39

❦𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓮❦

Blake has his second to last fight of the season tonight. The next one he fights Conway, I'm nervous for him.

I have no doubt that Blake can win, I'm just worried that Conway will fight dirty. Blake has been training extra hard in the gym lately, I'm still going with him and I eventually convinced him to train me again.

It took a lot for him to let me step back in that ring.

The days after he accidentally hit me were strange. He got even more protective over me, I could see the way the guilt weighed him down.

Not an ounce of me blamed him for what happened, but no matter how many times I told him that he still felt at fault.

I keep my time in the ring to a minimum so I don't stress him out too much. He only ended up agreeing because I asked Ace to teach me when Blake kept shooting me down.

Isaiah comes with us now too, it's still a little tense between the guys and him, but it's slowly getting back to normal.

When Blake finally let him come over, he came to the house with a huge bouquet of flowers.

His apology to me was sweet and sincere. And it pains me to say it, but even though I've accepted his apology, the relationship between us has changed.

Before that moment I never thought that Isaiah would put me in a situation like he did, I understand that he was hurting, but now things are just different.

Nothing he says can change that he left me alone at a party full of people I didn't know, especially when he knew that I don't do well with crowds. That sense of protection and trust I had for him will never be as solid as it once was.

I'm glad he's back though, I did miss him a lot.

"What's your favorite color?" Blake asks from the seat next to me on the couch as we eat some snacks.

My face must have given away how confused I was. Blake smiles the smile that makes me feel faint. "We kinda skipped past the whole get to know each other small talk stuff. I stranded you on a roof then found out you were homeless. I know a lot about you but not things like this. I want to know the little things about you too." His words release butterflies in my stomach.

"Blue." I grin. "But not dark ones like navy or light ones like baby blue. I like ocean blue and ones close to that color." I don't hate the other shades of blue, they just don't hit the same ocean blue does.

"What about you?" I don't know many of the small things about him either. Too many huge, life threatening, and dramatic things have taken place since before we officially met.

"Green, like the color of your eyes." He says smoothly.

I curse out my cheeks and their inability to stay cool when he says stuff like that.

"Favorite animal?" He adds.

"Secret, I can tell you my second favorite animal though." I grin when a look of confusion covers his face.

"Your favorite animal is a secret?" Skepticism is thick in his voice.

"Yeah." For no specific reason earlier, I just have always kept it to myself. I think I just like to have a very basic piece of information about me to myself.

"Ok, I respect that. But now this seems like a challenge."

"You won't figure it out."

"Great, now it really seems like a challenge." He mumbles.

"Pandas?" He guesses, eyes filled with determination.

"That's my second favorite animal. And guessing won't do any good, I won't tell you if you guess right." What good is a secret if you tell someone, then it's not a secret anymore. Blake leans back in his seat as he eyes me, almost as if he's trying to look through my skull and find my favorite animal within the tunnels of my brain.

"I'll figure it out eventually. As long as you don't leave me, I'll have forever to figure it out." I forget how to breathe as the words slip past his lips.

He wants to spend forever with me? The idea makes me happier than I've ever been before. But I can't let that distract me from the fact that he's trying to pry a secret out of me.

"I'll bet you all my money that you'll never figure it out." I'll have to figure out a way to hide a message for after I die, letting the world and all who's left in it know what my favorite animal is.

"Speaking of money." I glance at him, his eyebrows jump up but he returns them to normal as he stares at the wall next to us.

"I sold my painting already." It was odd, within minutes it was sold. I thought it would take a while to build my reputation up enough to sell a painting that fast.

"When the order details came through I saw something peculiar." I don't want to admit how long it took me to figure out what happened.

"Oh... what's that?" He fakes surprise, his finger picks at the fabric on the couch.

"Well someone with the name of Lake ordered it. His shipping address goes to this apartment." I thought that the shipping address had been messed up somehow, took me way too long to figure out that Lake is a code name for Blake.

He isn't very good at coming up with code names I guess.

