2:1

Chapter 49 - pressure

"He's back here." Sophie guided Juliet off as she was on her hunt for Aaron but her sister held back.

"Okay, I'm just going to have a look around." She replied yet her hidden intentions were far from 'just looking around'.

In reality, she wanted to go and find Toni but without her sister there to prevent him from sharing certain pieces of information. She knew there was a reason why Sophie was holding back from telling her the full truth so this would be the perfect opportunity to get it out of someone else who knew Andrew well.

"Will you be okay on your own? I'll only be a minute."

"I'll be fine, Sophie." Juliet chuckled, noticing the concern evident in her sister. "I won't leave this building and anyway, there's like no one in here yet."

Sighing, Sophie took a moment while she was desperately debating whether to agree or not. She didn't like the idea of her sister roaming around this place but considering everyone was still being held in queues outside, she couldn't really argue it. Therefore, nodding her head, she checked a good three times that Juliet had her phone before the pair wandered off in opposite directions.

...

"She can't be in here." Reck announced the moment Sophie made her presence known in the room.

Looking around, she took in the many individuals standing around, the battered lockers with graffiti written all over them, and the odd pieces of training equipment scattered around. It felt weird being here, especially for Aaron. She'd remembered spending the majority of her time in this room whenever her brother had been fighting as he'd not wanted her to see certain parts however, now as a grown woman, it all felt so different.

"Yes she can." Aaron replied as he pushed Reck out of the way so he could take hold of her hand.

Sophie let Aaron guide her while holding a smug look across her face. She knew that Reck was fuming so why not just make matters worse for him? As Aaron dropped his head to kiss her, her hands scaled around his neck as she began making a huge show of it. While Reck was hating every second of her being in here and distracting his fighter, Sophie was loving making him suffer this time.

She didn't understand why he was so against her existence but for as long as he refused to be welcoming, she wasn't going to be polite either.

"Hey baby." Aaron mumbled as they briefly pulled away and Sophie could instantly see the nervous look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

He just nodded his head.

Aaron was all kitted up and had previously been doing a few warm ups when Sophie had walked in. To anyone else; he was ready and rearing to go but she could see through that confident facade.

He'd put in so much work leading up to this fight, to the extreme that he'd gone as far as missing a lot of Uni. He was putting himself behind on lectures and assignments, all for the sake of this sport which he seemed to love so much.

"You're going to be amazing." Sophie reassured, trying to place some encouragement in him yet she wasn't sure how much of it he would take in.

"There is a lot of pressure for this, Soph... he's a lot more skilled than me."

"And you're going to win!" Sophie's arms were thrown in the air as she tried to create some excitement in such a tense room. The guys surrounding who usually added some fun to it all, instead looked serious and it was then she knew she'd have to tone it down a little. This was more than just 'some fight' to him, this was one of his biggest ones yet. 

"But even if you don't, you'll still be incredible."

"I have to win this, Soph." Aaron began shaking his head. "It's a big deal. The money I could win from it would cover the deposit for our own place and..."

He paused for a moment while Sophie looked up at him in question.

"...and get you a ring." He grinned as his hands wound around her waist, pulling her closer.

"What?" Sophie chuckled yet her shock was evident. She didn't know if she had heard him correctly or if he was being serious.

She didn't even need to look at Reck either to know the expression he was likely displaying but she did just manage to catch a slight smile from one of the others.

"Did you just say..."

"A ring, yeah."

"Are you okay? Have you had a drink or-" Sophie began questioning as she lifted her hand to feel Aaron's head, only causing him to laugh.

"I'm serious, Soph."

More silence surrounded them while Sophie was trying to hold back from smiling due to still not knowing how serious he truly was. She was desperately hoping this wasn't some joke to catch her out, especially with the amount of men standing around with their eye on the both of them.

"But...we're-"

"Young, I know but who gives a fuck?" Aaron shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing.

Sophie was loving every word that was leaving Aaron's mouth but she wasn't sure he was thinking straight. His head was all over the place because of this fight and she was concerned that the nerves were getting the best of him.

"I love you, so why waste time?"

"You're insane." Sophie began as her hands wound up and around his neck. "Do you know that?"

"Yeah." He grinned causing Sophie to mirror his smile.

"But I love you so damn much!"

As Aaron leaned down to press his lips against hers, all previous worry disappeared from Sophie's mind. She may have been terrified about his fight tonight and he may be letting the pressure get the better of him but this moment was fully appreciated.

This sport came with so much tension and violence but Sophie always ensured he held onto that softer side to him that she loved so much. It was the only reason he had managed to keep his head focused for the past couple of years or he may have very easily been swallowed up by the toxicity that could come along with it.

They may be young and engagement may be a big step but it was one they were both willing to take. To them, it seemed like the natural next step and even though Aaron had people around him who may not approve, he didn't care. That was what proved how sure of it he was.

"You need to get ready Aaron. You're on in 20 minutes." Reck shouted, suddenly startling them from their bubble and breaking them both apart.

Glimpsing across at him, Aaron then nodded his head, knowing he was right. He should have been in fight mode right now; in a trance where his mind was clouded with only thoughts of taking down his opponent. However, instead he was stood here throwing the most vulnerable ideas around to his girlfriend.

"I'll be in the front row tonight." Sophie grinned as she wrapped her arms so tightly around his stomach.

Responding to her touch, Aaron hugged her back and couldn't even put into words how appreciative he was about her being here tonight.

**
💜