Saving Shaw

Eight

The next day, I woke up and took a much needed shower. It felt like heaven after going two days without washing my hair. The water cascaded down my body and I felt rejuvenated. This is what I needed and it was amazing what twenty minutes in the shower could do for your mental health.

Truthfully, I wasn't sleeping well. Like the first night I spent here, I had a nightmare last night. I just couldn't shake everything I'd seen that first day. From almost being attacked by both Luke and Talon to seeing Axel kill Luke. It was just a lot to take in. At least I didn't wake up puking anymore.

When I made my way to the kitchen, I found Axel pouring himself a cup of coffee. He smiled when I entered the room. It was a complete one-eighty from what I saw in my nightmares, but I smiled back anyway.

"Morning, Shaw," he said as he reached up into the cabinet to pull out a second coffee mug. "I didn't see you came back yesterday," he said as he poured coffee into the mug before passing it to me.

I accepted the mug with a grateful smile. "Yeah, I was just tired. I'm sure Talon told you about the state of my place. It was a lot to process."

That wasn't a lie. I sort of receded into myself when we got back and I wasn't in the mood to see anyone. I was upset and angry. Those were feelings I had to deal with alone. It was the only way I knew how to.

"Well, you missed Macaroni Monday," he said.

I took a sip of my coffee and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" I asked as I set my mug on the counter and wandered over to the refrigeration.

"Macaroni Monday," Axel repeated.

"Yeah, no. I heard that, but I meant to ask what exactly that was," I replied as I grabbed the milk carton. I moved back to the counter to pour a splash of milk in my coffee.

"Every Monday, we try to have a themed dinner," he explained. "Last night was macaroni. The week before it was meatballs."

Shaking my head, I turned towards the pantry to find a box of cereal. The selection was slim, but I settled on a box of corn flakes. "You guys are so strange," I muttered under my breath as I started going through the rest of the cabinets to find a bowl.

Axel came up behind me and reached up to grab me a bowl from the top shelf. I stiffened when I felt his chest press against my back and a sense of panic set in. My mind went back to when Luke had me pinned against the brick wall in that alley. I moved too quickly to get out of the way and bumped into Axel, who wasn't expecting my sudden movement. He stumbled back and dropped the bowl, causing it to shatter on the floor.

My eyes widened as I looked at the jagged ceramic shards. "I'm sorry," I said quickly as I moved forward to begin to clean up the mess. A movement from the corner caught my eye. When I looked up, I found Talon in the doorway watching me. I don't know how long he'd been there, but the way he looked at me so meticulously told me he'd seen enough.

I tried to brush it off and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind my ear as I crouched down to help Axel clean up the mess.

"Actually, Shaw," Talon began stepping further into the room. "I'd like to speak to you in my office."

Clenching my teeth, I was determined to ignore him. Talon was way too observant for my liking. It was like he could read my mind. However, before I could make it really apparent that I was trying to ignore him, Axel spoke up.

"It's okay, Shaw. I can clean up here. You go ahead," he said with a soft smile. I wanted to protest, but Axel was so kind to me. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable by going at it with Talon.

With a sigh, I stood up and walked over to the door. I slipped past Talon and started down the hall towards the stairs. I could hear him walk quietly behind me. I didn't know what he wanted to talk to me about, but I figured it would end in another argument ending with both of us yelling at each other. Again.