"Goddammit." He groans, his head falling back onto the couch. "I thought you would print the shipping label without looking at it."

He bought my first painting?

"I still want it shipped though. I want it wrapped in all that fancy shit you got with the hand written thank you note you talked about." He says sternly, causing me to smile.

I drug him to the store to get cute blue shipping material and card stock to make thank you notes when the painting sold. I didn't think it would sell so quickly, so I was extra excited when it did.

"Ok, I'll make sure to do that." I grin, "Thank you for buying it. But I could have painted you one if you asked, you didn't need to buy it." He shoots me a look that screams 'are you kidding me'.

"I wanted to buy it." He grumbles. "You give Isaiah drawings all the time, never give me a single one though." A cute little pout forms on his lips.

My heart swells when his grumpy eyes look up at me. "I didn't think you'd want any."

Isaiah and I have always had more of a lighthearted relationship. We fight over junk food and watch cartoons together. Blake has always been more serious, he's adorable and jokes around at times. But his need to protect me and the unimaginable amount of crap that has happened since we met has made the relationship between us a little more on the stern and serious side.

So I never thought he'd want a drawing or painting I made. I thought that it would be something he thought of as silly.

"Of course I wanted one you dingbat. First you're amazing at it. Secondly you made it, why would I ever not want something that you made." He flicks my forehead lightly to drill his words into my thick skull. Then kisses the spot he flicked, leaving tingles in its wake.

"So I should draw you pictures like I do for Isaiah?" I lean forward so I'm leaning close to him and stare into his eyes intensely. "Only if you want to, you don't have to." He says nonchalantly. But his eyes can't look at me when he speaks.

A smile breaks out onto my face when I realize he's not looking at me because he's bluffing me. He's been jealous this whole time and doesn't want me to know how much it would mean to him if I started to draw him pictures randomly as well.

"Ok." I plan on doing just that, because all I want is for him to be happy. If it's as simple as drawing him pictures, I'll do it every day.

I poke his side, trying to get the pout off his face. But a surprised gasp leaves my mouth when he lets out a squeal and jumps away.

Oh my gosh... he's ticklish.

A devious smile creeps onto my face as Blake looks over at me panicked.

"No." He scolds, holding his hand up between us so I can't get closer. "Don't even think about it."

It's too late for that.

I look at my hands then at his sides, thinking about how with just a simple touch I could have him laughing like a hyena.

"Rose, no. Wipe that look off your face and forget this ever happened." He says sternly.

"I can't... your sides... they call to my fingers." I lift up my fingers and wiggle them in front of his face.

He opens his mouth to tell me off. But before he can say anything I lunge across the couch and under his arm that tries to push me away.

"Fuck!" He yells as he desperately tries to escape my willing fingers. When they touch down on his firm sides and do their best work, I'm confused because I don't hear laughter like I thought I would.

When I look up at Blake I almost burst out laughing myself. His body is rigid, cheeks puffed out and red as he tries to hold in his laughter as my fingers attack his sides.

But when he couldn't hold it any longer his mouth parts and loud laughter bounced off the walls of the apartment.

⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿

"Why is he so grumpy? Did you guys fight?" Ace leans down and whispers in my ear as we all walk to the arena.

Blake is the only one fighting tonight, something to do with the season coming to an end and Ace missed too many fights at the beginning of the year to fight now. I'm not entirely sure, I still don't quite get the whole ranking with this illegal fighting thing.

"Nope." I shake my head as I stare at Blake's back as he walks a few feet in front of me. He's been grumpy since I attacked him with tickles earlier today.

"He's just angry that I found out he's ticklish." I say loud enough that he can hear.

He stops so fast I almost run into the back of him. Luckily for me Ace has faster reflexes than I do, so he grabbed the back of my shirt before I broke my nose on the rock solid wall of muscle also known as Blake's back.

"Ok first of all," he whips around, "I'm not angry. I could never be angry at you." He says sweetly but with a bit of bite to it. "But you wouldn't stop rubbing it in my face." He points out, and I snicker.

