Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".

Author's Notes - Also Take Note This great story wouldn't be Happening if it wasn't For my dear Friend HG or as some of you know him Hollowgo.

Rating - Older Teen to Mature

By: WDG and Lash_Larue

The Garden of Four - Chapter Seven - Tears


After spending a little time with Alice after school Bella had to get home. When she pulled up into her drive she knew that her dad was already home, because the police car was in the driveway. There was also a black truck parked beside it that Bella had never seen before.

Climbing out of her own truck she made her way inside, and as she made her way to the living room she called out for her dad.

"Bella, you're back earlier today, no study session with Alice I see," said Charlie standing up from his chair. Bella looked at the couch and the other chair and saw four faces that she thought that she had never seen before. Charlie saw where his daughter was looking, smiled, and said, "Oh, Bella, I see you haven't met the Blacks. This young man is Jacob Black, the one in the middle is his older sister, Taylor Black, and the old man sitting on the end is Billy Black, their father." Turning to the last person in the room he said "And this young spitfire is Leah Clearwater"

Bella nodded "Hello, nice to meet you all." Jacob and Taylor smirked.

"Ah, Bells, don't tell us you don't remember who we are, come on now, we all used to play as kids together," said Taylor. Bella frowned and tried to think back. A vague memory of a small boy always pushing her around came to mind, then one of her practicing kissing with another girl, and a few other small memories came to her mind.

Clearing her throat a little she said, "Sorry, I can't remember much, I was only a kid back then." She felt eyes staring at her, and looking over to Leah and Billy she almost flinched at the glare they gave her. Turning her eyes away she said, "Ummm, well, I have homework that needs to be done, so please excuse me."

She turned and made her way up the stairs and to her room. Shutting the door behind her, she wondered what Billy and Leah's problem with her was.


A few weeks latter Bella was out shopping for some groceries for herself and Charlie when she literally bumped into Taylor and Leah. "Hey there, Bells," said Taylor as she caught the girl before she fell. After helping Bella get her footing she grabbed one of the bags and carried it to the truck. "You should come down to La Push sometime with me and Leah, there is a party going on tonight and I think it will be a blast. So if you, ya know, need something to do tonight, come and join us." With that Taylor walked away.

Leah stared for a moment without such a harsh glare as last time, but still it was enough to make Bella back up a bit. Leah moved in closer and said "If you know what's good for you, you will not come to this party, leech lover." Leah quickly walked away after that.

Bella stood there for a few more moments, confused by what the girl had said. "Leech lover….what the heck does that mean?" shrugging her shoulders Bella climbed up into her truck and went home.

Later that night after supper Bella decided she would go to the party down at La push, unaware of the golden eyes watching her. Bella's truck pulled up onto the sandy beach, and after cutting the engine off, she hopped out and made her way over to the group with Taylor in it. Taylor saw Bella, let go of Leah's waist and moved to greet the girl with a hug. "Hey, let's talk for a bit, okay?" After she dragged Bella a little ways down the beach, both girls began to walk alongside the water.

"You know Bells, you should be more careful about who you hang around with," stated Taylor, all of a sudden turning on Bella. "You would be safer hanging out down here with kids like us, than the kind you're hanging out with at your school," grabbing Bella's shoulder, she squeezed it hard. Bella winced and tried to break the grip.

"What do you mean? The kids at my school seem nice enough." Then Bella thought about Lauren and her friend, "Well, most of them anyway," she added. Still struggling in the taller girl's grip, Bella again winced at the pressure on her shoulder.

"Bella, please, you have to understand..." Taylor stopped talking and let go of Bella for a moment, running her hands through her hair. She seemed flustered. "Some of the people you're friends with aren't good for your health. Trust me on this, please," Taylor pleaded.

Bella backed up. "Who are you to tell me who I should be friends with, and not?" said Bella, she backed away further and was about leave when rough hands grabbed her again

"Please, Bella, they aren't what you think they are," Taylor pleaded more, and her grip tightened. "Listen, just pay attention to them, you'll see what I mean".

Bella finally broke free of the grip, made her way back to her truck, and left. Once home she rubbed her aching shoulder a bit and sighed. She knew who Taylor was talking about, but she didn't believe her, and she headed up to her room and went to sleep. Dreams of cool arms and golden eyes filled her head.

Waking up that next morning, Bella rolled over and looked at her clock, it was little early. Groaning, she threw her arm over her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, it didn't work. Sighing in frustration she moved to sit up and flinched a little, her shoulder still ached. She shivered a little when she stood up, and she looked to her window. Did she fall asleep with it open last night? She didn't think so, and still trying to remember whether she had left it open or not, she closed it. "Maybe I imagined closing it," she thought.

