Not mine. Not beta'ed

If anyone was interested, I wrote a oneshot for the Many Faces of Jasper Contest being held by the Darlins. It's on my profile titled Ringside Revelations. It's a side-shot of this story told from Jasper's perspective. It tells how Jasper got into boxing and how he got his nickname. I'm sure those of you who wondered about that might be interested to read.

I've also got the link to the Darlins blog if you feel so inclined to vote for any of the fantastic stories. Voting Runs until Dec 6.

This will be my last update for a while as I am leaving tomorrow for a two week vacation. I won't have access to the interwebs nor do I have a laptop to bring to work on the story...but I will try to get something posed in between the Christmas and New Year break!

Chapter 8: Just Another Day At The Office

"Attack is only one half of the art of boxing." ~ Georges Carpentier

Because I'm a keener and wanted to get the upper hand, I was at the gym an hour before Jasper and I had agreed to meet. I wanted to show my commitment and confirm how serious I was to following whatever plan he had concocted. I may have also wanted to watch him as he arrived.

Normally I would have gotten my cardio by running to the gym. However, I was fairly certain today would be as difficult as Saturday's session so I drove with plans to get my usual run in on the machines while I waited for Jasper to strut through the front door. By eight o'clock I'd ran five miles and Jasper still hadn't shown up. I was beginning to get anxious and slightly panicky that he might have changed his mind or forgot. I assuaged my worries with a reminder that we had agreed on half past eight not eight; he still had another thirty minutes to show up.

After wiping down the treadmill and drinking a large portion of my water I decided the only way to calm my worries was to get in some yoga. I usually reserved it for a quick stretch before a session but with the way I was second guessing things I needed to clear my mind and yoga was the best way for me to achieve it.

I made my way to change the play list on my iPod that was playing through the club's speakers. I was the only one in the gym aside from Jimmy and he never really said anything about my musical selections so I knew he wouldn't care what I put on as long as it wasn't that "rap-crap" as he liked to call it. Scrolling through, I found one of the play lists I used for my yoga classes; string quartet covers of all my favourite rock songs which included a large amount of Coheed and Cambria songs. I tried to tell myself that I picked that particular play list because I liked it and not because Jasper had said he liked the band as much a I.

Hey, Pinocchio, how's that long nose treating you?

Sighing and rolling my eyes at myself for yet another internal debate about Jasper, I began stretching and deep breathing in attempt to stop any further thoughts. As I slowly allowed everything around me to slip away, I closed my eyes and focused on the music and my movement from one position to the next. I was completely unaware of anything around me, forgetting that I was waiting for Jasper to arrive. After a while I began to feel relaxed and calm as any concerns regarding Jasper's imminent arrival slid away like my favourite Teflon frying pan.

Somewhere across the room, I heard what I thought was someone coughing but figured it was just Jimmy and didn't bother to open my eyes to check for certain.

That was the problem with yoga sometimes, when letting it take over, it was near impossible to break me out of my focus unless I was startled, or of course if I was interrupted by Jimmy's annoying cough, yet again. The guy needed to get a glass of water or Halls or something, he was beginning to sound like an emphysema patient.

I let a long breath out of my nose in irritation. When Jimmy coughed for what I was certain was the fourth, maybe fifth time, only slightly louder, I allowed a quiet growl out and was thinking of offering to get him something to help with his throat, even if it did mean I'd have to push back my session with Jasper. A few moments of quiet passed and I figured he was fine and tried to return to my meditation. I wasn't so lucky however, because his next throat-based noise was much closer and sounded suspiciously like he was trying to get my attention.

Furrowing my brow and sighing in defeat I asked, "Jimmy, do you want me to call Carlisle about that throat for you?"

"That won't be necessary," a voice answered. A voice that I knew wasn't Jimmy's. Shit. Opening my eyes confirmed my suspicions as I saw Jasper standing a few feet away, looking down at me with a smirk. How did I not hear him when he arrived? I had been listening for the click the door makes when it closes. I didn't hear the click. Why didn't I hear the damn click? Maybe Jasper was part ninja and was trained in stealth; it would definitely explain his ability to sneak up on me. Maybe I was part crazy and just needed to get my hearing checked.

