Now you see me through my eyes
And we're here now feeling the beat
Of a thousand hearts
Coming back to life again
We can make it

"Anthem for the Underdog" - 12 Stones

Bella looked around the wide open room of the club as they entered from the stage. She felt her heart flutter at thoughts of being on stage for a different purpose. Paul's job was half of her desire, wasn't it? She wanted to dance.. Sure, she would prefer Broadway but she knew she had to start from the bottom. Where was the bottom? Surely stripping wasn't the bottom...

Paul jumped off the stage and then lifted his arms up to her in an offer to help her down. Their eyes met and Bella could see the uncertainty when he looked at her. She remembered those eyes full of caring and passion and could only hope that she would see that again. She had seen too many other emotions in the eyes of others she had cared for and Paul was already more important than she was willing to admit to herself. With a soft smile, she inserted herself into his arms and held on as he lowered her gently to the floor.

"Lahote, what'd I tell you last time?"

Paul winced at Candy's harsh tone and he turned to give a pleading look to the older woman, "I'm not breaking any rules. There's no drama with Bella and we're not even doing business right now."

Candy's eyes narrowed but she said nothing as she glared and walked up the stairs to her office.

Paul gave a small smile to Bella as he led her to VIP 1 and locked the door. VIP 1 was the highest dollar room of the club. It had a full bar, plush couches instead of a single chair, the most advanced stage (lights, speakers, mirrors, etc) and other features Paul really didn't want to know about. He lounged on the couch with a happy groan and looked at Bella who was staring down at herself on the stage. He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged.

"I think it would be interesting to cover yourself in glitter and see what sparkles in here."

Paul couldn't help but laugh, "You're a piece'a work, Belladonna."

"Mmm. You like it."

"Not that I don't enjoy seeing you... And not that I didn't enjoy what happened outside... But you and I have some unfinished business, doll."

Bella nodded and absentmindedly swung around the pole, exploding all sorts of fantasies into Paul's mind. "You left before I got to spill my own guts to you."

Paul rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah well, I didn't want bad news."

Bella smirked and looked over at him through thick eyelashes, "If it were bad, would I be here?"

Paul shrugged and sat back with his hands behind his head. "Maybe."

"I'm not from New York, obviously."

He laughed, "That much is obvious."

"I'm from a place in Washington state called Forks..."

He snorted and she flipped him off.

"My dad is the Chief of Police there.. He and my mom divorced when I was one and she took off with me. Until I was twelve, I had to live with an adult who acted like a child. I learned to pay bills, cook, do laundry, balance a checkbook and forge my mother's signature while I was in kindergarden."

Paul winced. That was no kind of life for a kid. "What happened when you were twelve?"

"My father and I finally got a judge who cared about what was happening to the child.. Who cared who I wanted to live with.. Who wasn't out to stick it to the man simply because he was a man. I told the judge who I wanted to live with and why.. My mother was ordered to start paying child support and I was to be released to live with Charlie immediately. Not long after, he married my step mother, Sue, and we moved to the La Push reservation with her and my step siblings Seth and Leah."

"Natives?"

"Oh yes. Leah's beautiful, too. She's also my best friend."

"And your mother?"

He shivered as her eyes met his and he saw frozen rage, "I haven't seen my mother since the day in the court room when she told me she would see me at home, not even understanding or caring about what she had been told. She doesn't even remember she has a child probably."

Paul frowned and held a hand out but she shook her head, "Not until I'm done."

She was walking in aimless circles by this point, antsy to just move around. "I moved to New York because I want to be a dancer on Broadway."

This peaked his interest, "Broadway?"

"Broadway. My father and Sue are concerned, as are many others. Leah is actually my biggest supporter. But Broadway is hard to get a spot on, even as chorus. So I waitress. I promised myself that I wouldn't strip just to make ends meet, though I'm sure it would be easy money. The closest I would ever get would be burlesque.. I don't judge you. You're doing what you can to live and to help your mother."

Paul raised an eyebrow, "Okay..."

"You told me your secret. So here's mine. I also came to New York because I wanted to be as far away as possible from my ex boyfriend, Tyler Crowley."

Paul frowned, the name sounding familiar until it registered... "Do you mean the star quarterback for the Redskins?"

