* * *

I just stared at him in disbelief, it was happening and I couldn't stop it. Before I knew it, the smile crept slowly on my face until I let out a chuckle while shaking my head. He smirked at me before biting on his bottom lip, my eyes instantly followed their direction.

"So, what do you say?" He asked, right before he licked his lips slowly.

"Latte, two sugars."

He gave me my favourite smile before standing up to walk to his car.

"We can drop your car off, if you want?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat at the thought of being alone in a confined space with Jaxon. I shook my head lightly, "No, it's ok. I can just drive and follow you."

He tilted his head slightly to the side as he kept his eyes on me, "Don't want to be alone with me in my car?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I moved my hair back away from my face, "It's just easier this way."

I watched as he nodded before he walked towards my car door to open it for me. I smiled lightly at the gesture as I walked towards him. He waited until I sat down before he leaned over the frame of the car to look at me, "Follow me, okay?"

"Okay"

He closed my car door, lightly patting the roof of the car as he walked away to his car. My heart was thumping in my ears as I thought about the conversation we were evidently going to have. Was I ready for this? I wanted to be ready because I want everything laid out on the table, but there was also a part of me that was terrified of what information was going to be shared tonight. I let out a sigh as I turned my car on.

I drove in complete silence as I tried to come up with things to say to him. I didn't want to be left dumb founded by whatever he says, and miss the opportunity to tell him how I truly feel. I had been following him for about five minutes before he slowed down to look for parking. I was slightly confused about what was happening because we had passed a few slots just now. It all made sense when he reverse into one and there was another parking available right next to his car. He had been trying to find two parking spots next to each other. I shook my head lightly as I took the space next to his.

He was looking around as he waited for me to get out of the car. As soon as I stood next to him he smiled at me before pointing in the direction we had to walk in. We walked side by side in complete silence, not saying a word to each other. You could cut the tension with a knife. Even though it was a minute walk, it felt like we had been walking in silence for thirty minutes. I let out a relieved sigh when he opened the door to a small cafe before moving back to allow me to walk in first.

"Table for two?"

I smiled at the waiter before nodding. His eyes moved between Jaxon and I before grabbing two menus, making his way through to a booth in the corner. Grateful for the choice because it offered a little privacy for Jaxon and I to talk out our issues without worrying about who was listening.

"I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order." He said, smiling at me before walking away. I looked past the waiter towards Jaxon, to my surprise who was smirking at me.

"What?" I asked

He shook his head in humour as he chuckled, "You don't even know."

"Know what?" I asked slowly

"How you affect guys."

I let out a loud chuckle as my head tipped back in laughter. My laughter escaped freely for a few more seconds before I cleared my throat. I looked into his eyes before shaking my head in denial.

"You're a very beautiful woman, Avery." Jaxon whispered.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to move past the sound of his voice, and how seductive it sounded. I kept my head down as I looked through the menu. I could feel my cheeks getting warm from embarrassment.

"Do you know what you want?" I asked as I looked up to meet his eyes.

"I knew exactly what I wanted from the moment we stepped into this place." He responded, not missing a beat.

There was a part of me that was curious about whether he was talking about the menu or not. I had no plans of finding out because I wanted to focus on the subject at hand. I didn't want to get distracted by his charm. I needed to stay focused and I needed to start this conversation.

"So, where do we start?" I asked.

Jaxon let out a chuckle as he shook his head, "Always one to get straight down to business."

"I'm not going to change the way I am." I responded as I looked around the cafe, ignoring his eyes.

"I wouldn't have you any other way."

My head snapped back to look into his eyes and all I saw was sincerity as he spoke those words. I rubbed my lips together forcefully because I had no words.

"Please, Jaxon." I pleaded.

"You ready to order?"

I wanted to let out a groan but forced myself to remain calm, I looked up at the waiter again before smiling and nodding.

I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted by Jaxon,

"I'll have a cappuccino, no sugar and the lovely lady will have a latte with two sugars please."

I watched on as Jaxon smiled up at the waiter before handing him the menus. It was cute to see that he remembered what I said. Yes, I had only mentioned it earlier but it proved that he was actually listening to me and even managed to store the information in.

"We don't add the sugar, we bring you a little jar if you want." He responded, annoyance in his voice. The smirk appeared on my face as I watched Jaxon's eyebrow rise slightly.

"Bring me the jar then." He responded in a clipped tone.

