Hmm, last chapter was little fluffy. I'm not quite sure what to refer to this one as.

Song! Fever by the Black Keys

Oh yeah, SM owns twilight. I kept forgetting to say it, but I'm pretty damn sure the entire world already knows that. It's not like I'm trying to infringe or anything.

. . . . . . . . . .

I was a little disappointed when she showed up in her work clothes when she came to pick me up. Her signature black slacks and dark blue blouse. I should have known better than to expect anything else. She took her work so seriously. She was smiling though, a welcomed change to the last time we had done this.

"Hey, you ready?"

"Almost, I'm just trying to find my phone," I said, running back inside.

"Want me to call it?"

"Sure."

"Everybody was kung-fu fighting…"

I heard the song go off, and ran back towards her as she pulled the phone out of a pocket of one of my jackets. My ears burned when she handed it to me with a smirk.

"Seriously?"

I hit the end button, ending the song. "Hey, it took me a long time to learn your name. I had to improvise," I said, forcing my voice to be calm. "It suited one of my many nicknames for you."

"Many? How many names did I have?"

I grinned, shaking my head.

"Oh, come on. How many?"

"Nope."

"Then just tell me this one," she argued.

"I called you ninja for a while after seeing what you did to James."

She laughed loudly. "Cool. I like that one."

"So do I," though it was usually 'sexy ninja', 'my ninja', and a select few times 'fucking lesbian ninja.'

She didn't need to know that. And I'm pretty sure she'd go running if she knew about the 'goddess' and 'angel' names that floated through my head so many times. Still did.

She chatted easily about my schedule for the trip as we drove to the airport, then moved on to tell me how Zeus had chewed the handle off of one of her kitchen cupboards when she was late feeding him this morning. I liked this Bella more than work Bella, which is what she switched to as soon as we stepped out of the truck. I didn't bug her about it though, because I was exhausted really. I hadn't been able to sleep last night, knowing that I'd have her constantly for two full days. So I was quiet as we walked through the terminal, Bella on full alert as she scanned the crowds and blocked people from bumping into me or getting too close.

She kind of reminded me of how Zeus was with her.

She relaxed once we were on the plane though, and took a book out of her bag. I copied her, pulling out the book she had lent me the other day.

I had already seen the show that was based off of it, but the book was so different, more in depth, the story so much richer. Having seen the show first helped I think really, there were too many names, I wouldn't have been able to keep track if I hadn't already known them.

"Hey Hollywood, wake up. We're here," her soft voiced whispered, her sweet breath washing over my face.

"Hmm."

"If you don't move, I'll move you myself," she said, her voice sounding amused, yet a little strained. I felt my head move, and my eyes shot open.

I bolted upright, staring at her in horror. I had fallen asleep, on her fucking shoulder. Fuck.

I relaxed slightly as I watched her. She didn't look like she was going to punch me. She seemed kind of amused, actually.

"Sorry."

"No worries. You looked like you needed the sleep," she said, standing up and reaching for the over-head compartment. She jumped to grab it, but apparently couldn't reach.

I valued my life too much to laugh.

"Here, I got it," I said, grabbing our bags. She huffed, but took it and thanked me before leading the way down the aisle.

There was a sleek, black Mustang waiting for us when we got out of the terminal, and she took the keys from the man that was standing next to it before he disappeared into the crowd. We loaded our bags into the truck, Bella watching me like a hawk, before walking me to my door then hopping into her own.

"Who was that?" I asked curiously.

"Who?"

"The guy that gave you the keys." She seemed to have all of these strange connections, and as much as she told me about herself, I still felt like I barely knew her sometimes.

"Oh, his name is Harry. He owns a car rental place here in LA."

"How do you know him?"

"I know his daughter, who runs his other branch in New York. She was in one of my defense classes a couple years ago."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have really impressive networking skills?"

She smirked. "It may have been mentioned to me once or twice. I never forget a face, and I guess people don't usually forget mine either."

"I can definitely see why," I teased, winking at her. She rolled her eyes at me.

We made it to the hotel easily, and I waited quietly while she scanned our room. No bugs this time. We ordered a giant pizza, even convincing the delivery guy to pick us up a case of beer, and hung out playing on the Wii-U that was supplied in our room the entire night.

. . . . . . . . . .

I woke up to a light knocking on my door. I was awake immediately, knowing it could only be once person.

"You can come in," I said over a yawn, sitting up and stretching.

Her eyes flickered over my bare chest briefly, and I couldn't help but grin even though she didn't seem to offer an opinion.

She looked, that was something in itself.

"I'm heading to the gym downstairs, I just wanted to give you a heads up. Sorry for waking you."

"No no, it's cool. Want some company?"

"You don't have to-"

"I want to. I don't want to sit in this room all day, it'd be nice to get some exercise."

