The Middle of Love

Chapter 10: Stalker

"You knew my family was rich when I told you. Why are you surprised now?"

"That's just it," Axl says, threading his fingers through his hair. "I knew your family was rich, I didn't know you were rich."

"What difference does it make?"

"I thought you were paying your father back with the money I was giving you."

"Just because it's me and not my dad makes this wrong?" I ask him. I sit down on my couch confusion and anger fill my head. I don't know what's real and what's not. "Axl. What difference does it make if you're paying back my father or me?"

"I owe your father everything, even though he doesn't like me all that much, he's given me a chance to be with you. Kate, I don't want to owe you anything. I feel like if I'm paying your father I'm at least trying to be worth the happiness he's letting me have. It sounds so dumb, and I can't really explain, but I just don't want to always be in your debt."

"That's not dumb Axl." I tell him, "Up until now I have been using my father's money, it's just now that I'm trying to avoid my family that I'm using the cards." I explain, "Don't ever think your feelings are dumb." I tell him. "They're not."

He hugs me and I wrap my arms around him in response. "I got the phones you asked for." He says making the most awkward conversation topic change, but I go with it and switch both our phones off after programming the new numbers into each phone. "They each have eighteen days worth of minutes."

"That should be plenty." I tell him I slide the phones into my new tote bag. "Just until we go back we'll only use these."

Axl and I sit in my room talking about everything that's been bothering us between us.

"Axl please, just listen." I plead with him, "A few minutes more. I'm not done talking." He sighs and sits back nodding at me too continue. "I love you, but if my money's going to get in the way of me being me, this won't work. I'm with you because I love you, the man you are, the man you can be. I thought we worked past my money."

"Kate." His voice is soft and he stands up to meet me at the other end of the room where I'm standing my arms wrapped around myself.

Here in this moment
Standing face to face
Let me take you deeper
Till we're heart to heart
And all the space between is over
And you finally feel the love that you deserve
Come with me, take my hand
I wanna give you the world
I wanna give you the world

His voice is soft, "I want to give you the world Kate, but all I can give you is what little I have. A crazy family, and my heart. I want to be able to take you on spontaneous road trips to wherever the wind blows. To take you on the crazy dates we always talk about. To be able to be the one to take care of you. I want to be that man Kate." I feel a tear slip from my eye and Axl brushes it away with the pad of his thumb. "I feel like I'm indebted to your family, and you, for all you've done, all you're doing, all you've done for me." He says laying it all out on the table. "I want to give you the world Kate, but the world's already been given to you. What is there left to give you?"

"Axl." I keep my voice soft. "You've given me the most amazing gift, something no one else could ever give me." I tell him. "Your love is worth more than anything in the world to me." I tell him. "The world may be at my doorstep, but without you by my side walking with me and leading me. What good is it?"

His eyes connect with mine, and for the first time they light up with a new sense of purpose and excitement. "Let me show you the world Katherine. Fly with me."

I take his extended hand and he leaps up onto the coffee table pulling me up with him.

There's a shop down the street,
where they sell plastic rings,
for a quarter a piece, I swear it.