Chapter Two

As soon as I walk into the club, the smell of sweat fills my nose. I love fighting and watching fights as it gives me the chance to critic others on their fighting abilities, but the smell is just not my favourite sent to buy for Christmas I'm afraid.

I love being able to walk into this building, fully knowing that I have fought many of the people standing by the ring, yet they have no clue that it is me who lost them their title or bet money. When I used to fight, I wore a mask and a hood to cover my flaming red hair, anything that would make me memorable; you don't not want these people to remember your face, unless you're a guy; they love the fame and being in the spotlight, loved by everyone in the room.

"Do you want a drink?" Tom asks as soon as we reach the bar. I look up at him, causing him to smile down at me. I flush at the eye contact and look down at my feet. Even though I have known Tom properly for at least 4 years now, I still get nervous whenever we're alone and he looks into my eyes the way he always does; softly but underlying intent; intent of what I am not sure, I have never been able to figure that out. "Drew?" he voice brings me out of my thoughts and causes a deep blush to creep into my cheeks as I realise I have been stood mutely in front of him while he has been staring at me.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I ask shyly, feeling my cheeks heat up a considerable amount more than they already have.

"I asked if you wanted a drink," he chuckles, sitting down on one of the bar stools, making him even taller for me to look up at.

"Oh um, no thank you," I laugh nervously, before quickly running off to find Erin, leaving Tom laughing to himself at my stupidity. I find Erin stood over by the ring probably chatting up one of the guys waiting for the match to begin. When I walk up to her I can see the amusement in her face, but also the underlying anxiety that makes me worry.

"What is it?" I ask as soon as I am in hearing distance.

"I found out who Tom's opponent is," she says, her eyes glinting with something unknown to me.

"Who, Erin?" I ask nervously.

"It's Kayden,"

"As in Kayden West? Bad boy criminal known for almost killing a guy? That Kayden?" I ask her, shaking with fear at the nod she gives me.

"At least you get to see him again," she says as if that is supposed to be the silver lining in this situation.

"I do not wish to see him, Erin. Your brother may be killed out there, don't you get that? So seeing that criminal maniac again is not at the top of my list of worries right now," I snap at her.

"I'm trying not to panic right now, Drewanna. You're right, that is going to be my brother out there, and I would appreciate it if my best friend would reassure me that he is not going to die tonight," she snaps back. I flinch at the use of my full name and nod my head slightly, knowing that I was the one who was in the wrong.

"I know and I'm sorry. He will be fine though Erin, he is a great fighter, I did train him after all," I chuckle trying to lighten the mood again. I sigh in relief when I hear her laugh, knowing that she is not mad at me.

"You better go and talk to Tom, give him some tips on how not to die," she laughs before walking over to a group of boys. I shake my head at her, before walking back over to the bar, seeing Tom already looking at me, a little smirk gracing his face making him look extremely attractive, but I would never tell him that.

"Hey," he greets as I finally join him at the bar.

"You do know that your opponent tonight is Kayden West right?" I ask, not bothering to beat around the bush about things. Tom sighs, placing his glass down on the bar and turning to me, giving me his full attention.

"You don't think I can handle West," he states with a sigh. I glance down at my hands guilty to be doubting his abilities, but I really am.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be, I mean I trained you! But Kayden has a reputation for being overly violent, and you're not, you fight fair and I just don't want you to get hurt," I blurt all at once, taking in a deep breath to try and calm myself.

"Drew, I get hurt every time I fight, no matter who I'm against. Any of the people I fight against could beat me until I die, you should know that better than anyone, so this fight is no different, but I am truly honoured that you actually care about me," he winks at me, I roll my eyes at his arrogance.

"I do not care about you," I tell him, instantly making him laugh and grab my chin, making me look up at him. I look into his smiling face and I can't help the blush that tints my cheeks a deep crimson. I look away from his burning gaze, but my face is still at the mercy of his hands.

