A/N: Welcome to the sequel! This chapter may be a little jumpy, but it will smooth out. Enjoy and don't forget to vote! Info on my profile.

Disclaimer: Great, I have to start this all over again.

CHAPTER 1:

ELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

We landed in San Francisco around five. I was amazed at how many people were there. The airport was crowded. Lucky for us, we only had our carry-ons for luggage, so we didn't have to wait in line for baggage claim. There was a taxi nearby, so we hopped in and drove to Alec's grandmother's house.

At about five-thirty, we pulled up in front of an elegant white two-story house. It was big, but not ridiculously so. The property was lined with a white-picket fence and pink flowering trees. The house was outlined with daisies and orange marigolds. There was a rose garden off to the left. It all looked like something out of a movie.

The door swung open before we even made it to the front steps.

"Alec!" A woman with shoulder-length red hair and blue eyes cheered. She was wearing black business pants and a flowered shirt.

"Grandmother," Alec greeted warmly as she hugged him.

"And you must be Ella," the woman said. "The girl that Alec is so smitten about."

"That's me," I said as she hugged me.

"Well welcome to California, Dear One. I'm Marianne. Here, let me take your things. Alec, go show her the backyard and then come in so I can get to know you better!" she said, pushing us out the door.

"All right, come on," Alec said, taking my hand. He led me around to the back. I gaped. It was more amazing than any part of the house I'd seen so far.

There was a large patio with a table and chairs. There was a mini playground off to the left. There was a small, round pool in the center, and a small garden off to the right.

"It's so pretty," I said.

"This is where I grew up," he said. "Let's go back inside now."

We went through the back door and he led me to the living room where Marianne was waiting. We sat on the couch across from her.

"Your house is beautiful," I said.

"Thank you," she said graciously. "It's finally able to stay that way ever since Alec went back to Seattle."

"Oh don't start," Alec groaned.

"When he was about twelve years old, he jumped off the swing set and tried to land in the pool. Instead he flew over it and landed in my garden," she glowered at him. "Everything was crushed, and Alec had a broken arm and scratches all over."

I giggled.

"Okay, enough humor at my expense," Alec said.

"Right. So you two are welcome to stay here for as long as you need," Marianne said.

"Yeah, but that might not be for very long. You see, my parents gave me quite a bit of money so Alec and I can surely buy a house or rent an apartment at the very least," I said.

"But Ella, we agreed to not buy a house until I finished school and we went to L.A." he said, a confused expression on his face.

"I know, but here's what I was thinking. We could stay with Marianne until we find a place to live in L.A. Once we find a place, I can go there and take care of the house until you start your residency. You would stay with Marianne, of course," I said.

"I'm not leaving you five and a half hours away," he said firmly.

We stared each other down.

"I'll . . . let you two discuss things. I'll be back in a few minutes. Anyone care for tea?" Marianne asked.

Neither of us said a word.

She sighed and left the room. Alec gave me a sharp look.

"It's not happening," he said.

"Alec, we need to have a place to live. I'll be busy decorating while you finish school. Really it's not that far away. Who knows how long it will take us to find a place? We just need to have something solid. We can't live with your grandmother forever. If that's the case, then I might as well just go back to my parents', and that will be across the country. Look, I know that you are used to being free, but this is a new thing for me. I want us to be on our own," I said.

He sighed. "I know, and I do too."

"Alec, school doesn't start for more than two months. We can find a house, and get settled. Do you really want to wait and try to juggle your residency and a house at the same time?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "You have a point. We'll start checking into places."

I smiled. "I love you."

He smiled back. "I love you too."

Marianne came back in the room. She was probably eavesdropping.

"It's nice that you'll be in the same state. I get lonely sometimes," she said.

"We'll visit as much as possible," Alec promised.

Later the night Alec and I were lying in his old room. We were both exhausted. Putting our items in storage had been a headache. It was nice to just relax for a bit.

"I'm sorry for fighting with you today," I said to him.

He smiled. "It takes two to argue."

"Still. I understand what you're saying, but I think we can do it," I said.

"If there's a will there's a way," he said.

The next day we drove to L.A. and started looking at houses. We wanted something inner-city, but we wanted space too. When we were about to give up, the realtor took us to one last house. Rather mansion.

