A/N: *peeks out* Anyone still there? I'm so sorry about the wait. The holidays, traveling, and some unavoidable family events kept me far more occupied than I would have liked.

A huge, squashy hug and kiss to the fabulous Picklewinkle, who took over beta duties for these last few chapters. Go check out her story, Out of Choices, which is completed and utterly wonderful. It's one of my all-time favorites.

I own three awesome pairs of tie-dye socks, but I don't own Twilight or Edward.

More good stuff at the bottom. On with the story!

Chapter 25: Where I'm Supposed to Be

THEDA POV

Bliss. Complete, utter bliss.

Edward and I spent the next few days in each other's arms, enjoying the closeness our revelations had brought. There was no possible way either of us was going to squander such an amazing opportunity for alone time because we knew it was only a matter of time before Alice called to let us know they were on their way back from Portland.

The call came early in the morning of the third, or more accurately the fourth, day after they had left. Portland was forecast to have a streak of sunny weather so they were leaving under the cover of night to get back to Forks before dawn. I chuckled to myself after I hung up with Alice. How very vampirey of them. Of course, Edward had heard the entire conversation and pulled me onto the collapsed bed for some last minute loving before they got home.

We had spent so much time learning each other's bodies and what we liked that it felt as though we had been mates for years rather than days. Edward, though he came from a much more modern time than I did, still retained a lot of his human upbringing and ideas regarding sexuality. Sex in human-Edward's world wasn't something you talked about or even really acknowledged existed, aside from its intended reproductive purposes. Edward told me he vaguely remembered his father having a truncated 'birds and the bees' talk with him, in which he told his son that it was something husbands and wives did, and it would be his wife's duty to accept his advances, though she likely wouldn't get any enjoyment out of the act. On the other hand, the era I was from encouraged sex for reproducing; yet, it was not uncommon to enter a barn and come across an amorous couple having a literal roll in the hay, nor was it looked down upon as long as word didn't get out. Privacy was also hard to come by when homes were little more than one-room shacks and everyone slept in the same area. Thankfully, Edward was able to let go of some of his repressive ideas and relax with me, becoming more comfortable as time went on. I was certain that the mind-reading helped with that, as well. Still, I had never felt so connected with another being, mind-reading or not.

After picking up the house and Edward's room, I put the bed back together with his help. Luckily, I was also able to successfully repair the piles of ripped clothing we had amassed. Edward had just planned on buying everything new or having Alice do it, but when I reminded him of how I had repaired his jeans, he asked me to give it a try. A half hour later, Edward's bedroom was back to normal, even if his hamper was overflowing. I was beginning to wonder why we'd even bothered getting dressed at all over the past few days, and that thought only served to put a contented smile on my face, and Edward's too when he heard my thoughts.

We only had time for a relatively quick shower, or as quick as a shower can be when a lovely marble bench is involved, when we heard the front door open. Scrambling to dry off, we dressed swiftly and ran down to meet the family. Besides hurriedly attempting to empty their minds of incriminating thoughts, every single one of them had knowing smirks on their faces, which only got worse when we appeared on the stairway, hands clasped tightly together.

"Soooo…," wheedled Emmett, a giant, dimply grin on his face. "What have you two been up to? Or should I be directing that question toward Eddie? Get it?" I rolled my eyes and Edward shook his head, barely able to contain his grin. He tried hard to keep his face neutral, but I could tell it was a struggle.

"Edward, did you lose something? Oh, wait, was it your virginity?" Rose teased, thankfully good-naturedly with a big, lusty wink toward me.

"I tried so hard not to look, I promise! But nice going on the bed there, you two!" Alice chirped, giving us a smattering of light applause. "Ooh, and the blue bra and panty set. And the –"

"All right, everyone. Leave them alone," Carlisle chuckled, cutting Alice off mid-sentence and herding the others farther into the house. Although I am very happy for you two. Our family is complete. I remember my first time with Esme… The images flying through his mind as he went by us up the stairs were a little unsettling, considering he was my pseudo-parent.

They dispersed to bring in their luggage, leaving Edward and I standing on the landing, mouths open. I felt as though a tornado had swept through the house, leaving us stunned, surveying the damage.

