Fun fact: This was 'Chapter 22' (and one of my favorites) in my draft version, but it became Chapter 15 when I combined some of the earlier chapters. If you don't remember Chapter 22, check out my AN on Chapter 1 after you read this one ;)

Thank you all for reading and reviewing! :3

Chapter 15.

Team trials. Part Two. I'm nervous. I'm anxious. I'm sore all over from yesterday.

At least I slept.

The trials start at noon, but I'm so early, Jasper isn't even at the gym when I get there. Luckily, I find an abandoned basketball and shoot enough hoops to warm up and work up a sweat until Jasper arrives.

"What are you doing here so early?" He smiles and shakes his head when he sees me.

"I thought I'd help set up?"

"No need to." He walks closer and drops his bag on the bleachers before taking his keys out to open the back closet. "But thank you."

"Also, I want to apologize about yesterday." I follow behind him as he gets the chairs for him and Coach.

"What about it?" he asks without looking at me, setting the chairs in front of the bleachers and going back for the mats.

"I was off my game. I was tired and…unfocused," I say as I follow him. "Bella got hurt, and it was my fault. I promise I'm 100% here and ready today."

"Didn't you say you were going to have the day off from work so you could rest and focus on trials?"

"I did have yesterday off. And today too."

"Then what happened?" He stops at the closet door, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "Why were you so tired?"

I realize my mistake too late; I've talked myself into a corner. I pull on the back of my neck and try to think of a way out.

"You need to sleep, Edward." He sighs, reaching for the mats that are stacked against the wall.

"I know." I help him roll the mats out onto the basketball court. "I slept last night. I promise." I did sleep, almost ten hours. Once I got back to the dorms last night, I ate my weight in ramen noodles and then promptly passed out.

"If you think you're busy now, just wait until the semester starts." He stops and switches to the other stack of mats, rolling them out. "Rest should be on your list of priorities."

"It is."

"No distractions."

"Right." I shake my hands as we finish and we both straighten up.

"I'm rooting for you." There's a friendly smile on his face as he stands in front of me, but his eyes tell me there's something else he wants to talk about.

"Thank you," I say, a little nervous under his intense stare.

"Bella seemed out of it yesterday too," he starts. "Did something happen between you two?"

Fuck…

"Just a misunderstanding…" I say, hoping to be as vague as possible. "It's all good now."

At least I fucking hope so.

"We can't afford to lose focus. Feelings get caught. People get hurt. And then we miss our shot at a championship."

"We won't let that happen."

"It's the reason why we have a non-fraternization policy."

"Which seems to only apply to Bella for some reason…" I blurt out and immediately regret it when I see the surprised expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" His tone changes from lecturing me to defending himself, like he's been caught.

I give it a quick thought. I might as well tell him what I've been going over in my head again and again. How dating within the team doesn't really seem to be a problem unless it involves Bella. "Other people are hooking up, and nobody bats an eyelash." I keep my tone as casual as I can.

"So you and Bella are hooking up?" He crosses his arms over his chest, looking up at me.

"No, but that's not my point." Yet.

"Is she dating that football player?" He prods further, raising an eyebrow at me, but I'm the one who looks at him in surprise now. Why would he bring up Tyler?

"What?" Alarm bells are going off in my head. This is not right. It's not normal. Jasper, and I have to assume Coach Hale as well, are way too involved in Bella's personal business.

"Never mind…" Jasper groans, walking away from me, but I follow behind him.

"Why is everyone so invested in Bella's relationships?" I ask and he turns around to face me.

"I told you already. We had to fight hard to get her here. Her parents—" The words die in his throat as he looks over my shoulder and I hear the click of Coach Hale's boots behind me, coming from the doors.

"Her parents what?" I whisper in a blunt tone with my eyes on his and my anger bubbling.

"Forget I said anything," he warns, his tone is clipped. "Get ready for trials."

Coach Hale walks past me and smiles. I smile back, but I'm on edge, feeling myself get all worked up about it. I know Bella's parents are controlling, overprotective even, from the little she's told me about them. How they homeschooled her so she could focus on cheer, and how they manage her brand, and pretty much her life. But for them to attempt to control what she does—who she dates—while she's in college no less, seems a little too much.

Or maybe I'm the one who is overprotective of her. Maybe they've just asked Coach Hale and Jasper to keep an eye on her. It's her first time being on her own, and they're far away. She's young. She's innocent. She's good. She's way too trusting. Maybe they just don't want anyone taking advantage of her.

I sigh, pacing around the mat with my hands on my hips, trying to calm down as my teammates start filtering in. When Bella walks through the doors, I take a deep breath, relieved that she's here. When she walks straight to me with a smile on her face, everything feels right in the world.

"You ready?" She stands in front of me, tightening her ponytail high on her head.

"I'm ready." I manage to stay still, even though my whole body is buzzing. "How's your ankle?"

"Feels good." She nods reassuringly, her smile in place as she brings her hands up in front of her, between the two of us. "Did you sleep?"

"I did." I link my fingers with hers, just as we did last night. When she closes her eyes, I follow along.

