"No, you didn't. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I've been holding up the line for long enough." Howard said, taking the to-go box from the counter.
"Honestly, I'm not used to any of this stuff. I'm just a guy. No magical bells and whistles to speak of." he tapped the white box now in his hands as he talked, trying to focus his thoughts. Howard never thought of himself as anything other then human. Sure, he didn't remember anything before age 16, but the doctors Adam had him see told him this was just trauma induced amnesia and honestly, if it was that bad, he definitely didn't want to remember it. But still, there was an odd feeling he got in certain situations. It was a comfortable feeling, a warmth he felt when the wind was blowing all around him and while it was a good feeling, it had a bit of sadness to it also.
Howard then remembered the text he had received moments ago and picked up the pace, pulling out his wallet and placing a fifty dollar bill on the counter top as he had no time for the awkward exchange of change.
"Keep the change and since I don't have time to be subtle..." Howard's sentence trailed off as he picked through his pockets for a pen and one of Adam's business cards. He flipped it over to it's blank side and wrote his cell phone number on the card, sliding it across the counter towards Aubrey as he continued his sentence.
"If you maybe wanna hang out sometime." he said, rubbing the back of his head with nervousness as he left the sweets shop, cake in hand ready to head home.
..........
The walk home was longer then expected as Howard had gotten lost along the way. But, after circling the block for ten minutes and seeing the same tree fifteen times, he eventually found his new home.
"Adam, I'm home! I even brought some cake." Howard said aloud figuring his friend would hear him and respond, but nothing happened. He gently placed the box on the kitchen table as he looked around the house, seeing no sign of Adam, until he reached his office minutes later.
"Jesus Christ..."Adam was passed out, lifeless on the floor surrounded by dozens of pages as well as a small pool of blood near his right hand. Confused and scared, Howard rushed over to Adam and lifted him up, sprinting over to the living room and placing him on the couch. He then gave Adam another look over. Noticing the hand wound, he grabbed some gauze from the bathroom drawer and wrapped his hand to stop the bleeding. It wasn't a serious amount, but it still worried the young man. This had only been the second time he had seen Adam bleed ever. The first was when he accidentally cut his hand on a broken glass cup, but this was different. It was too deep to be on accident. Howard decided after making sure Adam was still breathing to check the office for clues. Near the puddle of blood was a small, glass knife as well as the papers from before he saw. As he looked closer, he saw they had words he could barely make out because of how frantically they were written. The ones that worried him the most were the only sentences he could make out on any of the pages. They were written dozens if not hundreds of times and on multiple pages, each one more messy then the last, like a deranged madman had wrote them.
You left her. You left her. You left her....It's your fault. It's your fault. It's your fault...Coward. Coward. Coward. Coward...