#anywyay

The wild west was nothing like they had imagined it to be. Sure, they imagined the deserts and the baron lands, but where were the cowboys? They had wanted to visit a salon, but instead their time machine had dumped them in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but sand and cacti.

3 years and Butch still didn't know how the machine worked. Or maybe it was broken, which would make sense, seeing as though they had taken it from BeetCo's bins. They considered stealing another the next time they visited home, but they had gotten way too attached to the damn thing.

They groaned. They've been walking for what felt like hours (it had only been 23 minutes) and they were tired. The sun shone way too brightly, and Butch collapsed into the sand. The granules stuck to their neck due to the almost impossible amount of sweat they were producing.

The sun continued it's relentless attack on them as they brought a hand up to cover their eyes. With nothing left to do, Butch began to listen to the burning sands, the wind and the approaching hoof steps.

They sat up.

They were finally going to see a cowboy and Butch didn't care whether they were the 'steal all your gold' kind or not. They just wanted to cross another thing off of their time travel bucket list.

Yes, they have both 'visit the wild west' and 'meet a cowboy' on their bucket list - wouldn't you?

The steps grew louder as a silhouette grew closer. Their features began to become visible and.. my, wasn't she just the most beautiful girl Butch had ever laid eyes on. Her brown eyes as bright as the sky above her, her hair braided together over her shoulder as golden as the sand below and her smile as calm and as gentle as the winds.

The sun circled her head, she was an angel on horseback.

"Heya darl'," she began as she pulled on the reigns of her horse, slowing it to a stop, "didn't expect to see you aroun' these parts, you're lucky I decided to go for a ride!"

Butch, too flustered to form any sort of coherent sentence, began to stutter as the girl jumped off her horse in one smooth movement. She approached, and if Butch was already as helpless as a child stuck in a well then you might as well call them a goner now.

The girl leaned over Butch as they kept themselves somewhat upright on wobbly elbows. Her eyebrow raised and her head tilted, "why, are you alright? You look as red as a rose," her eyes went wide, "you ain't got heat stroke have you? Bein' out here in the sun isn't good for you, or anyone, Butch!"

Butch's wild thoughts halted, which would have been bliss, if not for the one question that had taken over, "how do you, er, know my name?"

The girl's wide eyes narrowed in confusion, her face twisted into an unreadable emotion as she looked Butch over. She reached her hand out, and Butch took it. She pulled them up to their feet, "do I really look that different?" She smiled, soft, "it's me, darl', Annabelle."

Butch gulped, "I'm.. sorry, I don't know any Annabelles."

She nodded, her eyes now understanding, "I was just thinkin' you're the youngest I've ever seen you."

"What does that mean-"

Annabelle smirked, "my, isn't that a loaded question? I'm afraid I can't tell you, that would go against the rules you set."

Butch blinked, "me?"

The girl laughed, what a beautiful sound, "You are just adorable when you're confused, d'you know that?"

And then the whole world turned to static, Butch couldn't take their eyes off of this girl; who claims to know them and just called them adorable and they were certain this was love at first sight.

"I haven't really been called that by anyone before, so no, I don't really," they kicked at the sand, they were so nervous.

Butch felt a delicate hand on their cheek, somehow cold despite the torturously burning sun, "well, hun, you are the most adorable individual I have ever met, and you better trust me when I say I've met a whole lot of people."

Butch could feel their cheeks get impossibly warmer as they stared into her eyes. Annabelle giggled as she reached for Butch's waist with her spare hand, never taking her eyes and hand off of Butch's face.

Butch had to close their eyes, the girl was too overwhelming, but it felt so right to know her. They had never really been in love before, sure they had crushes in the past, but they have never felt like this before. They were sure that this is what true love felt like.

They had never been a big believer in fate, but maybe it truly did exist, and maybe Butch was always meant to come across Annabelle in this desert. Who was to say, really?

Then they felt weight disappear off their waist, their eyes snapped open. Annabelle stood just a mere foot in front of them, analysing their time machine.

Butch's eyes grew wide, they reached for it but their feet refused to move, Annabelle simply twisted her waist and the machine was out of Butch's waist.