She looked out into the hallway and saw that it was still dark in the house. Quickly making her way into the bathroom, she shut the door behind her and turned on the shower. After pulling off her baggy shirt and dropping it onto the floor, she reached for her briefs, pulled them down, and then dropped them to the floor as well.

"Well, I didn't imagine that," she sighed as she looked down at herself. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror, and saw a fairly pretty girl with really pretty hair and a very nice figure. And what looked very much like a penis.

Bella had avoided going to any sort of doctor that might have had occasion to look down there as much as she could, but she had read all that she could find about her condition. She knew that there were more people like her than she had thought at first, and that there were several different variants of intersexed people. She also knew about surgery for this, and she thought about Charlie's offer, but she just couldn't decide. Wasn't it part of her? Part of who she was? Was it so impossible for someone else to accept her this way?

"I'm a girl, damn it!" she thought. "I sure get the cramps to prove it." She turned and looked over her shoulder at the pink scars on her back. "Mom sure never accepted me like I am," she said aloud. Bella suspected that it was as much her mother's anger and embarrassment over Bella's condition as her sexuality that had occasioned the beating that had driven her to Forks. She thought of the friends that she had made Angela, and Alice and her family. The Blacks not so much though, Taylor seemed to want to be friendly, but she was awfully bossy. And strong, she added to herself when she saw the faint bruises on her shoulder.

She thought about Charlie, and how he had forced himself to talk with her about this, and although she had been mortified at the time, she really did appreciate it. She thought about his offer to pay for surgery if she wanted it, and that made her think of... "Carlisle..." she whispered.

She trusted Carlisle; he had kept his word not to tell Charlie about her injuries, and he had been very gentle and skillful in treating them. Maybe she could talk to Carlisle, somehow she knew that he wouldn't be repulsed by her, and just maybe he could answer some questions for her.

Bella quickly got into the shower and scrubbed herself down; hopping out of the shower she quickly made her way back to her room and hastily got dressed. She hurried downstairs and made some breakfast. It wasn't long before her dad joined her downstairs.

"Hey there Bells, you're up pretty early," said Charlie as he took his seat at the table. Looking at the breakfast he smiled. "Thanks for the grub, Bells." Charlie took a sip of his drink, then smirked "Now, what do you want" Bella blushed.

"How did you know what I was up to?"

Charlie grinned "I may be old, Bella but I was a kid once as well, plus, you're my kid. So, now, what do you want?" Bella sat down and pushed her food around on her plate.

"Well, it is the weekend, and I was wondering if you would mind if I spent the night with Alice at her house."

Charlie looked at Bella for a second and thought it over. "Well I don't know Bella, are you sure Dr. Cullen and his wife wouldn't mind you staying over at their house?"

Bella nodded "Yeah, I am sure Dad, after all, Alice invited me to sleep over."

Charlie scratched his chin "Well then, I have no problem with it." Charlie drank what was left of his coffee and finished the food on his plate "Now I have to get to work, I will see you Sunday when you get back from your sleepover Bells," walking out, Charlie left Bella alone in the kitchen.

Bella smiled and finished her own breakfast before cleaning up. She went back to the bathroom for a quick second, brushed her teeth, and then headed back to her room and packed a bag with some clothes and things. On her way out she made sure to lock the door behind her, and then got into her truck.

On the way to the Cullen's she began to think more about what Taylor had said about the Cullen's not being safe. Bella shook her head; she just could not imagine them being a danger to her, or anyone for that matter. Pulling up, she didn't even get a chance to cut off the engine before an energetic pixie was bounding out of the house. "BELLA!" screamed Alice rushing out to meet her. Bella got out of the truck with a chuckle and grabbed her bag. Shutting the door to her truck she turned around and quickly dropped her bag. Alice jumped into Bella's arms and hugged her. Bella caught Alice and tried to keep from falling over from the sudden jump Alice had done.

"I missed you, Bella," Alice whispered into Bella's ear softly. Carefully, she got out of Bella's grasp and picked up Bella's bag "Come on, let's get this sleepover started. Emmett says he wants to play some game with you, plus mom says she has a new dish for you to try out." Bella paused for a moment, and she thought back, trying to remember if she had ever seen one of the Cullen's eat. Looking up when she could not remember any time that she had, she shook her head, just because she hadn't seen them eat didn't mean anything, they could have eaten while she wasn't looking.

Catching up with Alice she walked into the living room behind her. "HEY, IT'S BELLA!" yelled Emmett. Jumping up and running to them, he pulled Bella up into a hug and swung her about before setting her own her own two feet again, "You ready to play some games, Bells?" asked Emmett, pointing to the TV where on the floor sat an Xbox 360 and a ps3 with all kinds of games.

"Now just wait a minute, young man," said Esme, coming out from the kitchen. "Bella, how are you, my dear?" Esme pulled Bella into a warm motherly hug.

