul walked back to the table. Emma was watching him with one eyebrow raised.

“Did you hear all of that?”

“Every word,” Emma said. “It’s kind of sweet, I guess. Ted really cares about you guys. I always thought he was just a sleazeball.”

“Yeah, he’ll sleep around with another man’s wife. That’s one of his favorite things, actually, he told me once,” Paul said, shaking his head in bemusement. “That’s Ted for you.”

Emma smiled in faint amusement. “Ready to hit the books?”

“I’ll read anything that can help us figure out what we’re supposed to be doing here.”

They went to Hatchetfield Library, this time searching for any books on the occult and the Lords in Black, or anything tangentially related to strange happenings in the town’s history. They came up short, however, and it seemed like the best authority they had was in the Black Books they already possessed. The abstruse text didn’t give them much to go off of, though. Other than the vague threats throughout the spellbook’s pages, and Webby’s general description of how her brothers’ wrought havoc, there was nothing very specific in understanding the Lords in Black.

“What if you just ask Webby directly?” Emma asked, closing the Black Book in front of her. “How do you talk to her—can you like, pray or something?”

“It’s pretty one-sided, actually,” Paul said, leaning back as he stretched in his chair. “She used to send me visions while I was sleeping, or awake. You know how that went. But while we’ve been here, she hasn't sent me any visions, not a peep. All quiet from her.” Paul thought of the first peaceful night he’d had on Friday, followed by waking up yesterday in Bill’s arms. Stop, Paul scolded himself as guilt sank his stomach. Stop thinking about it.

He glanced at Emma, thinking with a pit in his stomach that he should tell her what happened between him and Bill. The whole truth about what happened yesterday, before Alice came home. Shame twisted his insides. He needed to tell her.

He was just trying to think of a possible way to broach the topic when Emma looked over to the wall clock.

“It’s getting close to noon. We should head over to Jane’s,” she said, putting her Black Book in her bag.

They drove back to the Houstons, trying to reorient themselves from thinking about Webby’s mission to going to lunch with Emma’s family. Paul listened nervously as he drove and Emma told him more about their lives in this timeline, extra details about Jane that might be useful, and general tips on what he might want to say or do.

They’d gotten all the way to the front door before Emma abruptly jumped and turned to Paul in alarm. “Your ring! Quick, take it off!”

“Oh, right,” Paul said hurriedly; he slid it off and jammed it into his pocket. Then he adjusted his tie, made sure his shirt was tucked in, and smoothed his hair. He nodded down at Emma.

She nodded back and opened the door, then announced their presence. “Jane! Tom! We’re here.”

Jane came around the corner with a welcoming smile on her face. “Hi, come on in. Hello, Paul! Good to see you again. Lunch is ready.”

Emma introduced Paul to Tom and Tim, for their sakes of course. Paul had the upper hand in knowing the two already, so he was less awkward than the first time he’d met them. And Jane was so friendly, so easy to get along with, that she made them all feel right at home.

After they dug into their food—a delectable combination of chicken wraps with sides of blueberries, raspberries, and watermelon, buns, and a chickpea and avocado salad—Jane said, “So, Paul. Emma’s been telling us about you, but she hasn’t been very forthcoming with the details. What do you do?”

“I work in the tech support department at CCRP: Coven Communications, Research, and Power company,” Paul said.

Jane blinked at him for a moment, as if she was expecting something else. “Oh? Do you do repairs?”

Paul wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at. Did she expect Emma to be dating some kind of eccentric part-time repair man, part-time custodian, part-time musician? “No, it’s, uh, just a full-time office job. It’s pretty boring, actually.”

“It gets him health insurance,” Emma said brightly, smiling to herself with self-satisfaction as she spread butter on a roll.

Jane looked between the two of them, clearly impressed. “Wow. I mean, good for you. What do you do in the technical department?”

Paul described some of the average work he does in a day: filing reports, doing statistical analysis, and inputting data entry. A large grin grew on Emma’s face as she watched Tom and Jane’s faces, relishing their expressions of utter surprise at Paul’s completely ordinary and dry desk job.

“Sometimes I’ll take customer support calls when our Senior Technical Analyst Charlotte Sweetly has an overflow of calls,” Paul added. He went off on a story about a particular customer with a tricky problem, and how he and Ted had transferred the call back and forth before Charlotte could figure out what they needed. He then explained about a recent project they’d been working on. The most interesting piece of news was how his boss was rumored to be angling for a different position in the company.

“That sounds dull, being a paper-pusher,” Tom said bluntly. “Have you ever wanted to do something different? Something more hands-on?” As a woodworker and shop class teacher, Tom probably couldn’t imagine willingly sitting through the drudgery of just sitting at a desk all day.

Paul gave a small chuckle. “No, it’s uh, good work. Stable, you know, and predictable.”

“That’s Paul,” Emma said proudly. “He works hard, day in and day out, and goes and does it all again the next day. That kind of dedication is hard to find in a person these days, huh?”

“Commitment to one’s work is very important,” Jane agreed approvingly. “Forgive me for saying so, but you two seem so different.”

Paul and Emma shared an amused look, knowing they were a lot more similar than people first took them for. Despite some surface differences, such as in their temperaments, they had very similar personalities. They had strong opinions about their likes and dislikes, and both of them could be pretty outspoken about those opinions when they wanted to be. Their love for hate-watching bad movies had bonded them instantly. On the flip side, the ways they were different made them even more complementary to each other. When his earnestness met her irony, or her passion moved his passiveness, it pushed them beyond what they were as individuals and rounded them out as a couple. It just went to show that anyone with the right chemistry could date. And it was a funny question, coming from a psychiatrist married to a woodworker.

“I mean, Emma’s always been a wild child,” Jane explained to Paul. “She’s always told me she’s allergic to commitment for certain jobs and relationships. She kind of flies by the seat of her pants. No offense,” Jane said, grinning at Emma.

“None taken,” Emma said. “I flew all the way to South America that way…”

“While you seem like the complete opposite,” Jane said, gesturing to Paul, primly dressed in his work suit and tie.

“It’s true, Paul was a total nerd when he was younger,” Emma said, looking at Paul affectionately. “He had a job as a paper boy for a while. It’s pretty endearing, actually.”

“So, how did you two meet?”

Paul looked to Emma, waiting for her direction. She hesitated too long, so he took the lead.

“She was working at a coffee shop near where I work. I went in one day to get coffee, but I kept coming back for her,” Paul said and gave Emma a crinkly-eyed smile. She smiled back at him fondly. Paul was so shy when they first met, and it took them forever to ask each other’s names, but eventually Paul finally got bold enough to give her his number.

“Near where you work? But Emma started traveling soon after high school,” Jane said, frowning.

“Yeah,” Paul interrupted, nodding awkwardly. “Right. So…”

“Paul was traveling for work,” Emma leapt in. “CCRP has branches all over, including a big headquarters and research facility down in Guatemala.”

“Right!” Paul interjected. “The coatimundi there really get all up in people’s shit.” At Jane and Tom’s bemusement, he added, “They’re like raccoons.”

Emma continued. “He was working at that office for a while for…training tech support staff, and I worked at a coffee shop there. That’s how we met. I kept waiting for him to ask me out, and he finally worked up the courage.”

Emma bumped him playfully in the shoulder, and he just smiled at her fondly, both of them remembering their drawn-out but endearing flirtation stage. “And even though he came back to Hatchetfield, since then he’s been traveling to meet me, especially when he’s out of town for work at the other CCRP buildings. We’ve kept things going long-distance.”

“Wow, that’s really nice,” Jane said, smiling at Paul. “But Emma, what about you? How long did the coffee shop job last? Did you find other work down there?”

“Odd jobs, mostly,” Emma said, shrugging. Paul could see her discomfort start to show through on this topic, but then her eyes lit up at a thought. “I’ve been saving up a good amount of money, and I’ve actually been taking online classes to get a college degree.”

Jane’s mouth dropped open, and she dropped her fork speared with salad back on her plate. It took her a moment to gather herself. “Wow, Emma, seriously? I’m shocked. What brought this on? You hated school. Emma was never the academic type,” she added in an aside to Paul.

Paul frowned at Jane’s attitude, and Emma seemed deflated by her sister’s comment. He put his hand on Emma’s knee. “It’s really amazing, everything she’s accomplished. She’s worked really hard on her degree all while working part-time jobs to pay her bills. I’m so proud of her. You should be too.”

Emma squeezed Paul’s hand on her knee and looked up at him gratefully. “Thanks, babe.”

“Well of course we’re proud of you, Emma, if you’re really working on getting a degree. That’s fantastic!” Jane said, trying to keep up with processing all these drastic new life changes for her little sister. “What are you studying?”

“Biology,” Emma said.

