*CRASH*

Darcy sat up in bed, completely disoriented, looking around her in confusion. Had she knocked something over in her sleep? She never usually kept anything fragile within arms' reach of her when she slept. She had always been a restless sleeper, continuously tossing and turning. She was in the process of hoping whatever had fallen wasn't too expensive when the voices started up.

"You fucking bastard! How could you?!"

"Babe, come on. That was my favorite guitar! It was expensive!"

"Expensive?! You sent me a fucking jewelry box on my birthday! By post! Have you ever seen me wear jewelry, Axel?!"

"W-Well," The male voice hesitated, and Darcy groaned inwardly, knowing what was coming as she let herself fall back into bed, still listening. How could she not?

Axel seemed to recover though, "You were wearing a necklace the night we met!"

There was silence for a few moments, and then the sound of sniffling. Darcy snorted in disbelief, shaking her head, he had somehow done it again. It amazed her, how he pulled this off time and time again.

"I-I can't believe you remembered that." She heard the woman say, she was obviously crying, which made Darcy roll her eyes. Axel always ended up with criers.

"Of course I remembered, babe." Axel's voice was a low, husky murmur.

"Babe." Darcy said to herself, frowning. She knew why he didn't use the woman's name. Chances were he couldn't remember it.

The noise died down to low murmurs, but Darcy couldn't go back to sleep. Her Saturday morning of lazing around was quite properly ruined. As if on cue, her phone chimed, letting her know that she had received a message.

I'm sorry, Darce.

Her lips twitched as she fought a smile, typing back a response. What did you do this time?

Fuck if I know. She showed up at my door this morning and started chucking things at me.

That makes me feel better about being awake somehow.

That's because you're a sadistic bitch. Hey, could you do me a favor?

You shouldn't call someone a sadistic bitch before you ask for a favor. Just, you know, for future reference.

Darcy.

I see you remember my name just fine.

You scare me sometimes; you know that?

I know. Her name is Ria. You were sleeping with her last month.

I knew that.

Sure you did.

I'll make it up to you. I swear.

Oh, I'll make sure of that.

And suddenly I'm intrigued. What kind of making up is on your mind, Scott?

Get your mind out of the gutter, Sheridan.

I'm coming over for breakfast in half an hour. Make sure there's lots of food, because I'm in the process of working up an appetite.

A loud moan sounded from next door, and Darcy grimaced, Ew.

Darcy had met Axel Sheridan in the most unconventional way possible. She had been on her way back up from the laundry room, and like any self-respecting playboy, Axel was in the process of being thrown out of one of the girls' rooms. Butt naked.

"You're a fucking ASSHOLE!" The girl shrieked before slamming her door shut, leaving a very naked boy standing out in the hallway with a very mortified Darcy standing a few feet from him.

He was gorgeous; there was absolutely no point in denying that. Six foot three, tall, lean, skin bronzed from exposure to the sun, a chiseled face, deliciously full lips, striking blue eyes offset by jet black hair that was long in the front and short at the back. Darcy had understood in that moment what it meant when all those romance novels she read said 'breath-taking', because this boy quite literally took her breath away. She tried, in vain, to keep her eyes from wandering down his body, though he did not seem to spare her the same courtesy as he blatantly checked her out.

"You're new." He said casually, as if he wasn't standing butt naked in the hallway of the girls' dorm.

"U-um, I-I…" She shook herself, clearing her throat self-consciously, "Yeah, I am. I was transferred to this dorm because of a vacancy."

"Vacancy?" He sounded interested, "Who left?"

She allowed her eyes to meet his gaze briefly, "Harriet Jones."

Those lovely lips pulled into a frown, "Have any idea how she looked?"

Darcy gaped at him now in open curiosity, was this guy for real? Her eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty as she said, "Tall, brunette with gray eyes."

"Tall, brunette with…oh! Yeah, okay, I remember her. She was quite good in bed."