Was that normal? I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Yep, that was pretty much par for the course, he answered, squeezing my hand. Enough to make you run screaming? He actually looked a little frightened that I would.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't leave you for any reason," I purred, hugging him close. "I love you, and your crazy family."

"They're yours now, too," Edward smiled, landing a sweet kiss on the tip of my nose. "We're a package deal. Buy an Edward; get a family of crazy vampires for free. I think they were on clearance."

We both heard an indignant "Hey!" come from outside, and I laughed.

"Sounds good to me," I replied. Hearing my name called out from the second floor, I planted another kiss on Edward's lips before squeezing his butt and running upstairs to discuss becoming a high school student with Carlisle.

This was something I had been debating about but, as I couldn't come up with a better excuse to explain my presence in Forks, I was happy to go along with the charade that the Cullens had created. After all, it had worked successfully for years. I could easily pass for a senior, which both Alice and Edward were masquerading as, and it would afford me more time with the two of them. Part of me was curious as well; I'd never gone to a "real" high school, always having faked my records to get into college. One might say I was self-taught.

I was too old, and the Cullens had been in Forks long enough for the townspeople to know that I hadn't been with them from a young age so, after some discussion, it was decided that I would be a relative of Carlisle's, a niece or cousin. My story would be that I had come from Wisconsin, and had been visiting the family for the summer and fallen in love with Forks, not to mention Edward, so I had decided to stay for the school year. I would be eighteen, meaning I could legally make that decision without any parental consent. This also saved me from fabricating any stories about my immediate family beyond "my parents are in Europe," which was technically true. They were just six feet under and probably dust by now, rather than skiing in the Swiss Alps as the other students would undoubtedly believe.

I kept my first name, but Carlisle insisted I take one of the family's unused surnames to be on the safe side. Not wanting the situation to seem even more incestuous than it probably already did from an outsider's perspective, I chose Emmett's old last name, McCarty. It wouldn't look right for me to be a "Cullen" when I was "dating" a boy of the same last name.

Unfortunately, we attracted Emmett's attention again when he heard the name I'd picked and why, causing his mental barrage of dirty images to start up again, targeting both me and poor Edward. I did my best to ignore him, although it wasn't pleasant and he was pretty persistent. He was clearly used to irritating Edward by using his talent against him. I began to get fed up when Emmett ran through every image in the Kama Sutra, picturing Edward and me in place of the models; although it was clear he preferred his lovely wife…he had mentally changed my hair to a platinum blonde. Things started to get even more out of hand when Emmett began both wondering which positions we had done, and cataloguing ones he'd accomplished with Rosalie. Though I adored him, if he kept this up he'd be on the receiving end of an ass-kicking. I had a feeling Emmett was the kind of guy you had to establish yourself with as soon as he started teasing or else you'd never be left alone, no matter how good his intensions.

To my pleasure, Carlisle and I wrapped up our high school discussion and paged Jasper, who put a call in to their lawyer in Seattle. After a few minutes, he told me that I would receive my new identification, probably the next day. I knew J. Jenks had some of my information on file, as I had already had a few sets of ID's made up. Relieved that this was being arranged so easily, I went on a quick hunt with Edward, Emmett, and Alice to celebrate my official new life as a family member.

"Theda?" Emmett called from where he was sitting on the ground with a huge buck cradled in his arms. We had only gone a little way into Canada, just over the border, so the game wasn't huge. Jasper and Emmett were already planning on a big hunting trip at the first sign of a sunny weekend, which Alice assured us would be in three weeks, after the start of school. Alice was off with Edward a few miles away, chasing a small herd of black deer for fun.

"Yeah, Em?" I looked up from the doe I was draining, half expecting some smart-ass comment about Edward's and my relationship or new sex life. Emmett had been relentless since the family returned from Portland, and I was beginning to get pretty irritated with him. I wasn't a prude by any means, but when every thought and nearly every word that came from Emmett involved Edward and me naked, and in some kind of pretzel-like position, I was close to losing it. Not to mention how disturbing it was that Emmett had any idea what Edward looked like naked…

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry that I made you guys uncomfortable." I looked up in surprise as Emmett spoke. His eyes were cast down on the ground, clearly a little embarrassed. "I'm not too good at doing this whole 'sharing my feelings' thing, but I was teasing you two because, well, I'm happy for you. Edward's been alone for so damn long, and I know you were by yourself for even longer, and I'm glad you found each other. I don't know what I'd do without my Rosie, but I do know that she makes me complete. She's my everything." I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.

