A/N: I'm sick atm (probably something I caught while traveling ;-; so I apologize in advance, cause I tried to edit this a bit, but am sure I didn't catch all my mistakes. Once my brain fog clear up a bit I will take another look and clean it up some more <3

Nate's punches echoed through the gym as his wrapped knuckles slammed into the punching bag. A few stragglers from the junior boxing club were still hanging out, waiting for their parents to pick them up. The class had ended not long ago, and a few of the kids who knew him from when he coached once in a while, or just because he was around all the time, were watching him out of the corners of their eyes. Their coaches, guys who had worked with Nate when he was in high school, had tried to strike up a conversation, but he was in no mood.

The only time he stopped beyond giving himself a few-second breather was when Jared finally showed up, eyebrows raised. Nate stepped back to avoid the swaying bag and braced his hands on his hips. Each breath felt like claws dragging down his throat. Sweat slid down his neck and stuck his shirt to his back.

"Thought you said you wanted to go a few rounds?" Jared said in a small, dubious voice.

Jared was not a boxer. He only boxed for shits and giggles with Nate sometimes, and while he was pretty good, if Nate wanted to lay him out, it wouldn't take too much effort. He was right to look nervous when Nate probably had the aura of wanting not just to punch the punching bag into oblivion, but rip it apart.

"I do," he gasped, stopping to take a breath and swallow. "I just needed to work out some of my..." he feigned a few punches, letting his scowl turn as dark as he felt, before straightening again and shrugging. "before we went a few rounds."

"Why not ask someone who can keep up with you?" Jared asked as he set his bag down.

There were plenty of people in the room, although they'd begun trickling out now, who could. Most of the coaches were still in their prime. Although many of them had injuries that precluded them from going full-tilt, just like he did. That wasn't the only reason he didn't want to fight someone who could challenge him, though.

"I just want to work some stuff out in my head," he said. "Go a few rounds. Clear my head. Concentrate on controlling myself, not beating someone into a pulp. Just...you know, go through a few..." he waved his hands around, stopping to catch his breath again.

"Got it," Jared dipped to unzip his bag and root around for his tape. Without looking up, he said, "So, you're fighting with Bailey?"

"Fuck off," Nate immediately snapped.

Jared just pulled the tape out and started wrapping his knuckles. "You're too easy."

Instead of answering, Nate just clenched his jaw and looked at the slowly winding-down sway of the punching bag. Jared wrapped his knuckles in silence, then retrieved his mouthguard and gloves. On his way toward the ring, he spoke over his shoulder. "Listen, if it helps. I think it's great that you're here beating the shit out of me instead of taking it out on him."

Nate snorted and followed him. "We're not like for-real together or anything, but I figure, it's not right to let things come to blows when we're...whatever we are doing."

"Sounds like you need to figure out what you are doing," Jared braced his hands on the edge of the ring and grunted as he pushed himself up and between the ropes. Nate grabbed his equipment from where he'd staged it, then followed him in. Not wanting to think about what he and Bailey were—that was a question for another time, when he wasn't so keyed up—he stuck his mouth-guard in and rocked his head from side to side.

Jared attacked him first, setting the tone with a simple, basic left jab. Instead of worrying too much about fighting him, Nate evaded easily and watched his footwork. He was still out of breath, chest-heaving, from going at the punching bag. It was a bit soothing to dance around the ring, leading Jared on as he did most of the movement, working up a sweat and losing his breath as well. Eventually, Jared didn't pivot quite right as he tried to work in a left hook. Instead of taking advantage of where he left himself open, Nate stepped back and held his arms up.

He tongued his mouth-guard out of the way and nodded at Jared's feet. "You've got to remember to drop the right heel when you are doing that, or else you're putting yourself off-balance."

Jared spat his mouthguard out. "So, what are you and Bailey fighting about?"

Nate groaned.

"No, seriously!" Jared leaned forward and to the side, looking on with curiosity. "It can't be something stupid like he took all the blankets or one of you keyed the others' car again. Otherwise, you'd just be going at it, instead of here. It's gotta be something, serious...like relationshippy." He scrunched his nose up on the last word, repeating it to himself.

Running his hands over his hair was dissatisfying with boxing gloves on, so Nate shook it out to release some of his frustration instead. That just resulted in spraying sweat everywhere and making Jared back away while yelping. Nate sighed and removed his gloves.

"He's sensitive about his ex from high school, and for good reasons," Nate said. "And I saw Tanner at a gas station and...you know, told him to fuck off with his stupid face. Made Bailey mad that I even talked to him."

