20
After lunch in Edward's hotel room, they made their way back to the pit, where they found Alice, Jasper, Rose, Tanya, Seth, and Felix waiting for them. Bella shouldn't have been surprised. Her morning shoot hadn't gone as planned. Her emotional breakdown, declaration of love, and the announcement to everyone that she was dying had ruined the mood. Still, it was the first time in Bella's career that she had failed an assignment. Just one more way Kufs had robbed her of her dignity.
Placing her bag on the foot stand of the umpire's chair, Bella cleared her throat and turned everyone, unsurprised to see the pity in their eyes. It was just one reason why she hadn't wanted people to know that she was sick, that she was dying. They looked at her differently now, like she was weak and pathetic, which wasn't a lie. She was both weak and pathetic. She had dropped the wall she put around herself, letting herself love Edward, and now, there was no going back.
She tried to smile as she spoke, "Rose, Tanya, I'd like to apologize about this morning. My head . . . Well, I wasn't focused. I'd like to find some time to redo your shoot, if that's okay?"
"Oh, um, sure," Rose stammered, sharing a look with Tanya. "But I am mean, are you sure? Because —"
"Yes," Bella nearly snarled, knowing from this point on she would have to continually defend her ability to do her job. Trying to sound stronger than she was, she smiled. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound so . . ."
She shook her head unable to figure out the right words.
Felix cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I have an idea."
"That's scary," Bella and Edward said at the same time, causing everyone to laugh. For a moment, Bell felt the weight lift off her shoulders, even if it only lasted for a second.
"Yeah. Yeah," Felix scoffed, rolling his eyes, but the corners of his lips twitched into a smile. "I was thinking that maybe you should do a shoot with both teams together." He gestured toward Edward and Jasper and then to Rose and Tanya. "I mean, not that I have favorites to win or anything, but they are the favorites to win."
"Dude, I knew you liked me," Edward snickered, wrapping his arm around Bella's waist, a tingle shooting up her at the contact.
"Whatever," Felix muttered. "You've been nothing but a pain in my ass, Mason."
"You say that, but yet, I am your favorite." Edward smirked. "It's okay to be honest, Felix. I won't think any less of you."
"I knew I should have kept my mouth shut," he groaned, dragging a hand through his hair, while everyone laughed again. "What do you think, Swan? Joint photo shoot?"
As everyone's attention once more shifted to Bella, she saw the way Alice looked at her, almost pleading with her to forgive her, but how could she? She knew her mother had come back to the island and didn't bother telling her? Of all people, Alice knew how much her mother's abandonment had scorned her. She had been there each time to pick up the pieces, to remind her that she didn't need her shitty mother, she had a family in Alice, Esme, Carlisle, and Charlie.
Bella shook those thoughts out of her head and once again forced a smile on her face. "I actually have a better idea."
"Oh?" Felix asked, lifting an eyebrow in a way that when Edward did it, made him look sexy but made Felix look silly. "What's that?"
"Well, um, I mean," Bella paused and shifted her eyes between Rose and Tanya to Jasper, and then finally to Edward. "How about the classic battle of the sexes?"
"Hmm," he hummed, bringing his hand up to his chin.
It reminded her of the old movies Charlie made her watch, where the villain always had a sinister scheme waiting. Tears filled her eyes at the thought of her father. Would he want her to reach out to her mother? Would he ask her to let Renee Swan save her life? She knew the answer, but that didn't make her want to do it.
"I like it," Felix said, pulling her out of her thoughts. He looked at Rose and Tanya. "What about you two?"
Rose and Tanya shared a look before they nodded and Rose said, "Yeah, yeah, I like that idea. It would be great press for both teams, and T and I will be able to prove that we are better than Mason and Whitlock."
"Pssh," Jasper and Edward scoffed, causing Seth, Alice, and Felix to laugh.
"Sorry, ladies, but we'd kick your ass, right, Whitlock?" Edward said with a smirk, his arm slipping from around her as he folded both in front of him. The fierce look in his eyes turned her on. He was a true competitor and she loved it.
"Afraid so," Jasper agreed with the shrug of his shoulders.
"Then I guess you're not afraid to accept the challenge," Tanya added, her eyebrows lifting as she and Rose matched Edward's position. "Are you?"
