Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognizable characters and situations contained therein. All original content contained in this story is property of the author. Story is rated M and may contain Graphic language, violent content, mild to moderate drug use, descriptions of domestic violence, and sexual situations.

**1 week later, July 21st, Paul POV**

Dad greets me at the gym, "Pauly! Come over here!"

Going over to him, I see a couple of guys I don't know, "Hey Dad, what's up?"

He gestures at the two men, "These guys are here from the Cullen camp."

Looking at them with my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, I ask, "What do you want?"

The taller one answers, "Mr. Cullen demands a rematch! For the title!"

Raising an eyebrow at him, I scoff, "Really? Why would I give him a rematch? He was holding in the second fucking round! He doesn't deserve a match with me right now. Tell him that just because he lost to the champ, it don't make him number one contender. As far as I'm concerned, he's at the back of the line."

The tall one looks pissed, "Than we will bring it to the governing body. We'll take it to the NWRBA."

Snorting derisively, I reply, "Yeah? You're going to take it to the NWRBA? You go ahead and do that. This is boxing, not Professional Wrestling. Cullen isn't the defeated champ. We went into the match as 'equals', but we're not equal anymore. I'm on top, he's at the back of the line. You tell him to fight his way up, and I'll face him for the title when he's earned it."

Tall douche snorts back, "We'll see what the association has to say about it."

I shrug dismissively, "I guess we will."

The men storm out, and I turn to dad, "You think they'll give it to him?"

He shrugs, "I dunno, Son. It's probably a good possibility that if they don't want to initially his daddy will slip them some cash, and they'll end up giving it to him anyway. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Come on, go get ready and lets get started."

**Another week later. Still PPOV**

Getting ready to go to the gym I grab the mail out of the box and bring it inside. Flipping through it I see the water bill, my credit card bill, phone bill, advertisement, and a letter to me with the NWRBA logo in the corner.

Dropping the rest of the mail on the kitchen table, I grab the letter, rip it open, and start reading, 'Dear Mr. Dixon, The Cullen camp has formally requested a rematch for the title. This is an unusual request to be brought to the Association as fight scheduling is usually dealt with by the fighters in question. They say that they have approached you and that you have declined. As you have no matches lined up for the next 3 months we have decided to grant their request, and we ask that you schedule the fight for no sooner than August 18th, and no later than September 23rd. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Jason Haver, President, NWRBA.'

You have got to be kidding me… I can't fucking believe they gave it to him! Money must have changed hands. Cullen and his fucking rich daddy. Seething, I grab my keys and take the letter with me out the door to my car.

Getting in, I make the quick drive over to the Rec Center. Getting out I slam the door, and head inside. My dad calls out to me, "Hey Pauly!"

Storming over to him I thrust the letter into his hands. He takes it, gives it a once over, and raises an eyebrow at me, "So what? What you all hot under the collar for? You knew there was a good chance they'd give it to him. We talked about this, and we've been going like we're in training anyway."

I sigh, he's right. We had talked about it, and we had been going under the assumption that they would indeed go in Cullen's favor. Really I was just mad that the rich asshole had decided to buy his rematch rather than earn it. Just one more reason he wasn't good enough to face me.

Shrugging, I reply, "I know. I'm just pissed that the douche decided to buy his fucking rematch. They may as well put an asterisk next to the match and be done with it."

Dad shakes his head, climbing down from the ring, and getting in my face, "Don't you fucking talk like that Paul! This guy is not to be taken lightly! I don't care that you humiliated him the last time, now is NOT the time to get complacent. You get complacent, and you give him the advantage. You listen to me, Boy. You train for this match just as hard, if not harder than you have trained for any match before it. After the humiliation you dealt that guy last time, you can bet that he's going to be training harder than he's ever trained before."

Hanging my head a little, I reply, "Yes, sir. You're right. I'm gunna go get changed."

He nods back, "Damn right. Lets get this turned up to high gear. We have a match to prepare for."

