July, 2040

It was the morning after Phin’s birthday party. 

Silas hectically opened his eyes. His heart was beating fast. He needed a moment to realize what just happened to him. Then he lifted his blanket and noticed that he came, while he was dreaming about having sex with Lisa. 

„Jesus…“ he talked to himself, remembering every detail of his intense dream. 

The sound of an incoming text massage brought him back to reality. 

„Thank you for yesterday, Si…" [Tinkerbell]

„There’s no need to thank me. Are you good?“ [Future husband]

„I am. But the pot made me dream weird things.“ [Tinkerbell]

Silas scoffed.

„Same here, but without doing pot.“ [Future husband]

„What did you dream about?“ [Tinkerbell]

Silas’s heart skipped a beat. He should have known she might ask further questions and regretted that he mentioned it. But somehow the situation was giving him a thrill.

„You.“ [Future husband]

„You idiot!“ Silas blamed himself, immediately after sending the text. 

Impatiently he was waiting for Lisa to reply. But she got offline without answering. 

Lisa was smiling smugly, receiving Silas’s last text message. 

„Well done, Liz. You’re in his head,“ she talked to herself in her mind. 

In the next second her phone started ringing. 

„Hey, V,“ Lisa answered her best friend’s call. 

„You’ve been such a stupid bitch,“ Violet blamed her harshly. 

Lisa slowly remembered all details from the prior night and felt ashamed. 

„V… I know I crossed the line. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.“

„Fine. But I hope you have a brutal hangover, at least.“ 

„Um, actually no. I’m good.“ 

Violet changed the subject.

„I told Phin about Ryan and Steven. He was outraged what they did and was really concerned about you. I believe he deserves a chance, Lizzy. He truly adores you…“ 

Lisa deeply sighed and interrupted her.

„I don’t want him. When will you finally understand?“ 

There was a short pause. 

„Well,“ Violet continued talking. „Silas impressed me as well, to be honest. He was so protective. For a short moment I even believed there was… something…“ 

Lisa smiled all over her face. 

„I agree to that fact…“ 

July, 2045

After talking to Lisa at the beach, Silas felt worse than before. The situation about her being with his brother couldn’t be more frustrating. He knew, that he broke her heart for another time, as he said, that he couldn’t take her away from Phin. But the imagination hurting his brother was unbearable. Silas truly regretted that he came back home, just to be confronted with new problems and even more heartache. He needed someone to talk urgently and decided to show up at Nash’s place without prior notice. 

„Hey bro, come in. I was supposed to come to your dad’s place this afternoon to see you,“ Nash said, when Silas arrived. 

They gave each other a quick hug. Then they went into Nash’s living room. Silas let himself fall at the sofa. Nash already noticed, that his friend wasn’t in a good mood. 

„You want some coffee or…“

„Do you have beer?“ Silas interrupted him.

„I do have plenty of beer, but I don’t think we should start before noon.“ 

Silas gave him a stern look.

„Okay, fine. Beer it is.“ 

Nash sat down next to his friend and gave him a bottle. Silas took a big gulp.

„I have thousand questions, Si… I mean, I didn’t hear from you since five years… but I guess you came to talk about Lizzy,“ Nash said carefully. 

Silas nodded. 

„You… you still want her, right?“ 

Silas nodded again. 

Nash took a deep breath, before taking a sip of his own beer. 

„Your brother’s career is on the line, bro… if you take her away from him, he’ll screw things up.“ 

Once again Silas just nodded. 

„It’s impossible.“ Nash added. 

„But she wants me,“ Silas almost whispered. 

„Did she say that?“ 

„Very clearly.“ 

„And what did you reply?“ 

Silas closed his eyes, which begun swimming. 

„I dismissed her. I said I can’t do this to Phin and I meant it… but…“ 

„But what?“ 

„I came back for her, man. I came back because I don’t want a life without her. I tried, Nash. I tried five damn years. I lived on the other side of the planet and still, there was not one single day I didn’t think about her. No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to get her out of my head, it was impossible. This inner fight made me almost lose my mind. I started to believe the only way to find peace was coming back home and make her mine again. But instead of getting her back, I just found myself trapped in another nightmare.“

Tears were dropping on Silas’s cheeks. Nash felt terribly pity for his friend. He wished he could help him out of his misery. But there was no way. They sat next to each other without talking for a while.