17
BPOV
"Bella, keep your elbows tucked in," instructed Nolan.
"I'm trying," I huffed.
"Hey, I know you are, kid. Just relax and have some fun," said my father. "Unless you are afraid that I will kick your butt."
"Keep dreaming, old man," I snickered as the front door opened. We both looked over and saw a talk, thin dark haired man come in. He looked around the gym for a moment before his eyes rested on me and Nolan.
"I'm sorry, we're closed right now," said Nolan.
"I'm Aro Volturi," said the man, ignoring my father. "I would like to speak to you for a few minutes, Mr. Cullen."
"Well, now is not a good time," said my father, harshly. Corrine came out of the office and looked around.
"I think now would be an excellent time," smiled Aro. Nolan sighed and looked from my mother back to me.
"B, go work on the speed bags," muttered my father.
"Ok," I said.
"We can talk in my office," gritted Nolan. His jaw was tight and his eyes were cold. I watched as my father led Aro into his office and shut the door. I looked over at my mother.
"What the heck was that about?" I asked.
"I don't know," she sighed, looking back at me. "Get on the bags."
I made my way over to the speed bags and began working out. My mother piddled around in the waiting area of the gym. She was trying really hard not to go over and eaves drop, I could tell. A few minutes later, I heard my father start yelling. I stopped working on the bags as he threw his office door open.
"THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M TELLING YOU," scouted my father. "I WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU. EVER."
"You might reconsider that when you think about what you hold dear to you, Mr. Cullen," said Aro, calmly. His eyes flittered to me for a second. "Think about it."
"Don't ever think about that again," seethed Nolan.
"I'll be in contact again," smiled Aro, looking back over at me. "Soon."
Aro smiled again before he turned and walked out of the gym. My father was standing there clenching and unclenching his fists, over and over. I went over to where he and my mother were standing.
"Daddy, what's going on?" I asked.
"Nothing," he snapped, looking back at me. I flinched back from the sheer amount of venom that was laced in his tone. Nolan took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Baby Girl, just stay away from that man, ok?"
"Ok, Daddy," I whispered, blinking back the tears that were swimming in my ears. My father had never spoken to me like that before.
"Hey, I'm sorry," he whispered, pulling me into his arms. "Are you ready for me to kick your butt?"
"You can try," I laughed.
I snapped my eyes open and looked around frantically. I was laying in a large, white room. Edward was holding me with a frown etched on his face.
"It's about fucking time," he whispered. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Where is he?" I asked, frantically.
"I don't know," sighed Edward. "He disappeared right after you passed out."
"You saw him, too, right?" I asked.
"Yes, Baby, I did," he sighed. "You're not crazy."
"Thank god," I muttered, sitting up.
"Hey, take it easy," he said,
"I'm fine," I assured him. "Just feel like an idiot."
"You are not an idiot, Bella," said Edward.
"Where are my brothers?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Outside, trying to keep Renee from calling an ambulance," sighed Edward. "She freaked out and claimed that you must have a brain tumor that is making you so irrational."
"I wish it was a tumor," I snorted. "Sounds so much better than just me going crazy."
Edward chuckled under his breath as we stood up and headed out into the hall. Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper had Renee blocked into a corner. She had a hateful, disgusted look in her face as she argued with them. I rolled my eyes at the four of them and cleared my throat, causing all four of them to snap their heads to me. All four of them sighed at the same time, it was eerie.
"I'm fine, stop worrying," I said, before they could say anything. "How long until my first match?"
"Ten minutes," said Carlisle.
"You are not fighting anymore," insisted Renee.
"Well, we should get going," I said, ignoring Renee.
"You are not fighting anymore, Isabella," snapped Renee.
"Yes, I am, you stupid Bitch," I snapped back. "You don't get to tell me what to do."
"I'm your sister," griped Renee. "I get to boss you around."
"I get to ignore you," I grumbled. "I'm fighting and that's it."
I grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him down the hallway away from everyone. At this point, I didn't care if they knew Edward and I were together. They would either deal with it and move on or Edward and I would have to kick their asses. I was ninety percent sure the two of us could take them all out.
They scrambled up behind us but didn't say anything as we stepped out into the large arena. There were at least ten different rings set up in the large room. I looked back over at Edward and smiled before I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.
