Set My Heart Ablaze | Warren X Layla [Sky High]

Ready Fighter One

A/N: in this chapter, Layla has to go up against her crush in a P.E. battle. What she wasn't counting on was her partner's competitiveness getting in the way.

"Alright, class," Coach Boomer said, tapping his clipboard. "Today we're going to be splitting up into pairs and racing through this obstacle course maze."

The entire gymnasium had been set up like a maze, with passageways full of booby traps, vaults, ledges, ropes and ball pits (they had to ban spikes). 

Layla felt cold sweat drip down the side of her head. Will was right next to her, and as usual, he wasn't paying attention to her. He was babbling away to another classmate sitting in front of them.

Meanwhile, Warren sat to her right on the other side, eyeing her carefully and noticed the slight changes on her face as she was contemplating whether or not to ask Will to be her partner. He could tell she never got the courage to be direct before. And now that they were 'dating', asking Will would make it awkward.

"Hey, aren't you gonna ask him to be your partner?" He asked.

Layla faced him, eyes wide with surprise. "I...I mean, yeah, I'd like to. But I don't want to be too clingy."

Warren nodded. "Sure. But you wouldn't want to have to face off against him either, do you?"

"Well-"

"Will Stronghold and Warren Peace! Upfront and centre! Choose your teammate and prepare for the challenge!" Coach Boomer bellowed.

The quiet mumble rolled through the class. Those two were paired together so often that it was uncanny, and it was always a good source of free entertainment and drama whenever they had a showdown.

Layla felt her heart sink when Will turned around and asked another guy, Brian, to be his partner. Brian gave him a fistbump and they started gearing up. He was a good choice too, what with being able to stick to all sorts of surfaces and all.

All the while Warren could see the faltering look in Layla's eyes. He couldn't help but pity her, wishing he could punch Will in the face for being so blind. It certainly gave him a distasteful feeling in his chest seeing her look so helpless.

"Hey, Layla, will you be on my team?" He reached out his hand.

The whole class shuffled and whispered amongst themselves with secretive smiles as Layla stared at Warren's open hand. All she could do was sit there in stunned silence.

Seeing her discomfort, he said in a low voice, "Come on, Layla, you don't have to be scared. To them, we're already dating. Trust me."

Layla looked up to meet his gaze, and she could tell there was genuine sincerity behind his gaze. 

"Okay..." she said, gently taking his hand and standing up. His hand felt warm and his finger wrapped around hers softly.

Everyone stared intensely as Warren led her down the steps and they put on the safety gear. this was making up to be an interesting match, even more so than usual.

Will heard the commotion and watched them with a bitter feeling building up inside him. He couldn't stand the thought of his best friend with his archnemesis. Brian stood beside him and was about to ask about it before opting not to get involved.

"Fighters to your start positions!" Coach Boomer called from his high chair. "Fighter One has a red band on their shoulder and Fighter Two has a Blue band. You'll start from different entry points and your goal is to find your teammate and capture the flag in the middle of the stadium."

Remember class: a hero never leaves their teammates behind, and they must work together to overcome obstacles. No point in winning if everyone else on your team loses."

Layla looked at her and Warren's shoulders, her band was blue and his band was red. She looked over at their opponents, and she wasn't surprised when Will's band was red while Brian's was blue.

"Hey," Warren said. "It'll be alright. We can do this."

She gave a tiny smile. "Okay."

Layla could feel her heart pounding as she stood at her starting point. She had to get through the obstacle course and find Warren so they could get the flag, but what if she ran into Will or Brian? Would she have to fight them? That was the last thing she wanted.

The starting horn blared and off they went, ducking and dodging their way through the maze. Layla squealed as she jumped down from the rock climbing wall onto a high platform over a pit.

As she looked up, she could see Brian climbing on the walls to get past her left. A feeling of panic swept over her as she grabbed hold of the rope, meaning to swing over but was frozen in place.

"I can't do this..." She whimpered. Physical activity was not her expertise, and there were no plants around for her to manipulate.

"Layla!"

A clear voice called to her. She looked ahead to see Warren on the other side of the pit, waving at her to swing over to him.

Layla grasped the rope in her hands and shook her head. "I can't do it! Just get to the flag!"

Warren reached out his arms. "Layla, you'll be fine! You can do it! Just swing over, and I'll catch you, okay?"

"Promise you won't let me fall," Layla said, her knuckles tightening.

"I promise you won't," Warren reassured her. "You got this!"

With a deep breath, she pushed off the platform and swung over to the other side, expecting to slip and fall at any moment.

Just as her sweaty hands were about to loosen their grip, she felt solid ground beneath her feet and a pair of arms wrapping around her.

Layla let the rope fall as she reached up to hold Warren. He was strong, and the veins in his arms were visible, yet he held her as gently as one might hold precious jewels.

His eyes widened in surprise when Layla hugged him back even tighter. They stayed like that for a few moments. Her heart pounded in her chest as she breathed heavily, inhaling his scent.

Just then, Will happened to be passing by when he saw their embrace. Something inside him hurt, seeing his best friend hugging his archnemesis like that. He didn't like the feeling. Whenever Layla got scared before, she'd hug Will for comfort, not Warren.

"Will, let's go!" Brian called to him. "We gotta get to the flag!"

Will snapped out of his trance and followed Brian to the centre of the maze, trying to forget about the scene he had just seen.

As Will and Brian ran past, Warren and Layla finally broke apart. 

They stared into each other's eyes, with unspoken words passing between them as they slowly stepped back. 

"Warren, I'm...I'm sorry. We agreed on no intimate contact, and that was definitely more than 5 seconds."

He sighed. "It's fine. I'll let this one slide. You looked like you needed some help."

They were about to go on and finish the obstacle when the horn blared.

"Winners: Will and Brian!" Coach Boomer announced. "Fighters return to home base!"

Warren and Layla had lost, and they walked back to the bleachers in awkward silence.

Everyone gathered around to congratulate Will and Brian on winning the game, but all their praise fell on deaf ears as Will's focus wasn't on his victory, but on Warren and Layla.

Seeing the couple together, Will couldn't help but feel like he was the real loser here.