Trials Of A Heart | ✔️

29

~Brielle's POV~

Phoenix and I sat down at lunch together with Matias, with me sitting across from the two of them. I had brought my own lunch again, of course, though this time it was leftover pizza that I had had for dinner last night.

I glanced up at them as I cracked open my can of Pepsi that I'd brought, glad that it was still cold because of the ice pack I'd put in my lunchbox. "Bri..." Matias said all of the sudden, making me raise my brows curiously. He was too busy staring at my bunch of food that I'd brought—a bag of grapes, my Pepsi, and three slices of cold cheese pizza. Yeah, I'd brought cold pizza, but it was still good. Cold pizza tasted just as good to me as it did when it was hot. "Yes?" I responded, cocking my head to the side. He glanced up at me and then just stared for a moment before he grinned as wide as the Cheshire Cat. "Your boyfriend told me something interesting earlier..." He said ever so casually. My heart fluttered at the word boyfriend and I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling.

It seemed Phoenix didn't want whatever it was he'd told Matias to be repeated to me because he roughly elbowed him in the side and shot him a glare. Matias only ignored it and grinned wider at me. Obviously, my curiosity was now piqued. "What is it?" I asked, furrowing my brows in wonder. He snickered and got up, leaning over the table towards me so quickly that I almost jerked away in surprise. Managing to stay still, I turned my head as Matias leaned in until his mouth was by my ear, my brows still furrowed in curiosity. "He won another match last night." He spoke in a whisper, so only I could hear him. I frowned as Matias pulled away and winked playfully at me. "Texted me about it and everything, even though it was like, two in the morning. I swear, that idiot brought you up like thirty times in the ten minutes we talked. Figured he wanted to share it with you, but you know how he is. Beast in the ring, but a coward i—oof!" Matias exclaimed when Phoenix shoved him so hard that he fell out of his seat, causing me to gasp. Phoenix glared down at Matias, who scowled back. "What the hell?!" He grunted, gripping the edge of the table as he hoisted himself off the floor.

Worried, I furrowed my brows and looked him over briefly to be sure he wasn't hurt. "Are you okay?" I asked for good measure, and he nodded whereas Phoenix rolled his eyes as he leaned his forearms against the table. "He's fine." He grunted, sounding a little annoyed. I guess he really hadn't wanted me to know.

Huffing, Matias grabbed all his stuff and glanced over at the clock hung on the wall. "Whatever. I need to go, I'm supposed to meet up with someone. See ya." He saluted the two of us as he sauntered off, which just left Phoenix and I alone together.

The silence that rang between the two of us was deafening that I noticed it more than I noticed the chatter of the students from around us at other tables. "Phoenix?" I asked softly, wanting him to speak to me. He seemed upset, and I didn't want him to be upset. His soft brown eyes flicked up to meet mine with a slight frown on his handsome face. "I'm fine, Ellie." He assured me, flashing a tiny smile. If I wasn't mistaken, and I was sure I wasn't, his face appeared a little bit more flushed than when I had just looked at him a few moments ago. "Are you blushing?" I couldn't help but to giggle, biting on my bottom lip as I pieced it all together. He wasn't upset; he was embarrassed, and that was why he was blushing.

However, not wanting to admit it, he just turned his face away so I had a slightly harder time seeing it. "He wasn't supposed to tell you that last part, that douchebag." He grumbled, causing me to grin and reach over, gently grasping his forearm. Our eyes met when he reluctantly looked at me, biting his cheek. "I think it's cute." I admitted, smiling softly. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Cute?" He scoffed, scrunching up his nose like the word was a ridiculous one to use to describe him. "I'd hardly say that cute is the right word for me. Try devastatingly sexy and we'll see how I feel about that one." He said. I giggled and shook my head, smiling like a doofus as I pulled my hand away from him. "Can I ask you something?" I hummed, beginning to eat my cold pizza while he picked at the ginormous plate of spaghetti and meatballs he had. "Anything, any time." He murmured.

"Why do you box?" I asked, feeling incredibly curious. I mean, it was kind of an odd career choice. I didn't understand the appeal of it, at all. It was a violent job, beating people up all the time. "Is it the money? You said it pays really well." I recalled, and he paused, staring at me as he thought intently to himself.

"Kind of, yeah." He murmured, looking down at his plate of spaghetti as he twirled his fork in the noodles. "At first it was just for the money. My dad is the only parent I've got but he works a lot of jobs to keep his house. The money was something I was interested in because I wanted to help him out. That's why I started boxing, but it's certainly not why I still do it. I've got plenty of money now, and my dad has a better job, so I don't need a job that pays as much as it does." He began to explain. I listened intently, continuing to eat my food as I did so.

"But I've been boxing a long time. It didn't take me very long at all before it wasn't only about the money. Maybe about a year, because that's when I started to get really good. I started getting harder opponents and I still never lost. It was fun. Probably around then is when I really started to like boxing." He said, causing me to stare at him. I blinked and a frown formed on my lips. "You like it?" I repeated, almost wanting to cringe at the news. It wasn't necessarily news, I suppose. From the moment he and I had met, I could tell he loved fighting people, but even so, I didn't like it. "But...you beat people up. It's just violent. What is there to like?" I asked, furrowing my brows. I just couldn't fathom why he'd enjoy beating people up.

Phoenix was frowning now, too. "It's fun." He said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, there's rules in boxing, Ellie. It's not like I'm going to kill someone from it." He scoffed, and I flinched at the word. Kill.

I inhaled deeply and pursed my lips, staring down at my open can of Pepsi. "That wasn't a jab at you or anything. I swear, it wasn't." He said, almost like he knew exactly where my thoughts were beginning to head. But I couldn't help it when I thought that. After so long of people talking about what had happened with my parents, I was used to hearing hurtful jabs about them. It was hard to not assume now. "I-I know." I said softly, a little ashamed that I had honestly thought for a second that he would ever say anything like that to me. It was Phoenix, after all, and he had never said anything even remotely hurtful about my parents to me. "I'm sorry." I told him, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I wasn't trying to start any argument. I was just feeling curious."

He smiled at me and the sight made my heart flutter. "I know you weren't." He assured me, stabbing his fork through a meatball before he ate it. We continued to eat the rest of our lunches together, diverting to much lighter topics as we chatted, but my mind still lingered on our conversation.

At least it's not a common thing. He said himself once that he doesn't fight often, anyways.