Title: Sin City

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer

All I do is win win win no matter what
Got money on my mind I can never get enough
And every time I step up in the buildin'
Everybody hands go up
And they stay there
And they say yeah
And they stay there
Up down, up down, up down
'Cause all I do is win win win

I smiled at the backpack that I had filled with clothes for our two nights in Vegas. I had worked out the details of our little trip and felt quite proud of myself. I had never done anything like this, so if it went successfully, I'd feel more affirmed. The anticipation leading up to it nearly killed me again, but it was finally here.

"You ready to leave?" Jake called from the living room of my house. I snatched up the backpack and was standing next to him in less than a second. He jumped slightly at my quick appearance and then laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."

"No need to wait any longer." I grinned as we began to leave out the back door. I had no clue if vampires were good at gambling, but I assumed that we would be given our heightened senses and dazzling presence. I nearly snorted at the idea of me being dazzling, but according to Jake, I got the job done.

It felt like the run down to Vegas passed by in a blur. It still impressed me that Jake was able to keep up with me for long periods of time. We only stopped for Jake to rest a couple of times. It was actually working in our favor since I needed the sun to be down by the time we arrived in Vegas. I just hoped he wouldn't be too tired since the fun was just about to begin.

We stopped on the outskirts of the city just as twilight was filling the sky. I could already see the illuminating life that was Las Vegas. It was like the Strip was the only things my eyes would focus on even from 30 miles out.

"Why are we at Lake Mead?" Jake questioned, eyeing me with suspicion. I laughed and shook my head towards him. Wasn't it obvious?

"You smell like a dirty wolf and I'm covered in dirt, leaves, and probably dead bugs. We're gonna sneak in and clean up before we try to appear normal in public." I explained, leading the way into the lake. There were a few pathetic fences that would definitely stop a human and a steep slide down a mountain waiting for us.

"You really do think of everything." Jake muttered with amusement as we dropped into the water. It held a chill, but it was nothing to someone with frozen skin.

"It's my job. All I really get to do is think." I sighed. Content came over me as I felt the muck being washed off of my body. We only took a couple minutes before racing to where we left the backpacks. We could easily evade humans if we were caught, but I'd rather keep the trip problem free, at least for Jake's sake. Sam would chew him out if he found out we stirred up more trouble than necessary.

"Sounds like its pretty boring." Jake admitted while he was drying off with the small towel he brought. I grabbed my own towel and did the same.

"It can be." I shrugged, swinging my hair around in circles, drying it as fast as I could. I was satisfied with its sexy shagginess and motioned for Jake to turn around. He did and I quickly pulled on my dress.

It was one of the few things that were left behind after Edward left. I'm pretty sure he forgot it existed since I pretended it never did. I snagged it in one of my lone trips to Charlie's in the middle of the night. Alice had bought it for me even though I complained about it. I never once wore it while I was human; I might have fainted if I did. It was a sexy red sequin dress that was perfect for Las Vegas. It fit me like a second layer of skin. The neckline plunged and ended a few inches above my belly button. A pair of black heels completed the outfit enough to my liking. If I was still human, there would be a blush covering my entire body.

"Can I turn around now?" Jake asked impatiently. I could tell he was ready to get going into the city. I gave him a "mhm" and he let out a low whistle when he looked me over. "Damn Bells. I'm going to have to fight off guys all night." He grumbled lightheartedly and shook his head.

"You clean up nice yourself." I teased, giving him a catcall in playing. Jake did look really nice. He had on a red satin shirt that I didn't even know he owned and a pair of black dress pants with matching shoes. We had matched on accident.

"You might have the telepathy thing too." Jake grinned when he noticed how well we matched. I shrugged with a smile and we made our way into Sin City.

Las Vegas was even more magnificent from up close. It felt like the marquee lights went on forever and ever as we strolled down the crowded streets. The smell that the city released was definitely one of the worst things I've ever smelled. It was even worse than the smell of the entire pack in one room. The city reeked of alcohol, drugs, sweat, and blood.

"I'm glad I didn't have this idea when I was a newborn." I muttered, my distain for the smell showing. Jake laughed and nodded.

"There wouldn't be a soul left." He shuddered at the thought as we continued towards our first casino; Caesar's Palace. It was already quite the adventure just walking down the street. We were getting stares and dirty compliments from both men and women. I felt like I'd have to wash my ears clean to get some of the vulgar stuff that was said out of my brain.

