Loving the Fighter

50

Jax's POV

As I walk I play with the small toy in my hand, trying to get use to it.

When Andrew got done cleaning up my hands he had pulled out a small basket filled with random stress toys and told me to pick one. After a bit of hesitation he began picking up random things to see what I had to say.

"I feel like I'm going to break that and it's going to explode everywhere," I say after he picks up an odd-looking stress ball.

After me rejecting nearly everything he picked up I could tell Andrew's patience was drying up. I understood why though, he was supposed to leave camp hours ago to go back home. He stayed later than normal before I came along and messed everything up.

With that being said the very next thing he picked up I accepted even though I didn't think it would help at all. To be honest I didn't think any of them were going to help but I was willing to try simply because Andrew was convinced it would.

Now I play with it as I walk back to my cabin.

Andrew had called it a Dimple fidget, which I found was a stupid name for it.

It was only two buttons that pushed back and forth and made a small popping sound.

I counted the pops as I walked to the cabin, trying to keep my hands from shaking too much as I went.

I know Andrew said they wouldn't be mad but what did he know? Callum doesn't even talk to him, Liam can play anyone, and Ryder despises him most days, how is he supposed to know how they will act if he doesn't even know them?

I play with the toy more as I my other hand comes to rest on the door handle. Both hands shake while my heart starts to beat out of my chest. All I can hope for is that I don't slip again.

Andrew left shortly after I did so he won't be here to help if it happens again.

With one last deep breath I open the door, my other hand fiddling with the toy just to keep my nerves busy.

I expected them to be pacing and worried like they were the last time I fought a tree but the scene was much different this time.

Ryder was passed out on his bed, Callum was nowhere to be seen, and Liam was acting like my dad after I snuck out. He sat on his bed, staring at the door. A small glare set in on his face, arms crossed, and for once his mask was gone.

Liam was visibly concerned yet relived that I was here.

I stand in the doorway, half expecting him to kick me out. My eyes focus on anything other than the fact that Liam was glaring at me. My hand continues to play with the toy as I count the pops it makes.

"Well are going to keep standing there or are you going to come in before you catch a cold?" Liam grumbled out, his glare finally dropping from his face.

I step through the door without a word, silently hoping we won't have to talk about what happened.

That hope pops like a bubble when Callum step out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel around his waist and I small glare on his face.

I don't meet his eyes for the first time since I've met him. My eyes stay focused on the floor as I wait for his next move.

The room was silent as Callum walked around me and picked up a random pair of sweatpants. He slipped them on under his towel before turning back to me, his glare still evident.

I had never seen Callum like this before. This whole time he seemed like the only one out of all of us who didn't deserve to be here. He was always too happy, too carefree, too grounded to need a place like this.

After seeing him like this I can see why he's here. This version of Callum was the drug dealer. The guy you didn't want to mess with. The guy that would crack your skull open if you didn't pay him.

I didn't like this version.

"You have about two whole seconds to explain what in the hell just happened before you and I have a real fight and while I can't promise I'll win I can promise that it will be the hardest fight you've ever had."

"Callum," Liam scolds but my head is already feeling swimmy. Just the mention of a fight isn't good right now.

"Let's not talk about fighting right now," I manage out as my play with the stupid toy that I didn't think was going to work.

I'd like to think I would let Callum win. That if he swung at me right now, I would stand still as he hit me. That I would lay on the ground, unmoving as he hit me as hard as he could.

I knew that wouldn't happen though. If Callum so much as raised his fist at me right now, there would be no stopping us until someone pulled us away from each other.

"Let's all just take a deep breath before we wake up Ryder," Liam tries to reason but Callum isn't having it.

"I don't know what in the hell is wrong with you but Ryder is off limits," he said as he glared at me, slowly getting closer and closer to me. He comes so close until we face to face but I'm still looking at the floor. His hand reaches for my chin, I expect him to be harsh but he makes contact with my chin he simply pushes it up until I'm forced to look him in the eyes. "If you ever do anything like this again, I'll do more than just stop you from hitting him."

With his threat hung in the air he lets go of my face and takes a simple step back before looking over to Liam as if to say 'your turn'.

I expect Liam to pick up on the threatening where Callum left off but he only sighs deeply as he gets off the bed.

"This isn't okay anymore," he begins, as he gets closer to me. "We let it slide when you almost hit Boyd when you first got here, we didn't even bring up the fact that you would have killed Abbott if I weren't there, but this is where it ends.

"Ryder means more to us than anything. It's taken us a long time to get him to this point and we aren't about to start over just because you showed up.

"That being said, we're done letting this keep happening."

Liam has now taken Callum's place. He stands closer than Callum but instead of looking up a bit I'm looking down to meet his gaze.

My heart beat out of my chest as tears begin to well up in my eyes. I try to blink them away but I think Liam already notices.

An idea pops into my brain but before I can shoo it away, my body is already acting on it's own.

"I hate to be this way but you don't get to push away anymore. Whether you like it or not-" I don't let him finish his sentence.

My eyes focused on his lips as my head moves closer until mine are on his.

For a second there is nothing. I expect for this to be the part where he pushes me away and tells me to quit being a fag. That possibility hadn't crossed my mind until my lips were on his.

I go to move away to save myself from the embarrassment of being pushed away when his hand catches the back of my head before I can go anywhere.

I had never done this before, with anyone, especially with guy. So I stand there doing nothing, my lips simply pressed against Liam's until his begins to move.

I follow his lead as best as I could, but I'm sure it was actually pretty terrible, until he pulls away. His hand is still on the back of my head, keeping me from going anywhere.

"And to think a threat was all it took," he said with a smirk before leaning in again.