Chapter One: Beginnings Are Always Normal.

 Its five past six. Almost time. I got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. I brushed my teeth twice, just in case I had left over lunch on my breath, brushed my hair, and wandered off to my enormous closet Aunt Alice made Dad and Mom put in. Hmm I thought. What should I wear? And then a scent caught my attention. Silk. I turned and searched for the scent. There, by the dark chocolate brown drawer, was a dark blue silk sun dress. It was beautiful no doubt but it looked too dressy. It made me flush just thinking of Aunt Alice seeing why I would need it. But it was awfully hot today...I shrugged, why not? After I got dressed I went down the stairs to sit in the pale on pale colored living room and looked out the long wide glass windows and waited for his scent. Uncle Emmett teases me about the "wolf smell" but I don't even notice. My mind is always somewhere else when I’m with Jac-
"Renesmee," Dad said from the other room. "Could you please think of something else?” I flushed and thought "Get out of my head then" as loud as possible. I didn't like it when he was in my head…but he couldn’t really help it. Sigh. "Sorry Dad." I thought. "I shouldn’t have been so rude. I’m not mad at you.” I heard him set his book down and heard his steps as he walked to sit next to me. "What’s bothering you Nessie?" Dad asked. I didn’t know what to say because the fact was, everything was wrong! Jake was always gone most of the days and when we were together it was for only a little while. And to top that off when we were together he was half asleep! He was like a zombie. “Dad” I thought “Is there something going on with Jake that I don’t know about?” I felt him hesitate. I turned to glare at him through squinted eyes. “Dad” I repeated threw my teeth “Is there?” He stared at me for a second and then sighed, seeming to have made a decision. I hoped he made the right one otherwise there would be a fit. He sighed once again and began slowly. “Nessie….I know your worried, but Jacob asked me precisely not to mention anything to you. He didn’t want you to worry love.” Before my eyes smothered; now they blazed. He didn’t want me to know!?! And my Dad was listening to him?“What is it that he’s hiding from me?” He looked at me with guilt filled eyes. I knew then that I was not going to get an answer.

“Fine” I thought. “I’ll ask Mom,” I said, turning and dashing to the library before Dad could grab me. Mom was sitting there studying as usual. I expected to just walk in but of course I should’ve known better, of course Dad would be there blocking me. He looked at me with disapproving eyes. “Nessie, there’s no need to be hasty,” Dad said. “Dad,” I moaned. “Please?” He stared at me with pained eyes; he didn’t like denying me things. But before he could answer, Mom said “What’s wrong Renesmee?” eyeing me with worry. Dad looked at Mom and said “Bella love, shouldn’t we respect Jacobs wishes? Were you not the one to suggest it?” I turned to glare at my Mom. She was my Mom and she had not said a word to me. She looked at me with shamed eyes, like a child getting caught up in a lie. She sighed and then gave Dad a very meaningful look. He smiled and nodded. Ugh I knew Mom and Dad were having a private “conversation”, because Dad could hear Mom now. Then he sighed and disappeared. I looked at Mom and she looked amused. Was my irritation so humorous? Before I could get even more irritated, Mom said “Renesmee why don’t you come here and talk to me.” I strode into the room but paused to close the door, and then went to sit next to Mom. When I sat down she hugged me close and kissed my forehead. Then she sighed. “Renesmee I know you must be frustrated, but you have to learn some patience. Things aren’t always going to go your way you know?” I looked at her and said “Yes I know that but it’s so frustrating! Being the only who doesn’t know!” Mom grimaced and laughed a soft laugh. “Honey, I understand more than you know.” I sighed. Mom had gotten into the habit of trying to distract me like Dad usually did. “Mom, could you please stop trying to distract me?” She grimaced again, knowing I’d caught her…again. Dad always said she was a bad liar. She sighed and said “What do you want to know?” I thought about that for a few seconds and