by Trinity Lemm
After a big meal, Axel offered to pay for the check, but my father refused. As usual, Mark Everley did not let anyone else pay for his or any of his family’s things.
Afterwards, I was relieved. Axe was very open with my parents, telling them all about his major and his hobbies and where he was from. The positive vibes echoed throughout the entire café, leaving me with a sense of fulfillment.
My parents would be in town, staying at a hotel for the next three days, but after that, Axel and I were going to be all alone. With the exception of Ash being around every now and then, of course.
There were a few days left until the dorms were closing for break, so the girls and I were going to have a movie and wine night in their room. After waiting nearly an hour for Claire to get back from Jason’s, we ran out of patience and decided to start drinking without her. I sat criss-crossed applesauce on the futon with my wine glass in hand.
“So, how did everything go today with your parents?” Gi asked, sipping out of her wine glass.
“It went really good actually,” I smiled, thinking about how well Axe had gotten along with my parents.
Gi smiled. “Good! You know, I’m really proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone and pushing past your fears.”
“Thanks, Gi. That means a lot.”
“And I’m still hella jealous that you met Amberly and got invited to her wedding!”
I laughed, taking another sip. “She’s awesome. You’re gonna love her when you meet her.”
The door swung open. “You were totally flirting with that guy!” Jason screamed at Claire, following her inside. Gi and I looked at each other, confused as to what was going on.
“No, I wasn’t! Why the hell would you even think that I was?”
“Because I saw it!” he yelled, taking a step closer to her.
She took a step back, clearly uncomfortable, but not dropping the anger off of her face.
“Jason, don’t yell at my cousin like that,” Gianna said, setting her wine glass down.
He shot a look at Gianna, not giving a single fuck about her warning. “Don’t get involved,” he hissed. His jaw worked under his skin.
“Jason,” I added in, “just calm down. There’s no need to be screaming over this right now.”
He whipped around to face me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I shot back. “You’re causing unnecessary drama.”
“Like you’re one to talk! Always leading my best friend on and then dropping him for some hot-headed, criminal freak!”
My eyebrows shot up. Was he for real?
I couldn’t contain my laughter, knowing that I would never, not ever, ever date Lucas or lead him on in any way. I covered my mouth, trying to silence the laughter that was escaping.
“You think that’s funny?” Jason dropped his chin to meet my gaze. He marched over to where I was sitting, getting so close to my face that I jerked back, spilling red wine all over the futon.
Gianna grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around to face her. She lifted her phone. “Don’t. Make me. Call people. That would drop-kick your sorry ass out the window,” she threatened.
“Who? The Burnes?” he spat back.
She nodded intensely and his anger stayed, but you could tell the threat worried him.
He turned back to Claire. “You gonna let them threaten me like that?”
She was backed up against her desk, leaning on it, staying silent. Her eyes were glossy, a solid sign that she didn’t know what to do.
Jason glanced at all three of us again, before walking out of the room, huffing and puffing.
Gianna typed angrily into her phone and within ten minutes, Axe and Ash burst through the door.
“Where is he?” Axe asked as I scrubbed the futon, trying to get the red wine out.
“He left,” Gianna answered. Ash wrapped his arms around Gi, holding her as she relaxed into his grip.
Claire sat at her desk, solemnly picking at her fingernails. She hadn’t said anything since Jason left.
Axe rushed over to me as I looked up at him. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. He bent down and kissed my forehead before standing back up and walking over to the window. He inspected outside, watching for any trace of Jason. “I fucking swear if he ever gets near you again, I’ll fucking kill him.”
Ash accompanied his brother by the window. He placed a hand on Axe’s shoulder. “Let me,” he said. “You can’t get arrested again.”
I spent the next couple of days hanging out with my parents, showing them around Kalamazoo. It was nice to be able to see them. So much had happened over the semester that I almost forgot how much I missed them. But even more so, I missed my sisters. Brynn, Kendall, and Macey were my built-in best friends and I wanted them to visit so badly, but with everyone’s busy schedules, it was hard. But everyone here at Western had truly become my home away from home.
When I said goodbye to my parents, I was a little upset. I didn’t know when the next time I would see them would be. I hoped that soon enough, I would be ready to go home and face the darkness that Wilmot had engrained into me. I needed to be in a good enough place to do so, and Axel was helping me get there.
Claire had been fairly quiet ever since our encounter with Jason. I was worried about her, but I knew that now wasn’t a good time to bring it up. I wanted Claire to be happy again, the same way she was when her and Jason originally started dating, but after seeing the rage in Jason’s eyes, I was concerned. If Gianna and I hadn’t been there to help diffuse his anger off of Claire, I don’t know what he would’ve done.
Gi had been stressing too. She wanted to come back for New Year’s Eve to spend it with Ash, Axel, and I, but since her and Claire shared a car, Gi would be stuck at home until Claire worked shit out with Jason.
We all helped Claire and Gi pack up their car, waving goodbye as they drove away, leaving me left with Axe and Ash.
The three of us watched movies and played drinking games for a while and before I knew it, it was already time for bed.
