Forever

The school day soon ended and Brooklyn headed home, picking up Braxton on the way. She had just finished dinner, when her phone chimed and she checked it to see a new text from Axel.

‘A few of us are going to grab milkshakes over at Shake Shack, do you want to come along?’

‘I would, but I’m looking after Braxton and he’s going to be getting ready for bed soon.’

‘Another time maybe?’

‘Definitely.’

Sat on the sofa with Braxton an hour later, Brooklyn frowned as someone knocked on the front door and opened it to find Axel on the doorstep with two milkshakes in his hands. With a smile, she motioned for him to enter and closed the door.

“What are we watching?” Axel asked, placing the milkshakes on the table and slipping off his jacket.

“How to train your dragon,” Brooklyn answered, taking a seat and shifting a sleepy Braxton onto her lap.

“Cool, my little brother loves this film...” Axel replied as he took a seat.

Braxton was asleep by the time the movie finished and Brooklyn carefully carried him to bed, tucking him in with his favorite teddy. She soon returned to where Axel was waiting and dropped down on the sofa, glancing over at him.

“Thank you for the milkshake, you didn’t have to do that,” Brooklyn stated.

“I wanted to... plus, I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Us, or the possibility of there being an us,” Axel told her awkwardly.

“Are you asking me out?”

“Yes.”

“The answer is yes,” Brooklyn told him, “Do you want to watch a movie before you head home?”

“Sure.”

They had just finished watching Die Hard, when Jared walked in and greeted them with a tired wave. It was late by the time Axel left and Brooklyn went to her room, collapsing on her bed with a sigh.

Axel picked her up the next morning, smiling as she approached him and handing over a spare helmet. They soon pulled into the school parking lot and Brooklyn climbed off, shaking out her hair as she removed the helmet.

“Are we going in separately?” Brooklyn inquired.

“If that’s how you want to do this.”

“It’s not, but you have a reputation to uphold...”

“I’m not worried about people’s perception of me, or my reputation,” Axel told her, pulling her towards him and kissing her, “I don’t want this to be a secret.”

“Good,” Brooklyn replied, pressing another kiss to his lips and entwining their fingers as they walked towards the school.

People stared and whispers followed them along the corridor, but Brooklyn didn’t care. For her, being happy was something personal and it really didn’t matter what anyone else’s opinion on it was. Despite everyone’s perception of Axel, he made everything feel easier and offered the much-needed calm to the storm that was her life.