CHAPTER – 5 EPOV BPOV MI CASA, SU CASA

Red Red Red – Fiona Apple

I don't understand about complimentary colors
And what they say
Side by side they both get bright
Together they both get gray
But he's been pretty much yellow
And I've been crying blue
But all I can see is
Red, red, red, red, red now
What am I to do

I don't understand about
Diamonds and why men buy them
What's so impressive about a diamond
Except the mining
And it's dangerous work
Trying to get to you too
And I think if I didn't have to
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill myself doing it
Maybe I would glisten so much for you

I've been watching all the time
And I still can't find the track
And I wanna know is it okay
Is it just fine
Was it my fault
Is it my lack

I don't understand about
The weather outside
The harbinger to the words
Somebody lied
There's solace a bit for submitting
To the fitfully cryptically true
What's happened has happened
What's coming is already on its way
With a role for me to play

I don't understand
I'll never understand
But I'm trying to understand

There's nothing else I can do

EPOV

The weeks that passed after the day Bella and I had first walked into The Ring together were nothing short of incredible. We hadn't explored our physical relationship since the first time we were together and I was alright with that. Getting to know her was so much better. I honestly didn't want to push her too far with that. I wanted there to be more. Something told me having sex all the time would hinder that whole 'I don't really want you for your body but for your mind' thing.

You're such a woman. You might want to check to see if your ballsack hasn't migrated to your chest. Bitch.

We had dinner almost ever night and I became spoiled on her home cooked meals. Bella could cook. Jasper bitched endlessly about all the points on how bad the food was for me until Bella brought him a leftover batch of her spaghetti and he shut the fuck up.

I took to coming into the gym earlier and earlier these days. First, I needed to work off all the food that I was taking in and secondly, I needed to work up for this tiff I was going to get into with James. This morning was no different. Bella had the day off and I wondered what she was doing. It peeved me to no end that she hadn't invited me over to her place yet. Whatever the reason she had behind it, it bothered me. Whether she was ashamed of how small it was or the fact that she didn't trust me to know where she lived I didn't know. When I brought it up she just answered with "You're place is much nicer and I would rather be here than there anyway." I didn't push it because I wanted her to open up to me on her own time but damn if it wasn't starting to sting a little.

I pulled into the lot and saw Bella's truck sitting in the farthest corner. It was always here when I came to the gym and Emmett had mentioned it was because she lived pretty close and didn't have parking where she was staying. I had been irritated thinking of her walking home from the gym but I knew to keep my mouth shut. I was however, very close to trailing her home after work just to make sure she got there okay. And maybe just to find out where she was staying.

Glancing at the clock on the dash I realized I had fifteen minutes 'til 5, and so I leaned back in the seat and took a deep breath. No reason to walk in there any earlier than I had to. A movement at Bella's truck caught my eye so I sat up and squinted at the cab.

There it was again.

Someone was inside Bella's truck. What the fuck?

I exited my car silently and stalked over to the cab when my breath caught in my throat.

Oh fuck no.

There she was, curled up under a blanket and drooling over a sweatshirt she had bundled into a makeshift pillow. She was sleeping in her truck. Beyond pissed I yanked the door open and glared down at her. She shifted but stayed asleep. This pissed me off even more. Not only was the door not locked but she didn't even hear me open the damn thing. I cleared my throat. Nothing. Suddenly my anger had no limit and I grabbed both her arms firmly and pulled her out of the truck. She shrieked and started to thrash around but I wasn't backing down and honestly she had nothing on me. She was at best 120 soaking wet and had a problem opening a can of tomato sauce. I shut the door with my foot and swung her up in my arms. She kept kicking and shoving.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"What the hell are you doing?! Sleeping in your truck?! Are you out of your damn mind?! You didn't even lock the door! The windows were cracked! Do you want to get killed?"

I opened the door to the Volvo and threw her down into the seat. I slammed the door shut and before she could make a move, I hit the locks. I turned back to her truck and yanked the duffel bag out from under the seat before rolling up the windows and locking the doors. I turned back to the Volvo and saw her pouting in the front seat. I let out a dark chuckle and slid into the driver seat; chucking her bag into the back. I started my rant as soon as the car was in motion.

