Author's Note: I'm so sorry I haven't updated anything in a while! There was a snow storm that knocked the power out but I didn't want to stop writing so I wrote this continuation of this Kate/Bella story idea I had in a book. Then I had to type it up into a document when the power came back, and then, next thing I knew, I couldn't stop writing more of it...anyways, I'm back, and thanks to everyone for being so patient. I'll try to update everything as quickly as I can!


Chapter 5

The grocery shopping was quite an ordeal, somehow stressful yet delightful to Tanya, but she got through it. She insisted on paying, much to a cranky Bella's dismay––who, for some reason, started comparing her to "that apeish Satan kid" who apparently had done something similar to her, and got everything in the car. Not too soon, as Bella was very bad at giving directions and nearly fell asleep once, the two managed to pull up in front of Bella's house. And it had to have been Bella's this time, as the girl didn't say, "Whoops, never mind. Let's try again" this time.

Tanya let out a sigh of relief when Bella sat there as Tanya stalled the car. When she still didn't say anything, Tanya started slowly inching closer to the house so she could turn into the driveway.

"It looks like your dad is home," Tanya said with a frown as she eyed the rusty pickup also parked in the driveway. Bella's father was going to complicate things; no good father was going to allow an older woman that his daughter met less than an hour and a half ago into his house, let alone allow her to stay over.

"No, he's still at work. The truck's mine," Bella explained, struggling not to yawn. Amazingly enough she didn't, but the yawn did get stuck in her throat when Tanya slammed on the breaks.

"You have a truck?" Tanya demanded in disbelief, whirling to face the human girl. "Are you serious? Then why didn't you use it?"

"I wanted to be able to fall asleep," Bella said with a shrug. "And I couldn't find the keys."

Tanya opened her mouth to demand just what Bella had been thinking, but then closed it with a sigh as she properly parked and then turned off her vehicle. She knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with that particular question, and there were more important ones to ask first. Questions that Tanya preferred to ask in private.

"Let's get inside. I'll…" Tanya trailed off, realizing that Bella was already out of the car. Mindful of keeping at a human speed, she got out of the car and walked around to the back. She then took a moment to just stop and stare, as Bella was doing her best to carry everything at once. The smaller brunette's body was straining under the weight from the bags that covered her arms, two around her neck, and one even in her teeth. She was currently trying to get another bag out, but the weight was too much. Once again, Bella started to fall over.

"This is why we can take multiple trips, Bella," Tanya said, catching the girl from behind as she relieved Bella of some of her bags. She lingered behind the human longer than necessary, painfully aware of how good it felt to have Bella's body against her own.

"But that means more work," Bella complained with a small yawn. She suddenly felt sleepy again, and Tanya felt so good...it would just be so easy to relax against the blonde and fall asleep.

Tanya, easily reading where Bella's thoughts were heading, took a step back to break the connection. Bella started to fall backwards again, and Tanya quickly caught her. Damn it, if she had realized how close the brunette was to collapsing, she wouldn't have moved so quickly.

"Let's get you inside," Tanya said.

"And into my bed," Bella murmured wistfully.

Swallowing hard as Tanya's mind went right to the gutter, she quickly reminded herself of her control and started towards the house, half carrying the human along the way.

"Wait, groceries…" Bella said, turning back towards what was left in the car.

"I'll get them after I drop these off," Tanya said quickly, before Bella could do something stupid again.

"Mm kay," Bella agreed, giving Tanya a small, rare smile that made Tanya's undead heart want to beat. The vampire had to close her eyes and take a deep breath as she stopped on the porch, waiting for Bella to unlock the door. Only, she never did.

"Bella?" Tanya asked when she opened her eyes and found Bella unmoving, although leaning heavily against her.

"Yeah?" Bella asked, tilting her head up to look at her.

"You need to unlock the door so we can get inside."

"Oh yeah." Bella blinked once before reaching into her pocket, only to realize her keys weren't in there. "Ah...wait a second here…" Bella tried her other pocket, but no such luck. Tanya then stiffened as Bella reached into her back pocket, one at a time, hand sliding between Tanya's body and hers to reach. Bella's hand came dangerously close to Tanya's groin both times, and Tanya was starting to believe that Bella had done it just to torture her.

