A World Apart

Thank you for your reviews, Kristina and Maggot 23. I love reading them!! Here\'s a fluffy (literally) chapter for you!



Chapter 25



I had been nervous walking home. Not because I was with him, but because I wondered if my parents would have been home or not. Of course they weren\'t. Both were at their early morning jobs - my dad at the hospital and my mom at the bank. I timidly walked up past our driveway and entered the password on the key pad to our garage. The door opened eventually and I noticed our one and only family car was parked inside.



We never used the car anymore and were planning on selling it. Like my brothers and I, my parents walked to their jobs every morning to preserve the environment. Driveways, although once used for cars in the area, now usually served as front yard patios and garages as storage. Next to our red four door sedan was what I had been searching for, my Harley.



"I\'m going to go in the house and get some stuff," I said softly, “You can come with me...if you want to."



He nodded and followed me inside the new house. I walked up the several flights of stairs and began idly shoving various articles of clothing into a small bag. Logan didn\'t question it, and allowed me to pack. I figured that a few t-shirts, one for me and one for him would be enough. I wasn\'t sure how long we\'d be gone or even where we were going to go. Anywhere would have been fine with me. I got up, off the ground, where I had been digging around and turned to see Logan patiently waiting for me.



"Okay," I said, walking back out of my room and down the steps once again.



Logan followed silently behind me and padded down the maple stairs of my home. I grabbed a few bottled waters from inside our refrigerator and went back into the garage. I moved around the car, trying to get to my bike.



"Oh my God. You have a motorcycle? That\'s awesome. I saw one once when I was younger, but since they\'re not allowed anymore-"



I began trying to turn the bike around, which made Logan\'s remark cut off.



"You\'re going to ride it?" He asked suddenly.



"That was my intention," I said, pulling the bike out of the garage.



I strapped the bag to the side and Logan followed me back outside into the midmorning sunlight. I walked over to the keypad and closed the garage door. I got on the bike, and turned the key in the ignition. It revved to life, which I was grateful. It hadn\'t been ridden for a long time. I turned to see Logan\'s bewildered expression a few feet away.



“Are you coming?" I asked.



He stared at me for a moment with wide eyes before nodding, pushing my tail to the side and putting one leg on the other side to settle behind me on the bike. I felt his arms clasped tightly around my waist. I pushed the kickstand up and gassed it up. I pulled out of my driveway loudly, not caring what people thought.



Although Logan\'s grip around my waist was tight and a bit nervous, I think he was enjoying it, but who wouldn\'t? I loved the feeling of the wind on my face and the speed that only a motorcycle can offer. I liked the feeling that the bike could only answer to me. It will go only where I want it.



I noticed a few cats turn, alarmed by the loud noise. They were not accustomed to having cars, let alone a cycle in their community. I didn\'t care though...I just wanted out! The tears and anguish that I had experienced before had turned into anger. I roared out of town and found the highway that headed up north. Indeed Kingsdale had been surrounded by the woods, just like it had been described. I passed thousands of trees in lush forests before slowing down for the first stop sign.



I felt Logan unclasp his hands and lay a hand on my thigh. I turned my head to see him with a big grin on his face.



"Forget I was back here?" He asked.



I shook my head," No...I-I couldn’t help but notice the way you were pressed up against me though."



He laughed. It was obvious how his body practically wrapped around me, like a lifejacket. His muscular thighs hugged the back of my legs and his chest was pressed against my back, warming me. He briefly kissed my cheek, before I started up again.



Then something occurred to me.



I wasn\'t trying to hide what I was and we were coming closer to a regular human town. What would they say? I was in my complete cat form - fluffy orange ears blowing in the wind, a long tail thrown over the side of the bike, white whiskers which helped my sense of smell, slanted eyes that searched the road, and all the little things that makes me feline. They\'d notice. What would we do? Logan would finally see how we were treated.



I drove for a while before finally arriving at our first town. It was small, a little rural community along the highway. I stopped at what looked like a deserted campsite. A perfect place to take a little break. I stopped and Logan got off and stretched. I shut the bike off and got some waters out for us. I sat down on the little picnic table left in the middle of the camp and took a long swig of the cold beverage.



"Raven, where are we going? To your old town, right?" He asked from across the table.



I sighed," I guess. I hadn\'t really planned where I was going. I just started going."



"You were really upset this morning. Are you all right, now?" Logan asked with concern.



I nodded, "Yeah. I was just really stressed. I think I was glad to have told them and to get it out, but not I\'m afraid...I\'m afraid of what they\'re going to think."



"You know what I think?"



I smiled a bit and glanced at him, "What?"



"I think everything\'s going to be just fine when you get back. It\'s not like you\'re the first person in your family to be gay. Anyway, it\'s supposedly genetic, so-"



"So, you\'re saying that Robin\'s gay because of me, but we just didn\'t know it at the time?" I asked with a grin.



He laughed openly, "Well, okay. If that\'s what you want to believe. But, really, I think it\'s going to be okay, because this isn\'t the first time you\'re family\'s heard this, so it shouldn\'t be such a shock as when Robin told them - especially your parents."



"Yeah, my mom\'s pretty laid back about this sort of thing. She\'s a kind of a hippie in our generation. She\'s a vegetarian and believes in \'love for everyone\'. But my dad\'s not like that. I don\'t think he\'s going to support it much. He hardly talks to Robin the way it is and that always kind of made me mad, because...because it\'s Robin. And he doesn\'t deserve that kind of treatment," I explained, passing the bottle of water across the table.



He took a drink and played with the cap for a while, "I think everything will cool off soon. Like I\'ve said before, this wouldn\'t have been such a big deal at school; except you\'re the new guy and everybody thought you were straight. That\'s the difference."



"They think you turned me," I said.



"Yeah. They do," He replied and turned around.



The area we were at was really quiet, except for the birds that fluttered around in the trees. The site was perfect for camping. It was lush green with grass and flowers. A few large trees were nearby and a medium sized creek ran through the area. Logan finally put the cap back on the water and handed it to me.



"Lets go look at the water," He said and waited for me to follow.



The creek sat a few yards away. I followed closely as he walked over to it. It was deep, for a creek that is, at least seven feet or so. I watched Logan squat down near the edge and stick his hand in.



"It\'s warm," He observed, looking back at me with a grin.



"So?" I said with a raised eyebrow.



"Come on, Rave. You know you want to..." He said, getting closer to the water and sticking his entire foot in.



"What? You want to go in? But these are the only clothes we have, Logan! If we get them wet, then we\'ll be wet all day," I argued.



He laughed," We\'re on a motorcycle and we\'ll get dry quickly. Come on. Check out that tree. I bet if..."



Logan quickly shed his shirt, giving me a glimpse of his solid chest. I watched as my boyfriend went to the closest tree and began climbing it, clinging to the bark with his sharp nails and pulling himself up to the first low branch. He walked across it, trying to balance, almost falling in the progress. He waved me up, but I only shook my head.



He frowned, jumped down, back onto the ground and grabbed my arm.



"Logan! What are you doing?" I asked desperately, trying to get away, but not succeeding.



"Come on. There\'s water and it\'s hot today. It\'ll feel really good and we need a break anyway. Take your shirt off and we\'ll get in!" He said.



So after a little...okay, a lot of delay I finally took my shirt off. I felt him wrap an arm around my waist, leading me over to the tree next to the creek.



"Rave! I didn\'t know you had a tattoo!" He said, noticing the dark celtic tattoo of rings that ran across my back shoulder blades.



"Yeah, I\'ve had it for two years," I replied.



"I like it," He added, tracing his finger over the rings, making me shiver, even though it was hot outside.



Logan insisted I go forward and start climbing the tree, so I grabbed onto the bark, pulling myself up the tree to the first strong branch he had been on before. He grinned a white tooth smile at me, grabbed me around the waist and dragged me to the end of the branch that was directly over the creek. I clung to him, thinking we\'d surely fall and kill ourselves.



"It\'s farther than it looks, Logan," I advised, looking down into the glimmering water to see our reflection.



"Naw it ain\'t," He said, letting me balance at the edge before, holding onto my hand," I\'m not going to go in alone. You\'ve got to go with me, all right?"



"Oh geesh-"



"All or nothing Raven," He said seriously, but I knew he was teasing.



I tried to hide a smile," Alright...alright."



He squeezed my hand," You promise? I don\'t want to go by myself."



"I promise!" I said finally, grasping his hand in anticipation.



"All right, then. On three?"



I nodded and was about to let go, but his arms came around my waist, pulling me into the water. I yelled, briefly feeling the absence of gravity before plowing into the creek under us. The water was cool and felt great on my warm body. The water was, like I had thought, about seven feet deep. I came up laughing and trying to get to the shore, but Logan had grabbed me around the waist the turned me around.



With one arm around my waist and the other cupping my cheek he found my lips easily. I closed my eyes, feeling his warm, moist lips on my mouth. I kissed him back, letting one hand slide over his dark brown ears. I heard him begin to purr again and I laughed.



"Who got who to purr this time?" I said with a big smile.



"Well, I\'m pretty sure I can get you to do it, too," He said with a mischievous smile.



"I dun think so!" I said, before scrambling out of the water.



I should have known he\'d use his fast, feline grace, but I didn\'t mind when he pounced on me and eased me to the ground. I laid underneath him in the grass and he kissed me again. The friction against my chest felt great and I let my hand roam across his abdomen. He groaned in between his purring and I felt him rub his hips against my own.



His hand left me briefly and I felt him gently tugging on my tail. I began purring loudly suddenly and he laughed.



"Sensitive aren\'t you?" He said, balancing over me.



"Hmph!"



He laughed, pulling me off the ground. I went back over to the motorcycle, where we had left our shirts. My pants were uncomfortably wet and I would be glad to get them off.



"We better get going then," I said, pulling on my shirt.



I watched Logan swing his shirt around. His jeans were dangerously low, and I watched him saunter over me in a very literal "catwalk" sort of way. Finally he put his shirt back on and hiked his wet jeans back up before settling behind me on the motorcycle. I turned back to him.



"Ready?"



"Yup. I wonder what our next rest stop will have in store for us!"