Changing quickly into my gear I do my own wraps, testing the tension, and finding it just about perfect I grab my gloves and go back out to the ring. Sam is in the middle, and I decide that I need someone more Cullen's speed, which would be slower than Sam, but with more muscle.

Looking around, I see Quil Ateara, training with one of the other guys in the corner of the room. I don't know him that well, he's younger than me, and he's always hung with Jake Black, and Sam's half brother Embry. He was built a lot more like Cullen than Sam though, wider, more muscle mass, and definitely slower.

Dad sees me looking, and he nods, before calling out, "Ateara, come over here."

The guy turns, "Who, me?"

Dad raises an eyebrow at him, "You're Ateara, aren't ya?"

He nods, and comes over, "Yes, Sir."

Dad looks at me, and I nod. He turns back to Quil, "How'd you like to spar with The Champ?"

Quil looks stunned, "Me? With Dire? Are you sure?"

Dad nods, "You're built more like Cullen than any of the guys we usually use, if you give him a run, we may even put you on the payroll. You'll get 200 for today, guys on payroll get 350 a session, and a guaranteed 2 sessions a week."

Ateara gulps, "I'll do my best, Sir."

He climbs into the ring, and Dad helps me with my gloves, "Go get him, champ."

I get into the ring, and cross over to him, we bump fists, and move to our sides. Everyone in the rec center is watching, they always watch when someone new goes up against me.

Sam, and J go over to Quil's side, they always take the newbie's side. They pep talk him, while Dad whispers to me, "He's a big one, good pick. You think he's gunna give you a run?"

Smiling, I reply, "I hope so, be a shame to be that built and have nothing behind it."

One of the guys rings the bell, and I meet Quil in the center of the ring. He's guarding himself well, keeps his hands up, and his arms in. We circle for a minute, and I aim a jab at his head, just to see what he'll do.

He takes advantage of the opening, jerking his head out of the path of my fist, while simultaneously throwing a left to my side which connects with a sharp thud. Kid can hit, the dull throb seeps into my side. He throws a left and it's my turn to dodge. I circle to the side and bounce a right hook off his headgear leaving him momentarily dazed.

He shakes it off, and comes back, throwing an uppercut into my ribs, forcing me back and letting go a flurry of hits to my midsection. I can feel myself hit the ropes, bouncing against them, throwing my arms out, and grabbing Quil around the neck in a hold.

Damn, this kid is good. Catching my breath, I shove him back, and let go with a flurry of hits, getting in a good combo of my own. He breaks away, and we circle again, eyeing each other, as the bell rings.

Going back to my corner, Dad gives me some water which I swish around, and spit out into the bucket he holds. He looks at me, "Kids got more strength than Cullen, but just like him, he's slow. You gotta use your speed Pauly. That's what's going to win you the fight."

The bell rings again, and I go out to the middle of the ring. Quil has a determined look in his eye, and he comes at me immediately, I use my quickness and side step the blow, coming back with one of my own, connecting with his ribs.

Doing what my dad told me to do, I string together punches into combinations quick as I can, keeping Quil on the ropes. He dodges a straight shot to the head and hits me with a ferocious jab to the midsection, momentarily knocking the wind out of me.

Falling on my knees I wheeze, trying to catch my breath. I can hear Quil next to me, "Oh fuck! Shit, I'm sorry man! I didn't mean to…"

Dad cuts him off, "Don't fuckin apologize to him! You did what you were supposed to do! He wasn't guarding himself. Congrats Kid, you're on the payroll. Tomorrow, 5am be ready to run. Sammy over there will get all your information on paper, and you'll get a check the end of next week."

Finally managing to catch my breath, I pick myself up off the mat, and go over to Quil, "Dude. Good punch. Don't ever apologize for doing your job. If you don't land hits, I don't learn, and if I don't learn, I lose."

He nods, and heads off to hit the showers. Dad comes over to me, "He got you a good one. You got your breath back yet?"