asked “What did Dad mean by you being the one to suggest it?” I moved from under her arm to look at her so she couldn’t lie to me. She looked at me and said “Well Renesmee….I’m the one who suggested that Jacob agree with me to keep it away from you as long as possible.” She stared at me, watching my reaction. My mouth was pulled into a hard line. My eyes were getting much too blurry with angry tears; I inherited that from my Mom, crying when you were furious, great. I thought of getting up and jumping out of the open window and running to the river but before I could do that Mom grabbed me and held my face in her cool hands and stared me right in the eyes and said “We didn’t do it to hurt you Nessie. We did it because we know you worry so much about Jake and we didn’t want it to affect you. Now please calm down before I have to call Jasper in here.” I just looked at her. How did she see that in Jake? He and I were best friends but still…sometimes it seemed like I couldn’t see through him…but Mom could. She always did. “Mom” I said slowly, “How do you know Jake so well?” She looked uncomfortable and shifted her weight to her left, which leaned away from me. “Well…er…um…” she was struggling for words…what did that mean? “Mom” I said truly anxious now. “Er…when the day comes…I’ll tell you.” I didn’t know if I could trust her but before I could say anything I smelt the scent I had been waiting for all day. I hopped up, forgetting my anger for a bit and ran to the door. Before I could step out Dad was there. In my rush to get to the door I slammed into him. We both hit the floor with a loud BAM. I struggled to get out from under when I found myself flying up. I was already on my feet. Dad looked at me and said “Renesmee I talked to Jacob an-“ before he could finish his sentence I said “Well I hope you told him how much trouble he’s in becau-“ This time he interrupted me saying “Love go easy on him. He didn’t want to cause you any stress. “Before I could say a word Mom was there backing Dad up. “Renesmee dear, you need to understand that Jake is doing his best to make you happy. Now stop being so stubborn and go before he passes out again.” Ugh she was so right! I was wasting my precious time here arguing like a teenager! I took a deep breath and blew it out noisily. “Fine,” I grumped. I turned to walk down to the front door hearing his heart beat. Already, Dad was on the couch reading a book. “Not too late love. You still have school tomorrow.” I turned to glower at him. Why would you say that when Jake was right here? “He has good hearing you know,” I thought loudly at Dad. He smiled widely and then turned to look at me. He stared at me and said “Love you look so much like your mother, so beautiful,” and smiled warmly at me. I couldn’t help smiling back. I ran next to him, kissed him on the cheek and hollered “Bye Mom. See you in a few.” I dashed to the front door and of course there Jacob was. His dark skin always so beautiful, his dark kind eyes always so welcoming, his lips always so- “Hey,” he said. “Hi,” I said back. We stared at each other for a minute then I realized I was supposed to be mad at him and that he had some explaining to do so I narrowed my eyes and said “Well shall we? You have quite a bit to explain don’t you?” Jacob grimaced and laughed a nervous laugh and said “Yeah I do.” Then a look crossed his face. Was it worry or pain? That made me anxious. I heard a gag sound from upstairs and immediately knew it was Aunt Rosalie. Jake whispered "Ooh scary psycho Barbie," and chuckled when he heard her hiss. “Be nice” I muttered. They knew how I hated them fighting like that. I could also hear Aunt Alice and Grandma Esme chatting excitedly about how adorable this dress was on me. Ugh. Ready to escape and hear Jakes voice again I took his always warm hand in mine and we were off. We ran until we were on the trail. The smell of earth and grass surrounded us. I turned to see Jake running into the brush so he could phase. It was cool now. Nothing ever felt cold to me. I waited until I saw my favorite wolf come out of the brush with his clothes in his mouth. He dropped it on the floor and I picked it up. This was a usual thing. I grabbed the clothes in one hand and grabbed a hand full of red brown fur and we disappeared into the forest of greens.

