Him and I

XIX

Isaac's pov

"Your pancakes were really good." She said as we arrived at her house after hanging out for rest of the day, it was now seven in the evening. I looked at her, she was still wearing my sweats, but I had given her another shirt, not wanting her to live in the shirt she slept in, though I may have taken it back because now it smells like her. That sounds a bit creepy, but I swear it's not.

"Earth to Isaac." She said, waving her hand in front of my face. "Sorry, what did you say?" I asked and she shook her head, laughing. "Nothing, I just said I had to go." She said and I nodded. "Right, yeah, makes sense, your Dad- I mean, Anthony, well, actually, he's waiting, probably." I rambled and she grinned. "Bye, Isaac, thank you for the night and today." She said, opening the door of my Jeep.

"Yeah, you too." I said and she gave me a small wave, making her way to the front porch. I put my head on my steering wheel, feeling like an idiot.

honk.

Shit. Fuck, dumbass.

She turned around, frowning. I put my hands up in defence and she started laughing, shaking her head. I threw my head back, hitting my own seat. "You fucking moron." I muttered to myself, rubbing my head. I started the car and gave her a small wave before driving off her driveway and making my way to the abandoned gym almost immediately.

I parked my car and walked to the entrance, getting inside as quickly as I could. "You're late." Manuel, my coach, said as I entered the locker room. "I got caught up, alright?" I snapped and unlocked my locker. "Whoa, there, I was fucking with you." He laughed. "Why so pissed off?"

"Maybe I'm fighting my first fight in five month in a few?" I asked and he pat me on the back. "You'll be fine, you've been training like a maniac, to a point where I don't think it's healthy anymore, you should cool it a bit." Manny said and I ran a hand over my face. "I can't, not since Louis is in rehab, you know how bad I feel about it." I said and he nodded. "Yeah, come on, I'll see you in ten, we're only doing a few kicks, nothing to exhaust you too much, only to warm you up before the fight."

I got out my shorts and shirt, along with tape and my mouthguard. I quickly changed out of my casual clothes into my boxing ones. I walked into the boxing space of the gym where Manny was talking to another guy. "Ready." I said and Manny looked at me. "Alright, I'll see you around Caleb." He said to the guy he was just talking to. "New flame?" I asked and he rolled his eyes. "He's just a... friend, I guess. He's coaching your opponent, we just talked about the rules."

I grinned and walked to the punching bags. "Start with a warm up, eh?" Manny proposed. "I bet last training made you muscles ache?" He asked as he started taping my hands. "Yeah, it was extreme this time."

"You've been out of the ring a very long time, be careful tonight, don't overdo yourself." He said, checking my hands one last time. "I'll be fine, Manny, I've been doing this for seven years." I said. "I had my nose broken once in those years, that's the worst injury I've had, I can handle some eighteen-year-old." I added and he rolled his eyes. "An eighteen-year-old who's won every fight he's been in."

"Now you're discouraging me, bro." I said and he laughed. "Come on, kick." He said, motioning the the bag. I nodded and started kicking the bag with my right leg, punching with my left hand, following a routine I had been trained to do over the past few years.

This went on for a few more minutes before Manuel allowed me to stop and drink some water, allowing me to relax before the actual fight started. "D'you need to call someone before you go up there or are you ready?"

"I'm okay, yeah." I said and got up. "Good, come on." He said and we walked towards the ring, he lifted the rope around it and allowed me to climb trough. I sat down on the chair in the corner, breathing in and out to calm my heart rate. The referee of the night walked up to me, extending his hand. "Mister Miller, it's great to meet you."He said over the chatter of the crowd and I shook his hand. "Same thing."