Trials Of A Heart | ✔️

8

~Phoenix's POV~

I sat by myself in the changing room about an hour before I had to go on for the fight I had today, which was going to be against a guy a few years older than me, one who I could only remember by the name of asshole and nothing more. He and I had crossed paths a few times before and I didn't exactly like him, at all. His ego was far too big, considering he was shit.

As I sat on the couch, thinking of how much I was going to enjoy kicking his ass, I heard a gentle knock on the door. "Come in." I called, knowing that it was probably Brielle. And as I expected, her short, curvy frame slipped into the room almost immediately, gently shutting the door behind her. I sat up and watched her approach me with a plastic in her hand, her long pink hair swaying around her hips. "Here you go. I wasn't sure what foods you like and I don't have your phone number so I couldn't ask you, but I ended up just getting a bunch of turkey sandwiches and a few different bags of chips." She said softly, setting the bag down beside me on the couch.

When I glanced into the bag, my brows shot up, surprised at how many sandwiches she brought. There were at least five sandwiches and three bags of chips. "Goddamn." I said with amusement, looking back up at her. "You certainly made sure to get enough. There's like three stomachs worth of food in here." I teased, causing her face to turn a little bit brighter. She shifted nervously on her feet, clasping her hands together. "Well, you said you eat a lot. I figured it'd be better to get you too much than too little." She told me, causing my lips to twitch.

My eyes followed her movements as she then tied her long hair up on her head, the bun incredibly messy but somehow cute on her nevertheless. From the moment I met her, the two perfect words to describe her were cute and cozy. Like now, she looked warm in her grey sweatpants, cropped white tank top and tiny beige colored cardigan. I wondered for a minute how the hell she could stand to wear that when it wasn't even a week into September yet. It was still hot as fuck.

"Does it look okay?" She asked me when she finished putting her hair up, causing me to bite my lip and nod my head. I didn't want to laugh and make her think she looked bad, because she didn't. "It looks cute." I said honestly, digging into the bag of food to fish out one of the sandwiches. Her soft brown eyes flicked down to my hand and I saw her staring at the sandwich. "Are you hungry?" I asked her, causing her eyes to snap up to mine, seemingly embarrassed at being caught. "O-Oh, no. No, I'm okay." She assured me with a shake of her head, though I didn't buy that for even a second. I rolled my eyes and gestured her to come closer, but she just shook her head and stayed standing there.

Frustrated, I narrowed my eyes at her. "Come sit down, Brielle, or I'll make you." I demanded, and her eyes widened at my threat, which was obviously very empty. Sure, I got paid to beat the shit out of people, but I'd never hurt her. Regardless, she didn't seem to think it was an empty threat because she hurried over and sat down beside me with slight hesitance. I couldn't help but to frown as I looked at her, taking a bite out of my sandwich. "Do you really think that I would do anything to you, Brielle? Do you think I would hurt you?" I asked, frowning. For some reason, it really upset me to think that maybe she saw me as such a lowlife to think I'd hurt her.

"W-Well...I don't....y-you're just very intimidating and I don't know you very well." She stammered. I couldn't help but to notice that she often was like this—walking around with her guard up around everyone. "We might not be close friends or even friends at all yet but I still thought you saw me a little bit better than that." I admitted, narrowing my eyes at her. Had I done something that actually warranted her being uncertain of me?

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "You are just...You fight with strangers, Phoenix, and I can tell you like it. I don't like violence, it's unnecessary and scary and..." She inhaled deeply, my gaze narrowing on her when I noticed her hands trembling slightly. She was really scared of violence. "You seem like you have experienced that." I mentioned, causing her to freeze. Suddenly, she looked flustered and shook her head. "N-Not really." She stuttered, but it was obvious to me that she was lying hardcore, however it wasn't my business. I didn't want to press on it and make her more upset. Even so, I wondered what exactly she had been through that scared her so much.

"I know we're just barely getting to know each other, but I would never lay a finger on you in force or violence, Ellie." I promised,  and she paused, like she was digesting my words. She smiled softly and looked up at me. "Thanks for the tickets, by the way." She said quietly, changing the subject. I didn't mind it, though. I could tell she wanted far away from our previous subject. "No problem. They're seats at the front row, so you won't have to worry about jumping around to see over someone taller than you." I said playfully, earning a cute giggle from her.

"Harmony is really excited to see you fight again later." She mentioned, a smile on her full lips. For the life of me, I couldn't remember this friend of hers but that didn't stop her from telling me about the girl anyway. I hummed, taking another bite of my sandwich. "And you?" I asked. "I bet you're just excited that you can drool over my abs." I said playfully, finding amusement in the way her cheeks never failed to fill with color.

Brielle looked away, biting on her lip. "We've already discussed that I'm not a pervert." She said, huffing. "But...I am kind of excited, yet also nervous. Last time I was here, I barely saw any of the match at all so it wasn't as bad for me.." She admitted, glancing over at me as she fiddled with her sweatpants, picking at the fabric. I scanned my eyes down her face and lingered a little too long on her lips, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'd say I'll take it easy this time but I can't promise that, especially not this time. I'm going up against this cocky asshole." I told her, rolling my eyes at the thought of him. Maybe if it were someone else I'd go a little bit easier, but I wanted to beat this guy up, to put him in his place, so I couldn't promise her any of that.

"You don't like him..?" She asked, frowning. I snorted. "Don't like is putting it mildly. I can't stand the guy, Ellie. Sorry but I'm going to fuck him up." I shrugged, noticing the look of hesitation on her face. I figured I could at least be honest with her, since she seemed to hate violence so deeply. "Okay..." She mumbled, furrowing her brows in thought.

I smiled softly and dug into the plastic bag between us, pulling out a sandwich. "Here." I held it out to her. "You should have one too. I definitely won't be able to eat them all." I said honestly, noticing her gazing down at the burger in my hand with wide eyes. "Thank you." She grinned adorably and took the sandwich, beginning to join me in eating. As we both ate, I couldn't help but to watch her, mesmerized by the way she looked cute even when eating. Brielle was an interesting girl, different from any other women that I had been friends with before. She was shorter yet curvier, her personality a complete one eighty from what I was used to from girls. Many women that I knew were brash and more so hot than cute, more reckless and chaotic than Brielle's soft voice and clear to see innocence. Still, she was nice to be around.

Yeah, I thought as she giggled when I made a stupid joke. She's nice to be around.