Hi, my name’s Axel O’Neil, a twenty-four year male, and here’s my story. It all started back when my dog, Marcus, and I lived in a tiny apartment. I hadn’t paid rent for about two months, and I was being evicted. This wasn’t much of a surprise to me. I really hadn’t earned enough money to pay, seeing how I was a waiter at the four star restaurant down the road.

“You’re job pays you enough money, so why aren’t you paying?” he asked both times.

The reason behind that, well, I hadn’t earned enough tips to even consider to be paid. My boss said that we needed to get over ten dollars in tips to get a decent pay, and me not having that many tips, I earned little to nothing in the actual pay. I know that it’s a rather weird rule, but that’s what my boss stands by. He’s a jerk to almost everyone except his daughter, who is the head waitress. Anyway, because of how my boss was to me, I lost my apartment and my job.

I need to feed Marcus and myself, but all my money had gone to getting us water. Living on the streets isn’t as easy as some movies say. It’s a mess and there’s no way anyone would know what would happen. We have been living here on the corner of Saint Ave. and Cherry Road, and it seems to me that everyone in this city rather watch the world burn like it’s hell itself than helping a homeless person.

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Humans do weird things. I try my best not to wonder too much on it.. But they truly don’t make sense sometimes. He’s my best friend, Axel. We had a home to live in, but we had to leave. I’m not sure why, I thought we were going away only temporarily at first, perhaps for a walk, but the man who comes by to talk to Axel every month seemed very upset and I had a feeling something was going to go terribly wrong. As a dog, I just brushed it off because humans are strange, as I said, and figured this was some odd interaction as they usually have. Then we left the apartment, and we didn’t come back.

I’m hungry. Scavenging around the streets isn’t as fulfilling as watching your food dish being filled or having the Human Food from the table dropped down in front of you. It makes me sad that Axel and I don’t have somewhere warm to sleep anymore. I don’t understand why no one will help him, or why they give him certain looks when they think he isn’t paying attention. I’m always paying attention. If something were to happen, I’d protect him… I just don’t get exactly why we’re here to begin with, but I’m sure it’ll be okay somehow.

“Marcus,” a mumble from beside me roused me from my thoughts and I pulled my gaze from the walking crowds of people—bitter, about how most of them seem to be doing just fine and yet can’t spare a single moment of their time to help someone who clearly needs it—to the man who I called my friend. My reaction was immediate, jump back up to a stand and nudge him. I knew he couldn’t understand me, I barely understood most of what he said, but that didn’t stop me from trying to give him comforting words.

“Axel? We’ll be okay, I promise,” my tail began wagging to the beat of each thing I said. It didn’t seem to help a whole lot, I’m sure he was feeling miserable.. Who wouldn’t in a situation like this? So instead of trying my best to speak, I climb into his lap and try to keep him warm the best I could. I know he’ll be alright when I feel him wrap his arms around me… I just hope something good would happen sooner rather than later.

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Yesterday was another day at my difficult job surrounded by my stupid coworkers that always flirt with me. No matter how much I tell them to stop and go away, but they never listen. I’m a private investigator for The Department of Police of New York City. I’ve only been working as an investigator for two years seeing as I’m only twenty-three years old, I got out of law school at about twenty-one years old and began working at this horrible place everyone else seems to think is so amazing. I’ve worked on several major murder, theft, and missing person cases so I guess you could say I’m decent at my job. “Hello, Police Department of New York.”

“Hi. I’m reporting a missing person, his name is Axel O’Neil. I went over to his house today to visit him and no one was there. Everything was gone. Everything!” Some young woman cries into the phone hysterically. Probably some girl that was hung up on him after a one night stand.

“Ma’am please calm down and tell me the address of the home and a description of the person.” I say as I get out the correct paperwork and a notebook. 

“He’s about six foot one, He has curly black hair with dyed red tips, a nose and lip piercing, and he also has an eyebrow piercing.”

“Ma’am, what color were his eyes and can you give me a guess about his weight and body type? Along with a description of his face structure?” 

“Yeah, he has emerald green eyes and his face has a slim nose and high cheekbones, he also has a pretty defined jawline. He might weight around like one hundred eighty pounds and he’s kind of muscular.”

“Okay ma’am, all I need now is an address.” 

“246 Cherry Road.”

“Okay. Thank you and we’ll try our best to find him,” I say to her after I get her contact information and finish writing everything. 

The next day I got out of bed and throw on my uniform. Next, I begin fixing my hair and do some simple makeup. I get into my car and drive all the way to 246 Cherry Road to see where this man lived. 

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I’m still sitting at this corner near the old cafe and apartment building, but I see a car drive up to the sidewalk. I raise a brow at the nice car, and I wonder who would drive a car like this here in town. I stand and dust myself off as I see a young lady approach  me. She has a professional aura about her, and her facial features show determination and confusion. I find it strange she’s walking up to me, but nonetheless I shrug it off. 

“Hello, I’m Mila Johnson. Do you happen to know where 246 Cherry Road is?” her soft voice rings through my ears.