Darcy just stared at him, unsure of how to react. Her eyes involuntarily shifted down his body, lingering on his eight-pack. Eight pack. Who the fuck had eight-packs?

When her eyes began to drift lower she shut them tightly, taking a random piece of clothing from her basket and holding it out to him, "Um, don't you want to put something on?"

"Sorry, I don't think we're the same size." He sounded incredibly amused, and Darcy knew why when she saw what article of clothing she was holding out to him, "Fuck." She muttered, "I really need to go." She was careful not to touch him as she moved past him to her door, though he made that difficult, leaning towards her as she passed, clearly enjoying her embarrassment.

She was at her door, almost home free when he called out to her, laughter in his voice, "Hey, new girl! What's your name?"

She hesitated, not knowing whether she wanted to give her name to this God-like stranger. Then again, what harm could a name do?

"Darcy Scott." She said, opening the door to her room.

"Axel Sheridan." He said, grinning, "I'll see you around."

"God, I hope not." She said in a perfectly audible voice as she shut the door behind her. His laughter that had sounded from the hallway made her lips twitch up into a smile.

"God, I'm starving." Axel said as he let himself into her apartment.

"This isn't a restaurant. You realize that?" Darcy asked dryly as he slid into the chair opposite her, helping himself to the toast on her plate.

Blue eyes glinted mischievously at her as those lips curved into a grin, "You're cute when you're annoyed."

"That's convenient since when I'm around you, I'm always annoyed." She quipped, taking her coffee mug in her hands, lest he stole that as well. She needed her coffee.

"Harsh." Axel said, pouting slightly before eyeing her mug thoughtfully "Is there more coffee?"

She contemplated giving him a hard time, and rolled her eyes, what would be the point? She nodded toward the kitchen, "The mug is in the microwave. It should be hot."

"You're the best." Axel said, flashing her that heart stopping grin of his, stooping down on his way to the kitchen to press a kiss to her cheek. Despite herself, Darcy blushed.

Her friendship with Axel had developed over a number of episodes as bizarre as the first one. She caught him cheating, getting kicked out of rooms, picking girls up, and she had known with absolute certainty that he was the kind of guy she would do well to stay far away from.

With each time she ran into him though, her conviction to keep him out of her life faded. He was intelligent, witty, with a devilish sense of humor and by God, was he pretty! Talking to him and becoming his friend took absolutely no effort on her part. Something about the two of them just clicked. Axel seemed to realize this too because he quickly became a permanent fixture in her life.

Now, five years, a college degree, and two jobs later, they were still as thick as thieves. And Axel had not changed one bit.

"Aren't you getting tired of this?" She asked him as he strolled back into the dining room, this time sitting in the chair beside her.

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, Darce. You can be fun!" Axel said frowning, putting one arm around the back of her chair.

She snorted, "Funny. You know what I meant."

"I sleep with beautiful women, have a great job that helps me earn a lot of money, and a pretty amazing best friend who also happens to be my neighbor. Exactly which bit am I supposed to be getting tired off?" He asked, raising a single brow in question as he took a sip of his coffee. Black with sugar, just the way he liked it.

"The beautiful women bit." Darcy studied his face, "Ax, don't you want to find someone to spend your life with? To share it with?"

"I already have." He said simply, shrugging.

Darcy frowned, "I'm being serious here."

"So am I." He said, one side of his lips curving up in a bemused half-smile, "I already know whom I want to share my life with."

Darcy's eyes widened as she straightened in her seat, "What? You do?"

He nodded, reaching for the newspaper and flipping to the business section, "I've known for a while. Oh, hey, look. Another company is launching its IPO. Don't these guys ever lea—" The paper was snatched out from his hands, making him turn to look at Darcy with raised brows, "What the fuck?"

"Who is she?" She asked seriously.

"Who?" Axel asked, looking genuinely confused.

Darcy made a sound of frustration, "This woman you're apparently in love with! Whom you've never even mentioned before, by the way!"

