“Yes,” I said quietly. “You have to understand that when I went forward in time, I lived Malice’s life. I saw what she saw. I felt what she felt. Maybe our emotions got mixed up, I’m not sure. But I do know that I can’t isolate the future from the present. So yeah, it’s true. I do love you.”

He bent his head over his hands, and minute after awkward minute ticked by. I shifted in the hard chair, the plastic hot and sticky against my palms.

Finally, he lifted his face, and the discomfort in his eyes gutted me. “I’m sorry, Alice. But I didn’t travel to the future. We’ve known each other for little more than a week. And I’m just not there yet.” He paused. Took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get there.”

He bolted soon afterward.

We haven’t spoken since. He hasn’t texted, although I obsessively check my phone, hoping for something, anything, from the “Most Wonderful Boy Alive.”

He can tell me what he’s wearing, right down to his socks. I’d gladly hear about his oral hygiene routine, if it meant he was talking to me again.

I tug out a rose I “borrowed” from one of Archie’s bouquets, accidentally pricking my finger on a thorn. A spot of red blooms against my skin.

Ten years in the future, the best man I’ve ever known said, “Sometimes, even soul mates won’t fit together if they meet at the wrong age.”

I’m terrified, down to the very last drop of my blood, that this is one of those times.

I wipe my finger on a tissue and walk into Archie’s room, where he’s sitting on the bed. An old textbook is open on his lap, and “Look What You Made Me Do” blares from his cell phone.

“Hot date with T-Swift?” I ask innocently.

He mutes the music, shrugging. “At least she serenades me. Which is more than I can say for your paper cutouts.”

“I’ll have you know that Thor always has time for me.” I toss my hair over my shoulder. “He’s captivated by my stories. Best listener ever.”

“Captive audience is right.” My brother smirks. “He doesn’t have any legs, so he can’t run away.”

I roll my eyes—or pretend to. Inside, my grin is so big that it practically splits me in two. I’m just glad Archie’s teasing me again. Relieved that he sounds like his old self, the brother I know and love.

For a few hours each day, Dad and I make a point of hanging out with him so that he’s not alone. So that he doesn’t get too much in his head, especially during this all-important recovery period.