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EPOV

I couldn't describe the happiness I felt. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked up at her face. She didn't look as happy about it as I felt but there was determination on her face and that was good enough for me.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, I can't do this anymore," she sighed. She turned her face away from me but I still saw the hopelessness in her eyes.

"Bella," I whispered using my finger under her chin to bring her face back to me. I kissed her lips softly and pushed her hair behind her ear. "She'll understand."

"It's going to hurt her. She'll know that I've been lying to her. I betrayed her just like I betrayed you," she said still managing to avert her eyes from me even though her face was to me.

"Will you look at me, please," I said. It took her a minute but she met my gaze and I smiled down at her. "It will be okay. She might be hurt in the beginning but she knows that mating isn't something that we can decide for ourselves. We are destined for each other and no matter how jealous she might be, she'll know that it's not something you did intentionally," I told her.

I don't know how convinced she was because the hopeless expression never left her face but she nodded her head anyway.

"We have to get cleaned up before we go back," Bella said changing the subject.

She was right. The inside of my boxers were a sticky mess and it felt gross. I glanced over at the river that was beside us and jerked my head in it's direction.

"Let's go," I said standing up and pulling her with me. She gasped and wrapped her arms around her breasts to hide them from me. I resisted the urge to whine in disappointment, like a child having his favorite cartoon turned off by his mother.

"Um, do you want to go first, or should I," she murmured yet again averting her eyes. I took a step forward so that I was standing directly in front of her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and planted a kiss on her bare shoulder. I found the fact that she could still be embarrassed after what we'd just done adorable.

"Why don't we go in together," I suggested.

She looked up at me with her mouth slightly agape. "…okay," she nodded.

I stepped away from her and unzipped my jeans and slid them off and then discarded my shorts. I heard Bella gasp and wondered was if it was because she liked what she saw or because she was disappointed. I hoped to the heavens that it was the former. I proceeded into the water as I heard Bella shedding the last of her clothing as well. I walked until I was about waist deep into the water and turned around to see Bella walking toward me. She hadn't reached the water yet and I felt myself harden at the sight of her naked body.

She truly was a vision, the perfect female form. Her neck was long and elegant and her shoulders slender. My eyes raked her over her breasts and pretty pink peaks that had fit perfectly in the palms of my hands. I moved down to her slim waist and her sinuously rounded hips to the light sprinkling of hair at the apex of her thighs. My erection became painful as I remembered the heat I'd felt there through our clothes. I swallowed loudly and forced my eyes downward to her thighs and shapely legs right to her delicate ankles and small feet. My eyes made the return trip back to her eyes and found that she was watching me intently. I held my hand out for her and she sighed before advancing toward me and into the water as well. When she reached me, I took both her hands and brought them to my mouth and kissed each and every one of her knuckles but kept space between us so that she wouldn't become aware of my aching hard on.

"You're so beautiful," I murmured against her hands.

"Not on the inside," she shook her head. "Not where it counts."

"You are beautiful, in every sense of the word," I responded.

"I don't compare to you. You're dazzling," she whispered reverently as her eyes took in my body not unlike mine had hers. She brought her hands up to my hair and ran her fingers through it.

"Like silk," she breathed.

Her hands slid down to my face over my eyes down the bridge of my nose, across my cheekbones, along my jaw and around my lips.

"A chiseled masterpiece."

She touched my neck and moved her hands over my shoulders and down my arms. Her hands left a wondrous tingling sensation in their wake. She brought her hands to my chest, ghosting her fingertips over my nipples making me hiss and my dick twitch. She traced the lines of my abs and finally her hands rested under the water on hips.

"An Adonis."

Bella bit her lip as she looked up at me again but all I could concentrate on was how close her hands were to my erection. I wanted to hold her and kiss her, feel her body against mine again but I knew that I shouldn't. We had already done more than we should have. I had no way of knowing whether what had happened under the tree was because she was vulnerable or because she had truly wanted it.

"I don't know how I resisted this long," she said.

"I'm just glad you stopped," I replied.

I felt her hands on my waist move to wrap around me but I stepped back not wanting her to know what was going on with me beneath the water. I wish I hadn't though. She immediately bowed her head and took a step of her own backward clasping her hands behind her back

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.

Why was she apologizing? Had she taken my step away as a rejection? How could she when I'd just not two seconds before said I was glad that she had stopped resisting me? I reached for her hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I wasn't necessarily stepping away from you, Love. I…I just…it would be better if you weren't so close to me right now," I told her.

"What?" she replied confusion covering her face.

