I'm baaaaack! Sorry for the delay folks! If you are at all interested in my reasons for not posting for the last three months, there's a laundry list on my profile. I won't repeat it here because we all know, nobody really wants to read them. LOL

Just a few things, I'd like to suggest, if you haven't done so already, take a look at Ringside Revelations. I've added another chapter on there; it's Jasper's POV from when he met Bella.

I also posted my Fandom for Preemies one shot titled The Silent Watcher, so check that out too if you get a chance.

What else…? Oh yeah, not mine, nor was this beta'ed.

I'm on twitter if anyone was interested (at)TheFaintHeart Come have a chat with me, I spend an ungodly amount of time over there.

I won't make a habit of doing this, but just as a reminder here's what happened in the story so far:

Jasper joined the boxing club Bella and Emmett attend. Bella was not very happy about that. Jimmy in his wisdom, suggested Jasper help give pointers to Bella on how to fight against a southpaw. Carlisle has cleared Bella to fight again after the concussion she suffered after her fight against Lauren. Jasper and Bella have had two training sessions together thus far and she is quickly changing her mind about Jasper's presence.

Chapter 9: Falling And Flying

"I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won." ~ George Foreman

Monday afternoon at the Y was a lesson in avoidance. Angela was constantly seeking me out. I knew what she wanted; gossip. I was certain she would hunt me all over the building until her curiosity was satiated. But her need for 'Bella Story Time' wasn't as strong as my need to keep all Jasper related information strictly confidential. At least until I could figure out what his angle was. His hot and cold routine was giving me whiplash; I wished he would make up his mind on how he felt about me and stay on that side. Either he liked helping me or he didn't. It should be simple really, one would think. Then again, maybe he was having the same difficulty as I had been having- I knew how I felt, albeit after much internal strife and rubber arm twisting, I could finally admit to myself that I was attracted to Jasper- I was just so conflicted as to what I should do about it.

I've never subscribed to the idea of mixing business and pleasure. Sure, I'd been hit on quite a bit in the past at tournaments and exhibition matches but I was able to put a stop to it by keeping close to Emmett's side. Not many guys were willing to approach a girl when she was next to Emmett, especially the way our relationship was. Simply put, Emmett was a handsy kind of guy. He was always tugging on my hair, a habit that carried over from our childhood, or squeezing my shoulders, or my least favourite- finding new ticklish places. When we were at matches, whenever we weren't fighting we could often be found sitting side by side sharing a pair of ear buds listening to my ipod, because mine had all the good music on it according to Emmett. Truthfully, I couldn't remember the last time I'd even seen Emmett with his own ipod.

After the end of my last yoga class and a few questions from a couple of the novice members wondering when the next level would be offered, I hightailed it to the trainer's lounge to grab my things so I could make a hasty retreat. I was a mere ten feet away from the exit door when Ang's persistence paid off.

"What's the hurry, Bella? Got a hot date you didn't tell me about?" she asked.

"No. No date. Well, that's not exactly true..." I intentionally let the sentence drop off, watching as her face lit up.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. There's a bathtub with my name on it at home, I've been thinking about it all day," I said with seriousness, but was then unable to contain my laugh as Angela's face scrunched up at the lack of juicy gossip.

"I see what you're doing, Bella. I'll let it slide for now. But you know you can talk to me, right?"

I sighed, nodding my head, "I know, Ang. Thanks. I just...I...I want to have shit figured out in my head before I open it up for discussion, you know?"

"Of course. I remember how messed up my head was when I was pining for Ben," she gave an encouraging smile, daring me to deny what she was insinuating. I took the bait.

"I am NOT pining!" Fine, I totally was, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"You're not? Could have fooled me. Tell you what…" she said thoughtfully. "I'll let you marinade for the week. You have a match this weekend, right? If you can honestly tell me by next Monday that your only issue and reason for feeling put out is because Jasper is at the club and he's taking all of Jimmy's attention, I'll retract my previous statement." Angela's face was neutral. She'd make a good poker player if I didn't already know she would never take back what she'd said. She was one of the few people I've met in my life that told you exactly what they thought and didn't blow smoke up your ass.

"Fine. And, sorry for avoiding you today," I gave her sheepish grin as I edged my way closer to the exit. I didn't want to be around if she had a change of heart and decided to put me in her interrogation seat, I'd never survive, we both knew that.