"Please tell me you didn't lose your keys," Tanya spat through gritted teeth. It would be just her luck for things to become more complicated.

"No, no...I didn't lose them. Wait...did I?" Bella mumbled to herself, mystified as she tried to figure out where they went. Slowly, in an amazing display of flexibility, Bella lifted her leg so she could reach her foot. She took the shoe off, shook it, then dropped it onto the ground so she could repeat with her other leg. Tanya couldn't take her eyes off of the brunette, and for a moment, forgot all about the reason Bella was looking in her shoes in the first place.

It turned out, things could get worse...as Bella took off her shirt.

"Bella, what the hell?" Tanya hissed, quickly covering the girl's body with her own from any onlookers, even as her eyes hungrily devoured the half naked body in front of her. For someone so lazy, Bella was amazingly toned, and Tanya itched to touch her.

"Found them!" Bella replied proudly, grabbing a hold of the keys attached to a cord that was around her neck.

"Why did you have to take your shirt off?" Tanya demanded as Bella happily unlocked the front door and stepped inside, leaving her shirt and shoes on the porch.

Bella gave her a confused look as she walked inside. "How else would I know if they were there?"

Letting out a groan of frustration, Tanya dropped the groceries on the floor, then picked up the shoes and shirt. "Hands up," she ordered, and Bella did as Tanya said. Tanya quickly pulled Bella's shirt on over the human's head, feeling a swell of relief and disappointment at the covered skin. "I'll be right back."

"Yup," Bella said as she turned to the groceries to put them away. Tanya then walked out to get the remaining groceries, but not before giving the girl an uneasy glance, wondering if it was okay for her to be left alone. After grabbing the remaining groceries and walking back inside to find Bella, amazingly enough, uninjured, Tanya let out a relieved sigh.

"I'll only be gone a few more minutes; then we need to have a talk," Tanya said, running her fingers along Bella's back in a reassuring fashion.

Bella looked up from her organizing. "But all of the groceries are here."

"I need to move my car," Tanya explained. "I want to have a long talk with you, and I'm not sure how your father will feel about strange cars in his driveway."

"Okay. I'll wait here," Bella said, hopping up on the counter to wait.

Once again, Tanya hesitated. She had no idea how this girl could have survived so long without someone keeping an eye on her, and she didn't want something disastrous to happen the second she was left alone. But she knew she had to move her car.

"Right back," Tanya repeated, reaching up to brush Bella's hair behind her ear. "I mean it. And please, try not to get yourself hurt."

"Roger that," Bella said with a salute, and Tanya knew she had no choice but to leave.

She rushed to her car at human speed and started in, just in time to hear Bella mumble, "Oh, here's my car key. When did I put it with the rest of them?" Rolling her eyes at how scatterbrained her mate seemed, she drove off to find a good place to park her car. Once done, she ran back, once again at human speed in case anybody was watching. It was torture for her, but she had to do it. What would happen if someone saw her appear at Bella's doorstep out of nowhere? And it wasn't like she could just appear in Bella's house after all, at least not without possibly confusing the living daylights out of her human. Although, judging from Bella's reactions so far, Tanya honestly believed that the girl might just think that she had forgotten that she had let Tanya in again.

Finally at the house, Tanya closed and locked the door behind her. Hearing her mate's even heartbeat and breathing still in the kitchen, Tanya rolled her eyes and walked in, thinking, I can't believe she actually waited in the kitchen for me.

Then, Tanya once again found herself baffled as she stopped in front of Bella. Bella, who was clearly sleeping, still sitting on the counter, somehow managing to hold herself up despite the fact that she was naturally so clumsy. Perhaps Bella was somehow more graceful when asleep than awake? Another question Tanya hoped might be answered tonight.