It's true, it was just too much fun watching him get all flustered every time he thought I dropped it but then would bring it back up randomly.

He got really grumpy right before we picked the guys up. I said that I could beat him in a fight now that I know his weakness. He didn't appreciate the comment very much.

"You are ticklish?" Ace says in disbelief.

"Fuck off." Blake growls, he rips the door to the locker room open and storms inside. Leaving the rest of us in a fit of giggles when the door slams shut behind him.

Blake comes out of the locker room moments later with his hands wrapped and a scowl on his face.

"I need to warm up." He says then stocks away.

"Well that's my que. Isaiah, please keep an eye on her. Blake will have your head on a stick if anything else happens to her." I'm a little surprised that Blake is leaving me alone with Isaiah, he's very vocal on the fact he doesn't trust Isaiah again yet.

But just as Ace goes to walk away, Blake comes storming back around the corner. His eyes lock on mine as soon as he does.

"You," he says pointing at me. "Were supposed to follow me." He grabs my wrist and pulls me in the direction he came from.

Geez, how was I supposed to know? I'll have to make a mental reminder not to tickle him unless I want to deal with a grumpy Blake for the rest of the day.

He stops on the side of the area they have sectioned off for the fighters to warm up.

"Stay here where I can see you." I didn't answer because I was too busy looking at the massive crowd that's already forming.

Blake grabbed my chin and made me look up at him. "Rose, I'm serious. Conway is going to be here tonight. This is the last fight before we are going to fight each other." His voice is full of concern, I don't like how much stress this Conway guy puts on him. "I have a bad feeling about tonight, so be careful."

"Ok, I'll be careful." At that moment I didn't know that it wasn't Conway that was going to be an issue tonight.

I watched the muscles in Blake's arms flex as he warmed up with Ace. I caught myself drooling at one point and almost died of embarrassment.

Luckily no one saw, that would have ended me.

A loud roar erupted from the crowd causing me to jump and Isaiah to laugh at me. "There's an announcer over there hyping them up. If you look closely you can see him running through the crowd." Isaiah nods his head in the direction of the closest section of the crowd.

Sure enough a guy in a red suit walks through the mass of people raising his hands up and getting people to scream.

"Why?" I question, it's not like they aren't already wild enough as it is.

"The excitement gets them to bet more. If the guy next to him bets on someone else, the announcer taunts the other person. Then they bet more money on the fighter out of pride. So on and so on until the fight starts." He explains.

My eyes squint as I try to get a better look. Just like Isaiah said there are two security guys taking bets from the guys the announcer is egging on.

I try to read their lips but I can't make anything out. Whoever is betting on Blake is going to take home the cash. I feel bad for the one who's betting on the other guy, must have something wrong with his head if he thinks Blake is going to walk away without a victory tonight.

My eyes follow the announcer as he circles back around and starts in with another group of guys.

Then I feel it, that icy dead stare I hoped to never feel again.

Right in front of the guys the announcer is talking to is a body that holds those cold eyes. I stop breathing as his eyes stare into mine, no sign of him looking away anytime soon.

The lack of surprise in his dull eyes let me know that he didn't come here for the fight, he came here because he knew I'd be here.

My mind screamed at me to run, like it always does.

But this time a voice overpowers it. All the times Blake has told me to lean on him, to trust him and ask for help. They trample the voice shouting to run.

The voice of a little girl, my voice when I had no other choice but to run fades out.

Max's lips twitch up into a devilish smirk when he sees the effect his stare is having on me. He thrived off my pain for years, him and my brother both did.

My shaky hands grip onto Isaiah's arm. I force my eyes off of Max and back over to where Blake is punching the pads Ace holds up. I try to speak but the words are stuck.

"Be quiet and maybe I'll convince your brother to let you out of the basement today." "Don't make a sound you fucking slut." "The sound of your voice makes me want to rip your larynx out. Don't make me actually do it."

The things Max said to me have never left, because when he said them he did so with a passion. They burned into my brain like a brand ranchers give their cattle.