"You're forgiven. Just remember, one week from today you tell me everything. I'd come to your match to see for myself if Ben and I didn't already have plans to go out of town," she stepped aside and held her hand out, showing off the door like a model from The Price is Right. "Go on, I've got another class to teach anyways."

I didn't wait around to ask, but her faint laugh was enough for me to know she actually would have shown up to Fight Night with the sole purpose of dissecting both my and Jasper's actions rather than watching any of the fights.

…

The next morning's workout at Jimmy's lacked any sort of excitement. It wasn't a day Jasper and I had planned to meet but I still hoped he might make an appearance of some sort. My reasoning was simple; he had to train too, right? I ran for thirty minutes; no Jasper. I half-assed my way through another twenty minutes of yoga; no Jasper. I beat the shit out of that stupid speed bag, like he demanded; still no Jasper. I couldn't even enjoy the catchy musical sounds of Andrew WK pounding through the speakers overhead.

After lifting weights long enough that my arms felt like jell-o, I decided I was being one of those girls; the ones who called themselves Boxer Babes but in my head, I preferred the term Boxer Bimbos. No, I did not want to be known for waiting around, dragging out my usual training session just to get a glimpse of Jasper. Besides, it was clear he wasn't coming in this morning.

As a last-ditch effort to eat up some time, even after a mental scolding at how Ang would say 'I told you so, Bella', I made my way over to the heavy bags. I didn't have any classes to teach at the Y in the afternoon and wanted to completely exhaust my body; I decided kicking out my frustration would be fun. I couldn't actually do any kicking in the ring, so I didn't normally work on my kicks. Needless to say, it was a good thing the gym was empty for the pathetic display of skills I was showing off.

Angry with myself, I put all my remaining energy into a final round kick. It wasn't nearly a high as it could have been but it was powerful enough to send the bag swinging. Of course, I didn't take into account the laws of physics as the bag made the return trip toward me, knocking me flat on my ass.

The air wooshed out of me and I made a groan as I lay on the floor trying to catch my breath. It was safe to say I'd be sufficiently sore for the remainder of the day and probably the next as well.

"You're not going to win any fights laying around, you know"

"Go away," my retort was lacking any of its usual sarcasm.

"Not a chance. I want to savour this sight. It's not every day my favourite girl is taken down by an inanimate object," he chuckled.

"Shut up and help me up, Emmett."

"And gracious too." I rolled my eyes at the humour in his voice but accepted his hands as he held them out to pull me to my feet. "You look tired."

I shrugged in response, I was tired. "What are you doing here? Don't you have to work today? No housewives that need an extra special massage today?"

"Funny. My shift at the spa starts in an hour. I had some extra time and wanted to stop by, I haven't seen you in a few days. How things were going with Jasper?"

"Good, I suppose. He helped me with the speed bags yesterday."

Emmett's booming laughter echoed throughout the gym and he somehow managed a volume louder than I had the music playing at. He took my chin in his hand and turned my face this way and that way, making a big show of looking for any damage.

"I see you made it out alive," he finally managed to spit out between the lingering chuckles.

"Har, har. He's a better teacher than you, Mr. Just-hit-the-bag-Bella." My attempt at imitating his voice only refuelled Emmett's laughter.

"Who's a better teacher?" At the sound of another voice, I spun on my heels already knowing who the voice belonged to and was relieved that my earlier exertion had already caused a flushed face and would hide the embarrassment I could feel creep up from my chest at being caught talking about him. I didn't say anything, I wanted to, but I didn't get a chance because Emmett, who was just waiting for an opening, quickly answered Jasper's question, helping me dig the hole a little deeper.

"You are. Bella tells me you managed to get her on the speed bags yesterday? You know she NEVER goes on those things, right?" Emmett's confession caused Jasper to look at me questioningly.

"Not never," I said in a small voice. I didn't want Jasper to think I had lied to him.

"It might as well be, for all the effort you put into hitting the bag," Emmett corrected then turned to address Jasper, "did she tell you why she avoids them?"

"No, she didn't," Jasper replied still looking directly at me. I broke eye contact and looked at the floor, wishing for a trap door to open so I could fall through it and away from this conversation. It was a wasted wish and I instantly regretted brushing off any further explanation yesterday when Jasper had originally asked. Having Emmett tell the story would be much worse than it needed to be. He would likely add embellishments and probably even act it out.

"Emmett..." I warned, but it fell on deaf ears.

