As Told By Tuck & Axel

Peter

Peter---Tucker

It was settled. I was going to marry Maggie.

I asked her the Wednesday after my fight with Axel. She, of course, said yes. It was her birthday, and I had taken her out for a nice dinner. Everything was picturesque. Well, everything except Axel and I.

We had barely spoken since Saturday, the day he basically told me to fuck off and marry his sister instead of fighting with him about it. Since then, we had made small talk at breakfasts and dinners, but that was it. I still hadn't told him I proposed. He found out through a text from his sister the next morning.

A bowl of fruit loops landed across from me. Axel was not far behind. I watched him take a spoonful, chew it, and swallow it, before he looked over at me.

"So, congrats."

I couldn't tell if he was pissed at me for not telling him. So, I smiled slightly.

"Yeah, thanks, man."

The rest of breakfast was silent. I didn't speak to him at all, actually, until he was leaving the apartment and shouting a halfhearted "bye" over his shoulder. I grew cold once he left.

After work, I came home to two sets of dress shoes kicked off at our front door. Confused, I called Axel's name.

"Ax? Who's here?" I waited, but no one responded. After taking a few steps into the living room, I realized why.

Axel was asleep on the couch, and ungracefully sprawled on top of him was my little brother. I had completely forgotten that he was staying with us this weekend while he was here on business.

For some reason, I reached down and pulled my brother off of Axel by the collar of his cleanly pressed dress shirt. He started coughing as soon as I set his feet on the ground. Axel's eyes opened.

"What the fuck?" That was Peter. "What kind of greeting is this?" Peter shoved me off him, giving me a look of disgust. I noticed he was growing in a bit of scruff, and his pants were even more tailored and tight than they were the last time I saw him in work clothes.

"Axel doesn't want you drooling all over him, pipsqueak. You're a nuisance."

Axel sat up and glared at me. "No, Tuck, he isn't." He turned and looked at Peter. "You aren't Pete. Your brother's just jealous."

"The fuck I'm jealous!" For some reason Axel's accusation infuriated me. "I'm just concerned about your... about you! I'm just concerned for Axel, that's it. Jesus, is everything a fucking CSI investigation these days?"

Peter laughed. "No one is trying to interrogate you, Tucker! What the hell has gotten into you?!"

"Yeah, whatever, Officer Oaks. Just grab your stuff and bring it into my room, leave the boy be. You've already snuggled and slobbered all over him."

Pete only chuckled, mumbled a "whatever" and followed my instructions. "Later Ax." Axel gave him a wave, then stood up and stretched himself out. As my door slammed, Axel walked up to me, giving me a strange smile.

"Well I think the jealousy is cute," he said, slapping my cheek. "G'night detective." He snickered, then headed inside his bedroom. I smiled to myself, cupping my cheek. It was the first true showing of my best friend in days.

After a few glasses of wine and the evening news, I got in bed. I was sharing with Pete, who was already asleep when I arrived.

I woke up around one though, strangely freezing. It was then that I realized that Pete was gone. I was in Axel's room in three seconds flat.

"PETER!"
He jumped out of Axel's bed as soon as I switched on the lights.

"What the fuck, dude?!"

Axel was awake, now. He was looking at me like I had come in with a powered up chainsaw.

"What the hell are you doing in here? What the hell are you doing with my best friend?" I wasn't happy.

Peter groaned. "Tucker, you need to relax! I left because you kick when you sleep, I couldn't fucking take it anymore!"

"No I don't fucking kick when I sleep, what kind of bullshit is that?"

"Uh, Tuck," that was Axel. "You kinda do."

"Um, no, I kinda don't."

Peter groaned again. "I can't take this shit. I have to be up by six, I'm sleeping on the couch." Peter started leaving, but before he got far, Axel spoke up.

"No, Pete, don't worry, I'll send Tuck back to his room, just stay here."

I didn't even give Pete a chance to take Axel up on his offer. I grabbed him, muttered, "You're sleeping on the couch," then threw him out Axel's room and shut the door.

Axel started yelling at me. "What the hell!" He stood up, only a few steps away from me now. "You're insane, Tucker! Whatever has gotten into you---"
I didn't get a chance to listen to Axel's talk about whatever has gotten into me, because suddenly, I was slamming him against the wall and pressing my lips to his before he could elaborate.

At first, he let me kiss him. I grabbed at his hips, pulling him closer. I missed his lips. Damn I missed his hips.

But then, he started shoving me. His hands pushed against my chest, hard, but I wouldn't let him go. He pushed harder, and was able to free his mouth from mine for long enough to tell me to stop. "Tucker, get off, GET OFF!"

I pressed myself against him harder, and went for his neck instead of his lips. His hands pushed against my body forcefully, contradicting the low moan he let escape his mouth, but I shoved him down harder.

"Tucker..." he was breathless. "Get off me. You're engaged. You're engaged, Tuck, please don't do this to me... Please... don't do this to me."

He had stopped fighting me. He went limp in my grip and suddenly the time that had frozen around me and Axel resumed. Slowly, I retracted myself from Axel. I felt dirty.

I could already see purple bruises on Axel's exposed hips. The skin on his neck was red. His face was stained with tears. Please don't do this to me, he had said, like I was hurting him. Killing him.

I took a couple steps back from him. "I don't know why I just did that."

He breathed out a sigh. "It's okay." His voice was small and made me hate myself.

"No," I almost yelled. "It's not. I love you, and I hurt you, look at your hips, Axel." He stared down at himself and winced.

"It doesn't feel as bad as it looks. Honest." He offered me a smile. My body felt weak. I collapsed on the bed behind me. A few minutes later, Axel took his place beside me.

I turned over to face him. I took a deep breath, and began to lightly trace the purple skin on his torso as he stared at the ceiling. He let me touch him.

I caressed his skin until I heard his breathing deepen, then I got up and turned off the lights and joined him in sleep.