I drove home that night, barely. I had sobered up during the conversation, but I wasn't going to make the trip home that way. I left a trail of cans behind me down the highway, but what was really behind me I couldn't escape. After every can I threw out the window I knew I was getting closer to the future. I had promised to do what had been asked of me, and I would do it. But I had no idea how to save three of my friends from what happens to them later down the line.

I pulled into my driveway, went in my house, and crawled into bed. I slept, but fitfully. My dreams weren't pleasant.

From the information I had been given, I started looking for Kalyn. What she knew this far back was sketchy at best, but it was all I had to go on. I went to where she remembered living, nothing. I visited where she thought she worked and they had never heard of her. I found every common friend we had ever had in town, and no one knew anything. I considered taking off a week from work to try and find her, but I couldn't. It was the start of the Christmas rush, and even though I had accumulated days off, I didn't feel right cashing them in at this time of the year.

So I did the only thing I could, I waited. I worked, I searched and I slept. It was a horrible existence. I had two to four hours a night to try and uphold my oath on the weekdays and then convince my girlfriend that I suddenly liked going out on the weekends. She was happy that I wanted to go 'dancing' but got a tad pissy that I spent too much time scanning the crowd. Still, I have never been so alert in my life.

Kalyn couldn't remember exactly when she returned to town, only that it was after the holidays, which was a large span of time. For all I knew it would be months before she got to town. But I kept my promise.

Days passed, then weeks, then months. I had formed a sort of search pattern that managed to maximize my time and effort. Still nothing. I was getting frustrated beyond belief. It was the middle of the summer, we'd had a string of 100+ degree-days, and I was miserable. I was so tired when I got home that all I wanted to do was sleep, but I couldn't.

July turned to August, and I had finally had enough. My girlfriend was going to be out of town for a wedding, which would leave me the weekend alone to search, but I was burned out. I went to the store and got a thirty-pack. I sat down, popped open a can and turned on a baseball game. I think it was the second or third one I had seen all year.

A couple of hours later, my dog got up and ran behind my chair. "What's up, Dog?" I asked her.

Oddly enough she didn't answer. But it was nothing new, I've had her for over 10 years, and I knew what she was doing. I opened my front door, and sure enough a storm was moving in. I love storms. I went into the front yard and watched as the dark clouds rolled in. The wind started picking up, and the first few drops of rain came. I don't know how long I stood there, but when the water hitting me started hurting, I went back inside. My dog was still hiding behind the chair, I chuckled and reached down a petted her, "Don't worry mutt, it's summer, it'll be gone soon." She didn't seem convinced.

It's seems she knew more than I did. It was a particularly violent storm, more what you get in spring than summer. The lightning was close, and the thunder shook the house. I enjoyed every second of it, until the power went out. Power goes out around here about twice a year, once I actually saw it go out when a bolt of lightning hit a transformer. It could be out for 30 minutes or 5 hours, you never knew.

I opened the windows, then put my beer in a cooler and dumped in all the ice I had. To hell with the rest of the food (condiments,) I saved the important stuff. I pulled out the oil lamps I had for just this situation and set them around the house. It wasn't all that unpleasant, the storm had cooled things off so it wasn't hot, and the little flames danced in the breeze going through the house, casting an eerie yet comforting glow. Of course I was a little pissed that I couldn't watch the game.

I must have dozed off, because the dog barked and I jerked awake almost spilling my beer. I looked down. "I was enjoying myself, Dog. What the hell are you barking at?" Then I heard it: someone was knocking on the back door. "Oh, good dog." I reached down and scratched her behind the ears, then went to the door. I checked the clocks on my way but none were on yet, I figured I'd go find a watch after I let in whoever was here.

I opened the door expecting my old roommate, and damn near fell over when I looked into a pair of sad but enchanting pale-green eyes. I just stared.

"Hi," Kalyn said quietly.

"Kalyn, what are..." I never finished, she threw her arms around me. I hesitated for a second then hugged her back. Regardless of what I knew, it was good to see her again. We stood there hanging on to each other for a few minutes, I was just happy to have 'found' her. She seemed to be clinging to something more.

We finally broke apart, "Come in." I said. "This is my new house. How did you find me?" I led her in.