"You want to explain this to me?"

"No."

"Wrong answer."

"I don't owe you an explanation."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't"

"Look, I'm not playing this game with you. I want answers… right fucking now. You have been sleeping in your truck haven't you? You don't have an apartment. You've been lying to me every night when you leave."

"Technically I never lied. I told you I had 'a place.' I just never specified that it was my truck. Where the hell are you taking me?"

"Back to my apartment; where you will be staying."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

I huffed and rolled my eyes because her attempt at sarcastic humor was really rubbing me the wrong way. If I weren't so fucking mad at her right now I would probably kiss her for that comment.

"No, I'm telling you, you are going to be staying in an apartment and it just happens to be mine. You are not sleeping in your truck. And yeah, you did lie. You should have told me you didn't have a place to go. I mean, really, what did you think? That I wouldn't understand? Jesus, Bella, do you know what could have happened to you?"

My voice had steadily increased in volume and I finally realized the one thing that Bella's calm couldn't fix - my anger at her lack of self-preservation.

She stewed in the seat next to me and we slipped into silence. Every second I spent thinking about her face lying asleep on that truck bench was fueling my fire. How could she lie to me like that? She fucking lied. And I understood why she had lied. I did. But fuck, she could have been hurt. She could have been raped or killed or fuck, both! To think of her sleeping in that cab all night long. It hurt that she didn't trust me enough to tell me. But then I realized it wasn't that she didn't trust me. She was ashamed. And then I felt like an ass for being so angry with her. I didn't, however, feel bad enough to stop.

The car came to a sudden halt in front of my apartment and I flew out of the car, grabbing her bag and walking up the steps. It didn't take long to realize she was still standing on the sidewalk, arms crossed, and just looking pissed. I rolled my eyes and walked to her, grabbing her arm and hauling her into the building. She wasn't fighting me but she wasn't going along with me either. She was going to make this shit difficult. Two flights of dead weight, difficult.

Jamming the keys into the locks I threw open the door and yanked her in.

"This is your apartment now, too. If you want, I'll take the couch and you can have the bed. You are not sleeping in that truck anymore. This bullshit is going to stop. You are going to stop lying too and you are going to stop being so fucking flippant about your safety."

She was glaring at me and if I wasn't so pissed I might have flinched away from her. She was pretty intimidating for her size.

"I appreciate the concern dad but I'm not staying here. I can't afford to pay for the rent and I'm not freeloading off of anyone. Give me my fucking bag and drop it. I'm not a little girl and I'm sure as hell not your responsibility. Get over your little power trip and stop acting like you own me because you don't."

"One, you are my responsibility, whether you like it or not. The minute you picked me up off that floor, you became my responsibility. The second Mike fucked with you and proved that you can't take care of yourself, you became my responsibility. Two, you're right, I don't own you but for some fucked up reason you own me. So with that, I'm not backing down off this. You're staying here and that's the end of this discussion."

She stared at me with wide eyes. Still pissed but shocked. I cringed when I realized what I had just let slip. That was probably a little too intense of a statement no matter how honest it had been. Apparently, being pissed off at Bella made my mental filter fizzle away. I was on my way to crazy obsessive territory and with how stubborn she was, I knew I was pressing all the wrong buttons.

She sucked in a big breath and shook her head. I waited for the onslaught of shit she was going to spew at me. My hands were on my hips and I shifted from foot to foot. I might be pissed at her but I was trying so damn hard to push that down right now. She had some kind of fight in her. And I waited…because if I knew my girl at all she didn't let shit like this go.

"Alright. But I'm going to start paying rent as soon as I can afford to. I'll be buying the groceries and helping with utilities. And I didn't lie."

So that was unexpected. I didn't know what to say. I had prepared for angry rebuttals, not agreement. Well, shit; there go the rest of my arguments. I opened my mouth a few times but only managed to curtly nod at her. Suddenly it was awkward. What the hell do I do now?

"As for the sleeping arrangements, I wouldn't be opposed to sharing the bed."

And just like that, all the anger, resentment, and awkwardness melted away and I smiled at her. She was looking shyly at the floor with her hands clasped awkwardly at her sides.

Just like that.

