Author's Note: I'm so sorry I took so long to get this out, I just had no idea how to proceed. But now I do, hence the reason this chapter is out. Thanks for your patience!

Chapter 10

The surprised staring continued between Victoria and Irina, leaving Bella more than a little frustrated and still waiting for an answer to her question. Of course, Bella eventually gave up on waiting and all but exploded.

"So? Does this mean that both of you are my mates or not?" the human asked at last, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"Probably," Victoria and Irina admitted at the same time, then glared at each other due to their simultaneous response.

"...Oh," was all Bella could think to say. It was just so much to take in. Not to mention Bella was still processing the fact that she had just made out with both Victoria and Irina, then gotten confessed to by both of them just moments ago. Not to mention Edward also said Bella was his mate, and look what happened. Two mates could just mean two times the heartbreak. "I just...sorry, this is so much to take in."

"Of course, take as much time as you need," Victoria was quick to say. Had her heart been able to beat, it would have been pounding. This was the most anxiety provoking situation that she had ever been in, and it was terrifying for the redhead.

Irina bit her bottom lip, staring at her mate. She had no idea what she was supposed to say or do now, and it didn't help that she couldn't even call Tanya for advice since she had just destroyed her phone.

Realizing that Bella needed to be sure-that they needed to be sure-Bella took a deep breath and took a hand from Victoria and Irina. "How do you know that I'm your mate?" she asked, her voice cracking with emotion.

"I once believed Laurent was my mate," Irina was the first to speak. "He was just so charming, and I was so desperate that when he said I was his mate, I deluded myself into thinking he was because I was so desperate. I had even originally come here for revenge when I found out Laurent had died. But then, then I met you." Irina looked up at Bella pleadingly, begging the human to understand that Irina had just been stupid. "What I had for Laurent was attraction. But the second I laid eyes on you, everything else disappeared, and you became my world. While I want to have sex with you," so, so badly, "it's more than that. I want you to be happy, and I'll do anything I can to make sure of that. Not only could Laurent leave me, but I didn't even care that he left; I only got upset when he died. However, I can't imagine leaving you for more than a few hours, and it's torture to even think about leaving just to hunt and come back. And if you were to die…" Irina got choked up at just the thought. "If you were to die, I would follow. I might be able to survive long enough for revenge, but every step I took, every thought I had, would be tainted by the fact that you weren't with me. I would have to follow you, would crave my final death if it meant I could see you again."

Victoria frowned, not in annoyance, but because she was in complete agreement. Meeting eyes with Bella had completely changed her world, and she couldn't imagine living a moment without her. It was ironic that both she and Irina had lost a so-called mate and should have been seeking revenge, only to realize what a true mate was.

Bella's breath caught as she heard and saw the sincerity in Irina's eyes and voice. And when she glanced at Victoria, despite the fact that the redhead hadn't said a word, Bella could tell that Victoria felt the same.

These two couldn't even imagine leaving her, let alone go through with it. And as Bella let this information sink in, she was suddenly drawn back to all the times when Victoria went out hunting. How Tori would appear in her window afterwards and seek contact with Bella, a tinge of desperation to the redhead's actions.

Bella felt a sudden urge to act, and she didn't deny it, didn't overthink it. She let go of both Irina and Victoria's hands, reached towards Irina and, cupping the blonde's face in her hands, drew Irina into a long, sweet kiss.

Immediately, Victoria started to worry. She was afraid that Bella had accepted Irina, but not Victoria, and the redhead didn't know what to do. Did she have to give a grand explanation like Irina? But how could Victoria do so without sounding like she was echoing Irina's words? Would Bella actually abandon her?

So focused on her worries, she didn't even notice that the kiss had ended, didn't even snort at the doe eyed, love sick expression on Irina's face, complete with a stupidly silly grin. Of course, she didn't notice Bella turning to her, didn't see the intention in the human's eyes, until Bella cupped Victoria's face in her hands and brought Victoria into an equally long, equally sweet kiss. Victoria's eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into the kiss, feeling all of her anxieties and fears fly out the window.

Irina didn't care that Bella was kissing Victoria. She was just so happy, feeling so high on love, that she just wrapped her arms around Bella's waist and rested her head on Bella's back, breathing in the girl's scent, unable to stop grinning. To think, she hadn't even needed to do anything, and Bella had kissed her!

The kiss with Victoria ended, and Bella sat up straight and reluctantly pulled away. Victoria stared into Bella's face, so much emotion in her red and gold eyes, that Bella actually felt moved. Then Victoria reached out and stroked Bella's face, confirming that everything was real, that her mate had accepted her.

"I love you, Tori," Bella spoke aloud, wonder in her voice. She turned and reached out to Irina, stroking the blonde's hair. "And I love Irina too. To know that you're both my mates, that you're both going to stay with me...it's amazing. More than I ever would have imagined."

Victoria and Irina both smiled, although due to Irina's position-as she was still holding onto Bella with her head down- only Victoria's smile could be seen. However, Bella could feel Irina's smile just as much as she felt Victoria's, and it made her feel warm from the inside out.

"Can we just...talk? Hang out?" Bella asked hesitantly. "No talk of wolves, or past boyfriends, or anything stupid like that. I want...I want to get to know you two better. I want to hear of your pasts, what you like, what you hate, that kind of thing."

"Of course," both vampires said at the same time, but this time, there was no glare shot between them for saying the same thing.

"But we want to hear more about you as well," Victoria added.

