15. I Missed You, And I Missed It.

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(Ryder's POV)

We tailed her.

We tailed her and that yellow girl.

We tailed them to a bar fight club, and we eavesdropped on the two of them discussing her opponent.

They didn't even know.

Kylie was blissfully unaware, and the yellow girl seemed to be preoccupied with other matters.

Yet, we'd tailed them, and they never realised.

Once there, we hung back. Keith was... He was shocked beyond words. I wasn't, because I had already known. Instagram is a very useful thing for those who use it properly.

And naturally, Keith didn't know how to use it.

Poor guy didn't even know his girlfriend was one of the most loved fighters at this place. I knew, but to save Kylie, I didn't say a thing.

And rightly so, because Keith lost it so badly the garbage can ended up dented beyond recognition and the horde of glass bottles reduced to powder.

Yet, I stayed silent. Opting instead to spend the time looking around. I didn't bother convincing Keith he was wrong to get angry– how could I? He had all the rights in the world to stop trusting Kylie, yet he settled for a temper tantrum.

To say the area around the bar– and the bar itself– was beat-up was an understatement. The surrounding pavements were filthy, and the air outside reeked of rotting beer, and half-evaporated alcohol. Cars were parked bumper to bumper with barely any space for you to even walk past. And the place was dark. No streetlights seemed to be working, and the only source of illumination was the old green and red sign that advertised 'Mitch's Bar'.

Well, all it currently said was 'itch's Bar' because sign had been badly damaged and the 'M' had fallen off.

In a way, this place seemed aesthetically perfect. A broken run-down place, fit for a bunch of broken run-down people. The atmosphere suited the deep sense of hurt sadness that seemed to radiate off everyone who came to the bar.

I turned back to Keith, who still seemed too angry to talk.

"I'm going to find Kylie. Don't bother coming, I'll call if I find her."

Keith looked like he wanted to argue, and I could feel his guilt, so I shook my head.

"You're not doing anything wrong. In fact, you're going out of your way to be right. It's not your fault, let go of the guilt."

Again, Keith's mouth opened and closed like a Koi fish, before his shoulders sagged with relief, and his eyes shone with gratitude.

"I'll stay out here." He told me quietly.

I nodded slightly, to make sure he knew I acknowledged him, and then turned and walked toward the bar.

Where the sound hit me harder than the crowd did.

The inside of the bar wasn't nearly half as bad as it's outside was, and a part of me was tempted to call Keith in right away, but I knew his anger and a large crowd of people were about as soluble as stones and water, so I decided against it.

The small version of a bar was the first thing you saw when you entered the place. Beyond that, clear glass walls showcased a boxing ring and a larger bar and a dance floor stretching into a nearly 100 by 100 foot space. So, telling you this place was huge wouldn't even being to cover it.

Two people ascended into the ring, one dressed in a silver tracksuit, and the other in a black, hooded cloak.

The silver figure had on a pair of predictably silver gloves, and the black hooded figure had pulled on a pair of blood-red ones.

Suddenly, I wanted to watch this match.

As gently as I could, I pushed past the milling crowds until I got to the door that opened into the main bar and the ring.

I found myself packed in-between of hundreds of bodies, some cheering, some silent, but all of them had their eyes glued to the ring.

I pulled my dark-grey hood over my head, and made sure it hid my face properly before gazing up as much as I could to watch the fight.

The silver competitor pulled off his tracksuit– or rather his attendants did it for him– and rolled his shoulders. His lips had a sort of unnatural bluge at the front and I realised that was his mouth guard.

The fighter himself, Silver Wave according to the announcer, was handsome enough. Spiky black hair, and brown eyes, though I couldn't be sure. His face was all bruises and busts but his ruggedness still shone through, and I could tell he was popular among the female masses. And what confirmed my assumptions was the amount of shrill voices chanting his stage name.

The other fighter was yet to reveal themselves, and when they finally did I bit back a gasp.

I mean sure, I knew Kylie was fighting here, but seeing her like this, actually in the ring in gloves and boxing shorts was finally grounding everything I hoped wasn't real.

But, it was. This was actually happening.

The people around me seemed to come alight with renewed strength when the announcer shouted out for a 'Lady K', and all that distance away, in the ring Kylie raised her gloved fists, grinning.

Then, the bell rang, and all was silent.

The fighters circled each other, and the audience held on to every movement. Each step was taken in with utmost respect and admiration, and when the first punch was thrown, the entire crowd tensed.

Kylie dodged.

Again, Wave struck out, again Kylie defended.

Silence.

Back and forth they went, until finally, Wave landed a punch winding Kylie. A road went up from the crowd. Some of it was happy, and the others, outrage.

But then, Kylie caught Wave's eye. Her own burning with determination, and again, Wave went on the attack, a little desperately this time, I noticed. With Kylie defending furiously, finally the Wave's structure crumbled a little.

Kylie didn't miss it.

In a matter of minutes, Wave was on the ground, and Kylie had won.

The crowd roared louder than should have been physically possible, while Kylie's fist was raised in the air, and the moment her arm was dropped, I was on the move.

Five minutes later, I found her being cornered by a man, and for a second I wanted to intervene, but Kylie seemed to have broken his nose before she made a run for it. Unfortunately, she didn't make it very far, and when the man pinned her, and raised his hand against her, he found himself whimpering on the floor while I towered above him.

"Run." I snarled at him, and he did. He scrambled away as fast as he could, while I turned to Kylie.

And as soon as those chocolate brown eyes opened, I felt all my anger and irritation face away. Then, Kylie wrapped her arms around me, mumbling a sorry and further relaxing my head and body.

I hugged back, whispering all sorts of comfort into her hair, while she sobbed.

My only wish being, I'd seen that syringe in time.

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