Second Chances - Chapter 29 - The Man In The Mirror free porn video

Saturday, April 7, 2018 I woke up to my cell phone's new text message notification. My cell phone? My eyes snapped open. Sunlight streamed through the windows of my bedroom. My 2018 bedroom. Was that a dream? The events of the past two weeks were fresh in my mind. It felt like it was only seconds ago that I was in the car with Amber. That could not have been a dream. I went to get out of bed, but there was an arm draped over me. A woman's arm. I turned back around to see my ex-wife sleeping beside me. I looked down at my hand - my masculine hand - to see a wedding band still on my finger. Correction. My current wife. OK. Maybe that wasn't a dream. I sighed. A wave of disapointment hit me. I hadn't even looked at a mirror or got out of bed yet. But I knew. I knew I was Tony again. I knew my second chance was over. I succeeded in my mission. While it was the right thing to do, I felt I had so much more to do back there. So many missed opportunities. Missed time spent with loved ones. A missed opportunity to save Chase. Chase. I put my hand over my face. I don't even want to think about that right now. After a few moments, I decided I need to get out of bed and face this changed world. I pulled my wife's arm off me and got out of bed. I was wearing just boxer shorts. I found a pair of my jeans on the floor that I pulled on. I grabbed a t-shirt from my closet and put that on too. I found my glasses on my nightstand right next to my cellphone. I put them on and grabbed my cellphone and unplugged the charging cord. I stood facing the mirror in the room. Staring back at me was Tony. I rubbed my face. The unwelcome feel of stubble on my face. I looked good despite the bed-head. My face looked refreshed, and I didn't have as many bags under my eyes. That divorce must've really done a number on me. My face had a perfectly groomed stubble. But I found a hollow feeling was in my gut. I wasn't entirely happy to see Tony staring back at me. I walked out of my bedroom. This was still my same house in 2018. Except it was furnished- nicely furnished. This wasn't the stuff I remembered. New couches. Warm colored walls with pictures and art adorning them. Large flat screen TV hanging over the fireplace. I walked into the kitchen. The kitchen was completely renovated. Brand new appliances and cabinets. Quartz counter-tops. But what I really needed was coffee though. I can admire my new home in a bit. I needed caffeine. I walked over to the Keurig machine, turned it on and placed a clean mug under it. As I was waiting for it to heat up, I glanced down at my phone. What notification woke me up? It was a text message from a name I didn't recognize. "Tony, I have the proposal ready for your review. I just e-mailed it to you. I know you're going out of town for the weekend, but I wanted to get this to you before you left." There was an e-mail from them too. I opened the attachment. The letter head clearly read "Demarco Consulting Group." "Really?" I said to myself. I looked down at the mug I put under the coffee machine. It had "Demarco Consulting Group" written across it as well. "Holy shit," I said. Did I actually make a difference? I put a k-cup into the coffee machine and started it. I pulled up Instagram and scrolled through my own pictures. Lots of pictures of my wife and I. A few pictures of me and Cindy's family. A cute one with my nephew and I. Pictures of my me and parents. These are pictures I didn't have originally. I must see my family more often now. Despite how interesting my cellphone now seemed, I really wanted to know what happened in the days after I left 1997. Did Amber get home alright? What happened to my friends? What happened to Chase? It's bizarre. Despite the changes I made, I'm still in the same house, and I still married the same woman... although the house is nicer and I'm no longer divorced, and it appears I have my own company. I grabbed my coffee mug and I walked downstairs to the basement. I was looking for the nostalgia storage bin I kept. I found the green bin under another storage bin labeled "Christmas Decorations." I pulled it out and opened the lid. I found manila envelopes with various scholarships and awards, photo envelopes and various other memorabilia from college and high school. A clear corsage container with a very dried boutonni?re. Multiple Tae Kwon Do belts of various colors. Picture frames. I pulled out a frame. It was my Senior Prom picture. It was a picture of Tony and... Amber? I took Amber to the prom? How did that happen? The second frame was a yellowed newspaper clipping. It was the same scholastic newspaper I was reading only days ago. The date was still October 3rd, 1997. But now, my name and time were under the "Boys Track" headline and my time had improved to 11.1 seconds. Lying on top of a college pennant was the picture keyring from homecoming. I looked at the picture. It was a picture of Tony- alone. He had a smile on his face at least. That college pennant was the same college I went to originally. It appears that despite the changes I made, my life still took the overall same trajectory. I put everything back in the storage bin and walked to my den. My den setup was nice in this new reality. 