Chapter 15:

Disclaimer: Prologue

So, apparently Tanya had planned this nice little outing to be a date in the city…even when she tried making it not look like a date. Of course, this wasn't a large one like in movies where they go see a movie and dinner or something with cheesy romance scenes thrown in here and there. This date, we were going to see a movie that we had yet to decide on. After the movie, we would go shopping through the shops and see what we enjoyed there.

After that…well, we would probably take me home. It would probably be about ten or so by then; based on how much Tanya was talking about shopping we were going to be in there for a while. I was surprisingly not dreading that part.

Our drive to the city was much smoother than it had been earlier with conversation and smiles…if you didn't count her apologies for the incident. I would repetitively tell her it was fine when she would say, "I could've gotten you killed, though."

I would just raise a brow and before I said, "Am I dead?"

"…No."

"You did a good job."

She would fall silent after that and we would go into normal conversation. I had actually gotten to know more about her than I did earlier. Such as things like her favorite color combination was red, black and silver. Or, that she played piano and violin.

I-in return-exchanged that my favorite color was a nice kind of light lavender color. I told her about the boys back at home and how I had played with most of them since I was a kid. I told her about how my parents were divorced when I was little and that was why my mom had me for the first cancer go. And, I told her about how my dad was finally getting into a relationship so if she heard him giggling like a girl that was what it was.

She laughed there.

I, also, continued to educate Tanya on the way to the city about music. I played musicians like ZZ Ward, Florence & The Machine, Sylvan Esso, etc. She kept making comments about the music and asking who the artists so much, I finally told her I would just send her a text of all their names because I was getting tired of answering her.

After a while, we pulled into a parking garage and drove up to the third floor. Tanya pulled her car to a stop in an open spot and put it into park as I unplugged my iPod. I slipped it into my purse while she turned the car off and unbuckled myself.

Before she could get out, I opened my door and stepped outside, soon followed by the blonde. We closed our doors in sync before she locked the car with her keys and stuffed the keys back into her pocket with her phone.

Tanya looked up over the car to me and gave a crooked smile. "Let's go. We don't want to miss any movies that might be available and worth watching," she said, jerking her head towards the stairs twenty feet away.

I nodded, coming to her side when we began to walk. I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Did you look up movies that were recently playing?" I asked.

She shrugged. "A little," she admitted, "but I wasn't sure what you would want to watch, so I just picked a general time several were playing for you to choose when we got here."

I nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Tanya smiled. "Depending on the movie," she said, "we might be able to do something else after shopping. However, I don't really want to make you incredibly late for your curfew."

I chuckled. "It'll be fine if I'm late," I smiled. "Charlie actually enjoys it when I am. He gets to discipline me while not meaning it because he's glad I've gone out and done something that a regular teenager would do."

That made Tanya arch her brow as we began to descend. "So, say you went out and tagged a wall or something…?"

"He'd be sterner about that, but he'd end up slapping me on the back and say, 'Good one' or 'You know, that does look very accurate'." I gave her a small smile at the end.

Tanya chuckled. "What would he be saying those things about?" she asked with a smile of amusement. "Hopefully nothing too horrible; I wouldn't want you to go to jail."

I shook my head. "No, just maybe a remark that would make any person piss their pants from laughing so hard, or possibly a penis on the wall with, 'I only bow to the man with a dick this size'."

She burst into laughter. The sound ricocheted off the concrete walls and cars. The beautiful sound made me smile and my heart flutter as the sound gently caressed me. God, I loved her laugh. It was beautiful, and I could probably survive from just hearing it every day as my only source of food or nutrition.

The thought was scary to think about, being able to live off of Tanya's laugh it was so beautiful, but it was also something that made my stomach flip with excitement. The prospect of being able to survive off of something so…delicate…it was amazing.

Tanya interrupted my thoughts by nudging my shoulder. "Perhaps I should wonder if being around a group of boys is the best thing for you," she teased with a wink.

I shrugged. "There are a few girls in it, so I'm good."

"I don't know if that makes me feel any better."

We arrived at the movies after a five minute walk from the garage. The theatre was about the size of the one in Port Angeles-medium size, but not incredible or anything.

We stood a little behind the line, looking at the list of movies available. There were a few that would make us have to wait longer than others, but none were over a twenty-five minute wait.

I hummed and cocked my head to the side wile I studied the list carefully. None of the movies seemed that terrible to choose from. I looked at Tanya. "What do you want to see?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't really mind. I haven't seen the previews on any of them, but I've heard they're good."

I nodded. "Same," I agreed. I looked at the two movies. I would really only want to watch those right now. Neither were broody love stories and I wasn't in the mood for a love story.

