Time ✔️

Chapter Thirty

Word Count: 2124

~Rosie

I hold Time's arm, leading him blindly.

Surprisingly, it didn't take much to convince Time to do this. For someone who is going through such a self-destructive period of his life, he is awfully receptive to my ideas. Even more so than the Time in the future, who is too proud to admit that he can be saved. Maybe he actually wants to change, and hasn't yet reached his darkest space.

"So why the blindfold?" Time questions, blindly failing his arms in front of him. It makes me smile, and not just at how foolish he looks. He's putting trust in me, when I could easily put him in a vulnerable position. Maybe it's because he's an immortal, and there's not much I could do to harm him.

"See if I told you, this would be pointless," I tell him, watching him stumble across the uneven ground we wander across.

Time reaches for the cloth blindfold, but I slap him away.

"I doubt you would like to hear what I have in mind," he murmurs, to which I can't help but roll my eyes to. If he is eluding to what he would rather be doing with a blindfold, I don't want to know about it. Especially if it's what I think it is.

"This is your first step into becoming the man you want to be," I tell him, holding his arm tightly, leading him along the gravel path.

It's beautiful out here. We walk at the foot of his estate atop the hill. Wherever we are in the immortal realm, I want to explore more when I get back to my era, but now, I'm making the most of a tree lined path I found out about. I somehow doubt Time has come down here, to separate himself from his duties as an immortal to take part in something much simpler in life.

Time's head tilts toward me. "So, the kind of man the future me isn't?"

"I never said that."

"You're very easy to read," He tells me, the corner of his mouth turning up. I nudge his side with my elbow. "Even with a blindfold on."

Maybe I am easy to read. Does Time from my era know me like this? He must be able to read how nervous I can get around him, or how I'm anxious that his true self will be revealed to me when I least expect it, and it will ruin everything. At least with this Time, I'm not concerned about his actions...even if in some kind of way, that makes no sense. All I know, is that in the few moments we have been around each other, my fear as melted away.

"I actually like the future you. But he's so possessed by his past actions, so maybe this can help solve that," I tell Time. What this has revealed to me so far is that Time is worth saving. At some point, before it all went down, he wanted someone to stop him from himself.

Pulling Time to a stop, I dig into the knot in the back of his blindfold until it falls away, revealing where I have taken him. He immediately shields his eyes, the golden light he blinks away the same colour as his eyes.

He glances at me. "What's this?"

"We're going for a walk. Or a hike," I tell him, rocking and forth on my feet. "I did some researching and found this right by your house."

Time looks around us, up at the canopy of trees that surround us, dappled light drifting across the planes of his face. It's fascinating to see him here, dumbfounded by the sight of this place. It's enough to suggest to me that he's never been here before, despite it being right by his home. My hope is it will make him realise that his problems won't seem as big if he doesn't put as much energy into them.

"And this is meant to improve my character how, exactly?" Time questions, looking down at me. I expected him to be mad that I'm wasting his time, as his tone suggests, however, his eyes gleam, almost as if he is excited for where I'm going to take this. Through this though, I see his apprehension to trust me.