Chapter 11
Rainne's POV
“Mads? Can we have a private talk?” I look at her with pleading eyes.
“I just want to know..why..fine. We’re not yet done Axel.” She follows me to the garden where it’s just the two of us.
“It seems like Kaiden knows a lot more than me.. Is this favoritism?” She crossed her arms on her chest.
I sit next to her and smile at her.
“It just happened that Kaiden can help me last night because he can sneak out.”
“You should have at least asked me.”
“Then get disappointed because you cannot? We both know that our parents are the same in one thing, they love us so much and they will never allow us to sneak out at night.”
“Fine.. fine. Then why did you go to his place at the middle of the night and stay.. My god.”
“Well.. “ I smile and caress the necklace that Axel gave me.
“Wait…” She looks into my eyes and studies my face. “Are you.. Are you in love with Ax?”
I took a deep breath and nodded at her then she screamed and hugged me.
“Are you serious? Goooooood… Rainne ELiza? Are you fucking serious?” Her expression is priceless and it’s very obvious that she’s happy.
“I missed him a lot.. Those days when he didn’t visit. I realized that I grew some feelings for him, that he is important to me not because he is my friend and that he likes me but because I really do like him.”
We’re both smiling but at the same time our eyes are both about to cry.
She hugs me again and pulls herself. “I’m happy for you.. I’m happy that finally you learned to open yourself to someone who really cares for you.. “
“I’m happy too.. But I’m too happy that I’m scared.”
“Scared of what? All your life.. It only revolves in one person and you were not happy but now.. You finally have Axel, so why are you afraid?”
“I’m afraid that if I tell him that I like him too, he will end up like Gavin.. I mean, he will end up leaving me too because my love is suffocating.”
“I doubt that.. Axel is very different from him and your love is not suffocating, he just doesn't know how to appreciate genuine things. No need to be afraid of Rainne, you deserve to be happy and Axel is the man for you.”
“Thank you, Mads. I mean, talking to you really lessen the burden I have in me. I really don’t know what to do and I really don’t know how to tell him that I love him too.”
“I’m so happy to hear all those things that you have said.. Well, do you have any idea when to tell him?”
“He’s going home first in London before our internship, so I am planning to tell him when he comes back.”
“When he comes back? But what if he meets his ex there? C’mon tell him on our graduation. It will be the perfect day for the two of you to be together, I know that he will come back but if you tell him that you love him too before he goes home, I am sure he will find a way to go back here as soon as possible.”
“But don’t you think I look so desperate? I mean..”
“Stop.. you’re not desperate, you’re just in love.”
I smiled at her “Okay..I will tell him on our graduation.”
After our conversation. We headed back to the pool area where Nanny Rose is with them. She told us that dinner is ready and my Mom is calling us. Madi really looks so happy for me that she even says sorry to Axel but without giving him a hint of what I told her a while ago.
The dinner was fun, my Mom treated Axel well and that makes me happy. But in each question that my Mom asks to Axel, I can sense some awkward feeling in him.
“Do you have siblings?” My dad ask
At that moment I saw how Axel’s face got stiff. He grabs his glass of wine and drinks it all and when he realizes that it's wine he suddenly gets choked and I massage his back.
“Are you okay? Here.” I handed him the glass of water.
“Thank you.”
“Are you okay hijo?” My Mom ask
“Yah.. yah.. I’m good, sorry about that.”
“Don’t mind my question.”
“No, Uncle it’s okay. I… I have a brother.”
“Oh really?” My Mom asks again
Kaiden, Madi and I are just looking at him because we don’t have any idea that he has.
“Yah.. but I don’t want to talk about him. I mean, he’s not here anyway.”
“Of course. Okay, you guys can proceed with your plans. I’m happy to see all the close friends of my daughter here. Do visit a lot when you all have some spare time okay?”
They all nodded to my Dad as a response, my parents excused themselves and we headed to our guest room, where all the things that we need are already there.
“What about you Ax?” Kaiden asks him and he just smiles.
“What’s with the smile dude? Are you gonna stay?”
“Are you gonna stay?” I also ask him
“Nope.. I’m smiling cause I’m happy to be with you guys.”
