Rose and The Boxer

Chapter 7

Adam stares at my bruises. His eyebrows are pulled together in concentration. A string of course words escape his mouth and he looks back up at me.

"Who did this?" He repeats for the hundredth time.

"It doesn't matter." I reply and tug my shirt back down. Before i can step away from him, he grips on to my waist.

"You can trust me." He says with a promising look in his eyes. But how can I? I barely know this guy. Sure I remember him from when I was younger. But that doesn't mean I know him now. It's been two years for Christ sake.

"I don't know you." I say out loud.

"You trust me enough to come to my apartment... You trust me enough to teach you how to defend yourself. And you trust me enough to tell me about Henry and that douche bag of a friend you have. So why can't you tell me what happened to you?" He asks with a hurt look in his eyes, it quickly disappears.

"Because this is worst than all of those things combined!" I exclaim in panic. His eyes soften and tears well in mine. A lump forms in my throat and he tugs me into his arms. He pulls me into a warm hug and a sob escapes my mouth. Not only am I crying because of my stepmother and stepsister. But also because for the first time in a year, I actually feel safe. I actually feel like Adam can protect me.

He's a guy that doesn't look like a hugger, like someone you don't want to mess with. And here he is hugging me. We stay like that for a while, I don't know for how long. But all I know is that he cares. My tears stop flowing and he pulls away to wipe my flushed cheeks.

"Talk to me." He murmurs.

"M-my mom died two years ago, about a year and a half ago my step sister and step mom moved in... T-they don't like me." I whimper, hoping he'll get the hint that I don't want to say it out loud.

"They hit you?" He asks with a ticking jaw.
"Yes." I meekly whisper. Anger takes over all of his features and he abruptly stands up. His eyes darken with anger and he grips on to my waist.

"Why haven't you told anyone? Does your father know?" He asks.

"No, please don't tell anyone. Please, my dad he... He's not happy, but he's happier than he use to be. If that makes sense.... I can't hurt him." I plead. My hands clutch on to his tshirt and he stares down at me.

"I won't tell anyone. But I also won't let them continue to hurt you." He sharply states,"Tell me the truth, how may times have you felt this level of pain?" He asks in a softer tone.

"I lost count." I admit.
"Let me take you to get an X-ray. We need to see if it's fractured or just bruised." He murmurs.

"No, they'll put it on record with my name and someone else will know-"
"Shh, it's at my fighting ring. I'm friends with the doctor there. He'll keep it off the charts." He calms my panic.

"Are you sure?" I whisper.
"Yes, now cmon." He replies and leads me back out the door, and back to the car. He carefully lifts me into my seat and blush as he shuts my door.

"I know you have questions." I state as we start driving.

"I do." He confirms and glances at me from the corner of his eye.

"Go ahead, ask them." I mumble.
"Are you sure? This seems like a tough subject." He cautiously asks.
"I'm sure. You might as well know everything." I bitterly laugh. He unsurely stares at me and the street light turns green.

"So I'm the first one to know about this, besides your friend Nathan?" He asks.
"Lucky number two." I confirm. His grip on the steering wheel hardens and he glares at nothing in particular.

"How has your father not noticed? The minute I saw you I knew something was wrong." He states, his hands tightening even more.

"I don't know. All I know is that he's a workaholic. I always thought that he didn't care enough to pay attention to me." I reply with a shrug. "If your hands grip the steering wheel any tighter it's going to break in half." I add after a moment.

"What about teachers? They never noticed? I mean your gym teacher had to notice." He states and pulls into a free parking lot. He jogs around the car and helps me out before locking the car up.

"I mean... The gym teacher slacks at my school. Especially the one I have. He noticed me limping once and he asked me about it.... It was pretty obvious that I was lying, but he simply shrugged it off." A blush forms on my cheeks and he holds the door open for me. I enter and he nods towards the mean receptionist.

"So you're telling that this gym teacher of yours knew that you were getting hurt at home. And he didn't do anything?" Adam growls through clenched teeth.

"Pretty much yea." I squeak.
"Stay here, I need a minute." He grumbles and goes into the nearest ring. He says something to the guy with body amour, then goes to the opposing corner. My interest level goes up and I watch as a bell goes off. Within a minute the guy is down. The only thing I see Adam do is grab on to the guys arm, and flip him on to the ground.

"One more time." Adam hoarsely states and goes back to the corner. This time he takes the man down with a bunch of punches, kicks and twists. I watch in shock and he comes back to my side. He barely broke a sweat.

"What the hell?! How'd you do that?!" I excitedly ask with a small hop. My ribs protest and I grunt in pain.

"Cmon." He rolls his eyes and helps me towards the back rooms.