"The very same.. We dated for years if you can call it that. He was the star of Forks just like he's the big star of the Redskins. Once he started getting attention, we got local attention together. He would shower me with gifts when he was happy with me- I had to wear what he liked, be friends with who he approved of and do what he thought was acceptable. When he disapproved, he would become almost another person entirely. I never told my father because I didn't want to ruin Tyler's life.. When I found out he was cheating on me with Lauren, Leah helped get me out. He was livid when he found out that I knew about Lauren and he had demanded I accept it since I was supposed to remain a virgin until he married me and we had this big fancy media-circus wedding that I didn't want. Lauren was pregnant, so it wasn't too hard to run. I leaked it to the press and he spun it like it was him and her all along... But he would still call me at night, drunk, and threaten to kill me.. Threaten horrible things.. So I ran."

Paul felt anger well up in his chest, "He hit you?"

"He's not that stupid, I'd like to hope."

"You still runnin'?"

"I don't know anymore..."

Paul cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his pants, "Not to ruin this chat or anything, but if you keep sliding around on that pole something else is going to happen with an entirely different pole."

Bella laughed, "Oh? Just because I don't want to be a stripper by profession doesn't mean I wouldn't be a private dancer.. for the right person."

The way her dark eyes flashed had Paul's rolling in the back of his head as he bit back a moan. Either she was trying to kill him or she really had no idea how alluring she was. He would have loved to let her give him a private show.. Maybe they could have traded off. But he knew that it wasn't the time for that to happen. He had a boss who was madder than a Yankees fan when the Red Sox won and he knew if he didn't kiss her ass a bit, she would throw him out on his.

As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, she stepped gently off the stage and made her way to him. She had barely sat down before he was pulling her body against his. With a small purr, she tilted her head up to him and allowed him to claim her lips. The lipgloss she had on was candy sweet and he moaned as she opened to him and the flavor mixed with one that was all hers. He tangled his fingers gently in her silky locks and let himself get lost in her for a few moments.. Moments that weren't enough. Painfully, he released her and their eyes met for a few heartbeats.

"Call me later." She whispered. He nodded and it seemed just like that, she was walking out of the door.

Paul tried to put an innocent face as he knocked on the side of Candy's open office door. She glanced over and then threw a glare at him. Paul gave his best fake pout and she growled a bit before throwing her pen down, "What? Come to break more of my rules?"

Paul sighed and leaned against the doorframe, "I'm not trying to break any rules. And technically, I'm not. Bella is not my girlfriend."

"I sense a but in there and it's not your finely sculpted rear-end either."

Paul smirked, "Finely sculpted?"

"You gonna kiss up or fish for compliments?"

He laughed, "Kiss up if at all possible. I will admit I haven't known Bella for a long time and I don't know her in and out, but she's not going to bring any trouble here. Bella has class."

"A lot of ladies have class until they get jealous that some other bitch is oogling her man's junk, official or not."

Paul rolled his eyes, "Really? Oogling.. Nevermind. Bella and I talked about this. Like I said, we aren't even a couple. We have yet to go on a real date."

"You want to be, though, Lahote. I can see it on your face.. I saw it in the way you helped her off the stage.. Don't get me wrong, it was sweet enough that I feel like I should call my dentist. But I've seen how this story plays out. You're not the only one who gets hurt.. And there are a lot of people who depend on this place."

Paul sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Look. I know what can happen. Bella isn't the one you should be worried about. I also know that you've got girls rotating every week over some drama or other with their boyfriend. Cut me some slack. Hell, Mario strips down, gives lap dances and such and his WIFE doesn't care. Just give me a chance?"

He watched her face for a moment, wondering what she would say. Finally she nodded and held up a finger, "One chance. Now get out of my office or you don't get payroll."

Paul took a few steps in, hugged Candy and kissed her on the cheek, "I promise it will all be okay."

Author's Note: I am slowly going to bring a few fics back from TR to FF.. In this spirit, I ask that you please leave reviews. I know it's very easy to simply favorite/follow a fic and have the updates, but please review. Why? Because I, as the author, like to know that my readers are enjoying the story. And a fav or follow is great, but it doesn't let me know how you felt about the events in the chapter, what you would like to see next or anything that makes an author feel good and inspired.

This fic will be updated on TR before it is updated here. That being said, they are both the same on each site.

Thank you for reading. See you in the next chapter.