Part 8: Sunday in the Park

“Mills, are you ok?”

The young dragon’s eyes snapped open, flinching at the paw stroking her head.  She had Connor’s arm in a vice-like grip, and couldn’t help but whimper as she regained consciousness.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok!”  The wolf wrapped his free arm around her, concern etched across his face, “you were struggling a lot in your sleep…things seemed to be getting pretty intense.”

All Millie could manage was a meek nod at first; it took a few moments of grounding before she could respond properly.  She focused on the grass of Glen Road Park, stretched out like an uneven blanket.  She could hear the gentle lapping of the nearby pond against the shore.  She felt the tree against her back, the shade providing welcome protection from the early summer heat.  She could smell Connor’s fur, soft, musky, and slightly floral, as she buried her face in his arm.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, “I didn’t mean to doze off like that.”

“You say that every time,” Connor chuckled, “and I keep telling you it’s no big deal.  I was your age once, I know how hectic high school is…between that and adolescence you need all the sleep you can get.”

“I just,” Mills trailed off, “you could be doing other things, or we could actually be hanging out, but instead I’m snoring away like a loser and leaving you to sit here, practically by yourself.”

“Why do you think I always bring a book?  Mills, if I wasn’t careful I’d work myself into an early grave — I’d come home from my job and throw myself into some project or other until I’m ready to pass out, then wake up and do it all over again.  Meeting up like this reminds me to slow the hell down, that sometimes it’s ok to just breathe and be still.”

“Ok,” Millie smiled, “as long as I’m not being a pain.”

“If I thought you were a pain, we wouldn’t be hanging out.”

“That’s true…” She stretched and yawned, spreading out on the raggedy quilt they were sitting on.  She sat and enjoyed the silence for a while, just happy that things weren’t as dire as they felt only moments ago.  Yet those dreams had stirred up things that she couldn’t quite ignore anymore.

“So…the dream was kinda about you.”

“Oh?”  Connor looked perplexed, “does that…happen often?  I mean, besides the one you told me about ages ago.  The one about coming here.”

“Sorta, not really.  Most of the time they’re like that one…more normal.  But this one was different.”  Millie trailed off again, feeling heat rise in her cheeks.

“If it makes you embarrassed or uncomfortable, you don’t have to share.”

“No, I think I’ll feel better if we talk about it.  Occasionally I’ll have dreams about when we met.  Lots of things are similar — our texts, the video chat we did on my 13th birthday, the first weekend you came to visit — but they’re more…sexy.”

“Aw, you don’t think this is hot?”  Connor smirked, making a show of flexing his free arm.

“Dork, you know what I mean!  They’re lewd-y dreams about you and I.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Connor sighed.  “Are they…good dreams, at least?  Or do they all end up with you fighting something in your sleep?”

“Oh, was it that bad?”

“I’m exaggerating a little, but you were struggling and whimpering a lot.  It didn’t sound like fun.”

“It…wasn’t, at least not at the end.  But that’s the first time a dream has gone that way before.”

“May I ask what was different?”

It took Mills a minute before she continued.  “You were different…mean, selfish.  You were doing things to me that I didn’t want to do.  Things that made me feel like a doll or a feral.  And you tried to make me think I liked them too.  The worst part was that by the end I couldn’t tell…that maybe I did like the way you treated me, even though it was painful and humiliating and I felt dirty afterwards.  I always felt safe in other sexy dreams, and…”  Mills whimpered, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Hey, shhhhhh, it’s ok, it was just a dream,” Connor pulled Mills into a hug, “I promise I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“Th-thanks,” Mills sniffed, “I’m sorry I’m such a crybaby.”

“You know I don’t think that!  And anyway, a dream about your best friend molesting you or worse is a pretty good reason to cry.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.  Ever have dreams where your parents hate you, and you don’t know why?”

“Maybe once o-or twice, when I was really little.”

“Pretty sure everyone has, and I remember waking up from one once and crying into my pillow before running to my mom and asking her if she loved me.  She was so confused, but I think she understood too.”

Millie laughed through her tears.  “Sorry, it’s just the image of you as a cub in my position is weird…I haven’t thought about it before.”

“Trust me, it feels weird remembering all the way back then, and I was around when it happened!”

The pair of them laughed and hugged.

