Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Thank you to my reviewers.

I would have posted this chapter earlier but I had some internet problems.

Chapter 26

The following morning, as my consciousness drifted in, I felt warm and cozy. Moving my body slightly, I realized why I was so comfortable. Taylor's arm was wrapped around me, holding me in a tight grip as his entire body was pressed up against my back. A steady warm breath drifted across my neck as his face was buried in my hair. Our legs were tangled together beneath my blanket. With my eyes still closed, I wriggled again and felt a warm tingle on my stomach. Somehow during the night, Taylor's hand had found its way up my shirt and now his palm was resting flat on my belly tingling the hell out of me.

A flurry of emotions flowed through me. I felt safe, disturbed, turned on and a little freaked out. My breath hitched in my throat when Taylor stirred and his hand moved further up my stomach. When his hand stopped, his fingertip was barely brushing my breast. I panicked silently. If his hand were to move one more time… things would be weird between us. You can't sleep-grope your friend and have things not be weird afterward. Our friendship boundaries would be crossed.

Oh crap! What am I going to do? I decided to try to see if I could wriggle my way out of his grasp but that only made him grip me tighter. My options were down to waking him up and having him see where his hand was. But that was another embarrassing situation I was willing to avoid at all costs. The most I could do was hope that he would change positions again and roll away from me.

With our situation being what it was, I wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep. I opened my eyes to see light olive feet in pair of red bunny slippers standing not far from my bed. As my eyes took in what my mind already knew, I groaned. A red nosed Liz was standing with coffee in hand, watching us. I thanked God that the blanket was covering us from her full view. But even with that, we still looked… cozy.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here?" Liz sniggered loudly, which caused Taylor's head to snap up. Great, he's awake to witness my shame.

My face burned as Taylor slipped his hand from beneath my shirt, leaving a tingles in its wake. I was so embarrassed I couldn't even make eye contact with Taylor as he moved away.

Liz pinned us with a hawk-like gaze as she twirled her coffee cup. "Now I know why my many calls for water were going unanswered." She smiled evilly and wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. "So am I too late or too early? Cause I get the feeling that I'm interrupting something."

I bristled slightly. Liz knew damn well nothing happened between Taylor and me but just like last time she was trying to get under my skin. Well, it wasn't going to work. Not this time.

Steeling myself, I sat up slowly. "I would say you're too early. Come back in the next hour or so."

A deep laughed rumbled in Taylor's chest making me struggle to keep a straight face. Liz's coffee mug was frozen halfway to her mouth which was currently hanging open. I allowed myself a tiny, smug smile. Liz recovered quickly though. Her eyes twinkle mischievously as she gestured to me with her mug. "You see how she talks to me?" She set her coffee mug down on my dresser. "I should kick your ass."

"Bitch, I'd like to see you try." Raising an eyebrow, I challenged her to a fight I had no hope of winning. Liz was like some kind of cage fighter as she dove on the bed. In our rough scuffle, Taylor groaned as one of us kicked him in the stomach. But in the end, I was no match for the warrior princess as she had me on my stomach with one hand pinned behind my back.

We were both out of breath as we panted. "So do you give up?"

Deciding to play possum, I stopped my struggles and allowed my body to go limp. "All right, all right. You win."

As soon as Liz loosened her grip, I rolled over. My sudden movement threw her off balance and I was able to push her down. Taylor wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough so, he ended up stuck under two crazy women in their violent struggle for supremacy.

Suddenly I remembered Liz was extremely ticklish and decided to use her weakness against her. I climbed on top of Taylor and Liz and began to tickle her. Liz was in stitches, threatening me in between laughs. "Evil bitch…ha-ha… I'll kill you… ha-ha… bury your body…" She screamed and squirmed, trying to get away from me.

Our screams and laughter must have been what woke Ryan. He shuffled through the door looking very much like an old man. "Hey, hey. What's going on in here? What's all the noise…?" His voice trailed off as he took in the girl on girl on boy action.

My hands paused in their tickle motion and Liz panted, "Izzy's picking on me." Her tone was whiny and petulant. I snorted and rolled my eyes. As if Ryan would actually believe that.

A grinning Ryan sauntered over to us. "Somehow I find that hard to believe. It looks like you guys are having a pile on. I'm in." He promptly cross the room threw his large body on us.

I groaned, "My hip."

"My everything." Liz complained.

"Ouch!" Ryan cried as Liz smacked him in the head.

Taylor shoved Ryan. "Man, get off. You're killing me."

Ryan's smiled devilishly. "It sounds to me, like you're trying to start a fight." He then proceeded to shove Taylor which started a shoving match between the two men.

Liz and I screamed in protest, trying in vain to get away. We didn't want to be in the middle of their wrestling. All of our screaming and hollering was interrupted when Zach came through the door. I was surprised to see him as he'd all but abandoned us since we got sick.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Taylor grunted as Liz accidentally elbowed him in the ribs.

Zach whined, "There's no food in our apartment. All of the food's over here." He waved his hunger away. "But forget about that. Looks like you guys are having a pile on. Room for one more?"

