A week had gone by since Alice and I's first kiss, and things were going great. Jacob and Edward were going strong, and we even had a double date with them in Diablo City a few nights ago. Jane had finally told Heidi how she felt, and now they were together. Charlie hadn't come back to the ranch to talk to me again, and I hadn't called him either. I was still too angry at him for coming here to.

I didn't give him too much thought though. Alice was my main focus ninety-nine percent of the time, and I liked it that way. Though I still wasn't comfortable with PDA, Alice was fair game while behind closed doors. She didn't seem to mind, understanding that this was all new for me, and that I wasn't quite ready yet.

The only people that knew about us were Jacob, Edward, Heidi, Jane, and Esme. Even I thought that having that many people know would bug me, but I knew them and trusted them, so it was different. They were all supportive, even Esme, which I think I was the most happy about. From the very beginning, she never treated me any differently. She stood up for me when she barely knew me, and treated me with love and respect, like a member of the family.

She even expressed to me in private that she was happy that I was seeing Alice. But she also gave me the talk about not hurting her daughter. I would never even dream of hurting Alice, she was my sun, the main reason for my happiness and new found courage. I owed so much to her, and had no idea how I could ever repay her...but I'm sure she could come up with a few things.

Ever since our kiss, we had gotten more intimate. The kissing led to touching, and we all knew where the touching would go. I wasn't ready for sex yet, so she kept her hands above my waist, but gave me permission to touch her anywhere and everywhere. That was my Alice for you.

I hadn't gotten the nerve to touch her yet, but she took advantage of the 'waist up rule' right away. So far she had only caressed me through my clothes, but I ached to have her skin on mine. Tonight after my shower, I didn't put a bra on for that specific reason. And I was sure that Alice would be more than happy about it.

I finished drying my hair, and took one last look in the mirror, ruffling it to try and look more sexy. I took a deep breath as I smoothed the wrinkles in my wifebeater and boxers, then headed back to my room. Alice was waiting for me patiently in bed, and I couldn't help but smile when she raised and eyebrow to me, and gestured for me to come join her.

I quickly closed the door behind me, turned off the light, and literally jumped in bed with her. Getting under the cool covers, our lips found each others in the darkness easily, starting out sweet and innocent, with a few pecks here and there. It wasn't until she pulled me on top of her, when our kisses grew more passionate. Her fingers weaved their way through my slightly damp hair and pulled me closer, slipping my body in between her legs.

My hands found the hem of the shirt she had on, and let my fingers glide under the soft fabric, and across the smooth skin of her stomach. I felt her toned muscles move under my touch, spreading goosebumps as I explored. After a few minutes, my hand had made it's way to the small of her back, holding her close as her tongue grazed my bottom lip, asking permission to enter.

As I opened for her, she flipped us over, her now on top, straddling me as she plunged her tongue inside my mouth. I didn't even bother fighting for dominance, I gave in to her, knowing she would have won anyway. I felt her smile against my lips, knowing why I was letting her take over so easily. Yes, in bed, Alice was boss...and I was completely happy with that.

Finally one of her hands left my hair, and made their way down my neck, past my collar bone, and without hesitating, cupped my small breast. Immediately she let my lips go and stared down at me, grinning about not having a bra to deal with.

"You're welcome." I simply said.

Her lips crashed to mine, getting more aggressive. She squeezed me harder, making me moan into her mouth. I pulled her hand down momentarily, wanting to hook it under my shirt so she could feel my skin, but she took it as a 'stop' instead, and moved back. I grabbed her shirt and drew her back down to me, taking her hand in mine again, and guiding it under the thin fabric.

I could see she was surprised, but pleased as I lead her hand further up my body. She leaned down and kissed me at the same time her hand reached my breast. Her lips were so soft this time, nothing like the aggressive kiss just a minute ago. I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I settled on any kiss that was from Alice, was great. I could kiss her all day, or in this case, all night, if I could.

But we had to sleep sometime, and I think she could sense me getting tired as my movements slowed. When she rolled off me is when I noticed the dull throb between my legs, and the definite wet spot on my panties. I didn't need that as a reminder that I didn't get any, so before Alice could cuddle against me, I hopped out of bed.

"One moment, please." I said as I got up and went in search of some clean undies.

"Toss me a pair too." She replied before I felt her discarded pair hit me in the back.

