As promised Rosalie was waiting for Bella by her red BMW after the end of the day bell rang. She gave her a bright smile when Rosalie went to the passenger side door and held it open for her. Bella waved goodbye to Alice, Emmett and Jasper and belted herself in while Rosalie shut the door and got into the driver's seat and started the car.
"I don't know if you wanted to go home right away but I thought maybe we could go for a coffee or whatever beverage you were in the mood for? There is a coffee shop in the middle of town we could go to." Rosalie asked Bella hoping Bella would want to spend a little more time with her.
"Yeah that sounds great. I would love to." Spending time with her imprint was not something Bella would ever pass up.
"Great." Rosalie said as she drove towards the coffee shop. They rode in a comfortable silence and got there a few minutes later.
Rosalie once again raced to open Bella's door. She worried that Bella would start to get annoyed with it but the smile Bella gave her soothed her fears. Feeling a little brave she offered Bella her hand. Bella took it with a smile that Rosalie easily returned.
Bella was over the moon. Not only did she have a date with her imprint on Friday but here she was walking hand and hand with Rosalie on the way to spend more time together. The once small spark of hope that Rosalie would return her feelings was now a burning flame of excitement at the confirmation that Rosalie did feel something for her. It may not be as intense as imprinting but Bella would work with what she could get.
"Maybe we could get a coffee to go and walk over to the park down the street and hang out" Rosalie asked hopefully.
"That sounds perfect." Bella replied.
They made their way into the coffee shop making small talk about nothing important as they waited for Bella's order to be made holding hands the entire time. The walk to the park was short and made in silence as they both were refraining from saying anything until they had absolute privacy.
"Oh hey look they have a dog park." Bella said drawing Rosalie's attention to a corgi and a pug playing tug of war with a stick.
"Did you ever have a dog growing up?"Rosalie asked.
"No my family are not really dog people." Bella said laughing.
If Rosalie could blush she would have. "Of course I should of asked if you had a cat not a dog."
"I always wanted to have a cat growing up. My grandma was for it when I was old enough to take care it myself but that never happened. My mother hated animals and refused to let me have one." Bella said sadly.
"It's not to late. I'm sure Charlie would let you get one. There has to be a shelter around here that you could adopt one from." Rosalie was getting excited about the idea. Maybe Bella would let her help pick it out and it would be the first thing they had together as a couple.
"I'll have to ask him. He may be allergic. Did you ever have a pet?"
"No my parents would never have anything that could damage their precious home. I'm personally surprised they had children." Rosalie said bitterly.
"What was your human family like? Did you have brothers or sisters?" Bella was eager to find out more about Rosalie. She barely knew anything about her.
"I had two much younger brothers. We weren't very close. My mother was a housewife and my father was a banker. It was because of his job that we made it through the depression almost unscathed."
"When were you born?"
"I was born in 1915 in Rochester New York and changed into a vampire in 1933." Rosalie hadn't wanted to get into her past with Bella because it would only reveal her secret but if she wanted to actually be with her mate then she would have to tell her anyway. With them going on an official date maybe now was the right time.
"Is it rude to ask why you wanted to be a vampire?"
Rosalie took a deep breath to calm herself before she replied."I didn't want to be a vampire. I didn't even know vampires existed until I woke up as one. Carlisle changed me without my permission." This was it,Rosalie told herself, this was going to be a defining moment in her destiny.
"What happened?Why would he change you if you didn't want to be?" Bella asked confused. She had assumed they all asked to become vampires. Finding out Rosalie was forced made her blood boil with anger.
"I should start at the beginning. Do you want to sit on that bench or keep walking?" Rosalie motioned to the bench.
"Let's keep walking." Bella replied.
"I should tell you something before I start that is pretty important. My body isn't normal. When I was born my parents were horribly embarrassed and ashamed of me. It was only because they had celebrated the fact they were having a child that they kept me at all. I was told many times that if they could of they would have sent me to an orphanage."
"What, why?" Bella squeezed Rosalie's hand that she still held bringing her to a stop.
"Bella, I don't want to you to be disgusted with me when I tell you. I really care about you and don't want this to come between us."
"Rosalie I care about you to. It can't be to bad. Just tell me. Whatever it is I promise you could never disgust me." Bella promised.
