The pounding rhythm of her wrapped fists against leather mingled with the heavy beating of her heart as Roxy worked her stress and anger out on the punching bag at her gym. Sweat beaded and dripped down her forehead and spine as she ducked a hit that only existed in her head, popping up and throwing a kick that rattled all the way up the bag’s supporting chain into the rafters.

Her muscles sang with fatigue as endorphins rushed through her bloodstream, but she didn’t stop, pushing herself to keep going for just that extra minute. Roxy had never expected herself to be someone who would enjoy working out so much, but, like most things, that changed once Sam came into her life. The song in her headphones changed and she switched up her rhythm to match, bouncing around the bag on the balls of her feet.

Personal enjoyment wasn’t the only reason she was staying late to practise her beatdown routine. An image of her best friend popped into her head; the girl tied to a post, half-naked, beaten, humiliated. It was followed by an image of a certain brunette, stupid ugly sneer on full display. Anger flushed through Roxy’s system, re-invigorating her tired muscles for the last stretch. She laid into the bag with unrivalled ferocity, grunting louder and louder with every hit as she imagined herself smashing Kimberly’s face in for what she did. She swore that the next time she saw that bitch, she would… Well, Roxy didn’t know what she would do, but she was sure that Kimberly wasn’t going to like it.

“Jeez, that bag owe you money or something?”

Sam’s husky voice caught her attention as she finished up, throwing one last right hook into the bag before slipping her headphones around her neck and turning around to look at her girlfriend.

“No, but Kimberly’s gonna be wishing that she could pay me enough not to beat her ass. What are you doing here, anyway?”

Sam shrugged, looking away casually. “I wanted to see my girlfriend.” she looked back, unsubtly eyeing Roxy up and down as she bit her lip. “And what a sight she is.”

Roxy snorted as her insides fluttered a little. “Well, aren’t you smooth? Feeling a bit frisky, are we?”

“Can you blame me? I mean, just look at you,” Sam replied honestly, gesturing at Roxy and stepping closer, running a hand down her arm to grip her hand. To be fair, no, Roxy couldn’t blame her. Between her gym shorts and cropped tank top, she was showing off a lot of sweaty skin. “C’mon, let’s head back to mine so that you can get in your post-workout workout.” The blonde waggled her eyebrows with a cheeky smirk.

The endorphins must have been doing something to her head - and the rest of her body - because Roxy thought she had a better idea. “Hmm, I dunno… I’m pretty tired, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it that far,” she said, slowly walking towards Sam in such a way that had the taller girl backing up against the wall. She grabbed the front of Sam’s flannel and pulled her down so that their faces were inches apart. “Let’s just do it here, instead.”

Sam went bright red. “A-are you sure that’s a g-good idea?”

Roxy grinned toothily. “Sure, Clarissa’s already gone home and she asked me to lock up for her. It’s just you and me here. No one’s gonna bother us.”

Sam still looked hesitant. “I dunno… I still don’t think going all the way is very smart… That being said, I’m not necessarily against having a bit of handsy fun before we head out.” A goofy smirk broke out across her face. “If that works for you?”

Roxy hummed, eyes half lidded. “Good girl.”

Sam’s subsequent whine was quickly swallowed up when Roxy pulled her the rest of the way into a deep kiss. A familiar heat flushed under Roxy’s skin as she pushed Sam up against the wall, their mouths moving together with passion. She could feel the blonde’s hands roaming across her back, one slipping under the hem of her tank top and onto her bare skin, the other moving low to squeeze her ass.

Roxy moaned, pushing forward and forcing her tongue into Sam’s mouth as she groped her chest, her other hand slipping into her hair and tugging her closer, even as she was pushing her back against the wall. The blonde whimpered, nipping Roxy’s bottom lip as she pulled away for a quick breath before eagerly diving back in, gripping the backs of her partner’s thighs and easily picking her up.

Roxy enjoyed her newfound height over Sam as she locked her legs around her waist, hooking one arm around her neck and placing the other hand on her cheek, stroking along her scars softly as they continued to make out. Their moment of passion was quickly interrupted, however, when a low wolf-whistle echoed through the gym.

Sam squealed and promptly dropped Roxy right on her ass, knocking the wind out of her as she desperately looked around to see who had made the noise. Her eyes locked with Clarrisa, who was staring at her with an unimpressed look on her face.

“Let’s keep it in our pants at the gym, yeah?”

Roxy quickly jumped to her feet, ignoring the pain in her tailbone. “C-Clarissa! Wha-what are you doing here?!”

The older woman shrugged, holding out her phone. “I forgot this. Though, if I knew I was gonna walk in to see that, I mighta waited a bit longer to come get it.” She walked over to them, placing one hand on her hip as she looked Sam up and down appraisingly. “So, this is the missus, huh? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Confusion shot across Roxy’s face. “Huh? When did I tell you about Sam?”

Clarissa tapped her nose with a finger. “You didn’t have to. Not with Leif around, anyway. That girl could talk the ears off an elephant. Plus, you two are quite the celebrities after what happened last month with the Shepperton street murders.”

