As Told By Tuck & Axel

Ryan Says an Inappropriate Thing

Ryan Says an Inappropriate Thing-Tucker

Cain and Axel had dated for a brief stint of four weeks the fall of our freshman year. I despised the kid, and Axel knew that, so I chose not to accompany him to surprise said boy at NYU one November weekend.

Axel had called me at 3 AM the same night he had left to visit Cain, begging me to pick him up at the train station. When I picked him up and brought him home, I knew something had happened. He wouldn't tell me what, but all I knew was that it made Axel cry like I've never seen him cry before. It tore me apart. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Axel is the strongest person I know. Seeing him fall apart is one of the most heart breaking things to witness.

The next day, Axel acted like nothing had ever happened. I did him the favor of not asking anything, even though I was dying to know what the hell Cain did. I also wanted to beat the absolute shit out of the kid, but I also didn't want Axel to think I thought he was too weak to handle Cain himself. I was in a delicate position.

There was no mention of it until two days later when Ryan, Ax, and I were in a study room at the library working on some assignments. Everything was silent, except for Axel's phone.

It was vibrating aggressively against the wood of the rectangular table we occupied. He checked it, and then let it ring. Ryan and I exchanged a look, but neither of us said anything. Until it happened again.

"Ax, if you're not going to answer that, put it on silent, will you?" It was Ryan who asked him first.

"It is on silent," was Axel's only response. It was true, though. The only sounds coming from the device were the harsh vibrations of the phone on the wood, so Ryan didn't argue it any further.

It rang two more times with Axel not making any move to touch it. The third time, I grabbed it off the table, saw it was Cain, then ignored the call. Ryan muttered a "Thank god," but Ax remained silent.

Then, it rang again.

"Axel I swear to God, if you don't pick up your damn phone and talk to whomever needs to speak to you this badly, I'm going to drop kick you and your phone across the damn stadium." Ryan had had enough.

I winced. Whenever anyone, including me, used a tone like that with Axel, things got ugly.

"Oh, yes, Ryan," Axel started, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "I'd be delighted to pick up the phone and talk to the boy who lied about loving me, who cheated on me for a month, used me, called me useless, and proceeded to act like nothing happened the next day. I'd love to fucking speak to him."

I watched Ryan's mouth fall open. I felt my own pulse quicken.

"Excuse me?" Without even realizing, I had activated into guard dog mode. "Cain did what?"

"Tucker it's not that big of a-"
"ANSWER ME!" I wasn't proud of how loud I screamed. Ryan jumped out of his seat a bit. Axel sighed.

"He had some man in his bed when I got there. Told me he felt bad for me, that I was pathetic. Told me he never loved me. Told me he used me for sex. The list goes on."

"Wait, you had a boyfriend?" Ryan was, at this point, unaware of Axel's preferences.

"He's bisexual, get over it. Now give me your phone, Axel."

Ryan looked taken aback. Axel was looking at me warily, guarding his phone as if it were his virginity. "No," he said, his voice small.

"Give. It. To. Me."