Farah Mew & VeVe2491, I really want to give a special shout out to you two, for making my story feel so wonderful. That's right, my story. Because it has a life of its own. But hey. You make me feel wonderful too, so thanks for that!
I planned this chapter to be a sort of-not really- time skip. More like a rush of puppy-turned real love blend of moments. I always feel like in life, when you fall in love, everything becomes a haze, days fly by, and you become set in this own little bubble of a world. So, I'm going for that in this chapter- and let's be honest, I want to wrap this story up soon. I feel bad for leaving it un-updated for months at a time!
"They say if you fall asleep after something really amazing happens, it'll turn into a dream. A dream that'll last forever as a memory."
"Un-huh. Who says something like that? That sounds girly."
Snuggling into the curve of his body, Sue sighs in wistfulness. "I don't know, I think I read it somewhere, but I think it's true…Axl! Hey! Are you even paying attention?
"Yeah, yeah…"
"I wonder...if we were to fall asleep right now, would you dream of me?"
"Who says we aren't dreaming right now? That this isn't a memory?"
"Axl?"
"Sue…wake up. Don't you remember?"
Desperate and confused, Sue watched as the walls start to collapse around her.
"I left. I left you all alone."
There was just a week left until the dance but Sue couldn't be bothered with getting excited about it. The past two weeks went by in a haze of rainbow like proportions. After the kiss in the cornfield, Sue's eyes had been forcibly opened to the many wonders of a secret relationship. Normally a law-abiding good girl, the tantalizing feeling that accompanied her every time she met up with Axl secretly had brought about her inner bad girl.
Kisses in janitorial closets, behind the school building, and in Axl's car parked somewhere far away, out of the small town's sights; every day, every hour they could sneak away, Axl and Sue became absorbed with one another. Axl, thinking himself crazy at first for having initiated this taboo romance, no longer cared about those fleeting thoughts of hesitation as he found himself captivated by Sue's eagerness to be with him. It was almost childlike, as though being excited to play with your new friend in elementary school, if it weren't for the rare moments of pure sensuality that Sue exuded during their intimate moments.
Sometimes Axl would find himself asking Sue to slow down because she aroused him so much, he feared it may lead to a point of no return. Sue, ever the oblivious, never knew why he wanted to cool down during their make-out sessions but was fine just the same with flipping her newfound sexy personality off and turning back on her dork personality to gush about the latest school project or gossip she heard from Brad.
During these times, Axl would just sit back and watch her, amazed that he could be so smitten, so quickly, with his sister, whom he normally tried to avoid being in the same room with. Shaking his head, he'd laugh randomly, confusing Sue, before he'd bring her into a hug to reaffirm that this was really happening, that they were really together.
X
Axl had almost forgotten about the elaborate plan to set up Sue and his friend Sean, if it hadn't been for Sean constantly reminding him about it. On most days he would use the excuse of the mystery girl being grounded as to why there had been no word from her, and on other days Axl would just give empty promises. He entertained the idea of telling Sean that the mystery girl dumped him and taking Sue to the dance himself, but quickly scratched the idea because there was no way they could ever go public. The rest of day Axl had been depressed, realizing a little too late that he may have got himself into a bind, with no way for everyone to come out of it happy.
When Sue asked their mother to take her dress shopping the last Saturday before the dance, Axl all too eagerly, and suspiciously, offered to take on the task instead. When Frankie questioned her son's intentions, he barely got away with saying that a girl he's interested in will be at the mall and that he'd like to meet up with her.
"As long as you don't leave your sister alone, then it's fine. Be back by seven, and don't spend too much please. Really. There are only so many checks I can send out that bounce back before the creditors start repossessing stuff."
"God, can you be any more poor? Come on Sue, let's go."
"Hey! If I'm poor you're poor too buddy!"
"Thanks Mom! Love you!"
Running to catch up to Axl, Sue smacked him lightly in the arm. "What was that for?"
"You don't have to be so mean to Mom, you know. She's working really hard to try and make us happy. And Dad too!"
"I get it Sue, you love our parents and appreciate life. Now get in the car, I want you to appreciate me for driving you."
"Axl!" Embarrassed, Sue looked around to see if anyone had been in earshot of what Axl said to her. "Someone could have heard that!"
"Oh yeah? I doubt anyone would be taking it the way you did, if they heard. Wow Sue, look whose mind is in the gutter? I mean, as a brother, I could have just made you do my homework in the car, as thanks for giving you a ride. I don't know what you were thinking but…OW!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Haha, okay, quit it. I surrender!" Laughing with his hands up defensively, Axl backed away as a flustered Sue stared him down. "Come on, let's get you a dress, spaz."
Huffing, Sue jumped into the car after her brother and ignored his smiles the entire ride to the mall.
"I want this one. I really, really want this one."
