Here's how its gunna go. Tomorrow I'll be typing chapter 10 up to send to JezebelWhitlock so she can read it, cause I promised. So tomorrow you will get chapter 9, and depending on when she replies you should be getting 10 on thursday. Everyone good with that?

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, LJ Smith owns Vampire Diaries, and JezebelWhitlock owns the first Nine chapters. ^_^

Chapter 8

Bella

Kissing Stefan was nothing I've ever experienced. With Edward it was always chaste kisses, nothing like this.

"Mm, Stefan," I moaned. "At this rate we aren't going to make it home."

"I'm okay with that." He whispered against my neck.

"Well, I'd rather not make a mockery out of myself. These people are already weary of me." I kissed along his jaw, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Shall we go home then?"

"Absolutely." I agreed.

I pulled away from Stefan as he drove back to the house in a hurry. I giggled. I've never seen him so eager for anything. He was always so stoic. Rarely have I seen him even crack a smile.

"What's so funny, Bella?"

I shook my head and moved closer to him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed my temple. I took his hand that was wrapped around my shoulder and held it in both of mine. "Mm, Stefan you're so warm."

"As opposed to what?"

"Nothing." I said.

He pulled up into the house and took the keys out of the ignition. Stefan helped me out of the car and led me into the house. He walked in front of me, not letting go of my hand until we were up in his room. Although I've slept in his room since I got here, it was different in these circumstances. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips. He sighed against my lips and pulled me closer.

"Stefan," I met his gaze and bit my lip nervously.

"What's wrong, Bella?" he asked, skimming his fingertips along my cheekbone.

"I'm not ready for sex."

He smiled and pressed another kiss to my lips. "I know, sweetheart." He said. "And I won't push you for it."

I smiled. "But for now, I'm happy with major making out sessions."

"Mm," he said. "I can live with that."

Stefan pressed his lips against mine and lowered me onto the bed. He pressed himself against me, his body warm and soft. Our lips moved against each other in perfect sync and I moaned as his fingers slipped under my shirt and grazed the skin of my stomach.

He pulled away so I could breathe and kissed down my jaw. I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair.

I pushed Stefan's shirt up. He seemed to understand what I wanted and sat up a little to help me. I pulled his shirt up all the way and threw it across the room. His chest was well defined. I ran my fingers across his muscles. He shuddered. "Fuck, Bella," he groaned.

His hands moved further up my shirt until he grazed the underside of my breast through my bra. "Mm, Stefan, you feel so good."

After a couple of hours of making out, I had somehow found myself shirtless, though my bra was still on. I couldn't help but yawn. Stefan immediately noticed my exhaustion and pulled away. "Alright, sweetheart. You need to sleep."

"Will you stay with me?"

He chuckled. "After all this, do you honestly expect me to say otherwise?"

I flushed at the idiocy of my question. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Bella."

I slipped out of bed to change into pyjamas and brush my teeth. Stefan was standing by the doors leading out to the balcony, dressed only in plaid flannel pants.

He must not have heard me so I took the time to study him. He was absolutely gorgeous, even against Edward's immortal body. Stefan turned around and looked at me, a smile on his face. "See something you like, sweets?"

"Mhm," I went over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, staring out the window. "It's such a beautiful night." I sighed.

"Yes. It is." I peeked at him. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Stefan looked down at me with a small smile. "I'm fine." He promised, kissing me on the head. "I just never thought I'd feel like this again."

"Feel what?"

"Needed," He mumbled. "Wanted... loved."

I knew how he felt. "I know." I agreed, burying my face in the crook of his neck. "I've been through the same things."

Stefan raised my chin and pressed a gentle kiss against my lips. "Are you ready to sleep, sweetheart?"

I nodded and yawned sleepily. My eyes were drooping from exhaustion. So much has happened emotionally today. But I wouldn't change it. I'm glad I was finally able to tell Stefan how I felt.

I fell asleep against Stefan, my head resting against his chest.

XxX

When I woke up the next morning, Stefan was still asleep. I tilted my head up and watched him. His face was so much more relaxed.

I trailed my fingers down his chest. His muscles rippled under my fingers, even in sleep. A feeling of mischief washed over me and I pressed gentle kisses along his chest.

"Mm," he sighed and ran his hand through my hair. "That feels great."

I smiled against his chest. "Why are you always so perfect?"

"I'm hardly perfect, Bella."

"I disagree." I rested my head and breathed in his natural smell. He always smelled so amazing.

"You planning on spending the whole day in bed?" he asked.

"Can we?"

Stefan rolled me over until he was hovering over me. He stared down at me before pressing a gentle kiss against my jaw.

"As much as I would love to, we can't."

"Why not?"

"Because we both have things to do today,"

"I don't have anything to do."

"Didn't you promise Bonnie you would help her out today?"

"Oh." I sighed. "Fine. I still don't know why she needs helping cleaning out her closet."

"Elena used to help her out. It's a great bonding experience."

"I've never liked being surrounded by obscene amounts of clothes." I mumbled. "Why did I agree to this again?"

"Because you love Bonnie and she begged you to help."

"Would she be upset if I cancelled?"

"Bella,"

I sighed and slipped out of bed. "Fine," I said dramatically. "I'll go."

xXx

Bonnie and I agreed to meet in the quad, centre of town at noon. It was eleven thirty when I got there, only because Stefan insisted I go early.

I was people watching when a boy around my age walked by. He saw me sitting on the bench and walked over.