I compared the times and saw that one still had fifteen minutes before it started. That was a good amount of time for us to go to the concession stand and then sit down and watch the movie. "How about the seven o'clock?" I asked, motioning to the movie.

She nodded and smiled. "That sounds good with me." She placed her hand on the middle of my back and moved us towards the line, making my body shiver slightly at her touch. Even through my clothes she sent shivers up my spine.

We walked up into line and smiled at the young man working the stand. He looked completely shocked at the sight of Tanya-who wasn't really paying attention to it-and I didn't blame him, because she did look stunning. "H-how may I help you?" he asked, clearing his throat to get his pitch back.

"Two tickets to the seven o'clock, please," she requested.

He nodded, glancing at me. His eyes stayed on me for a moment, probably gathering his cool at the sight of a normal person. Tanya, however, didn't like that he was looking at me for so long. Her arm was suddenly around my waist, and pulling me into her side as she raised a brow in question to the poor guy.

He nodded, snapping out of it. "Of course," he agreed. He rang up the tickets and hand them to us. "That's fifteen seventy-six."

Tanya handed him the money and took the tickets. "Thank you," she said, giving him a look as he nodded.

"E-enjoy the m-movie."

I raised my brow at Tanya while we walked away from the booth. "Did you have to scare the living shit out of him?" I asked her teasingly.

She shrugged, opening the door for me without removing her arm from around my waist. "I didn't like the way he was looking at you," she said. If there hadn't been a small edge in her voice, I would've believed her with her matter-of-fact tone.

I replied with a shrug and slipped inside for Tanya to close the door behind us. We handed our tickets to the people inside who luckily only smiled at us before we walked to the concessions. Against my protests, Tanya bought my drink and candy. When I tried to pay for it, she-repeating me-flicked me on the nose and scolded me with, "I am perfectly capable of buying food for you, Bella."

I didn't argue.

We walked down to the theatre and slipped inside to find that not many people were gathered. There were a few couples and a group of teen girls spread around the theatre, but besides that it was almost completely empty.

Tanya touched the small of my back for my attention. I looked over my shoulder at her and she motioned with her head up to the back row. There was no one sitting in it, and I nodded. I pushed us up the stairs without a word, Tanya's hand still on my back until we arrived at the seats. I slid in between the seats to the middle of the row, plopping down in the chair as I set my drink in the cup holder.

Tanya sat next to me and smiled. "I think Kate and Irina saw this," she said. "They said it was good, so I hope it is."

I opened my candy. "Knowing the two of them, if they liked it, then we are going to like it," I said.

Tanya chuckled. "You are most likely right, Bella." A small smirk pulled on her lips. "Besides, Kate was acting like a child when she got home, and that usually means something."

"I thought she was like that all the time."

"True."

I smiled and settled myself into my seat when the lights dimmed and the previews started. Tanya got herself comfortable next to me as we waited for the movie to start.

I, however, immediately had my attention on the couple a few seats to our left in the row in front of us. They were practically invisible if it wasn't for the movement. I smirked and tapped Tanya's knee.

She looked towards me, raising her brow. I leaned closer and jerked my head to the side. "To the left, the row in front of us," I said in her ear.

She followed the way I turned my head to look and a small chuckle shook her shoulders when she spotted the couple. "I don't believe they are being as discrete as they think."

I nodded and glanced back at them with an evil grin. "It honestly is tempting me to take a photo of us together with them 'accidently' in the background."

She smacked my leg playfully. "Don't you dare do something so Kate like on this date," she growled playfully. "The last thing I need is to be reminded of my sister."

I raised my hands in mock surrender with a smile before we turned our attention back to the screen with the movie now playing. I did a good job of paying attention through it, at least for the first part. It was funny, actually and I found myself chuckling with Tanya.

The couple in front of us was a little distracting, but luckily they were quiet enough that no one really heard what they were doing. The movie covered their voices from human ears, but Tanya would smirk here and there at something they said or did.

It wasn't hard to know what.

Halfway through the movie, though, Tanya draped her arm around my shoulders. At once, my whole body froze and I stopped my movement of getting a candy with my hand still in the box. I blinked, taking in a deep breath when her fingers slowly started to hypnotically trace patterns on my sweater.

I had to force myself not to shiver at the intimate contact. Her hand lightly squeezed my shoulder as she watched the movie, pulling me just a little closer to her body.

I took in a shuddering breath and forced myself to focus on the movie. It was hard in the beginning, but after I slowly became used to Tanya's arm around me I found myself focusing on the movie more. The natural position became less tense and more…well, natural.

By the end of the movie, I was so comfortable that I didn't want to move from Tanya's arm. But, sadly, we had no choice too as the other couples rose and started to leave-including the one that had a suspicious amount of sex hair and grins.

