Author's Note: Yay, I had time for another update! It feels a bit short, but it's better to get it out now then to spend more time, maybe even days, agonizing over it as I tried to make it longer. As this is the story people request be updated the most, I hope it's as good as always and you all enjoy. Thanks!
Chapter 8
It was only moments into the car ride to the Cullen house that the peaceful silence between Tanya and Bella was broken.
"Does this count as the 'meeting the parents' scenario or is this whole thing something different?" Bella asked out of nowhere as she looked over at Tanya from the passenger seat of Tanya's car.
Tanya felt a small tightening in her chest as she thought about Sasha, but also a warmness in her as she smiled at her mate. "Different. But I want you to know, my cousins aren't the only ones you will be meeting. There are my sisters and…" Tanya frowned. How would she explain Carmen and Eleazar, who looked nothing like her? "Two other family members waiting as well."
"Huh. I wonder what their standards are," Bella mumbled, mostly to herself.
"Their standards don't matter," Tanya replied. "And they'll love you." She felt herself get even warmer as she realized that, although she had gotten nowhere in figuring out how Bella viewed their relationship, this really did feel like an important ritual when courting. Even Bella seemed to be treating it as such.
"No. Standards do matter," Bella said seriously. "If I don't know their standards, I won't be up to par, and then I won't be able to get any candy."
Tanya glanced at her mate, wondering what candy had to do with anything, before she quickly dismissed her confusion. She really needed to get used to her mate's way of thinking already.
"Right then," Tanya said, deciding that agreeing with Bella was the best course of action. "Well, are you excited about coming to the Cullens' house?"
Bella looked up into Tanya's face, and with a completely blank expression, pumped a fist and said in a flat voice, "Hoo-hah!" startling Tanya once again. Then Bella frowned, mumbling, "Whoops, that's another word for girl parts. I meant…" She once again pumped her fist, this time saying, "Hooah!"
"Oh, Bella," Tanya said with a fond shake of her head. "You really are going to make my life beyond interesting."
"I'm so happy for you," Bella said as she turned to the window and rolled it down. She then stuck her head out, just as Tanya turned onto the Cullens' driveway.
"Wait, Bella, be careful––" Tanya started, reaching out to grab the girl's shirt and pull her back in the car. But it was too late, as Bella fell back of her own accord with a surprised yelp of pain. She turned to Tanya with bewildered confusion in her eyes and a red mark on her forehead from where she had gotten hit by a tree branch. "Are you okay?" Tanya asked, torn between worry and laughter as she reached out with a hand towards her human.
"It turns out trees are also formidable enemies," Bella stated sagely. She then took hold of Tanya's wrist and moved her hand so that she could press Tanya's palm to her forehead. Bella blinked, surprised by how cool and soothing Tanya's temperature was, but she wasn't about to complain. Instead, she started rubbing Tanya's palm back and forth across her forehead. She didn't want to miss any spots, after all.
Tanya let Bella do as she pleased until she parked the car, but they obviously couldn't stay in the vehicle forever, so after another few moments, she said, "Can I have my hand back please?"
"No," Bella replied bluntly. "It's mine. And so is this." She then reached out with her free hand and hooked her fingers in Tanya's top.
"My shirt is yours?" Tanya asked with clear amusement.
Bella stared up at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay."
Tanya was about to start pushing Bella to get her to talk more, if only to see what Bella would say next, when someone decided it would be a good idea to slam their hand down on the car hood loud enough to startle a normal human.
However, Bella didn't even blink as she looked up towards the roof, instead of looking out the windows to find whoever had done this. "We might have company. Most likely of the human variety––or a very angry squirrel."
Oh, if only she knew. Tanya's lips quirked up in a half smile. "I believe our company of the former, Isabella."
"Well, I suppose you know best," Bella replied, a little doubt in her eyes. She released her hold on Tanya and pushed at the car door as if expecting it to open. At the same moment she pushed, however, someone opened it from the outside, and Bella went tumbling out. She would have landed on her face, but the person outside caught her and righted her quickly.
"So you're Bella, hm? I heard you're a bit of a freak," Kate said with a large grin on her face as she examined the pretty brunette she was still holding.
Tanya, who had all but jumped out of the car when Bella had started to fall, glared at Kate while letting out a low warning hiss. "She's not a––"
"I believe I am," Bella agreed with a nod, sticking out her hand for Kate to shake. Only, due to their close proximity, Bella simply shoved her hand into Kate's gut. Kate and Bella both stared down at the hand still pressed into Kate, Bella puzzled about what to do next, Kate trying to hold back laughter. She couldn't hold back her laughter for long, and was soon laughing incredibly loudly.
"I already like you," Kate said, picking the human up by the waist and swinging her around a little. "I can already tell we're going to have a hell of a lot of fun together."
"Does this mean I get my candy?" Bella asked, unconcerned that she was being treated more like a toddler than a seventeen year old.
Kate felt a flash of confusion, but quickly got over it with more laughter. "Sure! I'll give you as much candy as you want." It was at that point that she realized just how emotional Tanya was getting with the current set up. However, instead of handing Bella over to Tanya, Kate simply said, "Now, let's show you around, my little munchkin thing."
"Kate––" Tanya started, but Kate was already running towards the house, holding Bella up high with Bella holding her arms out like an airplane.