"Don't think," she says. "Just feel."

I take a deep breath as she tightens her fingers around mine. I feel everything and nothing at the same time. Like there's no one else around us. Like we're not up for team trials. Like it's just her and me. That same energy oozes out of her and into me, both calming me and pumping me up. Fire and ice, all mixed into one.

She lets go of my hands with an exhale, and when I open my eyes, she's smiling at me, her eyes bright, full of confidence, and so fucking beautiful. "We've got this," she says, before she turns around, her ponytail swinging side to side under my chin. Shea butter everywhere.

Coach's words snap me out of my trance, asking us to warm up quickly before we begin. Bella stretches in front of me, but I don't look at her—I can't. I focus on myself. I stretch. I breathe. I do what Bella said. I don't think.

When Coach asks Bella and me to go first, I am ready.

"Double-up toss to cupie," Coach's words echo around the silent gym.

I crouch behind Bella and wait for her signal, the tap of her fingers on my wrist, before we both dip in sync. Bella spins and floats and lands on my extended arm. She fucking flies. Perfect. Clean. My shoulder is a little achy, but I hold her up, managing to keep a straight face. I smile even, right at Coach, and then I pop Bella to my left arm, just to show off, before bringing her down.

"One-arm rewind," Coach says next, amused, giving me no time to catch my breath.

My hand spans Bella's hips, and she flips on her back while I push her up, and she lands on my palm. Solid. I don't even need to take a step for balance. It's the smoothest one-arm rewind I have ever hit since I started stunting. I am fucking hyped. I ask Bella to do a full-around on my hand, just because, and she lands it.

Emmett is cheering so obnoxiously loud when I set Bella down., but I don't even mind.

"Hand-in-hand toss, immediate lib." Coach leans forward on her chair, staring right at us.

I take a deep breath and crouch behind Bella, holding her hands, and toss her up into a handstand on my palms. My arms don't even shake as I hold her up. It's seamless, effortless. Bella is smiling right at me. She squeals as she pops to her feet, landing on my hands, and my fingers grip her right foot as she lifts her left one into a liberty position.

I let my breath out in a relieved huff, and I can't contain my smile when I set her down.

That's it. That's the entirety of the partner stunt trials. And we hit all three on the first try.

"Fuck yes," I whisper as Bella's arms wrap around my neck. I close my eyes and hug her to me, her legs circling my waist.

"You did it! You did it!" she says again and again.

I set her down and tuck the hair that came out of her ponytail behind her ears, my hands tingling. I stare at her, at her eyes, at that flush on her cheeks, at the heart-crushing, face-splitting grin on her face. My fingers linger on her cheek while I take a deep breath to gather myself, wishing I could fucking kiss her instead.

Coach clears her throat, breaking me out of it, and I look up at her, startled. She snaps her fingers and gestures for us to get off the mat, but she's clearly fighting a smile. Jasper, behind her, is shaking his head at us, arms crossed over his chest—a full smile on his face.

My hand drops from Bella's face to hover over her hand at her side, fighting the instinct that consumes me to hold it—to fucking wrap her fingers with mine—until we both awkwardly walk off the mat.

"Holy shit, babe!" Emmett is beaming as we walk closer to him. As soon as I'm in reach, he clasps a hand on my shoulder, shaking me back and forth. "That was clean AF."

My eyes are on Bella while I shake hands with Emmett, and she chuckles at the ridiculousness of our handshake. "Thank you," I whisper to her.

"That was all you," she says, smiling, her eyes on me too as she grabs our waters from our bags and hands me mine.

I just scoff and try to catch my breath because I feel like I can't breathe—all I want is my lips on hers.

Lost in her eyes, I take a gulp of my water bottle as Emmett inches closer to whisper between us. "You two desperately need to fuck."

It's not his words that have everyone looking back at us, Coach included; it's me, and the croak that comes from my throat as I choke on my water.

"Oh, babe…you're so predictable." Emmett laughs while I cough.

Bella quickly comes to my rescue, punching Emmett on his arm and pushing him away while I try not to die. She stands next to me, patting my back while I'm hands-on-knees focused on breathing through my nose.

"You okay?" she asks softly next to me, as Coach calls everyone's attention and trials resume. I nod to Bella, unable to speak yet, while I think of the ways I will hurt Emmett when this is done.

We all watch as the rest of our teammates take their second chance to go over partner stunts. While we still have to get through the running tumbling trials, I am feeling good, confident, deserving of a spot on the A Team. I will make mat. I think. I know.

With Bella standing by my side, with our fingers almost touching, with my whole body buzzing off her energy, I feel our bond get stronger. I feel invincible. There's no obstacle we couldn't tackle. No challenge we couldn't get through.

The "hands off teammates" rule does not seem to be a team rule at all, and it's just about Bella and her parents. I'm sure it will be okay. I'm good with parents. I'll win them over.

I must be high on adrenaline because I somehow find the courage to reach for her fingers, to wrap her hand with mine. She doesn't pull away. She doesn't even flinch. Instead, she links her fingers with mine.

It feels like home.