Edward turned to Jasper and cocked an eyebrow. "I'm in."
Jasper smirked. "Me too!"
"All right! Let's do this!" Felix cheered before walking behind Bella and leaning down and whispering just loud enough for her to hear, "We're not giving up on you, Swan. Not when I just got my friend back."
And before she could reply, he left. She was touched that he cared about her, that he wanted to fight for her, but the sad truth was there was no fighting to be done.
Taking a deep breath and once again putting on a brave face, Bella smiled. "Okay, I am going to run back to my studio to grab some better equipment while you four warm up."
"Are you sure you're okay to go alone?" Edward asked, his concern evident.
She turned and placed her hand on his chest. "I feel strong today. Just . . . just keep loving me, okay?"
"Always," he whispered before pulling her into his arms and kissing her with passion.
It wasn't until she heard Rose, Tanya, Seth, and Jasper snickering that Bella managed to pull herself out of his arms and hurry out of the stadium. All she wanted was to stay in his arms, let him love her, to hold her together, to always have him with her, but she couldn't. While it may seem silly to the others, fulfilling her contract was important to her. Bella may not have much time left, but she would die with her reputation in tack.
"Swan, wait!" Alice called.
Bella ignored her until she reached her jeep, only stopping because Alice grabbed her arm and turned her to face her. It was the first time Bella had ever seen her best friend so desperate. Alice usually kept her composure, not letting anyone see her stressed. It had been a trait that Bella often envied.
"What, Peanut? What do you want?"
"I'm so sorry. I should have told you about your mom, but I knew you didn't want to see her, knew you would be angry. More than you already were," she rambled.
"Peanut," Bella sighed, leaning against the side of her jeep. "Look, I get it. You're right: I don't want to see her or talk to her or anything else that has to do with her. But I don't understand how you couldn't have told me that she was here. What if I had run into her down at the market? Or what if she had come to the studio when I was there alone? Or the house, Peanut? Do you really think it would have been better for me to find out she was here by her ambushing me like that?"
"I know, and I wanted to tell you," she pleaded, reaching out and grabbing Bella's hand before she could stop her. "But I didn't want to lose you yet."
"Lose me?" Bella asked. "Why would you have lost me?"
"Because when you get scared and angry, you pull away from everyone. You did it when she left the first time, the second time, when you blew out your knee, when Charlie died, when you had your first episode." Alice paused and tilted her head to the side. "And when you realized that you were in love with Edward."
Bella wasn't sure what to say. Alice wasn't wrong, but that didn't make it any easier to hear. "I am scared, Peanut," she whimpered, feeling her eyes fill up with tears. "And angry. I don't want to die. I don't want to leave you, Esme, Carlisle, Jasper . . . I don't want to leave Edward, and it scares me because I never wanted to feel like this. I had told myself that I was fine alone, that it was better than I wasn't attached to anyone in the end. But I am attached to him. I need him so fucking much that it scares me to leave him."
"Then don't," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Fight to stay with him."
"By letting my mother help me," she stated with an aggravated sigh.
"I didn't say that." Alice smiled. "Do I think you should reach out to her? Yeah, I do, because I'm selfish and don't want to lose my best friend, Swan, but the decision is yours. What I am saying is don't let your fear, keep you from living every second you have left to the fullest."
"Peanut," Bella cried, pulling her into her arms.
"He makes you smile," Alice sobbed. "And if all we have is a few years, then I want those years with you smiling and laughing and being happy."
"I love you, Peanut." Bella kissed the side of her head. "I really do love you."
"Yeah, yeah, I love you too." Alice pulled back and wiped the tears off her face. "You better get going. Make sure you grab some water bottles. It's hot out and you don't need to get dehydrated."
"Yes, ma'am."
While Alice headed back inside the studio, Bella climbed into the driver's seat of her jeep and took a calming breath. Still confused on what she should do, she felt relieved that at least she had her best friend back. For how long was unknown, though. The fact remained that Bella was still dying.
