THE MOMENT
"Eddie!" Edward was overwhelmed with cheers as soon as he regained his own senses. He was no longer in the body, nor in the world he was just in. He anticipated that much, and he still found himself in an unexpected situation. He was surrounded by his closest friends, and lots of food. He'd evidently missed a party of some sort. And, they all seemed to be focused on him, seemingly waiting for his response. At the very least, he was in his own backyard, so he had that much information to work with.
"I'm thrilled you all could make it," he gave a broad answer, and laughter rolled through the gathered guests, and everyone clapped.
"Can I talk to you privately?" Patty, his girlfriend, grabbed his hand as she whispered the message in his ear. She pulled him toward the house, and he followed her as the party continued. He'd told her about his condition. She didn't believe him at first; and, it was early enough in their relationship they that they were still there.
He'd told her he didn't know when it would happen, but it was usually from sunrise to sunset, one random day a week. When she led him away, he hoped that she finally believed him. He didn't think the other version of him did anything to disrupt his relationships. The version of himself that he took over lived a quiet life and he spent the day alone so as not to meddle. Coming back to an unplanned party hinted that the version of him that took his place didn't provide the same courtesy.
"You were telling the truth!" she immediately wrapped her arms around him once they were safely alone in the kitchen.
"I know," Edward nodded with a grin as he squeezed her. "But, how did I convince you?"
"With proof," Patty replied. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a clear glass card. "This is called a 'node', the other you gave it to me," she said.
"What? How?" He went through a period of trying to take items with him. But, it proved to be too much trouble for the unplanned events, and it didn't seem to work that way. As far as he could tell, it was just his consciousness slipping into another body that happened to belong to one of his doppelgangers. And it was usually a clean, temporary swap with the one he replaced.
"You didn't look around the Earth you went to, did you?" she asked with full confidence. They'd only started dating recently, but they'd known each other for many years.
"I try not to cause problems for myself," he replied.
"Well, the version that landed here wasn't like that at all," she shook her head. "He seemed to know what was going on right away; I thought he was you pretending to be someone else," she giggled at herself. "Then, he showed me a node, and explained the multiverse," she added.
"You believe him, and not me, huh?" Edward crossed his arms in a defensive posture, while still smiling to make the joke clear.
"Like I said, he had proof," she nodded. "It turns out the Earth he's from has completely mastered multiversal travel. As soon as he found out this Earth didn't, he called in a company named Solarion Incorporated. Now this Earth is in process to join the rest of the multiverse too!" she said.
"He told all of us," she gestured at the backyard full of friends. "About the multiverse and insisted on a big party, featuring foods and stuff from across different worlds! It's actually been going for hours already," she said. "I told them you'd be back at sunset, and even Edmund knew it was about to happen again. He said good bye, and that's when you showed up," she said.
"And, I thanked everyone for coming...," Edward sighed to himself with a shake of his head.
"Oh, it was hilarious!" Patty nodded. "You didn't know we all knew, and you know what? You still handled it like a pro! That's what we all saw."
"EDMUND!" a cheer rose from the backyard and Patty smiled.
"C'mon, he's here!" she said as she led Edward back outside.
"What? Why? How!?"
"His Earth already solved multiversal travel...," she reminded him about what she'd just said.
"Wait...," he stood his ground as he tried to process everything. He was used to being the one with the secret, but now he didn't know what was going on.
"This Edmund guy took my place, opened our Earth to multiverse, and threw a huge party for my friends? This was the best day of my life, and I wasn't even here for it!?"
"It might seem that way," Patty smirked and kept guiding him back outside. "But, you're here now. It can still be the best night of your life if you show up for it."