XLII
I squeal and jump in his arms, taking him completely off guard.
However, he still manages to not let either of us fall and wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my neck.
"You're amazing." I whisper and he chuckles.
"Anything for my girl." he replies and slowly lets me on the ground.
I stand on my toes and pull him down a bit, pressing my lips on his left cheek.
He smiles, his dimples showing, making him even more gorgeous than he is.
He goes for my lips but I pull away, teasing him. I keep his eyes on him as I walk to the other side of his car, smiling and biting my lip.
He shakes his head at me, trying not to smile, and opens his car door, getting in. I get in as well and off we go.
Axel has his hand on my thigh throughout the entire ride, squeezing it at times. Each time he moves his hand, I get slight shivers, his touch igniting me like there is a substance in my blood which reacts to him.
It's already completely dark outside. I was surprised when I had seen that we have been in the restaurant only for an hour, meaning we still had two hours left till I had to be back home.
I couldn't be late, my dad's patience was already hangling by a thin thread. I begin to feel slightly nervous when Axel gets off the main road and begins to drive on a contry road through the forest. It's slightly horrifying, being here in the complete dark, with nothing but the headlights and the moonlight to light the way. And given the circumstances that I know all that is going on in this seemingly innocent town, I'm beginning to feel more and more scared.
As if he notices my unease, he glances at me and gives me a comforting smile. "Are you okay?" he asks. When I see his smile, I realize: he's here. With me. Nothing bad can happen to me, I have my angel by my side.
"Yes." I reply, feeling much more relaxed.
"You still like this, right? Watching the stars alone at night?" Axel asks.
"Of course. I wanted this for a long time, I've always fantasized about it. And besides, I'm not alone. I have you." I say and he glances at me, grinning.
"Okay, good. I thought I fucked up when I saw how you were shaking and stuff."
"You didn't, I'm just... afraid of the dark." I explain.
"You don't have to be." he says, his fingers gliding over my skin.
Shivers.
"I know, but I can't control it."
"Yeah, that feeling I know." Axel gulps and looks at me again, just for a split second, before looking back on the road. At that, the trees on each side of the car begin to move away from us, spreading into a clearing.
He drives straight to the middle of it, turns off the engine and grins at me. "Here we are. Wait in the car, I'll come to your door so that you don't feel scared."
I give him a grateful smile. "Thanks."
Now that the car is not running anymore, there are no more headlights, making everything even darker. He gets out the car, closing the door behind him and I watch him walk to my side. I take off my seatbelt and turn so that I could go outside, but when Axel opens my door, he sweeps me up in his hands, giving me no opportunity to walk.
I laugh and put my hands around his neck. "I have legs, you know."
"I noticed. They're quite fucking hot."
I blush and chuckle as he sits me on one of the pillows at the back of his truck.
"Come on, climb up, so that we can both squeeze in there." he says, patting my legs.
I obey and pull myself up higher, positioning on the pillows so that I'm as comfortable as possible. Axel pulls himself up with his long hands and plops down beside me on his back. His feet are hanging over the edge because he is too tall for this small space.
Shyly, I begin to cuddle up to him, putting my head on his bicep and my arm over his chest.
There are three covers underneath us and he pulls one over us so that we won't be cold. It's more comfortable than I thought it would be.
The sight above us makes me gasp. The sky, like a black canvas, is filled with bright, shining stars. There are so many of them.
"Wow." I whisper. "It's so beautiful."
"Yes, it is." Axel whispers, his voice filling my right ear. He grins. "You're blushing again."
I groan and put my hand over my face, attempting to hide it. I hate it when I blush.
He pries my hand away. "Don't cover yourself in front of me. Never cover yourself in front of me."
We hold an eye contact when a single tear slips from my eye at his words.
I shut my eyes closed and Axel wipes it away. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
I harshly shake my head. "No, sorry. I'm just really emotional lately. I'm really happy that I have you here, with me, no matter everything going on around us."
"You mean, the fucked up shit that I do."
"Not just that, also the situation with my dad and friends and all." I explain and look back up at the stars. "It seems so peaceful up there, so unreal."
"Maybe it's not real and the government put a big plasma TV up there to cover the truth." Axel whispers.
"Maybe there are wars up there, above the big plasma TV. Maybe Hitler's still alive." I add, going along.
"And Stalin."
"And Dumbledore."
Axel scoffs. "Dumbledore is not a real person, Sophie."
"Hey, don't say that. What if he can hear you? You'll hurt his feelings."
He laughs. "Sorry, Dumbledore. I'm sure you are allright and well up there above the big plasma TV."
We both laugh at that.
As the night continues, we always get new topics to talk about, but they're getting more real. I begin to tell him a bit of my past, he tells me a bit of his, but only the happy parts when he was a child. Before it all went wrong. I think he kind of wants to ignore the last few years, like they never happened, and I go along with it, wanting him to be happy. We laugh together under those stars when we tells me jokes and then when I refuse to laugh, because they are horrible, he makes me laugh by tickling me. Before we know it, we need to head back, but I know that I'll never forget the night under the stars.