Against my better judgement, three days later I am stood in the gym, watching Ed, watch his ex, who is watching her new Beau. It felt like some new type of gym voyeurism so I kept trying to engage with Ed, who was still very much hung up on Gemma the Gym bunny.

There was other people milling about the gym, so it didn't look too weird that Ed's eyes kept drifting over there. I think..

"I'm gonna get a bottle of water." I tell Ed, leaving before he could reply. The fact he doesn't throw a reply, says a lot about how this second date fiasco is going.

I got to give it to him though, Gemma was a hot chick and the stretches she pulled distracted me sometimes. I think she might have been doing them for a reaction, and she definitely got one from me, a jaw slackened gawp.

But her over affection for her new boyfriend was a little cringe for me. The constant fluffing and petting made my eyes roll. I liked a strong woman, a confident, self assure woman. Not one who mopped her boyfriends brow as he lifted weights far to heavy, making a vein pop out of his head.

Pushing out the gym, I came into the corridor and allowed the door to close behind me, quietening the music that pumped through the workout area.

With a quick pull on my workout pants, I found the secret pocket designed for a locker key and unzipped it, fishing out the note I had folded up in there. Feeding it into the machine, I pressed the buttons and waited. And waited. And waited.

The corkscrew levers turned, the bottle tilted and with a plink, fell against the glass, halting it in its path of falling to the tray at the bottom.

"Are you kidding me?" I whisper harshly, stabbing my finger against the buttons before hitting glass. When that failed, I took a quick look up and down the corridor before shoving the machine with all my might.

It moved. Slightly. I think..

I tried it a few times before going to the side and shoving the machine with my butt, hoping to make the bottle roll. But when I didn't hear the bottle in the tray. I did it a few more times with force.

"What--"

I gasp at the sudden voice and turn to see a familiar face, frowning in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Zak asks.

What was I doing? Yes Elle, explain to the gentleman why you were essentially bumming the machine. Using all that junk in your trunk...

My face was getting redder by the second and Zak was still very much in front of me, waiting for a reply.

"Water." I tell him.

My voice comes out pathetically child like and when he turns his eyes to the tilted water bottle, I subtly stamp on my own foot for sounding feeble.

"So you were trying to get the bottle out?"

"Yeah, what else was I doing?" I ask.

"With you? I never know. Go ask reception to open it, instead of trying to vandalise the machine."

"Okay dad." I huff folding my arms and pushing off the machine in direction of reception.

"Or..." Zak says making me turn. "I could get a bottle of water too."

It takes me a couple seconds to work out what he is saying so I walk back and watch as he pushes his money into the machine and then pokes in the code.

"You been here working out?" He asks looking over at me whilst the machine tries to decide what to do. "You look a little pale. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, something like that and I'm fine, thank you." I reply.

I didn't want to tell him that I felt like crap from the moment I woke up. I was here for well... for Ed.

If the truth was known, I was beginning to feel sorry for him. He was done dirty, cheated on and was clearly still confused about why it had happened to him. It was also clear that he loved the bones of Gemma. We had all been there... unrequited love

I had been spotting for Ed at the gym, but I could barely lift the weights back up with him. Every time he did a rep with the bar, I prayed that he would lift it back up again.

"You sure? You want something to eat?" Zak says making me glance back towards him and off a sad looking Ed.

"I'm okay. Really."

Two solid thumps hit the tray, making me squeak with joy as Zak retrieves them from the tray and hands my bottle to me.

"Thank you!" I smile before unscrewing the cap and slugging it back.

"You're welcome..." He says watching me before turning to look inside the gym. "Coming in?"

I nod. "Yeah, I'm here with someone.."

"Oh that dude?" He says pointing out Ed. "The dude you were running from?"

"That's the one. Thanks for the second date." I answer, following Zak inside. "You come here too?"

"I normally work out at my home gym, but I got renovations going on at the moment. I just wanted to work out and get to all the equipment without having to move a bunch of shit." He answers.

"Makes sense. Well thanks for your help with the water." I tell him as we part ways.

"Not a problem."

As he heads towards the running machine, I go back to Ed who is still sat on the weight bench.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask snapping him out of his staring.

"Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Let's do some stairs, ropes and come back to this again." He decides, jumping up and heading towards the machines.

Ed fails to recognise Zak, despite being only three machines away. Looking at the stair machine, I sigh quietly to myself before climbing up onto it and hitting start.

I'm a few minutes into this latest torture device when I see Zak looking over. As if the burning in my legs, heaving lungs and the continuous stairs wasn't enough, he shoots me a wink and I trip up a step.

"Come on. Faster."  Ed demands upping his pace, probably to encourage me.

With flushed cheeks, I listen to him and up my pace because I know when I hit the ropes in a minute, my arms are going to feel like they've fallen off.

