37

Phil refused to let them stay and watch practice, saying that Bella and I needed to focus on our training and they were a distraction. Though, I knew the real reason. He was pissed that Emmett and Jasper had hit me over Thanksgiving, that Carlisle hadn't stopped it, and pissed at Renee in general because she one of them. I couldn't blame the man, not considering the scene they'd made in the dining hall. Nothing quite like airing family business out for everyone to see. That didn't make us and our program and bigger targets.

Of course most of the people on campus didn't give a fuck about our program. The football team had failed to make it to any of the national bowl games and our basketball team was in a five-game losing streak, but whatever. We weren't fighting for them, just for ourselves.

Emmett insisted that they take us to dinner, stating that they needed to celebrate our wedding somehow. Though I knew Bella wasn't sure she could trust them, she agreed and told them we'd meet them at the dorms when training was over. Giving us sad and pathetic smiles, they left and Bella turned her attention back to the punching bag, trying to pull herself together.

"You okay, Cullen?" Phil asked.

"Yep." And I almost believed her, but there was a look in her eye, one that had me on edge.

"Okay," he said as the doors to the gym opened and the rest of our team came trickling inside. Their eyes shifted between me and Bella and Phil, and I knew they were waiting to see if she had another breakdown. "What are you standing around for? Get your asses ready!"

"Gees, get your panties out of your asscrack, Phillip," Missy snarked before heading into the dressing room. Phil rolled his eyes but didn't say anything as he walked over and started pulling mats out into the middle of the floor.

"Need help?" I asked.

He paused and looked over at me. "I need you to stop letting people hit you."

"Excuse me?"

He placed his hands on his hips. "You're an amazing fighter, Edward. Passionate, strong, and smart, but you don't defend yourself the way you need to."

"I can't block every hit," I argued.

"No, I know you can't," he said, putting a hand in the air. "But you can protect your blindside."

"They came at him from behind," Bella said, causing us to look at him. "We were coming out of his room when Jasper grabbed me and pulled me away. Edward barely had a second to think before Emmett had him pinned against the wall. There was no reason for him to think that he needed to protect himself." She paused, grabbing the punching bag. "It took a second. Just one second and everything was different. Edward knew they were important to me, so he didn't fight back, he let them hit him because he knew they were important to me."

"That's not why I let him hit me," I said, causing her to look at me. "I did it because I knew you are important to them. Because in their feeble minds, they were the ones locked out of that cubby hole and unable to protect you, Bella. They were trying to protect you.'

"That doesn't make it right," Phil argued and we looked over at him.

"You're right, it doesn't, and I've made it clear, Bella's made it clear, Carlisle and Esme, my dad, all of them have made it clear. But they love her, and it's hard for them to accept that she's not the same Bella that she was five months ago, that we're not the same people we were when we left Washington State and came here. They don't see the way her eyes sparkle now, or how when she's fighting, she practically glides around the ring."

"That's so romantic," Missy cooed, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she and the rest of our team stickled out of the locker rooms. "Call it whatever you want, Eddie, but they were assholes."

"They were," Bella admitted. "But would yours have done the same?"

"No," Phil scoffed while Missy said, "Probably."

"I would not have!" he exclaimed, turning and glaring at her.

"You might not have, but what about William? Or Jonathon? Can you honestly say George or Calvin wouldn't have beat the ass of any boy who was fucking me?"

Phil cringed, which made everyone laugh. "You're right, they would have. But I wouldn't have."

"Which is why you're my favorite," she teased. "Now, can we please get on with practice? I have an assload of studying to do tonight."

"Yeah, yeah, spread these mats out," Phil laughed and gestured to the dark, blue mats stacked in the corner.

We spread them out and took a seat on them and stretched while he walked into his office. He came back out a few minutes later with a stack of papers. He handed us each one, but told us not to look at it. Felt like we were in kindergarten or some shit. Once everyone had one and we were stretched properly, Phil sat down in front of us.

"We had a really good tournament. Everyone made it to day two, and three of us made it to the final day. I'm very proud of each of you," he said. "Now turn your papers over."

