The crowd was screaming her name as she made her way to the ring. She climbed through the ropes - Miss Claudette, Adam and Joshua following her. Her opponent climbed in the ring too, covered in a dark green robe, but she could still see the malicious smirk on her face. Before she even knew it, she was standing in the middle of the ring facing the woman she was about to fight. The judge held their gloved hands and said something about a fair fight but his words faded away into the background, as she gazed into her rivals eyes, blocking out everything else. The bell rang and she immidiately started throwing punches at the other woman. She hit her quite a few times, but suddenly, her legs gave in and her sight started to become blurry. Her rival punched her once, twice, three times and it seemed like it would never end. Suddenly the woman stopped, and she felt blood running down the side of her face. The crowd was booing now. She looked at her team. Their faces were full of disappointment.

'What's the matter, Chapman? Not in such a good shape tonight, are we?' said the woman in front of her with and evil grin. Then her face turned serious and Piper watched her preparing for another hit, unable to move. The right hook smashed her right in her jaw and a terrible pain shot through her.

Her eyes shot open.

'Good morning Chaps. Did you sleep well?' her best friend was crouching on the side of her bed, face in her hands, grinning at her.

'Fuck!' Piper sat up in a quick movement. 'Nicky...' she said in a low,angry voice, between jagged breaths .'What the fuck? Are you realy trying to kill me?' she looked at her with an ice-cold stare.

Nicky had this annoying habit of walking into her room in the morning - out of pure boredom. She woke up everyday at 7, when noone else was home anymore. She had nothing to do, so she always woke Piper up too.

'See, that's not a very nice greeting, have some manners Chaps, for fuck's sake!' Nicky said, pretending to be offended by Piper's rough reaction.

'I could have had a heart attack, really. I need to get a lock.' she said sitting on the edge of her bed, making space for her friend.

'I'm not even sorry.' Nicky sat beside Piper. 'Your face was tottaly worth it!' she was laughing. 'I should have snapped a picture and put in on Instagram and shit.'

'You have an Instagram?'

'Sure I do.' Nicky said matter-of-factly. Piper looked at her questioningly, raising her eyebrows. 'Do you have any idea how many hot chicks you can find there?'

'Whatever, Nicky.'

Piper stretched her arms and yawned. 'How long have you watched me sleep, you creeper?'

'Just a couple of minutes. I was gonna wake you up, but you beat me to the punch. Why did you woke up so suddenly anyway?' Nicky asked.

'Bad dream.'

This time it was Nicky who had a questioning look on her face. She figured Piper had some sort of nightmare (or maybe a sexy-time dream) by the way she was turning in her bed, but she wanted to know what it was about.

'You know...' Piper paused, not really wanting to talk about it, but Nicky looked really curious. So she continued 'that fight with Janae Watson. It keeps haunting me. It twists into it's nightmarish version and...it just haunts me. In my sleep.'

'Well, it would haunt me too if I lost a fight that would grant me a ticket to the National Championship.' Piper hit her in the shoulder. Nicky let out an 'Ouch'. She forgot how hard her punches were, being a professional boxer.

'Sorry.' Piper said, caressing it now. 'But fuck you, you insenstive shit.' With that she stood up and walked over to her drawer.

'Really, I'm the insesitive one?' Nicky said, rubbing her shoulder. Piper grabbed a band and pulled her blonde hair up in a ponytail.

Nicky looked at her with a smirk. 'That fight must've bruised your ego pretty badly huh?'

'Uh-uh' Piper replied casually. 'What's for breakfast?'

'I dunno, oatmeal...'

'God, not that shit again. Why couldn't you make something else? ' Today it was Nicky's turn to make breakfast, and as always they had oatmeal. Red, the woman who they lived with and who they both considered as a mother figure was an excellent cook, but she had to be at her restaurant early - at 6 in the morning - almost everyday so she didn't have time to make breakfast at home. Nicky and Piper had to do it on their own. The problem is that neither of them can cook. Well, Piper sometimes makes pancakes or omelette but mostly they just eat oatmeal with milk and cinnamon.

'Like what?' asked Nicky a little annoyed.

'Like, I don't know...' Piper paused thinking 'waffles, maybe?'

'I can't make waffles.'

'You can't make anything!' Piper snapped.

'Whoa, okay Chaps, I admit that I'm really shitty in the kitchen but that never bothered you. What's with the snappy mood?'

'Like you said, my ego got bruised, and my stupid brain has to keep reminding me of it.' Piper was really moody now. 'Stupid fucking fight, stupid fucking dream, stupid fucking oatmeal!' Piper ranted, kicking the wall in the procces.

'Shh, the oatmeal might hear you.' Nicky was pretty amused at Piper's shitty mood.

