Page 39 of Only You

Jack was silent, and she waited for him to admit that she was right.

She would tell him to be patient, maybe convince him to go watch the boxing match he had been talking about all week.

Or they could call it an early night. She wanted to make him dinner and kiss on their couch, tucked away from everyone for a while.

Instead, he said, ‘How could you say that?’

‘What?’ Selene asked, genuinely confused.

‘You’re defending the guy who just left us high and dry? And now you want to blame me?’

‘Blame you?’ she repeated.

‘What? You’re a fucking parrot now?’

‘Don’t go there,’ she warned him. ‘Don’t play at who can be meaner, Jack, because you won’t like the result.’

‘Can’t believe this,’ he scoffed. ‘You would rather stick up for him than be on my side!’

‘I’m saying there’s more than one side to this.’

‘How?’

‘How – have you not been paying attention?’ Selene gestured to the space around them.

‘I’m here with him every day. I watched him train.

I patch him up after every fight, no matter how good or bad.

I see what he goes through,’ she explained, shaking her head at him.

‘Jack, you’re a great coach. You know how to make a great show, but you are asking him purposefully to break his body for you. ’

‘For us ,’ Jack emphasised. ‘What? You don’t think I do the same thing?

I bust my ass at that garage every fucking day.

You think I wanna be covered in grease and sweat all day for fucking pennies?

You think I wouldn’t trade it all to be in the ring, make this shit easier for us?

You’re wrong! But I ain’t got it and we all know it! Or do you not give a shit anymore?’

‘You know I care about you—’

‘More than you care for him?’ Jack said, voice cold.

Her eyes widened, and she barely stopped herself from slapping him. Did he really think she needed to cheat on him to defend someone? How cheap did he think she was?

‘I barely talk to Demir,’ she spat. ‘The hell are you getting at?’

‘Why are you taking his side?’ he pressed. ‘Why are you acting like this isn’t our last fucking shot to get out of here, to have something better? We don’t even have half the cash we need for rent, much less your textbooks!’

Selene felt like ripping her hair out. Of course, she knew they were low on money, but they’d always been low on money.

She knew it was the proximity that was killing him.

They were all so close to succeeding, but was it worth this ?

Their arguments used to be fun. She used to not be intimidated by him.

Now, she hated how nervous she was around him, how she always chose her words carefully so he didn’t go on a rampage. And even then, it felt inevitable.

‘I’m not taking his side,’ Selene repeated. ‘I know what we need to do, and I get it! I’m scared too! But you have to realise we’ve all made sacrifices for this!’

‘Yeah, some more than others.’ Jack looked her up and down with disdain before storming out the back door.

Selene rubbed soothing circles into her temples. Knowing Jack, this was only round one, and she already felt defeated. She opened her eyes, remembering if she was going to get home, she needed to go after him.

She looked towards the stairs only to meet Demir’s eyes.

From the look on his face, it was clear he had heard everything.

Selene quickly diverted her gaze to the floor, where she saw his boxing gloves.

He must have come back for them. She grabbed them from where they lay abandoned on the ground and met him on the stairs. He took them from her gingerly.

‘I’ll talk to him,’ she promised.

‘You don’t—’

She looked at him defiantly, a look she would have pulled on Jack months ago when they were on better terms.

Demir’s eyes fell to his feet. ‘Okay.’

Selene nodded before steeling herself. As she climbed the steps, a trickle of confidence returned.

She reminded herself that no one benefitted when she shut her mouth, especially her.

Jack may not be himself right now, but he was still her boyfriend.

If he wanted her to stay and help, he needed to treat her right.

Jack stood outside, smoking as he waited by the car.

‘Finally,’ he said, throwing his cigarette on the ground, snubbing it out with his shoe.

‘Let’s go. We’re gonna be late for the match, unless you want to give up on that too.’ He opened the door for her, and she threw her bag in the back before facing him, hands on her hips.

He looked at her dumbfounded. ‘What now?’ he asked.

Round two .

The tension was always thick whenever Demir picked up Selene in Jack’s car, their usual silence weighed down by unresolved issues.

After Jack’s fight with Selene, he was mechanical when he trained Demir.

Any conversation between the two was sharp and to the point.

So, it comforted him to see Selene back to her normal, stubborn self instead of shrinking under Jack’s attitude as she had been.

Still, it didn’t change much between them and Demir didn’t know how to feel about that.

Their old truce was now unbalanced since she’d stuck up for him.

He had tried his best in the week since to figure out how to repay her, but she never wanted anything from him.

There was nothing to give or provide other than silence, so he did that.

Still, it nagged at him relentlessly that he couldn’t find a way to thank her.

Demir did his best to put it out of his mind as he and Selene entered the gym, starting their usual routine.