Roxy was a little taken aback. “I-I thought the police didn’t release our names?”

The older woman shrugged. “Eh, you know how news travels in a town like this. Besides, I already knew that you and your girlfriend were involved, once again, thanks to Leif.” She turned to Sam. “It isn’t really hard to put two and two together with those scars on your face, either.”

Sam immediately slapped a hand over her right cheek self-consciously. She’d had a hard enough time adjusting to them without everyone at school asking her about them, and clearly, she still hadn’t fully regained her old confidence in her appearance.

Clarissa gave her a soft smile. “Hey, scars aren’t anything to be ashamed of. They show that you’re strong, that you survived hardship. I know having something that permanently affects your appearance like that can be difficult to accept, but trust me, they’re something you should be proud of. I know your parents would be, in any case.”

Sam looked up at her (Or, more accurately, down at her, as Sam was still about three inches taller), surprise evident on her face. “You… You knew my parents?”

Clarissa nodded. “Your dad was an old friend. I used to spar with him sometimes. You’ve got his eyes, y’know?”

Sam blushed, looking away bashfully. “Th-thank you. That means a lot.”

Clarissa hummed, remaining silent for a reverent moment before returning to her usual energy. “Anyway, you wanna talk about battle scars, check this one out!” She lifted her shirt, revealing a long, gnarled scar stretching along her toned abdomen, just below her navel. “Crazy bastard with a sword tried to gut me. I still kicked his ass, but let me tell you, it is not fun trying to find a hospital in a foreign country with half of your intestines hanging out.”

Sam and Roxy were both stunned. “How… How did you even survive that?!” the latter asked, looking up at her mentor in disbelief.

“It was a pretty close thing, but some locals ended up giving me a ride to a nearby hospital and I managed to pull through. Wish I could’ve paid them back somehow, but I was a little indisposed at the time.” She chuckled a bit.

Sam had a look on her face that Roxy couldn’t quite parse. “How did you even end up in a situation like that in the first place?” she asked. There was a slight edge to her voice.

Clarissa either didn’t sense her tension or didn’t care. “I was doing a favour for a friend, probably around… fifteen years ago, maybe? I was in my early twenties, still young and stupid enough to think I could navigate a new city on my own late at night. It’s not like I was somewhere particularly dangerous, to be fair. Australia isn’t exactly somewhere I’d call ‘unsafe’ by any means. Still, I was making my way to my friend’s place to help him out when this guy came out of the shadows already swinging. I managed to break his wrist and knock him out even with my guts hanging out, so I’ll count it as a win. I’m just lucky he didn’t have any friends with him. Still have no idea why or even how he had a sword, though.”

Roxy sensed that there was more to that story than her mentor was sharing, but seeing as Sam seemed to have calmed down at the explanation, she didn’t push it.

“Anyway, now that I’ve got my phone, I’m gonna head off. Gotta start on dinner before it gets too late.” Clarissa said, turning towards the door. She paused briefly, turning back to Roxy and pointing at her. “If I catch you two doing that again, you’re losing your extra tutoring privileges, kid. Don’t need my gym smelling like horny teenager, especially when I’m letting you use the space for free.”

Roxy felt her ears start to burn as embarrassment churned in her gut. “R-right, sorry about that.”

Clarrisa smiled. “Glad we have an understanding.”

—

“Yes! I got it! Did you see that, Roxy?! I got it!”

Roxy smiled as the screen above her girlfriend lit up with a janky 3D animation before the word STRIKE! displayed across the monitor. The blonde was jumping and dancing around in victory, a smile bright enough to light up the whole bowling alley adorning her face. The strike wasn’t going to help her, she was still hopelessly far behind everyone else in terms of her score, but it was still nice to see her so happy after her previous despondent acceptance that she would be footing the bill for all of their friends’ dinner.

“Great job, Sam! All you need to catch up now is another four strikes in the next two rounds, I’m sure you can do it!” Ross called out condescendingly. He was currently sitting comfortably at the top of the leaderboard, and was not being quiet about it.

Sam pouted and flipped him off. “Shut up, Ross. Of course you’d be good at handling balls,” she shot, prompting finger-guns from the boy in question and laughter from everyone else present.

The group (plus Brooke, at Leif’s request) was currently hanging out at the local bowling alley, which had recently opened up near the centre of town. It was partially to make up for their missed celebration on the last day of school, and partially just because they wanted to go check it out. So far it certainly hadn’t disappointed, and the wager they’d made that the loser would have to pay for dinner was certainly adding some stakes to things, even if it was making people a little more competitive than Roxy would’ve ordinarily liked.

Brooke got up to take her shot as Sam made her way back to the bench. Roxy slipped an arm across her shoulders as the blonde slouched against the cheap leather. It seemed that her despondence had set back in in the wake of Ross’s call-out. She sighed.

Roxy pulled her closer in an attempt to comfort her. “Hey, don’t worry about it, babe. Who cares if you’re not good at bowling? Besides, I really don’t mind splitting the bill with you if you’re worried you won't have enough.”

