Said & Done

Part 1

tags: swearing, mention of nightmares

word count: 1.6k

story song: burning out

I wake up covered in sweat. The last embers of my nightmare tugging me into a sense of fear and dread. I couldn't tell what was real and my fight or flight started to kick in. Adrenaline began to course through my body, making me aware of every shadow in my dark bedroom. Sleep definitely wasn't going to come to me again anytime soon, so I pulled myself out of bed and changed into my gym clothes. Rushing to get away from the silence of my home. Stepping out into the cool night air was blissful on my sweat soaked skin and I savoured it whilst I walked to my car. The streets were quiet during the drive, my ancient car stereo playing the mixtape I had in earlier, I'd listened to it so many times it just faded into the background. Thankfully the gym is always empty at 3am, I chose this specific gym for that reason, even though it's further from my house. I had already gotten a workout in today, but the dreams that haunt me always leave me feeling restless, with a need to purge some of the energy from my system. I use my keycard to get in as reception is closed, I usually make a beeline for the weights and then follow that with a quick run on the treadmill, but tonight feels different. I need to hit something, so I make my way up the stairs, the rooms above the main floor have various equipment, and I head straight for the one with the punching bags.

I push open the double doors and stop in my tracks. I've never come across anyone else here at this time before, but my luck has just run out. And it's not just anyone, it's the tall dark stranger who has been watching me since I started coming here over a year ago. Give by sleep token is blasting from a speaker as he does push ups with one arm behind his back. He looks up at me, through his sweat drenched hair that shields the full force of his beauty. He stops and slowly, gracefully pushes himself up so he's kneeling, his depthless brown eyes locked on me, assessing me. My mouth goes dry, I've never seen him this close before, I can't help but study the tattoos that adorn his shoulders, arms, his bare chest, and even his neck. He continues to look at me, panting from his workout that I interrupted. My palms start to sweat, "s-sorry, there's never usually anyone in here at this time" I stammer, as he raises a brow at my accent. The stranger stands in one smooth motion, and covers the space between us in two steps. Suddenly he's towering over me, his large frame seems to suck all the light out of the room and I take a shaky breath and look up. He cocks his head to one side, his wet hair following the movement, "don't you usually workout during the day?". His American accent was rich and deep, I could feel the bass from his voice in my very bones. I stopped shying away from his stare and looked up, "I-I couldn't sleep. I need to burn off some, energy, before I can even attempt it again", cursing myself for stuttering I manage to keep my eyes on his, the intensity of his gaze making my stomach do backflips, I couldn't help but smile at the stranger. And when he smiled back, I knew I was done for.

"I'm Noah", he smiles down at me, "y/n" I reply. I'm having to stop myself from grinning, I've never felt this connected to someone I just met before. I could feel my cheeks starting to go red, I have to force myself to look away so he doesn't notice. "You like sleep token?", I nod to the speaker in the corner, listening to the intro to gods, at least I didn't stutter again. I have to try and find neutral ground with the stranger. I need to know him, I feel drawn to him, like there's a thread between our two bodies, pulling me in. I dare to look up when he doesn't answer, and he's just staring at me, his smile keeps getting brighter, his eyes almost glowing. I've been in here for all of five minutes and I'm losing it over a complete stranger, what is wrong with me? He reaches out and pushes my hair behind my ear, bringing his hand under my chin and forcing me to look up. "I thought you were beautiful from afar, y/n, but up close I can't help but stare. You're captivating". We're stood so close, his touch sending electric currents through my entire body. I lose every thought in my head. It's not just physical attraction, and trust me, that's there. If any other man had just said to that to me, I'd laugh in their face. Why did it make me want to swoon when he says it? I can't help but lean into his touch, his hands are calloused, his fingers stroking my skin, so smooth in comparison. My eyes flutter shut at his caress and I almost purr, putting a hand on his chest for balance as I force my eyes open again. The music goes off and is replaced by a ringtone, interrupting our embrace. "Fuck". Noah rests his forehand on mine for a moment, and he's gone, sighing as he releases me. He stalks over to the speaker, grabbing his phone, "yeah. I told you, I'm at the gym. I can't right now. For fuck sake, Nick. Yeah. I'll be 10 minutes". I realise I was watching and listening to his private conversion so I quickly pull my phone up. Opening the settings app so it looks like I'm scrolling and texting. "I have to go", he makes his way back over to me and scoops by chin up again, more forceful this time. "I've wanted to meet you for a while y/n, and I believe something wanted us to cross paths tonight", he takes a deep breath, "meet me here, same time tomorrow?". I blink in shock, he wants to see me again? I try not to make a habit of coming to the gym at this time, but seeing him is all the motivation I need. "Okay, sure", I smile up at him. "Good girl", he replies, so quietly I almost miss it. I almost go slack. "Until tomorrow, y/n", he places a light kiss on my forehead, grabs his belongings, and stalks out of the gym. What the fuck just happened?

The next day goes by agonisingly slow, I can't concentrate on a thing. I keep checking my phone, even knowing in the blazing sunlight that it's not 3am yet. I try to distract myself and keep busy, working on some unfinished paintings, reading, none of it works. I give in and go to my room, hoping to use sleep to carry me towards my time with Noah.

I wake with a start, the alarm on my phone blaring next to me. 1AM. I gave myself enough time to make a little effort, working my hair into plaits and tying the ends in twin buns at the base of my skull. I curl my eyelashes and dab a small amount of concealer under my eyes, and rub in some lip liner and gloss on my lips. The time is passing too fast now, I put on my workout clothes and rush out to my car, feeling both nervous and excited.

The gym is quiet as usual, I presume Noah wants to meet in the workout room upstairs, so I make my way up. I try to slow my pace as I walk through the double doors, where 24 hours ago I met the strange man that has my heart racing. He's sat cross legged on one of the mats on the floor, my eyes instantly find his as he looks up. "Y/n, you came", my stomach does a flip at the sight of him, like my body forgot how beautiful he is, what he makes me feel. He strides over to me and pulls me into his arms, "I didn't think you'd show". I melt into him. Like I could just stay home, I've always been curious, and he's alluring and mysterious, nothing could keep me from him. "I did tell you I would", he chuckles at that and pulls back so he can look at me. All my nerves from last night have vanished, I feel confident enough to ask, "so why did you want me to come?". My intrigue always getting the better of me. "I wanted to see you again, I thought maybe we could workout together?". I raise my eyebrows at him. "Not like that" he chuckles again, "I'm not hitting on you, I just thought we could get to know each other whilst we train, I could use the company". He looks sheepish at the omission. He wants me to train with him? He's twice the size of me, both in height and width. How could I ever keep up? "I'd like that, but why me? Surely there's plenty of guys here who could help you, who are more equipped than me". I feel nervous again all of a sudden, I'm physically fit but there's no way I could be on the same level as him. My thoughts race, until he smirks at me, his eyes sweeping down my body, "but none who look like you, y/n". And he grins again, as irresistible as last night. Who could say no to that?

And so we begin.