Jacob's P.O.V.
"Don't touch anything" Chresanto demanded, "and don't do anything stupid because I'm not saving you".
"I don't need you to save me" I replied, looking up at the sign on the large building. I looked over the two red boxing gloves and the dog tag that wrapped around them, on the tag were the words The Ring. I walked in behind him, and looked around the place, from what I could tell, it was popular. It was an open floor plan with lots of space, and a few boxing rings off to the side. Everything was sectioned off, one section had exercise equipment, another had fitness mats and punching bags, along with speed bags.
"I don't really expect you to just sit around" Chresanto began, I walked beside him and I didn't know where we were going until we were walking down a small hallway and at the end of it was a door that said 'locker room'. "So there are medicine balls, jump ropes, slam n' ropes, weights, stuff like that. The easy stuff".
"Why do I have to be secluded to the 'easy stuff?'" I asked, walking into the locker room and placing the bag I brought with me onto one of the benches. I opened it and pulled out my shirt and basketball shorts, "are you trying to say that I'm weak?"
"I'm not saying anything" he answered, taking off his shirt, "you just don't seem like the person to do much".
I glared at him, "I may not be as muscular as you, but I can do stuff". I changed into my work out clothes. "Just to let you know".
"We'll see" Chresanto chuckled, "give me your bag".
I passed it to him and he put it in a locker with his own. We walked out together, and the first thing we did was stretch, Chresanto going on and on about not wanting to pull a muscle but I already knew that because I took gym class fucking freshman year, just like he did.
"So what're we doing first?" I asked after stretching.
"We aren't doing anything" he pointed to a ring, "I'm going to spar", he pointed to the weights section, "and you are going to lift weights".
"Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously".
"I'm not going to lift weights for the whole time we're here".
"I know that, there are jump ropes too".
I pushed past him, "fuck you". I walked over to the weights and picked up two that were ten pounds. Maybe I could knock him out with these and I wouldn't have to deal with his sarcastic ass attitude. I lifted weights for a bit, looking around as I did so. There were a lot of guys here, and a few girls, the guys were mostly in the rings and practicing with one another. The girls were either jumping rope or lifting medicine balls.
"Axel?"
I looked over, noticing a girl who wasn't standing too far away. She had long brown hair, but it was pulled up into a bun and these really pretty grey eyes.
"Jacob" I informed, putting the weights back on the rack, "I'm his brother".
"Oh" she uttered, "where's Axel then? I haven't seen him in ages, I thought you were him, I guess everyone else did too because they can't stop sneaking glances at you".
I looked around, finally noticing that, yeah, people were looking at me every so often. Looks of surprise and confusion on their faces. I thought about what the girl had said for a moment before furrowing my eyebrows, she doesn't know.
"Axel's dead" I informed, "he's been for a while now".
"Oh" she seemed surprised, "oh, wow, I'm so sorry. I can't believe he's gone, I just thought him and Chresanto had stopped hanging out and he just never decided to come around anymore".
"He came here with Chres a lot?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that".
"Oh".
"Yeah, he didn't do much around here, just watched Chres and sometimes got in the ring. You could tell it wasn't really his thing though, he just did it because Chresanto did it".
I couldn't see Axel boxing, he could fight like hell, but boxing wasn't him.
"Well I'm Hazel, if you need anything or have any questions about The Ring, feel free to ask".
I nodded, "yeah, okay, thanks".
I stood there for a moment before glancing over to where Chresanto was sparring with a man. I guess he worked here, because he had on a black shirt that had The Ring on the back with two boxing gloves. Chresanto moved smoothly, his feet seeming to glide across the floor as he concentrated on blocking a punch.
I picked up a jump rope and began to jump as I continued to watch him. I enjoyed the way he seemed to be so concentrated. I wondered what it was like for Axel to be here, to watch Chresanto box. What did Axel think of all this? Was he sent off to lift weights and do the 'easy stuff' like I was? How often was he here?
I found myself getting tired of jumping rope, so I moved on to the slam n' ropes. I felt like a little kid as I tried to find things that would keep me occupied. I picked up the two heavy ropes and began to raise my arms in the air and put them back down.
I began to think about Axel and how close him and Chresanto were. I couldn't deny that this was weird, Chresanto hung out with Axel before I knew him. I'd never met him while Axel was alive, they must've spent a lot of time together because Axel was never around before he died. What was Axel like as a friend? What did he talk about and how did he act?
"Hey, are you okay?"
