A/N: Thank you so much for your patience! Chapter 8 is finally done, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Honestly, being able to stick with me as I had my fun with other stories made it so much easier to write old ones. I was a bit tired when I wrote this chapter, so here's hoping I did this story justice.

Chapter 8

"Okay Bella, we need to separate ourselves for a wee second here." Maggie had never thought she'd be the voice of reason in a time like this, but it was getting late for the human and Maggie really needed to show Siobhan and Liam that she was doing her job.

"Right." Now that she had a hold on herself, Bella couldn't stop blushing at how she had just jumped into bed with Maggie and went at it like an animal in heat, mate or not. She still didn't know where all of that confidence had come from, but it might as well have been thrown out the window with how Bella was feeling now. "Separate. Yeah. I can do that."

"Whoa there, gorgeous, I didn't mean you had to move that far away from me!" Maggie exclaimed. She quickly wrapped her arms around her brunette to stop Bella from moving any further.

"...Maggie."

"Yes, love?"

"I hadn't actually started to move yet."

Maggie frowned and looked down at the space between them-or lack thereof. Bella had only prepared to move, and Maggie's instincts had decided that was far enough. "Aye, I guess you hadn't, have ya?" Maggie's gaze had wandered from the lack of space between them to her mate's tits, and Maggie found she didn't have the willpower to move them away. Bella was still naked and covered in hickeys, and of course those hickeys were on her breasts as well. But surely they could use just a wee bit more loving.

"This talk is important, right? Maybe I should get dressed or something so we could have it?" Bella was doing her best to stay calm as Maggie's head dipped, but her voice was so obviously breathy she made herself blush.

Maggie looked up at her, looking so horrified it was almost comical. "Are ya trying to punish me, Bella? Or are you just naturally that cruel?"

Despite the darkening blush on her cheeks, Bella managed to give Maggie an exasperated look as she playfully swatted Maggie's shoulder. "Oh, hush, Maggie," Maggie had to stifle a purr at how her mate's voice seemed to naturally caress her name, "How am I being cruel? I'm trying to help you!"

"Obviously, by trying to deprive my eyes of your glorious body! Yer aff yer heid if you think I would want you to put your clothes back on! Have you seen yourself? Your nakedness is meant to be worshipped! Only by me, of course, all I'm sayin is…" Maggie stopped her spiel, but only because she realized there was a look of confusion on Bella's face under the heavy blush the human wore at Maggie's words. "Is something wrong, love?"

"I'm off my what?" Bella asked. Her mind was still trying to figure out what Maggie had meant with those words, but she just couldn't be sure what they meant.

"Ah, my bad. I picked that phrase up when I spent some time with my parents in Scotland, forgot not everyone knows the phrase. It means you're crazy," Maggie replied bluntly. "Which you are, if you think I can handle you not only leaving my arms, but getting dressed as well!" Her hands wandered up Bella's curves, memorizing them once more.

Bella let out another laugh, and the way she still smiled even when the laughter had passed made Maggie grin right back at her. She was going to make it one of her missions in life to make Bella laugh as much as possible. Already, the world was brighter with such a happy Bella in it.

"If I'm crazy, I'm definitely not the only one."

"Aye, I'm crazy. Crazy for you, my-" Maggie let out a sound of surprise when Bella grabbed a nearby pillow and attempted to stuff it in her mouth. Her protests were muffled by the pillow, and as she didn't want to let go of Bella for even a second, she shook her head back and forth to dislodge the pillow from Bella's grip and send it across the room. "You know, there are much more pleasurable ways to shut me up. Preferably with your mouth or tit-"

"You're impossible! Do you ever think about anything besides sex?"

"I'll have you know I was quite clean minded. That is, until you appeared in front of me and corrupted my innocence."

"Oh, I corrupted you, did I?" Bella didn't sound put out by their banter in the least, despite trying to act like she was. In fact, whether she was unconsciously doing it or not, Bella still cuddled into Maggie's body with a smile on her face. It was a far cry from what Maggie had seen when she first arrived, and Maggie couldn't be happier at the change. That is, until she remembered why she was here in the first place, and how her mate had burst into tears just by the mention of the Cullens.

