closer

molly

THIRD PERSON POV

"How long do we fight for?" Molly asked, eyeing Willow as she peeled off her jacket, revealing her black cropped top that showed a small amount of her cleavage and caused a few of the boys to immaturely wolf-whistle. Eric shot them a nasty glare, evidently shutting them up.

"Until one of you can't continue" Eric spat, watching Molly's lips twitch upwards into a smirk while Willow seemed nervous. "Or until one of you concedes" Four butted in, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave Eric a disapproving look.

"According to the old rules. New rules, no one concedes" Eric quipped, not giving the instructor a second glance. His eyes were fixated on Willow.

"Luckily those weren't the rules when we fought" Four muttered, taking a silent jab at his superior which clearly worked. Eric's nostrils flared as he stepped forward, propping his leg up on the mat. "You'll be scored on this so fight hard" he stated, ignoring Four.

Willow's attention shifted from Eric to Molly, lowering herself into her fighting stance. The two girls circled the mat, Willow's eyes never leaving Molly. Not even for a second whereas Molly kept glancing back at the men that watched her, all betting on her to win the fight. As Molly aggressively advanced towards her, Willow moved back. When she felt her feet hit the edge of the mat, she ducked forwards and wrapped her arms around Molly's waist. She attempted to lift the larger girl but was much too weak, settling on a chain of fast jabs to her abdomen. She had delivered at least five before Molly yanked her ponytail and pulled her head back, clocking her directly in the nose before throwing her to the ground.

Willow hissed in pain, gently touching her nose only to pull her fingers back and see a few droplets of blood on them. She looked up just in time to see Molly's foot directly above her head and thanks to her quick reaction time, she managed to catch her foot before it connected with her face. Her nails dug into the bigger girl's foot as she twisted her ankle in mid-air and watched her drop to the floor. Willow attempted to climb on top of Molly while she was down but the larger girl threw her leg out at the last second. It connected with Willow's left side and sent her flying down on her back, groaning out in pain.

Molly climbed on top of her, landing one blow to the side of her head before Willow began to block her movements with her forearms. As she lay there on the floor, her eyes moved to the side where her friends were looking at her with pity. They didn't know how she was going to recover. As her eyes landed on Al, she remembered a move she had pulled earlier with him that might have been useful in this situation.

*FLASHBACK, WILLOW'S POV*

He raised me into the air and slammed me down onto the floor, effectively knocking the wind out of me. His hand wrapped around my throat, not enough to hurt me but enough to pin me to the floor as he straddled my waist. "Do you concede?" he asked, licking his bottom lip.

"Not even a little bit" I responded, raising my legs towards his head and wrapping them around his head. I tightened my calf muscles and pushed him off of me using all of my lower body strength. He was now on his back, his head just underneath my kneecaps as I sat on his chest and grabbed his wrists with my hands, holding them above his head. "Not even going to fight back?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as I applied more pressure to his wrists. "I'm enjoying myself," he remarked as a boyish smile appeared on his face that made me crinkle my nose in disgust.

"Boys" I sighed, rolling my eyes as I climbed off of him and stood up.

*FLASHBACK OVER, BACK TO THIRD PERSON*

She swiftly raised her legs around Molly's body and brought them in front of her chest, her calves now resting on the bigger girl's shoulders. Once she was in that position, Willow pushed down with all the strength in her lower body which forced Molly onto the ground with her head stuck between Willow's thighs. After this movement, her friends began cheering, not expecting her to be able to escape that position with Molly and regain control of the fight.

Willow moved her legs down to her side and straddled Molly, delivering a series of quick jabs to her head. After about seven or eight hits, Molly was practically incoherent. Willow lifted her eyes off of Molly, looking up at Eric with hesitance in her eyes to which he only nodded.

He was impressed.

Everyone was impressed.

Willow may not have been as strong or big as Molly but, she knew how to tire her out. She was small and quick, making it easier for her to escape any position Molly tried to put her in. Not unharmed but, this was only her first official fight. Eric couldn't tear his eyes from Willow as she delivered the final blow to Molly and hopped off of the mat into, straight into her friend's arms. Everyone was congratulating her. She had dried blood beneath her chin and above her upper lip. Her hair was frizzy and her knuckles were splitting open but, he thought she never looked more beautiful.

"First round winner is, Willow" Four called out before instructing Peter and Drew to bring Molly's barely conscious body to the infirmary.

Al had a damp paper towel in his hand, wiping off the dried blood on her face as Christina and Tris continued to gush about her incredible performance. Eric's eyes moved to Al's hands. How one hand gently cupped her cheek and the other wiped the last few bits of dried blood from her chin.

"First jumper" Eric called out.

WILLOW'S POV

"Yes sir?" I asked nervously, tucking my hands behind my back as I stood before Eric.

He clenched his jaw, visibly tensing up as I spoke before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at me. I squirmed underneath his intense gaze.

"I just try to mimic what everyone else is doing and go with my instincts" I admitted, my voice soft as I tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear.

He stared at me for a moment as if he were contemplating my words.

"You need to get more muscle mass, then you'll be a real threat. Hold out your hands" he stated, pulling out a roll of white tape from his pocket. I complied, holding my hands out with my palms facing down as his eyes began to scan my knuckles. They had small bruises decorating them and a few parts of the tight skin were beginning to tear. In complete silence he began to wrap my knuckles, his touch was gentle and kind. It was very different from the man I knew him to be.

"Thank you" I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper as he finished up. Without a second glance, he scoffed and walked off, shaking his head at me.

Was I not supposed to thank him?

If this were a cartoon, there would've been a large question mark above my head as I watched him stalk off. It seemed like there was something else he wanted to say to me but at the last minute, he decided not to.

"Do your best to ignore him, that's what I do" a voice from behind me advised.

"You're not an initiate" I responded, giving Four a pointed look to which he only shrugged. He dismissed us from training for the day and as he noticed my friends waiting for me by the door, he stepped closer. "Meet me in the Pit while everyone else is eating dinner, we have some catching up to do" he said in a hushed tone before turning and walking off in the same direction Eric did.