How I imagined Alex when he saw Blair lol
Alex♤
There was once a time in my life when I was absolutely petrified and slightly shocked.
I was up early to get started on a day of boxing to get some extra practice in before my competition the next day and I hadn't realised that Damien had followed me. I had walked into the practise arena and because the light was broken (yes it was even broken back then), I didn't see Damien creep up behind the benches.
I had placed my towel and bottle down and was beginning to wrap my hands and the little fucker jumped out and yelled 'boo'.
I practically shit myself and full on screamed. Not a manly scream, deep and hoarse, no it was the scream of a teenage girl.
I made Damien swear to the God's that he would never tell a soul and so far he has kept his promise. The point I am trying to make is, in that moment I was so surprised and that's what I feel right now.
Those pale blue eyes are blinking back at me like they are just as confused as I am as to why they are here. They catch a glint of the sun and once again I am drowning in their colour.
I force my vision to zoom out and I take in the person before me. She looks wild, and slightly flushed like she just ran through a hurricane to get here. Already I can see that she is just that little bit freer and less up tight since the last time we spoke. My words catch in my throat.
Blair is standing right in front of me.
Blair is here, at Foxwood.
All I am waiting for is for someone to jump out and shout 'boo' and tell me this is all some kind of joke. But her pink lips are too real for this to be wrong.
Blair is here and this is most definitely real.
♡
"Ummm Alex?" She speaks nervously and my insides melt at how my name sounds in her mouth. It's almost refreshing to hear someone new say my name that is forbidden to everyone else. I keep expecting the rage to build up at the sound of my forename being used and yet it never comes. I am as calm as the ocean, as calm as the blue in her eyes.
I hold the door open wider and beckon for her to come in and close it behind her, it's freezing out there.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, only just managing to get the words out. I don't even know why I'm asking, I already know why she is here.
She circles around on the spot looking closely at the interior of this place that I call home that I hope she will soon do too. I take her obliviousness as a quick sign to completely check her out.
Her school uniform that she is wearing is extremely crumpled, creases line every inch of the fabric and her skirt isn't that long. I'm surprised she hasn't frozen to death. What's more confusing is why she isn't at school but then again why would she go to school if she wants to come here?
"I have decided to take you and Eric up on this offer. After some thinking I realised this place could be right for me and me be right in return," she replies without even looking at me. Eric was right, he really does have a way with words.
"That's great to hear but we will have a lot of work to do. You said it yourself that you cant fight so are you definitely sure this is something you want to do?" I'm not sure why I'm trying to get her to change her mind. She literally just told me she had thought this through and yet I still feel as though she has some doubt.
Finished with her ogling, she turns to me and takes a small step forwards looking at me hesitantly. I am quick to snap my eyes up to meet hers.
"I need this, I need to do this. I have things I need to prove and battles that need to be won. Eric said it himself, 'we survive by fighting, we fight to survive' and he's right." She speaks with such conviction that I find myself swayed. Of course Eric had to use his good old quote on her but who am I to complain? It worked didn't it?
I nod my head and shove one hand in the pocket of my joggers.
"Well then Blair Abbot your tour awaits," I say with fake grace and hold the lobby door open for her with my other hand. To my surprise, again, she plays along.
She curtsies and replies "you have many thank you's" in a fake British accent and I have to laugh. She gives me a smile, a genuine warm smile and it looks good on her. She's been here what five minutes and is already looking brighter since the last time I saw her.
That's what this place does to you, it makes you free and although she is smiling now and glowing in her skin, something tells me that she is in fact far from being free.
♡
I showed her the open area first, as it is in the direction of where we needed to go anyway, which is where most of the boxing equipment is and it's where my punching bag is. Dotted evenly were of course the other boxing bags but for some reason my bag just feels better than the rest.
Bench presses, pull up bars, smaller weights and leg machines were also near the punching bags but we rarely use the other pieces of equipment. I think it's only Max who comes down here to use the leg machine, his legs are made of goddamn steal.
From there, I then showed her the kitchen and dining room which she was mildly impressed by, I believe her exact phrasing was 'I can't believe an academy of illegal fighters have a dinning room. It's incredible to think that a group of guys with raging hormones can sit around a table and eat peacefully' so I'm taking that as a compliment and not as an insult.