Jared hummed, leaning against one of the corners with his arms spread wide. "You know, it's never a good sign if they don't want you to talk to their ex, right? Like, usually there is a reason." He tilted his head to the side. "But Bailey is like...a saint. I can't see him being in the wrong in a relationship."

"Everything is always more complicated than it looks," Nate frowned. "He's not always easy to deal with. Stubborn shit."

Jared huffed a laugh and ducked under the ropes to hop down and wander toward his bag. As he grabbed his water bottle, and fetched Nate's from beside the punching bag, he called back, "I'd have been surprised if you two suddenly started magically getting along. You're both stubborn shits."

"Yeah, but he's..." Nate closed his fingers into fists and then released them on another sigh. "I dunno. Sometimes he seems...he sees me as the villain."

Jared tossed him his water bottle. "Well, did you know he was sensitive about the ex?"

"I knew it was a bad breakup, but I didn't know he was gonna blow his top if I talked to him," Nate grumbled. He took a long drink at the same time as Jared, mulling that over. It was the crux of the issue. He was frustrated because Bailey could have just asked him not to do that again, instead of freaking out and saying he was the same as Tanner.

It hurt that he immediately thought Nate was doing it with malicious intent. Although he'd definitely been doing it with possessive intent. Possessive over what? He laughed at himself as he lowered his water bottle. Maybe that was what was really bothering him. That Bailey had called him out over being possessive over something that he had no right to.

Jared stopped drinking with a dramatic smack of his lips and sigh. "I think that you should both cool off for a couple of days. Then you go to him and say, 'Hey, if I had known you didn't want me to talk to Tanner, I wouldn't have. Also I've caught some strong-ass fucking feelings for you, so do you wanna be boyfriends? And can you please talk to me about it when I upset you, instead of yelling at me?"

Nate glowered. "Since when are you qualified to give relationship advice?"

"Since I've been in at least three times as many relationships as you."

"None of them lasted as long."

"You guys only stayed together that long out of habit," Jared waved a hand. "As soon as it wasn't convenient anymore, you broke up."

Nate pressed his lips together in frustration because that was true.

Before either of them could say anything else, Nate's mom popped her head in. She glanced around and lifted a brow at them. "I was just heading out. Making sure all the junior boxers got their rides."

All of the people associated with the junior boxing club had already left the room, so Nate assumed that they had.

"See you guys later," she started to leave.

"Hey, give me a second," Nate said to Jared, hopping out of the ring. "I wanna go a few more rounds. We're gonna get that left hook right."

Jared's groan followed him out into the hallway, where he caught up to his mom. She stopped to turn to him, adjusting the strap of her bag, her expression open. It was comforting, but something uncomfortable twisted in his gut.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he asked.

Her lips twisted like she was going to tell him that he'd already asked her something, but instead, she nodded.

"Why are you friends with Bailey's mom?"

Surprise flitted across her face before she shifted her weight back on her heels to give him a more considering look. "What do you mean?"

"She's..." Nate didn't want to come out and say that she was abusive or anything. He left his sentence hanging, regretting bringing it up. But it had been kind of bugging him in the back of his mind.

"If you are talking about how she cheated on her husband, left him, and then married the guy she was cheating with," his mom said helpfully, "It's...nobody is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. Do I think she should have handled that situation that way? No. Will I stop being friends with her because of it? Also no. We've been friends since we were kids. And we've seen a lot of the worst of each other."

Not everything, Nate thought.

"A lot of friendship is about being able to work through differences, supporting each other when times are difficult," his mom continued. "That kind of thing. Helping each other become better, if possible. If she'd asked me for advice, I would have tried to help her handle it differently. I don't know what was going on in her mind during those months."

When Nate pressed his lips together in disapproval, she laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're young, but not everything is black and white. Friends are there in the tough times and the good times. Look at you and Jared. Or...you and Bailey?"

She gave him a sly grin while squeezing his shoulder. He smiled despite himself and shoved her hand off his shoulder. "Whatever."

"Are you and Bailey fighting?"

He threw his hands up. "How on earth..?"

"Mother's intuition," she tapped the side of her nose. "I'd just try to talk to him about it, yeah? Fighting over it hasn't gotten you two anywhere in the past. Words might."

"If I can get him to talk to me at all," Nate grumbled.

"You two have never been able to stay away from each other for long," his mom said, that infuriating smile still on her face. She turned, waving over her shoulder. "I'm sure it'll work out for you."

He watched her walk through the gym floor, where a few people were still on the weight machines. Gentle clinking accompanied her as she said goodbye to the kid manning the front desk. Then she was out the front door. He ran a hand over his face and turned back to go coach Jared through a few more rounds. Strangely, he already felt a bit better.