Between Then & Now // Hugh Jackman

8 // Time Travel Diaries

Hugh and I were interconnected the minute I laid eyes on that wristwatch in Wayward Reliquary. That was a sound verity. There was no disputing it.

Before I traveled back in time, I had received a call from an unknown number. I knew the area codes for New York City, and the country code for the U.S.A Whoever had called me wasn't from the states.

This couldn't be a coincidence, but I couldn't figure out how that was possible. There was no way Hugh could've called me from 1994 while I was in 2024. Logically, that would never work, but then again, me being here wasn't rational either, and I also couldn't explain it.

One thing I was absolutely certain of? Me going back in time to meet Hugh wasn't an accident. I was here for a reason. I didn't know what that was, but it had something to do with him.

What had Mason said?

"Hugh hasn't been himself as of late until he met you... Don't hurt him... He's been through more than he should."

Hugh just told me about his mother's passing. That must have been what Mason was referring to, but I didn't quite understand how I was influencing Hugh to be himself again.

All I had done in the past three days was irritate him. Try to get him to stay away from me with zero luck. Just what was he seeing in me that got him to change?

"Like an answer to a silent prayer."

His words echoed in mind.

A prayer to what? To heal? To move on?

Maybe Hugh had put me on this pedestal based on how I suddenly appeared in his life. He was currently finding out that I wasn't deserving of that kind of praise. If that was how he viewed me.

Maybe that was part of why I was here. Maybe I was meant to help him, even though he'd been the one doing all of that for me.

This would explain a lot of things that have happened since I got here. Why he wouldn't leave me alone. Why we got along so quickly and easily despite my attempts to do the opposite. There was something there tethering us to each other, and that was dangerous, because I knew I couldn't let myself get too close to him. The consequences of it wouldn't be worth all the trouble.

It'd been a long bout of silence since Hugh's confession. All these thoughts were roaming around in my head at the revelation that there was possibly some force pushing us together.

I compartmentalized my pondering notions to finally respond to Hugh.

"I'm so sorry," I said sorrowfully.

I knew first-hand what it was like to lose a parent. That kind of pain stayed with you your whole life. I had accustomed to the grief as time passed, but it would always be there. Mine was doubled since I had lost both of mine in a car crash.

It happened when I was a kid, but I was old enough to still remember. Old enough to process the pain and loss and that I'd never get to see them again. My grandpa was a huge support system for me during all of that. It took me years before I was able to find myself again.

"How," I paused, wondering if I should ask after letting Alana's name slip, but I couldn't disregard what he said. He was opening himseld up to me, being vulnerable, and perhaps it was high time that I started being a decent human being.

"How long has it been?" I finished asking.

The waitress came back right then, and I wished she wouldn't have, but I knew she was only doing her job. She gave us our drinks - two ginger ales - and left. Ordering food was the last thing on either of our minds.