"Aspen I fully support you but do you think this is a good idea?" June continued to ramble on as we began heading into the building. To be honest, I had no idea if this was a good idea, all I knew was I had to find out if Pierce was cheating on me with Mercury.

I braced myself for what I was about to see and told myself not to fall for any of Pierce's lies. I knew what I had to stick to no matter how much it would kill me. "For Christ sakes June," Triston spoke up from behind me "Pierce is a pathological liar, how else is she going to catch him unless she sees it right in front of her eyes."

"Accuse him of the text, it's proof right there," June suggested but I knew that wouldn't be enough. "June, you know he'll just lie and turn it into something else." I sighed in defeat "I don't want to do this, but I need to. So are you with me or not?"

I stopped in my tracks, turning around to face June while Triston and I stared at her as we awaited her answer. I knew she was in an uncomfortable situation, Pierce was her brother and I was her best friend-she was being forced to pick sides. 

"Ok fine." June gave in "But only because I know what whore Mercury can be."

"Oh yeah, what a whore MERCURY can be." Triston rolled her eyes, throwing shade at Pierce for being a man-whore himself. We came to the back doors of the building but I stopped as soon as I heard loud voices. Although it wasn't just one or two, it was many-almost as if it was a chant.

"What is that?" Triston cocked an eyebrow at us, and suddenly I became even more lost and scared to open the door. Getting an uneasy feeling, I bit my lip as I felt myself backing down. My mind immediately went to a thousand different thoughts.

"Only one way to find out." I took a deep breath before pushing the cold metal doors open. We immediately walked into a crowded room filled with easily over a hundred people. Everyone stood closely together with no room to spare as they chanted loudly at the top of their lungs. My eyes immediately landed on the center of the room.

The center of the room was a boxing arena, with a white floor and red ropes attached around the entire surface of it. I was more confused than ever now, I mean why were Mercury and Pierce sneaking off to a boxing arena? And what kind of boxing place was this? It was secluded and in an old run-down building as if they wanted no one to find it.

"A boxing arena?" June yelled over the crowd "Why the hell would they be here?"

"Looking through the crowd, maybe we can find them!" I yelled back and they nodded in agreement. My nerves didn't calm one bit, I felt as if I was going to throw up. None of it was making sense, none of it added up. Between the suspicious text, the second phone, and everything else, and now we were at some secret boxing arena?

We pushed through the crowd, looking over everywhere for where they could be. But with every look I took, I was scared of seeing something that would potentially break my heart. I pushed through the crowd, everyone sweating from the no a.c. and body heat being passed through the room.

June and Triston followed right behind me, getting dirty looks from the audience members. I stopped in a small opening in the middle of the crowd as I began to feel defeated. We looked over everywhere and there was still no sight of them. 

"Ok, ok, may I have everyone's attention?!" A voice yelled into a microphone, the noise echoing throughout the building. I furrowed my brows at the girl with long black hair who stood in the middle of the arena. She wore a crop top that pushed up her cleavage along with a very short black mini skirt.

She wore a pearly white smile as all eyes landed on her, the chants of the crowd beginning to die down. Triston and Juniper each stood on each of my sides, staring directly at the girl as we all tried to find some type of answer. 

"What a fight!" She exclaimed, "But the night is not over. Next,  a highly anticipated fight will be happening tonight, something you have all been waiting for. Please lock in the last of your votes, the grand money riding on this entire round."

"Votes?" June questioned and I glanced over to the man that stood next to me. I could barely see the screen but could tell he was voting for something-that something I'm assuming to be a boxing match. 

"I welcome Axel Lanson!" The girl yelled loudly, the overheating lighting turning to the corner and following the guy who continued to walk out to the left side of the arena. He held his fist up in triumph, half the crowd going wild while the other half stayed silent. 

"Holy. Fucking. Shit." I said in complete shock, as I stared at Axel. Axel Lanson, football jock for Parson's high school and an old friend of Aster's. He and Aster used to be friends since the 6th grade and all the way up till Aster left Washington, but it didn't make sense what he was doing here in New York. 