“Can I ask an odd question, Mills?”

She nodded.

“Can you think of a reason why you would have a dream like that now, as opposed to all the other times?”

“Um,” Mills blushed hard, “I may have heard some classmates talking about bondage play at some point after school, and I might have gotten curious a few days ago and done some research?”

“Oh…didn’t think you’d be interested in a kink like that.”

“I mean, I don’t know if I am or not.  I happened to find some porn videos, but they were…intense.”

“That would definitely explain the nightmare.”  Connor paused.  “Did your research tell you that not all BDSM is like that?”

“Mhm, but I’m not sure I care enough to sift through all the uncomfy stuff now…don’t wanna give myself any more sexy nightmare fuel.”

“Fair enough,” Connor chuckled.

“Um, Connor…can I ask you a question?”

“What’s up?”

“Do you think—.”

“Hey, Millie!”

The pair looked up to see a handful of highschool boys walking up the path toward their spot — their leader, a husky, followed by two brown, near-identical sables and an orange tabby cat bringing up the rear.  Connor let go of Mills so she could wave and call out in reply.  

“Hey Les!  Didn’t expect to see you today…how’s the summer going?”

“It’s going ok,” Les smiled, “hanging out with Connor today?”

“Yup, just chilling and enjoying the weather.”

“Nice!”  The husky turned to Connor, “how are you, Mr. Maynard?”

“I’m doing fine,” Connor chuckled at Les’s politeness.  He glanced at the other boys in the group.  “So, Les, I know you and Benji there,” the orange tabby at the back of the group nodded, “but I don’t think I’ve met the…twins?”

“Oh, yeah,” Les replied, “that’s why we were coming over.  Millie, I wanted you to meet Adam and Peter Zommer.  They just moved down the street from me and will be starting at Bloomingdale this fall.  I’ve been showing them around town and when I saw you I wanted to introduce them.”

“Aw, cool, hi guys!”

“Pronouns?”  Connor chimed in.

“He/him,” the pair replied in unison.

“Could you two stop doing that!?” Benji groaned, “you sound like something out of a horror movie.”

The two slowly turned to face their feline companion.  “Come play with us, Benji.”

“Gah, fuck, quit it!”

“But seriously,” Adam turned back to face Mills and Connor, “it’s nice to meet you, Millie, and you too, Mr. Maynard.”

“Connor’s fine, thanks,” the wolf smiled.

“Ok, I need to ask,” Peter chimed in, “Millie, is this your dad?”

“Rude!”  Adam punched his brother in the arm.

“Ow! Hey, it’s an honest question!”

“It’s fine!”  The young dragon laughed.  “And no.  Connor and I met a few years ago on an online forum and just kinda hit it off.”

“Oooh,” Peter said with a mischievous grin.  “Connor and Millie, sat beneath a—Ow!”

Adam rolled his eyes, shaking his hand.  “Please forgive him…it isn’t his fault he has the mind of a grade schooler.  Half his brain cells ended up in his pants.”

“Hey!  Now who’s rude?”  Peter’s protests were drowned out by the group’s laughter.

“Sorry to bug you, Mills,” Les said, “we’ll let you and Connor get back to hanging out.”

“Ok, I’ll see you around!  Nice to meet you, Adam and Peter!”

The group waved and walked off, Peter and Adam bickering quietly to each other.

“Les is such a nice kid.”  Connor commented.

“Yeah, I wish I had hung out with him more in middle school…he’s a good friend.”

“And he’s totally your type.”

“Shut up!”  Millie smacked his arm, “don’t pull a Peter and make things weird.”

“I’m kidding! I kid!”  Connor chuckled, “speaking of Peter, though…that kid’s gonna be a handful.”

“Ugh, yeah…I’m having flashbacks to Liz Bartlet.”

“Wow, haven't heard that name in, what, a couple of years?”

“Yeah…I try to think about her as little as possible.”

“Still can’t believe she managed to stalk me for so many months.”

“That…might have been partly my fault.”

Connor cocked an eyebrow.  “This is new info to me…what do you mean?”

“So you know how the rumors started going around Bloomingdale after I told my parents about you?”

Connor nodded.

“I…may have admitted to Liz that I met you on FurHub.”

“Oh, I mean that makes sense…she would have the info to figure that out.”