"Thanks, Em, that means a lot," I said quietly, accepting his apology. "You'll tone it down, though?" He nodded and wandered over to me, pulling me into a big hug. We finished the deer we had taken down, and ran off to find the others. Terrorizing deer had never sounded so fun.

*~*~*~*

School started a week later. Labor Day was late this year, and Forks High typically began their year the Tuesday after. Monday night, I gathered my things together. I was no stranger to note taking or school supplies, but I wanted to have everything organized before we left that morning. I knew I would be an oddity, and the fact that I could now usually read minds made me a little nervous. Whenever I moved somewhere new, I was used to the stares, but this would be the first time I would actually get to hear what others were thinking.

"Everything's going to be fine, you know," Alice reassured me. She plopped down on my bed after choosing my "first day of school" outfit for me. I still kept my room for my wardrobe and for when I wanted some peace and quiet, but spent the majority of my time in Edward's.

"I know," I sighed, putting my bag down. It was a large khaki Coach tote Alice had picked up as a present, welcoming me to the family. I knew she just needed an excuse to shop, but I wasn't complaining. "Just jittery, I guess."

"They'll be pretty interested in you, but don't let it bother you," she said. "You'll be like a shiny object to a raccoon."

"Thanks, Alice." I laughed drily.

"You're very welcome," she teased, and then her voice took on a more serious tone. "I have something to ask you, though."

"I'm all ears," I answered her, my curiosity piqued.

"Were you in Chicago in April?" Alice blurted out. That came out of nowhere, but I could tell she'd wanted to ask that for a while.

I thought for a second; the days had been running together ever since I had started having the visions, and even more so when I had moved in with the Cullens. "Um, yes, I was, actually. I was at a conference for the publishing company I worked for. Why?" I frowned.

Alice looked pensive, as though she were solving a puzzle, and her face lit up. "Well, now I'm sure I saw you. Edward, Jasper, and I took a trip out there when school was on April break to attend to some matters with Edward's Chicago home. I'm sure he told you he still has it from when he was a human?" I nodded. "We stayed for about a week, and Edward didn't leave the home much, but Jasper and I did. I had to get some shopping in, you know!" She shrugged, as though it was the most natural thing in the world, which it was, for Alice.

"Anyway, I remember seeing you walking down the street away from us, and you caught my eye. You weren't close enough to me to be able to tell whether you were human or vampire by smell, and it was pretty windy. Being cold and rainy, you were pretty bundled up, but I think just the proximity was enough. You mentioned feeling a "pull" to come here?"

I nodded again, shocked. I hadn't given it much serious thought in weeks.

"And then you started having visions?"

I silently agreed again. The end of April or early May was when the visions started, and they had grown more frequent and urgent over time. So did the pull.

"I think what happened was that you got just close enough for you to barely start to borrow my gift," Alice explained. "Like somehow your talent knew that it needed to be used to borrow mine, or maybe you needed to flex it because you hadn't used it in so long. I started 'seeing' you about that time as well, although you never made any decisions about coming to Forks until much later. I began having visions about Edward with a strange vampire around that time too, but I didn't really put the two together," she admitted.

I was stunned. "So, somehow my gift knew to latch onto you, and I started 'seeing' you and Edward? I was meant to come here all along, and that was my gift's way of making me leave Milwaukee?"

Alice shrugged. "I would guess so. You said the pull stopped when you got here. When was it, exactly?"

"When I saw Edward," I whispered, and my mouth turned up in an involuntary smile.

Alice returned it. "You two are meant to be, Theda," she assured me. "Even seeing you for just that short amount of time out on the street was enough for me to start having visions of Edward with a short, dark-haired woman. It was destined even before you decided to come. You're where you're supposed to be."

I let out a deep breath I had been unconsciously holding. Somehow, Alice saying that made it all the more real. I realized that I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, to find out that my happy ending wasn't really happening after all. Now I realized that it was.

"Wow. Thanks, Alice. You…you've helped a lot. More than you realize, I think," I told her, hugging her close.