 He ran with me on his back. The speed was so fresh and strong, it gave me a high. We didn’t speak but it wasn’t awkward or too quite, I almost forgot that I was supposed to be furious with him; Almost. My hand was on the side of his face so he knew that. He barked out a low laugh in his wolf form. We were in La Push now. He was jogging very slowly still keeping to the forest; no one knew that the legends were actually true except the ones who turned into wolves themselves. I could smell the wolf scent everywhere, it was strong but I didn’t think they smelled. Once again Jacob laughed his laugh as he heard my thoughts. That brought back my irritation. He was in my head too. I couldn’t have privacy here and I couldn’t have privacy at my own house! It was so annoying! Then I felt his head dip lower which left my hand on his shoulder. Great, he had heard that. I quickly put my hand on his head and thought “I’m sorry Jake. I didn’t mean to be mean. I’m sorry. Don’t be upset okay?” He didn’t respond. I had ruined the day before it even began. I was such a terrible person. I took my hand away, so he wouldn’t hear what I said. “Jake you can take me home. I know I was being mean and it wasn’t fair. You don’t have to deal with me,” I whispered in a low voice so my voice wouldn’t crack and so he couldn’t hear the pain in my voice. But of course he did; He knew me too well. He stopped abruptly and turned his big head to stare at me with one of his dark eyes. He examined my face for a second and then turned to a rock. That was my cue to get off so he could change. I got off without looking at him, because I knew that without a doubt if I did, I would cry. He ran in a hurry into the forest to phase. I looked out on the cliff to try to calm myself down. Mom said she had jumped of this very cliff for fun when she was human and ended up almost drowning. Mom said Jake saved her…again. If Mom jumped off now she wouldn’t get hurt. As I thought this over I heard Jacob’s almost silent, anxious footsteps come from behind and felt him sit next to me. With one long warm arm, he put it over my shoulders and pushed me close to him. With the other he held my face so he could read my eyes. Jacob looked at me and said “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just figured that you wanted your privacy.” I stared at him with wide, confused eyes. Jacob was worried that he had hurt my feelings?? I had been the one who was being rude to him and yet he worried about me. I was speechless. I didn’t deserve Jake as a friend. He was much too good for me. Then I felt warm fingers smooth out my forehead; I had inherited that from Mom as well. “Nessie” Jacob said in a soft voice “What is it?” I shook my head and said “It’s nothing really. I was just thinking of how I didn’t deserve you as a friend.” Jacob stared at me with passionate eyes “Renesmee don’t say that. If there was someone who didn’t deserve something good it would be- I cut him off. “Jake. Could we please stop talking about this?” The pain of knowing that he was always too good for me hurt me so much. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore, one day he was going to imprint and he’d be gone. He would be my best friend still but he would only be half of my best friend. It hurt so bad my breath came out in a huff like id been punched in the stomach. Why did it hurt so much? Was it because he could only give me half of him? Whatever it was I didn’t like thinking of it. He stiffened and said in a quick worried voice “Renesmee are you okay? What happened? Hey why is your face turning blue?” With every word, his voice got higher. I had to find strength to stop him before he went mad. I turned to him and whispered “It’s okay Jake. Just give me a second here.” I took several deep breaths. The pain faded and then I turned to Jake so he could see that I was alright. “See,” I said “Totally okay.” Jacob stared at not really sure I was fine. I sighed then put my hand on his face and thought “Really I’m fine,” and he knew it was true. Then Jacob looked out to the ocean. Abruptly a thought came to me. We were on the cliff, not on the beach on our drift wood. That was odd. Jake only took me to the cliff when he had something important to say, of course telling me why he was always so tired and what he had been hiding from me was important but it seemed to be a simple issue. Why would he bring me here to just tell me? Panic pierced my body then, my face went white. Jake was going to tell me more; he was going to tell me something I didn’t want to know. My heart beat faster; I could hear it loudly now. Jake turned to look at me and said “What’s wrong Nessie?” I didn’t look at him. I just stared at the blue green water and asked in a broken whisper “Jake…what’s going on?” Jake seemed to understand that I’d figured something out. He sighed and said “Renesmee there’s been some...issues in the Makah’s land…” I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I started to gasp little quiet gasps. He didn’t know if he should continue on and hesitated but eventually said “Sam wants to go and check it out for a while…maybe a week or two and…he…he wants me to go, to lead a group with him.” Jacob crouched in front of me to watch my expression; I’m sure he saw nothing but pain. That’s what he had been hiding from me. That’s what he had