"You sure about that, Jasper? Sounds like you're catching something," I retorted raising a well practiced eyebrow in response to his smirk. Surprise covered his face and his lips twitched, then relaxed into a natural line. Take that, smirky-lips, my eyebrows have more power; I have variety on my side where as you are a one trick pony.

I must have looked smug because suddenly he laughed at my sarcasm as he ran his hands through his hair, gathering it and wrapping an elastic around the strands. I watched as his biceps flexed with his movements. He was dressed similarly to what he wore on Saturday, black boots and shorts, this time paired with a deep blue wife beater, it was well worn and slightly frayed around the collar. I realized I had been staring long enough when I noticed the steel of his eyes really stood out next to the blue of his shirt. Jasper cleared his throat again, breaking me of my obvious physical assessment.

"You ready to get started?"

"Of course, let me just shut off the music." I stood up, ready to do just that when Jasper shook his head at me and walked toward the speed bags.

"Leave the music, I like it. Who is it? I mean I recognize that it's a cover of Coheed but not who."

I smiled in spite of myself as I followed behind. "The Vitamin String Quartet, they cover a lot of different bands." Jasper nodded his head at my answer.

He stopped in front of the long row of teardrop-shaped brown bags and looked over at me with a smile. The smile grew a little larger albeit slightly lopsided when he looked down at my bare hands. I had tried to get my hand wraps on before I started my warm-up, but again failed miserably and had planned on asking Jimmy once I saw Jasper arrive. Obviously, that plan didn't go so well.

"Where are your hand wraps?" he asked.

"Over by the mat, I'll just go ask Jimmy to help me put them on. I'll be right back."

"No need to, Bella. Just bring them over here, I'll help you with them," he called as I quickly returned to my mat and grabbed my water bottle at the same time. As much as I wanted to feel his hands on me again, I was fearful he'd be able to see the desire written across my body once he did. I liked his touch far too much for my own good. He was here to help my boxing skills not fuel my desires and give me fantasizing material.

I didn't say anything as I handed over the light blue strips of cloth. I had chosen powder blue shorts and tank top today and had a pair of hand wraps that matched exactly which was why I wasn't using the same black ones as before. Even if it wasn't for a boxing match, I was still superstitious and liked to have everything the same color, including hand wraps if I had them. Emmett had taken to buying them in various colors any time social etiquette dictated he give me a gift. It would be funny if I wasn't so obsessed with keeping my routine the same.

"So how often would you say you use the speed bags?" Jasper asked as he unfolded my hand wraps and pointed to my left hand indicating for me to hold it out for him.

"Probably a couple of times a week, they are not my favourite, I have to admit."

"Really, why?" he asked, eyes darting up to my face and then back to my hand as he continued to pull and tighten the fabric between my fingers.

"Well, I guess that would be Emmett's fault, really," I said with a small smile and a quiet laugh.

"Oh?" He had finished with my left hand and looked at me, waiting for an explanation. I shook my head at him. There was NO way I was going to tell him how I managed to give myself two black eyes the first time Emmett put me in front of the bag after his simplistic instructions of 'Just hit it, Bella'.

"Let's just say, that's another story for another time. Em still bugs me about it, even if it was his fault," I mumbled the last part to myself.

"I can understand that. It's not like we're friends, right?" there was a sudden stiffness to his voice, I didn't like it. It reminded me of when we were first introduced, I thought we were past that brush-off nonsence. Not to mention I felt my heart sink into my boots at his conclusion of us not being friends. Was he still angry at me for the pancakes? Had someone said something to him? Had I said something to provoke his sudden mood swing? Maybe he didn't even want to help me and was only doing this as a favour to Jimmy. I felt self-conscious and tried to grab my other hand wrap from Jasper as he looked at me with a blank expression. That was worse than the smirk, at least with the smirk his eyes had a spark of challenge in them; now they were hard and sparkless. I felt the need to give him a reprieve from his community service; I wouldn't keep him if he didn't want to be here.

"You're right. Let me have my other wrap and I'll put it on myself." I held out my right hand, palm up, looking at his chest waiting for him to place the cloth in my hand. Instead, I felt his warm calloused finger tip run across the skin of my wrist, fingering the faint lines and ink.