With just that thought, it was easy for Maggie to push her lust into the back of her mind-mostly. It was, after all, impossible not to always feel at least a wee bit of lust when she was anywhere near her mate, and Maggie didn't have a doubt in her mind that such a thing wouldn't change even millennia later.

"Right, back to business," Maggie said with some reluctance. Not reluctance of the topic change, or even regret what topic they were going to be talking about-if anything, she was eager to learn what happened so she would know just how hard of a beating she would be giving each Cullen when Maggie saw them again. The only thing Maggie was reluctant about was that the topic might hurt her mate further.

Bella's mood immediately fell as she remembered what they were going to be talking about, and Maggie almost snarled. She only held back her anger for her mate's sake, as this was about Bella, not her.

"We go at your pace, love," Maggie assured the brunette. She scooped Bella up, holding her close before settling her at the top of the bed. She pulled the covers over them both, tucking Bella in as best as she could before settling in next to her and pulling Bella back against her body. She just wanted to give Bella whatever comfort she could, and by the look of gratitude in her human's eyes, Maggie felt she had at least done a half decent job.

"Right." Every day, Bella had missed them. Had craved the memories of her time with the Cullens while at the same time being too much of a coward to face those memories head on. Every time she did, she would wonder what she had done wrong, how things could have been different, why she couldn't convince them to stay, and Edward...Bella didn't think she would ever be ready to face him and what he had done and said to her, especially while Bella had believed they were mates.

Now, after the little red haired hurricane had entered her life and seduced her in under an hour, had shown her real love, a real mate bond, despite not even knowing her for a whole day. Maggie made Bella laugh more than Edward had ever done, had taken care of her, wanted to protect her, and didn't make her feel ashamed of her own desires. In fact, Maggie had made her own desires quite clear from the start. Had already been honest, even painfully so, in their short time together in a way that Edward had never done. Already, Bella could tell how much her opinion mattered to Maggie, how the girl didn't seem interested in hiding anything from Bella "for her own good" or for any other reasons. She had taken a call from her vampire parents right in front of her, had talked at a human speed and volume, hadn't once glanced over at Bella with that look in her eyes that Edward would get, where it felt like he was wondering if she should be allowed to listen to this.

When she was with Maggie, she even felt brave. Maybe it was crazy to feel all of this for someone, for a human drinking vampire no less, despite knowing Maggie for such a short time. But she did, and she was sure in her assessment, surer in herself and her feelings in a way she hadn't believed she could feel until now.

With Maggie here, it was so much easier to face her memories with the Cullens. Which was why, with those earnest, loving, and patient eyes on her, Bella found herself telling Maggie everything. Not the short summary that she had planned on telling Maggie earlier, but everything.

"I moved here halfway through my junior year," Bella started. She took hold of Maggie's hand with both of hers, absently playing with her fingers. "I first became aware of the Cullens during lunch, but the first time I interacted with any of them was when I met Edward in biology. He made this weird face, and his eyes were pitch black, and he seemed almost disgusted by me, especially so when I had to sit next to him."

Oh, how hard it was for Maggie to keep her mouth shut about that. No one could ever be disgusted by a beauty like Bella, she was sure of that, and she wanted to say it to her, right then and there. To make sure her mate didn't believe that about herself for a second. Instead, Maggie had to just keep her mouth shut and endure. She didn't want to interrupt her Bella.

"At first, I really felt I did everything wrong. Not only did he act that way in class, but I later caught him trying to switch his schedule around, and I knew I was the reason. Then he just disappeared. I was told he went up to visit his cousins, but again, I knew I was the real reason why. He made it so clear that he wanted to get away from me." Bella went into more detail about the weird push and pull relationship Edward had created with her, how at one moment he was doing everything he could to spend time with her, only to warn her off by claiming he was a dangerous monster the next. Speaking about it out loud made Bella wonder how she had ever fallen in love with him, and she couldn't help but be afraid to meet Maggie's eyes with the shame she felt.

