Hard to Get

Chapter 18: I Missed You

Axel's POV~

I was lying in my bed. I felt miserable. Not being close to Tyler or having no interactions is so hard. It's hard to contain myself. Just when he waved to me the other day, I wanted to hug him tight and apologize for not being there when he needed me. But, I know that I should follow what the nurse said. I still love Tyler with all my heart, but if my presence makes him uncomfortable, I'll give him the space he needs.

I keep hearing my phone ring every few hours. All the time, it's always Tyler. I want to answer, but I can't. I'm afraid. What if he tells me he wants me out of his life completely? What if he tells me about a restraining order? I know I'm overthinking this, but I can't help it. I'm scared. I love Tyler. But if he doesn't like me at all, then I'll stay out of his life. 

I notice that he hasn't called. Maybe he gave up and knew I'd stay out of his life. It's what he wanted anyway.

I get a knock on my doorframe to see Alex. She sits on my bed. "Get up already. You look miserable. What's going on? You haven't talked to Tyler in forever. Did you stop loving him?"

I couldn't bear the pain anymore. I start to cry in my pillow. I need Tyler, but Tyler doesn't want me near him. My sister hugs me close. "I'll leave you alone."

She leaves and I just lay here. I hear a knock at the front door, but I choose to ignore it. It's probably my sister's boyfriend. My sister enters the room with someone, but I don't look up. She just leaves, but I hear her lock the door, which leaves me confused.

I look up to see Tyler.

Tyler's POV~

I spent so much time calling him. But not once has he answered. It hurt me so badly. My first friend I made at this school. Axel, why won't you answer me? I decided I had enough. If he wasn't going to answer my calls, I will go to him directly.

I walked over to his place and knocked on my door. Alex opened the door. She just told me that Axel wasn't feeling well. I nod and say "Then I'll help him feel better." She just nodded.

Before we go upstairs to his room. I whisper something to her. "You think you can lock me in with him? I need to talk to him." She sighed and nodded.

We went upstairs and I entered his room with her. She nodded at me and closed the door. Locking it as well. I look to see a depressed looking Axel. He looks at me, almost scared. I got closer to him, but he backed away. My chest is hurting again. I couldn't bear the pain and did something I normally wouldn't do. I hugged him. I nuzzle into his chest. Tears start to fill my eyes.

He looks down at me with a confused expression. I just hug him tighter. Waiting and hoping he'll return the hug. Please Axel. Hug me back. I continue to wait. Finally, I got what I hoped for. He hugged me back.

Axel's POV~

I didn't know what to do. With Tyler hugging me this tight, tears started to leak my eyes. I couldn't help myself anymore. I hugged Tyler. Tightly. Very tightly. I cried as I hugged him. He did too, I could hear it.

"You idiot. Why weren't you there?" I looked down at Tyler. Tyler looked at me with tearful eyes. "Why weren't you there?!"

More tears leaked. I knew it. He came to downgrade me. "I'm sorry! I really wish I was there! If I had gotten there sooner, you wouldn't have been in pain! You wouldn't have to deal with getting PTSD! I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."

Tyler hugged me tighter. "No!" I looked at him confused. "Why weren't you at the hospital?! I wanted to wake up and hugged! I wanted to lay my head on your soft chest! I wanted you with me! But you weren't there..." He weakly punched my chest. "You weren't there..."

I had tears leaking more. But not of sadness. I'm happy. He missed me.

I hug Tyler tightly. "I'm so sorry. The nurse told me that you felt uncomfortable around me. She said that my presence made you feel suffocated." Tyler looked up at me. "What?"

Tyler let go of the hug and lied his head on my chest, his back against me. I wrap my arms around him. "She misunderstood me." I looked down at him even more confused. "What?"

Tyler latched onto my arm and rubbed his face against it. Like he liked the feeling of my fur on his face. "I did say something like that, but she misunderstood." I looked at him, waiting for an explanation. "I said that your hugs were warm and I loved them. But sometimes your tight hugs are suffocating. Like, literally. Your chest would suffocate me sometimes." I rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled a bit.

"Sorry, but you already know how much I love you." Tyler nods. He turns and nuzzles into my chest again. "I know." I hugged him and he hugged me too. "Axel..."

I look down at him. "What?" He sat up. "I missed you." I never felt so happy in my life. My tail was wagging so much. I couldn't keep myself from smiling. I can't help myself anymore.

I tackled Tyler to the bed, nuzzling him and cuddling him. "I missed you too! So, so much!" I continued to nuzzle into him. I ended up rolling off the bed and onto my back, still holding Tyler close to me. I was still nuzzling into Tyler. Tyler chuckled and tried to get up,
but I quickly pulled him back down. "More cuddles." Tyler sighed and lied his head against my chest. I continued to nuzzle into him. After about 15 minutes of non-stop cuddling, I finally let him go. Tyler got up and helped me up too.

Tyler's POV~

I got up after the little 15 minute cuddling. I helped Axel up to his feet. I probably shouldn't tell him I'm spending the night here. Or else it'll be either a 30 minute cuddle session, or bedtime will be early.

We both went downstairs and saw Alex watching some show about a demon butler. She saw the happy looking Axel. She smiled and got up, making her way to Axel before hugging him. They both nuzzled each other before getting on her phone to order a pizza.

We followed her downstairs and sat on the couch. She asked me over to the kitchen, which I gladly obliged. She asked me what I wanted on the pizza. I told her and she placed the order.

Alex asked me "So, what did you do to make him happy again? I heard the bed shaking~"
I blushed tomato red. "We didn't do that! We're not like that!" She just laughed and said "I know. But really, what did you do?" I just said "School drama, don't worry about it." She just nodded and we both went back to the living room.

I sat next to Axel, which soon became on Axel's lap. He lied his chin on my head and held me close. The pizza soon arrived and Alex picked it up. When she set down the pizza boxes, she asked me when I was going home. Uh oh. Okay, here it goes. "I'm spending the night here." She smiled and said "Okay." It didn't take long for me to be lifted like a rag doll by Axel. He started to head for the stairs.

Alex looked at Axel weirdly. "Where are you going?" Axel just said "We're skipping dinner and going straight to bed." I struggled a bit and said "Wait! I'm actually hungry!" Axel chuckled. "Fine. Let's eat." I sighed in relief. I really am starving though.

We ate dinner and continued to watch the show that Alex was watching. It soon got late and I didn't want to do it, but I yawned. Axel was alert. My yawning was the siren for him as "Time to cuddle all night." He lifted me up and we went to his room. He got in bed after taking his shirt off. I entered the bed after him and nuzzle into his chest. Axel hugged me closer. "I love you, Tyler." I just nod and nuzzle into his chest more. "I missed you, Axel. So, so much." It didn't take long after that to fall asleep.