Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".
Author's Notes – Inspired by my dear friend Hollowgo..
Rating - Older Teen to Mature
By: WDG and Lash_Larue
The Garden of Four - Chapter Twenty One – The Learning Experience
Shelia stood up and helped Esme carry the dishes to the sink. Alicia sat at the table watching them for a moment before she turned to look at Bella. "I think it would be a wise decision if you were to come and learn more about yourself and your species in general at our school...you would of course be learning from me and Shelia."
Bella looked to Carlisle for a moment and then replied, "While that does sound like a great idea, I really don't want to be too far from my mates...I mean mate." Bella blushed as memories of Alice and the other girls filled her mind. "Also...my father, I don't want to leave him, either," said Bella.
Shelia sat down and nodded, "We can understand that, we're not saying for you to come and stay with us, we just suggest that we set up some kind of schedule for training you and teaching you on days that are good for you."
Bella nodded and thought about some stuff before saying "Well, I do attend human school along with my mate, but my weekends are free and I am sure I can come over and learn on those days, as long as I don't have anything planed for that weekend, like a date or something."
Shelia nodded "Then it's settled, how about this weekend coming up? If you don't have any plans call this number on the back of the card and I will give you directions to our school. Well, umm- yeah, until then, kiddo. I hope we will see you this weekend." Getting up Shelia and Alicia both bowed and left, leaving Bella, Carlisle, and Esme alone in the living room.
Bella sighed, sat down on the couch and leaned back to relax. Esme, hearing the sound of the girls approaching, patted Bella gently on the shoulder. "Well dear, I am off to go garden and then hunt." Esme kissed Bella on the forehead, nodded to her husband, and then went out the back door. Carlisle also nodded to Bella before heading up to his study.
It wasn't too long after Carlisle went up the stairs that cool arms wrapped around her shoulders and Alice's unique scent filled her senses. Smiling she tilted her head back and looked into warm golden eyes. "Hey, you." Alice smiled and slipped over the couch and into Bella's lap. Bella grinned and kissed Alice softly on the lips before pulling her into a hug.
"I know this sounds silly and maybe even a little corny, but I missed you." She nuzzled into Alice's neck softly "Even if you just went to hunt, I still missed you." Alice giggled.
"I missed you too." A soft clearing of throats made both turn to see Rose and Victoria standing there behind them.
"Oh...right...the talk." said Bella, remembering why they had left to hunt to begin with. Blushing, she could not keep herself from becoming hard just thinking about it. Hearing Alice give a soft gasp, she bet if the tiny vampire could have, she would have blushed just as red as Bella was at that very moment.
Alice felt Bella's arousal and gently rubbed her shoulders, trying to ease her back into comfort. "They are right Bella...it's time for all of us to sit down and have a talk about some things..." Alice trailed off and kissed Bella one more time before moving to sit on the other couch beside Rose and Victoria once they had taken a seat.
Bella watched the three of them in wonder, she felt like she had been missing something, and now the guilty parties were about to come clean. She took a deep breath and calmed her thoughts. "Okay then...let's hear what it is we need to talk about."
Alice frowned a bit before sighing and looking straight into Bella's eyes "Earlier, in the hall...some things happened that were out of my control. I was going to try and ease you into this more gently, because, let's face it, first you were fearful of me finding out your secret, then you find out that we're vampires, and then ...then you were changed into a lycan." Alice paused and watched Bella closely, and so did Victoria and Rose. "You'd been through an awful lot in a very short time, and so I thought that it might be best to hold off on telling you some things until everything sorta went back to normal. But alas, I can see that it's time to tell you." Alice leaned back a little and smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.
Bella watched and listened with great interest, wondering what her girlfriend was trying to say. Alice tried to look into the future, but nothing would come. Sighing, she felt Rose squeeze her hand, trying to give her sister a little support. Alice looked back up and finally said, "You see Bella, you're not just my mate...you're our mate...mine, Rose's, and Victoria's. That day you were hurt...the day you got bitten, something inside of us clicked, so to speak. We knew instantly on that day that you were meant to be with us...meant to be our lover...our heart...our soul...our mate for life. The problem was that we didn't know exactly how you would react to hearing that." Alice paused but soon went on with her speech. "That's why no one was mad about what happened in the hall earlier...because...well we kind of were waiting for something to happen in a way, just...not quite like that." Alice finally stopped and looked back up into freezing ice blue eyes.
