Mistaken Identity

The loudness of the music and screams of hundreds of people as they cried out in joy and laughter was deafening to his ears. Coloured flags flew up one side of the avenue and down the other with wild excitement. He looked around the crowded streets and even paused to watch the string of flamboyant floats that paddled down the avenue and even smiled and waved back at the lines of men in drag. Half-naked people lined either side of the avenue for what seemed like miles and miles. Noise came from all directions; some in songs, some in laughter, and some in declarations of love and sex.

Backing up as a group of leather-clad men passed in front of him, he bumped into another man and quickly turned to apologise. "I'm sorry," he had to shout over the crowd that had for some reason gotten louder. The young man was about Michael's age and handsome. He smiled as the man smiled back at him with a wink.

"It's okay." The yell back was a sweet sound, not harsh at all. "I'm Richard. What's yours?" The man was a handsome dirty-blond and somewhat muscular in the arms and torso. In fact, except for the short blond hair, he looked almost like Michael. His white T-shirt and tight blue jeans caught Michael's eye immediately. His voice had been a bit deeper than Michael's but it still carried a softness to it that Michael found exhilerating.

With a smile, he answered. "I'm Michael." He stepped back as two butch-looking women, holding hands, passed between them. He wasn't sure if it was because of the dream or if it happened at all but his dream seemed to pull things along. "You wanna get a drink, or something, out of the noise?" He shouted overtop of the trumpets and drums that now came merrily down the avenue.

"Sure! Come on, I know a spot where it's quiet." Richard took Michael by the hand and led him out of the crowd and over to a small cafe that had boomed since the Pride Parade began but was now mellowing out as the day got later. The feel of Richard's hand felt almost like Michael's own. It was warm and smooth, not cold or clammy like in some dreams. The scent that followed Richard was a faint baby powder smell.

As they stepped in and sat down at a corner booth, in the back of the cafe, Richard ordered two beers and two slices of pie that they had settled on. Sitting across from the other young man, he smiled and asked if this was Michael's first parade.

Michael smiled back and took a sip of the beer that had been placed in front of him a minute prior. "No." He blushed, shyly. "I'm here visiting my parents and got caught up in this one. How about you?" Folding his arms on the edge of the table, he watched as Richard took a long swallow of his beer before answering.

Richard blushed, now. "Yea. I wanted to come last year but, I had to work on a project all week. Is it always this exciting?"

Laughing, Michael nodded. "Yep. The year before last, we had very few Dotties show up. This year actually made up for the loss." He paused for another sip. "You live around here?"

"No." Richard took another sip. "I'm actually moving down to South River. Staying here over night and then heading out in the morning. My hotel is just down the street."

Michael woke up to the sound of the shower turning on. It sounded like a loud crash of thunder that came from the bathroom. He sat up and found himself alone in the bed and that the bathroom door was cracked open. Nick was in the shower, and the room looked somewhat darker around him. He stretched and slid off of the bed, creeping closer to the bathroom door. Peeking through the crack, he saw the silhouette of Nick behind the screen and bit his lower lip in thought of what to do next.

As Nick washed his hair and body, he paid no attention to the younger man creeping into the room, behind him. Aside from getting clean, Nick was standing in the hot spray for warmth and to relax with his eyes shut. The sound of the door opening made him open his eyes and turn around in surprise. "Michael? Did I wake you?"

Michael wanted to say 'yes' but thought it would only hurt Nick's feelings so, he smiled and closed the door behind him and said, "not really." Their naked bodies met in the warmth of the hot water. He had been taken by surprise as Nick wrapped his arms around him and turned him around to press him against the cold wall of the shower.

Nick kissed Michael's lips and then moved down to his neck and chest, reveling in the feel of Michael's body and the loving arms that now received him openly. As he made it down to Michael's waist and started to lick hungrily at the protruding erection, he looked up at Michael looking down at him and paused. "What's the matter, love?" When he stood up, he could see that Michael's expression was between happiness and confusion. "Michael?"