“Yeah, but she might’ve also pressured me into giving her your username as well.”

“Oh…I wondered why I started getting weird messages from somebody I didn’t recognize.”

“And then she started following me, which is how she found you, and then it was a whole mess.”  Millie grabbed Connor’s arm as the confession continued to roll off her tongue.  “I’m so sorry!  I wasn’t thinking and she was being all pervy and I was embarrassed so it just slipped out and I tried to tell her not to bother you but you know how she is and I—.”  She felt a finger on her mouth.

“It’s ok, Mills.  I’m not mad.”

“Ok…are you sure?”

“Yup, especially since you were able to give me Mrs. Bartlet’s number so I could talk about it with her.”

“Oh my god, were you the reason Liz and Aiden got ultra-grounded from the internet?”

“I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me…she certainly seemed shocked that her ‘baby girl’ was on an age-restricted site.  Given how out of touch she seemed, I’m just glad she didn’t accuse me of doing anything untoward to her daughter.”

“Well, that was what led to our fight.  She wouldn’t stop trying to get me to ‘share’ you.  Eventually I just told her exactly what you said to me: you don’t stick your dick in crazy, and added that I didn’t trust her around you either.  That’s when she said she wouldn’t be my friend anymore…and I said fine: anyone who wanted to sabotage my friendships, no matter who they were with, wasn’t worth the effort.  If she wanted to be a bitch, she could do it on someone else’s time.”

“Damn,” Connor said with a whistle, “didn’t expect you could be so ruthless.”

“To be fair, it was a long time coming,” Mills sighed, “she was just overwhelming in the beginning; I didn’t know how to deal with her at the start of middle school.  Between meeting you and my parents doing their whole ‘adult-in-training’ thing, I got a lot of confidence by freshman year.”

“That’s for sure…you definitely aren’t the little girl I met three years ago.”

There was a long, slightly awkward pause before Mills responded.

“Connor, Les distracted me and then I forgot, but I wanted to ask: do you…think I’m sexy?”

Connor didn’t reply right away.  Millie’s gaze was fixed on his face, hoping to get a read on him.  Normally it wasn’t hard, but this time there were a lot of different emotions crossing his features that she couldn’t quite figure out what he was thinking.  Maybe he was mad at her?  Maybe he thought she was ugly and was trying to find a good way to let her down gently?  Maybe he was gay and she had just put him in an awkward position?

“I’m sorry!” She exclaimed, “you don’t have to answer…no big deal!  Just Mills opening her big fat mouth, saying crap that makes things awkward.”  She forced a laugh and willed every muscle in her body not to get up and run away.  And just when she thought she had gotten over her social ineptness.

“It’s not that, Mills,” Connor replied, “I’m just trying to make sure I’m clear, that I have all my thoughts in a row before I say something I don’t mean.”

“Ok…I’m just so nervous about what your answer is.”

“Would you believe I am too?”

Mills blinked in shock.  That wasn’t the answer she expected, and yet she had the strangest sense of deja vu.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, why don’t I start by just answering your first question.  Yes, I think you’re incredibly cute and sweet and attractive…I’ve thought that for about as long as I’ve known you.”

“Really?”

“Yep…and you aren’t the only one to have wet dreams about it either.”

Mills blushed.  That certainly answered that.  “Ok…I guess it’s just an age thing, then?”

“No, it isn’t.  I actually explained this to your mom soon after you told them about me.  She called because she wanted to ask about my intentions.”

“I’m sorry…she asked — well, more demanded — to have your number when I told them we were texting.”

“You don’t need to feel bad; she’s a good mom who cares about keeping you safe.  I’d be concerned about me too, if it was my kid.  And anyway, it was a good conversation, and I think she felt better about us afterwards.”

“I mean, we’re still hanging out, so I guess so.  What did you say?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you.  I told your mom that I saw a lot of potential in you to become an attractive, independent, considerate, and strong young lady.  I had no desire to sabotage that, or to take you away from them in any way.”

“Like kidnapping me?”