He stood at over six feet tall and had caramel brown hair and light blue eyes. His boxing shorts were blue, matching his boxing gloves, and hung low around his waist. I turned towards June and Triston and nodded my head to the side, signaling we should go.

Nothing in here was adding up, I mean we were in a boxing arena with Pierce and Mercury nowhere to be seen. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket and began making my way through the crowd. I guess I only had the text now to bring up which I knew wasn't going to go over so well.

"Next, welcome a crowd favorite- PIERCE GUNNER!" Her voice yelled into the mic, making my body stop in my tracks. I choked at her words, not believing I had heard that correctly. I quickly turned around to face the arena, only to see Pierce walk out into the center of it as everyone screamed and cheered at the top of their lungs. 

"Oh. My. Fucking. God." Triston took the words right out of my mouth as we all stared at Pierce. He had red boxing gloves on with black shorts and red accents added to them. I didn't understand-Pierce was boxing? Why did this have anything to do with Mercury?

"Woohoo! Let's go, Pierce!" A voice topped above all others, my eyes snapping over to the other side of the crowd to see a familiar blonde. My whole body became tense as I clenched my fist at my side at the sight of Mercury. 

My body became full of anger, not knowing how to even react. June and Triston's mouths dropped, both of them not knowing how to react. I decided to tear my glare away from Mercury and stare directly at Pierce as the girl explained the rules for the round. 

It wasn't long before a bell went off, signaling the start of the fight. I watched as they both walked the outer edge of the box, waiting for someone to take the first hit. The crowd was screaming for them to hit, but they both held a glare towards each other. 

My heart began racing in my chest as the anxiety built up inside of me. I watched as Pierce took the first swing, Axel ducking beneath his punch. As Axel came back up straight, Pierce took no time but to hit him again but in his stomach. 

Axel stumbled back, hitting the cord that wrapped around the arena, bouncing him back in. Axel shook his hair out of his face and didn't pay any attention to the pain even though his stomach began forming a red spot where he was hit. Axel threw a punch at Pierce, Pierce ducking and sliding out of the way.

Pierce threw yet another punch at Axel, his jaw being uppercutting as his head snapped back from the force. I zoned everyone else out, not focusing on anyone around me as I stared at the both of them. I didn't want to watch but couldn't even look away as if my eyes wouldn't let me. 

Axel, angrier than before, took a wide swing directly at Pierce's face. I watched his face come in contact with the glove, his head snapping to the side from the force. I closed my eyes for a moment, not wanting to see how this would turn out. 

I quickly reopened my eyes and saw Pierce's lip completely busted as the left side on his upper lip. The blood trickled down his lips and then his skin, but it didn't stop him from quickly regaining his balance. It was never easy for me to watch Pierce fight, I couldn't stand that I had to just sit here and watch it happen. 

I was pissed, to say the least, about him boxing. I could only assume it was gang-related and highly illegal based on its secretively isolated location. He was putting himself in danger and risking getting hurt all for what?

"Kill him! Kill him!" The crowd chanted as Pierce began getting closer to Axel. I looked over to June and Triston who shared the same shocked expression. Kill him? Were these people out of their minds? The last time I checked boxing did not include murder as part of its game rules. For anything, I'd say that is the complete opposite of the rules.

"Jesus Christ couldn't he have liked soccer or something?!" Triston yelled over the crowd to me, not tearing her eyes away from the both of them. Pierce took no time but to begin swinging at Axel, one punch after another.

The first punch was thrown into his stomach, making him hunch over in pain as the red spot had grown bigger. Pierce uppercut him in the jaw, his head snapping once again. The third punch followed immediately after as Pierce sent a punch directly to the center of his face. I looked away after that, not being able to watch the rest.