"Oh, well, sure then. Take your time, I'll wait in the living room." She shut my door quickly.

I got up and used the washroom before throwing on some shorts and a t-shirt, brushed my teeth, and then met her in the living room. I froze in the hallway. She was wearing those sexy fucking yoga pants, stretching, bent over with her hands flat on the ground. She grinned at me, upside-down through her legs, before standing back up and stretching her arms.

"Ready?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

She skipped over to the front door, and I was once again a little envious of her morning energy. I swear the woman didn't know how to sleep. I had seen her close her eyes twice. The night she dislocated her arm, and the time I grabbed said arm and she passed out in my foyer.

I shuddered at the memory.

She took the stairs down, twenty-five floors, saying that it was a good 'warm-up.' We ran next to each other in comfortable silence for an hour, threw around some medicine balls, and then ran back up the twenty five flights of stairs.

I had a shower, and passed back out in my bed immediately with trembling legs.

Fucking psycho.

I woke up again around one in the afternoon, walking out in my flannel pants and looking around the quiet room for Bella. I eventually found her sitting out on the balcony, staring out at the landscape with a completely vacant look in her eyes. She blinked when I opened the door, and I dropped down on the couch next to her.

"He lives," she teased, grinning at me. "How was your nap?"

"Awesome," I said, covering another yawn. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just enjoying the warm air. It's getting so cold back home, this is a nice treat."

I closed my eyes, leaning back and smiling at the tingling sensation the sun left on my face. "Yeah, it is nice. I don't mind the cold back home though, it's nice having more than one season."

"Are you excited for your party tonight?"

"Would it be horrible for me to say I wasn't?"

"Nope, I always appreciate honesty."

"Well, I'm not dreading it, but I'm not stoked either. They're not always bad, but most of the time it's just a bunch of conceited people getting tanked and talking about themselves."

"Lame."

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe it won't be all bad."

"Oh, I know it won't be all bad. I'll have you there, after all."

"Very smooth," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks," I told her proudly.

She smiled, and after a moment closed her eyes again, titling her head back to face the sun.

Her beauty never ceased to stun me, but moments like this, when she was relaxed enough to let her guard down slightly, was almost painful. It was hard to look away from her full, red lips. The temptation to just lean in and press my own lips against them was dizzying.

I shifted carefully, lifting my arm and draping it around her shoulders. She froze for a minute, closing her eyes tightly, but she relaxed after a couple minutes and leaned into my side gently. I smiled, closing my eyes and rubbing my thumb in soft circles on her arm.

This moment was perfection. I never wanted it to end.

But like all good things, it did. She got up to have another shower and get changed, and I did likewise once she was done. I joined her in the living room when I finished, wearing the suit Alice had picked out for me for the party. Bella was wearing a black pants-suit with a white blouse, her hair wrapped into a tight bun on the back of her head. She shut her laptop when I came in, and we left to go pick up Tyler.

She was shooting daggers at him through the rear-view mirror the entire drive, her hands clenched into tight fists on her steering wheel, but he didn't seem to really notice.

It was a private party, but the press had already caught wind of it and Bella cleared an angry path for us though the crowd of photographers. I would have preferred to have her here as a date instead of a body guard, but I would take what I could get. Once we were inside, there wasn't anyone for her to protect me from any more though.

"Go socialize Hollywood, I'll be watching," she said easily, turning to walk to the edge of the room.

"You're not going to stay with me?"

She grinned. "No one else is being shadowed in here, but if you really want me to I will, of course."

"Oh, yeah… Sorry, I didn't really think of that." I looked around the room and frowned. "Are you sure you won't be bored?"

"This is what I do. Don't sweat it. Try to enjoy yourself," she said with a knowing smirk, then walked away. I followed her with my eyes until she stopped, standing halfway up on a set of stairs that gave her an easy view of the entire room. She smiled when she saw me watching her, and made a shooing motion with her hand, telling me to mingle.

Well, I guess it's my time to work too.

I fell back into my old routine too easily, smiling and talking effortlessly to my new cast members and production crews. I actually found myself enjoying it.

Until Jessica ran up to me.

She threw her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly.

"Oh Edward! It's been so long, why haven't you called me?"

"Err-"

"Are you still in New York? It's so nice having you back. I'm so excited that we have the opportunity to work together again." I awkwardly wriggled out of her grasp, but she was still beaming up at me. "This is going to be so much fun, I can't wait for that boiler room scene," she purred, making me feel nauseous.

"What part were you cast as?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Anna, the CIA agent, silly. Who else are you going to fuck in the boiler room?"

"No one. I'm not doing that scene. They're getting a body double." What the fuck? Marcus hadn't even mentioned her in the list of actresses we discussed, and Tyler didn't tell me a god damn thing, and he knew how I felt about her.

I was fucking pissed, to be honest. What was he even thinking hiring her?