—BDBH—
Bella would be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed the rest of her afternoon. After grabbing her equipment, and the water bottles, she had headed back to the pit and set up. Felix had arranged for one of the tournament umpires to call the game, though it would be all in fun. While Bella set up, Edward and Jasper stretched, volleyed a little, and worked on their game plan. Tanya and Rose, on the other hand, sat in the shade and watched with smirks on their faces.
When the umpire called for the start of the match, all four of them got into position, with Rose serving first, and off they went. Her first serve was directed to Jasper, who set Edward up for the spike, but Tanya was ready and blocked it, sending the ball back down and earning them the first point of the day.
"Damn," Bella snickered from behind her lens. "They came to play."
The supportive girlfriend part of her felt bad for Edward, but as a woman who has completed against men for a long time, she would always root for women to kick men's asses.
Of course, it wasn't that easy for Tanya and Rose. Back and forth, they traded points with Jasper and Edward, who held nothing back. It was just one of the reasons Bella loved watching them play. Most men would hold themselves back, not wanting to 'embarrass' the girls they were battling, but when it came to the game, neither Jasper nor Edward saw Rose and Tanya as women, but as fierce competitors, as they should have.
Bella got amazing shots of Rose making a diving save, to Jasper blocking a shot from Tanya, to Edward jumping so high, he was practically over the net. Tanya served three aces, Rose had two, Jasper four, and Edward six in the course of the three sets. Jasper and Edward barely won the first set by two points.
By the time the second set started, other teams playing in the tournament had heard about the battle of the sexes and shown up to support the four on the court, including Tyler Crowley, who was now without a partner and out of the tournament seeing as his partner was sitting in a jail cell on assault charges.
Rose and Tanya took the second set by three points.
She got pictures of the fans cheering, the banter coming from all sides, was intoxicating. And it was the first time since she blew out her knee that she missed competing. The adrenaline that came with pushing yourself to the limit, pushing yourself when your body screamed at you to stop was amazing and she hadn't realized how much she had missed it.
At the start of the third set, a news crew showed up, also Felix's doing she was sure. They filmed the crowd, the teams, and the intensity coming from the court. Jasper flew into the sand to save the ball, sending it and sand flying upward. It was a photo that Bella knew immediately would be a keeper. Edward turned his back to the net and set the ball a good four feet over the net, and Jasper leapt from the ground, throwing himself into the air and whacking the ball with so much power it echoed over the roaring crowd. Even though both Rose and Tanya leapt for it, it hit just inside the back left corner of the court.
"Winners," the umpire declared, gesturing toward Jasper and Edward, who raised their arms in victory, though looking utterly defeated.
Bella snapped the winning picture, before turning the camera onto Rose and Tanya, drenched in sweat, covered in sand, but smiling bigger than most people who had just lost. They fought and ended up losing the set by two, having kept the score tied until they had played almost an extra set. The final score had been Edward and Jasper 44, Tanya and Rose 42.
"Um, excuse me, ma'am."
Bella turned and found Tyler Crowley standing behind her, shame filling his eyes.
"We haven't met officially, but I wanted to apologize for Newton," he added. "He's always been an ass, but I never expected him to do what he did."
"You're apologizing for him?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tyler grimaced. "He's not here to do it, and even if he were, he wouldn't. Newton's been a pain in my ass for the past year. I guess losing his chance to be spotlighted pushed him over the edge, and he took his anger out on you."
"So why'd you team with him?"
"Didn't have much choice," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "We had a contract. I was stuck with him until the end of the season."
"Ah," she murmured. "And now?"
Tyler smiled. "Now, I'm free from that son of a bitch. I'm going to take a break, find myself a new partner, and be back, hopefully better than ever."
"You're very good," she told him. "I haven't seen someone work the court like you in a long time."
"Oh, well, thanks, I guess," he murmured, his cheeks darkening before he lifted his eyes to hers. "I, um, heard you're sick."
Bella's shoulders tensed.
"I don't know the details, just that you're sick," he added quickly, "but know that everyone part of the PVP is here if you need us, Miss Swan."
"Call me Bella," she said, softly. "And thanks."
Tyler nodded before he turned and walked away, leaving Bella standing there unsure of what to say next.
I am so sorry for the long delay. I could give you a list of excuses, but I won't. I may be slow with updates, but I am determined to finish this story, as well as the rest of my WIPS.