HIDDEN LOVE

Something Fishy

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*CHAPTER 10: Something Fishy - LONG CHAPTER*

The Monday morning after the almost-kiss was different. The air in the house was heavy.

Richard Cole had been watching. He wasn't a stupid man. He had seen the way his son looked at Avery. He had seen the way Jaxon always found a reason to be in the kitchen when Avery was there. He had seen the way Jaxon punched the wall that night after the movie.

At breakfast, Richard said, "Jaxon, can I talk to you in my office?"

Avery looked up, worried. Jaxon just nodded and followed his dad.

In the office, Richard closed the door.

"What's going on between you and Avery?" Richard asked straight.

Jaxon kept his face cold. "Nothing. She's my step-sister."

"Don't lie to me. I'm your father. I know when you're lying. The way you look at her is not how a brother looks at a sister."

Jaxon clenched his fists. "And how do I look at her?"

"Like a man who is in love. Like a man who has fallen first and fallen hard."

Silence.

"Jaxon, she is 19. She is innocent. Her mother and I brought you two together to be family, not... not this. This is forbidden."

"It's not forbidden," Jaxon said quietly. "We are not blood. We met three months ago. You can't tell me who to love."

"I can tell you what will ruin this family," Richard said. "Her mother is crying every night because she thinks Avery is unhappy. If she finds out you have feelings for her daughter, this marriage will end. Is that what you want?"

Jaxon didn't answer. He thought about Avery's mom, who had been so kind to him. He thought about Avery, who was new to love and didn't deserve to be in the middle of a family war.

Richard saw he was winning. He opened his drawer and put a paper on the desk.

"I have made a decision. You are going to London. My brother has a business there. You will transfer to the London campus for one year. You leave in two weeks."

Jaxon stared at the paper. London. Thousands of miles away from Avery.

"No," he said.

"It's not a request. I already bought the ticket."

"I said NO," Jaxon shouted, louder this time. "You can't send me away because you're scared! You can't control me! I'm 21!"

"I'm trying to protect this family!"

"You're trying to protect yourself!"

Jaxon stormed out of the office. Avery was standing in the hallway, she had heard everything.

"London?" she whispered, tears already in her eyes.

Jaxon looked at her innocent face, so scared, so new to heartbreak.

"I am not going anywhere," he said. "Not without you."

*CHAPTER 11: The Plan To Run Away*

That night, Jaxon and Avery met in the garage where no one could hear them.

"My dad is serious," Jaxon said. "He wants me on a plane in two weeks."

Avery was crying quietly. "If you go to London, I will never see you again. My mom will never let me visit."

"I know."

"So what do we do?"

Jaxon took a deep breath. For the first time, he took her hands properly. His hands were warm. Hers were cold and shaking.

"We run away," he said.

Avery's eyes went wide. "What?"

"We are adults. I'm 21, you're 19. We can get our own apartment near campus. We can work. We don't need their permission to love each other."

"But they are our parents. They will be so angry. They will never accept us."

"They will never accept us if we stay here and hide," Jaxon said. "My father noticed something fishy and now he wants to separate us. If I go to London, we will lose each other forever. I fell first, Avery. I fell for you the first day you walked into this house with your messy hair and your innocent eyes. I can't un-fall."

Avery squeezed his hands. She was innocent, she was new to love, but in that moment she felt brave.

"Okay," she whispered. "Let's run away."

"Are you sure? It won't be easy. No big house. No allowance. Just you and me, under a different roof, but a roof that is ours."

"I don't care about the big house," Avery said. "I only care about you. I only want to be where you are."

Jaxon smiled for the first time in days. "We leave Friday night. When they go to Richard's company party. We pack only what we need. I have some money saved. We take my car and we go to the apartment my friend told me about. Two bedrooms, so you are safe. No one will force you to do anything you don't want to do. I promise."

Avery nodded. "I trust you."

And for the first time, Jaxon pulled her into a real hug. Not a brother hug. A man hugging the woman he loves. Avery buried her face in his chest. She had never felt so safe.

Outside the garage, Richard was watching from the upstairs window. He saw the hug. He knew his plan had failed. Sending Jaxon to London was not going to work. The boy would not agree.

But Richard didn't know they were planning to run away.

*CHAPTER 12: Under The Same Roof Again*

Friday came too fast.

The house was busy. Avery's mom was doing her makeup for the party. Richard was on the phone, talking about London.

Jaxon had packed two small bags and hidden them in the trunk of his car. Avery had done the same.

At 6pm, Richard and her mom left. "Behave, you two!" her mom called. "Don't fight!"

"We won't," Avery said, and her voice shook.

As soon as the car left the driveway, Jaxon came to her room.

"It's time," he said.

Avery looked around the room that had been hers for only a few months. She was scared.

"What if they call the police?"

"They can't. We are adults. We can live where we want."

"What if they never forgive us?"

"Then we will build a family that does forgive," Jaxon said. "I know you are new to this. I know you are innocent and you never thought love would be like this - running away, hiding, fighting your parents. But forbidden love is like that. It's hard. But it's ours."

Avery took his hand. "Let's go."

They walked out of the big house, got into Jaxon's old car, and drove away. In the rearview mirror, the big house got smaller and smaller.

Avery started crying, but she was also smiling.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To our new home. Under the same roof, but this time, we choose it."

Jaxon reached over and held her hand while he drove. He had fallen first. She was innocent and new to love. And now they were running away together because their parents would never accept them.

And in the car, on the highway, with London tickets burning in his father's office, Jaxon finally did what he had wanted to do since the first day.

He stopped the car on an empty road, looked at Avery, and kissed her. Softly. Slowly. Her first real kiss.

And she kissed him back.

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