“Chix…” Madi said and out his arm on Axel’s shoulder. “You will miss a lot if you’re not going to stay.”
“There will be next time.. I really can’t leave my Dad alone.”
“I know.. C’mon I’ll walk you outside.” I offer him and when Kaiden is about to say that he will come with us, Madi stops him immediately.
“Go..you take care, Axel okay? Text us and give Rainne a call when you get home.” Madi ordered Axel that made me feel uncomfortable.
“Okay.. Enjoy the night. I really have to go, take care of them dude.”
“Sure.. Say hi to your Dad for us.”
“I will.. Bye.”
We headed outside and there’s a deafening silence between us until we reached the main door. There’s one last step before we reach his car and he stopped from walking.
“Can we have a talk?” He asked me without looking at me.
“Talk? Now? Of course.” He opens the other side of his car and leads me inside before following.
I felt nervous and this is the first time I ever felt nervous around Axel which is very new to me.
“About my….my brother.”
“Ow.. I’m sorry if my parents put you into an uncomfortable situation a while ago.”
“He’s my step brother…”
“Axel.. you don’t have to..I mean, I know you’re not..”
“I love you, Rainne and to love you, I need to at least tell you about him.”
I smile at him and caress his hand that is sweating. “I will listen.”
“His my Mom’s son from his first love.. I don’t know who but all I know is that she loves that man but that was before. He is my younger brother and I love him so much that I will do anything for him.”
“Axel?” I saw that he’s about to cry at any moment but he immediately wiped it.
“As you can see, my Mom had him while he is married to my Dad but it’s okay now. My Dad loves her so much and the past is past, he even accepted my brother as his own even if he only discovers about him when I am already 18. My Mom hid him with the care of her friend because she thought that my Dad would not accept his son……….”
He looks at me and smiles “He’s in a coma right now.. “ Then his tears fell on his cheeks
“Axel…” I want to cry because I can feel how much pain he is in right now.
“He...he fell in love and on that day when he’s going to confess it to her.. That’s the day he got into an accident that led him to coma for almost 4 years now.”
I hug him and caress his back while he is still crying.. This is the first time I saw Axel cry and feel vulnerable.
“Everything will be okay, Ax….You will be okay and your brother too..” I can feel the tightness of his hug as if he is getting strength from me. “Cry until you feel okay.. I’m just here.”
When he finally calms down and feels relaxed, he pulls away from my hug.
“This is just the partial truth about my brother and my story...Soon.. I will tell you everything.”
I smiled at him and nodded.
“Thank you for listening, Rainne.. It means a lot.”
“I’m just here..Thank you for letting me see the other side of you, the weak Axel who knows how to cry too.”
“You should get inside.. I’m happy that you’re here with me, Rainne.”
I smile at him. “I’m always here.. Go home now, I am sure Uncle is waiting for you. See you on Monday.”
He nodded and went out of his car before opening the door on my side.He walked me to the front door.
¨Goodnight, Captain¨
¨Goodnight and go home safe¨
We waved goodbye, when his car was finally out of my sight, I decided to go inside and join my friends.
Kaiden and Madi are playing Xbox when I enter the room. They immediately turned it off the moment they saw me. We all sit on the bed and they are now ready to ask me questions.
“So?” Madi started
“So?” I ask back.
“What about that sibling thing?” Madi asked me again.
“Well.. I don’t know about it either.”
“We know Axel… Let’s give him some time to open up to us.” Kaiden says while looking at me, I smiled at him.
We spend the night by watching movies on Netflix and just chat about our future. Madi's so excited to pursue her dream in New York and we support her with that.
Madi is already sleeping and it’s just me and Kaiden who’s still up. We decided to grab some ice cream and eat it on the balcony.
“Here..” Kaiden handed me a frozen yogurt since I am not allowed to have ice cream.
“I can’t cheat on you…”
He smiles at me.. “So… is it worth it?”
I know that what he is pertaining to is the night I spent with Axel. “I think so… Everything is clear to me now..”
“I’m happy for you.. You deserve to be happy.” He patted my head while smiling at me. “But… I just want to be frank with you, since I am your best friend.”