"Oh yeah, Kate's my name by the way, in case you didn't get that," Kate added.
"I don't get a lot of things," Bella replied, and then they were inside.
"Sorry," Irina said as she stepped up next to an already stressed Tanya. "Kate was just so excited to meet her––I wouldn't have been able to stop her from coming out here even if I had an army at my disposal."
Tanya let out a low sigh, shaking her head. "It's fine. I should probably just get in there before something bad happens." This was immediately followed by Emmett shouting something about tossing Bella over there, a cheer, and then the sound of something breaking. "Oh my god," Tanya said, right before she rushed inside, Irina on her heels. Whatever happened, it better not have been Bella who had been used to break what sounded like glass.
While Tanya might never know exactly what happened, she walked in to find Jasper holding Bella by her armpits, the brunette's feet dangling a good few inches off the ground, thankfully unharmed. Around them, a grumbling Emmett and Kate were cleaning up the scattered glass of a now broken table at a slow, human pace.
"Ah, great timing," Jasper said with clear relief, still unsure as to how he was supposed to handle the human. Not because she smelled delicious, but simply because she was the most unpredictable creature Jasper had ever met. He walked over to Tanya and promptly handed the girl over to the coven leader. "I believe it's best for you to handle this one, Tanya."
"Thanks," Tanya said, more than a little relieved as she took the girl from him. Immediately, arms wrapped around Tanya's neck and legs wrapped around her waist.
"Introductions have already been made, and I've already been promised a lot of candy," Bella informed the blonde. Then her eyes moved to focus on the blonde next to Tanya. "I stand corrected. Hello." And since she wasn't in the position to offer a hand to the woman, she offered a foot instead.
"Hello. Nice to meet you Bella, I'm Irina," Irina said, holding back a chuckle as she gingerly took hold of Bella's ankle and shook, taking note of Bella's now bare feat. "Um...where did your shoes go?"
In response, Bella simply looked upwards. There, one shoe was on one of the fan blades of the ceiling fan, the other somehow in the light itself.
"I see," Irina said, even though she had no idea as to how Bella's shoes could have gotten up there. She made a mental note to find a time to distract Bella so they could take her shoes down later.
"As do I," Bella said sagely, before turning back to Tanya. "So...introductions have been made." After stating this, she stared expectantly at Tanya, clearly waiting to find out what was going to happen next.
"We didn't really have a plan for you coming over here. We all just wanted to get to know you," Tanya explained as she walked around Kate and Emmett to sit herself and Bella on the couch, across from Carmen and Eleazar.
"But you already know me," Bella said. Pointing purposely to herself, she added, "I'm Bella. Swan…...Marie."
"Yes, well, Bella, Swan, Marie, we need to get to know you a little more than that," Tanya said, resisting the urge to kiss the girl.
"I might see your point," Bella admitted after a brief moment of thought. "But then I only need to know these people." She then leaned backwards, dangerously far seeing as Tanya had to rush to hold onto her before she simply fell backwards off of Tanya's lap, and pointed to Eleazar and Carmen, then tried to turn her body to also point to Irina and Kate as well as Carlisle and Esme. By the time she was done, she was so tired from the work that Tanya had to slip an arm behind Bella's back and help the girl back into a sitting position.
"Is that so?" Tanya asked, amused as the girl huffed and puffed with exertion.
"Hear that? Guess you're not needed, Em," Kate teased.
"Aw, I'm always needed. Isn't that right, Bells?" Emmett said, looking to the brunette for support.
Bella hesitated, then said, a little slowly, "If you believe so...sure?"
Kate started laughing once more, and everyone else at the very least cracked a smile. Rosalie even felt the need to rub Emmett's back and say, "Don't worry, I'll always need you, Em."
"For his dick," Bella said confidently and in complete agreement, nodding. Tanya let out a surprised laugh, and Bella found herself distracted by the sound. She reached up to Tanya's face, taking the woman's face in her hands, and simply stared at Tanya with curiosity. Tanya stopped laughing and simply stared back at Bella, waiting to see what the brunette would say or do next. Instead of getting any answers, Bella simply let out a hum, shrugged, let go of Tanya's face, and relaxed, leaning into the arm of the couch.
There was another few moments of silence as Bella gazed around the room, looking from one person to the next. Finally, she said, "So...how do we get to know each other?"
Kate leered and grinned at Bella, saying, "Oh, I can think of a few ways...ow!"
"Ignore her," Irina said, turning to Bella after she had slapped Kate upside the head. "She was dropped on her head as a baby."
"I was dropped on my butt," Bella said in an attempt at sympathy. Once again, the room fell into a silence, this one a bit more awkward as none of the vampires knew how to act around a human. Sure, they had been doing fine so far, but mistakes had already been made––the table, for instance, had already suffered. The only one who seemed comfortable was Bella, who seemed lost in her own head, and Tanya, who was perfectly happy simply holding her mate while gazing at the human with undisguised love in her eyes.
Oh, it was amazing to watch. Their usual stoic coven leader was being so gentle and empathetic and, in Kate's opinion, more than a little hilarious. It was going to be so much fun to hang out with and get to know Bella. And, as a bonus, get to mess with her sister as well.
Absently and with seemingly no real reason to do so, Bella started to hum the Jaws theme song.