"What the fuck?" muttered Emmett. I pulled away from Edward, who looked stunned, and smiled again.
"Kick some ass today, Baby," I smiled.
"You too," winked Edward, ignoring the glares coming from Emmett, Jasper, and Renee. Charlie looked bored while Alice, Rose, and Esme looked excited. Carlisle was snickering under his breath as all good brothers do. "I'll see you in a bit."
"Ok," I smiled, blushing slightly. I moved my arms around him and looked over at Emmett and Jasper. "Let's go, boys."
I turned and headed toward my ring while Carlisle dragged Edward over to his. Emmett and Jasper were both muttering to each other as they followed us. I couldn't help but smirk inwardly at the two of them. Only they would be discussing my personal life while we were at a boxing tournament.
As we walked through the arena, I found myself looking around frantically for any signs that Aro Volturi was here. I hadn't seen him since the night he walked into our gym and I would have preferred to keep it that way. The last thing I needed was for him to drag my brothers into what ever twisted web he had dragged my parents into.
"Ok, tape my hands," I ordered, stopping at my first ring. I held my hands out to Jasper.
"Don't think we aren't going to talk about this thing with the boy," grumbled Jasper, pulling the tape out of my bag.
"I'm sure we will," I sighed, "not that it will make a difference to him or me."
"Don't be so sure about that," muttered Emmett as Jasper started wrapping my hands. "Now, focus on your match. If you are distracted, you will get your ass kicked."
"No shit," I snorted.
My first match was against a girl named Shawna Cole, a dirty blond with hazel eyes. She was a little taller than I was but that didn't make a difference. Once we were both ready, our referee started our match. She came at me like a banshee, throwing her fists wildly. I moved my feet and kept out of her way until I noticed she was starting to get winded. Then I went for the knock out. She came at me again, trying to throw her left at me. I ducked and threw an uppercut with my right and followed with my left. She fell back onto the mat, hard.
"Winner!" declared the referee, holding up my arm. "Nice match."
"Thanks," I told him before I climbed out of the ring.
"Good job, Bell," smiled Jasper, handing me a bottle of water once I had my gloves off.
"You did good," said Emmett. "You have twenty minutes until your next match. Make sure you stay loose."
"Ok," I muttered, looking around. "When was Edward's first match?"
"Started about five minutes ago," said Jasper, grabbing my stuff. "But don't think about him right now. Focus on your matches."
"I am," I snapped, harshly.
Twenty minutes later, I climbed back into the ring to face my next competitor. This time I was facing a girl by the name of Candy Clark. She was a short, slightly chunky girl with dark brown hair and eyes. She turned out to be tougher than she looked but not much. She was a little smarter about conserving her energy but by the middle of second round, she was slowing down and her punches were starting to weaken. I smirked inwardly as I stepped up and increased my punches. By the time the judges rang the bell, Candy was barely keeping herself up on the ropes.
"Are you going to be able to continue?" asked the referee, kneeling next to her.
"No," she mumbled, dropping onto the mats.
"Winner," declared the referee, holding my arm up again. "Nice match, young lady."
"Thank you," I said, before climbing out of the ring.
"Come sit down," ordered Emmett, dragging me over to one of the many benches. He took off my headgear and looked at the swelling around my eye. "She got you good."
"Stung like a bitch," I mumbled, while Jasper took off my gloves. "Thanks."
"No problem," he said, handing me a bottle of cold water. "Drink. You don't want to get dehydrated."
"When's my next match?" I asked, taking a big gulp.
"Not for an hour," said Emmett, putting an ice pack on my eye. "Are you hungry?"
"No," I said, taking over the ice bag. "How's Edward doing?"
"I don't know," he muttered. "Who fucking cares?"
"I do," I snapped.
"Well, you shouldn't," grumbled Jasper.
"Hey, don't be an ass to him," I sighed, standing up. "He's my best friend."
I left my two brothers sitting there glaring at me. I knew they weren't happy about me and Edward but I really didn't care. They had no idea how much I cared about him, how much he had helped me over just the last few weeks. He had become my rock, my lifejacket, my best friend. I hated how much my brothers had to help me when I was freaking out. Alice and Rose never complained but I knew it was hard on them when Carlisle would have to call Emmett and Jasper to come help him deal with my panic attacks.
