There's My Last Chance - Anderperry Timeloop AU

December 15th

"Todd?"

Todd shoved Charlie off of him and muttered something even he couldn't understand. He was sleeping, for Christ's sake. This wasn't the time for one of Charlie's pranks.

But the gentle shake consisted until Todd's vision focused enough to realize Charlie was crying.

He felt his heart drop.

In a daze, he glanced over at Neil's bed, finding it empty as it was the night before. Or was it still night? It was dark outside, Todd could only just make out the crying figures of the poets lurking at the door, not coming to close or even coming all the way into the room, for that matter.

Meek's eyes lingered on Neil's bed, and if Todd's heart didn't just drop, it would've again.

He focused back on Charlie. "Neil's dead. He killed himself."

-

Todd woke up and the sun was shining. Catching his breath, he thanked God it was just a dream.

"Hey, sleepyhead, you're up," Neil said, in the affectionate way he often did with Todd.

Todd's smile faltered. Something about the way he said it, the cadence of his voice seemed oddly familiar. Neil continued on, not noticing.

"I have to skip Trig for the final dress rehearsal. Can you cover for me?"

Todd looked at him. The Welton boys didn't have many options in the way they dressed, but they could customize the uniform. A vest one day, the blazer the next. Maybe just the shirt.

The way Neil was dressed was oddly reminiscent of the day before, full sweater, blazer, and tie. That in itself wasn't terribly unusual, but then...rehearsal? Why go to rehearsal?

"Todd?" Neil said, but he sounded far away.

"Uh, I...rehearsal?"

"Yeah. The last one, it's important. Will you please cover for me?"

Todd furrowed his brow. "The play was yesterday..." he said faintly.

"No, that's tonight, dummy." Neil smiled playfully, but his face melted into one of concern when Todd didn't smile back. "Todd, are you feeling okay?"

Perfect. An out. "N-no, actually. I think I'll go see the nurse. Uh, yeah...yes! I'll cover for you. Alright, um..good luck tonight." And Todd excused himself awkwardly.

Neil shrugged it off. He had bigger things on his mind.

Todd barrelled down the hallway. He needed fresh air. Flailing, he raced out of the building and towards the shore.

Agitatedly, he skipped a rock across the ripping water. It made four underwhelming splashes before sinking on the fifth, finding its place in the freezing gray water.

Todd felt like one of those rocks, sinking down into the abyss, pressure on every side of him, drowning him. He threw another rock. It ricocheted off the ground, splashing somewhere he couldn't see.

He sat down with a humph, wrapping his arms around his knees.

It was yesterday.

No, it was today. December fifteenth. But that was yesterday. And Neil wasn't dead.

And Neil wasn't dead.

Which meant Todd had a chance to save his life.

And he'd be damned if he was going to waste that chance.