A Heart's Thoughts

day ??? - Distorted

Clover felt her heart sink when she turned around and didn't see Matthew.

"Matthew?" she called, trying to look past the crowd of people around her. No one answered.

"Matthew!" she called again, walking back in the direction she'd just come from with Matthew. She turned a few corners, retracing all her steps, but she couldn't see him. Her pace quickened, and she felt fear blossom in her heart. He wasn't from this timeline. He could be in danger every moment she's not with him.

"Matthew, where are you?!" she called out, running around another corner before bumping into a sturdy figure, almost falling on the ground.

She looked up once she'd regained her footing and let out a relieved sigh as she saw Matthew's concerned face. She softly hit his arm, "idiot, I thought I'd lost you. You need to stay with me. What am I going to tell the others if I return without you?"

Matthew chuckled, "I'm sure they'd believe you if you just tell them you got annoyed with me."

Clover also smiled before grabbing his wrist, "nice try, but you're staying with me. I'm not losing you here."

Matthew held his free hand to his heart and looked touched as he said, "aw, your concern touches my heart."

"Shut up I'm not doing this for fun. You nearly gave me a heart attack back there, and I'm not risking that again."

She leads him back to one of the main streets they were walking on previously and comes to a halt in the middle of a crowd.

"What now?" Matthew asked as he turned to Clover.

"I need you to look at all these people and familiarize yourself with what their frequency should look like in this timeline. The more you familiarize yourself with how everything should be, the sooner you'll be able to notice when something is out of the ordinary."

Matthew looked a bit disappointed, "I can multitask, you know. I can look at people and do something fun."

Clover looked puzzled, and Matthew sighed again as he wriggled his wrist out of her grip and instead grabbed her wrist.

"What I'm saying is, why don't we do something fun? I know we're on this very serious mission, but this task you just gave me doesn't require my full attention. We can take a break while working."

He smiled brightly at her before turning away and walking straight ahead, pulling her with him.

"Hey- wait," she said as she tried to wriggle her wrist out of his grip, but he didn't let go.

"Where are we even going? You don't know this place."

Matthew shrugged, "I don't know where we're going. I'm discovering everything while searching for a destination."

Clover halted her struggles as she looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of his face.

"That sounded very deep, especially for you."

He chuckled, "you don't know me well enough to make such a statement. But, that's okay, you'll get to know me soon enough."

They walked alongside each other in silence, until they reached a park in what seemed to be the heart of the city. All around the park were crowds of people, living their lives. But inside the park, everything looked serene. It was nearly empty aside for a few couples enjoying a walk.

Clover let out a soft gasp as she came to a halt, staring at the park in front of her, "no matter how many times I see it, it still takes my breath away. It's as if the park is in an entirely different space."