Chapter 51 51

Chapter 51 51


“The break starts today,” the principal’s voice crackled over the intercom, echoing through every hallway and classroom. “Parents have been informed by text, so you all… your parents will be taking you home this afternoon. Please proceed to your dormitories to pack. Dismissal begins at two.”

The speaker clicked off.

Azxel froze in the library chair, with the book Sky had forced him to read forgotten in his lap. The words hit him like ice water. The first time the news was announced, they had said the students all had two weeks for tgem to enjoy home, but to Axzel it was suffer. Two whole weeks without Sky.

His chest tightened immediately, his breath coming short and sharp. The room blurred at the edges. He gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white, trying to force air in, out, in—

Sky noticed instantly. He always did. “Hey.” Sky’s hand closed over Azxel’s wrist, his thumb pressing firm against his pulse. “Breathe with me. In and out.”

Azxel obeyed, his eyes locked on Sky’s, letting the calm, steady voice pull him back from the edge. It took a minute, maybe two, before the panic loosened its claws.

“It’s just two weeks,” Sky murmured, leaning close so no one else in the quiet library could hear. “You’ll survive, right?”

Azxel shook his head, in small frantic jerks. “I’ll be back soon,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “You have to come back soon too. Promise me.”

Sky’s smile was soft and almost kind, but too bad it wasn’t. He brushed a thumb across Azxel’s cheek, wiping away the dampness that had gathered there.

“I promise,” he said. “First day back, I’ll be waiting right here for you. Okay, I love when we are waiting for each other, you would be waiting and anticipating, right?”

Azxel nodded, swallowing hard. Azxel was surely going to anticipate coming back. He believed Sky, he had to.

Sky stood chuckling softly, tugging Azxel gently to his feet. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to your room.”

They left the library together, Sky’s arm slung casually around Azxel’s shoulders like it belonged there. No one looked twice; everyone was too busy packing or saying frantic goodbyes.

In the empty dorm hallway, Sky backed Azxel against the door of his room, kissing him slow and deep, sliding his hands under Azxel’s shirt to press warm against his skin.

“Remember this while you’re gone,” Sky whispered against his mouth. “Remember who you belong to.”

Azxel whimpered into the kiss, clinging, nodding, already aching at the thought of the distance.

Sky pulled back eventually, pressing one last kiss to Azxel’s under eye. “Go pack. I’ll see you soon.”

Azxel watched him walk away, his chest hollow, before slipping inside to throw clothes into his bag without really seeing them.

Ten minutes later, the dorm phone rang insistently.

Azxel picked it up. It was the first time he was picking up the dorm calls. He never picked them up, even if it was his mum calling.

“Azxel, your mother is here,” the office secretary said. “At the front reception gate.”

He hung up without a word.

Downstairs, his mom stood beside the luxury black car, his arms wrapped around herself even though the afternoon was warm. She looked smaller than he remembered, his eyes already red rimmed when she spotted him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” she said softly, opening her arms.

Azxel walked past her and got into the passenger seat without a greeting. He stared straight ahead through the windshield.

She hesitated, then closed the back door after putting his bag in, and slid behind the wheel.
The drive home was silent at first. Azxel kept his face turned to the window, watching the school shrink in the side mirror until it disappeared.

His mother’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. A small, choked sound escaped her.

Azxel glanced over. Tears were rolling freely down her cheeks now. She wasn’t even trying to hide them.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I know you didn’t want to come home. I know you hate this. I just… I miss you so much.”

Azxel’s stomach twisted, guilt clawed up his throat, sharp and familiar. He wanted to say something or anything but the words stuck on his lips. He pressed his lips together and looked away again.

She cried quietly the rest of the way, her shoulders shaking with muffled sobs.

When they finally pulled into the driveway of the large, familiar house, Azxel’s door was open before the car fully stopped. He grabbed his bag from the back and headed for the front steps, needing to escape the sound of her crying.

