Our Future

I blinked. Life was back to normal. My wings were gone. Melody was talking to Gabriel about something and I noticed how he would look at Melody and then side glance me. Maybe Tommy was right.

“Nathan?” Melody asked.

I looked away from her. I better do it before I chicken out.

I grabbed her and Gabriel’s hands and pulled them around a corner.

“Nathan, what’s going on?” Melody asked.

“I’m...gay,” I mumbled.

“What?” Melody asked.

Gabriel just looked at me with this knowing look.

I thought for a second he remembered the past three years but then he looked back at Melody with a nervous unknowing look.

I hoped Joey and Daniel were happy where ever they were.

“I’m, gay,” I repeated it louder this time.

I waited for her response.

I guess it did get easier even if she’d only known for a couple of days before.

“I didn’t date you to blend in, I thought I liked you, sorry,” I whispered. “I was hoping we could still be friends.”

I stare at her. She hasn’t spoken. I was beginning to worry her reaction would be like my mother’s.

“You Jerk! Why didn’t you just tell me? I accepted Gabriel, why wouldn’t I accept you?” she asks annoyed.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” I whispered.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m hurt. I have to live with the fact that you’re gay and don’t ‘love’ me the way I want,” she whispers.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I will be. I think I’m going to go home and relax. See you guys later. Don’t tell Quinn and Arran, yet. I’ll tell them when were ready to declare we’ve broken up, okay?” she replies.

“Okay,” I reply.

She walks off to the bus stop. I felt bad.

I turned back to Gabriel and touched two fingers to his head nervously. I opened up the image list and sent it to him mentally with and ‘I love you’ attached. I walked away from him. I think he was confused and in shock. Now I just had to tell my parents and Sam.

“Nathan,” Gabriel called.

I froze.

“What was that?” he asked.

I didn’t say anything for several seconds.

“The future,” I whisper.

I take off running and instead of Gabriel being the one who disappeared it was me.

I walked down to a river about twenty minutes away from my school.

I was scared of the new unknown future that lay ahead of me. I was afraid of what would become of Gabriel and me. Because I no longer knew. I began to wonder if I could still use my wings because before I didn’t know about them.

“Nathan,” I heard Gabriel whisper from behind me.

I just continued to stare at the water.

“Do you understand?” I ask nervously.

“We were in love?” he asked.

“In that future, yes,” I mumble looking back at him.

Gabriel was a different person now then he was before. He had looked at me with that lost longing look. I didn’t know if he liked me the same now as he did then either.

“You do remember I can read minds?” he asks.

I blushed nervously as his comment.

“You heard...” I mumbled.

“I’ll have to get used to seeing you as a gay person. Are you sure? Cause if this is a joke, it’d be a pretty sick joke on both me and Melody,” he whispers.

“Why would I joke about something like that? It’s not something to joke about,” I replied quietly.

He sat down beside me and looked back out at the water.

“Are you sure Melody is going to be okay?” Gabriel asks.

“Charlie and Nick are waiting for her. She just has to believe. Maybe I’ll restore her memory eventually, both it would be too much at once even for her,” I answer.

I was shorter by an inch and my hair was shorter. It would be amazing to see my dad after three years even though no time had passed for him.

“Do you... Like...me?” I question under my breath nervously.

I didn’t look at him because I was afraid of what I’d see. I wanted to believe Tommy but I’ve always slightly doubted everybody ever since the apocalypse began. You don’t know who you can trust in that situation.

“I...um. I...” he stutters.

“The truth,” I mumble.

“Yes,” he whispers and I just barely hear him.

Tommy was right. It had always been there. I’d just never seen it because he didn’t think he had a chance with me back then. Because of Melody and because he thought I was straight. It toke three years to come out after I started doubting myself.

“So zombies really existed in the future?” he questions.

“They did. They won’t now...” I reply.

“Why the future didn’t happen yet,” he replies.

“Yes, it did. I came back to change it because I didn’t want us or others to die. We were going to die. Sam and Anna would have been all alone,” I exclaim.

“Is that another power you have?” he asks nervously.

“Yeah, you had other powers, too,” I whisper.

“Why us?” he asks.

“I didn’t get that answer in the future. I know our parents are half angel and we’re full angels but I don’t know ‘why?’ “I reply.

“Nathaniel,” he addresses me by my full name which is unusual but it happened every so often when he wanted to tell me something important.

“Yes?” I question.

He breathes a sigh.

He moves closer to me, nervously. Puts a hand on my cheek. He hesitates and then gently kisses me. It wasn’t like before; I could feel that he was still unsure this wasn’t a joke or that we’d get spotted by somebody we knew.

“Gabriel, there’s nothing wrong with this. I love you,” I whisper reassuringly.

He looks at me, a little shocked. He wasn’t expecting the declaration of love, I suppose.

“I know, but...” he whispers looking at the ground.

“Melody has her own path to find and follow,” I remind him.

“What about your parents?” he whispers.

“Who cares about them right now?” I ask.

“Your mother tried to kill us when you told her,” he whispered.

I didn’t say anything. I knew that it was an issue. But the person she was now and three years from now were different; we just had to hope she didn’t have the same opinion then as now.