Not Ashamed

'Chapter Twenty Six ×

"Are you absolutely sure you'll be okay?" Axel asks for the millionth time as he puts on his jacket.

"Axel, I'll be absolutely fine. Go get your tux, do what you need to, I should be ready by the time you get back."

Axel hesitates, but nods. He gives me a kiss before leaving the room.

The graduation ceremony is tonight. I'm lucky that both of us finished classes earlier, or I know he would have taken off a full week and a half worth of classes to take care of me at home.

My stitches were taken out five days after my trip to the hospital, but my ribs won't be healed for another week or so. I'm still getting up on that stage for the ceremony. Of course I am. I've come this far, I'm not missing my graduation just for some broken bones.

I notice Axel's phone left on his desk and roll my eyes. I get up, grab it and leave the room. He's not far from the room, which means he obviously hesitated before walking away from the room.

"Axel!" I call. He turns around quickly and smiles when he sees me.

"Miss me already?" He teases, meeting me by the door. I hold up his phone, and he turns red seeing that I didn't, in fact, call out to him just because I needed to see him again. "Oh.."

"If it's any consolation, I did miss you," I mutter. Axel rolls his eyes and kisses my cheek. I give him his phone and this time when he leaves, he actually goes.

I return to our room and sigh when I see my suit hanging from the closet door. I always hated dressing up as a kid, and it was quite often that I had to dress fancy to go to my parents parties and stuff. They were never something a child could enjoy. It was a lot of business talk, and cocktails. Neither one could I partake in.

Now, however, I didn't mind dressing up. Of course, I'd prefer to wear jeans and a t-shirt, but this is a special occasion, and I would make the most of it.

I got dressed, and by the time Axel got back, just as I'd promised, I was ready.

He was too. He must've gotten ready before coming back, which is good. He takes forever.

The only thing missing from my ensemble was my tie, which I had no idea how to do. I fiddled with it, looking at a diagram I had searched on my phone. It was doing no good.

He smiled at me, shaking his head and silently taking the tie from my hands. He put it around my neck and did it himself, turning me back to the mirror when he was finished.

"There you go. Handsome as ever."

I smiled at him. I'm not one to check myself out, nor am I one to put myself down when it comes to my looks but I must admit, I look good.

But Axel looks incredible. That's no surprise, he's the most beautiful person I'd ever met, inside and out.

"Did I mention how much I love you recently?" I asked, looking at him in the mirror. He grinned.

"You have, but you can again."

"I love you." I turned and gave him a quick kiss, feeling his smile against my lips.

"I love you, too. So, it's all settled, you're staying at my parents with me until we find somewhere to live."

"Are you sure I won't be in the way? I don't want to be an inconvinience."

"You won't be, they love you. Speaking of which, we should get down to the ceremony so we can see them before we have to go to our seats."

I nod, following after him out of the room. We walk across the grass, and find William, Mia and Bailey easily.

William and Mia are dressed just as fancy as I expected them to. Just like Axel, they do enjoy to look good. Bailey has on his blue necklace to compliment the dress shirt and vest and his blond hair pushed back. He runs to Axel as we approach and jumps into his arms.

"Hey, Bailey!" Axel grins, hugging Bailey tight.

"Boys, you both look so handsome! I'm so proud of the both of you!" Mia exclaims. As Axel pulls away from Bailey, Mia gives me a hug, so tight I feel like my ribs will break a second time.

"Mom, mom! Careful, he's fragile!" Axel says, pulling his mom's arm back so she's no longer clinging on me. I laugh awkwardly and shake my head.

"Oh, yes, Axel told me us what happened. New York is so dangerous at night! What a shame!"

I give Axel a look, questioning if Mia knows the whole story. Of course, he understands and shakes his head, filling me with relief.

Seeming to not notice Axel and my silent conversation, William asks, "Are your parents here, Finn?"

"Uh, no," I mutter semi-awkwardly. "I don't believe so. I haven't heard from them to know if they're attending, so I'd assume not."

"Oh..." Mia and William exchange a look, but say nothing else on the matter.

"You guys should get your seats," Axel chimes in, "We'll be lining up soon."

"Alright, see you when you're up there! Try not to fall down the stairs, or be in one of those YouTube videos where the student does a backflip and falls on their head."

"Ah, shucks. You wrecked my fun, dad! I was planning on falling up the stairs, doing a backflip, then falling down the stairs."

"On perfect time with the music, of course," I add. We part ways, and me and Axel walk back to wear the rest of the graduates are lined up.

...

"We're adults!" I shout. "Actual, real adults!"

Axel laughs. "I know!"

Johnathan approaches us, a smile on his face that matches Axel's, and though I can't see it, probably matches mine as well.

"Come on, love birds, it's time for our last dinner in the dining hall!"

We rush down the hallway together, all smiles. We walk into the hall, and the thick sound of chatter and laughter hits me like a wall. We grab trays and get our old favourite: chicken fingers, curly fries, and a chocolate chip brownie.

We sit down, and soon enough, Margo, Chloe, Blake and Peter join us. Bailey, Mia and William find us as well, and we push over another table so all of us can sit together. The whole time, I'm on cloud nine. Laughing and enjoying the company of friends, and people who feel like family to me.

That is, until I see my mother and father entering the dining hall.