✔︎ | Part of Me (Trilogy)

11 | first date

11 | first date

I haven't been on a date in two years

It's around seven in the evening when Axel showers and comes out in a long-sleeve, grey, half-button up shirt and black jeans, and ruffles his hair with a towel. "Hey," he mumbles, as if I hadn't noticed him appear in the living room, my eyes focused on my laptop, "do you wanna go out for dinner?"

I glance up at him and tease, "it's not like you have any food here, do you?"

He laughs sarcastically. "I'm still off tomorrow so we'll shop all day, okay?" he asks, grinning at me. "But can we get food? I'm starving."

I nod. "Let me change real quick."

I go to Axel's bedroom and close the door as he wanders back into the washroom, and pull on a pair of ripped jeans, boots, and a Metallica tee, not a huge step up from the sweats I was wearing earlier. 

I throw a jacket on and meet Axel at the door, and we take the elevator downstairs. It's raining out when we get to the to the lobby, but Axel is prepared with an umbrella in hand. 

"Are we walking?" I question. 

He nods. "You mind? It's not far."

I shake my head, and link my arm with Axel's, tucking my head under the umbrella. The rain isn't heavy at all, and I'm in boots, so walking through the wet streets of Seattle, and Axel pointing out buildings and directions to different places, is actually really peaceful. I think I look at him more than I look at the city, because he looks so at home here. He looks happy too.

We turn a corner and Axel nods to the iridescent sign above a restaurant and says, "we're here."

I laugh. "Does that say —Irish Public House?" 

Axel grins down at me guiltily. "Yup."

I smack his arm, "I thought we're going out for food!"

He chuckles and catches my hand, "we are," he says, "they actually have great food, and it's cozy." 

I shake my head. "You come here often?" 

He shrugs. "Yeah," he nods, and whispers, "me and my fake ID" before pulling the doors open.

I gasp, and gaze up at him. "Axel!" I scold. 

He grins, "don't worry, I'm not an alcoholic," he assures, closing the umbrella, and leads me into the pub with his hand against the small of my back. Warm air welcomes us in, and Axel nods at an older woman waiting a table as if to say hello. "I just come here with the guys once in a while," he explains, not telling me who the guys are, and we seat ourselves in a little booth in the corner. "It's hardly a pub, really. It just used to be a speakeasy during prohibition."

I sit across from Axel and strip off my jacket, placing it on the bench beside me. "So," I grin, "you know a lot about history now, huh?" 

"It's just what Bertha told me," he shrugs, glancing at the waitress that approaches us. "Hey, beautiful," he says to her, and the old, plump woman smiles cheerfully, her cheeks reddening.