The Future's Unwritten Past

The truth of their standing in the pool tournament seemed to lie somewhere between both his and carver's expectations. They hadn't won, though they had come quite close due mostly to Lor, but they had managed to come in second, a fact Tino was especially proud of considering his absolute dread of choking like he always seemed to do during any official sporting event. After some minor discussion it had been agreed upon that Lor would keep the trophy, she was really the force behind their win and the only one besides carver who seemed to care about the trophy itself. Carver for his part said he wanted it to add to his coolness effect but some subtle threats from Lor seemed to quiet him down quickly. The rest of the day had passed with little more of note happening, they had spent some time at the beach due to Carvers instance that he need to work on his tan but mostly the day was just quiet and normal, a fact that Tino found himself most grateful for. Tish seemed unchanged since the last time he had seen her and made no mention in open or in the few moments they found themselves alone concerning Tino's earlier revelation. It was while he was in his room reflecting on what her silence could have meant that Tino's phone rang and found Tish to be the caller.

"Ummm Hi Tino…" Tish said, hesitancy noticeable in her voice

"Uhh Hi Tish, believe it or not I was just thinking about you" Tino said

"I know you've probably been really anxious waiting for me to figure out you how I feel about you and what you said, and I tried to act like nothing was different when we were hanging out together this morning but I don't think things will ever been the same with this between us Tino"

"Uh huh" Tino replied as he felt the dread rising inside of him

"But I wasn't lying when I said you meant a lot to me, and I think maybe I do have some feelings for you that go beyond just being a friend. The more I thought about it the more I realize how you were always there for me and how sweet and kind you have always been and I thought about how if I was ever going to date someone I'd want them to be just like that. I don't know if were making a mistake trying this Tino but I think we'd both never forgive ourselves if we ignored these feelings. Can you come by tomorrow morning?"

"I'll be there Tish, nothing could stop me" he said, the exuberance in his voice obvious

Hanging up, Tino could barely contain himself. It was going right, this was what he'd hoped for but dared not expect, Tish had returned his feelings, maybe with some hesitancy, but she had acknowledged a special feeling for him and that was enough, He was going to make sure that he did everything perfect from now on, nothing was going to ruin this chance at happiness with Tish, he'd pull out all the stops and show her just how deep his feelings for her ran.

Sleep had been a major issue that night, despite his best efforts Tino couldn't seem to stop thinking about Tish and how happy this all made him. As a result he found himself quite tired when morning did finally come round, his mind still running away with itself despite his body's protest for some more rest. Rising far closer to 7am then he ever had on a day in which he didn't have to go to school, he hurried himself through his morning routine, trying and failing to get by his mom without her noting his change attitude. After a quick routine of mind reading from his mom and a bowl of cereal he shot out his door and finally came to rest outside of Tish's house just after 8 am. His first instinct was to ring the doorbell but then he wondered to himself if anyone would really be up this early? He didn't really want to wake up the entire house just to see Tish so Tino decided on a slightly different taking. Coming around the house's side he easily found Tish's window and rapt on it softly. At first nothing happened but after a few minutes Tino saw the window slide open and a groggy Tish look out and across to Tino. Tino has never seen her in this state, her hair disheveled and wild so unlike it's normal state, her eyes still seeming to shine even through the haze of exiting the sleeping world. To Tino she looked just as beautiful in this state as he had ever seen her and he faltered slightly when she spoke to him.

"Tino? What are you doing here so early? When I said come over in the morning I didn't mean at dawns first light." Tish said yawning softly as if to enhance her point.

"Oh I'm sorry Tish" Tino said slightly abashedly "I was just so excited after last night I couldn't wait and wanted to come over as soon as possible."

