Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Thank you to my reviewers.

Chapter 29

I stared in shock and mounting horror at Taylor's sleeping form. His head was buried in the pillow, and his face was obscured by thick black hair. Rumpled blankets covered Taylor from the waist down, and I wondered if he was naked underneath. His well-muscled, light olive back had a bandage running down the center of his spine. Did he injure himself last night? As I looked back at my body, I noticed that I wasn't wearing a shirt. What the hell? My bra and jeans were still in place, but I was creeped out nonetheless as I had no recollection of last night.

In one ill conceived move, I quickly got to my feet and the room spun around me. I groaned in agony and clutched my head in my hands. After the pain had subsided a bit, I dared to raise my head to look around the room in a hunt for my missing shirt. I was baffled as my eyes took in the state of Taylor's room. His room looked like it had been hit by a tornado. There were clothes and shoes strewn about, not just on the floor but hanging from his dresser drawers. This was an abnormality for Taylor as he wasn't the type to throw his stuff all over the place.

As I fished my shirt out from under a lamp and dragged it on, I was alarmed to discover that there were no buttons on it. All of the buttons were missing, almost like they had been torn off. Holding my shirt closed, I walked, with the shaky legs of a newborn deer, around to Taylor's side of the bed. I wanted answers, and I was going to get them right now.

Eventually, I knew I would have to wake him, but first I had to find out if he was indeed naked under those blankets. With one trembling hand, I tugged a corner of the blanket loose and cautiously began to lift it. If he was naked then there would be hell to pay, but on the other hand, I couldn't help but be curious about what I'd see. A sigh of relief, tinged with a bit disappointment, escaped my lips when I discovered that he was still wearing his jeans. I felt a little ashamed of myself for peeping at a sleeping man. Maybe I was still drunk.

Just as I was about to release the blanket, one of Taylor hands shot up and wrapped around my wrist. I let out a small scream and jumped in surprise at his sudden movement. Taylor groaned and in a deep voice, still heavy with sleep, he mumbled, "Not so loud, woman."

He craned his head in my direction and cracked one eye open to look at me, "What are you doing in my room?"

Recovering from my consternation, I huffed, "That's what I wanted to ask you."

He blinked and opened both his eyes, taking in the hold I still had on his blanket. With raised eyebrows he asked, "What exactly were you hoping to see?"

My cheeks burned as I blurted defensively, "Nothing!" He cocked one eyebrow, indicating that he didn't believe me. "I just wanted to see if you had pants on." My blushed even harder when I realized how I sounded, like a pervert.

"And what would you have done if I was naked? Taken a picture?" A naughty smirk played on Taylor's lips. I was rendered speechless as a disconcerted blush burned my cheeks.

"If you wanted to see me naked all you had to do was ask." Taylor's laugh was cut off by a groan. He was obviously hung over too.

Unable to take his ribbing any longer, I wrenched my hand out of his grasp and he sat up. Obeying the urge to get off my feet, I sat down next to him. "All I know is that I woke up in here. Do you know what happened last night?"

"I know exactly what happened last night." He rubbed his eyes.

"You do? What?" I used both hands to hold my shirt close.

His face was devoid of any humor as he answered, "You got me drunk then took advantage of me."

I gasped and smacked his arm, "I did not."

"See. You still can't keep your hands off me. You have no self control. It's sad." He chuckled, and I couldn't help but laugh too as I'd finally figured out what he did.

Taylor took a potentially awkward and embarrassing situation and defused it by making jokes. He'd even manage to put me at ease, and given our current positions, that was no small feat. However, the light mood of the atmosphere changed as Taylor scanned his room. His face paled as his eyes took in the full extent of the mess.

He jumped to his feet, unsteadily. "You should go."

I stood up warily. "What's wrong?" I didn't understand why he was acting so strange all of a sudden.

He spoke hurriedly as he practically pushed me out the door. "Nothing's wrong, but you probably want to go get changed. Umm… I have to clean up." Then he closed the door in my face before I had the chance to say anything else.

Jeez, what's his problem? As I padded down the hall to my room, I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just after ten in the morning. I opened my door to see that Leah was still asleep in our bed. I was annoyed as I stomped over to the bed. Leah was supposed to make sure I didn't do anything stupid last night. Some friend she was. Heifer.

