BOOK TWO On the outside, Julian Douglas has everything: college athlete, good grades, friends who think he's unstoppable. But inside, he's unraveling. And the one person who ever made him feel whole-the boy he loved and lost-is the one person he can't let go of. Paul Jones is brilliant, beautiful, and broken. His art reaches millions, but behind the screens and gallery walls, he's drowning in silence, addiction, and a love that still lingers. When Julian and Paul collide again, old wounds resurface, old habits threaten to consume them, and both must decide if love is enough to heal what life has shattered. Heartbreaking, intimate, and unflinching, Alone explores the raw edges of mental illness, addiction, and the desperate, dangerous hope of holding onto someone who feels like home. : : : "I'm your boyfriend, Jules." He looked so sad then, so completely vulnerable and it was my fault. It was all my fault and I didn't notice until it was too late. "Do you forget that?" Maybe I did. Maybe I thought ignoring him would stop these feelings from surfacing, that missing him wouldn't take over if I never thought of him. And Paul had sighed, his hands coming up to wipe the few tears that hadn't fallen. His cheeks were flushed, he'd done enough crying for the day, and his hair was all over the place from his frustrated tugging. We'd both looked rough but seeing him just as a mess as I was... it made my heart hurt. So did his next words and I knew he'd already given up. "Do you wanna be with me or do you just not wanna be alone?"

He was Hades, the darkness and she was Persephone, his light.

boyhood, withering beneath a wild sky (#37 in poetry 12/11/17) © vangohs, 2017

oh romeo, why must you be born a montague? ©contra, 2016

i gave a boy a lavender sprig and he returned me with a kiss. ©achillics

wither, with him, within

an ode to the losers, the lovers and everything in between. © sandra 2018

a tiresome life turned the sour taste in her mouth to the familiar flavour of death.

yūgen fantasies laced in velour reverie