(early update because I got 17k followers, holy freaking cow, you guys slay & ilysm—also, four songs because of a switch in POVs *winks*)

SONG(s) FOR CHAPTER: 

♬ A Thousand Year by Christina Perri ♬

♬ Any Other Way by We The Kings ♬ 

♬ Somewhere In Neverland by All Time Low ♬ 

♬ I Choose You by Sara Bareilles ♬ 

CHAPTER 10

❀ GRACE WALKER ❀

"DON'T HATE ME," I said into the phone, "but I have to cancel tonight—"

"What?" Audrey gasped. "Grace, I need you! I can't believe you would just abandon me. I thought we were becoming really great friends and now you go and ditch me like—"

"I wasn't finished!"

"Oh. Proceed."

"Does your lover happen to enjoy UFC?"

Audrey paused a moment. "How should I know? He's a boy, so I'm going to assume that he does."

"Well, my friend got tickets for the match tonight. I thought I could give you both one to make it up for not helping you cook. And we can go out to eat afterwards so you don't have to cook at all," I told her.

"Whoo! You're a life savor, young one. Hey, would this match happen to star a very attractive British man?"

My cheeks flushed, even though she wasn't there to see. "Um, yes."

"Then I'm in no matter what. He is one fine devil. I'll have to note him as a back up in case this one doesn't work out."

Chest tightening, I spoke faster than I should have. "Yeah, well, see you tonight. I gotta go." I hung up before she could answer.

Letting out a sigh, I raked my fingers through my hair and shoved my phone back into my pocket. The clock informed me it was time for lunch, so I shook my hands out a little and headed for the lounge.

Evan was already there, his feet propped up on the table while he munched on some chips. I pushed his feet off just to spite him, to which he stuck his chip-covered tongue out at me.

"Gross," I muttered.

He laughed, and then a silence rested over us. I was still replaying the words he bid me goodbye with Friday night. How he practically confessed his crush on me. I suppose I sort of expected it, just the way he acted sometimes, but I never thought so deeply on it until now.

I remembered I had an extra ticket Jacob had given to me, and also that Evan was a big fan. If anything could split the tension between us, surely it would be gift giving. After all, he had given me concert tickets. It's only fair if I return the favor.

"I have something you might like," I told him and reached into my pocket.

He rose an eyebrow, putting his feet down to rest his arms on the table instead. His head tilted in interest at first when I pulled out the small ticket, but then his eyes went wide and a smile brightened his face.

"No way!"

I smiled. "The match is tonight—"

"I know," he said, still seemingly ecstatic. "Man, ever since I first saw that kid on television a couple years back, I've been dying to go to a fight live."

I scrunched my nose. "What is it with everyone enjoying watching someone else's face get smashed in?"

Evan was shaking his head now, but still grinned. "No, that's not the point of it, Grace. The point is how somehow could literally have such agility, that they don't even get hit once. I've only seen Harry Styles get hit a handful of times, and each time the opponent got it much worse.

"It's like watching actual ninjas, in a way. The strategy most of the fighters put into it is just amazing to me. It's not so much the gore that has everyone amazed; it's the actions to which lead to the gore. Understand?"

"Nope." I folded my arms across my chest. "I mean, yeah, it's cool how quick on their feet someone can be, but it still seems ridiculous to violently be quick on your feet."

Evan just laughed, staring down at the ticket again. "Man, I'm so stoked now."

"Consider it my gratitude for the concert Friday."

My phone rang again before Evan had a chance to reply. I was half expecting to see Audrey's number pop up, but instead, it was my mother's. I couldn't help but smile a little. I hadn't talked to her in quite a while.

"Hey."

"Grace! How are you?"

"Pretty great. I went to my first concert Friday night with a friend." I glanced over at Evan and he smiled at me, then went back to his food and ticket.

"Oh, that's nice." Her voice had dropped considerably.

I frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, dear, of course not. I don't want to put a damper on your mood when you seem to be having so much fun."

"Mom..."

"We miss you, dear."