****

I'm dying.

I think I'm dying.

Who says this exercise rubbish is healthy?! I want to vomit so badly right now.

"You going again?" I ask Ed, before draining the last of my water.

I was exhausted, even more so from just watching Ed.

"No, you can go, I'll spot you this time." He says hopping up from the bench.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't feeling too good and just wanted food and to go home.

I felt bad, but for the sake of Sophie's nagging and the prospect of actually helping someone out at this clearly difficult time, I persevered.

"Um, okay." I answer getting onto the bench and laying down.  Ed is quick to take the weights off and replace them for smaller ones before standing at my head, waiting for me to lift the bar down.

I do it a few times and begin to slow down when I feel the rising in my tummy.

"I don't feel too good." I breathe looking up at Ed.

"Just power through it." He says glancing to me before looking towards Gemma again. It's been like this the whole time we have been here. It's like his own personal torture video.

I try to lift the bar to put it back up, but my arms won't go any further. They are stuck and wobbling like a deers legs on ice.

Feeling tingling in my arms, and a putrid smell, alarm bells go off in my head, the signs had been there all morning, but I had stupidly ignored them all. I feel my arms weaken and give out.

They seem to just give up the fight, but before I can gasp at the weights coming towards my face, a hand wraps around the bar, between both my own and lifts it for me, setting it back.

"Really?" A voice asks.

My eyes roll up to see Zak glaring down and Ed looking surprised.

"What happened?" Ed asks unaware and looking slightly surprised.

"You not watching and a bar nearly smashing her in the face. What's going on man? Elle are you alright? Come on get up." Zak says coming around the weight bench to help me up.

"N-no. No I need to stay here a second." I tell him.

"Hey, I know you from somewhere?" Ed frowns point at Zak confused.

"You look like shit." Zak comments to me before looking at Ed. "You can't see how pasty she is? What you trying to do?"

"I... I-"

"You weren't watching. Some spotter you are." Zak says before crouching down beside me. "Drink this."

I take take his bottle and look at the  pink liquid swishing around. "What's this? Pink Lemonade?" I joke before taking a sip.

Whatever it is, tastes awful and I have to put my hand over my mouth to prevent me from spitting it out.

"Watermelon actually." Zak says amused as I pull a face.

"It's gross."

"It's pre-work out. It's got a load of stuff in it. Including some sugar." He answers.

"Well it's awful. But thank you."

He smiles slightly "You're lucky I mixed it. I normally knock it back dry and add water after."

I shudder at the thought and  breathe slowly, trying to calm my body down. At the moment, both Zak and Ed are under the impression that it's to do with my sugar levels. Not that I've just had a simple partial seizure from my epilepsy.

Everyone gives you the pitiful looks when they hear you have epileptic  seizures, mainly because they think of them as floor hitting fits. But truth be known, there are different types and some can happen right in front of you. Without you even knowing.

"Feeling better now?" Ed asks looking across the gym.

"Just go." I tell him with a pant before sitting up. "Just go talk to Gemma. I'm done with this shit."

She has left the gym at some point and puppy like Ed is desperate to follow. I don't have to tell him again as he shoots off in search for her.

"What an asshole." Zak says shaking his head.

"You organised it."

"You didn't have to follow through with it." He retaliated.

"Well I'm glutton for punishment."

"That's clear, you almost smashed your jaw off the stair machine, how does someone fall up the stairs?" He teases.

"It's a skill that I've acquired over the years."

"Real handy to have."

"I sense sarcasm." I answer standing up slowly.

I know that partial seizures sometimes lead to a big clusterfuck. By that, I mean the floor hitting, peeing myself fit. But for the sake of my sanity, I'd rather do it out of sight of Zak. I mean, Greek God looking, chiselled chin, mesmerising eyes, seductively smelling and tantalisingly tall human before me.

He was bad for my health, I just know it.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asks following me.

"Locker room, car, home."

"Oh no. No, no, no." He says walking a little quicker to get to the door before me. "You're not driving yet."

I look up at him and feel my eyes adjust, like a camera quick focusing. (I bet my pupils have just expanded tenfold, damn body.)

"I need to get home." I sigh.

"Then I'll drive you, you've just slugged pre-work out, if you're not bouncing in a minute, I'm gonna be seriously concerned, this has enough caffeine to make you buzz." He says looking at the bottle with skepticism.

"I definitely feel something." I murmur. But whether that was pre-work out or my hormones, hell it could even be the electric impulses in my head! I didn't know.

"Come on." Zak says opening the door for me. "Let's go and get food."

"You got to work out. That's the reason for being here." I tell him.

"Well I've found something else to do now. So stop stalling and come on."

I follow after him, with the realisation that I'm no better than Ed, now following someone and that this was the start of a friendship. A very wonderfully strange  friendship.