Chapter 26: Falling Into Place

Life was good.

Getting Leah to do the ritual had been one of the many signs that Mike and I were meant for each other. Despite all my doubts, it had worked, which was the greatest sign of all.

It was Leah's turn. No doubt about it. When Leah mentioned that Emily was on board, I was happy for her. Really. She deserved her happily ever after, too.

But.

So much could go wrong. What if a second time didn't help Leah, but took away what Mike and I had built?

I was so close to getting everything that had driven me to do the swap, or rather was on the path for it to all come true. It had only cost me my past, a small price to acquire the man who would be the centre of my world for the rest of my life.

Sure, I owed Leah, no doubt about it.

At the same time, I wanted a way out of repaying her.

Telling her no wasn't an option. I couldn't do that to her. Not to mention that having Leah as an enemy sounded like a sure way to get my present life ruined.

Weighing the risk of being switched back with the risk of having Leah against me was hard.

Then one time when I was thinking about it all again, my grandmama's words came back to me once more. She'd looked out for me so far. There wasn't any reason to not trust her. It would work the way it was meant to. Nothing bad would happen to me as a result.

I would keep my promise. Even though, I knew grandmama was trustworthy and totally had my back, my nerves had me asking Leah to get Bella on board, in an attempt to delay things.

The Wednesday after telling Leah I would definitely be there and offering her my support, I was at my old house to study with Bella as usual, but couldn't concentrate. I kept debating with myself of whether to ask Bella what she thought about the ritual. The suspense was killing me on one end, while on the other hand I was afraid saying something might put her mind on it and get her to come to an answer sooner.

Eventually, I couldn't take not knowing, and blurted out my curiosity.

"I'm leaning towards yes, as I had already told Leah yes in the beginning, but a lot has happened since then, and it's a big deal. I'm taking my time to think it through," she explained to me.

"Yeah," I stated, trying to shake the dark heavy pit that was beginning to form in the centre of my stomach.

Later, lying in bed, surrounded by her covers, staring at the ceiling, I couldn't sleep. The feeling Bella had given me had not only remained, but spread. It caused me to feel bad. I tried to think of some reason for the bad feeling, but couldn't come up with anything, except that maybe not warning Bella had been a bit rude on my part. Saying a prayer of forgiveness, I reminded myself that just because she was a goody-two-shoes didn't mean I was or would ever been. I was a go-getter. I knew what I wanted. Knew it was meant for me. And did what was necessary to achieve it.

It took a while, but eventually sleep came.

Thursday morning, as had become his normal, as soon as I got out of the rusty bucket, Mike came up behind me, kissing my neck. All the ugly heavy feelings from the day before melted away. The end justified the means, and no matter the cost, love was worth it.

Friday morning, he kissed me as usual, but instead of wishing me a good morning, he whispered into my ear, "My parents have an event in Port Angeles. My house will be empty tonight. Interested?"

Turning around to face him, my smile was huge, "Yes, absolutely," I confirmed, while hugging him tightly.

As I did so, his desire was made apparent.

Saturday mornings had become our date time, and he made sure his mother didn't schedule him, but evenings and Sunday was for work, so it was a huge surprise. On top of that, him and I alone sounded fantastic. Sure, I was nervous, as it would be my first time, but Mike had been all of my firsts of the bases, and he had been sweet, attentive, and gentle. I was sure it would be so great.

"What time should I come over?" I asked, as we walked to class, nearing the eave that served as a covering.

"Like 9pm?" he suggested. "I have to help close up the store."

"How about Saturday? We still on?" I checked.

"Yes, I'll pick you up as usual," he confirmed with a warm glowy smile.

"It's a date," I stated with assurance, kissing him before taking the last steps into class and then finding my seat.

It would be our best date yet. A Friday night, plus the Saturday morning, no less, not to mention us going all the way. Leah had told me it was likely to happen like this. My patience had totally paid off.

My body was so alight, my brain filled with images of us, and I was so excited that I couldn't concentrate at all during school. Even at lunch every touch between Mike and I excited my body for what was to come. Nothing caught my attention. No voice registered. He had consumed me in a new way. The nerves continued to be there, but the excitement and warmth of when we were together were building like crazy.

When the last bell rang, Mike and I walked together, gathering a few of members of our friend group as we went. In the parking lot we said goodbye to each other in the way we usually did, but the hug lasted just that little bit longer, and his arms lingered on me longer and held me more assertively than usual. It was like his way of saying that he wanted this too.