I was incredibly thankful that our fake got us into the casino without a single problem or questioning glance. It may have been the dazzling thing that helped out on top of it as well. Caesar's Palace was incredible. My ears were flooded with the sounds of people chatting, screaming in joy or anger, laughing, and lots of dirty comments. The sounds of machines ringing and spinning filled them as well. Music was playing, but it wasn't the thumping kind of loud that I expected. It blended into the rest of the background noise. The repulsive scent was even stronger inside, but none of it mattered once I saw the gambling taking place.

"Ready?" I asked, looking over to Jake with an excited smile. His expression matched my own as we rushed over towards the Blackjack table. The way we ended up sitting reminded me of every Las Vegas casino movie scene I had ever seen. I sat in the chair with Jake standing protectively next to me, his arm firmly around my shoulder. I'd have to tell him about this cliché later since the dealer looked at me with lust filled eyes.

"Hey there pretty lady. We're startin' a new round. You want in?" The dealer looked like an older washed up version of Mike Newton. I nodded and slid one of my five twenty dollar bills towards him. He took it and gave me three red chips ($5 each) and five white chips ($1 each). I scanned the table too quickly for anyone to notice. There were 5 other players and the shoe was full. Casinos used a shoe to make card counting much harder, but it was nothing for my vision. I counted 364 cards which meant there were 7 decks inside the shoe.

I put a five dollar chip in my bet box as the dealer dealt two cards to all of us, face up. My mind went wild as I looked at all of the cards he dealt and counted them. I had no idea how my brain was doing what it was, but I let go of the control I held onto and went with it. "Hit." I murmured when it came to me, leaving a 9, 10, and 2 facing up; Blackjack. The dealer smirked as I bounced with excitement.

"Way to go babe!" Jake beamed, rubbing my shoulders supportively. I resisted the urge to look up at him with a glare for the babe comment. I understood he was just trying to scare other guys off, but it still felt really weird. It brought mixed emotions to my heart of when I was with Edward and a slow spreading ache started creeping in. It still hurt to even think his name aloud, but it was something I forced myself to do. I couldn't ignore it forever, but it seemed like the pain was going to be around for eternity. I ignored it as best as I could and focused my mind on the game.

By the time we had left the Blackjack table, I had already doubled our money. $200 dollars' worth of chips didn't seem like much, but it was a start. I tried to seem as inconspicuous as possible and even made sure to lose a few rounds. Jake had spent some money on the slot machines and won big. He hit a jackpot of $5,000. That amount of money was incredible to me. It brought my thoughts back to the Cullens and I shivered thinking about how much money they truly had. I pushed them to the back of my mind as we made our way through the other game tables. By the time we had been to all of them, our total was a comfortable $15,000.

"I want to try the slots again." Jake grinned, slightly feeling the effects from the alcohol he had consumed. I warned him against it, but who was I to stop his fun? Plus, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. At least that's what I kept telling myself. We headed back to the ringing and loud slots and Jake took a seat at one. I stood next to him, watching as he enjoyed himself playing.

A sudden grab on my behind had me turned around much too fast for a human. A drunken man looked shocked at my sudden movements. He reeked of booze and smelled like cigarettes. He seemed like he was in his 40's. I glared at him and he cowered. Not so bold now.

"What the hell…" I growled while feeling increasingly repulsed by his presence. He stammered nervously for a second before backing up. I grabbed his wrist a little harder than I should have been able to for a 'human.'

"Please m-miss! Let me go." He stammered, looking fearfully between my eyes and his wrist. I didn't need to look into a mirror to know that my eyes were pitch black from the incredibly powerful rush of rage that I felt.

"Bells, let him go." Jake said firmly, pulling my arm off of the man. I growled at him in response and turned back to the man. "You need to leave." Jake told the man, shoving him roughly in the opposite direction. The man scrambled to get his balance and took off running as fast as he could. I glared towards Jake.

"I was handling it." I snarled angrily. Jake sighed and rolled his eyes, clearly not amused with my anger.

"You were being stupid. I don't know what the hell your problem is." He returned my glare before shaking his head softly. He placed his warm hands on my shoulders which I immediately shook them off.

