Dream Ticket

DREAM TICKET

To this day, I can't for the life of me remember why I needed to borrow Craven's car. It must have been important to me at the time, since I was speeding, but not nearly as important, or memorable as what happened when I saw the flashing lights in my rear-view mirror.

"Shit," I muttered as I pulled to the side of the road. I'd never gotten a ticket before, since I rarely drove, and Craven wouldn't be happy that it had to happen while I was using his car; something about insurance rates. The cop took his sweet time getting out of his car and walking to my door. I couldn't see his face in the mirror, but from his slim body, and slight swagger in his walk, I could tell he was young. And then suddenly he was there, standing ominously over me on the other side of the window.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" He had a slight southern drawl that I'd gotten used to hearing since moving to Savannah for college. My stomach was doing flips, since this was the first time I'd ever been confronted by a police officer. At first I couldn't even bring myself to look at him.

"Uh, no actually... I'm not used to all these..." I trailed off as I looked up at him. Movie cliches of falling for the studly cop came pouring into my head, and I had to look away quickly.

"Something wrong?" He asked, no doubt thinking I was smuggling drugs or something.

"No," I squeaked. "No," I said again, with more conviction after clearing my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Right then. Well, you were going 75 in a 65 mile-an-hour zone. Any particular place you were in such a hurry to get to?" He wasn't looking at me now, instead he was writing something down on the little ticket pad he was carrying.

I swallowed hard, knowing what that meant. "No place in particular, I'm just not used to this car, I guess; not sure how much pressure to put on the pedal."

"Mmm hmm," He leaned down and looked at me over his mirrored sunglasses. His eyes were the truest shade of green I had ever seen, and once my own had locked onto them, I couldn't pry myself away. "Look, I'm only going to give you a warning this time; you seem like a nice enough kid. Just be careful."

I nodded, still staring into his eyes. "All right then," he finished, reaching out to shake my hand. As he pulled away, I felt something pass into my hand, but I couldn't be sure what it was. I closed my fist around it as he stood and walked back to his car.

"Oh my God!" I gasped, as I collapsed against the seat. That had to have been the single most attractive police officer I'd ever met. I just sat there for a few minutes, letting myself calm down, long after Officer Hottie had driven away. Suddenly I remembered the object in my hand, and opened my fist to find a crumpled piece of paper. It had originally been folded neatly, but my clenched fist had done its damage.

Slowly I smoothed it out, and then opened it carefully. The message scrawled on the paper was short and simple: Call Me 555-3467.

Craven was waiting in our dorm room when I got back, lying on his bed reading a book. "You do what you needed to do?" He asked, not looking up.

"Yeah," I said absentmindedly as I sat on the couch to take of my sneakers.

"Did my car survive the excursion?"

"Yeah, but I got pulled over for speeding."

"You what!?" He sat up and closed the book, leaving a finger in it to keep his place.

"I didn't get a ticket, don't worry. But he did give me something; he gave me his phone number."

"What? Why would he do-?" A look of realization fell over his face. "You dog! He gave you his phone number? Damn! Was he good looking? I'd hate for my best friend to be hit on by some fat, ugly ol' cop."

There's something you need to know about Craven. The boy's straight as an arrow, as the cliche goes, but he's so secure and open minded that he could talk about guys with me like we were talking about girls, at least up to a point. He'd never gotten fully comfortable with my ogling the front of men's jeans.

"What? Oh, yeah, he was... beautiful." I was still a bit in shock over the whole ordeal.

"So, dude? What are you sitting there for?? Call him!"

"Crave, if I call him right this minute, I'll look like I'm desperate or something. Besides, I doubt he's off work yet."

Craven considered my words for a moment. "True enough, but you are going to call him, right?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." But I didn't feel any of the conviction of my words.

"I know that tone of voice," Craven butted into my personal thoughts. "That's yer lyin' voice. Don't you be lyin' ta me, boy!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Yes, fine! I will call him!" I got off the couch and pinned the number to my bulletin board amongst the jumble of pictures, articles, and letters that covered it. One picture in particular caught my attention. "Hey Craven, look at this. I haven't thought about this day in ages."