"Of course you do otherwise you wouldn't be stood here right now telling me that you don't want me to get hurt," he whispers close to my face, a smirk still on his face as he gets closer to me. I swallow nervously. He's never been this close to me before and I can't seem to breathe, being suffocated by how little space there is between us.

"Tom," I whisper. I don't really know why I'm saying his name, probably to get him to move away, but to Tom it makes his smirk widen, scaring me a little.

"You know Drew-"

"Clarke, you're on!" I could kiss whoever just stopped Tom from doing whatever he was going to do, literally kiss them. Tom sighs, pulling away from me and getting down from his stall.

"Looks like I'm needed right now, princess, but I'll see you after," he winks at me before running over to the ring, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to one of the screaming girls on the side. I stand in the same place for a little while, trying to catch my breath again; my head is fuzzy from Tom's closeness, clouding my thoughts.

"So what was that about with my brother just then?" Erin asks as I slowly make my way over to her, my feet still unsteady. Her smirk is growing wider by the second.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say dismissively, looking up at the ring as the ref talks to the two boys.

"Drew, what I saw over there was not nothing. He was going to kiss you," she squeals.

"I don't like him though, Erin. I mean he's your brother, wouldn't that be weird?" I ask her, hoping that she'll see sense in the situation.

"No! It's cute, Drew. You and my brother would be so cute together. If he does ask you on a date or something, can you please just give him a chance? You never know, you might actually enjoy it," she pleads with me, giving me her puppy dog eyes. There is nothing worse than a Clarke's puppy dog eyes.

"Okay fine, I'll give him a chance," I sigh in defeat, making Erin squeal again, probably catching the attention of mostly everyone in the damn club. I don't have the heart to tell her that I don't want to date Tom, I don't want to date anyone. I am happier by myself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a legendary fight tonight, one that I am sure you have all been waiting for. Two of our best fighters against each other to win a spot in the championships. It will be tough and there will be some bloodshed, but that is all a part of the fun," the ref shouts to the crowd. Erin pulls me by the arm so that we are closer to her brother.

"Tom!" she shouts, grabbing his attention, but also Kayden's along with it. His gaze snaps over to us and I try to pull away from Erin so that he won't notice me, but it seems that this cause the opposite. His eyes widen as soon as they meet mine, probably not expecting the nerd to be in a place like this. I can slightly hear Erin and Tom talking in the background, but I don't have the capacity to actually listen properly as I am pinned to the spot by Kayden's eyes, demanding my attention. His scorching blue eyes bore into mine just like they did in the dinner hall at school, but this time they hold more heat, more ferocity. Kayden's contact with is broken by Seth standing in front of him, blocking our view of each other.

I am pulled back to reality by Tom shouting my name, his voice laced with anger. I look around at the two Clarke siblings, one glaring at me and the other looking at me with a confused yet jealous expression

"Drew, I need your help here, not for you to be drooling over my opponent," Tom snaps.

"I was not drooling over him. Just concentrate on his feet and facial expression, his eyes will tell you where he is going to strike, don't leave your side open, that is his favourite attack," I snap back at him, yanking my hand out of Erin's grip and walking back over to the bar, sitting down on one of the stools angrily. He had no right to snap at me like that, sure I was staring at Kayden, but why should that matter to him?

My thoughts are interrupted by the bell chiming, signalling the start of the match. The crowd starts yelling their names, telling them where they should be hitting each other, and I can hear Erin telling Tom to make sure he doesn't get his face kicked in or there'd be hell to pay, making me chuckle a little. I watch as the two boys fight and I am appalled at the lack of technique that they are using right now. They are both just throwing punches whenever they get the chance, causing them more damage than is necessary. Their techniques, or lack thereof, is enough to be ashamed of. I thought I trained Tom better than this, but obviously not.

