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“Really, what’s with all the secrets, Ian?”
Ian was surprised. Did Addison know about the chip? They started talking fast.
“Secrets? What secrets I don’t know any secrets what do you…”
“Cut it out, Ian.”
They were about to confess, but Addison kept going.
“When they shut the program, I thought there was no hope. Even if Ben had been out there, no one would have been there to see him. So I gave up on him.” There was a pained look in her eyes. “But you snuck around and found a way to keep hope alive.”
Ian was still recovering from the fact that his chip hustle hadn’t been discovered.
“Don’t you think I deserved to know?”
Ian finally caught up with what this was about. “I’m sorry, Addison. I was trying to protect you from hoping. I could hold on to Ben while moving on with my life, with Rachel. But I knew you couldn’t.”
They took her hand.
“I’m tired of everyone trying to protect me from the truth. First Ben leaps without telling me, and now this… now everything’s messed up. There’s this rift, and… I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again.”
"Come here." Ian embraced her. “He’ll come around. Give him time.”
“Maybe you can remember for future you to tell Ben to clue me in on his leap, next time?”
They didn’t have the heart to tell her that timelines didn’t work like that. All those events were no longer written in the future. “You got it, sweetie.”
She pulled back, gathering herself and wiping away the tears. “Thanks for finding him. If he’d been out there, leaping alone…”
“I know. And I’m sorry. For everything. I'll do better."