I stood there, watching mortified as he not only told the story, with a terribly high pitched voice I had assumed to be me, but he even managed to act it out, complete with slow-motion head whip and pitiful sounding cry at the end. Or maybe the crying was me.

I didn't say anything as Emmett laughed and Jasper politely chucked at my expense.

"Why didn't you say you were afraid of the speed bags? I wouldn't have forced you to use them," he said, concern etched across his face.

"It was no big deal. Besides, I'm not afraid of the bags." It's more like a healthy respect.

"Respect my ass. You avoided the speed bags until Jimmy demanded you to start using them," Emmett corrected.

"Whatever, I'm going to change. I'm done for the day." I didn't wait for any further comments as I made my cowardly retreat to the locker room. I should have been able to laugh at myself, I'd done so easily in the past when Emmett told that story to the other guys. But this was Jasper, he was different and I didn't want him to see me as weak.

My hand wraps pulled off easily as I paced the length of the small change area in front of the lockers. Jimmy never did tie them tight enough for me, despite my encouragement to do so. Now that I thought about it, Emmett usually tied them a little too tight. Jasper however, always managed to tie them just right. Did that make me Goldilocks? My indecision would put a tick in the 'yes' column. But then, who was my Bid Bag Wolf? Wrong fairytale. My life was definitely not a fairytale, it was actually pretty vanilla, until recently. I was downright predictable with my routine, but that was all before Jasper threw a detour in my carefully mapped-out plan. I'd been trying to do a U-turn ever since; I didn't like not having control over my life.

"Get a grip, Bella," I said aloud to myself.

I sat down on the bench and untied my boots toeing them off, my socks quickly following. I wriggled my toes a little after having been in the boots for nearly three hours. Then peeled off my sweaty top and shorts, feeling like a snake shedding its skin. My hair elastic was all that remained. My fingers slowly worked the long, damp strands free as I walked to the shower area.

I turned on the water as hot as I could tolerate in my shower stall. It was mine because I was the only female in the club and, I had claimed it with a little wire basket hanging from the shower head with my shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I could have just waited until I got home and had another long bath, but I wanted to kill some time. Enough time that I could ensure that if Jasper was here to train, he'd be occupied when I finished and I could sneak out without him noticing like he had managed to sneak in without my noticing.

That's when a thought registered in my mind, Jimmy must have fixed the door's click; that was the only answer I could come up with for how Jasper had managed to arrive and catch me off guard twice in the same week.

I took my time to wash up and then lingered in the water for a while longer letting it wash away my annoyance at Emmett and frustration at Jasper's sneak attack. Once I felt I had my emotions firmly in hand, did I shut off the water.

As I pulled back the curtain and reached for where my towel was supposed to be, I realized, I'd forgotten to bring it from my locker. I wasn't concerned about anyone seeing me, so I padded my way to my locker, pulling out my fluffy over-sized towel and secured it under my arms.

After getting dressed and towel drying my hair as much as I could, I finger combed it and left it alone. My muscles were already starting to ache from the workout and I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon. I shoved my things into my bag so I could take them home to wash and said a little prayer that I could slip past Jasper and Emmett if he was still around unnoticed.

I was pathetic enough that I opened the door a small crack so I could take a quick survey, nobody in sight. I smiled to myself as I pulled the door wide open and quickly made my way to the front. I had my hand on the knob when I remembered my ipod. Someone had shut off the music, but left it nestled in the docking station.

I was scrolling through my songs looking for something suitable for my walk home as I called my goodbye to Jimmy in his office.

"Don't forget, tomorrow is weigh-in. Be here by nine," he reminded, I rolled my eyes.

"Have I ever been late, Jimmy?" I mumbled to myself as I stepped out of the gym.

It was an overcast day, but still relatively warm so I didn't bother to put my jacket on, instead I tucked it into my bag and slid my arms through the straps. My long-sleeved thermal Henley would keep me warm enough. I pulled on my sunglasses despite the lack of direct sunlight and began my walk, wearing the glasses would be a good deterrent for anyone who tried to make eye contact on the way home.

I was approaching the entrance to the parking lot and took a quick, cautionary look up to make sure no cars were headed in my direction. And that's when I saw it, Jasper leaning on his bike talking with Emmett. He looked pissed off but I couldn't be certain from my distance. I could see the tension in Emmett's shoulders and his one hand shoved into the front pocket of his jeans. He was gesturing vaguely in the space between his body and Jasper's. This wasn't unusual for Emmett as he normally talked with his hands, but the aggressive movements gave me an indication as to what his face might look like had he been facing my way. I knew it wouldn't be his easy, care-free smile. No, I had only seen his actual angry face directed at me a hand full of times, but it was permanently etched in my memory. Lips would be pressed into a firm line, eyes cold and narrowed, staring intently at his object of loathing. That object seemed to be Jasper and whatever he was saying.

