014 - The kiss

I had avoided Mitch all night, and so far I was succeeding. Women were fighting today, so everyone was blood hungry. So, I made sure to stay back, just in case someone thought I looked provocative to them.

I knew the drill all too well. I stayed out of the way till Francesca was up. Everyone was there, except West. He was being released in the morning, so he missed tonight.

"Come on, Fran. I know you can do it" I whispered under my breath. Celina beckoned me over, so I came. "Bandage her hands, I'm fucking shaking" Celina cursed as I looked at her hands.

"Just take a deep breath" I told both of them. Fran smiled as I bandaged her hands perfectly. "Give them hell, Fran. Don't give me a repeat of last night, my heart can't take it" I begged her.

"Don't worry. I got you" Fran said and winked. Celina clapped her on the back as she turned on her heel to face her opponent. I hadn't seen her before, but she seemed like she was going to claw Fran's eyes out before she would tap out.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as the fight started, Fran was fast and hit hard. She was on a roll when suddenly her opponent grabbed Fran's leg as she was about to deliver a kick–she held onto Fran's leg and hit her repeatedly in the stomach.

"Give her hell, Fran! Come on!" I shouted along with everyone else. "Finish the bitch!" Celina shouted, she shouldn't have because some of Fran's opponent's reacted to her words.

They split up and went both ways around the ring, I cursed under my breath as they had their eyes on both Celina and I. "Fuck–if we run, will we make it?" I ask her as we back up against each other.

"Nope" She retorted, popping her p. "Alright, let's not fight. We're all here to watch, we were just cheering her on" I said and held my hands up in surrender.

"We are here to fight and I want to fight you" One of them retorted, she looked at me and I clenched my jaw. "I can't" I said, laying out the cards.

"One, two–three" Celina counted with her fingers, I watched them and on three she charged forward, I repeated helplessly what she did.

I slammed my shoulder into the girl's abdomen, both girls were pushed back to Fran's opponent, both Celina and I stood on each side of Fran.

"What's going on?" Fran called out as she kept her eyes on her opponent. "I'm never coming here again, I swear to god!!" I shouted angrily.

"Nick! Cel, get the fuck out!" Oliver and North shouted. We had no choice. I glanced to the side and saw Mitch watching me. Of course, he was.

I pulled off my jacket and Celina repeated and threw it aside. "Come on! Let's finish this" Celina shouted, the opponents charged at us, but as mine did, I got a good grip on her collar and slammed her backwards into the ground.

She gasped for air as I kneeled on the ground. "Tap out!" I shouted at her. She tapped out instantly and rolled off to the side. I didn't have any time to react when an arm wrapped around my throat.

I didn't panic, I only stood up without trouble, the girl looked at me in horror. Fran and Celina were working on Fran's opponent, which left me alone.

I slammed my elbow into her chest, weakening her as all the air in her lungs was forced out of her. Her back collided with the floor and she rolled out of the circle.

I came up from behind Fran's opponent, I slammed my arm into her collar bones and forced her back as she held Fran in a headlock.

I hit her on repeat till she tapped out. Fran pulled me back by my shirt as blood splattered everywhere. "Fuck!" I hissed.

I yanked myself out of Fran's hold and shoved her away. I looked at the three fighters and shook my head, I backed out and grabbed my jacket.

I ran up the stairs to get out of this cursed building. I had to get the fuck out of here. Tears brimmed in my eyes as I tried to hold it together till I was outside.

My parents would kill me. They would see my knuckles, they would know. I'm done.

"Nick! Wait–" A voice called out, I looked over my shoulder and saw Oliver. I shook my head no and he stopped in his tracks.

Mitch moved past him and he pushed me into a broken wall, to stop me from running from him again. Like I had done the entire night. He knew.

'Stop running' He signed. "I need to get out of here, you don't understand. My parents– when they see, I'm done. We'll move again–" I rambled between sobs.

He looked at me with worry when I mentioned us moving again. I could see he didn't want that. 'Let's get you out of here' He signed, he took my hand in his and pulled me after him.

I let him, I got into his McLaren and he raced out of the parking lot without warning. A text suddenly flashed across the screen in the car.

Marcus Torres:
I saw what happened last night. Is West okay?

I narrowed my eyes and worked on wiping my tears away as I buckled in, he was already racing down the street.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I spent all night trying to escape you" I muttered. Mitch looked my way and a frown was on his face.

'Why' He signed with one hand. "I guess the kiss freaked me out. I didn't come here to create problems. I came here to escape problems" I said.

'Explain' he signed and looked at me. I sighed and bit my lip. "Melanie. I don't need trouble at school, my parents are breathing down my back at all times. One more problem and we move from here again" I said.

'What does Melanie have to do with us kissing?' He signed, one hand at the steering wheel and the other signing. "She's crazy about you, she threatened me. More than once. Apparently she's jealous" I said with a sigh.

'Fuck her' Mitch signed, I chuckled and tilted my head. "Where are we going?" I ask him. He didn't answer, I let him be and enjoyed the comfortable silence.

After a few minutes, we pulled up at Mitch's house–aka the castle. I turned to him with a glare on my face and I crossed my arms.

'Calm down. It's just us' He signed with an eyeroll. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "I don't think this is a good idea" I said, keeping my ground.

'Why?' He signed. "What happened the last two times I've been here? It never ends well" I scoffed a little.

'Come on, trust me' He signed and got out of his car. "Trust me, you say? I don't know you" I scoffed as I followed him. He gave me a sharp look and glared at me in return.

'You know enough about me to trust me' He signed with a clenched jaw. "Nah, I don't know anything but your full name and that you're a fitness junkie and underground fighter" I listed and crossed my arms once again.

'You know more than that, come on. I think it's better than going home, right now' He signed and the asshole was right. I couldn't go home with torn knuckles. I groaned in defeat and followed Mitch as he walked up the stairs to his mansion.

He unlocked the door and let me walk in first. He guided me to his bedroom and we settled on his couch and he cleaned my knuckles, he got rid of the torn skin and blood and cleaned them up nicely.

'You know how to punch' He signed with surprise on his face. I kept quiet, I didn't want to spoil anything. He couldn't know.