“Why Biology?” Jane asked, curious.

Emma hedged around the reason. “Maybe I’ll get into farming, I don’t know. It’s interesting to me.”

“She knows a ton already! It really impresses me,” Paul jumped in. “She’s taught me a lot.”

“I bet she has,” Tom grinned, and he raised his hand to high-five Tim, who didn’t return the gesture because he was preoccupied with dipping his plain chicken strips in ketchup and didn’t understand his dad’s meaning.

They’d just met and Tom thought he was a total geek in this universe, too. Paul’s ears turned pink as Emma suppressed a laugh.

He straightened in his chair despite the awkwardness. “You’re right, we are intimate,” Paul said earnestly. Then he glanced at Tim staring at him. “I mean, we love each other like your mom and dad love each other,” he added awkwardly.

Emma facepalmed and groaned. He’d only just confirmed to Tom and Jane what a total geek and absolute nerd she was completely committed to. Powering through the awkwardness, Paul just gazed at Emma lovingly. Emma felt an urge to leave the table, but Paul’s dorky earnestness was more endearing than embarrassing. Shaking her head, Emma simply patted Paul’s hand before returning with intense focus to her food, jabbing a lump of avocado and cheese with her fork.

Jane fought back a smile and lost the battle, looking at the couple with amusement.

Tim piped up, “So are you two going to have kids?”

Good thing the avocado salad was soft, otherwise Emma would’ve choked on it; Paul's eyes widened as he swallowed his drink of water with a large gulp.

“Tim!” Jane admonished him.

“What? If they love each other they should get married and have kids. It would be cool to have cousins to play with.”

“I wasn’t going to mention it today, but you did say that you’ve been dating for a few years already,” Jane said seriously. “Where do you see this going?” She leveled her gaze first at Emma, then at Paul.

“We haven’t, um, we haven’t talked about that yet,” Paul stuttered. He looked to Emma and grabbed her hand on the table. Holding her hand seemed to reassure him, and he addressed the Houstons with more confidence. “But I love her very much, and some day, maybe…”

Emma swallowed her mashed avocado and tried to smile at Tim. “Yeah, some day, maybe.” Emma cleared her throat loudly. “We haven’t talked about it, what with my um, traveling and all…”

“Yeah!” Paul added, grateful for the excuse that this timeline provided. “Emma still isn’t settled anywhere, so we haven’t talked a lot about future plans… But I’m forever grateful that she returned to Hatchetfield. I’m happy whenever we’re together, and wherever. As long as she’ll have me.” Paul gazed at Emma, and the soft look in his eyes filled her heart near to bursting.

“Same here,” she murmured, smiling at him. Then she looked at Jane, bracing herself. “I’m thinking of finishing my degree at the community college,” Emma blurted out. “I want to stay in Hatchetfield. And with Paul.” Emma squeezed his hand, and Paul supportively squeezed back. “What do you think?”

“Wow,” Jane said for the umpteenth time. “This is certainly an afternoon for revelations.”

“Then Paul and I can live together. And he can make me freshly-baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and I’ll put the coffee on, and we’ll just spend a whole lazy day like that…”

Paul smiled to himself, knowing Emma was describing the kinds of days they already had in their timeline. Their eyes met and they shared a sweet, knowing look.

“I’d love that,” Paul said quietly.

“That’s so sweet,” Jane gushed. She looked at Tom. “Isn’t that sweet?”

“Yeah,” Tom grunted, taking a big bite from his chicken wrap.

“My perpetually in-motion sister,” Jane mused. “I had no idea there was a part of you that wanted anything close to that.”

“Things started to change when I met Paul,” Emma said honestly.

“And it’s not all staying in Hatchetfield, now or in the future,” Paul added. “We still travel. We go on camping trips around the state, looking for good hiking trails, and go to…other places.”

“Yeah, other places,” Emma said. They exchanged more knowing smiles.

“Well, I think it’s wonderful,” Jane said as she stood up and came around to give Emma and Paul hugs. “I’m just delighted that my sister is thinking of coming back to Hatchetfield to stay. Emma Perkins, the prodigal daughter of Hatchetfield, returns. Is this really happening? Is the world ending?” Jane laughed. “It must be.” She squeezed Emma in another hug, and Emma gave a small, nervous laugh at Jane’s last carefree comment. “I’m so happy.”

They finished lunch, and Jane invited Emma and Paul to join them all to see one of the new summer releases at the movie theater. They declined, since after lunch they wanted to plan their next move; they were thinking of going around town together and looking for possible clues. They offered to help clean up instead. Jane thanked them for their help, and thanked Paul for coming, telling him to not be a stranger. Then before they knew it, the three Houstons had to leave in a hurry to make it to the afternoon showing they wanted to see.

Emma and Paul shared the task of washing the dishes from lunch, Paul washing and passing dishes to Emma to dry. The view of the Houston’s yard on a summer afternoon was a delightful scene out of the window above the sink as they worked on their task contentedly. Emma was buzzing with energy, relishing the complete success of the lunch.

“Did you see the look on their faces when you were describing your job? That was priceless,” Emma said gleefully. “I loved how they could see that I’m in a long-term relationship, and how totally normal you are.” Emma put down the dried glass and poked Paul. “No offense, babe. I love your predictable routine and job stability. I think it’s very sexy.”

“Thanks,” Paul chuckled.

Emma took the next plate he handed her and gestured between them with her drying towel. “Sure, we’re not some perfect cookie cutter relationship that Jane can hold up on a pedestal, but I think we still impressed her,” Emma said. “We don’t have to have everything figured out.” She side-eyed Paul. “Not like you and Bill.”

Paul glanced up from his scrubbing, soapy water dripping from the plate he was holding. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you and Bill in this reality.” Emma shrugged, placing her dry plate on the counter. “The two of you in this timeline are like this perfect super-couple. You have beautiful engagement photos and matching rings, you look cute together, you co-parent a talented teenager. You’re model citizens and go to church.” Emma glanced pointedly at his suit and tie and raised her eyebrows at him.

Paul tried to give a small laugh and wiped his hands dry on the dish towel. “Well, that’s this world’s Paul and Bill.”

“You guys looked really cozy earlier when I came to pick you up,” she lilted teasingly, and bumped his hip. “The way Bill pulled you into that kiss? Damn. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me jealous.”

Paul’s face heated, and his guilt flooded back into him. She didn’t even know… Paul’s feelings of shame from earlier returned, tainting the moment as Emma sidled up closer to Paul.

“I loved seeing how you blushed, all cute and surprised. That must be a fun bonus for Bill, being the same height as you—he can pull you in for a kiss whenever he wants. I wish I could pull you in like that and just take you by surprise.”

Emma slid her hands onto Paul’s waist and looked up at him playfully, over a head of height difference between them.

Paul’s mouth quirked into a smile. “All you have to do is ask.”

“But I don’t want to have to ask,” Emma said, pouting. Even on her tiptoes, she was still several inches from his lips.

“Don’t worry, you surprise me all the time,” Paul said. He leaned down and kissed her lightly. A surge of love, affection and tenderness for her swelled inside of him, making his stomach pleasantly swoop. Then he remembered what he’d done, and the guilt curdled the feeling in his stomach. How can you even think you deserve her? You unloyal, worthless…

He stilled against her. He pulled back and hesitated after the kiss. In his mind, a mixture of uncertainty and guilt threw a shadow over the moment like a dark cloud. Inhaling nervously, he said, “Emma, I have to say something. I’m worried about what you’ll say, but I have to tell you before the guilt kills me.”

Emma lowered back down to the flats of her feet and put her hands at her sides, looking at Paul curiously.

Paul looked at her anxiously, quickly running a hand through his hair. “Something happened between me and Bill,” Paul said, wringing his hands. “More than just the kiss you saw. It didn’t mean anything and I feel terrible about it,” he said in a rush. “I just…you deserve to know.” He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for a millisecond before diving in.

“Things got a little out of hand yesterday, and I got closer to Bill than I ever intended to,” Paul admitted, avoiding Emma’s eyes. “Um, we were on the couch, just watching some stupid show before Alice came home, and suddenly he was kissing me. He pulled me onto his lap and he was touching me…” Paul blushed deeply and stammered. “And he uh, um. Apparently knew what he was doing, or knows his Paul well, because then I, um…” His throat closed in embarrassment, and he cleared it roughly before continuing, determined to say it all. “And then I just, returned the favor.” Paul anxiously cut himself off, shame making his stomach queasy.

He spared a glance at Emma, and her eyes were wide. Shit shit shit, you’ve ruined everything.

“And we had all our clothes on basically, and Bill initiated it, but I’m sorry I didn't stop it sooner,” Paul added in a nervous rush. There was nothing else to say. Paul fidgeted, avoiding Emma’s gaze, looking absolutely wretched.