"Wha- hey! Give that back-" they didn't know her, not really, and how blind could they have been? Of course she was working for BeetCo, of course they finally realised that Butch's number one weakness was super pretty women. Of course she didn't really know them, and it was all pretend, to lure them into a false sense of security and take their machine and take them home and arrest them and-

"So how long have you been time travelling up to this point?" Annabelle's voice cut through Butch's spiralling thoughts.

"I- er, what?"

"How long have you been a time traveller for? You ain't met me yet, so probably not long.. a couple a' months maybe?"

"3 years," they said, "are you another time traveller?"

Totally ignoring their question - which, rude - she threw her arms in the air, eyes wide with an unreadable emotion, "three years? Three? Years? And not once did you run into me? What happened to fate, huh?"

But her last question wasn't aimed at Butch, per se, but Butch's machine, which was still in her hands. Her grip so strong, Butch was terrified that the metal would dent.

"Are you a time traveller?" Butch tried again.

Annabelle's attention drifted from the machine to Butch, a faint smile on her lips, "oh heavens no, I could never. I don't even know what this thingymajig does."

"Thingymajig?" Butch let out a disbelieving laugh.

Annabelle had the gall to look offended, "hey now! Not everybody comes from the fancy future with it's movin' pictures and the horseless carts. Your technolgy confuses me, darl', I just can't understan' it."

"I guess that's fair."

"You'll soon learn that I'm always right, hun," she chuckled, the sound as warm as the air around her, "it was you that told me that, right before you promised me forever."

"I did?"

"Mhm," Annabelle hummed, "I wish I could tell you more, darl', but like I said, I'd be goin' against your rules, and you would be so mad at me."

"So you know a future version of me?"

"Rules, hun!" Annabelle gently slapped at Butch's arm.

"Okay! Okay!" They laughed, "I'll stop."

"Good!"

"But I will definitely see you again?" Hope swelled in their chest, a feeling they hadn't felt for a long time.

"Definitely, darl'."

"So I'll come back to the wild west soon?"

Annabelle paused. Her face scrunched up in the most adorable way ever - Butch felt their heart skip enough beats for it to be unhealthy. And then her face returned to normal, her eyes looked up at them, "not necessarily."

"What does that even mean?"

"We may not meet in this specific time, but trust me we will meet again."

"What if I stayed here? With you? I don't have anything to go back to-"

Annabelle grabbed Butch's arm, which shut them up immediately. "Butch, as much as I want you to, you know you can't. They're lookin' for you, you can't stay in the same place." Her voice was too soft, as if this was a final goodbye.

But it wasn't. Butch knew it wasn't. They had only known Annabelle for a few moments but Annabelle seemed to know them better then themselves. Annabelle knew a version of Butch that they them-self had yet to meet.

"What if I brought you with me? I mean, it's not creepy if you technically already know me, right? I just need to get to know you- which i really want to do-"

"That wouldn't end well for anyone, trust me on that."

"But you said I promised you forever? This is how I'm going to fulfil that promise," Butch was now spiralling, they knew that but they didn't want to leave Annabelle here, not when she could be with them.

"You don't know what that means yet! Oh, darl', how I wish I could tell you everything but I can't. You're meant to find out yourself and-"

And then there were shouts. It had just been them in the desert, not another soul in sight, but people were shouting. And one sounded awfully familiar, as a familiar name echoed through the empty air.

"Josie!"

Butch panicked, they found them.

"Sounds like you should take you leave, darl'," Annabelle reached for their hands, gently holding them in hers, "I know you don't want to leave me, I can tell you don't. I'll be fine. Trust me, from this point on, you ain't ever gettin' rid of me."

Butch's panicking eased as her thumbs brushed over their knuckles. A sudden wave of protectiveness rushed over them, which was strange, considering that they had met Annabelle literally 5 minutes ago.

What was it about this woman that made them fall head over heals immediately?

"Promise?"

"Forever," her smile was brighter than a million exploding stars, but gentler than a butterfly landing on a delicate leaf. Her face twisted into panic as the shouting got louder. She groaned, "it's Henry today, ain't it?"

They decided against asking Annabelle how she knew him and instead rolled their eyes half-heartedly, "unfortunately, it always is. He has something against me in particular. He could be going after any rogue time traveller, but for some awful reason he has it out for me!"

