Bella didn't get her answer right away though. After the game, the girls had all insisted on going for ice cream and Bella wasn't allowed to deny their invite. Kate somehow got out of going with a point at Carmen and something about "family things" that needed to be attended to.
She didn't make it back to her dorm until late that evening. It was already dark out and Bella wanted nothing more than to take a shower and go to bed. JP was staying with a bunch of the girls at Lil' K's dorm and Bella had thanked them for the invite but said she really just wanted to sleep. They all understood and told her that her nose looked bad ass before she left.
The next morning, her nose was bruised, but the swelling had gone down back to normal. It didn't hurt as much anymore and she was thankful for that.
She'd been up for most of the night wondering about what Kate had to tell her and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed about her coach as well. She couldn't get the blonde out of her head.
It was now noon and Bella was thinking about going to get some lunch. She'd received an invitation to eat with the girls and was about to accept it when she got a text message from an unknown number.
Unknown: Can we talk? Are you free?
She had an idea. She didn't really have anyone's number being that they all messaged on the app where their group chat was set up. But she thought she knew who this would be. She asked anyway just to make sure.
Bella: Umm, who is this?
Unknown: it's Kate
Bella: I figured. I'm free. Do I need to meet you somewhere?
Kate: Is JP there?
Bella: No she's with the girls at lunch.
Kate: I'm on campus. I'll be up in a minute.
Bella stared at her phone. Kate was coming up and expecting to talk to her in her bedroom? A little weird, but she found that she didn't really mind.
Only a few minutes later, there was a knock on her dorm room door, and she got up to open it. Kate was on the other side, and Bella could have sworn that the vampire actually looked nervous. She stepped back and let the woman in before closing the door back and locking it.
Kate looked around and gestured towards Bella's door with a questioning look on her face and Bella nodded, "Yeah that one's mine," She said and they made their way into the room. She closed the door behind them after hesitating for a minute and turned to face Kate. "So…" Bella trailed off and Kate sighed. The vampire took a seat in Bella's desk chair, and so Bella took a seat cross legged on her bed.
"So," Kate said and then seemed to be lost in thought for a long moment. "God, I don't even know where to start," She said and rubbed harshly at her face, "When you were in high school, you dated Edward?" Kate said but she went up at the end of the statement to make it sound like a question.
"Uh," Bella bit her lip, "Yeah," She said and bobbed her head once, "I did."
"He told you that the two of you were mates?" She asked and Bella just nodded.
"He lied," Bella whispered after a moment and Kate looked up sharply.
"What?" She asked and Bella shrugged.
"We aren't mates," She said definitively, "I had my doubts just based on what I had heard about the bond between mates, but everything was confirmed the day that he left me," She explained, "We aren't mates."
"Okay," Kate said slowly, "So you already know. That does make this a little easier," She continued and her eyes darted around the room as she collected her thoughts, "He wasn't your mate, no," She confirmed, "But you have a mate."
"I do?" Bella asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Kate nodded, "You do," She looked away, "We're mates, Bella," She whispered. Bella wasn't even sure that she'd heard her correctly. She stared for a few moments before Kate finally looked at her again. Her face full of apprehension.
"Can you repeat that? I don't have super hearing and I want to make sure I heard you right," She said and she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. She could feel the panic rising. She was sure that Kate could hear her body reacting to this big news.
"You and I," Kate pointed between the two of them, "We're mates," She finished. So, Bella definitely heard her correctly. Time for a freak out.
Bella dropped her head and looked down at her lap. She could feel her heart rate rising and she could feel the panic taking over. It wasn't Kate. It wasn't that it was Kate at all. It was that she had a mate. She'd thought that she'd left that part of her life behind for good. She'd thought she'd never have to deal with this again. And now? Now there was a beautiful woman sitting across from her and waiting for a reaction.
Bella felt tears slip over her cheeks and fall into her lap. "Oh, baby, please don't cry," Kate said as she stood and then stopped because she didn't know if she should actually approach the upset human.
"I'm sorry," Bella said as she wiped at her face, "I don't know why I'm crying," She whispered as she continued to wipe harshly at her face. The tears continued to stream down her face though.
"You're breaking my heart. Tell me how to help," Kate said pleadingly and Bella could hear the anguish in her voice. Bella just shook her head and swiped at her face again.
"It's not you," Bella said and looked up into tear-filled eyes, "I promise it's not," Bella said and Kate nodded after a moment, "I just… I just-" She trailed off and bit her lip as she shrugged, "I don't know."
"It's a lot to take in," Kate agreed after a moment and Bella could hear that she was treading lightly. Bella was still crying, and Kate clearly didn't want to make her cry again, "I don't know how to make this better. Tell me how to make this easier for you."
Bella knew she was hurting. She knew enough about mate bonds to know that Kate seeing her cry like this, was tearing her up inside. She knew that Kate was hurting too. But she couldn't stop.
"I-" She paused and took a breath, "I need some time," She looked up and saw Kate's face fall, "I'm not sending you away. Not permanently anyway. I promise. I just... I just need time. To think about everything and process it all," She whispered and Kate finally nodded, though she didn't look like she wanted to leave Bella.
"Okay," She said finally. "Okay," She repeated and took a step back. Bella wiped at her face again and followed her to the door, "I'm sorry I upset you."
Bella shook her head. "You didn't. You didn't do anything wrong," Bella said. She needed Kate to know that she wasn't crying because of her. She didn't want to be crying at all. She could already feel the connection and the bond between them. She knew she was telling the truth. She was just crying and didn't know why.
Kate nodded after a moment and opened the door to step into the hallway, "You'll… let me know?" She asked and Bella just nodded as she leaned against the door jamb. Kate looked torn but finally gave a nod and left. Bella watched her leave before closing the door again, going into her room, and lying down.
