Worth it All

Chapter 18

<William>
"Why are we doing this again?"
William looked at Merlin with a sigh, damn he complained a lot.
"We need the exercise."
"Yeah but.. Why?"
Ugh...
He sighed again then stopped, turning to him on the path. The sun was just setting, sending a warm wave of orange and red light onto them and illuminating the trees that surrounded them.
"The fact is," William said with a bit of an attitude, "We're lazy. We both know it. We're going to a personal fighting gym that the queen quite nicely allowed us to use. I wanna look good and be ready for anything. And you..." He walked up and patted Merlin on the stomach, "Need to drop some pounds.
He looked at him with a deep glare, " Fuck yourself."
"No thanks, cupcake."
They both laughed a little as they kept going.

They finally arrived about 10 minutes later, the 70 by 70 foot building stretching out in front of them, two large windows going down both sides allowing those exercising to see out into the forest and down onto the lake. William sighed as he saw it empty, knowing they didn't have to hold back now. They entered into the building seeing the multiple fighting rings, dumb bells, and weightlifting equipment. The wall to the far end of the building was covered with an assortment of weapons.
"This is gonna be fun." Merlin smiled as he pulled off his jacket, leaving him in a black tight t-shirt and grey shorts. William followed suit, removing his hoodie and making sure his white tank top was on properly and tightening his black and red sweat pants. They both removed their shoes and walked to the wall, grabbing two sets of boxing gloves before walking into the large boxing ring in the center.
"Ready?" Merlin said with a grin, his eyes turning red and black while his canines slowly extended outward, entering his fighting stance. William did the same as his turned green and black while he smiled.
"Bring it."

They went at each other with everything they had.
Merlin went high, sending a hook for William's head which he blocked, sending one towards Merlin's ribs. The punch connected, but Merlin didn't back down, sending a good left shot to his jaw. They both took a step back, holding their injuries before going right back in with even more.
Left, left, right, left, right, right, left. William got him on the ropes when the door opened, sending his eyes to the person entering. Merlin took the advantage and cracked him with an uppercut, going in with a multitude of left jabs and sending him against the ropes with a right hook.
"Fucking hell, man." William held his jaw, glaring at him but smiling and fist bumping him for the awesome effort. He looked back at the door and smiled even more, seeing Cody and Scarlet. Cody shrugged off his hoodie and hopped in the ring, wearing his Star Wars t-shirt with black and orange sweat pants, almost exactly like William's. But, like always, Scarlet was who caught his attention. She wore a black tight tank top with her own set of sweat pants.
"Did we intrude on something?" She said with a smile.
William lit up with a warm feeling as he met her eyes,"Never intruding where you're concerned," He returned the smile, "want the Ring?"
"Yes, but..." She effortlessly jumped into it, landing between them, causing him and Merlin both to take a step back, "I want all of you against me."
William's face filled with terror, "What did I do?"
"You gotta make up for being an idiot all week."
Dammit, she's right...
"Ah fuck it, if you're gonna die, what better way then the girl you love, right?" He stood facing her and got into his fighting stance, Merlin and Cody doing the same on both of her flanks. She gave that sexy, evil smile and nodded as her eyes turned a dark Royal purple. They all nodded to each other, and began.

They all instantly regretted this decision.
She turned and kicked Merlin in the chest, spun and tossed Cody over her onto the floor, and turned to deliver a side kick to William's jaw in the same spot that Merlin cracked him. All of them groaned from the ground as she shook her head, looking at all of them.
"Come on, you can do better then that."
Merlin stood and went at her kicking at her ribs. She blocked his kick and his follow up hook at the right side of her temple, driving her elbow into his stomach then kicking him in the back of the head, sending him back to the ground. Cody got up and charged her, causing her to toss him to the other side of the ring. William finally got up, seeing both of them crawling to the side and rolling out.
"You running too, teddy bear?"she laughed and winked at him.
He honestly considered it. He knew he stood a chance, but didn't really have confidence in that at the moment. He finally sighed and shrugged, "Fuck that, I don't give up." His eyes tauntingly turned their green color as he went at her, going low and sweeping at her feet. She jumped back and threw a kick, which he caught before smiling at her.
"You going easy on me, gorgeous?"
She responded by twisting and kicking him in the head, sending him sprawling a foot or so to her left. He jumped up and tackled her, rolling. He ended up on top of her, looking down into her eyes with his hands on either side of her head. He stopped and just stared for a moment, getting lost in them. Her wild side was coming out, and he loved it. She was smart, strong, beautiful... Everything he knew she was already, but better.
He leaned down closer to her without thinking, only inches away from her lips. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and bit her bottom lip. He was about to steal a kiss when she kneed him in the ribs and rolled on top of him.
"Ow.."
He groaned and winced, looking up at her as she smiled.
"You need to try harder then that."
"For which part? The fight or the kiss?"
She leaned down and gently placed her lips on his, "Yes." She giggled and hopped off him, checking in Cody and Merlin who were whimpering up against the wall.
Damn...
His mind couldn't have said it better. He never could get bored with her, she always knew how to keep him on his toes. He laughed before going over to them as well.
Careful, she might knock you off yours again.