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not in love with her. I just know that if I wanted to be, I could. Life would be fun with her."

"I still don't know who you're talking about."

Those lips curved into a grin, "You're very slow this morning."

"You're speaking in riddles."

"I am not." Axel scoffed, "I mean, this shouldn't be so hard to figure out."

"No, of course not. There's only ever one woman in your life, so this should be fucking easy to figure out." Darcy said dryly.

"Well, there's only ever been one woman who mattered, right?" He asked, holding her gaze for a long moment.

Darcy blinked, her eyes filling with confusion. What was…was he saying what she thought he was?

"Axel?" Her voice was meek when she spoke, and he had already returned to reading the paper. He glanced up when she said his name and gave her a quizzical look before glancing at his phone.

"Oh fuck." He muttered, standing and pocketing his phone, chugging down the rest of his coffee, "I forgot that Dad wanted me in at ten today. Thanks for breakfast, Darce." He kissed her forehead as he stood and made his way to the front door, turning around as he did, "I said I'd make it up to you, right? Dinner tonight?"

Darcy barely had time to nod before he was gone. She stared at the closed front door, her feelings welling up within her. What just happened?

"Walk me through the conversation again. Slower this time."

Darcy combed her fingers into her hair, tightening her hold almost painfully for a moment before letting go, "It doesn't matter. How many ever times we go over it, it still makes no sense; unless he's managed to have a steady girlfriend sometime in these past five years and hid it from me."

After her confounding conversation with Axel that morning, Darcy had found it hard to focus on anything. She had tried reading the paper, watching some sitcoms, going down to the gym. Nothing had worked. All she could think about was Axel's words. So, desperate to make sense of it, she had called her sister who was proving to be absolutely no help.

"Or he could be talking about you." Melanie said, smiling smugly. She was two years younger than Darcy and had approved of Axel from the moment she had seen him. She'd been pushing Darcy toward him for years, calling her crazy for not going after such a ridiculously perfect specimen. Now, it seemed she would be getting her way after all.

Darcy glared at her sister, "Shut up, Mel. Axel doesn't see me that way."

"I can't help but notice you're not saying anything about you not seeing him that way." Mel said, her voice making it clear that she was grinning hard.

"Well, of course not! Have you seen him? The man is walking sex!"

Mel burst out laughing, "That he is. Seriously though, Darce, who else could he be talking about? You've told me he has no other close female friends. He's lost touch with everyone from his hometown except his family and a few guys. No contact with exes. There's literally no other woman in his life."

Darcy mulled her sister's words over and paled, letting herself sink slowly onto her bed, "He was talking about me?"

"He was talking about you." Mel confirmed, "You need to talk to him."

Darcy frowned, "What the hell am I going to say?" She asked meekly.

"Say you're willing to try, if he is."

"Try what? A relationship?!" Darcy asked, her voice panicked, "Mel, Axel hasn't been in even one relationship in all of his twenty seven years. He runs from them! What makes you think he'd want that with me?"

"Trust me, he does. He's practically said so. Now, about that dinner tonight, text him and let him know it's a date. Once that's done, we'll look for something you can wear."

Hey.

It's been five hours. Did it really take you so long to figure out what I was saying this morning?

I'm still not sure if I understood what exactly you were saying this morning.

Jesus, Darce. I want to date you. Is that clearer?

You were fucking another woman this morning, and now suddenly, you want me?

Don't beat around the bush there, Darcy.

I'm sorry, but seriously. Where the hell is this coming from?

Nowhere. It's always been there. I've just worked around it. I don't want to anymore.

Always been there?

Always. And for the record, I didn't fuck anyone this morning. She left a little after I stopped texting you and I went back to sleep.

Don't lie, Ax. I heard her.

That's just how good I am at talking dirty. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough.

You ruined my morning and then went back to sleep?

I know. I'm such a bastard. Are we still on for tonight? We need to talk about this.