"Ouch." The pain in my hand made me instantly regret my decision to smack Leah on the butt.

Leah rolled over and stretched languidly. "Well, look who's up." She sat up eying my shirt. "Looks like somebody got lucky last night." She held up her hands. "No need to thank me."

"What? Nothing happened. Wait…What did you do?" Placing my hands on my hips, I glared at her with suspicion.

"Hey, I didn't do a thing. You guys wanted to go to bed together. So, Zach and I just let you; that's all we did." When my angry stare didn't disappear, she added, "I swear."

I allowed myself to relax. It would take up too much of my energy trying to stay mad at Leah, and I had better things to do, like taking a much needed bath to chase the fog away from my mind. I sighed, "Well, thank God nothing happened."

As I took off my shirt, a sneaky smile lit up Leah's face. "So, nothing happened, huh? Then who gave you those two hickeys, Casper the horny ghost?"

All the air whooshed out of my lungs and I ran to the mirror to look. A quick examination of my body confirmed what Leah said. There were two purple bruises, one on my neck and another on my chest. A small horrified scream made its way out of my mouth, and I spun around to face Leah. "Leah, please tell me you did this." My mind wasn't willing to accept the only other explanation.

Leah wrinkled her nose in mild disgust. "Hey, I like you and all, but I don't like you like that."

Burying my face in my hands, I groaned in embarrassment. "Oh my God." Taylor must have been the one to put those hickeys on me. Just how drunk were we last night?

"Good for you, hickeys and a tattoo." Leah cackled, clearly enjoying my mortification.

My head snapped up at the word tattoo. I turned back to the mirror and frantically searched my body. Leah sighed, rolled off the bed and came to stand behind me. She turned me around and lightly tapped the bandage on my lower back. Gently, Leah peeled off the bandage to reveal a strikingly beautiful, butterfly tattoo. The purple and pink butterfly was set between two branches of purple and black flowers.

Leah lightly traced the tattoo with her fingers. "Wow. That woman does incredibly detailed work."

I couldn't help but agree with Leah. It was a great tattoo, but it was a tattoo… on me. I wasn't aware that I stopped breathing until dizziness swept through my head. Leah must have seen I was on the verge of passing out, because she snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Hey… Breathe, Bella, come on breathe."

Air rushed into my lungs as I gasped for breath. After my lightheaded feeling passed, I asked Leah to tell me exactly what happened last night. I began having brief memory flashes as she filled me in, telling me about the bull riding, the sexy dancing with Taylor and the tattoo parlor. I remembered parts of what happened at the bar, tattoo parlor and singing Tainted Love at the top of my lungs on the ride back to the house. But I still couldn't remember what happened in Taylor's bedroom and how he gave me two hickeys.

"Why didn't you stop us?" I wailed.

Leah held up her hands in defense. "Hey, by the time I found you guys, they'd already started your tattoos. Relax. At least it's a cool tattoo and not a skull or something horrible. Do you know what your tattoo means?"

"No I don't. What does it mean?"

"Well, there are a bunch of meanings. A butterfly can mean rebirth and transformation. It can also mean a desire to settle down."

I felt an intense wave of sadness when I thought about settling down. I didn't think that would ever happen for me. Leah saw my despondency and sought to cheer me up. "Hey, don't look so sad. Do you remember what you said to me last night when I asked you why you got a tattoo?"

With a shake of my head, I answered no.

"You said you wanted to become someone different. You wanted to be stronger and take charge of your life. That you were tired of having bad shit happen to you and wanted to be fearless. I think you should be proud of yourself, Bella. Because for the first time in a long time, you're making choices for yourself based on what you want and not because of Cullen or Jacob. So, I think you should see the tattoo as a good thing. A brave thing." Holding me by the shoulders, Leah tried to reassure me.

A reluctant smile bloomed on my face, and I mumbled, "Thanks."

Leah turned her head away as I changed into my robe. "I desperately need a bath and some aspirin. Then I have to figure out what to do about these hickeys." I would look strange wearing a turtleneck sweater at the lake.

Apparently, Leah had an idea about how to solve my dilemma. "Oh, just apply a warm wash cloth to the hickey. Works every time." At my stunned expression, Leah smirked, "Hey, I was once a dirty girl too. You know?"