"Just leave me alone." I grumbled, stalking off towards the lounge area. The area was much calmer which helped me to get ahold of myself. I tossed myself into one of the deep chaise chairs. I felt like I was falling apart at the seams. I had no idea why I felt so much rage right now. It made me feel disgusted knowing that I almost hurt that man and blew our cover. I also felt extremely bad for snapping at Jake. I dropped my head into my hands and began to breathe deeply, trying to calm down. A few minutes later I felt Jake's heated presence next to me.

"Is it okay if I sit?" He asked cautiously, the anger out of his voice now too. I nodded without looking up. I didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes. "Look at me, Bella." Jake pleaded, taking a hand from my head and holding it in his hands. I sighed in defeat and looked into his eyes. There was no trace of disappointment, only concern filled them.

"I'm sorry for freaking out like that. I don't know what happened." I murmured softly. Jake gently brushed my hair behind my ear and cupped my cheek with his blazing palm.

"I'm sorry too. I never doubted your ability to handle it, but you were scaring me." He said after letting out a deep breath. "You looked like you were going to break his neck."

"I honestly might have." I admitted in shame. I had no idea what happened back there and it sent fear straight to my core. "I don't know where all that rage came from. I couldn't focus my thoughts. I felt like I was spiraling out of control. I'm sorry for scaring you." I leaned into the comfort of his hand on my cheek and inhaled deeply. The stink of his wolf side helped clear my head even more. "That's what terrifies me; knowing that I have so much power that I could end so many lives in just a few seconds. I hate feeling out of control like that. I don't want to become a monster."

"I promise that I will never let you become a monster." Jake whispered, resting his forehead against mine. "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." I looked into his eyes and felt overwhelmed with the love I had for my best friend. I'm sure I'd melt into a puddle if I didn't have him to hold me together.

"Thank you Jake." I murmured, squeezing his hand lightly. He returned my squeeze and began to smirk.

"You ought to thank Winnie the Pooh, it's his quote." He chuckled which brought a grin to my face.

"Is that how you're such a ladies man? You quote Winnie the Pooh to them?" I teased, giving him a light shove. He snorted and nodded proudly.

"Yep! They go weak at the knees every time." He winked and I laughed again.

"Make sure to catch me if I start falling for you." I said playfully through my laughter. Jake suddenly swung me up into his arms.

"I won't let you fall." He promised. I could hear the second meaning to his words outside of our playfulness and I was grateful for him. To anyone else, we must seem like a couple that's so in love right now especially since we share real and intimate moments with each other so openly. But, to us, it's just the friendship we will always have. It's the love that was always meant to be Jake and Bella. He's always going to be my sun and I'll be his moon. Our friendship would always be in orbit, just like the moon chases after the sun every night and the sun bids good morning to the fading moon.

"Let's get to another casino. We might have overdone it here." I said with a smile. Just like that, the earlier incident was erased and we were off to gather more money and memories.

Sam greeted us as we crossed over the treaty line. It was his patrol tonight and I was glad to see his smile.

"So, how'd you two shitheads do?" He asked with a grin as he approached us. Jake and I shared a smirk before opening Jake's backpack.

"50,000 is a good start." I shrugged. Sam's eyes went wide at the amount of money shoved into one bag.

"Did you rob a bank?" He questioned with doubt filling his voice. Jake and I both laughed.

"Don't bet against vampires." Jake said with praise towards me. I grinned proudly.

"You said it was a good start. You plan on going back?" Sam asked as we started walking towards the houses.

"Forever is a long time."

"Sure is." Sam said with a laugh before we parted ways. I'm glad that Jake and I made an agreement about the money and how'd we use it. He was gracious enough to let me have most of it since I promised to win him even more next time. It felt crazy that life was just about to start for me, even though it had ended once. Oakridge High School had no idea what was going to hit it in the fall.

Ta-Da!

This chapter was super fun to write! I'm sorry for not updating in a few days. I was struggling to find the motivation to actually sit down and write, but I'm glad that I forced myself to because I really like the way this chapter came out!

Please leave some love! I really appreciate and love reading your reviews! They make my day and bring smiles to my face! I love hearing what you think about my story, my writing, and what you predict will happen next!

Song: All I Do is Win by DJ Khaled

Love,

GVE