Chapter 6 Axel
Axel
Damn it! Who is cruel enough to do this to Teagan? My thoughts spiral in a whirlwind of anger and concern.
As I drive home, the faint glow of her phone dances across her face, accentuating the tension in her furrowed brow as her fingers fly over the screen.
I force myself to refocus on the road ahead, where snowflakes whip through the beams of the headlights, piling relentlessly into dense white drifts.
It’s a small relief knowing I insisted on driving her to work today; her car wouldn’t have stood a chance in this storm.
When we pull into the driveway, her car is nearly invisible beneath the thick snow, the driveway blending into the frozen landscape. Skipping the outdoor parking, I hit the button above, and the garage door grinds open, its mechanical groan cutting through the stillness of the night.
“I’ll move your car in. Do you have your keys?” I ask, my voice steady.
She rummages through her purse, her fingers trembling slightly. “I can pull it inside.”
“I know you can, but I want to. I’ll grab your things and bring them in as well.” I hold out my palm, waiting for her to drop her keys.
“Okay.” When she places them in my grasp, her fingers linger a moment too long, a silent connection. She hesitates, her gaze shifting to the floor. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Look at me.” She doesn’t. My heart pounds as I take her chin gently between my thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up.
Her eyes finally meet mine, and the impact is visceral.
Fear. Uncertainty. A sadness that cuts deeper than the winter chill.
It’s all there, flooding back memories of when she first moved here at fourteen, that same look etched in her expression.
The longer we hold this gaze, the more her emotions pour out, each heartbeat echoing in the charged silence. I watch as tears gather, shimmering like ice crystals on her lashes, and my protective instincts kick in.
“I promise with all that I am, I’ll protect you.” A tear escapes, trailing down her cheek, and I instinctively reach up to swipe it away. “As long as I have air in my lungs, I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She nods, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, absorbing every word. “I really appreciate you more than you know.” Her voice is barely a whisper, but it resonates with the weight of her gratitude.
“You’re more than welcome.”
Instinctively I pull her close. My arms wrap around her desperately trying to shield her from the storm—both outside and within. When I find the jerk who’s doing this to her, he’ll regret the day he ever crossed her path.
Loosening her arms from our embrace, Teagan exhales deeply, the sound heavy and raw. “I’m going to head inside.”
“I’ll be in shortly.”
As I watch her retreat, I kill the engine and sit for a moment in silence, gripping the steering wheel as my thoughts churn. The storm outside rages, a mirror to the turmoil rolling through me.
After I pull her car into the garage, I grab her belongings and step inside, where warmth encases me like a comforting blanket, a sharp contrast to the biting cold outside.
Faint scents of pine drifts through the air from the Christmas tree, its lights twinkling like stars in the dim light.
“Teagan?” I call, but silence greets me, thick as fog.
Maybe she’s changing out of her work clothes.
I move toward her room, the familiar creak of the floorboards beneath my feet echoing louder in the stillness. I knock lightly on her door, the sound barely piercing the quiet. No answer. Twisting the knob, I step into her dark sanctuary. The air is still cool, but it should be warm.
Then I notice the drapes fluttering, a gentle dance in the cold wind. The sliding glass door stands ajar, inviting the harsh winter air inside. I step onto the covered balcony, the chill biting at my skin.
Outside, the world is swallowed by darkness.
Snowflakes swirl in the air, driven by the fierce wind, glistening like shards of glass against the backdrop of a turbulent black sky.
The roar of the storm drowns out everything else, a cacophony of wind and crashing waves from the sea below.
The sharp, icy smell of snow fills my lungs, mingling with the crisp scent of damp earth.
Teagan stands there, lost in thought, a dark silhouette against the snowy storm. Strands of her hair whip around in the frigid night, wild and untamed. She watches the snowflakes disappear into the churning sea, her expression a haunting reflection of the turmoil surrounding us.
“You know…” Her voice, soft yet strained, drifts toward me, draws me closer. “When my parents died… when their car hit black ice and slid off the road in Georgia, I remember asking God why.” Her hand rises to her face, brushing away tears she doesn’t try to hide.
Her back presses into my chest, warmth against the chill. “I never got an answer, but when I moved here to be with my grandmother, she poured herself into me. She told me bad things just happen to good people sometimes.”
Teagan clutches my arms tighter, seeking solace. “But when she got cancer when I was sixteen… she needed me more than ever. I was her only living kin. I took her to appointments, sometimes skipping school just to be there for her. It was hard, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”
She turns in my grasp, her eyes glistening like storm clouds ready to break. “If I hadn’t had your family to bring some normalcy to my life, I wouldn’t have had any hope.”
Her breath hitches, a quiet sob caught in her throat. “Especially when she died, just after I graduated with a simple associate degree in business. That summer…”
Her gaze meets mine, and in that moment, the weight of her words sinks in. “Your family helped me sell her house to cover the medical bills and funeral, leaving just enough for a one-way ticket to France for that Au Pair job.”
She nods, biting her lip, a flicker of vulnerability in her eyes. “And now, as I face turmoil again, you promise you’ll be here for me.”
She swallows hard. “I know you can’t be here every second of the day, but… there aren’t enough words to express my gratitude.”
In this moment, I pull her closer, the howling wind outside fading as I try to anchor her to this moment, to me. The storm rages on, but here, we stand together, defiant against the chaos, surrounded by the natural beauty of winter and the sincerity of our connection.
As I draw her closer, her breath mingles with mine while the wind outside wails, thrashing against the world beyond.
Though the storm rages on, here, her fingers tighten in mine, steady and certain.
Snow swirls past the window, a dance of untamed beauty, but it’s her steady gaze that grounds me, anchoring us in this moment, solid and unwavering.