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39 | Chapter Thirty Nine

B O N N I E

Axel?! That makes no sense, though. Why would he want to hurt Josh or me? She frowns at her phone, looking back and forth from hers to mine. "I don't understand," she mumbles under her breath.

"Why would he do this?" she looks up to me, begging me for answers with her eyes. I feel Josh tense beside me, and I look up at him. "Let's go, BonBon, now," he demands. I can tell he is trying to stay calm, but I can read him too well. He is furious.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Liv grabs my arm when I turn to slide into the passenger side of Josh's car. "He's pretty angry right now; maybe you shouldn't go with him." I shake my head and slide into his car. "Sorry Liv, I'll message you later."

Fifteen minutes later, we pull up to the frat house. Josh hasn't spoken a word to me since we left my school. He just stared straight ahead and tensed his jaw the entire way. He is so angry I honestly hope Axel isn't home.

"Wait here." He turns in his seat to face me and leans forward, kissing my cheek briefly before leaving the car. I sit there and wait, looking at the clock as the seconds tick by. I don't hear anything from the house, so he hasn't found him yet.

"What the fuck, man!" I hear one guy scream, followed by a loud crash. I jolt up in my seat and grab for my seatbelt. I pull it off and get out of the car without thinking. I rush around to the front of the house and walk into the open front door.

Guys were running around everywhere, all shouting and crashes coming from somewhere to my left. I follow the noises, desperate to find Josh and take him away from here. The last thing he needs is an assault charge.

"Josh!" I scream, trying to find him, but there's so much going on I can't tell who is who. There's a commotion in the backyard, and I run for the door. I see Josh on the ground, straddling Axel, pummeling his face, over and over again.

"Stop it!" I scream, trying to grab onto him, but I get pushed back by another guy. "Get out of the way," the guy says, and I don't think he means that in a harmful way, but Josh doesn't see it like that. He turns his anger on the guy and lunges at him, throwing a fist into his jaw.

"Josh, what are you doing?" another guy yells, grabbing for Josh's shirt, yanking him back off of the guy. He stands up and scowls at everyone gawking at him, "if anyone else tries to come between my girl and me again, I will fuck you up!" he screams, and they all stare at him, completely dumbfounded.

"What is going on?" someone asks, stepping forward, and I recognize its Liam one of our childhood friends. "Bonnie? What are you doing here?" He glances between Josh and I and nods in understanding. "It's about time you two got your shit together," he chuckles, trying to lighten to mood.

Axel steps towards us with his hands up in surrender. "This is all a big misunderstanding," he says, and Josh smirks at him, "you really want to go there?" he retorts, and I roll my eyes. "Seriously, stop it. This is getting ridiculous."

"Axel, what are you talking about?"

"That video was meant to upset Liv, not you."

"Well, why did you send it to me then?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. I knew if you saw it, then it would get back to Liv." I sigh because this all makes total sense now. Josh and I were just collateral.

"Why do you think I cut the video off when Serena went to sit in Josh's lap?" A few of the guy's cheer and Josh glares at them, causing silence to fall over the group again. "Fight!" A guy stepping outside yells with full-on enthusiasm. Everyone turns to him, and he stumbles back, "Oh shit, did I miss it?" his shoulders fall along with his excitement, and he stumbles back inside.

"How does that make it any better? You made it look like Josh was the one cheating. Shit, you pretty much said it in your text." His eyes fall to the ground, and I know he understands that he fucked up. "You're just as crazy as Liv, honestly," I grumble, turning and walking back to Josh's car.

***

I get back into his car and sink into the seat. I close my eyes and fight back the tears. All of this is way too overwhelming. I've never seen Josh that violent before; it doesn't scare me, I'm just surprised. For someone so gentle, he has so much anger hidden beneath the surface.

A few minutes later, he hops back in the car, carrying a duffle bag. "What's that for?" I ask as he throws it into the back seat. "I'm going to stay at my dad's for a few days to let things cool off."

"Are you and Axel going to be okay?" I ask, and he shrugs, leaning back into his seat. "I don't know, and frankly I don't care right now."

"Let's just enjoy the rest of the day, if that's even possible."

We pull out onto the road, and he starts toward our houses. I look over at him every few minutes, trying to find something to say, but I come up empty.

"Are you busy right now?" he breaks the silence, and I fight the urge to laugh at him. Is he serious? He all but kidnapped me from school and then took me on an excursion to beat up some frat guys, and now he wants to know if I'm busy?

"No," he nods but says nothing else for a minute, "I have an idea, text your mom you'll be home late." I don't hesitate, I pull out my phone and send off the message.

***

We end up at the same field he took me to the other week; he leans into the back seat to grab his duffle bag, but I stop him and grab his face in my hands. His eyes turn to me, and he frowns, "what are you doing, BonBon?"

"I'm going to kiss you," I state matter-of-factly. I lean in and press my mouth to his slightly swollen lips, he deepens the kiss but winces, and I pull away. "Are you okay?" I hold on to his face and look him over.

"I'm fine, Bon," he says as he continues to reach for his duffle. "Come on; you don't want to miss the show."

He gets out of the car and walks into the center of the field, just like the first time. I walk up behind him and watch as he lays out a picnic blanket. "All of this, for little old me?" I mock, and he shakes his head on a laugh.

We both lay down, and I rest my head on his chest. "BonBon, I have something for you." He places a handful of envelopes on his stomach, and I grab for them, "Is this all of them?" I ask, and he nods, "well, not quite."

I peer at him, intrigued. "There's one last letter, but I want to read that one to you."

I look at the pile in my hand and sit up, "does that mean I get to read these, right now?" I question with an eager smile. He leans up on his elbow and smirks, "Thats the plan," he grabs the top envelope and rips it open, handing it to me.

I sat there and read for two hours as Josh sat there silently engaged, allowing me the time to get through them all. They got worse the more I got into them, and now and again, Josh would squeeze my thigh to reassure me that he was here and that he loved me now.

I reached the final one and hold it up with a smile. "This is it, the final one." He takes it from me and sits up, pulling me in between his legs, and I lean back into his chest. He holds the letter up in front of me, "you ready?"

"Never been more ready for anything in my life."