This chapter is dedicated to @sellylovin for voting and leaving some of the best comments, thank you so much xx

••••

After Axel and I's talk, we head back into the dorm with the aim of leaving to talk about our situation.

However, Emma and Dean's smug smirks delay us a little bit.

As soon as we open the door, whistles and cheering surround us both.

Dean grins at me cheekily before asking, "Any hickey's yet?"

Both Axel and I shake our heads, confused and majorly bewildered.

"That's poor, man. Poor." Dean shakes his head, mocking a school teacher telling a student off.

"Fuck off." Axel scoffs, his dislike clear as day. "Skylar and I need to go talk."

"And make out." Dean throws in, to which all three of us send him a death glare.

"Ignore him," Emma rolls her eyes. "But thank god you've finally realised that. I was starting to decay over here with all this mopping around."

"You're so dramatic." I scold.

"Can't wait till you come back and you're a couple again." Emma grins, clapping her hands together.

"We're just going to talk." I stress, throwing a small bag over my shoulder which contains my phone and other necessities.

The small bag is paired with my black skinny jeans and my navy bomber jacket. My hair is up in a bun and I'm basically make-up free; which might be good thing if this discussion leads to tears. The whole thing put together is not quite a showstopping outfit, but still acceptable all the same.

"You ready?" Axel asks, standing by the door.

"Yeah." I say, walking out of the door that Axel is holding open for me.

Curse chivalry, it's too damn powerful over my poor heart.

Axel and I walk out onto the street, our footsteps just about the only thing you can hear due to it being a Friday night - all of the other students out clubbing somewhere different.

Not me, though. I have to deal with my relationship problems - whoo hoo!

Axel and I walk in silence for most of the walk, Axel sometimes trying to make small talk which I just shut down with one word answers.

I can't help it, though, I have no idea where this night is going to take me. Questions fly through my head; what if he doesn't apologise? What if he lies again? What if we don't figure this out?

I can't think about an answer to the last question because I know I can't face it. Throughout this whole break, there's always been a small ball of hope at the end of the tunnel. That Axel and I will sort all of this out and we'll be fine. We'll be back to where we left off. The thought of not having that, leaves me wanting to be sick.

Approaching Axel's sleek building, my breathing becomes shaky.

Axel senses this immediately, taking my hand into his warm, familiar one and giving it a squeeze. He clearly knows his boundaries, though, as he takes his hand out of mine immediately.

However brief the gesture was, it still made my body come to life. With my heart fluttering, my stomach clenching and my mind buzzing - I'm left breathless by his small but significant gesture.

This all comes crashing down around me when I enter the building's elevator with Axel, though. Knowing that this is actually happening, that we actually need to fix the problems that have been looming over us since day one.

Why Axel had Blossom on his lap. The commitment issues. How I push away feelings.

They all need to be talked about and conquered, tonight.

The elevator ding alerting us that we're at Axel's floor seems louder than usual - probably due to the silence that Axel and I are currently encased in.

Walking out and opening the door for me, Axel seems to be experiencing the same kind of nerves that I am. His features are blank, almost with disbelief, and he keep looking at me as if to check if I'm okay.

Walking into the apartment, I take a seat on the couch as I don't trust my legs to stay up for much longer.

I need to get my shit together.

"Do you want a drink?" Axel asks, obviously delaying the inevitable.

Straight Vodka, right now, would be perfect.

"No, I'm good, thank you." I say, looking up at him.

He stands at the end of the couch I'm sitting on, his full lips turned down in a frown. He clearly decides his next move as he comes and sits beside me on the couch.

Turning my body so that we're sitting opposite each other, I look at him expectantly.

"I'm guessing you want an explanation." He says softly.

"Kind of." I answer weakly.

What a lie. I didn't just come over here for another cooking lesson.

"Okay, so the party." Axel sighs, wringing his hands together. "I was up on the rooftop with my friends. Blossom must of shown up about three minutes before you arrived. She came and sat on my lap as there were no available seats, it meant nothing. I know this is such a shitty explanation and I seem like a proper dick right now, but that's literally all there is to it. I would never, ever want to betray your trust Skylar. You mean more to me than you know."