With no words to come out and a cold chill that raced down his spine, Michael shook his head and kissed the older man again. He wasn't sure what the dream meant, or who the Richard man was but he silently hoped it would shed more light on who he was and how he managed to be mistaken for Nick's lover. The sexual experience with Nick was groundbreaking and explosive, in terms of sensations, but it had only served to give him cryptic dreams.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Nick tried to make sense of what Michael's expression was saying but couldn't. He kissed the frozen lips in hopes of bringing back Michael's voice and only found that Michael was kissing him back with passion that sparked his excitement even more. The kiss deepened until neither could stand it any longer. Turning off the water, backing out of the showerstall and grabbing his towel, Nick dried them both off and guided Michael back to the bed.

~~~~

Their play had lasted off and on for several hours but Michael was still thinking of the dream he had. It was well after dark by the time Nick had let Michael settle down for a snooze. Michael wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to sleep so, he propped himself up on his right elbow and watched the other man sleep, peacefully. He found it amazing that Nick let him try a few things instead of Nick limiting it to just one person.

The more Michael explored Nick's body and let the sensations guide him, the more he felt alien to himself. He enjoyed how Nick made him feel but, it wasn't what he had originally thought of when Nick gave him the first shot and told him that only sex would cure the side effects. He breathed in and out quietly, listening to Nick's soft and even breathing.

A yawn as he moved his arm to lay his head down on the pillow and close his eyes.

It took awhile for Michael to fall asleep but he lay there quietly and listened to the peacefully dreamings of the man beside him. In falling asleep, his ears filled with the sounds of his own laughter and the jokings of another man, whom he assumed was Nick.

Spring had caused Michael to be extra hot in clothes so, he shimmied out of even the thinnest T-shirt and shortest shorts to lounge on the livingroom sofa absolutely naked. Nick had noticed his nude lover, stretched out and posed like an elegant 19th century painting, as he retrieved a cup of black coffee from the kitchen.

"What are you doing? It's the middle of the day, Michael." Nick stood in the entryway, between the den where he had been working on plans and the livingroom. The cup of hot liquid had been perched at his lips when he noticed Michael's very firm erection.

Michael laughed seductively and crooked a finger at Nick for him to approach. "It is never too early for naked sex, Nicky. Come on, take off that ridiculous suit and go grab the honey."

Nick sighed and shook his head. "No, I have alot of work to do and I'm expecting a business associate to drop by with plans on the new Metro-mall. Get dressed and we can play later, okay?" He continued on into the den to finish his plans but paused to look up to watch Michael grab his clothes and stomp upstairs like a pouting child. With another sigh, Nick wondered what a younger man saw in an older, business professional like himself. He admitted to himself that Michael had given him an excuse to relax and have fun on several occasions but that was all Michael seemed to be interested in.

After what seemed like only a few moments, Nick appeared in the bedroom doorway with his dress shirt half-unbuttoned. He found Michael lounging on the bed, still naked, and rubbing lotion over his body. "Some left for me?"

As Michael looked up at the older man who was removing his suitpants, he smiled and nodded wickedly.

Michael awoke and sat up to find that it was still nighttime and Nick was still asleep beside him. Checking the clock on the other side of Nick, he sighed as he had only been asleep for a few hours. Flopping back down onto the pillow, he stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before yawning and rolling away from the other man to close his eyes again and sleep.

There was fighting and loud voices but he couldn't see anything but blackness and floating coloured spots. He felt someone holding onto his arms and shaking him violently as they were yelling. The words were indestinct but the tone was something he had come to know somehow.

"I forbid it! You come back and expect me to just let you walk in here like before? Everything's changed!" The voice yelled but didn't reveal the face of his attacker. It was a male voice and definately older, much older than Nick but not quite older than Dr. Madison. "Get back here! Don't you walk out when I'm talking to you. You're still my son, and I can tell you how stupid you're acting!"

Michael had screamed something back but it seemed to come out in extremely slow motion. In fact, he couldn't seem to run faster than the tar for a ground would let him. By that time, the words blended together and his vision spun with the strange scenery. He was being shaken again and his name was being called, over and over, louder and louder until his ears hurt and rang with the new voice.

"Michael! Wake up!" Nick sat on his knees and was shaking Michael by the forearms, waiting for the younger man to wake from his animated nightmare. The blanket to the bed had been kicked to the floor at the end of the bed and the sheet was in total disarray. "Open your eyes, Michael! It's Nick. You're okay. No one will hurt you, now. Wake up, love!"

When Michael finally opened his eyes with a loud scream, he stared straight into big, soft brown eyes. "He's gone. It's over! It's over!" He sighed audibly and wrapped his arms around Nick's bare shoulders, letting the calm breathing of the other man calm him down. "It was horrible. This man was shouting at me, horrible things. I couldn't see him. I just couldn't see him, or run fast enough, but he kept yelling and shaking me."

Nick pulled him away to hold him and arms length and try to calm him down. "He can't hurt you, here. You're safe, love. I promise." Concern played over his darkened features but he tried to only show Michael reassurances. He sighed inwardly and wondered if their play had shook loose a few bad memories. As tears spilled down, Nick embraced him again and did his best to listen. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Holding the older man as if his sanity counted on it, Michael shook his head and mumbled a sob-filled "no."

"Okay." They sat there a few moments until Nick could pull away. "I'll go downstairs and get some water for you. You should probably take your medicine, too." Making his way to the end of the bed and sliding off, Nick paused as his hand was grabbed in thought. He turned and smiled softly. "Lie down, and I'll only be a minute, love." As Michael obliged, he left the room and hurried downstairs and through the dark house to the kitchen.

