42
"Is that all you got, little girl?" asked Carlisle, ducking as Bella threw her left hook at him.
I chuckled inwardly from my seat next to the ring. Carlisle and Bella had been sparing for the last hour. She was holding back, trying hard not to completely beat the crap out of him and he was gloating, thinking that he was actually beating her. Emmett and Jasper were much more vocal with their laughter, however.
"Dude, she's going to kick your ass," snickered Emmett.
"Take his ass out, Bell," laughed Jasper.
"She can't take me down," smirked Carlisle. "She's just a little girl."
Bella stopped in the middle of the ring and looked over at me. I nodded my head, silently answering her unspoken question. Bella smirked as she turned and faced her brother again. There was a look of complete and utter concentration on her face. I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees, and prepared to watch her fight.
"Let's go, cupcake," she muttered.
Carlisle laughed as he came at her swinging his right arm wide. Bella ducked and moved behind him, placing a jab to his ribs first. Carlisle groaned while his brothers laughed. He turned and tried to hit her with an uppercut but she moved and threw a roundhouse, clocking him in the jaw and sending him to the mats. He scrambled back to his feet and refocused on her but I could tell she was in for the kill, so to speak.
As I watched them continue to spar, I found myself completely enthralled with her. She was an artist in the ring. She moved fluidly, drawing her prey into her web and smacking him down. Bella blocked a roundhouse from Carlisle and threw a left hook, sending him back down to the mats. He didn't get up this time. He rolled onto his back and pulled off his headgear.
"You win, you fucking brat," he grumbled. Bella laughed as she moved over and squatted down next to him.
"I was trying to be nice, Car," she smiled. "But you just kept mouthing off about me being a little girl. I had no choice but to kick your ass."
"Whatever," he muttered, letting her pull him so that he was sitting up. "Get your ass out of here so I can wallow in my own self misery."
"I love you, too, Car," laughed Bella.
"Yeah, yeah," snorted Carlisle, falling back on the mats.
Bella laughed even harder as she climbed out of the ring. I followed her over to the dressing room and kissed her before we went to shower. It had been a month since Bella's parents were told that she was to stay with her brothers and she hadn't heard from them since. They were still in town but they had kept their distance from her. Bella seemed to be relieved, even if I think a part of her was hurt that they were giving up on her. It was a lose-lose situation, that's for sure.
My parents came back from Italy a week later and got settled here in Forks. They bought a house a few blocks from the apartment that Esme and I still shared. My parents left the choice on whether or not I moved in with them or stayed with Esme up to me. I thought about it for several days but ultimately decided that I wanted to stay in the apartment. It really had become my home. They understood that and accepted my decision on the matter as long as my grades stayed up and I didn't get into anymore trouble.
The first was easy but the second, well, let's just say that the stepford bitches were making it hard not to completely beat their asses. Ever since they found out that Bella's parents were not dead, they had been getting all up in her face. More than once I had to pull her back before she broke Lauren Mallory's nose again. You would think that that bitch would have learned her lesson but apparently, she truly was stupid.
Once I was dressed, I gathered my gym clothes and shoved them into my bag. I headed out and found Bella waiting for me outside of the locker room. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Can I take you out for pizza?" I asked.
"Sure," she smiled, slipping her arm around my waist. "Can we take my car?"
"Duh," I laughed.
Bella smiled as the two of us headed out of the gym, ignoring the catcalls that were coming from her immature brothers. We loaded into her car and Bella drove us down to the small pizza parlor. We hadn't been here since the night we ran into Charlie and Renee so it was big step for Bella to come back in here. She parked her car out front and we headed inside. She looked around and sighed in relief when she saw that they weren't here.
We walked up to the counter and ordered our large pizza with mushrooms and black olives. We went over to the juke box and looked through their dismal music selection. I mean, seriously. They had Neil Diamond and Michael Bolton. It was really sad and pathetic. I slipped my arm around Bella's waist when the door the parlor opened. I looked back and froze for a split second.
"Bella," I muttered. "Look behind you."
"Why?" she asked, looking back. Ben, Angela, Garrett, and Kate were standing there, looking at us. "Oh."
"Hey," said Angela, nervously fidgeting from one foot to the other.