'Shut up, Nicky.' Piper sat down next to her on the bed again. Nicky wrapped her arm around her shoulder, sensing that Piper was really unhappy about that fight and about the oatmeal.

'I have an idea. Why don't we go and eat breakfast at the restaurant?' she suggested, trying to brighten Piper's mood.

'But I have to be at the gym at 8.' The idea sounded tempting but she was running out of time. She didn't want to be late for trainings, especially now that she lost her 1st fight.

'It's quarter past 7. We've got plenty of time.'

Piper hesistated for a while. She wasn't sure that 45 minutes were a plenty of time. The last thing she needed on this morning was rushing to the gym or the restaurant. But when she came to think of it, they would make it just in time. She didn't have to take a shower now, since it would have no point taking one before her training. And Red's place is really close, so they would get there in a couple of minutes with a car. 'Okay.' she finally said, smiling at Nicky. 'Let me just change and get my gym stuff and we can go.'

A silver Mercedes parked in front of Red's place. Piper and Nicky stepped out and headed inside. Piper bought the ride a few months ago, when she saved up enough money from her fights. Piper checked the time. It was 7:27.

When they got inside, the place was already pretty crowded. It was Monday morning and a lot of people came here for breakfast before their morning shift. Red's place was very popular in the area. They walked up to the bar. Red was in the back.

'Hey mommy!' greeted Nicky and Piper at the same time with huge smiles across their faces.

'Oh, hey!' greeted Red back and walked to the front. 'Now that is a surprise. What brings you here at this hour girls?' She asked with a thick russian accent.

'We came to eat breakfast.' Red looked at them for a second and smirked.

'What, did you had enough of the oatmeal?' she asked in a mocking voice.

'Actually ,yeah.' replied Nicky 'So we came here to eat some actual breakfast. You could make us some,um...vatrushki.' She had trouble remembering the names of russian food. 'We haven't had them in a while, right?' she looked over to Piper.

'Sure.'

'Fine.' Red said. 'Sit down you little comfortable shits.'

Nicky and Piper exchanged a look and went over to an empty table. Red was pissed at them again. She wanted to teach them a little bit of independece. She wanted them to make breakfast for themselves. And she technically had to make it for them herself now.

They sat down and a waitress approached them.

'Oh hey, look at you Morello. Looking all hot in that outfit.' said Nicky, checking the girl out, grinning.

'Good morning to you too.' Lorna replied with a cold tone and shot Nicky a glance.

'Hi Lorna.' greeted Piper cheerfully. Lorna's expression changed as she turned to the blonde.

'Piper.' she said, smiling. 'What can I get you two?'

'We already ordered.' Nicky said. 'But I would take up a special order from you on anyday.' She winked at the girl who gave her a sarcastic half smile and walked to another table.

'Wow.' Piper looked at Nicky, nodding her head.

'What?'

'You're really killing it with those pickup lines, Nicky. Special order, really?' Piper was giggling at her friend's awkward line. 'But come on, it's better than that time when you told her she reminds you of a salmon fish.'

'It's my favourite fish okay? And she does kinda look like a fish.' Nicky said defensively.

'Sure.' Piper is very amused at the memory of Nicky's pickup lines. These are nothing compared to the times when Nicky's drunk as fuck and has like a diarrhea from her mouth. 'Don't worry Nicky, you'll get there one day.'

'Of course I will. I always do.' stated Nicky proudly. Lorna was practically the only girl who didn't fell for her right away. She probably would've if it wasn't for her fiancé. But Nicky liked a challenge. She was gonna fuck Lorna eventually. She knew it.

Their breakfast arrived in a short while and as they ate it Piper reminded Nicky of all her terrible pickup lines. She was in a good mood again and Nicky was happy that she could make her laugh, even if it was at her own expense.

When they finished Piper checked the time again. It was 7:50. So much for being punctual.

'Shit, Nicky. I've gotta go. I probably won't make it in time anyway.' Piper stood up, Nicky along with her and they walked out of the restaurant in such a hurry they didn't even say goodbye. Well Piper didn't, Nicky would go back inside to help Red with some kitchen shit. It's not like Piper could drive her now anyway.

Nicky remembered she hadn't told Piper something real important.

'Chaps, see ya at lunch? Got something to tell ya.' Nicky figured that it's not the right time to tell her now in such a hurry.

'Yeah.' Piper got inside her car and started the engine. 'You staying?'

'Uh-uh. So lunch, here, 1 p.m.?'

'Cool. See ya Nicky.' Piper smiled and drove off.

'See ya Chaps.' Nicky said to herself wondering how to tell her the piece of news.

Piper arrived at the gym. Miss Claudette, her trainer, and her son Joshua worked out a training plan for her. She trains 6 days a week starting in the morning at 8 til' 12:30. Her training included everything that a typical boxing training – heavy-bag, speed-bag, shadow boxing, calisthenics,jumping the rope and so on.

When she changed into her workout outfit – Nike shoes, black shorts and a white tank top, Piper walked over to Miss Claudette who was giving instructions to another boxer on punching the heavy-bag.

'Good morning .' Piper spoke as she faced her.

'You're late.' Miss Claudette was very strict, and she especially hated when people were late to the trainings. Piper was usually very punctual, arriving 15 minutes early so she had enough time to change, but now it was already 8:12.

'I know, Miss Claudette, and I'm really sorry...' Miss Claudette cut in.

'I can't do shit with I'm sorry.' Piper looked at the ground 'Now go, warm up and start with the speed-bag. No slacking. Understood?'

Piper nodded and walked away. Miss Claudette went extra hard on her since the fight with Watson. Running in late was not exactly helping.

She found a spot and warmed up. When she was done, the speed-bag was already hung up, waiting for her. She wrapped her hands in wrist-wraps and started punching, fully focused on her activity.

Nicky sat on the counter, cutting a silly face into a cucumber. Red was making pirozshki stuffed with onions and meat. She put the pan in the oven and looked up at Nicky, rolling her eyes. 'If you're going to stay here, you could at least make yourself useful.'

'Isn't bringing a smile to the customers face useful enough?'

'No-one is going to eat that cucumber.' Red snatched it from her hand.

'Hey!' Nicky almost cut herself with the knife as Red suddenly grabbed it from her. 'I want to finish that! Look at it. It was supposed to be a happy lil' veggie, and now it looks like a tormented soul begging for death.' She glanced at the unfinished face. It really looked more like a monster from a horror movie than a happy vegetable.

'Not like it would get any better.' Red said and tossed it over to Gina. 'Chop it up, we can still use that.'

'I'm on it.' replied Gina, Red's right hand in the kitchen, and started cutting the cucumber into squares.

'Nicky, have you told Piper yet?' Red suddenly changed the topic.

'Nah, I didn't have time.'

'But you were home with her the whole night! You had breakfast with her, don't tell me you didn't have time.'

'You were home too, why didn't you tell her?' Nicky shot back annoyed.

'Because that is your business, not mine.' Red started to stuff a chicken with some green stuff.

'I'll tell her at lunch.' Nicky looked to the side. 'I mean it's no big deal anyway so...'

'You know very well that they are not getting along, Nicky. She is not going to like the idea.'

'It's not like she can change anything right?' Nicky shifted off the counter and walked over to face Red. 'I'm surprised that you're down with this whole thing though. You hate strangers in the apartment.'

Red's hand was in the chicken as she spoke. 'She's a stranger in need, that's different. And she is your friend, so she does not fully count as a stranger.' With that, Red pulled her hand out of the chicken and the green stuff was all over it.

'Eww, that's just fucking gross.' Nicky had a disgusted expression.

'You had your hands in worse places, Nicky'

'Whatever.'

Nicky thought about how to tell Piper once more. She decided she would just casually tell her, it's no big deal.

Piper was still punching the bag at full-speed,full-strenght, concentrating on the aim. She was so caught up in her training that she didn't notice Joshua come over to her.

'Hey Piper.' It took Piper a moment to realize someone was talking to her. She looked over to see who it was, and with that her perfect aim and speed were gone. So she stopped.

'Oh hey, what is it Josh? I'm in the middle of trainig.' Joshua was a tall guy of darker skin, pretty muscular, with short black curly hair and brown eyes.

'Middle? Piper, you're punching that bag for nearly an hour and a half without stopping.' Piper's eyes widened. She didn't realize she's been punching for so long. Suddenly her hands felt really exhausted and they hurt.

'Oh shit. I need a break.'

'U-uh, no breaks Piper, you've gotta start doing sit-ups now.' Piper knew he was right. She could waste no time for stupid breaks. She was thankful that she didn't have to do the push-ups first, because her arms were dead. She took of the wraps and gasped in pain. Her kuckles were bloody. Not that much though, but they really hurt.

'Aw, shit.' Joshua took her hands and lifted them to take a closer look 'You went a little too hard on that bag.'

'Seems like it.' She pulled her hands away, not even wanting to waste time putting a bandage on them. She jerked them a little in the air.

'Let's get to the sit-ups.' She laid down on her back.

'But Piper,shouldn't you...'

'Count.' Piper said strictly. Joshua put his hands above his head as a sign of defeat and mumbled a quiet 'Ok'.

They continued with calisthenics for another another 3 hours and a half. Piper barely took a 20 minute break altogether. She did push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, jumping jacks, and squats. When she was done she felt like she could die of exhaustion. She somehow made it to the shower, taking her time there as she enjoyed the warm water on her skin. She dried her hair and slipped into grey sweats, a black wife-beater, a dark-blue zip-up hoodie and put on another Nikes. 15 minutes later she arrived at Red's place.

