Chapter 30 – Bonnie and Clyde #2
I turned to see the Uber take a turn that went in the other direction of my apartment. We drove along the side of Central Park. “Are we going for a walk?”
Axel didn’t respond. But he didn’t need to, because the Uber pulled to the curb. I smiled. A romantic walk through Central Park sounded good to me. I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out.
Axel grabbed my hand as soon as he reached the sidewalk.
“I don’t think I could count the times I wished we could walk hand in hand through Central Park.”
“We used to do it all the time,” Axel said.
I smiled. Yeah. I remembered holding his hand when we were kids.
“But this is definitely better. Come with me.” He started to run, pulling me with him.
I laughed. “Axel! I’m in heels!”
He stopped and lifted me up into his arms.
Yeah, this was so much better than when we were kids. I stared up at him. “This is even better than a romantic walk through Central Park.”
“It’s about to get a whole lot better than that.”
“What are you talking about?”
He smiled down at me. “We’re going to your favorite place.”
I just stared at him. “Um...where exactly are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.”
I was so confused. Where was he taking... Axel made a turn. Oh. I smiled when I saw the sign for the Central Park Zoo.
He carried me underneath one of the arches and slowly set me down in front of the entrance.
I laughed. “This really is still my favorite place. But it’s closed, Axel.”
He leaned over and put his hands down as kind of a step for me. “Then we better be quiet.”
I stared at the black iron gate. Which was definitely shut. “Axel, we can’t break into the zoo.”
“We can’t with that attitude.”
I laughed.
“The gate isn’t even tall. Come on.” He kept his hands down for me to step into.
“But my dad will kill me if we get caught.”
“I think your dad owes us both a little grace. Don’t you?”
I bit the inside of my lip. I really didn’t want to be grounded again.
“It’ll be fun. Come on. I won’t let us get caught. I won’t let anything ever happen to you.”
I smiled. There really wasn’t much to think about. Axel knew I’d go anywhere with him. All he had to do was ask. I looked around to make sure no passersby were staring this way. And then I stepped into Axel’s hands. The gate was short and pretty easy to hop over.
Axel hoisted himself up and hopped down on the other side next to me.
I was pretty sure this was the most scandalous thing I’d ever done. “We’re going to get in so much trouble,” I whispered. “Seriously, what are we doing here?”
“Looking at the red pandas, of course.”
I laughed. “Aren’t they sleeping?”
“No. Red pandas are more active at night.” Axel slipped his hand into mine and led me toward my favorite exhibit.
“How do you know that?”
“They’re your favorite animal. I learned everything there is to know about them when I was like five.”
I was pretty sure Axel was going to keep surprising me with little pieces of information like this for the rest of my life.
“You really didn’t know they were nocturnal?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I mean, yeah, I guess I did. But I never thought I’d get to see them at night so I didn’t really think much about it.”
“They’re technically crepuscular.”
“And what does that mean?”
“That they love twilight.”
“Huh.” I smiled up at Axel. I seriously couldn’t believe he’d memorized all that for me.
It was way past twilight. And the empty zoo felt way more romantic in the dark like this.
And maybe a tiny bit creepy. My heart was pounding like crazy, but I didn’t think it was because I was scared.
Just like when Axel climbed into my bed after I watched that scary movie, I felt safe.
I think it was just the thrill of breaking in. “I really hope we don’t get caught.”
“We won’t,” he said. He sounded so sure of himself. We stopped in front of the sea lions. Who were very much awake.
“I feel like the zoo should always be open in the middle of the night,” I said. “The animals seem much more lively.”
“Some of them, yeah.” Axel pulled me past the exhibit. We wound past the snow monkeys to the very back of the zoo. It was funny how well Axel knew his way. But I guess we’d spent a lot of our childhood here together. Probably more than he’d wanted.
I smiled as we stopped in front of the red pandas.
Just like Axel had said, they were awake and running around more than usual.
They were seriously the cutest animals in the whole world.
I was very set in my opinions when I was a kid.
I knew that red pandas were the best. And I knew that one day I’d marry Axel Stevens.
“I love how big your smile is when you see red pandas,” Axel said.
I nodded. “I was also smiling because of you though.” I turned to him. I loved red pandas, but he was the best view in this zoo. “What else do you know about these little guys?”
“Well...” He stared at the one running down a branch. “You sleep with a stuffed red panda every night.”
I laughed. “That is not a fact about them. And more recently I’ve been sleeping with you. Hit me with all your facts.”
He smiled. “They like to sunbathe during the day. They’re more active in cooler weather.”
That’s probably why they seemed extra hyper tonight. One was munching on some bamboo like there was no tomorrow.
“They’re territorial. Kind of like how you are with me.”
I laughed. “I think you’re the one that’s territorial with me.”
Axel smiled. “I’m not going to deny that. Red pandas also sleep a whole freaking lot. And they’re solitary creatures.”
I stared at two of them that were curled up together on a branch. “Those two don’t seem very solitary to me.”
“It’s almost mating season, I think.”
“Or maybe there are exceptions to every rule. Those two kind of remind me of us. Maybe they were friends first. And nervous about telling the other red panda that it was more.”
“Are you nervous now?” Axel asked.
I shook my head. “Well actually, maybe. My heart is pounding crazy fast, but I’m not sure it’s nerves exactly. More...anticipation.”
Axel reached out and put his hand in the center of my chest. He smiled. “Here.” He grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest.
His heart was beating almost as fast as mine.
For just a moment, we both just stared at each other, feeling each other’s hearts racing.
“Anticipation.” Axel nodded. “I think that’s right. For so long I was counting down the days to this moment. And it’s finally here. I can finally start thinking of what’s next. If that makes any sense.”
I lifted my hands and wound them behind his neck. “That makes perfect sense to me.”
There was no music, but we started swaying.
I laughed as he twirled me around and pulled me back in close. I felt a little drunk even though I hadn’t had one sip of alcohol. “Is it possible to be drunk on happiness?”
Axel laughed. “I think it’s definitely possible.”
I smiled up at him. “Me too.” I closed my eyes and breathed in his exhales. And I realized that I’d never found it easier to breathe. I was reminded of my dad’s words from the zoo a couple months ago. About knowing my mom was the one because it was easier to breathe when he was with her.
I’d always thought it was hard to breathe around Axel. But it was only hard because it pained me to not be his. It has physically ached. But it was easy to breathe tonight knowing that he was mine.