3 monitors hung from the wall. The rest of the room was decorated with various framed degrees for my wife and I and wedding pictures. I glanced at a wedding photo of Ron and my wife's maid of honor holding champagne glasses as they were giving a toast, as my wife and I looked on. Well, this picture is still the same, execpt I had packed up all evidence of our wedding long ago. I wiggled the mouse to wake the PC and pulled up a browser. My email came up. I had many emails from names I didn't recognize. But I saw some from names I did. Shopping lists from my wife, photos from my mom, recipes from my dad. There was one from Ron. I clicked it. "Hey man - Can't wait til Saturday. We got a babysitter lined up. Me, you, our wives - we're going to tear up the town like we used to back in the day." I turned my focus to my yearbooks. I kept those in my den closet. I looked in there and I found the stack of yearbooks. I pulled out my junior year one. The one I've been using as reference for the past two weeks. I found a paper tucked in there. I opened it. It was not the football predictions paper I expected. Instead it was a handwritten note. The note read, "Dear Christina. I couldn't do it. You taught me so much about confidence and living in the moment. It felt so good to earn all of that. So when the time came, I decided I wanted to earn my future instead of being gifted it. I burned the future football scores. - Love, 17 year-old Tony" While I was only slightly disappointed I wasn't a bajillionaire. It made me happy to read "Christina" again. When that feeling went away, another hollow feeling arrived. He said that his future would have been "gifted" and "unearned." Ironically, that's how I feel right now. Like I didn't earn this future. I took out my senior year yearbook. I flipped through the pages. Seeing all of the classmates I saw last night. I scanned the signatures in the back. I found writings from my friends. Julie wrote, "Demarco, you're the coolest workout partner ever. Never forget those bus rides and hanging out and being either others' support during track meets. Don't be a stranger in college, dude. Julie" Surprisingly I found one from Jess. "Tony. It was cool to get to know you. Who knew that Cindy had a cool brother. Good luck in college. 9- 29-97. Jess" I could not read Ron's handwriting - at all.. But I saw the words, "music", "high school", "girls", and "keep it real". I found a note from Amber. "Tony, I don't know where to begin. This year you've had a huge impact in my life. I suspect you actually saved it at some point. I enjoyed how our relationship went from gym class rival to boyfriend while you were tutoring me. Prom was amazing. I know we mutually broke up, but I wanted you to know that I'll always have a place for you in my heart. I'll never forget you. Please keep in touch. Amber." With lots of hand-drawn hearts. I can't believe I dated Amber! I'm glad it worked out for her though. She was alive, and it appears I - or rather Tony - put her on the right track. I closed the yearbook. What I was looking for I wouldn't find in there. I turned my attention back to my computer. I opened the cloud storage site where I kept all of my digital photos and scrolled back to 2005. I found the picture I was looking for. It was a picture of Ron's groomsmen smoking cigars and drinking scotch at his wedding. This picture did not change from the previous timeline. I was in it. So was Chase - and his girlfriend. I pulled up a new browser window. I typed Chase's name, and as much info about the event I knew into the search bar. It took me a while using various search terms, but I did find an article that came up with the title. "Local couple killed in motorcycle accident." I started reading the online article. "Local couple, Chase Saverio and his girlfriend Donna Tedesco were killed yesterday afternoon in a motorcycle accident that shut down-" I stopped reading and slammed my desk with my fist. I put my head into my hands. I started to tear up. I wasn't successful. I wasn't able to change this. "Tony?" my wife said from the den door. "Are you OK?" I looked up. "I'm fine." She glanced at the monitor. "You're thinking about Chase again?" She knows about that? "Yeah," I said, wiping tears from my eyes. "I understand. This reunion today will certainly bring back a lot of memories." She smiled. That's right. The reunion. That's today. She sat on my lap, wrapped her arms around me, and placed her head on my shoulder. "But remember, you've told me a lot of those memories are good memories too. I can't wait to see some of your high school friends again." "Again?" "Yeah. The ones that came to our wedding were awesome. What's her name - Julie. That woman's a trip. Your ex- Amber. So much fun. I know I have a good time every time we hang out with Ron's family." I nearly choked up. I'm used to keeping parts of my life walled off. It's kinda refreshing to hear that I've shared all of this with my wife. "Did Ron get back to you about going out tonight?" she asked. "Yes," I responded, recalling the e-mail I just read. "They got a sitter." "Great!" she said. "I'm looking to have fun out on the town. I bet they could use some adult time too." I smiled. I didn't know what to say. I'm out of the loop. "Oh - we should