Chapter 31
31
T he sound of the doorbell ringing twice jerks me from sleep and up into a sitting position on the bed, jostling Janette from my arms. She groans, sitting up and holding her head beside me. I look around for a minute, disoriented in the dark guest room, but the events of the day before soon come crashing in.
“Who’s here?” Janette mumbles, eyes barely open.
“I don’t know.” I get out of the bed and throw on the pair of jeans I stepped out of only a couple hours ago. The clock on the table blares indigo numbers up at me, reading 4:22, and I shake my head to try to clear some of the sleep from my brain. “I’m going to go down and find out. Stay here?”
“Fat chance,” she says, throwing the covers to the side and getting up out of the bed.
I pinch the bridge of my nose but reach out my other hand. She tangles her fingers with mine and I pull her close behind me as we walk out into the hall. Dad stands in the doorway of his room next to us, eyes bleary, in pajama pants and a robe.
“Who the fuck is ringing the doorbell at four am?” I shrug and he eyes the two of us coming out of the same room. “Seriously, Axel?”
Layla’s door opens down the hall, saving me from that conversation and Gwen’s door follows a half a second later. My sisters come out into the hall, glancing over at us through sleep addled eyes in disheveled PJs.
“We all going down together?” Layla asks. I nod, heading past them and down the stairs. Dad follows on the heels of Janette behind me, and I can hear the girls at the back in the creak of the floorboards.
I reach the door first, hand on the knob when Dad taps me on the shoulder. I step back, sliding out of the way so that he can get past me and open it, the girls all huddled right behind my back. Janette squeezes my hand, gripping my upper arm tightly as well. Dad flicks on the porch light, unlocks the deadbolt, and pulls open the door to reveal Bentley standing on the other side, suitcase at his feet and hands cupped in front of his mouth as he shivers on our porch. He blinks in the light, looking manic and unkempt as his eyes squint, seeing first my father then me behind him.
Pure relief floods my veins seeing him here in front of us. I didn’t want to stress Janette out more last night, but not hearing anything from him at all yesterday made me nervous that something happened. We might know that his flight made it no problem, but something could have happened on the way to the airport or immediately after he got off the plane, and as I held her while she fell asleep, I thought over every possibility and quietly hoped he was okay.
Confusion quickly follows the relief, especially when Bentley starts speaking.
“Axel, I’m sorry,” he blurts, and my dad looks back at me with deeply furrowed brows.
I keep staring at Bentley, blood rushing around inside my sleepy body and making me feel lightheaded.
“I love you, and I don’t want to hide that. I’ll tell anyone you want. I’ll call Mira right now and explain everything if that’s what you want. I’ll put an ad out online, hang a banner from West Tower if you want me to. I just don’t want you to think that I don’t love you with everything I have.”
My heart stops in my chest, all sounds falling away as I stare at him in the doorway.
“When I heard your voice on that message, I knew how stupid I had been, and I needed to apologize to you immediately. I love you Axel, I swear. I'm sorry I ever made you feel differently.” He breathes heavily staring at only me when he’s done.
My body freezes in place, all thoughts leaving my mind as a building warmth spreads through me, slowly thawing my frozen state. I can feel everyone else looking at me, but the only thing my eyes see is Bentley standing in the snow waiting for me to respond.
I shake my head, closing my eyes for a minute before ripping them open to make sure Bentley is really here. When I find him still in front of me, I smile. “You flew all the way back from Switzerland to apologize for something I already admitted was stupid on my part?” I step forward, Bentley also stepping into the house to meet me, his hands dropping down to grip my hips. “That’s absolutely insane.” I step into him, gripping the sleeves of his jacket. “I love you, too. I don’t need you to tell anyone before you’re ready.” I pull him closer, pressing my warm lips to his cold ones as he surges forward, moving his arms up to wrap around me and deepen the kiss.
Bentley beams when we pull apart, glancing behind me as the world around us sets back in. “You weren’t the only one I came back for.”
I nod, stepping out of the way.
Janette stands in between my two sisters, all three girls misty eyed. Layla’s smile looks like it’s trying to split her face in half through her watery expression, arms wrapped around herself as she watches Bentley walk up to Janette. Janette’s bottom lip trembles, expression just as happy as Layla’s and eyes wide as Bentley wraps his arms around her hips and pulls their lower halves together. Gwen’s eyebrows shoot up as she looks between the two of them and me. I can see Dad rubbing his forehead across the threshold from me, still holding the front door wide open.
“I love you too, sunshine,” Bentley says, pulling everyone’s attention back to him. I glance at Gwen when her mouth pops open and eyes light up. “I walked off the plane and immediately booked the next flight back after I heard what happened with your mom. I'm sorry, baby. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to get to you, but I've wanted to tell you I love you since the moment you walked out of our suite yesterday.” He shrugs with one shoulder. “Figured doing it in person would be the most helpful right now.” He smiles at her, and she chuckles, a couple tears streaming down her rounded cheeks.