I blinked and glanced to my right, Hazel was standing there. She rose an eyebrow, motioning to the slam n' ropes. "You were doing really good, then you just stopped and looked kind of upset".
"I'm fine" I answered, "I was just thinking".
"Makes sense".
"Yeah, um... What was my brother like when he was here with Chres?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, was he talkative, did he smile? Ya'know, did he seem happy?"
"I wouldn't say happy, but he seemed content most days. It wasn't like he was super excited to be here, but he seemed fine to be. He worked out with Chresanto and they'd joke around a bit, use one of the rings to rough house, and all that. He never looked upset when he was here, this was a fun place for him".
"Oh".
"How come you never came around with them?"
I shrugged a little, thinking up a lie, "I just didn't think I'd like it".
"Same thing Axel thought in the beginning".
Hazel and I talked for a while, I had nothing better to do and she seemed like a nice girl, so why not. She talked about The Ring and how she first met Chresanto here. They sparred a few times together, but other than that, they didn't talk much. I was left by myself when Hazel had to leave, she said that hopefully she'd see me again to which I agreed.
I really wanted to try out the speed bag because it looked fun. I walked up to one that was short enough for me to reach, I began to hit the bag repeatedly, seeing how fast I could go. I personally thought I was doing great, until:
"You're hitting the bag so slow" Chresanto chuckled, "you know it's called a speed bag for a reason, right?"
I rolled my eyes before dropping my arms to my sides. I looked at him, he was sweaty, but he didn't seem to be too out of breath. "Since you seem to know so much about this, why don't you come over and show me how I'm suppose to do it then, Mr. Know-It-All".
"It's not that hard" he said, walking up to me, he stood behind me. He used his feet to gently nudge mine into the right stance, next I felt his chest against my back and his arms reached around until his hands found my own. I let him ball my hands into fists before he dropped his hands to my wrists and gripped them gently.
"Are you right handed or left handed?" He asked.
I stared at his hands, and tried to ignore how close he was actually standing. I could feel him breathing softly on the back of my neck, and I tried to ignore that too. It didn't bother me, it just made me want to shudder and lean back, but I couldn't do that because this was Chresanto I'm talking about. He probably wouldn't react well to it and will probably threaten to punch the hell out of me.
"Jacob? Hello, earth to Jacob".
"Hm?" I hummed, slowly coming out of my thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Which hand is your dominant hand?"
"Right".
"So start with your right".
Chresanto moved my right hand to the bag, then my left, then my right again. It happened so fast, and the I didn't really know what he wanted me to do next because he didn't move my hands. I watched the bag swing forward, coming closer to my face by the second, but it never hit me because Chresanto pulled me back a bit.
"You ever heard of Isaac Newton's first law of motion?" He questioned, "you know, every object in a state of uniform motion tends to stay in motion unless an external force is applied to it?"
I nodded, "what does that have to do with anything?"
"The bag is going to swing back because it's in motion, and your face is going to be the external force if you either don't move, or don't hit it with your fists. So to put it in simpler terms, hit the bag, or the bag will hit you".
"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?" I asked sarcastically, beginning to hit the bag again, this time faster than before.
"Actually no, your face is too nice to get hit with a speed bag".
"Did you just call me cute?" I asked, turning around to face him, but he was gone. I noticed him walking to the locker rooms and I opened my mouth to call out to him, but the door was closing and he wasn't in my line of sight anymore.
Chresanto just basically called me cute.
I walked to the door and pushed it open, "you can't run away from your problems" I said once I walked into the locker room. Chresanto was sitting on the bench, his bag beside him as he searched through it for who knows what.
"I didn't run" he murmured, "I walked".
"You know what I mean" I said quietly, moving to stand in front of him, I leaned back against the lockers. "I think my face is too nice to get hit with a bag too".
"I didn't mean it the way it came out" he replied.
"Then why'd you react the way you did? If it wasn't a big deal, and you didn't mean it, then why'd you just walk away like that? It's okay if you think I'm cute, I think I'm pretty cute too if I'm being honest. I mean, come on, have you seen me? I'm definitely cute".
"Shut up".
"I'm just sayin'".
"I don't like you".
"I never said you did" I answered, shrugging.
I watched him look up from his bag, he glared at me, but there wasn't much anger behind it. He looked more frustrated than anything, like something was bothering him, but he couldn't tell anyone what it was.