She sat down on the couch and looked at me, just looked at me. I got a little jittery under the scrutiny, so I grabbed a beer out of the cooler. I gave her a questioning look, but she shook her head. Still she said nothing.

"So what brings you here? How are you doing? How long have you been in town?" I figured one of the questions might get her talking.

"Do you realize that you are the only stable person I know?"

It wasn't an answer of sorts, but it would do. I chuckled, "Stable is such a relative term, like 'sane,' or 'normal.' It all depends on who's doing the judging." I was trying to keep it light. It didn't seem to work.

A tear fell from her eye. "Things are so, so..."

I got up and sat on the couch next to her. "It's all right. Just relax."

She sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder, "Why does everything have to be so complicated?" I just waited. "Love should be love, fun should be fun, and life should be enjoyable." I really had no answer for that.

We sat like that for awhile, until I had to pee.

When I came back she asked, "Do you have anything besides beer?"

"Some liquor for a 'Vampire's Kiss,'" (the only shot or liquor I would do) "and some wine."

"Can I have some wine?"

"Sure." I went to the kitchen, grabbed the bottle and a glass and sat back down on the couch. It was my girlfriend's wine, and she would be slightly irate when she found out, but I had talked my way out of worse transgressions recently.

Kalyn drank the first glass in silence, while I waited. I could tell she was thinking hard, and I wanted to let her present her thoughts the way she wanted. "Jeff and I had a fight, a bad fight, right before Christmas." She took a sip, "I was so frustrated that I left, I just got in my car and drove away. I left everything I had," she sort of laughed, "I can't believe I actually made it here. I went to my mom's and slept for like a week." Her mom's!! I can't believe I never thought of that, Kalyn never said that she came to Stillwater, I just assumed. All that searching I had done had been for nothing. She had been in another city all this time. "I did nothing for a month till she got pissed, so I finally got a job. Things were going well, I found someone at work that needed a roommate and moved in with her. I had decided that I could live without Jeff and all the band stuff..."

She trailed off, but was on a roll and I didn't want to step in and ruin the flow, so I remained silent.

"Then I found out that they got signed. I mean their dream had finally come true and where the hell was I? Here! Was it because I was gone that they got focused enough, am I like a preemptive Yoko or something?" How on earth could I answer that? "I got depressed. I lost my job and then my roommate kicked me out. My mom wouldn't take me back, so I slept in my car for a week."

She stopped, and I still didn't want to say anything. She poured another glass and took a sip. "I started thinking about everyone I know or had known, seeing if I could find what was wrong about them, what I brought out in them, that ultimately wasn't good. I went through the list over and over and you were the only one who endured me without any detriment. Of everyone, you were the most stable."

If I hadn't been sitting I would've fell over. I regrouped, "Honey," I said softly, "I am the most boring person you know. I'd rather sit at home than go out, I worked a shit-hole job for ten years because I was afraid something new. The most I ever did anything interesting was when the band was here, and they had to force me into a lot of it. I'm not stable, I'm dull."

"But you were one of the best friends they had. You never glorified them; you treated them like normal people. You gave them shit when they deserved it and took their shit with a smile. You are so down to earth compared to everyone else I know."

I laughed, "Thank you for making 'stick-in-the-mud' sound like a good thing."

She looked at me, her eyes piercing, "You're a good man, and anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend."

I sighed, "If that were true, then I would have more."

"No! You're selective. You only hang out with people you respect."

I half smiled and grabbed another beer. It was true that there were plenty of people that I didn't like. I always thought I was just a prick.

We spent the night reminiscing; we hadn't seen each other in a long time. She regaled me with stories of Los Angeles, and I listened. Every once in awhile I would have a story, but none were near as interesting. As I watched her talk, her eyes would light up on certain things; her smile would grow brighter. It seemed she genuinely enjoyed most of her stories from California. Then it struck me, is this what happened in the original timeline? Before the Kalyn from the future had approached me, would I have looked at this night in a different way? Would I not have seen how much she like being on the coast? I shuddered.

"Are you cold?" Kalyn asked. She grabbed a blanket that I keep on the couch for naps, and threw it over us. She snuggled up next to me, "Comfy?"

"Yeah," I said contentedly. And I was, I really was.

