Chapter 30:

IMPORTANT

Sorry it took so long, but I've been going between this and another story I've been writing for the sight. If it goes well, I'll be posting the other story as well at some point. Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Oh yeah…Oh, just a little more up there…Perfect."

"This is ridiculous."

"It was in the pile, and you agreed. Now stop complaining, and massage my shoulders," I ordered, not turning my head to look back at Kate as her hands kneaded my muscles—careful not to hurt me.

"But, Bell—I mean—my Queen, I'm pretty sure that Irina put that IOU into the pile not me," she whined. Her fingers moved into fists as she gently rolled her knuckles across my back; moving up and down my spine.

I waved my hand. "Whatever. Today you're my servant, so you get the pleasure of doing it," I said.

The blonde gave an irritated growl behind me, but didn't stop her massage on my muscles. Actually, she seemed to be doing a more careful and precise job now that she wasn't arguing, and I had a feeling that she really didn't care, but just wanted to rub that I wanted her to do it in the other vampires' faces; namely the glaring Cullens.

It was only the first day—still—and I could already see the differences the Denalis had warned me about before they arrived. They tried to hide it, but I noticed—thanks to my wonderful observation skills. I noticed how a Cullen would glare at a Denali for sitting next to me, touching me, or even just making me laugh.

I didn't miss how the Denalis subtly laid their claim frequently. They would offer to make me things to eat or drink, or give me something to be more comfortable in—usually covered in their scent. Sometimes they touched me or marked me with their scent—beyond clothing—and smirked every time they did. They enjoyed the obvious jealousy and loathing from the Cullens.

I felt as though I was surrounded by toddlers.

"WOO!"

…That didn't help.

I snapped my attention to Emmett as he threw his fists into the air triumphantly. "WOO!" He did a fist-pump and turned to the growling Irina with a wicked smirk. "And that, Irina," he said, flipping his controller into the air. It landed in his hand and he blew on it, "is how you win in Mario Cart."

The dirty blonde snorted. "More like how you cheat in Mario Cart, Emmett," she grumbled. Her hands opened, and the all but shattered controller fell to the ground, scattering with a slight clink from the metal.

Emmett gasped, placing his hand over his heart. "I would never…"

"You are just as bad as Kate."

"I resent that," the blonde grumbled from behind me. Her fingers moved to dabble along my spine in a way that tickled more than really relax me.

I chuckled at the sensation as Tanya shifted her head on my thighs. The blonde woman had her arms wrapped around my left leg, resting her head on my thighs to watch the game between Emmett and Irina with her body stretched out on the couch. Her position took up quite a bit of room on the sectional, forcing Carmen and Eleazer to move down closer to Esme and Carlisle.

Of course, neither of us complained. I was pretty sure that both Tanya and I could be a hundred percent content with just staying in that position for years, and not give a crap on how we changed the seating arrangements—that was sure to happen in the near future again I was sure.

My fingers lazily ran through her golden locks, feeling the silk like strands run through them as a few of her many curls caught on my fingers for a few seconds. The blonde closed her eyes, giving a small hum of content and tightened her hold on my leg in appreciation.

The corners of my mouth pulled into the hint of a smile when I noticed the glare from the corner of my eye. Turning my head to the left minutely, I saw Edward glaring daggers at us. He was seated on the far side of the room, almost as far from us as he could get with his arms crossed stubbornly across his chest and his lips were drawn into a sneer. He looked like he was begging every god and deity there was to be anywhere but near Tanya and me.

I, really, wouldn't object to that.

My smile turned into a slight frown, studying him carefully. I only looked away as Kate's hands hit a particularly tense spot just below my armpit. I felt my body stiffen for a second at the sudden pressure, and then relax as her fingers began to kneed out the tension.

"Geeze, Bella," she grumbled, "do you stress your body out that much or are you and Tanya actually screwing?"

"Kate!" Esme scolded. Her golden eyes were wide in shock and slight horror from her position at Carlisle's side.

