Being Bleu

chapter 22

===Bleu===

         "You can't leave. I don't care if you're getting kicked out by your old man landlord, you cannot leave New Orleans. If you love Axel, why can't you move in with him? God, Bleu, if he really is what you want, stay! You belong here, with the art, with Axel, with the friends you've made." Brad rambled as soon as I opened the door to welcome him in. He broke off of his ramblings that I was ignoring and grabbed his curly hair in his fists, for once seeming agitated. That was so not the drunk, partying Brad I knew.

         "Are you even listening?" He asked, exasperated. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the door frame to support my weight. I was exhausted- both mentally and physically. Moving was already a tiring thing to do, but leaving behind everything you ever wanted-or thought you wanted- in life was harder. It really turned out that living in New Orleans and becoming a famous artist, or even a street artist, my childhood dream, was harder to accomplish that I thought. You had demanding landlords, cheap costumers and confusing love lives to deal with.

         "Brad, please. Can we just pretend that I'm not moving? I'm sad, I don't want to leave. Can't we just do something to make me forget that this isn't happening?" I begged, breaking Brad off mid-sentence. Axel wrapped his arms around my waist and we watched as a wicked smile took over Brad's face. I smiled too, despite the melancholy attitude that had been weighing me down all day.

         With that wicked smile and very Brad-ish gleam in his eyes he said, “Sure, I know somewhere fun to go. We're going to have to jump a few fences though"

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        "Put some muscle into it, you shrimp!" Brad called from him place, safely on the ground. I groaned as Axel forced me to keep climbing the chain link fence by prodding my tush with his bony fingers. I so shouldn't have skipped P.E in high school. It wasn't exactly my fault that I wasn't in shape for this. When Brad told me that we'd be climbing fences, I didn't expect it to be a chain link as tall as the building it was standing next to. When I made it to the top, out of breath and pink- cheeked, Brad opened his arms for me to jump in. I didn't exactly trust him, but then again, I was too lazy to climb down. I closed my eyes and surprisingly landed in his open arms. He grinned and set me carefully on the ground, then looked up at Axel. He was sitting on the top of the fence like some dark angel waiting to take flight, but then he grinned like a dork and ruined the scene. He was still gorgeous though, goofy grin and all.

         "What? You're not gonna catch me, Brady boo?" He asked jokingly. Brad rolled his eyes and began walking toward the building where I guessed we were headed, leaving Axel stranded on the top of the fence. He jumped and landed gracefully, looking again like the dark angel, minus the wings. As we walked with Brad, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and smiled slyly as I imagined him with wings. Axel noticed my smile and stooped down to my height to nibble at my earlobe for a moment before smiling lazily at me. We waited a moment as Brad went quickly around the building, checking all the latches to the huge paneled windows that lined the outside. When he finally found a loose one, he pushed it open and motioned us inside. Once inside, Brad began flicking switches, lighting up the dank room to reveal a pool shimmering beneath the lights.

          Brad let out a whoop before unceremoniously ripping his clothes off and jumping in, wearing only his boxers. Axel and I quickly did the same, joining him in the ice-cold water. I came up for air for a moment, only to have it taken back away from me when Axel covered my mouth in a hard kiss. He pushed me against the edge of the pool, which I was glad was a soft material, not rough concrete, and ran his hands along my water- slicked body while kissing along my neck. When he pulled back to look at me, his lips were deliciously red from our kissing and his wet hair was mussed. I laughed and let him bring us underwater where we floated above the lights that made his hair look like a golden halo until we could no longer hold our breath.

         Brad was attempting to do a cannon ball when we came back up for air, but he forgot to hold his breath and came up sputtering. I laughed and called him a dork, which he ignored. He wrapped his arms around Axel and I, forcing us into a bone-crushing hug.

        "I love you guys!" Brad yelled, the sound echoing across the pretty much empty room. I was about to yell back at him, but I froze. Outside of the building, I saw the unmistakable light of a flashlight bobbing. It was coming right to us. The guys must have noticed too, because they scrambled to get out of the water, dragging me with them. I was trying to put my clothes back on, but Axel jerked my wrist, forcing me to run behind him as he dove out of the window. I stepped into the night air, wet and half-naked. We all stood facing a guy who was obviously a guard for the pool, who was staring at us from behind his annoyingly bright flashlight. Brad, Axel, and I glanced at each other and all ran in different directions, ignoring the guard yelling after us. He ran after us, spitting curses and talking into his walkie-talkie.

      "You didn't tell us there was a guard!" Axel yelled to Brad, who looked sheepish.

      "You didn't ask" He mumbled, but I was sure Axel didn't hear. When we finally got to the fence, my legs felt like jelly, but I was not going to let the guy catch us. I climbed the fence much faster than last time, despite my feet slipping in the chains a few times. Axel was there to catch me that time, and I was grateful. I didn't feel like falling and breaking my ankle.

        As soon as I was on the ground, Axel was pushing me into the back of Brad's truck, where he collapsed with me, laughing hysterically. As we drove away, I rolled down the windows of the truck and yelled at the man who stood gaping after us. Axel stared at me like I was nuts, but I laid my cheek on his arm and laughed again, loving him for keeping me sane.....