Paul felt like he was dying inside waiting for her to say something. His insides twisted, dreading Emma’s reaction. You’re disgusting and selfish, Paul berated himself. He cursed himself for getting so carried away with Bill.

“That’s all?” Emma finally said. Paul’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s kinda hot.”

Paul’s mouth opened and closed in disbelief. He stared at her. “What?”

Emma was looking up at him, her hands on her hips, and gazed at him as if seeing him in a new light, as if noticing something she hadn’t quite seen before.

She shrugged. “I said that's hot.” Her smile grew as she watched Paul’s growing dumbfounded expression.

“But—” Paul sputtered, and Emma put a hand up to stop him. “Paul, one of the things I love about you is your honesty. Thanks for telling me what happened. Secondly, we were suddenly thrown into this crazy and impossible situation of traveling to alternate realities, trying to help an ethereal space goddess fight her evil eldritch monster brothers. Like, we are practically in The Twilight Zone! So, I mean, I understand if things got a little weird between you and Bill, who thinks that you’re his fiancé here.”

“It was more than just ‘weird,’” Paul said, his throat uncomfortably dry.

Emma took his hand. “And I basically told you to ‘go with the flow’ with Bill, so don’t blame yourself.”

Paul struggled to form words. “You’re not mad?” he asked. He’d built it all up so much in his mind, he’d thought forgiveness was unattainable.

Emma shook her head. “No, I’m not mad.” She squeezed Paul’s hand, noticing his shocked disbelief as he processed what she said. “So Paul, hun, you can breathe.”

“Okay,” Paul said as the relief flooded into him. He still felt like he was going to be sick as his expectations shifted dramatically. He sat on one of the kitchen stools and exhaled.

Emma rubbed Paul’s upper arm. “You were really worried about telling me, weren’t you?” Paul nodded. “I mean, I understand how it happened, but I’m not mad. And hey, I’m glad you got to explore that side of yourself.” She eyed his tense body language and fidgeting hands, and the sudden look of understanding on her face told Paul that she could see right through him. Emma’s expression softened further, and she nudged him playfully. “Right? Everyone deserves a little experimentation in their life.” She shrugged. “If you were looking for that, who better than a good friend like Bill?”

“You know there’s no one I trust more than you two,” Paul said. Paul ran another nervous hand through his hair, but the relief that Emma wasn’t upset was filling him with calm, and the tension started to gradually release from his shoulders. “But I’m sorry I got carried away.”

“I did think something might’ve happened, the way you were blushing so much when I saw him kiss you,” Emma said teasingly. “Like I said, it made me kind of jealous.”

“Really?” Paul asked nervously. How could anyone get jealous over him? “Jealous of Bill?”

“When I saw you together it was so easy for him to pull you in and kiss you, and Ted said that he proposed really romantically…” Emma laughed self-consciously. “Yeah, I was getting jealous. But you know what really got me? When you told Ted that as long as you’re here in this universe, you’re Bill’s.”

Paul frowned. “I just meant—in this alternate reality, he and I are supposed to get married—” he said awkwardly.

Emma leaned forward and set her hands on Paul’s thighs. Paul’s eyes widened at her hands resting on him. “I know what you meant,” she said softly. “But hearing you say that you’re his did something to me.” Her gaze traveled up from Paul’s thighs and up his suited chest. When her eyes met his, there was a smoldering intensity in them that Paul hadn’t seen before.

“Of course it’s not true. Maybe for this universe, but not for me,” Paul placed his hands on Emma’s waist and pulled her closer. “I’m yours,” he murmured softly. “That’s never going to change.” Their faces were mere inches apart, their warm breath lightly caressing the other’s skin. Paul gazed upon Emma’s face, his expression warm with tenderness. His own gaze grew heated as he looked into her eyes.

“Then prove it,” Emma whispered, her lips almost touching Paul’s. She squeezed his thighs and bit her lip.

Before Paul could close the gap between them and kiss her, she pulled away. Her warm gaze still held his as she stepped back, but then she grabbed his hand. “Follow me,” she said, lightly tugging him from the kitchen barstool.

---

It was only a few paces from the kitchen to the hallway lined with bedroom doors. Emma guided him to the second on the right, the guest room she was staying in. After she’d woken up from crashing on their couch, an apparent habit of this timeline’s Emma, Jane and Tom had insisted that she sleep in a proper bed. She’d gratefully accepted the comfortable room with its double windows and queen-sized bed.

Emma pulled Paul into the room. Before he could grab hold of her like he clearly wanted to, she grabbed his tie with one hand and placed her other hand on his chest, pushing him backwards. He stepped backwards towards the bed, and when he sat down on the edge, Emma leaned toward him. “Do you trust me?” she murmured.

“Always,” he breathed.

With both hands, she gently pushed Paul down onto the bed. He grinned up at her and adjusted himself until he was fully lying down.

“Now don’t move until I tell you to,” Emma said. She climbed onto Paul and straddled him. He automatically put his hands on her hips, but Emma pushed them away.

“Uh-uh, no touching yet either,” she said mischievously.

Paul looked up at her, his gaze heated and eager. She pulled on his tie and Paul was tugged up to kiss her. Just as their lips met in a light graze, Emma pulled an inch out of reach. She smiled as Paul reflexively leaned up to kiss her, just barely nipping her lips as Emma pulled away. A smirk tugged at her lips as she teased him, denied him. Paul’s lips remained parted as the corners of his mouth curved in a slight smile. He watched her, just out of reach above him, and licked his bottom lip. Ignoring his irresistible lips, Emma leaned down to kiss his jaw instead, and started to undo his buttons as she did so.

Her grip on his tie relaxed, and she loosened the knot enough to undo the top buttons of his collared shirt. She leaned in and kissed his exposed collarbone, then the smooth hollow of his throat. Emma laid both of her hands flat on his chest, running them over his crisp, half-opened shirt. Her hands wandered back up, and then she spread his collar open more, resuming her trail of kissing and tasting down his neck. She traced her tongue along his clavicle and glanced up at him.

He was watching her through half-lidded eyes, his breathing growing heavier. Emma’s own breath caught to see the heat in his eyes. His face and neck flushed pink when their eyes met.

She smiled and leaned back down to kiss his upper neck. She gently nipped his skin, and then sucked at a pulse point on his throat. Paul inhaled sharply. One of Emma’s hands curled around to the back of his neck, and she threaded her fingers through his soft hair. As her mouth worked at his neck, her fingers gradually tightened in his hair. She tugged as she angled his head back to expose more of his neck, and a small groan escaped Paul’s throat. Emma sucked at his neck harder, then released the tender spot before she trailed further down.

Her mouth continued exploring at his neck as her hands wandered down, undoing the rest of the buttons on his shirt. She raised herself up slightly to pull his shirt open, and she exposed his chest. She gazed down at his smooth bare chest and flat belly hungrily. Her hands brushed lightly along his chest. Under his white dress shirt, her fingers found his nipples and she pinched them playfully, which earned her a soft gasp from Paul.

Emma felt a spike of arousal at the sound, at his pleasure. Emma went further down his body, lavishing him with kisses and teasing him to the point that would certainly make him feel like he was going to go crazy. She lightly pinched and then tugged at his nipples, first with her fingers, then with her tongue. She gently mouthed the hardened nubs, and a quiet groan broke through Paul’s heavy breathing as he squirmed beneath her. His fists clenched the bed covers as she continued her ministrations.

Emma licked down his flat stomach, hungry as she imagined where the trail led. Her fingers brushed against vulnerable skin as she looped her fingers around the waistband of his pants, fitting one finger underneath to gently feel the warm bare skin there. At a regular pace, not too slow but not too fast, Emma began undoing his belt, which would give her more room to work.

She watched Paul’s face as she undid his belt. His Adam's apple bobbed in a dry swallow as he watched with anticipation. When Emma tugged his loose pants down an inch, then two, his breath hitched. She bowed her back again as she leaned down, all the way until her mouth met the bare flesh of his now exposed hip. She tenderly nipped and licked the smooth flesh before sucking on it harder.

Paul whimpered and slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling a moan as Emma bit his skin and one of her hands pinched his nipple again.

Emma raised her head and tugged Paul’s hand away from his mouth. “None of that,” she said huskily. “I want to hear you.”

Paul whimpered as Emma sucked on the smooth flesh at one hip and then the other, licking and sucking and sometimes nipping with her teeth. Her free fingers went from gripping his waist to pinching and teasing his nipples again. Then her hands wandered down further to rest on his thighs, putting pressure on his muscles and brushing along his legs, but tantalizingly ignoring his groin and inner thighs.

Paul was trembling when Emma raised herself up again. She caressed Paul’s chest and admired her handiwork along his narrow hips.