Stepping forward, I folded her into my chest and heaved a huge breath; expelling the rest of my tension. Having her in my arms tended to do that. She sniffled and I tightened my hold on her.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't mean to lie. I didn't think about it at the time and I hope you don't think I would lie to you. I just didn't want you to know, so I avoided the whole thing."

Aw hell. You're an asshole Masen.

"I don't think you're a liar. Yeah, you did lie about not having a place but I understand why you did it. Just…don't do that again. If there is something going on, tell me. I'm here for you. I would think I've proven by now that I'm interested and I'm willing to make an effort for you."

"You have. I just…I didn't want you to know. I'm so sorry if you think I did it to hurt you. I just didn't want you to worry. I want you to know I can take care of myself. I can. I'm not a charity case and I knew when you found out, this is what you were going to do. I don't want to take advantage of your kindness."

At this I snorted.

"Kindness? Try selfishness. I get to wake up with you and go to sleep with you everyday. Trust me this is more for me than for you. The feeling I get when you have to leave every night is terrible. I'm eliminating that. Honestly, if you'd had a place to live, I would still be trying to get you to stay here with me."

Her giggle made me feel better about yelling at her earlier. Marginally. I was elated to feel the lightness come back to us so quickly.

Well now she's staying here. What next smarty pants?

Shit.

Bwahahahaha…(serious face) you're fucked.

BPOV

In light of certain developments it seems I now have a place to stay. Also in that same light I seem to be living with the sweetest asshole I've ever met. Really, who throws someone in their car and kidnaps them? No matter how homeless they are. Homeless. Wow, that sounds…sad.

Sigh. I'm so glad you realize this now.

The following two weeks after Edward's forced domicile on me were intense to say the least. All those times when people tell you that you only really know someone after you've lived with them are…completely true. Edward really was a conundrum. I mean he freaked out if a toothbrush wasn't upright in the holder but didn't give two shits about the toothpaste cap being left off and running all over the counter. He was obsessed with certain articles of clothing, no matter how much he denied it. He hates it when I chew on the caps and don't put them back on the pens when I'm done. They don't ever fit back anyway. He cares nothing about the state of the kitchen and literally eye-fucks that baby grand even though he never touches it. And I discovered he had an office; it was small but functional.

While he appreciates my cooking, he offers to make dinner or breakfast a lot. I never trust him to, but they're sweet offers anyway. I do the laundry. He bitches. I wash the dishes. He bitches. I dust. He bitches. I iron his dress shirts. He bitches. I've even taken to folding his undies. He bitched about that, too! I've managed to snag the only man in Chicago who doesn't like to be cared for. It's comical really. I actually think I do these things now just too see how red his face will get and how hard he'll purse his lips before stomping off to do God knows what. He's hot when he's pissed. Wonder what he would do if he figured out I did it on purpose?

Do it. Tell him and keep doing it!

We have settled into a routine of sorts. He leaves for the gym at five and I stay in bed. He kisses me before he leaves. I feel like June Cleaver. I wake up around eight and start my daily routine of scouring the house for general dirtiness. When satisfied there isn't any, I shower, make breakfast and leave for work at eleven unless I have to go in at two. I muddle my way through work and try desperately not to think about a sweaty Edward somewhere in the same building. I should get paid for just doing that. It's fucking hard.

You know, according to R. Kelly there's nothing wrong with a little bump and grind.

The sex thing has not happened again since the first night. That fact was depressing. Now it just pisses me off. I feel kinda weird sleeping in the same bed with him and not getting his last workout of the day. He's hot. I'm kinda not. I mean, I'm no Repunzel but I'm sure as hell no ogre.

Today would be no different I was sure of that. Same routine… and no sex.

Since when do you think like a man? Seriously, be happy he doesn't just want you for your booty.

Then stop mentioning R. Kelly and bumping and grinding. It's disrupting my concentration.

I don't see nothing wrong (nothing wrong)

With a little bump and grind!

Go to hell.

After the first day back to the gym and despite the fact that he wasn't training, his demeanor seemed to change. He became more pensive when I asked him about his upcoming match. There was something he was keeping from me. Jasper and Emmett would mention it occasionally but as soon as they realized I was anywhere near earshot they would stop. Snippets of a person named James, fighting dirty, and 'EMS response times' seemed to grab my attention. EMS? Really? I tried to ask in subtle ways but Edward would clam up tighter than a tipsy nun caught after curfew. I knew in my gut there was something big about this match. I felt like a little kid being lied to about where babies came from.

