We

two

I decided today was going to be a good day as I was puking my guts out on the toilet. Today marked 28 days until I begin treatment. They started me on meds that made every day begin with a feeling in my stomach that is supposed to signal a bad day, and I took care of it before it took over my morning.

"Emily, if you want to come with, you need to go hurry up!" Axel called from the kitchen.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back. I stared myself down in the mirror. My signature all-black outfit greeted me, letting me know I got this. I exited into the kitchen, where my black outfit and I were greeted by a vast number of attractive gentlemen, also known as Axel's friends.

"Hey, Emily!" Brent said before he crushed me in his arms. "Is it just me, or have you gotten hotter since I last saw you?"

I smacked him on the arm before the rest of the guys had a chance. "You saw me yesterday."

"Yeah, you're just like most alcohol, you get better with time."

"So, I also could kill you if you have too much of me? Good to know," I replied. "Nice try, bud." I picked up my phone, keys, and my water.

"Who's riding with who?" Axel asked.

"I'll take Emily!" Brent and Jason shouted.

"Idiots. I'm going with my brother and the four of you can fit in Nate's truck, so there. Now can we get a move on? I wanna beat the shit out you guys!" I declared.

"Let's not keep her from it then," Evan replied. We all got into our respective cars and drove on.

"I only wanted to ride with you because they won't let me play my music," I said as I plugged my phone into the aux. "Did you tell any of them?"

"Of course not, I'm a good brother sometimes. Are you sure you can handle this today? They wouldn't mind getting pizza instead of boxing," Axel suggested. I pressed play on Eleanor Rigby.

"I can do this. I don't want to become some cancerous potato. I'd rather be a cancerous, hot, desirable French fry," I smirked at him.

"God, you're so weird. Nice choice by the way. They would probably let you play your music, but they would be confused."

"You're not wrong. But, I also love your car." I ran my hands all over the fresh leather as we pulled into the gym parking lot. I hopped out, full of a new force of energy.

"Did you eat anything this morning?" Axel asked.

"Yes, but I immediately hurled it up because why wouldn't that be a side effect. I think they've got stuff inside, Rudy won't care if I have anything."

Axel looked worried, but I guess my glare shut his moody expressions up. The rest of the guys were laughing about something that must have happened in the car. When we walked into my second home, we were greeted by Rudy, the manager, and our uncle.

"Emily, do you want to change the station?" Rudy asked.

"Could I just plug my phone in?" I asked.

Rudy nodded and I grinned like a kid in a candy store. I started my workout playlist and some of the guys in there groaned, but they can go screw themselves. The first song up was Na Na Na by MCR. I smiled at Rudy and gave him a hug. Rudy is my mine and Axel's 'uncle', friends with my dad since birth. My parents are always gone on business, which they are now, and he's supposed to "babysit" us. His version of babysitting us at this age is to call once a day and sometimes he'll come over for dinner with us and the guys. I guess my parents told him about everything because he looked more concerned than when I pierced my nose in the bathroom. I was twelve and stupid. Now I'm almost sixteen and have some common sense.

"Did my mom tell you?" I whispered. Rudy got that look in his eye like he was going to lie. He fought against it and nodded. "I feel fine. Nothing has really set in yet, and I just want to enjoy myself right now.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked.

"Keep the gym closed until we're done?" I asked, putting on my biggest puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. If I go out of business, I'm blaming you six," he called to the guys who were already warming up.

"You're the best uncle a girl could ask for. I've gotta go beat the shit out of Brent now." I walked out onto the floor and got onto the rower as a warm-up. When I got off, Axel and I took turns spotting each other. I took turns checking out all of my brother's friends. He doesn't know it, but he has great taste in men.

Once everyone was done, we got into the ring for a few rounds for fun. When it was my turn to take on Brent, he looked genuinely nervous.

"Come on, it's not like I'm gonna kill you, I'm just gonna show you that you shouldn't mess with me like I do every week."

"She's gonna kick your ass!" Jason called from the sideline. We started sparring and I was feeling a little lightheaded, nothing unusual. I shook it off and sneaking around him in his blind spot. Eventually, he caught up with me and saw what I was doing and he got me in the stomach, I started to feel dizzy and I couldn't hold myself up.

"Emily?" I heard Axel call from the sideline before I went down. 

******

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