Knock Out

Hotel

Maeve

"YES!!" Jacob and Liam run over to Walker.

They get in a circle and jump up and down.

"FIGHT NIGHT! FIGHT NIGHT!" they chant.

I smile, watching the bond Walker has with his students.

We've been friends for a whole month now! It's crazy!

... and relieving.

Walker is literally my best friend. Of course I love Caden and Gray as well! But I've grown the most attached and closest to Walker.

He's an amazing friend and listener.

"Are ready do?" Caden attempts to sign. "Did I get it? Are you ready?" he asks. I chuckle, twisting my hand side to side indicating that he's getting there. "That's good at least." he laughs, ruffling my hair before walking past me.

"Is Maeve coming with us?" Liam asks, looking at me then Walker with a smile on his smile.

"Yeah!" Walker exclaims.

"YES!" Jacob and Liam shoot up in excitement, making me feel ten times better about myself.

I must say, I've grown pretty attached to his students as well!

Liam and Jacob are sweet kids along with the others.

Liam is sixteen and Jacob is fifteen.

Good bunch.

"Come on!" Jaxson, Walkers dad, urges us to the mini bus.

We all run, picking and choosing our seats.

Liam and Jacob though are being taken up there with their parents, so they didn't go in the van with us.

It's a three hour drive, but it's also a two day event so  we just got a hotel up there.

Mom and Ellie, Walkers mom, are actually good friends now!

Mom also loves the boys so she was comfortable with me going to stay up in a hotel with them.

We've all gotten extremely close the past month.

Walker pulls out his phone, panning the van to get all of us in the video.

Once it gets to me, I share a smile and wave.

"ROADTRIPP!" Caden hollers.

"WOOHOO!"

An hour goes by of just playing games, whether it be on our phone or actual cards.

I'm actually having a blast.

Let me tell you the hotel situation, the boys and I have our own hotel room.

That's all they could do and I told them that's okay, that I trust them. Plus it's not the first time we've been on vacation together.

I look up at Walker and he smiles. Without thinking, I rest my head on his arm, closing my eyes.

I'm so tired.

I was up all night stressing about what to wear to bed.

But in the end, these boys are so trust worthy and honestly, I feel myself wanting to talk again.

Walker wraps his arm around me, causing me to fall into a good little sleep.

**

"There's two beds." Caden puts his bags on a bed.

"We'll have to share." Gray looks at us back and forth.

"I'll take the floor so Mae can have the bed." Walker ruffles my hair before walking to the kitchen.

I shake my head and snap my fingers to grab his attention. "No, don't sleep on the floor! We can share a bed."

He tilts his head. "You sure?"

I nod with a smile.

"Oooo." Caden and Gray coo.

We roll our eyes.

"I brought my slime!!" Caden pulls out a little container from his backpack. We all look at him. "What? Don't wanna play with my slime?"

"Never say it like that again." Gray looks at him with a straight face.

Walker shrugs and walks over. "I haven't played with slime since like middle school."

Caden hands him the container. "Go ham!"

Walker pokes his fingers in and out to make the clicking noise. "I practice this motion a lot." he says, causing the boys to laugh. "No just kidding, I'm a virgin."

I look at him and the boys chuckle. "We all are." they say in unison.

Gray looks at me. "You, Maeve?"

My heart immediately shatters, so I quickly excuse myself outside of the hotel room to break down into tears.

I don't know why hearing that made me feel sick.

Brought back so many flashbacks.

Flashbacks that hurt.

"Hey." Walker walks out, sitting down next to me. "You know." he puts his arms around his knees. "You still have your innocence." he begins, causing my heart to flutter. "You didn't consent. You didn't ask for it. You have your innocence, baby." he turns to me and I instantly hug him, sobbing into his shoulder. "You're my best friend! You're so fucking strong and I'm proud of all you've become. You have come so far. I didn't tell the boys any of that, so Gray didn't intend to ask that. I'm so sorry."

I pull back. "Why can't I just be normal?"

He smiles and wipes my upcoming tear. "You are normal, lovely. You just had a rough patch and that's okay, it doesn't define you! I've become so close to you this past month and I've seen a dramatic change. You're a great person."

"Thank you." I sadly smile.

"Of course! I'm here anytime for you, Mae. You know that." he rubs my arm. "I'm about to go settle everything and then go catch out the gym with my kids. You wanna come?"

I excitedly nod. "I'd love to!"

"Okay cool! Let's go get ready!" he stands up and puts his hand out for me to grab.

I smile and use his hand to help me up.

We walk back into the hotel room and Gray walks over to me. "Hey... I'm sorry that what I said upset you, I promise you it wasn't my intention."

I shake my head. "It's okay, you didn't know." I sign.

He smiles. "Best friends?" he puts his pinky out. I smile and nod, locking pinky's with him.

We all settle our things and meet up with Liam and Jacob in the middle of the hall.

Walker drives us over and we just have a fun time blasting music.

It's so weird... having friends.

Having fun.

I love it.

I really do.