41

❦𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓮❦

"What the fuck happened to you?" Ace gasps as he walks in the front door.

Blake texted him last night to come over today but didn't explain why.

"I got in a fight." I state as I shove a piece of pancake in my mouth.

Blake is sleeping upstairs, after our I love yous we stayed up talking into the early morning.

When I woke up, Bella was already making breakfast for us, but I didn't want to wake Blake up yet so I sneakily got out of bed.

"Yeah, I can see that. With who?" His eyes are hard as he narrows in on the bandage on my neck.

"With this asshole who broke into my house." Bella grumbles as she walks out of the pantry with more pancake mix.

"Conway." I add. Ace goes deadly silent as the wheels turn in his head. Then all hell breaks loose.

"Conway? Conway fucking put his hands on you? I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch." His hand grips the trim on the doorway, knuckles turning white and eyes brooding with fury.

I would be scared, but I'm getting used to the guy's reactions. Bella on the other hand is mixing pancake batter with an amused grin on her face.

"I punched him." I smile. "A bunch of times." Ace is taken back by my words, his hands drop back to his side and his face scrunches up in question.

"How many?" He asks like it actually matters.

"I don't know, maybe like six times? Then Bella made him hit his head when he ran away." I left out the part about the time I completely missed and tumbled to the floor.

No one needs to know about that part.

"That's not enough." Yeah, well you try fighting a man twice your size with many more years of fighting experience than you have, buddy.

"I tried my best." I state with a small scowl.

"I'm sure you did, but he shouldn't have gotten away." He growls.

What'd he expect me to do? I gave it everything I had, I thought I did pretty well.

My knuckles are still hurting from how hard I punched him.

You know what, I'm still tired and I don't need his attitude right now. I grab my plate and slide off the chair, the scowl still settled on my face as I walk past Ace.

"Wait, that wasn't what I meant... I didn't mean that it was your job. I just meant... fuck... Rose, come on." He rambled, but I didn't stop.

I was walking into the bedroom when I heard a whoosh and a smack followed by Bella's stern voice. "Nice going asshole."

"God fucking dammit, I didn't mean to make her upset, Bella!" This is their first official meeting, but they already practically know each other because I talk about them to the other all the time.

"Well you did, jackass." She sneers. "Want a pancake?" She adds like they weren't arguing point five seconds ago.

"I don't know. Are you going to poison it?" Ace asks skeptically, I hear the chair slide back as he sits at the island.

"Probably."

"Well shit. Guess I'll take my chances, but Rose would be pretty upset if you killed me. So keep the poison to something not deadly if you want to keep your friend."

"Got it, laxatives it is." She snickers as Ace groans in disapproval.

Well they seem to be getting along great. I walk fully into the bedroom and plop myself back on the bed.

Looking down at the pancakes left on my plate I realize I'm not even hungry anymore so I don't know why I brought them with me.

"What's all the commotion about?" Blake's morning voice grumbles, it gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

"Ace is here and he's being mean to me. So I came back in here and Bella is going to put laxatives in his food." I shrug, his eyes pop wide open when I mention Ace being mean.

The once half asleep man is now fully awake as he props himself up on his elbows. "Mean? Ace!" He snaps towards the door I left open.

"It's all a big misunderstanding!" Ace yells back. "I swear I didn't do anything!"

I'm really happy Bella taught me to put the syrup for my pancakes in a little dish or they would be completely soggy by now.

"Is he telling the truth?" Blake asks, leaning over towards me so he can look in my eyes that are cast down to my lap.

"Yeah." I sigh.

"What's wrong then?" His face scrunches into a frown. At this point I'm not even sure why I'm so sad, it's not about what Ace said. I know he wasn't blaming me for Conway getting away, but I can't help but feel responsible for it.

It's more like I'm completely exhausted from everything that's happened.

"I'm just sad I think." I lean my head against the headboard and take a deep breath.

"Want a pancake?" I shove the plate up to Blake's face, almost getting syrup in his hair. Blake takes the plate from my hands and sets it on the side table.

