Sugar Coated Pain [Boxer!Calum Hood AU] PUBLISHED -- SAMPLE ONLY

Bonus Chapter

this bonus chapter takes place sometime between the last chapter and the epilogue!

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LEFT HOOK TO the jaw. Knee to the gut. Shove. Noelle's eyes tracked Calum's movements, like they always did during a fight. She watched the way the muscles under his slick skin shifted with every move, took in his concentrated eyes and tight jaw, and Noelle felt a smile curl at the corners of her lips. Every time he got in the ring, Noelle was no doubt concerned for Calum, but three years later and now that concern was always accompanied by a sense of pride as she watched her boyfriend do what he did best. He dominated the ring and everyone in the room knew it, especially his opponent.

"He's playing with him," Luke chuckled from next to her, amusement lighting up his blue eyes as he watched the match. Noelle hummed in agreement, watching as Calum practically danced around the ring, light on his feet as he taunted the opponent.

As usual, boisterous cheers were surrounding them as people—mostly men—yelled all sorts of encouraging and fierce things at the two fighters in the ring. Noelle was practically numb to it at this point, nearly three years later as she easily drowned out the noise and focused on her favorite man going for another punch. When Calum's fist landed on the other guy's jaw, causing him to stumble back a few paces into the ropes, Noelle's lips twitched upwards. Who would've thought she'd feel so at ease at Astros?

"Woohoo!" Noelle cheered alongside Beverly as the other guy stumbled, the younger girl bouncing slightly on her heels as she clapped along with a grin.

Something changed, just then. When Noelle relaxed from her cheering, with her hand clasped in front of her, she felt the familiar sensation she always experienced after a night of heavy drinking, and her body tensed. Her stomach felt as though it was twisting itself inside of her and her knees felt weak, and Noelle realized with panicked startlement that she didn't have much time.

So she pushed herself away from the crowd, not even bothering to see if she caught the attention of her friends as she felt her lower lip tremble and brought a hand to press against her mouth. Noelle shoved through the crowd, her small frame surprisingly pushing herself through the larger men effectively in her adrenaline induced hurry. The sounds in the gym were nothing but a background ring in her ears as she made her way into the locker room, mumbling a suppressed "Mmm," when she felt a lurch from her stomach to her throat as she quickened her pace towards the private bathroom.

Noelle didn't even register the sting on her knees when she fell on the concrete ground, bracing herself on the toilet when she felt everything come up. She could hear the sounds of her vomiting echo in the bathroom over the noise of everyone in Astros, her throat stinging and her face scrunching as the putrid stench began filling the room. Noelle felt the tears burning in her closed eyes as she leaned into the toilet as she felt more of her stomach's contents harshly make its way up and out.

"God," she groaned once she felt as though she was done, forehead resting on her arm and her other hand blindly reaching forward to flush, the roar of the toilet making her clench her eyes harder. Her throat felt slightly raw as she panted, mind running a mile a minute and heart pounding.

"Elle? Where are—oh, fu—are you okay?"

Noelle barely registered Camille's voice—she came by to watch Calum's matches every now and then—until she felt her best friend's hands pull her hair back in case she needed to throw up again. She lifted her head, catching sight of Camille's worried gaze as she began, "Yeah, I—"

She didn't get to finish because she felt the bile rise up and Noelle immediately turned to face the toilet once more, dry heaving when nothing actually came up. That was a shitty sensation—feeling as though she needed to throw up but nothing was happening, and Noelle coughed for a moment as she felt Camille rub her hand on her back. "Oh, fuck," she groaned hoarsely, still panting slightly.