It'd been five weeks since I started training with the Musketeers. If I'm being honest with myself, I should have backed out the minute I had a chance.

For the past few weeks, they amped up the training. Gem was showing me more weapon based fighting, which meant a lot of cutting to my body.

Jade decided to stick with hand-to-hand combat. But now, he is adding a lot more unpredictable combos as well as taking out a knife and sparring with that.

Sapphire would vary between the two, but she would get a little too close sometimes. And by that, I mean I would either get a face full of butt or boob, which earned me a hard slap across the face and a long ass chewing from her. Didn't change the fact I got to second base with a hot girl a few times in the process.

At the end of the day, I was improving little by little. Hand to hand was my bread and butter because it was easier for me to understand all the techniques and strikes they would teach me. I guess Krav Maga really helped me, even if it wasn't as extreme.

My weakest area was weapon fighting. They would teach me how to use a weapon, yes, but if I held it wrong or I had a wrong stance, they would give me a good whack to correct my form. Hurt like a son of a bitch.

My body and my mind has been pushed over the limits and then some. If it wasn't for Tukson's food and my Aura, for fuck's sake, I would literally be hooked up to life support if I was back home.

Home. A frown spread across my face as I thought about the place I still wanted to be at.

If I'm being honest, I'm homesick. I miss New York and I miss my family. I missed having my little brother pulling my hair while I did homework, forcing me to chase him to his bed to read him a book.

I miss the annoying questions my sister would ask me just for us to lead into a big ass argument. I mean, you can't blame me, the questions she would ask me are just weird.

I guess what I really miss is my parents. Especially my dad. He moved and I barely saw him. My step dad tried to fill that void but...I guess I just wanted my dad to be there and be proud of me for once. He always wanted me to be a fighter, so that's another reason why I took martial arts. I wanted to be someone he can look at and be proud of.

...

"Fuckin' tears..." I muttered as I wiped them.

Today was a slow day at the bookstore. My body ached from the training earlier on in the morning, but the pain slowly began to recede.

My day had gone by like the rest since I started. It got to the point that it was second nature and I could do everything without Tukson reminding me. I finished cleaning the store and dusted all of the books in the place. This left me with time to kill and I was able to read up more about controlling my Aura and how to "call" on it whenever the Musketeers decided to slice me up like a damn turkey.

Turkeys...family...Thanksgiving.

That special time of the year, second to Christmas. Where the whole family can just come together and feast. Once a year where you can see how big the family has grown.

I chuckled at the memories. I remembered once how we had three turkeys and we barely had finished the first one. The chance to just talk, laugh, and be together with your family was something that had to be held in high value.

The smile I had disappeared and in its place, a frown. Those days were gone now and they will forever be gone. The turkey, the laughter, the love...all gone over one stupid mistake.

My hands balled into fists. If I had kept my mouth shut, none of this would be happening. I could be at home now with my family, my friends. But no, I just had to go and run my fucking mouth. Sighing, I unclenched my fists and went to sit down on one of the many bean bags in the store. Sitting down, I laid my head back and closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing.

That's another thing that Sapphire taught me. Meditation.

She said, and I quote, "This can help you fix that perverted mind of yours." But it also helped me calm down and let my inner emotions settle. There was one flaw about this, though. Sometimes it would put me to sleep, like it was doing now. Right before I was about to sleep, someone nudged my foot.

Opening one eye, I was met with the face of Tukson himself.

"Hey kid, you alright? You seem out of it."

I looked at him and gave him a fake smile.

"Yeah, I'm good." In lied.

Truth be told, I just want to be left alone. Tukson's eyes only narrowed at me with more curiosity, so I decided to change the subject.

"Where are you going?" I motioned to his clothes

He wore a jacket over his usual attire. Vale was undergoing a small cold front, but that doesn't seem to bother the Musketeers when they are beating the ever living shit outta me.

"I need to get some more food for us. Seeing as though the fridge was meant for me."

My eyes perked up. Had to capitalize on a grocery run opportunity.

