This was all so new to me. I sat in the crowd in front of the stage where a scale was located along with Valentine Morgenstern and other officials. It was such a production to watch all of the fighters scheduled to fight the next night weigh in and take their famous stare down picture. I had my own camera hanging off of my shoulder and was taking pictures of the scene unfolding in front of me. Finally, it was time for the two fighters participating in the main event, Jace and Jonathan, to weigh in.
"Weighing in for the welterweight championship bout," the announcer's voice came over the speakers. "Jonathan Morgenstern."
At the sound of his name, my view went to the steps leading up to the stage. Jonathan Morgenstern climbed the steps and walked toward the scale with his trainers and teammates following him. He hugged his father awkwardly and began taking off the clothes that would weigh him down. Once he was just in his compression shorts, he smiled and pointed to the crowd. His white-blonde hair was disheveled and his dark eyes were haunting. He smiled wickedly when the numbers on the scale balanced out and revealed his weight.
"One hundred seventy pounds, exactly." He raised his arms and stepped off of the scale to put his jeans back on, but he left his shirt off waiting for Jace to be weighed in.
Jace had told me that Jonathan usually fought in the lightweight division, which was one hundred fifty-five pounds. That meant that Jonathan had gained fifteen pounds for this fight and it looked like it was fifteen pounds of muscle. Jace had been adamant that he was stronger than Jonathan and that would be his advantage along with his superior jiu jitsu skills, but if Jonathan had put on fifteen pounds of muscle, how much stronger could Jace be?
"Weighing for the welterweight championship bout, your current undisputed champion, Jace 'The Angel' Herondale."
The crowd erupted into hysterics as Jace climbed the steps to the stage with Simon and Hodge behind him. Max was standing next to me and could barely contain his excitement. Jace removed the clothes that branded the names of his sponsors and stepped on the scale. He looked confident and ready to fight, but I could see in his eyes how nervous he was. Jonathan gaining muscle was unexpected. His eyes met mine in the sea of people and I gave him a reassuring smile.
"One hundred sixty-nine pounds." Jace raised both arms and flexed every muscle in his upper body for show.
Once he stepped off of the scale, he put his board shorts on and moved to the side of the stage where Jonathan and Valentine were waiting.
"This is going to be a great fight," Valentine said into the microphone. "Gentleman, please square off."
Jace raised his hands like he was getting ready to punch, but Jonathan stepped toward him. Their faces were mere inches apart and they were staring daggers at each other. I could see Jace's jaw clench and knew he was having a hard time not taking a swing at Jonathan. His smile was sinister as he gained another inch in the space between him and Jace. Valentine finally pushed them apart and the crowd applauded as the final words were said and the weigh-ins ended.
I met Jace at the bottom of the steps and Max couldn't stop talking about how excited he was to be there.
"Oh my gosh, Jace," Max said flailing his arms around. "This is so cool. I can't believe I'm here. Did you see how big Jonathan was?"
"Yeah, I saw, bud," Jace said ruffling his hair.
"Max, let's go back to the room and give Jace some time to rest," Hodge said turning Max toward the exit.
"Oh, okay," Max looked down at the ground and waved to us. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Jace turned to me and I couldn't help but laugh. "He's really excited to be here," I told him as he pulled me into his arms.
"I know," he mumbled and pulled away so we could see each other. "I'm just getting nervous. I didn't expect Jonathan to gain that much weight. I knew he would gain some, he had to, but he only had a month to gain fifteen pounds of muscle. It doesn't seem possible."
"Do you think he planned this? Like maybe he knew he would be fighting you before you did?"
"It's possible, but I don't really want to think about it right now. I've done everything I can to prepare for this fight. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow."
He slung an arm around my shoulder and we headed toward our hotel room. "So, what do you usually do the night before a fight?"
"Eat." We both laughed. Jace hadn't eaten anything heavier than salad in two days and I knew he had to be starving.
"Okay, babe. Let's get you some food."
Once we were back in our room, I called the front desk and ordered room service. Jace wanted a burger and fries and what Jace wants, Jace gets. I also ordered myself an order of fries and two milkshakes. When the food arrived, we sat of the couch and Jace devoured his food and half of my fries. We sat in comfortable silence when all of the food was gone and Jace pulled me into his side. I rested my head on his chest as he changed the channel on the TV.
I ended up falling asleep in Jace's arms on the couch and he had taken me to bed because when I woke up the next morning, I was surrounded by plush white bedding and pillows. There was only one thing missing. Jace wasn't next to me and even though I was covered in warm blankets, I felt cold. I had grown accustomed to waking up in Jace's arms.
I exited the bedroom of the hotel suite and noticed that the sliding glass door to the balcony was open and I could see Jace's outline through the flowing curtains. I went out onto the balcony and wrapped my arms around Jace's waist from behind. His hands covered mine and we stood in silence. Finally, he turned in my arms and I rested my chin on his chest looking up into his eyes. He bent down and kissed me.
"Good morning, Red," he whispered as he started to sway.
"Morning," I said breathing in the unique scent that was Jace. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Then let's get you to the arena." Jace chuckled and took my hand in his as he led me back into the hotel room.
