Natalie sat on the floor of the boxing ring, kneeling between Leon's outstretched legs. His skin still glistened from his boxing match, his shirt still stuffed in a duffel bag somewhere.

Her fingers fluttered carefully over his skin, hovering over fresh bruises, a bloody lip, a scraped cheek.

"Why didn't you wear your headguard?" Natalie tutted as she smoothed disinfectant over his bleeding cheekbone. Leon winced, just barely, and she pressed the disinfectant down harder. A punishment for worrying her. "At least your mouthguard."

"It was supposed to be just a practice match," Leon said. "I wasn't planning on getting hit."

Now that high school was a distant memory, already fading just a year out from graduation, Leon tended to get into scrapes less often. But every now and then, Natalie found herself here, barking at him to hold an ice pack to some body part while she swallowed her nausea and taped up his face.

Leon was perfectly capable of doing it himself, but he preferred Natalie's gentle touch. Her healing hands.

"You shouldn't have got hit then," Natalie said.

She flattened a band-aid against his cheek. In her deep concentration, she didn't notice Leon leaning closer until he'd already pressed a kiss against her lips.

"Leon!" she scolded through a burst of laughter. "Stop! I'm trying to fix things here."

"And I'm supposed to just resist all this seduction laid out in front of me?" He pressed another quick peck to her mouth and this time Natalie didn't fight the smile it brought.

"Look," she said. "Now you've reopened the cut on your lip."

"It was worth it," he said. "Besides, you find it hot."

"I do not."

He kissed her again, this time lingering so that she tasted the metallic tang of his blood on her tongue. When he parted, she leaned closer, her lips searching for the warmth of his breath.

"You totally do," Leon said, lifting a brow at her automatic response.

"Oh, whatever."

She rolled her eyes, and kissed him.

Leon laughed into the kiss, reacting to it the way he always did—like she was his air. His main source of oxygen. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he leaned back, pulling her closer until she was practically lying on top of him in the middle of the boxing ring.

"I'm going to be late," Natalie murmured between kisses. Her hand rested against his bruised jaw, still cold from the long-forgotten icepack. Leon's grip around her waist only tightened.

"So be late."

This was what their life had become. Morning practice in the Golden Ring and then a quick make out sesh before running to class. Sometimes they'd have lunch together. Sometimes Leon would have a match in the evening. Sometimes he crawled through her window and just lied beside her in her bed, feeling her breathe beside him.

Natalie loved to watch him fight. Mostly because of the way his muscles bulged, and his abs shone when he fought. She wasn't even ashamed to admit it. If anything, she wanted to show it off—this was her boyfriend. When his matches were over, she was the one who got to enjoy it all.

Not to mention that she was legally allowed in the bar now. Natalie wasn't much for drinking, but a cocktail paired well with her sweaty boyfriend in a boxing ring. Especially on nights where they'd celebrate. She'd shared more drunken kisses with him in this ring than sober ones by now.

When it came to his fighting, not much had changed since high school. He'd only improved his fighting, going from the teenage underdog to the expected win. His punches landed harder now. His steps moved quicker.

And that fire in his eyes—it burned brighter than ever.

She only ever saw it in two events; when he was fighting, and when he was looking at her.

Even now, with his solid body beneath her, she could see that fire. She could feel it. If she traced her fingers over his slick, bare chest, she could feel heat and endless pounding.

Leon reached up, covering one of her hands with his own.

They stared at each other for a moment. No words drifted between them, but she felt the pounding of his heart beneath her fingers, and she realised she didn't need words to know what he was thinking.

This pounding, this heart—it only belonged to one person. To her. And hers to his.

She thought briefly of their past together. The days she'd walk to Sierra Grammar, hoping against all odds that she might catch a glimpse of him. That they might cross paths. She thought of the days he limped into the nurse's office—searching for her of all things—and the days she perched on the back of his motorbike in their secret escapes into the night.

And she thought of their future together.

She imagined her university graduation, with him by her side. She imagined moving in together. Maybe they'd open their own boxing ring one day where Leon could pick and choose the fighters he coached. He'd already picked up a few students at the Golden Ring.

It struck her for a moment, with Leon's heat beneath her and his fingers over her own, that this man—this was the man she wanted to spend her future with. That this was it for her.

Leon had carved his way into her life, into her heart, and she didn't think she could ever let him go.

For once, she could see her future clearly ahead of her, and Leon stood by her side in every scenario.

"What are you thinking?" Leon asked. Natalie smiled.

"Nothing," she said. "I just love you."

He opened his mouth to say the words back, but Natalie leaned forward and captured his mouth in a heavy kiss.

Her fingers were about to act on their own accord and slide further down Leon's bare stomach, when a sing-songy voice came from the doorway.

"Natalie!"

She turned, narrowing her eyes to find Nyra walking in, backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Nyra?" she replied.

"Ew." Nyra wrinkled her nose and, blushing, Natalie carefully stood from Leon's lap. "This is what we're running late for?"

Nyra, as expected, had secured a spot in her preferred music course which happened to be at the same university that Natalie was studying health at.

Their courses had no crossover, but there was room for free electives, and the pair had decided to take up Korean.

"So, we can watch K-dramas," Nyra had reasoned.

"And visit Korea together," Natalie had agreed.

"Ppal-li!" Nyra shouted, waving her hands towards the door.

"I have no idea what that means," Natalie said, but grabbed her backpack regardless. She tossed her hair up into a low bun, the heart-shaped bead snapping against the bottom of her skull.

"That's because you're always late to class," she chided. "Come on, I'll meet you outside."

Natalie turned to Leon, sighing.

"I hate to see you leave," Leon said, smirking, "but I love to see you go."

He reached down, giving her bum a squeeze, and she gasped, smacking his chest.

"Hands-off," she said. "Will I see you after class?"

"My ex phys class finishes at twelve," he replied.

"Just in time for lunch." She smiled, pressing a final kiss to his mouth. "Put a shirt on."

"I will," he said, laughing. "I love you, Natalie."

She looked up into his fire-kissed eyes and her heart seemed to swell at the sight. He had been the impossible. The inevitable. The shadow on the walls and the fire in her life. His fingers found hers without needing to look, and they melded together the way a raindrop joins a puddle—like finding home.

And she knew, if she had any say in it, he'd be her future. He'd be her forever.