"Hi Esme, I'm fine, and it's good to see you too." Bella returned the warm hug, before pulling away. Looking around she saw that Edward and Jasper were not around. "Where are Edward and Jasper?" she asked.

Esme smiled "Oh, they went out camping nearby, dear." Esme looked over to Alice for a moment before looking back "Now I am going to go get started on lunch. Why don't you kids go and have some fun?" Walking back into the kitchen she left them alone. Alice smiled and tugged on Bella's arm

"I am going to go put your bag up in my room, okay? Why don't you and Emmett play some games, I will be right back" Bella nodded and watched Alice walk off.


After a few hours and a splendid lunch, which Bella was the only one to eat, Carlisle arrived home. "Hello, Bella, it's good to see you, how is your back?" asked Carlisle, setting his bag down and taking off his coat, and then hanging it up.

Bella grinned and stood up. "Its fine, but if you would like to check it over, we can, also, I would like to talk to you about some stuff if you don't mind."

Carlisle smiled. "Of course, come up to my study with me and we can have a look at things and have that chat." He moved to head up the stairs with Bella right behind him. Walking into the room from before, where Carlisle had first worked on her back, she sat down on a small table and gently lifted her shirt over her head and held it to her front.

Carlisle waited for a moment before turning to check on the girl, he looked at the cuts on her back for a moment and was about to turn away when he saw the bruise on her shoulder, and he stopped, frowning. "Your back seems fine, Bella, things are healing up nicely, but what is this bruise doing on you? It seems new, you said nothing else would happen to you, so how did you get this?"

Bella touched her shoulder and flinched a little, then, pulling her shirt back on she spoke softly, "It was an accident, a girl down at La Push did it." Bella didn't say any names.

Carlisle frowned but didn't say anything for a moment before moving to sit at his desk "I see, then it won't happen again, correct?" Bella nodded and moved to sit in a plush chair by the desk.

"About what I wanted to talk about before," Bella fidgeted and clasped and unclasped her hands "Well, remember when we first met, and we discussed how it wasn't my fault for the beatings that my mom gave me?"

Carlisle nodded and leaned forward, "Go on, Bella."

Bella licked her dry lips and looked at the floor "What, what if it was my fault..." Bella felt like going to hide in a hole somewhere right then, "…what I am trying to say is…there is something about me that my mom doesn't like."

Bella paused and wiped her cheeks, pulling her hands back when she felt wetness on them, she was crying. When she had started she didn't know, but she was crying. "I am not like normal girls….I have always known I was different, I just…I don't know if I can tell you what, if you're disgusted by what I say…what if Alice finds out…oh god what if your whole family finds out? You all would hate me because I am a freak!" Bella jumped up and was about to make a run for it when gentle arms wrapped around her.

"Shhhh, Bella, its okay, none of us would think that, no matter what you told me," Carlisle promised as he stopped the girl and pulled her into a gentle embrace. Bella cried her heart out in his arms, her sobbing echoing off the walls of his office. Carlisle gently rubbed Bella's back and made soft, soothing noises. "You don't have to tell me right now if you don't want to, Bella," he helped her back over to the chair and kneeled beside her. "I could just…guess, or run some tests on what has you so troubled, but I promise you that nothing you say could ever change the way my family and I see you."

Bella nodded her head and hugged him one more time, "I well tell you…just please give me a second." Carlisle nodded and got up and sat back down in his chair, he had a good idea of what it was, but he would let Bella tell him. Bella took a deep breath and cleared her throat "I…I was born a lot different then most… girls. I have, well you see - I was…there's extra down…well, down there, ya know?" Bella pointed to her pants.

Carlisle nodded "I see, and it's all functional, is it?" Bella nodded.

"Yeah, it's pretty damn functional if you ask me." Carlisle nodded and smiled.

"I see, and does it bother you?" Bella shook her head.

"No, I mean I have kind of had it my whole life ya know, so it's a part of me, but my mother didn't like it one bit." Carlisle frowned.

"Well, Bella, it's your body, and while I am sure you love your mother, it is still your body anyway, and what you want to do with it is up to you." Getting up he walked around and clasped her good shoulder "Besides, I am sure that no matter what, you will have no trouble with this family just because you have a little extra. I won't tell anyone, but I am sure that when you do decide that it's time for them to know that they won't care. Alice will still be your good friend."

Bella nodded and felt a little bit happier about herself, standing, she hugged Carlisle once more, and smiled, "Thanks, I needed to have this chat."

Walking out of Carlisle's study and down the stairs she saw that the only one in the living room was Alice.


End Chapter Seven.

Wow this took me forever to get done, you have no idea how much back and forth me and lash_larue had to go through to get to this point, anyway hope ya'll liked the update and remember reviews are always welcomed.