Chapter 31
Blaze
"I'm sorry about my mother," He murmurs against my lips while his hands slide down my arms and wrap around my waist. I wince against his hold trying to ignoring the growing bruises, but he doesn't notice.
"It's fine," I breath and my fingers find his hair locking into the long strands.
He pulls away slightly causing my body to follow the movement, "no it's not. She is insane!"
He won't meet my eyes as he talks and I move quickly stopping his train of thought. I grab onto his cheeks and pull his face towards me, forcing his eyes to mine hopefully calming them.
"Hey, Axel. Hey! Look at me," I say and he reluctantly quiets down, "Your mother is a product of herself, and I just glad she never dragged you will her."
I glance out the window at the still empty parking lot with a small smile, "your dad, however," I continue, "You definitely share a lot of qualities with him." Axel tenses under my hands and he again looks down refusing to make eye contact. I already know which part made me upset.
"Good qualities. Like how he handled your mother!" I encourage with a smile ducking my head for a moment to make is eyes lock on mine once more.
He shakes his head, "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw what I was like..." he trails off but I won't let him leave me hanging.
I know Axel, and I see him for who he truly is. Sometimes I wonder if he sees someone else in the mirror. If a shadow haunts him that he has still not told me about, but I already have seen it and if he is worried he will scare me away well then he has nothing to worry about.
"Axel, talk to me," I press, "please."
He sighs, "When you were gone I- God Blaze never do that to me again," He mutters the last part before continuing, "I wasn't myself. I was angry and cruel. The way I spoke and made decisions- I was becoming my father and everyone could see it."
He breaks away from me to rub his tired eyes, the darker skin weighing down on my heart.
"Was that a bad thing?" I ask trying to see where his head is.
"Yes! No. Shit maybe?" He says all at once still standing away from me, "I just know you weren't here and there wasn't anyone to put my feet back on the ground."
Cautiously, I take a step towards him, "Well, I'm here now."
His eyes look more grey than blue today, "yes you are, but for how long?" He asks and I can tell he regrets it as soon as its out of his mouth.
"As long as you need me," I tell him firmly causing him to smile as I place my hands back to his chest and he wraps is arms around my waist once more.
There is an abrupt cough from beside us and I just realize we are still standing in the living room with a couple of bodyguards lounging around not seeming interested in our conversation.
"You stop noticing them after a while," Axel mumbles to me before turning his head to the man in a white coat that interrupted us. His balding hair matching the coat and his lanky body barely filling it out.
"Your father said she needs medical attention," his voice is scratchy like an uncomfortable sweater gripping across my arms.
As if he knows the unpleasant nature of his voice he simply juts his head towards the stairs signaling us to follow. He walks up the stairs and into Axel's room which surprises me until I see the already set up supplies. Axel had told him where I am going to stay.
"After this, I have to check on the other one," the Doc said and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion before realization hits me like a ton of bricks.
Mo!
I watch as Axel's expression turns stony and decide to wait to ask until later.
"Please lift your shirt."
I do as he says but the Doctor is watching Axel the entire time who is staring-glaring back, and I suppress a knowing smile. Alpha male types are very predictable.
A gasp leaves my lips as the feeling of cold latex meets my abdomen and I suck in a breath standing straight as a board. Axel's eyes snap down and notice the swollen areas of my torso that is already starting to change color.
"Holy shit," he cruses before clenching his hand around my chin, uncharacteristic roughly, "did they do this to you?"
I see venom in his eyes as I nod my head slowly, this only makes him angrier as he yells obscenities into the other side of the room.
"I am going back to kill them," He throws over his shoulder before beginning to walk away.
"No Axel please- OW shit!" I drop onto the bed feeling a spark of pain snap up my side as I suddenly reach an arm out towards him.
He is at my side in seconds and I resist the urge to smile, so predictable. His hands gently brush over my arms as one firmly grips my neck, "What hurts?"
"Right now? It hurts you would walk away from me when I am in this state," I mutter dryly not really thinking too much on my words but they seem to have an impact on Axel who losses the tension in his shoulders.
Seeing him relax I go on, "Please just let it be, you said your dad has a plan? Let's follow this and not go renegade killing off my relatives."
It was meant as a joke but his sense of humor seems to have dulled with the traumatic event which is something we will need to work on in the future. Can't be Axel without the brooding chuckle.
"Fine," he kisses my hairline before taking a seat in the chair at the end of the bed watching closely as the doctor cleaned and bandaged bruises and cuts.
But with every newly found injury, Axel would curse and have to look away.
After over an hour of this new kind of torture, the doc said all I need now was to rest to see how inflamed the wounds get. He pauses to nod at Axel before he makes a beeline towards the door saying he will check on the other girl.
Silence wraps us in her arms, but I can't stand to feel so suffocated, "What now?" I ask somewhat softly at least for me it was.
"I'm not sure," he answers moving to the bed sitting on the edge while I lay on my back, "We have to get everyone back home and fill them in."
"I wonder if Scarlette will stay," I whisper and his lips catch into a smirk.
"Mason might have convinced her during their little vacation," Axel says and I roll my eyes not doubting it.
"And Mo?" I ask softly.