"And I want a Lamborghini, doesn't mean I'll get one."
"It's not that expensive Axl, it's on sale, too!" Sashaying in the red fringe dress, Sue wiggled her eyebrows in an attempt to be convincing.
"Sue, first? Don't ever do that thing with your eyebrows again. Gross. Second? I don't care if it's within budget, you are not wearing that and it's final!"
"But why not? It looks nice and….wait. Ooooo." Raising her voice to a high-pitch and pointing at Axl, Sue had an epiphany. Or so she thought. "You don't want me to wear this because you're jealous! You think all the boys will look at me and you don't want that! Oh, Axl…Oh my dear, dear Axl…" coming towards him with open, comforting arms, Axl placed his hand on her face and stopped her advancement.
"Sue, shut up. That's not the reason. I'm trying to save you. It'll be social suicide if you wear that dress to the dance and people just started noticing you! Here, take that dress off, I'll be right back with something better."
"But Axl-"
"Do it!" Walking off, Axl came back moments later with a yellow dress. "Here, change into this." Waiting a few moments, Axl smiled when he heard Sue's squeals of delight.
"How did you know my size?"
"Doesn't matter. Come out and show me." Waiting impatiently, Axl's eyes widened when Sue emerged from the dressing room in a stunning yellow sweetheart dress. Not equipped with the proper bra, her pink bra straps stood out but still failed to take away from how beautiful she looked. It was a canary yellow; with an asymmetrical slip that fell down to the back of her knees. Under the breasts was a white bow lining that perked up to the side, and the back of the dress, when she spun around to show him, revealed a corset like stitching.
"Wow."
"Really, you think so Axl? I don't know if it's too short or revealing…"
"Listen carefully Sue, because I'm only going to say this once." An intake of breath. "You look absolutely gorgeous."
"Axl…" blushing, Sue played with the rim of the dress as Axl stepped closer to her. Grateful that they were in the fitting part of the store and no one was really shopping at the time, Sue allowed Axl's lips to softly capture her own for a fleeting moment before pulling away.
"So, you're buying this dress, and you're wearing it to the dance. End of story. Now let's grab some food, I'm starving."
Silently, Sue nodded as she mindlessly gathered up the dress and brought it to the checkout counter, the tingle of her lips touching her brother's still ever present.
His fingers trace the small wisps of hair up and down her left arm as it lazily holds him in place beside her. It's a bright, sunny Sunday afternoon as they find themselves alone in the house, a perfect opportunity for their long awaited rendezvous. Their parents were forcibly taken to the library for one of Brick's projects and they could not be more grateful for their brother's tendency to be late with assignments than in that moment.
She murmurs softly and adjusts herself before finding comfort with her head placed securely within the crook of his neck. His fingers in reply weave through her hair, becoming ensnarled every few seconds, causing him to give up soon after with a chuckle.
"You should brush your hair before you come to me, you know."
"Hmmm...why?" her voice is laced with the soft rumblings of sleep. His lips finds hers and kisses her awake.
"Because, it'll be easier to run my hands through them when we're like this..." After a moment's thought, he adds "dork." at the end of his statement for good measure. When she giggles and playfully calls out his name with a light smack, he grins and brings her flailing hands to his lips, softly leaving cascading kisses until he reaches her wrist.
"Axl, I wish we could be like this always."
He does not miss the note of defeat in her voice, but chooses to ignore it. If he were to believe that this-whatever this is-was doomed to not have a happily ever after, then why did they allow themselves to go down this path to begin with?
"It can be Sue, it will be." She looks up at him with those eyes that look as though he is the only one she will ever love, and he swears he almost believes it. She perks up at the sounds of their parent's car pulling up to the driveway and quickly kisses him on the lips before running out of his room.
Sitting up slowly, he makes his way to the bathroom to run cold water over his face, to wash away any evidence of their secret. The sounds of Sue's overly high pitched squeals over some fabricated story about what's she been doing for the past hour, his mother's deadpan voice feigning interest, and the uneven shuffling of his brother's feet, no matter how much he wishes to, does not distract him from the one clear and obvious truth before him.
Axl Heck was caught up in the fanaticism of this love.
"Axl! Where are you? I brought dinner from that one pizza place by the library. It's a little cold because Brick refused to leave the library but it's still good. Come get some before your father eats it all!"
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses! I'll be right there!" Grudgingly sitting at the table and grabbing the biggest slice he could, Axl tried to eat as fast as possible so he could retreat to his room for the rest of the night but was thwarted when his mother spoke up.
"You know, I ran into Nancy Donahue today and she was telling me that Sean has a mystery date for the dance! How exciting." Ignoring her son's choking, Frankie continued. "How about you guys? Axl? Who's your date? Sue, did you ever find someone to take you?"