Sam pouted. “That’s not fair, you’re in second place! You shouldn’t have to pay just because your girlfriend sucks at this.” She gestured out to the lane, where Brooke had just scored a spare before turning and hi-fiving Leif, who’s sunburn was no doubt doing a great job at covering her blush in the dim lighting.

“Like I said, I really don’t mind. You can just buy me something nice for my birthday to make it up to me,” Roxy replied, kissing Sam on the cheek. The blonde giggled a bit and snuggled in closer.

“Sounds like a good deal to me,” Sam said, returning Roxy’s kiss with one of her own, right on the invisible mark she’d left on Roxy’s neck last month, sending shivers through her nervous system. That reminded her, she still needed to have a conversation with her about that, and about Pedro. Somehow it had completely slipped her mind up until now. She was about to make a mental note of it when Sam kissed her neck again, complimenting it with a slight nip against her skin, which sent the thought flying out of her head, never to be heard from again.

“S-Sam, what are you doing?” Roxy asked when she didn’t stop her ministrations.

The blonde giggled, lifting her head up and leaning her full weight against Roxy. “I dunno, I just wanna be close to you.” She placed a warm hand on Roxy’s cheek, angling her head so they were staring into each other's eyes. “Is that so bad?”

Roxy rolled her eyes fondly. “No, it’s not.” She leaned in and pecked Sam on the lips. “But you’re not getting any more than that till we go home. We don’t want a repeat of yesterday, after all.”

Now Sam was the one rolling her eyes. “I’m not looking for that, Roxy, jeez. You just make funny noises when I kiss your neck, that’s all.”

“I do not!” Roxy half-sputtered with a growing smile.

“It’s very quiet, but I can still hear it. Sharp ears and all that,” Sam explained, tapping Roxy on the nose playfully.

“Fuckin’ werewolves, I swear,” Roxy whispered, blushing.

Sam laughed and wrapped Roxy in a hug, squeezing tightly and shifting around so she could rest her head on her shoulder without breaking her neck due to the height difference. She looked out to the lane just in time to see Ross score another fucking strike, the smug bastard.

“Don’t get too comfortable there, my turn’s next.”

“Just try and stop me, Kindley. I’ll get as comfy as I like.”

Roxy snorted. “Sure, Reed.”

—

Leif leaned back against a pillar, eyeing the current object of her affections as the girl looked back towards the bench where Roxy and Sam were sitting. The light was hitting her in just the right way, highlighting the angles of her face and turning her dark brown eyes into pools of golden honey.

Man, how is this girl so pretty?

Brooke noticed her staring and turned to her, a questioning look on her face. Leif quickly looked away and coughed awkwardly. Y’know, totally not suspicious at all.

“What’s up, Leif?” Brooke asked.

“O-oh, uh… You seemed lost in thought there, I was just wondering what you were thinking ab-about.” Her speedily thought-up lie stumbled a little at the end, but it got the job done.

“Oh!” Brooke laughed casually. “I was just thinking about what a great couple Roxy and Sam make together. They really suit each other.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Leif shrugged. “I’m just glad they didn’t start making out. I was a little worried there for a second, to be honest.”

Brooke raised an eyebrow. “They wouldn’t actually do that in public, would they?”

“I don’t think Roxy would initiate it, but there’s a decent chance she’d go along with it if Sam took the lead, which is definitely on the table for her, I reckon. She tends to have a habit of losing track of her surroundings whenever Roxy’s around.”

They both watched as Sam very audibly whined when Roxy got up from the couch to take her shot. Brooke chuckled. “That’s sweet. She’s very different from when I knew her in primary school. She was a lot quieter back then.” Her eyes glazed over for a second before coming back into focus. She turned to Leif. “How long have they been together, anyway?”

Leif was starting to get a little curious as to why Brooke was so interested in those two, but she didn’t mention it. “Two months as of three days ago, pretty sure.”

Brooke shot her a questioning smirk. “That was oddly specific.”

Leif shrugged with a smirk of her own. “Sam has the date written on her bathroom mirror.”

The asian girl huffed a laugh. Leif turned away briefly to watch Roxy take her shot. The ball rolled straight through the middle of the stack of pins, knocking through the centre cluster but leaving a few still standing on either side, making it effectively impossible to manage a spare on her second shot. Leif would’ve teased her about it if it wasn’t for the fact that she herself was currently sitting just above Sam in second-to-last place.

Roxy turned to her, laughing modestly at her own misfortune as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. She looked like she was about to say something when Sam came up and interrupted her, a worryingly serious look on her face.

“What’s up, Sam?” Roxy asked.

“Kimberly’s here.”

Leif’s blood immediately turned to ice in her veins as a spike of fear shot through her. A small part of her felt stupid for being so scared of a simple highschooler when she’d fought off a murderous cultist and survived with only a busted nose, but that part was quickly overwhelmed as awful memories of being completely helpless to the whims of that sadistic sociopath flooded her head. People were talking around her, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying, all the words blending together into a garbled mess of meaningless noise, half muted by an inexplicable ringing sound that Leif couldn’t identify the source of.