She pouted, and tried to wrap herself around my arm. I quickly stepped out of her reach though, my eyes flickering over to Bella.

She was watching me with an amused grin. I debated on signalling for her help, but knew she'd tease the hell out of me for it later.

"Aww! Why would you do that?" She whined.

"Because I don't want to do that stuff anymore," I said shortly. "If you'll excuse me, I still have a lot of people left to talk to."

"That's okay, I'll come with you!" She said excitedly, and I sighed, walking away with her glued to my heels.

It took me about twenty minutes to ditch her, and I immediately went looking for Tyler. I couldn't find him, so I went over to Bella. She'd know where anyone was.

"Do you know where Tyler went? I'm going to fucking kill him."

"He went into the bathroom with a blonde woman about fifteen minutes ago," she said easily.

"What?!"

"I take it then you didn't know he's been cheating on Lauren?"

"No, I didn't," I growled. "Wait, how do you know his wife?"

"I did a background check on him," she said in an irritated voice once again. I meant to ask her what her deal with him was today, but she spoke before I could, grinning once more. "Did you know he had to repeat the tenth grade?"

I laughed, relaxing slightly. "No, I didn't actually."

"Well, apparently your agent is really bad at math. I'd be a little careful if I were you."

Fuck, she was so good at calming me down. I dragged my hands through my hair and grinned at her. "So, you bored yet?"

"Nope. I'm good at people watching. Right now, I feel like I'm watching a fucking soap opera. It's entertaining."

"You sure? Because we can leave," I said hopefully.

"Don't be silly, and stop worrying about me. That's my job." She was smiling, but her tone was completely serious. "Oh, I'd book it now if I were you, Jessica Stanley just spotted you."

"Fuck. Okay, I'll see you again in a bit."

I dashed down the stairs again, and disappeared into the crowd before she could catch me. How the hell was I going to survive four months of filming with her?

Maybe I could convince Bella to let me hire her full-time. I wasn't ashamed to say I'd used her as a shield against Jessica. I know with one of her signature death stares, Jessica would never look at me again. The thought made me smile.

But I knew she'd never leave her family, ever. Unlike me, she had a full, busy life outside of our friendship. I could never ask her to give that up. It was too selfish.

The next few hours passed by in a blur. I should have eaten before I came here, because my drinks seemed to go straight to my head. It was a good level of drunk, my entire body feeling light and almost numb. Everyone was being fucking hilarious. I lost count of my glasses. The party didn't start to wind down until three, which is when I stumbled my way over to my ninja statue, who was still in the exact place I had left her when we came in.

"Hey you," I purred, smiling at her. God, she was so pretty. I should talk to Marcus about firing Jess and hiring Bella instead. Sexiest fucking CIA agent in history.

"Hey lush, how you feeling?"

"Mallow," I said, laughing. She grinned.

"You mean mellow?"

"No, mAllow, like a marshmallow. All fluffy and shit."

She laughed, shaking her head, and reached out to grab my arm when I swayed backwards. My arm wrapped around her waist, but she shot me a look and easily stepped out of my grasp.

"Sorry," I slurred, frowning. "That wasn't my arm, I swear. Where'd he go!" She rolled her eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching up slightly. Phew. Hands to yourself Cullen!

"Excuse me?" she said with a laugh.

"Fuck, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"You sure did," she mused, watching me curiously.

"Shit. Can we leave now?"

"Sure. I think we need to get some food in you," she said, and led me back down the stairs. I kept reaching out to take her hand, her hands were so soft, but I kept stopping myself. I couldn't screw up the progress I had made, though it was physically painful not to be touching her right now.

"Mmm, there's a really awesome deli down the street from here. It's open all night. Can we go there?"

She looked down the almost empty streets worriedly, but consented after a minute. I was practically skipping as we made our way over.

After two sandwiches, a basket of fries, and three giant glasses of water, I was more than ready to pass the fuck out. Bella was picking at her own basket of fries, barely eating as her eyes kept flickering over the room.

"You need to relax, we're not in any danger here," I teased. She didn't smile.

"It's four o-clock on a Saturday morning in Los Angeles. Nothing about that is safe," she said gently. I sighed, knowing it was useless to argue with her. I came here all the time though, or used to anyways. And that was without an escort.

"You good to head back?" I asked around a yawn. She nodded, and was silent and intimidating by my side as we made our way back down to the car.

"Hey! Edward!" Someone shouted from behind me. I turned around and sleepily smiled at the man.

"Hey!"

"Do you know this guy?" Bella whispered. I frowned, squinting at the man when he stopped in front of me. Bella took a step forward.

"Do I know you?"

"No. But apparently you knew my wife," he growled, taking a step forward. My eyes widened at the tone of his voice, adrenaline waking me up completely.

"I, uh… I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person."