“I mean, that’s obvious,” Connor laughed, “but at the time I was thinking about the idea of robbing someone’s innocence.  Having sex with someone, at least in my experience…it changes the nature of the relationship.  And when relationships change, so do people.  Plus adolescence is a transformative time in anyone’s life.  I’m sure you’ve already noticed it with the whole ‘adult-in-training’ parenting thing your parents use with you, and then all the stuff with Lizzie.  So let me ask you this, since you brought up your fantasies first: would you be willing to lose the friendship we’ve built to fulfill one of your sexy dreams?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” Mills mused, “especially not like that.  But if I have to choose between ‘a friendship without sex’ and ‘sex that destroys a friendship,’ I’d choose the first option.”

“So would I.  Which is why I never brought it up.  I also assumed you would be too shy to bring something like that up with me.”

“I mean, you aren’t wrong…”

“And let me say this now, since I’m not sure I’ve ever said it explicitly before: if you want to date someone in your class — Jennie, Les, or someone else — you won’t hurt my feelings.”

“Ok…but they have to be ok with us being us. I’m not just abandoning my best adult friend because an SO wants to get in my pants.  You and them, whoever they are, aren’t romantic rivals.”

“I won’t argue with that…if you think you can make both work, who am I to stop you?”

“And that goes for you too, Connor!  If you want to date or have sex with somebody, I don’t wanna stop you either…”

“Only if they’re ok with my friend Millie Ferrier…no sex is good enough to replace an afternoon in the park with you.”

“Heehee,” Mills giggled, cuddling Connor as they sat under their tree, shadows growing longer in the afternoon sun.

Eventually the pair were aroused by the sound of Millie’s phone.

“Oh, mom and dad are probably here to pick me up.”  Mills checked her phone and nodded in confirmation.

“Alright, let’s get things packed up then.”

Picnic things stowed, the pair made their way to a fountain in the center of the park where Greg and Martha stood waiting.

“There you are!”  Martha held out an arm for Mills to give an adolescent side-hug.  “Did you enjoy your day?”

“Mhm!” Mills smiled, “park days with Connor are the best!”

“She didn’t give you any trouble?”  Greg said to Connor.

“Never, you’ve raised a wonderful daughter.  She’s always a joy to be around.”

“We try,” Mrs. Ferrier replied, “and we think so too.  We’re glad it shows.”

“Hey Greg, we’re organizing another paintball match for next weekend; you wanna join?”

“Maybe next go-around?”  Mr Ferrier winced, “I still have welts from the last time.”

“Ok, old man…still can’t believe the dragon gets more welts than the wolf.  On for Wednesday night bowling?”

“That I can do, young pup.  See you then!”

“Bye, Connor!”

“See ya, Mills!”

Back in the car, Mills stared out the window at the sky as it slowly began to burn with the colors of sunset.

“That Connor is a good fellow,” Martha said from the passenger’s seat.

“Yup!” Greg replied, “our girl sure knows how to pick ‘em!”

Millie’s cheeks flushed, but she felt nothing but pride in her chest.

“I know we weren’t happy when you told us about meeting Connor…” Mrs. Ferrier began.

“And I deserved it; I didn’t know what I was doing and could’ve gotten myself in a lot of trouble.”

“But,” Martha continued, “I want to apologize for not trusting you more.  Connor was right, I think we raised you well, and in my fear I may have overreacted…assumed you were just acting like another rebellious teen.”

“I mean, I spent all that time with Liz,” Mills rebutted, “not like you pulled that fear out of thin air.”

“True, but I could have taken the time to listen to you instead of assuming the worst, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, mom, I forgive you.”  Millie smiled.  “And thanks for being so supportive of Connor and me…I know some of the parents at Bloomingdale and some of Connor’s friends weren’t as understanding.”

“You make each other happy, there’s no law that says you two can’t be friends, and you aren’t hurting anyone,” Martha shrugged, “I can’t see what there is to get upset over.”

“A call with Connor helps too,” Millie stuck out her tongue playfully.

“Little gremlin,” Martha sighed, smiling, “he told you about that, then?”

“Yup…thanks for making sure about him.  It’s nice to know you have my back.”

“You’re a bright girl, Millie Ferrier,” Greg chimed in, “you make us both very proud.  We’ll always do everything we can to help you.  Don’t ever forget that.”

Mills smiled, closing her eyes and just basking in the moment, enjoying the knowledge that she had caring friends — Jennie, Sarah, Les, and all the other students at Bloomingdale – loving parents, and Connor to top it all off.  Because, at the end of the day, that was what mattered most.

And that was the honest truth.