52
EPOV
One day, I was going to marry Isabella Cullen. It wouldn't be soon but one day I would buy her a ring, plan the perfect night, and ask her to be mine forever. That much I knew for sure. We both still had a lot of growing up to do and neither of us were ready to juggle marriage and college but one day, maybe a year from now or five years, we would be ready and I would ask her.
"Nice job, Edward," said Carlisle, clapping my on the shoulder and pulling my attention away from the love of my life. I sounded like such a fucking sap but it was true. I couldn't live without her and I had no plans of doing so any time soon.
"Thanks," I muttered, climbing out of the ring. Carlisle pulled my gloves off and I took the bottle of water my father was offering me. Looking back over at Bella, I started chugging it down.
"Whoa, slow down," laughed Carlisle, pulling the bottle from my hand. I looked back over at him. "You are going to make yourself sick."
"Are you feeling ok?" asked Ed, placing his hand on my shoulder and checking the swelling around my. "He got you pretty good."
I smiled as I nodded. "I feel great," I said. "Besides what's one more bruise."
"I suppose," he chuckled.
"Ok, you have about an hour until your next match," said Carlisle.
Since I had some time to relax and Bella's next match was due to start in a few minutes, I followed my father and Carlisle around to the other side of my ring and settled on one of the benches to watch my girl fight. She was standing in front of Emmett and Jasper, getting her hands taped and listening intensely to what they were telling her. She kept nodding her head at them and, based on the aggravated look on her face, I knew she was getting annoyed.
The referee called Bella into the ring. She climbed in and looked back at me, smiling around her mouth piece. I could feel my ears turning pink as I smiled back, especially with everyone watching us. Bella turned and looked at her opponent, a mousy girl named Kaelin Hicks. She was about the same height as Bella, maybe a little taller. She was a thin girl with dark, curly brown hair and dark eyes but not quite as dark as my Bella's, nor nearly as beautiful.
Bella had taken a huge chance this morning by going up and talking to her parents. Her brothers may not have needed to talk to them, or maybe they just weren't ready, but Bella was. She had missed them so much over the last few months. Even though she would never trust them the way she did before they left her, she needed them. I wasn't sure I would ever be able to make the decision she did if my parents had done that to me but that just shows how much Bella has grown over the last handful of months since I met her. She was healing, and even though she wasn't completely healed, at least it was a step in that direction.
Carlisle wandered over and stood next to Emmett and Jasper as Bella's match started. Kaelin came at her, throwing her fists wide but Bella was faster, smarter and was able to block them all. She had her eyes locked on her competitor, focusing all of her attention on the task in front of her. Bella moved faster than any fighter I had ever watched. It wasn't just how fast she moved her feet but the quickness in her hits. By the time a person felt the first punch, Bella had already thrown nearly half a dozen more. Her style was flawless and sensual, graceful and perfect.
"She's quite amazing, isn't she?" asked my father, sitting down next to me.
"Yes," I said, simply as I watched Bella. My father chuckled quietly. "Are you upset with us?"
"Not upset," he said, slowly. "Just surprised."
"We were ready," I murmured.
"I would hope so," he grumbled. I tore my eyes off Bella and looked over at my father. He was staring at the ground, ears bright red. Ed sighed as he looked up at me and said, "You were telling the truth when you said that you and Bella were…safe, right?"
"Of course we were," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "It was a big decision that we both made together. We were ready and it wasn't something we went into lightly."
"I know," he said, smiling as he put his hands up. "But I have to ask. I'm your dad and it's kind of my job."
"Suppose so." I turned back and watched Bella again. "I would never do anything that we weren't ready for, Dad. I love her so much."
"That's clear on the way you can't seem to take your eyes off of her," laughed Ed. Bella threw her left hook at Kaelin, pushing her into the ring behind her. Kaelin ducked around her, moving away. "So….UCLA."
"Yeah," I chuckled, looking back over at my father. "Pretty wild, huh?"
"No," he smiled. "Are you going to go?"
"I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "There's a lot to think about."
"That's true," he murmured, nodding his head. "But it's a great opportunity, Edward."
"It is but…" I shook my head as I shifted my eyes over to Bella. "California is a long way from home."
"True," agreed Ed, "but it's not like we aren't going to be around."
"Hundreds of miles away," I muttered. "Not exactly like you are going to be in the next room."
"A phone call," said Ed. I looked up at him. "Or a plane ride."
"That easy, huh?" I asked.
