Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Thanks to my lovely pre-readers Jaxy (Jax713) and Packy (_LittleLovely_) and my rock star beta Mel (mcc101180).

Chapter 9. We've got tonight.

We pick up Bella at her hotel around nine. Bernard drives us to Lapa, this little historical neighborhood in the middle of the city, where the locals go to have fun. As I have come to learn, Bella and I share the need to experience places in a non-touristy way.

When I tell her what the plan is, she turns to look at me. "We're just going to get out of the car and stroll the streets…"

"Yeah…" I shrug.

"You…" She points a finger at me. "You are just gonna walk around the streets of Lapa."

"Why not?"

"And you are okay with this?" She moves between the front seats and faces Bernard.

"Me?" Bernard seems as surprised as me that she's asking for his opinion.

"Yes, Bernie, you."

"Well, I've made my concerns about the evening's plans clear to Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan." He glances at me through the rearview mirror. We had this discussion before picking Bella up. Of course he's not happy about it, but what's the worst that could happen...

Bella rolls her eyes before she sits back next to me.

"What happened to 'I'm Mr. Big Deal, I can't just walk out in the sunlight'?" Her tone is mocking, but there's still an edge of concern there.

"Well, it's dark out now, Bella," I deadpan, smirking at her.

"I'm serious. It's crowded." She peeks through the window and then turns to face me again.

"It will be fine. I've got my full 'I-blend-in' ensemble on." I wave a hand down my graphic tee and trunks. She relaxes a bit, but still doesn't seem convinced. I run a hand through my hair and put my L.A. Dodgers' cap on. "See? I'm just like every other guy out there."

"No, you're not." She snorts through her words, but the smile that remains on her face tells me that I've won this argument.

"C'mon, just one normal night."

The streets are filled with streetlights and people, and the joy and carefreeness is palpable. As soon as we get out of the car, the music consumes you and you can't help but just be happy. On instinct, as we walk through the crowd, my hand surrounds Bella's. There are people dancing around us, laughing, singing... no one really pays attention to us. It is truly one of the happiest places I've ever been in my life.

That is, of course, until a guy grabs Bella for a "dance," and my hand is around his neck in the next second. "Get your hands off her."

He says something which I can't understand, but it still sounds like he's slurring.

"Edward!" Bella's hand is around my wrist. "Edward, it's okay. He's harmless."

My hand loosens around his neck as soon as Bernard grabs him by the shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I ask Bella, one hand on her cheek.

"Yeah," she says through a laugh. "You need to relax. He was just dancing."

"Dancing? He was humping your leg like a horny dog!"

"All right," Bella says with her hands on her hips. "Do we have to keep Bernie around, or are you going to behave?"

Bernard is standing behind her, struggling to compose his face after getting rid of the intruder. It seems like "Bernie" is completely smitten with Miss Swan. Who would have thought that such a giant, frigid guy would have a soft spot for tiny pain-in-the-asses?

I look around us. I really don't want Bernard tailing us, but there are a lot of people in this place, and I don't want anything to happen to Bella. After agreeing on Bernard staying behind, but at a close enough distance, Bella and I resume our walk.

We don't get very far though, when we are stopped again, this time by a little kid who runs into me and wraps his arms around my knees.

"Hey, there." My hand reaches for his head as a crouch in front of him. He's wearing the US National jersey with my name and number on it.

"It's really you!" The little one's eyes are about to jump out of their sockets.

I look up at Bella, who's scanning the crowd nervously. "It is me, buddy. But do you think we can keep it our little secret?"

I have a hand on his shoulder as he nods fervently. He looks to both sides before he speaks in the tiniest of whispers. "You are my favorite player in the whole world."

A grin stretches my lips, and when I peek at Bella, her attention is on us now, a sizable smile on her face as well.

The kid moves closer to the side of my face, one hand covering his mouth. "Can you sign my shirt?" he whispers in my ear.

Luckily, Bella has a pen in her purse, and I'm barely done signing his shirt when a lady comes running to us.

"Jason! There you are!"

When I get up, her eyes fly to my face. I keep a weak smile in place as I see her slowly recognizing me. Little Jason walks to her and grabs her hand. "It's not him, mom," he says, pulling her away from us.

She still seems suspicious but she turns around regardless. As they walk away, Jason turns his head back and smiles at me. I return his smile and wave goodbye at him.

Bella and I wander around the streets of Lapa for a couple hours, and after more failed attempts at samba dancing than I am comfortable admitting, we end up at the shore.