start taking showers," she said. "We have a three hour drive ahead of us. I'd like to check into the hotel first and relax before having to get ready for the reunion. Oh - and you have to pack, slacker!" "Right," I said. We both got up and I followed her back into our bedroom. As I followed her I noticed she was wearing one of my t-shirts. It was big on her and came down to the middle of her ass. I noticed the light orange panties she was wearing and I watched her ass as she walked. I opened my closet and pulled out a small suitcase. My wife started getting undressed. I pulled out my gray suit, a light blue button down shirt and laid it on the bed. I was looking at potential ties to wear when my naked wife came up to me and kissed me. Wow, when was the last time I saw my wife naked? "I wish we had a little more time this morning," she said. "Maybe tonight. I like what you did last night. You hit all of the right spots. God sometimes I think you must have been a woman in another life." What? Really? I watched her saunter into the shower. I wasn't entirely sure, but it appeared she was in much better physical shape in this timeline. I was certainly getting hard watching her. I shook those thoughts from my head and continued packing my overnight bag. * * * We loaded up my car - which was a different car than I had in the original timeline - and headed out. This was a fully loaded 2017 sedan. Boy was it fun to drive. From our house in Maryland to where I grew up in New Jersey was about a 3 hour drive. Most of my conversations with my wife were about family stuff, and this weekend. Apparently, we're taking a vacation to the Outer Banks with my parents, and Cindy's family later this summer. Occasionally she would bring up something I didn't know about - like work, and I would try to change the subject. I felt like an impostor at times. When the conversation faded out, I turned on the car?s satellite radio. My wife changed the station to classic rock. The next song on the radio was announced by the radio DJ. "Here's a classic from the 80's," It was Eddie Money's "I Wanna Go Back," Damn, The radio gods and their sense of humor again. As I listened to the lyrics of the song, I started to sing along under my breath. I could feel a tear roll down my eye. I wiped that way before my wife could notice it. "Hey Tony," she said. "Whats up?" I asked. "I think I'm ready." "Ready for what?" "We talked about trying for a baby after our summer vacation. But I was thinking we could start this weekend if you wanted. I think we're ready." Try for a baby? My wife wants to have kids? We're going to start a family? "Yeah," I replied. "That would be great - awesome." I've got a successful company. I'm still married. I'm going to start a family with my wife. It appears I'm closer to my parents and sister. I have everything I ever wanted. I'm even going to get some tonight. But why does this feel so hollow? What?s wrong with me? We arrived at our hotel and checked in. I brought our luggage to our room. I changed into the suit I brought with me. My wife was still getting ready. She was wearing a very nice royal blue cocktail dress. It hugged all of her curves. That dress would've totally looked amazing on- I stopped that thought right there. "I'll be downstairs in the lobby," I said. I needed time alone. * * * There was a bar in the hotel lobby. I was sitting there nursing my beer. Despite my relative excitement to see my friends again, to see how the past 20 years have treated them, I wasn't entirely happy. I looked at the mirror behind the bar. Tony was staring back at me. I kept staring at my reflection as I sipped my beer. "Hey Tony!" I heard a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around to see Ron and his wife carrying their luggage. I got up from my seat and we both shook hands and hugged each other. "How goes it brother?" he said. "Hey man," I greeted him. "Hi Tony", Ron's wife said to me. She turned to Ron. "Hey babe, I'm going to head upstairs and get settled. I'll let you and Tony catch up." "Sure," he said. Ron's wife left us and walked towards the hotel elevators "So what's new?" he asked. "Same" I said. "We're thinking about following your lead and starting a family." "Ha," Ron said. "That's no surprise. You've been talking about being a father since we were in high school. I'm just surprised it took you this long." I chuckled. "Yeah. That was always a life goal of mine. Speaking of - how's the kiddo?" I asked. "He's good. Already walking. He's keeping us busy. It's nice to get away for a night though. Be prepared though. It?s hard work!" I smiled then let out an involuntary sigh. "What's on your mind?" he asked. "You look lost in thought." I didn't want to tell him about my time travel adventure so I kept it to partial truths. "I was thinking about Chase this morning." "Ah," he said. "I think about him a lot too. His life was cut short. I imagine he would've still been a part of our lives if he was still here. Playing with my son, going out on the town with us. Visiting wineries with us." "Yeah. It's just a shame." "He really liked you, Tony. He never said what it was, but he always asked about you and checked to see if you were coming out with us." I smiled to hear that Chase still cared... even