“Did you—give me hickies?” Paul panted, raising his head slightly.

“Mhmm,” Emma said.

“But—the timeline. We said we wouldn’t change anything for our other selves. What if Bill sees?”

Emma didn’t care. She wished Bill would see. She growled, “Then don’t let him see these parts of you.”

Emma scooched back a few inches onto Paul’s growing bulge. Paul gave a strangled gasp. “Ever again.”

Paul’s mouth fell open as Emma moved her hips, lightly rubbing back and forth on top of him. Paul breathed harshly and moaned when Emma pressed harder against his cock straining against the dark fabric of his pants. He made a frustrated keening sound when Emma stopped.

Emma grinned widely and impishly at hearing and seeing what she was doing to him. Sweat had broken out on Paul’s forehead, making his bangs damp and disheveled over his furrowed brow. He swallowed between heavy breaths and looked up at Emma.

“I wish you could see yourself like this,” Emma murmured. “The way you moan for me, the way you’re coming undone from my touch. You’re so beautiful.”

Paul panted wildly, his fists clenching the bed covers for dear life.

“I wish Bill could see this too, what I do to you,” Emma said, grinding down on him again. Paul moaned and bit down on his lip painfully to suppress the sound. “Then he’d know that you’re mine. Only mine.”

A desperate whine escaped Paul as Emma slid back and forth slowly, but went no faster.

“Emma,” Paul choked out.

“Yeah Paul?”

Paul looked up at Emma desperately. “Can I touch you now?” he said, his voice strained and whole body flushed and trembling.

Emma pretended to think about it. “Mmm, I guess so.”

Paul immediately sat up and flung his arms around Emma, pulling her into a passionate kiss. Trembling, desperate, and almost out of his mind with arousal, Paul frantically ripped off Emma’s clothes as he kissed her. He stayed attached to her mouth and close to her even as he pulled her shirt over her head and released her breasts from her bra in a few short motions. He kissed her neck and chest in rapid succession as if he’d been drowning and finally came up for air, and touching her was his only source of oxygen. Her soft brown hair cascaded around her shoulders, and he breathed in its sweet scent as he held Emma’s breasts and took one of her nipples in his eager mouth.

Emma groaned at his touch. She wrapped her arms around him and arched her back as he sucked and tugged at her sensitive flesh with his teeth. While one hand kneaded her other breast, his other hand went around to her back, supporting her firmly and holding her against him.

She still straddled him, her body flush up against him. In her tight shorts, there wasn’t much need for imagination as the curve of her sex pressed against him. Paul bucked up against her, desperate to get more of the friction he craved.

“Fuck, we need to get these off,” Emma gasped, tugging at his waistband.

Paul ripped his lips from Emma so they could hurriedly pull off the rest of the clothes getting in their way. Paul’s loose tie was flung across the room, their hands worked to tug his pants down and off, and the open shirt was flung aside. Emma knelt on the bed as Paul tore Emma’s shorts and underwear off and down her hips. He plunged his hand between her legs, feeling the hot slickness there, and Emma moaned. He had to remove his hand as Emma pulled her underwear the rest of the way off and sat on the edge of the bed.

Paul gripped Emma’s hips and slid off the bed. He knelt on the floor in front of her. Emma gasped in surprise as Paul impatiently spread her legs and dove in, plunging between her legs without preamble. He peppered her inner thighs with delicate kisses while he caressed her legs with his hands, fingertips brushing with tantalizingly light touches along her thighs to the back of her knees. Panting, Emma’s hands rested on Paul’s shoulders, and then stroked the hair at the nape of his neck.

In a swift motion, Paul lifted Emma’s legs and pulled them over his shoulders. Emma groaned as she was shifted forward and he mouthed her vulva, his tongue tracing where she was most sensitive, her folds slick with arousal. The noises he made as he lapped at her were utterly indecent, and Emma flushed red hot as Paul pulled himself closer with a wanton moan and his tongue went deeper inside of her.

Shaking, Emma adjusted herself and crossed her ankles along Paul’s back. Her hands carded into his soft hair for balance. Paul’s nose grazed her clit and when Emma jolted with pleasure, she accidentally tugged his hair. Paul’s sudden, muffled moan reverberating against her skin, the vibration almost inside of her, made pleasure shiver through her like sparks. She tugged again, and he made a shuddering whining noise. Emma moaned. His noises made her wetter, and she realized with a new flush of arousal that he felt that reaction immediately on his tongue.

His hands gripped her ass, squeezing and kneading her soft flesh. He pulled himself closer up to her. Emma groaned and writhed as his tongue worked in long, broad strokes, sucking slightly when he reached her clit with every upward stroke.

“Fuck! Paul!” Emma moaned. The sounds Paul made, the feelings of his tongue on her, and even just the sight of his head between her legs with him hard at work compounded her arousal. It was getting to be too much, and she wouldn’t last much longer at this rate. She carded her fingers through Paul’s hair again, gentler this time.

“Paul, Paul,” Emma panted. “Stop.” She uncrossed her legs and gently pushed Paul’s shoulders back so she could sit up. Paul made a small, disappointed whining noise when she pulled him off and leaned back.

Pulling back, Paul breathed heavily and looked up at her from his spot kneeling on the floor. He looked almost dazed, his pupils big and dark and overtaking his blue irises. His warm hands gripped her knees, and the unbridled look of need on his face almost made her pull him back in.

“Come back up here,” Emma said breathily, her rapid pulse and heavy breathing matching his own.

Paul wiped his mouth on the bedsheet and he gripped the edge of the bed. Emma cupped his face and pulled him into a passionate kiss, tasting herself on his lips. Paul’s warm arms wrapped around her back and they clung to each other, both of them melting into the kiss. Paul nipped her bottom lip playfully and leaned forward. Emma moaned into his mouth and pulled him closer until he fully climbed back onto the bed.

Emma leaned back and made space for him, barely waiting for him to finally get back on before she was pulling his underwear off one asscheek, then down the rest of the way, with single-minded determination. Paul groaned as his neglected cock finally sprang free, fully erect and already dripping with precum. She nearly salivated at the sight. With a frustrated groan of her own, Emma grasped him, his cock heavy and thick in her hand. Paul moaned and reached for her breasts, cupping them in his hands. He brushed her nipples with his thumbs as Emma gently stroked his cock, teasing the tip with her thumb. Paul kissed her neck and chest, and Emma took her hand off his cock to pull him closer. Kneeling on the bed, they pressed flush up against each other. Tongues and teeth clashed, hands squeezed and caressed, and their worked-up, aching sexes pressed up against each other, and it was clear to both of them that they wouldn’t last much longer.

Paul’s nails scraped along Emma’s lower back and then up and up until his fingers tangled in her hair, and Emma shuddered in anticipation. She broke the kiss. “Fuck, Paul,” Emma panted. “I need you inside me.”

Breathing harshly, Paul nodded rapidly. He leaned back against the headboard and Emma, straddling Paul’s lap once again, positioned herself so Paul could guide himself in. They both groaned as Emma lowered herself onto his aching cock, and Paul was enveloped by her warmth. They pulled in together slowly, exquisitely, adjusting to their bodies’ oneness. Paul groaned as he sank deeper inside of her.

“Emma,” Paul whispered tenderly, caressing her face. They kissed as they slowly moved together.

Breaking the kiss only slightly, Emma leaned back and pulled Paul with her. Paul gave an inquiring “hmph?” against Emma’s mouth as she slowly laid back. They adjusted together, Paul still inside of her.

When Emma was fully lying back, Paul kissed her and gently touched her face. “Are you okay?”

“Mhhm,” Emma murmured, brushing her fingers through Paul’s bangs. Her hand slid down to cup his face, and Paul nuzzled into it.

Emma smiled. “Come up a bit.”

Paul adjusted himself and scooched forward, moaning a little as his cock slid deeper into her.

Emma ran her other hand down between their bodies emanating so much heat, and ran her hand along her own wetness. Her hand reached down until her finger found what she was looking for and gently probed at his hole.

Paul’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Is that okay?” Emma asked, her face inches from his.

“Yeah.”

Emma slid her slick finger inside, and Paul took it in easily. He groaned and put his face in the curve of Emma’s neck. She rubbed back and forth, teasing his inner walls. Paul’s breathing hitched and picked up. She shifted herself down and curved her finger until she finally hit his prostrate.

Paul jolted and whimpered, reflexively bucking his hips. Emma moaned as his cock pushed deeper inside of her. “Em…” Paul panted weakly.

“Yeah?”

He whimpered again, tensing around her finger.

“What do you want, baby? Tell me—”

“Emma,” and she felt so damn good that she could make him come completely undone like this. “More, please, Emma,” he gasped.

