In the middle of the night, I abruptly woke up to a man on top of me, pinning my body to the bed so I couldn't move. Opening my eyes, I discovered Teddy gripping my wrists so tight he practically cut off my circulation. He wasn't as weak as he claimed to be. "Teddy, what the hell are you doing?"

"Who are you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"What are you talking about? Get the fuck off me."

"Who are you?" he repeated.

"I'm Eric Gagnon, and I'm filling in for Ms. Tremblay for—"

"No," he cut me off. "Tell me the truth. Who are you?"

"I'm Eric," I insisted. "What more do you want me to say?"

"Where the hell did you come from, Eric?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. You'll have me committed. As soon as I get home, I'm checking myself into a psychiatric hospital. Wow, you're stronger than you look."

"Where's home?"

"Lowell. I live in the Highlands... around the block from here."

"Then why are you staying here?"

Again, I didn't know how to respond, so I said nothing. His knee was between my legs, perhaps a little too close to my crotch. One move and he'd squash my balls. Teddy caught me by surprise, bringing his hand to my throat. I tried to break free, but he had such a hold of me, I could barely budge, not to mention breathe. His anger frightened me, and for a minute I thought he'd kill me.

"Tell me, Eric."

With all of his weight on me, he blocked one of my arms with his elbow while his hand held the other arm down. If I couldn't breathe, then I couldn't respond to his questions. "I... I... I can't breathe..." I coughed. He lightened his grip, finally allowing me to breathe. I gasped for air.

"I'm sorry, Eric. I lost my temper. I just want answers."

Tears blurred my vision as my body reacted to his. As tears fell, he slowly released my wrist. He wiped my cheeks with his fingers, making me cry harder. "I want to go home," I said, sounding like a homesick little boy on a camping trip away from home for the first time.

"Where's home? And don't say the Highlands. You already said that and I don't believe you."

"My home hasn't been built yet," I said. "It's not built until 1962. I can't do this anymore." More and more tears fell.

"1962, huh?" he said suspiciously.

"I know it sounds fucked up. It is fucked up."

"Stop crying," he said. I placed my hand on top of his and slowly guided it to my lips. I kissed his palm. He seemed so real, nothing like a dream. "I was hoping you could tell me what this is." From the pocket of his pajama top, he pulled out my Apple watch. I hadn't realized it was missing.

"That's my watch," I said.

"It doesn't look like a watch. I mean, it's black, and there's no hands... no numbers... nothing, and the wristband is cloth and a rainbow. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen."

"The watch is dead. It needs to charge. You wouldn't understand, Teddy. The rainbow is a symbol of gay pride. Again, something you wouldn't understand."

"Gay pride? What does that mean?"

"I can't get into it right now. I'm gay and I'm proud of it, okay? And you should be, too, but you can't be because it's 1935."

Teddy stopped and pondered, his brow furrowed as he considered what questions to ask me. "Are you from a different universe?"

I sniffed, shaking my head. "No. I'm from a different time. I've been living in a dream and I can't wake up. I want to go home."

"Tell me about this dream," he said, relaxing his body, resting his head on my shoulder. I avoided his eyes as I was about to tell him my unbelievable story. "It's alright. I promise I won't hurt you."

"One night, I got in a taxi and it took me here. Jimmy met me at the taxi and walked me to the school. After school, he brought me here, and then I met you."

"Was it a yellow taxi cab?"

I nodded, shifting my gaze from the floor to him.

"I'd never seen a yellow taxi cab before, but there it was, parked in front of the Sun building," he said. "Tell me more." He slid his hands under my pajama top, the warmth of his hands radiating against my stomach. I was eager to hear about his experience with the taxi, but he wanted to hear my story first.

"It's crazy. What I'm about to tell you... well, you can't tell anyone, Teddy, not even after I leave. I'm supposed to be here for thirty days, but I want to go home now." I cried like a baby, nevertheless enjoying Teddy's hands on my bare skin. He reached farther up my top, rubbing his hands over my nipples, making my body shudder. "I don't belong here. I was born in 1992, and I'm thirty years old. I miss my phone and my TV. I was binge watching a great show—"

"What's a TV?" he interrupted me.

"Television... mini movie screens people watch in their living rooms and bedrooms. And we have portable phones the size of a wallet. We can call people whenever and wherever we want, and we can send messages. You can watch movies on it, too. There's YouTube and... and... homosexuality isn't a crime. I don't want to live in 1935. I thought I was brought here because I needed to be here. Okay, I get it. I found my purpose. My purpose in life is to teach, but I don't understand what role you play in all this."

He leaned over, pressing his arousal against mine. "Can you feel that?" he asked as an electric current ran between us.

I nodded. "Are you telling me your role is to fuck me?"

Teddy burst into a fit of giggles.

"Ssh," I said, holding my hand over his mouth.

