That Moment I First Saw You (TFF Fanfic)

Chapter 16: We Are Broken

       Tears for Fears cancelled all of their concerts for the following week and booked a last minute flight back to California. Roland hated last minute plans, but he knew that he had to do this. It was halfway into the flight that he found himself staring out a plane window in desperation. He was desperate to get to Delilah, apologize to her and move on from this. Even if she did think that she was from the future, he was willing to forget about that because he was in love with her.
       Sighing, Roland placed his head into his hands and brushed down his hair. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice when Curt got up, and the Nicky replaced him in his seat.
       "Hello Roland." Startled by the suddenly feminine voice, his head flew up and he looked into the slightly troubled face of Nicky.
       "Oh, hey," he mumbled replacing his head in his hands. After a second of silence and the feeling of her eyes burning into the back of his head, he eventually sat up again with a sigh. "Care to share what you're thinking or are you here to just stare at me for the rest of the flight?" She smirked at him.
       "No need to be grumpy Ro. I'm just here to see how you're doing." He scoffed.
       "Well if it's not obvious how I'm doing, then I'll say that I'm depressed." He then glanced up at her, seeing that that was not all she wanted. "Anything else you want to know?"
       "Oh, no. I just wanted to say that you, Roland Orzabal, are an idiot for what you did to Delilah." Roland's head flew up in agitation.
       "Gee, Nicky. That gives me that sort of warm and tingly feeling  inside that I needed right now. Thanks." He then glared at her and continued. "But just so you know, I know that I'm an idiot for what I did so don't worry." Nicky snorted.
       "Well, you are an idiot for booking her a flight when you were angry but you also are an idiot for not listening to her when she said that she was from the future." At that, Roland's mouth gaped.
       "So what you're telling me is that I should believe her story of an impossible situation as explanation of how we met?"
       "Yes," answered Nicky simply. He scoffed yet again.
       "You're unbelievable you know that? One day you hate Delilah, and the next day you're all palsy-walsy with her and on her side about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life. What gives?"
       "Well, maybe I just found her to be a trustworthy person." As Roland clenched his teeth and murmured an inaudible word Nicky continued. "But, I admit, I wouldn't have believed her either if she hadn't have showed me evidence." Roland narrowed his eyes at her.
       "What do you mean by evidence? She never showed me any evidence."
       "I know. And that's why you're being called an idiot right now, because you never gave her a chance to show you what it is." Roland was about to argue but Nicky continued. "When Manny, Ian and I went back to her hotel room last night to consule her, she showed us a receipt from the day that Ian saved her which had the date April 21, 2019. The exact same day but 34 years into the future." At the word receipt, Roland raised his eyebrows. He remembered Delilah telling him something about a receipt that could prove she had been in 2019. "And from that, we connected the dots, such as her not knowing what a landline is and her original statement about us not living in the 80's, to conclude that she was in fact telling the truth."
       Mulling over the evidence that had been presented to him, Roland thought back to that evening in Paris when she had called his camera outdated. Even though she had explained why she thought that, he had always thought that it was suspicious. Roland then gasped.
       "Oh my gosh." He covered his mouth in horror. "She was really telling the truth." His mouth hung open for a second and then he buried his head into his hands. "I'm such an idiot." He then squeezed his eyes to stop the tears that were pricking in the corners. Nicky rubbed his back.
       "So, now that you admit your mistake, let's make it right." She then lowered her head to make eye contact with him as he glanced up at her. "I told you this because you are the one who knows the most about her and I assumed that you could use this information to somehow find her." A lightbulb suddenly flicked on in Roland's mind as hope stirred in his chest. He had an idea.
       "What'd she say the receipt was from again?"
       "I don't know, maybe she said it was from a record store. Why do you ask?" At that, Roland grinned for the first time in what felt like weeks and called over to Ian.
       "Hey, where exactly were we again when you saved Delilah from that bus?"