Chuckling a little, I respond, "Yeah, I'm good. So when do you think we should schedule the fight for?"

Dad goes over to the desk in the corner, and checks the calendar, "How do you feel about August 25th? That gives you just about 4 weeks to get ready."

Shrugging, I reply, "Sounds good to me. You'll make the arrangements?"

He nods, "Yeah, of course. I'll get on the phone with them back at the house. You go get a shower, and I'll meet you back there."

I nod, and he gets his stuff together as I go back into the locker room. I grab my stuff and shower quickly, toweling off, and changing into a clean pair of shorts and a tee shirt before heading back out to my car.

Taking the drive home a bit more leisurely than I took the drive in. I'm looking forward to working with Quil, though I know that it'll be only a matter of time before the kid goes pro himself. He's built like Cullen, but he has more strength behind his hits, and with my dad helping him he'll build his endurance up and he'll be out their winning matches of his own soon enough.

Pulling into the drive, I walk into the house just in time to hear my dad yell, "What the fuck do you mean you want the fight in LA! This fight is for the North Western Heavyweight Championship, it should be fought for in the NORTH WEST, not Southern freaking California! This is ridiculous! You want it off our turf that's fine, move it to Oregon, or someplace in Northern California, hell, I would even accept Reno Nevada since that's more north than LA is!"

Going into the room, I respond, "Dad, don't worry about it. Make the fight."

He looks at me, "Son are you sure?"

I nod, "I'm positive. Make the fight."

Dad sighs, and talks into the phone, "Fine. Dire has spoken, he'll take the fight in LA. We expect 55% of the purse for our inconvenience."

They must have agreed because Dad grins, "Okay, call me back when you have the particulars worked out."

He hangs up the phone, and sets it down on the table, "This is a big one Pauly. Either way you look at it we're gunna make a lot of money off of this fight."

I grin at him, "Well that's good to know, but we're in this to win it Dad. I just got the belt, I'm not ready to give it up yet."

He grins back, "Me either, Son. Me either."

**2 and a half weeks later BPOV**

Things with Emmett have gone from bad to worse ever since I moved to LA. I'm starting to think he's on steroids or something, Em's always been big, but ever since the day after he lost the fight to Paul Dixon he has been packing on muscle like nothing I've ever seen before.

His attitude has been the same, any little thing can set him off, but I only really see him for about 3 hours a day so thankfully it isn't really affecting me. His parents had given us the guest house, and after a week of his mother and sister torturing me, I had finally put my foot down and asked them not to come see me.

So now I spend my days cleaning an already clean house, and wishing that I was home with my dad. The front door opens, and I sigh, Em's home. Going out into the main hallway, I paste a smile to my face, "Hey honey!"

He sneers at me, "You're putting on weight Bella. You need to start working out with my mom and Alice. Let them put you on their diet."

Looking down at my body, I don't see anything any different, but I don't want to argue with him, so I reply, "Okay. I'll give your mom a call tomorrow."

He glares at me, "No. We're going up to the main house for dinner tonight. Jasper and Rose, and Peter are joining us. Go get changed."

Keeping the smile carefully in place, I nod, and go into my room to change. I pull out one of the many Alice approved outfits that have replaced my regular wardrobe, and put on the skimpy skirt and tight top before pulling on the too high heels.

Going back out to the hallway, he looks me over, still he doesn't touch me, or come near me as he says, "You look fat, but the clothes are nice. Let's go."

**Paul POV**

The last 2 and a half weeks of training have flown by, but I learned day by day, and finally today I had whooped Quil's ass all over the ring. The fight is a week and a half away and I can't wait to see the look on Cullen's face after I beat him again.

I head up the path to Sam and Leah's place, and let myself in to find her with the man I know to be Bella Swan's dad, "Hey Lee. Evening Chief."

He smiles at me, "Evening Paul. Thanks for the talk, Leah hon. I'm looking forward to your parents anniversary party next week."

She smiles at him, "Sure thing Uncle Charlie. See you later."