"You're Bella right?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert." He said. "My aunt told me you were staying at the Salvatore boarding house?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So you know the truth?" he asked. "I didn't think anyone would be that brave to stay in that house with one or even both of the Salvatore brothers."

"Truth?" I asked, catching his earlier words. "The truth about what?"

He looked at me curiously. "You don't have to pretend." He said. "I know that Stefan is a vampire."

"WHAT?"

Bonnie showed up and looked between the two of us. "What's going on?"

I turned on her. "Did you know Stefan was a vampire?"

She pretended to be surprised but I saw right through it. "Did everyone know?"

"It wasn't for us to tell, Bella." Bonnie said.

"So you lied to me."

Jeremy frowned at me.

"I'm sorry Bella, I thought you-"

"Forget it."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to have a nice, long talk with Stefan."

Stefan

It felt great having Bella in my arms. Although I was happy she was finally mine, I was glad Bonnie managed to get Bella away from the house. I needed to hunt.

The woods were full of wildlife and I finally felt a desire to hunt.

After a few squirrels, which were the only things I could actually find in the woods, I headed home. It was only a couple of hours since I left and I ached to hold Bella.

Coming back to the house, I was surprised when I sensed Bella in the house. She was alone and I was worried. Something must have happened while she was with Bonnie.

I made my way into the house and up the stairs. Bella was in my room, packing her bags. "Bella?" I looked around the room, watching as she shoved her clothes into the bags. "What are you doing?"

She faltered momentarily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I was confused. What was she talking about?

"Why didn't you tell me you were a vampire?" she hissed, turning around to face me. Her eyes were red from the tears.

I stiffened. There was no way Bonnie could have told her that. And since she's the only person who knows, who could have possibly...?

"Jeremy Gilbert told me." she said. She must have seen the look of confusion cross my face.

"Jeremy Gilbert." I repeated. "Of course,"

"Why didn't you tell me, Stefan?"

"It's not exactly something you can say to everyone, Bella." I pointed out.

"You should have told me!" she shouted.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

"You have nowhere to go."

She threw her bag on the floor and sat on the bed, screaming out in frustration. I wanted to go to her and hold her but something told me she wouldn't appreciate it.

I could smell the tears. "I'm tired of being lied to. I'm tired of secrets."

"I don't understand, Bella."

She shook her head. "Vampires are the reason my father is dead."

"What?"

"My father is dead because a vindictive vampire bitch wanted revenge on something I had no control over."

"Bella, I don't understand." I moved closer but she stopped me.

"Please, just... stay over there." I nodded. "I guess we have a lot to talk about, don't we?"

"I would say so." I agreed.

"Then we should start."

xXx

Bella and I sat downstairs while we talked. She sat across from me, far away from me as she could.

I waited for her to start. I knew she wasn't looking forward to this. I wasn't looking forward to this.

She showed me the scar on her wrist. "Do you see this?" she asked. I nodded. "It happened when last spring, I fell in love with a vampire and we were playing baseball with his vampire family. A pair of nomads heard them playing and decided to come. They caught my scent, realized I was human and hunted me. Jasper and Alice, Edward's brother and sister, took me to Arizona to hide from the tracker while the rest of the family hunted him down."

I sat in utter amazement. She continued, "He called me, told me he had my mom and wanted me to meet him in an old ballet studio that I went to as a child. He said he was going to kill her if I didn't come. I snuck away from Jasper and Alice in the airport and went there. He was alone; he lied about having my mom. She was safe in Florida. He nearly killed me and started drinking my blood. Edward came before he could drain me, pulled him off me and kept him away while Jasper and Emmett came. They took care of James while Edward sucked the venom out."

"Venom?"

"You... don't have venom?" she asked. "Of course you don't. I would have known right away you were a vampire. He's a different kind of vampire than you."

"Different?" I repeated.

"I'll tell you later." She said. "Anyway, my relationship with Edward went downhill on my eighteenth birthday. I got a paper cut and Jasper tried to kill me. He was new to the vegetarian lifestyle. It wasn't his fault. But Edward left me three days later. He said he didn't love me and I didn't belong in his world."

Suddenly everything made sense. All the things she said about being thrust into a world she didn't belong in. She was talking about the vampire world.

"What happened, Bella? After Edward left. What happened?"

"I lost myself." She said quietly. "I forgot everything about myself because Edward was my world. Charlie talked to me. He was scared that I would never get better. I realized what I was doing to him—to my mom. So I told myself I would get better. I asked one of my old friends if she wanted to go shopping with me. We had so much fun." Tears were streaming down her face and I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and—moving at vampire speed—sat beside Bella, taking her into my arms.

"You don't have to continue, Bella."

She shook her head and clung to my shirt. "I have to." she straightened up but didn't let go of my shirt. Bella took a deep breath and stared ahead. "When I got home from my night out with my friend, Charlie was lying in a pool of his own blood."

Oh, I didn't like where this was going.

"The living room was trashed and there was a message for me on the wall, written in Charlie's blood." She continued. "She was looking for me. She wanted me dead. Still does, I guess."

"Who was looking for you?"

"The mate of the vampire Jasper and Emmett killed in Arizona."

I finally understood. "Why did you set your house on fire?"

She leaned her head against shoulder. "I couldn't let people see the message on the wall. It was obviously directed at me and I couldn't tell them there was a vampire on a rampage for my life. So I set the house on fire, faked my own death and left Forks."

Wow.

Wow indeed. The truth is finally out! I think she handled it pretty well, don't you? =)

Please remember to Review!

~Cori