I sighed. "Well seeing you naked…it does things to me," I said glancing down at my waist and then back at her trying to tell her what I meant without using words. She understood immediately. She tried to bite her lip to mask her smirk but I saw it anyway. Her eyes were focused under the water on me glinting devilishly. I watched her as she stared and it didn't take me long to become self-conscious.

"Will you stop staring at it!" I exclaimed.

"I can't," she giggled. "It's so big, so pretty."

"Pretty?" I grimaced. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Is it a compliment when you say that I'm pretty?" she countered glancing up at my eyes briefly before looking back down.

"Well yes but that's different. Men things aren't supposed to be pretty," I said.

"Men things?" she snorted a laugh. "I could say handsome but I really prefer, pretty," she said smiling up at me.

I sighed but shrugged my shoulders in defeat. "Fine, then. "

Bella closed the space I'd created sandwiching my "pretty" cock in between our stomach's. I groaned at the sensation and Bella slowly rose up on tip toes and then just slowly went back down effectively stroking me with her stomach.

"You had better take care of this Mr. Cullen, we need to be heading back soon," she giggled and turned to leave me alone in the river. I groaned again watching her walk away. It did nothing to help my situation, but I went farther down the river out of her sight and took things into my own hands. When I got back to Bella, she was dressed and perched up in the tree smiling down at me.

I was so happy to see that she was smiling again. Last night had been hard for both of us. I had been afraid that she would never be the same again, but looking at her now, I knew that wasn't true. She jumped down from the tree to stand directly in front of me. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders pulling her to my chest and buried my face in her hair. I took in her luscious scent and found myself sighing in complete happiness. Bella was finally allowing me to have her, which meant she was also giving me all I'd ever asked for.

"Are you ready," I asked.

She took a deep breath and nodded her head. When I looked at her face, my stomach plummeted. All the grief I'd just been happy to see gone, had made its return. I took her hand and began running back to the house.

BPOV

I ran slower than I've run before. It was closer toward a human's speed but Edward stayed beside me never letting go of my hand or commenting on our sluggish pace. I knew for sure that I wanted to tell Tanya about us, but I was still apprehensive about it. I had no idea how she would react or what I would even say to her. So many possible outcomes ran through my mind and the worse they got, the slower I moved.

If we had gone at our normal speed we could have been home in 30 minutes, but since my fear was getting the better of me, it took us five hours. Once we stepped inside the house, I found myself wrapped in Tanya's embrace.

"I'm so sorry, B," she whispered. "I know that you really cared about him and you must feel awful now but in time you'll feel better. I'll help you in any and every way I can. I promise," she smiled. "We took care of everything. We're going to go to Forks with the Cullens for a couple weeks and then move on to Amur in Russia. You'll love it there."

I nodded my head not knowing what else to do. All I could think about was what I had to tell her. She pulled back to look at my face and I saw heavy concern on her own. She looked over my shoulder at Edward and then at our clasped hands.

"Edward, if you don't mind I'd like to have a moment with my sister," she said in a carefully controlled tone. She linked her arm with mine and tried to walk away but Edward was forced along with us. I couldn't let him go. I wanted to tell Tanya right away and get it over with but I needed Edward there with me. I couldn't do it alone.

"Edward!" Tanya yelled in frustration thinking that it was him that was holding on to me. I could see that she was about to get really angry so I figured I'd better say something soon.

"Tanya, wait. Um, we need to discuss some things. I…well…Edward and I…when the Cullens…I haven't been…," I stammered with a shaky voice before stopping and taking another deep breath. I needed to pull myself together.

"What's wrong, Bella," Tanya asked her eyes flitting back and forth between Edward and I.

Getting the words out wasn't easy at all. I didn't know what to say to make what I had to tell her not so bad. I looked around the room that was filled with both mine and Edward's families. Kate, Jasper, Alice, and Esme all had their eyes averted from us looking rather uncomfortable. I realized these people all had a sense of what was coming. Irina, Carlisle, Emmett, and Rosalie all looked at us with confusion though. I realized that this conversation should maybe take place in a more private setting. Edward must not have thought that as well though.

"Tanya what Bella is trying to say is that we're mated," he said rather bluntly. "We're sorry that we didn't say anything before. Bella wanted to try and fight the bond but after last night, we both agreed that, that route wasn't for the best," he said.

I got the urge to protect Tanya in the only way that I could. I wrapped her in my shield so that her reaction could be her own. I could at least offer her some privacy for her thoughts and feelings.

