Jude

If I hadn't been doing this time travel thing for the past year, I would have thought it was a weird, fucked up dream, but I knew better than that. It happened and it was real. While in 1971, I purposely pinched Percy's waist hard enough to leave fingerprints, and I did other things he'd still feel when he woke up. If he'd told me to stop, I would have stopped, but he didn't tell me to stop. He moaned and groaned, and his orgasm was just as intense as it was earlier in my bed.

Percy and I didn't just have one intense sexual encounter in a tent enhanced by psychedelic drugs. We had multiple encounters. In the middle of the night, we raided the hippies' snacks and had another fuck in front of the fizzling campfire. Acting like hippie nudists, we ran through the grassy meadow hand-in-hand like two actors in an old TV show.

After thoroughly exhausting ourselves, we crashed outside before the crack of dawn. It was the best trip I'd ever had.

I opened my eyes, expecting to find Percy lying beside me. Instead, his side of the bed was cold, yet his scent still lingered in the air. My life kept getting more and more fucked up by the day, and now I fucked up Percy's life, too. I gave him this affliction, if that's what you wanted to call it.

Where the hell was Percy? I came back, but he didn't?

I wandered around my apartment, searching for traces of Percy. I wondered if he freaked out and left. I started to think he was a phony like everyone else. He lied when he professed his love for me. We barely knew each other. How could he love me? However, a part of me felt like we'd known each other our entire lives. As I made these assumptions, I spotted Percy's duffle bag on the floor by the couch where he left it earlier. His car keys were on the coffee table. He didn't leave. He wasn't a phony. He just hadn't come back.

"Percy!" I called to him. He had to be around here somewhere. I'd returned in weird spots before. On my way back to my bedroom, I stopped in the bathroom, checking beside the toilet and in the shower. The bathroom was empty. Frantic, I returned to the bedroom and crawled on the floor, searching for him. Maybe he landed under the bed.

Nope.

I froze as I heard retching coming from somewhere in the apartment. After a few seconds, I jumped to my feet and rushed to the bathroom where I found Percy hunched over the toilet, puking his guts out. I remembered puking my guts out, too, the first time I traveled. Beside him, I knelt on the floor, thinking of a way to comfort him.

"Go away," he coughed, pushing me away from him. "Get the fuck away from me!"

"I'm sorry, Percy. I don't know how this happened."

"There's something toxic in you and you gave it to me." He flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. Sitting on the floor, he leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "Did you drug me, Jude? I feel hung over."

"I didn't drug you. The hippies shared their joint, and the hippie woman gave us the mushrooms. You're right. There's something toxic in me. It's like a virus and I gave it to you." Pacing back and forth in the bathroom, I pulled at my hair, consumed with anxiety and unrelenting feelings of hopelessness, fear, and guilt. "We need to find those fucking doctors."

Percy staggered to his feet and stood in front of the mirror. He turned sideways, tracing the bruises on his waist. "What happened to me?" he asked, examining the bruises. "These look like fingerprints."

"Sorry. I did that."

"Damn. I'm a mess. It looks like I've been rolling around in the grass."

"That's because we did roll around in the grass."

Staring into the bathroom mirror, Percy gripped the sink while I continued to pace. I couldn't sit still. "I don't understand," he said to the man in the mirror. "What were we doing in 1971?"

"I don't know," I said. "I've been dealing with this shit for a year, and I haven't figured it out. There's no explanation."

"That's bullshit. There has to be an explanation. Whose trip do you think it was? Mine or yours? I mean, did you bring me, or did I bring you?"

"Does it matter?"

"It might," he said, reaching for my wrist, forcing me to stop pacing. He pulled me into his arms. "Relax. It's not your fault. I'm not mad at you. Come on, let's get cleaned up."

I stood with my back to Percy as he lathered my hair with shampoo. There was something very comforting and soothing the way Percy massaged my scalp. "I think we should go for a ride," he said. "Get outta here for a while... maybe get something to eat. I'll let you drive."

