7

Chapter 7: Training

My whole life was in darkness

And then you shot across my sky like a meteor 

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|Verena|

My breath came out in pants, my black tank top was drenched in sweat and my whole body ached. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"Is that the best you got?" I said in between gasps as I got up on my feet once more.

We'd been training since the past two hours. Nate was teaching me self-defense and from the deep scowl on his face it was pretty clear he was not impressed by my tactics so far. 

I hadn't been able to successfully dodge even one of his hits up until now.

"Again." He said in his cool tone, "This time try to duck on time, you need to be quick." He instructed.

I gave him a stiff nod.

He aimed a punch at me again but this time I was ready for him, I ducked deftly and bought my knee to his side taking him off balance. Before he had time to recover I turned to face him and aimed a kick to his front.

I felt exhilarated, the desire for victory gnawed at me from the inside.

I let out a yelp of surprise when I felt his warm hand wrap around my ankle, stopping my kick in midair. My arms flailed as I started to lose my balance.

"Wrong move, sweetheart." Nate smirked as he yanked my leg forward, causing my body to plummet to the ground harshly.

I let out a pained groan as my back collided with the hard floor. I could feel the pain shoot up my arm and torso, where the man had kicked me yesterday.

Nate seemed to sense my pain because the next minute he was kneeling down beside me, examining me with concern.

"I think that's enough for today." He murmured as he studied me with a concerned expression.

"I'm okay. Let's do it again." I said determinedly as I got back up on my feet. I had a hard time keeping myself from wincing as I did so.

I had to show him that I was alright. I needed all the training I could get.

Nate gave me a hard look, he finally stood up and started walking away from me.

"We're done for today." He stated, his tone was firm.

I glared at his retreating back in frustration.

"Come back here! I'm not done training." I said stubbornly.

He kept walking.

"Come back here Nate!"

He pretended not to hear me, not slowing his pace.

I could feel my anger building up. 

Maybe it was the adrenaline, but I could feel an angry scream leave my lips and the next thing I knew I was charging towards him. My body collided with his hard back as I tried to tackle him to the ground.

My attempts proved to be futile, in the blink of an eye Nate had me pinned to the floor, his knees on either side of my waist, making it impossible for me to move. His large hands had my wrists pinned above my head. 

He made a point of not hurting me but at the same time he made it clear that he had the upper hand.

Our eyes locked and my breath caught in my throat as I suddenly realized our close proximity. There was a strange fluttery feeling in my stomach. His eyebrows furrowed together as he studied me. His eyes roamed across my face, taking me in.

We were so close that I could make out the tiniest details of his sculpted face, like the small scar above his right eyebrow and the one running along his jaw. I noticed how his dark eyes had flecks of brown and golden in them, which blended in together making a mesmerizing combination.

He cleared his throat, and just like that the spell was broken.

"I said we're done for today." Nate growled as he got off me, making no move to help me up.

I gave him a weary look as I started to get up myself, this time I couldn't help my face from contorting in pain as the pain shot up my sides.

"I live in the apartment upstairs. Why don't you come with me, I can get you an ice pack." Nate spoke up.

"Okay." I found myself agreeing quickly.

We made our way outside the gym and for the first time I noticed the flight of stairs on the side which led up to a door.

"You live here?" I asked him curiously.

"Yeah, it's easier that way." He answered with a shrug. "A friend of mine owns this gym, I work here as a kick-boxing instructor. I know it's not the ideal home but at least I don't have to drive to work six days a week."

I nodded as I took in the information, it made sense.

The musky smell of polished wood and leather hit me as soon as he opened the door. The whole place had a masculine aura. We had entered what seemed to be the lounge, a huge brown couch sat in the middle, in front of a flat screen television on the wall. A medium sized Afghan carpet lay on the floor beneath a small coffee table. On the other side of the room was the kitchen, separated by a half wall.

Nate walked to the kitchen and took out an ice pack from the fridge,

"Here, just press it over the bruised area." He said as he handed it to me, "I'm going to take a shower, help yourself to anything you want." He murmured as he started walking towards the door at the end of the hall.

I sat down on the couch awkwardly and pressed the ice pack against my arm. The cool surface felt good against my hot, aching body.

My eyes fell on the wall clock and  I gasped as I realized that it was already 8 AM, I had exactly one hour to get to college. 

I'd moved in with Skylar yesterday after the incident had occurred. I knew my apartment wasn't a safe place to live  anymore.

 When I'd called and told her I wanted to take her up on her offer and move in, Skylar had been beyond happy. She'd admitted that she always felt kind of nervous living in the house all by herself. By night time we'd successfully moved most of my stuff into Skylar's house.  

I put the ice pack on the kitchen counter and started to make my way towards the door. I didn't need to tell Nate that I was leaving, he'd know the reason.

Not that he cared or anything.

Suddenly the sound of the front door opening pulled me out of my thoughts. My eyes widened in shock when I saw a hooded stranger busting in.

I had to clamp my hand on my mouth to keep from screaming. I could feel my heart beating erratically.

A baseball bat leaning against the wall caught my eye. I grabbed the bat and silently started walking towards the intruder, I had to take him off guard.

I let out a scream as I charged at him.

"What the-?" The man yelled when he saw me, his hood falling back to expose his handsome face. He seemed to be in shock.

He dodged just in time, the bat colliding with thin air, missing him by centimeters.

I cursed under my breath as I prepared to attack again.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

"Me?" The man cried in disbelief, "You're the one who's standing in my house trying to kill me!"

"Your  house?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes my house." He sounded irritated now.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He growled as he tried to lunge for the bat but I was quicker than him, I dodged and tried to hit him again but missed.

"You psycho woman! Get out before I call the cops!" He barked.

I swung the bat again, aiming at his head. Just as it was about to strike him I saw a hand lash out and grab it, stopping the bat  just inches away from the man's face.

"What's going on here?" Nate's voice boomed.

I noticed that his hair was wet from the shower and he had a towel around his neck. He was wearing a white tank top with a pair of sweat pants.

How is it that he always managed to look like a he'd stepped out of the cover of a magazine?

I shook my head quickly, trying to clear my head of the embarrassing thoughts.

"What's going on?" Nate asked again.

The man who'd broken in scoffed, "You tell me." He snapped as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I leave the apartment for ten minutes to get some coffee and when I come back this, this psycho woman is trying to kill me with my baseball bat!" He said as glared at me.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" I asked stupidly.

Nate looked embarrassed now, "Er, this is Marcus. He's the friend I told you about, the ones who owns the gym. We share this apartment. I forgot to mention that he lives here too." He finished awkwardly.

"And who might this be?" Marcus asked, his voice was sharp.

"This is Verena Dawson. I'm kind of training her." Nate answered somewhat  sheepishly.

"You could've told me!" Marcus yelled at his friend.

"I forgot okay? It's not like you're hurt or anything!"

Marcus scoffed in disbelief, "She almost killed me."

Nate snorted, "Stop being over dramatic."

His eyes wandered towards the bat which was still awkwardly clutched in my hand. His face broke into an amused smile.

"Besides," Nate said offhandedly, still grinning, "A blow on the head might actually have done that brain of yours some good, Marcus." He chuckled as he started walking away.

I almost swooned, if I'd thought he'd looked handsome before, he looked a hundred times better when he laughed. My emotions were all over the place.

Marcus looked baffled. "Did he just-?" I could hear the shock in his voice.

"Nate- Nate Cohen just cracked a joke! And he actually laughed! I've known him for four years and he's never joked around even once!"

He turned to look at me with wide eyes.

"Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?"