The Bad Boys and the Fighter

11

I'm back!
So, I had major leg reconstruction surgery which would have hospitalized me for a week. Unfortunately there were some complications, so I stayed an extra week. I just recently got off all of the drugs so I'm not all loopy and I didn't want to produce anything that would have been so weird and awful.
I am so, so, so, sorry.
xoxo
Elle
——

Ariel

It was the night Cole was actually going in and I was sick to my stomach, Tyler and Carlos not helping one bit.

Street fighting was incredibly dangerous. You didn't have a mat, you had concrete. You had tape and those smart enough would wear a mouth guard. Your safety was not guaranteed in the ring. Not everyone could hold back someone who's mindset was to win.

People don't know when to stop, and some people do. It's a game of chance.

We were at the gym training the last time, Tanner comforting me.

"He'll do very well," he offered as we watched him punch Snake.

"Seriously, Tanner," I said to him.

"Fine. I'll pair him with someone skinny, and we'll hope for the best."

Later that night, we were sitting in the parking lot.

"You don't have to do this," I reminded Cole, turning to him.

"Yeah. It's just your girlfriend will forever be stronger than you," Tyler told him.

"Don't you have Amber to text?" I asked Tyler.

"You see, Ariel, not many people that have homework and shit are up at midnight preparing for their best friend to go street fighting. Granted, it's not as dangerous as--"

"I dare you to finish that sentence," Jeremiah challenged.

Sighing, I rubbed my temples. "Jeremiah, why don't I sign you and Tyler up? Give him a taste of it."

"I would pay thousands to see that," Carlos said.

I saw Cole tense so I grabbed his cheeks in my palm and pressed our lips together. "It's going to be okay."

He kissed me back passionately, an indication that it was indeed going to be okay.

"Oh!" Diego mused as we walked up to the plastic table where Tanner sat, "you are all out of the car. I was expecting Tyler or Carlos to stay inside."

Tyler flipped him off. "Jeremiah and I are going to have a go."

Tanner looked up at me. "You are expecting me to put these two together?"

"Having an unbiased opinion, could these two fight evenly?" I asked him.

Heaving a heavy sigh, he scribbled on a piece of paper. "You're after Cole's, which is in ten minutes."

The five of us weaved our way to the front were a man was being dragged out of the ring. We watched another fight play out until the announcer walked back up to the microphone. "In the left we have Colosseum!"

Cole looked at me wide eyed as he stepped into the ring. "What the fuck?"

"Marco?" I guessed, wondering who could have come up with such a lame name.

"And in the right we have Ripper!"

A guy somewhat smaller than Cole walked up to the ring, fists in the air. Punch after punch they threw, Cole recovering pretty well after each one, though Ripper was not giving up.

Cole gave one last punch to the boy, knocking him out. He stumbled out of the ring, sporting a black eye and a split lip.

"My ribs hurt like hell," he mumbled into my lips before pressing ours together.

"And now, in the left, we have JC!" The announcer announced.

Jeremiah walked into the left side of the ring, high fiving his adorers.

Tyler cracked his knuckles. "He's going down."

"And in the right, we have Triceratops!"

"Why do they get normal names and I don't?" Cole asked, kissing the top of my head.

I shushed him and watched the fight. Within seconds, Tyler was on the ground, Jeremiah with his forearm over Tyler's collarbone. After six seconds, Jeremiah released him.

Tyler quickly got to his feet and put his hands up. He threw a lunch at Jeremiah that he ducked, Jeremiah throwing another one at Tyler's ribs. Within seconds Tyler was back on the ground and Jeremiah was pressing all of his weight on the boy to prevent him from getting up.

Everyone went to go collect thier money, Cole receiving one grand and Jeremiah only five hundred.

Jeremiah turned to Tyler. "Imagine what just happened in there, except the stakes are different. I really could have killed you."

Cole rolled his eyes and slung his arm around me. "How do you do it?"

"Jeremiah! Di Angelo!" A gruff voice cried.

"Mother. . ." Jeremiah trailed off and looked at me. "How are you doing, Evan?"

Shit was about to hit the fan.

"It's nice to see you, Evan," I said shakily.

He walked towards me and pressed a gun to my chest. Cole reached for his waistband. I took ahold of the barrel and smacked his hand away with such force he let go of the gun. After grabbing a hold of his wrist, I tossed the gun to Jeremiah who took the safety off. Still having a hold on Evan, I pulled him to me.

"What do you want, Evan?" I asked.

"Danny said you knew self defense. He warned me about it. That's why I brought friends.

 Carlos ran into the tunnel and came back a minute later with a dozen guys behind him. All were muscular and scary looking.

"You should know better than to try and assault me on my ground," I sneered.

"Tell your friends to back off and no one gets hurt," Snake said.

"Why would I do that?" Evan questioned as a few guys emerged from the shadows.

"Many police officers take part in street fighting," someone replied. "One scream and they'll come running."

Elijah reached for something in his back pocket. "Elijah Wright. NYPD."

Their eyes bugged out of their head. "Street fighting is illegal," Evan quickly said. "You could become out of a job."

"Go ahead. And while your at it. Turn yourself in. You're a wanted man, Evan Williams. Either way, I'm not screwed and you are. Now, I'm giving you ten seconds before I arrest everyone on your side."

I let go of Evan. "Five seconds."

He grabbed his men and walked away.

"Wait, you're a cop?" Carlos asked. "That's so cool!"

"Few of us are. Sent over here every other night to get intel on people and maybe make a few arrests. Apparently, Jeremiah can smell a cop a mile away," Elijah replied.

"That's so cool!" Tyler cried.

"Thank you," I told everyone gratefully.

They nodded and walked back into the tunnels.

"Ready to go home?" Cole asked.

I nodded. "Very."