Dirty Gold ✓ [bxb]

Chapter 35 - Assurance

Axel made true to his word and woke me up only when the meal was being served. After that slept through intervals until he woke me up just as the pilot was announcing our arrival in Sacramento International. I sat up bleary eyed and groggily but a lot better than I would have been if I had forced myself to stay awake during the eleven hour flight.

"Finally home." I said tiredly to Axel. He scrubbed his face with his hands "I'm surely looking forward to the brutality I'm definitely going to experience from customs."

I couldn't help but grin. Even after a long and tiring flight, his sarcasm couldn't be dulled.

"Hopefully when I marry an American citizen they'll cut me some slack." He said with a cheeky grin and I couldn't help the heat that spread inside me. I cleared my throat and stood up to get our hand luggage from the overhead compartment. "Come on. We should get going."

Security was not so bad on my side but I could see Axel's scowl after he'd emerged from the Immigrations side when we met at the baggage claim showed that he did not enjoy it. I smiled and placed my head on his shoulder while squeezing his arm to comfort him.

"You're lucky you're hot enough for me to endure all this scrutiny." He mumbled.

I kissed his cheek "I know. I have nothing if not my looks."

He chuckled.

After he had gotten our luggage, we walked to the arrival hall and my heart was pounding. Right there waiting for us was my Mom's boyfriend, Paul, waiting for us with a smile on his face. I smiled back at him "Hey Paul."

"Oh my you look so grown up Kendall." He said giving me a nice squeeze. "Your mother and I have missed you."

"I've missed you both too." I said even though my words were muffled by his clothed shoulder.

As soon as we pulled apart, his eyes travelled to where Axel stood and I could clearly see the surprise in his eyes.

"Oh Paul this is my boyfriend Axel. Axel, this is Paul my mother's boyfriend." I introduced going back to my boyfriend's side.

"Nice to meet you." Axel said stretching out his hand politely to Paul. I couldn't gauge any of their reactions so my heart pounded through my ribcage. Paul returned the handshake "Very wonderful to meet you also Axel. I'm just surprised that Kendall never let it out that he was dating anyone. At all."

I could feel both their eyes on me so I cleared my throat "Um it's been a really long flight. We should start going now."

Paul cleared his throat "Yeah. Besides your Mom has been really jumpy to see you so we probably shouldn't waste any more time. Let me help with your bags."

It felt good to be back in Sacramento. London was a pretty nice city to live in, but I'd always miss the warmth and sun back here. Even though I had deliberately moved away for college because I wanted to discover more of myself, I would always miss this place because it was my home. It was where I grew up.

"So how's Mom?" I asked Paul from behind where I was sitting with Axel.

"She's ok. But she really misses you kids a lot. Any idea when Mara's coming home?" Paul asked very innocently.

"No I have no idea." I replied closing my eyes.

Even though I'd promised to tell my mom everything, it still made me feel less than enthusiastic whenever I imagined the whole conversation. Just because it was something I had and needed to do didn't mean that I was very happy about it.

"I can hear you thinking again." Axel said in a low sing song voice.

I groaned closing my eyes "Turn it off." It was still really amazing how well he knew me.