Nicky was waiting for her at a table outside.

'You're late.' Piper already heard this one today.'I was waiting for you a fucking hour, Chaps. You could've at least give me ring.'

'I know. I'm sorry.' And she already voiced this one today too. 'I was late to the gym you know, and I had to make it up with extra 30 minutes.'

'Yeah, still could've called.'

A few minutes later Tricia, the new girl at Red's place brought them their lunch.

Nicky had a Beef Stroganov.

Piper had a special meal from Red. She was on a strict diet. She already fucked it up this morning with that sweet treat. The pancakes Piper sometimes made for breakfast were special pancakes too. It was a recipe she got from Miss Claudette. They tasted a lot better than regular ones, and both her and Nicky loved having them. Piper didn't really care for breakfast much – she couldn't eat more than 2 pancakes anyway (while Nicky had 5), but for lunch she always had enormous amounts of food. She skipped dinner altogeher.

On Piper's huge plate there were 6 boiled eggs,8 rice balls, cottage cheese and 2 huge pieces of naturally grilled chicken. In another bowl she had a veggie salad with olive oil. Tricia also brought her a banana smoothie – her favourite one.

Nicky had a shot of vodka with OJ. Something that Piper didn't comment. She always drank vodka with lunch. And Nicky was used to Piper having even bigger meals than this. She used to comment on it at first but now it was natural for her to see Piper eat like a lumberjack. She still couldn't understand how it all fit in Piper's stomach though.

They started eating.

'Hey, anyways, that thing i was gonna tell you about...' Nicky started with a full mouth.

'What thing?' Piper asked.

'I told you I have to tell ya something, you know, back then in the morning.' Piper just looked at her,obviously not knowing what she was talking about and put a slice of grilled chicken in her mouth. 'I can't fucking believie you! Do you even listen to me sometimes?'

'You know I do, but I was in such a hurry, so.. ' She was in such a rush she didn't even register what Nicky was saying to her.

'Nah.' Nicky didn't want to start an argument over Piper's scattered brain. 'Whatever. The point is that I have to tell you something.'

'Ok.' Piper said, taking a sip of her smoothie. 'Go ahead.'

'So,' Nicky started 'you remember Alex?'

'Alex who?' The name rang some bells, but she knew many Alex's.

'Vause..' Nicky said with caution.

'Oh, the sasquatch.' Piper's face turned into an unamused expression.

'Yeah, that's her.' Nicky was amused at the fact that Piper remembered her as the sasquatch.

'What about her?'

'Well you know that she was in prison...'

'Was? Isn't she still in there?' Piper heard about Nicky's friend Alex being sent to prison for 14 months for some illegal shit. But she thought that she was still locked up.

'Well no, they just released her yesterday.'

'Ok. And?'

Nicky downed the shot she had in front of her. 'She's going to stay with us.'

Piper's chicken got stuck in her throat for a moment. She swallowed it and glared at Nicky with her 'are you fucking serious' face.

Nicky just looked at her nodding her head.

'What, what the fuck?' Piper stuttered. She had trouble voicing her thoughts. 'But why? Really?'

Nicky knew that Piper wouldn't fancy a new member of the household 'See, she has nowhere to go Chaps. But no worries, she only stays for a couple of weeks, til' she gets on her feet again..'

'Yeah,right.' Piper knew that no-one gave a fuck about ex-cons and the sasquatch would most likely never find a normal job. She was in a light shock from the news. She looked at Nicky. She knew that Alex was a dear friend of hers so she decided to go with it. 'Well, I can't do much about it anyway,right?' She still didn't like the fact that Nicky haven't even asked her. Red probably knew, she was the one who had to allow it.

'You could become friendly with her ,you know.'

'What a poor attempt at a joke Nicky.'

'I'm not kidding.' Nicky said quite seriously 'I don't want you to give her a taste of your uppercut while she's staying with us.'

'When is she coming?' Piper ignored Nicky's comment

'Tonight.'

'Holy shit, Nicky. You could have told me earlier.'

'I told you she got released yesterday. She called me at 9 p.m., I didn't have time to tell ya.'

Of course she did – thought Piper. She went too sleep at 11, she could have told her. She probably told Red right away. But Piper didn't like arguing with Nicky so she just said 'Fine'.

With that, Piper ended the convesation and went back to eating her lunch. She was in a shitty mood again, thanks to that sasquatch and her criminal ways. She just wanted to go home and nap for the rest of the day and watch Mad Men. She was already so tired she could pass out and smash her face into her plate. And then, sometime in the evening, the sasquatch will come to their apartment. Great plans for the rest of the day.

Please review :)