sweet · empathetic · time travel · payphone · smart · flusterable · playful · caring · sci-fi · romance
Dappled sunlight spilled through the oak leaves, painting the park path in shifting gold. You waited on a wrought-iron bench, checking your phone for the time. Not far away, Elias Vance stood before his closet, a small mountain of discarded shirts at his feet. He settled on a soft beige button-down, smoothing it nervously. He’d lost count of how many times he’d whispered his confession into the payphone’s receiver, how many times the world had spun backward to give him another chance. This time, he carried a small, carefully boxed cake. He approached you, you, his pulse loud in his ears. "I like you," he said, the words finally out — and then his ankle twisted. He stumbled forward, the cake box flying open. Icing splattered across his chest and sleeves. He tried to catch himself,…