The Fallen King | ✓

Chapter 31

~Chapter 31~

"Axel?" I choked out, quickly wiping any remnants of my tears away before he could notice.

He stopped a little under a meter in front of where I was sitting. "Hey Freckles," he murmured, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand.

"How did you find me?"

"Well you disappeared for nearly an hour and Brooke and mum were asking about you. I knew you wanted your space and if you still do I'll go but it's freezing and wet out and you forgot your coat when you just ran out." He gestured to my coat that he was now holding. "Why did you run out?"

"That doesn't answer how you found me," I said, not wanting to answer his question.

He flushed slightly. "Oh... um well, I tried the park around the corner but you weren't there so I thought about all the spots near here that I liked to go to when I wanted to think or be alone. This was third on the list. Not many people know about it so it was a long shot but lucky I still checked I suppose. Anyway, here." He tried giving me my coat but I pushed it away. "You'll get sick otherwise. It's wet and freezing cold."

The concern in his eyes was evident but I still shook my head. "I like the rain." That was a lie and he knew it. Cold and wet weather was the worst thing in existence. Axel stared flatly at me but I just shrugged in return, crossing my bare arms over my chest.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Harper."

"Axel."

He ran a hand through his hair, frustration clear in his expression. "Come on, Harper. What's wrong? Please just tell me."

"Nothing. I'm fine." I sure was lying to him a lot today.

"Stop that."

"What?"

"Hiding and shutting me out. We've always been open and honest with each other so what's wrong? What happened? You were fine earlier then suddenly you ran out. Was it something I did?"

Yes, yes it was.

I didn't want to be cold towards him, especially when he was being nothing but caring and gentle but I had to; to protect myself, my heart, so I merely shrugged again, not meeting his eyes.

"For fucks sake, Harper, just tell me. Please. Don't shut me out. I don't understand. What did I do?" he asked, his voice cracking and the sound shattered my heart into a million pieces.

Keeping up my resolve, I scoffed. "Don't shut you out? Isn't that exactly what you've been doing to me?"

His brow furrowed. "I don't shut you out. Why would you think that?"

Even now he was trying to communicate openly with me, without so much as getting slightly angry and it was utterly infuriating. I loved how understanding and thoughtful he was but right now I wished he was anything but. It made it impossible to stay upset with him. He was too perfect, far too good for me.

I sighed, feeling defeated. "I know nothing about you, Axel."

His eyes were fixed on mine as he sat next to me on the bench, resting my coat over my shoulders, the thick material acting as the perfect barrier against the cold. "Freckles, I share things with you that I've never told anyone. No one, not even Zack, knew that my middle name is Leopold. I never tell people about the fact that I got a butterfly tattoo under my left butt cheek for a dare from a random guy I met drunk at a bar when I was eighteen but I told you only a few weeks after we met. Or how about that when I was little I dreamt of being an architect and designing houses for a living; I'd spend hours of the night dreaming up concepts and drawing them in crayon the next morning but I was so embarrassed that I never even showed my mother but you know about it. I even showed you one of the pictures I drew. I've always shared things with you. Things I've never even dreamed of wanting to tell anyone else."