brought me up here to talk about. Jacob was going to leave. My mind flickered back to the last time he left. He had been gone for 4 months. When he came back he had been tapped up because a vampire had kicked him in the side breaking all his right ribs...again. The whole time he was gone, I was useless. I didn’t want to go to school, I didn’t want to eat. I knew I was causing my family pain but the pain they felt was nothing compared to the pain that I felt when he left. When he left he took half of me with him. I always stayed up at night wondering if he would come back, for there was always a risk of not coming back. I was suddenly furious. Who did Sam think he was? Sam was risking all of their lives! Trying to protect everyone! Why couldn’t he just protect La Push like he was supposed to? Every time he went, he took my Jacob with him! I was so over whelmed with emotions, so caught up in the moment; I didn’t notice that my body was reacting. I was shaking violently and gasping loudly now, no longer trying to hide my emotions. I didn’t feel Jacobs always warm hands catch me as I fell forward. I couldn’t hear what he said; all I could see was the rapid movement of his beautiful lips and his dark eyes with worry in them. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, but I forced my lips to whisper “Jacob, please...d-d-don’t go...please,” and then the darkness took over.


Chapter Two: Revelation.

  When I woke up I heard low murmurs from outside the door. I looked around and saw that I was in my bed. “Just a bad dream,” I thought. I stretched my stiff arms and legs and started to get up when Dad and Mom came in. Dad rushed to my right side and lightly pushed me down on the bed. “Stay in bed love.” Dad’s eyes were furious. “Why?” I said. Mom came to my left and said “It’s going to be okay Renesmee. Jacob will be here in a few minutes,” and threw Dad a stern look. Mom rarely ever did that. “Oh no,” I gasped. “NO!” I cried, slumping toward the floor, my heart aching. Tears ran wildly from my eyes. Dad caught me and had me cradled against his cool chest. He was wiping my eyes, though that didn’t help, as soon as he wiped one away three more came. He murmured in my ear “It’s alright love. Shhh.” My silent tears became sobs. Mom and Dad just sat there patting me and saying sorry. We sat there for who knows how long, letting me cry my frustration and pain out. It felt like eternity but I knew it was just me. I told myself that I had to get a grip of myself, I had to shut up. So I managed to stop the sobbing but for the salty tears, there was no end. I thought my eyes would run dry but they did the exact opposite, they kept coming. Mom held me and Dad held her and I. Dad rocked from side to side like when I was little and had a nightmare; Dad would always sing me a song and rock me to sleep. But right now I didn’t want to sleep, I wanted to find Sam and I wanted to tell him exactly what he was doing. I wanted to make him feel some damn responsibility for what he was doing. Again as I thought of this, the sobs came back. Eventually though, my swollen red eyes grew heavy and I fell asleep. I felt Dad put me under the covers then kiss my head, Mom did the same but whispered in my ear; “It’s going to be alright Renesmee,” and then I heard the whisper of their feet leave me my room and the door being shut quietly. I was asleep but even while I was sleeping I knew the tears didn’t stop, they ran free making my pillow and hair damp. I just kept thinking “No Jacob. Stay with me, please,” but I knew they were in vain. He was going to go, and he was going to leave me. I couldn’t sleep any longer so I opened my eyes. They hurt. I listened to the voices down stairs. Everyone was worried about me. I heard Aunt Rosalie hiss “Who does this dog think he is?! Does he think leaving her again will help anything?” I heard Uncle Emmett pat her shoulder and say “Rose calm down.” Although he told her to calm down he was having a hard time too. She just fumed beside him grumbling about ripping his worthless throat out. “If he thinks he’s going to hurt her again he has another thing coming!” Aunt Alice hissed. “You’re completely right. The dog has crossed the line,” Uncle Jasper answered in angrily. I heard Dad whisper to Mom “He will not hurt her again. I will not let it happen again Bella. I understand you, but he is hurting her. He’s lucky I don’t go and find him… now.” When Dad said the last word he sounded so furious words couldn’t describe it. Grandma Esme wasn’t mad but she was worried. “Well she be alright Alice?” Grandma Esme whispered urgently to Aunt Alice. Alice said nothing and so she turned to Grandpa Carlisle to say “Carlisle have you checked on her? Is she alright?” Grandpa Carlisle sighed and said “Yes Esme. She’s fine. She just has a lot on her mind. She’ll come down when she wants too.” Mom and Grandpa Carlisle were the only calm ones. Mom kept telling Dad to calm down. She kept saying it was going to be alright. I suddenly felt very irritated. She kept saying it was going to be alright when nothing was going to be alright! Jacob could possibly not come back! I heard Dad get up and walk up the stairs, towards my room. He must have heard my thoughts. He opened the door, and left it open because Mom was coming as well, and came and sat on my right side once again.

