"Come on girls! Faster! These suicides are nothing!" Coach Edward bellowed at us, parading around us as we did our sprints.

Much like everyone around me, my heart was beating rapidly, and I was breathing extremely hard. I could feel my sore and tired muscles, but I knew it was worth it. If this would make me a better player, than I would do 20 more.

"Ladies pick up the pace!" He yelled once more.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at him and murmured at me, "I'd like to see him do half these sprints."

I giggled slightly, earning the immediate glare from Coach Edward who said, "Alright girls, if you have time to laugh and talk, that must mean you aren't tired enough."

The smile was wiped off my face faster than a bug on a windshield. I quickly shook my head, "No no no, It's okay. Sorry. Talking? Us? Never."

He just laughed and told our group, since we were broken up into two groups, to go get a much needed water break. I quickly jogged over to get my water, and quickly drank half of my bottle. "I really need to get one of those bigger bottles." I said to Rose.

"Yes you do. Mine holds about a gallon of water and ice." She said with a boasting grin. She then went over to talk to Angela, leaving me with two other girls on the team. It was silent until Coach Edward walked over with his usual confidant gait. He had on a lazy crooked smile, and lucky for me, had his eyes shielded by sunglasses.

He walked to a water jug that was sitting right in front of me, and started to water fall from it, I watched as his Adam's apple bobbed with each sip he took of the water. Much to my distaste, I gulped loudly, praying no one heard me. Once more he went to another bottle to water fall from. "Gatorade again." Pouting slightly, he went to another one, but once again he was disappointed, "Does anyone bring just water anymore?" He kept going on in that fashion for a few more times.

"I think that water might be in a bigger bottle, I don't think that many people would have that much Gatorade in one of those." I pointed out, sounding like the true nerd that I was. I quickly blushed as he practically brushed me off.

He went right for one that was close to me and picked it up, drinking it excruciatingly slow. When he was finished he looked at us, his gaze seemingly lingering on me when he said. "Oh well."

Practice went by rather quickly after that, it was Monday so he went incredibly hard on us since 'we've been lazing around all weekend.' However, when everyone was leaving, I was just getting started, as today was my very first one on one practice with Coach Edward, and my nerves were getting the best of me.

Rose was the last to leave, but she talked to me before she left. "So are you nervous?"

"Nervous? Why would I be nervous?" I asked, wondering if she knew about my insignificant and minuscule crush on Coach Edward.

She gave me an odd look, "Because I thought you hadn't done any one on one training before?"

"Oh yeah. I guess, I mean how bad can he be?" I said, all but letting out a sigh of relief that she didn't suspect anything. Well she probably does now Swan, smooth. "I just want to prove to him I'm just as good as anyone else you know?"

With a sympathetic smile she said, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. I'm sure he'll just see what he was missing last time."

"I'm sorry?"

She gave me another questioning look, "During tryouts? Bella are you feeling okay?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah of course. I just need more water I think." I grabbed my spare water bottle and started to drink the warm water nervously. Out of nervousness, I drank half the bottle without even realizing it. I turned back to look at Rosalie who gave me an odd look.

"You sure you're okay?"

I nodded quickly and smiled at her, "Yeah, I just need to relax."

She grabbed her bag and then gave me a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry you'll be fine. Text me and tell me how it goes after okay?"

"Yeah of course!" I told her, waving as she started walking away. I looked over at the field where Coach Edward was setting up some cones. His back was facing me, and I took that opportunity to uh, examine his assets. Blushing, I quickly looked away before he could notice.

I jogged over to him, "So do you need any help setting this stuff up?"

He shook his head, "Nope, I'm just about done."

"So what am I going to be doing here?" I asked trying to figure out the intricate cone drill.


Three weeks later and I feel like my skills haven't gotten any better. I feel as if I've hit that brick wall and just can't get past it. I've tried digging a hole, jumping over, but nothing seems right. And it doesn't just pertain to my soccer skills, but also my relationship with Coach Edward. Frustrated with myself I jog over to Edward, watching as he placed cones on the ground. "You ready for me?"

He finished with the last few cones and then placed his rather large hands on his hips. "Well you're going to dribble through these sections of cones here, and then you're going to sprint from those cones to those. After that you're going to do the ladder, and sprint to the end."

"Okay sounds good." I said, thinking it would be easy. I started to line myself up with the start of the cones.

