Patience

Twenty-eight

One Week Later

It's been a week, and after some deep conversations, Axl and I have been doing just fine. Going on walks, small dates, and doing stupid, cheesy couple stuff. It feels just like it used to, but I can't help but be a little cautious and wary of him.

"Lucy! Lucy! Look at how pretty and clear the sky is tonight," Axl said, pulling me out onto the balcony of the apartment.

"It's beautiful," I agreed.

We both looked at each other and grinned. We knew exactly what we wanted to do.

"I'll race you to the beach," I told him.

"Race? I've already won," Axl said, and he turned and darted out of the apartment.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I called after him. We left so quickly that we didn't even bother to shut the apartment door.

I took off running, and as I caught up to him, I gave him a slight shove. He fell down and yelled a string of curse words at me, to which I just laughed. He did get back up and try to catch up to me, but I was winning.

"No!" Axl yelled as I continued to run. He ended up catching up to me. He then picked me up, ran back in the opposite direction, set me down, then took off again.

"Hey, that's unfair!" I yelled as he ran out to the water. I jogged over to him.

"Well, we never really established rules, so why not?" Axl said, splashing water on me.

"Come here," I said, dragging Axl out of the water.

I sat down in the sand, and Axl did the same. We both smiled at each other and looked up at the sky. I put my head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me.

"Lucy," He began, "I'm so glad I have you back. I love my lovely Lucy."

"I know. I'm glad I'm back." I smiled up at him.

"I want you to know that I didn't mean to do what I did. I will never do anything to hurt you ever again. I know now that I'll lose you if I do, and those few weeks without your were the worst few weeks of my life," Axl said.

"Yeah, those few weeks were definitely my low point," I said to Axl.

"I still sense fear and tension sometimes, though. I want to be able to move past it. To start a new chapter and move on," Axl said.

I know how genuine and caring Axl really. I missed that version of him, and I finally seemed to be getting it back. I was starting to warm up to him again.

"Yeah, me too. Let's move on," I agreed.

"Really? You're ready to move on?" Axl asked me.

I took my head off of his shoulder. "Yes. I'm ready to go back to how it was before. Just you and me, against the world," I said.

Axl smiled. "I like that."

"I know. That's why I said it."

We both laughed a little and stared out over the endless ocean, and up at the sky. It truly was a beautiful night.

"You know," Axl began, "I've been looking at this mansion in Malibu. With the proceeds from the album and the tour, I think I can afford it, and it would be perfect for the two of us."

"A mansion for two people?" I asked, laughing at the idea.

"Hey, I'm a rockstar and I've worked hard for it. Plus, I only want the best for my lovely Lucy."

"Wow," I said, "A Malibu mansion. Is it pretty?"

"It's magnificent."

"Okay," I said, nodding.

"Okay, what?" Axl asked.

"Okay, as in, I think I could live there," I said.

"You think or you know? I want you to be happy, Lucy," Axl said.

"I know I could live there. I can see it now. I already feel like a princess," I said, making Axl giggle.

"My princess," He said.

"So?" I asked.

"So?"

"Are you going to buy it?"

"When do you want to move in?" He asked.

"Tomorrow," I said.

"You're joking," Axl said with a laugh.

"No, I'm actually very serious," I said it teasingly, but deep down we both knew that I was.

"So, you want me to buy this mansion right now so we can start moving in tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Well," Axl said, standing up and shaking the sand off of his hands, "I think we can do that."

He held his hand out and helped me up.

"I can't wait."