"Oooo." The crowd said in unison as I heard a thump. The bell rang once again, signaling that the round was officially over. I looked back to see Axel completely down on the ground, something I would expect after seeing the hard hits Pierce had sent his ways. One of the girls from the crowd climbed into the arena and began attending to Axel as his body lay on the floor. 

Looking over to Pierce he now had a bloody nose as well as the busted bloody lip. His face and upper chest were splattered with blood but something told me it wasn't his. Pierce still had no idea I was in the crowd as he turned his head and wiped some of the blood from his face and knocked off the gloves. 

My stomach turned into knots as I watched Mercury climb into the arena box. June and Triston both looked over to me, waiting to see what my reaction would be. I clenched my jaw as well as my fist as I watched her stand up in front of Pierce. 

She grabbed a white cloth from her back pocket and placed it on his lip, the cloth soaking up some of the blood. My knuckles became white from how bawled up my fist was, it took everything in me not to take a swing at Mercury myself.

"Aspen." June grabbed my arm but I ripped it out of her hand. I pushed through the crowd of people, not giving a second look to anyway I was forced out of my room. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins although it wasn't the good kind of adrenaline. I had seen enough to make me sick to my stomach, watching Mercury get close to Pierce after sneaking off together.

I grabbed onto the cord of the arena box, pushing my body through the bottom of it as the crowd cheering quickly stopped. I took no time but grabbed Mercury by her long blonde hair, yanking it back along with her body. 

"You." I gritted as I let go of her hair and shoved her back. Mercury's eyes widened in the realization that I caught them. Trust me I wasn't going to let Pierce get away with anything, I just had to take care of Mercury first. 

"Holy shit," Pierce said, recognizing that he fucked up big time. 

I clenched my fist at my side before raising it and throwing it into Mercury's face. Mercury took no time to retaliate, launching her body at mine. She pushed me down to the ground, her body falling with mine. She sent a punch to my face as I turned my head to the side to avoid my nose from being hit. I grabbed a hold of her wrist before flipping her body to the ground as I took a stance hovering over her. 

I raised my fist to send another punch when I was quickly grabbed off of Mercury. I struggled to get out of Pierce's grip as his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. Mercury quickly forced herself up, touching her bloody lip that had been cut open. 

"You bitch!" She shouted, looking at the blood on her hand then over to me. Her brown eyes became dark as she stared directly at me with pure anger. I could tell I pushed her to her limits, which is exactly what I wanted. I wanted her to feel the pain that I did. She knew Pierce was with me but still would do anything to get him back with her. 

"Let go of me!" I demanded as I forced Pierce's arm off of me but failed. Pierce reluctantly let go of me and I turned around to face him and shook my head in disgrace. Pierce's eyes bored into mine and I could tell his mind was running a thousand miles a minute.

"Aspen-"

"I don't want to fucking hear it, you fucking cheater." I gritted the words through my teeth as I tore my glare away from him. I turned my back to him and slid my body out of the arena as I jumped down to the ground. Everyone's eyes were on me after I caused a big scene, but no one knew half of the story.

Instead of pushing through the crowd, everyone stepped out of the way and left a clear path for me. I kept my head up high, wiping away the tears that pricked my eyes as I walked away from what I thought was my perfect relationship.

I didn't dare to look back, knowing I'd completely break down. Part of me wanted to blame Mercury entirely, there was something easier about blaming her than blaming Pierce. I told myself she used her manipulative tactics to get him to do all of this and go behind my back-but at the end of the day I had known that Pierce was making his own decisions. 

I approached the doors, feeling humiliated and lost as I walked out and let the doors slam shut behind me. As soon as I heard the doors slam behind me, separating me from everyone else inside the building-I broke down immediately. 

The tears became pouring down my face, making their way down the sides of my cheeks. That was it, that was it for Pierce and me. I was so stupid to actually believe he wanted me, that he actually would completely forget about Mercury. He did it to every girl, he played whoever fell for him and I was just dumb enough to play his game. 

