"Good Things"

He shut the laptop and stared into space. He was in the house alone for the day and had all time to himself. But his day was about to take a weird turn as he found out the girl he loved decided not to do anything due to the fact that a relationship between them would be too hard. He understood what this meant and, to an extent, agreed. He knew that this eventuality might appear and he even prepared for it. But no amount of preparation would help when it actually came.

So he stared into space and kept thinking about what could’ve been. He saw how he was going to ask her out. He was going to learn the sentence in her native language in an attempt to romance her while taking her to a local viewpoint to show her the luscious views of his home county. But the more he thought about it, the more tears started to form. He was so happy the night before when his suspicions about her feelings for him were confirmed, but now his happiness was shattered and his heart was broken. He’d waited a long time for the day she said that she loved him too but it wasn’t to be. He was so close, yet so far away...

As he thought about what could’ve been, the doorbell rang. As much as he didn’t want to answer it, he did. He walked up to the door and opened it to see who was there. A familiar looking man stood in front of him on the doorstep. He recognised him but couldn’t place him.

“Hello”. The man said. “Have I come at a bad time?”

He looked at the familiar man and nodded.

“Good”. 

The man said as he made his way into the house, pushing past him. He ran behind into their kitchen and stopped him.

“What? You can’t just walk into someone’s house like that! Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“Has your heart broken yet?”

He looked shocked and saddened at what the man just asked. How could he know what just happened? He was outside…

“Yes…thanks for reminding me…how did you know?”

“Because I remember it clear as day! Like it was yesterday. Or rather today…”

He looked confused. He shakes his head and looks at the man once more.

“Who are you? And what are you doing here? Why have you come now?”

The man smiles.

“I’m you. 5 years in the future. I’m you in five years”.

He shook his head and looked confused.

“Say that again…”

“I’m future you. You in five years’ time”.

He looked worried.

“No, you can’t be! Even if you were, wouldn’t there be a massive paradox? You and I could create a hole the size of Belgium!”

The man shook his head in disbelief.

“This isn’t Doctor Who. As long as we don’t touch or change the course of events, everything will be fine!”

“How did you get here?”

“Never mind how I got here. I’m here now. That’s what matters”.

He still looked at his older self confused.

“So WHY are you here? Why have you come at THIS moment in our life?”

“Because I know how you’re feeling. I know that right now you’re heart’s just been broken by the only person you’ll probably ever feel about the way you do about her now. And I’ve come to try and ease your pain”.

“You said we couldn’t touch!”

“I’m not going to touch you! Jesus... I’m here to make you think about things. Rationally”.

“Like you do?”

“I have reason to”.

“Are you going to tell me what happens in my future?”

“Good golly miss Molly no. I’m just going to…tease you”.

“I hate being teased”.

“I know. But this happened to me when I was your age. So the paradox dictates that I do it to you to complete the cycle.”

He looked confused.

“Whatever. Just tease me already.”

The man smiles.

“You’ve waited a long time for this girl to tell you how she feels about you, yeah?”

He nods.

“Well, she obviously feels the same about you! You know that because that’s what you were told!”

He thinks for a moment. The man looks on.

“I don’t know how long she’s liked you. It could’ve been for as long as you’ve liked her or it could be a recent realisation. But she still does! That’s the important thing. It must've been a hard decision for her to come to as well... And feelings are funny. If you go out with someone and break up, those feelings can go away. When you like someone and you don’t go out with them, they’re much harder to get rid of…”

He realises the man is making sense.

“Now, I know it might be hard now…but things change over time. Don’t give up. Not yet. If you want something bad enough…fight for it. Stay in contact. Keep up the friendship and one day…it might work out. If it’s meant to be…it’ll happen. I know that sounds clichéd but would people keep saying it if it wasn’t the case?”

He looks down and thinks. The man’s making sense. And besides, you can’t really argue with yourself because you share the same outlook. He looked up at the man and smiles.

“You’re right. You know the right things to say you know…”

“Well”, the man said, “I’ve heard it all before!”

They chuckle. The man starts to walk out of the door.

“Wait!”

The man turns around once more.

“So…we get together…in the end?”

The man smiles.

“You’ve waited a long time. Good things come to those who wait. It may seem like a long wait now…but…just go with it. Just keep being there. And what needs to happen will happen”.

He smiles.

“But do we get together?”

The man chuckles.

“You mentioned Doctor Who earlier…so to that question I say one word…”

He looks at his future self as he walks out of the door.

“Spoilers!”

The door closes. He runs to the door, opens it and looks around. He’s gone. His future self has gone. He shakes his head and tries to determine whether the experience was real or imaginary. Either way, he gave good advice. And it would be the same advice his friends would give him later that day as well. Either way, his heart was in a better shape than it was moments previously...

And as he fell asleep that night, he looked back on the mixed day he had and he remembered the advice.

“Well”, he said, “they can’t all be wrong…”