IX.

I sit behind the table, barely containing my anger and waiting for Axel to emerge from the bathroom.

A lot of things confuse me; how does he know where I live? What did he tell my mother? Where are we going? Why would he want to spend time with me? What the hell does he think he's doing, threatening me? What is he even capable of? Would he care if I liked Theo? I thought he hated me.

Is it true what he said last night?

And, if it is, do I feel the same?

I groan to myself, needing answers.

"You should eat, you know. We might come back late." Axel's voice suddenly says, startling me. "And by eat, I don't mean your nails."

I give him the most hateful look I can muster and watch him sit down, chuckling. "Don't tell me what to do. You're not my dad."

He shrugs. "True, but I can still be your daddy." he whispers and continues to eat his pancakes like he didn't just say something extremely inappropriate.

I stare at him open mouthed. He did not just say that.

"Where is your mum, anyway?" he asks me.

"She had to go do something." I reply, deciding not to comment on his previous statement.

"Oh, okay."

We finish the pancakes in five minutes because they are completely delicious.

"Shall we go?" Axel asks and I shake my head.

"No, I have to change. I can't go out like this." I also need to hide from you in my bedroom.

He frowns. "What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

I raise my brows. "Isn't it obvious? I'm wearing an old tracksuit, Axel."

He shrugs. "It looks fine to me."

Shaking my head, I start to head upstairs. "I'm not going out like this."

When I come into my room, I see that Axel has come up with me. Well, there goes my plan.

"You know, I need to change." I say and he shrugs, entering my room and sitting down on my bed.

"So?"

I purse my lips. How can't he understand?

"I need privacy."

"I won't look."

"Yes, you will."

"I won't look and even if I would, I've seen plenty of boobs before-." he tries to defend himself.

"Out." I say, pointing my finger towards the door.

"Oh come on."

"Out, Axel."

"Fine." he snaps and leaves the door, slamming the doors. I roll my eyes at his childish behaviour and walk towards the closet, but soon realize that I don't know what to wear because I don't know where we are going.

"Hey, Axel?" I shout.

"What?" he shouts back from the other side of the door.

"Where are we going?"

I hear shuffling and a thud, meaning he probably sat on the floor.

"Somewhere you've never been before." he replies and I unconsciously smile.

"And what should I wear?" I ask.

He is quiet for a few moments before replying: "A dress."

I raise my brows in surprise at his answer, but start digging through the wardrobe anyway.

Normally, I never wear dresses except if I really have to and even then I usually borrow it from someone who has better collection of dresses than me. I still remembered owning a dress, though. I think I bought it last year and have never worn it, I just thought it was pretty.

Biting my lip, I continue to search for it and moments later, I find it.

Bingo.

"Are you done?" Axel asks.

"No, not yet." I reply and start undressing.

I cringe at the underwear I'm wearing, a plaid white bra and Hello Kitty panties, but I decide that nobody will see them anyway so I let them be.

I pull the dress over my head and tug it down. Thankfully, it still fits okay and I smile to myself in triumph. The beige silky material leaves a nice feeling against my skin and it contrasts beautifully. It reaches a little above my knee and it's tight around my waist, but loose around my knees; I really love it.

"Are you done now?" Axel asks again, impatient.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I just need to zip it."

Reaching behind my back I try to reach the zipper but unsuccessful.

"Here, let me do that for you." Axel says, already in my room.

I want to argue, but decide against it since I can't zip it up myself anyway. He comes up from behind me, very close and gathers my long hair in his hand, removing it from my back and letting it flow down against my neck. Then he slowly starts zipping the dress up, his finger leaving a trail the entire way up my back. The feeling is spectacular and sends shivers down my spine, and suddenly Axel's mouth is against my ear.

"You look beautiful."

I blush and take a step away from him, but his hand catches my arm and he pulls me back against his chest.

I look up at him, eyes wide. "Axel, I-"

And then his mouth is on mine. He pries my mouth open with his and slides his tongue in, enveloping me in warmth, possesing me entirely. His hand reaches behind my neck and pulls me closer to him and I put my hands in his curls, pulling on them. He growles and presses me closer to him, and in that moment I snap out of it.

I push him away from me and wrap my arms around myself, turning away from him.

"You can't do stuff like this, what is wrong with you?" I say, my voice trembling slightly. "You can't be rude and mean to me one day, and then the next day telling me that I look beautiful and kissing me like that. I am a human, I have emotions and all you do is play with them."

He sighs behind my back and I can hear his hand going through his hair. "I don't mean to do that, Sophie, I didn't realize you feel that way."

I turn to look at him. "How could you not realize I feel that way? On one hand you are so cruel and horrible, you threaten to ruin me and on the other hand you are so fucking hot that my hormones are killing me and-"

I quickly put my hand on my mouth.

I did not just say that.

Sophie, you did not just say that out loud.

However, a smirk on his face tells me otherwise.

"You think I'm hot?" he asks, raising his brow.

I groan and cover my face with my hand.

"There's no need to be embarassed, I mean it's pretty obvious that I don't look bad. However, hot... I didn't expect you to say that."

I hit his chest and he starts to laugh.

"Come, let's go." he says, smiling down at me and taking my hand in his, leading me out of my room and down the stairs. Downstairs, my mother is cleaning the dishes and turns to look at us as we pass by, my hand still in Axel's. Her eyes widen and I quickly let go of his hand, but mum just smiles and sends me a wink. "You two have fun."

"Thank you, ma'am, we will." Axel replies and we exit the house. We walk to a black pick-up truck, parked outside our house and I smile.

I love pick-up trucks.

"This is yours?" I ask and he nods. "It's a bit old, but still working." he shrugs.

"It's great." I grin and he looks at me surprised.

"You think?"

I nod. "Yeah, I've always wanted one. I dreamt about filling it with a bunch of pillows and blankets and driving out of the city to look at the stars at night." Why the hell am I telling him this? He smiles. "That's not a bad idea. We could do that sometime."

I glare at him. »Yeah, right. Maybe you should stop being a dick first.«

He rolls his eyes, going to the driver's side. I open the door for me and I climb in, having a bit of trouble because it's a little high and I'm wearing a dress.  I consider running away from him for a second, but I've never been a runner and I have to admit that I'm curious as to what he has to say. I don't doubt the majority is going to be horrible, but I cannot kill the hope that a small portion might be nice.

The interior of the car is clean, just like his house. It is noticeable that it is a bit old, because there are scratches here and there, but overall it's a great car. He looks at me. "Off we go." and turns on the engine.