"No problem. I'm just so glad you're finally happy," she sang, returning my hug before dashing out to find Jasper. His plans for the following year consisted of pretending to go to college in Seattle along with Rosalie and Emmett. He was actually getting another degree online, but the three of them would be staying home, or even traveling during the school year. The Seattle cover would work to explain why people saw them around Forks, as it wasn't an impossible drive, and everyone knew how close the Cullen family was.

Wandering out of my room, I found Edward in his, eyes closed as he sprawled out on his bed, listening to music. It was only midnight; we didn't have to get ready for a little over six hours. I climbed onto the comforter and Edward gave me his crooked grin when he noticed the bed dip a little. I slowly brushed my lips over his, enjoying their softness. His thoughts instantly gave away that he had heard my conversation with Alice, and he was overjoyed that I felt at peace. He had never given me the impression that he needed me to understand how or why I felt the need to come to Forks, but the relief in his thoughts mimicked mine.

"Hi," he greeted softly. He sat up so his knees were bent up in front of him and pulled me around him so we faced each other. I settled into his lap, my legs wrapped around his back. The position was intimate, caring, and I leaned in and gently licked the bite marks I had given him the first time we had made love.

Mine.

"Hello," I whispered back, letting my lips ghost over his neck. Edward pulled me tighter to him so my body was flush with his, and I wrapped my arms around his firm frame.

Nervous, love? he asked, leaving no doubt that he'd heard my thoughts and conversation with his sister.

I nodded into his neck, playing with the short bronze hairs in the back.

Don't be. The other students will think you're beautiful like us, and probably chalk it up to good genes or something. You are one of Carlisle's second cousins after all, and we know what a handsome guy he is, he joked, gently stroking my back. The action was soothing, and I relaxed in his arms.

I heard a quiet rustling behind me, and turned my head to look. Jasper and Alice had entered the bedroom, and they had settled themselves on the leather couch. Edward and I had moved it away from the window, back to its original position near the massive wall of books and music.

Jasper looked down at the rips in the leather and shook his head. I don't even want to know, he chuckled internally, and I hope you don't mind us being in here…you two are giving off such joy that I couldn't stay away. I made Alice promise to be quiet, so she shouldn't disturb you until you have to leave.

I smiled lazily at my new brother and sank myself back into Edward, breathing in his scent. We stayed like that, just enveloped around each other until Alice softly reminded us that we needed to get ready to leave. It was six thirty; school started at seven thirty, and I needed to stop by the office first.

*~*~*~*

An hour later, I was on my way to my first class. Alice had thankfully laid out a cute outfit the night before: dark jeans, a white tank and a bright blue hoodie tee to go over it, but I knew it wasn't my outfit everyone was staring at. Or thinking about.

…holy shit…Edward Cullen is actually holding hands with a GIRL…I would have bet my college fund that he was gay…

…who is THAT?...I need to introduce myself to her, like, NOW…I wonder if she's in any of my classes…

…I think it's cute that he found someone!...He always seemed so unhappy, and he looks like he's glowing!...

…heard that she lives with the Cullens…something about being the hot doctor's cousin…I'll have to ask my mom what she heard, she'll have some news from the bank, I bet…

…wow wow wow wow wow…

…she's beautiful!...I've never seen anyone like her, ever, well, except for that Rosalie…absolutely gorgeous…If only I were 'out', but my parents would kill me!...I'll have to wait until college, I guess…

That last one threw me for a loop…it came from a fairly pretty but snobby-looking blonde, who was walking with a frizzy-haired shorter girl and a baby-faced boy with dirty-blond hair.

Just ignore it, love, Edward thought, kissing the top of my head. Although it looks like you've even caught Lauren Mallory's fancy. That explains a lot, actually. I smiled in return; it actually wasn't as bad as I expected. The Cullens seemed to have the people of Forks wrapped around their little fingers.

The rest of the day flew by. My fourth period class was the only one I didn't have with Edward. I had French, a language that was second nature to me, and Edward had Spanish, though he knew more intricacies of the language than the teacher. I wasn't bored, much to my surprise, and lunchtime came quickly. I bought lunch and easily found Alice and Edward sitting at a table, picking apart their human food. After being forced to attend meetings and conferences, I actually had a lot of practice at miming eating, so I opened my milk and stuck in a straw, bringing it to my lips. I didn't suck any of it into my mouth, but to anyone observing, it would look as though I was drinking.

