Chapter one

Micky sighed and rubbed his eyes. He tried to gather his thoughts and attempted to come up with a way to weasel his way out of explaining himself. Knowing he could not do justice to either right then, he just opened his mouth and let the words fall out as they came to him.

"Alright so here's the thing. Donnie and I… Well let's just say we haven't really been on speaking terms for a while."

"How long of a while?" Trixie asked

He glanced up at Mike and Trixie before turning his eyes back down. "For… most of this past year."

"What?"

"Most of the year Mick?" Mike let out a low whistle. "How can the two of you live together and not speak for almost a whole year?"

"Mike," Micky looked up at them with a pained expression. "That's the thing. We're not living together. We're not doing anything together. Not since he left me."

"Oh, honey." Trixie said softly. "I am so sorry to hear this."

"It's ok, really." He sighed, "Well it was all my fault why he left."

Mike leaned forward. "What do you mean it was your fault?"

Looking down into his lap, Micky ran his hands across the letter. When Mike and Trixie came over to his apartment, the last thing he expected to do with them was sit there and bring up deeply personal aspects of his life. Nonetheless, that was exactly what he was doing right then.

"Well, I…" Again, he sighed before looking up at them. "Donnie, he uh, he caught me with someone else."

"Someone else?" They exclaimed together in surprise.

"What do you mean he caught you with someone else?" Trixie asked with a shocked and nearly scolding tone.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Micky looked away from them and began fumbling with the letter in his lap. "I was having an affair with this one girl, and Donnie caught us sleeping together. Before I could explain anything to him, he dumped me and moved out."

"What do you mean before you could explain anything to him? You were sleeping with a chick behind his back! What's there to explain?"

Micky covered his face with his hands. "I don't know! Alright? I don't know."

"Micky…" Trixie started, changing her tone from upset to softly concerned. "This is the last thing I would expect from you. What would cause you to cheat on Donnie? I thought you loved him."

Still with his face covered, Micky sat quietly for a moment. He then uncovered his face and looked at them directly. "I do love him. But I just… well I guess you could say I was missing being with a woman. Plus I've never been one to stick around in long relationships. To be honest… even though I love him, I don't even know how I managed to stay with Donnie as long as I have. But now that he's gone I miss him."

"So I suppose Joni Mitchell was right?" Trixie asked, smirking slightly. "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

Micky slowly nodded "Possibly." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I just don't know what to do. Maybe he and I just weren't meant to be."

"Mick, you came together as two jilted lovers of the same guy. You should have figured out by now whether you were each other's rebound or brought together by fate."

Micky shook his head with a confused expression. "Mike what the hell are you talking about?"

"Well you said that you never really stuck around in long relationships before. As long as I've known you, the relationships you've been in never really lasted but a few months. However, this one with Donnie has lasted a couple years before you started messin' around with that girl."

"Where are you getting at?"

"If the two of you weren't meant to be then maybe your relationship wouldn't have lasted as long as it has."

"But I fucked it up for a little tang on the side. Excuse me, Trix. I really doubt Donnie's coming back to me."

"Only time will tell, Micky."

...

Rolling out of bed, Micky placed both feet on the floor. While rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he yawned before glancing over at the nightstand. Folded neatly on the nightstand, where he had left it the night before, was the letter he got from August. The letter was a little wrinkled in places and had started tearing in the permanent creases that were caused by folding and unfolding. For the past few months, he had been reading the letter repeatedly. Reading this letter had become the first thing he'd do when he woke up in the morning and the last thing he'd do before going to sleep at night.

Ever since he received this letter, he could not get his mind off August. In this letter, August poured his heart out to him and was very apologetic about the wrongs he had done. Micky felt that, due to the timing of this letter, it was as though the universe was playing a joke on him that he just was not getting. The more he read the letter, the more he tried to figure out the meaning of it all.

The thing about this that really drove him insane was the fact that he had so much to discuss with August because of this letter. Unfortunately, he could not get in touch with him since the letter did not have any return address. For all he knew, August could still have been in Vietnam. Not being able to contact him, cause him great torture for the past few months.

Micky stood, stretching, and then headed for the bathroom. After realizing himself, he stood in front of the mirror for a moment, checking out his reflection. As he straightened out a few misplaced curls, he heard the buzzing of his doorbell. Taking the time to fix one last curl, he then left the bathroom. When he got to the door, he placed one hand on the chain lock and the other hand on the doorknob.

"Who is it?"

"It's the big bad wolf. You got any piggies in there?"

The familiar slick voice, with just enough of a German accent to be enticing, caused Micky to freeze. Everything around him, except the door, seemed to disappear. His stomach plummeted to the soles of his feet and air escaped his lungs. He lifted his head slightly, and opened his mouth to speak but nothing happened. Once the stunned paralysis wore off, Micky unlocked the door.

"August?" He opened the door and stood back.

The man before him was familiar but nothing like the image he held in his head. August stood straight, yet at a slight angle from leaning on a cane. The long blonde hair that once hung just below his shoulders now was shaved into an army style crew cut. From the tops of his shoulders to the tips of his freshly polished shoes, August looked strikingly handsome decked out in his army dress uniform. The only thing not in place was his hat, which was tucked neatly under one arm. Micky's eyes wandered slowly up and down August's tall lanky frame, taking in every detail. Again, his breath was taken away from him, but his stomach was back in place where it belonged. His heart skipped a beat as memories flooded back to him. If he had not heard him speak or caught his sparkling blue eyes or bright smile, he would not have recognized the soldier to be August.

"Oh my God." Micky's voice came out breathy and a grin slowly came to his lips.

"Hey babe."

A mixture of emotions rushed over Micky as he looked at him, causing him to be unsure how to respond. "Well, uh, hey. Um, yeah. Won't you come in?"

August snickered a little, stepping through the doorway. "A little surprised to see me, Micky?"

"Well, I, uh, I suppose."

August laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day where Micky Dolenz was speechless." He paused to catch Micky staring at him. "Ok Micky, pick up your jaw from the floor. I'd get it for you but, as you can see," He tapped his cane against his leg. "can't exactly bend like I used to anymore."

Micky nervously laughed before recovering himself. He then offered August a place to sit, leading him over to the couch. Once they sat down, Micky looked from August's uniform and then at himself and his pajamas.

"Excuse me, August." He snickered as he stood up. "I'm gonna go change. Suddenly feeling underdressed."

August grinned. "No problem."

"I won't take too long." He grinned, turning to head for his bedroom.

When he returned, he sat next to August a little cautiously. His caution was just as much emotional as it was physical, but he tried not to make it obvious.

"So… wow so many things I want to ask you, I don't know where to start." Micky paused briefly. "How did you know where I live?"

"I stopped by to see Trixie and she gave me your address." August replied simply.

"August I… man I can't believe I'm saying this… it's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you again too. I've missed you, Micky."

Slowly, a smile came to Micky's lips. He inched closer to August and then gently placed a hand on his knee. "You have no idea how many times I've read your letter. Every time I read it, I'd imagine this moment. Each time I pictured it, I didn't think that when that time came I'd feel like this."