She shakes her head, still smiling. “Axel was right. You’re completely insane.” Bentley bends down and kisses her, arms wrapping tighter around her. They pull back after a few moments and Janette laughs. “I love you, too, crazy,” she says breathlessly. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”
“Can someone explain what’s going on? Why is this boy on my porch at four in the morning confessing his love to the two of you?” Dad’s hand still rubs at his forehead with his knuckles, glasses off and pinched between his fingers, while he continues to hold the door open with his other hand. Bentley steps back from Janette, facing my father and ending up in between the two of us.
“They’re a throuple, Dad,” Gwen says with a smile. “Right? You’re all in love with each other?”
I nod, Bentley and Janette following suit. Gwen starts fast clapping, smiling widely. Dad looks between the three of us, eyes squinting at each of us before shaking his head. “Okay, I’m still confused but I’m too tired to have any hope of understanding this right now. I take it you're staying here tonight?” He points at Bentley with his glasses.
Bentley shakes his head, walking back out to the porch to grab his carry-on suitcase. “I can get a hotel room, sir. I don’t want to impose. I just couldn’t wait till tomorrow to come see them.”
Dad shakes his head, reaching forward and taking Bentley’s luggage from his hand. “Nonsense. It’s four in the morning.” He passes the suitcase to me, pressing the cold hard shell against my bare chest. I gasp, wrapping my hands around the handles as I take the weight of it. “Axel can take the couch and you can have his room.”
Bentley opens his mouth to argue, but Dad holds up a hand, waving him into the house. He nods, stepping back through the door and walking in. Dad closes the door behind him, turning the deadbolt and shutting off the porch light. Moonlight falls through the sliding glass doors across the room, keeping the room visible to all of us.
We all head toward the bedrooms, Janette and I walking hand in hand with Bentley into my room while Layla and Gwen pat my shoulders before going into their rooms. Dad comes to the door of my room, tapping the doorframe to get our attention. “Please don’t have sex with anyone under my roof, Axel, Janette.” He looks over at Bentley and I say his name so Dad can finish. “Bentley.” We all nod, and he taps the wood again. “Alright, you three. Goodnight. See you all in a few hours.” He heads to his bedroom, not waiting as we all mumble goodnight back.
“We all sleeping in here?” Bentley asks, glancing at my queen bed with a tired smile. I smile back, setting his suitcase down beside my dresser and nodding.
“I should probably go back to the guest room, so we don’t piss off Uncle Jack,” Janette says, clicking her nails against each other.
She starts to head toward the door, and I catch her around her middle. “Where are you going?” I pull her back against my chest. “Why do you think he just gave us that warning? He knows we are just going to sneak into one of the rooms and sleep altogether even if he put us all in separate areas.”
She glances at the door, starting to worry her lip. “I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.”
I roll my eyes, looking over at Bentley who has already pulled off his coat and shoes and is working on pulling his shirt over his head. “He’ll be fine. We’re not going to do anything. But I’m not going to be able to sleep on my own, knowing both of you are just down the hall.” I turn my head to look down at her. “What about you, Blue?”
She shakes her head after a moment, and I let her go, walking over to shut the door. Bentley is in his boxers when I turn around, exhaustion setting into his shoulders. I point to the bed, looking at both of them in turn before turning off the light and heading across the room to join them.
We all get comfortable together, Janette cocooned between the two of us, burying her face in Bentley’s neck. His arm comes across her, hand falling to the center of my back, holding me against them. I grip each of them as well, kissing Janette’s hair and stroking my hand over Bentley’s skin.
“I can’t believe you flew all the way back here,” Janette whispers.
Bentley shrugs, eyes staying closed. “I couldn’t wait that long to be here with you guys.” I smile, nestling my head against the pillow more. “I’ll need to borrow some clothes tomorrow, Axe. Didn’t have time to reroute my checked bag and I think I only have one change of clothes in the one I carried.”
I snort. “Looks like you’re going shirtless then. I'm not giving you one of mine to stretch out.”
Janette slaps my arm over her shoulder, and I grunt. “Pretty sure you’ve already proven you can share, Axel.”
I pinch her side, laughing lightly with Bentley. We settle back in, Bentley kissing my forehead and then Janette’s. A few quiet beats pass, my body relaxing quickly knowing each of them are next to me.
“I called and told my parents about you two while I was waiting for my flight,” Bentley whispers.
Janette’s head pops up for a second. “And they just let you fly back here?”
Bentley cracks open an eye, looking up at her with a small laugh. “They were really excited for me. Wanted to pay for my ticket or charter a jet to get me back faster. I’ve never introduced anyone to them before. Mom made me promise I would bring both of you to see them over winter break.”
Janette glances back at me, eyes wide, before settling down again between us. My mind races with the new information, sleep trying to pull me down while my brain fights to overthink every angle.
Bentley chuckles. “I can hear you both panicking. Don’t worry, we can talk about it more in the morning. I just wanted you to know before I fall asleep.”
I sigh. “I love you,” I say, eyes falling closed against my will.
“Love you,” Bentley responds.
“I love both of you,” Janette says through a yawn. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
I chuckle, snuggling closer into her before falling asleep.