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Chapter 35 - Andrew

Juliet:

"My sister is going to kill me if she finds out."

"So she won't find out. Problem solved." Bella grinned, as she grabbed Juliet's hand and began urging her towards the building.

They were back to watch yet another fight they were not legally old enough to get into and once again, it was due to a particular person.

Brad's brother, Evan was fighting which meant Brad himself was going to be around. Even after everything that he had put Juliet through, she still couldn't force herself to stay away.

He had been texting her for days, apologising and claiming he wanted her forgiveness. Even though he acted completely different at school, Juliet was soaking up the other side of him and had agreed to go along tonight.

Aaron wasn't fighting so she knew she could get away without him telling Sophie this time however, she knew that if her sister did find out, it would not go down well.

"Do you think Brad will even be here?" Juliet went onto ask as they looked around at the crowds of people.

"Of course! He said he would be and his brother is fighting." Bella exasperated as though she was crazy for even asking.

Taking hold of Juliet's hand, Bella began pulling her through the crowds to try and find the one person she had very mixed feelings about. She knew he had treated her terribly over the past few weeks due to the rumours however, she couldn't help but feel the need to keep trying with him.

Following after her best friend, they both came to a sudden stop when they could see him in the distance standing with a group of guys. They were the ones he had been with before when his brother had been fighting and they all looked as though they were getting hyped for the night to begin. There was a roar of shouting and motivational chants being shouted at Evan before Brad suddenly turned and caught a glimpse of Juliet standing there.

His eyes connected with hers and instead of breaking contact for even a second, they remained holding her into place. She instantly began to feel uncomfortable as she desperately needed him to glance away, to give her chance to just breath. However, instead he kept focused on her as he began walking over.

Juliet felt Bella squeeze her hand in excitement however, she was feeling quite the opposite. Memories of the last time they were here came flooding back and she wanted to drown in embarrassment from how things had turned out. However, straightening her back, she stood tall and prepared herself to deal with this in a completely different way.

She had come here to prove herself to Brad. She didn't want him to think she was lame or stupid for the way she acted before and thought that redoing such a disaster of a night would be the best way to do that.

"Hey, you made it." His voice was low and gentle, as she felt his hand scale around her waist and urge her into a hug.

As he moved onto Bella, Juliet just stood watching him as her heart was literally pounding against her chest.

"You can come and join us. We have the best seats."

"Okay." Juliet nodded and that was the only word that managed to leave her mouth causing Brad to chuckle.

"Don't worry, we won't be running off to any parties tonight. My brother is back in training tomorrow morning, this is just a warm up fight."

Juliet couldn't tell if he was taking the mick from before or if he was being genuine however, she tried to shrug it off.

"Is he expected to win this?" She asked and the shocked expression that Brad gave her in return, caused Juliet to smile.

'1 point to herself.' She thought, knowing how offensive that comment probably was to him. No fighter wanted to be told they 'weren't good enough' or have anyone doubt them so coming from Juliet wasn't appreciated.

"Of course." Brad bit back before guiding them both into the blocked off area he was previously at.

"That's good. Isn't he one of the supporting fighters at Aaron's headline fight in a few weeks?"

Pausing, Brad turned around to look at Juliet and once again he had a look of not only shock but frustration. He clearly didn't appreciate what she was saying but Juliet was loving having the upper hand for the first time. Brad was defensive over his brother and his fighting abilities however, due to knowing Aaron was undoubtedly better, it would be stupid not to use it to her advantage.

"Yeah, he is." Brad mumbled. "But he'll be headlining his own soon."

"I'm sure he will." Juliet forced a smile back before following after him with a grinning Bella beside her.

"He's pissed off now, Juliet." Bella laughed as they hooked arms and practically skipped with joy at finally being in the 'winning' position.

...

After a few minutes of standing around while Evan got psyched up for his fight and Brad was acting as though Juliet wasn't even there, she was so ready to get up and leave.

Things had started off well however, it was no longer going as she had anticipated and instead herself and Bella were feeling out of place and bored.

They knew the adrenaline would pick up as soon as the fight begun but the atmosphere had most definitely been ten times better when Aaron had been fighting that night. This felt extremely amateur in comparison.

"Excuse me." A male voice was suddenly heard causing Juliet to turn around and look at the stranger. "Are you Juliet Carter?"

He looked as though he was in his thirties which was the first red flag however, his soft expression made his 'fighter' exterior seem a little easier to handle. He had tattoo's covering every inch of skin that was on show minus his face and his muscled arms appeared as though they were bulging out of his shirt.

"Um..." Juliet trailed off, unsure if to give him the honest answer or not. She knew she should have shrugged him off but she was too curious to say no. "Yeah, why?"

"I thought so." He began, clapping his hands and by this point Brad had approached Juliet's side, clearly intrigued on what was going on.

"You don't know me but I knew your brother and sister... even though she was like 10 at the time." He exclaimed and Juliet's eyes instantly widened with curiosity. "I saw her the other night here watching... she's with the Aaron Harris dude, right?"

Juliet just nodded her head.

"Awesome fighter... he's as good as your brother was."

Those next words that left this man's mouth caused Juliet's body to freeze. She was 100% sure she hadn't misheard him and what she had heard, was completely alien to her. Every inch of her body erupted with a chilling sensation as she was beginning to question what was going on here.

"I'm shocked she's with him though after everything that happened with your brother."

"What do you mean?" She asked as that was all she was able to say.

Noticing Juliet's confusion, the guy looked down at her with a frown over his face.

"You are Juliet right? Your brother was Andrew?"

Juliet slowly nodded her head yet she couldn't say anything else. She was at loss for words as this guy stood before her shared this information and then was startled at the reaction he was receiving.

Sophie and Juliet's brother Andrew had passed away when he was only 22. Sophie had been 11 and Juliet had been 6. She didn't remember as much as her sister did about her brother or anything leading up to his death. She'd been kept out of the loop but what she had known, her brain had completely blocked out from her mind anyway.

Her parents rarely spoke about him and Sophie rarely brought him up. It was as though something had caused them all to see that method as the only way of coping.

"I didn't know your brother was a fighter, Juliet!" Bella instantly grabbed hold of her shoulder, turning her around.

As Juliet looked blankly at her bestfriend, she finally began shaking her head.

"Neither did I..."

💜