The night is clear and the beach is virtually desolated. There's a bench on the sand, overlooking the water, where we sit. I stretch my arms over my head and rub my neck, the sleep deprivation slowly catching up with me, but I'll be damned if I waste these minutes with Bella.

"You look really tired." Bella picks up on it instantly.

"I'm all right."

"Do you have training tomorrow?"

"We do… but it's an easy one. Open to the fans, and our families are coming. We get some time with them afterward."

"I can't believe it's almost over." She kicks off her heels and hugs her knees to her chest, looking far into the ocean. "Three days 'til the final."

With the smoothness that characterizes me, I stretch my arm over the back of the bench, around her shoulders, and very slightly brush the tips of my fingers down her arm. Content that she doesn't flinch away, I gaze at the ocean and the dark sky above it.

My thoughts come and go with each break of the waves onto the shore. I think about the game against Italy, and how well Seth did. I think about preparing for our next game against Brazil, and what it means for the US to be in the finals for the first time. But mostly, I think about the woman sitting next to me, and how good it feels to have her under my arm — to care for her. She just fits perfectly beside me, around me. I could stay here for hours, gazing into the water, in complete silence, with her by my side.

When she sighs, I look over to her, wondering what is troubling her mind.

"This will all be over soon, and then it's back to L.A." Her voice is so small that I'm not even sure she meant for me to hear it, but I'm having none of it — I won't let her be down during our time together.

"Hey, we've got tonight." I get up from the bench and extend my hand to her. What seemed like a brilliant idea at the time pops into my head.

"What are we doing?" she questions, but grabs my hand regardless.

"We're dancing," I say, pulling her from the bench.

"What if I don't want to?"

"I could always make you." I bend my knees, wrap one arm around her, and when I get up, she's off the floor and we're twirling. "It's that easy."

She giggles into my shoulder as her legs swing around.

"I know it's late…" The melody is all wrong, but I think I remember the lyrics well enough. "I know you're weary."

"What?"

I clear my throat. "I know your plaaaans… er… something, something…"

She giggles in realization that I am attempting to sing. "Maybe you should stick to playing soccer."

"Still here we are…" I continue, letting her teasing slide. "Both of us lonely, longing for… er… shelter? From all that we seeee…"

My eyes fix on her, and I drown in a sea of brown, forgetting the song, the time, the day, and my promise to her.

As my face inches closer to her, she opens her mouth. "Why should we wooooorry?"

I laugh hard as she continues the song. "No one will care, girl… Look at the skyyyyy, so far away."

My chuckles die down as I search her eyes. The rest of the song comes out in a whisper. "We've got tonight. Who needs tomorrow? We've got tonight, girl. Why don't you stay?"

Chuckling, she drops her face on my shoulder, and I can't help but bury my nose in her hair.

"I blame my dad for all this cheesiness, but hey… it worked on my mom."

She lifts her head from my shoulder, her arms still around my neck. In an attempt to hide the fact that my ears are burning in embarrassment — and the tingling on my cheeks is probably an indication that I'm blushing — I try for a shrug and a smirk.

Bella is not fooled though. She's looking far into my eyes, her breathing accelerated from her laughter, and since I still have her held up against me, it reverberates inside of me as we breathe in unison.

My smile falters as my eyes dart to her bottom lip, trapped between her teeth. I secure one arm under her ass, supporting her weight, to free my other one. My hand brushes some of her hair away from her face before it rests over her cheek.

"I know I promised I wouldn't kiss you unless you wanted me to, but it's becoming unbearable."

"Edward, please." She closes her eyes and exhales shakily — her warm breath leaving goose bumps on my neck.

Her hand moves to my chest, pushing slightly. I slowly set her back on the sand and step away, needing a minute to cool off.

"I think we should go." She toes the sand as she speaks.

"Is that really what you want?"

"No. But it's what I need," she whispers, her eyes on the sand.

How do I argue with that?

She smoothes her shirt as I take off my hat and run a hand through my hair, failing at trying to come up with an efficient way to get back to our lighter mood.

Through heavy eyelids, I stare at her as she picks up her heels from the sand. My hand travels to my neck to try to rub away some of the tension as I stretch my back. Staying up all night was stupid, but not by choice. If she'd give me the chance though, I'd stay up all night again, just to be with her.

When her eyes meet mine, I smile at her as if her constant rejection doesn't wound my ego.