I didn't really feel like breaking up a fight, and thankfully Emmett decided the conversation was over because he was walking swiftly to his Jeep and started it up with a roar. In his current state, it would be a few hours before anyone could talk sensibly to him. Em was the type to need to mull things over, especially if he felt he wasn't in the wrong.

I stepped back into the shadow of the gym, pushing myself flush against the wall, waiting for them to leave. Whatever they were angry about, I didn't want any part of it.

I didn't have to wait long, Emmett's Jeep sped quickly out of the parking lot and then I heard the rumble of Jasper's Harley as he started it up.

Feeling like it was safe enough to come out of hiding now that Emmett had left and Jasper was obviously on his bike, ready to leave, I retraced my earlier steps, ready to begin my walk home. I looked up to see Jasper rev his engine and slowly drive toward the parking lot exit and by default, me.

I tried my best to ignore him, it didn't work. At least I couldn't complain that he snuck up on me again; I'd have to be deaf not to hear the rumble of his bike. I quickened my pace, hoping to avoid having him stop to let me pass. But I only made things worse; it seemed Jasper was intent on talking with me by the way he increased the speed of his bike. I think he may have even called out my name but the noise of the engine swallowed the words as they fell from his lips.

I was pathetic enough to pretend I didn't see his hand waving at me to wait. Only when he drove his bike directly in my path, forcing me to stop did I look up at him.

"Bella," he yelled out over the bike.

"What?" I yelled back.

"I...I wanted to..." he paused mid thought and reached for the keys in the ignition, turning it off. "That's better. I wanted to talk with you for a second. You're not in a hurry are you?"

I could answer him one of two ways, truthfully or with a lie. I was a terrible liar; he would notice my quivering lip without being told to look for it. I decided to try the truth instead.

"Not really, but I'd like to get home soonish so I can eat lunch and I still have a forty minute walk. Can we make it quick?" He nodded but didn't immediately say anything. He seemed to be searching for the right words.

"It's about what Emmett said, back in the gym."

"Look, I'm embarrassed enough about suffering two black eyes from the speed bags as it is and would rather we just forget about it, OK?" I pleaded.

"What?" he asked confused.

"I said-"

"I heard what you said," he interrupted, then continued, "but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"It's not? What else did Emmett say that would require us to have a discussion?"

"He brought up a valid point that I never took the time to consider. I was too busy trying to help to see it, though."

"Jasper, what are you talking about?"

He took a deep breath, releasing the air in a long sigh. "Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of the speed bags?"

"I told you it was fine," I reassured him.

"But it wasn't fine. I saw your hesitation when I told you what I wanted to do, but I still pushed you anyway. You should have said something to me. We could have done something else."

Concerned Jasper was cute; he had a little crease between his eyebrows where they were almost touching from concentrating so hard.

"Don't worry about it. If I really didn't want to hit the speed bags, you couldn't have made me. Besides, I knew it would be fine," I said with a smile.

"How?"

"Easy. Remember when I wasn't putting my full force into it and you told me to tuck in my elbows?"

"Yeah."

"That's when I knew I could hit it harder and nothing would happen to me," I replied with a shrug. Jasper still had the concerned look so I elaborated further, "I could tell you were watching my technique and all the little suggestions you made helped so I was able to trust that if I hit it wrong or things got out of hand, you'd be there to stop the bag from doing any harm."

He didn't say anything for a few moments and I was starting to worry I had read him wrong. I was about to fumble my way through an excuse but Jasper found his voice first.

"Of course I would have. But from now on, I need you to be completely honest with me. If I suggest something and you aren't comfortable with it, you have to tell me, OK?"

"Sure. But I don't want you to take it easy on me just because you are worried about me. I can handle myself."

"I don't doubt that you can't."

"Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow at the weigh-in then." I began to walk around his bike but his hand on my arm stopped me.

"Did you want a ride?" he asked sounding hopeful. Something told me Jasper wasn't the type to offer rides, it was likely the opposite; girls asking for a ride.

"No, that's fine." I answered and his face fell a little. "It's just that I don't see a second helmet and Charlie would KILL me if he knew I rode a bike without one."