God, look at what you're doing to me. I just sounded like a girl.

It's a date. Pick me up at seven.

It was seven thirty when Axel let himself into the apartment using his key and Darcy was in the process of getting changed, nowhere near ready for him.

He chuckled, going to stand at her doorway; "I'm half an hour late."

She glanced up as she applied her make-up in the bathroom mirror, "I knew you would be. You're never on time for anything. Though, I'll admit, you're earlier than I expected."

"Smartass." Axel said, letting his eyes sweep down her body, taking in her mid-thigh length black dress that hugged her curves and showed off her endlessly long legs. He'd had too many fantasies involving those legs.

"Stop that."

He looked up to find her desperately trying not to blush, her eyes fixed determinedly on her reflection. His lips curved into a small smile as he closed the distance between them, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her to face him. The move came so naturally to both of them, and yet, it had never happened before.

Darcy felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked up into those brilliant blue eyes; she'd never seen them from this close before. They were even more spectacular than she'd thought.

As she held his gaze, she was vaguely aware of him coming closer, felt his breath on her lips. "We shouldn't." She whispered, letting her eyes fall shut, "Not yet."

With a shuddering breath, Axel tightened his grip on her and nuzzled her neck, pressing a soft kiss to her collarbone.

"Please tell me you're okay with this." He murmured softly, pulling her even closer, "I need this, Darcy. I can't pretend anymore."

Darcy relaxed in his arms, slipping her own around him and holding tight, "Tell me this is different. Tell me you're not going to hurt me."

Axel let out a strangled laugh, pulling away enough to look down at her, framing her face with his hands, "I'm probably going to end up hurting you, Darce. But I swear, I'll try my damnedest not to. And if I do, I'll come crawling back on all fours and won't give up until you forgive me. This is definitely different. You're different. You always have been."

Darcy sighed, resting her forehead against his for a long moment before finally pulling away, "Give me two minutes to get dressed. Where are we going?"

"Taco Bell."

"Seriously?" Darcy asked, her eyes alight with excitement.

Axel snorted, "Yes, seriously. Krispy Kreme afterwards."

"Oh my God, Ax, you're the best!" She squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek in a flurry of excited movement. "Just give me two minutes." She promised, pushing him out of the room and shutting the door, not realizing in her excitement, that her best friend had the most dazed expression on his face.

"You are such a cheap date." Axel mused, his free hand taking Darcy's in its grip as they walked home, each with a donut.

"I know." She bit her donut and they walked in silence for a few moments, "Is it strange that this doesn't feel strange?"

Axel gave her a bemused smile, "What? Eating donuts and walking home together?" He teased, "That's probably because we've done it a million times before."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, "No, I'm serious. Why doesn't this feel strange?"

"How do I know?" He answered with a shrug, "This is the first time I'm doing this, remember?"

Darcy regarded him with narrowed eyes, "There was seriously no girlfriend? Even back in Naperville?"

Axel ran a hand through his hair, looking skyward and Darcy immediately stiffened, "There was, wasn't there? You lied to me?"

"No, I didn't lie." Axel said firmly, squeezing the hand he held, "There was no girlfriend, but there was a girl, I guess."

"You guess." She said dryly.

He scowled, "I'm trying to tell you something here, Darce."

"Something I clearly ought to have known before. What with being your best friend and all."

"I'm this close to changing my mind about telling you." Axel warned.

"No! Don't do that. I'll be good. Go on. There was a girl in Naperville." Darcy prompted.

"She lived on my street but she went to another school. I finally met her through one of my friends, she was related to him, and it turned out she'd noticed me too. We started hanging out regularly, and I'd thought it was going well, but then out of the blue, she said she was dating someone. She had been the entire time she was hanging out with me. She was just stringing me along."

"Is this one of those tragic stories where since you were wronged you felt like giving the female population a taste of their own medicine?"