Looking forward to what was to come had made school an even bigger chore than usual. But, I had survived the day, and that was all that mattered.

Ever since the switch, how I altered the clothes, hair, and makeup to suit my style had resulted in more attention from men and more snide comments from Lauren.

An oddity to the day had had been the boys. Even in my ecstatic state, they had been hard to miss. It was like my excitement and anticipation of Mike and my evening activities had seemed to only heighten their desire to attract my attention. Some were a little pesky, but overall it was great!

Driving home, I was beyond appreciative of Leah's suggestion to get an outfit for when such an opportunity would arise. It had been almost two weeks ago when I had asked Chief Swan for money for another bra, although had bought a sexy night teddy thing. In the back of Bella's drawer I had found very sexy underwear, but nothing that was a one piece, so had spent the money on what I deemed was an essential item.

Leah had also suggested insuring that my hymen was already broken, so there would be no discomfort my first time. Grossly, she told me how to check with my fingers. When I had done so, I had found nothing there, so that had been a relief.

Even with my outfit ready to go, at home I was unable to settle, trying to decide what to wear over there and how to fool Chief Swan. God must have been smiling upon me, and my grandmama blessing us, because at about 6pm, when I was expecting Chief Swan home he called me to let me know he had to be out late. Rejoicing at my good luck, I finished getting ready, picking tight skinny jeans along with a low cut top that showed off what little this body had lifted into a bra. My shoes were near knee high boots with a slight heel. Once my outfit and hair were good enough, and it was about time, I headed over to Mike's.

I took some deep breaths and gave myself a pep talk in order to get out of the truck, walked up to Mike's door, and then rang the doorbell.

When Mike answered his face was flush. He was freshly showered and jittery. It seemed like we stood staring at each other for a long time before he uttered quickly, "Come in."

Then he stood back, opening the door more.

I came in, admiring his house. It was certainly at least double to size of Chief Swan's. The room I stood in was a living room. There was a large closet on my right. In front of me I could see a kitchen. I could also make out a dining table pass the sofas and next to the kitchen. Next to the closet were stairs.

"Want something to drink?" Mike asked his voice wobbling.

"Water, please," I told him, as my throat had suddenly become dry.

While he walked into the kitchen I raised my voice, "I brought something to change into."

"Go up the stairs. My room will be nearly in front of you. The bathroom is the first door on the left," he detailed.

Taking a deep breath and settling my nerves, I climbed the stairs. I had given up too much to lose it. Finding his room, I noted it and then went to the bathroom.

I changed into the nightgown and matching panties. It was a blush pink tone with a little ruffle on the bottom, which ended just below my bottom, silky, a built in bra, and had spaghetti straps. Looking in the mirror to make sure I looked good, I touched up my makeup. Giving myself a few more seconds to calm my nerves, I then opened the door and strutted into Mike's room.

He was sitting on his desk's chair with two bottles of water on the desk.

As soon as he lowered his eyes from the ceiling, his jaw dropped and the water bottles hit the floor.

Putting my bag down and shutting the door, I twirled slowly.

"I look okay?" I asked him with a smirk.

"Uh-huh," he mumbled.

After standing there for a minute or so, with my hip out like I had seen Tanya Banks train her models, I sashayed over to the bed and laid down, putting my head into my left hand and keeping my eyes on him.

Eventually, he seemed to come out of his stupor and uttered with a whistle, "You are beyond stunning, Bella. I'm a lucky guy."

"We are a couple and are planning our futures together," I stated, repeating almost the exact words Leah had told me to say.

"Lucky me," he stated with a smile.

"Water please," I requested, while attempting to smile seductively.

He leaned over, picked up the bottles, came to the bed, and handed me one. Right after, he stood quickly up, taking off his pants.

My look was curious, and he explained, "I seem over dressed."

Smiling sweetly at him, I put down the water and took his hand. Sitting down on the bed, I insisted, "Kiss me."

Without hesitation he did so. Right after his lips found mine, his hands were on my back.

The kiss had some of the similar feelings and elements to our usual kissing, except there was more quickness and pressure to this one, like we were both trying to put our feelings into our lips, as a way of communicating. I was so relieved that he was being so insistent. It was at times like he forgot he was kissing and rather was trying to suck my lips and mouth into his. His desire of me was fantastic.

I had placed my hands on his back, running them from the top towards his butt, getting closer and closer to his boxers with each go.

After a long time of us being like that, he moved back a little and with a teasing smile, pushed me back onto the bed.

I took the opportunity to move up towards the headboard, placing my head on the pillows.