From what I did see of Edward in the gym, he was really good. I had nothing to compare him to and I might have been biased but he seemed fast and light on his feet.

Hahahahaha. Alright, really, that one was too easy so I'm going to be nice and just not say anything.

I grumbled to myself on the way to the supply closet for the leather polish and box of wipes. Emmett had an unhealthy obsession with the faux leather corner posts on their ring. The damn thing was pretty ratty but it still held its vibrant red and blue colors. I was mandated to polish it daily with leather cleaner - preserving what it had left of its dignity, I'm sure. The mat was disassembled today and I was sure it was because of the leg that kept breaking. The whole ring seemed lopsided, so they were fixing it constantly. The posts were leaning against the only wall free of bleachers or doors; I cautiously made my way to them. Dodging guys throwing punches and practicing form, I finally made my way to my prize.

Two poles down, two to go and then the rope guards.

I'm assuming, because I'm naturally slow to catch myself, I would be naturally slow at seeing horrible things that are about to happen to me. I wish it were true that time slowed down and every detail was noticeable when I'm about to get hurt but this is not the case. If it were, I might be able to catch myself in time. It seems, however, that time actually speeds up to an alarming rate where everything is a blur and I finally seem to grip reality when I'm already bleeding or maimed.

This was the case now.

I didn't know what had happened, only that I was lying on my back with something very big and very sweaty lying on top of me. My eye was shooting daggers into my brain and my arm was twisted painfully underneath me. The sweaty heavy thing was not moving. I was becoming alarmed.

One, Two, Three, Four….seriously get up…Five, Six, Seven…

And then the weight was gone only to be replaced by yelling, shuffling and….crunching?

Was I crunching? Was I crying? What the fuck just happened?

My fingers squeezed underneath me and painfully recoiled when they felt the excruciating stings of sharp plastic. I was still holding onto the bottle of leather cleaner. I felt the oily rag in my hand but it was starting to get numb. My lungs burned as they fought for the air that had been knocked out of me. I was roughly lifted off the floor and placed on the closest patch of bleacher seating available where my eye began to painfully throb and I was vaguely aware of Edward being somewhere in the room. He does have that effect on people.

Or maybe it's just me who feels the tingles…

When I looked down I was confronted with blood. Lots of it. Apparently, that fucking bottle of cleaner was made of plastic hard enough to shatter. My shirt was spotted in the dark viscous matter. I tipped my head back and tried not to look at it. Not particularly squeamish over blood but it did seem to make the throbbing that much more real. Emmett was cupping my face in his hands and saying something. What, I have no idea because there was this low base humming in my ears. That can't be good, right?

You just got KO'ed homie!
Okay so I know I already used one but I have to do this.
WELCOME TO THE THUNDERDOME BITCH.
'Kay, I'm better now. Oh and good luck with that shiner. It's going to suck.

What? I was staring at Emmett trying to make heads or tails of what he was saying when I saw a shock of copper hair from behind his ear. I leaned over a fraction only to have Emmett re-steady me. It still wasn't fast enough for me to miss Edward pummeling a guy against the walls next to those stupid cushioned poles.

What the hell did I miss here?

Noises were starting to bleed into my brain and that's the exact moment I realized I wanted the silence to stay because it was fucking loud in here. Whatever was causing that amazing low buzzing needed to come back before I hunted it down throttled it for leaving me in my dire state. I shook my head carefully at Emmett and pushed my good, greasy hand at his shoulder. He seemed confused for a moment before rocking back on his heels and then I saw something that was startling.

Jasper was yanking on Edward's shoulders (to no avail) as he punched an unknown man in the stomach repeatedly. The man's head was leaning on Edward's shoulder and lolling around. He looked unconscious…drunk possibly. I watched for what could have been hours because as fate would have it, after I was hurt, everything started to slow down. Jesus, Edward looked feral. Every muscle was stretched taunt and he seemed dazed himself.