“Sure…”
“I mean.. Ax loves you so much and if you think that what you feel for him is love as a friend and just comfortability… I think he doesn't deserve that.. Don’t you think?”
I looked at the clear sky and took a deep breath before looking at him and smiled with assurance. “I will be a bitch if I will tell you that I didn’t think of that...I have trust issues and you know that, but Axel easily earned my trust.. He becomes one of my rocks too just like you and Mads.. and then those days that he didn’t pay me a visit makes my heart aches… Not knowing his reasons for distancing himself from me makes me feel sad.. I must say that I used to have him by my side and that I am really comfortable around him… that I want to be with him all the time.. Not because he is a good friend of mine but because…. I love him…” I didn’t notice that my tears were already falling from my eyes and Kaiden hugs me.
“Rainne….sssshhhhh”
“I love him and this is the kind of love that is not selfish…”
He pushed me out of our hug and smiled at me “Then I am happy for you…you and Axel deserves to be happy.”
“I am now ready to tell him that, I love him… on our graduation day..I will tell him. “
He smiles at me. “You have my 100% support..”
“Thank you, Kai… I am so lucky to have you and Mads by my side…”
“Because we love you…”
After talking about so many things about life, we decided to call it a night at around 12:30 midnight.
Graduation day…
On the day of our graduation, everyone was very happy. The happiness in all their faces is very evident. The tears that’s because of joy is flastered in the face of each parent and students who will finally graduate today.
As given.. Gavin Mowry is the Magna Cumlaude of our batch , not because he is the Directors’ son, but because he is really intelligent. The trait of him that I always adore, he gives a very touching and motivated speech for everyone. That made me cry for a moment because I am very proud of him.
“Today is the day that we all have dreamed about. When I first came to Monarchs I was a happy go lucky guy and still I am until now. (laughs) Never did I think that I would be up here delivering my speech to all of you because I believed that every single one of these graduates worked to get here, but I am the chosen one. I owe a big thanks to all my professors who challenged me in a positive way. I know my guts sometimes get into your nerves but that’s how I am and I am not sorry for that because if I am, how are you going to challenge me right?(Everyone laughs). To my family, who’s been an inspiration to me since I was a child. To my friends, who became my backbone in this journey of my life and to you…….(He looks into my direction and smiles at the crowd) who’s been my reason why I am looking forward to the future...thank you! To everyone who is graduating - today is for you. You can look at yourself in the mirror later tonight and know that you beat the odds that may have been stacked against you; whether pasts, unfortunate experiences, or any person who told you, you couldn’t do it. And yet you did it! There have been people who have helped you along, yes, but in the end, there’s you.
So, be proud of yourself, and forgive who you were. Because you succeeded!”
Everyone gives Gavin a standing ovation and around of applause and I am one of them.
Our graduation ended with that and us graduates singing our University hymn one last time.
My blockmates took so many pictures of us.. Our friends from lower year and different departments as well, even my admirers from other departments gave me gifts. We took a picture together with our professors, parents and friends.
I was busy taking pictures with my parents when Gavin asked me to take a picture with him.
“Can you take us a picture?” Gavin asked Blake and he handed the camera to Blake.
“Okay…. Move closer...smile… 1...2...3….Nice… another shot… Gav put your arm around his shoulder.”
Gavin looks at me and I just smile before he puts his arm around my shoulder…
“Good… 1….2…..3..smile…. Alright.” He handed the camera to Gavin.
“Thanks bro..Rainne can we talk?” He asked me.
“Talk? Talk about…….”
“Rainne….” Madi is running to me…”C’mon girl.. What are you still doing here? Axel is looking for you.” Then she saw Gavin. “Ow.. Hi, Gav.”
“Hi..”
“I’ll go there later.. You go ahead.” I said to Madi and she just nodded before leaving me and Gav. “So, you were saying?”
“Oh...I just want to congratulate you.. “
I smiled at him but with confusion.. Am I expecting anything from him? “Congratulations too.. No doubt that you were the one who delivered the speech.”
“Thank you.. anyway..I think you friends are looking for you.. I also need to go, Lorrie might probably be waiting for me.”