Craven climbed down from the top bunk and padded up behind me, looking over my shoulder. The picture had been taken on my 18th birthday. My parents had paid for me and him to fly down to Florida and visit Disney World. It was also the day that I told him I was gay. I think the method of my madness was that since my parents had paid for the trip and it was my birthday, he wouldn't be able to get angry with me for being gay. Imagine my surprise, after making sure the conditions were absolutely perfect, that his response consisted of shrugged shoulders and: "Yeah? So?"

That day is what solidified our friendship beyond anything it had been. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. Craven took the picture from me, and started chuckling. "I remember it was like a billion degrees, and I kept wishing that Disney World allowed you to go nude." He nudged me in the back. "I bet you would've liked that, huh?"

"Nooo." I said stupidly. "You're like my brother, eww."

He reached over me and pinned the photo back onto the board. "There's something I forgot to tell you, Fiona is supposed to be coming over-."

Knock Knock

"-right now."

I grimaced. It wasn't that I didn't like Craven's girlfriend, no, that was exactly it. I wasn't sure what he saw in her. Sure, she was nice to look at, but I don't think she was all there in the head. Craven wasn't the shallow type, so why he was dating a girl who was all beauty and no brains, I failed to grasp.

Without bothering to wait for one of us to answer the door she bounded in, all giddy and smiles. "Crave!" She planted her lips over his, for a moment I was positive she was trying to smother him.

"Oh, hello Dimitrios," she said once she noticed me standing there. The tone of her voice was such as she was examining me like some sort of scientific oddity. Not so much because I was gay, but because I knew things. Her standard reply to me whenever I pointed something out that she didn't know was "what-ever."

"Hi Fiona!" I said with as much false enthusiasm I could muster. "How was your day?"

Ignoring me completely, she guided Craven to the bottom bunk; my bed, and pulled him down next to her, kissing him again.

"Oh!" Craven pulled himself away from her, "Guess what happened to D today!"

I'm pretty sure Fiona rolled her eyes, but decided to play the part of the interested girlfriend anyway. "What happened?" she asked, surprisingly she was looking at me instead of Craven. Usually she just ignored me.

"I was pulled over by a cop today for speeding..." she didn't seem to be concerned in the slightest. "...and he gave me his phone number instead of a ticket."

She frowned. "You're not going to call him, are you? He could be some psycho cop who keeps severed heads in his freezer." Fiona watches too much television.

I was actually slightly surprised by her apparent concern, but then realized that she was probably more worried about the expensive carpet my blood might get on as my head was hacked off. Needless to say, I was less than touched.

"As a matter-of-fact, Craven has already made me swear that I'd call the guy. Besides, he seemed nice enough at the time."

She gave Craven a disbelieving glare, then shrugged. "What-ever." (See? There she goes)

Displaying her short attention span, she played her finger along Craven's nose and asked: "So, how long do you want to make out before we go to dinner?"

Luckily, I am not without other friends on campus, because as soon as the words came out of her mouth, I knew that I needed to get as far away from that room as possible. It occurred to me as I left the building that housed our dorm that Craven was the only real male friend I had; a fact that made my unease with Fiona even more curious.

I started walking aimlessly at first, not sure where I wanted to go. Not for the first time, I was glad that most of the places I needed to go were within reasonable walking distances, one of the reasons why I didn't have a car of my own. After a few moments of deliberation, I decided on the Griffon Tea Room. It was where most of my friends tended to hang out, so I was relatively certain that I would know someone there.

The place was fairly busy, since it was early in the evening. I scanned the room slowly, finally noticing a few familiar faces sitting at a table near a window. I snaked my way across the room to the table occupied by three girls with whom I'd taken a colour theory class. "Good evening ladies," I said, playing the country gentleman. "Mind if I join you?"

"D!" the one too my left (Allison) exclaimed. "It's been forever! How have you been?"