I woke the next morning very disoriented. I took a slow breath and looked around. I was on the couch, and I wasn't alone. I looked at the clock, but it was blinking twelve. Well, the power had been turned back on at some point in the night. I moved a leg to get up, but it was obstructed. Then I realized I wasn't alone. Somehow Kalyn and I had managed to both sleep on the couch without either of us falling off. I would have been more impressed with the feat if my oath hadn't come flooding back.

I gently tried to remove myself from the situation, but Kalyn woke. "What time is it?"

"I don't know." Which was true. I looked out a window, "Daytime." I managed to get up without dumping her on the floor. "Want some breakfast?"

Kalyn grumbled, "No."

I went into the kitchen and looked around, the only thing I had that would be considered breakfast food was waffles that were left here by my old roommate. I went to find a watch; maybe I should be eating lunch.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kalyn said as I headed to my bedroom.

Oh shit, I thought, nothing good has ever come from a statement like that. I shrugged, and searched for my watch. Eleven-fifteen. Definitely time for lunch.

"Since you don't have a roommate anymore, would you mind if I stayed here for a while?" I started really concentrating on what to have for lunch. "I'll get a job and pay half the bills." I could feel her waiting expectantly behind me. "Please."

God, that was evil. I could never turn anyone down who needed my help so much. I turned and looked at her, ready to agree, when suddenly she shifted. Not physically, but what I saw phased in and out from Kalyn today, and Kalyn from the future.

"Why?"

She looked taken aback for a second, "Because I need you. You're stability. You're sanity. You're Dullness."

I smiled faintly. She was so beautiful and intelligent. So frail. I could see why I would choose what I apparently did in the other timeline.

"But Jeff needs you."

She shook her head as tears started to well, "He doesn't, and he told me as much."

I led her to the living room, and sat her down, "How many fights have you guys had?"

"Too many too count."

"Yet, you've always worked things out afterwards." It was a statement not a question. She nodded. "What was different this time?" She didn't have an answer. "They just got signed, right? I think maybe the tension of an impending future that they had been working so hard for clouded things."

She just looked at me, a confused look in her eyes.

"Jeff has a dream, the band has a dream, and you've been with them through most of it. Why would this be different? Because they were so close, and I'm sure Jeff knew it. If anything Jeff needs you more now, than ever."

"That's not true!"

"It is," I replied calmly. I was working on something here and I had to go with it. "What do you think will happen if they find success?"

"Money and women," she said matter-of-factly.

"You've seen all the shows on bands, right?" She nodded. "What is one thing everyone of them have in common?"

She thought for a moment, "Drugs, rehab, sometimes one of them dies."

"How would you feel if that happened to them?"

She gave me a horrified look.

"I think that you would be the one to help that to not happen."

She shook her head, "I don't have a great history with that sort of thing."

"I know, but that was because you never cared about yourself. You spent all your time worrying about others and it didn't matter what you did to you." I pointed at her heart. "Now you do."

She stared at my finger, "What makes you think that?"

I moved my finger up until she was looking at me, "Because you are here. You're here to find normalcy as you define it. You want simplicity, dullness, and stability. Why? Because you now care about you. Once you've got that, you've got it all."

She still looked uncertain.

"You're looking for strength that you already have. I think you should give it to those who need it."

"But..."

I raised a hand, "I love you Kalyn, and I always will. I love the guys in the band also, and I think they need you. Jeff needs you. Help them when they can't help themselves."

Kalyn and I held each other for a long time. We hadn't seen each other for months, and it might be longer than that before we see each other again.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too."

She climbed into her car and backed out of the driveway. As I watched her leave, the future that I had been told about was foremost in my thoughts. I saw all that was suddenly gone--

--Kalyn's car turned the corner and I couldn't believe that she was already gone. I hadn't seen her in months and now she was heading back to L.A. I didn't realize how much I had missed her and the guys in the band. I'm thinking on my next vacation I'm going west and kicking the shit out of those guys. I reckon they probably need it. Yeah, it'd be good to see them again.

My cell phone rang. I looked at the name and answered, "What's up, Gorgeous?"

...

"How was the wedding?"

...

"That's good. How many guys did you have to fight off?"

...

"I love you too, baby..."

© 2009 Ravenai