There's My Last Chance - Anderperry Timeloop AU

The Night of December 15th

Todd knew the domino effect.

If Neil didn't kill himself, his father never wakes up in the middle of the night. Which means he never wakes up Mrs. Perry, and they never go looking for him. Mrs. Perry never realizes she left the stove on, which leads to a housefire that kills the Perry family in their sleep.

If Neil did kill himself, the good news is his house remains intact at least, but the bad news is no more Neil.

With this in mind, Todd was at a stalemate. Unless there was a third option, which was now known as the plan. And that just so happened to be the plan he was hoping would go smoothly tonight.

Todd watched Neil take the stage. Charlie almost stood to applaud, Cameron dragging him back down. Everything was hitting the mark, exactly the same.

Todd crossed his fingers.

Todd excused himself early from the play, and nodded at Charlie, who followed him curtly. The boys passed Neil's father, waiting at the back. Todd's heart was pounding the whole time.

"Half an hour?" Charlie asked.

Todd nodded in confirmation.

"Be careful," Charlie said, and rode off on his bike.

Todd ran around towards the back of the theater, and let himself in through the backstage door.

It was chaos.

People were clapping, screaming, cheering. Everyone bustled around, scrambling on and off stage as the leads bowed.

Todd watched in awe as Neil waved at the audience. He had seen Neil perform this play hundreds of times, but every time he was swept away by Neil's unmatched charisma, his playfulness, his amazing performance. He always earned laughs in the right places, always knew exactly what to say. He never stumbled nor faltered, that wasn't Neil.

I can't lose him, Todd thought. Not again.

Todd waited until the curtain closed, then pushed his way through the crowd of theater kids.

"Neil!" he called out.

"Todd?" Neil said, puzzled. "What are you doing back here?"

"Nevermind that," Todd said, and kissed him right in front of everybody.

Neil was taken aback. He almost denied it, but gave in just as Todd knew he would.

He was all smiles, but Todd's face was stone cold serious. "You saw your father in the audience?"

Neil nodded ditzily.

Todd nodded back. "Good," he said nervously, and wiped a line of sweat from his brow. "Mind if we kidnap you?"

Meanwhile, Charlie had just arrived at the Perry residence. He took a moment to scruff himself up before ringing the doorbell.

Todd had pulled him aside earlier, given him the low-down about the housefire. Charlie didn't question it, thank God, and agreed to help save Neil's home.

Being the token drama queen of the group, he was perfect for the job.

Neil's mother answered the door.

"Charles," she said, not unkindly. "What brings you here?"

"Mrs. Perry!" he said, barreling past her in faux frenzy. "You've gotta help me! The phones at Welton are down, I can't get a hold of my mother, and it's her birthday! You have to understand. I need to talk to her."