Bella? Is that you?

Chapter 19

HOPE'S POV



I decided to just talk to her. I looked at her, as she ran her hand through her dark hair. I smiled at her, thinking about how I wanted to ask her.

"Hayley, can I talk to you about something?"

She nodded, confused.

"Sure, what is it, Hope? Is something wrong?"

I shook my head, watching her.

"No, it's not that. It's just, I've been thinking. I know you said that we didn't have to get that close, but lately I've been thinking about you a lot. And, I wanted to talk to you about it."

Not the best way to phrase it, but it was the best I could do. She could see what I meant, and moved a little closer, there was still a bit of space between us though.

"Hope, I said that because ............. Well, imprinting doesn't have to lead to that. I know that Bella and Leah are dating there imprints. I've been thinking about you to. I just didn't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable. After what happened with Jasper. You deserve better than him."

I sighed, looking at her. I .................. I didn't know what to say. I was afraid of being hurt again, and she could see that.

"Hope, I'm not like him. I can see you're afraid of being hurt again, but I would never do that."

It was then that I decided to be with her. The way I felt about her .................... It was more than the way I cared about him.

I reached out, and grabbed her hand.

"I know that now, I was afraid. I was with him for 9 years, and he lied to me the entire time."

I felt her squeeze my hand, and she moved closer. I was a little nervous, and she noticed.

"I'm sorry. It's the imprint. I like being close to you."

I shook my head, it wasn't her fault I was nervous.

"It's not your fault. I just need a little time. I'm not used to this. Plus, I've never been with-"

"Don't worry about that. Imprints ................... Well, gender doesn't really matter. My brother imprinted on Melody, but he could've imprinted on a guy. She's a good influence on him though. Even if he does annoy me."

That made me smile. He always reminded me of Emmett. Just smaller.

"Yeah, he reminds me of Emmett. Just smaller."

She laughed, watching me.

"Yeah. Emmett is huge. How tall is he? 6'4?

"He's 6'6."

She nodded. She seemed to like him.

"Yeah. He's really nice though. Adam is really quiet though. Rosalie .............. Well, I wouldn't cross her. And Bret seems nice. Carlisle and Esme are really nice."

Well, she likes my family.

"Yeah. You're right about Rosalie. What about Alice and Bella?"

"They seem nice. When they aren't staring at one another. They seem really close."

I nodded, remembering everything I had been told. They had been pretty close before, when they were here before.

"Yeah. Talk to them about that. They can tell you more about that. I only know a little."

I was being honest. I had been told about everything, but they had lived through it and could tell her what they wanted. I may say something that they want kept private.

Hayley nodded, playing with my fingers. I can't explain it. I felt a bit more comfortable around her, and she could tell.

"No need to be nervous Hayley. I know this will take time, but I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."

That made me laugh.

"I know. But, after ................ After what he did, it will take time for me to learn to trust people again."

"Hope, telling me how you felt was huge. I know it will take time, and like I said, I'm not going anywhere. Ever."

BELLA'S POV

I woke up, looking at Alice. I thought about the previous night. I had been so nervous, but she accepted that I was different.

Alice moved closer to me, kissing my neck.

"Mm. Morning."

I smiled, kissing her. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer.

"Mm. Morning pixie."

She kissed me, leaning her forehead against mine. I smiled, thinking about everything. I couldn't separate my feelings from hers.

"Last night-"

"Ssh, baby. I know. I felt it to."

She ..................... I blushed, thinking about that.

"Bella, I know you felt it. There's nothing wrong with feeling like that."





We, (eventually), got up. I got something to eat, and sat next to her.

"Bella."

I looked at her, waiting for her to continue. I had been feeling a little .................. I don't know ................ Nervous, I guess. I was so relieved that she was fine with everything.

"I can feel that you're nervous, and a bit of relief. You have nothing to worry about. Last night ....................... That was amazing. You never have to worry about me thinking about you being different. I love you, baby."

We spent a little while there, before Alice suggested going back before someone got worried. So, we started walking back. I was feeling a little................. I guess I had a lot of pent up emotion from the previous night and felt like I needed to phase.

Alice was holding my hand, and I felt her squeeze my hand.

"Go ahead."

She looked at me, and I did. She scratched behind my ears, and my chin. She knelt down in front of me, and I licked her cheek. She laughed, and glared at me. I knew she wasn't serious and whined. She sat down, with her back against a tree. I sat next her, looking at her.

