Take Me Back

Chapter 3

"Dude, so what's the go with your friend Kayla?"

It was the day after the party and I couldn't get the girl with the god awful dance moves off my mind.

"What do you mean what's the go with Kayla?"

I raised my eyebrows at Jonathan, hoping he would get the hint.

He didn't.

"You know, is she single?"

He paused, "Nope, no way, not gonna happen. My foot is down"

"So she's not single then?"

Of course. Girls like that never are.

"No. She is. It's just....."

"It's just what?"

He put a hand on my shoulder and stared me down.

"I just think she'll break your heart"

oOo

I sat on Jonathan's couch and took in my surroundings, I had nothing but fond memories of this house.

He was the first out of our friends to move out of home so his place became party central, sort of a haven for us drunken youths. In it I had celebrated four birthdays, two christmas's and too many drunken nights. I had helped him move in when he started his lease and packed every memory away when he moved to his new apartment. We even took an axe to the his ostentatious red lounge suite after he realised how hideous it was so finding myself seated on the cherry coloured vinyl once again it was surreal.

Glancing around I noted that, like always, the living room wall was covered in photographs. There were pictures from our road trip up to Byron Bay after we graduated, snap shots from the crazy nights we had out when we were eighteen but nothing appeared recent, and I couldn't help but notice Kayla wasn't featured in any of them. I should have taken that as a sign, a confirmation of this new reality I was faced with but until someone told me for sure what was going on, I elected to live in denial.

"Alright buddy", Jonathan said handing me a glass, "Spill"

Where do I start? I knew that no matter which way I went about it he was going to think I was crazy. Instead I went with the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm supposed to be proposing today", I blurted out.

Jonathan stared at me blankly for a moment before quickly downing his drink. When he realised that his own hadn't quite done the job, he snatched mine from my hands and proceeded to do the same, "Have you gone mad? Have you actually lost your fucking mind?!"

"But I love her"

"Bloody hell I need another drink", he sighed, "No you don't, the whole point is you don't love her. I'd rather you marry Voldemort than bloody Jamie, at least he has more redeeming qualities"

He reached for the bottle sitting on the coffee table and poured himself another glass, topping up my own before handing it back, "Mate it's time we had an intervention"

It definitely wasn't a joke then, if he thought I was still with Jamie then it most certainly wasn't 2015, "I'm not talking about Jamie man"

It took a few seconds and I watched as Jonathan's eyes widened and his scowl split into a toothy grin, "Who are you talking about then? Do I get to crack the celebratory champagne? Is the reign of the hateful harpy over?" he exclaimed with glee.

All I could do was sigh, "Mate it's a long story"

"I've got time", he paused, "and whiskey"

I wrung my hands, knowing that he was probably going to have me committed after this, "Jonathan? What year is it?"

He looked at me curiously, "2010 why?"

And there it was, the indisputable truth that I was completely and undeniably fucked. I was back in the worst part of my life without a reason and I had no clue how or if I could get back.

I sunk back into the couch thinking of all the different possibilities, all the little things that contributed to my life in 2015 being what it was. All the many things I could royally screw up and punching Charlie in the face was mistake number one. Mainly because if there was no Charlie there was no Kayla.

Like many of the most pivotal moments of my life, it involved Jonathan. He and Charlie had met her on one of their infamous nights out before everything went downhill between the two. It transpired that Kayla and Charlie shared several university classes together and after bonding over tequila shots she found herself adopted by them on their bender. She awoke the next morning sandwiched between the two with few memories, a garden gnome and a new best friend in Jonathan.

The boys broke up shortly after and Kayla was kept in the less than amicable separation. Either way though, if he and Charlie didn't continue to see each other, there was the potential I wouldn't meet the love of my life.

It was because of this I knew I couldn't tell Jonathan everything, not even Kayla's name. As much as I felt like a bad guy, there were some things, including how much of a dick Charlie was, that I was going to have to keep to myself. But while I couldn't run the risk of them not meeting Kayla, I was still too selfish to face my situation alone.

My only option left was to be vague.

"Fill up your glass Jonathan", I said, "You're probably not going to believe this..."

So I told him what I could. I told him about how I'd lived the next five years and how Jamie and I had broken up in early 2011. His celebratory cheers only ceased when I added that, due to said break up, I lost a whole bunch of possessions to the psychopathic pyromaniac immediately afterward.

I went on to explain how I met a girl who he actually approved of and in my reality he had spent months searching through antique stores with me, just so we could find the perfect ring for her. A ring, like the rest of my life, that seemed to have disappeared from my grasp.

I wasn't quite ready to face the harshness of reality yet so I instead opted to wrap up my story and reach for what felt like my hundredth drink that hour.

"He's actually lost it" Jonathan muttered under his breath before letting out an audible sigh, "oh buddy, this is rough"

"I know right?"

Jonathan emptied his glass and looked me in the eye, "well if this whole thing is real, do you want to explain what happened with Charlie then? Is he a bad guy? Should I stop seeing him?"

"Way to make it about you man" I tried to laugh it off but he was still looking at me expectantly. I braced myself, knowing that what I was going to say next officially made me the worst friend in the world, "yeah sorry about that, I just got him mixed up with some other guy you were seeing"

He looked thoughtful for a moment and I couldn't tell if he believed me or not, but after a few seconds he shrugged, "Man, we've really gotta stop drinking so much before midday. I'm sauced"

"Dude enjoy it now, the older we get the worse our hangovers are"

We both shuddered at the thought before I saw a look of realisation dawn on Jonathan's face. A smirk played across his features and I began to fear for my life and liver.

"Well we need to make the most of it then! Don't you see what this means?" Jonathan exclaimed, "you get a free pass buddy. Go home, break up with Jamie, come back here and then we'll commence the ultimate bachelor party"

A/N: Thanks so much if you've been reading so far! Couple of things for my lovely readers/fellow writers.  1. where do you draw inspiration from? & 2. What are your thoughts on casting? Do you like to know what the author has in their head or imagine for yourself?