"Aspen!" A voice shouted and I knew it was Pierce but I refused to stop. I didn't want to see him right now, I couldn't hear the lies that he'd make up in order to try and get me to stay. I was humiliated, after all these months I thought I was actually going to be something special. But who was I kidding, no one could be special to Pierce Gunner. 

Once a player, always a player.

"Aspen Serpahina Ambrosia, stop!" His voice demanded as he shouted at me once again.  It wasn't long before Pierce quickly grabbed a hold of me and turned me around. His hands cupped the sides of my face as he forced me to look directly up to him. 

My eyes were cloudy with tears, barely being able to see through them. I forced his hands off me, as I looked down and choked on my tears. I felt as if I couldn't speak or think clearly. Anyone who has ever been cheated on knows the pit in the bottom of your stomach when you find out. Although my pit was growing larger and larger with each thought of Mercury and Pierce.

"Baby what is going on?" Pierce's voice spoke softly as he bored into me with concern. Don't fall for it, I told myself. Don't fall for his act of concern that he has used on how many girls before me. I knew Pierce but I also knew how well he could manipulate someone's feelings.

"Don't baby me." I scoffed as I backed away from him and shook my head in disbelief. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. I was waiting for myself to wake up from this horrid nightmare and I'd turn to see Pierce next to me in bed but something told me this was my true reality.

"You cheated!" I yelled, my voice cracking from the tears "You went back to her after you promised! After everything, we've been through and you threw it all away!"

"What the hell are you talking about-" Piere furrowed his eyebrows together as he looked at me with confusion. I looked behind him as I saw Juniper, Triston, and Mercury all rush out. I felt the pang in my chest get worse at the sight of Mercury, it all making it even more real. 

"Showing up late to dinner, the second phone, the text to Mercury, and now leaving dinner to come to some fucking boxing match with her!" I exclaimed, everything spilling out of me "You even said to her to not let Aspen find out, but guess what-I fucking found out."

I took a deep breath and tried to slow down my crying, trying to mentally calm myself down. I looked down at the promise ring on my finger that Pierce had given to me, bringing back memories that were all nothing but a lie. I began to push the ring off of my finger but was stopped when Pierce grabbed my hand. 

"No." His voice was stern "Keep it on." 

"Why don't you fucking give it to Mercury?!" I looked up into his crystal grey eyes that I typically found so much comfort in but now was only finding hurt. I looked over to Juniper, Triston, and Mercury who were all completely silent as they just watched us. 

"Jesus Christ Aspen, I'm not cheating on you." Pierce scoffed, running a hand through his hair. His eyes bored into mine and I watched as his face had fallen. It was as if he was in disbelief that I'd ever accused him of cheating even though I was the first girl he hadn't cheated on...so I thought. 

"Just tell her, Pierce." Mercury let out a frustrated sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Trust me I wish he was cheating on you, but he's not."

"W-what?" I stuttered, turning my attention back to Pierce. "I am not cheating on you." He restated "Mercury's dad owns this arena. They get members from different gangs and bring in the public to vote but there are some businessmen that invest in it, meaning it's big money if you win a fight. I've been doing it for the past two months to get some extra money. Mercury knew we were struggling financially and talked to her dad. MR. Sullivan offered me a spot as he leads fighter and said he split the profits 50/50."

"What? But the text, and the second phone-" My mind became cluttered as I became flustered. Was Pierce really not cheating on me? I couldn't believe that all of this was to bring in money, it all didn't make sense. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd freak and not let me do it. Mercury works for her dad and has always helped as the lead fighter. The second phone you found is for my deals, after what happened with RSP I got a second phone so no one had my personal number. The text was nothing but about the fights, I swear to you I am not cheating on you." Pierce explained and I began to beat myself up for turning this into something it's not.

"But why? Why did you need extra cash?" I pushed, wanting more answers. I wanted his story to add up completely to know he was telling the truth. I was starting to feel guilty for reacting the way I did when I should've just confronted him about it after I first saw the text. 

Pierce clenched his jaw, looking from me and then over to Mercury. "Well, I guess tell her." Mercury uncrossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. Pierce looked back at me before grabbing my hand and intertwining his fingers with mine.