I know this already. I want detail. I don't give a fuck about timings of when the devil arrived.

"What if I didn't arrive, though? Would she of just stayed there?" I ask, my confidence slowly coming back to life now that we're into this conversation.

"If you didn't arrive, I would've been devastated because I was so fucking excited to see you." Axel sweet-talks, but he's met with my blank look. He clears his throat before continuing, "If you hadn't showed up, I would've moved her. I was uncomfortable the whole time."

I bite my lip in frustration, knowing he probably makes sense.

"Why would I let another girl sit on my lap for any longer when I had the girl of my dreams in the same building? I was such a dick that night an I can only apologise." He whispers regretfully.

His face is drawn in, his mouth set in a frown. With his eyebrows furrowed, Axel looks as if he's in pain.

"Stop being such a kiss ass." I murmur, smiling slightly. Reminding myself of what he's done, I will that smile to fade. "If I was the 'girl of your dreams'," I say, making quote marks in the air. "Then why did you tell me you weren't there when you were?"

Axel takes on the question without any hesitation, "Because I knew you were feeling wobbly with your broken arm so I didn't want to force you into a social situation you weren't prepared for. I thought I would be there for five minutes and then I could come find you - which is all I wanted to do that night."

I murmur something inaudible, before looking him in the eyes.

"I know what I want, Skylar Black. I want you." He admits, his voice sincere and his eyes glistening with warmth.

I blow out a breath between my lips, a lump forming in my throat from keeping back the tears. "So you've decided for commitment then?" I ask, my curiosity getting better of me.

"As soon as I walked away from you that night, I knew I shouldn't have. I'm never making that mistake again and so, yes I want you in all forms of commitment. Sleepovers, introductions to parents, every form of commitment there is - I want to do it with you." He says.

Tentatively, Axel takes my hand in his own. With my mind spinning, I don't pull back. Axel sees this as a green light as he holds my hand tighter, brushing his hand back and forth across my knuckles.

"What about you? Are you ready for the commitment?" He asks.

"I've never been afraid of it really, I just wasn't sure if I could do it with you. There's just so much to consider with our relationship. Like, how Rob is going to be affected, our busy schedules and all the public attention that comes with being official. I was afraid to go into something public with someone who was already afraid."

"I know, but we can tackle those things easily with some more communication and if not we can hide away and try to finally learn how to bake a cake." He says, giving my hand (that was still clasped in his) a squeeze of encouragement.

"It's not that simple." I shake my head, knowing that he's beginning to convince me.

But who's surprised? It's Axel and the affect he has over me is quickly becoming concerning. Despite this break that we've had. Despite all the tears I've cried and all the breakdowns I've had - I still want to be with him.

Because he makes me laugh louder, smile bigger and makes me feel the safest I ever have felt in as long as I can remember.

But I can't easily forget what he did to me two weeks ago. That cannot be forgotten nor easily forgiven as it broke me in two and then proceeded to fuck up my life for half a month.

"It is that simple, Skylar. Please just give me a chance." He begs and I can feel my heart willing me to give in.

I may have his explanation, but that doesn't mean I'm ready jump straight into a relationship with him.

Axel seems to sense my inner conflict, saying, "Tell me what to do, please. Anything at all."

"Work for it."

"Huh?"

"Work for it. If you're really, truly ready - then prove to me you are. Cause I don't want to jump back into a relationship that you or I aren't ready for." I explain softly, not wanting to piss him off but knowing that this is a necessary step.

Axel looks shocked and momentarily confused by my statement, but his hand tightens on my own.

But I know my time is up and I've said everything I wanted to say. Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I walk over to the door.

Sending Axel one more smile over my shoulder, I shut the door behind me.

••••

As I walk home, my phone buzzes in my bag. Grabbing my phone I spot that it's from the man who always occupies my thoughts.

I will work for it, you know I will.

••••

Well, it finally happened!

They talked and I'm dying to know how you feel about it all!

Do we think Axel's apology/explanation was good enough? What about Skylar's decision to make him work for it?

Please give this chapter a vote and a comment if you enjoyed it :)

Much love,

Jade x