"Oh, then can you get us some chocolate chip cookies please?"

That's another thing I missed. Chips A-Hoy. My favorite brand of chocolate chip cookies.

Tukson only chuckled before bringing another bean bag chair and pulling it next to me before sitting down.

"Nice try, but you're going to have to do better than that to get rid of me."

I only growled in frustration. Tukson took noticed and crossed his arms.

"What's wrong?" He asked again.

"Nothing's wrong." I retorted back just as fast.

His eyes grew sharp as if he was looking into my soul.

"Did you do something illegal? Kid, our deal was tha-"

"NO! I-I mean no, I did nothing bad and yeah, I remember our deal." I quickly shook my head.

He relaxed and his face turned sympathetic.

"Then what's wrong? You can talk to me, you know that."

Biting my lip, I looked at him again and sighed.

"I miss my family. That's it." I gave in.

"Tell me about them. You never really mentioned your family before." He leaned back in the chair to get more comfortable.

I sat back and scratched the back of my head.

"I had a family like any other person does. A mother, father, younger brother and sister. My mother and father worked their asses off so they could give us what we needed. Whether it's money for a trip or books for a class in school." I chuckled when I remembered my mother bought me over 10 chapter books in the third grade at the book fair the school was having.

Needless to say, I read all of them and my mother ended up thirty bucks in the hole. Tukson looked at me to continue.

"That doesn't mean we were perfect. Yeah, we made mistakes and I'm no angel because I made plenty of mistakes. But I learned from them and I moved on with a better understanding."

Tukson began to rub his beard while he was listening.

"My dad was my inspiration to join our nation's military. Like Atlas, we have a large military that is separated into smaller militaries called braches. I wanted to join a branch called the marines. The marines were the baddest of the bad, the toughest of tough, but my mom wanted me to be a lawyer and that would be their main cause of an argument," I continued with a small smile on my face. "I give anything to be with them again."

Tukson had remained quiet as I opened up to him. He leaned back in the chair and scratched his head before speaking.

"What brought this on kid?"

I shrugged back with a small shake of my head.

"The weather reminded me of a holiday called Thanksgiving. This holiday was great because it meant a few days off of school and the whole family would come together for a big feast. It was special because the whole family was there. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents would come with food so we can all be together." I didn't realize tears were streaming down my face until I finished talking.

Wiping them, I sighed.

"I really need to let go of these emotions." I muttered, but I didn't notice Tukson was standing up. He grabbed my arms and yanked me up. "What are you-?"

I didn't have time to finish because he pulled me into a hug. The comforting action from the large man surprised me. It took me a minute to break from my state of shock before I wrapped my arms around him. Tears trickled down my face and stained his jacket.

"Kid, I haven't known you that long but I got you, okay? I got you."

I only buried my face deeper into his chest. We stayed like that for a few seconds longer until we let go.

"Don't be afraid of talking to me. Now, I gotta go get some food before we starve to death. You gonna' be alright while I'm gone?" He asked.

I nodded back.

"Yeah, part of our deal was to find another job, so I might as well do that." I said as I went to get a jacket.

Once I came back I found Tukson standing by the door waiting for me.

"I heard there was a bar down a few blocks from here that needs a new bus boy. Maybe go and check it out?" He suggested as he opened the door

I nodded before putting on my jacket and walking out into the cold.

"I should have brought a bigger jacket," I thought as I dug my hands deeper into my pockets.

The cold air hit my skin making me shudder in response. No so, but it was very cold. Not that I was a stranger to it. The northeast got very cold this time of the year. Not as bad as Minnesota or Wisconsin, but still pretty bad.

I kept walking until I saw a guard sitting in a chair outside a large building. The sounds of heavy, thumping music could faintly be heard.

He saw me coming and quickly got to his feet.

"What are you doing here, kid? Scram," the guard said with a glare.

I narrowed my eyes at him, all the while sizing him up. Jade always said to look at my opponent to try and exploit a weakness.

"I'm here for the bus boy job," I answered back.

He raised his eyebrows and put his hands on his hips, looking me over.