By the time he sat down next to me, Mom was closing the door. Then she was beside me. I looked at them both. Mom, calm yet upset, Dad, furious and pained. I didn’t notice that I was crying again until Dad and Mom wiped my eyes. Dad looked me in the eyes and said “Love Jacob is coming here now. He wants to see you, but if you do not wish to see him then it’s perfectly fine. No one will give you a hard time,” and looked at Mom, raising his right brow daring her to disagree. Mom sighed and patted my cheek and said “Renesmee, if you don’t want to see him than that’s fine. But I know it will hurt you more not seeing him go.” I stared at her, gaping. He was leaving today. I couldn’t breathe again. I started gasping again. My head spun. Everything was going wrong. Not only did he intend on leaving me, he intended to leave me today. Dad looked at my Mom and hissed “Forget him seeing her. He’s hurting her and he’s not even here! Imagine how it will be if she is there!” Mom nodded and sniffed. “He’s here.” After she said that she looked at me, sighed and kissed me and said “Do what you think will be easier,” and got up and left. Dad looked at me and said “Love, your suffering so much…is there anything I can do?” Before Dad finished his eyes were haunted and his voice pained. I looked at him and said “Dad….tell him...that I would like to see him…before he…leaves.” My voice cracked at the end. Dad stared at me with wordless eyes. He seemed to have to take a few breaths to calm down. He looked at me and said through his teeth “He is hurting you so much and yet you want to see him? “ He was definitely angry now. “Dad,” I said. “Please?” He stared at me and then nodded once. “I will tell the dog but if he says one word that so much as makes you cry again I will rip his insignificant- “Dad…please, “I said. I didn’t want to imagine Dad and Jake fighting. He nodded and kissed my cheek and left. As soon as he left I ran to the door and closed it. I had to cry myself out before Jacob came. I would not let him see me shed one tear. I had been hurt again and again and now it was his turn. I cried for five minutes and then decided it was enough. I got up and walked to my bathroom. I went in and looked at myself. Ugh. I looked exactly like I’d been crying and sleeping all day. I took a brush and started brushing through my hair. I brushed my hair until I could put my fingers through it without getting stuck. Then I brushed my teeth. “Why am I doing all of this?” I questioned myself. This was no special event. But I couldn’t help it. After I had brushed my teeth, I went and sat in my rocking chair. Mom had given it to me; she said it had been hers as well. I sat rocking and thinking. Would he come? Could I handle it? Could I handle seeing him turn his back and disappearing into the forest? I inhaled deeply and let it sit there for a minute, and then I had to breathe so I blew it out. I rocked and listened to the voices down stairs. Aunt Rosalie was hissing at -wince- Jake. “So, dog you think going up there to see her is a good idea when you’re just going to turn right around and leave?!” Aunt Rosalie nearly screeched. Jacob spoke then. “I have to see her before I leave. I have to make her see that I will come back and I have to apologize for doing this to her…I have too,” he whispered. Aunt Alice broke the silence hissing “The hell you do, you stupid mutt! Rosalie is right. You need to leave now!” I heard someone move forward and someone pulled them back. “Dad,” I thought, “Send him up here… I just want to get this over with.” He heard me and hissed at Jacob “She wants to see you now, but before you go mongrel understand this; if she so happens to shed a tear, I will rip your miserable head off.” Jacob sighed and said “Sure sure,” and started up the stairs. As I heard his footsteps coming towards my room my heart spiked. Why was my heart trying to jump out of my chest? To show the damage he was causing me perhaps. Then I heard a low knock. I didn’t know if I could answer but I tried. “Come in” I whispered; my hands turned sweaty and a cold sweat clung to my back. I expected to see his beautiful dark skin but was surprised to see Dad. His eyes were anxious. He came and sat down next to me and looked me in the eyes and said “Love, if you feel that you can’t handle anymore, I’ll be right here. Do you understand me?” I sighed and moaned “Dad, I’m not six anymore.” Dad chuckled and said “You will always be my little Renesmee.” I smiled but then grimaced. “Dad,” I thought “please go get him.” Dad sighed and then got up and left and was back in the same second. I could hear Jacob’s heart beat behind the wall. Then I heard him take a deep breath and I heard him take the four necessary steps to enter my room and then there he stood, looking so beautiful it shattered my heart. I swallowed loudly. Dad looked at him with unfriendly eyes and said to me “Love, I’ll be here if you need me.” Obviously a warning to Jacob. He turned to glare at Jake for a second then left, closing the door behind him. I didn’t look away from the door. I heard his breathing speed up at the same time mine did. I didn’t know what to say, but I had to get this over with. I was so hurt, my voice came out sharp. “Let’s just get this over with. Say what you have to say.”

I heard him hesitate then he sighed. “Renesmee…I didn’t know how to tell you…” he trailed off letting his pathetic answer hang in the air. “Then what would have been better? You just disappearing?” I whispered. He sighed and said “I don’t know Nessie. I don’t think anything would have made this easier.” I knew then that I would break my promise; not shedding a tear in front of him. I felt his eyes on my face, watching me. I felt the silent tears come down my face. Next thing I know I was in Jacob’s warm arms. My head was on his shoulder and he had his arms wrapped around my waist. That on a regular day would have made me blush but it didn’t now, this was a parting embrace. I felt his warm hand stroke my hair from top to bottom. “Renesmee I don’t want to leave but I have too. We need to solve it…we need to help,” he whispered. “Jake,” I whispered “I can’t deal with not knowing wither you’ll come back,” my voice cracked on the end. He pulled me back to stare at him. His eyes blazed with determination and spoke each word through his teeth “Renesmee. I .Will. Come. Back. I will come back to you. I promise I will.” I stared at him and said “Jake…what about when you’re not here?” His eyes softened and said “Renesmee…every moment I’m away…I’ll be wishing to be here, just like now, holding you like this.” I looked at him and couldn’t help but be speechless. He was telling the truth. He would come back, for me. He would. He stared at me and I stared back and then something changed, but in truth nothing had changed. We were still looking at each other, but there was a low burning in me. The atmosphere was electric. His head was tilted towards me to look into my eyes and my arms where around his strong warm shoulders and his arms were wrapped around my waist. Our heads started to incline towards one another, I felt his breath coming closer and I felt a sudden panic; I didn’t know how to do this! Sure I’ve always yearned to touch his beautiful lips, to feel them against mine but I didn’t know how to do this. His face was still coming towards mine and mine was still going towards his and finally our lips met; His lips were as soft as they looked. I didn’t know what to do but our lips were moving together. They moved like two puzzle pieces being put together; perfectly. My hands twisted in his shaggy hair as his hands sled to the small of my back and the back of my neck. I felt his lips part as soon as mine did. We moved together. He stopped kissing my lips and went to my neck. He kissed my neck tenderly from the arch to the tip of my shoulder. I shuttered. It was like nothing I’ve felt before. I pulled his face back up and kissed his neck just as he did mine. He shuttered as well. Then as if we could read each other’s minds our lips met again. I heard nothing but our lips moving together and our hearts beating too loudly. Below was silent. But I didn’t have time to care. My mind was thinking of what this meant. Is this why it hurt so much to let him go? Was it because I loved him? I felt our breathing slow as our lips moved slower and slower until we stopped. I felt his fingers wipe away the tears that were flowing slowly down. He pulled my face towards his so he could look me in the eyes. I looked at his face and it was so peaceful. One of his hands slipped from holding my face, to trace my lips. I lifted my hand to caress his beautiful face. He looked at me with some new emotion in his eyes; love. I dropped my hand to his neck so