"What are you doing here?" asked Bella, turning into my arms. "Another secret mission."
"No," said Kate. "We were looking for you and saw you car so we stopped."
"Sir, your pizza is up," said the woman behind the counter.
"Thanks," I muttered, stepping over and picking it up off the counter. I looked back at Bella before turning to them. "We were heading to First Beach, if you want to come with us."
"Are you sure?" asked Ben, looking from me to Bella. I looked over at her.
"Yeah," she said, smiling. "We'll never eat all of this by ourselves anyway."
"Ok," smiled Ben. "We'll follow you then."
Bella and I headed out to her car while they loaded into Garrett's car. We didn't talk as she drove us through Forks to La Push. Honestly, I was kind of surprised that she was willing to talk to them considering everything but I guess that maybe she was finally ready to deal with this part of her life. She parked her car and we climbed out. I grabbed the pizza and wrapped my arm around her waist as we headed down to the beach with them following us.
We settled in the sand and grabbed a slice of pizza. For several minutes, none of us said anything. Maybe they didn't know where to start or how to start anymore than we did. There was still so much that had gone unspoken between us before they left the island. So many questions and very little answers.
"So," said Bella, breaking the silence. "What have you been up to?"
"Um," said Garrett, clearing his throat as he looked over at her. "We've been getting settled in Seattle, actually."
"What are you doing there?" I asked.
"School," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "The four of us quit The Omega Sector and have settled in Seattle to finish school at UW."
"Why'd you quit?" asked Bella, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I can't imagine that they let you leave so easily."
"No, they didn't," muttered Kate. "But we couldn't work for a bunch of assholes who could do what they did to you, Bella. It wasn't right."
"Oh," murmured Bella, looking away.
"They didn't trust us enough to give us all the information we needed to do our jobs and protect you," said Ben. "If we had, we would have done a lot of shit differently."
"Like becoming our friend in the first place," I muttered.
"No," said Ben. I looked up at him. "Befriending you and Bella, Edward, was the only thing we wouldn't have changed."
"So you just quit?" asked Bella, looking between the four of them.
"Yep," smiled Garrett. "I can only speak for myself but I hated it. I mean, shit, we had to go to high school, for fuck sake."
"No fucking kidding," snorted Angela, shaking her hair. "With a bunch of bitches, too."
"Aw, you don't miss the stepford bitches?" I asked, smirking.
"Fuck no," laughed Kate. "What a bunch of cunts."
"Yes, they are," muttered Bella, looking down at her feet.
"Still giving you shit?" asked Kate.
"Every chance they get," admitted Bella, looking up at her. "Especially with my ex-parents hanging around in town."
"Yeah, we heard they were still here," murmured Angela, shaking her head.
"I haven't heard from them in a month, though," said Bella, shrugging her shoulders. "So it's all good."
"You don't sound very convinced," said Garrett. Bella looked over at him as I slipped my arm around her waist.
"How am I supposed to sound?" she asked. "Either way, I will never have my mom and my dad back."
"That's true," mused Garrett. "So have you been boxing anymore?"
"Yeah," I said, smiling. "We have a tournament this weekend, actually."
"Where?" asked Ben.
"Um, in Vegas," I said, quietly. "We are driving out there the day after tomorrow. Should be tough one."
"I'm sure you both will be great," smiled Kate. "Just keep your elbows in."
"We will," said Bella, returning Kate's smile.
Kate, Garrett, Ben, and Angela left about half an hour later. We exchanged cell numbers and promised try to keep in touch with them. Bella and I sat on the beach for an additional hour, talking about them, the tournament that we were going to be fighting in, and just about everything else. It was the time that I loved being with Bella the most, when she truly let her guard down.
"Do you ever wonder what fish say?" she asked. We were laying back in the sand, watching the stars. I burst out laughing as I looked over at her.
"No," I snorted. "Do you?"
"Yes," she smiled. "I mean, when they are talking, is it all muted by the water like it is when we talk?"
"Um, I don't know," I chuckled, looking back at the stars. "I've never really thought about it."
"Oh," she simply said.
"Have you ever wondered why they call a spoon a spoon?" I asked. She giggled as she rolled onto her side and looked at me.