He nearly leaped at me a joyous excited smile on his face and a gleam in his eye. Once on top of me, he started kissing me again. After a few minutes, he started kissing my neck, throat, collarbones, and top of my chest.

My hands moved into his hair, down the back of his neck, over his biceps, onto his back, and then up again.

He scooted himself down the bed a little and started kissing the tops of my breasts not covered by the fabric.

Looking down at him filled me with a sense of achievement.

His hand entered the left cup and pulled me out, exposing my nipple. When he licked and sucked on it, my whole body warmed and I began to feel light headed. Spots clouded my vision. Even though the actions themselves were not new, it seemed like the anticipation of what was to come heightened everything. Stopping eventually, he repeated the action on the other side, which only fuelled my feelings. He almost seemed like a man in a drought searching for water.

"God, you're amazing," he said, as he removed his mouth from my skin momentarily.

By this time, my hands were touching every part of him that I could reach.

His eyes were dilated and he looked completely blissed out.

We ended up kissing again, our lips roaming each other's necks and ears. Each time he emitted a sound that gave an indication of enjoying what I did, my excitement and pleasure grew. We had explored these parts of ourselves before, so we both knew what the other liked. However, just like all the other touching since his offer this morning, what we were leading to made every caress and connection more intense than ever.

I could admit to my nervousness. What if I wasn't good enough? What if I couldn't please him? Every motion I made that emitted noises from him indicated he was pleased decreased my concerns.

I went to touch him down there by putting my hand between his skin and his boxers.

"Hold on," he told me, so I stopped and looked at him. He took his boxers off and then moved himself from beside me to on top of me.

He seemed to be gauging me, so I smiled encouragingly back.

He pulled down my underwear and laid on top of me. As soon as we started kissing, my body moved against him, as if it had a mind of its own.

He moved his hips, causing it to move from being on top of my stomach to pressing against my private area.

Wanting us to connect in this way and us to move into this new stage of our relationship, I opened my legs.

He sat up some. He looked deep into my eyes, as if checking.

I smiled in agreement.

He used his hand to guide himself into me.

It was uncomfortable with a sensation of pinching, but I said nothing, smiling at him, and hoped the bliss would return.

He pushed in and out of me tentatively, like we were testing it out. He gazed into my eyes and checked, his voice soft and slightly fearful, like I might ask him to stop, "You okay?"

It was his first time also. Leah had warned me that he might not have the hang of it at first and to not criticism him in anyway, so I smiled sweetly at him and contorted my features so he would know he was the centre of my world. "Don't stop." I urged him, ready to take this next step.

He brought his body flush with mine once more and started moving in and out. Each time he pressed in the pinching increased.

I moved my hips, trying to make myself more comfortable.

He seemed almost oblivious to me, as if he was lost in his own world. When he started grunting like he would before coming, thoughts about potentially getting pregnant flashed through my mind, but I didn't want to say anything and ruin this moment for him.

It didn't take much more before his face changed into the one I had learned indicated that he had cum. Fortunately, I couldn't feel the pinching when he had made his face, so knew that he had withdrawn, soothing my pregnancy concerns.

He fell on top of me with a blissfully happy smile on his face and placed his head on my chest. After a few minutes, he told me, "I'm going to go get a towel." He returned and mostly cleaned up the mess he had made. He really wasn't detail orientated, so not maticulous about that kind of stuff. Then, he threw the towel into his hamper, and crawled into bed next to me, holding me. He was unusually attentive and loving, making circles with his hand and fingers on my skin, while telling me how much he loved me and how lucky he was to have me be his girl.

I echoed his sentiments, hoping his words meant that our future together was set.

When my eyes began to droop, I told him, "I should head home. Charlie might notice if I'm not there in the morning."

"Yeah," he agreed reluctantly, and then added in a joking manner, "Don't want to get shot."

"I love you, Mike," I repeated, my voice more fervent. "I want more of this for the rest of our lives."

"For sure," he agreed with a wide smile. His face fell a little and he reminded me, "My parents won't be in agreement with a marriage until after I graduate from college."

"We can wait," I assured him.

"You're worth it," he pledged.

"As are you," I confirmed before kissing him into oblivion.

Him pulling me back towards the bed was my cue to change my clothes and go back to Chief Swan's.

Mike was being unusually clingy, which pleased me to no end.

By the time I was home it was close to one in the morning, so I quickly changed clothes and fell into bed. My body was sore, especially between my legs, but that was a minor concern.

It had been by far the best day of my life!