We did as he said. The sheet he'd given us were a list of the nationally ranked fighters in the country, for both men, women's, and schools. UCLA was now ranked number nineteenth, but what struck me the most was that Bella was ranked tenth, while I was ranked ninth.

"Are you shitting me?" Bella asked, and I looked over at her. She had a smile on her face, one that I loved. It was happiness and joy, pride and contentment.

"No, I'm not," he laughed. "They were just updated before lunch. You're now a top ten ranked boxer in the country, Bella." He looked over at me. "And so are you." Then he shifted his eyes around our team. "Together, we've broken through the top twenty, which means if we keep our numbers up and do well in the next two tournaments, we should have a great placement at Nationals."

"Will this help us keep our program?" Tia asked.

Phil hesitated. "I don't know. I wish I could tell you that our success this season has guaranteed us another year, but I don't. We have a lot of people fighting for us, which helps, but there are a lot of people fighting against us, too. Look, just keep focusing on your training and try not to worry about next season."

"Easy for you to say," Tia groused. "I'm out for the season. If I'm not going to have a team here next year, I've gotta start searching for a new program."

The rest of our team muttered and grumbled that she was right. Bella looked over at me before she stood up and said, "That's enough. We're going have another season. We haven't worked this hard to turn and go home with our tails up our asses. Now stop whining and start working."

Muttering under their breaths, they each nodded and said okay, but they were nervous and I understood. Our futures were on the line, and even if we won the national championship, there were no guarantees that it would be enough. That alone, scared all of us.

—LO—

We spent the next four hours in the gym training. Mostly, working on stamina and ring movement, which is where most of our team was struggling. They'd be fine for one and half to two rounds, but then fall apart in the third. They had to learn to keep their feet under them, to work on conserving energy and make the other person do all the work. Some of them, like Benjamin, Heidi, Demetri, and Missy, really seemed to listen, while the rest were too busy whining about how hard we were being on them. More than once I had to keep Bella from smacking Maggie or Bree upside the head.

When Bella and I returned to the dorms, we found Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Renee waiting for us in the lobby. Bella automatically tensed, but at least this time, she didn't turn and walk away. "Give us half an hour to shower and change," she said, walking past them.

"Bell," Emmett called, causing her to stop in front of the elevator and look over at him. "Training was good?"

She nodded. "Kicked some ass. Pretended it was you."

A dark look filled Emmett's eyes and I saw the regret fill Bella's eyes, but before she could say anything, the elevator opened and we stepped on. She sighed and leaned against the back wall, closing her eyes. I didn't say anything, knowing she'd had enough people coming at her today without me adding to it. Besides, Emmett deserved it. He was an asshole.

The doors to the elevator opened and we made our way down to our room, stripping off our workout clothes and tossing them into the hamper before scrounging around in our closets for something to wear to dinner. We hadn't planned on going out tonight, having just spent the last few days on the road, but with her siblings here, we knew we had to at least make the effort, especially if they were going to.

"Take a shower with me?" Bella asked, dragging her hand across my back.

"Fuck yeah," I snickered, grabbing my towel and wrapping it around my waist as she wrapped her around her body.

We quickly made the short walk down to the bathroom, squeezing into one of the shower stalls. Our shower was quick, and other than some light touching, fairly innocent. Once back in our room, we dressed, both in jeans and a simple T-shirt. If they didn't like it, they could go to hell. We were sore and tired, and had a lot of studying to do. When we stepped off the elevator, we found Phil and Missy sitting with Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Renee.

"See, I know how hard it is to let her go and let her live her life," Phil explained, holding Missy's hand, who was weeping softly. "I wanted to protect her, to keep her from getting hurt again, but I couldn't. She needed to regain control of her life, and I had to let her. Our brothers had to let her. That's all Bella's doing. She's taking control of her life and refusing to let her fears keep her down. If anything, you should be proud that she's finally in a place where she can let someone like Edward love her. And make no mistake, that boy is in love with her."

Bella turned leaned her head against my chest, her shoulders shaking as her tears overwhelmed her. Phil understood us, the way we felt, and he was reaching out to her brothers and sister.