"I think you need to go back out there and spar some more because your attitude is still present" I joked, he rolled his eyes at my comment, looking away from me and back to his bag. I wondered what he was looking for, but I wasn't going to ask because well, it really wasn't any of my business. After a while he seemed to just give up and pushed his bag away from him, I took the opportunity to sit down beside him.
We didn't say anything, we just sat there and I kind of liked it because sometimes it was nice to just sit in silence. Then I kind of started thinking though, why did Chresanto kiss me at Jasper's party in the first place? And how come he's like this? Why does he always seem to be in a bad mood?
"So at Jasper's party..." I began slowly, trying to think of what I wanted to say, "when you kissed me, wh-" "Shut up" "why did you do it?"
"I told you that wasn't supposed to happen".
"But it did" I stated, "and it's okay that it did because it's not like I didn't like it, because I did".
"Ray told me that you looked pissed off when you walked back into the house".
"Well, yeah, you kissed me out of nowhere, I was confused and a bit pissed off because I wasn't expecting it, and I was mad that I liked it because you're you and you have a horrible ass attitude".
"I'm trying to fix that" he mumbled, glaring at the rows of lockers that were in front of us.
"Well, you're not doing a very good job" I commented, I poked his cheek with my finger, "fix your face".
He ignored me and continued to stare at the lockers like they had seriously done something wrong to him. This kid, I swear.
"Fix your fucking face" I ordered, I turned my body so I was facing him. We stayed like that for a bit, him glaring away and me waiting for him to stop. He glanced at me and I poked my tongue out at him, like he had done when we were playing football that day. I was pleased to see the corner of his lips raise up a bit in a half smile, then a full on laugh.
It was the first time I'd ever heard him laugh and God, it was nothing like his personality. Absolutely far from it. Chresanto had one of those laughs that was deep, but at the same time bubbly. It was strong and held a lot of emotion to it because I assume he didn't laugh often. I bet it was rare, for him to laugh, but I really liked it, to the point where I wanted to hear it all the time.
"Your laugh is the complete opposite of who you are" I said fondly, smiling a bit.
Chresanto's laughter died down to quiet chuckles, then it disappeared all together. I looked at him, wondering how the hell he could laugh like that, then go back to being... Him; all negative and upset.
"You should smile more" I stated, "it looks good on you".
"I'll take it into consideration" he replied plainly, "but it probably won't happen".
"Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't answer my question about why you kissed me" I began, "I still want to know, and don't blame it on being drunk because you didn't have one drop of alcohol".
"I don't know why I did it, but I'm not going to do it again".
"Okay" I replied, before leaning forward and kissing him myself. He didn't say anything about me kissing him, and I could do whatever the hell I saw fit. Chresanto grunted, pulling back to look at me.
"I should make you walk home" he stated.
"You won't do it though".
"Says you, I don't care if you get home safe or not, you're not my responsibility".
"My mom would be so disappointed in you, you said you'd make sure I'd stay safe while we're out".
He stared at me for a moment, "well, besides making you walk home, do you feel safe?"
I nodded, humming a bit as I went to kiss him again, this time he didn't pull away like I expected him to. Instead, he let me kiss him and it was like the first time we kissed, slow and gentle. I liked the way his lip piercing felt against my skin, it made me shudder and lean into him more. I felt a hand on the small of my back, and despite thinking that maybe we should stop kissing, I moved closer because it just felt right. Kissing Chresanto felt right.
"I feel safe around you" I breathed, resting my forehead against Chresanto's as we caught our breath for a minute. I ran my tongue across my lips, watching him do the same. "I mean, how could I not? I saw you pull out a gun on me, which should actually make me not feel safe around you, but still".
"You can't talk about that" Chresanto replied, voice low as if he were telling me a secret. "Okay?"
"Okay".
Chres was the one to initiate the kiss the third time around. I let his tongue slip into my mouth and God, I really shouldn't like this as much as I do, honestly. My hand rest comfortably on his knee, before moving up a bit, my fingers gently brushing against the skin underneath his basketball shorts. I felt his hand over mine, halting the gesture.
"You're going to make me hard" he grumbled, "and I don't... I'm not ready for us to do anything like that".
"Was this a mistake?" I asked, leaning back to look at him.
"Was what a mistake?"
"Kissing me for a second time, you said the first time was a mistake. So is this one the same as the first, is this a mistake too?"
I wasn't expecting an immediate answer, so it didn't bother me none when Chresanto just stared at me, his eyebrows a bit furrowed as he thought to himself. He shook his head a little and spoke the words:
"I don't know".