I drop the picture frame, causing the glass to crack. I quickly scoop it up and examine it, the crack going right over Alex’s face. I frown at the photo gently. Oh Alex..

“John, are you alright?” I hear my mom call.

My mom… she's not really here..

She steps into the room and looks at the picture in my hand. “Who's that?” She asks.

I look at her and tears begin to well up in my eyes. Alex had made the wish. Which meant this wasn't real.

I mean, sure she was standing right in front of me, but I knew she wasn't supposed to be.

I wipe my eyes. “It's no one, Ma. Just.. an old friend.” I say, setting down the picture and standing up to hug her.

She hesitantly wraps her arms back around me. “John? What's going on?”

“Nothing I'm just.. It's good to see you.” I say, biting my lip slightly.

I wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment forever. To keep her with me. But who knows what this wish has done to the world. It’s already severely messed with my life a ton. I wonder what happened to Alex.

My mom pulls away and gives me a concerned look. “John? You’ve been acting strange all day. What is really going on?”

“I couldn’t explain it if I tried.” I shake my head gently before grabbing a bag, throwing some stuff in. “I have to go to New York.”

“Now? But John, we can’t-” 

“No, not we… Only.. Only me.” I say, not facing her. “You have to stay here.”

Sure, I could’ve brought her with me, but I already know it’s going to make it so much harder to fix the world if she meets Alex. All I’ve ever wanted was for her to meet him. To see how much happier he’s made me. But if that happens, who’s to say I would be able to let go of it.

No, it was easier to say goodbye here. At least I get to say goodbye this time.

I turn towards her as I pick up the picture frame, looking at Alexander, then back at her. “I love you, Mom. I love you so much. But I have to do this on my own.”

I think a part of her knew I wouldn’t be coming back to be with her, as she had such a sad look on her face. She pulls me into a tighter hug than before. “I love you, too, John. Be safe out there.”

We stay in the hug for what feels like forever, but still not nearly long enough. I finally pull away, stuffing the frame in my bag as I nod at her. “Goodbye, Mom.”

As I’m walking out, she grabs my arm. “I’m proud of you. And tell him,” She gestures to the picture in my bag, “to take care of you.”

I smile sadly and nod again. “I will. I just gotta take care of him, first.”

And with that, I was flying to New York, trying to shift my focus to Alex. I knew there was a chance he wasn’t there, but I don’t care. I had to start somewhere. I would search the whole world if I had to.

After a few hours, I finally make it to New York City, where luckily everyone was too busy trying not to step in dog shit to look up and notice me flying around. I land and walk through the city, heading to some of Alex’s favorite spots. Most of them being historical sights, of course.

While I’m looking, though, the sky starts to cloud up, and eventually it starts to rain outside. Which was just perfect, of course. Why would this go any differently?

I look around as everyone starts to scatter out of the rain and into various shops and restaurants and I sigh. My mission just got a lot harder.

As I’m passing Gristedes, though, I see a young man walking out, a paper bag full of groceries in hand. He looks up at the sky and before he can move his bag to avoid it getting wet, it rips open. And his groceries spill all over the floor.

I almost laugh at the irony. This is exactly how we met the first time.

I rush over to help him and hear him muttering to himself.

“Dios mío, claro que tiene que empezar a llover ahora mismo. Esto es simplemente perfecto, cuando-” He looks up at me and stares with wide eyes. “Oh, sorry, didn’t see you there.”

I look over his appearance. He looked happy, healthy. His eye bags were gone, his hair was short and tamed and washed, not the greasy, beautiful mess it usually was. He was smiling softly as I handed him some groceries.

“Thank you, for the help. I’m not used to the whole, ‘bring your own tote bag everywhere’ New Yorker lifestyle.” He chuckles softly.

Something was so off. When I originally met Alex, he was standoffish at first, and then let his guard down when he realized I was being nice. Now he’s just.. Blindly nice to me.

“Not used to it? Have you not been here for years by now?” I ask.

He laughs nervously. “Uh, no, I wish. My family and I just moved here last month. It’s a big, crazy city for sure.” He then tilts his head to the side. “Though, I’m sure you already knew that, being a New Yorker yourself.”

“Oh, I’m not- I mean, not really- I..” I stare in confusion. This was all so weird. “You look so.. Happy.”

