"So what's it going to be like in there?" I asked Tristan as we pulled out of my driveway.

"Dark." He replied, "and smelly, like sweat."

"Ew."

"Well it's not that bad. I mean once you get past the stench and the poor lighting and the creepers that hang around the dark corners, it's actually kind of nice."

"Wow you're really selling it aren't you?"

"Just stay close." He looked over to me and I saw the street lights shine over his serious expression.

"I will." I smiled reassuringly at him and laced his hand through mine.

When we got there, I was a little confused. It just looked like a simple Italian restaurant, but I guess that was what kept it hidden.

"Soo," I said breaking our comfortable silence, "what, Is the Alfredo here going to magically transport us to the underground?"

He snorted, "come on dork."

I climbed out of the car with him and he held the door open for me to the restaurant. It was basically empty, with just one old couple eating dinner together.

I looked back at Tristan, waiting for the next move. He took my hand and led me to the back, where the kitchen was.

There was a man stationed by a silver door in the back, past all of the stoves and the washing machines. It just looked like a freezer door to me. He was sitting on a stool watching us approach.

"Tristan." He nodded in a greeting.

Then he looked over to me with some judgement in his eyes, "she good?" he asked.

"She's good." He replied simply.

The man kept staring for a moment longer, then sniffled through one nostril and moved to open the steel door for us.

And just like that a freezer door was suddenly an illegal entrance to secret ring fighting. Could I be arrested for just being here? I probably should have thought about this more thoroughly.

We walked through a dark hallway that curved a little and the sounds of shouting and cheering and punching and groaning were getting louder and louder as we came closer to the ring.

The hallway opened into a giant cave looking room that had high ceilings and a boxed out section in the middle. There was lots of dim lighting but I could still see all of my surroundings.

There were two men in the ring now, and people were shouting divided cheers of who they were rooting for.

I tightened my grip around Tristan's hand as we passed the people who were focused on the current fight. They seemed like a rough crowd and I didn't want to lose Tristan.

He held on just as tight.

There was a bar on one side of the wall that he took us to sit down by. The people here were sitting close to each other, so they could hear what their friends were saying over the noise of the room.

"Is it always this crowded?" I talked loud into Tristan's ear.

"Nah, Saturday's are always like this." He shouted back.

And then my attention shot towards the ring. More specifically who was in it.

He moved quickly and his dirty blonde hair was bobbing around with his moves, his eyes focused on the opponent in front of him.

"Hey, is that Tate?" I asked and Tristan looked over at him and nodded.

I had seen Tate fight once and he was good, but I could see now that he was clearly holding back his full potential.

I must have been watching the end of his fight, because he had the guy knocked to the ground and he laid there long enough for a bell to go off and cheering erupted throughout the room and I smiled with the hype.

Tate climbed through the ropes and wrapped a towel around the back of his neck. He barely had a scratch on him.

He came over to Tristan and I with sweat all over his bare chest.

"You ready to go man?" he asked Tristan as he threw a shirt over himself. Suddenly I was nervous, remembering the time Tristan had climbed through my window all bloody and bruised.

But he was ready to go and he must have seen the worry on my face because he gave me a reassuring nod.

"Stay close to Tate, don't wander on your own, and don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He said and gave me a light hearted wink before he went off towards the ring.

"He'll be alright, won't he Tate?"

"Of course, just you wait."

And I nodded but I think it was more of a reassurance to myself.

He walked closer to the ropes and stripped his shirt off. I didn't mean to look like that, but a bitch couldn't help herself.

His triceps were nothing new to me, I've seen him in short sleeves before. But his abs, I had only seen them once when they were covered in colorful bruises. And they were glowing in the dim light of the ring. The lines of his back were defined as he climbed through the ropes to meet his opponent.

And his opponent made me forget to breathe as dread flooded through me once again.

"Big dude." Tate observed and I looked at him absolutely flabbergasted.

"But I still shouldn't worry... right?"

"Right," he said, "the big ones are usually slower."

And then the bell rang to start the fight and I prayed that Tate was right.

They both had their arms thrown up in a defensive position as they circled around the ring. The big guy threw a first punch and he only caught air as Tristan threw himself out the way. They circled some more and Tristan dodged another punch.

The third time his opponent threw a punch, Tristan redirected the momentum and threw it to the side. This caught the big guy off guard and Tristan didn't waste his time as his other arm flew out and connected with ribs. Cheers and shouts erupted all around me but I was too nervous to react.

His opponent then backed up a little and repositioned himself, putting his hands back over his face in defense.

Tristan threw a punch and the other guy dodged it. Tristan caught his jaw with the next hit and more cheers sounded.

He threw another one with more force, but the guy managed to dodge it at the very last second.

He suddenly threw a low punch and it landed directly into Tristan's stomach and I saw from where I was standing that it knocked the wind out of him.

He cringed at his core and his elbows slightly lowered, leaving more of his face exposed. He tried to recover quickly but he was too late as his opponent threw exactly two punches to his left cheek.

I flinched tightly and my hands shot up to cover my mouth as the crowd burst into shouts and cheers. I looked to see Tate's reaction but his expression was neutrally focused.

And that's when I realized that Tristan meant to take those hits, because his opponent was becoming cocky. He left himself too exposed as he went to throw his next punches and Tristan took advantage of this.

He uppercut him in the jaw, then swung his left fist into the right side of his cheek, throwing big guys face to the side.

Tristan threw a few punches to his abdomen and his opponent threw his arms out as he lost his footing. That didn't stop Tristan though, he pulled his fists back and struck punch after punch to each side of his face.

And I swear I felt something twitch in my own jaw as Tristan landed his final blow, knocking his opponent down to the ground.

Cheers skyrocketed as he went down and the bell rang in Tristan's victory and I found myself shouting along with them, most of all in relief that he was still on his own two feet.

I was bouncing in place and Tate threw his hands up in a double high five and I didn't hesitate to give them both a satisfying smack.

I was clapping for him as someone handed him a towel and he looked at me. I had an open mouthed smile on my face and he climbed out the ring to head back towards me and Tate.

I watched as people gave a few passing pats on his shoulder and I was thrown off guard when someone tapped my own shoulder.

I turned around to see who it was and confusion racked through my every fiber as I recognized who I was now starring at.

"Braedon?"

✨Authors note✨

:o I hope you remember who this is! :o

If not, its okay i'll see you in the next update