The next couple of weeks were rough without Ice. He had been my racing partner, a fighting partner, and overall, a best friend. I had a hard time fighting for those couple weeks, I felt like I had done something wrong by letting him die. Unfortuneatly enough, I had a championship fight for the title of Number One fighter 3 weeks after Ice's death, and I couldn't get it together. My timed fights were all wrong, my punches were too weak...I was a wreck. The day before the fight, I walked into the training room at R.I.O.N, only to find James waiting for me, leaning up against the weight rack. I started to walk past him but he reached out and grabbed my arm. "Hey." he said softly. I looked up at him, blinking back tears. "I don't feel like talking." I said quietly. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly, refusing to let me go. "Maytrix, you have to forget about him...he's gone, he's dead, there's nothing left of him. This isn't healthy." He said. I pulled back and looked up at him. "I can't just forget about him. How would you feel if you died and I forgot about you?" I asked. He sighed. "It's not like I would know." he said softly. I narrowed my eyes and laid down under a bench press bar, then grabbed the bar and lifted. James came over and grabbed the bar, then tossed it aside lightly. I glared at him. "Hey...I was using that." I said plainly. James leaned over, kind of looking at me upside down. Then he kissed me as lightly as he could, his breathing warm on my neck. He pulled back and looked down at me. "I love you." He said softly. I shook my head. "I have a boyfriend." I said quietly. He sighed. "So I don't mean anything to you anymore?" he asked. I sat up and took one of his hands in mine. "You mean alot to me...just not as a boyfriend." I said slowly. James sighed. "I wish that you would break up with him. He's not good enough for you." he said. I rubbed my eyes hard, trying to clear my mind. "That may be true but I love him." I said quietly. James sighed. "Alright. Go ahead and make the biggest mistake of your life. But don't come crying to me when he breaks up with you and you're all alone." he rose from the bench and walked out the weight room door, and staring after him I realized that for once, I was just going to let him walk.

To be continued...