It was like waking up from the cruelest nightmare.

Every day, I had to watch him try to make sense of what happened. I watched him look defeated, confused, and angry. I have seen him blame himself for everything that had happened. I have seen him condemn himself for my mistake.

All I could do was watch.

Like a lucid dream, I was aware of everything happening to me and my world. Somehow, I couldn't do anything about it. No matter how hard I fought, the pull of the world's routine calls out to me.

Was this what Rom and everyone else in this world felt?

If that's so, then it's no wonder they're so lifeless and so empty. Even if they spend a hundred years fighting this norm they wouldn't ever break out. They wouldn't be able to do anything because this was what the world dictates them to be.

That's why they need people who could remember, like me. That's why I needed Rom to break me out.

And he did, eventually. The memories came surging in my mind the moment he made me pause in my tracks. Like a wave of seawater, the memories of the days I spent in this miserable life came pouring back, as if they were being held back by some supreme force.

I made a mistake. I assumed that wishing to be able to forget would set the world in its right track. It turned out that it hadn't. It only made those around me lonelier, angrier, and more broken than before.

I've spent the days trapped inside my own mind, seeing what my life must have looked like before I started remembering. I had friends in Porter and Nicola. I was happy with them.

I had a great time in Trigonometry when I was praised by the teacher for my exemplary skills in solving sinusoidal functions. Mrs. Jones applauded my memory and my enthusiasm for the subject. Mr. Turner gave me an acknowledging nod that he never gives to just anyone in Arts class.

By the time school finishes, Porter, Nicola, and I would hit the Arcade and play a few games until dinner. Then I would walk home, greet my neighbors, and enter the house. I would eat dinner alone, with my food somehow always being boiled egg and mayonnaise. Then, I would wash up for the night, change my clothes, stress about my assignments, and plop into the bed to sleep.

Then it all repeats without failing.

It only changes when Rom enters my view, when he so desperately tried to make me remember. He kept reminding me to snap out of it, to reach into myself and realize that he wasn't a stranger. I spent those days proving to myself that I couldn't.

No matter how hard I fought against the reins in my mind, I couldn't stretch out my hands to reach him. He remained a distant voice at the back of head, forever begging me to fight, to break free.

It wasn't until he reminded me of my dream that I was finally able to claw my way out of the restraints. I stumbled out of my own mind, barely knowing what day or time I was currently in. I was myself again, I feel like myself again. I remember Rom.

He was there, behind me, rambling like a war veteran telling stories to his grandchildren. He told me things that he hasn't told me. He was honest, a thing he never does to everyone, even to this friends.

He showed me what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and what his dreams were.

When he told me that he wanted to see tomorrow as well and that I somehow encouraged him to dream, tears slid out of my eyes. I was suddenly grateful that we're not facing each other.

And that last line. Oh God.

I want to see tomorrow with you.

Heavens. I never dreamed of anyone ever saying that to me with all their heart. Here I was, scheming in order to achieve my dreams on my own and to reach for the highest sky on my own. I was always doing things on my own because before, I had to.

Now that I've found Rom, now that we chose each other, there's really no reason to continue doing things the old way. That's what came between us that fateful day. I wanted to fix things on my own again, like I always do, and ended up screwing things up for the both of us.

Rom, even when he didn't really understand what's going on around him, he actually wanted to have me back. He wanted me by his side and will do anything to make it happen, including admitting that he wanted to share my dreams.

I've been too selfish to even think about it before it blew up in our faces.

The memory of the Lighthouse was still a blurry mess in my mind. No matter what I did, I couldn't remember anything substantial from that time. I know that something did happen and that after that time in the Lighthouse, I stopped being angry at Rom for being an asshole. Did he apologize? Did I accept it? What did Loop-Jule say?

Damn it.

Rom finished speaking, which means I have to say something—anything—to tell him that I'm back. I didn't bother wiping the tears from my eyes nor clear the lump in my throat. Instead, I looked to the stars and thanked them, even without a rightful reason.

"You really outdid yourself this time, Rom," I said, my voice cracking.