"No mater what I or anyone else has going on, you and Bella will always be the most important to us." Ed placed his hand on my shoulder as he spoke, sincerity oozing off of him. "All it would take is one call saying that either of you needed me, your mom, one of her brothers, or your sister and anyone of us will be there as soon as we can."
"But you just came back," I muttered.
"What do you mean?" asked Ed. I sighed as I leaned back on the bench.
"You were in Italy," I said, quietly, looking down at me feet. "I had to say goodbye once, Dad. I don't want to do it again."
"So don't," he said. I shifted my eyes up to him. "Don't say goodbye. Say you'll see us at Thanksgiving or Christmas but it will never be goodbye, Edward. It wasn't when your mom and I went to Italy and it won't be now."
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Have I ever lied to you?" he asked, seriously.
"No, sir," I muttered.
"Well, I'm not going to start lying to you now," he chuckled, squeezing my shoulder. "Now, you can go back and watch your girl beat the shit out someone."
I laughed as I turned my attention back to Bella. She was just starting her third round against Kaelin. Even though Bella was slowing down a little, she was still alert. Kaelin was dragging her feet, letting her elbows flop down around her waist. She threw a weak right roundhouse at Bella, who ducked and moved around behind her. Bella's eyes narrowed and she brought her arms tighter into her body and I knew she was ending this now.
Bella hit Kaelin in the side, causing the girl to groan and stumble forward several feet. She turned and faced Bella, but wasn't expecting her to be right there, ready to strike. Bella pushed Kaelin back on the ropes, striking her over and over. Kaelin tried to push Bella off of her but she wasn't letting her. Bella threw her right hook, following closely by a left jab. Kaelin fell to the mats, crying out around her mouthpieces.
The referee moved between Bella and Kaelin, kneeling down next to the later. Bella shuffled back into her corner, looking back at me. There was sense of intensity slowing off of her that both thrilled me and scared me. Emmett stepped in front of her, blocking my view of her and I took a deep breath, ignoring my father's quiet laughter next to me.
"Winner," announced the referee, gesturing to Bella.
Bella thanked him before climbing out of the ring. I stood up as Jasper pulled her gloves off, all while she was staring at me. Without a word to either him or Emmett, Bella rushed over, jumping in my arms and wrapping her arms and legs around me. I buried my face in her neck, taking a deep breath. Even though she was sweaty, she still smelled sweet, like fresh bread and a summer breeze. God, now I sounded even more like pussy than ever before.
"Baby, you were fucking amazing," I murmured, kissing the side of her neck.
"She was a tough bitch," laughed Bella, leaning back. She set her feet down and brought her hand up to my check, letting her fingers graze over the bruise forming on top of the bruise I already had. "Does it hurt?"
"A little," I said, quickly, leaning into her hand. She was sporting her own black eye and bruised jaw. "Does yours?"
"A little," she smirked. "When does your next match start?"
"Soon," I sighed. "Yours?"
"Half an hour or so," she smiled. "My body feels like it is on fire."
"Mine, too," I snorted, leaning my forehead down onto hers. "Are you ok? You know, after earlier with your brothers?"
"Eddie-boy, let's go," hollered Carlisle. I rolled my eyes at the jackass.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Go kick some ass, Baby."
"Can I start with his?" I smirked, gesturing to her oldest brother.
"Sure," she laughed.
I kissed Bella before heading over to my ring, ignoring the smirk on Carlisle's face and the looks of pure disgust on Emmett and Jasper's faces. It was going to take them awhile to get over the fact that their little sister was not only old enough but mature enough to make her own decisions, especially those revolving around sex. Carlisle and Ed got my hands re-taped and my gloves back on. I climbed into the ring and got ready to face my next competitor, Jordan Evans.
Jordan, an African American boy with dark, piercing eyes, turned out to be a pretty easy match. His feet were lazy, heavy and flat against the mats. Jordan came out of his corner, throwing his fists around like a crazy man. I stayed out of his way and let him tire himself out, biding my time while he did all the work. After a round and a half, the referee declared me the winner and Jordan stumbled out of the ring, moaning and groaning.
Bella's next match started about five minutes after mine ended. Her next competitor, a chubby girl with dirty blond hair and bright blue/grey eyes named Shylee Morrow, wasn't much harder for her than Jordan was for me. In fact, Bella had her against the ropes in the matter of about two minutes. Shylee was down on her knees a minute later, begging for Bella to spare her. It was amazing that the girl made it this far in the tournament.
After Bella finished her off, clenching her spot in the finals, we both had about an hour to rest before my next matches. We headed out to the lobby of the hotel and laid down on one of the couches, losing ourselves in the soulful music of Amos Lee, a new find of Bella's off iTunes. Bella was curled up around me, arm draped across my chest and I had my arm wrapped around her as tightly as I could, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment.