after I turned into a pumpkin. "Cheer up, man," he put his hand on my shoulder. "Tonight's a night to celebrate. There's a lot of people we've been meaning to see again. Best way to honor fallen friends is to continue to live in the moment." "You're right," I said putting my hand over his. "I need to get upstairs to get ready," he said. "I?ll be back down in a bit." "Of course," I said. Ron walked away, leaving me at the bar with my drink and thoughts. Minutes later, my wife sat in a stool next to me. Damn she looked good in that dress. "Tony are you OK? You haven't been yourself all day." "I don't know," I said. "I don't feel like myself at all." That's an accurate statement. I most certainly don't feel like myself. I haven't felt like myself since I was at homecoming yesterday in a stunning prom dress. That memory of last night brought a smile to my face. I was so ready to live the rest of my life as Christina in 1997 nd I was happy about it. "Tony" she said I mean, I feel like I?m stuck in that day and I can?t move forward. I was the happiest I?ve ever been. Spending the day with Mom and Cindy. The way Chase's eyes lit up when he saw me. I had a great time at the dance until I had to leave. I was on cloud nine all day. "Tony" It wasn?t just last night. Actually I loved last week. The track meet. I was so proud that I won that. How proud I was playing powder puff. Those dates with Chase. And then there?s Amber. I could actually see being her friend. I was actually looking forward to seeing where that would go. I?m actually disappointed it all ended. "Christina" That caught my attention. I turned to look back at my wife. She was looking at me. Is this the guardian angel? Or does she know what I've been thinking? "Are you...?" I asked. "Yes. It's me. Your favorite Second Chances companion. So what do you think? Is this future to your liking?" "I've got so much to say. So much to ask. I don't know where to begin." "We've got time." She winked at the pun. "Not too much though, I need to leave before your friends return." "I?m so confused. I don't really understand what happened. How can I be here? Whose life is this? Did those two weeks even happen? Why bother changing me to Christina if you were going to change me back to Tony?" "Wow. OK. I think I know what you?re asking. So, Let's recap. Time Travel. Think of time- like a movie. I rewound your life back to when you were 17. I changed you to Christina. I changed everyone's memories so they would always remember you as Christina, including any physical evidence of you being Tony for the first 17 years of your life." "I got that part." "You lived the next two weeks as Christina. All I really needed for you to do was get in the car with Amber and stop her from driving. In order to do that, you needed to get close to her and earn her respect, which is why I sent you on a quest to find confidence, and develop a... friendship... with Amber." "Ha. A friendship." I sipped my beer and rolled my eyes. "Your reasoning was correct last night. Only you could have pulled that off. Nicely done, by the way. When your mission was complete, per the contract, I changed you back to Tony, changed everyone's memories of you, and all physical evidence back to Tony, and fast forwarded the movie. What you see here, right now in the present, is the results of the events you put into motion, reaching their logical conclusion." That made my head hurt. So those two week actually happened as I remembered them? "So what did everyone else think happened during those two weeks? I had sex. Twice. With a girl and a guy. I punched Amber in the face. I had interactions in the girls locker room." "You know, The human mind is a crazy thing. It will go through extraordinary lengths to make sense and rationalize conflicting memories. Some will write off those inconsistencies as a dream. Some will fill in blanks with made up memories. With the absence of physical evidence, some will remember it differently. So I can't really tell you how each person interpreted the memories of those events." "But Jess and I.... I punched Amber... and me and Chase!" "I wouldn't worry about it," she said. "Especially considering I already know how this conversation here is going to end." "OK. Fine. This is great and all, but I still couldn't save Chase - or his girlfriend." "Well, not to keep harping on it or sounding redundant, but that wasn't your mission." "I know. I guess I expected to have a little more time." "I gave you two weeks," she said. "No. You gave me 12 days." "Pssh. Close enough. I never told you 14 days." "I never got a chance to say goodbye to him." "Is that why you're really bummed? Or is there something else?" She raised her eyebrow. "I'm uneasy. I don't know who I am anymore. I feel like I'm living a strangers life. It feels like I didn't earn this. I'm enjoying the results of someone else's hard work and efforts. I didn?t build my company. I didn?t save my marriage." "If that's the issue, don't worry about it. Those memories will catch up with you soon enough. It will take a day or two, but you'll eventually remember the events of the new timeline. Time travel is a shock to the system. Is that really the reason you bummed?" "I dunno. I guess I was just disappointed when I woke up." "OK, since