I ported to my bed and lay in it as my brain frantically reviewed everything. Clearly, Gavin was lying at some point. The second bowl had changed because Adam didn't wind up with Evangeline. Gavin's shortening to Eve did nothing for me.

Adam and Eve was a play on the bible and what Gavin was aiming for with his creation of a perfect utopia in their image.

Why did the second bowl change, though? The first setting was our future, so does that mean Adam will choose Evie? If I don't let him or if I stay, will it become a wasteland world?

None of this makes sense, at least not how I want it to.

To make it worse, I was becoming almost a hundred percent positive that I was a guinea pig for many bored gods. Mordecai and even Acuzio said several strange things to me that now rolled around in my head. They were watching, likely betting, to see what I became. Did Gus go through this as well? This could be why he was so inhumane…

If I stay, will I become something other than human? What will happen to me? I must be as selfish as Gavin accused me of being because here I was, thinking of myself first. Apparently, the fate of this world rested on the choices that Adam and I made.

There was at least one thing that was crystal clear, though, my options. Do I choose self-preservation or my love for what I've built in this world?

I gathered my courage and left my bed. I wanted to talk to Adam, but I'd asked for space. How could I call out to him when I was still so undecided. The last thing I wanted was to call out to Mordecai or Wyatt.

So, I wound up in the family plot. The aged, cracked headstones had been cleaned before but needed more care. Grandpa Evans's headstone was untouched by the passage of time. It was nice to see, but unfortunately, it reminded me of Gavin's proclamation.

I wanted to kneel and talk to his headstone, but my belly created a somewhat awkward obstacle. I was still trying to sit my growing butt down when a chair appeared next to me. Adam was with the chair and holding it out to me.

I thanked him and smiled even while wondering if that meant he was watching me this whole time. Before he could vanish, I caught his hand. "Stay with me?"

Adam nodded, but instead of pulling out a chair for himself, he stood next to me. We stayed like that for hours. It was peacefully still and silent.

"Have you had enough space?" Adam said.

"Yes," I said.

I didn't want to be alone anymore. My home was less comforting and secure than it had ever been before.

"The sun's position hasn't moved." My voice was thick, and my chin quivered on the last word.

"No, it hasn't," Adam said. His voice and expression were hard to read.

"Gavin said time has stopped in this world."

"I heard," Adam said, confirming to me yet again that he'd been watching me.

"Does that mean this world will decay slowly?" I said this as possible images of the future went through my mind.

"No." Adam's voice was strong, firm, and comforting. "It's paused, so nothing can decay or change."

"Then everyone in this world is frozen?" My brain was unraveling even further into confusion. This made even less sense. "Adam, how did you do this?"

"I don't know how I did it." He said, his eyes shifted into deep sadness.

"There is a way to fix everything and set it back to how it should be," I said, trying to use a coaxing tone even as my heart broke.

"No." Adam's tone was nonbudging and sharp. It was one he'd never taken with me before.

"It has to be considered. We can't let everyone die this way. The sun has to set. Life has to move forward. What happens if it doesn't?"

"That won't matter for us," Adam said with conviction. We both had spaces and abilities to keep us going, but what about everyone else? What would happen to those frozen like the sun?

"I can't live with myself if I choose to stay in this world knowing the cost."

Adam knelt before me, and I gasped at his fevered eyes. They looked positively burning with fierce ardor. "I cannot live without you. If I must, I will set the world right and get everything as it should be."

I believe in him, not just because of my love for him. Adam was nothing if not a fixer. But there was more to my reasoning. "What about after? If you were watching, then you saw what Gavin showed me."

"I know he wanted you to be gone from this world the moment you stepped foot in it. He has great hatred for your interference and that you broke his spell that allowed him complete control of this world. If you leave, he will regain control over everyone on this planet. We will all go back to being puppets."

"But everyone will be alive."

"They'll be puppets, Wendy. You had a glimpse of what that felt like and can understand how awful that is." Adam said as he ran a hand through his hair. "How can you subject them to that again?"

"What if I can guarantee that Gavin can't have control? Everyone would live and have free will."

"I won't live without you." Adam's raspy voice grabbed me by the heart, and I could feel the first tear streaking down my cheek. "Neither would our child." He shifted the focus onto something I hadn't wanted to think about yet. Our baby. How could I leave everything I had built and grown here, including the new life inside me. His warm palm wiped away these drops, and I grabbed his hand when he was done.

For a moment, all too brief, I had an image of our life illustrated. It would be beautiful, and we'd have more than one kid, and there would be no more interference from annoying Gods.

But I shoved that dream aside and said, "I want to be here. I don't know if it's possible. There's too much interference, and it's not just Gavin." How could we make it work when the odds seemed stacked? What would I become if I stay this course. How will I change?