She gently pulled herself away from me to stand. "We better head out of here before the cleaning crew comes in to kick us out," she murmured, giving a small smile at the end.

I nodded as I stood next to her. We walked out of the theatre, threw away my trash and started walking for one of the small, but good stores around the city. We wouldn't be going to the mall, but it was going to be a smaller version of it.

As we walked, I noticed how the atmosphere around Tanya and I was becoming more and more casual. The comfortable feeling I had with Tanya was coming easily to me unlike I had thought it would earlier. I wasn't nervous around her at all.

It was…easy.

It was never like this with Edward. The air between us was always awkward and he always acted like he would destroy me with one touch. It was too tender of a relationship, and here was Tanya, touching me and laughing with me like any other person would.

The relationship with Tanya seemed so real compared to the one I had with Edward. Now, with me being around her more, I could see the possible happy ending that everyone else had.

Well, we had actually ended up not shopping after we went to our first store. Tanya was immediately assaulted with teenage boys that were drooling on her the moment we walked in. No matter how much she tried to push them off with her glares or harsh words they stuck around.

And, to make matters worse, they began to hit on me too. Tanya started to really get pissed then, especially when I told them I wasn't interested and they still persisted in having my phone number. She looked ready to tear their heads off, so I opted to getting her out of the store that was a potential future crime scene.

We walked down the street for a while to let her calm down with me being the shield for anyone who happened to get to close to her. After about ten minutes, she finally looked like she didn't want to murder someone and I suggested we went for a walk in the nearby park that Frank had told me about.

Tanya agreed, seeming to like the change of scenery. She took my hand as we walked down the park paths. Our fingers twined together effortlessly while we walked in sync with each other and made small talk.

We laughed, smiled and just enjoyed each other's company. I couldn't help the flutter my heart got every time she stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. The air between us had become far more intimate during the walk than it had been earlier on in the night.

And, frankly, I was enjoying it immensely.

I looked around as the wind gently blew the tree branches, making them wave and the needles on the evergreens sway back with each other. I smiled a little. Alaska really was a beautiful place to be. It reminded me of Forks in the scenic sense. The way the trees stood and the slightly cloudy like atmosphere that seemed to be constantly hanging about in certain areas. The small town of Denali was definitely a close reminder of Forks; the size was exactly the same, really.

While I didn't like things that had happened in Forks two years ago, I couldn't find it in myself to regret it. Those events gave me this life and I was now a member of a family that would always love me and be loyal. I was currently engaged in a courting that was sweeter than anything I ever thought I would have in my life.

It was…good. Great, even.

I couldn't be mad at everything that had happened. Was I mad at the Cullens for leaving me like they did? Yes, but did I hate the event itself? Not exactly…I couldn't.

Tanya squeezed my hand, gaining my attention. I turned my head towards her; away from the trees we were walking past and raised a brow. She smiled. "Where did you go?"

I shrugged. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"My home," I replied. "I was thinking about how Alaska kind of reminds me of it, but how it's also different. It's the right amount of different."

She nodded, squeezing my hand a little more. "Then you like, Alaska?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

I nodded, smiling. "Yes," I replied. "Even though I'm here for chemo, I can't help but love it. I have a lot here that makes Alaska nice, personal. I have not only the possibility of healing, but people that I am becoming close to like Frank, Max, Kristen, Sylvia…you." I looked at Tanya there, connecting our eyes.

The blonde vampire smiled as her golden eyes stayed locked on mine. She reached forward, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes I hadn't even noticed to tuck it behind my ear. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The small blush that mixed with the smile on my face was impossible to hold back. Her words made a small fire burn in my heart, warming my entire body with the pure emotion that came from her voice.

It was beautiful.

"Neither would I," I said lowly.

Tanya stopped moving all together, turning her body towards me. I looked down, blushing even more at the words that left my mouth. Feeling her golden eyes on me, I looked up from underneath my eyelashes. I watched as her eyes slowly darkened a shade and her hand moved to cup my cheek.

I lifted my head a little more at her touch, seeing her fully in view as her eyes stared into mine. The burning fire that I saw there, the raw emotion that raged in her eyes made my heart pick up just a tick. I took in a breath as she rubbed her thumb over my cheekbone.

"You wouldn't?" she asked.

I shook my head slowly. "No," I admitted. "I…I find that I rather enjoy being around you, Tanya."

A smile pulled on the corners of her lips. "I find that I enjoy you as well, Miss Swan," she purred. Her voice low and bore a slight husk to it that made my breath hitch.

We stared at each other for a moment, neither of us moving away afraid to break the moment. Then, she began to lean forward, inhaling deeply as she slowly leaned towards me. Her lips were creeping closer, centimeter by centimeter to give me time to pull away.