you're not going to admit it to me... Close your eyes. What is it you want the most? Picture yourself in the perfect timeline." I closed my eyes. What is it that I want the most? What would make me happiest? I was expecting to see me and my wife holding a baby. But that wasn't what I wanted anymore. How about Chase? Surely I want to save him. Sure - but not as much as.... I saw Christina in the mirror for the first time ... Christina dancing with her friends... Christina winning the track meet... Christina in her homecoming dress. I opened my eyes and turned to the guardian angel. "I want to be Christina again. That's who I am." "I know. Thank you for finally telling me," the guardian angel replied. "I needed to make sure." "You knew?" "I knew before you knew. Listen, half of that mission was a test. You were given a simple mission. Save Amber. Improve yourself. You saved Amber. You improved your life. You also found yourself in the process. I didn't create Christina. I only changed your gender for 2 weeks. I gave you a blank canvas to paint on. You were the one who explored the possibilities in front of you. Like an artist pouring her soul into that canvas, you poured out your soul and created Christina. Christina was always you. But I had to test you. "Why test me?" "It would have been irresponsible for me to just leave you in the past as a different gender. I had to test you and make sure that is what you actually wanted. Plus I needed to know who I was going to leave back there. I knew who Tony was and what he was capable of. I didn't know who Christina was. Part of this was for me to see what kind of person Christina was. You were given room to make questionable decisions. To fail and learn. When it came time to complete the mission, I gave you an impossible choice. In the end, Christina sacrificed her own self- interest in order to save her rival. She did the right thing. So now I'm no longer worried about leaving you in the past. If Christina turned out to be a self-centered asshole, I most certainly would not be entertaining your request." "My request? So you CAN send me back?" "Of course I can send you back. But it's not going to be free though." "What does it cost?" "Your memories of the past 20 years." "What? My memories?" "I would've taken those anyway had you failed the mission. It's forbidden for me to leave you back there with that much knowledge of the future." "But my memories make me who I am." "Well, I'm not erasing them. I'm blocking them. They'll become unblocked in real time as you re-experience time. Your experiences, despite being blocked, will exist in your subconscious and will still contribute to who you are." "If I don't have my memories, how can I prevent Chase from dying?" "Come on Christina, I'm not sending you back to save Chase. I'm sending you back because you earned the right to explore the rest of your life as Christina. What you do with the next 20 years is up to you. Besides, you will keep all memories of OUR conversations. All memories that led to your mission including everything from the mission. You'll remember that you were a guy named Tony from 2018. You'll remember this obsession with saving Chase. "I'll remember all of our conversations including this one?" "Yes." "Chase died in a motorcycle accident in 2006! I have to stop it!" I blurted out. The guardian angel laughed. "You know what - I like you. You're one of the most favorite mortals I've worked with. Always smart and looking for loopholes." "Have you run the simulations on me going back? Can I save him?" "No I didn't. I don't plan to. If I send you back. It will not be a mission. You will not see me again. You're on your own. Do you understand?" "Yes, I do." "Also, do you understand that it is entirely possible that you cannot save Chase's life? Even as Christina. You've been assuming a less-than- a-week long relationship will last 8 years. Tell me you understand this." "I do." "You could miss the opportunity. Chase could still die. Then you're stuck in 2006 with the knowledge that you failed. Is it really worth the risk?" "Yes it is worth the risk." "Excellent. So we're clear on what you're getting. I'm not going to bother with fancy contracts or pink shots this time. That stuff was mostly for show anyway. I'm sending you back to 1997 the moment you left. I'm undoing the gender change and all of the memory alterations I just did. You will be Christina again. You'll be stuck in the past and the only way you come back to 2018 is... the long way. I am blocking all out all of Tony's memories from that moment in 1997 through this moment in 2018 except any memories and conversations you had with me. Your mission is done. This is the last time we'll see each other." "This sounds great." "So your friends are getting on the elevator and are about to come down. Are you ready?" I took a deep breath. "I'm ready." "Great," she said. "It's been a pleasure working with you. Have a good life, Christina Demarco." I stared at my wife as she snapped her fingers. Everything dissolved into black again. Saturday, October 4, 1997 10:15 PM I jumped wide awake. I was still in Amber's car. My adrenaline spiked. I was suddenly back in the moment as if I never left. I looked over to the passenger seat. Amber was still