His mother followed slowly, wiping her face with the sleeve of her cardigan. Azxel pushed the door open and stopped dead in the living room.

Someone was sitting on the living room couch. Someone he hadn’t seen in weeks.

Jaelen sat on the couch, his legs stretched out with a remote in hand as some mindless action movie played on the TV. He looked completely at ease, like he belonged there.

Azxel’s heart slammed against his ribs. For one wild second, instinct took over. His body moved forward as he took a half step run toward him, his arms already lifting like he was going to crash into Jaelen and hold on and never let go.

Then reality snapped back. He froze midway across the living room rug, his feet skidding to a stop. His hands dropped to his sides, and his fists clenching.

Jaelen’s eyes flicked from the screen to him, calm and unreadable. “What are you doing here?” Azxel’s voice came out hoarse and loud in the quiet house.

Jaelen muted the TV and sat up slowly. “Hey—”

“No. What the hell are you doing here?” Azxel’s volume climbed with every word. “You left! after writing that stupid note and you disappeared and now you’re just sitting on my couch like nothing happened?”

His mother appeared in the kitchen doorway, her eyes wide and worried. “Azxel, calm down—”

“You don’t get to tell me to calm down!” He whirled on her, his chest heaving, he was about to have a panic attack. “Why is he here? Why is he in my house?”

“Azxel, please—” she tried again, softer.
But Azxel was already spinning back to Jaelen.

“Answer me! Did you come back to laugh at me? To see how pathetic I am without Sky? Or did you—”

“Azxel!” His mother’s voice cracked like a whip, loud and desperate enough to cut through the storm. “Stop it! Just stop!”

The room went suddenly silent except for Azxel’s ragged breathing.

His mother’s hands were shaking. Tears brimmed in her eyes again. She took a careful step forward.

“Jaelen came,” she said, her voice trembling but steady, “because I asked him to. He’s going to take you to therapy for the two weeks you’re home. Twice in a week. That was the deal with the school, if you came home for break, you had to keep going to sessions.”

Azxel stared at her, his mouth wide open. She swallowed hard. “Jaelen and I… we’ve known each other for a long time. Longer than you think. He was kind enough to transfer to your program, to keep an eye on you, to help you with everything you were going through. And all you did was treat him like trash.”
Azxel’s eyes widened, blood draining from his face.
“So you sent him to spy on me?” His voice was low now and dangerous. “You don’t trust me. You never did.”

His mother’s face crumpled. A sob tore out of her, and she pressed a hand to her mouth, her shoulders folding in as tears spilled over.
“That’s not—” she started, but the words dissolved into crying.

Jaelen stood up fast.
“STOP!” he shouted, his voice loud and raw. “Just—stop. It’s my fault, okay? All of it.”
Azxel turned to him slowly, his eyes blazing with fury.

Jaelen met his gaze, unflinching. “I volunteered. I wanted to be there. And I left because I couldn’t watch you drown in him anymore, in who doesn’t even...”

“JAELEN…” Axzels mother cut him short.

The room felt too small, air too thick. Azxel’s mother was still crying quietly after screaming.

Then her gaze landed on Azxel’s face, trying to take in how much he had changed. She had seen tgem earlier and cried a bit into it.

She lowered her hands slowly. “Azxel…” Her voice was small and broken. “Why… why do you have piercings in your nose? And your eyebrow?” Her eyes moved up. “And your hair, when did you dye it this color? It’s… it’s pink and blonde and—”

Azxel didn’t answer. He just stared at her for a long second, then at Jaelen. Then he turned, grabbed his bag from the floor, and walked straight out the front door, slamming it hard behind him.

The sound echoed through the house like a gunshot. Inside, his mother sank to the floor, sobbing. Jaelen stood frozen in the middle of the room, his fists clenched at his sides, staring at the closed door.

Outside, Azxel kept walking down the driveway, down the street, nowhere in mind except away.