"What's this?" he asked, looking up at me but still holding on to my wrist.

"A tattoo?" I asked back, unsure if he was referring to the design or the tattoo itself.

"I know it's a tattoo, Bella," he replied, then continued his inspection of my wrist. "I meant, what is it of? That's white ink, right? It must be, it's so faint."

"Yeah, it's white ink. It's just a simple triangle with curled ends. It was the only option I could go with and still be able to hide it from my parents," I smiled and continued, "Em and I came up to Seattle on my eighteenth birthday and got tattoos together. It was a rebellious thing for us to do. I was scared shitless the entire drive home. I thought for sure Charlie would be able to tell what I had done the moment I walked back into the house. I was freaking out and paranoid."

"What did he think?"

"Well, we walked into the house and I went straight to the kitchen to make supper. Em sat on the couch and watched TV with my dad. During one of the commercial breaks, he lifted up his shirt sleeve and asked Charlie what he though of his tattoo of what he could see through the plastic that was still on. It was some tribal design all the guys were getting at the time. I tried to convince him to pick something else less trendy but he insisted it was what he wanted. In any event, Charlie said it looked good and that was it." Jasper smiled slightly at the story and looked back down at my wrist tracing the lines. I was hypnotized watching his finger move back and forth.

"So, what did he say about yours?"

I laughed at the memory. "I managed to hide it for a month, it had healed and I kind of forgot about it. Then, one day we were eating supper and Emmett was over, he asked me to pass him the ketchup. He was sitting across the table from me and Charlie was at the head of the table. As I was passing the bottle, I heard a fork drop. It was then that I realized my mistake. I had exposed my wrist in plain sight and Charlie saw it." Jasper chuckled lightly and I joined him for a moment, happily enjoying the easy atmosphere. "The best part was that he didn't even get mad, I was arguing with him that I was an adult and I had designed it and wanted it and paid for it with my own money. All he said was 'At least it's not some black barbed wire looking thing'," I said, imitating Charlie's gruff monotone voice. "But the best part was when Emmett figured out Charlie was talking about his tattoo, he said 'Chief, I thought you liked my tattoo, I'm hurt!'. Then he asked to see it closer and nodded his head like he was looking as my report card or something,"

"That's funny," Jasper said with a smile. I nodded in agreement. Then after one final touch to my tattoo, he turned my hand over and methodically wrapped my wrist. I didn't want to say anything to ruin Jasper's mood so I simply watched him. He had a slight furrow to his eyebrows as he concentrated on getting it tight enough yet not cutting off my circulation. When he was finished he let my hand fall to my side and raised his eyes to mine, a look of seriousness wiped away any remnants of the smile that had filled his face only minutes before.

"I want to see what you can do with this bag here. The faster you can get, the better reaction time you'll have in the ring, so it's important that you work at this for more than just a couple of times a week. Regardless of whether you like it or not."

I nodded my head and sighed in defeat. The Major had returned and wouldn't let me get away with anything less than my best effort. If our first session was any indication of the results he could get out from me, I figured it was best to just listen and do as he asked. I would follow his instructions and be a good little member of his army. At least this time, he had given me a reason for why I was pounding on the bag instead, I had a goal of sorts to work toward. We both had given in a little of our hard-headed attitude, although Jasper still wore his mask of determination. I decided I would stand at that bag everyday, black eyes be damned, if it meant Jasper would be right beside me watching and offering his suggestions the entire time. He didn't disappoint as I pounded relentlessly on the bag, as he instructed me to tuck in my elbow more and widen my stance, for almost an hour.

By the end, my arms were leaden and heavy. But I was satisfied with my effort and pleased that Jasper didn't seem to feel the need to push me into snapping like last time. Hooray for tiny miracles. I understood that he was trying to help hone another facet to use in my defence against a southpaw. I couldn't find it in me to hate him for his methods, especially when he smiled at me when he said we were finished. I'd do it all again if it kept that proud smile on his face.

I know, it's a shorty chapter...but I wanted to give you something before I left.

There's a link on my profile of Bella's tattoo if anyone wanted to see it.

Finally, I want to say thanks for all the alerts, favourites and reviews this story has recieved. And, even if you don't review, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my words.

~TheFaintHeart.