Maggie was completely silent as Bella spoke, but she still held Bella close, still stroked her back comfortingly. It made it easier to continue.

Still, despite the bravery gained from Maggie, it was still hard to lay herself bare and admit what she felt, not just for Edward, but for the whole family. How Bella had felt like she belonged and was accepted for who she was for the first time in her life. How she finally felt like she had a mom.

That was the first time Maggie spoke up. She couldn't not speak up, not when Bella's voice was cracking and she sounded so lost and hopeless. Bella was clearly in so much pain, and she hadn't even gotten to the part where she had clearly been abandoned. She had just been talking about how the Cullens had made her feel, and she had been so broken just by remembering.

"When you're ready, I'll change you," Maggie swore as she kissed the top of Bella's head. She kept her face in Bella's hair as she continued. "You're gonna meet Siobhan and Liam and you'll be a part of our family, and we're never gonna leave you. I'm going to have the sexiest wife ever, and Siobhan and Liam are gonna be the best in laws you can ever hope for. Mark my words, Bella!"

Bella nuzzled closer to Maggie. Despite the girl being smaller than her, it felt as if Maggie could cover Bella's body with her own completely, and could protect her from anything. "What if they don't like me?"

Maggie didn't laugh in disbelief, or find it funny like Edward had done. She didn't tease Bella for not being afraid of vampires but if those vampires liked her or not. Instead, Maggie took it seriously, immediately putting her fears to rest.

"They'll love you," Maggie swore. "There's no way they couldn't."

Bella couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You can't know that for sure, Maggie."

"I do." She kissed Bella quickly on the lips to stop Bella's protests, smiling the entire time. "One thing you should know about me, Bella, is that I'm a shit liar. I couldn't lie to save my own ass, and I don't want to." She used two fingers under Bella's chin to make the brunette look into her eyes. "I always tell the truth, and knowing the truth is my gift. I can promise you now, I will never lie to you. So trust me when I say this; I swear on my undead heart, Liam and Siobhan will love you. There's no way they couldn't. You will always have a place with them." An impish smile came over Maggie's face, and she couldn't help but add, "And of course you'll always have a place with me. Under me, preferably, but I'm not that picky as long as you're naked."

Bella let out a soft laugh even as tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Maggie's own eyes got comically wide and it was clear she started to panic even before she started to speak.

"Damn it all, I did it again! I made you cry! I'm such an eejit, I swear I'd let you smack me upside the head if it wouldn't break your-"

"Shh, Maggie, it's okay. These are happy tears. You didn't do anything wrong; if anything, you do everything right," Bella promised as she took Maggie's face in both of her hands, kissing her lightly until the frown was gone on Maggie's face. "Sorry I'm such a mess all the time, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't apologize for something you have no control over. But maybe next time you can warn a gal? With a large flashing sign, as I need something bright to distract me from your beauty."

Bella felt the blush creep up her neck again. She was probably never going to get used to Maggie's open compliments. To make Bella even more flustered, Maggie's hands slid up her sides, her strong thigh slipping between her legs and pressing upwards, just enough to remind Bella how naked she was and how much her entire body ached for Maggie. "I should...I should probably get back into telling you everything before you distract me again."

Maggie looked a little sheepish. "You're a siren. That blush makes it even harder to stay away. I didn't mean to nearly jump you again, my body just moved on its own. Not that I regret it. Touching you is..." Maggie trailed off with a satisfied sigh, even as her eyes darkened considerably, making Bella's groin clench.

Did Maggie even realize what she did to Bella?

Bella shook herself off before she could get side tracked again. "Um, the story...I just wanted to warn you. There's some parts where it gets pretty bad…just, please, wait until I'm done telling this part of the story to say anything. I'll tell you when I'm done."

"Of course." Maggie frowned a moment later as the heaviness of Bella's words sunk in. "Wait, what do you mean, 'pretty bad?'"

That's when Bella told her the story of the baseball game, and her eventual encounter with James.

It was a story Maggie never would have been prepared to hear.