Open Road Chapter 2

The first sensations Alfred slowly became aware of were heat and cold. Almost constantly moving heat and cold. The irritating discomfort (because really, he would later realise, nothing else could describe it) began bothering him enough after awhile to try and force his eyes open just to make the damn thing stop.

Pulling back from the warm wall he was pressed against, Alfred blinked a few times to reorient his terrible vision.

The first thing he noticed through the semi-darkness was that that warm wall was actually someone's back.

As he realized this, the person (Matthew, Alfred recalled) shifted forward causing the sorry scrap of blanket loosely held between Alfred's legs (no wonder he was cold, Alfred thought irately) to become an even sorrier scrap of blanket, the remainder of which was now tightly gripped between his legs. Alfred filed Matthew's blanket hogging tendencies away for later reference (why he was doing so was a mystery even to him).

Alfred groaned aloud and yawned, considering pulling the man onto his back and just nestling himself back into his arms.

'But,' Alfred reminded himself, rubbing at his tired eyes, 'I don't even know him. So that's out of the equation.'

He was still cold, damn it. And it didn't exactly look like an easy task to get back his half of the blanket from underneath Matthew…well without waking him, anyways. Funny thing. He never picked him for a blanket hog.

And so the blond settled for huddling against Matthew's back, picking off whatever warmth he could.

However, his shuffling caused Matthew to wake up.

The man groggily peeked behind him and, seeing Alfred huddled halfway down his back, turned around and threw the blanket over them both, covering Alfred completely when he pulled it up to his shoulder.

The soft 'thump' told a now snug and warm Alfred that Matthew had just thrown himself back onto his pillow.

Cautiously, he pushed himself up and pressed his face to the biker's chest, relaxing when the man pushed the blanket below Alfred's chin and wrapped an arm around his waist. It wasn't long before he fell asleep again.

Matthew stared down at slumbering man in his arms, feeling slightly worried.

He hadn't expected the man to come home with him that easily. The thought that Alfred could have been a thief or serial killer had crossed his mind but Matthew trusted that he was a fairly good judge of people (his training with the RCMP up in Canada might have helped bolster that confidence).

Alfred didn't feel like a criminal (and Ivan had confirmed via text that there were no suspicious items/stains in his car and he had no criminal record).

And the thought that this man probably hadn't even considered that he might be a serial killer/rapist etc. bothered him. Alfred had even agreed to sleep next to him the entire night.

Matthew settled down to sleep and resolved to have a talk with him once the sun was up properly.

—-

Alfred leaned back in the rocking chair, enjoying the cool breeze across his skin. He had just finished calling Arthur and letting him know what had happened and that he might be late. Although he'd had to gloss over some of the details, saying that he was staying with an old friend he knew from high school rather than saying he was staying with a complete stranger.

Matthew had given him quite the lecture about that over breakfast (the other blond had said it was just a talk but Alfred knew a lecture when he heard one).

Apparently in addition to possibly being a kidnapper, Matthew had patiently explained that he could've also been a serial killer, rapist and a number of, quite frankly, horrible things that hadn't even crossed Alfred's mind and had then proceeded to give Alfred the talk about not going home with strangers, even if they seemed perfectly respectable and offered their places repeatedly and insistently. Especially if they offered repeatedly and insistently.

'…Well there's a rather big Oops.' Alfred thought sheepishly. Since Matthew was none of those, Alfred felt that at least someone up there was looking out for him. He just didn't figure any of that could actually happen to him. Getting kidnapped or beaten up and robbed maybe, but tortured or even raped?

Upon realizing (aka being told repeatedly) that, yes, the latter set could have just as easily as the former set, after he had expressed those views to Matthew was…pretty scary.

Matthew had rounded off the whole lecture by making Alfred promise that he would never go home with a stranger again unless something equivalent to a zombie apocalypse happened. The man was such a Mother Hen.

'…Good quality in a potential boyfriend, really.' Alfred quickly cut that train of thought off. As Matthew had pointed out, Alfred didn't even know him…and he had to remember to ask what had prompted Matthew to let him stay as close as he did. The man didn't know him either.

The roar of a motorcycle snapped Alfred out of his thoughts and he hurried down to where Matthew was pulling into his little paved strip of driveway.