Adam pulled me up from the chair and into his arms. His warm arms circled me, and I relaxed against his shirt's warm, stiff fabric. I missed his scent, something fierce. I could feel his heart beating against my cheek, and without thinking, I rubbed my face on it. His calloused palm moved up to my neck, and he massaged it, undoing my resistance until now.

"We can figure it out as long as we're together. Let me handle this, Wendy." Adam said into the nape of my neck. His breath tickled me, and I squirmed. He misread this because he said my name in a more firm reprimanding tone.

"I will let you handle this," I said. "I know you will set it right."

His mouth was on me before my heart had time to beat. I welcomed this invasion but only got a taste when he disappeared. I was left holding air with the scent and taste of Adam on my skin.

I didn't see him after that. I found things to do as I puttered about the homestead. The sun didn't move, and the plants went from happy to exhausted when they saw it. That's not including the mess I had to navigate with the animals.

They were frozen, stiff, and unresponsive. I watched as literal dust and dirt started growing on them.

I couldn't tell the passing of days. Everything collecting dust was the best way to tell time.

I spent the first ' week' mostly outside. Being trapped in the spacial prison made me want to be outside. Although I was finally back home, I wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. Fresh air wasn't possible because there were no breezes, but I could at least feel the heat and give the plants comfort and energy when I could.

I soon ran out of things to do and the energy to do so. Adam was gone, and I trusted him to handle things, but it felt like forever.

I went from spending hours sunning sprawled on the grass to hiding in my bed, unable to move. If it wasn't for the wiggling growing baby in me, I wouldn't budge from my bed. After eating each meal, I went for what I assumed was a thirty-minute walk and lay down immediately afterward.

I ran out of things to do, and the ever-burning sun was slowly cooking my brain. Aside from myself, I had no one I could talk to; my voice was now the most annoying sound I'd ever heard.

For fun, I started porting around to see how Green's Mountain was. The sight of birds stilled mid-flight made me too chicken to look at the rest of the place. I don't know how I'd feel if I saw Mary frozen or her family.

How much time had passed? It was hard to understand the length of time without anything to mark it by. Adam was gone, and the world was a frozen frame of its last moments.

Is this how Adam felt, as everything just kept running, but he was stuck in place?

I was muttering nonstop and hadn't slept in who knows how much time when I finally came across Adam. I wish I never had when I saw him.

I'd teleported to Alcom's Cove. Seeing the fishing town frozen would be weird, but at least I could walk by the beach. I closed my eyes and arrived in an instant.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The overbearing silence I had grown accustomed to broke the moment I landed. The sound of seagulls tickled my ears, and I looked around frantically.

Once again, Alcom's Cove was a place of chaos. I could see stiff, unmoving humans, but the animals were active. My mouth became dry under the strange circumstances.

"Wendy?" A voice I never thought I would hear again called out to me. I turned to watch Wyatt fly over to me.

The dude didn't even bother hiding his power; he just zoomed through the air. He landed in front of me and scanned me anxiously. "What are you doing here?" There was urgency and panic in his voice.

"I wanted to see the ocean. What are you doing here?"

"I'm an impartial witness. You have to leave Alcom's Cove." Wyatt said as he grabbed my arm. I think if I wasn't pregnant, he would have hauled me up like a sack of potatoes and taken me away.

"I don't understand. Why do I have to go?" I narrowed my eyes as I ripped my arm away. I then crossed my arms, feeling somewhat defiant. I was suffering forever in a place that had become my home. Why should I rush back when this place seemed to be unbroken from the curse of everything freezing?

Wyatt groaned and impatiently tsked at me. "You'll regret staying; you need to learn to just listen, Wendy. I have your best interests at heart. Haven't I proven that already?"

My arms loosened, and I blinked, feeling shame and regret soften my expression. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry, then leave," Wyatt said with a sharp pitch to his voice.

My fiery temper flickered back to life. "You're being awfully rude. I've been trapped alone by myself for who knows how long, and you're shooing me away to be alone again?"

"It's almost over, Wendy; you must have faith and go back."

Only I didn't quite hear what Wyatt was saying. An all-too-familiar giggle captured every iota of my attention. What I saw next made my heart stop.

Evie was joyfully skipping ahead of a smiling Adam. The two were the picture on the cover of a magazine of a blissful union. Standing next to me, Wyatt tried to block my view, but it was far too late.

My brain tried to stop my heart from overreacting by attempting to pull up all of my past assumptions, facts, and even the weird things Wyatt just said.

But for some reason, everything but Gavin's last words became white noise to me. A tsunami of insecurity, fear, and pain washed me away with its tide, and instead of standing strong or grabbing onto something for support, I let it take me away. I wanted it to take me away. I can't be here watching the book and Gavin's prediction come true. I knew she was his true love, which burned me worse than anything I'd ever felt. I want to run away from here.