I gasped, "I am not a dirty girl. I just had too much to drink, that's all."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say." Leah waved me off then mumbled 'dirty girl' under her breath. She laughed and ducked when I threw my pants at her. I then left the room to take my bath.

I was standing in the hallway just about to close my door when I saw Ryan enter Taylor's room. It wasn't my intention to snoop, but I couldn't resist slowing down as I passed his door on my way to the bathroom. I pressed my ear to the door and listened in.

Ryan's anxious voice commented, "Man, it looks like a bomb went off in here. And you say Izzy was in here last night when it happened?"

"Yeah and I want to know whose bright idea it was to put her in my room. She could have gotten hurt. I was counting on you to keep an eye on me. You know how my control gets when I'm drinking."

"Hey, don't blame me. My ass was passed out by then, and before that I was busy."

"Busy? Busy doing what?" Taylor asked with annoyance heavy in his voice.

"What do you think? Man, did you see what your sister was wearing last night? She-"

Taylor cut him off. "Ugh. Do not even bother to finish that sentence. I'm nauseous enough as is." I stifled a giggle. Taylor really set himself up for that one. It wasn't hard to figure out what Liz and Ryan were doing last night.

"By the way, what happened between you and Izzy last night?" I was sure Ryan had a ridiculous grin on his face at that moment.

"Nothing happened… I think. I passed out at some point, and I don't remember anything after the tattoo parlor." Oh thank God for small mercies. Taylor didn't remember giving me hickeys. The relief that flooded my body made me light headed again.

"Tattoo parlor? What the hell? Did you get a tattoo? Where is it?" Ryan rapidly fired off questions.

"I think it's somewhere on my back, but I haven't seen it yet."

There was a moment of silence then Ryan said, "Dude, that is a sick tattoo. You say Izzy got one too?"

"Yes… I think so. Last night's still fuzzy though."

The sound of approaching footsteps alerted me that someone was coming, forcing me to scamper into the bathroom across the hall and close the door before anyone caught me eavesdropping. I went to the sink and washed down two aspirin pills with some water, in the hope that it would alleviate my headache. Grabbing a wash cloth from the shelf, I drenched it in hot water and pressed it to my hickeys. It only took about ten minutes for the marks to disappear, and I sighed with relief.

Turning on the shower, I removed my robe and hopped in. Sighing, I closed my eyes and allowed the cool water to cascade down my body. I could almost feel the alcohol from last night seeping out of my pores. As I grabbed the honey scented shower gel and began to pour some into my hand, memories of what happened in Taylor's bedroom struck me with mind-blowing strength.

Taylor and I ran up the stairs laughing, staggering and shushing each other. Behind us, I heard Leah's voice as she fake warned us, "Oh, no. Don't go to bed together." She made absolutely no attempt to follow or stop us.

We stumbled into Taylor's bedroom and shut the door behind us. Moonlight streamed through his bedroom window, illuminating the surface of everything it touched. From where I stood, I was able to see moon reflected on the still, dark water of the lake. Suddenly, I felt two strong hands grip me from behind, and I was pulled against Taylor's firm chest.

One palm was pressed against my stomach while the other hand travelled down my side to grasp my hip. His breath was warm as his deep voice purred sexily in my ear, "Tell me you want me to touch you."

My heartbeat sped up rapidly and my mouth went dry. I wanted to answer him, but my mouth refused to the form words. I closed my eyes and moaned when his hand roughly grabbed my hip as he grinded himself into me. "I want to hear you say it, Isabella." He whispered huskily. My knees almost buckled when his tongue darted out, licking behind my ear.

I tried to remember the reasons why we shouldn't be doing this, but in my drunken haze, my memory failed, and I whispered loud enough for him to hear me, "I want you to touch me."

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement in one of the dark corners of his room. But that thought vacated my mind the moment Taylor spun me around to face him, and I staggered which caused him to stagger also. Taylor and I were both so far gone. It was almost like we were two different people. We stared intently at each other, lost in the quiet intensity of the moment.