“Yah..” Then I started to walk away…
As I walk towards where Axel is.. I know that it’s now time for me to let go of my past and that’s Gavin. I need now to face my present, the man who is laying on the football field with his soccer ball being thrown in the air. I walk closer to where he is and sit next to where he is laying.
“Where’s your Dad?” I asks
“He’s talking to some of our professors… so, here…” He sit next to me and handed me a small box. “Congratulations on your graduation day, Captain!”
I smiled at him and grabbed the box before opening it.. It has a pandora bracelet with a toga cap as a pendant…”Wow! It’s lovely...thank you, Ax.” He gets the bracelet from me and puts it on my wrist.
“It’s even beautiful on your wrist..”
“I think you also take cheesey subjects because you’re good at it…” and we both laugh.. I handed him a small paper bag where my gift is inside.
“What’s this?” He asks me
“Open it..”
He opens the paper bag and there he brings out a personalized silver wrist watch with his initials in it.
“This is…. So sweet of you.” He removed his watch and wore the hat I gave him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Happy graduation..”
He smiles at me “Thank you..”
My phone rings and it’s Mom.. “Mom? Okay… I’ll be there in a minute..Bye!”
“They are looking for you.. Let’s go.” He stood up and helped me too.
While we are walking.. I grab his arm that makes him stop. “We don’t have pictures together yet with our toga.”
“Yah..I have lots of yours in my phone..Here, let’s take our photo here.”
Axel started to take our photo together and then when it’s the last shot.. I turned the camera into a video…
“Axel Mendez.. This will be our last photo as friends..”
He looked at me with confusion… then I smiled at him.
“Captain?”
“I know you waited too long, but if you still want me to be your girlfriend…”
“Of course.. That’s what I always wanted…”
“Then say hi to the camera, boyfriend…”He looks at the camera and realizes that it’s a video.. He laughs and pulls me into a hug…he pushes me a little and grabs the camera before focusing it on us…
“I’m Rainnes’ boyfriend… wooooooooo! I am finally her boyfriend...I love you, Captain. Thank you!” He pulls me into another hug and I can feel that he is crying.. “Thank you… thank you for allowing me to love you.”
“I love you too, Axel…”
“Did you hear that? Did you hear that? She loves me… My Captain loves me..”
I grabbed the camera and turned off the video..
“Sorry for realizing it late..”
“No… don’t say that.. I am just happy and that’s the thing that matters to me now..” He caresses my cheek “You’re the best gift that I ever received.. I love you, Rainne.”
“I love you too..”
“Let’s share to our friends the good news…”
I nodded at him and smiled.. He held my hand and we started to walk..I can still see his smile in the corner of my eyes and it felt so good seeing him happy.
When we reach the hall..our friends are looking at our intertwined hands. That makes me blush, because it’s like we’re shouting to everyone that we’re now a couple. Axel raises his hands and our friends just scream into happiness. Madi and Kai immediately ran to us and gave us a hug.
“Finally!” They both said in unison.
“I know right.” Axel says to them and we all laugh. Then I saw my parents coming, my Moms’ eyes fixed in our intertwined hands.
“I see a happy couple here, I guess.” My Dad says, then hug me and Axel. “I am happy for the two of you.”
“Thank you, Sir.. “
My Mom hugs me and gives Axel a peck on his cheek before smiling.. “Well.. just don’t hurt our princess.”
“Yes, Mam. I will not.”
“C’mon Axel, just call us Uncle and Auntie..” My Dad says that made Axel smile
“Yah...thanks Uncle Jin and Aunt Jen.”
“Thanks Mom and Dad!”
They both hug me… and give me a kiss on my forehead. We are busy talking when someone calls Axel's name and it’s Uncle Al, Axels’ dad.
“There you are son….Oh.. hi, Rainne” He gives me a peck on my cheek
“Hi Uncle AL.”
“Hi..” Uncle Al says hi to my parents and friends.
“Hi..So, your Axels’ father? I am Jin Henderson, Rainnes’ dad and this is my wife Jen.”
“Hello.. Finally, I got the chance to meet Rainnes’ parents. It’s my pleasure to meet you.”
“Ours too.”