Bella couldn't believe her ears, what Alice was saying was too crazy to be true, did that mean she was just messing with Bella then? Was she saying these things about the four of them being together as some sort of a joke? If so, it wasn't funny, and Bella was getting angry, yet she felt sad at the same time. Why would Alice be saying these cruel things to her? She could feel her eyes itching and knew they were blue, clouded with anger. She stood up and was about to turn and leave when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
Turning her icy glare from the hand, she came face to face with Rose. Growling, she was about to jerk her shoulder out of her grip, when she was bopped upside the head by another hand, and she saw Victoria shaking her head before she too grabbed a hold of Bella's shoulder and they spun the girl around to see Alice sitting on the couch, shaking with soft sobs and the tears she could never cry.
Bella felt a sharp pain in her heart at seeing her mate in such pain, but why? Why was Alice like this? What she had said couldn't have been true could it? The four of them together as mates and lovers was something that she longed for, she acknowledged to herself. She had to admit that she had powerful feelings for Rosalie and Victoria, and those feelings were not what one expected to have for one's sisters. But still, the others couldn't possibly feel the same way, could they? Looking at Rose, and then at Victoria, she knew the truth. Alice wasn't lying; what she had said was nothing but the truth, and she had meant every word of it. Walking over to her pixie queen she got down on her knees and pulled Alice in for a hug, kissing her forehead and murmuring apologies, and soon two more sets of arms joined them, making it a group hug.
"I'm sorry for reacting like that," Bella said softly as her eyes shifted back to brown, her warm lips pressed against Alice's cool neck. "I thought you were all teasing me, I mean… I thought it was just me, something wrong with me for the way I feel about Rose and Vic. I thought maybe it was a lycan thing or something. I never knew what it was to be truly loved, not before you, Alice. I love you so much; I just never even imagined that anybody would ever love me like that. And now – now there are four of us. So much love…"
Esme smiled where she stood outside listening, and thanked the heavens it had all worked out. Carlisle smiled as he heard the news from up in his study. He was glad everything would go well for this part of his family. Edward and Jasper cuddled closer when they too heard the good news. Emmett grinned and was about to walk in to give each girl a big hug, followed by a good joke but a swat to his head by his mother prevented him from intruding on the tender moment.
The girls slowly broke apart from their group hug and smiled at each other. "Well...I guess I better start learning more about the two of you, if you're my mates as well it's only right," said Bella as she pulled Rose in for a soft kiss and then followed that by giving Victoria a kiss as well.
Then next day at school Bella walked arm-in-arm with Rose for the first couple of hours talking about Rose's past as a human and her life since she had become a vampire. Around lunch time she was seen sitting on the hood of one of Cullen's cars while hugging Victoria close. Near the end of the day rumors where spreading like wildfire, as Bella had been seen kissing Alice in front of the library doors.
Bella kissed each girl when they dropped her off in front of her house, and waving goodbye she walked in and looked for any signs of her dad. Seeing none, she guessed he had late work to do tonight, and so she walked into the kitchen and made herself a couple of turkey sandwiches before heading upstairs to get some much needed schoolwork done.
Bella had just gotten the last of her homework finished and the last piece of her sandwich stuffed into her mouth when she heard the door open followed by her father shouting "BELLS, I'M HOME!" Tossing her books onto her desk Bella went downstairs to greet her father with a hug.
Charlie chucked and hugged his only daughter back with as much strength as he could. "I missed you today Bells, even though I know you're pretty much tough as woodpecker lips and all that jazz, I still worry ya know."
Bella nodded and breathed in the scent of her father. Pulling out of the hug a little she said, "Why don't you go sit down and relax while I start supper, okay?" Charlie nodded and watched as Bella went to the kitchen before moving to lay his gun belt down and sit on the couch.
He was watching some kind of sports game when the smell of fresh cooked fish and pasta reached his nose. Smiling, he got up and went into the kitchen just as the plates were being set on the table, and taking his seat at the head of the table he poured his drink and Bella's as she sat down.
"So Bells, this looks great, I can't wait to dig in," said Charlie as he picked up his fork and knife. Bella nodded and watched her father eat for a minute before starting on her extra-sized portion.
It was after both of them had finished eating and gone into the living room that Bella said, "Dad...we sorta need...to talk".
Charlie looked up at Bella briefly before nodding and turning the TV off. Patting the spot next to him he said, "Well, come on kiddo, sit down beside your old Pa and tell him what's wrong." Bella chuckled before moving to take the seat beside Charlie.
