Angel on Earth

Chapter Twenty Three: Better, Darling?

Monroe's POV

I smiled and turned off the bedroom light, making sure the boys' night light was on before I shut the door completely. I don't know how they managed to fall asleep with the light on, but I wasn't complaining. I walked across the hall to Jay's room and made sure she was asleep before I left her door cracked open so we could hear her if her night terrors made another unwelcome appearance.

I walked down the hall and opened the door to Axel's room. I smiled at him and climbed into the bed. I rested my chin on his shoulder as he absentmindedly wrapped an arm around my waist. "I didn't know you wore glasses," I mumbled as I gazed at the words on the page.

Axel turned his head and gave my forehead a kiss. "It's only for when I'm reading, so don't get used to it," he said as he closed the book he was reading, which I now realized was Percy Jackson.

I nodded and climbed off the bed. "Did you take your medicine yet?"

"No."

I stopped and turned to him with a disgruntled look on my face. "Axel! You know you're supposed to take it half an hour before bed!" I said as I walked back towards him. I opened his nightstand and pulled out the bottle of pills, choosing to ignore the condoms and lube on proud display.

Axel laughed a little. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry."

I handed him a pill and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "No you're not," I said. "Just don't forget again."

I walked into the bathroom and crouched down next to the tub. I leaned over and turned on the water after putting the plug in the tub. I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless when I felt Axel wrap his arms around my waist. I relaxed in his hold when he lightly nibbled on my neck. I forced myself to push his head away and turned to him. "Get in the tub."

Axel froze for a moment before a look of horror crossed his face. "What? No!"

"Why not?"

"Because I can wash myself!"

"So? We've taken baths together before, and half the time you end up washing me while I sit there!" When he opened his mouth to argue with me again, I put my hands on my hips and said, "You act like this is the first time I've seen you naked!"

Axel bit the inside of cheek but began to strip anyway. I watched his muscles flex and relax as he pulled off his shirt. I had to look away as he pulled his pants off, otherwise, I would be joining him in the bath doing things that would only get us dirty.

Axel smiled at me sarcastically as he sat down in the bath. "Better, darling?"

I felt my face heat up at the nickname. I saw the corner of Axel's mouth twitch up into a smile as he leaned back and relaxed against the side of the tub. I grabbed the cup I brought into the bathroom off the counter and dunked it under the water. I quickly poured it on Axel's head and giggled as he gave me an unimpressed look. I repeated the process again, accidentally getting water on the front of my shirt. Axel snorted out a laugh before he asked, "How's Jay? Has she had another night terror while I was in the hospital?"

I tilted my head as I ran my hand through his hair to make sure all of it was wet before saying. "No, but she almost had one the first night while we were all in the hospital. I woke her up before she could start thrashing or screaming." I bit my lip before saying, "I've been doing a little bit of research on it, and a bunch of people says cutting back on caffeine and sugar in their diet could help with control their night terrors."

Axel smiled at me as he tilted his head back so I could pour more water over him. "That sounds good. I should probably cut back on their sugar intake anyway."

I nodded and grabbed his shampoo bottle before squirting some in my hand. I looked down at his relaxed face and asked, "Have you ever thought about dying your hair?"

"I used to," Axel replied with a small hum, keeping his eyes shut. 

"Why?"

"I would get made fun of a lot in elementary and middle school because there's a white patch of hair in the front of my head," Axel said as he held said portion of his hair. "There's nothing wrong with me, it's just a genetic thing. Once I stopped going to school, I continued to dye my hair out of habit," he explained. "Though I don't think I've actually dyed it since we started dating."

I nodded in understanding and gave his forehead a quick peck. I rubbed my hands together before scrubbing his head. I looked down at his content expression. I smiled to myself and asked, "How's the company treating you?"

Axel's content expression was replaced with one of annoyance. "Horribly. Riley is relentless. It's like he's trying to make it so that I get ran out," he groaned.

I frowned as I told him to tilt his head back. "Do you think he is trying to run you out? He's made it known he wants you gone and he's running you dry. And if he's as much of a dick as you're making him out to be, then he could also have been the one who ran us off the road."

Axel frowned as he thought about what I said. "It very well could be him," Axel concluded. "But there's not a lot of solid evidence to go on. For now, I'll just have to deal with him until I take over."

I nodded and began to wash his chest with the soap he gave to me as he spoke. After I finished, I quickly rinsed him off and unplugged the drain. I handed Axel a towel so he could wrap it around his waist and grabbed another one. I reached up as best I could and began to run it through his hair until it was mostly dry. I lead him out of the bathroom and into our room before forcing him to sit on the bed while I grabbed his clothes. 

I walked over to his side of the closet and pulled down one of his favorite shirts and an older one I was planning on wearing. Since I've moved in with Axel, for the time being, we went ahead and moved half my clothes here so I didn't have to keep driving back and forth between houses.  

I moved over to his dresser and got as far as opening the drawer before I was lightly pushed out of the way. "I'm on bedrest, darling, I'm not crippled," Axel said as he rolled his eyes and pulled out a pair of boxers and sweatpants. 

I rolled my eyes back and changed out of my clothes and into Axel's shirt. I bent over to pull on my pajama pants when Axel grabbed my hips. I turned around and pushed on his now-clothed chest. "Not right now, Axel," I whispered as I lightly brushed our lips together. "Once you're not in danger of dying."

Axel pouted and brushed our lips together again. "Not even a little?"

I laughed and covered his lips with my own. I pulled away after a minute. "Not even a little. The most you can have is a kiss," I teased.

Axel grinned at me. "I'll take that."

I laughed as Axel bent down again to recapture my lips in a long kiss. He pulled away first and rested his forehead against mine. "Let's go to bed." I followed Axel under the warm covers and smiled as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I snuggled closer and rested my face on Axel's chest as he pulled me flush against him.

"Goodnight, Axel."

"Night, darling."

***

I just really wanted to update today. You ever get that feeling, like you know you should probably just wait like two more days but you feel like you might die if you don't update RIGHT NOW?? No? Okay then.