He held up a hand, "Not so fast. This has to be done under a minute." He said with a gleam in his emerald eyes.

"A minute?" I asked, trying to swallow some worry.

"Yeah. Alright ready?" He pulled out a stopwatch while I readied myself. "Go."

At the sound of his voice, I kicked off. Attempting to maneuver through the cones, I started stumbling over myself. Hitting yet another cone, I almost yelled in frustration as I heard him blow his whistle. I looked up at him, "Again." He said with an almost bored tone. I glared at him while he looked at his stopwatch, some coach he is.

Determined to prove myself, I decided right there and then to step up my game. Closing my eyes, I took a deep and steadying breath. I kept them closed as I waited for the shrill blow of the whistle. Starting once more, I started with a much calmer demeanor. I managed to pass through the cones with ease, then making my way to the sprint, where I quickly made it to the ladder. Soon after getting through that obstacle, I crossed the finished line, looking at Coach Edward with a smirk.

He had on a slight smirk to match my own, the cutest twinkle in his eye. Cute? Bella come on. "So how was that?" I said, a little too flirty for my liking.

"Eh, it was alright." He replied, a playful smile on his lips. He wrote a few things down on his clipboard and then looked up at me. He seemed to appraise me before speaking once more, "Alright then. Are you ready for the next drill?"

I nodded eagerly, "Yup."

He started walking backwards a little and then got into a defending stance, "Get past me." He said simply, like it was a task that could be easily completed.

"You're kidding right?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

Groaning, I grabbed a ball. I started dribbling at him, trying to fake him out with a simple stepover. However my attempt at being fancy quickly proved useless, as he stopped me with what seemed like effortless skill. Giving me his crooked smile he said, "That all you got brown eyes?"

Raising my eyebrows I asked, "Brown eyes?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "You have brown eyes right?"

Seizing the opportunity, I quickly sprinted past him, making it into the goal with ease. Turning around smiling, I placed my hands on my hips in triumph.

He came over to me shaking his head, "As smart as that was, it doesn't count."

"What?" I questioned, pouting slightly. "Why not?"

"Because I wasn't trying." He said like the answer was obvious. "Now back to the line!"

"It's not my fault you weren't paying attention." I mumbled quietly to myself.

I could hear him mumbling something else, but I couldn't make out exactly what he was trying to say. "Sorry what did you say?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. Just start again." This drill went on until the last few minutes of practice, when I finally managed to make it past him, as I was dribbling towards the goal, I felt a pair of hands pull me back.

Squealing like the female I am, I laughed as his said, "No one gets past me!"

I tried pulling him back but we both ended up tangled on the floor. Our close proximity should have made me uncomfortable, since he was my coach, but for some reason I embraced it. He seemed parked on top of me, his emerald eyes boring into my brown pools. In some sort of attempt to catch himself during the fall, he had placed his hand on the ground, slightly grazing mine. I looked down at his hand, and a golden wedding band stared back at me.

I rolled over to the side and stood up, brushing off the dead grass from my shorts. I jogged over to go grab my water, not looking back at Coach Edward. I can't have a crush on a married man, that would make me a home wrecker, and that is not something I'd like to have on my plate.

Shaking my head, I poured some water on my forehead in an attempt to cool myself off. I heard footsteps coming closer and I knew it could only be Edward's. Not quite wanting to meet his eyes for obvious reasons, I decided that stretching was a good idea.

"You're improving." He said simply, his voice breaking the silence.

I adjusted my position to touch my toes before responding. "Yeah?" I looked up to see him nod. He met my eyes and held my gaze for a few moments, before quickly looking back on his clipboard.

"Next time we'll work on your defending." He said as he wrote several things down on his paper.

Standing up, I grabbed by soccer bag and water bottle. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you Monday." Without risking looking back and meeting his gaze, I made my way to my truck. I grabbed my keys out of my smelly soccer bag, and then proceeded to toss said bag into the bed of the truck. I unlocked the car and slipped inside, where my truck should have started effortlessly.

That's just great. Fantastic. I glance around the parking lot searching for other people and not seeing anyone. Dropping my head back against the leather headrest, I moan out in frustration. Instead of taking action, I just sat there, eyes closed and thinking. I almost fell asleep when I heard a knocking on the window.

"Need help?" He asked as I opened the door. Sighing to myself, I nodded at him in response. "Alright here open the hood."