I took that as an affirmative to my request and slid into the unoccupied chair. "I've been doing pretty well," I told her. "Craven's still got that ditz hanging off his arm. What he sees in her still eludes me."

The girls giggled, all of them knowing what I meant about Fiona. "But she does have her virtues," I pointed out. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be currently graced with your presence."

The four of us carried on a pleasant conversation until it was completely dark out. Knowing that I would have to get up for class in the morning, I excused myself and headed back to the dorm. When I arrived, the place was empty. I assumed that they were either still out to dinner or back in Fiona's dorm having sex. The thought of Fiona naked made me grimace and I turned on the TV, hoping to get the image out of my head.

Cops was on, and seeing a bunch of police officers beat and cuff some punk made me thing of Officer Hottie. His number was still pinned to my message board where I had left it. I stared at it for a moment, but pulled myself away, watching a woman in curlers with a baby in her arms scream at the officers. As much as I tried to become interested in the TV, my eyes kept drifting back to the paper.

Finally, I gave up. Turning off the television, I pushed myself, grabbing the phone from the side table, and tore the note from the bulletin board. It took all of a second to dial the number, but as the phone on the other end rang, I began to panic. I was about to hang up, when he answered.

"Hello?"

I held the phone to my ear, paralysed. "Hello? Who is this? I'm a police officer!"

I coughed. "Yes, hello. Sorry about that." My voice was squeaking with nervousness, and I'm sure he could hear it. "I'm calling for... uh... the officer who pulled me over today." I suddenly realized I had no idea what his name was.

"What? How did you get... Oh! Oh, hello. I didn't expect you to actually call. Actually, after I drove away I was horrified I'd made a huge mistake." His voice calmed and I realized it was actually very sexy. I guess to match the rest of him. He also sounded pretty nervous now himself.

"No... no, you didn't make a mistake..." There was an awkward silence on both ends. "So... um. Do you give your number to lots of guys you pull over?"

"NO! I mean no, I've never done it before. You were just so cute and nervous and I was sure by the way you looked at me..." I felt myself begin to blush.

"Relax, I was just kidding." I cracked a smile. It helped to know that he was as nervous now as I was. "Um... so you're.."

"Gay? Yeah, but it's not widely known. Like I said before, I was horrified that I made a mistake giving you my number. You could have gone to the station, maybe brought me up on harassment charges. I doubt they would have gotten anywhere, but still."

"Relax," I told him again. "You didn't make a mistake. I'm not going to get you in trouble." I hesitated before asking the question that was on my mind. "So... um... was there a reason you gave me your number?"

"Well, yeah. I was kind of hoping you'd agree to go out with me."

Silence. I didn't know what to say. I had suspected this from the beginning, but now that he was actually asking me the question, my mind went blank. Say yes, you moron! My brain finally screamed at me. "Yes. I mean, I'd love to go out with you, but there's just one thing..."

"What's that?" He sounded nervous again.

"What is your name, anyway?"

"Oh!" He chuckled on the other end of the line. "Sorry, it's Ash."

"Ash," I repeated. "Not very cop-like. Do you have a Pikachu instead of a dog?"

"Ha ha." He was obviously not amused. "Well if you don't like it..." He replied, sounding dejected.

"No! I love it!" I slid into my leather computer desk chair. I could almost hear the smile in his voice as Ash responded:

"Good. I like your name too, Dimitrios."

"How did--?" For a moment I had no idea how he could possibly know my name, which shows how dense I can be sometimes. "Oh right, from my licence."

Ash laughed. "Yeah, those things tend to have that kind of information on them."

I chuckled, though I was blushing a bit from my idiocy. "So about that date...?"

"Oh, right. Well, how about the basics, dinner and a movie? My treat."

"Sounds good to me."

"So it's a date then?" He sounded like he was worried I would suddenly change my mind.

"It's a date."

That may sound like the end of our conversation, but it actually went on much longer. We talked about everything; our families, friends, just about anything that popped into our heads. We finally hung up around 2 am. I know the time because that's about when Craven finally dragged his ass in.

"Where the hell have you been?" I asked in my best angry father voice.

