Shay Warner ran away from her adopted family as soon as she found out what they truly were: criminals. They lied, they killed, they betrayed her in a way that scarred her forever. It isn't until the police catch up to her that she's forced to go bac...
While everyone else was at school or 'work', as they called it, Noah was tasked with getting in shape. "You need to be able to outrun everyone, overpower everyone, and fight your way through every type of situation. That means I want you to run. A LOT."
Apparently, it was Val's favorite way of getting you in shape. To run until you physically couldn't anymore, and still find a way to push on. As much as Noah dreaded the task that he was faced with, he ran almost 15 miles the next day.
And was fucking dead afterwards.
He could barely feel his legs, and his lungs still had a hard time finding oxygen even when he had moved to the couch. He didn't realize how long he'd been laying there until he heard the front door open, followed by light footsteps making their way towards him.
"What the heck happened to you?" Shay asked, a backpack strapped over her shoulders and looking at him with disgust.
Oh yeah, he hadn't showered. He didn't even feel bad for the couch, though it was probably absorbing a good deal of his sweat. He could barely move and he didn't care enough to try.
"I went for a run." Noah replied.
"You must be really out of shape."
"No. I just went really fucking far." Noah growled. Apparently, he was cranky too. Cranky, tired and sweaty, what a great combination.
"Well good for you." Shay said, though it really didn't sound like she was impressed. "Val's not gonna be home for a little while so you should get up and train me."
Noah narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"
"You should train me. Downstairs." Shay said. "Ya know, where the secret room is."
Noah let out a sigh, frustrated that she felt the need to remind him of its location. Of course he fucking knew. "I'm too tired."
"Don't be a pussy."
"What?"
"You heard me."
Noah glared at her. He had been planning on spending the rest of the day on his ass, relaxing. Now, cause of a kid, he couldn't.
"Fine."
*****
They snuck downstairs everyday after that.
After Shay would get home from school, she would quickly change and wait downstairs for Noah to join her. Though he knew this had become their routine for the past couple of weeks, he didn't show much interest in it.
To her, anyway.
One day, he decided not to go down just to see what she would do. As soon as he heard her come home, he snuck over to the library and opened a book for the first time in years. He pretended to read it for twenty minutes before she came back upstairs to find him.
"Noah, let's go!" Shay was dressed in leggings and a tank top, arms crossed and eyes narrowed as she glared at him from the doorway.
"I'm busy."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," he confirmed, gesturing to his book.
"What's it called?"
Noah hesitated, which was all Shay needed to hear.
"Come downstairs or I'll kick your ass." With that, Shay spun on the heel of her black ballet slipper and left him alone again.
Despite Noah's persistent desire to be left alone, Shay was slowly cracking his armor. Day by day, she'd give him little choice in hanging out with her and if he was completely honest, he looked forward to it. As he spent most of the morning in the mansion alone, he often found himself looking at the clock almost as if he was anxious for her to get home.
Which was complete bullshit, honestly.
Sighing, Noah closed the book and looked at the title. Romeo and Juliet. How the hell had that been what he picked up?
Not bothering to place the book back on one of the many shelves where it belonged, Noah set it on a side table before making his way to the kitchen.
Yeah, he was already dressed for a workout but no, he hadn't done it to prepare for this. He'd gone on a five mile run earlier and just didn't bother to change.
When Noah finally made his way downstairs, Shay was already waiting for him with the hidden door open.
"I didn't realize you were a Shakespeare fan." Shay taunted as he was walking over. "Or a romantic."
Noah rolled his eyes but felt slightly embarrassed, despite himself. His idea of romance was taking a girl to breakfast after fucking the night before. "I'm not."
"Sure." Shay laughed.
Once they got downstairs, Noah led her to the boxing ring as opposed to the punching bag where they had spent most of their time.
"You said you were gonna kick my ass. Let's see it." Noah challenged her. As she stepped in the ring with her fists held up in front of her, he finally saw some apprehension in her features. For only being sixteen, she didn't seem to have a lot of that, proving yet again how strong she was.
"What, you scared?" Noah taunted her.
"No."
Shay moved towards him with her gloved hands in front of her face, staring at him with the same intense concentration that he was used to. She threw a jab with her left hand and he blocked it easily, so she tried a hook with her right. For a while, he just blocked the hits with his gloves as she tried to sneak one past him, but she was failing.
"Don't worry about hitting me, just make sure you have proper form." Noah said when he saw her frustration.
Shay didn't respond. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and kept on trying. Noah felt the urge to go easy on her but resisted. The best way to learn, in his opinion, was to be persistent, to never give up no matter how impossible it seemed. That way, when she finally landed a punch on him, she would be that much more proud.
Just as that thought had passed through Noah's brain, he felt her glove strike his left rib cage. Feeling an equal amount of surprise and pride, he lowered his hands and looked at her with a smile. She appeared just as shocked as he did, lowering her hands while her mouth hung open.
"Nice hit, Shay."
Noah's eyes jumped over to the landing of the stairs where none other than Valerie Briggs had just appeared, her voice supportive even though he expected her to be pissed. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, her blue eyes staring at them with an unreadable expression.
Dread flooded his system as he stayed frozen in his spot. Shay had also reacted poorly to Val's appearance, throwing her gloves off and watching as her adopted mother walked over to them. Both of their eyes trained on Val, waiting to see what happened next.
"Noah, how about we show Shay how it's really done?"
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How do you think Val's gonna react to this? Also, why do you think she's trying so hard to keep Shay in the dark?