Leif hugged herself as she desperately tried to regain control of her shaking hands. She could see Roxy’s furious face, shouting something as Sam evidently tried to calm her down. Ross was approaching the group, concerned confusion painted across his face. She could feel her eyes starting to burn.

The room around her was starting to spin, the fluorescent lights all blurring into one another as black spots appeared around her vision. Her chest was burning for some reason. Her arms were stinging from the force with which she was digging her fingers into them. Something touched her shoulder and she jumped.

It was Brooke, a look of deep concern in her eyes as she said something to Leif. Asked a question, maybe? The words were still nowhere close to discernable. There was someone a ways behind her, looking at Leif and laughing.

Kimberly.

—

“Roxy, calm down! You’ll get us kicked out if you do that, she’s not worth it!”

“I don’t care! You know what she did! She can’t just get away with it!”

“I know, I agree with you! And when the time comes I’m gonna be right there with you, but right now is not that time. How do you think it’ll look if you just attack her out of the blue? You could get arrested!”

Roxy faltered. That was actually a pretty good point. Considering how Sam had acted with everything that had happened with Blaine, Roxy had expected her to be right behind her when it came to getting back at Kimberly, so it was a little surprising how level-headed she was being about the whole situation. Roxy sighed.

“Look, the opportunity is right there. I can’t just do nothing. Who knows how long it’ll be until the next time we run into her?”

Sam shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. She isn’t worth you getting arrested.”

“You don’t know that I’ll get-”

Roxy was interrupted by the sound of a choked sob and a body collapsing to the floor. Looking to her left, she saw Brooke, standing there and looking entirely out of her element, hands up as though she’d just touched something precious and accidentally damaged it. Below her was Leif, kneeling on the floor, shivering and hyperventilating as she held herself desperately.

“I- I didn’t-” Brooke stuttered helplessly. Roxy ignored her. She clearly wasn’t the one who needed help at that moment.

Kneeling down, Roxy gently pried the panicking girl’s hands from her arms, leaving distinct crescent-shaped marks where her nails had dug into the skin. Her eyes were scrunched closed, tears forming tracks down her cheeks.

“Leif? Can you hear me? You need to breathe, honey. In for eight, hold for four, out for eight. Can you do that?”

Leif shook her head roughly, a slight whimper escaping her lips. Roxy gently placed one of Leif’s hands on her chest, breathing slowly and deliberately. She placed her other hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“I need you to breathe with me, Leif. Just follow my breathing, block out everything else. You’re safe, no one’s going to hurt you here.”

Slowly, very slowly, Leif’s breathing returned to normal. She opened her teary eyes and looked around at everyone. Roxy heard Sam shifting around behind her before she offered her flannel to Leif, who took it gratefully, wrapping it around her shoulders and hugging herself.

“I think it’s probably best if we cut our game short, yeah?” Roxy asked. Leif nodded shakily.

“I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean t-to freak out l-like that.”

“It’s okay. No one blames you.”

Leif slowly made her way back to her feet. Ross, who up until now had been standing awkwardly to the side watching the situation play out, spoke up. “Leif… Can I ask what that was about? I’ve never seen you get like that before.”

Leif visibly hesitated. Roxy caught her quickly glance to Brooke before looking back at Ross. “I-it’s a long s-s-story. I don’t want to talk about it.”

She flinched when Roxy placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, let’s go get some food, alright? That burger place we went to for Ross’s birthday isn’t far. Sound good?”

Leif nodded with a shaky smile. “Y-yeah.”

The group quickly packed up their belongings and made their way out of the building. Part of Roxy was slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t get to enact her payback on Kimberly for the time being, but Leif’s wellbeing was far more important than her own petty desire for second-hand revenge.

She watched as Brooke caught up to Leif and hooked an arm through the green-haired girl’s, striking up a conversation. Roxy smiled as Leif’s face lit back up. At least she was surrounded by friends.

“Leify! I thought I saw you back there!”

Hmm. Maybe she would get her chance, after all.

The group turned around to see Kimberly, ugly sneer on full display, backed up by two of her friends. A weird mix of rage and glee swelled within Roxy’s chest, adrenaline already starting to pump through her muscles. She felt a familiar hand come to rest on her shoulder, squeezing gently. It told her all she needed to hear. She began tying her hair back in preparation for what she was about to do.

“You know, I’m glad that someone found you up there. It really would’ve been a shame if you had starved. Hey, maybe next time I’ll do you a favour and cut off that little prick of yours, since you wanna get rid of it so ba-”

Her hateful words were cut off by Roxy’s fist smashing across her face, sending her stumbling backwards.

“Urgh, what the fu-”

Once again Roxy didn’t let her finish, hitting her with a jab to the nose. Kimberly’s head snapped back with a crunch and she would’ve collapsed backwards if Roxy hadn’t grabbed her collar and sunk another fist into her abdomen.