I found two and changed quickly, knowing it was dark enough that she wouldn't be able to see much of anything, then threw the second one to her, and it landing on her face. I giggled before I got in bed, as she slipped the new pair on. I felt better now, and the throbbing had subsided for the most part, thankfully.

She seemed to have cooled down too, and now we were both realizing how tired we were. It had been a long day, we had worked on the inside of the cabin for an hour longer than usual, and the heat hadn't helped. We were both excited to see it finally finished, and Alice was more than ready to go out and buy things to decorate it with.

We had made plans to go to IKEA in Diablo City the next day and shop. And I was happy that she wanted me to go shopping with her. More happy that it wasn't clothes shopping. But then again, IKEA is like the ultimate mall...so maybe I should be worried.

She took me out of my thoughts as her arm snacked around my waist and spooned me, hugging me close to her tiny body, kissing the back of my neck before we drifted off together.

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I was woken up by the bed shaking violently, accompanied by Alice's happy voice.

"Bella, get up! We're going to IKEA!"

And so it begins.

"Bella Bear, come on!"

Oh yeah, she came up with that pet name a few nights ago when I bear hugged her, because I hadn't seen her all day. I had to admit, I loved it. Plus it was much better than 'Bella Wella', I shot that down rather quickly.

She continued to jump until I opened my eyes. She plopped down next to me then, giving me a peck on the nose before hopped off the bed.

"Get up, shower, get dressed, and be prepared to shop 'til you drop! I will be back in no more than twenty minutes."

I saluted her as she whipped on her shoes, eliciting a giggle before she left. After she closed the door, I heard the thudding of her tiny feet run down the hall. She was so much like a little kid, which is a big part of the reason I'm attracted to her. And she also tends to bring out a little kid in me, which is nice, because I hadn't really been a kid since about twelve.

Reluctantly I got up, taking a glance at the clock as I swung my legs over onto the floor. Eight o'clock in the morning on a Saturday...meh. I hurried up, showering and dressing in about ten minutes, before I grabbed my wallet and headed out into the living room.

Not surprisingly, Jane and Heidi were making out pretty intensely in the kitchen, so I passed them as quietly as I could and slipped out the door. I only had to wait about five minutes before Alice drove up in her bright yellow Mini-Cooper. I jumped in the car and she sped off, like the little speed demon she is. Though I had to convince her to slow down, like usual. I really didn't want to be pulled over, especially by Charlie.

I wasn't really getting any closer to wanting to talk to him, and I'm sure it was bugging him a lot more than it was me. Eventually I would like to sit down and tell him how I feel about everything, but since he came here without warning, I was still angry about that, plus the anger I had been harboring since I was twelve, when he left.

I pushed that out of my mind as I focused my attention on Alice, who was being surprisingly quiet in the driver's seat. I laid back into the seat and watched her. She had a far away looking in her green eyes, that made me want to know everything that she was thinking about in this moment. And there isn't a better way to, then to be straight forward.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked softly.

She took her eyes off the road for a few seconds to look me in the eye, then gave me a big smile.

"I was thinking about what color comforter I should get."

Not what I was expecting, but that's Alice for you.

"And what color are you leaning towards? No, let me guess...green?"

"You know me well, but I was thinking about purple..." She trailed off.

I faked gasped and put my hand over my mouth as if I were in shock.

"Alice Cullen doesn't want something green? I thought I'd never see the day."

"Yeah, yeah. I know it's your favorite color, and I like it too."

"But it's not my cabin, it's yours...pick what you want."

"It could be our cabin...one day." She said shyly.

Strangely, that didn't scare me. I could really see myself living happily with Alice in her cute little cabin in the woods.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to go so fast-"

"Alice, you don't have to apologize. I would like it to be ours one day."

She smiled and turn back to the road, and I could help but grin myself.

"Purple it is, then."

/-/

Since IKEA didn't open until ten, we spent the time walking around the downtown plaza for a place to eat. Eventually we came across a First Watch restaurant and got a nice breakfast. Alice got blueberry pancakes, while I settled for hash browns, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Though I did take a bite of her pancakes, and she stole a few fork fulls of my hash browns.

I liked sharing food with her. Usually it would bug me if someone was taking my food, but not with Alice. It seemed to be that she was an exception to most things I didn't like, and that just gave me more proof as to why we are pretty perfect for each other.