"Bella, you need to wake up. I'm not letting you fall asleep on me," Tanya said, walking over so she could gently shake the girl's shoulder. "At the very least, let's get you upstairs. A kitchen counter is not the kind of place you should––"

Once again, sleepy brown eyes opened. And once again, Tanya was caught completely off guard as Bella reached up, grabbed Tanya by the back of her head, and pulled her into another kiss. This time, the kiss was impossibly hotter, and Tanya's entire body shivered with desire as Bella's lips parted, almost like she was telling Tanya to slip her tongue inside and taste every corner of her mouth.

When Bella's legs wrapped around hips and pulled the blonde between her legs, Tanya lost control. Her tongue did find its way into Bella's mouth as Tanya kissed the girl back with a soft, hungry moan, arms wrapping around Bella's middle to pull the brunette even closer. The kiss was slow in pace, as everything Bella did seemed to be, but it was more powerful, passionate, and hungry than any other kiss Tanya had ever experienced.

The vampire was just about to push Bella onto her back and climb on top when she realized that Bella was still on the counter. Not only was there nothing behind Bella to push her onto, but a father could be coming home any minute and Tanya was still beyond confused when it came to her mate. Reluctantly, Tanya broke the kiss, leaving Bella breathing heavily. Tanya couldn't get too far however, as Bella still had her legs around Tanya's waist and her hands in the blonde's hair.

"Keep doing you, Dream Girl," Bella murmured as she rested her forehead on Tanya's shoulder. Then Bella paused, remembering her Dream Girl had recently become a part of reality. She pulled back, looking up into black but clearly bewildered eyes. She let go of Tanya's hair and rested her hand against Tanya's cheek, then poked her in the same spot multiple times with a finger. She felt real… Still using the same finger, Bella then reached up to poke herself in the cheek, then pulled on some of her own hair, oblivious to Tanya's fight for control right in front of her. "Oh."

Bella's soft exclamation helped Tanya focus on the brunette in front of her, who now looked sleepily and adorably confused. "Oh?" Tanya echoed, arching an eyebrow to prompt Bella to continue.

Cocking her head to one side, Bella examined the situation, as well as their still entwined and enjoyable positions. Yes, she had only managed to start kissing Tanya since the blonde saved her, and yes it felt real, but so did the other kisses. And Bella was pretty sure at least one of those kisses hadn't been real, otherwise the woman in front of her wouldn't have stopped what was happening between them. Not to mention her Dream Girl had only appeared in one, maybe three dreams before Bella actually met her in person, which only made things more confusing; at least, it made things more confusing for Bella. Realizing how she still wasn't sure, she understood she needed to do something she knew would wake her if she was asleep.

So, she reached out and put her hands on Tanya's breasts.

Tanya's eyes widened, and if it were possible, would have darkened further at Bella's outrageous move. What kind of girl would just grab someone's breasts like that, especially in such a blunt fashion? Yet at the same time, her mate's hands on her breasts felt beyond good, and Tanya forced her muscles to stiffen to stop herself from reciprocating in a much more...hungry fashion. A fashion that wouldn't end with just her hands on Bella's breasts.

"Yes, this is real," Bella murmured out loud, knowing she would have woken up from the excitement otherwise. Glancing down at the boobs she still had her hands on, Bella added, "And these are real too. Wow."

Understanding what Bella was talking about, Tanya didn't know whether to laugh or feel offended that Bella thought otherwise. Instead of letting herself get too caught up in her strange mate's words, Tanya simply took Bella's wrists and removed them.

"Bella, I want you to know I have no plans on leaving you for good. Which means we need to have a long, important talk," Tanya said, looking seriously into Bella's eyes. "We should go upstairs to have it, and we can't have any interruptions."

Bella stared back for a long moment, hands itching to get back onto Tanya's breasts. "Okay. Bedroom then; But not bed, cause then I'll fall asleep. And it can't be my dad's bed either, cause he's a big guy and can't fit in mine and he needs a place to sleep."

"Lead the way," Tanya said, trying not to be overwhelmed with hope as she helped Bella off of the kitchen counter. She doubted all of her questions would get answered; in fact, she wasn't even sure if she could get a straight answer out of Bella.

But Tanya was certainly going to try, no matter how many years it might take.