Axel released the hand he was holding and stalked away, "You know what? Never mind."

Darcy laughed, lunging forward and catching his arm, holding on, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Axel tried to stay annoyed, but one look at Darcy's laughing face and his anger began to fade, "I was trying to share something important with you."

"Were you in love with her?" Darcy's voice was soft and vulnerable.

"What?" Axel frowned, confused by the sudden change of mood.

"Were you in love with her?" She repeated, her voice clearer, stronger.

Axel peered down at Darcy's face, his eyes searching her gaze then moving across her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her ears red, her cheeks pink, her eyes guarded and her lips were just slightly parted, the way they were when she was anticipating something she knew she wouldn't like. Comprehension flooded him, and Axel couldn't stop his chuckle from escaping.

"Don't tell me you're jealous." He said softly, disbelief coloring his tone.

Her cheeks flushed a deeper pink and she looked away from him, chewing on the inside of her cheek. A nervous habit.

"You are. You are jealous because you think this girl was actually the reason I was a manwhore in college." He was laughing now, unable to believe the turn of events. This morning he had been worried, nervous even, about telling Darcy he wanted more than her friendship; and not even twenty four hours later, he had managed to make her jealous over a girl he hadn't even really dated!

"Was she?" Darcy asked testily, realizing there was absolutely no point in denying the obvious. Yes, she was jealous. Hearing Axel talk about this mystery girl with real emotion in his voice had made something stir within her. She hadn't realized until then how much she enjoyed the fact that he was like that only with her.

Axel's laughter subsided, but he was still grinning as he put his arms around her and pulled her close to him, "No. I was a manwhore in college because quite frankly, I enjoyed being one."

"So she didn't ruin you for all women?" She reiterated.

Axel chuckled, "Isn't that your job?"

That made Darcy laugh, but she was cut off when Axel's lips pressed against hers. She made a sound of pleasure as she let her hands clutch his hair and bring his face closer to hers, parting her lips under the insistence of his tongue, enjoying the way it curled around hers, coaxing her into reciprocating.

They lost track of time, standing there in a secluded street corner, kissing, their arms wrapped around one another. Axel slowly guided them into an alley, pushing Darcy up against a wall, deepening the kiss as he let his body mold into hers, and drawing an almost purr-like sound from her.

"Axel?"

Darcy broke the kiss, tilting her head away, unable to help her laugh when Axel chased her and stole another kiss. "Someone called you." She said against his lips.

"If you can still hear things around you I'm clearly not doing a good enough job." Axel murmured, curling his hands around her thighs and lifting them so her legs were locked around his hips and her core was pressed right up against his. Darcy gasped at the sensation, letting her head fall back, giving him complete access to the curve of her neck, something he took advantage of.

"You sneaky rat bastard!"

Something hit the wall beside Darcy's head, startling them both. Growling in anger, Axel checked to make sure she wasn't hurt before whirling around to face the attacker, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Slap!

The sound echoed in the alley.

"I never want to see you again."

"Yeah well, that makes two of us." Axel said coolly, watching as the woman from that morning, Ria, gaped in astonishment and anger before stalking away.

Once she was out of sight, he sighed, rubbing his forehead. This wasn't the end he had planned for their first date. He turned around to apologize to Darcy and felt concern shoot through him as he saw her bent over, trembling. Had she been hit after all?

He rushed forward, "Darce? Oh God, are you all right? I'm so sor—" He broke off when he realized she wasn't trembling. No. Darcy was shaking with laughter.

"Un-fucking-believable." He muttered, letting her go and taking a step back, shaking his head, "You know, most girls would be angry."

Darcy raised her head to meet his gaze, still chuckling, "I'm not most girls."

Axel's lips curved into a smile as he nodded, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her lips. She was one of a kind. And he was not about to let her go.

Just a one-shot that I thoroughly enjoyed writing. Leave a review :)

~FairyTaleDreams

COPYRIGHT SANJANA BALARAMAN.