Chapter 22: Chapter 22

XLIX

Axel's P.O.V.

"Wow, this place is a mess." Sophie whispers when we enter the house and I can't do anything but agree.

The place looks like shit; it's completely wrecked up. It's obvious that some fuckers have broken in through the windows. I'm guessing it was teenagers who had nothing better to do with their time.

I swallow a gulp in my throat and ignore the feelings flooding through me at a sight of my childhood home broken.

"Are you okay?" my girl asks me, inspecting my eyes and slowly caressing my cheek.

"Yeah, I don't live here anymore, anyway." I reply, turning on my flashlight; there's no electricity because I obviously haven't paid the bills in some time. "It's just shitty that a perfectly good home has been wrecked this way."

As I say the words, I get an idea, but decide not to tell Sophie about it yet.

"Why are we even here?" she asks and I sigh.

What excuse should I give?

"Just wanted to see it for the last time." I say, wincing in the inside at the shitty lie.

Sophie buys it, nodding at my answer.

Great, now where is it again? If nobody had stolen it, I think it should be at the bottom drawer of my old bedroom.

"I'll just go check something upstairs real quick, okay?" I tell Sophie, who's trying to put the cups that aren't broken back in cupboard.

She glances at me, nodding, and I move upstairs, rushing to my room.

There's no way she can see what I'm about to do.

I thank the god when I see that the upstairs is basically untouched and that my bedroom is completely the way I left it.

Smiling, I take the small black velvet box from the cupboard.

Quickly, I open it to ensure that the ring is still in there, and I'm face to face with a silver ring with a small blue heart on it.

The ring was expensive as bitch, especially because of the ingraved words, but the moment I saw it in the store next to the necklace she still wears, I knew I had to get it for her.

Even back then, back when we weren't even close to dating, I knew she is special and that she'll play a huge role in my life. I wasn't completely aware that the ring will be her engagement ring, but still.

From your guardian angel

I trace the words on the ring I got for her so long ago, before putting it back in the box and tucking it in my pocket.

"Is everything okay? Why are you taking so long?" her soft voice comes from around the corner and she peeks in with the flashlight on her phone.

"Everything's fine. You want to go?" I ask her, thanking god that she didn't enter the room five seconds earlier than she did.

She nods in answer. "Do you want to take something from here? To keep a memory of this place?"

I chuckle. "I have all the memory of this place I need." I grin at her, taking her in my arms and carefully turning her around in my arms.

She laughs the sweetest laugh I've ever heard, and I set her down.

"Come, let's go back home." I whisper in her ear and give her a gentle kiss.

***

"Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god." Sophie's squeezing her eyes shut and is grabbing onto my arm like it's a matter of life and death as the plane starts to take off.

She's sitting next to the window and coach and her mother are a row in front of us.

I sigh, patting her head softly and spreading my legs further apart. The first class is so much fucking better than the coach.

"I love you baby, relax, okay? You're pregnant with my child, I can't allow you to get stressed like this." I tell her quietly as the plane takes off and we're in the air.

All she does is nod weakly in response.

I sign again and prepare to set up the movie Princess Diaries to help her calm down a bit. God knows we still have about seven hours of flight left.

Twenty minutes later, I fast asleep, the last thing I saw being Sophie peeking at the screen from behind my arm.

"Axel, wake up, I need to pee." I am shaken awake.

"Why are you waking me up?" I groan, lifting muself up from her lap.

"Axel, you were lying on me and I need to pee." she explains, slightly more frustrated and I nod in understanding.

"Okay, I'll walk you." I say, standing up and pulling her after me by her hand.

"I know how to use toilet by myself." she whines but I ignore her.

God knows I don't trust any of the fuckers on this plane.

She glares at me the entire time she's peeing. "I don't understand why you couldn't just wait for me."

"I have my reasons." I tell her, watching her dress up. "Do you need any help?"

She glares at me with more force. "No."

I can't help but chuckle at her annoyance. "Fine, just asking."

Only a few hours later, we land in the country which is our new home and I've never been more relieved.

This is my opportunity to start completely afresh and I'm not planning to fuck anything up again.