It's been two weeks since the 'moment' with Archer. We've continued as we were since it all went down. Archer gives me a kiss on the head or on the lips every now and then, but he mainly does these things when we're alone. We seem to have an unspoken agreement to keep 'whatever it is that's happening between us' to ourselves. He will put his arm around me, hug me and, not very often, place a kiss on my head in front of our friends. They refrain form asking too many questions.

We all continue to hang out as a group, Archer and I stealing a few moments to ourselves every so often.

I have found myself to be calmer and less anxious, because of his presence. He makes me nervous and gives me butterflies don't get me wrong, but he keeps my anxiety at bay. He feels safe. If that even makes sense.

Archer decided that it would be a good idea to give me a self defense lesson, aka 'beginner's boxing'. I agreed to it, because it's an excuse to spend time with him.

So we're on our way over to the club instead of our usual Tuesday gym session. I'm flattered that he took time out of his training to spend time with me and teach me a few things.

"As long as I'm aground no one will touch a hair on your head." Archer informed me. His statement struck me like a tight hug to the heart. He's honesty so protective, but I enjoy it. I always feel safe and comfortable around him. "But unfortunately I cannot be at your side 24/7 365 (and a quarter) days a year." He said, "so you need to be able to defend yourself, because I don't want you going anywhere anytime soon." If that doesn't make your heart melt, then I don't know what will. That, or you're a robot and don't have one.

"That's probably the best thing anyone has ever said to me." I said. He smiled next to me, saying nothing else.

We pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse slash boxing club and got out of the car. I went to Archer's side at the boot of the car to retrieve my gym bag. After we locked the car, Archer took hold of my hand and we walked toward the entrance.

I've never been inside this place outside of match night, so this was a new experience. The lobby was empty, beside from the one man stood inside behind the front desk.

The man looked big behind the desk, with dark hair, a scruffy short bear and a face that told people about his being in many fights before.

He looked up at us and noticed that it was Archer. "Hey Arch. It's not your tainting day today, so Garry went out. Hopefully you won't be needing him." The man's voice suited his face. He had a rough way of talking and his voice was croaky.

"Hey Steven." He greeted. "Yeh I'm here with Blondie today for a quick 'beginner's class'. The gym open for that?"

"Oh great. Yeh it's always open for you, go right on ahead." He said smiling at the two of us.

"Thanks Steve." He said as we walked through a different door to our usual. It was a white wooden door that lead off to the right of the lobby. Inside I saw that this 'gym' had punching bags lining the one wall to the left, there was a large cabinet that had a lock on it, probably containing supplies and the center of the floor was covered with mats.

Archer let go of my hand and took my gym back from my other hand, walking over to the bench that sat against the wall by the door. He placed the bags down on the floor and motioned for me to join him where he stood. I did.

"Because it's a 'beginner's lesson', you will be using Bag gloves to learn how to throw a proper punch." Archer informed me.

He walked over to the supply cabinet and reached into his pocket for a large set of keys. Archer unlocked the cabinet and all of its contents were exposed for me to see. There were many kinds and sizes of gloves packed away neatly on the top shelf and there was a clear container that had rolls of hand strapping, like the kind Archer uses when he fights. There were many other things that I didn't get to have a proper look at, because Archer shut the doors after retrieving a, smaller than usual size, pair of cloves. It must be a smaller size for my smaller hands.

"Here, these will probably fit you." He handed me the gloves, which were light in my hand. They were black and had a big blue stripe running over the top.

"Thanks." That's when I noticed that archer had a roll of the strapping material in his hand as well.

"I don't need that, do I?" I asked. I always thought that the strapping came for the more serious fights.

"I just need to strap your wrists to ensure that you don't injure yourself if you accidentally hit the bag wrong. You're pretty clumsy." He explained with a smirk.

"Ha, that's a good idea."

"Don't feel bad though, all the guys strap up in here." It's weird to think so, because they're all properly trained and look like professionals when they're in the ring. I wouldn't expect them to need 'support' in case of a bad punch.

He sat down next to me on the bench and took hold of my right hand. He trailed his forefinger from my wrist down to my knuckles, which sent a shiver through my body. He smirked at me. He turned my hand around so that my palms were facing up and he slowly began to strap my hands.

He made two rounds around my wrist, up once around the base if my thumb, then returning back down to my wrist for another two rounds. He did this once more before he started on the other hand.

I moved my wrists in circles to feel out the strapping, it felt strange.

He handed me the gloves, that I had left lying on the bench, and I began to put them on. When I was done it felt weird to have them on, but I also felt powerful.

Archer lead me to one of the smaller bags, that was part of the group that hung along the wall. He took his position beside me showing me how to stand.