Annabelle laughed, but turned her attention back to Henry's direction, "my, he's a slow fella."

"Yup," Butch fumbled at the buttons of their machine, "just makes it all the more easier for me to get away."

"Where are you off t' this time?" She leaned over Butch's shoulders - they didn't miss the way she had to tip toe - to see the machine.

"My original destination-"

"You didn't mean to come 'ere?" She rocked back onto her heels, grabbing at the reigns of her horse.

"Well, no not really."

"Ouch, you wound me," Annabelle mocked as she hoisted herself up to sit on the saddle.

"I'm going to the UNICEF Concert a hundred years from now," Butch shrugged.

Annabelle nodded along, but it was very clear on her face she didn't understand anything, "right, you enjoy that, darl', I'll do my darn best to distract Henry for a while."

"Absolutely not! That's too dangerous-"

Annabelle chuckled, "I'll be fine, we promised, remember? Now, go!"

Butch inhaled. Going against everything that their mind was telling them (stay! Don't leave her!), they pressed the machine.

And within the next moment, they were in a crowd of people, clapping along to Rod Stewart.

~

The second time Butch came across her was in a bar on the 20th of July, 1969.

Butch had entered a random bar in New York City, one that had advertised they were showing the moon landing. They sat on a barstool, and had ordered themselves a beer, when;

"Well, hiya, darl'!"

Butch must've imagined it, because there is no way that she was here. Not 90 years in the future. Unless, she was a time traveller and she had just lied-

And, yes, Butch had met her once, and for five minutes at that, but they had memorised her voice. It was easy, the sound was practically unforgettable.

"I didn't expect to find you 'ere of all places," Annabelle sat on the stool next to them, "I mean, this is my favourite bar! I come 'ere every weekend."

She caught the attention of the barkeep, and flashed him a smile. He returned it, and nodded, reaching for a glass.

"Wait a darn second, did I tell you that? Is that why you came? Oh gosh, Butchie, you really know how to spoil me."

And Butch practically short-circuited. And, despite it being 6 months Butch-time, Annabelle looked the exact same, the only noticeable difference being her hair; which was cut to her shoulders.

Annabelle's warm smile faded (no, come back) and worry overtook her expression, "darl'? You okay? You look like you've, not to sound cliché, seen a ghost." She giggled, mostly to herself, like she had referenced an inside joke that only she was in on.

"I'm.. fine, I think?" Butch cringed at the voice crack, "it's just- how on earth are you here?"

Annabelle blinked, and then again. And then what could have possibly been a hundred times, before a small smile formed, "ah, hun, when was the last time you saw me?"

"Back in 1879," they whispered, "which was 90 years ago, so, uh, forgive me.. for being more than a bit confused."

"I promise you, I ain't a time traveller, if that's what you're thinkin'."

"So?"

"So what, darl'?" She thanked the barkeep as he placed a colourful cocktail in front of her.

"How?" They gestured vaguely in her direction.

She inhaled and traced the rim of her wide glass with her finger, decidedly not looking at Butch. She sighed, and almost too quite for Butch to hear, "I'm immortal."

Butch couldn't help the disbelieving laugh, "what?"

Annabelle, still not looking at them, narrowed their eyes as if willing her glass to explode, "I'm immortal, I can't die."

"Yeah, sure-"

"I should've known I would have to explain it to you eventually, and I definitely should've known you wouldn't believe me," she forced her gaze away from the glass and it finally fell on Butch, who suddenly felt warm, "I died, once. And now I'm immortal."

"Right, okay," Butch rubbed at their temple, "that would explain how you're.. here. How did it all.. y'know.."

"That would go against your rules, darlin'," she smiled, trying to hide all the pain her eyes were clearly showing.

And then silence fell between them, a small quite bubble as the rest of the bar-goers counted down from 10. The entire reason Butch had came to this date in particular was happening this very moment, but they couldn't bring themselves to care.

Oh well, they could always come back.

"So when we promised each other forever-"

"We meant it."

~

After that, it felt like wherever Butch travelled too, Annabelle wasn't far.

They were meeting out of order; Butch essentially lived outside of time, while Annabelle couldn't do anything else but follow it.