"Sir, walk away," Bella growled, stepping in front of me. I reached out to take her shoulder, but she shrugged me off.

"Fuck off bitch, this doesn't concern you," he spat.

"Don't you fucking talk to her like that," I hissed. Bella held out a hand in warning to me.

"Oh, pressed a button, have I?" He mused, and went to push her aside.

She didn't move, but he was knocked back a few feet.

"Sir, leave, or I'm going to have to make you leave," she said in an icy voice.

He didn't listen to her, and lunged. She knocked him back easily, but he caught his footing quickly, falling forward again quickly and swiping at her with his hands.

It was then that I noticed the glint of silver in his hand.

Their whole dance lasted only seconds though, Bella dropping down to the ground and stepping into his hold instead of away. When she shot back up, she brought an elbow to his jaw, causing him to lose his balance, then grabbed the arm that was holding the knife, twisting it quickly with a sickening crunch that was drowned out by his scream. The knife fell to the ground, and the man booked it away in a second, running like his life depended on it. Which it probably did considering the look on Bella's face right now.

"Bell-"

"It's fucking B when we're out here, and you know it. Let's go," she growled, grabbing my arm and dragging me along behind her as she made the way back to the Mustang quickly. She shoved me into my seat, slamming the door, and in seconds she was peeling down the street towards our hotel.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I'm so fucking sorry about-"

"I'm fine," she said, much more calm now that we were in a vehicle that she had control over. "It's not your fault."

"It was my idea to go to that stupid deli-"

"But I agreed to it. Don't put this on yourself. This is my fucking profession, and I'm the one who fucked up. I should have trusted my instincts."

She pulled up to the hotel, tossing the keys to the valet before we made our way inside. We were both silent through the elevator ride, and Bella's tense shoulder's didn't relax until we got back into the room. She walked straight to the bar, pouring herself a stiff drink. I grabbed a bottle of water, and sat down on the couch.

She walked over, shrugging off her jacket, and I almost threw up seeing the blood staining her crisp white blouse.

"Fuck! Bella, are you okay? Wait here, I'll call an ambulance," I said, jumping to my feet, and tripping over absolutely nothing before face planting on the floor. Bella pulled me back up to my feet, sitting me down on the couch again.

"Calm down, I'm fine. It's a scratch, I don't even feel it," she said easily. She walked away without another word, disappearing into her bedroom. I jumped back up, and chased after her, bursting into her room.

"Are you-" I froze, my words catching in my throat. Her back was to me, but she had taken off her shirt. She was standing there in her black pants and a black bra, and with her hair tied up I could see almost her entire tattoo on her back. It was fucking stunning.

"Ever hear of knocking?" She said dryly.

"I'm sorry, but there was so much blood-"

"It was just because I was moving around. It's a scratch, I don't even need stitches. Can you please close the door?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. I'll just wait outside." I stepped back out, and closed the door. I couldn't even walk away. I leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor.

She had gotten hurt, protecting me. He had a fucking knife. He could have killed her, and then… oh god. How could I have asked her to do this? I should be protecting her, what the fuck is wrong with me?

"Hey, shhh," her soothing voice whispered. I opened my eyes to see her kneeling in front of me in between my legs, and she hesitantly reached forward and brushed my hair back out of my face. "Edward, it's okay. I'm okay, really."

"It's not okay, you got hurt… because of me. I should never have asked you to do this, it was selfish of me. What sort of man am I? Hiring a woman to protect me, I-"

She slapped me in the face.

"Fuck you Edward. I can do my job just as well, if not better than any man. Get over yourself, this is the twenty-first fucking century. I said I'm fine, now snap the fuck out of it," she hissed.

I didn't even think, I took her face in my hands, pulling her into my chest as I kissed her.

It was so much better than I had ever dreamed; her lips were so soft, sweet like cherries, with a little hint of scotch. It took me a couple seconds to realize what I had done. I almost panicked and pulled away, but her soft hands slid up my stomach, resting gently on my chest as her lips moved against mine.

She was kissing me back.

And she was fucking good at it. It was the best fucking kiss of my life.

I wrapped my arms around her gently, holding her protectively, but when she started trembling against me I gently pulled away, and smiled up at her. She was staring back at me, confusion and fear in her eyes. I leaned in and kissed her once more, barely brushing her soft lips with mine, before pulling her into my lap and holding her.

"Edward, I-"

"No. You're mine now Bella. I'm never fucking letting you go."

"I-"

"No. I mean it. I know you want this too. Don't fucking argue."

She was silent for a long moment.

"Okay," she whispered. I held onto her a little more tightly.

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Okay, so, too soon? Or were you getting tired of waiting? We'll address what happened pretty quickly next chapter, but I love hearing from you guys!

Do you have any tattoos? Do you have an opinion on tattoos? I love them personally, but I only have five.