"Hannah! Wake up!" Someone shook me awake and whisper yelled in my ear. I sat up dazed and confused for a minute. Vee knelt in front of me with a mutual look on her face. I was back on the floor of the family room in my own house. The room was dark, the fire had faded to a few sparks and the Christmas tree was up. A few days before Christmas.

"Hannah, what the crap are you doing on the floor?" Vee asked. I shrugged.

"I must have fallen asleep."

"Well I can see that," she said. "Came out here to put the fire out and saw you here. Nearly put me in cardiac arrest. Care to explain?"

"Well, heh, I uh-think I just time traveled again." Her mouth hung open.

"Really? Freaking sweet, I knew this would happen again!"

"Shh! Let's go to my room, you can spaz out in there." We both stood up and went to my room, my hand clutching the envelope shakily. Vee closed the door and turned to me.

"Spill it."

"I fell asleep here and woke up in the winter of 1980. Well, summer. But it was still Christmas time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you meet your special someone?"

"Well, I guess."

"What does that mean?"

"You know Angus got married in 1980."

"Yeah, doesn't mean he doesn't still like you," she said.

"You're right. He still liked me. And he was so stressed about telling me how he felt while trying to hide his feelings 'cause he's married-that he nearly drank himself to death."

"Oh geez."

"We thought it was the flu I caught a few days earlier but the bottles and cans stated otherwise."

"Oh man, then what?"

"Later that month we got into an argument and I was just about to leave when he kissed me."

"I flipping knew you'd see him again. And I knew he'd still have something for you. Keep going," she encouraged.

"Well the next day we made up and he..."

"Mm-hmm?"

"...said he-loved me." Vee's smile could have melted the snow and relit the fire.

"And..."

"I said-that I loved him back."

"But did you mean it?"

"Of course I did. I still do. But I felt bad for causing all those problems and while Ellen liked me and was really nice I couldn't help but feel, you know, in her way."

"Did you tell her he..."

"Yes. She and Linda, Malcolm's wife made a bet he would do it while they were gone for the week."

"Wow."

"Yeah, Linda said Ellen described it as like 'being married to a man who has a crush on someone else.'"

"More than just a crush now Ellen," Vee said to herself. "So...did you guys ever..."

"No! He remembered my problem with that, he didn't try anything."

"Good." Vee paced back and forth, the smile on her face growing. She stopped and looked at me. "Hannah loves Angus and Angus loves Hannah!" she sang too loud for my comfort.

"Aw, piss off."

"Come on, just having a bit of holiday fun." She sat down on the bed next to me. "What's that?" I held up the envelope.

"Angus gave it to me as a Christmas present the night before I left."

"What's it say?"

"He told me to open it when I got home."

"So then..." She looked at me with excited eyes. I smiled back and opened it. There was a picture of Angus and I hugging each other while looking into the other's eyes smiling and laughing at something. The word 'Inseparable' was scribbled underneath it. I pulled out a letter along with it and read it aloud.

Dear Hannah,

I was looking around the old house we stayed at in the seventies and found an old shoe box with pictures in it. Sometimes we'd take pictures of things and put it in that box for memories so I thought I'd look through it after you left. I found this one, which I don't remember ever having been taken. Mal must have taken it when we weren't looking and put it in the shoebox for me to find later. Or to blackmail me with. Either way I'm gonna kill him. Cute caption though huh?  I thought I'd give it to you for Christmas this year, since you decided to join. Have something to remember m̶e̶  us by, you know. It's hard to tell you how I feel, especially now due to the circumstances. And a letter won't 'cut the mustard'  as Mal put it so I know someday I'll have to say it in person. But when you leave again, (God I missed you) you can't hear me tell you so here it is. I love you. Always have, always will. Christ I'm sweating a little writing this, how do I say it to your face?  I hope to see that face again, I hate to be so unsure of myself. And even though you'll probably end up with someone else as I have, I'll always remember our good and not so good times together. At least until I'm too old to see the expiration date on my cereal. But never mind that. Merry Christmas love.

I love you,
Angus

"Holy sweet mother of f, that's adorable!" Vee said after I read it. I got to admit, it was a sweet gesture. "Are you gonna tell your family?

"I don't know-"

"They're gonna find out."

"Maybe."

"They will." I sighed and read the letter again.

"I'm not sure. But right now I have to get back to sleep."

Several days, even weeks went by and I still didn't tell a soul about what I went through. Keeping secrets is not easy, especially living with a blabber mouth. The time just never felt right, and I supposed it never would. I hadn't time traveled in a long time afterwards either, and I supposed I never would.
Until one day.

To be continued...