Doing as he asked I watched as he skillfully used his hands to mess with my engine, or whatever he was fixing. "How old is this thing anyway?"

"She's not a thing!" I reprimanded, my bad mood starting to lift.

He looked up at me with a playful gleam in his eye, smirking. "Oh really?"

"Yes really, she's been very reliable…Up until now." I said trying to fix things, "Well most of the time."

He laughed and the sound rang out through the parking lot, making me smile and laugh as well. "Seriously, how old is 'she'?" he said, mocking my use of personification. He wiped off his oily hands on his sweaty t-shirt. He looked down at his shirt, his face scrunched up in disapproval.

"She's not that-" I started to say but cut myself off when he proceeded to take of his shirt, revealing his carefully sculpted chest, from the pecks, to the six pack , and the v cut off by his shorts. To my embarrassment I gulped, and quickly averted my eyes. "old." I finished.

I heard the hood of the car being shut, and his voice saying "That should just about do it." I could almost hear the amusement in his voice.

Great, he totally saw me checking him out. Why me? Feeling my cheeks flame, I hopped into my car and turned it on. This time it groaned to life, I could hear Edward cheering outside. I laughed and rolled down my window still not meeting his eyes, "Thanks! Soccer, teaching, fixing cars; what can't you do?" I laughed, waving to him as I started pulling out.

The drive home was very boring, but as I pulled into my driveway I noticed a car and a motorcycle taking up space where I usually park. I got out of my car quickly and investigated the other two cars before proceeding inside.

"Hey Dad I'm home!" I yelled as I walked inside and was greeted by my favorite face, who eagerly licked mine. "Hey baby girl, sorry I've been gone so long!" She wagged her tail in response.

"Bells over here!" I heard my dad's voice call out from the living room. Athena grabbed my shirt and started pulling me towards the living room.

Curiosity still piqued, I let Athena lead me into the living room, where my dad was seated with two other men. One was an older man, with long silver hair and tanned skin, who I quickly recognized as Billy Black, my father's old friend. On the loveseat I saw another man, this one with cropped black hair atop another tanned face. He had built arms, which definitely contrasted with my idea of how he had grown up.

"Billy! Jacob?" I smiled as I leaned down to give Billy a quick hug. "Wow it's been too long!"

I turned to face Jacob, "And you! You've grown so much!" I said as I hugged him, his arms encasing me in a tight embrace.

As Jacob let me go, Billy spoke, "So have you, not the little girl you were last time I saw you. Hasn't she changed Jacob? Much more grown now."

I could see Jacob slightly blush from the corner of my eye, "Erm, yeah she's gotten a lot taller." He said as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

I heard my father and Billy both chuckle, "Alright alright, hey Bells do you think you can fry up some of the fish Billy caught?"

I nodded, "Yeah sure, just let me shower real quick and then I'll get started. Come on Athena!"
The both of us raced up the stairs where she grabbed me a pair of shorts and I grabbed the rest. It took me ten minutes to shower and get dressed. I looked at myself in the mirror, surprised that I spent time making sure I smelled extra good. Well I guess a crush on Jacob would be a much better substitute than a crush on my coach, especially when the coach is married.

I opened the door and made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Figuring that the fish was in the refrigerator, I opened the door and started looking.

"Looking for the fish?" I heard a deep voice ask from behind me.

Jumping what felt like ten feet in the air, I slammed the refrigerator door behind me. Putting a hand on my heart I said, "Tell a girl when you sneak up on her yeah? But yes, I am."

He smiled and flashed me his perfectly white teeth, "It's in the cooler in the sink, Dad didn't want the fresh taste to be ruined by the refrigerator taste."

Laughing, I replied, "Why does that not surprise me."

I was quiet as I marinated the fish, "I would ask if you need any help, but uh, I'm afraid I'll do more harm than good." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"No worries, I've gotten pretty good at this if I do say so myself." I replied, and then silence overtook the room once more.

"You really have changed since I last saw you."

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh have I? You've done some growing up of your own."

I heard his deep laugh, "That's for sure. I'm not as scrawny, if I do say so myself."

It was my turn to giggle, "You weren't that bad!"

"Oh please, I could hardly carry two grocery bags!" He joked, smiling at me.

"You know I used to have the biggest crush on you in Middle School." I told him, surprised at my own admission.

