The Deal (ON HOLD)

Chapter 17: Yes, Indeed

Axel hands me our food as he digs in his bag. Eventually, he pulls out a plaid picnic blanket and spreads it onto the ground.

"Come on, sit down," he says.

I follow his instructions and take a seat on the blanket. He sits down beside me and I hand him the bag of food so he could get his stuff out.

"It's so beautiful here," I admire the beautiful sight before me.

"My family and I used to come here all the time. Aurum loved coming here."

"I can see why. It's so peaceful here."

"Here," he hands me the bag.

We sit and eat, just listening to the sound of the waterfall. After we finishes we lay down and look up at the trees and sky.

"I really appreciate everything you've done for me today, it means a lot."

"What type of favorite girl would I be if I didn't?" I bump my shoulder with his.

"You want to go swim?" he looks at me.

"I don't have a swimsuit."

"We can go in our underwear."

"What kind of woman do you think I am?" I gasp while placing my hand on my chest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," he says shocked.

"Boy, I'm just fucking with you," I laugh and stand up, "come on."

He follows my action and stands up. We strip down to our undergarments and make our way into the cold water.

"Follow me," he says.

Doing as he says, I begin swimming after him. I watch as he gets closer to the falling water. When we reach the point where the falling water is meeting the pool, he goes under the water. After not seeing him come up, I begin to worry.

"Come on," I hear Axel's voice, which eases my worry, "just swim to the other side of the waterfall."

Following his instructions, I dip my body under the water. I feel the waterfall as I slowly pass under it. When I feel it hitting my legs, I come up for air. I brush the water away from my eyes and finally open them. I see Axel in front of me with water dripping from his hair.

"Careful, its real deep over here," Axel says.

"Ok," I swim to him.

"You see that cave right there," he points to the rocks, "we're going up there."

We swim closer to the rocks and I see that the cave is not to high from the pool of water. Axel climbs up first, using small groves to pull himself up. I follow after and Axel gives me his hand to help pull me up. Once inside the cave, I notice that is not a massive one. The end of the cave is at most five feet from the edge of it.

"This is so calming," I say, as I sit beside Axel.

"Yeah, this is my favorite place in the world," Axel looks at me, "I come here whenever I have problems, need to think, or just to relax."

"I can see why, it's beautiful."

"Aurum used to love coming here. She couldn't swim this far but one day, after she was diagnosed, we brought her here and finally let her come to the cave. We wanted her to experience this before she passed."

"I'm sure she loved that. One of her last moments was spent in such a beautiful space. Lots of kids don't get that before they go." I gently place my head onto his shoulder.

He leans his head on mind and we sit like that for awhile. Time seems to stop as the sound of the waterfall hits our eardrums. He doesn't say anything, neither do I, but I can just tell by the way that he softly places his hand in mine, that my presence alone is comforting him.

"Do you think you could spend the night with me tonight?" Axel breaks the silence.

"I don't know," I start off.

"Please," Axel turns his head to face me, "I just really don't want to be alone tonight, and you have been an amazing comfort to me today."

"Ok, but first I have to call Nzuri and see if she will be able to cover for me. I don't want to get in trouble with my mom. So i might not be able top stay."

"Ok, I understand," Axel says, "thank you for even considering staying with me."

He turns his head towards mine and our eyes lock. Slowly he places his hand on my right check and I feel myself gravitating closer to him. Once again, an unknown feeling starts to fill me up. It begins to be too much and before anything can happen, I push myself out of the cave and into the water. I sit under the water for a few seconds, regaining my thoughts. When I come up for air, I see that Axel is no longer in the cave.

"Axel?" I call out.

"Over..." he begins, but the waterfall drowns him out.

Swimming in the direction that I heard his voice, I finally am able to see him. He is out of the water and drying off. I make my way over to do the same.

"I figured we better get back home, it's getting late," he says.

"Ok, let me call Nzuri real quick," I pick up my phone and call Nzuri.

"Hello," she answers on the second ring.

"Hey," I begin, "I have a really big favor I need from you."

"What's up?"

"If I tell my mom that I'm spending the night at your house tonight will you cover for me?"

"Of course bitch, you didn't even have to ask. And you're in luck, my parents and Kari are gone for the next three days."

"That's perfect, just in case your mom and my mom call each other."

"But where are you actually going to be?"

"I'm going to be spending the night with Axel."

"And you claim he's not your boyfriend."

"He's not, he's just going through some personal stuff and he doesn't want to be alone right now."

"Mmhmm, whatever you say. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Ok, thanks again. I love you, bye."

I listen as she tells me that she loves me too and says goodbye. I hang up the phone and look up at Axel's face.

"So this means you're staying the night?"

"Yes it does, but only for tonight. I think tomorrow you should spend time with your mom and dad. I know they are taking this just as hard as you are."

"Ok, I promise tomorrow will be family day," Axel smiles at me.

"What?" I start to feel self conscious.

"I just want to let you know how truly amazing of a person you are. I apprieactiate everything that you do for me," he places a soft, sweet kiss onto my cheek.

He pulls away slowly and grabs my hand, pulling me out of thr wodded area and towards the direction of his car. As we get slowly closer to his car I feel the hand that was just intertwined in mines now on my lower back. A tingling sensation starts from where his palm is rested and speads through the rest of my body, causing my knees to go weak and my breath to hitch. All I can think about as we finally approach the car is how much I would like his hand to be placed somewhere conpletely different.