Axel's Daisy

12 • Destiny

   Brady had his arms around a smitten Jade. I left them a little earlier to check up on Axel, and they caught up with me to spend time with him.

   "Ow! Would you quit it already?" Axel snapped whilst he pushed his hyper friend away.

   "See," Brady told Jade, "he is as fine as a baby's bottom." Jade sniggered at both of them as Brady continued to assault Axel's neck. However, he became mortified when Axel propelled himself out of bed and they circled each other. Axel was in his now-ripped jeans and his notorious black shirt.

   "Do I have to tell them about Jackie?" Axel threatened the scared guy, who took cover behind my best friend.

  "Who's Jackie?" Jade asked Axel. She had finally gotten used to him and no longer twisted her tongue.

   Axel smugly smirked at Brady as he shook his head slightly with pleading eyes.

   "Dishes for a week, or I'll tell."

   "Fine, I'll do the dishes."

   That caught my attention.

   "You live together?" I asked suspiciously.

   "Yeah."

   "No." Axel interjected.

   They answered simultaneously, which made me more puzzled. They looked at each other and scratched the backs of their heads meekly.

   "Technically, I'll be staying at Brady's house for a few days since my car was sent to recovery by the police, and we have our football sessions together," Axel mentioned.

   I let it go since it made sense, but I also noticed how easily his face flushed. I was never the kind of girl who liked to out people, even if they lied.

  It's not your business; you are just the quarterback's friend, I reasoned with myself, my usual daily habit to keep myself intact.

   "Lucky you," Jade said grudgingly to Axel, who narrowed his eyes at her. "You get to be around Brady." The popular guy flexed his muscles with his head held high as he gloated.

   "Yeah, I'm sooo lucky," Axel drawled, then got a pillow smack from Brady when he darted to the other side of the bed.

   Axel growled at him the moment he clutched the back of Brady's shirt. The nurse rushed in with wide eyes.

   "You are disrupting the patients. All of you out of the room, please." She shooed us out with a scowl.

   Jade and Brady happily skipped away together. His presence behind me made me steady my stance; I was hyper-aware of him every time. We reached the park next to the hospital after he signed his release papers.

   The phone felt heavy in my pocket. I had fixed and replaced it for him, but I didn't know how to hand it over. It felt weird to just outright give him the phone and say, "Remember the phone you threw? I fixed it for you." It was sappy, but I definitely needed to get into my big-girl pants.

  "Axel...uh, hey," I stammered stupidly, my heart racing as I noticed our close proximity. His husky laugh made me tingle as he moved his head to the side.

  "Hey, Daisy."

  "I was going to tell you—"

   The ringtone of Ed Sheeran suddenly played, and Axel's eyebrows furrowed when the phone vibrated in my front pocket. He slipped a hand into my pocket and pulled out his phone. I wanted to disappear as he stared at it and then blinked at me.

   "Wait, you actually fixed this for...me?" He asked in disbelief, pointing at himself. He disconnected from the caller.

   My eyes shyly avoided him at the same time I let my hands fall to my sides. I couldn't look at him; his phone exposed me in a way it hadn't before.

   I felt like I was naked in front of him, but my breath quickened when his arms gently enveloped me. His warmth surrounded me as he hugged me, his heartbeat pounding against my chest as he lowered himself to reach me.

  It wasn't just a hug; it was another world.

   It absolved all of our abrupt thoughts when he tightened his hold, as if he never wanted me to let go. We didn't mind the fact that we were both a mess.

   The sound of thunder startled us out of our embrace and reminded us that rain was imminent. We needed to get to Brady's car. Jade's car had also been sent to recovery along with Axel's.

  "This means a lot to me," his golden eyes twinkled at me in appreciation. "Thank you."

   "Don't mention it," I replied affirmatively.

  Jade sat in front next to Brady, and we sat behind. Our fingers touched when Brady made a turn; we were next to each other. He made sure our best friends didn't notice us as they were engrossed in a movie they had seen before. He sneaked a kiss on my left cheek.

  My brain went blank as my cheeks flushed, the heat spreading to my ears, covered by my thick hair.

  He seemed to enjoy my reaction as he gave me an amiable grin.

  I was falling for him.