There's My Last Chance - Anderperry Timeloop AU

15. Dec.

298 times. That's how many times Todd had woken up and the sun was shining.

He had been going at it for almost a year.

He was beginning to wonder if Neil was going to die no matter what, if this was his own personal hell.

Because that's what it was, really. Torture.

Waking up day after day, trying something new. And then hearing Neil's died. Or watching him die. That was worse, to watch it.

Sometimes, Todd would pretend it was a normal day. That seemed like the only way to keep his sanity. Some days he'd confess to Neil, making plans about the future he knew would never happen, other times he'd spend the whole day with Keating. Some days, he'd skip class entirely and go have some time alone in the cave or at the beach.

Go shopping, spend all of his money. Why did it matter? Cuss out Mr. Nolan, flip a desk. It would all be reset tomorrow.

At the end of the day, Todd would wake up on December 15th unless he found out a way to prevent the inevitable.

And at the end of the day, Neil always died.

That was the real torture. You'd think that watching someone die over and over would eventually numb you to it, but no, not Neil.

Every time Neil died it hit Todd all over again. Like running into a brick wall, he could feel his world crumble around him.

He was starting to lose it. He knew he couldn't do this for much longer. One day, he was going to wake up on December 16th. And Neil would be dead.

It had to be over with.

So this morning, he woke up and the sun was shining. And he agreed to cover for Neil in Trig. And he kissed Neil on the cheek before he left, shocking him, but Todd didn't have time for that. He was going to make Neil live, whether he wanted to or not.

"I hereby call to order this emergency meeting of the Dead Poet Society: Welton Chapter."

"How very official," Charlie smirked. "Go on."

"Neil's going to kill himself."

297 tries, and all the while, Todd had one fatal flaw. He always tried to save Neil alone.

Well, fuck it. If he was serious about this, he'd need all the help he could get.

The group sat in stunned silence, before Charlie chuckled. "I don't get it," He said.

"There's nothing to get," Todd said, drumming his hand on his thigh nervously. "I need your help."

"Wait, Todd. It's not that I don't believe you," Meeks interjected. "But this is a very bold claim. How do you know he's going to...uh..."

"He's going to what? Commit suicide?" Todd said sharply. "I just do. And if we're going to do this, I suggest we get comfortable with the terminology."

Todd knew it wasn't Meek's fault for being uncomfortable around those words. A year ago, he was the same way. But the fact was that this needed to get done, and they didn't have time to dance around the big ideas.

"Woah, Todd," Charlie said. "No need to get snappy."

Todd sighed. Charlie was right. He'd been through this day hundreds of times before, but for the rest of the poets, it was their first and last time. He was treating them totally unfairly.

"I'm sorry," Todd hung his head in shame. "I...This is just important. Neil's going to off himself tonight after the play unless we do something about it."

"It's okay," Knox said softly. "But how do you know it's tonight? Don't we have some time?"

Todd grit his teeth. "I read his diary," he lied. "He has a whole plan."

The other poets seemed to accept this lie with varying degrees of hurt.

"Alright...so," Pitts jumped in. "How can we help him? Come on, let's think of something."

Todd smiled.