Tanya, however, using her position in my lap to her advantage, slid her hand up my shirt to touch my stomach. "Well," she purred, "I wouldn't say it is incredibly frequent." Her fingers lightly tapped my muscles as Edward glared daggers at her and Esme and Carlisle blinked.

I rolled my eyes and smacked her hand out from under my shirt, doing the best I could to hide the shiver that desired to work up my spine. "Oh yes," I said, "I only have to flick Tanya on the nose about three times a week."

The blonde under me pouted as Emmett, Kate and Irina snorted. "Thanks for selling me out," she grumbled.

I cooed and gently kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, Tanya," I soothed, "I won't mention the times you acted like a dog in heat."

Tanya's eyes widened as Kate burst into laughter. Emmett, Irina, Alice and Jasper's laughter soon followed as they watched the proud coven leader look like she wanted to blush. "You're a dog in heat, Tanya?" Irina asked from the ground.

Tanya growled and sat up. "I am not a dog in heat nor am I a crazy girlfriend!" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

I grinned and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Whatever you say, babe," I smirked. "…But you did almost destroy a Frisbee when it interrupted our first kiss."

Tanya narrowed her eyes at me with a dangerous glint as the room again laughed. A small growl rumbled in her chest and I yelped. Using what flexibility I had, I twisted myself around and wrapped my arms around Kate's neck just as Tanya snarled, "Bella!"

"Onward my noble steed!" I called. Kate, still laughing her ass off, blurred off the couch as she simultaneously threw me onto her back. I wasn't really able to see any detail, but I could tell from the colors I kept seeing that we were just making circles around the house as Tanya ran after us. Behind Tanya was Carmen as she called for us to not break anything and be careful.

Of course, that left her diving to save vases anyway.

"Bella, get back here!"

I tightened my grip on Kate's neck and kicked my heels against her hips. "Faster!" I shouted.

"Do not go faster!" Carmen pleaded.

"Eat my dust, Tanya! Yahoo!" The colors around me turned into basic blobs as our speed grew faster. The slight jolt I felt from Kate accelerating was enough to make me tighten my grip more than it already was around her neck. If Kate had been human, she would most likely be choking from lack of oxygen by now.

"Kate, give me Bella or else!"

"Not a chance in Hell!"

"Please stop running indoors and do it outside!"

"Kick it up a notch, Katie!"

"You got it, Belly...AAAAHHHH!"

"AAAHHH!"

"I hope you three are pleased with yourselves," Carmen scowled, standing in front of Tanya, Kate and I with her arms crossed. The three of us had our eyes downcast, unable to look the infuriated woman in the eyes. "Not only could Bella have been hurt, but you somehow managed to almost damage every piece of decoration or furniture in this house. Not to mention actually break one of my vases."

Kate glanced up, "But—"

"No buts," she cut her off. She wiggled her finger in the air. "I don't want to hear anything from you. There could have been serious damage around the house with your recklessness."

I glanced up through my eyelashes, trying to look as pitiful as I could. "You're right, Carmen," I murmured. "We're sorry."

The desired effect hit directly in the bullseye as her stoic face barely, just barely, wavered. As soon as the small ripple passed over, however, it was quickly replaced with a scowl again. "You better be," she scolded. "You could have torn the whole house down with your recklessness."

I bumped my pitifulness up a notch by jutting out my bottom lip. "We really didn't mean to be so reckless," I said. Her scowl dropped a little. Let's take it just a little higher. I looked down. "It really was my fault. I got Kate involved and made her run while Tanya chased us. I'm sorry."

Next to me, I heard Kate scoff slightly as she caught on to the innocent card I was pulling. Sparing a quick glance up, I saw Carmen lowering her defenses and she sighed. "It's okay, Bella, you didn't know it would get so out of hand," she said.

I shook my head negatively in agreement.

The Hispanic woman looked at me for a second, and then sighed, "You can go, Bella."

