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Joshua knew it was coming. The Change. He'd finally figured it out a few Changes ago: the headache, constant nausea, the dizziness. The main signal was the pins and needles that started dull and got harder as the Change got closer. They were strong in his hands, and though it didn't stop him from doing things, it stressed him out.

The stress had been strong, until Amelia clearly felt it. He'd felt guilty; he knew she would have felt the stress, the pain, but he couldn't help it. He would've done anything to stop her from feeling it, he would have done anything to make her happy at every moment of his life, but he knew the tether didn't work like that. It surprised him and warmed his heart in more ways than one when he felt her calm him down by touching her Knot. After a moment, he touched his as a gesture of appreciation, and the effect was just... euphoric.

Joshua knew he loved Amelia, he had from the moment he saw her in this world for the first time, but he knew now that it ran deeper than just her being another Emilia. He knew he was gone, he was Fated to Amelia, and she made him feel good. Though the hatred was still there, she was exploring their pairing, their Fate.

He was just nervous about the Change. She hated That Joshua, not him. He was just starting to make a breakthrough – especially with the tether between them.

He grabbed a piece of paper and pen: 'do not fuck things up with Amelia. If she approaches you about the Knot, just go with it please.'

It wasn't that he didn't trust That Joshua, but clearly, they were different personalities, and this needed to be dealt with carefully.

He groaned as the pins and needles came back. They'd disappeared for a while after Amelia and he touched Knots together, and as much as he wished to continue the connection, he knew he couldn't take it too far.

He just hoped the Change would happen and he'd be back for Friday when he needed to meet Owen and Amelia. He had four days before then. He closed his eyes and hoped it would work out for once.

Joshua's favourite myth was the story of Isis and Osiris of Ancient Egypt. He remembered he learnt about it at school – how the God Seth was jealous of Osiris as he was married to Isis – their sister. Seth trapped Osiris in a wooden chest coated with lead and threw it into the Nile so he could become the King of Egypt.

Isis was unable to forget her husband and found him and brought him back to Egypt. Angered, Seth chopped Osiris into pieces and scattered him far and wide. Isis transformed into a bird and found all of Osiris' pieces apart from his penis. Isis used her magic to make him whole but bandaged and neither living nor dead – he had become a mummy. Osiris and Isis bore a son, Horus, and Osiris was forced into the underworld to become the King of the Dead.

The story had stuck with Joshua for all his life, mainly because it reminded him of himself. He was like Osiris; had to deal with the hand that was given to him. Osiris was thought to meet with Ra the sun god, every night to give birth to night. It reminded Joshua of how he woke up in each universe every time. He wondered if he was an Egyptian God in essence.

He wished. Life would've been easier.

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He knew before he even opened his eyes he was in his home-world. The way the sun hit his eyes always felt different, like it was more yellow somehow. He'd tried before to notice, and his theory was that night in his home-world was the day in Amelia's world. He hadn't seen any evidence against it, and it felt like it had weight behind the theory, he just couldn't test it to a science.

When he opened his eyes finally, he noted three things: the room was painted red and now blue, and the bed was against the opposite wall, which meant he was definitely in his home-world. The third thing he noticed was that there were a ton of handwritten notes left for him on the bedside table.

He grabbed them so he knew what shit he was arriving home to.

'Emilia is pissed off with you – well, me. I apparently forgot a date I think you set up before we Changed. I made it up to her, but if she mentions it, yeah she was pissed off.'

'You need a new job, man. This is boring as fuck.'

'So... I think I may have fallen for your girl. Emilia. It's weird, because in my world she's my student, and she seems to hate me. But in this world... yeah, thanks for getting that.'

Joshua sighed to himself. "Why are you such a dick?" he asked himself, about himself. It never failed to make him chuckle how he was disappointed in another person who was basically him, and how they could be so different.

He had no questions on how Amelia hated him, now.

He looked at one more note and rolled his eyes: 'You have Friday off work, and you're scheduled to take Emilia out for the day. Hadn't gotten round to deciding what, though, so I'll leave it to you if you're here for it. For what it's worth, dude, whenever the time comes to make a decision, I'm up for sticking in this world. I don't know how you feel about that but let me know. Any ideas when that decision will come about? Is it something with finding your reason for sticking about or something?'

Joshua grabbed the pad and pen. He knew the answer before he even wrote it. He noted the date and time on the paper, so he knew it was him, made sure his handwriting was still different. 'I'm up for sticking in your world. My Fated One is Amelia – as in your student. I don't know when and how the decision needs to be made. But my decision is definitely made.'

He put the pad and pen down and tried to focus on his emotions, or rather Amelia's emotions. He'd theorised a few times in the past about his and her emotions, but he hadn't really felt it until a few days ago before the Change.

The way he'd felt her before was just to think about her. Her brunette hair, how she'd probably be asleep and dreaming. After what they'd worked out that evening, or rather a few hours ago, he didn't think she'd be able to sleep. He only fell asleep because of the symptoms he'd had.

He couldn't produce anything. Nothing beyond his own confusion and annoyance.