Kimberly crumpled to the ground, gagging and heaving and desperately trying to breathe. Roxy circled her like a shark, waiting for her to get back up so she could continue. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Kimberly’s friends looking on in shock. They looked like they were about to step in, but Sam quickly made her way over to them, intimidating them into standing down with a single look. The blonde had made short work of them the last time they fought and it was clear that no one had forgotten it.

Kimberly finally picked herself back up, sucking in a deep breath and wiping the blood that was dripping from her nose. Roxy stepped towards her and, hilariously, Kimberly stumbled back.

“You- you bitch. You think you can j-just do that to me? I knocked your ass to the dirt once and I’ll f-fucking do it again, dyke. Your freaky pet isn’t gonna save you this time, either. I hope you like hospital food, cuz you’re gonna be spending a long time there.”

Roxy just rolled her eyes at the brunette’s mindless goading, dropping into a familiar stance and readying herself. Kimberly scoffed at her, pretending to turn away before suddenly whirling around, swinging a punch. It was painfully obvious and Roxy ducked under it with ease, sticking her foot out and watching with great amusement as Kimberly’s momentum brought her tumbling over it and back onto the concrete.

She quickly jumped back up and threw herself at Roxy, throwing punch after punch. The raven-haired girl had no problem blocking and dodging each hit as it came her way, letting Kimberly wear herself out before throwing a right hook that should’ve cracked across the brunette’s jaw.

Instead, Kimberly actually managed to duck under it, making use of the opening in Roxy’s defences by charging back up with an uppercut that sent her stumbling backwards, the world around her spinning wildly as her brain bounced around her skull. Ross caught her from behind before she could fall down.

“You got this, Roxstar. I don’t really know what her beef with Leif is, but either way, kick her ass.”

Roxy chuckled a little bit at the encouragement, picking herself up and shaking off the disorientation, dropping back into her stance as she eyed Kimberly, who was wincing and cradling the hand she’d just smashed across Roxy’s chin. Realising that Roxy was back on her feet, she quickly reassumed her mask of confidence.

“Had enough yet? ‘Cuz I’m just getting started!”

Roxy rolled her eyes. “Do you ever shut up?”

Kimberly’s cocky smirk fell into a scowl as the two began to circle each other again. It wasn’t long before they were trading blows, hitting and blocking and dodging as the fight reached full swing. For every hit that Kimberly managed to land, Roxy landed at least three more. A fist found her ribs and she responded with an elbow across the cheekbone. Kimberly blocked a jab and struck her right across the jaw. Roxy grabbed Kimberly’s arm as she threw a punch and used her momentum to throw her over her shoulder, twisting her body around in a technique that Clarissa had shown her during one of their extra classes.

Neither participant had expected the fight to last as long as it had. Roxy could feel the fatigue in her muscles, each and every bruise she’d acquired throbbing along with her pounding heartbeat. She could see that Kimberly was in a similar, albeit decently worse state. Blood was dripping down her face from her broken nose and both of her eyes were blackened, the left one already swelling up considerably. Roxy took note of the sharp pain in her knuckles. She would need to end the fight quickly in order to ensure she didn’t do any more damage to her hand and potentially break it, if she hadn’t already. Despite herself, Roxy smiled. That shouldn’t be a problem.

Despite the fact that both girls were reaching the end of their stamina, they were far from on the same level. While Kimberly was pretty much on the ropes, Roxy was only just hitting her high. Nothing was more satisfying to her than the feeling of pushing her muscles through that last stretch as they sang with exhaustion. Kimberly wasn’t gonna know what hit her.

Then that cheating bitch pulled a knife out of her pocket.

Despite herself, Roxy had actually started to have fun. While the stakes were a little higher, she’d always enjoyed sparring with the other students in her classes. In spite of the pain, part of her had forgotten what her goal was, what she was fighting for, and had started focusing on the addicting feeling of adrenaline and endorphins coursing through her bloodstream.

The sight of that gleaming metal flashing towards her face in what felt like slow motion brought it all back to her. Her best friend, tied, beaten, humiliated. Kimberly’s constant bullying of her and her friends. That time she’d chased her through the woods, armed with sticks, rocks, and god knows what the fuck else. The first time they’d met, back in freshman year, where Kimberly had poured milk all over Roxy’s head after deciding that she didn’t like her for no reason whatsoever.

Fire burned in her chest. Lightning coursed through her nerves. Roxy’s head jerked back as the knife sliced through the air, a hair's breadth away from cutting her eye out. Someone screamed in the background. And Roxy moved.

In an instant her hand was around Kimberly’s wrist, twisting her arm painfully and forcing the brunette to hunch over. Her other hand jabbed out and smashed Kimberly in the face, disorienting her and causing her to drop the weapon in her hand. She placed her other hand on Kimberly’s shoulder, pulling her around to the perfect position.

For a second, Roxy considered what she was about to do, and if it was too much. Then, Roxy remembered that Kimberly pulled a fucking knife on her, and anything was fair game at that point. Her left hand released Kimberly’s shoulder and instead smashed down on her elbow, bending the joint the wrong way with a sickening crunch.