He pinched my nipples, turning me on even more. It was like he knew what turned me on. "If you're thirty, then you're telling me you're from the year 2022?"

"2023. I'll be thirty-one in July."

Teddy got off me and sat beside me, bringing his knees to his chest.

"I know it makes no sense," I said.

"Do you think it's possible that we've met before?" Teddy asked.

"Right now, I'd believe anything. When did you last see the taxi?"

"I can't remember. My memory's fuzzy. I thought it was a dream."

"Where did you tell the driver you wanted to go?"

"New York City 1999 to see the ball drop to bring in the new millennium. It's funny. I remember thinking it was 1999 when I stepped out of the taxi, but then I realized I was in Lowell. The buildings downtown looked similar, but the stores were gone. There were lots of homeless people on the streets. I just wanted to go home, and then a woman picked me up in a car."

"Do you remember the year?"

"2014 or 2015? Maybe we're both in a dream now, experiencing the same one. We're already involved, Eric, and there's nothing we can do about it. We might as well make the most of it."

He brought his knees down and knelt on the bed, hovering over me. He kissed the corner of my mouth, unbuttoning the top button of my pajama top. I cupped his chin in my palms, returning his kiss full on his lips. He moaned, exhaling into my mouth. His lips brushed against my neck, pushing my pajama top off my shoulders. It'd been so long, I didn't give a shit if this was a dream or not or if our hearts would be broken.

Instead of pinching my nipples, he kissed one, then the other. I impatiently lifted his top over his head and threw it across the room. Admiring his all-too-familiar chest and stomach, I traced the line of dark hair down the center of his chest. His body jerked slightly as I played with the tufts under his belly button. He was sensitive and ticklish. "Take them off," I said. He stood up and pushed his bottoms down to his ankles. He kicked them off before falling back to his knees. Smiling shyly, he took my hand and placed it on his dick.

"This is okay, right?" he said.

"Yes, it's okay."

"It feels right," he said in my ear, slipping his hand inside the front of my bottoms. I wiggled out of them, freeing my throbbing erection. In each other's arms, we resumed kissing. Our kisses grew deeper and more desperate, hungry for love.

I twirled his curls around my fingers as he scooted down my body. Holding my dick, he peered up at me, kissing the tip. As he sucked, I gripped the sheets, biting my bottom lip to fight off my sounds.

"Oh, you naughty boy, you've done this before," I said, stroking the back of his head. "Come here." I pulled him back up to me, kissing him again. I flipped him on his back, ready to go down on him. "I feel like we've done this before... you and I together."

Teddy guided my head down his body, encouraging me. He held my head, guiding me just the way he wanted it. Yeah, he'd done this before. He bit his finger, moaning.

"Ssh," I said with his dick in my mouth. That only made him moan louder. I released him and kissed him hard on his mouth to muffle him. Using my saliva as lubricant, I inserted a finger, opening him up. We gazed into each other's eyes as I made my way inside him. He winced, whimpering against my lips. I pushed him away slightly, noticing his wet cheeks. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to..."

"I'm okay," he said, clinging to me. He hooked his ankles behind my back as I resumed, thrusting slowly back and forth. If I moved too fast, the bed squeaked and people down below could hear us. "You're right. This feels so familiar... and so good. Right there. Yeah... yeah." As we kissed, I hit that spot over and over.

I wrapped my hand around his dick and pumped faster and faster as I thrust deep inside him. His body trembled, shuddering against mine as he cried out. I held his ankles at my shoulders on the verge of the biggest orgasm of my life. Teddy's hips shifted up, his ass lifting off the bed as I finished inside him.

Teddy panted, draping an arm over his forehead, staring at the attic beams. I remained inside him as I collapsed on top of him, listening to his rapidly beating heart. Teddy reached for the blankets and threw them over our naked bodies. "Your mother won't wash my sheets, will she?" I asked.

"She might, so you better change the sheets yourself or hide them," he said with his arms around me. "I remember the woman's name."

"What woman's name?"

"The woman who picked me up. Her name was Erin."

I propped myself on my elbows so I was eye to eye with Teddy. "That's my sister's name."

"Hmm... what a coincidence, huh?"

"It's not a coincidence. None of this is a coincidence. My sister picked you up and your brother picked me up."

"How do you know it was your sister?"

"Because it's the only thing that makes sense. We have to get Jimmy to talk. He knows something."

"I doubt he'll talk, but we can try."

"You can be pretty convincing," I said.

"I'm afraid to go to sleep," he said. "Because I'm afraid you won't be here when I wake up."

I combed my fingers through his damp hair, kissing his cheek. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"How do you know?"

"Because I haven't been here for thirty days. I have twenty more to go."

Teddy fell asleep in my arms. Earlier in the night, I was desperate to go home, but now I wasn't so sure. My attempt at being an asshole didn't work. Teddy saw through me. However, I was certain that I could never stay in 1935.

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