I wound up in the Unruly Forest, but no comfort could soothe away my heart.

Of all the people to run into, it was Gavin. He was grinning triumphantly at me.

"Due to your spell, you can't just leave this world; if you take a bite of this, you can." He said with a palm out to me. A bright red pomegranate sat looking delectable.

I made a choice out of fear, pain, and anger. I grabbed one of the red pomegranate pearls and swallowed them whole.

Unfortunately, my pain took me out of the book, and this time, the spell, due to my emotional upheaval, erased everything.

I'd like to say that I knew how much time I spent in my original bed, but as all too often, I had no comprehension of time. Adam's book lay next to me, and I stared at it.

I hadn't had anything to drink in forever, but my tears never stopped leaking from my eyes. I lost everything. Adam, Lucia, Originis, and even stinky monkey boy. And something I'd barely been able to think about was the baby.

I didn't get to keep my baby.

My thoughts took me down more dark mazes of thought, and I screamed into my pillow as fresh, hot tears streaked down my cheeks. What would have been the outcome if I had just waited or gone like Wyatt wanted?

What if I had, though? Adam had picked Evie, and the reward was that the world would start setting itself immediately. What more proof did I need that I was just an unlawful extra breaking apart their union.

I guess it was time to realize that I would never be loved. I've been abandoned all my life, Mordecai was right. My grandma cared but wasn't around enough to show it. My brother was a dick that routinely wished I was gone from his life, and he had no interest in mine. And my parents were gone as well. I had no one. My world has revolved around fictional characters and I'd been lucky enough to slip into their world.

But I am an outsider, and I'm not meant to be a part of their world.

I couldn't stop these thoughts from sprouting in my mind. I knew each thought was a knife to my heart, but I kept welding them to stab. What was wrong with me?

I howled in pain like a wounded beast as my nails dug into my flesh. This shouldn't have been our ending.

I'd like to say I recovered, but I didn't. Time was relative in the familial library, and I spent it in bed. I tossed Adam's book away into the abyss of our deep shelves when I failed to reenter the world. I'm sure this was due to the lack of conduit…it truly showcased that I had nothing left.

It was impossible to piece myself together, and I didn't try. It wasn't like I'd get a visitor or have someone care about me in this realm. I could stay in bed and become a rotting vegetable, but no one would take notice.

I kept thinking that way day in and day out until I actually did have a visitor, but it wasn't someone I would ever think would come.

Mordecai's toy, John, appeared at the foot of my bed during a lighter, dark day. He looked nervous and concerned, bringing the scent of fresh paper and tea with him. It was somewhat refreshing as I hadn't bathed since I came back.

He didn't notice the smell and instead peered at me worriedly.

"Did Mordecai send you?" I croaked only it didn't sound like actual words. I pulled out a random drink, ew barley tea, from my space and sipped on it to moisten my mouth.

Amazingly, he understood, and he shook his head. "I came of my accord."

John looked around, but my bed was a disgusting mess. It was appalling, and not just because I hadn't bathed. I ran out of clean tissues or handkerchiefs and started using my nightgown to wipe things away. Only when that became too crispy did I begin rolling my face across the blanket…for some reason, I couldn't stop punishing myself, and I couldn't fathom moving…I felt like I was decaying in this bed, and it was justly deserved.

"Aphra doesn't get it. None of the Gods do." John had found the one clean spot on the bed, at the foot, predictably, to sit down on. "They've long lost their…"

"Humanity," I said with a quirk of my lips into a snarl.

"Understanding," John said rather diplomatically. "They have emotions that we humans would identify as distinctly human, but Gods tend to look at the grand scheme of things. Not the details that add up to the end they desire."

I narrowed my eyes, "John, what are you trying to get at?"

"Some understanding from you that none of this was your fault. The Gods meddled around too much. Not all hope is lost, though. You will get past this."

"How?" My voice croaked again this time, but it had nothing to do with dryness. That all-too-familiar tightness of my throat told me I couldn't breathe. This giant room was too small, and John was suddenly too close. I wanted to run away again. "What if I don't want to get past this?" If the pain lessens, then how can I covet the love I once had? I want to run it over and over again in my head, even if it burned a hole in my heart and made me unable to move on.

"All I have left is the memories, the pain, and the regret, John." Tears blurred my sight and covered my eyes as my nails scraped my face yet again.

"Gwendolyn, that's no way to live."

"I don't have a life, John!" I was yelling at the one person thoughtful enough to stop by, but I couldn't help it. "I had nothing until I went to that world. No one cared about me. I had nothing to strive for, no family or connections. That was my life, not this stupid library full of dusty, musty books. I spent years being alone…I didn't even know what the sun felt like. Do you understand?"

Pain mirroring my own was on John's face, and my heart ached with the realization. I genuinely am pathetic.

"I didn't realize." John looked confused and worried for me.

