Friends to Lovers

Friends to Lovers Pt.3

The first day of training was hard, I'll give it that. But Erics constant presence was what got me the most. He was always there to correct me if my stance was wrong or I wasn't using my whole body to punch the sandbag hanging in front of me.
"How many times do I have to tell you to use your whole body when you throw a punch?" Eric was standing behind me again, his hands placed on my hips and his chest pressed against my back.
"It's the first day, I can't do everything perfect." I rolled my eyes while mumbling. Immediately his grip on my hips tightened and he pressed his body even closer. "What was that Initiate?" Hi breath fanned against my neck making me shiver. "You might want to repeat that, I think I didn't quite catch that."
"I will try better from now on, Sir." I greeted my teeth. I hated him. Yes, that's right. Hate him and everything's going to be okay.

"(Y/N)!" Four came running to me after training, right when I wanted to leave the training hall.
"Yes Four?" I stopped in my tracks and turned to face my trainer. "Yesterday you left so quick, we had no chance to give you your card." He handed me a small plastic card with my name and a photo on it. The photo was taken last year in school. The day before was the only day, my father didn't beat me. Just in case someone would notice something.
"Thanks Four." I pressed my lips together in an attempt to smile. I turned to leave, but Four put one of his hands on my right shoulder. "Can I talk to you? Later? Maybe at dinner." Four had an uneasy look on his face, as if he had to tell me that my cat died. "Ahm, sure." I nodded and turned around, this time finally able to leave and go to the dorms.

"Where were you, young lady?" Xavier waited in the dorms, sitting on his bed.
"Four stopped me from leaving. He asked me to talk with him at dinner." I explained, reaching under my bed for new clothes. "I'm so jealous! That guy is seriously hot!" Xavier exclaimed, gaining my attention. "What? Don't look at me like that. I mean, sure, Eric is hot too but he is a bit to buff."
"Look at that. You learn new things every day, don't you?" I had a smirk on my face as I eyed my friend. He just laughed and hit me with his towel. "Let's take a shower before your dinner date with our hot leader!" I rolled my eyes but couldn't hide the small smile on my lips.
Together we walked over to the open, unisex showers and took our clothes off.
I was washing my hair when I noticed someone entering the dorm.
"Not Eric! Not Eric!" I prayed to whatever was up there in a whisper.
"For a bookworm you're quite sexy." Tyler stood behind us and studied my body.
"Come on Tyler, stop being an asshole for once and just let us shower." Xavier turned around, exposing his body to the other transfer from Candor.
"Sure, but I'll join you two. Someone has to watch over you kids." Tyler smirked at us and pulled his shirt of.
"You know what? I think I'm clean enough." I turned the water off and wrapped a towel around my body before making my way to my bed. Xavier followed me, and to my sorrow, Tyler too.
"Are you serious (Y/N)? You sure you are an Erudite and not a stiff?" He smirked again and grabbed my waist from behind. "Let go." I gritted my teeth and tried to pry his hands off of me.
"Why? I quite like this." He bend down and I could feel his breath against my ear. Enough was enough, I turned around and slapped him. Xavier looked at me as if I had slapped God.
"You little bitch!" Tyler recovered fast and tried to grab me.
"Initiates! Stop fighting!" I never thought I would be happy to see Eric, but I also didn't want to fight in only a towel. "You'll have enough chances in the ring. Now go." Tyler growled, spat in my face and stormed out the dorms.
"Are you okay?" As soon as Tyler left the room, Eric walked over to me and too my chin between his thumb and index finger. His gaze still cold as ice studied my face and wiped Tylers spit away.
"Sure." I nodded and turned around. I could hear Eric sighing behind me, but I didn't bother turning around. Quietly, he too, left.

"We still have one hour till dinner." Xavier and I were walking around without a destination.
"I think I'll take a quick look in the training room." Xavier shook his head. "Are you serious? We could go get a tattoo or something like this and you think about training?" In the distance, you could hear the rushing of water from the chasm.
Xavier tried to convince me to come with him but in the end, he went alone.

I walked through the halls till I found the training room. It was dark and almost completely abandoned. In the right corner, Four was punching a sandbag that hung from the ceiling.
I thought about leaving while he didn't notice me, but maybe we could have this talk, he wanted to have at dinner, now instead.
"Care if I join you?" Four spun around, surprise written all over his face. As soon as he saw me though, his gaze softened and he nodded towards the sandbags. Taking his invitation, I moved to the sandbag next to his and began training.
"So...you wanted to talk about something?" After ten minutes without talking I just had to ask him.
"Yeah, you're right. But maybe we should sit down for that." He stopped punching and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I also stopped punching and sat down on the floor.
Before he began to talk, Four offered me a bottle of water which I gulped down in one go.
"Do you know Eric?" I started coughing on my water as he popped the question. "I mean, you're both from Erudite, but he knew your name yesterday and today at training he only helped you. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that he is nice to someone after all those years, but I can't help but wonder about your relationship with him." By the time he finished, I started to calm down again.
"I...do know him. We were both in Erudite before that, so, yes, I know him. But not all too well." I had to lie. If I tell Four about my relationship with Eric I would also have to tell him about everything with my parents and my older sister. And I didn't want that.
"Okay. Oh, and if he ever bothers you, you can come to me anytime." Four stood up and smiled at me before he left.

Now I sat alone in the big training room, the only sound my breathing and the flickering of the lamp above me.