Butch couldn't stay in the same place for a long time thanks to BeetCo, so all their meetings were rudely and abruptly cut short. They always ended with them promising each other forever, and Butch was only just starting to believe it.

Annabelle was staying.

Nobody had ever stayed.

Not even Butch's parents, who didn't waste anytime kicking them out of the house as soon as the words "I'm not a girl" had left their mouth. That's the whole reason they dug the time machine out of BeetCo's waste, anyway. If they were going to be homeless they might as well sight see, right?

But Annabelle, for some reason Butch didn't understand but was so incredibly grateful for, did. She stayed in a way that wasn't very conventional, but she stayed nonetheless.

There was one day, about 8 years Butch-time after they first met Annabelle for the first time (they still hadn't found the day that Annabelle had met them for the first time), where Annabelle said, "sometimes I forget you aren't like me."

They were a top the Eiffel Tower, they both leaned on the railing. Annabelle didn't look at them as she spoke.

She had once mentioned that her favourite accent yet was the one she had when Butch had found her for the first time, so that's the one she still used. But, there was some moments, usually the more quite and personal ones, another accent would slip. Butch assumed it was her original one, the one she had when she was mortal.

This was one of those moments.

"What do you mean?"

"Immortal," her gaze flickered to the ground, hundreds of metres below them, "I see you, all throughout time, so I just think, 'gosh, it's so nice to have someone out there who can relate to me' and then I take a real good look at you, and I notice that you're older. That unlike me, you age, and it's noticeable. And I realise that one day, I will see you and that will be it. You'll be old and grey, and then maybe you'll stop messing around with that machine of yours, and I might not even be there.. when you-"

Annabelle's shoulders began to shake. She covered her eyes with her palm, trying to hide the tears as they formed.

"That wouldn't matter though, right? Because, if you do see me for what might be my last trip it wouldn't be long before you'd see a younger me?" Butch was trying, okay? They were never too good at comforting people.

"It would matter to me," She reached into her pocket, and retrieved a small slip of paper, "it does matter to me." She stared at the paper with a fondness Butch had never seen before, "when I first met you, way back then, you were older, not old enough to grey, but older than you are now. You gave me this," she handed them the picture, "that's when you first promised me forever."

The picture was of the two of them, Butch and Annabelle. They were both smiling, but Annabelle's face was red and tear stained, and it didn't take Butch long to realise that the picture was taken in that exact moment, with the top of the Eiffel Tower behind them.

And, woah, wasn't that a bit trippy?

"I soon realised that that promise was bullshit."

"What? But you were the one to promise-"

"Because I can keep it. All I have is forever. You can't."

And Butch stared at the picture again, and picture Annabelle had something akin to hope in her eyes. Which means that they would figure out a way for Butch to keep that promise and-

An idea popped into their head, a stupid and strange one, but an idea nonetheless.

in this au they all are in similar grades bc i thought abt trying to make it work in canon but it just doesn't rip

chip tolentino

- goes to highschool with marcy, leaf, and marigold

- yes he is incredibly tortured by seeing her all the time lol

- in his freshman year he had a random slump and kind of just did nothing and sulked around all the time (post child boy scout burnout/gifted kid burnout)

- like his grades were... whatever but he didn't talk to anyone and didn't do any extra curriculars

- his parents got tired of him being so suddenly lethargic-teenager so they made him join track

- he's actually really good at it, and eventually (not freshman year but eventually) he's semipopular in an awkward way where people know him but he doesn't TALK to all those people

- does really embarrassing dares with his track teammates. He's not necessarily pressured so much as he gets really into it in the moment LOL

- i put this in the fic but he ran into leaf at a club fair and they hang out now lol

- and leaf hangs out with logainne so he started hanging out with logainne

- and he has some classes with marcy and they were both in a school-rut so they bonded

- wasn't for a while that leaf naturally got the whole spelling bee group hanging out together but that was incredibly weird for chip ... bc... it's kind of weird in general

- especially hanging with barfee but they make up and they're homies (who play argue and play brawl)

- had to do a creative writing unit and discovered he's really good at that too but he's kinda embarrassed about it

- he likes like typical story writing and also nostalgic poems but he's even more embarrassed about that

- he and olive once made eye contact at a creative writing contest he went to without telling anyone and now she wards his secret

- one summer marcy got really into skateboarding and chip tried it out too to be supportive but he ate shit every. Single. time.

