Stepping off the bus, I walk towards the back entrance of the arena and spot Derek standing around with some other crew members.

"She's good. Real good," I hear Derek's voice.

"Damn, bro. You got lucky. Joslyn's hot," I hear one of the crew members say.

"Yeah, she is." I look over to see Derek's smug grin. "Can't keep her hands off me."

I don't know what I want to do more. Vomit or punch him straight in the mouth.

"Don't talk about her like that," I warn.

Derek's face falters momentarily, caught off guard, before smirking again. "Is someone jealous I got to her first?" he taunts.

My blood begins to boil and my hands involuntarily clinch into fists. "Just keep your mouth shut," I growl, walking up to him.

"Or what?" he presses, coming to stand toe to toe with me. "You want to know just how good she really is? How well she can-"

"Shut up!" I shove him in his chest and he goes stumbling backwards.

Rage flares through his eyes and he steps forward, throwing a hard right hook to my face. Before he can throw another one, I quickly block him and throw a punch of my own. A sickening crack is heard when my fist collides with his nose. He falters for a moment, grabbing his nose. When he pulls his hand away, there's blood and that seems to add fuel to his fire. He throws another punch, hitting me in the jaw and we keep at it.

"Stop!" Joslyn comes running out of the bus, wedging herself between us to stop the fight.

I immediately step back when she gets between us, but Derek isn't over with the fight just yet. Trying to take a swing at me, he accidentally ends up punching Joslyn in the shoulder. She hisses in pain and clutches her shoulder.

"You fucker!" I shout, stepping forward and grabbing Derek by the collar of his t-shirt, throwing him to the ground.

"Stop!" Joslyn desperately yells as Derek and I roll around on the concrete, the crew members cheering us on.

As much as I want to listen to her, all I can see is red. Blocking her out, I keep throwing punches, giving Derek what he deserves.

"Knock it off!" A deep voice booms, making me stop in my tracks. Milo grabs me by the back of the shirt, pulling me off of Derek and shoving me towards the entrance. "Get inside!"

Anger courses through me as I stomp into the arena, going to my dressing room. Halfway through the backstage halls, a small hand grabs mine, making me stop in my tracks. Spinning around, I'm met with Joslyn's wide, sad eyes.

With her free hand, she reaches up to gently brush her fingers across my cheek. My jaw clinches in pain and she instantly pulls her hand away. "Come on," she whispers, pulling me towards my dressing room.

When we enter, she immediately pulls me into the bathroom, making me sit on the counter. Letting go of my hand, she runs back into the dressing room and grabs a small first aid kit out of her suitcase. Coming back into the bathroom, she softly closes the door behind her and sets the kit next to me on the counter, pulling out some supplies.

The silence between us is almost deafening aside from the tap water running as she wets a wash cloth, dabbing my face with it to wipe away some blood. With the look on her face, I can't tell if she's mad or not. She hasn't looked me in the eye once since the hallway. To play it safe, I stay quiet, waiting for her to speak first.

"Sorry," she mumbles when I flinch from her touching the tender spot under my eye.

I look up to see her eyes brimming with tears as she concentrates on my cuts.

"Hey," I grab her hand, pulling it away from my face. "What's wrong?" I ask, searching her eyes. "Did he hurt you?"

I suddenly remember her taking a hit. Reaching for the collar of her shirt, I gently pull it to the side to see a red spot starting to tinge across her collarbone. I graze my thumb over the skin and she tenses, grabbing my hand in both of hers.

"I'm ok," she whispers.

"I swear, I'm going to kill him," I growl.

"No. You've already done enough." She sighs. "Why? Why would you get in a fight?" Her eyes start to brim with tears again.

"Because, Joss," I sigh, reaching up to cup her cheek in my hand. "Because he... he was saying awful things about you. I couldn't let him get away with it."

She furrows her brow. "Alex, I don't care. I can't have you getting hurt because of me."

"I'm fine," I lie.

"Alex, you are not fine. Have you seen your face?"

"Nothing Shay can't cover up." I shrug.

She takes in a deep breath through her nose, closing her eyes. When she opens them back up a tear rolls down her cheek. "This is all my fault," she whispers, lip starting to quiver.

"Hey," I grab her hips, pulling her closer so she's slotted between my legs. "This is not your fault. It's his."

She shakes her head. "Still, I never should have gone out with him."

"Please tell me you two are done," I beg, leaning in to rest my forehead against hers. I squeeze my eyes shut while waiting for her answer.

She nods, the tip of her nose brushing against mine. "We're done. I told him we're through just now, before I came inside to find you"

I can't help but let out a sigh of relief, opening my eyes to see her hazel ones staring back at me. "And tell me, did you... did you ever... with him?" I know it's none of my business, but I can't get Derek's words out of my head. I have to know that he hasn't touched her. If he has, I just might have to actually kill him.

"What?" Joslyn asks baffled. She takes a step back, brows furrowed. "Oh my God, no! Of course not!"

Utter relief washes over me and I pull her back to me by the belt loops of her jeans. "Thank God," I mumble.

"Wait, is that what he was saying?" she asks, eyes going wide.

I frown, not wanting to tell her the truth, but I know she knows. She sighs, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

"Just promise me one thing," she says.

"Anything."

"No more fights." She brushes her fingers across my cheek where a bruise is no doubt blossoming.

"I can't promise you that."

"Alex."

"You know I care about you, right?" I lean in and rest my forehead against hers again.

"I care about you too," she whispers.

I pull her in impossibly closer, tangling my fingers into her hair. Nudging my nose against hers, I watch her eyes flutter closed as I lean in closer. Just as my bottom lip touches her top, the bathroom door flings open, the door slamming against the wall so hard I'm sure the door knob put a hole through it. Joslyn jumps back so fast, putting as much distance as she can between us until her back hits the wall.

"What the fuck happened?" Chris roars, eyes blazing.

"I- I should go," Joslyn stutters.

"Yeah. You should," Chris replies harshly and she quickly scrambles out of the bathroom. His eyes harshly flicker back to mine, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"Nothing," I mutter, looking down at my ripped up knuckles to avoid his gaze. My heart is slamming against my ribcage and my lip is tingling from where it touched Joslyn's.

He quickly strides over to me, grabbing my chin to thoroughly inspect my face. "Nothing my ass!"

"I'm fine," I say, tearing my face out of his grip.

"I don't care if you're fine! I care that you get your shit together and start acting right. Lately, I don't know what's gotten into you, but it needs to stop, now," he says sternly. "I can't have you jeopardizing your image and career after all the work we put in to get here!"

"He was talking shit and took a swing at me first!" I try to defend myself. "I want him gone."

"You want him gone? Fine. Consider it done," he spits. "But you better start getting your act together, and you better hope that Shay can cover this up," he says, pointing to my face before stomping out of the room.

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