"Shouldn't you be in school?" a voice snapped from behind me, I furrowed my brows looking at the 6 foot man standing before me "Shouldn't you be at work" I sassed back turning back to the punching bag continuing to focus on my jabs.

"I am, I own this place" I halt my fist stopping in mid air "You, own all of this?" I question moving my hand to gesture at the entirety of the gym, to make sure I heard him right "Yeah, you don't have to look so shocked" he said pretending to be offended at my indirect jab. "Don't I look like a business man or what?" he said striking a pose that I guess he thought is what a businessman looked like? I don't know what the hell he was doing but I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of my chest.

"So are you going to tell me why you aren't in school?"

"I wasn't feeling it today" I said, after hanging out with Zach yesterday until the early hours of the morning I just couldn't face him today. Grabbing a bottle of water, I drank it greedily focusing on his words.

"You can't just skip school because you feel like it" he said sitting down on the bench yanking me down to sit next to him I rolled my eyes at his words.

"Aren't we a gentleman and I am here aren't I so I'm pretty sure I can skip" I told him smirking at his frustration "Okay get up, I'm taking you to school" I shook my head vicariously, gripping the edge of my seat.

"I told you I'm not going, school is out in a few hours anyway so"

"Why do you care so much if I go to school or not?" his sudden concern over my education has got me curious we definitely do not know each other enough for him to worry about me.

"I used to come here to box when I was your age instead of going to school, I was lucky enough to have someone to push me to go to school and work hard. Before he left, I promised him something and I keep my promises" he uttered, a look I know all to well flashed in his eyes, he shook is head and heading up to the ring, I nodded my head not knowing what to say to his heartfelt speech.

"I'm letting this go today, but I don't want to see you here when you're supposed to be in school" I nodded not wanting to argue especially after what he said.

He got up moving towards the ring gesturing for me to follow his lead "Isabella" I said as we sat at the centre of the ring trying to catch our breath, we had been sparring for a couple of hours and I'm completely and utterly wasted.

"What?" he said in confusion taking off his gloves "I didn't get to tell you my name last time, its Isabella" he looked at me with a grin.

"I can now match the name to the face"

It was now close to ten o'clock we had been training way past closing hours. "You've been here all day, don't you need to tell someone back home where you're at" Andreson questioned resting his head against the cold wall trying to catch his breath.

"My dad's working late today so he won't be questioning where I'm at" he looked at me concern in his eyes.

"How old are you Bell?"

"I just turned eighteen a few months ago" I responded removing the gloves from my hands "What about you Andy?" I questioned back moving to sit right in front of him "I just turned twenty years old" I looked at him in surprise "You're young for a business owner" he nodded a sad smile forming on his face.

"When I was young my parents where never in the picture, my dad used to deal drugs and when he met my mom he got her hooked on them, so my childhood was far from fairytales and rainbows" his face dropped as he continued playing with his hands.

"It was a pretty rough upbringing, when I was around 16 years old I met these guys and they completely changed my life. Around a year or so ago one of them got murdered in cold blood, before he died he made me promise that I would make something of myself, at first I didn't even want anything to do with life."

"It didn't feel right that I was living while he laid in a box six feet underground, but around 6 months ago everything changed" a small smile lit up his face as he remembered what happened.

"When I came upon this place it was a complete wreck but I was able to fix it up, and here we are" he spoke in a single breath, his eyes glistening with tears, I wiped away the few stray tears that slid down my face at his story.

"I lost my mom a year ago" I don't know why I said it but in that moment it felt right to talk to him about it with him, he can understand what grief feels like and ever since I left home I haven't been able to talk much about it and process it.

When Dad decided that we needed to leave home, it was difficult to accept, and it still is. All the memories I shared with my mom are now left behind in that house. The guilt of leaving her behind is sometimes too much to bare.

"Tell me about her" my breath caught in my throat at his words, talking about her isn't easy but I want her memory to live on.

"She was so happy and full of life, in 5 months I literally watched the light drain out of her eyes, she continued to smile for me and my dad but it just wasn't the same. The hardest thing to witness was the pain in her eyes as she died" my voice broke at the last few words, as a sob racked over me.

Rushing over he collected me in his arms "It's been a year of so much change and sometimes I can't even believe she's even gone. Sometimes I go home and I catch myself yelling out to her, the death silence just kills me every time" I continued to sob, his arms tightened around me.

"Bell, I promise you, your mother is watching over you, proud of the woman you're becoming. You're strong, Bell stronger than you know, both in body and mind. I know you'll get through this," he said, his words soothing my sobs, though the ache in my heart remained.