She slid her middle finger in, then her ring finger. Paul ground down on each of them, making a whining sound as Emma’s fingers curled together and rubbed his prostate.

“Oh my god,” he mumbled into her shoulder, and moaned. “Oh my god.” He keened desperately and clutched at Emma’s waist.

She knew he was getting close, and his sounds were getting her closer too, as each little desperate noise he made fired up her nerves just as much as his touches did.

Emma clenched her thighs tighter around Paul’s hips and rocked him forward. She moaned as she found a delicious angle. Still being pleasured by Emma’s fingers, Paul squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered, getting ahold of himself before he felt like he could move again, pulling forward into Emma. “Fuck,” he gasped as he adjusted to the new sensation, and then his hips started in a rhythm: pushing back and forth between the exquisite feeling of Emma’s enveloping warmth and into the shocks of pleasure he got every time his prostate hit back against her fingers.

Emma groaned, rocking forwards and backwards, and nearly cried at the all-encompassing pleasure jolting through her. Paul moaned in abandon and he gripped Emma’s ass tightly, supporting her but also aiding in the speed of their thrusts.

“Emma! Emma Emma Emma…” Paul whimpered as he moved, repeating her name like a sacred litany.

“God, fuck, Paul…” Emma panted, her pleasure building as all her nerves lit up like they were on fire. “I can’t…”

She gasped and screamed as her orgasm tore through her, her nerves alight with ecstacy. Her muscles all tensed around Paul, and he moaned as her inner walls clutched around him.

His orgasm gripped him seconds later, and Paul cried out as he released into Emma while completely lost in euphoria. Emma watched him in a haze of pleasure when his face tensed and mouth formed an O as he gave a few final thrusts into her spasming inner walls and clenched around her slick fingers.

Their bodies shook in the aftershock; gasping as if they’d just run a marathon, their chests rose and fell in large breaths. Their legs trembled together as they gradually came down from the exhilarating high. They clutched at each other in a warm, sweaty, tangled mess.

Paul rested his head in the curve of Emma’s neck, nuzzling her. He planted tender kisses on her face, her jaw and neck, wherever he could reach, as Emma came back down to earth.

“I think I almost passed out for a minute there,” Emma murmured. Her eyelashes fluttered as she peeked up at Paul and gave him a lazy grin.

Paul chuckled into her sweet-smelling hair. He shifted off of her, slowly pulling himself out before rolling onto his back. Emma sighed and curled around Paul, tossing her leg over his and wrapping her arm around his waist. Paul wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple. Sleepy, sweaty, smiling, and completely content, they held each other in the warm afterglow of their intimacy.

“I just don’t want to move,” Emma groaned, and shifted so she was even more on top of Paul. Paul hummed and wrapped his arms closer around her, agreeing. Her warmth and weight settled over Paul like a delectable blanket, and he could’ve happily stayed like this for the rest of his life.

After dozing in each other’s arms for several more moments, they decided they had to get up out of the bed. Emma headed to the bathroom as Paul picked up their clothes strewn across the room in their passion.

“Any idea where their laundry area is?” Paul called out.

“Just off the kitchen. Why?”

“You might have a change of clothes, but I don’t,” Paul said, and blushed as he picked up his stained clothing. “I’ll put your things in too.”

“I think I’ll take a shower,” Emma’s voice called from the bathroom.

Paul had only just tossed in the clothes with laundry soap when he heard behind him, “Aren’t you going to join me?”

Paul’s head abruptly turned to see Emma standing in the bedroom’s doorway a few feet down the hall from him, her wavy brown hair falling down to her breasts and her nude body glowing in the afternoon light.

“Coming,” Paul said as he dropped his suit jacket on the floor and followed her back inside.

---

It was a long time later that they were clean, dry, and getting dressed. Emma threw on a form-fitting v-neck Henley shirt and jeans. The rumpled and stained clothes from before were now in the dryer, so Paul simply lounged on the bed wearing baggy jeans and flannel from Tom’s closet that Emma had found for him.

Emma smiled at Paul over her shoulder as she combed her hair in front of the mirror. She was going to savour the memories of this afternoon for a long time--and now she could add to the memories their soapy bodies, his hands on her breasts and hers on his cock, making him come again…and his practiced tongue finally getting to bring her to orgasm under the spray of hot water as she threaded her fingers through his wet hair and over his damp shoulders…

Emma shivered and shook herself, and set down her comb. She turned to Paul and climbed back into bed and curled into his waiting arms. He held her close, enveloping her, and she breathed him in and his fresh scent. She sighed contentedly.

“I love you,” Emma murmured.

“I love you too, Emma,” Paul whispered, and he kissed the top of her head.

They stayed like that for a long time, lying comfortably in each others’ arms. The afternoon sun was shaded slightly by the blinds. Paul didn't realize he drifted off until he heard the dryer go off with its chiming little jingle, indicating their clothes were ready. Paul shifted and looked down at Emma, reluctant to move, but knowing the afternoon wouldn’t last forever, however much he wished it would. He kissed the top of her head. Emma shifted and cracked open an eye, clearly having fallen asleep too.

“Ready to go back downtown and look for trouble?” Paul murmured.

“Mmm,” Emma said, nuzzling her face into his chest. “Eh. Or we could just stay like this. Think Webby would mind? How much help does a goddess even need?”

Paul made a small noise of amusement, smoothing his hand down her hair.

“I suppose that sounds like a plan,” Emma added with a sigh.

They eventually pulled apart, each regretting leaving the warmth of each other’s embrace. Paul left the room and came back with their clothes. He tossed Emma her shirt and shorts, and she shoved them in a drawer while Paul undressed from the ill-fitting Tom clothes back into his suit.

Paul had put on his dress pants and was throwing his collared white shirt over his undershirt when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He saw the two love bites from Emma, now boldly red and dimpled with purple. They stood out quite visibly above his T-shirt collar on his pale neck.

Paul gasped and felt a flash of heat go through him at the sight of them. He lightly brushed his fingers over them, feeling the slight tenderness there, and he flushed with pleasure. He remembered the unseen hickies at his hips, too; they all marked him as Emma’s. A wide smile lit up his face. Then Emma came up beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist and unbuttoned shirt, hugging his side. Paul smiled happily at her. “Paul,” Emma murmured into his side, and his smile dipped slightly at her more serious tone.

She looked up at him, her eyes showing more vulnerability than she usually dared show. “Come here,” she said, pulling off of him so her hand slid into his and tugged him over to the bed. Paul sat on the edge where she guided him, and she stood in front of him, looking self-conscious and even nervous.

“I know what I said yesterday about going with the flow with the alternate universe,” Emma said, biting her lip. “And I thought it would be fine, especially if you were exploring feelings you hadn’t before… But I can’t do it. I can’t see you two together. Could you please not let Bill touch you again?”

Paul looked into Emma’s vulnerable brown eyes and squeezed her hands, feeling his heart hurt that he’d made her feel this way.

“I know how Webby said not to change our other selves’ lives here or draw suspicion to ourselves, but…”

“Yeah, fuck that,” Paul said firmly. He reached up to cup her face tenderly in his hands. “Of course I won’t let him touch me. I’m sorry I got carried away. I’m yours, and always will be.”

Emma beamed at him and leaned down to kiss him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. Paul arched up into the kiss and moaned as the kiss quickly deepened. Emma climbed up onto the bed and straddled his lap. Paul brushed a damp, sweet-smelling strand of hair out of her face, and his other arm wrapped around her back, holding her in place as he pressed her closer to him.

“That you are, baby,” Emma murmured. Her hands threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck, and Paul shivered pleasurably at her touch. “Don’t you forget it.”

Emma leaned down and nibbled at Paul’s neck. Paul gasped, and she grinned at him.

Paul’s own grin grew wide, and both of his hands snaked under her shirt, brushing her lower back with feather-light fingertips before he gripped her ass and pulled her flush against him. Emma gasped and groaned, and then she bit her lip and chuckled in embarrassment at her own reaction.

“And you’re mine,” Paul said teasingly, looking up at her innocently with a mischievous grin.

“That I am,” Emma breathed, and she closed the short distance between them with another passionate kiss.

Paul pulled her in, her warmth and smell, weight, and taste all delighting him as his head filled with Emma. How did I ever get so lucky? he marvelled.

Emma was panting on top of him, and she nuzzled into his neck. “Should I add another?” she said huskily, and started sucking at his neck again. The way she started to rock back and forth again on the growing bulge in his lap made Paul lightheaded and wonder if he’d have to do laundry again, the way things were going.

“Whoa, don’t mind me!” a voice called out.

They both startled. Emma pulled her mouth from Paul’s neck, and they looked to the open doorway. Jane stood there, smiling and embarrassed.