"I'm glad your happy Tino but some of us need more sleep"

"Ok Tish, I'll come back in a few hours, before we head over to carver's house" Tino replied, walking back around to the front of the house

Tino realized that now he was at a loss for something to do, he hadn't expected to be sent away and Funville wasn't open this early. Maybe he could go down to the beach, his younger self might have avoided it for all the couples watching the sun rise but he had long since gotten over that discomfort. It was on his way to the boardwalk that he spied a patch of flowers on a nearby stretch of grass. In his later years, when he had escaped Bahia Bay in an attempt to escape his empty feeling, he had made a minor effort at dating some of the local female population in his new city. His heart hadn't been in it though and he came away from the whole experience with little more then an awareness of what it was he really wanted and how big a fool he had been letting Tish go. One of the few positives however had been his increased knowledge in what his dates seemed to enjoy, most common had been receiving flowers and he knew Tish would likely find the gesture romantic at the very least. He hoped that he wasn't breaking any stay off the grass laws as he gathered the flowers before continuing on to the beach to enjoy a peaceful morning.

The beach had been far more vacant then he had expected, though there had been a few people scattered here and there, probably taking early morning brisk dips. Most surprising to Tino had been seeing Coach Colson, who he at first didn't even recognize; strolling along with a woman he could only assume was Colson's girlfriend. The two hadn't seem to notice Tino, nor had they seemed to care if anyone saw them as they were being quite intimate for being so much in public. Though he had never held the coach up as any sort of role model, his athletic ability seemed to lend itself more to the mind then the body, what he had seen with them was what he hoped to see with himself and Tish in the future.. He been so caught up in thoughts of his possible future that he hardly noticed when again he found himself in front of Tish's house, this time at a far more reasonable hour. Given his rather amorous intent and the rather underwhelming success of his first attempt at reaching Tish, Tino decided that it was better he act normal for his first romantically inclined visit. Though he knew he looked silly and was quite likely not fooling anyone he attempted to hide his gift behind his back so he could surprise Tish. His knock on the door went unanswered at first but after a moments wait the door opened to reveal Tish clad in her normal purple combination outfit. Still to Tino she took his breathe away on site, all his guards down from the very moment he had heard Tish's favorable response.

"Hi Tino" Tish greeted warmly

Tino was unsure but he thought she seemed slightly happier then normal, was it because of him he wondered.

"Ah dear Lady Tish, How lovely you look this fine morning, the light does give you an even more radiant beauty. Such beauty deserves a gift" Tino said, trying to sound like the Shakespeare plays Tish seemed to love so much. From his back he produced the flowers he had picked earlier, a symbolic offering to Tish.

Tish smiled softly at Tino "Aww Tino thank you that's very sweet, I love them, but you don't need to make such a fuss I already said I like you."

Despite her protests Tino could see Tish blushing softly, seemingly unaccustomed to being seen and treated in such a manner. She vanished briefly to deposit the flowers in her room but returned quickly as the two began to walk to carver's house.

"Tino" Tish started "I know were both new at this but I think it might be better if we hold off on telling Lor and Carver. I don't want Lor to see us and feel bad about never going after Thompson and carver…well carver can be really shallow sometimes and he might never let us hear the end of this. Plus if the worst should happen I don't want anything that happens between us to ruin our friendship with Lor and Carver"

"I don't think they'd have any problem with us Tish but whatever you command I shall obey my lady" Tino replied bowing

Tish rolled her eyes and laugh softly "Tino there is being charmingly dorky and then there is just being dorky your teetering on the edge right now"

They reached Carver's house in only a few minutes and found both him and Lor sitting outside in the stoop. Lor was bouncing a soccer ball off her knees and Carver was busy admiring his shoes. They both looked up when they heard Tino and Tish approach, Lor catching the soccer ball in her hands after kicking it upward as she got up.

"Ok whose up for the Scottish history exhibit at the museum? If we hurry we'll get one of the free kilts there handing out to the first 500 guests."

So much the same and yet now everything was going to be so much different Tino thought.

Authors Note- Hey wow, it's about time I updated this story huh? I want to thank both Lords Canti and Malachite for pushing me to update, I never would have broken through my writers block without them. You likely noticed this chapter was lighter on humor then normal, I figured I should just get straight to the next core plot point and stop using humor to stall so I hope this chapter reads as enjoyably to everyone. As usual please let me know what you thought in a review or send me an IM, just none of the web cam spam IM's, I get enough of those already. Also keep reading all the other author's weekenders stories, Attic man has so nice ones in development and were just welcoming a new author in the Weekenders fold as well. Till my next update, Later Days.

"They are like the angel and devil on Carver's shoulder, except one wants to kill him and the other is trying to save him"