I almost gagged. We meaning her and Mr. Pell. Oh yes, that was still going on. Quite strongly, might I add. Though I still didn't particularly like the idea that she's dating my ex-teacher, I had grown to like him. He was a genuine man, after all, and he got my mother back on her feet again.

I stood, walking over to the window. "What are you hiding?"

Mom sighed on the other end. "Well... there is one thing." She paused a moment for effect before saying, "I'm married."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I already knew that. I attended your wedding," I remarked teasingly. She deserved someone to cherish her since my father hadn't been around to do so in such a long time. I wouldn't dare take that happiness she's finally gained back away from her again.

"Well..."

"Please spit it out," I countered.

A longer pause.

"This is going right where I think it is, isn't it?" I pressured, my heart beginning to beat a little faster.

Mom laughed nervously on the other end. "Well, if you're thinking about a fetus..."

"Oh God! You're pregnant?" I was actually smiling. "How long?"

"Twelve weeks, give or take." Mom was laughing now. "Oh, I'm so glad you took the news well. Noah hid in his room an entire week when I told him. I thought he'd never come out."

"Noah has never liked children," I reminded her, my smile still wide. "He'll warm up to him... or her. Oh Lord, I hope it's a her. I'm not sure I can handle another boy."

Mom went on for a little while longer until lunch was over and I reluctantly had to hang up. I was still a little flustered from the big announcement, explaining my excitement to Evan to subdue his confusion.

I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day.

That is, until it was time for the fight.

♕ HARRY STYLES ♕

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes, Jacob."

"An actual meal?"

"Yes, Jacob."

"Are you hydrated?"

I groaned. "For heaven's sake, I'm fine. I swear on my grave, all right?"

Jacob gave me a suspicious eye for a while before replying. "I'm just making sure. I don't need you to go back to the hospital and then me joining you because you gave me a heart attack."

Shaking my head, I clapped his shoulder. "I'm fine," I repeated. "I promise."

He didn't seem to believe me, but let the subject fall anyways. Josh knocked on the our hotel room door a few minutes later, and then we were headed to the same arena I fainted in.

My hands were shaking, but not from dehydration or starvation—from actual nerves. I didn't want to mess up again, not in front of all those people. Josh informed me yesterday the arena had sold out in minutes. I might have won the last fight, but I still showed a weakness. I still let everyone down.

Or at least it felt that way. But on the way inside, passing the crowd, many of them cheered for me. I even caught a sign that said "fighters never quit" and the girl holding it was practically fainting herself. I tried to take it all as encouragement, as a major compliment, but there was still an anxious part inside me I could not shake.

Jacob must've noticed, because he started patting me on the back once we were in the locker rooms. I changed quickly, wanting to try and rid of the jitters sooner rather than later. I didn't want to be out in the ring in front of everyone shaking like a leaf.

Between Josh's and Jacob's pep talks, I should've felt fine. I shouldn't still be worried that something bad would occur. I had fainted before. What would I do this time? Faint for an eternity? What if I wasn't one hundred percent ready to be back fighting so soon?

Shaking the thoughts away, I bounced on the heels of my feet. I was fine. The doctor said so. Jacob said so. Josh said so. Everyone was saying so. There was no reason to be this nervous. I had never been this nervous about a fight before, and my opponent supposedly wasn't even all that good.

"Remember," Josh had been saying, "he's weak on the left from a car accident a few years ago. Always goes for a side kick or an uppercut. He's slower than you. You have this in the bag."

Ruffling my hair, I let out a sigh before following them out into the corridors. However, I nearly fell flat on my face just from the sight of who was standing at the fire exit, trying to come inside.

Brady and Ivette.

Jacob was the first to react, running over and letting them inside. "Holy crap! I missed you morons so much!" He hugged Ivette first, then Brady.

Brady and I did the "bro-hug", as Grace used to call it. "Damn man, look at you." Brady was shaking his head, grinning. "I always thought you'd go for football, not UFC."

