25. he's going to prom with his mother

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Somehow Axel dragged me tux shopping, even though I was a literal mess from earlier that morning. When I say literal mess, I mean literal mess.

There were so many different tuxedos my eyes were boggling out of my head. But it didn't end there — Axel was looking at every single one. He even asked if he could get grey in certain styles while I just stood in the background and tried not to have a panic attack.

The tuxedo shop was really small and hot, which didn't help. It was run by an old Irish man and his old Irish wife, and it sort of smelled like mold and lilac soap.

"Hey Orion, do you like this one? Let's try it on," Axel asked me as he pulled a tuxedo out from the racks, holding it up while smiling. I tried to picture it on him to make myself happier, realizing that I was probably being a killjoy.

"Okay, we can try them on," I smiled half heartedly and untangled my arms from my chest.

The old Irish man smiled and fished around for my size in all of the racks, handing it to me when he finally saw it. Axel and I headed back into the fitting rooms, which were basically a cloth curtain you pulled over a closet sized room.

I heard the bell ring on the door while I was putting the dress pants on, hearing someone who sounded really familiar. I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes, trying to pinpoint exactly whose voice it was out there. Of course, they had to show up now of all times.

I had my tuxedo on now, listening intently to the voice who had to be Mick's. There was just no way around it.

The slight country accent that rolled off of his tongue matched exactly what I heard when he tutored Devian and tried to ask my boy to prom. I didn't hear anyone else with him and I began to believe that he was coming here just to pry on Axel and me.

"Are you dressed?" Axel asked me over the makeshift closet that they called dressing rooms.

I looked down at my outfit and realized my pants were a tad bit short, but that was probably because my legs were abnormally long.

I swallowed once and answered him, "Yes, I'm ready."

I heard the cloth rustle on Axel's side, eventually seeing his shoes from underneath the cloth. I pulled my own cloth back and expected to see Mick sticking out like a sore thumb in the background, but I didn't see anyone. Was I imagining it?

My eyes danced around for a while until Axel waved his hand in front of me, "Over here, babe."

My attention darted back to his face as I saw him smiling widely in his tuxedo, the fabric fitting him perfectly. I couldn't help but eye him up as he smiled at me.

I glanced at my tuxedo, and as soon as I looked at my short pants, he did too and we both chuckled.

I started laughing and hiked them up even more just to be goofy, finally noticing Mick appear from over Axel's shoulder in the background.

I swallowed and let my pants drop. My hand reached out to run along Axel's tuxedo, quietly turning back to go into my fitting room.

"Don't you like it?" I heard him say as I closed the curtain again, probably confused at my sudden mood change. He whisped the fabric away with his hand, staring at me in the fitting room with a worried look.

"Mick's here," I mumbled quietly to him with my head tilted downwards towards the torn up carpet.

"What?" He asked while practically coming into the room with me.

"Mick's out there," I told him again since he was obviously deaf.

"So what?"

"So what? That's what you say? He probably hates me," I whispered as Axel and I huddled in the dressing room. I could hear the tuxedos' rustling as Mick shifted through them.

"Don't be such a baby. Just change back and we'll take these and go. You liked them, right?" Axel stared at me intently, anticipating my verdict on our tuxedos.

"Yes. I won't be such a baby, dickhead," I mumbled while beginning to unbutton my suit jacket.

Once we were both changed, Axel lead me back to the main floor space where Mick was focused on finding a tuxedo on the other side of the room. I noticed his mom sitting on a bench near the door, looking awfully worried with her purse in her lap.

Turns out that they had the right size pants for me in the back, somehow, so we just took them.

"200 dollars is your total today," the old man behind the register said. I gasped and nearly choked on air, fishing my pockets for a quarter.

"Don't worry, I got it," Axel told me while slipping some bills onto the counter.

I felt extremely guilty that I didn't even have a quarter to give him, but I knew this from the beginning. Axel knew better than to trust that a poor boy has one hundred extra dollars lying around.

As Axel took the bag, I saw Mick staring at us from a rack of dress pants. He looked upset and distant, his eyes never blinking as I smiled at his mother on the way out. If looks could kill, he would have been throwing daggers to both of us.

"So, I guess I'll take you home? Or do you not want to go there?" Axel said while squinting from the bright sun, shielding his eyes while he unlocked the car.

We stood in the small parking lot next to Axel's car. I sighed inconclusively and lowered my eyes to the ground. "I guess I have no choice but to finally go home."

Axel knew my spirits were buried six feet under from Devian getting arrested by his dad, but I appreciated all the times he tried to cheer me up today.

"Do you think Mick is going to prom with his mother?" Axel asked me from across the car.

I suddenly began laughing, my forearm resting on the roof of his car as my head rested against my flesh. I kept laughing, and I heard Axel laugh too.

The only difference was that my laugh was a laugh of defeat. I was laughing not only because it was funny, but because I was tired and my brother was in jail.

"What the fuck," I said between laughs, "that's probably not even allowed."

Axel's door opened and I looked up. He was watching me, a smile on his face still. He seemed to get enjoyment out of my laugh even as silence overcame us and he got inside the car. It's almost like he thought long and hard of the one thing that would make me smile today.

I opened my passenger door and slipped inside, running my fingers through my hair while my body sleepily molded against the seat.

"I'll take you home, you can't stay with me forever," Axel mumbled while starting the car.

I looked out my window and watched him pull out of the parking lot.

What if I wanted to stay with him forever?

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Thanks so much for reading! I also want to say thank you to everyone who helped us reach GOLD in the TBPA summer 2016 awards! I'm very thankful for your help if you voted. Please remember to vote for this book in the summer sun awards! More information under the "More good news" chapter!

Moving on to the story... How do you feel about the whole situation with Orion right now? I encourage comments so please tell me your opinions — good or bad!

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