“Sorry! I just wanted to check on you two!” Jane said, and she threw her hand over her eyes for emphasis. “I didn’t see anything!”

Emma climbed off of Paul and chuckled awkwardly, adjusting her shirt. Paul cleared his throat and his face filled with the heat of embarrassment.

“Sorry, we were just…” Emma cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Going to go out for an early dinner?” Paul added helpfully.

“What’s up?” Emma asked.

Jane, still recovering from surprise, shrugged awkwardly. “Um, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Tom and Tim wanted to see some action movie, and I didn’t feel up to it.”

Jane told Emma about the movie while Paul checked his phone for the first time since lunch. He frowned in concern when he saw that he had six missed calls from Bill. He opened his voicemail and listened to the first message.

When Emma saw the look on his face, she stopped in mid-sentence to ask him, “What is it?”

“Alice is missing.”

Notes:

Explicit tags: Top Emma and Bottom Paul dynamic, foreplay, hickies, hair-tugging, dry humping, cunnilingus, anal fingering, and vaginal sex.

Chapter 7

Emma tried to listen as Paul played Bill’s frantic voicemails, stepping closer to him. The last one was calmer than the others, but still strained: “Paul, please answer your phone! I know where Alice is! She posted on Instagram that she went to Watcher World. She posted a picture with some person I’ve never seen before. If she wanted to meet a friend there, why didn’t she just tell me? Why did she suddenly take the car with no explanation? This isn’t like her. I’m so worried, Paul. I don’t know where you are, but please meet me at Watcher World. I’d feel a lot better with you here. I need my good luck charm with me, by my side, you know?” He huffed a small laugh. “I’m already on the way; I took the bus. Let me know when you get this.”

Paul hung up his phone and looked at Emma, a worried expression furrowing his brow. “In his earlier messages, he said that Alice ditched him at lunch. She went back out to the car for her phone and didn’t come back, and she took the car. He panicked.”

“Definitely weird,” Emma said. “You don’t think this has anything to do with why we’re here—?”

“I don’t know yet,” Paul said nervously, his hands fidgeting with his phone. A heightened sense of awareness had been suddenly switched on in the back of his brain, something telling him to pay attention, and he knew better than to ignore it.

“What’s going on?” Jane asked, watching them in confusion.

“Our friend’s daughter suddenly up and stole his car to go to Watcher World, of all places,” Emma explained.

“That rundown place? Why would she go there?”

“That’s the question,” Paul said.

“It sounds like regular teen behavior to me. Won’t she just come back? It hardly sounds like she’s running away to become a carnie, especially if she’s posting about it?” Jane said uncertainly, a question in her voice since she didn’t know Alice.

“The thing is, this isn’t like Alice at all,” Paul said, biting his lip as he gestured with his phone. “She’s a straight-A student, incredibly mature for her age. On the rare occasions she acts out, you know something’s wrong. She doesn’t do reckless things like this. It might have something to do with the fact that she had a bad breakup with her girlfriend yesterday.”

“Ohh,” Jane said sympathetically.

“Alice was devastated,” Paul continued. “She seemed fine this morning, but she was tired and checking her phone a lot.”

Emma nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, well we better get over there, then.”

“I can help too,” Jane offered. “I took Tim there last summer. It’s a big park, and you’ll need as many people as you can get to search the park for Alice. I can help you find her.”

“Thanks, Jane,” Paul said, admiring her kindness and generosity to offer her help.

On their way to Paul’s car, Emma jammed the Black Book into her bag, shaking the canvas travel knapsack to fit it in.

“What’s that?” Jane asked, eyeing the mysterious spellbook with its embossed cover.

“Huh?” Emma cleared her throat and pulled her bag closed. “Oh, this is just a souvenir I got in Guatemala,” she said dismissively. “Some friendly Haitian vendors were selling them to tourists. I thought it looked cool. They claimed it was written by an ancient voodoo shaman, but I knew they were just pulling my leg with some mysticism to make a sale,” Emma added conspiratorially. She chuckled, hoping Jane wouldn’t pick up on her nerves.

“Why are you carrying it around? It seems awkward to fit in your bag.”

“Um. I wanted to see if I could sell it at the pawnshop downtown. Or the library. Maybe we’ll go there next,” Emma said, cringing as she dug herself into a bigger hole. The truth was that every time she went out, she took it with her, because she didn’t know when they would suddenly need it. There could be a crisis at any time, and Emma didn’t know how or when it might strike.

Jane didn’t seem fully satisfied by that answer, raising an eyebrow at her. Then they got into Paul’s car, only for the engine to sputter.

“Shit!” Emma muttered.

“Let’s just take my car,” Jane recommended.

In a hurry, Paul and Emma readily agreed. They climbed into Jane’s SUV and buckled their seatbeats as Jane gripped the steering wheel and hovered one foot over the gas pedal.

“Hold on everyone,” Jane said. “Getting to PTA meetings on time made me somewhat of a reckless driver.”

Emma grinned. “This is just the right time for you to show some recklessness, sis.”

Jane put her foot on the gas, and they sped out of the driveway, onto the road, and toward Watcher World.

---

Alice glanced down again at the text she’d sent Deb earlier: “Meet me at Watcher World. I have something for you before you leave me.” There was no answer, not even a read notification. Alice clutched the phone in her hand, and it changed to the lockscreen image: the photo of her and Deb with their arms around each other, sitting on the bench at Deb’s grandma’s lakehouse. A tear drop fell on to the screen, and Alice angrily wiped it away. She heard Bea approaching, and she hurriedly jammed her phone back into her pocket. Bea Tepps smiled and returned with their drinks, handing Alice a soda she’d just gotten from the nearby food truck.

“I know this is our first date, but let’s make you-know-who jealous,” Bea said. She set her slushie to the side and grabbed Alice’s waist before snapping a selfie of them together in the middle of Watcher World, rides, game booths, and food stands all around them.

Alice smiled and held up a peace sign. She’d met Bea at Watcher World like the other girl had suggested, and despite her initial doubts and guilt about stealing the car, Alice was starting to allow herself to enjoy this. She felt like a total rebel running away from Dad to meet up with a new girl, a wild and cool popular girl who thought she was pretty and cool too. And Bea was just as charming in person as online: she always knew what to say and she walked around like she owned the place. Alice envied her confidence. Alice thought that Bea’s comfortable-looking baggy purple hoodie (some kind of custom design or from a Halloween costume, with pink fur for the pocket pouch) was totally gamer chic, and the sparkling rectangular sunglasses she wore, always looking over them flirtatiously, were part of her trademark look. Her dark magenta lipstick was still perfect, even after she and Alice had shared a funnel cake and Bea now sipped a large, blood-red slushie from a straw.

Alice sipped on her soda as she looked Bea over, the other girl occupied with posting on her phone. Part of her trademark outfit that Alice had never seen during livestreams were the tight and shiny purple leggings. Bea was short, but her matching purple platform boots gave her height. Alice’s gaze was drawn to Bea’s legs as she sauntered through the park, and she had to laugh at herself and force her gaze away. She told herself not to ogle her date too much, and then she just delighted in the fact that she was on a date with the Lady B. Tepps!

Bea smiled widely as she looked at the photo. “Another one!” She quickly snapped a selfie, this time planting a kiss on a surprised Alice’s blushing cheek.

Seeing Alice’s blush, Bea grinned wickedly. “You said you wanted to make her jealous, right? This totally will! We’ve got this in the bag!” She passed Alice her phone back, and Alice brought up Instagram. What the hell, right? She thought of Deb and her pitying look when she’d told Alice yesterday she wanted to break up, and with a vicious sense of smugness, Alice posted the picture. Bea’s long, dyed orange and bright yellow hair streamed in glossy curls down the front of her hoodie, which was unzipped enough that cleavage was visible over a pink tanktop. Oh yeah, that will make Deb jealous, Alice thought in vengeful satisfaction.

Bea threw an arm around Alice’s shoulders, catching her off guard. “Hey, I have an idea! What if we go on the Eye-Slash? It’s the new ride that replaced the Tearjerker while it’s under construction.”

“Oh,” Alice said nervously. “I’m actually afraid of heights.”

“What? Afraid of heights?” Bea threw her head back and laughed. “Only babies are afraid of heights!”

Alice stood uncomfortably and tried to smile through Bea’s laughing at her.

“Aw, I’m only joking. But this is perfect! We’ll get you over your fear of heights by going on together!” Bea enthused, her eyes lighting up. “We can even livestream us going on the ride and you facing your fear!” She enthusiastically held up the phone clutched in her hand.

“I don’t know,” Alice mumbled. “Can we do something else? Maybe we can play some of the games at the booth over there.”