We got ready in silence and I knew that Jace wasn't going to want to talk. He needed this time to mentally prepare and just be in his own head for a little while. He had spent weeks preparing and talking about his plan, so he didn't need to spend the hours before the most important fight of his career, in his eyes, talking about it more. He needed to decompress and start to gain focus. He would spend the two hours before the fight warming up and hyping him self up. Right now, he needed calm and I was going to give it to him.
When he was finally ready, there was a knock at our door. Jace got up from his seat on the couch and bent down to kiss me.
"I love you, Jace," I whispered against his lips as he pulled back. "I believe in you. No matter what happens tonight, I will love you and you will always be my champion."
He pulled me into his arms as he took a deep breath. "I love you, so much, Clary. I'll see you afterward." He backed off slightly, but didn't release me. "Give me a kiss."
I did. I kissed him as if I were trying to tell him everything my heart felt in those last thirty seconds before he had to leave. I kissed him to tell him just how much I loved him and when we finally pulled apart, I could see in his eyes that he knew. He placed one more kiss to the tip of my nose before turning and answering the door where Hodge, Simon and Max stood ready to accompany him to the arena.
Once they were gone, I made my way to Isabelle and Simon's room where I was going to get ready. We waited for what seemed like hours before heading to the arena to take our seats and watch the fights.
There were four fights scheduled before Jace and Jonathan would fight. I sat watching them, but not really absorbing what was happening. Isabelle finally took my hand in hers so I would stop wringing my hands together.
"It's going to be okay, Clary," she tried to reassure me. I simply gave her a small smile and turned as they announced Jonathan and his song began to play. He was walking out to The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels and that sinister smile was plastered on his face again. His eyes were so dark you couldn't see any emotion. I was relieved when his song ended and he stood bouncing around in his corner because I could finally see Jace.
Jace told me the night before that he had changed his song. This was going to be a different, more serious fight and he didn't want to come out to an upbeat song that he loved. He decided on Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin and I thought it was absolutely perfect. The song started and Jace came into view. His eyes were closed as he walked the path to the octagon. I couldn't read him with his eyes closed, but I knew he was trying to contain himself. He would have twenty-five minutes to loose himself in the ring, but right now he needed to remain focused. After he finished groom check, he hugged Simon and Hodge. Hodge whispered something to Jace and he nodded in agreement or understanding, I wasn't sure. The last person Jace came to was Max and he knelt down to his level to hug him. Max whispered something as well and Jace smiled when he pulled away. Finally, he climbed the steps leading to the octagon and hopped around the ring passing Jonathan before landing in his corner.
Jace jumped in the air three times before landing back on the ground and shaking his arms out. The announcer moved to the center of the octagon and began his spiel.
"This is the main event of the evening, the welterweight championship bout," he began. "Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner. This man is a mixed martial artist with a record of five wins and one loss. Fighting out of Los Angeles, California, Jonathan Morgenstern!"
Jonathan stepped forward, out if his corner and waved to the crowd. I heard a smattering of "boos" throughout the arena. He returned to his spot and the announcer pointed at Jace.
"Introducing second," the announcer yelled. "Fighting out of the red corner. This man is a mixed martial artist with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He is fighting out of Los Angeles California and has a record of eleven wins and zero losses. The undisputed welterweight champion of the world, Jace 'The Angel' Herondale!"
The crowd erupted in thunderous applause and cheers. The referee took the announcer's place in the middle of the octagon and brought Jace and Jonathan to the center with him. When they were told to touch gloves, Jace put his hands up to do so, but Jonathan backed away without even acknowledging Jace. I knew that pissed him off and he wasn't going to hold back. The referee told them to begin fighting and I sucked in a breath.
I sat down, not knowing if I could handle watching Jace get hit or hurt. The first time I had ever seen Jace he was fighting, but so much had changed since then. I knew him and I loved him. It wasn't easy watching someone you loved get punched and kicked.
Jace and Jonathan circled each other for a few seconds before Jonathan took the first swing. Jace deflected the hit and went in for a take down. He managed to get on top of Jonathan and hit him in the temple a few times before Jonathan rolled and escaped the position. This continued until the referee separated them and Jace went to sit on the stool Simon had set down in his corner. Hodge yelled instructions in his face while Simon applied more Vaseline to his face and the cut above his eyebrow to prevent more cuts.
After about a minute, Hodge and Simon exited the octagon and Jace and Jonathan stood in their corners waiting for instruction. The referee clapped his hands together and Jace and Jonathan moved toward each other. This time, Jonathan went in for a take down, but Jace sprawled and prevented it before standing up and kneeing him in the ribs. Jonathan rocked before swinging around to catch Jace in the temple. I could see that the hit knocked Jace a little off kilter, but it wasn't until Jonathan hit Jace with a perfectly placed hit that had Jace falling to the ground that I knew this was bad. Jace hit the mat and Jonathan covered him, raining punches to the side of his head before the referee removed him.
Jace had just lost the fight.
The referee called over Hodge, Simon and the ringside doctor and I watched as the man I loved laid on the ground unconscious and unmoving.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I was just way too excited about this chapter to wait to post it, so here you go! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.
i just wanted to clear one thing up because I know I haven't mentioned it before. Jace is 27 and Clary is 25 in this story. I know some of you were wondering, sorry for not mentioning it earlier.
Anyways, thanks again for reading and let me know what you thought! :)