He turned his head to look back at the waiter before turning back to face me, "I'm not seeing, talking, dating or fucking with Brittany."

I blinked back in surprise at how abrupt he was just now. I didn't get a chance to respond because he kept going, we both knew this was something he's been wanting to say but never got the chance.

"That day at the burger joint was taken completely out of context. She begged that we meet up, made it sound like an emergency, until I get there and find out she wanted to talk about a reconciliation but I flat out told her it wasn't going to happen. It frustrated me so much that you wouldn't let me explain that to you."

I opened my mouth to get defensive but he quickly raised his hand and continued, "I get it. I know why okay. It still annoyed the shit out of me."

"I take ownership that I didn't call you. You have no idea how many times I tried but I chickened out. I know, it's no excuse but I tried to listen and stay away but I couldn't."

"Listen? To who?" I asked as my eyes creased in confusion.

He let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"That night at the party after the race, I went upstairs to get my gym bag. I brought my racing gear with me because I couldn't be bothered going home. I genuinely didn't know Brittany was following me up the stairs until I turned to leave the room. I got so angry when I saw her because all I thought about was how she was the reason for Noah. It's all her fault! She needed to know that."

My eyes widened slightly, "What did you say?"

"I confronted her about Noah and told her to pass him a message for me. He needs to know that we aren't running scared anymore. We are ready for him." He said as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Who's we?" I asked, my head tilting slightly in concern.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before smiling guiltily at me, "Me, Isaac, Lucas and Drew."

"What did you tell Drew?" I asked in panic.

"What wasn't I supposed to tell him?" He asked, concern washing over his face.

"Noah's name." I rolled my eyes at myself before adding, "Its strange I know but I'm trying to avoid Drew finding out his name, because I know what Drew wants to do with that information."

Jaxon scoffed, "I should have given him Noah's name then. But, no I didn't. I just kept referring to him as Fuckface."

"Besides, he doesn't know what the moron looks like. I don't know why you are protecting him from Drew though." He added.

I shook my head in misery. I question myself sometimes but deep down I knew Noah. If Drew did something, Noah would go after Drew because it would hurt me. That's how Noah worked, he looked for the cheap shots. It was better for everyone if Drew never knew Noah's name or what he looked like. I knew my main problem was all the secrets I was keeping, I couldn't keep up on who knew what secret. Drew was the main one who didn't know certain things. It was a relief that Jaxon knew everything now, there weren't many secrets left between us.

'All except one.'

"What were you going to show me, back at the party?"

"Hmm?"

"You were going to show-"

"Latte for the lady and a cappuccino for yourself."

I kept my eyes on Jaxon as he smiled at me first. It was clear on my face that I was annoyed by the interruption. We sat in silence for a minute or two as we sipped at our coffees. There was something going on here and I had every intentions of finding out.

"Show me." I demanded.

"I don't know what you are referring to." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't play this game with me. I know you were going to me something at the party. Show me." I responded.

He let out a sigh before running both hands over his face, "It wasn't anything important, so let's just let it go."

"No secrets or lies anymore. Remember?"

He looked into my eyes for a few seconds as he contemplated my words. His eyes redirected towards his phone as it sat next to mine. I knew he was reluctant to show me but I had to prove that this was something I could handle. Even if I couldn't handle it, I knew I had to put a mask on and not let it bother me. It was time I stood my ground and not let Noah scare me anymore.

He let out another sigh as he reached for his phone to unlock it. I watched him as he flicked through his phone before stopping. His eyes met up with mine and the look of worry on his face was enough to make me question if this was something I could really handle.

He turned his phone to face me and waited for me to take his phone, "Swipe left"

I let out a breath as I reached over to grab his phone. At first I was confused as I looked over the photos. There were photos of me leaving school, going to work, coming home to the old rental before we moved out. I wasn't worried until I saw the other photos, me walking home from Royal stacks, me going to the shopping centre to change my number, me looking out my old bedroom window and then one more photo.

The last photo probably got to me most. It was taken from the hospital room I was in but it was a photo of me sleeping. Someone was in my assigned room merely a few centimetres away and I had no idea.

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A/N: I'm sorry I'm late my bears. It's just a busy time leading up to Christmas! Hope you enjoyed the chapter xx

Next Chapter: Jaxon lays it all on the table. He's not running scared anymore. Neither is Avery.