But like all peaceful moments, ours was busted all too soon. My next match was about to start so I untangled myself from her arms and followed Carlisle, Ed, Emmett, and Jasper back into the arena. Bella settled down on the bench behind us while they got me all ready for my next match against Brandon Anders, a tall lanky boy with red hair and freckles sprinkled over his nose and cheeks. I tried to keep my attention off of her and onto my next match but it was hard.
Brandon Anders turned out to be a fierce opponent. Even though his footwork was lazy, he carried quite a powerful punch and he fought smart. However, as smart as he was, I was smarter. For the first two rounds, Brandon fought conservatively, making sure that each and every jab, haymaker, roundhouse, and left hook count but so did I. With every smart move he made, I made an even smarter one.
By the start of the third round, Brandon Anders was starting to slow down and I was just getting started. As he dropped his left shoulder, I tightened my arms to my side and went on the offensive. Brandon came at me with a left hook, which I blocked and countered with a left haymaker. He wasn't expecting it and I clocked him square in the jaw. Brandon groaned but didn't back off, throwing his body into mine and tried to knock me off my feet. It would have been a good strategy if I hadn't expected it and tightened up my body, pushing him back into the ropes behind him.
The arena was noisy, people yelling and screaming but all my attention was focused on the guy trapped against the ropes in front of me. Tossing a left hook, followed by a right roundhouse, I pushed Brandon even further into the ropes. My body ached as I threw a right jab, left haymaker, right hook. The referee grabbed my arms, pulling me off of Brandon and over into my corner.
Carlisle pulled my gloves off and I spit my mouthpieces out, taking a deep breath. Grabbing the bottle of water from my father, I turned back and looked at Bella as I took a drink. She was sitting on the bench, elbows on her knees and her face buried in her hands. Like she could feel me watching her, Bella looked up at me, smiling widely.
'I love you,' she mouthed.
Smiling, I mouthed, 'I love you, too.'
"Winner," announced the referee, placing his hand on my shoulder and drawing my attention away from my girl. "Good luck in the finals, young man."
"Thank you," I said, nodding my head.
I climbed out of the ring, stifling my groan as my muscles screamed in protest. It had already taken everything in me to make it through the three matches I had fought in today. I wasn't sure where I was going to find the strength to fight in one more. My championship match was going to be the hardest match of my very short career.
Bella stood up as I made my way over. She smiled and brought her hand up to my eyes, pressing down on the bruising around my eye. "Your eye looks like shit," she said.
"Feels like shit," I chuckled. "I made it into the finals."
"I'm so proud of you," she murmured, leaning her forehead against my chest. "But it's going to be really hard."
"I know," I said, quietly.
"This should be a piece of cake," snickered a butch girl as she and her friend walked past me and Bella. The friend laughed loudly as the bitch stopped, giving Bella the once over. "Oh, yeah, piece of fucking cake."
"I'm going to enjoy kicking your fat ass," said Bella.
"Good luck, bitch," snapped the girl. "You're going to need it, Cullen."
Before Bella or I could say anything, the girl and her friend walked away. "Yeah, I'm going to enjoy taking that fucking bitch out," muttered Bella, darkly.
"I can't wait to see that," I laughed.
Bella and I rested in the bleachers while the crew broke down the second ring, leaving only one sitting in the middle of the arena. While the number of fighters had dwindled down to two boys and two girls, the crowd inside had tripled. Fighters who had been eliminated and their families and their trainers, all gathered to watch us fight in the final round. Nothing quite like a little pressure.
Our family was sitting around us, talking quietly amongst themselves. Bella had her knees pulled up, tapping her foot against the edge of her seat. To anyone else, it would seem that that she was nervous but I knew better. I knew she was gearing up for the toughest match of the tournament and most likely of her entire career. I reached over and placed my hand on her knee, trying to calm her down. Bella leaned over and laid her head on my shoulder, sighing contently.
"How are you two feeling?" asked Carlisle, leaning against the railing in front of us, arms crossed and concern written all over his face.
"Sore," I said. "But we're ok."
He nodded his head. "You are going to have to push through all that and really dig deep. Neither one of your matches are going to be easy."
"We know," muttered Bella. "This isn't our first tournament, Car."
"No, but it's your hardest," sighed Carlisle. "And I don't want you two going in all cocky. They are going to be gunning for you both."
"We're ready," I said, seriously.
"I hope so," he muttered, standing up. "Bell, let's go. You're up first."