After eating and walking around for a little bit more, it was late enough to head over to our destination. Even though they had just opened, there was already a good amount of car in the parking lot. I took my focus off that and my eyes landed on the bright blue and yellow building.

"Whoa...that's a big store." I said.

"It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?" She said before pulling into a parking spot. "Well, not the color scheme, but...you know what I mean."

I had to agree with her, blue and yellow does not look good on buildings. But, the size was more intimidating than anything.

God help me.

"Okay, enough standing around, lets go!" She grabbed my hand and practically made me run with her to the entrance.

It looked bigger in here than on the outside, two full stories of anything you could imagine. By the time I stopped being awestruck, Alice had already gotten a map and pencil. I'm sure that paper would be filled up in no time, since it was Alice in all. We started our treck, and shockingly she didn't stop in the first area, which was Cooking and Eating.

She then explained that Esme already had some kitchen things she already bought for her, so there was no need. So we went right through, into the Textiles and Rugs area. She quickly scanned the area, then took off to the right where they had a huge amount of rugs to choose from. The biggest ones were hangings from the wall, and the smaller ones were stacked in piles according to textures.

She immediately went to the furry lavender rug that was sticking out of the pile nearest to us, and ran her hands through it. Then made me do it. It felt like I was petting a dog, but I had to admit, it was so soft, that I liked it. I doubt that it would go with much, but still.

"Where are you wanting to put a rug?" I asked.

"Either a big one under the bed, because I think it would look cute, or under the kitchen table, so everything will tie-in."

I had to hand it to her, she knew what she wanted. I wouldn't doubt if she had the whole house planned out by now.

While she kept looking through the rugs, I went across the way and started looking at flooring. They had some pretty interesting designs, but the sealed, dark hardwood looked the best to me. I turned around when I felt a light tap on m shoulder, already knowing it was Alice, but I came face to...fabric with a rug.

"Oh, I really like this one." I said as I took it from her so I could see her face.

"Me too, and I'm glad I found it. It was hiding at the bottom of a pile." She pulled the paper and pencil out of her pocket. "Since this one is small, I think it would go nicely under a kitchen table."

She wrote the number down before I put it back where she got it, and moved on. She took the shortcut into Home Organization, and searched for a multi-storage drawer, that would be perfect to put her supplies in. She found two that she really liked, and ended up choose the clear one with four drawers stacked on each other.

Next was Lighting, where she wrote down the order for the spiral, earth friendly bulbs. I think she wrote down for twenty, so we had plenty of extra in case we needed them. Plus she wanted to replace the one in my room with it. My baby and I were going green, or at least starting to.

Once done with that, we headed to the second to last area where they had Frames, Home Décor, and the Greenroom. We picked out some nice black frames, because she wanted to be able to hang her photography, plus the pictures of her family. Over the next twenty minutes, she mulled over if she had room for a full sofa, or just a love-seat. Needing to measure, she called Esme, who quickly took one for her and then decided on a small love-seat.

Though she couldn't find one that 'called out to her', it didn't deter her one bit from finding one. Vowing to look online to find the perfect one before heading in the elevator to go up to the second floor. The doors had barely closed before her lips were on mine and her hands were on my face, holding me there. I was thankful that no one else was in here with us, so I enjoyed it as much as I could before she pulled away again.

"Thank you." She whispered.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "For what?"

"Coming with me, silly. I know you aren't too keen on shopping, so I'm happy that you agreed to come with me."

I leaned down and pecked her on the lips quickly before the doors slid open.

"Well, it's hard to say no to you." I teased.

She bite her lips as she smiled, looping her arm around mine as she dragged me past the children's area and into the Bed and Bath section.

After that she disappeared from my view, so I just took my time looking at the different styles of bed frames as I waited for her to come back. I sat down on the edge of one for a few minutes, and I must have been deep in thought before I heard her voice come up behind me.

"Bella!"

Jesus Christ!

I think I literally jumped out of my hyde for a second.

"I think I found the perfect one, come look!"

The perfect one of what, I had no idea, but I knew I'd find out in a few seconds. She quickly dragged me over to the corner, as if she was afraid it would disappear at any moment, and I needed to see it before it did.

"Ta-da!"