“Um… That’s my old apartment building. Why do you ask?” I ask her and have a confused look show upon my face.

She seems to be surprised. “What is your name?”

“Axel O’Neil,” I tell her and scrunch my face slightly.

“Come with me,” she says politely, but also in a demanding way.

I nod and look at Marcus, who is asleep against the wall. I sigh and look at her. “I can’t leave Marcus here alone, may I bring him with us?” I ask.

“Of course he can, we have to go to the station after all,” her words catch me by surprise.

“The station!?” I ask surprisingly. My eyes grow wide, and I grow slightly tense.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble,” she reassures. “Some young lady with short, black hair called and said you were missing. I’m pretty sure her name was--”

“Carla Jones?”

“Yeah, that was her,” she says a bit annoyed, and shoves her hands into her pockets.

I nod and walk to the car. I whistle to wake Marcus up, and he jumps up and walks over to me. His tail wags happily as I open the door for him to jump in. He does, and I get in after him. Mila gets into the driver’s seat and takes off. We sit in silence for about twenty minutes before she talks.

“Why were you on the sidewalk?” she asks and glances back at me throw the mirror above the dashboard.

“I was evicted for not paying rent due to my crappy job,” I explain and look at her. “The job didn’t pay well to other workers, minus Carla, she’s the owner’s daughter.”

She nods and looks back at the road. She turns into the station’s parking lot and parks the car. Mila motions for me to get out, so I do. I pat my thighs once I’m out to get Marcus’ attention. I look at Mila, who’s already at the station doors and waiting for Marcus and I. Reaching down to give Marcus a quick scratch behind the ears, I follow after Mila to the doors when she pushes it open and leads us into the building. Being here makes me uneasy, even though I know I’m not in any trouble, it’s just rather odd. I can tell that Marcus feels the same way since he was sticking rather close to my side, ears twitching at every noise or watchful eyes catching even the slightest movement.

Marcus tensed up slightly as we entered the station, his ears drooped down as he walked by a big, muscular police officer. He’s probably nervous and wondering about where we are and what we are doing here. “Axel!”

“What?” 

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes, but you’ve just been looking at Marcus,” Mila says and seems a bit worried.

I look at her and say, “Oh… sorry.”

“I have to ask you some questions.”

“Uh, okay.”

“How long have you been on that sidewalk?” she asks as she pulls out a small notepad and pen from her pocket.

“A few days, maybe a week? I haven’t been keeping track of time,” I tell her.

She nods and writes down the information I have just given her. “And why haven’t you been keeping track of time?”

“Well, being a homeless man with a dog, I was thinking of ways I could get out of this mess. Y’know, try and get a job again. Maybe a new apartment while I’m at it,” I rub the back of my neck.

“A new place? Well, you can stay with me until then,” she suggests.

“You sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“I’m positive,” she says with a soft smile. Her eyes warming up with emotion as she asks me the rest of the questions and takes me to her house at the end of her work day. Why was there such a spark in her eyes though? 

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Oh my gosh, why did I say he could live with me? Am I falling for him? What is happening? I mean he has such a deep and caring voice, a nice smile, and he does have a cute dog. I just think he doesn’t deserve to be in this situation either. “Here’s the guest bedroom and the door over there is the bathroom that goes with this room. There's a shower, toilet, sink, everything a bathroom needs pretty much.” 

“This is just your guest bathroom and bedroom? My old apartment wasn’t even this nice!” Axel exclaims with excitement and surprise. 

“Yeah, it is a nice house. I do make a decent amount of money at my job,” I say proudly. “I’m gonna get a shower and then tomorrow I’m gonna go job searching.”

“Sounds good Axel. Also, Here’s some money for food for Marcus and Jasper, my cat.” I say the feline’s name with love in my voice, I get him when I’m going through a rough time. He gets into the shower and then we go our separate ways for the night. 

The next day at work is a tiny bit crazy, but I’m used to it at this point. I come home and take my shoes and coat off,  and flop onto the couch. Jasper jumps onto my lap and Marcus is at my feet. Axel comes into the living room with a big smile on his face. “You seem to be in a good mood, did something happen?” I ask.

“I got a new job!” He practically screams out of happiness. 

“You did? That’s amazing! Congratulations!” I say as I stand up and hug him tightly. 

He wraps his arms around my shoulders because of the height difference between us, me being five foot four and him six foot one. My head’s in his chest, I can hear his heartbeat and it’s strangely calming. I feel safe in his arms. I look up to meet his gaze and he seems to be looking back and forth from my eyes to my lips. I know that he wants to kiss me, and I just go for it. 

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She’s kissing me. Oh my god. Wait, don’t just stand there you idiot! Kiss her back. I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her back. The kiss only lasts about five seconds, but those five seconds are what determines the rest of our happy lives together.

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So!!! This was a group effort. Two other people (a girl named Hannah [?], and another names Shayle [?]) and I! The teacher said it could be a Hallmark Christmas story!!!! XD

I'm also the one who wrote Axel's point of view!