They woke up in the morning to the sound of someone banging on Heath's hotel room door. He got up, put on a shirt, and opened the door.
"I'm guessing that Elizabeth is here," she heard Stu announce, "Since she is now officially a part of The Corre, I expect her down at the gym with the rest of us. If she is late, she'll have to report to me."
"Well, I'll be sure to tell her that. But you could have just texted one of us, it would have been a lot nicer wake up call than you trying to knock down the door," Heath teased as Stu walked away.
He shook his head as he closed the door before jumping on the bed being careful not to crush Elizabeth underneath him. He started kissing her eyes and when his lips found hers, he could feel her smiling into his mouth. That was his favorite part of kissing his beautiful girlfriend, her ability to kiss and smile at the same time. It was a major turn on for him. His hands started wondering around her body, grabbing softly around her hips and she cried out in pain slightly. As soon as he heard her cry he jumped, he was always very conscious about holding her because she seemed so breakable to him.
"What's wrong, babe?" he asked in a concerned voice.
"Oh, nothing. When that kid ran into me last night it knocked me into the wall before I fell down. I must have ran into the wall hip first, or something," she replied.
"Well, alright. We'd better get ready. You heard the tyrant. Are you hungry or anything?" Heath asked.
"I'm not hungry right now. I think I'll just eat when we get back from the gym. I don't want to throw up from Master Stu working me too hard," Elizabeth said, it felt good to make fun of him- she just had to make sure he wasn't around when she did or he'd make her pay for it.
"Alright, I guess. I just don't want you to pass out or anything."
Heath had a way of being just as protective as PJ. When Elizabeth was younger, she had an eating disorder. It resulted in some time in the hospital, and ever since then PJ has basically forced her to eat whenever he could. Sadly he passed this information onto Heath, who took it upon himself to make Elizabeth eat as well. Neither man knew that with all of the stuff Stu was doing, she had fallen into her old patterns when they weren't looking. She wasn't being unhealthy about it, she still ate, she just ate less.
"Heath, you worry too much," she said, trying to convince him that she was fine, "I'll eat when we get done at the gym. I'm sure that will be PJ's first question when we get there anyway."
Elizabeth went back to her room to change into her workout clothes, Heath had offered a t-shirt and shorts to her, but that would require changing in front of him. With the bruises that she could now feel, she declined saying that she wanted to grab her i-pod anyway. Usually, she wore shorts and a sports bra, but considering the deep blue marks on her hips, she threw a black tank top over her sports bra.
Meeting the guys in the lobby, they walked out to PJ's SUV. He always insisted on using his own car instead of renting when the traveled from city to city because he was most comfortable with that and Elizabeth had to agree. It would have been a snug fit for them all in Stu's little car.
"I think I'm going to take Elizabeth with me in my car," announced Stu sternly, "I figure we can go over the work out and grab breakfast after wards.
"Stu, why don't we all just ride together?" PJ replied, "We can all go over the work out and I'm sure we'll all be starving after gym time. We'll save gas that way too."
He couldn't argue without look suspicious, which made Elizabeth breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't want to spend any alone time with Stu, she knew what would happen if they did.
As they climbed into PJ's escalade, Elizabeth slide into the backseat between Heath and Rycklon. Knowing she was safe, she put her headphones in her ears and turned on her i-pod. It was her routine, she needed music.
"Elizabeth. Elizabeth? ELIZABETH!" Stu screamed at her.
She jumped when she heard him scream, and not because she was afraid of the noise, it was the look in his eyes when she hadn't answered him.
"Jeez, Stu. She is listening to music," PJ spoke for her.
"It's fine, P. What do you need, Stu?" Elizabeth asked as Stu handed her new workout to her.
"This is what you'll be doing today. Start out slow and low on everything, then build up," he said.
He was talking to her like she'd never been in a gym before and that irritated her. She'd grown up around the gym. She'd been wrestling for just as long as PJ, and Stu knew that.
"Oh, and as a rule, we don't listen to our i-pods while we work out. We listen to each other, we use each other, we help each other," he scolded.
"Wait, what? I can't listen to my i-pod? That is ridiculous. Stu, I can't do this workout with out my i-pod. It isn't going to happen. You know that music pumps me up. When did you establish this rule? Because I'm pretty sure that the last time I worked out with you guys, you were definitely list-"
"I don't care what pumps you up. No i-pods. That's final," he said interrupting her.
She knew that there was no point in arguing back, and the glare he gave her made her realize that she shouldn't have argued in the first place. Moments like this made her truly believe that the things Stu did to her were her own fault. She knew the things that would set him off and she still did them. She tried to crawl into her skin as much as she could, but Heath took it as her wanting him to hold her and he put his arm around her shoulders.
When they arrived at the gym, the guys split up heading to their spots in the gym. Elizabeth looked at the sheet of paper with her workout and sighed. This is ridiculous, she thought, I could do this workout in my sleep. I'm definitely altering it to match my ability. She marched off to the treadmill and started running. When she realized that she as in a corner out of Stu's sight, she put her i-pod in and blared her play list full of adrenaline pumping songs.
She'd been running for quite some time when someone stopped the treadmill causing her to fall. She pulled out her headphones and glared up into Stu's dark eyes.
"Did I not make it clear that we don't listen to i-pods here?" he growled.
She staggered to her feet and looked for the other guys, seeing both her brother and boyfriend with their headphones in.
"What are you talking about? Heath and Paul are listening to theirs. You cannot put restrictions on me and not on them," she responded breathlessly.
"I can put any restriction on you that I want. I also realized that you have been on this treadmill longer that your workout says too. I put those workouts together, you will do it right," he told her.
"Stu, that workout was for a baby. I've been doing my own workouts since I left Cape Town, and I know my own strength. I'm not going to step back from my routine. If you don't agree with me, then I'll have PJ take a look at it. He's been by my side this whole time. He'll tell you what I can and cannot do," she said angrily, and with that she stomped off towards her older brother.
"You will not interrupt his workout," Stu replied grabbing her by the arm tightly, "We can discuss this over breakfast. For know, do the workout I laid out for you."
"Fine, I'll do your workout. But I am going to listen to my music. You cannot take that away from me." And with that, she walked towards her next station.