"Hell yeah." Ryan cheered and Zach threw himself into the mass of limbs causing my once strong and reliable bed to collapse under our combined weight.

Since it was their fault my bed was demolished, the boys got the pleasure of spending the day repairing it, while Liz and I relaxed in her bed. Taylor and I never got to discuss the almost groping thing and I sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up. One thing bothered me though, I could decide if I was disappointed or relieved that we were interrupted by Liz. But once I reminded myself of all the reasons we couldn't date, my mind settled on relief. I would just have to ensure there wouldn't be any more opportunities for touching in the future.

When I tried to talk to Zach about the Cullens again, he refused. Saying he would rather pretend that our conversation in the bathroom never happened. If he preferred to live in ignorance then I would oblige him for now. But I knew sooner or later he would have questions for me. Alice called and I had a conference call with the Cullens, explaining to them about Zach. I also assured them that Zach was trustworthy and he had no intentions of talking about them to anyone, including me. Rosalie smacked Emmett in the head when he offered to come scare Zach into silence and I laughingly told her that that was a very Liz-like thing to do.

After the winter semester began, I started hanging out with Dillon and some of his friends whenever I ran into him at the Dining Hall. They were a nice enough bunch of guys. A little loud and pompous but nice enough. Even though Dillon and I still weren't dating, Liz was happy. She said our spending time together was a step in the right direction. Taylor wasn't happy about it though. Every time Dillon's name was brought up in conversation he'd make the face. I was beginning to think he really did have some sort of crush on me. Of course, it didn't help that Dillon didn't like him either. Dillon would call Taylor an immigrant and Taylor would call him an egotistical jackass. They drove me crazy with the jaw clenching and the snide remarks.

I was still curious about Liz and Taylor's abilities, though. To look at them one would think they were completely ordinary. There had been no more disturbing occurrences like the one that happened at the Cullen house. If it hadn't been for Edward, I wouldn't have guessed that they were unique.

I'd chosen English as my major but I still didn't know what I wanted to do after school. Teaching was always an option but I was looking for something a bit more challenging. I wasn't in a hurry to figure it out. I still had time to decide what I wanted to do with my life.

Liz dragged me to every art gallery and museum showing at Dartmouth. She saw it as her responsibility to expose me to some culture. I wasn't really an art person but I pretended to enjoy it for Liz's sake. She was thinking about applying for an internship at the Dartmouth Museum. Liz was already considered a regular at all the museums and was thought to have a good eye. I knew she would have no trouble at all getting in.

She was always so bold and obviously comfortable in her sexuality. I wished I was a little more like her. On several different occasions she actually tried to question me about my sex life but I usually managed to steer her away from the topic. However, my thinly veiled attempts at subterfuge would be in vain. The boys were having a guys night out at a bar downtown town. Liz and I were alone in the apartment one night watching Grey's Anatomy. We were curled up on the couch watching McSteamy try to seduce yet another doctor at the hospital. Really, it was a miracle that any of them managed to save any lives with the nonstop sex they were having.

Liz turned her head away from the screen. "So, what kind of guy would you want to be with, a McDreamy or McSteamy?"

Frowning, I munched on a potato chip. "I don't know. McDreamy is sweet and kind. He's the kind of man you marry. But I think that kind of man might bore you after a while." I smirked. "McSteamy, though. He's exciting and hella sexy but he's not the commitment type. So, I think I'd want a guy to be a mixture of both worlds. Sensitive yet sexy enough to keep things hot. What about you?"

Liz sipped her coke. "I'm with you. Having both is definitely a good idea. But my bad side really wants a McSteamy. You know what I mean?" Liz replied, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I know." I giggled. There was such a thing as being too perfect. It tended to get tiresome after a while. I guess women were mostly attracted to the guys guaranteed to keep things interesting. But those were usually the guys that broke your heart.

After a momentary silence, Liz blurted, "So, are you a virgin?"

I choked on a potato chip and coughed. Liz patiently waited for me to calm down. After taking a swig of my soda, I replied, "No, I'm not."

Liz looked a little surprised at this. I suppose I must have given off the impression that I was one. I wondered if the guys thought I was a virgin too. "Was it Jacob?"

My heart clenched a bit. "Yeah. It only happened once, though."

Liz lowered her voice even though we were alone in the apartment. "Was it good?"

My face burned. "Liz!"

"What? Why can't I ask?"

"B-because it's private." I spluttered. I wasn't used to talking to anyone about my sex life.

"Izzy, one night you caught me sneaking out of the kitchen naked with a can of whip cream in my hand." Letting out a humbled chuckle, she shook her head. "We have no secrets from each other. Now answer the damn question."

I groaned with embarrassment but Liz was right. She's was always very open with me about everything. Even things I didn't want to know about like Ryan's toe licking fetish.

Usually, I tried my best never to think about that night. "It was… nice."

Liz wrinkled her nose. "Nice? That means it was crappy."

I hurried to correct her. "No it wasn't. It was nice… I mean being that close to him was nice but… it hurt more than anything else and I didn't have a … you know." By this time, my entire face was red.

Liz nodded her head in understanding. "Oh. You didn't have an orgasm."