She took a deep breath and said "Its like this, I am not human any longer...as you have seen." Charlie nodded and urged Bella to go on. "In fact, I am immortal now; I might possibly live forever, just like Alice and her family." Bella swallowed, and could feel her hands start to sweat. What if Charlie didn't want to be changed and live with Bella forever? What if her dad said no, and stayed human?
Clearing her thoughts, Bella spoke some more "Well, it's like this. I finally met the person that changed me today."
"WHAT!" yelled Charlie as he stood up "Where are they? I will beat the living shit out of them...where are they hiding Bells, you tell your old man!"
Bella snickered, patted her dad's arm, and then pulled him back down to sit beside her. "It's okay Charlie; they didn't mean to do it, not really. Apparently there is something special about me that drove her to it. Her name is Shelia, and she's really nice, and you might get to meet her eventually...depending on what you say next, I guess." Bella stood up and paced a little before she just blurted it out.
"I want you to become a lycan, like me..."
Charlie gaped at Bella, as the girl stood there in silence waiting for her father's reply. Charlie opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't think of anything to say. Sighing, he got up. "I need a drink"
Bella frowned, she had expected a lot, maybe her for her father to freak out or maybe even faint, but so far he seemed okay. Following him into the kitchen she spoke again ,"You don't have to answer me now...I ...just think about it, okay?"
"I'm so happy that Bella took your news so well, Alice, it must have been a bit of a shock to her," Esme told her when she, Rosalie, and Victoria returned home from school.
"She seems to have gotten over the shock," Victoria supplied, "one thing's for sure, she's not interested in hiding her feelings anymore."
"Really," Rose agreed, "I just hope the local townsfolk don't get out the tar and feathers. Forks High School will never be the same."
"Ahhh, they're just jealous," Victoria said dismissively.
"There is no doubt about that," Edward agreed as he entered the room with his brothers. "The thoughts I heard today were downright embarrassing."
"It might be well to encourage Bella to be a bit more discreet at school," Jasper said, "everyone is used to Alice and Bella being a couple now, but I'm not sure they're quite ready for a four rose bouquet just yet."
"Oh dear…" Esme replied.
"Hell with 'em," Emmett scoffed. "I think it's great! It ain't like they're really sisters. Besides, any fool can tell they belong together."
"Well, you just proved that," Edward said with a grin, and he took off running with Emmett hard on his heels.
"Emmett will never catch him," Jasper admitted, "but I'd best go be sure things don't get out of hand. Emmett was going up to visit Tanya this weekend, and to hunt grizzly, Edward and I will probably go with him. We'll call if we don't come back here first."
"Have a good trip," Esme wished, "give our love to the cousins." Jasper smiled and nodded, and sprinted off after his brothers.
"Don't worry about school, Esme. It was just hugging and stuff with Victoria and me. Bella's not stupid, she's just happy," Rose assured her.
"I just hope she's still happy after she talks with Charlie," Alice said quietly.
"Oh dear…" whispered Esme.
Leah went back over the trail again and again, but there was no doubt of it. Two lycans had passed through Quileute territory headed straight for the Cullens' house, and two lycans had returned by the same route. What was more; one of them was the very lycan that had attacked Bella Swan. Sam wasn't going to like this, not one bit.
'Leah, come home!' Sam's order filled her mind, and Leah raced through the trees like an arrow from a bow.
'At least the run will be fun…' she thought.
"Come on sweetmeat," commanded the tall woman looking down at Renee where she sat beside Ruby in the yard, "you're mine for the next hour."
Renee paled, and turned to Ruby.
"But… but this says I'm yours…" she protested, touching the tattoo on her neck. "You promised to look after me."
"You are mine, baby, and I am looking after you. Betsy here knows better than to hurt you, don't you Betsy?" Ruby responded.
"Sure thing Ruby," promised Betsy, "I know the rules. That brand of cigarettes ain't easy to come by in here; I hope she's worth it."
"Oh, she is. Go with the nice lady now sweetie, and make Mama proud," Ruby commanded, and she shook out a Marlboro and lit it.
'That gal is a gold mine; I've got to think of some way to keep her in here 'till I get out…'
End Chapter 21
Sorry the updates have been so short but my time has been really full lately plus my computer crashed about a week ago and it was being a b*tch so yeah. Anyway here is chapter 21 hope you guys like it.