Lessons Learned

"KAT KAT KITTY KAT!" I screeched as I burst into my aunt's room and collapsed on top of her bed. She simply swiveled around in her spinny chair and spared me a glance before turning back to the pile of paperwork on her desk.

"You know, it's really bad for you to bring work home with you." I pointed out dryly, receiving no answer.

Alrighty then.

"Anywho, I have it on good authority that Marcus Armsted is coming to town tomorrow night to beat Adam's ASS, wanna go? Cuz I wanna go. So lets go." She turned around to look at me again, then chucked a pen at me in frustration.

"WHY DON'T YOU LEAD WITH INFORMATION LIKE THAT? Yes Trinity, we are going. Absolutely." I grinned and rolled off her bed, popping to my feet with ease.

"Cool, I'm gonna go shopping or something then, I'll be back later, yeah?"

"Alright, take the Charger, it has the most gas."

"SWEET! I FUCKING LOVE THAT CAR."

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"So Adam is back and causing trouble as per usual, and now Marcus has decided to come out of hiding to fix the problem?" I tucked the phone between my chin and shoulder while I flipped through a rack of shirts,

"I guess so. I don't know dude, I'm gonna go check it out and shit, we'll see how it goes."

"Cool cool. How was your date last night?"

"How the fuck did you find out about that?"

"Your mom stupid, I talk to her like once a week these days."

"I think you talk to my mom more than I do."

"We've talked about that actually, she says she loves me more because I actually call her."

"Boo, you whore."

"Fuck off. Now answer my question."

"It was perfect. Seriously perfect. Oh my god. We went to dinner and then to a carnival. I have a stuffed panda in my room that's almost bigger than I am." I held the phone away from my ear as she squealed loud enough for literally six people in the store to look around for the source of the noise.

"That is so cute I could DIE."

"Right? And he kissed me. Like, kissed me. Holy shit, I can still feel it. So intense. Man knows what he's doing."

"Well, hopefully, since he's five years older than you AND MY BROTHER'S GIRLFRIEND'S BROTHER'S TEAMMATE." I winced,

"Mom told you about that too, huh?"

"Of course she did you moron. What are you thinking? He's a professional hockey player and lives in Russia for three months out of the year. You're only in Pittsburgh for a few months Trin!" I hurridly walked out of the store and made my way to my car, deciding that shopping was not a good idea.

"I know that, ok? I get it. But I really like him and who says it can't work?"

"Um, logic? Fuckin A' Trinity, none of us have met him and checked him out, your dad doesn't even know you went on a date with the kid, and you come back to California in less than two months. He knows that, you know that, why are you setting yourself up for heartbreak?" I slipped into the car and started it up,

"Because I really like him and honestlyi'mnotsurei'mcomingbacktoHuntington."

Deadly silence.

"I'm sorry, I must be going deaf, because I KNOW you did not just say you were thinking of NOT COMING BACK ARE YOU INSANE. YOUR WHOLE FAMILY IS HERE YOU FUCKNUT."

"I know, ok? I know that. But I love it here!" She snorted,

"Yeah, just wait until it starts snowing, we all know how much you just loooove the cold." I laughed and hit my blinker to merge onto the freeway.

"Shut up. How's Blaze?"

"He's good, spending as much time as possible with his new little girlfriend. Her name is Emma, by the way. Heard from Blaike and Sarah, they're on their way back. Apparently Missions work isn't cool when you don't actually believe in God."

"Well that lasted longer than I thought it would. When will they be back?"

"A few days I think? They might stop off in Pittsburgh for a little bit, so be waiting for that call."

"YAY! Y'all should come out here and see Kat's new digs, the gym is fucking gorgeous dude. And I was poking around in the garage a few days ago and found one of Brian's old guitars that he used to let us use for band practice."

"Ah, good times, good times. Remember when we thought we had broken one of your dad's mics and started crying?" I laughed and quickly switched onto my bluetooth,

"I do indeed. And he came home and thought someone died because we were fucking hysterical. Jesus."

"Seriously. Alright babes, my lunch is over, gotta get back to work. LOVE YOUUUUU!"

"Love you too doll, talk to you later."
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The next day I was standing in my closet in my underwear, reeeeally regretting not finishing shopping yesterday.

"There has to be something in here, seriously? Half of my fucking wardrobe is here." I muttered to myself, sifting through the piles of fabric that currently littered the floor. I had just pulled a dress on when a knock at my door came, I poked my head out of the closet,

"Come in!" Kat bounced into my room holding a black bag,

"I have a surprise for youuuu!" I squealed and bounded over, grabbing the bag and dumping the contents on my bed. A black tank top, seafoam green skinnies, and a black trucker hat tumbled out. I turned to my aunt and tackled her in a hug,

"YOU ARE THE MOST AMAZING PERSON ON THE PLANET." She laughed and pushed me off before hopping to her feet.

"I know, now get ready, we need to leave in two hours." She left my room and I popped up and ran to my bathroom to take a shower.

I love fights. Seriously. That much raw power packed into one place is so fucking exciting. Just...Ugh, kill me.

I also love my vanilla scented body wash. It really works for me.

I washed quickly and stepped out of the shower, wrapping myself in one of my giant, bright yellow fluffy towels.

Then, I had an issue.

That issue being my hair.

"KAT! WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY HAIR?!"