It was a beautiful purple comforter with a black velvet floral pattern across it and the matching pillows.

"So...what do you think?"

Really? Could she not see it in my eyes?

"I love it." I said as I let my hand run along the soft fabric.

"Yay! I think it's the one, then."

She scribbled the number down without even looking at the price, so when she did that, I checked. Seventy dollars.

"And the matching drapes are going to look so good in the bedroom!"

Pointing with her pencil, I followed her gaze to the purple drapes, with the black floral patter lining the top. I checked the price on those as well, another forty bucks. I had no idea if a hundred bucks was cheap for a bed set and drapes, since I didn't have much shopping experience. And it was impossible to tell with Alice, since money wasn't an issue.

I rubbed my lower back with both my hands as I stretched, catching Alice's attention.

"Does your back hurt, honey?"

"Still tired from yesterday, I think."

"Well, I think this is good for today. Maybe later I can give you a massage to thank you properly for coming with me." She winked.

My core tightened just thinking about her delicate hands on my body. I don't even think she knows the full extent of her affect on me...

"Come on, let's go place my order and get out of here."

I didn't protest, and waited patiently as she filled out all the necessary paperwork to have everything delivered to the ranch in a few days. When she was done, we walked back out to the car and headed back home. I caught myself then...home. Yes, the Cullen Ranch was the closest thing to a home I have had in years. Even when my sentence here ended, I would stay as long as they would have me. I liked the job, I liked the people, and most of all, I wanted to stay with Alice.

When we got back to the ranch, Alice and I were both bushed, still tired from yesterday, and getting up early this morning. We decided to take a nap, and easily fell asleep in each others arms.

/-/

We woke up after the sun had gone down, and I was happy that tomorrow would be Sunday. Another day without work, and to get back on my regular sleeping schedule, and the best part, to spend time with my girlfriend. After a short discussion, she decided that she wanted to fix me dinner at her house, and I definitely wasn't opposed to that.

I hadn't tasted her cooking before, so I was excited. We passed Heidi and Jane, who were, none other than, kissing on the sofa. We rolled our eyes at them before stepping outside and giggling. Then Alice got a twinkle in her eye before throwing her arms around my neck and pushing me up against the door, attacking my lips as she did so.

I smiled into the kiss as my arms slid around her petite waist, bringing her closer as I took her bottom lip in between mine. But what happened next, nothing could have prepared me for.

"Bella, what's going on?"

We both jumped at the unexpected voice coming from the darkness. When we turned to see who it was, Charlie stepped into the dim light hanging above the cabin door, and I could have sworn my heart stopped.

"Alice, I think you should go. I'll meet you at the house in a few." I said, still staring him down.

I didn't want her to be involved in this, because the tone of his voice wasn't a happy one.

She sighed, but did as I said. Charlie waited until she had gotten in her car, and drove off before he spoke again.

"Bella..." He said, trying to control his anger.

"It's none of your business, dad."

I tried to sound confident, but he didn't have any of it.

"None of my business? You're my daughter! I think I have a right to know why my daughter is kissing another girl! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you acting out because I'm here now?"

"My relationship with Alice has nothing to do with you."

"I thought I raised you better..."

"This has nothing with how I was raised. And you were hardly ever there anyway, so you have no right to say that you raised me."

"You know, you're right. If I had been there, you would have turned out normal."

I felt tears sting my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"I got fed up of waiting for you to call me. And I'm glad I did, maybe now I can help you."

"I don't need help. I can't change who I am...or I would have a long time ago."

As soon as that came out, I regretted saying it. If it weren't for my dislike of being...gay, then I wouldn't have done all the things that got me here. It brought me to Alice, and she is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

"You can still change, I can help you."

"I don't want your help, I just want you to leave me alone."

I quickly opened the door and slipping in, closing it fast behind me and locking it. My weak attempt to escape him.

"Bella, are you okay?" Heidi asked from the couch with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm not done talking to you!" Charlie yelled through the door, banging it once with his fist before he retreated to his car and left.

"No...I'm not."

My knees gave out and I slid down the door, letting the tears finally fall. Heidi was over to me in an instant, pulling my hair back from my face and rubbing my shoulder in an effort to comfort me.

"What happened?"

"He caught me and Alice kissing..."

A/N: Uh oh...I think there's a storm brewing.

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