"Fiona's"

I rolled my eyes. I hated that I was right. That girl was no good for him. Somehow I had to get him to realize it. Before I could say anything, he continued. "So what did you do all night?"

"Well, I went to Griffon for awhile, and when I got back," I paused for dramatic effect. "I called the cop."

"You did?! That's great!" He plopped into the leather chair which I had long abandoned for my bed, and rolled it over until he was right next to me. "Well? What did you talk about?"

"Lot's of stuff," I replied, keeping purposely vague. Craven has a habit of being much too nosey. "Buuut, we agreed to meet again. He's taking me on a date."

"Yes! My boy's getting' a man!" He stopped suddenly. "Wait, that sounds kind of odd. Oh well, who cares," he shrugged. "My boy's getting' a MA-ON!"

I covered my eyes with my arm and rolled back laughing. Craven, meanwhile had jumped out of the chair chanting his new catch phrase. It was too painful to watch. "Craven! CRAVEN! Sh.. shut up. Look, I don't know if I'm getting a ma-on for sure. We're just going on a date, geez. That doesn't mean we'll be married by dawn."

Craven stopped for a second and shrugged. "It's close enough for me." Then promptly returned to his chant. I shook my head, completely embarrassed for the boy, and rolled over in bed to face the wall. I suspected our next-door neighbours would be slamming the wall, telling him to shut up any minute.

The next week went by incredibly slow. The day I'd called Ash was a Tuesday, and we had set our date for Saturday, not a particularly original day for such activities, but it was as good as any. Anyway, I was rather displeased with myself come Friday, since I had handed in a substandard assignment because of my daydreaming. I decided right then that no man was worth bad grades over. But when Ash showed up at my door the next evening, dressed in a purple button down shirt that was just tight enough in all the right places, and khaki pants that accentuated his butt perfectly, well, let's just say my resolve weakened a bit. Craven would tell you that I was reduced to a blubbering idiot. Oh yes, he had managed to make sure he was in the room when Ash arrived, thwarting all of my attempts to have him elsewhere.

Ash smiled when I opened the door, flashing his teeth, which were perfect as far as I was concerned. I admit, I just stood there for a moment, looking at him. Who knows how long I would have if he hadn't interrupted me?

"So, can I come in?"

I blinked and shook my head slightly. "Oh, yes, right!" I opened the door wider so he could enter, smiling like an idiot the whole time.

Craven, acting as if he hadn't been waiting as anxiously as I had, looked up from the book he'd picked up the moment Ash had knocked. "Oh, hello. You must be D's date for the evening."

I rolled my eyes, but Ash decided to play along. "Why yes I am, sir." He reached out to shake Craven's hand. "Dimitrios is a charming young man. I would be honoured if you were to give me permission to enjoy his company this evening."

Craven decided to get even more into the part, and began puffing an imaginary pipe. "Well now, I believe that can be arranged..." Before he had a chance to finish, I grabbed Ash's hand and pulled him to the door. "God you two.. Come on, let's go." Ash laughed and followed my lead.

"You two have fun!" Craven called after us. I rolled my eyes again.

"Goodnight. 'Dad.'" I called over my shoulder. In the hall, we both started laughing. "I'm sorry about that. I think Craven's been more excited about this than I have. Sometimes I think he's too interested in my love life."

"No, no. It's fine. It's nice that your room mate cares so much about you."

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is." It was then that I realized I was still holding his hand. I looked down, and then back up at him. He smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. My smile broadened. "So, where are we going for dinner?"

"Actually, my place. I cooked."

"Wow, gorgeous, and you cook..."

Ash blushed. "Well, actually, I had some help. I usually am a good cook, but I was a nervous wreck today. I had my neighbour help me."

"Aww, that's so sweet! I'm going to have to thank said neighbour some day."

"I guess so... So, do you really think I'm gorgeous?"

I stopped walking and turned so I was facing him, pressing my chest against his and looking him straight in the eye. "Drop dead."

Taking me completely by surprise, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. I swear to God that time stopped. It wasn't a long kiss, or one that was particularly passionate. Just his lips pressing against mine. But it was amazing.