"Aren't you a bit young to get a job around these parts?" He asked.

I also raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms.

"Aren't you a bit old to work as a guard?" I shot back.

He glared at me but chuckled.

"Touché. Any ID?"

I shook my head.

"Then scram, kid." He jerked his thumb up the road.

I scoffed before cracking my knuckles. Looks like we were doing this the hard way. During our talk, I noticed he had a slight slouch favoring his right leg. That was the target I needed to hit.

I took a step towards the guard and he was quick to make a move. It was pretty common knowledge for anyone that got in a fight that a right hook was the first thing to come. The second I saw him go through with it, I easily ducked under his arm. He was off balance and it would not take much to send him to the ground.

With a push of my feet and a tuck of my shoulder, my body crashed into his side. The force was enough to force him back a little bit. His balance was still sloppy and I pivoted on my foot with my foot high. It connected with the back of his right leg and he let out a strangled yelp as he dropped to his knees.

"Sorry, guy. But I need this job." I brought my fist forward as hard as I could.

The guard's head snapped to the side from the hard hit and he swayed before dropping to the ground, knocked out.

I walked in the club and immediately knew this was a bad idea. Doubt began to fill me and my decision to pursue the job began to waver. People were dancing, having a good time while the stench of alcohol was very high.

Never liked this kind of thing, but you gotta get out of your comfort zone every now and then. Not to mention the blaring music. I could barely hear myself think.

Scanning the crowd I spotted Junior handing out beverages to some of the other unruly types that hang out around here. It took me a while to worm my way between the crowds of people dancing. Okay, I guess grinding on each other was more accurate.

When he saw me sit down, he walked over.

"Did the guy outside check you out? Because you seem too young to be around here," he said.

I only offered a shrug back.

"I get that a lot, but no. I'm not here to drink, I'm here for that bus boy job," I answered him.

He crossed his arms before nodding and leaning on the counter.

"I'm not gonna' sugarcoat this. Our other bus boy got fired because he had a big mouth on him. What we do around here ain't exactly legal."

Crap. Well if you put it like that, no, but I made a deal with Tukson and I plan to keep it. So long as I learned from my past mistake of keeping my mouth shut, I'd be fine. Tukson wouldn't be any the wiser of what I did, and I wouldn't have to worry about getting shot in the face again.

"Yeah, I can keep my mouth shut. Just tell me what I have to do." I nodded.

He smirked back at me. "You're not gonna get the job right off the bat. I need to know if you can handle yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

Junior looked at the DJ and nodded. The DJ returned the nod and walked towards us while another guy took over. When he reached us, I found myself look at him.

The DJ stood at a whopping six foot five of solid muscle. His sunglasses and hat made him look very intimidating, but for some reason I didn't feel scared.

"There's a back alley where you two can duke it out. If you win, you can work here with double the pay I gave the other kid. If you don't...well, let's just say I hope you know a good doctor."

I only nodded as he led me into an alley way. He opened and shut the door behind him and turned to me. I didn't feel the cold air sting against my skin when we were outside. I blocked out everything, the coldness, and the sounds of cars going by. Everything.

The only thing that I didn't block out was the DJ

"You ready, kid?" I nodded and got into my fight stance.

Left foot forward, right foot back, right hand close to the face, left hand out farther down, hands opened. He chuckled and had a cocky smirk on his face.

"What kind of fighting stance is that?" He laughed.

I didn't answer back. He got into a boxing stance and smirked.

He threw a right punch, but I blocked and punched hard in his throat. He gasped but grabbed me and kneed me in the stomach. We both fell and gasped for air. But I stood up quickly, ignoring the pain and dizziness from that hit and kicked him in his face, hard.

He rolled away, but slowly got up and ran at me for a tackle. My feet left the ground as his hands grabbed a hold of me and hoisted me into the air. Sidewalk met my back and my entire body seized up.