Kimberly screeched as she fell to the ground, panting and whimpering. It was as satisfying as it was mildly nauseating. That was not a technique Roxy had ever wanted to use on anyone, regardless of the situation.

Roxy watched in a daze as the girl slowly cradled her arm, hiccuppy sobs slipping from her mouth every few seconds. She attempted to pick herself up, but her legs didn’t seem to be working properly, buckling out from underneath her before she could make any real progress. She was done. A distant part in the back of Roxy’s mind almost felt sorry for her.

Sam suddenly appeared in her vision, gripping her shoulders and snapping her back to the present.

“We should go, Rox.”

Roxy looked around and realised that a crowd had formed while she’d been fighting, multiple people recording the scene on their phones. Ross and Leif were both looking at her with a mix of concern and amazement on their faces, while Brooke looked completely and utterly shocked.

“Y-yeah… L-let’s go.”

—

Roxy sat in a booth at the diner, leaning against Sam. Her hands refused to stop shaking as the leftover adrenaline from the fight coursed through her body, and every time she tried to talk she ended up stuttering. She looked around at all of her friends, all in high spirits after what they’d just witnessed, save for Brooke, who was buried in her phone, seemingly texting someone.

“Wh-who’re you t-t-texting?” Roxy asked in an attempt to start a conversation and get her mind off of what had just happened. Brooke startled a little bit at the question.

“Oh! N-no one, don’t worry about it,” she responded nervously. “Just… uh, a friend.”

Roxy raised an eyebrow but didn’t think much on it, partially because it was too easy to get distracted by the pain that was steadily becoming more apparent as the adrenaline wore off, and partially because their food had just arrived.

The waiter handed out everyone’s meals and they all eagerly dug in. His eyes lingered on Roxy for a little bit, concern washing over his features.

“Hey, we’ve got a first aid kit in the back if you need it, y’know,” he explained gently.

Roxy waved a hand. “N-no, that’s okay. I-I-I’m j-just a little b-bruised.”

“If you think she looks bad, you should see the other girl!” Ross chimed in cheerfully. “It was so badass, Roxy totally wrecked her shit!”

Roxy chuckled bashfully and rubbed the back of her neck, a noticeable heat burning on her cheeks. The waiter raised an eyebrow with a curious smile but didn’t inquire further, telling them to enjoy their meal as he walked off to help some other customer.

“Seriously, Roxy. Where did you learn how to break her arm like that? ‘Cuz I know Clarissa never taught me that,” Leif asked.

“Uh…” Roxy hesitated. She’d been trying not to think of the sound that Kimberly’s arm had made as it broke, but it wouldn’t stop replaying in her head along with her scream. It reminded her too much of what had happened to Sam when Blaine attacked them. “It w-was something that she t-taught me during our extra l-l-lessons. It’s meant to be used wh-when someone p-pulls a knife on you, and… Well, you all saw what happened. I kinda just went into autopilot.”

Sam looped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her. “I’m just glad you’re alright. I was about to step in when I saw that, but you handled it so fast I didn’t even need to.”

Roxy didn’t reply, just leaning further into the warm embrace of her partner. She felt slightly drowsy, which was amusing considering that her heart and body were still racing. She was overcome with the familiar urge to cry that so often plagued her after a healthy dose of adrenaline, but she held it back. She didn’t want to ruin her friends’ night.

“I can’t believe that she actually pulled a knife on you, though! She could have killed you!” Leif exclaimed.

“I can totally believe it. Absolutely in character for that heinous bitch,” Ross replied. “I’m still a bit confused about what her beef was, though. Why’d she just come up to us like that?”

Roxy noticed how Leif flinched a little in response to that. She knew the girl hadn’t told anyone about what happened to her, and likely wasn’t going to, either. “W-well, whatever the reason, I d-doubt she’ll bother us much again.”

Leif smiled gently from across the table, looking over to her and mouthing the word ‘thanks’ before focusing back on her food. Roxy did the same, ignoring the pain in her jaw every time she took a bite of her burger. It tasted just as good as it had on Ross’s birthday.

Despite everything, she smiled. It had turned out to be a pretty good day.

—

Pedro rubbed the bridge of his nose as this woman continued to screech at him. It had been a very long shift and having to suffer through this excessively high-pitched sob story was really starting to grate on him. The woman’s oddly familiar daughter was sitting in the other chair, arm in a cast and face thoroughly bruised, sulking openly. She clearly wanted to be here about as much as Pedro did.

“I’m telling you, you need to arrest that little psycho! She attacked my daughter unprovoked! Who knows what could happen if you just let her roam around!”

Pedro sighed. “Do you have her name?”

The woman gave her daughter a look. The girl sighed. “Roxanne Kindley,” she mumbled.

Pedro paused, puzzle pieces fitting together in his head. He chuckled to himself. He’d known from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. That girl had fire.

“I’m sorry, is something about this funny to you?!” the woman screeched.

“No, but this case just got a whole lot simpler,” he explained, quite pleased with his luck.

“Care to elaborate at all?” she huffed.