“Come on,” Bea said, rolling her eyes dramatically as she put her hands on her hips. “That kid stuff? No, we’re going to go on the big ride like the grown ups we are. Jeez, I didn't know I was going on a date with someone who’s afraid of a little ride.”

Alice shrugged timidly. “I’m not afraid! It’s just, I haven’t been on a rollercoaster in a long time. Maybe we could go on a different ride? Something small, at least to start? Like the Teardrop?” She tried to persuade Bea to go with something less terrifying.

“The Teardrop?!” Bea scoffed. “That’s nowhere near as intense as the ‘Jerker.” She crossed her arms. “I should tell you, I don’t date anyone who’s tame or timid,” Bea said in a cool tone, leveling an icy stare over her sunglasses at Alice. Her hands slid to her sides, and one of her hips cocked out. Alice tore her gaze away from the skin-tight leggings and back up to Bea. “I like people who know how to have fun. Are you one of those people, Alice, or am I wasting my time?”

Alice flushed with shame. Deb had never made her feel bad about her fears. She’d always been understanding and comforting. As if sensing how off-putting this was from Alice’s expression, Bea’s tone changed from hard and uncompromising to softer and more understanding.

“Hey, I’m not trying to be mean here. I’m honestly asking,” Bea said defensively, holding up her hands. “It sounds like it’s been a long time since anyone asked you that. You got too comfortable in your last relationship, right? Felt too safe and molly-coddled?” Bea stepped forward, a challenge in her voice. Alice found herself stepping back until she was pressed against a cement wall next to a tent entrance to some touted mysterious attraction. Bea put her hand on the wall above Alice’s shoulder, leaning in.

“The best kind of relationship isn’t about feeling safe and shielded from the world. It’s about the thrills and confidence, feeling like you can dance with danger,” Bea said passionately, her breasts heaving up. Alice’s breath caught, spellbound by Bea’s dark eyes glinting in the late afternoon light. “It’s about feeling like you can take on the world, and not needing anyone else to protect you or validate you. It’s about being confident in yourself and taking what you want.” Bea leaned in closer, her face only inches from Alice’s. Bea glanced down at Alice’s lips.

“Take what you want, Alice. Do you really want to be known as someone who’s too afraid to take risks?” she murmured.

Alice was frozen against the wall, feeling spellbound as she stared at Bea.

The girl lowered her arm and took a step back from Alice. Her face was full of pity.

She sighed regretfully. “It’s a shame. Maybe you’ve spent too long being sheltered by dear old dad and Deb. You've been so dependent on others for so long that you can’t do anything for yourself. It’s pathetic. Hell, maybe that’s why Deb broke up with you,” she said, twirling a blonde curl between her fingers as she gazed at Alice.

Alice inhaled sharply at the low blow, and self-loathing pierced through her. She looked around them uncertainly. Here was this insanely cool girl taking a chance on her, and she was so close to ruining the whole thing just because she was a little afraid of heights. What was she, ten? She was 18, an adult now. She could handle a stupid rollercoaster that parents went on with their middle school kids.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” Alice said sharply, crossing her arms defensively. “Not heights or some stupid ride. And I don’t give a damn what Deb thinks of me anymore, either. Let’s go on that rollercoaster right now.”

Bea squealed with delight and hung onto Alice’s arm. “Hell yeah! You seriously don’t know what you’re missing, Alice!” Bea cried. “And that bitch didn’t deserve you! We’ll show her who the bad bitch is. She’ll regret the day she ever let you go.”

Alice’s head spun from the emotional whiplash, but she also felt a sense of triumph at making Bea so happy. Bea’s moods were contagious, and Alice found herself matching Bea’s smile. She even felt a nervous excitement churning in her stomach at the thought of the rollercoaster. It might actually be…fun! She could take risks. She would be a new Alice, a bolder Alice. One that could move on from being dumped and come out the other side all the better for it.

Alice tried to uplift herself with these thoughts as she walked arm-in-arm with Bea deeper into the park, but a rising sense of trepidation settled in as they walked toward the park’s towering, rickety structures, and the rollercoasters loomed like foreboding mountains ahead of them.

---

The late afternoon sky had clouded over, but the long summer day was still light, and there was a surprising amount of cars parked outside of the amusement park as Jane, Emma, and Paul approached.

Jane drove up to the Watcher World entrance, a large archway serving as the entrance to the parking lot. It featured a large, chipped sign that said, “Welcome to Watcher World!” with a cartoon drawing of the amusement park’s mascot, Blinky. Similar signs guiding to the front gates were posted along the rows of parked cars.

In the back seat, Paul glanced at the sign but then gave it a double-take and stared at the mascot harder. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up with an unsettled sense, his intuition picking up on something his conscious mind hadn’t yet grasped. Without looking away from the sign, he tapped Emma’s arm.

“Hey, give me the Black Book,” he said urgently.

With a questioning noise, Emma passed him the spellbook from her bag. Paul frantically paged through it as Jane drove them closer to the main entrance and they parked the car. A larger, standing cut-out of Blinky was propped up by the entrance gates.

Jane unbuckled, making to get out of the car, but Paul sat and stared at the page he’d turned to.

Emma looked back at him from the passenger seat. “What is it?”

Paul met her gaze and wordlessly turned the book around to show her the open page. It was the spooky, elaborate drawing of one of the Lords in Black: a creature with a large yellow eye for a face, its head circled by smaller eyes that trailed down its purple tentacled arms. Bat wings stretched behind it. Underneath the image read: Bliklotep, The Watcher with a Thousand Eyes.

“Shit,” Emma said, turning her head to look back and forth between the Blinky mascot and the creature on the page. “What the hell is going on?”

“It can't just be a coincidence,” Paul said. He remembered Miss Holloway’s claim that he had some kind of latent psychic connection to the Black and White. Would it help them going forward, if they ran into danger? Would Webby sense through the connection if something went wrong, and be able to help them?

They exchanged looks of dread and all got out of the car. They approached the large welcome sign at the front gate. At the entrance, they paid for tickets. The man in the ticket booth lit up when he saw them. “Hello there, friends! Welcome to Watcher World! Are you ready to watch all your dreams come true?” He had an unnervingly large smile for someone standing in a booth all day.

“Uh, sure,” Emma said, rooting around in her knapsack for whatever cash she had. While she was searching, Jane swiftly pulled out her credit card. “Three adults, please.”

“Great!” The man beamed. “That’s what I like to see! Friends of all ages enjoying our park!” He passed them the three tickets. “You three go and have a day worth watching! Blinky has his eye on you!”

Jane thanked him, and Paul and Emma exchanged glances as they put their purple wristbands on. Paul noticed that his engagement ring was still off, and he hurried to put on it back on before they ran into Bill.

Once they entered the park, it seemed like a perfectly normal place on a summer weekend. People milled around them with cotton candy, funnel cake, and other carnival fare, and the noises of the park encompassed them as they walked deeper into the park. Most of the parkgoers were parents with children who ran and screamed excitedly between rides and game booths.

“Drowsy Town! Drowsy Town!” two kids chanted, running into a building with a poster advertising showtimes for “Blinky’s Watch Party,” evidently a theater. It featured the musical talent of “the Sniggles!” Paul turned away with distaste.

“Paul!”

They all turned to see Bill jogging towards them, relief filling his face. Emma and Jane watched as Bill reached Paul and hugged him. “Thank goodness! You made it!” Bill sagged against Paul in relief.

“It’ll be okay, Bill,” Paul said, and he pulled back and gestured to Jane and Emma. “I brought some friends to help us look for Alice. This is Jane Perkins, she’s Emma’s sister and a psychologist,” he introduced her. “I went to their home for lunch and I had my phone off, I’m sorry.” Paul had texted Bill earlier that he was on the way during the drive, and that he was sorry that he and Emma had lost track of time catching up.

Bill greeted the women and recounted what had happened earlier in the day when Alice had left, most of which they already knew from the voicemails.

“It’s a big park,” Jane said. “I was here last summer with my son, Tim. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

“Thank you so much,” Bill said, his eyes getting watery. “I’ve been so worried about her. She’s going to college in the fall, but she’s still my little girl. And when she broke up with her girlfriend yesterday, I should’ve known something might happen. I didn’t think she’d try to run away.”

“She didn’t run away,” Emma commented, trying to ease Bill’s worry. She doubted that Alice was upset with her dad, but just caught up in her own life. “She probably just decided to hang out with friends. Sure, she stole the car, but we’ll just chalk that up to her acting impulsively because of the breakup.”

“Maybe we should split up to look,” Jane suggested. “Emma and I can check the theater to make sure Alice isn’t in there, and then maybe we’ll go east and check the Funhouse and Madame Iris’s tent.”

“Yeah, then we can go west and check the game booths along the way, then the rides,” Bill said, nodding. “Good idea.”