The precision of his punches and the focus of his hits were impressive. If I didn't feel so damn bad about that guy getting the shit beat out of him, I would probably be drooling…out of my panties. The muscles in Edwards back were twitching tightly with every pull and push of his fist. I could see his thighs straining as he leaned his weight forward, trapping the man against the wall. His hair was falling into his eyes but that didn't seem to deter him from knowing exactly where to throw the most effective hooks.

With the stinging pain of my eye and hand rushing me back into reality, pieces of what just happened began to fall into place.

Unknown man was the sweaty heavy weight. The yelling was Edward.

Bravo! The next Nancy Drew ladies and gentlemen!

No-name man spit up blood…

"Emmett, stop him." I could barely force the words out of my parched mouth but I knew he heard me. He nodded his head after a second and leaped up with what I considered rather good agility for someone that big and propelled himself at Edward's back. Between Emmett and Jasper, they managed to get him off. No-name man fell to the floor and some other guys picked him up and hauled him off to die or get fixed, I don't really know.

Edward stood stock still against Emmett's side, his breathing labored and his stance predatory; his head bowed low as he looked up through his lashes, his shoulders hunched and his knees slightly bent. He watched as they drug the unconscious man away. Where ever they're taking that guy, I hope it was another country.

Thought was moving away from me and I really wanted to go to sleep. I very carefully leaned down on the side body that wasn't bleeding and closed my eyes although I'm sure it was really just a crash landing onto the scarred wooden plank. I didn't even care about the plastic in my hand anymore and that was saying something 'cause I'm sure that cleaner isn't good when rubbed into open flesh.

Vaguely aware of being picked up and sort of coherent for the car ride, while a little lucid when we entered the apartment, I was finally settled onto the toilet in the bathroom and briefly thought of the irony of this situation. Haven't we done this before?

"Bella? Bella, sweetie can you hear me?"

That was Jasper. Sweet, caring, lovely Jasper who takes such good care of my Edward. Where is Edward? Oh, that must be the continuous yelling. Yeah, that's Edward. I don't think his face has ever been that red before. White splotches were scattered throughout the red. He was really flushed. It was so cute.

"Huh? Jasper, you know what? You're my second favorite guy. Really, but don't tell Emmett. I like Emmett but you're second and he's third."

"Shit, I think she has a concussion."

I wish he wouldn't say shit like that because it makes Edward yell louder and that makes my head hurt more.

"Conshushon? I'm cool. I just fell. Again. No biggie."

"No that asshole tackled you! He could have broken your arm or your leg, or Jesus you could have cracked your fucking head open on that floor!"

"There's no bleeding coming from her head but she needs a hospital for her hand."

Edward was yelling again and he was doing it really close to my head. Ouch.

"Hey! Shhhhh, too loud there, baby. I mean, I like it… when we get loud but Jesus, cool it. By the way, why haven't we gotten loud again? I mean lazy. I mean sex. Why haven't we get …gotten sex? Do you not like my girly parts anymore?"

"She needs to go to the hospital." Jasper reiterated.

"No! No doctors. Please? They smell like plastic and needles."

Jasper smirked at me while Edward rolled his eyes. I was being ganged up on…

"You're going to the hospital." Edward was ordering me around. It was aggravating and kinda hot.

Oh, Hell. Regroup! Get it together! We have a goal! We have a purpose!

"You didn't go to the hospital and you were passed out on the floor. You're a hypigrit. Hypocrite."

Dammit, I was hurting my case here and I knew it. But I hated hospitals. I mean really hated them. I spent a lot of time there as a kid and when you're equilibrium sucks as bad as mine there seems to be a reoccurring theme of stitches and needles. I mean really, why can't tetanus shots last forever? My internal monologue rolled its eyes. It knew I was losing too.

Edward glared at me and I noticed the cuts on his knuckles.

Attention span of a gnat…

"Jesus, Edward! Jasper, look at his hands! He…"

"…has had worse but right now you're my priority. Tell me Bella how do you feel? What hurts?"

"My heart?" Cause I wanted Edward to want my nibbly bits.

"Seriously?" He seemed honestly concerned…

"No." Yes.

