Axel - ON HOLD

Chapter 16

Axel

I waltz into Symposium with confidence and purpose, however that quickly falters when I notice my near-lookalike sitting at a table in the back.

I'm here to see Jax, didn't realise she'd be bringing her baby daddy along too.

She catches my eye and starts waving frantically, standing up from her chair and beaming at me while she gestures for me to come over. Penn's eyes meet mine, and he scowls while tipping his head up in some kind of cold greeting. I nod at them both as I move towards the counter. This will most certainly require coffee.

"Americano, black." I instruct the barista, then I step aside to wait for the drink, giving myself some time to mentally realign this little meeting.

I wanted to see Jax. Just Jax.

I wanted to update her on my situation with Maya.

I can't fucking do that if Penn's here.

How annoying.

But, as I take my coffee and walk towards their table, I flash them both my best smile. It's important to act unaffected, and what better way to do that than with a smile?

"Hi, Axel!" Jax squeals as she jumps to her feet again, pulling me into a hug. I don't hug her back, because I like my bones unbroken, and I raise my eyebrows awkwardly at Penn as his scowl deepens. When Jax finally puts me down, we sit.

"No Lily?" I have to ask, because they're both here and I see no stroller.

"She's with Madison." Penn grumbles, shaking his head a little and frowning at me like I'm a moron. I know he doesn't want me meeting his daughter, and that's absolutely fine by me, but come on. I was only being polite by asking about her.

Whatever, let's breeze past it.

"She is with my mom, although I have to say, I hate being away from her. The breastfeeding is almost constant, and I'm struggling to express much milk, but when she latches -"

"Jacqueline." Penn silences his girlfriend effortlessly. A feat he should really be awarded for. No one else knows how to shut her up when she gets going.

I give him what I hope comes across as a thankful look, because as much as I like Jax, I really don't wanna sit here and talk about breastfeeding. She laughs to herself, then picks up her cup of tea and shrugs her shoulders like what are you gonna do?

And I almost fall off my chair when Penn laughs too.

"She can't help it." He says, eyes directly on me like he's actually okay with addressing words solely at me. "She's passionate, and she talks a lot."

Boy, do I know it.

We share an awkward weird half-smile moment, and I'm temporarily thrown back to our brief time in juvie together, when we used to sit together at meal times and he didn't exclusively smother me with negative energy. We weren't friends, as such. He didn't talk much, I did most of the talking. But he tolerated my presence, at least. And he's doing it again now. This is good.

"Penn's not staying." Jax blurts out, and I only now notice he doesn't have a coffee cup in front of him. "He dropped me off. He wasn't gonna come in, actually. But he wanted to give Maya a tip or something. I told him not to, because that's so not necessary. But, it's also kinda sweet, right? Supporting a friend on their first day."

Jax smiles at me, her purple eyes widening because she can probably tell that I'm surprised by what she just said, oh so casually.

I appreciate the heads up, of course. And I am shocked to learn that Maya's working here.