r' s eyes s

ind of white. Sunlight, harsh and unwelcome

rn blare

g to sleep all

harp, impatient

ned hi

oe. But not the Chloe he knew. Not the tired, thirty-someth

r pulled back in a careless ponytail. The faded

from ten

' s hand pushing him hard, her face a mask of terro

, the doctor' s grave face. "She didn'

his throat. He was here. Ten years ago

ly, are you sick or something? You' ve be

ir last few years together. But seeing it on this young face

managed, his

row. "What? Did y

ead scratching his skin. "

to get this over with?" she asked, her tone laced with bitterne

eyes was for Ryan Peterson, her supposed true love. He

this elopement.

on' t tell me you' re backing out now. My parents would

ve, insecure kid from back then, e

Chloe?" he asked, the question

ith someone 'stable' like you. You get their approval, maybe a foot in the door with my da

elt a strange calm. He knew this alread

," he stated,

. you' re just what my parents ordered." She glanced at her phone, a small, hopeful smil

a real choice, you' d be

g to get me to say I don' t want to marry you so you can play the good guy and call it off? Save it, Ethan. We

s' idea of a compromise after she' d threatened to run off with Ryan. They saw Ethan as the lesser evil, someone manageable. They

g out the window, a single tear tracing a path d

ing night. Separate beds

nnect, the growing chasm between them. Her music career, sacrificed for a business degree

ident. Her screa

lt. All

And then, a chillingly clear memory, or instruction, had surfaced from the depths of his unconscious:

lines of defiance and unhappiness. This wa

s voice surprisingly

. "Just like that? No

than confirmed. He had a

d through all the others: marrying him. He had to stop it, but not in a

e by the door. His own d

Looking in the mirror, he saw his younger self, but his eyes held t

still the same insecure Ethan, a

r back to him. He could hear the low murmur

just being Ethan... Don' t worry,

moment before she turned and saw him. The

?" she

document. It was a pre-filled marriage license application for Clark County, Nevada, which they were supposed to c

pen from the ch

e in her eyes. Maybe she thought he was finally goi

ne for "Groom' s N

e line for "Bride'

felt like a physical weight, and a love that now de

tly, crossed out

he wrote "R

e' s name untouc

ould work, or what the immediate consequences would be. But it

refully and slipped it

to her with a manufacture