The only thing I heard was a sharp intake of breath and then nothing. Slowly, I turned around and grinned at him through my tears. "Long time no see, Rom."

I was crushed inside a hug.

It's...warm. I feel like I belong. I closed my eyes and basked in the heat he radiated. It had been so long since I got to experience something like this. It's...

"I haven't told you, Rom," I whispered, returning his embrace equally. "But you, too, are my home."

Rom pulled away, his face a mess of tears and snot. I found it adorable when he cried due to joy. "You..." he sniffled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I pulled away from him, eerily aware of his arms around my waist and my hands on his chest. I rolled my eyes. "You didn't let me, remember?" I said, fresh tears lining my cheeks.

Rom hung his head, wiping at his tears. "I'm sorry about that," he said. "I can make it up—"

"Shh," I said, laying my finger to his lips, effectively shutting him up. "I know what you're going to say. You feel like you're an asshole and that you need to fix things with me by doing something idiotic or promising something we both know you're going to break."

I smiled up at him. "I'll tell you that I understand," I continued. "You felt like I was too selfish for just using you. You felt like you were just an insignificant flea in this world. Well, that's not true. You are special, Rom. You are the most special person to me."

"If there's anyone that should apologize, it's me," I said, my tongue thickening. Why was telling the truth and apologizing always so hard? "I'm sorry for not trying harder to get you to listen to me. I'm sorry you had to feel that way because of me."

This time, Rom pressed a finger to my lips. He smiled at me like he does with Mindy. "You don't have to be sorry for the things you can't control," he said. "You won't have control over my reaction but I do. I'm sorry for not staying. I'm sorry you had to do what you did."

I looked up at his eyes then and found the stars, entire galaxies of them, shining forth. They weren't the same lifeless pit I've seen before. Rom's eyes were teeming with color and ultimately, with life.

"I'm sorry for a lot of things, Jule," Rom said, sighing. "I know you are too. Shall we call it a day and move forward?"

I nodded. "We've got to make the most of the time I have left," I said, realizing that for once, I don't mind not seeing tomorrow as long as I have Rom with me.

When I'm with him, I keep wishing for time to stop, to slow down. I kept wishing that we wouldn't have to say goodbye for the day. I looked forward to every morning just to see him again. For once, in my whole life, I wished for the day to never be over so that I could spend more time with the person I was happy with.

Right now, as I adored how Rom's eyes mirrored my heart, I realized that I don't even need to see tomorrow. I was seeing it now. It's us. It's always been us.

Because yesterday was everything that happened in our memory, today was our reality, and tomorrow...

Tomorrow was hope. Hope that things would be better and that your dreams would come true. Right now, I don't need any of that. Because with Rom, everything was already better.

In truth, I've already seen tomorrow. I've seen it so many times with him. And because of him.

"Rom," I said, my heart swelling inside me. "Thanks for bringing me back."

He smiled, the mere softness of it already making my knees weak. "Thanks for giving me your everything, Jule," he said. "I think it's my turn to give it back and to give you mine as well."

I knitted my eyebrows. "What? How did you know all that?" I asked, my mind taking me back to my parents' letter stuck inside an ad magazine with...problematic contents.

Rom flushed, his cheeks turning a cute shade of pink. "I...might have gotten the letter from your house and read it."

I was horrified, of course, but mostly it's because I couldn't imagine Rom going through the magazine himself.

A laugh escaped my lips. Then another. I didn't stop them. Soon, I was wheezing, my head pressed against Rom's chest.

"Are you alright, Jule?" Rom asked, concern thick in his tone.

I raised my head and wiped my eyes. "Oh," I said. "I'm quite angry that you snuck into my house and—"

"Excuse me, you invited me," Rom defended.

"I did?" I replied, incredulous. He nodded. I shrugged. "Well, I guess I should be angry at how you stole the letter from the magazine without telling me."

Rom pursed his lips. "It's not like you'll take me seriously when I tell you about the magazines," he said. "And...is it too late to ask why you even had those magazines?"

I blew a strand of hair from my face. God, my ponytail must be a mess right now. "You can never tell with my mother," I said, matter-of-factly. "Apparently, she thought that putting the letter inside an almost porno magazine would drive me away. Well...it worked, kinda."

