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[HOW ABOUT YOU START ME WITH SOMETHING LIGHT AND SWEET?]

Chase: I know just the thing.

He fills the glass. I don't see a label on the bottle. The liquid is the color of the sunrise on the mountains, and it smells like a citrus popsicle.

Tastes like one too.

Chase: What about these infinity ones?

I look up. Chase's mouth didn't move, he's just watching me hold the empty shot glass. But I definitely heard his voice.

Leo: Chula, it's just gonna look like an eight, yeah?

And that was... my voice? And it sounds like something I remember...

And that's when I notice the bar mirror.

It's not reflecting the bar anymore. It's some kind of giftshop?

Oh god.

I know where this is.

Leo: What're you gonna say when someone asks you 'what happened to number one through number seven?'

I know WHEN this is.

Chase: You have a better idea?

Leo: What about these ones?

Those voices. My voice. His voice. They're coming from behind me. And there's the buzz of conversation, the sound of the cash register, the same CD of thunder and waves and weird flutes these places always play.

I spin around. And I have just enough time to see that the other half of the room really has turned into a giftshop when I go dizzy and-

I'm back there. Really there. I can feel my hand on Chase's shoulder, I can feel the sand from the riverbank that stuck to my feet when I put my boots back on, I can smell campfire smoke on my shirt and Chase's musk-off wearing off and his musk underneath.

He's not paying as much attention. He's torn between looking nervously around to make sure no one's watching us, and resting his face in the scruff of my neck.

Chase: Which ones?

I'm pointing at a rack of bracelets. Just chunks of semiprecious stones on cheap chain bands. I know what I'm going to say, because I can remember saying it.

Leo: These ones up here.

Chase: I thought the idea was to get ones that match?

Leo: Well, you could get this one, this... what's this called?

Chase: Uh... Oh here, it says Carnelian on the back

Leo: Yeah, whatever that is, and then if I get this... agate, then we've got eachother's colors?

It doesn't feel like remembering, though. I can feel it happening. The excitement. The little touch of fear that we're doing something we won't be able to hide. That we're making it official even if we won't admit it to eachother. The thrill of being somewhere far enough away from Echo where that seems like a good idea.

Mostly the love. Shit, the teenage hormones make it feel so much stronger.

Chase: Hmm... maybe. If we can find ones that match I'd rather get those ones. Besides, Jenna was talking about how like, a lot of the 'turquoise' jewelry that you can buy online isn't even really turquoise, it's just dyed ceramic? How do we know this isn't the same?

Chase: What about these ones?

I feel my stomach turn over. I know he's teasing. I love him for it.

Leo: You... really want to get the... rainbow bead ones?

Leo: And wear them in Echo?

He laughs. He's just as nervous as I am.

Chase: Holy shit no, your parents tolerate me! I'm not risking that! Never mind I'd get beaten to death the second I walked into school with a Pride bracelet on!

Leo: You wouldn't. I wouldn't let anyone touch you.

Oh fuck it feels so good to say that and know I mean it.

Leo: Oh, what about these ones? They match.

No, don't notice those ones, if I notice those ones this'll be over. I don't want this to end.

Chase: Why anchors?

I don't want this to end!

Leo: Well, it's like, staying connected to your roots! Sticking to the people that matter to you!

Chase: So wolf stuff?

I can feel how hard we both believe this is going to last, that we're meant to be together, that what we're doing is going to be forever.

I don't want to go back and find out we were wrong.

Leo: It's also otter stuff too!

Chase: How is it otter stuff?

Leo: Cause anchors are for sailors?

He laughs at me again. I want him to keep laughing at me forever.

I want to do something, change something, so we can stay in this pokey little giftshop forever, never get back on the bus, never go back to Echo, never...

But I can only do the things I know I did. I'm already doing them.

Chase: It does look really nice on your fur.

And the giftshop is already fading.

And I'm back at the bar, staring into the mirror.

Chase: Looks like you liked that one.

And there's nothing on my wrist, or his.

Leo: Otter... what... how did you...

Chase: You asked for something sweet, didn't you?

Did he see that too? Was he reliving that with me?

Leo: Was it... good for you too?

It sounds like I'm making a dirty joke, and I'm not NOT making a dirty joke, I want him bad. But also I don't know how else to ask if he was with me in that... memory? Experience?

But he shakes his head.

Chase: We're not at the part where we share drinks yet, Leo.

And who knows what that means?

Still. He said "yet." I think I like what that implies.

Chase: So, what'll you have next?

Leo: There's more? You can... do that again? You can give me... other memories?

He gives me an enigmatic look.

Chase: I can pour you other drinks, if that's what you mean.

[SOMETHING STRONG]

[SOMETHING HOT]

[SOMETHING BITTER]