[ WP ] `` Rule # 1 of meeting a future version of you : Never assume that this is your first meeting . ''

I circled him and he circled me. Or maybe he circled me and I circled him. Or maybe I circled I and me circled me. 
 
 Either way, we were each other. His hair was dusted gray and he had glasses, but there was no doubting his identity. Still, there was an inherent distrust to meeting someone who claimed to be you from the future. Like some sort of devil wrapped in a silver lining or lending friends money. 
 
 `` Prove you're me,'' I leaned in toward the man with dusted gray hair. `` Prove to me this is n't a trick.'' 
 
 `` Were I a god or demon or something else sent to confuse you, do you really think I would n't be able to answer any question you threw at me?'' he answered. 
 
 `` Who did I take to homecoming?'' 
 
 `` You did n't go,'' the older man said. He stopped and pushed back his silver hair. `` But you wanted to ask Alison Cropsky. She went with your best friend, Mark Herman, and you never forgave him. And then you put bologna on the hood of his car as revenge.'' 
 
 I came to a stop and put my hands on my hips. `` How did you know that?'' 
 
 `` I keep telling you, Tyler, because I am *you*, and I have an urgent message.'' 
 
 `` I'm listening.'' 
 
 `` There's a war going on, Tyler. A war between the travelers and the history makers. You - I - am an integral part of this process. I will not be the last to visit you. Things and people are not always as they appear.'' 
 
 `` I do n't understand.'' 
 
 `` I would explain more if I had more time. But just remember this: When meeting a future version of yourself, never assume it's your first meeting.'' 
 
 `` That does n't make any sense,'' I took a step closer to him. `` I would remember meeting you. If you went back in time I would *know*. I would have experienced it. And if you had come back before you would know whether or not this was the first time I met you.'' 
 
 The older me paused, narrowing his eyes. `` The point is, trust no one.'' 
 
 `` And no one includes myself?'' I asked. I took another step toward him, shoving my hands into my pockets. `` Is the war that bad?'' 
 
 `` If I could go back in time and change it I would. But there's no way to change the past. Only the future.'' 
 
 We were face to face now. I stared into the eyes that were my own and trembled from what I was about to do. In a moment my knife was in his chest and he was sinking to his knees, looking up at me. 
 
 `` How did I -- -'' 
 
 `` You have visited me before,'' I told him, kneeling so we were again face to face. `` When you were older than you were now. He told me that you thought this would be the first time. He told me to end it so that I could end the war.'' 
 
 `` But you've just --'' 
 
 `` Killed myself,'' I nodded. `` It's the first rule of meeting a past version of yourself, Tyler. Never assume there's only one future, and never assume it's your first meeting.'' 
 
 -- - 
 
 /r/Celsius232
