CHAPTER THREE
disclaimer! slightly edited!
the timeline seems so off but
don't worry it will all tie in together!
the earlier chapters take place in late
season 1! but time jumps will be
stated otherwise <3

Axel was the farthest thing you could consider from a stalker, but he did end up stalking Valentine's socials three weeks after the breakup. It was March, he should've been over it by now but he clearly wasn't. The best part about him was how good he was at masking his emotions in front of the team.

He appeared more cold hearted, arrogant, and quiet in front of everyone— which brought a smug smile on the Sensei's face. I mean forcing someone to break up with their girlfriend does a number on their emotional state, Sensei Wolf thought it was actually doing god's work. But when the sun resided and the moon began to shine, Axel found himself puffy-eyed after running out of tears. He was so glad Valentine hadn't deleted their shared playlist just yet, that was the last thing he had of her. Just a day ago she already mailed everything he'd given her from the past two years, Axel never thought it would come to this.

There the box sat beside his bed, untouched and unbothered as he continued to scroll his night away. He hesitated to look at Sierra's story— seeing that she just recently posted a few. But he figured that there might be some glimpse of his ex somewhere, so he decided why the fuck not.

The first few were obviously of her and her boyfriend earlier that day, whom Valentine and Sierra forced to hang out with once (Francis and Axel immediately became best friends), then one of them was of her. She was smiling, how could she be smiling? She couldn't have moved on that quick, right? Axel stared at her, his eyes trying to catch every detail from a shaky picture. It wasn't like he wanted to let her go, he had to. If it weren't for Karate and his Sensei, she would've probably visited two weeks ago. But Axel couldn't risk it, so he did what he thought was right.

The next picture made his bones run cold. "Who the fuck is that?" Axel whispered to himself, squinting his eyes at the sight. A boy sat in between Valentine and Sam, one with slightly long hair. He didn't know what to think, or how to think of it, but since when did this guy enter her life? Has she really moved on from him that fast? She couldn't have– Axel knows Val and he knew she wouldn't let go that quick. He continued to look at it, Valentine, the guy, Sam all in one frame together. He would (eventually) get down to the bottom of this. But for now, his body was telling him to call it a night. Slowly, the boy put his phone down and rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was better off thinking about it in the morning.

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A day before,

"Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about that," Mrs. Larusso said as she poured some wine into her cup, shaking her head in dismay.

"He broke up with her over the phone– we were there to see it," Sierra said with a shrug, eating some food off of her plate. "Horrible."

"Horrible," Sam repeated with a nod. "At least he didn't break up with you over some text."

"A breakup is still a breakup," Sierra pointed out with her fork. "He was an ass for doing so. It bummed poor Val here for who knows how long."

"She's allowed to be upset," Daniel said in agreement. "Never gets easy."

Robby turned to look at Valentine, who grew quiet from the conversation. "Thanks again for having me," Robby said, trying to stir attention away from the supposed breakup. "The food is absolutely amazing."

"Oh you're always welcome here," Daniel's mother said with a smile. "Fill in Louis' missing chair any time you like." This caused everyone to laugh lightly, continuing different conversations with each other. It was like they all had forgotten about the topic they were talking about just a few seconds before, which earned Robby a sigh of relief from the girl who sat beside him.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly with a small smile, poking at the caesar salad in front of her. "I owe you one."

"No problem," he whispered back with a small laugh. "You're Val– right?"

"Valentine," she corrected him. "But most people do call me that, yeah. And you're–"

"Robby Keene."

"It's very nice to meet you then, Robby."

She wasn't aware that Sierra might or might not have posted something that should've been in her Close Friends story. After all, Sierra swore she pressed something in between. But it wasn't like Axel was checking, right?

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When the night died down, Sierra and Valentine waited for Sierra's dad to pick them up and bring them back home. He was only a few minutes away, so they waited outside. The crickets started to sing quietly, and the girls sat by the cub as they waited. Robby began to leave as well, his skateboard tucked under his arm. He walked over to the street where the two girls sat. "You two waiting for someone?"

"My dad," Sierra answered with a nod. "He runs on Filipino time– like you know, he says he's five minutes away when he really is ten minutes away."

"Cool— that's cool, I'll see you guys around then?"

"Wherever Sam is we're seventy percent sure we'll be there," Valentine joked with a wave. "Get home safe, Robby."

"You too, Valentine," he smiled before he began to fade into the distance. The girl paid no sort of attention to the interaction– but her best friend would not let it go.

"Get home safe, Robby," Sierra mimicked in a high pitched voice before she started to laugh out loud.

"Jeez, you're being so–"

"I get it, no need to lecture me," her friend interrupted before letting out a sigh. "I just like messing with you, don't take it personal," Sierra then added, holding her finger in front of Valentine's lips. Valentine rolled her eyes playfully before she began to rest her chin on her knees, waiting for the familiar car to show up right in front of them both.