I couldn't stop the bright smile that worked onto my face and skipped forward. "Thank you, Carm." I wrapped my arms around her neck as I leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

Carmen was too distracted by my affectionate gesture to even care I was openly grinning at my success. Her own smug and happy smile was on her own lips as she nodded, touched my arms with her hands, and kissed my forehead. "Of course, miel," she purred.

I gave the woman a large smile, squeeze, and then moved off towards the living room where Irina, Emmett and Jasper were smirking. Tanya and Kate gaped behind me. "Aren't we allowed to go?" Kate asked.

Carmen snapped her head back to them and narrowed her eyes. "Of course not," she said. "The two of you I have yet to get onto."

Tanya scowled. "But, Bella—"

"Uh-uh," Carmen shook her head, "none of that, Tanya. You may be coven leader, but that doesn't mean you get out of everything because of it. Now if you two will follow me, you can clean up the mess you made at human pace."

"Are you kidding me?" Kate scoffed.

"No." She jabbed a finger down the hall. "Now get to cleaning."

The two women grumbled, but obediently moved to gather their needed supplies. Irina, watching her two sisters disappear down the hall from the couch, held out her hand. "Nice."

I hit it. "Thank you." I turned and dropped onto her lap and crossed my arms over my chest. "Now," I said, "let's hope that it takes them a while to get that cleaned up."

"Bella, we need to get you home," Tanya said as she set her hand on my shoulder. Her fingers gently squeezed for my attention. I jerked my head to the side. "Charlie will be home in a few minutes, and he probably won't appreciate you being over here for too long."

I glanced at the clock and nodded. "Alright."

The blonde removed her hand from the top of my shoulder to the back, pushing against my shoulder blade as she pulled me up with her other hand on my forearm. As we rose from the couch together, Emmett—just slightly faster than Kate—snatched my bag up from the ground.

The large bear-man gave me a smile, ignored the plainly glaring Kate, and held it out towards me. "Here you go, Bella-Bear," he said, his eyes showing his eagerness to please.

I took my bag from him; giving a small nod as I tossed it over my shoulder. "Thank you, Emmett," I said.

He nodded with a dopey grin as Eleazer walked forward with my shoes. The Hispanic man gave me a brilliant smile as he—like a Cinderella movie—took a knee and began to slide my feet in them. While I was pleasantly surprised, having never experienced this from, well…anyone was slightly strange as he slid one foot into a shoe and then another.

By the time he was standing, several Cullens were glaring daggers at his back. He gave me a little too innocent of a smile. "We don't want you hopping in place again to just get one shoe on, do we?" he teased.

I shook my head with a small smile as his hand went around my neck and tilted my head down as he leaned forward, kissing my forehead. "No, we don't," I agreed.

"You did jump in place for about ten minutes," Irina added pulling me into a tight hug. "I thought it wouldn't stop for another ten if you hadn't gotten your shoe on when you did."

I wrapped my arms around her. "I told you," I grumbled, "it's not my fault the freaking thing wouldn't go on."

"Your finger was in the way."

"…Whatever."

She chuckled and pulled away, kissing my temple on the way back. I heard the faint rumbling in the background of a few growls. Irina—confirming what I heard—seemed pleased with her work as her lips pulled into a smirk at the growls of the Cullens. She proudly pulled away with her head held high and smirk firmly in place as the Cullens followed her with their eyes.

Kate spoke up from the side just as two arms wrapped around me. "In all honesty," she said in my ear, "I don't know how you could jump for so long after that fierce puppet fight and tickle war."

I gave a small smile. "Uh, if I remembered any of that I would probably agree with you," I said, giving the vampire a quick squeeze.

I was about to drop my arms when I realized Kate had other ideas. Her nose nuzzled my head lovingly as she—basically—marked me with her scent in front of the Cullens and gave a small purr. After a decent nuzzle, and small sniff to make sure her scent was on me, she pulled away and kissed my cheekbone. "Love ya, sis."

I wasn't even able to breathe before there was a low, "That's enough."

