On the way to our parent's house, Esther and I came up with the cover story that we'd use to explain not only my disappearance but also how I had been away for months. This morning, we saw on the calendar that today was exactly four months since we'd flown to Costa Rica on June 28. Between the multitude of complaints about terrible drivers on our drive, my sister and I agreed to say nothing about how I'd been transported into another universe. As much as I wanted to tell the truth, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it if the rest of our family thought I had lost my mind.

'How many people have said that they've been to another universe and weren't committed into an asylum? None that I know of.'

"Yeah, righto you bloody fucking wanker! More fucking rubberneckers who don't know how to drive is exactly what we need today."

I rolled my eyes playfully at Esther grumbling about the car in front of us as it slowed down to look at the accident that had created a backlog of traffic. This was one thing I hadn't missed about this universe; I had never seen a single traffic jam of horses and carriages. The Bruce Highway was looking more like peak hour on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend rather than a Saturday morning.

"It's all good, Bubbles."

"Looks like old mate got his licence out of a Weet-Bix box," she replied, raising her voice as if the driver could hear her. "Bloody drongo doesn't know how to indicate for shit."

I began rubbing my temples while trying to calm down my sister. "We've got time. No point getting yourself cranky like this." She had a bit of a temper that often came out in the form of road rage. I already had many emotions overtaking me today; Esther's frustration and anger were too much for me to handle.

I had never been a nervous passenger in a car and used to love long trips. I'd hoped, because it was my third car ride since I returned, I would find my confidence with cars and driving again. However, since being in Jimin's universe, I now freaked out at the high speed at which the cars around me travelled. This afternoon would show if I was ready or not since I'd have to drive my car—which had been stored in one of my father's sheds to keep it safe—to Aiden and Christof's place. I'd received my wallet and passport from Esther last night; she had brought them home with her from Costa Rica.

As we drove, I noticed things that had changed. I knew the peri-urban area of the Sunshine Coast like the back of my hand since I'd lived here my whole life. With a land area of about 1600km2, I used to think it was a small area—especially when compared to Brisbane (which was 15,842 km2 in size). Last night, when I struggled to fall asleep because I had grown used to sleeping wrapped up in Jimin's arms, I learned that the entire Sunshine Coast area was roughly 2.5 times the size of the entirety of South Korea's Seoul, with 0.004% of the population.

I kept focussing on all the sights around me. The shopping centre that had been in the process of construction looked like it was almost ready to open its doors. A house I'd always admired had been painted a hideous shade of salmon—a big change from the calming white and green colour scheme. The jacaranda and poinciana trees were in full bloom, colouring the area with their beautiful purple and orange hues. Roadworks that had taken months or years were now completed. The biggest shock, though, was the number of shops and businesses that had already begun decorating for Christmas.

"So much has changed in such a short time," I mused a little despondently. It was proof that the world kept turning even though I was caught between two universes. With a resigned huff, I murmured, "Time waits for no one."

"It's like the saying, 'Time heals all wounds'," Esther said, glancing at me before looking back at the road.

"I don't know if I want it to," I whispered to myself. I loved being home and was excited to see my family again. That didn't negate the feeling of being incomplete—my heart and the other half of my soul had remained in the other universe.

It was obvious that Esther didn't know what to say for once. Instead, she placed her hand on my thigh, squeezing my leg to show her support. The warmth of her hand was only there for a few seconds before she had to turn into our parents' street, yet the gesture meant everything to me. It was a reminder that I wasn't alone. I had someone to help me put the pieces back together.

Excitement bubbled up within me as the car pulled into the driveway of our childhood home, especially when I laid eyes on my mother for the first time in four months. She wheeled over to the car so fast it was like she was in training for the Paralympics. Mum's loud cry of joy drew the rest of the family outside, and upon seeing me, they all burst into tears. I could count on one hand the number of times my father had cried during my life—today was the fifth time I'd seen tears streaming down his cheeks.

"My baby is home. Darryl! Quick, come see!" My mother was in such a hurry to hug me that her front caster wheels caught my toes accidentally. Despite the pain, I smiled since it was something that happened often. It wasn't the first time she'd run into one of us by accident, and I knew it wouldn't be the last. If I had $1 for each time that Mum had caught our feet with her chair, or we'd stubbed our toes on her anti-tippers, I'd be a millionaire by now.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry, Squish," she apologised profusely, wheeling back to make sure my feet were okay. "I'm still mad that you disappeared like that, Elenor Bennett, but I am so happy you're home. Why didn't you tell me your sister was home, Esther?" Mum's pointed glare towards Esther turned into a beaming smile; the change let us all know she was not upset by the surprise.

"Welcome home, Squish," Dad murmured into my ear as he wrapped me into one of his warm bear hugs that I had missed. He swiped at his cheeks to remove the few tears that had streaked down his face before clapping his hands once. His habit of a single clap to garner attention might have started in the classroom, although it didn't mean it was only used on his students. "How about we head onto the deck? Nell, you can fill us all in over a shardy or two while Aiden and I start the barbie, huh?"

The hugs I was receiving from Aiden, Christof and Caleb must've been taking too long for my father. He turned at the door and impatiently called out "Chop, chop". Mum giggled and sent me a beaming smile that told me she was happy to see me before she wheeled inside the house.

"It's good to see you, Sis," Christof said as the two of us fell behind the others as we wandered through the house. "I'm sure Esther told you how worried we all were about you. I've never seen Aiden look so stressed and helpless as the day we received the call. I had to threaten to tie him to the bed when he wanted to jump on a plane to go over and help Esther. He was needed more here, though, which he couldn't see. His depression only got worse when Nana Betty went downhill a couple of days after."