I looked back at June and Triston who both gave me a shrug as well, none of us catching on to what was happening. I followed behind Pierce and decided to give this a chance and just hear him out. Even Mercury said he wasn't cheating which surprisingly made me feel better because she would always do anything to make me feel terrible.

Pierce's grip on my hand tightened as we came to the back of the building. We approached what I assumed was a garage door that had been completely shut. I looked over to Pierce, cocking an eyebrow at him about what this had to do with anything.

Pierce bent down and slipped his fingers beneath the worn-down white garage door before pushing it up. The door clashed against the metal as it showed the opening to the inside. Inside the garage was a car parked with a black tarp over the top of it.

I looked over to Pierce, raising an eyebrow at him on what this had to do with anything. Pierce didn't say anything but instead walked over to the car before grabbing a hold of the tarp and ripping it off. He threw the tarp to the side only to reveal a brand new dark red challenger parked right in front of me.

"This was supposed to be a one-year anniversary gift but since you must know what the secret is...Happy early anniversary." Pierce flashed me a pearly white smile, making my heart flutter in my chest. 

"You're kidding me right?" I said in complete shock. Pierce bought me a brand new car with the money he had earned from his fighting at Mercury's dad's arena. My eyes scanned over the car that had glistened under the garage lighting. 

"All yours." Pierce sent me a wink at my dumbfounded state. "I can't believe you. Pierce this is way too much, I can't accept this-" I walked up to the car, my hand tracing over the hood as my eyes glanced from the car to him. 

"You can accept it because you have to." Pierce rolled his eyes as he walked up to me, cupping my face in his hands as I looked up to him. "Do not worry about the money, I did this specifically so I could do this for you. I also have rent for this month, so don't even worry about that. Can you not be so selfless for once?"

"Pierce...I...I don't even know what to say. I mean why?" I couldn't help but ask why. We hadn't even been dating a year by now and he bought me a car, a gift some girls don't get even after forty years of marriage. 

"Because I love you," Pierce said bluntly, his gray eyes boring into mine "You have been through so much in the past year and I can't help but feel at fault for some of it. And I'm so fucking proud of you Aspen and how far you've come and how hard you're working. So please let me spoil my girlfriend just for once and accept the amazing car for an amazing girl."

I was relieved to know Pierce wasn't cheating. Everything was explained, from him showing up late to dinner with a busted lip to him telling Mercury I couldn't find out. I felt bad for doubting him but with all the overwhelming unexplained context it was hard to not think negatively. 

"I cannot thank you enough." I said, still in shock, "I love you."

"A fucking car?!" Triston laughed "So every girl that Pierce has been with gets cheated on and Aspen gets a car.  Girly I'd be expecting a ring soon."

"Tell me about it." Mercury muttered, crossing her arms over her chest "I get cheated on and trauma after two years of being together while Aspen gets a fucking star in colorado, a promise ring, and a CAR!"

"Alright ladies, let's leave them to it and you can both rant in the car about the presents Pierce didn't get you," June added sarcastically as she began to grab a hold of the both of them and dragged them back to the parking lot. 

I turned towards Pierce once the three of them were out of our eyesight. Pierce pressed his forehead to mine and pressed a small kiss to my lips. "Want to take it for a ride?" He broke away from me as he reached out into his pocket and pulled out the key.

I could barely hold back the excitement in me, as I was so ready to hit the road already. Nodding in response, I grabbed the key from his hand and allowed a smile to break out onto my face before heading towards the driver's side as Pierce headed to the passenger seat. 

* * * * *

Happy Thursday!

What did you guys think of this chapter?

Are you guys revealed that Pierce didn't cheat?

Are you fully convinced he didn't cheat, why or why not?

Why do you think Mercury helped Pierce?

What do you think about Pierce buying Aspen a car?

Why do you think Pierce decided to buy her a car?

Guesses for the next chapter?

~ Ash