Taylor raised his hands, grabbed hold of my shirt and in one swift motion, ripped it open, sending buttons flying all over the room. Then he impatiently pulled my shirt off and tossed it away. His eyes hungrily devoured the sight of me in my lacy black bra. In my inebriated state, it didn't even occur to me to be self-conscious. Suddenly, I was hit with the need to see him too. It was only fair right? But the stupid shirt was in the way. So, I followed Taylor's lead and ripped his shirt off.

I stared in awe at the chest I'd admired from afar many times in the past. The view was even better up close. With both hands, I reached out and trailed the muscled contours of his amazingly sculpted chest with my fingertips. For a brief moment, I wondered why he even bothered to wear shirts or t-shirts at all. He'd be increasing the quality of life for women everywhere if he ever made the decision to abandon shirts forever. As my fingers slipped lower to examine the definition of his rock hard abs, I heard his breath catch in his throat.

Gazing up at Taylor's face, his burning eyes fixed me with a hungry almost feral look. The room spun and my mind barely had time to register movement before I felt the soft mattress pressing into my back. Taylor was lying between my legs, weight braced on his elbows. As Taylor lowered his face to mine with the intent to kiss me, I heard a noise next to the bed and I turned my head in that direction. The kiss that was intended for my mouth was planted on neck instead. The strange noise was completely forgotten, and I moaned when he parted his lips, gently sucking on the flesh of my neck. There was no room in my mind for rational thought as I completely surrendered myself to the delicious sensations Taylor was creating with his mouth.

Taylor released my neck and continued his assault on my chest. I ran my fingers through his thick hair and shuddered when he began to grind his hips into mine, allowing me to feel just how turned on he was. At that moment, I felt alive. True, it was drunken liveliness, but liveliness nonetheless. I was unbelievably turned on as he moved from my chest, kissing his way down my stomach. He hadn't even kissed me yet and already I was so close to the edge. I arched my back as he licked and kissed my belly button, moving lower still. Taylor abruptly stopped what he was doing. Pressing his head to my stomach, he groaned, "God, my head."

He then climbed off of me and rolled over on his back mumbling, "Rain check." Taylor then promptly passed out.

As I lay next to him panting, my vision began to blur, and I followed Taylor into the land of unconsciousness.

When I snapped back to reality, I was still standing in the bathroom with the shower running. As I looked down at my hands, I found that I'd managed to halfway empty the shower gel bottle and there was gel running down my legs. My hands shook as I hurriedly put the bottle back on the shelf. I was absolutely mortified. We pawed at each other like horny teenagers. Taylor and I almost slept together last night. If he hadn't passed out when he did…

Briskly, I rubbed the shower gel into my skin. Not knowing what to do, I was beginning to freak out. I wasn't even sure if Taylor remembered what happened. He said he had no memories past the tattoo parlor, and I knew that was because he drank more alcohol than I did. My biggest worry was what I would do if he ever remembered what happened or almost happened between us. Would it change things between us? Did I want things to change between us?

Taylor acted like a completely different man last night. He was usually so relaxed and collected, but I got to see a different side of him. Beneath his calm exterior, lay a wildly passionate and unpredictable man. Underneath laid a real McSteamy.

Having finished my shower, I opened the door to see Taylor waiting outside the door. He was once again shirtless and with a towel carelessly thrown over his shoulder. Memories of running my hands over his chest crossed my mind, and I blushed, tightening my grip on my robe. I didn't know what to say to him.

Taylor misread my blush. "Please tell me you aren't freaking out about last night."

My heart sped up. Oh God, does he remember? "Umm…" Shifting awkwardly on my feet, I was unsure about what to say.

Taylor's brow creased with a slight frown. "Oh, come on. I thought we'd gotten passed this. Nothing happened. We still had clothes on, remember?"

He really doesn't remember. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I settled for a hasty exit and retreated to the safety of my room. I had to talk to somebody about this, and Liz was out of the question.

A/N: Who will Bella confide in? What's up Taylor and his room?What do you think about Bella and Taylor's sexy time?

A link to Bella's tattoo is up on my profile.

Coming up next: Bella talks to someone about what happened and gets teased to hell.

Sam and Emily's wedding day arrives and Leah tries to deal.

More funny Leah/Zach interaction.

Decided to put this chapter up one day earlier for you guys.

If you want your chapter before next Thursday you know what to do.Review!