The house and property was huge. The front had beautiful gardens and statues. The backyard was unbelievable. It had a huge patio and a huge pool. The interior was the best of it all. The house was three stories and had a basement. There were eight bedrooms and each had a bathroom, plus there was a communal bathroom on each floor. The kitchen, dining room, and living room were huge, which I liked. The bedrooms had white carpet, the bathrooms, kitchen, and dining room had black and white checkered floors, and everything else was light colored wood. It reminded me a lot of Mom and Dad's house, but at the same time was totally different.

I could just see the furniture that would go in all the rooms. I knew exactly what I wanted. This was home, I could feel it.

"Alec, this is the one," I said.

He nodded. "I agree."

I turned to the realtor. "How much is it?" I asked.

"Lowest price is nine million," he said.

Alec and I shared a look.

"We'll take it," I said.

"What?! No, we haven't decided anything!" Alec said, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Alec, I want it," I said, sounding like a total child.

"Can we have a moment?" he asked the realtor.

"Of course. I have to go get the papers from my car anyway." He left.

"Alec, come on. We can afford it. We've checked out eight houses today, and this one feels like home. You said so yourself. We'll still have one million left anyway," I said.

"Yes, but we still have to pay for furniture, water, and electricity every month. Figure the furniture to be about three hundred thousand since you'll probably want to paint, water and electricity about one hundred monthly. You'll want to visit your parents often, and flying isn't cheap. Not to mention the amount of gas we'll go through with me driving back and forth. Plus the drugs we have to pay for. You know how expensive that is. We also have to eat and buy clothing. So we'll probably last for about eight months at most. I won't be working by then. It's a possibility for the future, but not right now," he said.

"Alec I'll get a job. We can make this work," I said.

He thought for a moment. "All right, fine. Let's go sign the damned papers."

Let's just say our bank account was a lot smaller now. In our second day of moving, we had gotten a house and bought almost all the furniture we needed. Everything was in varying shades of white and gold, and even some deep reds. It was obvious that I had inherited Mom's taste in furniture. I knew that she would die when she came to visit. Well, that is if dying were possible for a vampire.

"You seem distracted," Alec said as he got into our new bed with me.

"I'm just kind of overwhelmed. It all happened so fast, you know? I mean, we had our plan set in place, and then we got here, and everything changed," I said.

"It's called life, Beautiful. I do agree with you, it happened fast. But now that we have some permanent things, I think everything will slow down. It's just you and me against the world, Baby," he said.

I snorted. "Hardly. We both have rich people backing us up."

He smirked. "But is that really how you want it to be? Leaning on parents for support?"

"No of course not," I said. "It was a joke."

We were silent for a moment.

"Alec, I've been thinking about prom night lately," I said, changing the subject entirely.

"What about it?" he asked.

I turned on my side to face him.

"Well, after . . . after what happened, I really thought about it. I wasn't afraid of you, I was afraid of Riley. But you are not Riley, and you would never hurt me. My whole life I haven't been able to trust anybody, but I know that I can trust you. If I'm ever going to get over that horrible experience, I need to have something good happen. I want you to make love to me," I said.

"Ella, I'm not against it, but we don't have to rush into it," he said.

"I'm not rushing into anything. I've known you for almost six years, and I can trust you. I need to get over my past, and I want to belong to you," I said.

"You already do belong to me," he said.

"I want to be a part of you," I said.

"So you're ready, right now?" he asked, sitting up.

"Yes," I whispered.

He pulled down his pajama bottoms. He was already shirtless, so that left him in just his boxers. I started to lift my tank top, but he stopped me.

"Ah ah ah," he said, shaking his finger at me playfully. "You are my gift, so I get to unwrap you."

He pulled my tank top over my head and threw it to the floor with his pajama bottoms. Then he slid my shorts down my legs so that all that was left was my bra and panties. He unlatched my bra, and began fingering my breasts. Then, he removed both of our underwear. He spread my legs, and I felt him enter me.

"Oh, God," I cried ecstatically. This was much better than I remembered it.

He grunted, and began pumping.

"Alec!" I screamed. I felt so good.

I gripped the sheets with both hands and cried out in happiness. I was finally able to be free of the memory. I was right where I should be.

A/N: A lot happening, I know, but like I said, it will smooth out. Please review, and vote for my story. Info is on my profile. Thanks for reading!