I could bring myself closer to him, but before I could he picked my hand back up and placed it on his cheek and leaned into it. He smiled at me and I smiled back. He bent his face down to mine and we kissed intensely once again. Then he straightened up and smiled at me and said “We better go down.” I nodded. He took my hand and led the way. I was suddenly very scared. I didn’t know what everyone’s reaction was going to be. I slowed as the light grew brighter. He felt me slow and turned to look at me and said “What’s wrong?” I looked down at our hands intertwined and then to the bright light where everything was quite. Jacob chuckled and said “They knew it was going to happen so there not shocked.” I looked at him confused. How did they know? Jacob looked at me and laughed and said “Come on,” and urged me forward. I took a hesitant step then I realized I didn’t care. I loved Jacob and he loved me and if someone had a problem with it, then they would have to deal with me. This time I lead the way. We walked into the bright room to find everyone sitting. Everyone looked at us with different emotions. Mom with a happy expression, Dad with a slightly upset expression yet peaceful at the same time, Aunt Rosalie grimaced, Uncle Emmett trying to hide a mocking grin, Grandpa Carlisle relieved ,Grandma Esme relieved and excited, Aunt Alice somewhat upset also but very relieved and Uncle Jasper well he looked…just sick. I had to laugh at his expression. As soon as I laughed, everyone relaxed. I felt Jake turn toward the door. I knew then that it was time for him to go. I sighed. Everyone seemed to pick up on my mood and started their good-byes. Grandpa Carlisle was the first to speak. He said “Jacob to the best of luck.” Esme spoke next saying “Jacob, please be careful. You have things to worry about now.” She looked at our hands to make her point. Aunt Alice spoke next saying “Listen to Esme. She is right. You have priorities now, Dog.” Jasper chucked and said “Travel well Jacob.” Aunt Rosalie glared at him and said through her teeth “You had better come back.” Uncle Emmett said “Good luck Jacob. I guess I’ll be seeing you around then huh?” and laughed his loud laugh and made me blush. Mom was the next to speak. “Jacob, please do be careful. Renesmee needs you,” She said in a light voice. Dad was the last. He seemed to be the most aggravated; he could hear Jakes thoughts. I blushed again. He said “Yes Jacob, do be careful and I am not just speaking of your trip, I am speaking of your thoughts too. Heed this warning for there will be no more after this.” Uncle Emmett burst in to laughter and I blushed again and tugged on Jakes hand so we could have some privacy. We went out the door into the cool night. The moon was bright against the black sky, along with all the stars. Tonight was beautiful. We stared at the sky for a moment then he turned to me and said “You are so beautiful.” I smiled then wrapped my arms around his neck and stretched on my toes to kiss him. He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. I broke away to look into his eyes. We stared at each other wordlessly. He stared at me like he wanted to say something but didn’t know if he should? Finally, he determined that he would say it. He held my face in his hands and said “I love you Renesmee.” My heart thumped unevenly, which was terrible because he heard it and smiled. I didn’t know if he was waiting for me to say it or not but I said it anyways. I wanted it to be official. “I love you Jacob,” I said. He smiled. He bent down and kissed me tenderly once more, hugged me tight and then started toward the forest. My heart thumped unevenly as his hold left and his figure started to disappear. “Jake!” I called out. I heard him stop and I ran. I ran to him and hugged him with all my might. Then I grabbed his face in both of my hands and stared at him and said “Kiss me and then come back.” He looked at me with surprise and then did as he was told. He kissed me passionately almost violently, but of course it didn’t hurt, and then said “Renesmee I will return. I will.” I nodded and then sighed and said “Come back to me without a scratch.” As I said that I stared into his eyes and he smiled and said “Renesmee, for you I would do anything.” “I love you Jake.” “I love you Renesmee,” And then I watched him walk away into the never ending darkness of the forest.


