The Fighter *ON HIATUS*

Chapter Four: A Moment

That day, Axel and I had the plan to work out after school. However, after our little spat this morning, I wasn't sure he would want to take me to work out. I took my time after class that day, waiting to see if Axel was going to come meet me in the hallway. Just as I had shut my locker, a familiar figure walked by me, bumping my shoulder a bit. It was Axel. I hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, before following him.

"Hey!" I called, speeding up to try to catch up with him.

"What?" His voice was flat and emotionless. It was the voice I had heard him speaking to most of the people in high school, but it was never how he spoke to me.

"Are we working out, or are you just going to keep being pissed at me for no reason?" I snapped, putting a hand on my hip.

"For no reason?" he snapped, turning around on me.

"Yeah, pretty much. If anything, I'm the one who should be mad at you. You were such an asshole this morning!"

"Yeah, well, that's sort of my brand, isn't it?"

"Not to me, it's normally not. Axel, you know what I've been through. You know my life isn't all easy right now. And you're the only one who knows."

His face softened slightly. "Look. I'm not a good person, okay? I lose my temper a lot and I'm going to say stupid stuff. If you can't handle that, then maybe it's better we're not friends."

I crossed my arms across my chest. He was avoiding eye contact with me. Finally, I said, "I can handle it."

His head snapped towards me, a look of shock on his face. "Really?"

"Yeah... So, let's go work out, huh?"

A smile broke out on his face and he nodded, leading me out to his car. "So, you and that Landon guy a thing?" he asked as we were climbing into the car.

"Kinda. I mean, we 'talk', you know?"

"You 'talk'? That's kind of lame." At my look of shock he said, "I mean, if you guys like each other, why not just say 'hey, let's date'? What's the point of just talking? That's a waste of time."

"Well aren't you just an old-fashioned gentleman," I joked.

"Hey, girls always know my intentions with them. I never just tell them 'let's just talk and see where this goes'. They know if I want to date them or just hook up with them."

"Well, that's your choice. Landon and I have been friends for a while and we just don't want to jump into anything too quickly. If things get serious and we end up breaking up, our friendship could be ruined."

"That's a risk you guys should just be willing to take."

"I guess not everyone's like you, Axel." Thankfully, we had gotten to the warehouse so that conversation was over. "I'm just going to go change quick," I told Axel, heading into the bathroom. I changed into a sports bra with a tank top that was cut down the sides and a pair of shorts. When I went back out, Axel was in a wife beater type tank top and a pair of basketball shorts.

"Ready?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

"No," I laughed, sitting on the ground to stretch out a bit before we started.

"Well today we're doing cardio!"

"Woo!" I replied with fake enthusiasm.

"Yeah! We're going to start with a short one mile run on one of the treadmills."

"Ah, yes. Short one mile run..."

He smiled and lead me over to an area that had five treadmills lined up next to each other. "We'll see how long you can run at 6 miles per hour."