Fighting For Life (published)

Suffocating

Aubry's POV-

I finally made my way up to the gym and sat down by the door, waiting on Aiden to show up. I was where we always met up before a fight. He'd help me warm up, ice my barely healing ribs, and then Bandon usually was the one that would drive us to The Underground.

My stomach growled a little loudly and I didn't quite understand why. I mean, sure, I left in the middle of dinner, but I still had quite a bit to eat. It was much more than I usually had, so I didn't really get what the issue was... My stomach felt at least half full, which was better than the hunger pains that I had gotten pretty used to.

All three of the boys showed up not too much later in Tom's car. Aiden made is way to the door and unlocked it for me. He didn't utter a single word. I returned the favor and stayed silent as I walked in and got myself ready.

I changed into some sweat pants and a black tank top. Brandon helped me ice my ribs and we all sat there in awkward silence for twenty minutes. After my ribs were iced, I went directly to the punching bag and started with some warm up punches.

Aiden still hadn't said a single word to me. It was making me on edge. I did nothing but spoke the truth at the dinner...

Brandon was the one who told me who I was fighting and what he was like on the way to the gym. Not Aiden the way it usually played out. I glanced at Aiden who was staring out the window intently, not interested in our conversation at all. I truly did understand what his issue was... He had no right to be mad... I didn't say anything that was bad, just the truth. That had constantly gotten me in trouble, though. I was too honest for my own good sometimes.

The whole rest of the car ride was silent and tension filled. When we finally made it to The Underground, I rushed out of the car quickly. I took in a deep breath of air, it severely hurt my ribs, but it helped refocus my mind on my task... I had to win.

The boys stayed in the car much longer than I had expected, so I left them behind and rushed inside. I went right for the bar, I needed a damn drink! Everything was making me anxious.

"Hey Aubry! Drink?" Jace greeted. I nodded at once and he poured me a few shots of whiskey.

I took them quickly and felt my muscles relaxing me accordingly. I was too high strung for my own good, I was glad that alcohol affected me so. I sighed deeply letting the pain from my ribs radiate through me. Focus, I needed to focus. I was there to fight, not to worry about some stupid messed up boy with anger problems.

"Aubry, are you okay?" Jace asked over the music and crowd.

I nodded in silence and shoved my shot glasses towards him. He gave me a questioning look, but he still filled the glasses up and gave them back.

"Good luck on the fight tonight." He then turned around to tend to other customers, leaving me alone with only my thoughts.

The one thing that wasn't making me anxious that night, was the fight. I knew that I could beat him. I had seen the dude fight the weekend before... He had a good punch, but his footwork was atrocious and he was quite slow.

I was ready for him. I was already angry and I wanted to hit a few things... namely, Aiden. However, I knew that wasn't really an option so I was ready to hit whoever I could.

I looked around the big space and my eyes instinctively landed on Aiden. I gritted my teeth together violently when I saw that he was standing with Crystal across the room. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled herself very close to him. He had his arm draped across her lower back and wasn't pushing her away. That made me inexplicably mad. I wasn't even sure why, but it also didn't matter... I just let that fuel my rage.