He raises an eyebrow as he clutches his groceries close to him. “Thank you..?” He looks to the side and then back at me. “I’m sorry, I should probably get going now. These groceries won’t take themselves home.” He jokes as he starts to walk away.

“Alex, wait!” I call out, to which he freezes and turns around.

“How do you know my name?” He asks, keeping a distance between us. “Do I know you?”

“Yeah I’m-” I stop myself. I sigh. “I’m John, I’m an old friend.” I then look down at my bag, the photo of us being on top. I hold the bag out. “Here, use these for your groceries.”

He stares at me in confusion, the rain lightening up a little, but still leaving the two of us soaked by now. He hesitantly walks over to me and I open up the bag. He looks in and sees the photo and frowns.

“What the fuck is this? What are you getting at here, why do you have a photo of me in your bag?” He asks, angrily.

“Because, Alex. You and I are not meant to be here right now. Deep down, I know you feel it, too.” I grab the photo and show it to him. “This is us, on one of our first dates. You had never been to the Empire State Building, even though you’d lived in the city for two years, so I offered to take you. Think back to that day. Look at the photo, really look at it.”

He looks at the photo, and for a moment it looks like he could be remembering, and then furrows his brows at me. “You’re crazy! I’ve never been to the Empire State Building, I told you we just moved here. Now, leave me alone!” He turns around to walk away but I follow him.

“You’re denying it because you know it’s true. You know this isn’t real, none of this is! Except for me, I’m real, I’m here, I’m right here, Alex.” I say, walking after him. It starts to rain harder as we fight.

“I had heard there were some crazy people in the city, but this is insane!” He calls out, not facing me. “What makes you think I’d believe you?”

“Because you know that I love you.” I say. “I know you know it, you’re just scared. You’re scared of facing the truth, of-”

“Of course I’m scared, John!” He shouts, turning towards me. I freeze and stare at him in shock. “You should just go back to South Carolina. You can be happy with your mom. I know you can, I made the wish that way.”

“You.. you do remember..”

“I didn’t. Not until you showed me that photo.” He admits. “But John, can’t you see that I’ve hurt you enough? When I made the wish, I made it so you would never be surrounded by people who have done horrible things to you. Your father, your siblings. But when I made that wish, it took me out of your life, too. Because what I’ve done is just.. It’s unforgivable.”

I stare at him as tears flow down his cheeks. “Alex, what happened to your family when you made that wish?”

He looks down at the ground. “I still couldn’t save them, John. They lived a little longer in this life, and I’m a little happier, but they’re still gone. I’m not here with my family, I’m here by myself. As it should be, because all I’ve done is hurt people.”

“That’s not true..” I say.

“Please, John. Please go be with your mom. It’s the one good thing I can give you.” He says.

“No.” I say firmly. I grab the photo again and show it to him. “This, is the one good thing you can give me. Look at how happy we are here. That is the happiness you have given me. I’m not going to pretend that it didn't exist. I love you, Alex. Nothing you’ve done is past forgiveness, as long as you help me fix this.”

“But how? There’s no going back to that.” He says, looking at the photo. “How could we ever get back to that?”

“You’re right, we’ll never be like that again. Because that’s the old us.” I say. “Things are going to change, that’s life. You have to either learn how to adapt with it, or get stuck in the past, wishing things had stayed the same. But only one of those ways is going to help you right now, Alex. And I choose to adapt. With you.”

“Why?” He asks. “Why do you still love me after all this? After all I’ve done.”

“Because I know your intentions were good. Everything you’ve done has been for love. For the love of your family, for your love for me.” I take a step closer, smiling gently at him. “And I believe you know the phrase now. Whatever is done for love..” I trail off, hoping he would finish it.

He hesitates, but wipes a tear away. “Occurs beyond good and evil...:” He mumbles softly.

“I finally understand it now. I thought it was bullshit for so long, but I truly get it. Because of you.”

He stares at me before dropping his groceries, hugging me tightly and burying his face into my shirt. I hug him back, sighing of relief.

“I want to go home, John. I regret everything, I just wanna fix all of this and go home.” He says.

“I know, me too.” I kiss the top of his head and sigh, looking around. “And we’ll figure out how to do just that.”

1891 Words

The chapter was ready yesterday, I just forgot to upload it oops. But here ya go! I can't promise the next chapter will be up by this Sunday but I will try my best. I just have none of it written yet lol