Rom laughed. I joined him. "We've both been duped by your Mom, right?" he said.

My initial amusement went back. "Oh, yeah," I said. "I keep imagining you flipping through them—"

"I cringed the whole time—"

"I know. Me too!" I shrieked like an excited five year old. "God, I swear, I won't ever get those cursed images out of my mind."

Rom nodded. "If there is one thing I want to forget, it's those half-naked men," he said, agreeing. "It burned my eyes, literally."

I laughed as I embraced Rom again, leaning against his warmth. I was grateful for it because the night was turning colder as the reset draws closer.

"Jule?" Rom asked.

"Yeah?"

"I missed you," Rom said. "So much."

I chuckled. "I missed you too, Rom," I said. "You didn't do anything ridiculous while I'm gone, did you?"

"I wouldn't know about that," Rom said, hesitantly.

I pulled away from him again, surprised that he was red all over. Even the darkness of the night wasn't doing well in hiding his blush. I narrowed my eyes.

"Rom?" I prodded.

"Really, it's nothing," Rom said, looking everywhere apart from me. He seemed to find the grass interesting.

"Nothing, huh?" I said. "Then why are you blushing? Hey, look at me, Rom."

He did.

"I can't remember what happened at the Lighthouse," I said. "Can you perhaps tell me?"

Rom pursed his lips, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Well, after bringing you to the Creamery, we had ice cream together with Mindy, like the first time we officially met," he said. "Then I went to the Lighthouse with you. You turned the beacon on through some sort of mechanical know-how. You hoped to prolong the reset by setting the beacon to be the last thing to go out. Well, it didn't work."

I laughed. I couldn't believe my loop-self thought of that. That's pretty genius but Rom did say it didn't work so it's worthless information.

Lights went off around us, making our surroundings darker. The chapel lost some of its lights as well as Pastor Frank went out to kill the electricity in the chapel.

"Can we make a promise, Jule?" he asked, suddenly.

I knitted my eyebrows at the sudden change in the topic. "Yeah, why not?" I said. "What is it?"

Rom eyed the lights around us. More have been extinguished some time ago. It's only a matter of time before the reset gets us again.

"To never lie or hide anything from each other," Rom said. "To always listen. To always stay."

I snorted. "Is that a wedding vow?" I said. Rom reddened further. "Oh, I'm kidding. I mean, yes, we could definitely promise that. I promise to do everything you said."

Rom smiled widely. "I promise to do everything I said too."

"This is ridiculous," I said, even though I loved every second of it.

"Then I did something ridiculous," Rom said. "Finally."

I punched him lightly on the shoulder and shook my head.

It's only a matter of time before the reset happens again. If I never made it to tomorrow, would Rom be alright on his own? As much as I don't want to do this to him, I don't want to forget either. Because whether I remember or I forget, I'll always leave him alone.

I decided I'm going to make the most of my time with him so that when I finally depart, he would have nothing but good memories of me.

"You're thinking of tomorrow again," Rom noted. I opened my mouth to retort but he laid his finger to my lips. "Let me tell you that you don't need to think about any of that because I'm going with you. To anywhere."

"To anywhere?" I asked, my brain not quite processing what he's saying.

Rom nodded, brushing my hair away from my face. "I'll go with you to wherever forgotten souls go. That's a promise I'm willing to keep with everything I have."

I searched his eyes, looking for any sign that he might be lying. I pinched the skin at the back of my hand to prove to myself that this was real. The hazy memory of the Lighthouse beamed at me.

"Rom," I said, staring deep into his eyes and finding myself reflected in them. His ordinary features had never looked so beautiful. I took a deep breath, my voice dropping to a low whisper. I found myself leaning towards Rom. Closer.

Closer.

"What really happened in the Lighthouse?" I asked, my voice nothing but a whisper.

Rom's eyes softened as I felt his hand cup my cheek. "This," he said, tilting my head and pressing his lips to mine.

The last of the lights died, plunging the whole world into a darkness that swallowed every fragment of our souls.