Alfred took a moment to admire his…form…on the vehicle before asking "So is my car fixed yet? And how did you know it'd be safe to let me stay with you?"

Matthew's lips twitched, stepping of the motorcycle and putting his helmet back its compartment. As much as he was getting accustomed to the American's forgetfulness and general inability to read the atmosphere in the half-day he had known him, it still made him pause sometimes.

And to think he prided himself on adapting quickly to people.

Matthew bit his lip in contemplation before saying, "I did a background check on you - yes, that's legal. I'm a policeman." Technically he was a liaison for the RCMP, but that wasn't important right now. "Let's go inside, shall we?"

After he had Alfred comfortably seated in his living room with a full, cool glass of water on the table, he interrupted the confused blond's attempt to speak.

"Do you know anyone who would want to see you either grievously injured or dead?"

The question was so…well…blunt and unexpected that Alfred could only stare before he finally managed to stutter out an answer.

"Um…well, no. I mean…dude, I'm just an editor for a publishing company - who'd want to kill me?"

Seeing the blond start to panic prompted Matthew to hand him the water. "Breathe, and drink. Slowly."

Shaking slightly, Alfred did as he was told, setting the half-empty glass on the table a few minutes later.

"Now, Ivan says you're a very lucky man because nearly everything under that hood would've permanently injured you, perhaps even killed you the minute you went over 130. Your car was literally a deathtrap."

The Canadian paused to make sure he still had the blond's attention. Seeing the man biting his bottom lip, he resisted the urge to pull him into a hug. Instead he placed a hand on his shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze and said softly " Luckily, it broke down and we had a chance to look at it. You're here, Alfred. With me and safe. That's what matters."

Alfred sniffed. "So what do we do?" he asked, voice trembling.

Thank god for the sexy cop.

Releasing his abused and burning lip, Alfred responded apprehensively "But y-you said that…I didn't hurt anybody…well I don't think I did…are you sure?" And without waiting for an answer, choked out "Why?"

"I can't answer that, Alfred. I'm sorry."

Matthew's next train of thought was a bit of a stretch but he didn't like seeing the blond man so worried. He wasn't even going to get a peek at the police report at this rate.

"Where did you stop out on your trip so far? Were you meant to be in the car in the first place?"

Alfred went to bite his lip again, but the sting made him reconsider. "Just some food places and my aunt's. And…well I didn't exactly plan to use the car, if that's what you mean. My friend bailed on me so I had to take it back from my little brother, Allen."

Allen had taken it pretty nicely considering he had asked to borrow for it a week in advance. Although, that may have just been because James, his brother's hockey-loving, slightly-psycho friend-slash-crush had offered to take him to…wherever, instead.

He figured it was best to give the cop all the information now. Then a thought struck him.

"Can I see your badge?"

Since he'd gotten a lecture on being careful, he might as well put it into practice.

The violet-eyed man humph-ed. "I was wondering if you'd ever ask that."

Retrieving his badge from a drawer next to the couch, he handed it to him along with a contact card.

"If you ever need to tell me anything or want me to look up any cop, gimme a call."

Taking the badge and card with a thanks, Alfred slipped the latter into his pocket.

"I told the police about what I found, by the way. They'll be here in about an hour."

Alfred nodded, taking another drink from the glass, wincing slightly at the sharp burn as the cold water made contact with the raw skin.

"Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you hurt?"

Looking up at the worried policeman, Alfred shook his head. "Just bit my lip a little too much."

In response, Matthew grabbed a bag from behind the couch and, after rummaging around for a bit, handed Alfred a tiny tub of Vaseline Lip Therapy.

"Keep it." he said "I've got lots. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. Feel free to just hang around."

"Yeah, thanks…You wouldn't happen to have a thin blanket would you? I'd like a kip on the couch if that's ok with you."

He really didn't want to think about what Matthew had told him right now.

"Yeah, sure." Matthew whispered.

Ten minutes later, Alfred was asleep, comfortably wrapped in a maple leaf spangled blanket. When Matthew peeked in on him, the Canadian-born policeman found himself having to resist the urge to place a kiss on Alfred's forehead.