Then there was Carlisle, who had given up on dating all together after I came to live with them. His girlfriend at the time, Simone, wasn't as understanding as Rose and Alice were about me and my craziness. He never complained, at least not to me, but I hated that he was lonely. I knew he was. That's why, as gross as it is to think of my brother with anyone, I liked that he liked Esme. She was a sweet lady who loved her family more than Edward would ever know. She and Carlisle would be good together.
Forty-five minutes later, I headed over for my last march of the day. Emmett and Jasper were waiting for me with Renee. I groaned inwardly as I tossed my melted ice pack at Emmett.
"Redo my tape," I muttered to Jasper.
"Ok," he mumbled. He started cutting my tape off my hands.
"That eye looks like shit," commented Renee.
"Well, it feels fine," I said, not bothering to look at her.
"Good," she sighed. "Who's your next competitor?"
"Marissa Barawski," I replied.
"Is she hard?" asked Renee.
"I don't know," I shrugged as Jasper finished taping and gloving my hands. He pulled on my headgear and I looked over at Renee. "But it doesn't matter, I'm tougher."
"I'm sure you are," smiled Renee, shaking her head.
I smiled back at her before I climbed into the ring and looked over at Marissa. She was about three inches taller than I was. She had short brown hair and blue eyes. We met in the middle of the ring and touched gloves before we went back to our separate corners. Jasper stuffed my mouthpiece into my mouth just before the judges rang the bell.
She went to her left so I followed her footsteps. She stepped up and tried to hit me with a right but I blocked her punch and hit her in the gut with my right. She groaned and stumbled back a couple steps. I hit her with a left roundhouse followed by a right uppercut, straight to her nose. I felt the cartilage crunch under my gloved fist.
She came back with an left uppercut to my jaw, causing me to stumbled back before I threw a left jab into her face. She stumbled back against the ropes, with a loud cry. She fell to her knees as she brought her own gloved hands to her face.
"Back to your corner," ordered the referee, stopping the match. I moved back into my corner where I spit out my mouthpiece in the bowl Jasper was holding.
"You got her good," muttered Jasper. The referee came over to me after checking on Marissa.
"Winner," he yelled, holding my arm up. "Nice job."
"Thank you," I said. I went over to Marissa. "Good job."
"You too," she muttered. "Good luck tomorrow."
"Thank you," I mumbled. I went over and climbed out of the ring. "How long until we head out?"
"Carlisle, Edward, Esme, and Charlie are waiting for us in the lobby," said Jasper, pulling off my gloves. He cut off my tape and I removed my headgear. "That was an awesome match, Bell."
"Thanks," I said, wiping my face and shoulders off with my towel. "Let's go."
"You did really good, Bell," said Renee, looping her arm in with mine. "Really good."
"Yeah?" I asked, looking over at her.
"Yeah," she smiled. "Kind of remind me of Dad."
I just smiled at her as we headed out to meet the others. It took a lot for Renee to say anything nice about my fighting. We found the other's waiting for us by the front doors. Edward had the beginnings of a black eye but other wise looked unharmed. I ran over and jumped in his arms.
"I'm taking it your matches went good," he laughed, wrapping his arms around me.
"Yep," I smirked. "I beat their asses. How did your matches go?"
"I beat some asses too," he smiled. He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.
"Ok, that's enough," grumbled Emmett. "Let's get back to the hotel so you two can change before we head to dinner."
Edward and I both laughed as he set me back down on my feet. Emmett and Jasper both pouted as they pushed past us, pulling Rose and Alice with them, who were laughing silently. Edward held my hand as we followed them out to our cars.
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of the hotel. Edward and I jumped out of the car and ran inside and stepped into the elevator before they could catch up. We kissed until the doors opened and broke us out of our private moment. We headed down to our rooms.
I took a quick shower, ignoring the black eye that was forming and the bruise on my jaw. I pulled on a pair of ripped jeans, a Metallica t-shirt, and my black leather boots. I dried my hair and left it down. I headed out of the bathroom and found Esme sitting on the bed.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.