He thought about her again: the way she'd shook his hand in the café, the way their connection blossomed like a daisy popping up in the grass in spring. The way she hated him in every interaction they had...

Nothing brought their connection.

The last thing he thought to do was touch his Knot Art, which was still fixed on his left wrist like it had since he was eighteen. He put his middle finger and index finger on the contours on his Knot Art, closed his eyes and waited.

Within a minute, he could feel that feeling again. She was touching hers at the same time. He felt the comfort run through him like a tsunami of calm, a wave of love almost. He knew she didn't love him, but the connection made him feel it regardless. No matter what she felt towards him, their connection would always bring a sense of romance between them because of the nature of the Knot.

It was strange how they could connect that way, but he couldn't feel her emotions. He'd assumed it would be an all or nothing thing.

He stared at the date and time and the schedule That Joshua had left out for him.

"Shit." He was due at work in an hour.

He knew he would see Emilia – the one he fell in love with first – but all he could think of was Amelia.

Joshua sighed as he got ready; he knew it was going to be a long visit to his home-world. But he knew it was no longer his home, he'd barely been there an hour and yet he felt like he was misplaced and lost.

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He'd been working at the coffee shop for precisely six years: he'd started as a barista in his second year of university and slowly worked his way up until he became store manager. He'd changed it over the years. Gone were the tacky pictures and in its place, he'd started an initiative for the local art students to commission their work every so often. He got some of his seasonal staff's work in there some years, he hosted competitions for the university to feature their art and some photography students. They got paid, they got their art shown to a ton of people, and he got new customers in. It was a win-win all round, and he'd brought the place up in local estimations.

The same store in Amelia's world was different: very homely, but Owen – Amelia's fiancé in that world – clearly didn't have the same drive and passion. But why would people when they weren't really invested and only saw the pay-check at the end of the month, Joshua wondered.

He sat in the office he'd tried over the years to make feel more homely. The white covered walls were slapped with copies of rotas, so he didn't have to copy it a thousand times, and photos of staff nights out along with company policies and whatever. He didn't mind sitting there every once in a while, to think or engage in specific meetings, but after the latest revelation as a Drifter, it felt like he'd walked off the aeroplane into humidity and heat after a cold winter in England.

"Hey, stranger."

Her voice was an octave higher in this world. Her brunette hair was always in a messy bun on top of her head instead of its signature French plait as Amelia.

He lifted his head to look at her. It was only at that moment that he noticed the small scar in her Cupid's bow she got when she fell off the wall outside the hospital once. She'd tripped, fallen off and cut her lip open and needed stitches. Amelia didn't have that, but Emilia did.

One thing that he knew for certain when he looked upon the girl he was meant to be in love with: since finding Amelia, he was no longer in love with Emilia. She was beautiful, he knew that, and she still called to him like a siren's song. But he'd found his one. His Fated One, the one he wanted to be with, the one that made his heart flutter and butterflies form in his stomach. He felt like a dizzy teenager when he thought of Amelia, but Emilia did not do it for him anymore.

It was a sad situation because he knew that he had to keep the façade. Amelia, Emilia, Owain, Owen... none of the people in the little mess knew that Joshua and Joshua were Drifters – he doubted they'd even heard of a thing – and it needed to stay that way otherwise there would be trouble.

"Hey," Joshua replied.

Her hand cupped his face, grazing against his stubble. He used to love that, but it no longer made him shiver in delight.

"It's just you and me until opening in half an hour," she teased.

"I... I need to get stuff done, Emilia. I can't—"

Her lips met his, just like they always did. It was familiar, that was for sure.

He recalled whenever this happened before, he moulded with her until he wasn't sure what breath was hers and which was his. He would knead her hips, pull her closer to him.

But now, he didn't. His body was frozen in place, his lips didn't move, his hands stayed by his side. He felt nothing.

He wanted Amelia. Her hatred of him didn't matter to him, her reluctance to accept him and promise of shutting him out didn't matter. He just wanted to be near her, to comfort her, to feel their tether.

He didn't love Emilia.

He pushed her off.

"What the fuck, Josh?" Emilia demanded. Her eyebrows furrowed. They weren't as arched as Amelia's.

He looked her up and down as she scoffed. Her breasts weren't as perky as Amelia's, she hid her Knot Art with a little make-up and a long-sleeved top.

"I need to work, Emilia," Joshua told her.

"Whatever."

He could tell by her voice lowering in tone that she was hurt. Usually, he would pull her back, kiss her, trace her skin under her ridiculously short skirt. But this wasn't usual to him anymore.

He didn't care that she was hurt.

When she slammed the door to his office, he stared at his Knot. All he wanted was to go back, make his decision and stay there.

He wanted to hear her laugh, see her smile, feel her emotion. He wanted the hatred, because then at least it was something.

He was trying so hard to not touch the Knot. His fingers hovered over the ink, but he resisted the urge. He didn't want to push her away, but the absolute sorrow of not feeling her was forcing torrential downpours from his eyes.

He hated it. He loathed it.

He needed to go home. Home was where the heart was, and his heart belonged to Amelia Nichols.

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