3

Bella arrived at the beach just before eight. She'd learned a long time ago that the early bird got the worm when the PV tournament was in town and in this case, the worm was in reference to a decent parking spot. Parking along the beach was a nightmare on a normal day, but when you throw in hot, sweaty, half-dressed men and women, and well, it was like Black Friday shopping at Wal-Mart. People were fucking nut jobs.

However, Bella was lucky and found a space not too far from the pit. With Felix's contract tucked into her camera bag, she headed down to the beach, already annoyed by all the people gathering around the edges. Most of the women were wearing tiny bikinis in some vain hope of attracting the attention of the male players, which worked of course. Bella had seen it happen too many times.

"There you are, Swan," Alice called out. She was standing next to the ticket booth with Felix. Unlike the rest of the women, Alice wasn't wearing a bikini. Instead, she was wearing a strapless tube top and a pair of tiny shorts that only she could pull off successfully. "Thought you weren't going to show."

"I said I'd be here," Bella mumbled, digging through her bag for the contract. "It's still early."

"Maybe." Alice's undertone made it clear that she was concerned about her, but Bella opted not to call her best friend out. "You should have stayed last night. James got freaky with this tall, hot guy. I had to spray them with water to keep them from fucking on the bar."

"Wow, so sad I missed that," Bella replied dryly. She ignored the way Alice scowled as she handed the signed contract to Felix. "If you screw me on this deal, I will never forgive you."

"I know, Swan, you have my word."

Bella scoffed at the use of her last name by him. Like with Alice and James, Bella had known Felix all her life. They'd grown up together and somehow, she simply became Swan. Just like Alice was Peanut. Felix had taken it harder than Bella had when hopes of making it as a professional surfer were decimated. He had just started his career with PV, though he was a player and not management. They had had all kinds of plans to take over the world, but he tore up his shoulder and she blew out her knee. Should have seen that as a sign, but she was denial about her life. She wasn't going to end up like him, that's what she told herself at least.

"Here's your press pass. This should give you access to anywhere you want." Felix passed her a long lantern with her name and picture on the I.D. She didn't have to be a genius to figure out that he and Alice had been working on this job for a while. Felix didn't wait till the last minute to book a photographer, and he never started a campaign without having a backup, or two, ready. Yeah, they thought they were clever, but she was onto their little game.

"Felix! You have a problem!"

Bella started to laugh when Felix's face contoured into annoyance, but the person who had yelled bumped into her, causing her to start falling. Cursing under her breath, she braced herself to land hard, but a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her upward.

How cliché, she thought, but when she turned to her 'rescuer,' she groaned. It would be the asshole from before. Today, however, he was wearing a black and red tank top and a pair of red shorts that hung to his knees. "Why are you always up my ass?"

"I haven't had the pleasure of being up your ass, sweetheart," he said with a smirk. "But if that's an offer, I certainly wouldn't say no."

"Ugh, get the fuck off me," she snarled, pushing him away.

The asshole laughed and turned his attention to Felix. All amusement left his expression in an instant. "You had better do something about Newton, or I am going to end up in jail . . . again."

"Why can't you and Mike stop this stupid feud, Edward?" Felix grumbled, but before Edward could make some lame excuse, he took off, leaving Bella, Alice, and Edward alone.

Not in the mood to deal with the asshole, Bella gave Alice a look. "I'll check in with you, Peanut."

"Okay, Swan."

Bella glared at Edward before brushing past her, making sure to clip him with her shoulder on her way by. While she walked around, she took a few snapshots, knowing Felix would want some fan pictures to go with the player pics. He was predictable.

She flashed her pass at the ticket taker, who smiled and gestured for her to make her way inside the pit. Bella groaned as she approached the edge of the pit. There were already at dozen men's teams already gathered. A couple of them were practicing, while the others were gathered around the many, many fans who were clamoring for autographs, pictures, lovers for the next two weeks. Bella almost felt sorry for them.