I stared at her and watched my fears come true. Disbelief, rage, pain, disappointment, sadness, and betrayal all took up residence on her face composing in a mask that would break the hardest of hearts. Her gaze never left mine and I tried to be brave but her expression broke me. I dropped my eyes in shame.

"I'm so sorry," I said using the useless sentiment. Being sorry wouldn't fix anything. It would not cure the agony I'd plagued her with.

The room was silent as death and thick with tension. The only thing that kept me together was Edward who's thumb caressed my knuckles in a slow steady motion. I focused on the simple but warm comfort as I waited for Tanya to yell or hit me. I didn't know how long it actually took her to respond but it had felt like years to me.

"Okay," she finally said in an even tone and nod of her head.

I looked up at her in shock. Her own eyes were closed and she was breathing in deep and evenly. When she finally opened her eyes, they focused on me. All I could see in them was indifference. It was as if I just told her it was going to rain later on or something inconsequential like that. If I hadn't seen the previous expression on her face, I would have sworn that she hadn't heard anything that Edward had said.

Her response had thrown me off and I looked around at the others in the room to see if I was the only one that felt this way. The audience wore varied expressions between shock, pity, and confusion. I glanced back at Edward and he was among those in shock.

"Is that…," I began but Tanya cut me off.

"We're leaving now. I took the liberty of packing your bags. We can't take everything so you should go up and check to see if there are things you'd rather leave behind or things you don't want to leave without," she said.

Her formal tone worried me. I didn't like it and fear began to eat away my shock. She stared at me for a few more seconds before turning her back to me and walking away. The simple action was enough to send me into sheer panic. I knew in my heart that her turning away from me had been more than just in the literal physical sense. As she moved farther away I could feel our relationship being torn and taken away as well.

"Tanya!" I yelped trying to bring her back to me. "Please can we just talk…" I began, the panic ringing loud and clear in my voice but she cut me off again.

"I said okay!" she yelled, stopping dead in her tracks but not bothering to turn and look at me. I whimpered in response but didn't say anything else as I watched her leave the house. Edward came up behind me and wrapped his arm around me.

"It had to be done, Bella," he whispered . "Just let her process this and then we'll try and talk to her again later. Just give her some time," he told me.

I nodded my head to let him know that I'd heard. I had no other choice but to go along with his plan because I didn't have one of my own. I stood up a little straighter deciding to take whatever Tanya gave me because I knew that I deserved it. If she decided to never speak to me again, then I would just have to deal. I'd made so many mistakes and now I had to deal with the consequences.

I looked up as I felt a hand on my cheek. Kate was smiling at me and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

"Edward's right, Bella," she told me. "Just give Tanya a little time and space. You should head on down to Forks with the Cullens and we'll be right behind you," she said. "And please remember what I said, B. We love you no matter."

I nodded my head and tried keep myself from sobbing. I knew that Kate was trying to help me but her words had, had the opposite effect. I felt like she was turning me away by telling me to leave with the Cullens. I wanted to talk to Tanya too and help her understand that I had never wanted to hurt her, that my first reaction had been to protect her.

Saying that they loved me no matter what had not helped either. Saying it now could mean that even if they decided to go to Russia without me and never speak to me again they would still have fond memories of me from the good times. I realized that it was very possible that once I left this house, I would never see my sisters again.

I wrapped my arms around Kate and let a small sob escape me. "I love you too. No matter what," I replied.

Irina came up and I moved to hug her as well. "Don't worry, B. I think my python boots are mixed in with your things. You know I live and die for those boots," she whispered.

I knew that she was trying to cheer me up but it only seemed to scare me more. I had not spoken my fears of abandonment aloud so either she knew what I would think or leaving me was really a consideration of theirs.

Irina and I exchanged I love yous and she and Kate ran off to catch up to Tanya. I was overcome with loss as I watched them leave. When I could no longer hear their footfalls, Edward led me up to my bedroom. The plan was so leave right away but Edward pulled us down on my bed. I allowed him to wrap me in his arms because only he could give me the comfort I needed. I closed my eyes and nestled my face into the crook of his neck as he rubbed the back of my head.

I could hear the rest of the Cullens preparing to leave ahead of us as the sound of car trunks and doors slamming wafted up to my bedroom from outside. Edward and I laid in silence for only a few minutes. We both knew it was not a good idea to linger here for long.

"My family has a house in British Columbia, in a small town called Atlin. I was thinking maybe you and I could go there for a few days. Have some time to just us before going to Forks," he whispered.

"Okay," I agreed immediately.

Edward made all the hurt go away. I didn't think about things so much when I was with him. Some time for just us sounded perfect right now and I was eager for it.