I nodded, tilting my head down. "I like showering with you," I said.

"Yeah, me too," he said, running his hand down the sides of my arms.

I turned around and pushed him against the wall, kissing him hard on his mouth. I hoped he'd continue to love me after we sorted out this mess.

We left the apartment without me checking my work emails, resigned to the fact I was going to get fired. As we headed to the parking garage, I sensed someone was watching us. Whenever I left my apartment, I had similar inklings, but it was never as strong as this. I stopped walking, scanning the area for the spies. A homeless man lay curled up in ball on the cold ground, a group of junkies loitered by the drug-infested homeless shelter, another couple bickering back and forth.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"Someone's watching us."

Slowly, Percy spun in a circle, searching for the alleged stalker. "I don't see anyone, but I know what you mean. It feels like someone's stalking us."

"Come on, let's get outta here," I said, grabbing his arm.

I sped out of the parking lot as if they were hot on our trail. Percy looked over his shoulder as I glanced in the rearview mirror. There was no one. Nothing unusual.

"Just keep driving," Percy said.

As I sped down the highway, Percy dozed off, forcing me to whack his thigh a few times. I had no idea where we were going. Percy just said "drive." I drove along 495 for an hour before getting off the highway in Hampton, New Hampshire, heading toward the beach. Most restaurants were closed this time of year, but I found a pizza place, one that served alcohol, too. It was only two o'clock in the afternoon, I didn't give a shit anymore. I could use a glass of wine.

Percy had no problem drinking red wine at three o'clock in the afternoon. For thirty minutes, as we shared a bottle of wine and pizza, we were almost a normal couple, talking and laughing as if we had no worries. We stayed in the moment.

The afternoon got even better. We drove to the beach and sat on the cool sand. There was no one else on the beach, except a man and his dog playing catch. Percy brought his arm around my waist, letting me rest my head on his shoulder.

"I'm so tired," I said, my voice barely audible over the pounding waves.

"Yeah, I know. If you fall asleep and disappear, I'll be here when you wake."

"What if you fall asleep, too?"

"I won't."

Yeah, right.

We were both exhausted, and the wine didn't help. It just made us sleepier.

***

Immediately I realized I was in the hallway of an apartment building. It wasn't a shitty apartment building like mine that should be condemned. I'd call it a luxury apartment building. As an elevator door opened, I quickly hid behind one of the tall fake plants in the hallway. I had a weird feeling that I wasn't alone, even though the hallway was empty.

I covered my mouth, stifling my gasp as the elevator opened. Holding a leather briefcase and wearing a business suit, Percy walked out. This Percy resembled the current Percy. I realized I'd traveled back to a more recent history. I bet Percy lived in an apartment in this building with Lyndsay. Since meeting Percy in 2024, I hadn't traveled back in time to meet a younger version. So far, I'd done nothing to alter the present. In fact, I never thought it was possible.

"Alonzo," I called to him.

Percy stopped in his tracks. His eyes roamed the area, searching for the familiar voice. "Alonzo... over here." He paused, looking toward the plant. When I waved, he gave me the middle finger and walked the other way, forcing me to run after him. He spun around and shoved me so hard I landed on my bare ass.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry," Percy said, crouching in front of me. He removed his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders before someone walked down the hall. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" I winced as Percy reached for my hands. He helped me to my feet. He folded his arms across his chest, practically glaring at me as I buttoned his coat. His coat was big enough to cover all the important parts. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to do this to you. It's not my fault. Do you think I want to be out here butt naked?"

"You can't stay long. Lyndsay'll be home in soon."

"I don't have much time, anyway. Can we get out of the hallway?"

As I walked with him, I heard rustling in one of the tall plants. My eyes met Percy's as he trembled and cowered behind the plant, scared shitless. I brought my finger to my mouth.

When we fell asleep, Percy came with me again. He was the one who got us here.

"I'm gonna give you some clothes and then you gotta leave. I can't do this anymore. It's driving me crazy. What do you want from me?"

"A favor. First, what year is it?"

