Real Michael stood before me. He's saying something, but I'm not listening. All I can think about is how nice it had been in my dreamland. In dreamland I could have gotten up and smoothed down that cowlick of hair that's sticking up on top of his head. I could get up and stick my face in the side of his neck and inhale. I could walk over and stick my tongue down his throat. Although since I just woke up I think I'd hold off until after brushing my teeth. I wouldn't want to scare the fantasy away.

"... So she asked me to keep you company today," Michael finished.

"Wait, what?" I asked, snapping back to reality, although rather reluctantly.

"I said Lilly had to go out. She was meeting someone about her show.

She won't be back until much later."

"Oh. So you're going to stay with me today?" I asked, my spirits lifting slightly.

"Yeah, unless you just want to go home, of course."

"No, no. That's okay. So... What do you want to do?" In my head, Dream Michael was saying, "What we always do... make out." But the Real Michael would never say that.

"I dunno. It's nearly lunchtime, do you want to go get some cold sesame noodles?"

"Sure." Not quite the same as Dream Michael's answer, but at least it proves the real Michael knows me, because there's nothing I'd rather eat than cold sesame noodles from Number One Noodle Son.

I dressed and got ready, then I called Lars and had him meet us at the Moscovitz's apartment. I was disappointed to see that Michael had smoothed down his cowlick himself by the time we left. If I can't smooth it down myself then I don't want it smoothed down at all!

We ordered a mixture of everything, including a big plate of cold noodles, and when they arrived we dug in. I can't help but think that if this was my dream, we'd probably be playing footsies under the table. Or we could use our noodles like Lady and the Tramp did in the Disney movie. And because it's a dream it'd work perfectly; the noodle wouldn't break at all like it would if we tried it in real life.

"Is everything okay, Thermopolis?" Michael asked. I guess I haven't been the happiest person to hang out with today.

"I guess so."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I took a deep breath. "Have you ever had such an intense dream that when you wake up nothing seems right, and you just want to get back into the dream? Like you want to stay there forever?"

"Um, no. Sorry. If you just want to go home to bed and try and get this perfect dream back we can leave."

"No, that's okay," I mumbled. I don't think that would work; I'll never get Dream Michael back.

After a minute it dawned on me what he'd just said. "Oh, Michael, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that I don't want to be here with you, that I'd rather be sleeping. Really, I do want to be here with you." More than he knows.

"Okay, whatever. I know I'm nothing compared to this fantasy you want to get back. What was it about anyway? Justin Baxendale?"

"Ha! Yeah right. No, it was just..." I looked into his eyes and almost lost myself. "... Perfect," I breathed. Half an hour later we left Number One Noodle Son and were just walking around.

"Um, Mia, where are we going?" Michael asked after a few minutes of aimless walking.

"I dunno. I just feel like walking. Hey, why don't we go to the Central Park Zoo!"

"Okay," he agreed.

But we never made it all the way to the zoo. We go to the park and saw some kind of circus act was performing. So we stayed and watched it. "Look at that girl!" Michael cried, pointing to a girl juggling fire sticks on top of a tall pole, being held up by a clown on a unicycle.

Watching these people perform such tricks made me think for a second I'd been transported back into my dream. Because it seems highly unlikely that people can do this in real life, yet here they are, doing it. Living the dream.

Living the dream... wait a second! Something Dream Michael said to me came flooding back to me.

I ran over to the big sign at the front of the crowd. It read:

Paulie's Acrobats

Free Show every hour, on the hour

First and only time in NYC!

First and only time in New York City? Hadn't Dream Michael said something about one of the best days in his life having been spent with me at Central Park seeing acrobats that hadn't performed here before? With me!

"Hey, you having fun?" Michael came up to me. I resisted the urge to jump into his arms.

"Yeah, it's great. One of the best days of my life," I said pointedly.

"Good."

"Hey, Michael, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember last week, when I stayed over, and there was only one Poptart left, and you gave it to me? Why did you give it to me?"

"Well," Michael thought for a second, as if coming up with the best possible answer. "You looked hungry, and I didn't want you to set Lars on me for eating the last Poptart."

"Oh," his answer seemed logical enough. Damnit.

We watched the acrobats for a little longer, but then they finished and we had to leave. We got an ice cream from a vendor and walked back to his apartment so I could get my things.

"Michael, do you believe in fate?" I asked him as we walked.

"I dunno. Sometimes, but then at other times I think it's all bullshit."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you believe that people can see the future?"

"What is this? Paranormal twenty questions or something?"

"No, never mind."

"Thermopolis, you've been weird all day, humor me. What's going on?"

To tell, or not to tell. Maybe I can tell but not mention him.

"Well, my dream last night. It seemed so real, and I just thought, okay hoped, that maybe it was telling me some stuff about the future."

Michael stared at me. "What exactly was this dream about?"

"Um, just this friend I've known for a long time, was sort of more than a friend... and everything was different. It was set in the future."

"Really? Well, you never know, Thermopolis, maybe it was a vision." He winked at me as he stepped through the door of his apartment.

God, I hope so.