He stiffens and I know she must have told Axel what happened. In between the punches I was able to get a few taunts about Mo and piece a little bit of the picture.
"I already have plans for her."
"What about Jackson? What does he have to say about your plans?" I raise an eyebrow as he scratches the back of his head.
"He will understand and move on," Axel mumbles and for some reason, it felt like a cold metal cut against my chest as if a reminder.
"You know your dad would say the same thing about you and me," I remind him trying to shake the cold chill that has goosebumps rising.
His head whips around armed with a lethal glare, "we are different," He insists, but that just further irritates me.
"How?" I yell back and he leans in closer to me, carefully gripping onto my arms so I can't back away from his intense stare.
"Because I love you so much that I have my entire future planned around us. All of it. College. Career. Kids," My heart rate takes off completely surprised by his reaction, "Me and you, Blaze, we are in this for the long haul. I don't know if you noticed or have admitted it to yourself yet but there is no going back after us. We ruined each other for anyone else."
His chest rises and falls as his serious glare remains fixated on my wide eyes staring back at him and his hands holding me tight. It takes me a full 3 seconds to realize what he said. To let the gravity and reality of his words sweep me and for the logic sign of my brain warning me of unhealthy addictions... before I smile. A lip splitting grin that takes up half of my face.
"I guess you're right," I whisper and without hesitation I wrap arms around his nack bringing him impossible closer, hurting for a second has his strong chest collides with my bruised body.
But then it all halts and pull back quickly, "What if they have that?"
His arms that are now resting around my waist tighten before he gives in, "I'll talk to him to see what exactly they have and then think about it, but she is still on my shit list, permanently."
I smile knowing that is the best I am going to get right now and bring my arms back around his neck as he slides into his bed next to me, "Okay," I offer as a temporary surrender having missed him too much to fight now.
He smiles and its the first real one I have seen in hours and relief floods through me as I grin back at him, the two of us looking like idiots. He reaches his hand up to my cheek and I flinch by accident from the pain.
"Sorry," he whispers running his thumb against the swelling cheek slowly, tentatively.
"It's okay. I'm just gonna be a little sore for a while," I admit better to be real with him now than weeks later when I am still groaning and flinching.
He nods his head before asking, "Why did they do this? Hit you, I mean, when they got you I thought, well let's just say it was the hardest thing I ever had to prepare for."
"Prepare?" I ask tilting my head his eyes following the movements and the corner of this mouth twitches as if wanting to give into the grin, but it quickly loses its humor when he answers.
"Prepare for the news of losing you, Blaze."
I swallow hard and one of my hands slip into his, squeezing tightly, "well they didn't do any major damaged, just asked a couple of questions," I confess.
"They asking you questions? That's why they hit you."
Obviously, his upbringing did not shelter him from the reasons someone gets beat up or tortured, information.
I nod my head, "They want my parents Will. Probably trying to create a fake or something. Who knows, but all that matters is they are never getting it."
"Where is it?" He asks with a hint of mischievous in his eyes and I smirk at the familiar look.
I stretch my arm beside us to the nightstand and reach underneath gripping the edge of the taped paper and sliding the Will out.
"My parents told me to keep this safe, it is equivalent to my life. So I left it with the person I trust most," I say with a shy smile.
Axel stares at paper that he didn't know was hidden for a moment longer and I almost thought he was mad.
"I wish I could have met them," he says softly taking his eyes off the paper.
Sucking a breath I nod my head, "My mom would of loved you. She likes the psychology behind dominant males."
He chuckles and usually I stop it there. I don't like talking about them much, except the few exceptions and most of the time I try to keep it positive, but after this, I feel this weight needing to be released.
I glance at Axel unaware that my eyes are pleading, he stays silent waiting for me to go on.
"I really wish you could meet them. That everyone could. I wish I had a normal 3 bedroom house. I wish my mom and I could get into stupid fights about nothing. I wish that dad would take me out to the movies to watch the action one's mom won't watch."
Axel swipes a tear away making me realize that I am crying.
"But none of that will ever happen. There is no happy ending for them with me. No one will take pictures of me at graduation. Mom and Dad won't help me move into dorms at college. My dad will never walk me down the aisle, and my mom will never help me with my kids when I am drowning in diapers. I am just alone and they left me like this. Fending for myself with a bat shit crazy aunt that almost killed me a number of times!"
I am yelling now and Axel seems to either be holding me up or holding me back. I can't tell.
A sob racks through me and this time he pushes me into his chest gently as I cry, "Am I a horrible person for saying all of that?"
His head shakes immediately, "No baby. What you are is a 17-year-old how has had her adolescent taken from her. You had to grow up too quickly and there are going to be scars because of that. But I promise to love every one of them."
Another sob escapes my lips as he continues, "And your parents never meant for this to happen. As long as you know that then no matter what you feel, you are not wrong because of it."
I nod my head against his chest and he just holds me. Letting me cry to my heart's content. Even after my tears dry and the entire tissue box is empty neither of us move. We just lay in each other's arms and drift into a much-needed sleep.
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Hey hey hey!
I will be updating a bonus chapter on what Hazel and the guys did during this time. it will mostly be just fun and a little more into Hazel/Jsx and Mason/Scarlette.