- chip learned to drive his junior year and really wanted a sports car but he got a shitty hand me down dad car

- one time marcy called him like "hey can you pick me up" nd he was like "from where" and she's like. "from san francisco?'

- bro how did u even get there

- he does it anyway tho

- they're like besties and they go on a lot of late night snack missions

- if they watch scary movies he will be screaming and crying and she'll be like "oh my god pay attention"

- has a crush on like every single girl he talks to

- sometimes they overlap with logainne's crushes and it's very awkward, especially bc he listens to her disaster lesbian rants at every sleepover

- he grows a really shitty puberty stache he's very proud of and EVERYONE (minus leaf who is unconditionally supportive) BEGS him to shave it

- his dad sits him down like Son. What are you doing.

- ramen and hotpockets diet (if he wanted to cook he'd be good at it tho)

- also this is just me projecting but he's filipino cuz i say so (and my word is law bc it's AAPI month /j)

- 5'5 forever... he constantly prays it'll change

- is really good at dioramas

- goes to school dances to complain in the corner the whole time about the music and the food

- could be misconstrued as mysterious but he's just awkward

- most indecisive person of all time and makes it everyone else's problem

leaf coneybear

- not ALL of his siblings made the switch to public school for high school but some did, including marigold (and pinecone who is older than them)

- it was a hard switch but it doesn't take long to find his crowd bc he's a naturally charismatic person

- his crowd is theater kids. he really loves improv and straight plays, he loves musicals too but he doesn't have great rhythm LOL

- he also LOVES helping make costumes, and in junior/senior year he's on the board

- still likes to make some of his own clothes

- was always tall for his age but had a growth spurt before freshman year and he's like. 6'1 LOL he's a stringbean

- sneaks both his cats and logainne into his school

- yes admin is tired but damn are his cats cute

- logainne is his best friend for literal life they are inseparable and will find any reason to hang out

- kind of an energy drink addict (they're not allowed in his house but he WILL drink too many anywhere else if u don't watch out and then crash and feel sick)

- (sidenote he HAS calmed down some but he can still be distractable and is still rlly high energy. Some days he takes to just completely slow down and veg out tho which is nice) (like pretty much he just won't stomp around and roar or whatever in the middle of sentences like in im not that smart 😭)

- on the complete opposite end of that he's also an organic fruit smoothie addict

- he also loves to bake and he's REALLY good at it but his younger siblings aren't allowed sugar so he will spontaneously get a bunch of ingredients and then show up at his friends' houses late at night to borrow their kitchen

- he tries to "spread the love" by doing this equally at all his friends places

- olive is his #1 baking buddy tho!

- also speaking of siblings he's the best older brother ever and he doesnt really like to be home but he'll spend time with his siblings

- .... his parents just keep havin babies

- anyway he's not as good at cooking bc it bores him so he'll get distracted and let things burn whoops

- tons of sleepovers at logainnes he's like a son to her dads

- gets a giant van to drive all his friends around in, it's decked out

- fixes holes in his friends clothes

- they all have a million friendship bracelets bc he just gets sappy and makes more or forgets he made one

- keeps everything ever given to him

- loves interactive science museums where u get to touch stuff more than ANYYYYTHIIIING. He will get lost in the dino bones

- and loves nature and hikes but mainly to look at bugs

- is the king of poster projects in class

- wasn't allowed to watch horror movies as a kid so logainne showed him some classic his freshman year and he literally couldn't sleep for a week but now he likes them, just mostly the campy stuff

- so stuff like little shop, rocky horror, r his the musicals bc it's cheesy campy horror AND theater!

- also first got social media like freshman/sophomore year and he just posts poorly taken pictures and occasionally answers his friends dms

- junior year on, a good amount of his theater peers develop like silly little crushes on him but he's completely oblivious and chip is just so jealous bc he gets no bitches

- he's the glue of the 25th annual kids bc he sort of just naturally started hanging out w them individually again and was like Oh shit why don't we all just hang out

- he is the only person marcy will cuddle