"Why are you sad?" I wish I knew.

I shrug my shoulders again and pick at the blanket. The more I talk the more I want to curl up and cry.

"Well this won't do." He mumbles, shifting around in the bed so his back is to the headboard he grabs me and pulls me onto his lap. His arms embrace me and warmth floods through me.

"Talk to me." He whispers into my ear sending shivers down my back.

"I don't know... I just feel really sad. Everything feels heavy and cold but I don't know why." I admit. Wrapping my own arms around his I snuggle closer to him.

"Well let's think about this. A lot of shit has happened recently, and yesterday you thought you were going to die while being held at knife point. That's a lot to take in, you're still processing."

I guess, but I've been through worse, and it's not like anything really bad happened. Some people aren't as lucky as me, they don't have a Blake come to their rescue time and time again.

"Stop it." Blake scolds. Sometimes I wonder if I accidentally speak out loud instead of in my head.

"Stop what?" I question raising an eyebrow while I tilt my head up to look at him.

"Stop making yourself feel like just because you or someone else has gone through worse that your current feelings aren't valid. Stop telling yourself that you don't deserve to feel sad or hurt or whatever because someone has had it worse." Dang he's good.

"Are you a mind reader? Because that's creepy." Blake scoffs and it's hard to see at this angle but I think he rolled his eyes at me.

"No, you just constantly think that way. It's not healthy, you need to allow yourself to cope. If that means having a sad day, then that's ok. I'll be right here beside you." My stomach does little flips as his chest vibrates onto my back as he speaks.

But no matter how good he makes me feel, those sad weights are still there. Maybe he's right, maybe I need to just let myself be sad today.

"I think I need a sad day." I nod.

"Ok, what do you want to do?" What does one do on a dedicated sad day? I don't really feel like doing anything, so I'll start with that.

"I want to curl up into a ball under the blankets." I also want to cry, but at the same time I don't want to.

"Ok, curl on up then." He lifts the blankets for me to slide under and I do just that.

"Can I lay here with you or do you want to be alone?"

"Stay please." I whisper. Blake lays down on his back beside me, hands behind his head as he looks at the ceiling.

I wonder what he's thinking about, I wonder if yesterday affected him as much as it did me.

Even though he's right there, I feel so alone.

I slide my hand across the bed stopping a foot away from Blake's hand.

"Can you hold my hand?" I squeak. Not sure why but asking him makes me feel nervous. He doesn't answer with words, just simply places his hand on mine. His thumb drawing circles on the back of my hand.

I don't know how long he held my hand or when he stopped drawing circles, because within minutes I was falling back asleep.

⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿

The dedicated sad day turned into only half a day. A few hours after I woke up I was feeling tremendously better.

It might have to do with the fact that I was now fully rested and I woke up in Blake's arms. He didn't leave my side the whole time I slept, that made all that deep dark sadness I had slowly creep away.

Now Bella and I are baking in the kitchen while Blake and Ace are plotting how to take Conway out without putting me in more danger. I think they both look super cute with their serious faces and furrowed brows as they discuss ideas in very colorful words.

"One of these days I'm going to have to come to the fights." Bella says while she puts the butter for the cake in the stand mixer, she brought it over from her house earlier today.

"Yeah, just don't try to sneak into VIP with Isaiah. You'll get kicked out."

"You didn't!" She gasps. "I swear you look so sweet, but have so many bad ass stories I wonder if it's all a facade." She laughs.

"I swear I don't try! They just happen!" I can't help it, my whole life has been like that.

"Hand me the sugar, sugar." She winks. I burst out laughing, and when I laugh Bella laughs. So the next thing you know we were both gasping for air with tears rolling down our cheeks.

It wasn't even that funny, I laughed and it spiraled from there.

Now Blake is looking at me with a content grin and I can't help my cheeks from turning a bright shade of pink.

I slide Bella the sugar and give Blake a look that says 'stop looking at me you creep'. With a snort he turns his attention back to Ace.

