Page 3 of Malek
He was getting pretty tired actually, so really he needed to find shelter, or he was definitely screwed. He’d stayed on the path so far. At least, he was pretty sure he had…
Axel hummed the song louder, trying to buoy his flagging spirit. And somewhere around his second sing through, he had to admit to himself that even though he didn't want a prince to come and save him, he really did want one.
In hindsight, he realised that he’d pinned that on Matt, probably because since they were kids in nursery school, and Axel was the smallest one, Matt had protected him, and even though some of his so-called friends started acting weird when he came out, Matt hadn’t.
He’d always known in his heart, that Matt didn't like him like that, but the part of his brain that should have stopped the kiss, had clearly gone on holiday.
Axel couldn’t help but sigh. If only he could just find someone who was actually in love with him. Was that too much to ask?
His string of failed relationships, and pining for a man out of his reach said it might be. Or, maybe he’d just sabotaged every relationship, clinging to Matt. At this point he didn’t even know.
Axel mentally shook off the depressing thoughts that hit way too close to home. It wasn't doing anything but making him even more depressed than he already was.
"Get moving," he muttered to himself, picking up his pace, hoping the path would lead somewhere he could set up camp, and soon, before the cold got the best of him, and it got too dark to see anything. Maybe he should just turn back, but that felt like another failure…so forward we go.
He kept walking for what felt like an hour, but was probably no more than twenty minutes when he heard noises further up the trail.
Axel froze and looked around, expecting a squirrel or something to appear. He’d seen a bunch of them all day
Axel gasped, his breathing sped up at the sight of a greyish dog… wait, was that a wolf?
He gulped and took a step back as the wolf…fuck,it couldn't be a wolf. He was pretty sure there were no wolves in England. He must have read that somewhere. He was pretty sure that he had.
Axel squinted, making sure it wasn't just a big dog, or maybe he should sayhopingit was a big dog, but nope. That was a wolf, a bloody wolf. At least it looked like every wolf he’d ever seen on TV.
Everything in him wanted to run, but his brain and body seemed to have lost their connection. He was too scared to move. Was he supposed to play dead?
Fuck, he should have stayed home. He was going to end up dead and wolf food, because of a guy—a guy that didn't even want him.
Yup, he was going to end up mauled to death by a wolf, because he was a chicken shit coward.
Wait, did wolves maul, or was that bears?
Did they have bears here too?
Fuck.
He looked to his left, then his right, making sure to move slowly, and that it was only his head moving. He tried not to make any sudden movements that would make the large dog––fuck, he still hoped it was a dog––angry.
You know it’s not a dog.
Yeah, but one could hope.
He was definitely losing his mind if he was having back and forth convos with himself.
He knew he should probably run now, but his body was frozen. When people mentioned fight or flight, they forgot to mention freeze, because apparently, Axel was experiencing the third stage of fear, which just happened to be freeze. He was completely frozen to the spot.
His obituary would readHere lies Axel, mauled by a wolf, because he kissed a boy he wasn't supposed to.
He tried to bring up his high school assembly, from when they’d come up to the Lake District on bonding trips. Axel tried remembering if these parts had wolves.
They would have put up a sign, wouldn’t they?
What if there was a sign and he’d been too preoccupied wallowing to have seen it?
Was this some sort of protected area for wolves, because he’d never heard about wolves in England before. Not in this century at least.
Then again, the list of things he didn't know was pretty long. And maybe if he didn't die today, he could make it shorter when he got home.