I put on my pajamas and climbed in next to Axel. I faced him, running my hands down his bare chest until I reached his dragonfly tattoo.
“Why a dragonfly?” I asked.
He watched me as I studied the tattoo, tracing it with my finger. “A lot of reasons,” he said. “It symbolizes prosperity, self-realization, transformation,” he paused, “and my mom used to like them a lot.”
A tiny smile formed on my lips at his response. Axe pulled me in, bringing me so close that I could feel his warm breath on my neck, sending a ripple of satisfaction down my spine. I tilted my head up so that he could reach my lips. He kissed me softly and passionately, moving his lips across my jawline and down my neck. I dipped my head over to the side so that he could get a better reach. His hands slipped under the covers and grabbed at my hips, making me want them to linger elsewhere. I clawed at his bare chest, running my hands down his perfect abdomen.
He pulled away from my lips, not letting it go any further. I blinked a few times, staring directly into his eyes as I wondered why he stopped.
Axe pushed the hair out of my face. “I can still wait,” he said.
“I know,” I looked away for a second, “but I feel bad making you.”
He brought his eyebrows together. “Don’t.”
I dropped my head onto his chest, closing my eyes as Axel held me.
On Christmas morning, I woke up without Axel next to me. I had grown accustomed to being pounded with kisses every morning, so today was off to a bad start.
I tiptoed down the hall. Axel was at the stove in the kitchen, flipping chocolate chip pancakes over.
His eyes brightened when he saw me. “Good morning, gorgeous.”
“Good morning,” I smiled. My smile quickly faded as I glanced over to the Christmas tree that Axel and I had decorated together, noticing the massive mound of presents sitting under it. “What is all of this? Please tell me that some of these are for Ash.”
He chuckled. “Nope. All for you.”
I scratched my head, not knowing how to react. I had only bought Axe the pair of shoes he wanted and a new leather jacket. If I knew that he was about to buy me the entire mall, I would’ve gotten a few more things.
“You didn’t have to go on a full-on shopping spree for me. I would’ve bought you more stuff if I knew you were gonna go wild like that,” I said.
“Tate, baby, I don’t need anything other than you.”
I rubbed my arm. “Well I don’t need anything other than you too, so you can return some of this stuff.”
“Absolutely not,” he smirked, finishing up the pancakes. “Amberly helped me pick a bunch of them out.” He leaned against the counter, green eyes gazing into my brown ones. “Go ahead. Open them.”
It took me over a half hour to unwrap all the clothes, makeup, shoes, and framed photos of us. I thanked Axel a million times, giving him a thousand tiny kisses all over his face.
“And one more thing,” he held up his finger. He ran back into his room and reappeared with a small, wrapped up box with a bow on it.
Axel placed it in my hands, signaling for me to open it. I took the bow off and opened the box to reveal a key. My eyes darted up to Axe.
“It’s a key to the apartment,” he beamed. “I figured since you’re gonna be here all break and hopefully like… every day after that, you should have your own key. So that you can come whenever you’d like.”
A smile crept onto my face. I wrapped one arm around his neck, hugging him, while still holding the box in the other.
“Thank you. I love it,” I said, planting a small kiss on his lips.
Chapter Thirteen
The Afterparty
Six days later, my phone buzzed, and Gianna’s name lit up the screen.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Tate! Oh my God, hi! Okay, listen. Claire and I are coming back for New Year’s Eve!”
She couldn’t see me through the phone, but I was beaming. “For real?” I asked, afraid that she was messing with me.
“Yes! Jason and Claire worked everything out, so we’ll be back tonight. We’re already on our way.”
My excitement carried throughout the entire apartment. I had missed the girls over the past two weeks. We had never been away from each other for that long before.
A couple hours went by and soon enough, Claire was already dropping Gi and I back off at the apartment after dinner.
We had no idea what we were doing tonight, and just as the four of us were about to figure out our plans, Claire called.
“Hello?” I picked up.
“Hey, Tate! A shit load of people came back early from break for New Years, so there’s a giant party going down tonight. You guys should all come!”
“A party? I’m assuming Jason and Lucas will be there?”
I could tell she was wincing through the phone. “Yeah.”
I looked around at Gi, Ash, and Axe, unsure if going was a good idea.
“Agh, I don’t know, Claire.”
“C’mon, pretty please? The three of us already didn’t get to spend Halloween together. I want to see you guys tonight,” she begged.
The truth was that I wanted to see her too. It felt as if the three of us had been slowly growing apart due to our boyfriend’s hatred for each other. And I didn’t want to let that get in the way of our friendship.
“I’ll talk to everyone and let you know, okay?”
“I’m sending you the address. You guys better get your asses there later!” she insisted, then hung up the phone.
I sighed and looked around at everyone, knowing that they heard that whole conversation.
The boys could tell Gianna and I were wallowing in disappointment, wanting to go to the party, but aware that they wouldn’t want to.
“You guys wanna go to that party?” Ash asked.
Gi and I glanced at each other, reading each other’s minds. We both shrugged and nodded.