A grunt of pain escaped from me. He wrapped his hand on my throat and brought his other hand back for a punch, but I felt a wave of new energy go through me and I grabbed his hand. My free hand shot up and my knuckles made solid contact with his chin and he immediately released his hold on me. Not wasting another second to counter, I thrust my arms up and showed my thumbs into his eyes.

The DJ's hands tried to soothe his aching eyes and he rolled off of me. As I stood up, I used summoned my Aura to protect me from another attack. I dove for him and managed to keep him pinned.

My arm wound back and my fist drove forward with purpose. One punch after the next connected with the man's head until it was a bruised and bloody mess. He squinted up at me through his swollen eyes and only braced for the pain about to hit him. With one last punch he fell to the concrete, knocked out.

With the battle done, I made my way back inside the club. The booming music welcomed me when the door opened. Turning to my right I saw Junior who observed the fight through the window. Junior turned to me and nodded. He threw me a pair of keys and a shirt.

"You start tomorrow. Be here at seven o'clock," said Junior.

Uniforms were not exactly the thing I liked about jobs, but it was pretty standard. A simple white button shirt. Definitely not something I would wear outside in my free time.

"This may be a bar, but we have standards too. Take care of that shirt," said Junior.

I nodded and he motioned for two people to come over.

Wait, those two girls look familiar. Red and white dresses, and they look exactly the same.

My eyes widened when it clicked. These girls were the Malachite twins. It was almost creepy with the same resemblance, but it was a treat to see the two of them behave in sync. Right now, both of them were looking at me a raised brow, sizing me up. Neither of them looked impressed.

"What are you looking at?" Melanie asked, more like a statement than a question.

Before I could answer, Junior bumped in.

"Ladies, show him out," he said with wave to the door.

I slung the shirt over my shoulder as the twins escorted me to the door. As we walked out, Miltia decided to voice her opinion.

"You don't look like much."

I shrugged back. They would learn sooner or later that I could hold my own. Especially since I was receiving training from well-trained fighters in my spare time.

"You may be right, but I'm not looking for trouble. I'll see you two lovely ladies tomorrow," I said as I left the club.

It may have been my imagination, but I heard a quick remark from the pair of them as the door closed behind me.

"He's weird, but kind of cute."

"Oh, shut it Melanie"

"So, how was everything? Did you get the job?" Tukson asked as he prepped dinner.

"Yeah, I got the job. First shift, seven to four," I answered back as I put my shirt on a hanger.

He nodded in thoughtfulness as he brought the food over to the table.

"Well, it's a good thing you made good on your end of our deal," said Tukson as he set the dish down.

I nodded, but my attention was sparked when I noticed extra plates and food on the table.

"Tukson, what's going on?" I pointed at the extra china.

Before he answered, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll be right back." He went down the hall to see who it was.

I sat down and looked at all the food he had. Bread, chicken, soup, cookies, muffins, rice, mashed potatoes, the list went on. My stomach growled at the scent that wafted into my nose and the heat that emitted from it.

"Hey pervert." A new voice caught my attention.

I looked up and was shocked to see Jade, Gem, and Sapphire standing there.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" I looked between them.

Gem walked over and sat down next to me.

"Tukson invited us for a feast as a thank you for training you," Gem said with a fold of his arms.

Jem and Sapphire nodded as well as they took their seats.

Dinner was fantastic. Not really a word that I used much, but it was the only way to describe it. We devoured the feast that Tukson had prepared, talking, laughing, and sharing stories that kept the mood high. Not once did any of it feel forced. It was a warm welcome that filled me with nostalgia.

It reminded me of the dinners I had with my family. Whenever we ate, it was just like this.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to experience something like that again, but thankfully I was wrong. This was the closest thing I could get, and I would take it in a heartbeat. Tukson. Gem. Jade. Sapphire. All of them were strangers to me when I first got here, but they took me in and made me a part of their lives. Their family.

They were now my new family, and you could bet I would do everything in my power to keep it like that.

Hey Guys M4 here and I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Second Chance. I also wish you guys a happy holidays and a Happy New Years. Please leave a Like, review, and a Subscription for more. PEACE!