"I'm looking for some extra cash. Do they let girls fight at the matches?" I can't tell if she's joking or not. "Maybe we could be a team, you distract them with your cuteness and I'll punch them in the face." I bite my lip and look over at Blake who is still talking with Ace.

"They do but I don't think that's a good idea." I mumble, I remember the last time I brought it up with the guys. Plus I have no interest in becoming a professional fighter.

"Why not? I was joking about you, I know you wouldn't want to fight. But I could train and then maybe make some decent money so I don't have to work four jobs." I don't know how she does it, or why she has to but Bella is constantly working.

Pretty much every hour she has free she spends with me, today is her first full day off in three weeks and she only took it off because of everything that happened yesterday.

"The guys wouldn't support that..." If I remember correctly they say the girl fights are way more deadly than the guy ones. They fight dirty and without mercy. Blake won't even stick around to watch them, said they make him sick.

"Why not?" She looks taken back by that tidbit of information.

"Never mind, I'll just ask." She adds before I can respond.

"Guys!" She yells to get their attention, it works well too. "How would I sign up to fight?" She asks sweetly, like that's going to make a difference. I cringe when I see the muscles tense up in both the guys.

"Yeah, that shits not happening." Ace growls. Wrong move buddy. I watch with wide eyes as Bella takes his tone in the wrong way.

"And why not? I need some extra money, a few fights won't hurt." She bites back.

"Yes they will. That's the whole fucking point of a fight, Bella! You'll be lucky to make it out of there alive!" Ace is standing now, his chest rises and falls rapidly.

"He's right. It's not a good idea." Blake adds.

"I can take a few punches." She glares at the two boys with no mercy in her eyes. I stand to the side and awkwardly stir the flour into the butter and sugar mixture.

"Yeah? How about a knife to the gut? A nail to the eye? What about a huge chunk of your hair ripped clean out of your head?" There both fuming and suddenly I wish I could sneak out of the room unnoticed.

But Blake keeps sneaking glances at me so I can't or I'd cause a scene.

"It can't be that bad... can it?" Bella looks over at me, I just shrug my shoulders because I've never seen it.

"He's not lying, there are more emergency hospital visits with serious injuries and even deaths with the girls who fight there." Blake says sternly.

"Damn. Well that wouldn't help me to make more money if I'm in the hospital, so guess that ideas out." She grumbles. Bella snatches the bowl away from me when she sees me struggling to mix the thick batter.

"You're supposed to add the milk, silly. This batter is a brick." She laughs.

Oops, I was too engaged with the argument and forgot to add it. No wonder why my arms got tired from mixing it.

I sheepishly add the milk and the rest of the wet ingredients while Bella puts the bowl back on the stand mixer. I also forgot about that and was doing it by hand like an idiot.

"You have a bunch of jobs. Why do you need more?" Uh oh, I can see this particular look on Ace's face. I don't know what it is or what it means and because of that it makes me nervous.

"Because I need more money, duh." Bella shakes her head in quick little movements while holding her hands palm up in front of her, as if saying 'I thought it was obvious'.

"But why? Don't tell me you got into the drug dealing business like Rose did and now you owe people money." I gasp at his statement.

He's never going to let me live that down.

Bella snorts, she loves that I was a drug dealer, she thinks it's the funniest thing ever.

Blake on the other hand doesn't find it as funny as everyone else, I can tell by the way he tenses up every time it is brought up. I also don't miss the way his eyes snap to me, as if to make sure I'm still here and OK.

I think I've caused that boy some trauma.

"No, I just don't want to live in an apartment forever. I want a little bit of land right outside of town so that I can have a small garden and things like that. But I can't get a loan so I have to save up cash for it. I'm getting close, and should be able to reach my goal in the next year and a half if I keep it up."

My jaw drops, she's saving to buy land? "Why can't you get a loan?" Ace questions with a frown.

"I just can't, besides I like paying in full anyway, so I've been working since I was 8 and saving all I can."

I send Blake a little glare, we better be paying for everything that was broken yesterday. He's taken back by my glare and a look of panic crosses his face.