"2023. Why do you always look the same? It's like you never age."

"That's because I'm from 2024. I was born in 1999," I said.

"You've told me that before."

I followed him into the bedroom, disturbed by the amount of woman's clothing in the room. He was so gay, I couldn't picture him with a woman.

"What's the date?" I asked.

"January 18th," he said, rummaging through his dresser drawers.

"Could you get me two sets of clothes?"

"Why?" he asked, removing two pairs of boxers and two t-shirts from his top dresser drawer. "You plan on staying a couple of days? Usually you just stay a night and vanish. I never wanted you to leave, you know."

"I know. I just need some extra clothes."

"I want you to stop seeing me. Go bug someone else."

"I want to stop," I said, pulling up a pair of boxers. "I have to tell you some things. First, my name isn't Kevin. It's Jude. Judah Prak."

"Jude? Why'd you tell me your name's Kevin? I've been calling you Kevin for years."

"It was the first name that popped in my head, and it's a common name. Jude's not as common."

"Jude's a way cooler name."

"You say that in 2024, too. Listen, Percy. There's gonna be an accident two weeks from today. It happens on the intersections of Appleton and Gorham Streets in downtown Lowell... you know, that really bad intersection where people always go the wrong way. I want you to go there. I'm in that accident. All I want you to do is follow the ambulance. Don't interact with anyone. I need you to find out where the ambulance takes me, and make sure you get the name of the ambulance. I've tried to find out the name of the ambulance and the hospital, but no one knows. My mother won't tell me. Promise me you'll do those things."

"Why are you acting so crazy? Like you're in a hurry. Don't you have to fall asleep somewhere? I can get you a hotel room."

Percy didn't seem to believe me, or he wasn't interested in doing me this favor.

"Please, Percy. I need you to do this for me... for us. I need you to get the name of the ambulance and the hospital. Promise me you'll do that and that's all you'll do. You can't do anything else. No matter how tempted you are to intervene, you can't and you can't find me after the accident. There's no way for you to stop it. I've thought about it a million times. If you stop it, then they won't experiment on me, and then we'll never meet. Please... I just need you to do this for me."

Percy swallowed hard, gazing into my eyes, unsure as to what to do.

"I promise you we're going to be together and we're gonna have a great time. Please tell me you'll do this."

"Yes," he whispered. "I'll do it. Two weeks from today."

"Don't try to find me."

"Yeah... yeah..."

"Thank you," I said and kissed his cheek. "One more thing. Could I borrow your driver's license and credit card?"

"Why do you need my license and credit card?"

"So I can get a hotel room. I can't stay here, can I? I'll leave your license and credit card on the room's nightstand. I'll pay you back next year."

Just then, the front door opened, followed by a woman's voice said. "I'm home!"

"Shit," Percy said, removing his license and credit card from his wallet. "Let's go out the side door." He rushed me through the kitchen and to the side door, which opened to a different hallway.

"I love you," I said and kissed his mouth. "I'll see you next year. Don't follow me. Close the door before Lyndsay sees you. Wait," I said as he went to close the door. "Could you call an Uber?"

He nodded with tears in his eyes. "There's a Doubletree a few miles from here," he whispered. "See you next year." He sniffed back his tears as he slowly closed the door. I ran down the hall and took a right where the 2024 Percy still cowered behind the plant. I tossed him the clothes. "Hurry up. You gotta get dressed."

I stood in front of the plant, shielding Percy from the people who emerged from the elevator. It must have been around five or six o'clock.

"That was me," Percy said, standing up.

"Yeah. Come on. Let's get outta here."

He trailed behind me as I headed to the elevator.

"Thanks for not falling asleep," I said facetiously, standing in the elevator.

"That was me," he said again, in shock.

"Yep," I said as the elevator doors closed. 

Words: 2448

Total Words: 24,041

A/N I'm not crazy about this story, but thanks for reading. I've been obsessing about the stories I had to remove from Wattpad. The only thing about that is that I'd have created a whole bunch of new stories with similar premises.