Author's Note: Yes, I know, I'm awesome. But this is what happens when I'm on a roll, especially with a particular story. Please enjoy my double update in a day, and tell me what you think. Also note that, while they all meet fairly fast, complications and drama will prolong them actually getting together with Bella.

Chapter 4

Surprisingly––or maybe not––in the four days that Bella had gotten to know Victoria, the redhead hadn't even tried to take a snap at her. In fact, if anything, Victoria seemed more concerned about Bella's well being than Bella herself. It was amusing to watch how anxious Victoria would get every time Bella so much as picked up a knife.

Charlie, thankfully, hadn't so much as muttered another word about castrating Jake, and seemed pretty happy about Victoria's involvement in Bella's life, although more than a little suspicious, afraid Victoria might end up being another Jacob––save for the whole crush part, which Victoria found humorous, since it was her love for Bella that had changed her life so dramatically.

He'd even had a talk with Victoria, explaining that Bella had been betrayed twice, both recently, in the past and he didn't want to see his little girl like that again––much to Bella's embarrassment. He was quite pleased with his talk when he saw the flash of honest anger on the redhead's face, and was sure that Bella had made a good friend.

Of course, he had no idea how they had met, or even what Victoria's eyes looked like behind her sunglasses. He was just happy that someone was once again making his little girl happy.

The two girls had become inseparable in their short time together, especially when Victoria admitted to everything she could, including her hand in Laurent's death––although she didn't mention them being mates, or that she knew who the wolves were, afraid it would hurt Bella further. In return, Bella had told Victoria everything, and had then calmed the vampire down just like she had done her father. They had talked and laughed and, many times, simply sat in silence, enjoying each other's company. Bella had no idea why she had felt so happy with the redhead, but she didn't care. She was just happy to have someone again. It was actually kind of funny, since Bella had been so tentative and scared, not just because Victoria was a vampire, but because of how things had worked out with the other people she had gotten close to. Yet this single vampire, a vampire whose mate had tried to kill her, and who Bella had thought was going to try to kill Bella herself, had managed to worm her way into Bella's heart with some simple smiles. Sure, those smiles were beyond drop dead sexy, but still.

Victoria was equally ecstatic. She didn't think things could have honestly gone better between them, and now Victoria spent basically every moment of every day with her mate. Her real, true mate, and things couldn't be better unless Bella would have no problem with Victoria kissing her senseless and fucking her brains out. Even when she left, it was only to either hunt, or so Charlie wouldn't get suspicious. Then Victoria would simply climb back into Bella's room through the window, and they would continue talking, albeit at a lower volume, until Bella fell asleep in Victoria's arms.

Yet while they got closer, Victoria found it was getting harder and harder to control herself. She wanted, needed, more. She craved to feel Bella's soft skin against hers, to find out how much of her naked body Victoria's imagination had gotten right. A part of her just wanted to bite and turn the human so Bella could feel what Victoria felt, but she was already at a point where she couldn't force the choice on her mate.

She was brought out of her musings by a mumbling brunette. A part of Victoria was hoping that she would start sleep talking again despite the hour––she did love hearing Bella talk, especially when she would say things like how comfortable Victoria was––but Bella was simply starting to wake up. Hazy brown eyes met red gold as they opened, and Bella smiled. "Hey Tori," she said as she realized she had once again woken up in the redhead's embrace. "Thanks for staying again."

"Anytime," Victoria replied with a charming smile, brushing some unruly hair out of Bella's face. Bella felt strangely embarrassed and struggled to get up, pulling out of Victoria's reluctant arms.

"Let me just...uh, make myself presentable," Bella mumbled as she managed to get off of the bed, thankfully without tripping over anything...save for some air as she was walking towards the door. Before she could slam into it head first, Victoria was there to catch her with a smirk, making Bella blush a bright red. "I know I'm getting a little repetitive here, but thanks."

"It's one of the reasons I'm here," Victoria replied mysteriously as she set the girl on her feet, releasing her to face the world outside of her bedroom.

Bella came back a good five minutes later, freshly showered and in a towel, which made Victoria suddenly focused on her with a laser like intensity. Bella noticed the redhead's black eyes and froze, heart pounding with nerves, yet not a trace of fear.

"I didn't notice before, but, uh, do you need to feed?" Bella asked nervously, shifting from foot to foot and making herself all the more tempting as her breasts jiggled lightly.

Oh, I need to feed on something. Victoria almost purred out loud as she took a step towards Bella, unconsciously moving towards her in a predatory manner, but she got ahold of herself, shutting her eyes as she fought not to bring up the nearly naked human in her mind's eye. "I'm fine."

She could feel Bella's hesitation and concern––not for herself, but for Victoria––and the endearing emotions made it all the harder for Victoria not to lose control. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Just...please, get dressed," Victoria managed to say, at war with herself. The instinctive part of her demanded Victoria open her eyes and drink in Bella's body, appreciate it. Why shouldn't Victoria covet and claim what was hers?

The answer was simple; Victoria could still easily scare the human off, especially if Bella were to see see the desire in Victoria's eyes, and that was the last thing Victoria wanted. All she could be thankful for was that she had such control as the confused human did as Victoria asked, getting dressed and ready for the day ahead.

"Um, so...today's also a school day," Bella started hesitantly as she sat on the corner of the bed, wanting to reassure and help the redhead but unsure of how to do that.

"Yes, I know," Victoria answered simply, daring to open her eyes. She relaxed as she realized Bella was now fully clothed, and when Bella saw that Victoria had calmed down, she felt relief as well.

"So what are you going to do today?" Bella asked, cocking her head to the side in a curious manner.

