Axel woke up tangled in his sheets, the memory of the bathroom incident playing like a loop behind his eyes. Noah, cornering him, pressing him to the wall, saying things that were still rattling inside his chest. His head throbbed. His heart felt heavier than it had any right to. He sat up slowly and muttered, "Snap out of it, man." The house was quiet as usual. His parents weren't around. He didn't even bother checking. He needed air. He needed to not be inside. His phone buzzed. A message from Jasmine: "Come out. Food court. Javier too. You need people rn. No arguing." He didn't argue. Axel threw on some clothes, kept his hood up, and made his way to the mall. It wasn't crowded, and he spotted Jasmine first, lounging by the big windows that overlooked the parking lot. She waved him over with a grin. "You look like death warmed up," she said. Axel shrugged. "Didn't sleep much." "Obviously."
Javier showed up a few minutes later, slapping Axel on the back like they were fine. Like things weren't weird. But it helped, somehow. "So, spill," Javier said, grabbing a seat. "What the hell's going on with you lately? You been off." Jasmine leaned forward. "He told me yesterday. Well, part of it." Axel glanced at her, then back at Javier. "I kissed Noah." Javier blinked. "Wait. What? You kissed... like kissed-kissed?" "Yeah. Thursday. He walked me home. It was late. I was... not okay. And he was there. I kissed him." "Jesus," Javier muttered. "I did not see that coming." Jasmine just sipped her drink, unfazed. "That's not all," Axel added, keeping his voice low. "Yesterday... after I told Jasmine... I went to the bathroom, and Noah found me. He kinda... cornered me. Not in a bad way, just... he pushed me back and asked why I was ignoring him. He sat me up on the counter. We talked." Javier raised a brow. "Dude."
"Nothing else happened," Axel said quickly. "It wasn't like that. But it was intense. He looked like he meant it. Like the kiss wasn't nothing to him." Jasmine nodded slowly. "Sounds like it wasn't." They went quiet for a moment, letting the weight of it settle. "So now what?" Javier asked. "You into him?" Axel didn't answer right away. "I don't know. I don't know what I feel. It's all messed up." Before anyone could respond, a voice chimed in behind them. "Axel?" They turned. Amy, a girl from school, stood there with a shy smile, twirling her braid. "Didn't expect to see you here. You look different without the attitude." Axel managed a small smile. "Thanks... I think?" "I'm meeting my cousin here, but she's late as usual," Amy said, sliding her phone into her bag. "You mind if I get your number? Just in case we wanna hang or something?" Jasmine raised a brow but said nothing. Axel hesitated, then gave it. "Cool," Amy said, smiling wide. "Talk soon."
As she walked off, Javier let out a low whistle. "Damn, she's into you." "I noticed," Axel said, still watching her leave. Jasmine grinned. "Guess you got options now, huh?" He rolled his eyes, but inside, he felt torn. Later that night, he lay on his bed, phone in hand. Amy had texted. Amy: "Nice seeing you today :) Hope your food was as good as it looked. Lemme know if you're ever bored." He typed something short back. Polite. Friendly. Then a new message popped up. Different tone. Different weight. Noah: "We need to talk." Axel didn't reply. Not yet. But the weight of those four words sat heavy on his chest. And this time, he didn't pretend he couldn't feel it.