My Best Friend's Brother

21

"What if they don't like me?" I nervously asked and Axel laughed at me while I nervously rung my hands. "They'll love you." He said reassuringly as he grabbed my clammy hands and gave me a forehead kiss.

He turned and opened the front door to his house, immediately I understood why Axel was the way he was. The house was painted in bright colors with crazy abstract paintings everywhere. Two little girls ran down the hall towards us, they looked exactly like Axel. The older one, Aspen, had bright purple hair and and was pretty tall for her age. Ava was right a beside her, she has pink strips throughout her blonde hair she was only a few inches shorter than her sister.

They both hugged one of Axel's legs and were yelling incoherently. He laughed and picked them both up on an arm. I smiled and they both smiled back, "Girls, this is Nadia." Ava leaned towards me with her arms outstretched so I took her into my arms. She played with my hair and I looked over at Axel who was admiring us. Aspen leaned into Axel's ear and put her hand up like she was telling him a secret but didn't lower her voice very much so I could still hear her, "She's way prettier than you described." I chuckled as she leaned away and he blushed lightly.

"Is that you kiddo?" I heard a woman yell from further in the house, "Yeah!" Axel yelled back and we started walking forward. Axel now had Aspen on his shoulders and I was holding Ava on my hip. We walked into a small room that had a vanity set up in it along with a storage cabinet, the whole room was full of makeup and other beauty supplies. His mom was sitting at the vanity putting on setting spray as we walked in. Axel set down Aspen so I also set down Ava and they ran over to their mom.

She was absolutely gorgeous, she had long black hair that was loosely curled, she had the perfect hourglass shape with curves in all the right places. She was average height and had a few small tattoos on her arms.

She stood up and smiled at me, "My god, you're gorgeous sweet heart." I smiled and blushed, "Axel, you didn't tell me you had another sister?" I joked and she laughed, "Let's go, your dad is cooking chicken on the grill." She said to Axel but grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen that connected to a dining room. There was a sliding glass door in the kitchen that led to a nice porch where a tall buff man was standing over a grill.

His dad turned around and he had a thick wiry beard, he had tattoos covering every inch of visible skin except his face. He was overall intimidating until he smiled. It was the kind of smile had reached his eyes and was welcoming and comforting.

This whole family was perfect, I already felt welcomed and loved.

"You like jalapeños?" He asked and I shrugged, "I suppose so." I chuckled and he handed me a small piece of cooked chicken, I ate it and hummed in satisfaction. "That's amazing, you need to teach your son how to cook like that. He almost burnt my house down making ramen the other day." I joked and his dad laughed, "Sadly, that's not the first time he's done that."

We all sat around and talked until all the food was ready, the Ava and Aspen proudly set the table and I helped Mrs. Jameson bring the food to the table. We all sat around the circular table, I was in between Axel and Ava who were arguing about who knows what.

"So how has school been going for you dear? We heard about what had happened last year..." She trailed off and there was obvious empathy in her eyes, "Mom." Axel said annoyedly. "No, no. It's okay, it has been good. Many people switched to online or home schooling which is understandable but many of those same people are slowly returning this year." I explained and she smiled.

We continued talking about some of my life, their lives before they moved here, and how they were happy Axel found someone that made him happy.

Before long, it was almost ten pm. I was sitting on their couch with Axel and Mrs and Mr Jameson and we were all watching a movie while the girls were already asleep upstairs. As the closing credits rolled I checked my phone and saw the time. "Oh, it's getting late. Axel would you mind taking me home?" I asked patting his knee and he nodded and stood before helping me to my feet. Mrs. Jameson rose also and hugged me.

"It was so nice to finally meet you honey. Our door is always open, if you ever need us give us a call." She said and I smiled at her generosity. "Of course, thank you both so much for having me over for such a lovely dinner." I said and she chuckled.

Axel led me to the front door with his arm around my waist, "Wait!" We heard from down the hall, we froze and turned and his mom jogged towards us with a tupperware container in her hands, "This is just some leftovers for your mom." She said handing me the container, "Oh no-" I started to protest and she waved me off, "I insist." She said and I smiled and hugged her again, "She'll be very appreciative." I said and Axel opened the door for me.

We got in the car and I sat for a moment after he closed my door and jogged around the car to the drivers side. "I think that went well, do you think they like me?" I asked once he sat down and started the engine. "That's her favorite container. She loves you." He said and I blushed and looked out the window as we reversed into the road.