My fist struck against the rough, patchy material that sheltered Ed's palms from my aggressive cuffs. He refrained from wincing as the boxing pads did little to absorb my force and instead kept his face impassive. My fist came down as it had done repeatedly before, though by now it was numb to any pain that the punch would have caused. It was as if my body was so desperate to feel something, anything at all, that it would settle on a dull ache from a few uncontrolled thumps.
I continued hurtling my knuckles at Ed's armoured chest, feeling the heat of his stare on my face but refusing to acknowledge it. My hair tasselled with the wind as its speed picked up, the icy rush stinging the small amount of exposed skin on my body. I exhaled deeply, watching the air from my lungs carve a cloud of mist into the space around us, only to then dissipate the second that my fist flew violently through the air again.
Huffing, I flung my arm at Ed again, only this time his left palm moved rapidly to catch my fist merely millimetres from his boxing pad. I averted my gaze to his face in hostility, ready to spit out a snarky remark but his voice collided with the air before I was given the chance to speak.
"Hey, hey," he said quietly, catching my wrists to ensure that he had my attention. "I don't want to have to hand you back to Luke all battered and bruised." The smile gracing his face diminished the second that he noticed my distaste toward his comment.
Not having the patience to be in Ed's, or anyone else's company at that moment in time, I flung my hands from his grip and turned my body around quickly. However, he was swift to react and had caught my arm again before I had even made it a step away from him.
"Look I'm sorry okay? I didn't think that it'd go to your head like that-"
"Ed," I said sharply. "I'm not Luke's property, so stop with the bullshit about handing me back. You know more than anyone how things are between us right now, so don't even bring him into this."
"That's the thing though Adelaide, isn't it? I don't know what the hell is going on between you two because you've barley said two words to me in the two weeks! You're the one that's been planning this Legrenzi attack, but we can't get anywhere with it if you won't talk to anyone," he sighed exasperatedly, dropping my hand from his grip. "What the hell is going on with you Adelaide? You were throwing punches at me then like I just stole five year old you's favourite doll. Your knuckles are bleeding and already starting to bruise and you haven't even given them a second glance?"
"They're fine," I dismissed.
"They're not fine Adelaide and you aren't either, everyone can see that. You haven't been sleeping nor eating properly, conversation is limited to say the least and to be quite honest you look like utter shit. The person in front of me now isn't the Adelaide that I knew before. You're a mess, and you're not going to get anywhere if you keep on as you are, working yourself to the ground and not talking to anyone about what's going on in that head of yours."
"That pretty little head of mine," I muttered inaudibly with a role of my eyes, echoing Luke's foreign words.
"What?" Ed questioned in confusion, but I refrained myself from responding. "Please talk to me," he requested gently. "What the hell happened with you two?"
"The truth," I scoffed.
"Can't you see what this is doing to one another? You're both a mess right now. You're punishing yourself, that's quite clear, and as for Luke, well he just shuts off completely. No-one's seen him in days."
"Ed, I'm sorry, but I'd rather not go into everything right now."
"Adelaide. You can't keep it all bottled up all of the time. You don't even have to talk to me, but please talk to someone else, like your mum? I know she's worried about you."