Everyone's attention turned to Rosalie as her eyes glared sharp daggers at Kate, her upper lip pulled back into a snarl. Now, while the Denalis didn't at all seem surprised by her behavior, I was. I was anything but used to Rosalie being…possessive of me.

Angry at me?

Sure.

Glaring at me?

All the time.

Possessive of me?

Never.

It was the first time I had ever seen her death glare about me directed at someone who was not me. The feeling was…both strange and oddly pleasing at the same time—knowing she didn't completely hate me, at least. And, at the moment, she looked ready to storm over, punch Kate in the jaw, take me in her arms and hold me hostage.

I couldn't decide whether to be a little creeped out or awkward.

Kate furrowed her brows as she not so subtly rested her hand on the small of my back. "I don't know what you mean, Rosalie," she said, her voice dripped with mock innocence.

Rosalie narrowed her eyes on the movement. "You know exactly what I mean, Kate," she hissed. "I do not appreciate that your family is constantly rubbing your position in Bella's life in my family's face."

"By saying goodbye, you mean?" she asked.

"Goodbye in the form of taunting."

"At least our family says goodbye."

A low growl rumbled in Rosalie's chest as she took a step forward. Quickly, I pulled myself away from Kate and placed myself in Tanya's side. "I think staying any longer will make Charlie suspicious," I intervened, getting the attention of the room on me again.

The blonde coven leader next to me nodded. "Yes, of course," she agreed. Her arm wrapped securely around my waist as Carmen handed her my clothes bag. "I'm still sucking up to him."

"And the last thing you need is to deliver me home late," I supplied. I pulled gently against her arm. "We should head that way. Maybe you can beat your record time."

Irina, smoothing out the tension, snorted. "Please," she said, "Tanya only beat her record last time because she had the incentive of a kiss."

The woman next to me frowned. "It seems I have more incentive; proving you wrong," she said. Tanya gave a pull on my waist. "Let's get going, Bella." I nodded, gladly following her out of the house while Kate and Rosalie continued to glare at each other.

The car pulled to a stop in front of my house, filled with the awkward silence that had plagued the air ever since we had left her house. Neither of us had said a word either from unsureness of what to say, or just the awkwardness of the car, the silence stayed, and it stayed the entire trip.

Tanya put the car in park, looking down at the ground as I stared out of the windshield. I pursed my lips, watching her movements from the corner of my eye. I swallowed a lump in my throat, running my hand through my hair. "So…"

"Bella, I'm so sorry."

"…that went well."

We turned our heads towards each other, sharing a small smile from our unanimous continuation of my sentence. Tanya sighed, reaching forward to take my hand in hers. "I'm sorry, Bella," she said, shaking her head as she stared at them. "I had no idea it was going to be like that."

I shrugged. "It's alright," I promised. I reached forward with my free hand, and cupped her cheek to make her look at me when she didn't. "Hey, it's alright. Really…I was okay."

Tanya shook her head with a snort. "You might have been, but it definitely was not okay." Her free hand ran nervously through her hair. "God, I feel like such an idiot. I should've taken you out of town for the day, given the family time to adjust, or something to keep that from happening. Emmett practically crushed you, there was war, and Kate and Rosalie were this close to decking each other. God, I'm so sorry, Bella."

I was about to reply when the porch light turned on, silently signaling me to come in. I glanced over my shoulder and sighed. I turned my attention back to Tanya and shook my head. "We'll talk about it later, alright? My window will be open for you."

She shook her head in protest. "I don't want to—"

"I'll be fine, Tanya," I promised, squeezing the hand in mine. "We can talk about it all later, and there really are…some things I'd like to discuss with you."

The vampire bit her lip, knowing exactly what I was talking about. She gave a small nod in understanding. "Alright," she agreed. "I'll be here at ten. That should give us time to talk without you getting too tired."

I nodded and quickly leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. "I'll see you later tonight." She nodded and released my hand to let me out of the car.