Ivette threw her arms around my neck, laughing when I stumbled. "Jacob called and told us about your fight, and we had a few days off from classes, so we came as fast as we could." She pulled back, grinned at me, and continued. "We almost didn't get tickets because of how quickly they were selling."

Brady pointed a finger at me. "If you lose, it'll be embarrassing that I wasted so much time and money finding these damn tickets." He held them up as if to flaunt them.

Jacob snorted. "Are you joking? This kid hasn't lost yet. Even when he passed out almost two weeks ago, he still won."

I rolled my eyes, but managed a smile. "It's nice to see you both."

Introducing Brady to Josh was like introducing a historian to a book from four hundred years ago. He was so ecstatic to listen to what Josh had to say, and even when Josh was redirecting me, he seemed like he was ready to burst. But they had to leave to get their seats just a few short moments later.

 If Brady and Ivette are here, does that mean...?

No, surely she wouldn't come. She had no reason to. She didn't like this kind of thing and I wasn't even sure she liked me anymore.

The crowd cheered ridiculously loud when the two of us fighters got called into the ring. I left behind Josh and Jacob to duck under the ropes, tugging off my white tank top and pushing in my mouth guard. The man before me was larger than I, but that was no shock. I was always the smaller one.

Remembering Brady had told me how close they were sitting, I naturally skimmed the crowd to find them only five rows back from the front. Ivette waved to me excitedly while Brady had a smug look on his face, saluting me in a teasing way.

I was just about to look away when I saw her.

Grace.

She was walking down the stairs towards Brady and Ivette, that kid Evan and two other people following her. She shrieked when she spotted Ivette, hugging her and Brady tightly with a bright smile on her face. I got so caught up in admiring her that I hadn't heard the referee inform us to bump fists.

My heart faltered a moment, knowing she was in the crowd. She might've brought him along, but she was still here to root for me, wasn't she? Still here to support me? I couldn't lose then. Not when she would be one of the thousands of people relying on me to win.

My opponent and I tapped knuckles. I heard Jacob cheer me on from behind. I tried to keep my eyes focused on the man in front of me, though they were daring to dart over to Grace, to see if she was watching. I held back the urge, however, for I was not that clueless as to what would happen if I looked away for even the briefest of moments.

He threw the first punch. I ducked, popping back up with a hook to his jaw. He stumbled, though only for a moment before he was circling me like prey. I watched his feet, calculated his steps and how close he was. I watched his arms, waiting for a single muscle to flex to give away that he was about to strike.

He did. Though I missed his punch, I hadn't expected his leg to swing into my side, just as Josh warned me about. It only stung for a moment or two, hardly knocking me off balance at all. I managed to get another punch to his jaw before the first round bell deemed a break.

"He's holding out," Josh told me as Jacob squirted water into my mouth. "He's waiting for you to strike first. If you do, make sure it's a smart move."

"It looks like he's trying to wear you down," commented Jacob.

I nodded, knowing all of these things already. It was obvious he was trying to burn out my stamina, but little did he know how much I actually contained. I had great endurance, that was one thing I gladly admitted. If anyone was going to tire out, it'd be him.

Of course, I sneaked a glance over at Grace and them again in the last few moments of the break. My jaw tightened when I saw the Evan kid leaning by her ear, her face emotionless until she laughed a little. When he lifted his head back up and she looked at him, I almost screamed.

He kissed her.

As if they had been dating for years, he outright kissed her.

Jacob must've seen as well because he let out a low whistle behind me, muttering something incoherent just as the bell dinged that break was over. It wasn't hard to tear my eyes from the scene—I didn't want to see her so happy with someone that wasn't me. Perhaps that's selfish, but oh well.

I wanted the best for Grace, of course I did. But only if that best was me. I knew I didn't deserve her, but God, I tried so hard to be what she wanted me to be. I tried so hard to keep her smiling, to keep her on her feet. However, it seemed I was the foolish one for not moving on.

My poor opponent didn't sign up for me to let my frustration out on him, but once I started, I was scared at how hard it was to stop.