"Clever," Edward appraised. "I'll have to remember to get a straw from now on."

I laughed, nodding. It had taken me years to figure out how awesome straws actually were, and now I made a point to get them anytime I had anything to drink…soda, milk, juice, water, you name it.

"How's your day going so far?" Alice asked, beheading her dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets with a Spork and arranging little ketchup trails around them, making them look as though they had died a grisly death. Human food in weird shapes was something I would never understand.

"Actually, it's been pretty good. I know everything in the classes, of course, but the whole experience is new for me. I've been around humans for a long time, but I've forgotten how fascinating human teenagers can be. It should make for an interesting year." I smiled, cutting my bagel and putting cream cheese on it before slowly tearing bits off to "eat." I fought to not make a face, giving away my disgust. I had tried to pick what seemed like the least revolting thing for lunch, but it was all pretty terrible. Human food, at least to me, generally smelled unappetizing at best and completely repellent at worst.

"Even the thoughts don't bother me, but I accidently touched Mr. Varner's hand as he gave me my Calculus book, so I've enjoyed the silence since third period." I pretended to put a bite of bagel in my mouth and mimicked chewing absently while I deftly palmed the dry piece of bread. I'd put it in my napkin when I was sure no one was looking.

"Ahh, that explains why you didn't react to anything Mike Newton was thinking," Edward mused. I gave him a quizzical look and put my bagel down. "He was imagining himself with you, doing things very similar to what you and I do when we're alone." He grinned, apparently bringing to mind some specifics. "Only I didn't realize what a striking resemblance you have to Jenna Jameson."

I rolled my eyes; human boys were so unoriginal. And if I looked anything like her, I would probably fall over from being so top heavy.

"The blond boy in Calc?" I asked.

Edward nodded. "That's the one."

"Edward, I definitely didn't need to be able to read his mind to know what was running through it," I laughed. "Besides," I continued, "he holds absolutely no interest for me. I like my men tall, wild-haired and sparkling." I winked at the end.

"Speaking of sparkling, it's supposed to be sunny on Saturday afternoon," Alice chimed in, giving Edward a knowing look. Not having either of their talents thanks to Varner, I was left out of the loop, but I figured I'd find out eventually.

The warning bell rang, letting us know that lunch was over and the next class would start in five minutes. Taking our trays, we left the cafeteria and headed to AP Chemistry. Mr. Banner wasn't nearly as boring as I expected; Edward had told me that he had had him for Biology the previous year, and Banner thought he was some kind of genius. Apparently, he didn't have a lab partner all year, yet managed to get nearly full credit for every lab assignment.

Soon enough, my first day at Forks High was over, and we were in the Lexus going home, earning more appreciative stares. Edward's Volvo wouldn't be in until late October, so we had decided to take my car rather than borrow Carlisle's Mercedes.

The rest of the week passed in the same way. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, other than Mike Newton following me to the car like a lost puppy one day, much to my chagrin. His girlfriend Jessica wasn't too happy about that. Edward and Alice kept some distance away, essentially throwing me to the wolves, obviously able to hear the whole thing. They were in hysterics by the time they made it to the car, and even I was able to see the humor in the situation after I got over Mike practically throwing himself at me. I was more embarrassed for him than I was for myself, but I didn't think Mike would be making any passes at me for a long while, if ever again. I wasn't sure his eardrums would ever recover from Jessica screeching at him, though.

*~*~*~*

Saturday rolled around, and I could tell that Alice would be right about her weather report…the clouds started to break around ten in the morning, and I could tell the afternoon would be a rare bright and sunny time for Forks.

I was in my room reading a new novel I'd ordered from Amazon when Edward appeared in the doorway, wearing a jacket and clutching a backpack with a couple of blankets inside.

"Want to get out of the house for a bit? There's somewhere I'd like to take you," he said, flashing his crooked smile.

A/N: Kindly leave a review. :-)

One big announcement: one of my new stories is up here on FanFiction, called From the Cutting Room Floor . You can find it by clicking on my profile. Please read and review…I'd love to know what you think!

My other story is still in production, but the outline is more or less completed. I'll be posting more on this in the next chapter's a/n, and I should have a title for it by then, too. Yea! Don't forget to add me to your favorite authors list or author alerts so you'll get an email when I submit a new story.