"Bella don't promise things you can't be sure of."
"I'm sure of you Rosalie. I'm so sure of you that whatever you say I can and will promise that I will continue to care about you and not be scared away.Just trust me." Bella pleaded with Rosalie.
"Bella I have a penis. I was born with a penis." Rosalie closed her eyes so she didn't have to see the disgust on Bella's face.There was silence for what seemed like endless minutes while Rosalie stood there waiting for a reaction.
What Rosalie didn't expect was a warm hand to caress her cheek softly followed by two arms pulling her into Bella's body tightly. Rosalie's body started to shake with tearless sobs as she cried. Bella held her the entire time rubbing her hands up and down her back.
When the sobs finally stopped Rosalie pulled back to look at Bella smiling at her. She felt hopeful that Bella wasn't going to send her away and tell her to never speak to her again, but she still felt that old fear of a rejected child and a traumatized adult.
"Rosalie that doesn't matter to me. I'm glad you told me. It changes nothing though. Are you different because of it? Yes you are, but no less magnificent to me. I'm different in my own way just like everyone is. It doesn't make you better or worse than anyone else." Bella told Rosalie.
Rosalie couldn't believe her luck. Her mate accepted her. All of her. Bella didn't tell her to go. Her mate had not rejected her and in that moment Rosalie did the thing that she had been wanting to do since she first laid eyes on Bella. She put her arms around Bella's neck and pulled her into a kiss.
Even though Bella knew it was coming nothing could have prepared her for not only kissing her imprint but her first kiss with anyone. Rosalie's body may have felt like stone but her lips were soft. They kissed Bella's like they had done so a thousand times and Bella felt herself melt into Rosalie's arms.
Rosalie felt like she was gliding on air. Her mate was so warm and as they kissed with their bodies pressed together Rosalie could feel that warmth seep through her cold skin all the way into her non beating heart. Unfortunately it also made the subject of the topic they discussed come to life and she pulled away embarrassed at the semi hard on that was straining against her pants. She never had problems like this before but then again she never had felt any type of attraction like this before either. She had no experience with sex so she had no clue how to control herself at all. Maybe she would have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Carlisle about it.
"Sorry." Rosalie said embarrassed.
"It's ok. It just means you were enjoying the kiss as much as I was." Bella reassured her. "Why don't we continue walking and cool off a bit. And you can tell me more of your story."
Rosalie nodded in agreement and happily took Bella's hand when she offered. As they walked Rosalie continued her tale.
"Like I said my parents we not to happy when I was born. They had hoped to have a son as most fathers do but ended up with me. They figured if they ever had a daughter they could marry her off to a rich man and up their social standings. My parents were very big on maintaining their place in high society. They were always striving to be better than everyone else. So when I came along I put their reputation at risk. They couldn't raise me as a boy because I developed as a girl and they couldn't marry me off without risking people finding out my secret. They tried to have more children after they had me to help keep their social standings but it took them years. I was 14 when my first brother was born. After he came along my second brother came soon after. When they had them I became nothing more than a nuisance to them. I couldn't be used for anything that was important to them but they still had to figure out what to do with me. They discussed maybe sending me away to become a nun but after talking to a priest they found out the church wouldn't take me. My body wasn't pure they said."
Rosalie took a moment to collect herself before she continued."My mother then came up with the plan to marry me off to some unsuspecting man of no means who wouldn't be able to make a scene when he found out about me after we married.They had a problem though. I know it's vain to say but I'm very beautiful. I was when I human also. So it was of no surprise when I caught the eye of the bank owner's son Royce King. He pursued me relentlessly not taking no for answer. After ever rejection he would come back no matter how forceful I was or even my parents were. I became a strange obsession of his. He would show up at my house at all hours of the night demanding to see me. He would show up at places I was at randomly to talk to me. I had thought he was following me but my parents told me don't worry about he would lose interest eventually and to try to ignore him. So that's what I did until the night Royce made sure he wouldn't be ignored any longer."
"Rosalie you don't have to talk about this. It's obviously upsetting you. Why don't we stop for now and you can finish another time." Bella offered seeing how the longer Rosalie talked the more distraught she became.