"I didn't want to realize it before, but it's hard to forget now." That may be the answer, though. Forgetting that it all happened. Could I go back to settling for the dreary but incredible life of reading books nonstop? I had fun, minus the lessons from Gus, but it could be possible if I didn't remember that taste of more.

"Wait, Gwendolyn, that's a complete shift from before," John said, and I shrugged it off that I was talking out loud again.

He was right. I am a weak coward. If I had…

"I have something for you." John's too-cheerful voice cut off my thoughts, and I glared at him. He handed me one of the ugliest-looking stuffed bears I had ever seen. "It's gotten me through some tough times, and I think it could do the same for you."

I gave him a strange look, but my arms pressed it to my chest without thinking. The tightness in my chest loosened, and I felt like I could breathe again.

"When you feel unfortunate, just give Mr. Brutus a squeeze."

I think John vanished after that, but I couldn't be sure. Squeezing the lopsided bear brought a strange comfort to my heart. It was like he was a sponge soaking out all of my sadness. I closed my eyes, and I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I felt shame finally. I was a disgusting mess, and John had seen me, so that meant that I didn't get out of it in the clear. I took a shower, scrubbing my skin until it shone. My hair was almost a forgone loss. It was matted and tangled to heck and back, and I had to take scissors to get some parts clear enough to brush. Which, of course, meant I was in for a trim.

I felt good even though my arms felt weak. Mr. Brutus was with me the whole time. The poor guy kept getting grabbed on while I was wet when the pain stole my breath again.

After I had cleaned, it was time to burn the bed linen. Well, not really. I set it to soak and remade my bed. Then, I promptly collapsed in it again. For the next however long, I repeated that cycle. Only I started eating or drinking something as well before I collapsed again.

I hadn't been able to close my eyes peacefully for some time. Before Mr. Brutus, any time I tried, all I saw was that last memory of Adam I had…

I went through my space after about fifty times repeating this cycle. I needed to clear out anything that reminded me of Adam. But I couldn't get rid of it yet. Instead of tossing or burning it, I put everything from him in a box.

I still had over forty little lemon boxes I had secretly squirreled away. Mr. Brutus was of no help this time as I ripped each box apart and ate each tart individually. My eyes burned, my stomach ached, and my teeth mashed my way to the finish line.

I was down to the last five and had a queasy stomach when I found something shocking. Adam had snuck in the engagement ring in one of the boxes. It wasn't loose, so I wouldn't hear it rattling along. The lemon box had been customed to fit the ring.

It was the same ring he had tried to give me before I messed everything up. Hot tears fell down my cheeks and burned the scratch marks on my face. All that pitiful strength I had built was swept clean, and I wound up back in bed, unable to get out. Worst of all, Mr. Brutus was in my spacial bathroom, and I couldn't pull him out. I only remembered him when I finally dragged myself out of bed to use the toilet. But it was far too late for my mental health.

"Hey, girl." Aphra greeted me this time, and I opened a crusted eyeball to stare at my ancestor. "You look…relaxed."

Was that really the nicest way to describe me? I thought, glowering without fear at the Goddess. I rolled over to ignore her.

"I have something for you." Aphra tried to sound upbeat, but I heard only nails on a chalkboard.

"It's your own little pocket world! I designed it after this weird game John is addicted to. This was for him originally, but you could use it more."

More insults. I thought, trying to imagine a daydream that could erase this moment.

"And the best part is that there's no strings attached!" That weird casino noise from before played, but this was no prize.

"Just because you say there are no strings doesn't mean there aren't strings," I said, flipping over to glare.

"The only string is hopefully your forgiveness to my heart," Aphra said dramatically. Still, I simply stared at her, unable to care. I had nothing else for her to destroy or take from me, so why was I bothering to fight?

"Please." A slip of real emotion leaked into her voice, and I met her eyes. "You shouldn't have been caught in the crossfire of Gavin's fuckery."

She was all but saying that Evie and Adam were meant to be together.

"Just take this, please. It's a farming world, but it's based on that weird game that a bunch of people play online." Aphra rattled off a bunch more facts about how it was popular, but it wasn't like I would know anything about that. We didn't have the internet or social media in the library.

I snatched the locket but didn't say anything else, no matter how Aphra tried to get me to talk.

Eventually, she left, like everyone does, and I was left with Mr. Brutus. His comforting squish made it possible for me to look at the engagement ring. I slipped into my hideaway home, prepared to slip it into the jewelry box. Still, I had to brush past the one and only lemon tree I had slipped in for decoration. It was one of the trees Adam had gifted me. The others had been left in my room or around the home as they grew bigger and bigger.

I touched the leaves, feeling that all too familiar painful heart pang but also something else. I heard the plant's voice, and my gasp echoed in the room at this revelation.

How do I still have Wendy's powers?