A/N: I don't know where this came from, but I like it. Jumps back and forth between the present and the past, but it's written in a weird way. Things in italics are memories. Hope you enjoy! ((RR please))

Pleasant Dreams

by HHH

As he packed his bags, he thought about his short time in Roscoe. And for all that had happened, it should be an eternity; it certainly seemed like it. He sighed as he zipped up the bag. The sound was loud, like something being torn open. His head hung for a moment, chin almost touching his chest, and he let the sadness creep back in.

He leans forward slowly, and touches his lips to his friend's. The other's lips are slightly chapped, but it feels good. And he's honestly surprised when the lips he's kissing start kissing back. But just as quickly, he pulls away, and Travis is left leaning into empty space. He opens his eyes and looks at Ray.

A soft thud pulled Travis from his thoughts, and he saw that he'd lost his grip on the bag he'd just picked up. He leaned down and picked it up again. It was an army-issue duffle, and he had a satchel to go along with it. He would only take the important stuff. He had decided that it was better this way, for everybody involved. After all, it was him coming here that had changed their lives forever. Maybe after he was gone, they could regain some semblance of the life the three of them shared.

He adjusted his jacket, and looked around the room. He allowed himself a moment to memorize it, to absorb the past of the place he had inhabited for almost two years. He didn't really want to leave; he couldn't remember a time when he was in one place for so long. It physically hurt him to turn the doorknob, knowing that he'd never turn it again.

"What are your dreams like" They are laying down next to each other in the park. The blanket of night has long since lain itself quietly over the world, and their eyes glint reflections of the glowing stars that they watch.

"Well, in a few of them, I'm being chased by a monstrous hot dog, but..." Travis laughs, and elbows Ray in the arm. Ray rubs it, and groans like it hurt, but he's smiling. Travis knows what it means, and he loves the feeling of knowing how connected they are. but he also hates it, because it makes him think of Lily, and how she never punches Ray like that anymore.

"All right, all right, I'll tell you..." He pauses, and reaches for Travis' hand. "I had a dream last night... it was weird. I started out in this all white room, and there wasn't a door. I was trying to get out, but there was no way, and I knew I had to get out no matter what. I don't recall why, though... so, anyway. I was searching, but I couldn't touch the walls, and then there was this hole in the ceiling. So i was trying to jump up to reach it, but I had to stop because you came down through it."

"What? Like I fell"

"No, more like floated. Now don't interupt me." Travis nods. "So, you floated down into the room, and I asked you why you wuold want to come into this room, and you said, 'To be with you.' And then you took my hand, like this." He indicates their entwined fingers. "And you told me that there was a way out, it was just too simple to see." Ray pauses for a moment, looking close to tears. And Travis is awed that Ray's baring this part of himself to him.

"And? What was it" He whispered.

"You said that there were no walls. And then there weren't any."

As he walked down the streets he couldn't help but think that maybe leaving was a mistake. One he wasn't ready to make. But his feet insisted on carrying him past Lily's house, past Robbie's house, and farther, past Ray's house. He walked by Roscoe High School, remembering; just remembering. He had danced around in a cougar suit just so Ray wouldn't get in trouble. Just to make him happy. And he passed Mickey's without really looking. It was more than likely that one of them would be there right now, and he didn't want anybody to know he was leaving. He knew that if any one of them told him not to, he would stay, and it was better if he left.

There was one place, however, that he simply couldn't pass by. His feet turned and hit the concrete, which somehow felt older, worn, even friendly. His eyes swept over the area in front of him, and settled on the small shack a little ways off in the distance. He approached slowly, as though at any moment he could step on a land mine and explode, simply gone from existence forever. But there were no land mines, and he made it to the door. Silently, he looked in through the dusty old window. There it was, their radio station in all its glory.

They are wrapped up in each other. It's nearly silent in the booth, except for their labored breathing, and light moans. Soon these moans are muffled by deep kisses. In the heavy silence, they roll and Travis is on top now. He breathes out shakily as they connect for real; skin on skin, rubbing against each other, touching. Exploring. They don't even hear the door open. But they do hear the soft intake of breath, a mild "oh..." uttered from the doorway of the booth. They look up simultaneously, and Lily's shocked gaze is gone before either one can even think.

Now was the time, he decided, and he got up and started walking again. He looked out into the distance, and the road he traveled seemed to stretch out forever. The heat was making waves come up from the earth near the horizon. It was an unnaturally hot day, even for summer. But walking was all he could afford, so it was what he would do. When he reached the sign that told him he was now leaving Roscoe, he tried not to look back. He really did. But in the end, nostalgia won out, and he turned his head for once last glance at the first place he had really ever though of as home.

He wanted to go back. He wanted to run through the town shouting that he was in love, and he refused to be sorry for it. He wanted to hug Lily, to tell her that he never meant to hurt her. He wanted everything he would never have. And he turned back to the sign. The first step felt like the last he would ever take. And for a moment he forgot how to breath. The second step was easier, but it still hurt deeply. He wondered, as he walked slowly away from his home, what he would find beyond Roscoe.

"You told me that there was a way out, it was just too simple to see. You said that there were no walls. And then there weren't any." They are wrapped up in each other. In the heavy silence, they roll and Travis is on top now. He breathes out shakily as they connect for real; skin on skin. But just as quickly Travis is left leaning into empty space. He opens his eyes.