"No, it's ok. I've never told anyone my full story before just bits and pieces. I want to you to know me. All of me, even the not so pleasant parts.
"Ok but only if you're sure." Bella replied.
"On the night I was changed I was running an errand for my mother. She had needed me to pick up a new hat for her from the hatter. It wasn't in the best part of town but I had made the journey enough times that I felt safe walking there. On my way home it had started getting dark as it had taken longer than I thought it would to get the hat. I had passed a back alley next to the closed bakery when I was grabbed from behind and a hand was placed over my mouth so I couldn't scream."
"It was Royce?" Bella asked.
"Yes it was Royce." Rosalie confirmed. "He had been following me, waiting for the moment he could grab me and get me alone. His eyes were wild as he muttered nonsense I couldn't understand in my heightened fear. It was when he started ripping my clothes off I knew that I wasn't going to be able to deliver that new hat to my mother. It was a foolish thing to think but when you are that afraid maybe you would rather think foolish things than focus on the horror you are going through."
Rosalie stopped walking and took a few deep breaths. Feeling Bella's hand in hers calmed her. She hated thinking about the event but for some reason she wanted Bella to know. She was being truthful when she said she wanted Bella to know all about her and unfortunately this was huge part of her life.
"While I was on the ground he pulled the skirt of my dress up and yanked down my undergarments. When realized what he was seeing he became furious. He screamed at me and that's when the beating started. It was when he pulled out his knife and started cutting my penis off that I passed out. The last thought I had before I did was that at least my parents didn't have to live with their shame anymore."
"Jesus. Rosalie I don't know what say. That's horrible." Bella said trying to figure out a way to comfort Rosalie.
"You don't have to say anything. When I woke up I felt like my body was on fire. Like my blood was made of flames and it was burning me from the inside out. It's seemed like I felt that way forever and a part of me wondered if the priest was right about me being impure and that I was in hell now. The pain started subsiding and finally it was gone all together. When I woke up confused Carlisle and Esme explained everything that happened and that I had become a vampire."
"What happened to Royce?" Bella asked curiously.
"Carlisle had smelt my blood as Royce was torturing me. When he arrived he scared Royce and Royce ran off."
"So did he ever get arrested or at least punished for what he did?"
Rosalie chuckled."Oh he was punished alright but not by the law. I was so furious about what Royce did and that I was now a vampire because of it I turned my anger into the perfect revenge. I have to warn you I was a bit dramatic when I was first turned. I want to say that I'm no longer that way but I still have my moments."
"What did you do? Whatever it was I hope it was worse than what he did to you.He would deserve it." Bella told Rosalie.
"I began stalking him as he had been doing to me. I would follow him where ever he went and send him anonymous gifts like the ones he had sent me. I did this for a month until it got to the point he wouldn't leave his house. On the night I broke in he had locked himself in a windowless room with two heavily armed men guarding the door. They were easy enough to dispatch. Their loyalty was to money not Royce. A hundred dollar bill apiece and they walked out the front door and pretended they never saw me. The next part isn't pretty so I will spare you the gruesome details but by the time I was done with Royce it wasn't just his penis I had cut off."
"He deserved it." Bella said to Rosalie's shocked face. "What he did to you was wrong and if you hadn't stopped him he would have probably fixated on some other poor woman and who knows what would have happened. You did the right thing. Maybe you were a little dramatic like you said. But you were right to stop him."
"You don't think I'm a monster for torturing a man to death?" As Bella shook her head no Rosalie said. "You are a strange creature Bella Swan."
Bella smiled." I've been called worse."
Rosalie chuckled. She felt lighter somehow. Like telling Bella her secret and her story made life a little less of a burden. She would never have imagined that Bella would have accepted her so easily and even defended actions that Rosalie herself had a hard time coming to terms with. If she didn't know it already she was more than sure without a doubt Bella was her mate. Bella had said she cared about her. So maybe Bella was feeling the mate bond. Or was there a shifter equivalent. Another question to ask Carlisle.
"Let's get you home. We've been here a while and I bet it's time for dinner."
"Yeah Charlie should be home soon and I want to spend some time with him before bed." Bella agreed.
Hand and hand they walked back to Rosalie's car in silence enjoying just being next to each other.