"CURL AND SIDE PONY."

Oh, that's a good idea. Especially with the hat. I quickly did my hair, then bopped out to my room to put some clothes on. I got dressed and looked in the mirror, extremely happy with my current outfit. I was in the middle of putting on makeup when Evgeni appeared in the mirror behind me, making me jump and almost stab myself in the eye with mascara.

"Sorry, no mean to scare you. I go tonight?" I smiled and nodded,

"Sure, come see a bit of my world. It'll be fun." I finished my mascara and capped the tube before turning around and pulling Ev's head down for a quick kiss.

"We leave in like an hour, sound good?" He nodded and pecked my lips one more time, then decided to do a faceplant on my bed. I laughed and walked over to my closet to consider my shoe collection.

Boots or heels, that is the question.

Boots. Good plan.

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"Ok, so the fight is in one of the abandoned steel mills in the city." I told Kat as were driving out of Sewickley. She nodded,

"I know, they're always in one place. Damn morons." I shook my head and pulled my phone out of my back pocket, hooking it up to the speaker system.

"Hey Kat?"

"Hmm?"

"You just got the system replaced, right?"

"Yeah....why?"

"oh....no reason."

"Don't you dare." I grinned evilly and hit the play button,

"Too late!"

He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man.

I fucking love this song.

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I grinned and clapped when we walked into the packed mill. Thundering music, drinks everywhere, and people getting ready to beat the ever loving shit out of each other.

I felt Geno's arm wrap around my shoulders and I let myself melt into his side as we walked through the building. I knew Eric was here somewhere, I just needed to find him.

But what is ever that easy.

I scowled when I saw Adam chatting up some cage girls like he actually had a chance. Ew. Managing to steer Geno away, we made our way to the bar, chatting with people I knew along the way. We finally made it to the bar and ordered, Geno leaned against the wood and gave me a look.

"You popular, do this often?" I sipped my beer and shook my head,

"No, I fight legit, but my dad's band is really popular around here so people know who I am. Besides, you were getting it too, Superstar." He grinned and took his shot, then shook his head and ordered another.

"Shitty American vodka." I laughed and scanned the room, looking for Kat, then quickly turned my face when Adam happened to glance over.

I felt the grimace form when Adam saw me and started walking over. He came to stand in front of me, arms crossed over his chest in the typical 'tough guy' pose.

Yeah, riiight.

"I didn't know you were in town dollface." I felt Geno tense and I lopped my arm around his waist to calm him down.

"Don't call me dollface, dickwad. What exactly are you trying to pull here?" He shrugged and gestured to our surroundings,

"Why must you always assume that I'm causing trouble? I'm just having fun." I scoffed and pointed behind him to where Marcus has somehow just fucking appeared.

Adam went sheet white and I just giggled.

"Yeah, well, so is he." I snarked and leaned into the strong Russian standing behind me. Adam just glared at me and stomped away like a fucking twelve year old girl. Marcus grinned at me and opened his arms, so I did what any other female would do.

I tackled him. Or I tried to. I kind of just ended up jumping on him.

"I MISSED YOU!" I squealed into his ear excitedly. He just laughed and spun me around before setting me back on my feet. I wobbled a bit for a second, then regained my balance. I turned behind me and waved Geno over, taking his hand when he was standing next to me again. Marcus looked at our linked fingers and raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting choice there, Trin. Does your dad know?"

"No, and you are not going to tell him. NOW OFFICIAL INTRODUCTIONS. Marcus, this is Evgeni. Evgeni, this is Marcus. I've known him for like a year now and he's gonna whoop Adam's ass oh my god I am so excited I could just DIE." The boys looked at me funny, then did the wierd bro hug thing that guys do.

"When are you on?" Marc checked his watch and shrugged.

"Like five minutes. I already did a warmup so I'm good. You fighting tonight?"

"Naw man, I'm just here to watch. Besides, these females look pathetic." He laughed and gave me one more quick hug,

"Alright, I'm gonna go change and shit. See you after this whole thing is done?" I shook my head,

"Probably not. I'm just gonna watch you and leave, I have a 5AM workout tomorrow and I think Geno has practice. Text me, yeah?" He nodded and walked away. I turned to face Evgeni with a huge smile on my face,

"SO! Let's go get a good spot, fights are fun all the way up front."

We managed to shoulder some people out of the way and get right up next to the cage. I smiled and bounced on the balls of my feet, lacing my fingers through the mesh.

The boys were announced, the dirty looks were exchanged, and the annahilation started.

Right hook, left jab, strong kidney kick and ohmygod I love this shit. I screamed along with the rest of the crowd and almost broke Geno's fingers while he held my hand.

Adam put up a good fight, I'll give him that, but with a massive left hook straight into his jaw, it was all over. Blood was everywhere, there were teeth on the floor, and judging by the way his jaw was sitting, he'd be eating out of a straw for a few months.

Cool.

I tugged on Geno's home, nodding my head to the exit when he looked down at me. He nodded and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tucking me securely into his side. I somehow felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out of my back pocket,

From: Eric
Shit has been taken care of.

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"THAT WAS SO FUCKING AMAZING!" I screeched into Geno's ear from where I was perched on his back. He winced and pulled away a bit, craning his head to look at me,

"That was loud." I smiled and leaned down to press a quick kiss to his lips,

"Get used to it, it doesn't change.

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