Wait For Me | Wilbur Soot x Reader

Chapter 3

~

Structures made of materials you'd never seen before towered above you like the giants you'd heard of in fairytales. Crowds of people pushed past you, tossing you from side to side as you desperately tried to climb out. You threw yourself out of the crowd and pressed your back against a brick wall. You watched people walk past while you tried to steady your breathing.

Where were you?

There were barely any trees or grass in sight, everyone around you was wearing strange clothes (or perhaps you were the one in strange clothes), and horseless carriages were driving across wide paths. It was like you were in a different world.

Which you were.

You theorized that the puddle was some kind of portal between different dimensions or worlds - you had read something similar to this in a book. Perhaps you were in a different timeline. Everything seemed modern and futuristic. Maybe the puddle was some kind of time machine, but there was only one timeline you could visit.

Either way, none of this was normal.

Once the crowd died down, you walked toward the puddle. You noticed that those who walked on the puddle didn't fall through. You assumed that only those who came out of the puddle could go back through. You placed your foot on the puddle and sure enough, it faded through it. A relieved sigh escaped your lips - at least now you knew that you couldn't get stuck there.

You looked around to make sure nobody was looking. Once the coast was clear, you jumped through the puddle and as you had hoped, you were back in front of your porch. It was quite risky, considering that anybody could be around the area when you popped out of the puddle, but really only Anastasia and Wren visited. As long as you had the timing right, you believed that there was nothing to worry about.

Since you had a day off, you could explore the other side of the puddle for as long as you pleased.

The nature walk would have to wait.

~

You didn't stray too far from the puddle, but you had gotten quite a bit of exploring done. You had received weird glances from others around you, maybe because of the clothes you were wearing. It wasn't hard to realise that you stood out more than others. You started to head home, in case you got lost and couldn't find the puddle again.

You saw the puddle a few metres ahead of you. As you were walking toward it, you must've not been looking where you were going, because your face had planted into someone and you had landed on the ground. The one thing you had been fearing the most had come.

Socialising.

You glanced up to see a rather tall man standing in front of you with wide eyes. He had curly brown hair, circular glasses, and he was wearing a knitted sweater.

"I'm so sorry," he apologised frantically.

He held his hand out to you and reluctantly, you took it and brushed yourself off. Instead of apologising once more, the man just stood there. You had to find a way out of this situation.

"God, I'm sorry," he said. "I should've watched where I was going."

"It's fine," you muttered, trying to keep your speech to a minimum.

"I was just headed to Starbucks," he explained. "Could I make it up to you with a drink?"

"What's Starbucks?" you blurted out.

Once you realised how stupid you sounded, you quickly added, "Sorry, I'm not from here."

It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the whole truth, either. The man gave a small nod.

"Ah, okay," he said. "It's a place where you get drinks, basically. Anyway, if you'd like, could I get you something?"

The angel and devil on your shoulder started to argue. It'd be rude of you to say no, yet again, you'd have to try harder to fit in. Well, he already knows that you're not from here so perhaps he won't expect you to know everything. In the end, you decided to walk with him. As soon as you said 'sure', you regretted it. But, there was no backing out now. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to make a new friend in a completely different dimension, would it?

The two of you arrived at a small building. It smelt of coffee beans, which was something you didn't smell everyday. Usually, you'd smell mud, dirt, and rain. The man asked what you wanted to get and you simply responded for him to surprise you - you didn't know any of the options and you didn't want to choose one, either.

A few minutes passed and the man sat down with two drinks in hand. He placed one down in front of you and you took a sip. The flavours exploded in your mouth - it tasted amazing.

"You said you're not from here," the man recalled. "Where are you from?"

"Uh, somewhere far away from here," you hesitated.

"C'mon, you can just tell me," he laughed softly. "I'm a bit of a geography nerd, so I might know a bit about it. Even if I don't know it, you can tell me what it's like."

"Well," you mumbled. "It's a bit hard to explain."

You pondered for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to tell him where you were really from - you had the proof. Still, could you trust him? Even if he did tell someone, there was no way for him to prove it. You let out a small sigh and decided to tell him anyway.

"Alright," you sighed. "What would you do if I told you that I was from a different timeline and, or, world?"

"What?" he questioned. "I think someone put something in your drink."

"I'm not kidding," you scoffed. "Come, I'll show you."

You took the man's wrist in your hands and by the way his hand stiffened, you could tell he didn't want to follow you. You didn't want him to think you were a lunatic. You knew you were embarrassing yourself, but in the end, you'd prove him wrong.

"I'm kind of beginning to regret buying you a drink," the man said.

You finally arrived at the puddle and you threw the boy a glance.

"Watch this," you said, after double-checking that no one else was looking.

You jumped into the puddle and as you had hoped, you fell through it like the previous times. When you found yourself in front of your porch, you smirked. You jumped back through and found the man with a shocked expression. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape.

"What the fuck," he breathed out.

"Yeah, I don't know either," you shrugged. "Wanna jump through as well?"

"Do I have to?"

You shrugged. Taking his hand, you took a deep breath in. Hopefully this would work. You jumped through again and the dizzy sensation wasn't as strong as the previous times. You were satisfied to see that the man was beside you when you jumped through.

"What did you say your name was again?" he asked in disbelief.