I didn't want to, though. I wanted it. I began to angle my lips towards hers, granting access for a kiss. Our lips were barely an inch apart, maybe a little less. Our eyes were half lidded, ready to close the gap between us completely.

"DUCK!"

Instinctively, I jumped away from Tanya seconds before a Frisbee flew through the spot right where I had been standing. I took in deep, rapid breaths and my heart raced in my chest while I stared at Tanya, stunned.

She was blinking, coming back to reality from the closeness of our bodies and lips. She looked as though someone had completely changed her language.

We had been so close-right there on the verge of our first kiss when the disk interrupted us.

Right there.

Tanya seemed to have the same thought as me, because she narrowed her eyes to glare at the plastic toy that had landed a few feet away from us. She snarled at it like it had insulted her whole family.

A young boy-maybe twelve-ran towards us with an older brother of about seventeen behind him. The younger was blushing furiously in embarrassment while the older one was gaping at us. He clearly saw what his game with his brother had interrupted and couldn't quite get over the scene that would've happened.

The younger ran for the disk. "I'm so sorry," he apologized rapidly. "I just missed it and it came flying towards you." He looked me over. "You didn't get hurt did you? I'm really sorry if you did, ma'am."

Awe, he's cute.

I shook my head with a small smile. "No, I'm fine. Your warning I think saved my life," I said, giving him a small wink.

He blushed even more as Tanya took in a deep breath and the older brother arrived. "Sorry about that, really," he said, glancing at Tanya when he saw how annoyed she looked.

I shook my head. "It's fine."

He raised a brow. "You sure?" he asked, glancing at the blonde vampire who was pretty much seething by now.

I nodded, quickly moving to take Tanya's hand in order to calm her down. "Yeah," I said, giving him a look that clearly said, "run".

He nodded, getting the message as he grabbed his brother. "Come on. We better get home before mom gets mad about us being out late again," he said. He dragged his brother off from the scene as he called a sorry one more time over his shoulder.

Tanya took in a deep breath and pulled on my hand. "Come on," she said. "We better get you home before Charlie gets mad."

We drove in relative silence back to my house. The music was the only noise in the car that you heard besides the occasional awkward question. The air between us tense, and we both knew it was because of what just happened in the park. The kiss that almost took place hung in the air like a giant pink fluffy elephant in the room.

I did the best I could to not be awkward, humming along to the song that was playing or watch the scenery pass by. But, I would always see how tense Tanya was, no matter how hard I tried to ease the tension between us.

Her grip on the wheel was tight. Her body was almost as motionless as a statue except for the parts of her that were needed for driving. Her lips were pulled into a tight line and her brow was furrowed. Her eyes were still just a shade darker like they were in the park.

It was hard to not feel awkward with that image of a vampire next to me.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally arrived in front of my house. Tanya pulled the car to a gentle stop and I unplugged my iPod from the cord. I stuffed it into my purse, not looking up as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

The car went into park.

Awkward silence…

No movement.

I pursed my lips, and looked up at Tanya. She was just staring at me, watching my every move as intently as she could. The way her semi-golden eyes shone was slightly disturbing, but only in a way that made me feel like I was missing something large that was playing in her mind.

I shifted in my seat. "Thanks for taking me out, Tanya," I said in as casual of a voice I could (that of course was not casual at all). "I had fun."

She nodded. "I did too," she agreed. Her voice had just a pinch of stiffness in it. She did a good job of covering most of it with the silky sound of her voice, though not all of it. "Maybe some other time?"

I nodded at the completely awkward and lifeless conversation. "Uh, yeah. Sounds good," I said. I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open slightly. I looked back at her. "Goodnight, Tanya."

She closed her eyes, and I took it as a sign to leave. I began to push the door open more and lean out when a pale arm was suddenly across me and a hand grabbed the door. The car door slammed shut, keeping me inside the car with a small thud.

I blinked, turning my attention to Tanya. Her eyes were closed as she slowly retracted her hand from the door. She stayed silent as she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes. She stared at me for a moment, a glisten of determination in her eyes.

Faster than I could blink, her hand held my cheek and her lips were on mine. The kiss was gentle, only the pull of our lips on the other. Tanya's lips were soft and hard at the same time in a delightful mix. The coldness of her skin didn't bother me at all from the fire spreading through my veins from the simple kiss.

Her thumb trailed across my cheekbone as she held our lips together, sending chills down my spine at the contact. It was like having a pleasurable shock go through my body.

Then, as soon as it happened, she pulled away. It wasn't far, just enough to part our lips as our heads stayed bowed together. Both of us were breathing hard, processing the immense pleasure that had seeped into us from the simple and short kiss.

Her thumb stroked my cheek adoringly. "Goodnight, Bella," she breathed. And with that, her hand drew away from my cheek, her fingers lingering, and she leaned back.