"Esther said she died from a stroke in her sleep." I was confused as to why I was hearing something different from my brother-in-law than what my sister had told me last night.

"She did," he nodded. I could tell that there was more to the story. "A couple of days beforehand, she had taken a turn with dizzy spells and even had a fall in the bathroom. Your brother was a mess. He wanted to be out there looking for you, but he also knew he needed to be here for your parents and Nana Betty."

"I'm glad he was here with her." I was happy to know that our grandmother had one of her grandchildren nearby during her last few days. "I'm sorry for worrying you guys. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything, and while I want to tell you what happened, I need to figure some things out first. Is that okay?"

Christof and I had the type of relationship where he was not just my brother-in-law but also one of the people I turned to for advice. If there was another person in the family who would believe the whole universe-jumping-via-staircases thing, it would be him. While talking to Nana Betty at her grave this morning, I'd decided to tell Christof everything. Today was not the place to do so, and I was telling the truth about wanting to figure some things out first.

"Nell, you know I'm here whenever you need to talk," he murmured as we headed out onto the back deck.

"I know, thanks."

꧁♥💜♥꧂

"...I still don't understand why you couldn't just let us know, Nell." Mum blubbered as she cried into the napkin she used at lunch. Her sniffling broke up the words she uttered and while they weren't said with malice, the sound of worry and disappointment was thick in the air.

Earlier, while my father and brother had tended to the barbecue, the rest of us had sat on the weatherproof lounges on the deck, drinks in hand. The seating area was close to the outdoor kitchen, so I was able to tell the story of my disappearance once. While I kept somewhat to the truth, I said nothing about the portal or the parallel universe.

"Mum, you know that I saw Nell fall off the stairs," Esther gave as a reason to cover for why I hadn't contacted my family in all the months I'd been gone.

"When I fell, I rolled down an embankment and hit my head on a tree," I said, running with Esther's excuse. "I had no idea how long I was out cold for, but when I came to, it was dark. I had no idea where I was... who I was. I didn't remember anything about my life. I stumbled around the jungle for who knows how long but eventually, I found a sweet old lady who took me to a hospital because of all the blood on me." I looked around at my family and I could see on each of their faces that they were buying my story. "I was diagnosed with amnesia. I met a very handsome and sweet man, and he took care of me. I don't know what I would have done without him. Somewhere along the way, we fell in love. It was a surprise for both of us when my memories came back a couple of weeks ago."

Esther could see I was starting to get emotional thinking about my Jiminie. She blurted out with unbridled excitement about how he and I had been sailing together on his yacht—another thing we thought of together for the cover story. She said that was how I had been able to return home without having a passport. She and I figured that if you swapped the yacht for the horse and carriage Jimin and I took to the stairs, this was kind of true.

Christof, who was sitting at the table between Mum and his husband, side-hugged my crying mother. "Maree, we should be thankful that Nell's memory came back," he said, to which my mother nodded. "Plus, we're lucky that her wealthy new boyfriend was able to make a stop in Queensland on his yacht."

"Tell the truth, Squish... You found yourself a hot Sugar Daddy while you were away," my brother teased. I shook my head vehemently as we all laughed. In a way, though, Aiden wasn't wrong since Jimin's family was loaded.

"I wish we could meet him, Aunty Nell." Laughter erupted again at the adorable pout that graced my nephew's face.

My father nodded as he patted his grandson on the back. "Tell me again why we can't meet him?" His question reiterated how my family was disappointed to hear my boyfriend couldn't stay to meet my family. I had made up that he had to sail over to Auckland, where he was meeting up with some friends. It was the first excuse I could come up with to explain why Jimin wasn't with me right now.

"Your father's right. We've spent the last four months worrying about you." Mum said candidly. "We constantly wondered if you were alive, and if so, were you safe wherever you were living."

I could see that my disappearance had taken a toll on my family; stress, worry and heartbreak tainted each of their features where it had been absent before I'd gone. I knew I was being deceitful not telling them the truth about what happened to me. The need for self-preservation overrode the wish to grant my family some peace of mind. Even though I was home where I was safe from the looming ticking clock that was counting down the days of my life, there was still the uneasiness that I could be committed to a mental health institution because people might think I was delusional.

"Hearing that you had been in a relationship all this time while you had memory loss," Mum said, pulling me from my thoughts, "it makes me wonder about the character of this boyfriend of yours. I don't quite understand why he couldn't stop in here for a few hours so we could meet this mysterious man you've been living with. I mean, we wouldn't have kept him long."

"Mum, maybe Nell warned him about your grilling," Aiden teased our mother. It was a well-known fact that Maree Bennett would grill any partners her children brought to meet her.

"I swear, the only men you wouldn't give curry to about dating our daughters, Love, would be those BTS blokes you all love so much." Dad was 100% correct, and by the look on Mum's face, even she had to agree. Little did they know that his joke was actually the truth... mostly. While it was Park Jimin that I had been dating, it wasn't the BTS version of him.

"I wouldn't mind if you came home and told us you were dating one of the Bangtan guys, Nell... but hands off Jin. Mr Worldwide Handsome is all mine," she pouted before bursting into laughter.

"Could you imagine if it was Jimin?" Christoff said, joining in on the teasing. "Nana Betty would haunt you forever if it was him, Nell."

Esther shot me a glance as she lifted her glass to her lips. I could tell from her shaking shoulders that she wasn't only laughing at the light teasing. She was enjoying the whole conversation since they'd all hit the nail on the head unknowingly. It made me a little worried as a couple of questions popped into my head. Would my family believe me if I told the truth? Or would they think that I'm just making up another story and today's conversation was used as inspiration?

'Sorry Future Nell. You gotta think of a way to get out of this on your own.'