The Marx Brothers

Chapter Thirty Three - 'Sort it out'

I sat on my chair at the edge of the room, watching on as the boys fought against each other. Since moving to my spot, it seemed Phoenix had picked up his game, but barely.

Jett was growing extremely agitated and impatient, which were two traits in him that I had only ever seen when it came to his brother and his fighting.

I was relieved when finally after two hours, Jett had called a break into play. It was nearing 2 in the afternoon and I was concerned about the amount of time we had left, paired with the weakness Phoenix was showing.

"You're going to get your ass kicked tomorrow Phoenix" Jett pointed to his brother, panting as he undressed his fists.

Phoenix himself looked annoyed, rubbing the back of his neck, bruising already appearing on his abdomen and face. He was going to be sore the night of the fight, the odds were stacking against him.

I tried to keep my eyes away from Phoenix, I didn't want to believe that I had something to do with his sudden poor performance. If I did, I was going to keep my distance at all costs.

"All jokes set aside" Nova stood beside me, wiping his forehead of perspiration due to switching in for Jett like a tag team "Whatever is going on between you two, it needs to be sorted out before the fight" He shook his head

I crossed my arms over my chest, listening to him carefully

"Jett isn't lying when he says he's going to get his ass beat. His head isn't in the game, he's distracted and is refusing to concentrate"

"I don't..." I began. I didn't understand.

We had only shared a moment of passion, kissing. Why would that distract him in such a large way? It hadn't seemed to ever affect his fighting skills after sleeping with other women, so what did a little kissing do?

"Nothing happened, so I don't really understand" I half lied

Nova wasn't buying it as he knelled beside me, bringing our heads level with his eyebrow quirked

"I haven't ever seen Phoenix this bad before, until he met you. No matter what happened in his life, he fought the same, or better, never worse. And then you came along"

"That isn't really comforting Nova" I snapped "What am I supposed to do?"

He shrugged, watching me "Who were you talking to on the phone?"

I looked at him, unsure of where he was going

"It was Penny"

He raised his eyebrows, seeing through the lie easily

I groaned and rolled my eyes "Again, what do you want me to do Nova?"

He sighed "Sort it out Eden"

I shook my head "Sort it out?"

He nodded, ignoring my question

"I just can't wait until this is all over" I grumbled, leaning back

"How are you feeling?" His tone changed

I shrugged "Physically, mentally, spiritually?"

"All of the above" He narrowed

"Exhausted, confused" I described

"Tomorrow morning, what are your plans?"

"I have a doctors appointment at midday, that's all"

"Is Phoenix going with you?"

I shook my head "No, I mean, we never really spoke about it"

"I'll swing by and pick you up sometime in the morning, I'll take you to the doctors and then we can head out and smash some burgers for lunch. We can talk all this out and get you out of this mayhem for a bit" He told me