He sighed and shook his head. I felt like Charlie was about to tell me I couldn't really go to the movies with Eric because he got a speeding ticket the week before. Fucking Forks, fucking five miles over the speed limit. Thank God for tickets though 'cause I really didn't want to go out with him, he had greasy hair that he tried to hide behind all that gel and…

Alright get in the game here, because right now, you're actually talking out loud and I think Edward's about to have an aneurism.

Oops.

"Okay, so I might need to go to the hospital."

And with that we were off! And I mean off, cause Edward picked me up so fast I felt the urge to vomit.

Yeah, that's classy. Thanks for taking care of me sweetie! *barf*

The ride was making me feel light headed. Although I'm sure that had less to do with the actual car ride and more to do with the fact that I bled out at least a quart of blood. It was like someone pressed the pause button for a moment and then we were at the hospital when fast forward went into 3x. The throbbing in my eye was taking a back burner to the intense burning in my hand.

I cringed when the doctor entered my cubical/curtain cave. The sanitary paper wrap under my ass was crinkling and every damn crunch pissed me off. I felt infectious. Edward hovered over me with one hand on my back and the other one grasping the forearm of my injured hand. He seemed to be muttering things about killing, motherfucking cunt bags, and impaling. I wasn't sure but I think it had something to do with No-name man at the gym and me. I however wanted to apply them to the doctor currently prodding my palm as he was 'uh-hu-ing', 'mhmm-ing', and generally being one of those know-it-all dickwads who don't say shit to you about what they're discovering.

One more prod with that cotton ball, mister, and I'm twitching a slap at your face.

I would have rolled my eyes if one of them wasn't trying to simultaneously burrow into my brain while swell itself out of its lid. Words like throbbing, banging, squeezing, stinging, burning, and aching were running through my mind before I realized that the doctor was ordering an x-ray. Suddenly dollar signs started to pervade my senses and I realized I had no way to pay for this visit.

"Uh, I'm actually feeling a lot better. Can I just go home, take a Motrin and sleep it off?"

The omniscient doctor looked like I just told him I could shit starfish.

"Ms. Swan, you very likely have a concussion. You need stitching on your hand. I would advise you stay right where you are and let us do our job."

I felt Edward's fingertips dig into my back. I don't know if it was because the good doctor seemed to get snappy with me or because he was upset that I was being difficult. Either way that shit was getting old. I'm hurt enough here.

I shrugged in a vain attempt at detaching his hand which probably ended up with me looking like a little kid physically throwing a fit. It didn't work.

Sigh.

After forty-five minutes, posing for two x-rays, making idle conversation with a nurse older than Methuselah and pointedly ignoring Edward, I was allowed to leave. No concussion, no fucking narcotics, just a white gauze patch over my eye and five neat little stitches under my thumb. Oh, and a pissed off Edward to boot.

Because I clearly asked to get pummeled. Asshole.

He smirked at me, rather triumphantly when he paid my bill.

I would be pissed about that later. Right now it hurts too much.

It's too bad I'm in love with him or I could really learn to hate his ass.

Ahem.

What? Aw, shit.

***

I woke up with a splitting headache and Edward's nose centimeters from my own. I would have jerked my head back if I could but every inch of my body didn't want to co-operate. His eyes were wide and I could just see the wheels turning. I shouldn't have tried to laugh but it was too fucking funny. He looked startled and confused and just worried about what to do now. Like a first time babysitter who just realized the Pampers bag doesn't have instructions. I could only imagine his overactive mind playing out all the scenarios that might arise after I awoke. He jumped up and grabbed a glass of water off the night stand, sloshing it around and losing some of it on his pillow, as well as what seemed to be two pills.

Come to mamma!

Downing the pills and the water, I leaned back into the awesomeness that is Edward's bed and just vegged. He was attentive and tender the entire day. I could only recall the hilarity of the scolding he got from Jasper when we returned to the apartment with a smirk. It was funny as all hell watching Jasper talk to him like that and to see Edward actually look pennant for his douchbaggery, because that is exactly what all that unnecessary yelling was…douchbaggery. I really didn't care about the content he was spewing only the volume at which it had been coming out. For all I know he was telling me that Martians had landed and we were all going to die from toxic inhalation of alien gas.

