Book of Love - David Horne Page 0,1

and keys before giving his father one last hurt-filled glare before slamming the front door behind him.

Matthew quickly ran out of money as his father froze his accounts. Matthew called his friends only to find out that his father worked faster than he thought possible. His few friends had turned their backs on him. Now, out of luck, Matthew took to wandering around to try and find some kind of sign of what he was supposed to do.

Then he tripped right over it.

He took a tumble down to the ground. Then he heard a yapping bark and a small cold nose touching his cheek.

"Oh, my goodness! Are you all right?" a British-accented voice asked from the same side as the nosy nose. The voice oddly sounded familiar, as well. Looking up, the first thing he saw was a pair of dark brown eyes belonging to a puppy.

A hand suddenly appeared and gently nudged the puppy away before returning as a gesture of help. Matt absently thought it was a rather beautiful hand before he followed the arm to see a tattoo. Its lines were clean and elegant. The tattoo was of two books, one looked old and the other new with a pocket watch resting on the top book.

Matt allowed his eyes to travel further up and soon met two evergreen eyes he never thought he'd see again.

"Matthew Ward?" the man said.

Matt nodded his head with a feeling of dread and guilt, suddenly wrapping itself around his heart. Matt hesitantly reached out for the still offer hand.

In front of him was Alfred Xavier Bailey, a British-born boy who moved to the United States his sophomore year. He was soft-spoken, polite and openly gay. He became an instant target for Matt's old friends and teammates. Matt never got involved in the bullying himself, but now, as an adult, he has the heavy thoughts that maybe he should have done something sooner. Especially knowing what his so-called friends ended up doing.

Matt took in the man who he hadn't seen in a few years. Matt noted that Alfred had indeed blossomed from the lanky teenager Alfred The man in front of him was neatly dressed in dark gray skinny jeans and a white button-up shirt with a deep red vest. The only thing seemingly out of place were the chunky black combat boots

"Hello Alfred, how have you been?" Matt asked awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. Alfred was always a good-looking guy with his aristocratic face with its sharp nose and cupid's bow. His skin was as pale as ever, making the mole under his right eye stand out more.

A tight looking smile appeared on Alfred's face. "I'm doing well, thank you." There was an awkward silence where neither man knew what to say. A yip brought their attention to the little puppy looking up at Matt with a look of pure joy.

Kneeling to get a better look at the adorable creature, Matt looked up at Alfred. "Can I pet him?"

Alfred looked slightly hesitant before nodding.

The dog had a fluffy coat, with a tan and white color scheme. He was a happy little thing with an ear that didn't seem to want to stand upright like its twin. "And what's your name?" Matt asked the dog as he scratched the back of the floppy ear.

"His name is Sam." Was the quiet replay. Looking up, Matt noticed that Alfred was looking uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you’re okay?"

A frown marred Alfred's face as he glared at Matt. "Oh I don't know, I don't know how I’m supposed to feel seeing a reminder of my high school years. A reminder of memories that I would like best to remain buried deep in my mind. I don't know how I’m supposed to feel seeing you, Matthew. You might never have hurt me, but you sure did nothing to stop your friends." Alfred crossed his arms and huffed.

"How do you think I feel, Matthew." Was the acidic reply with a bit of a lip curl that shouldn’t have looked as attractive on Alfred as it did, but that was a thought to think back on when he was by himself.

Matthew looked around him, the back-alley shortcut between two buildings that connected two streets, was clear of any other people. Sam made a whine when he realized that Matt had stopped scratching.

"Listen… you have all the rights in the world to be pissed at me. I know I fucked up all right," Matt said as he slowly