“I can get them.” He just laughs and shakes his head.
“You better not dare give me special treatment.”
“I would never.” I tell him, causing a smile to spread on his face as he reaches down and I see him take off the prosthetic, setting it beside the bed, and flicks on the lamp on the nightstand. Once I get back over to the bed, he turns the light off as I climb onto the bed.
Resting my head against his chest, hearing the rhythmic drum of his heartbeat, I feel safe again. His arms come up, wrapping around me.
“Who was there tonight?”
“What?” Confused about how he knew anyone was there.
“You kept saying he’s here on the phone.” I freeze, remembering his face as he entered the club, his eyes as he smirked at me, and the nausea rolling up the throat as he threw in a wink for good fun. “Never mind,” he mumbles out as he squeezes me tighter, “you need some sleep.” I don’t argue with him.
But I can’t sleep as I lay, just listening to the sound of his heart. I lay thinking of everything that has happened. About how stupid I am. And I’ve lost track of time until I whisper, “Axe?”
“Yeah,” he says, matching my volume. “Why are you still awake?”
“Why are you?” He chuckles but doesn’t respond. I know why he’s awake, and he knows why I am. “It was Jake.”
“Huh?” He asks. “Jake?”
“Yeah, the fuck boy from the welcome home party.”
“I remember.” He mumbles. I can feel his entire body tense up.
“He was the one there tonight.” He says nothing, but I feel him grasp a hold of me slightly tighter. He waits to see if I’m going to continue talking or if I’m done. Not trying to push me. “After we left the party, we fought most of the way back or really he didn’t speak to me the entire way back until we got to the house, then we fought.” His hand rubs up and down my arm.
“What about?” I can hear the hesitation in his voice as he asks.
“You already know.” I whisper back to him. “Please do not feel guilty. I know that’s what you’re doing.” I look up at him even in the dark. He clears his throat.
“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.”
“If you don’t want to—”
“Babydoll, you can talk to me about anything. I know that whatever happened. It’s hard. Ever since you left that night, you’ve been different. I can feel you become rigid when you talk.”
“I think I need to tell someone.” I whisper again, leaning my head back down on his chest. “I’m sorry, that person seems to be you.”
“Stop it.” He snaps. “I just told you that you can talk to me about anything. I want you to be okay. I’ll do whatever that is to make sure it happens.”
“Okay,” I whisper back. “As he was dropping me off, he said some untrue things about you. I told him how things were, and that I had tried to get you to sleep with me at Fury’s wedding.”
“What’d he say about me?”
“He said that…” I trail because I don’t want to say it.
“That I’m a vile human being.”
“That’s a nice way to put it.” I laugh through my words. “I needed to make sure that he knew that wasn’t how you really were, that you were a good person. I’m not sure if it was how defensive I got over you or telling him to lose my number that pissed him off more.” I exhale. “He broke in and...” closing my eyes, I breathe out a shaky breath.
“Ella,” he whispers out, pulling away from him and sitting up. I can feel the tears rolling down my face. The bed shifts at my side as I feel him pushing himself up to match how I’m sitting now. Opening my eyes, I see the concerned look in his eyes. But I can’t find the words. Slowly, I just nod my head. “Babydoll.” He whispers out as he pulls me into his arms. He tightly wraps me in his arms, and I feel secure as my tears continue to come. I just wish that I could stop fucking crying.
Taking a deep breath, while he still has me pulled into him, “Do you want me to stop?” I ask him.
“Whatever you want to do. If you need to or want to talk about it, talk. If you don’t, you don’t have to.”
“Do you want to hear about it?”