"What?" He mouths. I try to give him a look that says 'you know what I mean' but it doesn't work and he comes stomping over to me.

He grabs my upper arm and drags me a few feet away from Bella who is still talking to Ace.

"What did I do?" The worry in his voice almost makes me feel bad. Almost.

"We need to pay for everything that was broken yesterday." I whisper into his ear. He lets out a long huff, grabs my cheeks with his thumb and pointer finger and leans his forehead against mine.

"That was mean, baby. I already told her I would. No need to give me the stink eye like that." His minty breath fans my face making my toes curl.

"You look like a creep." Ace laughs, I think he's talking to us until I look over and see him looking at Bella who is staring at Blake and I with a wide grin.

"Shut up, you Sasquatch. They're cute and I like cute stuff." Bella chucks the spatula at his face, but his quick reflexes saves his face from getting cake mix smeared on it.

Ace doesn't say anything, he just calmly places the spatula in the sink and then holds the oven door open for her as she places the cake pan in.

I swear they act like a couple who's been married for sixty years.

"Figure out what you're going to do about that asshole?" She growls. Bella might have been a little vocal about her dislike for Conway all morning and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon.

"Yeah, we're gonna kill him." Ace states.

Wait, what?

"Nice, I was hoping that would be the outcome. Need help or you got it covered." Bella says, completely unphased by the admittance of planned murder.

"We got it. You could help if you want though, you could help us chop the body up and flush it down the toilet." The toilet? Cut it up? What's going on?

"Oh for sure. I'll sharpen my filet knives for the occasion." She says with a sweet smile on her lips.

"Guys, shut the fuck up your freaking her out." Blake grumbles, his hands are placed on my shoulders and he tries to work out the stress knots that just formed.

"Sorry Rose." They both mutter at the same time.

"Real talk, we have to play it by ear. It all depends on how the fight goes and how he handles me not throwing it. If he continues to harass Rose I'll have no choice but to take him out." The icy words freeze the room, with such a chill that my arms get covered in goosebumps.

When Blake speaks of these things there is no room for argument, he means what he says and he will follow through.

"Fuck." Ace whistles, "threats from a true tyrant right there."

"When's the fight?" Bella chimes in. I've lost track of that as well, I know it's soon but my days are getting all mushed together.

"Tonight." The boys say at the same time.

My jaw drops, I didn't think it was that soon! I flip around to look at Blake with worried eyes. Is he going to be ok? Did he get enough sleep? It's already six o'clock, when does the fight start?

Blake grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around me. His chest vibrates with a laugh as he runs his hand through my hair.

"Don't look so worried, Sweetheart. Everything's under control." Yeah right, that's what someone says before they end up in the hospital.

"Can I go?" Bella says and Ace groans.

"God, please say no, Blake." But Blake only stands in silence. "Blake, come on man. I thought we were friends." Ace pleads.

"Why the hell don't you want me to go?" Bella's covers the hint of hurt in her voice by acting completely annoyed.

"Because, Bella. It's dangerous and I already have one trouble attractor to look after," Ace pauses and turns to me. "No offense, I love ya and all, but you attract trouble like no one's business."

Then he turns back to Bella. "And I don't want to worry about you too." He finishes.

Awe he's so sweet, but so grumpy today.

"So it's better to just leave me here alone?" Her bottom lip juts out. "All alone, by myself, where anything can happen because I'm by myself..." her finger runs across the counter as she continues to pout. "With no protection because I'm by mysel-"

"Shut up. Fine, you can come." Ace growls. "But you stick close to me and for the love of God don't do anything stupid." His eyes are stony as he holds them steady on Bella's.

"I was just messing around, I don't need to go. I'll stay here." Bella smiles.

She likes to play too much sometimes. "Fuck no. You're coming and both you girls will turn off your trouble attracting beacons and we'll have a peaceful night full of fighting the people we are supposed to fight and no one else. Got it?"

How exactly am I supposed to turn off the beacon? Because I didn't know that was an option. I would have done that years ago if I knew.