Slapping his son's back, Mike sat down with a large 'thump' next to the book immersed Brick and moaned at how the biggest slice was gone. Able to breathe again, Axl started to worry over the predicament he had gotten himself into. With his mother staring him down, Axl was about to divert the topic when Sue started squealing.
"Well… Axl actually has a guy lined up for me! He hasn't really told me who it is yet, but I'm sure he'll be nice. I'm so excited!" Flabbergasted at how Sue seemed to betray him by revealing his plan, he was even more in awe by how she seemed completely unperturbed that they were sitting at the dinner table, acting like a family, when just moments ago they were being very un-sibling like.
"Oh…really? How nice. Sue, would you mind going out to the garage and getting that bottle of soda we left out there? You know, the one we wanted to test if it would be colder left outside than in our refrigerator?"
"Sure mom! I'll be back in a jiffy!"
"Take your time!" Waiting till the door shut, Frankie leaned in threateningly towards Axl. Mike and Brick watched silently, unaware of what was happening. "Axl, if you are playing a horrible prank on your sister you better stop right this instant! That poor girl does not need to be home crying all night while you're out laughing about it with your friends!"
"What?! Mom, stop! You're freaking me out." Backing away, Axl pushed his chair too far and ended up rolling off the chair and onto the floor. Hurriedly getting back on his feet, he put his hands in the air to calm his mother down. "It's not a prank, trust me. I got this. Wow. No faith!" Storming into his room, Axl missed Sue's downcast expression as she brought back a flat and extremely warm soda bottle.
"Where'd Axl go?"
"To his room. Don't worry about it." Getting up and feeling the bottle with a look of disdain, Frankie made a bee-line to the sink. "So…water for everyone?"
"Hey…Sean, ole buddy and pal. Listen, I was wondering if I could talk to you, man to man."
"Axl, these types of conversations never end well."
Patting his friend on his back, Axl brought Sean over to his locker. "So here's the deal. Mystery girl…is actually Sue, as in my sister, and I'm really sorry for keeping it from you but even she doesn't know and-"
"Wait, what? Your sister?! C'mon dude. I mean, Sue is nice, and has gotten really pretty…but it's my senior year Axl! I can't go with a freshman! Much less her. I mean. I would, any other time…like I said, she's nice…but…man, Axl! Why couldn't you just tell me from the beginning? The dance is in a few days!"
"Dude, listen, I'm sorry! I just…I felt like you wouldn't, well, that no one would if I didn't keep her identity hidden. Then she got all hot and now all these guys are looking at her but they still think she's too weird to take-and she is- I mean, she's not! So, it would be better if you went with her, yea?"
"That's really messed up Axl. I'm sure if you just honestly asked around, and talked about how great she was, someone could have warmed up to the idea. Lying and hiding all this, especially to me…I don't know Axl." The bell signaling that class was starting disrupted the two high school friends and the tension dissipated into the air. "Listen, just give me some time to think about it, okay? Oh, and tell your sister at the very least, she deserves to know."
Feeling defeated, Axl went to class only to step out quickly after attendance was taken when Sue texted him to meet in their "secret spot". Quickly walking down the familiar path, Axl ended up in the janitorial closet awaiting Sue. When the door opened, Sue quickly flung herself upon Axl, hugging him tightly.
"After you dropped me off this morning I didn't see you all day until ten minutes ago when I saw you talking to Sean. You looked upset so I didn't want to bother you, but I was worried. Is everything okay?"
Pained that his sister could be so sensitive to his situation, and so oblivious that she was about to be left broken-hearted on the night of the dance all because of him, Axl pushed Sue to the side and mumbled that he needed to be alone.
"Axl? What's wrong? You can talk to me…"
"Sue…" Looking into her eyes filled with love and concern, Axl resolved in that moment to make sure that his sister would not end up crying by the end of all this. Pulling her into his arms, Axl slowly kissed the top of her forehead before pulling away. "Everything's going to be fine, and you're going to go to the dance with a great guy. I promise."
"You're sort of freaking me out…but, thanks Axl. I trust you." Kissing him on the cheek, Sue quickly left the closet to run back to class. Axl, trying to map out a plan that could work out for both of them, stayed behind a little longer.
From point A to point B, he could not see a happily ever after. How could he convince Sean to take her? What if he refuses? Who could step in and fill the role? Him? An ending where Sue ends up in his arms at the dance was absolutely unfathomable at this point. Frustrated, he punched the wall; realizing no matter how many times he tried to think solely about the dance, point A always became "Axl" and point B always ended up being "Sue". Points that were already fated to never meet without consequence.
X
Yes! The next chapter will be the dance, and then after that, the epilogue! If you took the time to notice, there were no flashbacks or "glimpses into the future" and I finally started to incorporate the previous chapter's glimpses! The next chapter will have an accumulation of all those glimpses and something big will happen! Be on the lookout! Thanks for always reading and reviewing!