“Well, I just realised where I’d seen your daughter before. A few hours ago we got a call about a street fight. Some of the bystanders had filmed it, so we went over the footage. It clearly showed Roxanne Kindley, as you said, fighting with your daughter. Near the end of the footage, your daughter pulled a knife on Roxanne, and, as you already know, she responded by breaking her arm in quite an impressive display of martial prowess. In this case we can clearly rule this as reasonable self-defence on Roxy’s part, as your daughter was using a deadly weapon. Honestly, you’re lucky that she hasn’t pressed charges. Looked like you almost took her eye out.”

The woman was completely stunned, mouth hanging agape. Pedro leaned back in his chair. It was moments like these that made it all worth it.

“B-b-but..! But Roxanne still attacked Kimberly unprovoked!”

Pedro sighed. “We don’t have any footage of the start of the fight, so the only thing we really have to go on here is word of mouth, which wouldn’t be enough to make anything stick, I’m afraid. Either way, Roxy would still likely have the legal advantage, given the knife. I’m sorry, but there’s really nothing I can do for you.”

The woman huffed and got up from her seat, dragging her daughter with her and leaving Pedro’s office.

Pedro’s shoulders untensed. Finally, some peace and quiet.

—

Roxy stared at herself in the mirror after her shower, admiring all of the new bruises she’d acquired. Thankfully, most of the damage was to her body, so she wouldn’t have to worry about explaining to her parents why her face looked like it had been used as a speed bag again. Didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt like hell, though.

Looking at herself, Roxy was incredibly proud of how far she’d come in just a few short months. That ever-persistent pudge in her belly had finally started to recede, and in its place was the slight definition of a set of abs. She flexed her arms and was pleased to see the noticeable musculature that was forming in her shoulders and biceps. She still had a long way to go before she was anywhere close to Sam’s unfairly shredded form, but progress was progress. Being a werewolf had its perks, she supposed.

She ignored the ache in her muscles as she slipped into her pyjamas and made her way out of the bathroom, heading down the hall to Sam’s bedroom. She wasn’t surprised to find the girl already asleep, cuddling with one of the many plushies on her bed. Roxy slipped herself into the bed behind her, curling her arm around Sam’s waist and slipping her hand under the hem of her tank top, resting it on the warm skin of her partner’s abdomen.

Sam huffed a tiny growl and shifted herself, turning around until her head was nestled firmly under Roxy’s chin, her hot breath hitting Roxy’s collarbone and sending little sparks coursing through her nerves. It took a little bit for her to get used to the sensation, but eventually, the scent of pine wafting from Sam’s hair calmed her down enough for her to start drifting off.

That was, until she was brought right back to the waking world by the sensation of Sam teething on her collarbone in her sleep. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it definitely wasn’t going to help her pass out, instead prompting thoughts that she was far too tired to pursue at the current moment.

“Sam, sweetie,” she whispered, gently jostling the girl. “I love you, but please stop chewing on me.”

She was rewarded for her efforts with a short growl rumbling from Sam’s throat, which was certainly not what Roxy was looking for. Trying a new approach, Roxy started scratching the girl’s head, which prompted Sam’s leg to start twitching uncontrollably. As usual, it was pretty funny, and Roxy started giggling.

It had the intended effect of getting Sam to stop biting her, so eventually Roxy took her hands away. The blonde shifted a little bit before lifting her head, a sleepy pout adorning her expression.

“Why’d you stop?” she asked with a yawn.

Roxy snorted a little. “I can’t scratch you forever, can I?”

Sam buried her face back against Roxy’s neck. “Sure you can.” Once again, she pressed a soft kiss to that invisible mark before pulling back and stretching, sticking her butt high in the air as her back cracked satisfyingly. Once she had stretched to completion, she sat up and crawled off of the bed sleepily. “I’ll be right back, just going to the bathroom.”

“Okay, don’t fall in,” Roxy muttered jokingly. Sam laughed as she left the room. Now that she was all alone, Roxy took the time to think. Sam had once again reminded her about the mark, and this time she wasn’t going to forget to talk about it. Might as well add Pedro to the list of things to discuss as well. Sure, it was late and they were both pretty tired, but given her track record with this particular topic, Roxy didn’t want to risk waiting until morning and potentially forgetting again.

It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of Sam’s thumping footsteps making their way down the hall. She re-entered the room and immediately flopped onto the bed, her head colliding with Roxy’s abdomen quite painfully.

“Ow! Sam! Watch out for the bruises!”

The blonde’s cheeky giggle was muffled by a faceful of tummy, but she still made sure to apologise. “Sorry, Rox. I forgot about that.”

Roxy huffed a little as Sam crawled her way back up to the top of the bed, wrapping herself around the raven-haired girl and doting on her in apology. Roxy put up with it for all of ten seconds before she decided now was as good a time as any to do this.

“Sam, can I talk to you about something?”

The blonde stuck her head up. “Hmm? What’s up? That sounded kinda serious,” she said nervously.

“It’s not really serious, but it’s still something we need to talk about, I think.”

“What is it?”

Roxy shifted herself so that she could look her girlfriend in the eye. “Do you know what a mark is?”