"Don't think we won't ask any questions too," Irina added with a nod in agreement as she straightened from her position. She frowned as she added, "I know you said no talk about past boyfriends, but I still want to know what happened." She saw Bella's shoulders sag as dark emotions seemed to overcome her mate, and so she rushed to add, "You don't have to say it now! I just mean sometime soon, I need to know what happened because I don't like knowing you went through something horrible. You can totally-"

"It's fine, Irina," Bella assured the blonde, smiling as she got to see once more just how much Irina cared about her. "I can tell you what happened. We just won't dwell on it, okay?"

Irina nodded vigorously in agreement, so vigorously that even Victoria worried that the blonde might somehow break her neck. "Yeah. Yeah, of course!"

So they started talking. Bella did tell Irina what had happened to her, upsetting Irina and making Victoria relive Bella's pain all over again. But they didn't dwell on it, and they soon started to talk about other subjects. Victoria spoke about her past, how she had been turned by her sister, the coven she had been in, and how it was destroyed. Victoria's story even made Irina feel hurt for her as she realized how much it would destroy her if she lost her own sisters. But just like with Bella, Victoria moved on to happier subjects.

Irina told her story as well; her human life, how she was turned by her mother, the loss of said mother, her life up until now, although she didn't mention Laurent.

Every part that wasn't painful for the three girls to speak of, interested Bella to no end. To know how long they had lived, what they had seen...it all but blew Bella's mind. And, admittedly, it made Bella wonder if she would be turned and get to witness all of this as well-with Victoria and Irina by her sides, of course.

At one point, they fell into a comfortable silence. Somewhere along the way, Bella had leaned against Irina's chest, closing her eyes in pleasure. Irina smiled softly down at her, shifting to make the human more comfortable as she continued combing through Bella's hair with her fingers-something she had started doing quite a while ago-with her other arm wrapped around Bella's waist, securing the human against her. While Victoria usually would have wanted to be in Irina's position, what with Bella being in Irina's lap, she was still happy having captured Bella's legs, which she ran her hands along in a loving, distracted gesture.

Just knowing that Bella was happy was more than enough for either of them. And having shared so much between them, having spoken for so long, seemed to strengthen a bond not just between each vampire and Bella, but between the two vampires as well.

Despite how happy, how content, Bella was at the moment, a single worry wouldn't leave her alone. The human knew, without a doubt, that if she would never be able to truly relax until she got an answer to a question.

So Bella opened her eyes and sat up-or tried to, only to find both Irina and Victoria tightening their grips, refusing to release their mate, both making grumbling sounds of protest. Instead of sitting up and addressing the problem openly and seriously, with Bella facing both of them, she had no choice but to allow herself to be pulled back into her nearly horizontal position. Still, that wasn't going to stop her from asking her question.

"Victoria, Irina," Bella spoke softly, but was undeniably serious.

"Yes?"

"Yeah?" Victoria and Irina asked at the same time, both straightening as they sensed the importance of the situation. Something that Bella really wished that she could do, but sadly, it was clear that wasn't about to happen as the two vampires tightened their grip on Bella further, as if afraid she was about to disappear. While Bella obviously wasn't about to disappear, she did slide down Irina's body a few inches, so now she was nearly flat on her back. Well, at least from her new position, both women were currently looking down into Bella's face, and therefore Bella could look up at both of them at once, which was better than only looking at one of them.

"What happens next?" Bella asked, and the second the question was out, she started to chew on her lower lip with worry. This distracted both vampires, who felt a sudden and powerful urge to lean in, kiss the brunette, and free Bella's lower lip from her teeth so they could bite that lower lip instead.

Irina actually started to bend over to do just that, but Victoria managed to get a hold of herself so she could say, "What do you mean?"

Bella took a deep breath and stopped biting her lower lip, causing Irina to be released from the spell of Bella's mouth.

"I mean...I need to know. Do you plan on turning me into a vampire?"

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Tanya snarled as she paced the room as she tried to call Irina for the hundredth time, only for it to once again go straight to voicemail. "Fuck! This is bad."

Irina knew that she was supposed to keep her phone on, especially due to her emotional state and the need for Irina to call in to update her sister. Sure, she seemed to have become happier since coming to Forks, although Tanya was still unsure as to why, but that didn't mean anything. Not with dangerous wolves lurking around the area their sister was in.

Something was wrong; for Kate to be cut off mid call, then for no one to be able to get a call through since, something had to be wrong. Could Irina have been hurt? Killed? Could someone have canceled the call so as not to give something away?

"Enough calling!" Kate announced as she strode into the room. She stopped in front of Tanya, stopping the coven leader from pacing. Her eyes were pitch black, arms crossed over her chest, lips lifted in a half snarl. "Something bad could have happened to Irina. For all we know, she could be…" Kate trailed off, unable to finish that sentence. Letting out a frustrated snarl, she punched the nearest wall, creating a large hole. "We need to go to Forks, to find her! Why aren't we leaving already, Tanya?"

Tanya's hands curled into fists, and she looked past Kate, towards an equally worried Eleazar and Carmen, and she knew Kate was right. Not to mention if something really happened to Irina while Tanya was waiting for her to call, the coven leader would never forgive herself. She was not going to risk losing her sister.

Nobody thought to call Alice; instead, Tanya straightened and announced, "We're leaving immediately. If you feel the need to bring anything, go get it now." Nobody rushed out to get anything and Carmen and Eleazar immediately stood up, ready to go. "Good. Now, let's go; we're going to Forks." At Tanya's words, the four vampires took off.

They didn't know what awaited them, but they didn't care. They would do anything to make sure Irina was safe.