I Want Your Love

THREE.

The sun was beginning to set on an emotionally-taxing day for the group, and most of them decided to spend it by the pool while others opted to rest and regain energy for dinner.

Axel walked into the kitchen to grab another beer from the stash that they bought at a store before they checked in, smiling to himself as he savoured the cool taste of the alcoholic beverage. 

He started making his way across the house when he spotted Meraki tying her hair up by the doorway of Luca's bedroom, while listening to whatever Luca was telling her. He paused when he saw what she was wearing. 

She was wearing a yellow pair of palazzo pants that basically shaped itself on her figure, exposing the curves of her hips, along with a matching halter top that drew him to her collarbones and the tattoo on her shoulder. 

She was gorgeous, Axel thought, admiring his old friend and how the colour of her outfit complimented her hue. He had to admit that seeing her in bright colours and an outfit that didn't consist of leggings or sneakers was a nice change, but it left him wondering if he missed the notice of a dress code for dinner.

After watching for a bit, Axel took a rapid step back when he realised what he was doing, taking a large sip of his beer before walking out to the pool, forcing his eyes to look away from his old friend. 

The dirty blond was startled by his fascination for his friend and how she looked, but shook his head as he took another sip, simply putting his fascination down to the simple fact that Meraki had obviously grown up and changed since their school days. 

Both of them were slightly chubby from baby fat, and were wearing the hideous school uniform that hid anyone's shape, unless you were quite built or customised the uniform to your bidding (in spite of the rules). 

"It's been twelve years anyway", he whispered to himself, with the bottle right by his lips. He let out another sigh as he drank, trying to diffuse an uneasy feeling that was developing in his gut, or was it below his gut? 

Whatever the feeling was, it attracted Pan's attention, who raised his eyebrow at his close friend's peculiar attitude. "You alright there, Axe? You look like you're trying to kill something with those eyebrows", he asked amused. 

Axel rolled his eyes, then shook his head when he realised that he was wearing sunglasses. "I'm fine Pan. I'm just amazed by this place, and how Meraki managed to swing it". Pan shrugged as he took a sip of his drink. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if she threatened the man with her job. Any business owner would hate to have a bad reputation from an article or radio show done by a minority person, and Meraki works in both areas". 

Axel shook his head in disbelief. "No, there had to be something else. We're talking about Astrid here, the person who blatantly acted in a racist manner to the manager of the resort and is still in this chalet with the rest of us", he began with a head shake of disgust. 

"I'm telling you that she convinced him otherwise. Probably even made a deal with them, cutting our trip short or something. If I was the manager, it would take me a lot to forgive any person from Astrid's entourage after being alluded to being a monkey". 

Axel went quiet as he listened to his own words, wondering how he missed that part of Astrid's personality in their three years of dating. 

There was a point where he considered spending the rest of his life with her, but when they decided to go long distance for Astrid's graduate programme, Axel's happily ever after all but shattered when he learned of Astrid's infidelity. So watching how she acted now really was just having the rose coloured glasses ripped off his face.

Pan agreed with Axel's words with a simple nod, but as they both moved to drink their alcohol, a sound of a car grabbed their attention. "Why is there a car pulling up to our place?", Pan wondered aloud. 

Instead of answering, Axel abandoned his drink and sped inside the house, just as Luca, Haisley and Meraki were walking to the door. "Where are you guys going?", he rushed out, stopping just next to Meraki. "I'm going out. Why?", Meraki replied. 

Axel heard the words from her mouth but staggered to reply because of what he saw in front of him. 

In a complete look, Meraki's yellow ensemble was complimented by her braids being pushed out of her face in a ponytail that was half done, along with light make-up that he could see was accented by her lipstick and the gold accents on her eyelids and cheekbones. 

She was, in one word that Axel could think of - enthralling, and he wondered where she was going to show off this look. 

"A-All three of you?", he finally asked, looking up from Meraki to Luca and Haisley. The other two watched with amusement at the shocked look on his face - anyone could see that he was attracted to his old friend, and while Meraki didn't want any trouble with her excursion, Luca couldn't hold it in. "She's going out on a date. We're staying here for dinner It's going to be a three course dinner", he said smirking. 

"D-Date? Y-You're being fetched for a date? With who??", Axel stammered, tittering between despair and anger at this information. 

Rolling her eyes, Meraki pinched Luca's arm before replying, "I'm going out with the reason why we're sleeping here and not making shifts to sleep in that tent. I'll see you later, and you -", she said pointing at Luca, "Be nice. No naughty shenanigans. Bye".

Haisley laughed while Luca gawked at their friend's motherly warning, before glancing at Axel who was now staring at the door with a forlorn look on his face. Why? He could see Meraki's date. 

A tall man, who he assumed was Fijian, with black hair wearing a leather jacket, who was guiding Meraki into the passenger seat before kissing her hand and closing the door. Now angry, Axel stormed past the two remaining friends and this time grabbed the bottle of whiskey on the counter, pouring it in a tumbler and taking it straight. 

Haisley and Luca watched Axel's silent tantrum in amusement, before Haisley retreated to her room leaving Luca by the front door.

Luca did not think that Axel would react this badly to his friend helping them out, and for some reason known only to the heaven's (or hell since he was a supposed sinner by being gay according to his mother) above, Luca felt a minuscule amount of guilt but it was enough to push him to find out the cause of Axel's sudden binge on whiskey. 

"Hey, are you okay? We didn't think that her going out was going to be problem", he mentioned watching him. 

Axel ignored him while pouring himself another shot and took while glaring at the door. This action gave Luca an idea. "Did you guys used to date? Meraki never mentioned it to me at least, but it could explain your jealousy", he implored watching for a reaction. He got one.

Axel slammed the half-empty tumbler on the counter, glowered at Luca before grabbing another beer from the fridge and walking out as he directed his finger at Luca. 

"We didn't date, and I'm not fucking jealous. Just leave me alone!", he shot out before storming past the pool up towards the garden and the hammock, shocking his friends who heard him from the pool. 

Despite his denial, both Luca and Axel knew in their minds that their friend in yellow was the indirect cause behind the blond's sudden change of mood. 

^^^^^^

A/N: How does it sound so far? I'm going to give readers a glimpse into Axel's emotional reaction as well as Meraki's date in the next chapter - so it's going to get interesting. 

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Love + light 

- M