He pulled away after a moment and we were both taken aback.

"Wow," was all I could manage to say.

"You said it."

I grinned. "Aren't you supposed to wait until after the date to do that?"

Ash shrugged. "I couldn't wait. Sue me."

I shook my head and continued smiling as we walked the rest of the way to his car. "You know, I could have just gone to your place. You didn't have to pick me up."

"I know I didn't. I wanted to. Besides, I know you don't have a car, so I figured it would be easier this way." He led me to the car that was parked by the curb. It was his police car, and I assumed it was what he always drove. He opened the door for me, being the gentleman that he was, and shut it for me once I'd slipped inside. We rode in relative silence on the way to his place. I stared out the window occasionally, and other times stared at him while he drove. Even few minutes he would look over and smile, giving me a warm, gooey feeling inside.

It didn't take long to arrive at his apartment, and he once again opened the door for me. "Such a gentleman," I laughed. He just grinned.

He led me up to his apartment, and when he opened the door, the most wonderful smells enveloped me. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Ash? Is that you dear?" A motherly voice came from inside. "What perfect timing, I was just finishing up!" The woman who the voice belonged to looked like every grandmother rolled up into one, at least from the neck up; grey hair done in tight curls surrounding a slightly podgy face framed by a pair of wire rimmed glasses. But that was were the similarities ended. She was wearing a navy blue t-shirt with a logo that was too worn with age for me to tell what it said and a pair of faded blue jeans. "Oh, hello, you must be Dimitrios!" She wiped her hands on a towel and proceeded to pump my arm off my body. "I'm Mrs. Parker, but you can call me Meg." I started to say hello, but Meg cut me off. "Oh, Ash here has been talking about you all week. He's been so nervous about tonight, whether it would go well or not."

"Meg!" Ash hissed. He was embarrassed, which I thought was cute.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. Well, I'm finished with dinner. You two have fun now. Oh, and Ash, I put some condoms in your nightstand. You have to be safe, dear."

"Meg!" This time it was both of us, which caused her to laugh.

"Well, I'll be going now. Enjoy your meal!" With that she exited, leaving Ash and I alone in the apartment.

"I didn't tell her to get condoms, by the way. I wouldn't be that presumptuous..." He seemed genuinely afraid that I would think he was only trying to get into my pants.

I grinned and shook my head. "Don't worry about it." I took his hands and looked him in the eye. "And who knows? We may need them after all."

His eyes widened for a moment. "Oh! Um, I don't want you to think I'm pressuring you. I mean, if you want to, them..." I put a finger to his lips to quiet him.

"Look, you need to know something. What I just said wasn't very fair. I'm a virgin, and I don't plan on having sex with just anyone. But if we do... make love tonight, it will be because I chose to, not because I was pressured into it."

Ash smiled and nodded. "That sounds fair to me." Still holding my hands, he led me into the dining room, where our meal awaited. Meg could have been a gourmet chef; the meal she had prepared for us (which Ash insisted he helped make) was amazing. Most of it was food I'd never seen before, but it all tasted heavenly. By the end of the meal, I was stuffed, but pleasantly so.

Once we finished, Ash cleared the table, and upon returning, sat in his chair and just stared at me.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" I ask, suddenly very self conscious

He chuckled. "No, there's nothing on your face. I just wanted to look at you. I haven't really been able to do so yet."

I smiled. "And do you like what you see?"

"I love it."

Not blushing didn't seem to be an option, and I knew my face was turning red. "Careful, Mister, or you may get lucky tonight!"

"That would be nice." He smiled. Suddenly he began rubbing his hands together. "You know what? There really aren't any movies I want to see. How about we rent something and stay in?" I couldn't help but think it was awfully convenient that he suddenly wanted to stay in, but I didn't really mind. Fact was, I kind of wanted to as well.

We ended up renting Trick, a movie that he'd never seen, and I loved to death. It was a gay romantic comedy, and I owned my own copy, though that one was still living in my parents' house along with my DVD player. We made it back to his place in record time, bringing with us the movie and plenty of snacks, settling on the couch after putting the movie in the VCR.