"Oh, just hang around, maybe go hunt," Victoria said with a casual shrug, daring to sit down on the bed, close to her mate. Not to mention go check up on those mutts and make sure you stay safe.

"Cool," Bella said with an awkward nod as she shifted on the bed next to the vampire. She glanced at Victoria's face, looked away, then looked back again––or, more specifically, she looked at Victoria's eyes.

"What is it?" Victoria asked, realizing that something was on Bella's mind. "I'm going to hunt some deer, if that's what you're worried about." While it did taste incredibly disgusting, she would take on the diet her mate preferred.

"No, that's not it!" Bella exclaimed hastily, surprising them both. Blushing a bright red at how Bella had sounded to her own ears, she buried her face in her hands. "God, this is going to sound so wrong. I can't believe I'm even thinking it."

"What? What is it?" Victoria asked, placing a coaxing hand on Bella's shoulder. "No matter what it is, you can tell me."

Bella peeked up from her hands hesitantly, as if trying to see the truth on Victoria's face before deciding to speak. "I love your eye color, okay? I think it's beautiful, and I just thought that I kinda didn't want you to keep drinking from only animals so your eyes could stay the same. I don't want any innocents to die though," she hurried to say, realizing how much she had stunned the red headed vampire. "Seriously. People already die too early enough as it is, and I don't want anything to contribute to that. It was just a stupid thought––"

"I can always hunt criminals," Victoria suggested with a small smile. Now it was her turn to surprise the human, as Bella froze, looking up at Victoria in shock. Victoria risked putting an arm around Bella's waist, relieved when Bella didn't pull away, or even seem to think it was weird. "I mean it, Bella. Animals are disgusting, and the only reason I switched to them is because I didn't want to upset or scare you. But if you like my eye color as it is so much, I can easily drink from animals and the occasional criminal human. In fact, I'd rather drink that way then just from animals."

"Why?" Bella asked, clearly confused. "Why would you do all this for me?"

"Because I want you to like me," Victoria answered, immediately and honestly. For a second, as emotions flashed across the human's eyes, she was worried she had admitted to too much. Then, Bella smiled.

"You're amazing, you know that? I––"

"Bells, it's time for school! You're going to be late!" Charlie shouted from downstairs, and Victoria wanted to curse the human for interrupting at such an important time. Why was it today of all days that Charlie hadn't needed to leave early, anyways?

Bella seemed as reluctant to leave, slowly getting up and pulling away from Victoria's arm. "Right. I'll see you later, then."

"Yes, you will," Victoria agreed, trying not to frown.

"Tonight?"

The hopefulness in Bella's voice made Victoria smile. "Yes, Bella. I'll be here tonight...maybe even sooner, if you leave your window open." With a sexy wink, Victoria was gone, leaving Bella alone in her room.

It didn't take long for Bella to recover and get ready for school, and Victoria waited and followed until Bella was getting out of the car in the school parking lot before taking off for Seattle. It was easy, even during the day, to find criminals lurking in cities, and it didn't take long for Victoria to find, drain, and kill a mugger with a knife. Once that was over with, Victoria ran back to Forks to check in on the wolves. She was simmering with anger when she overheard Jacob Black himself wanting to check in on Bella, despite what he had done. Thankfully, the alpha of the pack smartly reminded him of Charlie's threats, and the fact that the man seemed more than serious.

Once the talk was over, Victoria rushed back to Bella's house at a little past five, using the front door.

"Victoria," Charlie said when he opened it, clearly surprised to see her.

"Hello, Charlie," Victoria greeted him with a charming smile. "I know it's a little late, but I was hoping I could take Bella out really quick? There's something I really wanted to show her."

"Oh, uh...sure. Of course you can; just have her back here by nine, okay?" When Victoria nodded in agreement, Charlie turned back into the house to call out, "Bells! Someone wants to take you out!"

"I swear, if it's Jessica again…and Tori's supposed to be over any minute now too..." Victoria could hear Bella mumble to herself as she half walked, half stomped down the stairs, and tried to hide a smile. That task soon became impossible when Bella's eyes landed on her with a mix of confusion, shock, and excitement.

"So, can I take you out or no?" Victoria asked, placing a hand on a cocked hip as she smirked at Bella.

"Right...sure. Let me just get my coat." Apparently, Victoria had a special way of dazing the Swan family, as Bella nearly tripped over the first step as she hurried back upstairs to get her coat. She was back down soon enough, and Victoria was quick to take her arm and lead her out of the way, into the nearby forest and out of sight.

"So, where are you taking me?" Bella asked with excited curiosity.

"That depends on if you're going to tell me what you were about to say this morning. Right before your dad interrupted us," Victoria clarified, seeing Bella's confusion.

"Oh, right. I was just...you know, I was just going to say...wow, I always say the weirdest things," Bella muttered, mostly to herself as she tried to gather her thoughts and remember what she had been going to say. At that very moment, Victoria froze, not only sensing danger, but also catching the scent of a vampire. She pulled Bella into her body, turning to face the threat, meeting confused and worried golden eyes, but Bella didn't even notice. Instead, she just relaxed into Victoria's body, uncaring about the cold, and continued. "I'm just really happy that you helped kill Laurent. If it weren't for that––"

Bella didn't get to say another word, as the moment Bella had mentioned killing Laurent, the unrecognizable owner of the golden eyes froze for half a second, her face twisting with rage. Then, with an anguished, furious roar, she lunged.

Pushing Bella behind her, Victoria jumped forward to meet the attacker.

Victoria didn't care who it was; anyone who posed a threat to Bella would die.