I feel arms wrap around me, and a hand takes my chin, tilting my head up. I can’t see him through the rain and the tears, but I can smell him. Only one man smells that way. In a pitiful voice, I cry out his name, and press my hands against his chest. I’m sure this isn’t real. I feel a steady, pounding heart beneath his shirt. I also feel that he’s lost a lot of weight. Slowly we begin moving up, until we’re on our feet. I blink rapidly, needing to make sure this is real.
Then I see his face, and a strangled cry wrenches from my throat. It’s him. It’s really him. He’s here, standing in front of me. His face is slightly sunken, and he’s got fading bruises, but there’s no missing those eyes. I lift a trembling hand, and I stroke his heavily stubbled cheek. He closes his eyes, and his hand goes up, covering mine.
“It...you’re...you’re...I didn’t know if you were dead, or alive, I...” I rasp.
“I’m here, I’m here,” he murmurs, his voice crackly.
“B-b-b-but...”
My voice breaks, and I begin to sob again. Axel’s hands slide down over me, as if he’s checking I’m all there. When his hands slide over my belly, he stops moving. His eyes lift up to mine, and in them I see a question. I nod weakly, trying to smile between sobs. He drops to his knees, suddenly, heavily. I hear him thump onto the ground before his hands cup my belly, and he presses his face against it.
This only makes me cry harder.
I tangle my fingers into his hair, feeling his body shaking with emotion. Then he wraps his arms around me, and I take his head in my hands, holding him with everything I am. He slowly slides up my body, and envelopes me in a hug so tight, and so warm that it takes my breath away. I cling to him, never wanting to let him go, but not understanding if this is real or if I’ve completely lost my mind.
“Are you real?” I whisper.
“I’m real. I’m here.”
He slowly pulls away from me, and takes my hand, leading me up the front stairs and inside the house. The minute we get into the light, I see him. Really see him. His clothes are hanging on his frame, and his skin is pale. He has bruises up his arms, and dark, angry red scars around his wrists. His eyes have fading bruises, and his lip has been split a lot, because a jagged scar runs down the bottom left corner. His cheeks are sunken, and his eyes are dull. But it’s him.
He steps forward, and swipes a tear from underneath my eye as I sob wildly. I clutch his hands, and meet his eyes. “What happened?”
He takes me over to the couch, and pulls us both down. Then he wraps me in another hug, squeezing me until I can’t breathe. His hands are on my belly again, his fingers lightly grazing the bulge. “How far?” he croaks.
“I’m nearly four months.”
His eyes show a sparkle of light when he looks back up at me. I reach across, touching his sunken cheeks that are covered in rubble. “I was starting to think you were dead, but I didn’t want to give up,” I whisper.
“I know, baby,” he says, looking away.
“He sent me a photo, and...”
“I know,” he grinds out, cutting me off. “I know what he did. I heard you scream on the phone...”
“H-h-h-how? Oh God, Axel. We left you there...we...we thought...”
He presses a finger to my lips. “Hush, you didn’t leave me. I know the guys didn’t stop looking for me. I know you didn’t stop looking for me.”
“But we didn’t find you.”
He shakes his head. “I’m here now. The rest doesn’t matter.”
“How did you get out?”
He tucks me into his arm, and then begins speaking in a low, heavy voice. “Raide got me. He found out my location, and he took most of the club down, killing a majority of them. The rest he took into custody. He didn’t plan on killing them, but when he found my location, he made sure he had full re-enforcement. He knew Beast would come out, guns ready, and he did. He shot at them the minute they arrived, but Raide was prepared. He pulled me out.”
Raide saved him. My heart swells.
“W-w-what did Beast do to you, Axel?”
He looks me in the eye. “Nothing he didn’t do before. Only this time there were no girls, just beatings. He could have killed me when he told you I was dead, but he enjoyed watching me suffer and starve. I’m only sorry I didn’t pull the trigger that exploded his brains.”
I take his hand, squeezing it. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t you say sorry to me, Cricket,” he says into my hair. “Never say sorry.”
“The photo?” I croak.
“He shot me twice, and just as I threw my head back and opened my mouth to wail in pain, he took the photo. He was going to send it as a torture picture, to make sure you all gave him the USB, only he found out I had it on me, and decided the photo would work to prove I was dead. It was a freak shot; he got lucky.”
It was a freak photo? My mind spins, and I shake my head over and over. Axel shifts in the chair, and leans down, cupping my face.
“The only thing I saw in that place was you, Cricket. You saved me; you kept me fighting. I realized what a complete fuck-head I’ve been, when faced with the reality that I might never see you again. I don’t care what happens from now. I want you, and I’ll make you mine. I’ll cherish the fucking ground you walk on. I love you, Meadow. I should have told you sooner.”
I feel tears tumble down my cheeks again. “I love you too,” I croak.