But today, he was quiet and polite. Being so sweet to get whatever I wanted. By five I was feeling much better. He iced my face and stroked my cheek while we watched movies and he babied me.

I loved every second of it.

I should get hit more often.

"Don't you have training?"

"Jasper gave me a few days off."

"When is your match?"

"I think I should get more ice."

"I think you should stop being a mamby pamby and tell me when your fight is."

"Next week, Saturday."

"See, now that wasn't so hard was it? Who are we fighting?"

"I am fighting a guy named James."

The answers he was giving me were short and curt. I was irritating him but he was humoring me. Pissy Edward is really cute.

"Whatever, you know what I meant. What do you get when you win? Do you get a big, shiny belt?"

"One hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. And no, no belt."

"Holy shit! Do you get that much every time you fight?"

"No, that's just what the stakes on winning are up to this time. The count is fifty thousand."

"Count?"

"If I lose. I get fifty thousand, if I lose. One hundred and seventy-five if I win."

"You get money if you lose?"

He laughed at me. Boxing vocabulary, know-it-all, Bastard.

"If there wasn't some kind of pay off no one would want to do this. It kinda helps to stave off cheating too. If there is some sort of compensation for getting your ass handed to you, then you're less likely to try and take the competition out before the fight."

"But they still tried to take you out before the fight."

"That's because the asshole I'm fighting Saturday doesn't think he can beat me fairly. Now I think it's time you get into bed. You've been up for a while."

"Stop mothering me. I still want to talk."

"Well I don't. I'm going to bed and you're coming with me."

"Ugh, whatever."

Happy dance! He said you're coming with him...

Stop singing in my head.

He lifted me easily and I sank into his chest. I might be irritated about being shushed and put to bed but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the finer points of Edward's manhandling. He fed me more pills then tucked me in and spooned up next to me; careful to stay a respectable distance from my eye and mindful of the placement of my hand.

I dreamt of Edward, EMS, and money falling out of the gym's ceiling while people counted to ten.

A/N: So just a few things...

I happened to be watching a Priceline commercial when mamby pamby made its way in there. Damn Shatner...so yeah. Sorry.

Also I felt a little snarky while I was writing this up so that's probably why Bella has a little more bite…

I don't do shout-outs. Srsly. I don't. I feel like I leave people out and then its just favoritism…

With that said…

Cheddah…Cheddah, Cheddah, Cheddah... can I have your babies?

No, really though, will you go to the Prom with me?

I promise no car accidents…or hospital visits…cross my heart

Severe love for Cheddah and her Beta-ing of this chapter. She is the Dom of my out of control commas and frequent uses of the words honestly and however (and I'm sure more). Also, thank you, for the encouragement needed to put aside my fear of cliché hell when it comes to being homeless and getting in a tiff with unknown assholes.

And for putting up with multiple random emails all with updated edits of this chapter…cause I couldn't just leave it alone…so yeah, thanks for that. Officially you are my Grammar Jesus. Oh and for realizing my major character blunder with Mike. Yeah, still feeling retarded on that one…Oh! and for the whole Fightward thing. You have no idea how amazing I feel that I got a special -ward name. Srsly…added it to my Word doc. Dictionary… Cause its just wrong for it to have a squiggly under it. And I need to wrap this up cause I'm one step away from buy a broken heart necklace and mailing you the BF side to my F…

I'M ON T'D!!!!

Much love to LucyLu and the girlies over at Twilighted who pimped my whore of a fic out. Muchas gracias!

Do I make a banner now or some sort of avatar thingy? I'm not quite sure what appropriate Twilight fan-fic etiquette requires me to do. Do I wait for a certain amount of reviews or chapters before that step? Bah.

So yeah, here's the linkage for that cause I was instructed to do so…I really hope this shows up when I post…if it don't work let me know via PM…right.

http://www(dot)twilighted(dot)net/forum/viewtopic(dot)php?f=44&t=2984&p=320137#p320137

Anyway! Thank you so much!!!

Alright now that, that's over with…

:::shakes off squishy face:::

Getting some flack about how my summary isn't that inviting…should I change it? I'm not so good with summaries. They're my kryptonite.

Next chapter is…heavy…for lack of a better word.

Srsly. Srsly. (cause i just like saying that.)

Leave me some love.