killer instinct - || h.s. ||

02

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault

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" runnin' up, hittin' up, sendin' up, get 'em on impact "

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aurora astor.

"Are you sure about this?" my best friend asks – one of my only friends actually. Sitting across from her at her apartment, my hood up as I work on the shit have to get done for class. I just nod and her green eyes glare at me.

"Yeah," I mutter as I write out this paper for one of my classes. She huffs at me as I sip on the coffee this late at night.

"Rory, come on," Jules mutters from across her dining table and I put a smile on my face, a slight ache in my jaw from the fight last week still lingering.

"It's fine, I can handle it," I tell her and she shakes her head, all her medical books spread out and she sighs.

"I know you can handle it, just–" she mutters and I stop her.

"Jules, this gets me one step closer to figuring this shit out," I say and she quickly shakes her head, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears.

"But this is some fucked shit–" she says and I nod.

"He's involved with this, I know he is," I say confidently and she rubs her tired eyes in frustration at me.

"You could have followed this trail a different way, you didn't need to actually get involved," Jules says with a sigh as she looks at me with worry all over her face. I just shrug, finishing off the coffee in my hand.

"I'm close, Jules." I try to convince myself honestly.

"This is so fucked." Jules mutters and I breathe out a laugh. "I just don't want you getting hurt, Rory." She scolds me and I smile.

"I'll be fine, I have you and Lou," I say and she groans at me, sitting back up to do her work.

"Might not be enough one day, Rory," she mutters, worry seeping off her voice. I shrug, not really caring, in all honesty, and I earn a glare from her. I just smile back and she huffs "How much is on tonight?" Jules asks and now I grin even more.

"5 grand," I say and her eyes go wide as I nod with a smile on my face.

"Who are you fighting tonight?" she asks me and I hum.

"No one special, just some guy that claims he's not as scared to hit girls," I say and Jules's eyebrows go up.

"Fucking kill him for me," she says and I snicker at her change of spirits.

"Definitely. Half of them are all talk, Jules." I mutter as I check the time and I get myself up from her dining table. Shutting my laptop and grabbing my coffee mug to go wash it in her sink.

"You never know until you're in the ring," Jules mutters and I take her mug out of her hands to wash it.

"It will be fine, Lou said the only person I have to watch out for is some guy called Styles," I say and her eyebrows go up. "And that's not who I'm fighting tonight," I reassure her and she huffs. I grab a water bottle, drinking from it as I try to get ready for this fight that I have in less than an hour.

I clean up her dining table, putting my books into my backpack, and grabbing my duffle from near her door. I roll over the waistband of my sweatpants once more and fix the little tie on the hoodie strings, strands of my hair falling out of my low bun and over my face.