"Left," I whisper to myself as Kayden aims for Tom's left side with a nasty kick. "Stomach," I mumble as he goes for Tom's stomach whilst he his distracted by the blow to his side. I shake my head at the truly horrible performance that he is giving, making me feel ashamed to be called his trainer.

"How are you doing that?" I scream slightly at the sudden voice that comes from my right. I look over and see Seth staring down at me with narrowed eyes, almost sceptical of my existence. Seth is much like Kayden in the looks department, except he has mossy green eyes and shaggy black hair. Tonight, I notice, he is wearing his leather jacket, just like all of the boys do at school. I wonder if it's like a kind of uniform?

"I-I um, I don't k-know wh-w-what you're tal-talking about," I stutter, trying to move away from the intimidating boy, but it is hard when you are sat on a bar stool with little space to move.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just wanted to know how you were managing to calculate Kayden's moves, I've never seen anyone able to do that before," he tells me, surprise clear in his green eyes.

"H-he's actually ver-very predictable," I mumble nervously.

"Really? How can you tell?" he asks casually, as if we have been friends for a long time.

"He thinks ab-about his next move, meaning that y-you are able to see it in his posture, and his eyes," I state, looking over to the boys to see Tom delivering a good blow to Kayden's right side.

"How do you know all of this?" Seth asks, clearly confused how a girl would be able to analyse someone's moves so easily like I had.

"I just do," I mutter quietly, shrugging my shoulders. Seth opens his mouth, but is stopped by the bell chiming again, signalling the end of the match. I look over and see Tom on the floor of the ring, clutching his stomach in pain and Kayden looking at the crowd in triumph. I instantly bolt up from the bar stool and push through the crowd to get to the ring. I pull myself up onto the ring side and run to Tom, ignoring the confused look from Kayden and many other people in the crowd.

"Tom, can you hear me?" I whisper to him, grabbing his face in my hands so that he is facing me. He opens his eyes to look at me, his face masking the pain in his eyes.

"Hey princess," he groans out in pain.

"Can you stand?" I ask, pulling his hands away from his stomach to see the damage that has been made, but by the looks of it there is nothing broken or out of place which is a good sign.

"Of course I can," he pushes himself up onto his hands and knees and then just his knees. I walk around to the front of him and grab his forearms, gently pulling him up onto his feet. He slings one arm around my neck so that I am able to help him down from the ring and into his dressing room where I place him down into the sofa that is placed in there.

"Alright, so I don't think anything is broken or dislocated, but you are going to have a killer bruise in the morning, and it is going to hurt to move so just make sure you have a nice ice bath when you get home to try and stop the swelling and any further damage," I say absentmindedly while checking out his torso and shoulders for any further damage.

"Thanks doc," I shake my head at him and step back from where he is sat.

"I told you that you were supposed to watch his feet and eyes, why didn't you listen to me?" I ask him, a little annoyed that he ignored my advice, "and where the hell was your technique? I don't just teach you these things for the fun of it, Tom, I teach you these things so you don't get hurt like you are right now, so I suggest you start taking your training seriously," I lecture him.

"I know, I'm sorry Drew, he just pissed me off so bad and I just saw red, I'll be sure to remember my training next time," he says apologetically, and I know that he means it so I nod my head, moving to swab the cut above his eyebrow.

"I warned you about the risks of fighting Kayden, Tom," I whispers as I clean up his cuts.

"It's the same risk as every fight, Drew" Tom whispers back, looking into my grey eyes with his warm honey brown ones. The sound of someone clearing their throat from the door brings me back to reality and I move away from Tom, looking towards the door to see who it is. Both Erin and I gasp at the sight of Kayden and Seth standing there. I catch Kayden's questioning look before he turns and glares at Tom, for some reason unknown to me.

"What do you want, West?" Tom snarls at Kayden, making me frown at the ferocity of it.

"Nothing from you, Clarke, we're here for, Drew," he snaps back, turning his gaze to look at me. My eye widen at the use of my name.

How the hell does he know my name?