passed out and snoring. I hooked down at my young feminine hands with purple nail polish in the light of the dashboard. I checked my rear view mirror and my car being driven by Chase was coming closer. I looked over to Amber and her purse was in her lap. I grabbed her purse, and fished for her license. Found it. I put the car in drive again and continued on to Amber's house. I found Amber's house number on a mailbox. I parked Amber's car in what looked like the driveway. Was there even a house here? The car's headlights illuminated a sea of tall grass and a massive tree blocking what appeared to be the house. I found house keys attached to the car keys. Seconds later, Chase pulled up in my car behind Amber's car. I kept the car's headlights on so I could see where I was going. I was happy to see Chase. I wanted to hug and kiss him, but I needed to finish this first. "Chase, I need a hand with her," I said. Chase and I lifted Amber out of her car. Her eyes opened. She looked at me and said. "I have to puke," I slowly sat her down in the grass in front of her headlights as she vomited out all of that poison Tim gave her. I rubbed her back. "It's OK. Get that out of your system. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," I told her. She passed out again, so Chase and I lifted her back up and walked her over to her house. Her key unlocked the door. It was dark inside. Amber said she lived with a elderly grandmother. I didn't want to wake her up or alarm her. I found a light switch. When the room was illuminated I saw a living room in complete disarray. Boxes and trash everywhere. I remembered Amber telling me she had an awful living situation. I never expected this. "What the hell," Chase mumbled under his breath. "Let's not judge and just make sure she's OK." Thankfully the couch was free of junk so we laid her down on it. I turned to Chase. "Can you find a glass of water?" Chase walked through the mess into what I hoped was a kitchen. I found a roll of clean paper towels and I wiped her face. I stayed with Amber until Chase came back. I forced her to drink some water. "I plan on coming back here tomorrow morning," I said to Chase. "I feel she's my responsibility." I placed Amber's keys, purse, and the glass on the floor next to her. I took off her heels and found a blanket to cover her. We turned off the light and left the house. I turned Amber's car headlights off and we both walked to my car. I let out a sign of relief. "Chase, Thank you for helping out." "Are me and you going to do this EVERY weekend?" he said with a laugh. "Since I met you the number of drunk girls I've had to help home has jumped from zero to two." I chuckled. "I sure hope not." "I'm impressed," he said. "Lesser people would have left her to her own devices. After the way she's treated you." "She's not the villain I thought she was," I replied. "She needs help. She needed my help. She still may need my help in the future." I turned to Chase. It was dark out. But I could make out his face. His smile. "I missed you," I heard myself say. "Miss me?" he said. "That was only a 20 minute drive." "That's 20 minutes too long," embracing him and kissing him. "Let's get going," I said, reaching for my car door. "Wait," he said. "This is still a date." He walked around and opened the passenger door for me. I walked around to the passenger side. On the seat was my shoes, my purse, my corsage, my photo keyring. I left the dance in such a hurry. I had forgotten about all of those things. Chase was on top of it. When I sat down, I held the keyring in my hand and stared at our picture. After we left Amber's house we met up with Ron and Julie at the diner and updated them on what happened. They updated me on what I missed. While I was confronting Amber in the parking lot, Chase informed them what I was doing before he collected my things and followed me. Ron confronted Tim, and managed to report him to one of the chaperones. He might get suspended. Julie helped out the other girl Tim poisoned and managed to get her back to her friends to go home. After we placed our late-night food order, I wanted a fully loaded omelet, Chase led me to the Jukebox. He put some quarters into it. "I wanted one last dance tonight before all of that chaos happened," he said. He selected an oldie from the jukebox carousel. Mel Carter's "Hold me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" came on. He held his hand out, and I took it. But I went in for a closer dance wrapping my arms around him. He embraced me tightly and we slowly danced in the diner right in front of the Jukebox. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes as a tear escaped. This felt so right. I was home. * * * Not much else happened the rest of night. I was much too exhausted. I don't know how many hours I was actually awake. Did I get any sleep between time jumps? My feet hurt from dancing and running around saving lives barefoot. Plus my adrenaline was crashing. Chase drove me home. We made out on my front porch for what seemed like forever before my parents started flashing the front porch lights. --- Author's Note: Oh Wow. All I have left is the last chapter! There's a few threads I wanted to tie up before concluding the story. It's been an awesome ride and journey!