Brightside

14 | rooms on fire

You're going to rock it today! Wish I could've been there. Make sure you explore the city and actually have some fun while you're there, okay? Tell me all about it when you're back home – we should have dinner or something.

It was weird, being in New Orleans. Eddie had only been once before and it was for one of Rush's fights. Rush had to stay in San Francisco for promotion for his fight against Bo, but the text was nice. Even if he had never missed a fight of hers before. It was fine. Everything was fine.

wish you were here, Eddie wrote. Because it was true. Because Rush should've been there and she wanted him to be there. Because Rush was her brother. Between rounds she could look past Coach and Rush would be there, yelling louder than anyone else. How was she supposed to fight if she didn't have him there?

Rush sent Eddie a picture of his TV. Commentators onscreen in their stupid suits, the ring behind them. Laki sat in front of the TV on the floor, head tilted up like he wasn't ever going to look away. Gaze glued. A beer glass sat in front of him on the coffee table. I'm there in spirit. You've got this.

A couple notes of a whistle pulled Eddie out of her silent pity party.

Eddie looked up. She'd had her uniform on forever now. Body warm from stretching. Waiting for Coach to come wrap her hands. She hadn't even put her robe on yet, just sat there in her uniform. Ready to go in most senses of the word. "Hey."

"Am I allowed in here?" Axel took a singular step into the room like his holey Converse were minesweepers and Eddie was in the middle of the war.

"Probably not." Eddie laughed.

"Should I leave?"

Eddie laughed again. It felt nice to laugh rather than focus on how nervous she was. "Come in."

"I swear, I'm here for work." Axel held his hands up in surrender, camera in one of them. He looked out the door once more before making his way into the room. Eddie caught a glance of a handful of lanyards in his pocket—resisted the urge to ask if he was just happy to see her. "I just finished a mini-shoot with Parker. Should've done yours earlier, but your coach scares me. I was waiting until he left."

"He's all bark," Eddie said. "What do you need me to do?"

"Obviously, the strong man pose." Axel held up his arms like he was trying to show off his biceps. Posed like a body builder without the self-tanner.

Eddie obliged if only for the momentary laugh it gave her. Maybe that was just his stupid shirt; Denny's is just Waffle House for people who don't know how to fight with two waiters fighting each other. Idiot. Eddie's idiot.

Axel took a couple quick pictures. "You know? All that did was make me insecure."

"Shut up." Eddie put her arms down. "Did you make Parker do that, too?"

"Um. No. Parker is taller than me."

"Can't believe you would do this to Mav and me."

Axel laughed. "Believe it or not, there are other people I'm taller than."

"Everleigh is taller than you even if she isn't." (Eddie was pretty sure she wasn't.) (She was probably the closest to it, though.)

"Fair enough."

"What photos are you trying to get?"

Axel shrugged. "Candids."