Felix was standing in front of a wiry looking guy with spiky blond hair and a white tank top with Newton and One on the back. Next to him was a tall guy with dark hair. His white tank had Crowley and Two, which meant they had to be teammates. Whatever Newton was saying to Felix had his face turning red and Bella once again almost laughed. She should have more sympathy for her old friend, but she didn't — not after getting her wrapped up in the middle of this crap again.

"Hey, um, ma'am." Someone tapped Bella on the shoulder and when she turned around, she saw Whitlock standing a couple feet away from her. He was wearing the same black and red tank top that Edward was, which just confirmed that the two men were teammates. His hair had been pulled up into a man-bun and he was smiling. His blue eyes sparkled and for some reason, it irritated her. "We met yesterday."

"I don't think you can call what happened yesterday as us meeting," Bella replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," he cringed. "Again, I'm sorry about that. Edward can be an ass, but he's not usually such an enormous ass."

"Oh, so he was saving it for me. Aren't I the lucky one?"

Whitlock laughed. "Guess so. He, um, told me what happened last night at JJ's, too. I'm sorry."

"You sure do apologize for him a lot," Bella pointed out. "Shouldn't he be the one to clean up his messes?"

"In theory," Whitlock quipped and offered her his hand. "I'm Jasper Whitlock."

Sighing, she slipped her hand into his. "Isabella Swan, but most people just call me Bella."

"It's nice to meet you, Bella," he cooed, releasing her hand. "Officially."

"You, too."

"Whitlock, move your ass," Edward yelled, and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw him standing on the other side of the pit, a glare in her direction.

"Guess it's time for me to get back to work." Jasper gave her a look before he ran around the crowd, stopping next to his teammate. Bella watched as the two of them had a heated conversation, that once again had Edward glaring in her direction.

Like she cared what he thought about her, she thought.

"Swan, there you are," Alice exclaimed, sliding to a stop next to her. "Oh, who is that delicious hunk of man next to Edward?"

Bella snorted. "His name is Jasper."

"What I wouldn't give for five minutes and a closet with that one." Alice waved a hand in front of her face and Bella gagged. "Oh, stop acting like you wouldn't bump uglies with any of these hotties."

"Um, I wouldn't," she lied. Well, not really. A year ago, she would have taken any one of them into her bed, but not anymore.

"Okay," Alice scoffed. "I'm heading to the office for a few minutes, just need to check messages and emails. Do you need anything?"

"Nope, I'm good," she said, smiling. "Better hurry before the first match starts. Don't want to miss all the sweating."

Alice laughed. "No, I do not."

Bella shook her head as her friend took off through the crowd. Bringing her camera up to her eye, she began to snap more pictures of the players, the fans in the stands, but paused when she zoomed in on Edward, who was leaning against the rails on the other side of the pit. He was laughing at something Jasper was saying. The look of euphoria on his face was breathtaking. There was a peacefulness that she envied, that she longed for. Tears filled her eyes as she snapped the picture. She missed laughing. The feeling that came with a real, deep, from the gut belly laugh. But then, she hasn't had much to laugh about lately.

—BD&BH—

Later that afternoon, Bella found herself kneeling in the sand as she watched Jasper and Edward playing against a team from China. The two moved smoothly, communicated their needs, and worked together better than any team she'd seen in years. Just three matches before, Newton had yelled at Crowley for not covering the net, even though the ball had been sent over Newton's head.

"How's it going, Swan?" Felix asked, kneeling next to her.

Bella opened her mouth to reply, but found herself unable to speak. The words were inside her head, but she couldn't get them to come out of her mouth.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head as she shrugged his hand off and stood up, once more trying to force the words out, but unable to say anything. Her chest heaved as she began to panic, turning around in a circle and searching for Alice.

"Swan, what's wrong?" Felix asked, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her back so she was facing him.

