"So, did you pick this car out yourself? Or was it handed down to you by a family member?" Alice asked Bella while Rosalie was doing something to what she thought was the engine of the car,but she didn't really care about that.What Alice cared about was finally having a chance to talk to Bella. She felt like it had taken years to get this point with all the waiting she had done. Now she just had to be nice and normal and not scare Bella away.

"No my dad got it for me as a welcome home gift." Bella replied.

"That's so nice of him. Do you like it or would you have preferred something else?"Alice said proud that she was keeping her cool.

"I love it. I'm not sure what I would have picked out. I never really thought about it. My grandfather loved cars and had quite a few. He left them to me when he died but they are still at the estate. It didn't feel right driving them." Bella stopped herself from saying more. Talking about her grandparents was natural but when it came to her shifter heritage she didn't want to tell to many details.

"You're grandfather left you multiple cars? And they are at an estate?" Rosalie asked Bella who nodded in reply. That was interesting. She couldn't even get Bella to talk about her family but she had let that slip quite easily. She had to remind herself to calm down and not spout off the dozens of questions she now had in her head.

"Is that where your mother lives?" Alice asked.

"No, my mother has a town house in downtown Phoenix. The estate was my grandparents and when they died they left it to me." Bella looked down at her feet avoiding eye contact hoping they would change the subject.

Alice not noticing Bella's discomfort forged on with more questions. "Is it a big estate?"

"Um, I guess it was pretty big, a couple hundred acres about two hours outside Phoenix and an old house that has been in my family for generations."

"Why didn't your mother inherit it when they died? Why you?"

"Alice!" Rosalie hissed. She was also interested in the answers but this wasn't the right way to go about it. Bella was obviously uncomfortable and Rosalie didn't want Alice's nosiness offending Bella.

"What? I'm just asking. It's interesting, Bella's interesting.I just want to know."Alice said defensively.

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk about this with two virtual strangers. What did I tell you? Why don't..." was all Rosalie got out when Bella cut in.

"It's fine Alice I don't mind your questions." Bella said hoping to stop the fight. "My mother and her parents didn't get along very well. They raised me until I was ten. So they were more like parents to me than she was. When they died they left her some stuff but I got the majority."

"Your mother didn't raise you?" Rosalie asked incredulously. What kind of mother didn't raise their own child she thought.

"Rene wasn't really that interested in being a mother. I only lived with her because my grandparents were dead and I honestly didn't know who my father was. I found out a year ago about Charlie. The custody arrangement was only finalized about a month ago. As soon as I was legally able I came here to live with him."

"Jesus" Rosalie muttered to herself. No wonder Bella didn't want to talk about her family.Rosalie thought. It was tragic. She hated knowing her mate was so alone in the world. But then a thought hit her."Why were you homeschooled?"

"I shifted for the first time three months before my grandfather died and two months after that my grandmother died. I was still learning how to control it. I initially stayed home to practice being safe but then I just decided it wasn't worth it to go every day. It's hard being different and I was sick of the stares and whispering. Also people knew who my grandfather was so I had a lot of attention on me after he died and not all of it was positive.I wanted to be left alone until I could leave and have a life of my own."

Alice felt her heart break at Bella's confession. She was so excited to have Bella as a best friend because she knew that Bella would feel the same way Alice did about being different but in her excitement she forgot that some of the feelings that came with it could be devastating. She hated seeing Bella in any pain. So she did what she always did when she felt emotional she pulled Bella into a hug.

Bella went stiff when she felt Alice's arms wrap around her. She wasn't used to hugging anyone but Charlie ( and Rosalie her helpful mind added) so she was a little out of practice but as soon as she relaxed she hugged Alice back tightly. She felt comfortable around Alice and wouldn't mind a hug ever now and then.

Rosalie was just about to pull Alice off of Bella when all of sudden Bella hugged Alice back. Initially she wanted to protect Bella from being uncomfortable but now she not only wanted to pull Alice off her but beat her head in for touching her mate. She had to physically shake her head to disrupt her raging thoughts. Was this part of the bond? She hoped not because if she felt like this from seeing Bella hugging Alice she was afraid of what she would do if someone tried something else.

Alice finally released Bella when she heard Rosalie clear her throat. She shot her a wink which Rosalie returned with a scowl. "Bella you said people knew who your grandfather was, who was he?"

Bella scratched the back of her neck uncomfortable with this question. She had hoped after the hug they could go back to idle chitchat but that was wishful thinking. This was bound to come up eventually so best to get it over with.

"His name was Arthur Shurlong" as Bella expected both vampires went wide eyed and quiet.

Rosalie was the first to break out of her stupor "Wait you're a Shurlong? From the Shurlong family that has one founding father and three American presidents? Your grandfather was Arthur? Didn't he make a run for the presidency?"

"Yes I'm one of those Shurlongs. My grandfather was a senator. He never wanted to run ,that was something other people were trying to make him do. He never wanted to be president."

Alice finally found her voice "Wait you're saying that one of the founding fathers was a shifter? Or do you get shifting from someone else in your family?"

"Alice that's enough. it's none of our business where Bella gets her shifting ability from." Rosalie interjected. She was also dying to know but when she had asked Bella about it before Bella had shut down any attempt to ask.

Bella shot her a grateful smile. She revealed enough for today. It was becoming a little overwhelming.She decided to change the subject."How's my car looking?"

"Well it can be fixed which is good, but it will need some parts and getting them will take time. I am more than happy to do it for you, but I would need to keep your car for a little while. Would that be a problem?"

"No it's fine I can get my dad to drive me to school and anywhere I need to go."

"Why don't we drive you to school? We drive by your house on the way there anyway." Alice supplied helpfully. It would give her a chance to hang out with Bella. She had so many questions for the girl but based on the way Rosalie was glaring at her she knew better than to ask anything more today.

"Yeah,I guess I could do that. If you wouldn't mind." Bella said.

Rosalie smiled pleased with the prospect of seeing Bella and having time to themselves. She would just have to find a way to keep Alice from riding with them as well. " I don't mind at all. I've done all I can do today with it so why don't I take you home now."

"I think I do want to go home but you don't have to give me a ride. I feel like going for a run so I'll just go home from there."

"Oh. Of course that makes sense. If you see that mountain lion would you send it my apologies for trying to attack it." Rosalie joked.

"You can talk to mountain lions?! Do they talk back?!" Alice excitedly asked Bella.

"Kind of. It's hard to explain.I should get going. Thanks again Rosalie for the help with my car."

With some mustered courage Bella walked over to Rosalie and gave her a hug. It started out as a soft hug but she held Rosalie tighter when she felt Rosalie rest her head over Bella's heart and sigh. It had been beating hard before but now it was going into overdrive. Just being this close to her imprint did this too her. Bella was excited and afraid to think of what would happened if they were ever to go further than a simple hug.

With an overwhelming feeling of sadness Rosalie released Bella from the hug and put a fake smile on her face. Her mate was so strong and gentle at the same time. She held Rosalie like she was holding something precious.Rosalie could almost convince herself that Bella felt the bond just as deeply as she did. She was still at a loss on how to address the subject but Rosalie wasn't going to give up. Whatever she had to do to be with her mate was worth it. It was just a matter of time before it all worked out.

Bella smiled at her, gave Alice a hug,turned to the forest and took off in a run.