"Wait, I do have an extra helmet," he smiled as he twisted awkwardly to reach the side bag I hadn't noticed and magically produced another helmet. It wasn't like Jasper's military helmet but it was very feminine looking and had a small rose decal on the back. I didn't want to even think about how many different girls had wore it. "See? Now you have no excuse." He held it out in front of me expectantly. He was right. I didn't really have a good excuse anymore. And I did want to go for a ride.

I rolled my eyes at myself. I probably would have ridden it without a helmet, Charlie's wrath be damned, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"OK." I reached up, running my hands through my hair, pushing it out of my face and grabbed the helmet, securing it in place with the chin strap. I quickly tucked my ipod into the pocket of my pants and looked up assessing the beautiful red bike.

"Hop on!" he said excitedly. I returned his warm smile and took his offered hand as I swung my leg over the seat. Once I was settled with a respectable distance between us, he turned his head and spoke over his shoulder, "where to?"

I gave him directions to my townhouse and he started up the engine, revving it a few times. I could feel the power underneath me as I gripped onto the sides of the seat.

"Give me your hand," Jasper called loudly over the bike.

I held my hand out expecting him to hand me something. Instead, he grabbed it and wrapped it around his abdomen, placing my hand on his waist.

"Oh." I replied lamely. I could feel warmth on my cheeks but managed to hide my face between his shoulders as I reached around with my other hand.

"It'll help keep the bike balanced better if you lean with me when we turn," he offered in explanation. I nodded my head even though he couldn't see it.

He inched the bike to the edge of the parking lot exit. When a couple of cars had passed, he turned onto the street. The jerky movement startled me and I slid as close to him as I could so that the inside of my legs were straddling the outside of his, then I tightened my arms and my hands found purchase on his belt. I though I heard him chuckle but couldn't be certain over the acceleration of the bike as we gained speed.

After a few minutes I was able to relax and began to enjoy the ride. I tried to ignore the way my body felt practically wrapped around his, but his solid warmth and the flexing of his muscles at the slightest movements was doing dangerous things to me. He was also wearing a long-sleeved shirt and hadn't bothered with his leather jacket. While the leather was hot, if he had wore it, I wouldn't have been able to feel so close to him and would have had to imagine the way he felt instead of experiencing it for myself. I was enjoying this ride far too much for my own good.

The wind was a bit cool, but it felt nice. My hair was flying behind me and I imagined it to look somewhat like a superhero's cape. I was going to have a hard time brushing the tangles out. I couldn't be bothered to care.

It didn't take long for Jasper to pull into the parking lot of the complex. I pointed out my Expedition and he expertly pulled the bike into my second parking spot. My hands were still clutching his belt as he shut off the bike. I was sad the ride was over.

I gave him a small squeeze in thanks and let go. He held out his hand again and I took it for balance as I climbed off the bike.

"Thanks, Jasper. That was really fun." I smiled at him as I unfastened the strap and handed him the helmet back. I ran my fingers through my hair trying to fight off the hat-hair as he slipped the helmet back into the side bag he had originally pulled it from. My fingers kept getting caught up on the knots so I gave up.

He looked up at me with a large lazy grin and replied, "no problem, Bella. Any time you want another ride, just let me know."

I didn't want to read too far into his statement so I just smiled back at him. "See you tomorrow, Jasper. We're still training after the weigh-in, right?"

He nodded and replied with his own devilish smirk, "yes, I've got to show you how to kick something without falling over now."

I rolled my eyes at him and stepped up onto the sidewalk. "Goodbye, Jasper."

"Goodbye, Bella," he mimicked.

I turned and walked up the steps. I listened as he started the bike when I reached the top. I unlocked the door and forced myself not to turn around to look at him one last time as I walked into my house. I'd be seeing him again in less than twenty-four hours.

The next chapter is the weigh-in and Fight Night. Who is excited to see The Major fight? I know I am. *wags eyeborws*

I'm up for suggestions for more JPOV. Let me know what you want and I'll do my best to write another snippit! It can be anything really, missing moments, what Jasper thought during a particular scene. I'll choose the one that gets the most requests, unless it gives away important plot lines that I'm not ready to reveal just yet.

Those of you kind enough to review get to choose between an "extra special massage" from Emmett or a ride on Jasper's bike. What to choose, what to choose?

Thanks as always for reading!

~TheFaintHeart