"Hey, Red."

Deep breathes. I smiled at him as he made his way toward me.

"Hi," I said sheepishly. "I just thought I would come by and say hi. I can see that you're busy, so I'll just be on my way."

I turned to leave, but, once again, Jace stopped me. "Don't be silly, Red. I was just putting together some tape for Simon to watch. How about I give you a tour?"

"Okay, that sounds nice."

"Great." Jace smiled and turned placing his hand on my back as he led me around the gym. "So, basically we train a lot of Brazilian jiu jitsu here. I would say that would be the base for most fighters. Either that or wrestling. A lot of fighters actually start off wrestling and then move on to BJJ. They compliment each other really nicely because BJJ doesn't teach takedowns, but wrestling does. Anyway, so we have classes on the mats everyday for kids and adults. Other than that, our fighters who train here have free reign of the facility including the practice octagon. We have locker rooms and a weight room with a sauna in the back."

We walked around the gym as Jace pointed out what he was talking about and then he led me to his office. The walls were lined with pictures of him each time he won the belt. He had several pictures with his training partners and there was one of him and Simon along with a few other people in front of the building we were currently standing in.

"So, what do you think," Jace asked hesitantly as he leaned against his desk.

"I think it's really amazing, Jace," I told him truthfully. "Your passion shines through everything you've put together here."

"Thanks." He smiled proudly. "So, I'm sure you don't want to hang around a sweaty gym and watch a bunch of guys train. Why don't we go grab something to eat?"

"That sounds great."

We exited the office and Jace grabbed his keys. Simon noticed us leaving and yelled out at us.

"Seriously, you get to leave," he asked Jace.

"Yeah, because I won my fight last night and I'm the boss," Jace explained.

"Low blow, bro. Fine, go have fun, but I'll have you know that I left a beautiful girl this morning because you said I had to be here and now you're leaving."

"Said beautiful girl is my best friend," I said with a slight giggle. "Don't worry, Simon. She understands."

"Just go watch yourself get your ass kicked and I'll be back later. We'll talk about your next fight and work out a training plan."

Without another word, Jace and I turned to leave.

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting outside IN-n-Out with our food. Well, I sat outside with my food while Jace sat with his feast. Jace had two four-by-four burgers, two orders of fries and a chocolate milkshake. I looked at him bewildered and he just shrugged as he dug into his food.

"I had to cut weight to be able to fight last night," he explained. "I haven't had a real meal in four days."

"You cut weight? Isn't that dangerous?"

"It is if you do it the wrong way. I don't like the way most guys do it so I don't fight in a weight class that I won't be healthy in. I really only cut weight as a precaution. I walk around at my weight class cut off, so I don't want to get to weigh-ins and not make weight. Since I only have to loose a couple of pounds, it's not like I'm starving myself, but I do have to skip a couple meals."

"Huh, interesting." I ate a couple of fries and he was already done with his first burger.

"You're a photographer, right?" I nodded. "What is your favorite thing to shoot?"

"I've done some underwater shoots before and those were cool, but I think my favorite things to shoot are just people in their everyday lives. I was on assignment once in Africa for a safari shoot and we were spending some downtime in a village. I just sat back and shot pictures of the people without them knowing. I got this one shot of a mother and her daughter looking on toward the dad and son of the family and captured their expressions perfectly. They were filled with such adoration for them, but were also terrified that they would never see them again."

"Wow, that sounds amazing."

"It's not my specialty, landscapes are, but I think I would eventually like to switch specialties and open a studio. I love my job and I get to go to some amazing places, but there comes a time in life when you want to settle down and make a name for yourself. I think it might be that time."

"I know what you're talking about. When I opened the gym, I had just won my first title. I know that my fighting career can be taken away in a second. Injuries are so common in this sport and most are career ending. I watched a buddy of mine snap his leg a few months ago and I don't think he'll ever make it back to the way he was. He was probably the greatest fighter the sport had ever or will ever see." I was beginning to notice that Jace tended to go off on tangents when he talked about the sport he loved. It was pretty adorable. "Anyway, I wanted to build a legacy. If I suddenly had to stop fighting tomorrow, I know that I can at least help other people reach their goals."