From then I explained to her what utensils were working and what utensils needed to get fixed. I even had to explain to her the story behind how the microwave broke, or blew up rather. Lets just say it involved Kingston and a wrap of tin foil.
I showed her the direction of the bedrooms, Eric's office and now we are stood outside the double doors that lead towards the practice arena and I know the guys are in there. I can hear the grunts and yells of Max and the instructions that Kingston is yelling. I'm guessing he's helping Max and Damien train. At least Damien is doing something for once.
I'm so nervous for them to meet Blair because things could go very wrong. Suppose they don't like her, Max's temper has only just recently being getting worse, what if he just explodes? I mean, his temper has never been classed as 'good' but it is manageable and I guess having someone new join the team has just thrown him over the edge.
Kingston and Damien I am not majorly worried about as they are usually quite calm and respectful but I have seen how nasty they can turn when faced with someone of whom they despise.
My palm holds flat over the door and all I need to do is push it open, but I cant. Even for me everything is moving so fast, I never actually expected her to be here.
My feelings are cascading into one giant tsunami and the wave crashes around my head muting all coherent thoughts, the towering wave is the same colour as her eyes and it drowns me.
"Alex what are you waiting for?" She asks me softly. There it is again, my name, my name. The sound of it pulls me out of whatever was going on inside of my head and I battle long and hard to trap my feelings behind my mental shield, it's a struggle but I manage. I give her a quick glance before jerking my head to the side.
"We wait for nothing," I reply and open the door antagonisingly.
I'm glad to say that I was right, Kingston is circling the perimeter of the rope barking orders in Max's direction, something about his foot work. One of these days Max is going to really need to take Kingston's advice seriously.
Damien is busy circling Max with a dangerous glint in his eyes that he specifically saves for his opponents. It honestly makes me shiver when he isn't been humorous.
"Sorry about the dim lighting, I keep forgetting to get that light bulb fixed," I apologise turning towards Blair. I was expecting to find her scared or at least a little intimidated by the fighting going on in front of her but her face seems to be struck by awe. She's looking around as if she's just been brought into an enchanted castle.
Shaking my head in confusion I catch Kingston's eye and jerk my head to the left where Blair is stood. His eyes widen as he notices her then his mouth sets in a grim line as he whistles at Max and Damien.
"I'm going to introduce you to them now and please don't be insulted by any of their comments. They're not fond of new comer's," I inform coming up behind her.
"Nothing I won't be used to," she replies with a sad smile and I frown in puzzlement but I don't push it. She's here to help us and in return we will help her fight. Nothing personal needs to be shared and yet I find myself wanting to know what keeps her up at night.
"Can you get off me? Jesus, it's like I'm being mauled at a zoo," snaps Max as Damien tugs him towards the benches by his elbow.
"Damien for fuck sake let him go," sighs Kingston, having to interject and after a few more curses and insults all two boys and one man are seated on the bench.
With bated breath I gently push Blair a little further in front of me and give the guys a stern glare.
"This is Blair Abbot, she has decided that she is willing to join us and is now apart of the team," I introduce her and I watch closely as Max's face drops a thousand degrees, Damien is the only one who seems to actually be bored. I decide it's better to introduce her to Kingston first, he at least has his head screwed on right.
"This is Kingston Kent our most strongest fighter," I point and he leans forward to reach out an open hand.
Blair takes his hand in a surprisingly firm hand shake and even Kingston raises his brows.
"It's nice to finally meet you," she admits sincerely and Kingston gives her a small smile in return. He catches my eye and the little fucker then says, "I've heard so much about you already." I could kill him for that.
Whilst still shooting daggers at Kingston I move her towards Damien who is openly looking her up and down. I could almost palm myself in the face from how obvious he is being, at least when I did it she was looking away.
"This imbecile is Damien Philip our most cunning fighter," I say and make a slicing neck motion with my hand in his direction. He just grins and he actually takes the back of her hand and pecks it. The look of disgust on her face is priceless and Damien's 'swoon worthy' grin actually falters.