Bella grabbed at her throat with one hand, trying to claw through her skin to get the words out, her eyes were wide and filled with unfallen tears. She felt helpless and it wasn't a feeling she enjoyed. She worked hard to keep control over her life, and it was moments like this that kept her from taking chances.

"Peanut!" Felix yelled, and Bella looked frantically to the press entrance of the pit as a guard attempted to keep Alice at bay. "Let her through."

Alice glared at the guard as she passed him. By now, the attention had been diverted from the match, which had stopped, and was on Bella, who struggled to breathe.

"Look at me, Swan," Alice ordered, putting her hands on either side of Bella's face. "You have to calm down. This is going to pass, but you have to calm down."

"Is everything okay?" Jasper asked as he and Edward came to stand on the other side of the barrier.

"She's fine," Alice lied, placing her hand on the middle of Bella's chest. She used her other hand to grabbed Bella's hand and placed it on her chest. "Match my rhythm, Swan. In and out. In and out. That's it. In and out. Good girl."

Bella's breathing was still ragged, but she managed to say, "Peanut . . . Peanut."

"I know, honey. Just focus on your breathing." Alice turned to Felix. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

"Um, okay?"

Alice didn't give Jasper or Edward another look as she lead Bella through the crowd that had gathered around them, past the guard, the spectators, and over to a hospitality tent, where staff and players could get water and snacks. Alice pushed Bella into one of the chairs and knelt in front of her.

"Someone bring me a water," she ordered, and they did a moment later. Alice unscrewed the lid and placed the bottle in Bella's hand. "Drink."

She nodded and brought it to her lips, trying to chug as much as she could, ignoring the way it dribbled from the side of her mouth and onto her shirt.

"That's enough." Alice tore the bottle out of her hands and placed it on the floor next to her. "Better?"

"I . . . I didn't . . ." Bella stammered and blew out a strangled breath. "I didn't feel this one coming."

"Probably missed the signs because of the excitement with the tournament."

"Yeah, maybe." Bella placed her hands on her knees and closed her eyes. Her episodes were always so exhausting and this one had been mild compared to some she'd had. "Where's my bag?"

"Shit, I left it at the pit," Alice groused, standing up. "Are you going to be okay while I go get it?"

Bella tried to smile and nodded, but the energy to fake it was just too much for her to handle at the moment. "Hurry."

Alice rushed out of the tent and Bella did her best to ignore the questioning looks coming from the tent's staff. For all they knew she'd overheated, or maybe her blood glucose had dropped, or dozen other possibilities that were easier to handle than the truth. The truth — the truth wouldn't set her free in this case. Nothing was going to save her.

Alice hurried into the tent with Esme right behind her. Bella groaned, not wanting to have this conversation with either of them. "Don't give me that look, Swan. She needed to know."

"Yeah, yeah," Bella whispered, but shifted her attention to her sister, who looked half pissed and half terrified. "I'm fine now, Essie."

"I'm sure you think so." Esme sat in the chair next to Bella and dug through her camera bag, pulling out her pills and counting them. "You forgot your lunch dose."

"I . . ." Bella tried to remember if she'd taken them, but she couldn't even remember if she'd eaten lunch that day. "I'm sorry."

"You have to remember. Set an alarm on your phone, or we can get you a watch with alarms or something."

"I have alarms set on my phone," Bella argued, grabbing her bag and digging out her phone. Sure enough she had the alarms set, but she hadn't heard them. "I'll do better."

"I'm still calling him."

"Fine." Bella gave in with a sigh. "He's not going to say anything different, Essie."

"I know, but rules are rules," she said, dumping the handful of pills into the palm of her hand. "Take them now."

Bella did as she was told, swallowing the pills with the last of her water. Esme didn't deserve the burden of having her for a sister, especially when Bella was slowly fading away.

Thank you for all the reviews. I know there are a lot of questions. We will get to the answers eventually.