"Just really think about what we've told you," Phil said, pulling Missy to her feet.

With a nod, he tightened his arm around his younger sister and led her out of the building. Bella looked up at me before she pulled away and turned the corner, finding her brothers and sister sitting together, with frowns on their faces. Except for Carlisle, none of them knew about Missy, the hell her ex-boyfriend had put her through, and the way Phil and her other four brothers had had to fight to keep her safe.

Clearing her throat, Bella drew their attention to her. "We ready?"

"You know we never meant to hurt you," Emmett said. "Don't you?"

"I do," she admitted. "But you did, Em. I kept telling you how important he was to me, how much I loved him, yet you continued to tell him that he wasn't good enough for me, that him loving me wasn't okay. He saved me from a life where I was barely able to function, and gave me a reason to live, to fight. He gives me a reason to love. And the fact that you can't see that, that you can't accept that Edward is my husband, is something that I just don't understand. I would never begrudge you the love you feel for Rose. Or Alice. Or Charlie, Ren."

"It's not that we think he isn't good enough for you, Bell," Jasper said, causing her to look at him. However, he was looking at me. "You love my sister, Edward."

"I do," I told him. "But that doesn't matter, does it? For over a year, I've been right here, at her side, proving to her, to you, to myself, that I loved her, that I wasn't going to be like her parents and leave her. But you refuse to see it, refuse to . . . see that I'm just . . ."

I trailed off, struggling to be honest. "I was given a choice. I could move to Italy with my parents, where I'd once again be the freak kid who moved all the time and didn't know anyone, or I could move to Forks with my sister, where once I'd be the freak kid who moved all the time and didn't know anyone. It wasn't easy telling my mom that I didn't want move to the other side of the world, that I couldn't leave Esme alone. See, Esme was my only friend, the one person I knew I'd always be able to count on. Then I moved to Forks, and I found Bella, and . . . I found someone who needed me, who saw that I wasn't a dick like every other asshole in our school. She took a chance on me and let me into her life. I love her. I love her so fucking much. I won't let her go just because you can't see that I'm a good guy, that I'm good for her."

Emmett stood up, placing his hands on his hips. "Look, we know that you're a good kid, Edward."

"I'm not a fucking kid," I snarled, causing him to flinch backward. "I'm a man, a man who loves this woman." I wrapped my arm around Bella's waist. "I've earned your respect time and again. You want to know why we eloped? Because of this. Because we didn't want to have to deal with you telling us that we weren't ready, that our love isn't enough"

"We get that," Renee said. "We do. It just hurts that you didn't even tell us."

"Because for the first time in three years, I had my big sister," Bella whimpered. "I didn't want you to leave me again."

"Bell," Renee cried, walking over to her. "I'm never leaving you again."

"Promise?" Bella wept.

"Pinky promise," Renee laughed, holding up her hand, extending her pinky toward Bella, who giggled and wrapped her finger around her sisters. "I love you, Bell."

"I love you, too," she whispered.

Renee shifted her eyes to me. "I'm sorry, Edward. Welcome to the family."

"Thank you," I replied. Looking over at Bella, I noticed her staring at Emmett and Jasper, both of whom were staring at the floor.

"I'm out of chances," she whispered, causing them to look up at her. "Accept him or lose me. It's that simple."

"It's not simple," Jasper murmured and then looked at me. "But I guess another brother won't be too bad."

I nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah," Emmett agreed. "I mean, you gotta be better than these two assholes," he added, tilting his head toward Jasper and Carlisle, both of whom wasted no time in giving him the finger.

"Fuck you, Em," Carlisle groused. Rolling his eyes, he looked at Bella. "Can we go eat now? I'm starving."

"Yeah, I guess so," she laughed and walked over to him, patting him on the stomach. "Though, to be honest, you might want to get something low fat and carb free."

"I'm not fat," he grumbled, wrapping his arm around her and leading her toward the door. I followed, but when Renee, Emmett, and Jasper just stood there, he stopped and looked back at them. "Coming?"

With a nod of their heads, they agreed. Maybe we'd finally be able to move on. Bella and I certainly had more important things to worry about, like how we were going to keep our program.