Sam stared blankly. “Nope.”

Roxy snorted. “Figures. Uh, I don’t really know much, but from what I was told, it’s basically what a werewolf does with their partner to mark them as theirs.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me to do that for you? Because, while that’s very romantic, I wouldn’t really have any idea what to do. Where’d you hear it, anyway?”

“Uh, we’ll get to that. But, the thing is, Sam, you kinda already did mark me. I’m pretty sure it was on the night of our one month anniversary, when you bit my neck.”

“Huh?! How do you know?” Sam asked.

“Every werewolf I’ve run into since then has said that they could tell I was already taken. It’s a scent thing, I think. It’s what caused Blaine to go ballistic that night. He could tell that you’d already marked me by sniffing that spot on my neck. Honestly, I can still kinda feel it, sometimes. The mark, that is. Not Blaine. That would be gross.”

“I… I didn’t even realise. I just remember feeling this super strong urge to sink my teeth into your neck. I-in a sexy way! Not in a murdery way.”

Roxy laughed. “Yeah, the person who told me about it said you probably hadn’t even realised you’d done it. Would’ve been nice if you could have asked me before effectively making me your property, but I suppose it can’t be helped,” she joked. “Not that there’s anyone else I would rather be marked by. My longest relationship before you literally lasted, like, a week. I’ve got high hopes for you, Samantha.” She smirked

Sam giggled, snuggling against Roxy. “Don’t you worry your little head about it, Roxy. I plan on sticking around for a long while yet.”

Roxy snorted. “Dork.”

Sam smiled. “Your dork.”

“Apparently so,” Roxy muttered, her own smile audible in her voice.

“So, you gonna tell me who this mysterious informer is? Dr. Parker, right? She’s the only other werewolf we know.”

Roxy winced. “Yeah, that’s the thing. There’s actually another one.”

Immediately, Sam jerked into an upright position, eyes filled with urgency. “What?! Wh-why didn’t you tell me sooner?! Do you realise how much danger we could be in?!”

“Calm down, Sam, it’s alright. He’s cool, nothing like Blaine.” Roxy consoled.

“How do you know he wasn’t just putting up a front?! Why else would he be here if he wasn’t after my territory?!”

“I really don’t think he was! He was the detective that interviewed me about everything that happened with Blaine. His name is Pedro. He’s the one that gave me the number of Dr. Parker and he told me to call him if we ever get into trouble again. I think it’s safe to say he’s a friend.”

That cooled Sam off considerably. She was silent for a moment, a contemplating look on her face. “I… It just doesn’t sit right with me. My parents told me to always be wary of other werewolves. There’s no reason they should be in our territory.”

“Sam, I don’t mean to sound condescending, but how many other werewolves have you actually met?”

Sam paused. “...two, not including my parents.” she muttered.

“See? Don’t you think you might be generalising a little bit? Trust me, Sammie. Pedro’s okay. It seemed like he already knew you, anyway. He called you a direwolf.”

The blonde huffed, lying back down against the bed. “It’s not exactly a secret that the head of the Reed pack is a direwolf, and that’s me, now that my mom is… yeah. It’s been that way for centuries, apparently. The whole reason Blaine decided to try and settle down here instead of anywhere else is apparently because he wanted to see if the rumours were true, so I’d say it’s pretty common knowledge among other werewolves.” She turned back to Roxy and sighed. “Well, I can’t say that I trust him, but I trust you, Rox. If you think he’s cool, then he’s cool.”

Roxy smiled warmly. There was something else that Pedro had said that she wanted to bring up, but it was sitting at the very edge of her memory. It had been a hectic night and it was over a month ago at this point, so it wasn’t exactly fresh in her mind. Something about a breed, maybe? She supposed it mustn't have mattered much if she couldn’t remember it.

Sam shuffled closer and kissed Roxy softly. The suddenness of it sent butterflies through her stomach. She could feel the blonde shifting around until her entire weight was on top of her, still kissing her slowly. There was a hint of a certain intent behind the kiss, so Roxy pushed back harder to test it.

As expected, Sam moaned a little bit, her tongue brushing against Roxy’s lips. The raven-haired girl giggled a bit and pulled back.

“Where did this come from?” Roxy asked with a smile, her hand finding Sam’s cheek.

Sam shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m awake now. It’s gonna take ages to get back to sleep, and we didn’t get the chance yesterday after you got me all worked up at the gym. Isn’t it a little unfair to keep a girl waiting like that?” She pouted performatively.

Roxy snorted. “I suppose. I’m pretty sore after today, but I think I can still manage.”

Sam beamed excitedly, already pulling off her tank top. “Awesome.”

Roxy did the same with her shirt, the article joining Sam’s on the floor, before pulling Sam down and immediately biting down on her neck.

The blonde squeaked. “Wha- what are you doing?!”

“Just marking what’s mine, beautiful,” Roxy said in a mocking impression of Sam’s voice.

Sam groaned in embarrassment and buried her head against Roxy’s chest. “Did I really say that?”

“Yep,” Roxy laughed. “Dork.”