The national championship banner still hung from the rafters, their team's name emblazoned across it in bold, school colors stark against the white fabric.

The platform was empty now. The barbell racked. Chalk dust still floated in the still air like ghosts of the effort that had filled this space just an hour ago.

But the echoes hadn't faded.

The scream. The grind. The bar bending under three hundred and seventy-five pounds.

Y/n's hands were still raw.