"Can't say that I have," she chuckled.
"How did they know that the spoon wasn't actually supposed to be called a knife or fork?" I asked.
"Have you been asking yourself this kind of stuff for a while now?" she asked, leaning up in her elbow.
"Since I was a kid," I admitted, looking over at her. "There is nothing wrong with wondering about stuff like that."
"Never said that there was," she smiled.
"You don't say it with your words but your eyes speak volumes," I snorted.
"My eyes are not saying anything," she disagreed. I laughed as I rolled over so that I was hovering over her.
"Oh, trust me, they are telling me so much," I murmured.
"Like what?" she asked, bringing her hand up to my face.
"Like you want me to kiss you," I whispered.
"I do," she admitted.
I leaned down and pressed my lips down onto hers, gently at first but soon, I found myself kissing her harder. Bella moaned under me and wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me down onto her ever more. Even though we were both wearing jeans, I could feel the heat coming off of her. My cock was aching, begging to be inside of her. I pulled my lips away from hers and took a deep breath.
"Baby, we have to stop," I muttered.
"Why?" she asked, moving her lips to my neck.
"Because I want you so bad," I groaned, pressing myself into her. "And we can't do this here."
"I want you, too," she murmured, tightening her legs around me. "We can do this here."
"Do you have a condom?" I asked, pulling back enough to look down at her. Bella bit her lip as she shook her head no. "I don't either. I love you, baby, but I am not ready to be dad."
"Oh, fuck, me either," she shuddered, pushing me off of her. "Thank god, you were thinking with your big head and not your little head."
"Little?" I asked, frowning.
"I didn't mean little like little," she said, smiling. "I meant little like smaller."
"Small?" I asked. I couldn't help the hurt that crept up into my voice.
"Not small like small," she said, quickly. "Like smaller than your head."
"Just stop," I laughed. "None of that is making me feel better about myself."
"Sorry," she smiled, moving so that she was straddling me. "You are big, baby. Huge, actually!"
"Yeah, yeah," I chuckled, sliding my hands up to her hips.
"I'm serious," she smiled, grinding herself down on my erection. "I don't see how you can even walk with something so big in your pants."
"Bella," I moaned, closing my eyes. "You're torturing me here."
"I am?" asked Bella, smiling widely.
"Yes, you are," I groaned, rolling so that she was laying under me. "I think you enjoy it too much."
"Maybe I do," she smirked.
"Woman, you are going to be the end of me," I muttered, leaning down and kissing her.
"I really hope not," she whispered.
Bella and I stayed on the beach until she started shivering. We headed back to her car and drove back to the gym. I walked her up to her door and kissed her several times before she went inside. I headed down and climbed into my car. I had the biggest goofiest smile on my face as I made the three minute drive through Forks. I parked my car next to Esme's and headed upstairs to our apartment. She was sitting on the couch with a stack of papers in front of her.
"Hey, where have you been?" she asked, looking up at me.
"Bella and I were down at First Beach," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"Guess that explains the sand," she smirked.
"Guess so," I muttered, heading over to my room.
"Are you two having sex?" she asked, suddenly. I froze as I put my hand on the doorknob to my room. "Cause if you are-"
"No," I said, quickly as I looked back at my sister. "We aren't and if we were, I wouldn't be discussing it with you."
"Would you rather have this discussion with mom and dad?" asked Esme, standing up. She folded her arms in front of her chest.
"I would rather not have this discussion at all," I muttered.
"Look, I don't particularly want to talk about this with my baby brother, either, but I am not ready to be an aunt," she sighed.
"We are not having…sex," I muttered, feeling my ears turning red. "If we do, then we will use protection. We aren't stupid."
"I never said you were," she said, defending herself. "Do you have condoms?"
"I'm going to my room," I growled, throwing the door open to my room and slamming it shut. I flopped down on my bed.
"There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Edward," said Esme, through my bedroom door.
"Go away, Esme," I ordered.
"Fine, I was just trying to be a good sister," she huffed.
"Whatever," I muttered, pulling my pillow over my face.
I heard Esme laugh as she walked away from my door. I would so get her back for this. I wasn't sure how or when but I would get her back for this.