At first we sat somewhat distant from each other, leaving some space in between us on the love seat. As the opening music began to play, I glanced over at Ash, who was looking at me. We both smiled and began scootching closer together, until we were wrapped in each other's arms. Much more comfortable in that position, we settled down to watch the movie.

I must have fallen asleep somewhere during the movie, because I was suddenly aware that I was alone on the couch, covered in a warm blanket. The clock on the VCR read 12:37, and all the light save one shining through the crack of a door, were out. I was a bit annoyed that Ash hadn't woken me up, but it didn't really matter. Stifling a yawn, I padded to the door, which I assumed lead to the bedroom and knocked lightly.

"Come on in," I turned the knob and opened it a crack, Ash was lying in bed, shirtless, wearing a pair of reading glasses and holding a book. He looked up when I peeked in and smiled. The sight of him shirtless took my breath away momentarily.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked when I'd recovered.

Ash shrugged, and beckoned for me to enter. "I don't know, standard reasons I guess. You looked so peaceful." He took off the glasses, which I thought made him look even sexier, and closed the book, setting them both on the nightstand. "Do you want a ride home? I can get dressed..."

"No! No, that's fine. Actually, I wouldn't mind...staying here." I sat on the far edge of the bed, leaning on one arm so I could face him. "If you don't mind."

"Of course not, I just didn't think you'd want to move that fast."

"I didn't say anything about sex, I just meant spending the night. Y'know, really sleeping together."

"Oh! Sorry, I thought.. sorry."

I couldn't help but chuckle. He could be so cute. "Don't worry about it, I know you didn't mean anything." I moved to the top of his double bed, lifting my legs onto the mattress, and resting my head on the pillow so I could look up at him. "Whatcha reading?" He bit his lip, as if he was embarrassed to show me. "Oh come on! Show me!" I rolled over and reached over his lap to the nightstand where he'd left the book. He grabbed my wrist, keeping it immobile, so I attempted the same maneuver with my other arm. That too was blocked, and I had no choice but to pretend to give up. I slid back to my side of the bed and sat on the edge, facing away from him. I waited for a few moments, then quickly rolled my body toward the other side.

In mid roll, he grabbed me by the waist, trapping me just short of victory. To make matters worse, he lifted up my shirt and began tickling me. Immediately I tried to curl into a ball to protect my soft underbelly, but he already had full access. "All right! I give up! I don't want to know what stupid book you're reading anyway!"

"Good," he said simply, his arms still around my stomach. I was now sitting on his lap, and I leaned against him, breathing slightly more heavily than usual because of our battle. Casually, I looked around the room, absorbing the conditions that Ash slept in every night. But I had an ulterior motive. If he thought I had really given up, I might get a glance at his book!

By now, we were both sitting quietly, his hands slowly moving up and down my stomach. The feeling was amazing, which I never would have thought possible from such a simple action. My mind began to drift from the book, wanting nothing more that for that feeling to last.

My shirt suddenly felt unforgivably tight, and I quickly unbuttoned it, leaned forward to pull it off my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

I looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, if I'm going to spend the night here, I can't very well stay in my clothes forever. How uncomfortable would that be?"

Ash nodded. "Ok, I see." He took the top of my shirt in his hands, helping me get out of it. Once it was off, I tossed it on the floor. Now we were both shirtless, and I leaned back against his chest and felt his warm skin touch mine for the first time. All those things they say about electricity were true, and the sensation increased as Ash wrapped his strong arms around me

I inhaled sharply. "You'd better stop that, or we're definitely going to need those condoms."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't be opposed. But it's your decision. I won't push you."

I grinned, though he couldn't see it, and shifted my position to face him. "That was the right answer." I leaned forward to kiss him deeply, before leaning to better my access of the nightstand. The condoms were right on top, where Meg said they would be. As I sat up straight, I caught a glimpse of the title of the forbidden book. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Harry Potter.

To Be Continued...