Her eyes light up when she smiles back, so I reach for her hand tentatively, relieved when she intertwines her fingers with mine. We make our way through Lapa's streets, heading back hand in hand.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" I hear his voice before I see him. Instinctively, I move my body in front of Bella's as my eyes search for any sign of Bernard.

Gustavo smiles, swaying, a plastic cup in his hand. I don't see any of the other Brazilians with him, but I'm guessing they had the night off as well.

He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, I interrupt him, knowing very well where this is going. "Not tonight, Gustavo." I don't know if it's the fact that I am drained, or the calming feeling Bella's hand in mine produces, but I don't want to fight. I don't care what he says.

Except I do care, because the words he chooses next are the worst possible ones, and they freeze me dead in my tracks.

"A different one each night, Cullen, eh?"

Bella's hand circles my elbow as I turn to face Gustavo, fuming.

"I like this one," he continues. "Petite — tight."

My fist clenches at my side, aching to break his face. My breath comes roughly through my nose with the effort of remaining still. I know he's provoking me, looking for a reaction — my body shakes in anger as I try to not give in. Last time I let him get to me, Seth and I ended up at the police station.

"Edward…" Bella pulls at my arm, one hand still in mine, the other tightening around my elbow.

I close my eyes and try to focus on the fact that Bella is here with me, and I don't know where Bernard is. Before Gustavo can say anything else, I march in the opposite direction, dragging Bella behind me.

"Slow down," Bella says behind me, but I can't. If I don't get far away enough from him, I won't be able to control myself. "Edward, please. Stop," she begs, but I don't, not until we are back at the shore.

I stand on the sand, panting, a growl resonating in my chest. I let go of Bella's hand and pull at my hair, the force of the unresolved anger threatening to swallow me whole.

I drop on the bench, groaning because I can't fucking believe I let him get away with it after he basically called Bella a whore. Or he called me a whore and implied Bella is just another girl for me.

"Hey…" Bella's voice is soft as she stands in front of me.

"Bella, I'm… you're not… what he said… I'm not… that's not what this is." I stumble through my words as I try futilely to control my breathing.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not! I was like that, but I'm not anymore."

My head is still in my hands when she reaches for it. She traces her fingers softly behind my ear, in my hair. With each brush, I sink deeper into her touch.

My breathing slows, the growl in my chest ceases, and my whole body slumps against her hand.

"How do you do that?" I exhale loudly and her fingers stop. "Please, don't stop," I beg, my eyes fluttering closed.

"Promise me you'll get some sleep tonight."

"Mmmmhmmmm…"

"Come on, let's go," she says with a hand on my shoulder. "You're falling asleep already."

"It's your fault," I say, opening my eyes, peeking up at her. "You calm me too much."

She holds her hand out with a smile and I take it eagerly, getting up from the bench. We head to the car, and Bernard, without any more inconvenient events.

When we get to her hotel, I get out and walk her to the door.

"Thanks for tonight," she says with a smile.

"Please come to the open training tomorrow," I blurt out before she can move away from me. Her eyes widen at my persistence. She's wrong if she thinks I'll give up so easily. I wouldn't be here if I was a quitter. "We get a couple hours with family and friends and a dinner afterward."

"Edward…"

"What? Family and friends," I explain. "C'mon."

"I don't want to distract you."

"Too late." I chuckle.

She sighs and looks down.

"What do you want me to say? That you're not in my every thought? I've made myself clear to you, Bella. You know what I want, but you'll have to make the next move. I'm just inviting you over to hang out. You know? Family and friends… you're my friend, right?"

She doesn't look convinced.

"Listen, I promised. I won't make a move on you. I've already tried and well… I just… I don't have a lot of time, but we're both here now… I would like to have you close."

She looks up at me and a small smile tugs at her lips. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes, I'll be there." When a grin lights up her face, I exhale in relief.

"Thank you."

"Get some rest tonight." She points a finger at me and raises her eyebrows in pretend bossiness. As long as she keeps saying yes to me, she can boss me around all she wants…

"I will," I say, walking backward to the car. "Goodnight."

A smile is glued on my face as I get in the car. Bernard is having trouble containing his own.

"Shut up, Bernie…" I scowl at him as we drive through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, back to my hotel.

T-minus ten hours to see my family and Bella again.

A/N: The song "We've got tonight" belongs to Bob Seger. If you have not heard it, here's Phillip Phillips' cover (bit . ly/JJyZZN) Just remove the spaces and swoon!

Also, no one gets gummy bears yet. ;)

Happy weekend!

Ronnie.