Axe and Ash eyed each other for a second and Axe gave him a small nod.
“Alright, fine,” Ash spoke, “but if those two dickheads get anywhere near either of you, we’re gonna have a problem.”
I sat in front of the mirror a few hours later, trying to perfect my makeup. Since it was New Year’s Eve, I wanted to look extra dolled up. I took my time doing my makeup and hair, throwing hairspray in after I finished curling it.
I slipped on my skin tight, mini red dress, following it with red lipstick to match, and then putting on a pair of black heels. My necklace was the last thing I added. When I walked into the living room, three pairs of eyes stopped on me.
“Damn, Tate!” Gianna cried out in her royal blue jumpsuit. “You look hot!”
“You look hotter!” I smiled, looking towards Axel for approval.
“Beautiful,” he smirked, causing me to do the same. After a few seconds of looking at me, his face fell.
“What’s wrong? Do you not like it?” I asked, looking down at my dress.
“No, no! It looks amazing! I just… it’s really, really short…” he winced.
I tilted my head, looking at him. “You want me to change?”
He didn’t take his eyes off the dress. “Well do you want to change?”
“No.”
“Then, no,” he said, taking another look at my red dress. He shook his head, his smirk starting to reappear.
I wrapped my arms around him, burying my head into his chest, while trying not to get any makeup on him. I was surprised that Axe had been so okay with me still wearing my dress, even though he would’ve preferred if I had changed. He let me do what I wanted, which was not only refreshing from what I was used to, but it was respectful as well. He wasn’t controlling. He let me make me own decisions and be my own person, and although I wasn’t used to it, it felt good.
Axe had offered to stay sober for the night, so that he could drive us to the party. He didn’t want us to have to walk in the cold.
We could hear the music blasting from the house before we even got inside. Strobe lights were flashing through the windows. People were walking in and out of the house and some were scattered across the front lawn, even though it was freezing.
Axe led me by the hand inside. The massive house was packed, and empty beer bottles were already piling up everywhere. I was surprised by how many people had come back from break early, wondering where half of them would be staying since the dorms didn’t open up for a few more days. But then again, everyone’s hometowns were boring, so it was no wonder why people wanted to get back to Western as quickly as possible, especially for New Years.
A tall male approached the four of us. His brown hair was carefully gelled. He originally had his focus on me, but once I leaned onto Axel’s arm, he clearly got the message.
“Hey!” he yelled to all of us over the music. “I’m one of the guys that lives here, so I’m just going around and meeting everybody!” The guy shook Axel’s hand and then went to shake mine. “I’m Connor!”
I dropped his hand, taking a step back. My smile fell with it and my heart started to beat a little faster.
I hated that fucking name.
Axel’s hand squeezed mine harder. He delicately turned my chin to face him with his free hand.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. That was then and this is now. He’s not here now. He can’t hurt you anymore,” he whispered.
His soft eyes instantly made me snap out of it. I gave a slow nod. Axe pulled me to him, giving me a bear hug.
“C’mon, let’s go in here,” he offered. Leading me by my hand, we walked into the next room over, and within minutes, I had already forgotten about my almost flashback and was back into a better mood. Axe had that effect on me. He made my heart flutter. And even more so, he made my heart want to heal.
The house was very much alive, filled with some familiar faces, but we didn’t know most of the people that were there. Guys that I didn’t know kept glancing at me and I could tell
it was not making Axel very happy. His eyes scanned the room for any guys that may have been staring for too long.
Claire ran up to me, and I immediately wrapped my arms around her, hugging her as if I hadn’t seen her a few hours prior. She looked stunning with her long blonde hair in a side braid, perfectly accompanying her deep purple dress.
“You look great, bestie,” I said.
“Right back at you,” she winked as she swayed slightly.
“Where’s Lucas and Jason?” I asked, noticing that she had approached me by herself. She was clearly a little tipsy already, and I didn’t want her to be walking around alone.
“I told them to stay in the other room while I came over here. Didn’t want any problems, ya know?”
“Good idea,” Gianna walked up to us.
Claire’s face brightened as she reached for Gianna. “My dear cousin!”
“You’re drunk,” Gi said.
“Drunk?” Claire’s face twisted in confusion for a split second before her smile reappeared. “Oh my gosh, guys! Let’s go get a drink!”
I giggled at her drunken excitement. “How many have you had already?” I asked.
“Probably too much,” Gi said.
Claire thought to herself for a moment. “A good amount, but I’m trying to get plastered tonight!”
I shook my head, laughing. “We’re gonna go get a drink, okay? We’ll be right back,” I said to Axe, rubbing the top of his hand with my thumb.
He cringed, looking around. “I don’t know if I really trust any of the guys here. I should probably go with you.”
“Axe, I’ll be fine. We’ll just be right over there.”
“Okay… just please be careful and don’t take drinks from any guys please. I’ll end up killing someone if your drink gets spiked. Just yell if you need anything, okay?”
I could tell Axe was trying not to be the overbearing or controlling boyfriend, which I appreciated. He just genuinely cared and wanted me to be safe.