"What?" He asked, looking much more serious this time.

"You're kidding right? Come on you had to know! It was so obvious, I practically texted you every hour on the hour!" I laughed at my own ridiculousness.

He chuckled a little as well, "That's so funny because I had the biggest crush on you in Middle School!"

"What? No way! Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, pausing with frying the fish.

"You know how it is when you're young! I didn't think you felt the same, and didn't have the balls to act on anything." He responded, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I didn't know how close he was until I turned around and there was hardly any space between us. I looked up into the familiar brown eyes that I had dreamt about every night during my preteen years. We both stood there silently looking at each other until I felt a nudge push me closer.

I turned around to see a smug looking Athena, whose tail was wagging mischievously. Jacob and I both laughed in response. "Do you see that coy look in her eye? Gosh she is too smart for her own good."

"I can tell, she's a hell of a lot smarter than most of the people I know." He told me as he patted Athena's head affectionately.


"Bella. Bella. Bella. Can you hear me?" Alice's voice called out to me as she snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"I'm sorry, I was just spaced out. What were you saying?" I asked as she broke me out of my thought.

"Bella! You can't just space out on me during a story like this!" Alice whined. "As I was saying, my brother and his wife keep getting in these fights right, and so yesterday he came to our house really late. He said he was just frustrated and needed space from her, but I think he's getting ready to- Bella are you listening to me?"

I nodded quickly, "Yeah yeah I am, continue."

"Anyway, so I think he's going to end it with her. I really hope so. What do you think?" She asked me, sipping at her lunch smoothie.

When she said the word end, I could feel my heart lift. But I really wanted reality to come and crush it back down like a bug. "I don't know, I guess they could just be going through a tiny rough patch? It happens. My parents did it before they got divorced."

"But see, that's the point. Your parents got divorced!" She exclaimed, looking almost proud of herself.

"Yeah I guess you have a point." I said, looking over to the side to hide the smile that was threatening to form on my face.

Before Alice had a chance to respond, I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. Thinking it was Emmett, I leaned into his side.

Thinking that I was going to hear Emmett, you can understand my surprise and dismay when I heard Mike Newton's annoyingly high pitched voice. I mean really, I'm pretty sure I had a deeper voice than him. It was almost like he hadn't even hit puberty yet. He had gotten increasingly annoying these past few weeks, as he tried all the time to ask me out.

"Hey Bella."

Wiggling out of his arm, I responded. "Hi Mike."

He tried putting his arm around my shoulders once more, "So I was wondering if you wanted to come over and we could-"

"Sorry Mike she's busy." I heard a voice interfere from behind me. We all turned to look at Edward, who had a stern look on his face. He was dressed in nice jeans and a button up shirt, which means he must have been subbing today. I kept trying to catch his eye, but he didn't even glance at me.

"Oh uhm, okay. Sorry for bothering you Bella." Mike said, averting his eyes and running away with his tail in between his legs like a scolded dog. Edward sat down next to me, but faced Alice the whole time.

"Ugh Mike never leaves Bella alone. I'm telling you Edward he's like a lost puppy. Always fawning over Bella's every move. It's annoying really. Anyways what are you two doing tonight? You can't be training it's been storming all day." Alice said, talking more than a recording on repeat.

"Actually we are going to do some training today." Edward said, surprising the both of us.

"We are?" I asked him.

He turned to face me, but I cleverly avoided his eyes. "Yes we are. And you know you can bring your dog too."

"What kind of training session is this?" I questioned, "Have you seen the rain outside?"

"Yup." He said, popping the 'p'." He had on his signature crooked smile, and it took a lot of effort to not smile back at him.

"Ugh wait, I didn't bring clothes today. I thought that it was going to be cancelled. Plus Alice gave me a ride here, my girl is in the shop." I informed him, waiting for some witty response.

He shrugged and said, "No worries, I'll give you a ride to your house and then we'll leave from there. Our training spot isn't at the school today."

I looked over at him, "What? Where is it then?"

His smile became wider and he gave me a quick wink, "It's a surprise."


A/N: So I know this is super late, but school started up and my AP teachers decided to give me tons of homework, yayy! So I'll try my best to get these up as often as I can, but to my disnmay I can't make any promises for regular updates. Sorry! But thank you all so much for taking the time to read my story, I really appreciate it.

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