Rewound {PTX}

Oklahoma

"SURPRISE!!!" Kirstie makes quite the entrance. It looks like she still remembers where the spare key is hidden.

"Kirstie!" Scott runs over to hug her as well as he can with one functional arm. "I thought you were in Oklahoma!"

"Release me, mountain man! You're standing between my Mitchell and me." Scott lets go and wisely steps out of her way.

"Even I thought you were in Oklahoma," I agree.

"Girl, that was three and a half hours ago," she replies. "I am in Arlington now, because this is where you are."

She must have driven straight here. "Did you even pack?"

"Not a thread. I came directly from the grocery store. I left my cart half-full in the aisle. Mom probably has my old clothes in her basement, but, frankly, I don't care. I'm here to smother you in affection, not look presentable."

"Where's my affection then?" She leans down and leaves loud, waxy kisses all over my face. "Okay, okay, I'm smothered! I'm smothered! I surrender! Uncle!"

"I'm so glad you're back. Did these comedians," she waves around the room, "update you on what's happened in the past thirty years since you've been gone, by Kelly Clarkson?"

"You haven't aged much in the last thirty years. Not that I expected you to, knowing your mother. And no, they haven't told me much. I heard some of what they said while I was out, but I missed a lot too." By "they," I mostly mean Scott. The others spoke to me, but not nearly as often. They always tried to say nice things and be positive. Only Scott listened to what he knew I would have wanted, so only Scott was honest, so only Scott had much to say.

I think Scott needed me the most too. I still don't know if he was even at fault in the accident, but he certainly feels guilty. Besides that, he has a lot to work through with me being a different Mitch from the one he's used to, and on top of everything, he's not really autonomous anymore. He doesn't function the same without me. I didn't realize we had become so interdependent so fast.

"Well," says Kirstie, "there have been some interesting developments. Avi is singing opera in Germany with a very prestigious opera company whose name, I'm afraid to say, I cannot even begin to pronounce. I've certainly tried."

"What about Brittany?"

"They seem to be doing just fine long-distance. Meanwhile, Kevin is off in China writing an incredible EP, and I'm back at OU. Term starts on the eighth, on Monday. Obviously, though, I'll come back for Pentatonix if you all are still up for it and your health allows."

"We are not breaking up just because I almost died."

"Good. Because the big news, of course, is that our album is number one!"

"What do you mean, 'is'? And number one on what? Scott told me it was number one ages ago, but at the time, it didn't mean much to me. I thought, 'One is a nice number,' and that's literally it."

"I mean that it is, and has been for three weeks now, the number one album. It's on top of Billboard and iTunes, and Love Again is number one on the radio, with a few others in the top 40."

"Details! I need details! What happened?"

"December third, around midnight: you get hit by a semi truck. The driver fell asleep at the wheel. He's fine now, by the way, though he was in ICU for about a week."

"Hang on, why do you keep acting like it's your fault then, Scott?"

"I braked, but I should have swerved. I could have totally avoided the acc-"

"Right, fine. Not your fault. Carry on, Kirstie."

"You're pulled from the wreckage four seconds, literally four seconds, before the car explodes, and the whole thing is caught on traffic cameras and on the police dash cam. The media eats it up. They find out you called 911 and saved Scott before falling into a coma. RCA releases preorders that same day, without even telling us they're moving it up. A week later, at the actual release, we're all booked solid for interviews. Again, RCA's idea. I basically bawl through every single interview, but they love zooming in on me while I cry because they're all heartless monsters."

"We sold a bazillion copies the first week," Scott says, "but people had the good sense not to tell me yet. I would have strangled them. I'm still mad at RCA. I didn't even show up to half the interviews, in spite of our contract. What really makes me mad is that whoever did that to us is probably getting a promotion. Disgusting."

"So you can see," explains Kirstie, "why we all left the state as soon as possible. Now that you're okay, though, I wouldn't mind milking it for all it's worth. You have great timing, actually. Sales were just starting to drop off. That selfie you posted is probably still trending." Great. I wish now that I had taken a moment to make myself look decent. It's probably going to be on the evening news.

"Here I was thinking that I ruined everything when I came back from 2015, but now we're even more successful."

"2015?" Mike asks.

"Mom, Dad, remember when I told you I came from the future?" The doctor is gone, so I can talk about it now.

"After the Sing-Off or when you were four?" Nel asks.

"I'll take that as a yes, then. I'm going to sound like I'm raving mad, but don't worry about it, okay? Scott and Kirstie know what I mean. It's all part of our inside language." It helps that Scott and I already sound crazy to outsiders.

"Speaking of 2015, though," I continue, "I really need about four hours to myself. I've never been away even close to this long." People still age in comas, so I don't expect it to make a difference that I was unconscious most of the time. If anything, it'll be worse. It's troubling that I didn't go back automatically at all.

"What are you talking about?" Nel asks. 

"Don't worry," Scott says. "He just needs to meditate for a while. We'll leave you in peace. You can call your phone from mine if you need me, or shout, or anything. I'll be right outside."

I can tell they're all reluctant to leave, but Scott shepherds them toward the door with gentle nudges. "Before you go, Scott," I call, "I need something from you." He closes the door so it's just the two of us. "You asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Will you sing for me?"