He leaves, and I sit down at the table, "So, uh, what was that about?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, "Fishing for information?"

I shrug, and she continues, "He misses his daughter. She moved to LA. Just like you said she would. He says he's talked to her almost every day, and that she sounds more and more depressed each day. He gave me her number, and asked me to call her."

Trying to sound nonchalant, I ask, "Well? Are you going to?"

Leah shrugs, "No, I don't think so. She wouldn't want to hear from me, Paul. We've never been friends."

She slides the paper across to me, "I figure she'd rather hear from you."

Licking my lips, I ask, "Why?"

She sighs, "I don't know. Maybe I've been thinking about what you said. Maybe I've been talking to Sam about it too, and maybe I think that you're right. Maybe she is in danger, and maybe I think you're the one who can talk her into coming home."

Looking at Leah, I see that she has real emotion in her eyes, and I can't help but chuckle, "Her old man is right, isn't he? Deep down, the two of you really do like each other don't you?"

She shrugs, "Maybe. Just. Please call her. And don't tell her where you got her number."

I nod, "Your secret is safe with me. I'll tell her I asked Jake for it."

She nods, "good plan. Thank you."

Nodding, I reply, "No problem. Is Sam around?"

She shakes her head, "Nope, he's on a job up in Forks."

Standing up, I say, "Aight, you want me to stick around til he gets back?"

She shakes her head, "Nah, I'm alright. Go home, use that number okay?"

I nod, "I will."

Leah gives me a hug, and I head out the door, the piece of paper with Bella Swan's number gripped in my hand.

**Time skip the next morning still PPOV**

I send a text out to my guys, 'I'm taking a personal morning. I'll meet you guys at the beach at 9 if you want to do sprints with me.'

Taking the piece of paper with Bella's number off my nightstand, I stare at it intently for a few minutes. It's a Forks number still, so lets say she moved to LA a week after she and I talked on the beach. She's been there for a maximum 3 weeks and hasn't changed her number yet.

You'd think that would be the first thing she'd have done. Though maybe she keeps it that way for her dad. Picking my cell up, I key in the number, and listen to it ring. She picks up on the 3rd ring, and her voice is groggy, "Hello?"

Shit, I'm a complete idiot, it's like barely 7 in the morning, but I figured this would be the safest time to call, "Hey, Bella. It's Paul."

She gasps, "Paul? Paul Dixon?"

I reply, "Yeah, look, I'm sorry to wake you. I just figured that this early in the morning, I'd be sure to catch you alone. I don't want to cause you any trouble."

She snorts derisively, "I don't think you could cause me any more trouble than I've already got."

I hear the sadness and bitterness in her voice, as she continues, "Look, I don't know how you got my number. It's nice to hear from you, but I thought I made myself clear that day on the beach. I can't talk to you. If Emmett found out…"

Cutting her off, I ask her sharply, "Is he hurting you?"

She laughs, "I guess it depends on how you define hurt. He's not abusing me, I promise you. He hasn't even touched me once since I've been here."

I hear the double meaning, and I respond to it, "Really? Not once? Look, I won't call you again, you have my number now. If you need to reach me, you call. I want to get this off my chest though. Cullen is a fucking moron. You've been there how long?"

She answers, "Just about 3 and a half weeks."

I snort, "And he hasn't touched you once?"

She freezes, and stutters into the phone, "I, I have to go Daddy. Esme, and Alice just walked in."

I tilt my head in confusion, assuming Esme and Alice are part of Cullen's family, I listen to her continue, "I'll call you soon. Love you too Dad."

She hangs up, and I stare at my phone for a minute. Well. That was productive. Laying back on my bed, I stare up at the ceiling. So things with her and Cullen are definitely not all rainbows and butterflies. Seems to me they're pretty bad actually. Shitty that she's so stubborn that no matter what she'll try to stick it out. I guess I can only hope he screws up huge.

Now though, I need to concentrate on training.