"Its very nice to meet you but please don't do that again," she chides and I have to bite my lips together to block the laugh from escaping.
"Its nice to meet you too and it won't happen again," he assures, but his left eye gives him away with a twitch.
"But it always works," I hear him mumble under his breath as I move her towards Max. Kingston places a comforting hand on Damien's shoulder followed by the words "you" and then something and then "idiot".
Tension definitely has filled the air now. Max's hands are balled up into tight fists and his breaths are rapid and sharp. His mouth is set in a grim line and his eyes are dark with pure hatred. I have to be careful with Max, one wrong word or the slightest elevation of my tone will be enough to set him off. I keep my face bleak and my voice flat as I speak next.
"And this is Max Hunter, one of our best fighters,"
I think Blair can sense the anger or hatred in Max as she makes no move to shake his hand, she doesn't look him in the eye and her body language has shifted entirely, she looks guarded, very guarded; almost like she has done this before.
"It's nice to meet you Max," she says quietly and surprisingly Max doesn't go ape shit crazy like I have been expecting him to do he just nods his head and gives a small grunt of acknowledgement, the cold never leaving his eyes but that's good enough for me.
I usher her towards the centre and stand behind her. I realise how small she is, not even half my height, her chin must only come up to my bicep, how the hell am I, are we, going to be able to train her to fight. I'm starting to think I've bitten off more than I can chew.
"Well guys now that you've met Blair I should probably go inform Eric of our new fighter's arrival and then she will become an official member of the team."
Max snorts at that last part and I give him the 'carry on and see what happens' look, he must know that I'm very serious and looks away with a roll of his eyes.
"Well Blair I hope you have some basic knowledge on fighting cause I don't plan on going easy on you," smirks Damien, he cracks his knuckles loudly and I hide a smile as Kingston mutters "here we go" under his breath.
"I'm a quick learner so I guess we'll find out," she counters quickly. I like her feistiness. And it's all worth it by the crestfallen look on Damien's face.
"I think you might have lost your magical touch," I hear Kingston observe towards Damien with a ghost of a smile.
As I prepare to take Blair to Eric's office I'm about to make my way out the door but a tap on my shoulder forces me to spin around. Kingston is there grinning like a Cheshire cat and I narrow my eyes suspiciously.
"I thought you said she wasn't pretty?" he inquires with a knowing look. My jaw tenses and for some reason a feeling of protectiveness rushes over me.
"I-"
Kingston presses a cold finger to my lips, "she yours, got it." He notes and turns to walk away, leaving me here with my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.
"That's not what I was going to say," I call after him and he walks backwards giving me a shrug then a wink.
"Sure thing Acey boy."
God I could just throttle him right now. Truth is, I had no idea what I was going to say.
♡
Eric was extremely happy and almost did a small dance when I had lead Blair through his office. He asked her a few questions making sure she was definitely okay with being here and she assured him she was. I had never seen Eric so ecstatic in all my life, even after we won a fight he was never this happy, it was almost unnerving.
There are still somethings that need arranging, like where she will sleep, who she will train with first, what jobs she will have around here but all this can be discussed over food tonight.
Right now Blair is going back home to pack her things and should be returning in about an hour. I on the other hand, am beating the crap out of my punching bag. It feels good to have the flesh of my fist connecting with the raw material of the fabric. But with each punch a new image of something I would like to forget pops into my mind.
Pale blue eyes.
Left hook, left hook, jab, jab.
Dark black hair.
Right hook, elbow, elbow, duck.
That fucking smile.
Right hook, upper cut, jab, elbow.
Pale blue eyes.
Jab, jab, jab.
My fists don't stop and just continue hammering the bag, I can't stop, whatever I am feeling is building up too quickly for me to contain it.
"I thought you said she wasn't pretty?"
I lied, I yell in my head, I lied.
And as I punch and kick and pant from exhaustion I do it all whilst drowning in the paleness of my little fighter's eyes.
Sorry for such a long chapter but it needed to be done, this is one of the most important moments of the book.
Why do we think Eric was so happy to have her join?
Do we still like Ace?
Please comment, vote and share.
And as always, happy reading <3