~~~~

The phone rang three times and was picked up on the fourth by a groggy-sounding man on the other end. "Hello?"

"Henry, it's Nick. Drop what you're doing tomorrow morning and come over." Nick had kept his voice low enough so that the sound wouldn't travel up to the bedroom. He hadn't waited for the doctor to say anything more than a greeting before he frantically spilled out his instructions.

Henry sat up in bed and turned on his bedside lamp to look at the old fashioned alarm clock by the phone. "Nicholas? What's the matter? Is Michael alright?"

Nick wedged the cordless phone between his right shoulder and his ear to free his hands that numbly reached for the cabinets to get a glass for Michael's water. "Yes, yes, Michael's alright. He had a bad dream; one that was very damaging for him. I'm getting him some water now, but I need you to bring your bag and maybe help put an end to this dilemma." Spinning around to face the fawcett, he filled the glass with water and then set it on the countre while he paused to think of which kind of treatment to give the upset young man.

"Bad dreams, huh? Hmm. What did you and he do all day? How did he react to the activities?" Henry was genuinely curious and wondered if he shouldn't come over that moment. His wife had been asleep, next to him, and only rolled away from him as the dim light flickered on. This being Henry's second wife, he was glad that she at least understood his late night calls from frantic patients. As Nick proceeded to tell him the day's events, he sighed and furrowed his brow at the sex. "Nicholas, I told you it was too early for that. Let him come into it on his own."

Grabbing the syringe filled with yellow liquid from the silverware drawer, Nick had to stop himself from raising his voice in retort. "I did let him come into it, doctor. He was the one who gave me permission to make love to him. We took a nap after a breakfast play, and then I took a shower. He started in again, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up to him screaming and thrashing in bed." He paused again to carry both the syringe and glass of water in one hand and the phone in the other to the bottom of the stairs. "I am on my way up to give him his medicine. I should be up by seven."

Henry agreed and said his goodbyes before they hung up. Turning off the light and snuggling down into the bed, he mumbled under his breath, "that poor boy."

Nick carried up the water and syringe after replacing the phone back on the cradle, in the kitchen. Taking a small breath before entering the room, he found Michael sitting up again and waiting for him. "I'm back. It's all right. Here is some water and then I had a shot for you. Are you hungry at all?"

Michael had been too shaken to notice his own stomach growling louder with each second. "A little. Too early for eggs?"

Looking over at the clock, Nick smiled. "No, I don't think 2 A.M. is too early for eggs." Holding up the syringe as he looked back and setting the glass down on the floor, after letting Michael take a few sips from it, he waited for Michael to roll onto his stomach for the shot. After administering the shot, Nick found himself tempted by the firm mounds that had been presented but decided to abstain for the night. "Come on, I'll fix you some eggs."

Michael had waited for something to happen, like a touch or a kiss or something but nothing happened. He rolled over to find Nick standing at the doorway and waving him to hurry up. Michael shivered as he stood up and debated slipping on some clothes that Nick had folded neatly and placed on the dressertop but decided not to as they left the room and headed downstairs.


Continued.