“You are not my friend. You are the dude that is shagging my Pappa, and it’s fucking hard to cope with, okay?”
At least she is not drunk, Axel consoles himself. At least she is okay. Angry, yes, but she is fine.
“Stop.” He pleads. “Please, just stop.”
She stands in front of him with a defiant scowl on her face. Lips pursed tight.
“I’m sorry that I am so angry and upset, but I this is hard for me too. You should see it from my point of view too. It’s me against all five of you. I am trying so hard to make you guys at least accept that I am here, and I am desperately trying to make your Pappa understand how much I love him, and that I will do anything to make him happy. But if you guys are unhappy, that means he will be unhappy and then I should leave. It would break my heart to leave Jens, it would. But I love your Pappa more than anything in this world, and I kind of love you guys too. I love the banter you and I have when we text. It makes me laugh. I love that Morten grunts at me in the morning. I love that Mikki wants to have breakfast with me. I love that Marthe calls me Pappa Axel, however fucked up that is. I love being part of this family. It would destroy me to leave you. But you need to understand that I would, I would gladly leave if it was for the best.”
“Then, why don’t you? If you are finding this so hard, why don’t you just fuck off back to your own life?”
“Because my life is no life without Jens. However hard these two days have been, I have loved not being alone. I have laughed. I have messed up and fucked up so many times that I have lost count, but in some ridiculous way I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow morning and do it all over again. It’s just the way it is.”
Axel is rambling. Trying to make sense of the thoughts tumbling in his brain. Trying desperately to find something to say that will make Malena see what he is trying to say.
“We are still not friends.” She is pouting now. Arms tight around her body.
“Maybe not friends, that might be the wrong word. But you are my support person. My wingman. The one I go to for advice. You might not want to be my friend, but I need you. I need someone to be on my side sometimes, the one I can ask for advice when I am too chicken to ask Jens. Or when I have fucked up and need you to tell him, so that I don’t have to tell him myself.”
There is a little smile on her lips. Just a smirk. A softening of her features under the dim light of the street lights.
“So, I am your support person. And you are the one who rescues me when I fuck up and don’t want Pappa to find out.”
He supposes that is an apology of sorts. A small humble admission of truth.
“You did the right thing this evening Malena.” Axel’s voice is calmer now. “You put yourself in a situation that didn’t feel right, and you got out of there. Then you didn’t feel safe, so you made sure that you were safe and asked for help. You did the right thing. So, in a way, yes, you fucked up, but you also proved to me that you have a good head on your shoulders and have sense. I suppose that’s a good thing.”
“Thank you.” she whispers. “I’m sorry.”
“I won’t say anything to Pappa, okay? But I expect you to talk to him.”
“I don’t want him to know. He will be really angry and never let me go out again.”
“Of course he will, but you are sixteen. You shouldn’t be out on your own in the middle of the city anyway. At least bring a friend Lena. Don’t go out on your own. It’s just silly taking risks like that.”
“Nassi told me not to, said it was stupid and that this guy was an idiot. I should probably have listened.”
“Yes. Probably.”
They stop in front of the door to the building, while Axel punches the code in the keylock and Malena fiddles with her phone.
“Thank you for asking for my help though. It means a lot to me that you did. I just wanted you to know that.”
“It’s not like I have anyone else I could call.”
“That makes me feel really special Lena. Thanks for that.”
“Well, you are my support person Axel. Don’t think that I won’t use and abuse you. Anything I need support with I will expect you to step up.”
“Really? Likewise, Miss Sommerfeldt. I will expect favours. Support. Advice on how to keep your Pappa happy so he won’t leave me.”
“Axel. Come on. Have you looked at Pappa lately? He is so obsessed with you that his eyes go all blank when you are around, and he has this stupid grin on his face all the time. And when you are not here he is grumpy as fuck. He would never in a million years leave you.”
Now Axel has a stupid grin on his face all the way up to the apartment. Smiling so hard that his cheeks ache.
He lets Malena walk in ahead and verges off to the kitchen so she can go find Jens. He hopes she will tell the truth, and that Jens will be calm enough to see sense. He can hear them talking, just whispers of voices floating through into the kitchen.
“I’m grounded for four weeks.” Her voice makes him jump. He didn’t even hear her come through the door.
“I’m very proud of you for telling the truth. I respect that a lot.”
“Well, if I hadn’t, you would have ratted on me. Trust me, I know Pappa. He would have wrapped you around his little finger and made you spill.”
“I wouldn’t have had to, because you are far too clever to think you could get away with lying Malena.”
“Well, I kind of promised Pappa that I would take the kids to the indoor soft play tomorrow. In return for just four weeks of grounding instead of eight. I thought it was fair enough, and it’s kind of… to say thank you to you too.”
“Oh, so I’m coming too? To soft play?” Axel smiles. He is sure he can survive a few hours of soft play.
“No, you twat. I take the kids to soft play. You and Pappa get three hours. No more, no less. That should be enough time for the two of you to get up to whatever shit you get up to.”
Axel can’t help the giggles that fall from his lips. Holding his arms out so he can scoop this ridiculous girl up in a hug. She even hugs back. Just briefly.
“Thank you. You are an epic wingman.”
She just smiles before walking out, leaving him in the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand and giggles still brewing in his chest.
“I love you.” Jens says as he walks over and takes the glass from Axel, drinking it down in one long go, while his eyebrow is cocking and his eyes are twinkling.
“I missed you so much.” Axel is plastered to Jens’ chest. Arms around his neck and his face in his hair. “Can I stay?”
“Always.” Jens whispers, his voice so sincere that Axel feels like crying. “Please don’t leave. I need you to sleep with me tonight.”
“On your chest. With my arms around you.” Axel smiles into his skin. Leaves a kiss on his neck. And another.
“I never want to sleep alone again Axel. You’re addictive. In every possible way.”
Axel just smiles back and for the first time in days he lets himself relax. Lets the tension in his back melt away in Jens’ embrace. His arms tight around the man he loves, and his back being caressed by steady strokes.
He is home. They are all safe and home.