"What was that about getting back?"

'This is what I need right now.'

I nudged her shoulder, and she looked at me. I was facing her, and my tail landed in my lap. She tugged on the end of my tail, and I whined. She shook her head, and rubbed my cheek. I nuzzled her hand, and lay down next to her. My stomach was exposed, as I was laying on my side. She looked at me, and reached out, rubbing my stomach.

Now, I'm a shifter, and it felt nice. She knew it would, and didn't stop. I turned over, so I was on my back, and she laughed.

"It's nice, sue me."

'I can see that.'

She kept that up, and soon I was pretty much in her lap. She stopped, laughing. I loved when did stuff like that. I sat up, and licked her cheek. She always made a big deal about hating it, but I knew she loved when I did stuff like that.

"Bella!"

I phased, and moved a little closer. She kissed me, pulling me closer. I kissed her, looking up at her.

"I get the feeling that you like me doing that."

She laughed, looking away.

"You know that I like it. I don't care if you wanna do that, it's nice. I like cuddling you, when your like that."

We walked back to the house, noticing that Hope, Leah, and Kate were out. Apparently, Kate was meeting Leah's brother, Seth. Hope, well, she was just out. Probably with Hayley.

We sat on the couch, talking to Rosalie. Bret walked in, sitting next to her. Rosalie put her arm around Bret, who moved a little closer. I looked at Alice, who had her on my shoulder.

I could tell that she was happy that things were finally calming down a little for now. We spent the afternoon talking to Rosalie and Bret. Emmett and Adam were out, and came back a little while later. They sat with us, and spent a little time talking to us, before everyone went to their rooms.



LEAH'S POV

"Kate, this is my brother, Seth."

Kate smiled, but I could feel that she was nervous. She shook her hand, and sat next to me on his couch.

"So, I finally get to meet the person who is making my sister so happy. I, unlike our mom, actually want to get to know you."

That made her smile. She was so supportive, when I told her about what had happened.

"Yeah, Leah told me about you. What happened with your mom ................ Well, I was shocked when she imprinted, but I know she couldn't help it. I'm glad she did though."

Now, that surprised me. She had talked about the imprint before. But, with how nervous she claimed to be about meeting Seth, I didn't think she would say things like that.

Seth smiled, looking at me, before looking at Kate.

"Yeah, she wasn't happy. She doesn't accept that it can happen with vampires. No offence."

I glared at him, but Kate shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. I was shocked, when she told me. But, things worked out."

"Yeah, they did."

Seth looked at me, as I spoke. I was being honest. I know Kate was shocked, that I imprinted after meeting her just once. But, the fact that she was willing to be with me, knowing that I'm different ........................ It meant so much to me.

Kate realised what I was thinking about, and smiled at me.

"So, have you seen her wolf form yet?"

Kate nodded, looking at him.

"Yeah, I have. Once I talked her into thinking it was normal. I don't care if she's a shifter, I really don't."

I knew the last part of that sentence was meant for me, but it made Seth smile. He thought she was talking about something else.

After questioning Kate about everything, and making sure she knew that she was supposed to treat me right, I ended up hitting him. Kate shook her head, watching us.

"Leah, don't hurt your brother."

"But-"

"Be nice."

I smiled, looking at her. I know he's my brother, but he could see how much she cared. He shook his head, looking at me.

By the time we left, they were getting along pretty well.



"I thought you were nervous about meeting him?"

She shook her head, sitting on our bed. She pulled me onto her lap, kissing me.

"I was, but he's important to you. I was just being friendly. He was just making sure that I really care about you, and I won't hurt you. I was expecting that."

I shook my head, leaning against her. She squeezed my knee and I looked at her.

"I know he was, but it's obvious how much we care about each other, kitty."

She smiled as I used my nickname for her.

"Stand up."

I frowned, but stood up. She moved back onto the bed, and looked at me. I moved closer to her, and she kissed me. I could feel her hand on my knee. But, I could also feel how hesitant she was. She didn't want to go to far and make me nervous. I made a decision, I didn't want her to feel like that anymore. Plus, I really wanted to get closer to her that way.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer. She seemed surprised and pulled away.

"Leah, what-"

"Ssh. It's alright."

She knew what I meant, and knew that I was OK with this.