Selene began to pull out her books while Demir went to the locker room to get ready.

Halfway through wrapping his hands, he heard a commotion outside the door, a female voice filtering through. He sighed.

Another argument , he thought before pausing.

Jack shouldn’t be here this early.

He stood from the bench and opened the door.

Instead of seeing Selene and Jack arguing, he saw a boxer he’d gone against a while back, Zac, crowding her against the wall. The terror in her eyes was obvious as she tried to push him away, textbook clutched to her chest. Still, the guy leaned in further, pinning her wrist to the wall.

‘Hey,’ Demir called out as he stomped over. The boxer looked up, loosening his grip. ‘Get the fuck off her.’

‘Oh, this your girl?’ Zac asked. ‘My bad. She asked me to come over to help her study. She wanted some hands-on training.’ He smirked, and Demir opened his mouth to threaten him only for a textbook to hit him across the face.

Both men turned to Selene, who stood there furiously gripping her anatomy book.

‘Crazy bitch,’ Zac spat, grabbing her by the throat.

Demir ripped him away, throwing him to the ground and grabbing his shirt. His fists rained down on the boxer’s face. He ignored the blood and breaking bones until two other people dragged him off. Four others crowded around and, as the noise rose, the gym manager came rushing out of his office.

Demir shrugged off the strangers’ holds and walked over to Selene, who was looking at the scene in shock, a hand cradling her neck.

Carefully, he reached out and touched the back of her hand.

She recoiled and looked up, relaxing when she saw it was him.

He tilted her head so he could take a closer look.

He didn’t see any bruises; hopefully, he pulled Zac off before he could do any real damage.

‘You okay?’ he asked her quietly.

Selene shook her head. Demir nodded, taking her hand.

She squeezed it before shifting to hide herself from the crowd behind him.

He stepped closer, and she closed her eyes.

The world faded away as he watched her try to catch her breath.

He didn’t look in the mirror to the commotion happening behind him as he intertwined their fingers.

All he could focus on was the fact that she was okay.

And for the briefest moment, it was the most important fact in his life.

‘Get out!’

Demir turned to see the gym manager’s livid eyes on them. ‘And stay out! You’re banned from here.’

‘What?’ Selene stepped from Demir’s shadow and stomped over to the manager. ‘This is ridiculous. He attacks me in your gym, and we’re getting kicked out? Are you out of your mind?!’

‘It’s fine,’ Demir said. Selene stared at him in confusion. ‘Just get your stuff.’ He gathered his things from the locker room and took her hand when he came back out. He led them outside, only dropping her hand when they reached the car.

‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ she said as he opened the trunk, placing their bags inside before slamming it closed. ‘We weren’t in the wrong.’

‘There’s no winning battles like that,’ he replied. ‘Why waste the time?’

Selene opened her mouth before something over his shoulder caught her eye. ‘Fuck.’

He followed her gaze to see Jack rushing down the street. ‘Well, there goes my freedom.’

Demir wanted to ask what she meant, but she stepped around him to meet Jack halfway. ‘Jack, what are you doing here?’

‘I left early. I wanted to talk to you,’ he said, rubbing his neck nervously before his eyes flickered to Demir. ‘What are you guys doing outside?’

‘Everything’s fine,’ she said. ‘It—’

‘I knocked Zac out,’ Demir stepped in. ‘The guy got cocky. He said something, and I gave him a quick reminder of who the champ is. Manager’s not too happy about it, though.’

Jack stayed silent, which was unnerving; he always had something to say.

Now, he looked torn between laughing and ripping his hair out.

He seemed to go back and forth, and nearly a minute passed before he spoke.

‘Well… I’m glad your head’s back in the fight,’ he replied before pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to the manager. See if he’s willing to let us back in. ’

‘Or we could go to the gym by Mackie’s club,’ Demir said. Everyone froze, even Demir. Why the hell would he say that? His eyes flickered to Selene’s, seeing the apprehension in them, and continued. ‘I think you got a point. What’s a couple more fights? It’ll get us to New York quicker, so…’

Jack’s face broke out with a smile.

‘That’s what I’m fucking talking about, D!’ He embraced him, thumping him on the back heavily. He was beaming when he stepped back. ‘I’ll call Mackie tomorrow and set up a fight.’

‘I only have one condition,’ Demir cut in. ‘Make sure the fights are worth it. Have to remind everyone who’s the best.’

‘Hey, couldn’t agree more. We need to make you look good – so good Nora’s gonna have to fight broads off you,’ he teased, punching him lightly in the arm.

Selene furrowed her brows in disbelief but said nothing.

Demir shrugged off the punch. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said, climbing into the car. ‘Let’s get the fuck outta here.’