***Chpov***

Bella was a kick! We hit up the mall and she did a good 90% of her shopping at Target. She also bought a few smaller things from Hot Topic and Journey's. I, however dug me some DEB and American Eagle. Hot Topic was fun, considering we were the least gothic girls there and we were the only real vampires. But we got some great tshirts and random crap. Bella found herself a hoodie that screamed badass and a dress that would make the Major drool!

I asked her if I'd heard correctly about her lack of experience, and she bit her lip and nodded with a wry grin. I'd bumped her shoulder and said, "You're one lucky bitch, sister. You getta learn from the legend." She cocked a brow and I elaborated, "He's the God of War. Honey. He's your mate, and he's got over a century's worth of experience. Not to mention he can feel it if you like somethin' or if you don't. I mean, mates are always attentive lovers, Sug, but an Empathic mate?" I shivered for effect and said, "Like I said, sister… one lucky bitch."

She had giggled my little speech off and changed the subject, but I knew she was even more curious than she had been. I watched as she wandered through the humans without a second thought and asked how long she'd been around for. She said, "Eight and a half months."

"Eight and a half MONTHS? What the FUCK Kid? Yer a Goddamn newbie an' you didn't even warn us? Bella, Baby, how the fuck are you even sane around all these people?" She sighed and said, "Char, Babe? Did you know your accent gets thicker when you're all worked up?" I gaped at her and said, "I am well aware, thank you. Now seriously… How the fuck are you doin' it?" She shrugged and told me about spendin' her first few weeks in her own blood soaked clothes and her first 6 months totin' around a pack full of clothes that smelled like her human self. I'd actually needed to sit down.

***Bpov***

Shopping with Char was like shopping with Renee. She was constantly pulling things off the racks and holding them up to both herself and me, only to put them back on the rack and move on. She watch me like a science experiment but I was pretty much returning the favor so I didn't mind.

She asked about my lack of sexual whatnot and then went on to make me 100 times more intrigued than I had been before. She also asked how long I'd been one of them… and then she freaked out a lil bit. Yeeeaah… she even trucked over to a bench and sat down.

"Charlotte? Are you gonna be okay? Do you want to go back now?" I sat down next to her and she just looked at me and blinked long and slow. Then she shook her head and said, "I heard you two talkin' about your first night around humans, but I didn't realize it was so soon after your change… how old were you?" I leaned back in my seat and thought for a second then said, "6 months,1 week, and 3 days old." I looked over at her shocked expression and said, "If I'd known I was so dangerous, I would never have risked all those people, Char."

"Oh, Honey, no! You just don't understand…."

"Char, Jasper told me about the newborns he made and destroyed. I've seen the scars you all have. I get it. I know I'm an oddity."

I sat back and fished out the strawberry lip gloss that looked like a 'Ring Pop' and slipped it on my ring finger. Suddenly I realized that was the first ring ever to sit there. I'd hated marriage so much, because it was like the kiss of death to Charlie and Renee. I'd hated it so much I'd never, not once, put a ring on that finger. Now, here I was…

"I think he might get you somethin' a little less sizable, but it'll be a lot more expensive."

It was my turn to gape at her. "I don't think-"

"Shut the fuck up, sister. You," she touched my nose with her finger, "are his mate, Bella. He will never leave you. He will love you and live not only with you, but for you." She tapped the plastic gem on my finger and said, "Marriage ain't nothin' but a piece of paper and a party, Sug. It doesn't change anything, and if it does, you shouldn't have gotten married in the first damn place."

Again she looked me dead in the eye and said, "You are mates. Why the hell not get pretty for a day and invite some people to come out and listen to some music and dance? Or you can hit up the Elvis chapel in Vegas. Hell, you could pledge yourselves to each other in front of each other and no one else and still be married, as far as I'm concerned, but to not do it at all is almost a damn sin, in and of itself."

I couldn't argue. I'd never win. So, I said the only thing I could, "We'll see, sister. We'll see."