killer instinct - || h.s. ||

42

TRIGGER WARNING: very brief mention of non-consensual sex

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" he don't do you right, he won't love you like i would "

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harry styles.

I wait at the bar of all places, surrounded by people intoxicated on whatever it is they took and in suspense of their own personal bloodlust tonight. The walls and floor vibrate with the hip-hop music pumping through the massive underground space.

The Pit is coated in its usual crimson, overheating with the sheer amount of people packed into this place, and yet you still seem to wonder how it could even be an exclusive secret to the city.

I rake my fingers through my hair, leaning back against the bar as I wait for my girl to get here tonight. And my stomach coils in nausea, twisting in knots for her.

I just can't seem to figure out why she's so adamant about continuing this, if not for finding Griff, it just doesn't make sense.

But I wait for her to enter through that door into the familiar scene with her friends as per usual. I glance down at my brightly lit phone for a moment, checking the time as it ticks down to the countdown before the fight.

And the second I drag my eyes back up, I watch the door open up and the incessant drumming of my fingers on my thigh comes to a halt.

I catch her friend Lou walking in first with the other two trailing close behind under the red light.

Ace is easily given away with the mask she wears to keep herself anonymous to the guilty people of the city.

My feet move before I can think about it, weaving through people to get to her before she steps in that ring. I slip past Jules without her even noticing me in a sea of strangers like this, intercepting Ace to step up right in front of her.

She slams into my chest to tug a smile on my face as she audibly groans. "Every time," she grumbles, lifting her eyes to me through her mask as I smile down at her.

Her hair is tied up in a tight bun that somehow is messily secure with that hair tie, and a dark black mask clasps over her eyes and the bridge of her nose. Her body swims in a pair of joggers, and a sweatshirt with the faint scent of tobacco seeping from her pores.

"Hi to you too," she mutters, her voice carries over the thumping music like a fresh cigarette on a god-awful day in my head. I snort a little as the bodies of people surround us to keep us concealed from the scene.

"You sure you're alright to do this?" I double-check, shoving my hands into my pockets. I stare down at her to attempt to assess her eyes as if they would give me anything into what she's thinking right now.

She just laughs at me with a nod of her head, "M'alright, Harry, I was fine training with Lou this week," she says, and I huff under my breath.

"This guy tonight–" I start, and this girl cuts me off with another laugh.

"I know, Lou filled me in on it. He's only good with his right, the guy can't use his left for shit," Ace smiles up at me, and I blink a few times as to how Lou even knows so much about her competition every night.

"I'm perfectly fine, I need this," she tells me, and my eyebrows draw together at that need of hers.

But at this point, I knew if anyone could tear up those guys in there it's her.