Moving Objects

Chapter 10

I had a bit of time before the rest of the class got there so I started out on the bag, rolling my shoulders a few times before throwing punches. I focused on the bag, the sound of my fists hitting it and the burn I felt against my knuckles. I spun around when a pair of hands touched my shoulders and out of instinct, my fist flew out.

A hand clamped over it and stopped it mid-throw. I looked up to find the only – and the last – person I wanted to see.

"Look at your hands!" Dimitri chastised, letting go of mine and cupping them gently. I looked down to see the bleeding skin and groaned. I forgot to put on gloves.

Dimitri pulled me towards the bench and gently pushed me to sit down before going to get the first aid kit. Now that I wasn't slamming my fist against the bag, they stung like crazy. Dimitri came back and sat down beside me, taking my bloody hand in his and dabbing at it with a wet cloth.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," I whispered, not wanting to open the vault of feelings that was on the verge of bursting. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't want to make things more difficult than they already were. Dimitri cleared his throat and kept tending to my hands, gently wrapping them before holding his hand over mine. The warmth of his hand was comforting and I drank in every bit of it before I had to go.

"Rose?"

I looked up at him instead of looking at his hand. "Yeah?"

"You're not ok," he said softly. I shrugged and looked away while chewing on my lip.

"I miss you," I whispered. Dimitri sighed deeply and pulled me towards him, wrapping an arm around me.

"I miss you too Roza. I didn't think we were going to start avoiding each other."

I nodded and sniffed and pulled my hands out from under his. "You're going to be there on Friday, right?" I asked timidly.

"I wouldn't miss your trials, Roza. I plan on being the first one to congratulate you when you finish," Dimitri said tenderly, reaching up to play with a strand of hair that escaped my ponytail. It was a mimic of a time that felt like years ago, and it made my heart flutter in my chest. I met his eyes and the small smile that graced his lips made my heart stop completely for a second before the outer doors slammed against the wall. It was enough for us to pull away from each other after leaning towards one another. Dimitri cleared his throat before picking up the garbage and closing the box.

"Make sure to wear gloves, baby. Can't have your hands torn up on Friday," he said quietly as he stood up, giving me a half-smile before heading towards the supply room.

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I closed my eyes and let the music in my earbuds distract me from what was going on. I breathed deeply and tensed up when someone pulled out one of my earbuds.

"If you don't breathe properly, you're going to pass out before you get out there."

I pulled the other one out and turned to face Dimitri, nodding as I wrapped the cord around my iPod.

"I know, just trying to calm myself. I'm not so nervous about the trials, I'm worried about my written exams," I said with a shake of my head.

Dimitri nodded and took my iPod from me, slipping it into his pocket and handing me my hand wraps. I pulled them on and made sure my shoes were tied tightly. I pulled my hair up behind me and looped the band around to secure my hair in place, only for the band to snap in my hand.

Damn. That was the only hair tie I had left.

I muttered a highly colourful word under my breath, expecting a rebuke from Dimitri. Instead, I got a smirk and he pulled his hair tie out of his own hair and handed it to me. I took it with a smile and tied my hair back and sighed. Only a few more minutes until go time. Dimitri grasped my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze.