Only One Of Us Knows (On hold)

Twelve| Awkward triangle

Axel

Reyna unlocked the door to her apartment and limped her way in before I followed. For the first few seconds, I couldn't stop myself from scanning the room with my eyes. Afterwards, I gently shut the door behind me and our eyes made contact. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard for her to convince me to stay at her apartment for the meantime. I didn't see a reason to argue. We needed a hideout. Even if it was for tonight. I understood her intention clearly when she made that offer. Her leg was hurt and it would be in her best interest if she kept me close instead of running after me. It might be a bit awkward. But... It's fine. We're both adults.

"Are you hungry? Um... I..." She began limping towards the open kitchen. "... I think there's something in the fridge. You can just... maybe cook, order something, whatever suits you." She concluded halfway through the kitchen.

"I'm fine. It's best if you don't strain your leg."

She took one look at her injured leg and returned her eyes to me. "Are you trying to say I should rest?" Her eyes held a mischievous look.

My words did kind of imply that but, I wasn't about to admit that to her. "Rest, don't rest, it's your choice." While I took off my coat, there was a knock on the door. We locked eyes in a sort of weary stunt. I peeped through the hole in the door. The sight of Kwame relaxed every nerve I had flared up.

"It's your boyfriend."

"What? I don't have a... Afam?"

I went ahead and opened the door. He walked in. Only when I had shut the door did he catch sight of me. His face wore his surprise well.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Finally, he asked whilst he tried to mask his surprise and disapproval. I remained silent because, well, the story was just too long to narrate.

"I thought it would be better if we stayed here together instead." I teased slash lied. He reacted just as I expected. The thought ate him away and he fumbled with keeping his head straight.

"His place was raided and there were some men after us. This is a temporary solution." Reyna explained and yet, I watched him. He nodded his head a little too much. Then, he rolled his lips for a moment.

"Sure, but he doesn't have to stay here. He can stay at my house, in our basement."

"I-I don't think that's a good idea. That could put your family in harm's way."

"That's true but I'll be very discreet so none of them would be aware."

"Afam, no. My problem, my solution."

For the short while, my eyes had gone back and forth between the two. Finally, it stayed on Afam, waiting for his reply. He bit his lower lip and it was obvious he was trying to hold back on his words.

"He's a grown man. You can't stay alone with him."

O-okay.

"Are you trying to say something?" I found myself intervening.

"No. I mean, kind of. Look, you're not exactly a good guy. You've done bad things. I'm supposed to trust you with Reyna?"

"You're not supposed to do anything. I can take care of myself. Why are you being sexist?"

He walked past me, right up to her. "You're getting me wrong. I..." Suddenly, he was silent and we noticed him staring at her leg. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I got shot but I'm fine."

"Shot!? You were shot with a gun?" He turned to me. "You did this?"

"No, he saved me. I'm fine."

"This is too much. Let us just go to the police."

What?

"I told you before, no." Reyna replied but even those words didn't stop me from walking to the couch and picking up my coat.

"Axel, what are you doing?"

Mentally, I let out a light scoff. It was the first time I heard her call my name. It didn't quite sit right. Now that I think about it, everything happened too fast. One moment, I was still me and the next, I'm here in her apartment, in the midst of this little quarrel. This was beyond me and felt a bit demeaning.

"I'm going to look for somewhere else I can stay tonight."

"No." She was quick to limp towards me just as I was done putting on my coat. "You can't leave. We had an agreement."

"I'll still keep you informed."

"It's... You're not going anywhere." She turned to Afam. First, she sighed. "Look, I know Axel has some dangerous histories tied to him but, he's not a bad person. When I got shot, he could've abandoned me. Yet, he didn't. He's okay and... I'm not scared of him so, you shouldn't. Okay?"

Reluctantly, Afam nodded. Even I understood he didn't mean that acceptance. But, did Reyna mean every word she said? Not that it mattered too much to me. It's just... I've never had anyone defend and say nice things about me the way she just did. I wanted to strongly believe it was her strategy at getting her friend to calm down and somehow stop me from leaving. Still, a part of me began to disbelieve that theory. When she looked at me, I maintained a very short eye contact before looking away.

Nothing has changed and nothing will change. I reminded myself.

"Okay. Axel, can we talk in private?"

Why?

Afam had already walked up to me and even if I didn't quite want to, I found myself walking off alongside him to the other side of the room.

"Reyna doesn't get it. But I'm sure you understand how much of a harm she's bringing upon herself. If you care even a bit for her, you'll let her off while it's still early." His words were in a whisper. For a moment, I stared at him. Then, I wondered how I got to this point. Everything was twisted.

"I don't care. She wants to join me and have herself killed, let her. Don't think that I care." I turned away to leave, he held onto my arm.

"You better keep her safe at all times or I won't let you off easy." Having said his piece, he walked back to her. I watched him in disbelief. He had disregarded what I said to him. Soon, he was standing on the other side of the door while they said their goodbyes. She shut the door afterwards.

She turned to me. "Sorry about the drama."

"I need to freshen up." I said to her as I removed the coat once again. She pointed to the direction of the bathroom.

"Let me know if you need anything."

Without a word, I headed towards the bathroom. When I heard a soft sigh from her, I spared her a look. There she was, struggling to keep her balance steady. It was clear her good leg was having a hard time supporting her wait, especially since she'd been walking around instead of keeping her leg put. I looked away and walked into the bathroom. She would eventually make her way to the room.

For the few seconds I was in the bathroom, not once did I spare my reflection in the mirror a glance.

He's not a bad person. Her words were refreshed in my head. I battled internally against doing something that was against my entire self-brought up. In the end, I felt defeated and walked out of the bathroom to meet her nearly halfway across the living room. I stopped in front of her and she looked at me with a little surprise mixed with curiosity.

It's just this once. I told myself. Then, I reached down and carried her into my arms, bridal style. She was startled by an even greater surprise and I felt it. She said nothing regardless of her arms holding on around my neck. I was grateful and thankful she didn't. There, I carried her into her bedroom and gently set her on the bed.

Right away, I walked away. "Thank you." She threw the words at me before I could leave the room. I didn't feel the need to reply to it so I paused for a moment and went on the next. I convinced myself that it was never going to happen again.