"You need to have a strong and firm base." He instructed. "What you want to do is place your feet shoulder width apart." I did as he said. "Okay, because you're right handed it is more likely that your stronger arm and leg is your right, this may change." He's cute like this. "Place your left leg slightly more in front, than your right. Make sure they're still parallel to be able to maintain balance. It is important to get this step right, because a proper stance insures stability and balance." I followed his instructions. "Good. Now bend your knees ever so slightly. Good. Okay now bring your fists up to your face, just above your chin." I did so. He stood looking over my body, checking my stance. He smiled at me, amused.

"What? Am I not doing it right?" I asked him embarrassed.

"No you are, but it's just cute." He said walking closer to me. Aw- "Okay, now onto punching." He said interrupting my internal swooning.

He took a similar stance to me, but looked so much better while doing it. "So, you jab with your left fist and then punch with your right. You torso must move with your punches to ensure that you get the power behind them." He showed me how, but his punches held no force behind it, making sure I follow his movements rather than admire his strength. "Now you try. Don't hit hard, just carry out the movement."

I punched the bag: left jab, right punch. One after another. "Good, remember to keep your wrists straight and your elbows tight." I tried again. "Better."

He took his place behind the bag and held it steady. "Twenty punches, go."

With that I made sure to remember every detail and step that Archer had instructed me to do. I followed the steps slowly to make sure that I was doing it correctly. "Left, right. Left, right. One, quickly, after another." He said from behind the bag.

After I finished my twenty, I wasn't tired yet, so that was good. "That was good. Now that you have the technique down, let's actually start punching." He said.

Oh, so it wasn't meant to be tiring. I'm such an Asshole, I mentally slapped my forehead. He moved me out of the way gently and took his stance. He threw three consecutive punches with scary amounts of force, I had to step back slightly. "Now try that, but you're going to do it fifteen times." He said as he stepped back. "But with a little less force."

"Okay." I said as I took my position.

I did everything he told me, punching harder and with more speed than my last set. It felt good. I'm used to my sport and training helping me release some built up negative energy, but this was different. This was an anger release and an anxiety release. I enjoyed hitting something that allowed my aggression to escape.

When I was done, this time I was slightly more tired than before. "Good job, Blondie." He said making a fist for me to bump. I smiled at him, bumping my fist with his.

"Now we'll do some kicking." He said taking his place next to me again. "What you did the other day, when you kicked the guy in the nuts, that was your best option. If you ever find yourself in a situation like that again, you should do the same." I laughed at the memory. "But kicking can come in handy. I don't see you using it and hopefully you won't need to, but I'd rather you knew it incase." He took his position in front of the bag again. "I'm going to teach you the roundhouse kick, because I find that it's probably the easier option for you to use." He demonstrates a kick. "Kick up, hitting the side of the bag with your shin. Make sure that your other foot is planted well enough to keep you stable, because if it's not stable than you're at risk of someone swiping their leg at yours, which will cause you to fall over. When kicking, lean slightly forward. Do not let your back fall backward while extending your foot, you can loose your balance more easily." This really is a very technical sport. "Watch again." He demonstrates slowly this time, to allow me to follow his movement.

"Okay I got it." I took my position as he made his way around the bag again. I did exactly as he told me to.

"Good. Now do twenty." I did as he said, doing twenty soft kicks, kept my grounded leg stable and leaned slight forward, as best I could, as I kicked.

I stepped back, "Done."

"Okay. Two more sets of each, then were done."

I continued with each thing Archer had taught me, remembering as much detail as I could.

When I was done I was a little tired from working the bag, but I felt good about what I had learnt.

"Now that you know the basics, I feel a little better about not being around one hundred percent of the time." He said making his way over to me.

When he reached where I was standing, Archer placed his hands in either side of my waist. He pulled me closer into him and I put my glove covered hands around is neck. I looked up at him and he looked down at me, both smiling.

"Thank you, Archie." I said sweetly.

"Anytime." He said smirking. He's gotten used to the fact that I've taken claim to his nickname, which is good, because I'm never going to stop calling him that.

He lowered his head and placed his forehead against mine. "I just want you safe." He whispered.

I leaned into him, placing my lips on his. He kissed me back immediately. It was gentle and soft, the both of us just enjoying each other's presence. He tightened his hold around my waist by wrapping his arms fully around my lower back. I was comfortable. I felt safe.

It's crazy how it has been over a month since I ran into Archer (well he ran into me) in the halls. I feel like I've known him a lot longer than that. We've grown very close over that time space.

He pulled away ever so slightly and placed a kiss on my forehead. I gave him a hug once he moved his head away again. I placed my head onto his chest and wrapped my arms around his torso. He returned the hug giving me a squeeze.

"I'm so glad that you ran into me in the hallway." I said softly.

"Me too." He said giving me another squeeze.

We both pulled away slowly, because we knew that it would soon be closing time for the club. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"We shall." I said giggling.

After taking off the gloves and returning them to the cabinet, and removing the strapping from my hands, Archer and I left the club satisfied with my lesson.

We decided to go out for some food before we had to go home. We both knew it wasn't the hunger that made us want to go get food.