He would switch between loving to hear me speak, the misery in my voice gave him some sort of high. And then not wanting me to speak at all.

I had to learn to figure out what mood he was in before he told me. I got confused once, I thought he wanted me to cry out in pain, to beg him to stop. But he didn't and he duct taped my mouth shut in anger.

My brother was also pissed at me, so I was already banished to the basement at the time. Max left me there, with my mouth taped and my hands tied behind my back.

I thought I was going to die when no one came back for me. It took me days to get my hands untied, by the time I did my wrist were ripped and bloody. I've never been so thirsty in my life.

I pulled my tired body over to the dirty sink and drank water until I puked. I didn't know to drink slowly, no one ever taught me that. No one taught me anything other than pain.

"Cupcake?" Isaiah worriedly tries to get my attention.

"Blake." Is the only word I can force out of my mouth. The only word I feel safe saying is the name of the person I need right now.

"Shit. Blake!" Isaiah screams over the yells of the crowd. We aren't that far from him, I did as he said and stayed where he could see me.

I watch as he looks over confused, then his eyes see the way I'm gripping at Isaiah. I can see the moment he knows something isn't right, his blue eyes darken to obsidian.

He doesn't waste any time in getting to me, he pulls me to him. I suck in a deep breath, when his arms create a protective barrier around me.

"What the fuck happened?" Blake's angry voice is directed at Isaiah.

"I don't know!" He fires back. "Why the fuck are you blaming me?"

"You know exactly why." Blake growls.

"Don't cause a scene here." Ace mumbles. "Let's talk in the locker room." He grips Isaiah by the back of the neck and pushes him towards the door.

Blake follows with me tucked under his arm. When the door shuts behind us and I'm officially separated from Max. I feel a sense of relief.

Blake grabs my face gently, tilting it up. His eyes scan for injuries, he won't find them. They aren't visible. They hide, buried deep beneath my skin and sunk in the depths of my brian.

"What's wrong Rose?" I didn't tell him about Max, I never wanted him to know about it. I wanted to forget about everything that happened so I could move on.

But he came looking for me like I thought he would, my stupid brain tricked me into thinking maybe it was all over. But here I stand, terrified to tell the boy that means the world to me, about the boy I once thought I meant something too.

"Rose? What the fuck is going on?" Blake's breathing is running wild. I'm not sure if it's because of me or just because he was throwing punches a few minutes ago.

When my eyes focus on his face, and I see the worry written all over it I know I have to tell him. No matter what happens.

"You told me to trust you." The shaky words fall out of my mouth. "That I need to rely on you more." I'm not explaining things right, I can tell by the panicked look that takes over Blake's face.

"What happened? What did I do?" He rushes out, eyes wild.

I quickly shake my head, "No..." I suck in a deep breath. "I need, I'm," Why is it so hard for me to ask for help?

"Baby, what's going on? You're scaring the shit out of me." His tone is soft, trying to calm me down so I'll be able to talk to him. His hands brush over my arms, comforting me in a way only he can.

"I didn't tell you everything." I whisper. His hands stop moving, body goes stiff as he looks down at me.

"Explain further, please." He's trying to stay calm, but I can see the veins in his arms already starting to bulge.

"There was a guy, who I met when I- when I would sneak out of the house when I was younger." I can't look at him, shame building walls around me as I think of how stupid it was of me to go out searching for a friend in the first place.

"Don't beat yourself up about having a guy friend or boyfriend or whatever before you met me, Rose." His thumbs brush over my cheeks and my heart sinks. If only it was like that.

"No, it's not like that." I grab Blake's hands and push them away. He makes me feel comfortable, and I don't deserve to be comfortable right now.

"Then what?" His hands ball into fists at his side, he knows where this is going and he's about ready to blow a gasket.

My silence is enough for Blake to get the confirmation he was looking for. "Fucking bastard!"

Blake slams his fist into the wall. He's fuming now and doesn't even know that Max is here, under the same roof as us.

And that he's here for me.