Jace finished off his fries and started on his milkshake tipping the cup toward me in offering. I shook my head and we sat in silence for a moment.

"You said you teach kids during the week."

"Yes, I did. I love it. The kids are so awesome and they really look up to us. It's probably one of the more rewarding things I do."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Um, no. My parents died when I was sixteen so I moved out here with about twenty dollars in my pocket and a GED."

"Oh my God, that's amazing."

"It wasn't so impressive for a while. I got into some pretty rough situations until my coach found me and took me in. He gave me a place to stay and started training me. I fell in love with the sport immediately and by the time I was eighteen, I had won my first professional fight."

I was speechless. How could this boy, who had gone through so much come out on the other side and be so successful. He was one of those people who you couldn't help but admire. I was a completely normal person. I lived a normal life, had normal parents and friends. I couldn't even imagine going through what Jace had been through. Suddenly, I found myself wanting to know more about him and I had a feeling it would never be enough. I wanted to spend more time with him and tell him everything about my day. I wanted him to teach me about what he loved to do and I wanted to show him what I loved.

"Sorry, Red. I don't usually tell people about that stuff. It's kind of a downer and I don't want people feeling sorry for me. I got to where I am by sheer force of will and I don't want to change that."

"Don't be sorry, Jace. Thank you for telling me. It honestly makes me admire you so much more."

Jace dropped his head and fiddled his fingers before looking back up at me. He reached his hand across the table and took my hand in his. He ran his thumb over my knuckles and I shivered as he smiled. We walked back to his car hand in hand and drove back to the gym.

Jace stood outside my car for what seemed like hours before he spoke. "Listen, Clary. I have had a really great time getting to know you. I'm over the moon that you actually came here today. I guess what I'm trying to say is, will you go out with me this weekend?"

I kept my head down for a moment and pretended that I need to think about my answer. When I finally looked up and into his eyes, I smiled.

"I mean, I'll have to check my schedule," his expression dropped and I stifled a laugh. "Yes, Jace. I'll go out with you this weekend." He pulled me into his arms and I thought he was going to kiss me, but when we finally pulled apart, Jace looked back toward the gym.

"Alright, the kids' class is about to start and I can't miss it." He looked back to me. "I'll call you about this weekend."

"Sounds great. I'll talk to you later." With that, I turned back to my car and he entered the gym to start his class.

Later that night, I was sitting in bed working on some photos that needed to be handed in by the weekend. I was doing a travel piece on Scotland and Ireland for a local magazine and had spent three weeks in the countries taking photos of the countryside and historical towns. As I was putting the final touches on the photos and preparing to send them off, my phone rang and I saw Jace's name flash across my screen. I swiped the screen to answer.

"Hello," I greeted.

"Hey, Red," Jace said. "Is it bad that I called you the same day?" I looked over to the clock on my nightstand.

"Well, technically it's not the same day."

"Oh, shit. Is it really that late? I'm sorry, I'll just call you back in the morning."

"No, Jace, it's fine. I would have been up for another hour or so anyway. Don't worry. What's up?"

"Will it sound lame to say that I just wanted to talk to you?"

I stifled a laugh. "A little bit."

"Then, I won't say that and will say that I wanted to see if you would be willing to take pictures at the gym tomorrow for me."

"I don't know, Jace. Isabelle is the sports photographer. Maybe you should ask her."

"I'm not looking for a sports photographer. I don't want pictures of the actions. We have plenty of those. I want pictures of the emotions that we experience when we are doing the things we love."

"Wow, okay then. I'll come by tomorrow and see what I can do." I tried to hide my yawn, but Jace heard it.

"Alright, Red. Go to sleep."

"Goodnight, Jace. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Clary."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review and let me know what you think! :)