“We can meet you at the rides, then,” Paul suggested, looking at Emma. She nodded in agreement.

Jane and Bill talked over more particulars of the park, and where Alice might be with her new friend. When Jane asked for Bill’s contact information, Paul used the moment to step closer to Emma.

“You still have the Book on you, right?” he murmured.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Keep it handy just in case we need it. Who knows what we’ll find here.” Paul glanced around anxiously before meeting Emma’s eyes again. “Ever since we’ve entered the park, I’ve had a really bad feeling. Kind of claustrophobic and just, not well? Something’s not right about this place.”

Emma shuddered. “It gives me the creeps, too. I never liked that Blinky critter the few times I came here as a kid.”

Paul bit his lip. “Be safe,” he said softly.

“You too.” Emma smiled up at him, small and secretive with a quick glance at the others.

Paul’s hand twitched, but he held back the urge to reach out and take her hand. It would be as much of a comfort to him as it would be to comfort her. To hell with it—he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, and she squeezed his back.

“Okay, let’s go! Call us if you find them,” Bill said, nodding to Jane and Emma.

Paul abruptly dropped Emma’s hand. He nodded to her and stepped back. Once he was at Bill’s side, Bill grabbed Paul’s hand, and they walked away. Emma watched them go, noting with gladness the distance Paul placed between himself and Bill even as they held hands.

When they’d found Bill, she had noticed how Paul allowed friendly touches like the hug and hand-holding from Bill, but nothing beyond the platonic. When he’d quickly pulled back from his hug with Bill, he’d avoided a near-kiss by turning his head and stepping back far enough to maintain a platonic distance of friendly space. Emma had noticed and appreciated this: he was being mindful of Emma’s feelings even while trying to not raise suspicion in Bill or Jane. And the way he kept reassuring her with touches and staying close to her like he never wanted to leave her side—he was so sweet. Emma smiled to herself, appreciation and fondness stoking her love for him like a cozy hearth in her heart. How did I ever get so lucky to deserve him?

Eager to meet back up with Paul, Emma turned to look in the opposite direction that would take them around the loop and to the other end of the park. “Okay, let’s go,” Emma sighed. She stepped forward but noticed Jane hesitating.

Jane stood stiffly, watching Paul and Bill walk away. She turned around, her eyes wide in astonished disbelief. Then her expression shifted into a familiar look of sisterly disapproval. “What the hell, Emma?”

Emma looked at Jane, surprised at her sudden change. “What?”

“Are you having an affair with a married man?” Jane hissed.

Emma shifted nervously. “What are you talking about?”

“Come on,” Jane scoffed. “I saw their matching rings! I just saw that Paul’s wearing one too, and it matches Bill’s exactly. He definitely wasn’t wearing it at lunch earlier.” Jane narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “What the hell are you two playing at?”

“He’s not married!” Emma shouted in exasperation.

“Yeah, right,” Jane said and rolled her eyes. “Bill just told me that Alice is staying with him and Paul, and that hugging and hand-holding we just saw was not mere ‘roommate’ behavior. The way Bill was looking at him, too!”

“What if I told you we’re in a throuple?” Emma hedged.

Jane just raised her eyebrows at her impatiently. “Even if I entertained that notion, I saw how Bill reacted when he saw all of us, and we were strangers. He only had eyes for Paul.”

Emma crossed her own arms defensively, her masked frustration coming through. “Okay, fine! Technically they’re engaged. But they’re not married.”

“Emma, this isn’t good!” Jane cried. “I thought you and Paul had a future planned together, and now it turns out he’s committed to someone else? Was the whole afternoon just a total lie so you could fool me, so you could fool all of us?” Her anger grew with each question. “Did you just convince your old friend Paul to pretend to be your boyfriend for the afternoon for my benefit?”

“Of course not!” Emma said angrily. “We’re together. It’s just way more complicated than you can imagine. Besides, it’s none of your business!”

“Seriously, none of my business?! I worry all the time about you and your future, Emma! It matters if you’re involved with someone who’s already engaged.” Jane gestured wildly in the direction Paul had left, and then exhaled in frustration. “Look, you guys do really seem like you care about each other. You two seemed so genuine this afternoon. And when I got back—” Jane raised her eyebrows at Emma, and Emma blushed slightly. “Well, that’s an image that’s scarred into my brain forever, so thanks for that,” she added dryly.

“The point is, I don’t want you to get hurt. Doesn’t the thought of being ‘the other woman’ bother you?”

Emma grit her teeth. “It’s not like that. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She turned away from Jane and glanced around them; she’d noticed in her peripheral vision that parkgoers had been looking at them as they passed by, but now some of them had even stopped to openly stare at her and Jane. A couple and their kid, an older man, and some teens all stood nearby, watching them openly. What the fuck? she thought idly, but her attention was immediately pulled back to Jane.

“But I do know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen it all in couples’ counselling sessions. You’re having an affair and not thinking of the consequences. He cares about you now, but how long will it last?”

The comment hit Emma in the gut, and she felt a flare of fear and anger. A small part of Emma wondered why her response was so strong; was there a part of her that was so insecure, and afraid of losing Paul? Sure, she’d been jealous of Bill, but that worry had been resolved this afternoon. Paul was hers; and she was his. They belonged to each other. Emma knew this with certainty, and it warmed her just to remember the fact. She had nothing to fear. But despite this certainty, it was harder to hold on to the feeling now as she stood alone, Paul having gone off with Bill again. For some reason her insecurity was amplified under Jane’s scrutiny and the ubiquitous judgement of the watching parkgoers.

”You’ll just be cast to the sidelines when he marries this Bill guy,” Jane insisted, her tone becoming softer. She placed a supportive hand on Emma’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t!” Emma shouted. She tried to calm her breathing and the sudden anger rising in her. She blinked and exhaled slowly, consciously unclenching her fists. “We don’t abandon each other. Paul and I are always there for each other, no matter what. He’s the first person I’ve ever felt comfortable with and trusted like that.”

She shook herself slightly, knowing Jane couldn’t know better beyond the facts of this reality. But there was something Emma could make clearer to her. “Jane, I’ve dealt with anxiety from all of your incessant pressuring and judging through the years. I’m sick of this feeling like you've been judging me our whole lives. I’m not you.”

Jane looked at Emma with a frown, a new consideration in her eyes. “Emma, I don’t mean to pressure you or judge you. I just want you to be happy.”

Emma stared at her, fuming with her arms crossed.

Jane sighed. “If I ever made you feel bad, I’m sorry. I never meant to seem overly critical of your life choices. And it’s not true that I wanted you to be just like me. I just wanted to make sure someone was looking after you. After our parents died, I looked after you, and I tried to give you the best advice I could. But that was based on my ideas of what makes a happy life.” Jane looked away uneasily and bit her lip. “If I ever pressured you about relationships and work and crossed a line, I’m sorry. It all comes from a place of caring.” Jane smiled apologetically. “I worry about my little sister.”

Emma’s mouth lifted in the corner, and she felt her hardened facade soften. “I know you care. I guess…a part of me has always been a little insecure and felt daunted being in the great Jane’s shadow.” She shrugged and looked down. “A part of me envied everything you had, even though I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of life yet. But now I do. I’m figuring things out.” Emma put her hand on Jane’s shoulder. “And I just want your support, not your judgement.”

Jane smiled slightly and put her hand on top of Emma’s. “You have it. My support, I mean. I’ll think more about my advice and keep potentially judgy comments to a minimum.”

“Thanks.” Emma’s smile grew, and she gazed at her sister with renewed appreciation. “You’re a great sister, you know that? I couldn’t have asked for a better one.”

Jane’s smile grew to match hers, and they pulled each other into a hug. When they pulled back, the random passersby that had stopped to watch them were moving again, grumbling under their breath, as if they were disappointed.

“What was with that?” Jane asked, looking at the parkgoers who turned away from them.

“No idea,” Emma said. “There’s something very weird about this place.” They exchanged looks, and then set off on the path they needed to search.

“So, what do you plan to do?” Jane bumped Emma’s shoulder with hers. “I liked Paul, and I saw your guys’ connection. You seem to really love each other. Are you just going to see how things go?”

“We don’t need to have a plan for everything,” Emma said, shrugging. “Just being together is enough. As for the future, we’ll just take it as it comes.” Hopefully, a transdimensional portal was in their near future, Emma thought; one that would take them back to their own universe, absent of any handsy fiancés trying to seduce her boyfriend.

Jane smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“Come on,” Emma said. “Let’s find Alice and get out of here.”

Notes:

I originally planned to have chapter 7 be the last long chapter, but it turned out to be too long, so I split it into two parts. The good news is that chapter 8 is nearly done and will be posted soon. :)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of "Hey Melissa" Alternate Timeline