“By the way Dad.. these are my friends; Madi and Kaiden.”
“Hi Uncle Al!” Kaiden and Madi greet him in unison.
“Hello there.. I heard a lot about you guys.. Thanks for taking good care of my son.”
“Axel is a nice person.. It’s not hard to be friends with him.”
“Thank you.”
“We have our celebration later at our house.. If you don’t have any plans yet, maybe you could join us. We can take that as a celebration of our childrens relationship too.” My Dad says.
“Really? Well.. I think that’s a good idea. Thank you for inviting us.”
“You’re welcome..You two, you may join us later too.”
“Yes, Uncle Jin.”
“My husband and I need to go now.. We have lots of things to prepare for later..what about you Rainne?” My Mom asked me.
I look at Axel..then he smiles at me.
“Aunt Jen..Can I take Rainne to lunch first? I will bring her home before the dinner.”
My Mom looks at my Dad and my Dad just smiles and nods.
“Alright.. Just make sure to be home before the dinner party.”
“Yes, we will.” I answered and hugged my Mom, then I whispered to her. “Thanks Mom!” before pulling myself and hugging my Dad.
“See you later..See you later Mr. Mendez”
“See you!” Then my parents started to leave.
“I also have to go..My Mom already texted me.” Madi says.
“Me too. See you later if given a chance and I’m happy for the two of you.” Kaiden hugs us both and taps Axels’ shoulder.. “Take good care of my best friend, bro.”
Axel smiles at him “I will..”
“Bye guys! Bye Uncle Al, it’s nice meeting you.” Madi says and they both started to leave us too.
I can feel the warm hand of Axel..and I can see how he smiles at his Dad.
“Let’s go grab our lunch?” Uncle AL asked and we both nodded.
We drive to a private restaurant where it’s located into a skyscraper building that the whole Forks is seen. As we walked towards our reserved table , I noticed that it’s too big for just the three of us but did not bother to ask Uncle.
Axel sat next to me and started to play with my hand..then suddenly we heard a voice of someone who’s reading a story of a guy who has a big dream.Then I saw Axel was in his teary eyes while listening to the woman’s story telling. When done, the woman walks closer to Axel and hugs him.
“Congratulations on your graduation day, my son!”
And that answers everything..This woman is Axels’ mother.
“You never failed to surprise me! Thank you for coming, Mom!”
“Of course! I’m not yet done..come out now.”
Then a slim, beautiful woman who has cake on her hands walks towards us.
“Congratulations, El!” He puts down the cake and gives Axel a kiss on his cheek. “And here.” He handed Axel a small box. “Open it!” Axel looks at me before opening the box.. It’s a watch! The girl grabbed it and removed the watch that I gave to Axel but before he finally removed it, Axel stopped her.
“Thanks for that gift, Ash.” He grabs the watch and puts it inside the box, then he grabs my hand. “Mom...Ash, I want you to meet my Raine, my girlfriend!”
I saw how shocked his Mom is but looks happy too, while the girl named Ashton looks so sad.
“It’s nice meeting you!” I handed my hand and instead of grabbing it, Mrs Mendez pulled me into a hug.
“So, you are Rainne.. It’s finally nice meeting you.” Then she gave me a peck on my cheek before letting me go.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Mendez!”
“Just call me, Aunt Bianca.”
“I will..” Then I smiled at her.
“Oh..Ahm..This is, Ashton.” Aunt Bianca looks nervous while introducing me to Ashton and I can feel the awkward feeling.
“Hi.. I’m Ashton! It’s nice to meet you, Rainne.”
“Nice to meet you too, Ashton.” Then we both give each other a peck on the cheek.
“Alright! I think we should eat now.” Uncle Al breaks the awkward silence.
We all filled in the seats and started to eat.. I can see how Ashton looks at Axel and I can feel how uncomfortable Axel is right now. We talk a lot about so many things that made me forget of the awkward situation. I discovered that Aunt Bianca is the writer of the book that my Dad lent me.
“Can I talk to you L for a minute?” Ashton asks Axel and before answering she already stood up and walked outside the room.
I caressed Axel hand and smile at him, then he stood up and followed Ashton outside.