"Liz!" I gasped. Did she always have to be so raw?

"Okay, one important thing. You shouldn't be having sex if you can't say the words." She set her soda aside.

"I can say the words." Folding my arms, I grumbled.

She pulled her wavy, brown hair over her shoulder and turned to me. A challenging gleam came to Liz's eyes. "Oh yeah? Well, I want you to say the word sex."

"Sex." I mumbled quietly. It wasn't that I couldn't say the word. It just felt wrong to say stuff like that out loud. Even though Renee had always been very open when it came to sexual discussions, I'd inherited Charlie's bashfulness when it came to the topic.

Liz wasn't satisfied. "Oh no. You have to say it louder than that."

"Sex!"

"Now say vagina."

God, I don't want to play this game anymore. "Vagina."

"Louder than that, Izzy." Liz shook her fist, letting me know I would get punched in the arm if I didn't do what she said.

I really wasn't feeling up to another wrestling match. "Vagina!"

Looking triumphant and smug, Liz said. "Now say penis."

I shot up from the couch and screamed at the top of my lungs. "Penis, penis, PENIS! Are you happy now?"

I watched as Liz rolled around on the couch, laughing like a crazy lady. Stomping my foot in frustration, I asked, "What the hell are you laughing at?"

Liz paused long enough to point a trembling finger at something over my shoulder, and then she resumed her guffawing.

I closed my eyes and prayed a silent prayer. Dear God, if you love me, the boys will not be standing there when I turn around. Slowly, I turn around and opened my eyes. Sure enough, they were all standing behind me laughing their asses off. I groaned. God hates me! I prayed for the ground to swallow me whole as I waited for their laughter to subside. I was so mortified.

"Damn, Izzy, you need to get laid." Zach said, as he brushed past me.

"We could hear Izzy all the way down the hall, Liz. Look at what you're doing. You're corrupting her." Ryan then walked into the kitchen grumbling something about penises.

Taylor leaned against the wall eying me up and down with a devilishly sexy smirk on his lips. Amusement danced in his green eyes. I decided to cut him off before he made any smart comments.

"Oh, shut up." I snapped, as I stomped back to the couch and sat down.

"But I didn't say anything." Taylor laughed.

"No but you were thinking it." Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed.

"You got me there." He sat down next to me and threw an arm around my shoulder. We then watched the remainder of Grey's Anatomy in a silence that was occasionally interrupted by laughter.

The first few times I'd spoken to Emily, she was excited. Jared, Paul and Sam were starting a plumbing company together. Leah had actually grunted hello to her, shocking the hell out of the pack. It was a sign that Leah was, ever so slowly, softening toward her. But all that was gone after our last phone call. Leah found out about her and Sam's plans to get married in the summer. She cried on the phone as she told me that Leah wouldn't even look at her. It was like all the progress they'd made just vanished without a trace. I advised her to just give Leah some space. But I couldn't help but feel for Leah. I couldn't begin to imagine the pain she must have felt. Thankfully, Emily chose not to mention Jacob and Carmen. I wasn't really interested in hearing about their imprinted bliss.

Angela came out to Hanover to spend the last weeks of the summer with us. Liz and I picked her up at the airport and drove her back to our apartment. She wasn't her usual cheery self and almost bit Liz's head off when she asked why she didn't bring her boyfriend, Mark, along.

We rented a house at Lake Sunapee and had plans to drive up there the next day. Liz, Angela and I were in my room packing when she finally told us what happened. "I came back early from class and I caught him in bed with Karen."

"Oh my God, Angela. I'm so sorry." Liz gasped and gave her a consolatory hug.

Meanwhile, I fumed silently. I couldn't believe that Karen would do something like that to her best friend. Even though she was predatory, that was a really low thing for her to do.

"So what did you do?" I sat on the bed next to her.

Angela wiped the angry tears from her eyes. "I kicked both their asses. That's exactly what I did." She laughed at my shocked expression. "I punched Karen in the eye and kicked Mark right in the balls."

Liz cackled madly, enjoying the scandal. "You did not."

Angela smiled smugly. "Damn right I did. Then I told that bitch I wanted her out of my apartment by the time I got back from Hanover."

As Angela was giving Liz all the gory details, I answered my ringing cell phone. "Hello."

"Bella." The voice on the other end was Leah's but it was hardly recognizable.

"Leah! Are you okay?" It was a relief to hear her voice but she didn't sound like herself. Questions whirled around my mind. How did she get past the injunction? Did Jacob let her call me?

"Bella… I can't stay here. I can't be here to watch them get married." She sounded so beaten down and brokenhearted. Her anger was easy to deal with but it scared me to hear the despondency in her voice.

I didn't know what to say to her, so I said the only thing I could. "You can come here, Leah. You can come spend some time with me."

A/N:You guys really surprised me with your reviews in the last chapter.

I didn't know that so many of you loved Taylor and some of you are even rooting for a Bella/Taylor ending.

This is exactly why reviews are important to an author.

To let us know what and who you're liking.

The next chapter is already written. You know what to do if you want it before next week.Review!

Coming up next:Leah pays a long anticipated visit and they have some fun at a bar with some surprising results.