Chapter Three: Tick Tock.

 It’s been five days since Jake left. Sigh. Sam was making them stay for a whole two weeks. He called me every day but it still made me sad. We just realized our love for one another and we couldn’t even be together. I kept thinking of his soft lips against mine, they felt perfectly right. I remembered the warmth of his hands on the small of my back and on my face. And then I felt cool hands shaking me. “Nessie,” I heard Aunt Rosalie’s beautiful voice. “Nessie, wake up dear, it’s time for school.” Ugh. I couldn’t escape school for long. I sighed and sat up. “Okay Aunt Rosalie. I’m up.” She laughed and said “Don’t worry Nessie, it’s Friday.” “True.” I said. She laughed lightly and said “Breakfast is on the table,” and left. After she closed the door I got up and stretched. After my stretch, I wandered off to the bathroom to take my shower. I got in and let the hot water run over my body. When I got out, I looked in the mirror and looked at myself. Something was so off about me. It had been harder to put my towel around me…hm. My breast must have grown. I let the towel drop and saw that they had grown. They were large A’s last time I checked, they looked a bit bigger, but not huge big. I shrugged and went to put my clothes on and realized my bras didn’t fit anymore! Great! I thought. This was so irritating. I grabbed my towel and ran out of my bedroom door. “Mom” I yelled. She came up the stairs with a bag in her hand. She grinned at me and said “Alice stopped by the store while you were asleep.” I grinned and sighed with relief. “Thanks Aunty Alice! I own you big time!” I yelled and heard her laugh her slivery laugh. “Go get dressed honey,” Mom said. I hugged her and ran into my room to get changed. I put my new purchased black ruffled bra on. It was pretty…well I don’t think the word pretty described it…it looked…sexy? I flushed red. I shook my head as if to shake out the thought and ran into my closet to see what I would wear. Aunt Alice stalked my closet with the latest clothing all the time so it didn’t surprise me when I saw different shirts hanging in the closet. I didn’t like dressing up, it made me feel weird; I only dressed up on special occasions. Aunt Alice said Mom was the same way. I turned to look for a pair of jeans and a regular tee-shirt Jacob brought me; it said werewolves rule. I laughed. Wasn’t it ironic? People made these shirts not realizing that in truth werewolves were a main part of this world, just as vampires were. I laughed again. I grabbed a comb and combed my bronze ringlets until they were soft. I realized then that my hair had grown three inches since Wednesday. I would go to the hair dresser today. I brushed my teeth and once I was done I grabbed my cell phone and book bag and left my room. I walked down the stairs and saw Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper sitting in the love seat holding hands speaking quietly. “Good morning Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper.” They both looked at my outfit and laughed. “Where did you get that disgusting shirt from?” Uncle Jasper asked in a joking tone. I laughed and said “Jake gave me it.” He nodded and turned back to Aunt Alice who looked like she was in pain. “What’s wrong Aunt Alice?” I asked anxiously. Uncle Jasper laughed and said “Don’t worry about her, she just wants to change your clothes.” I grinned at her and said “Don’t worry Aunt Alice; you can dress me up when I get home.” She smiled and saw that we were going to the mall later to get my hair cut. She turned back to Uncle Jasper and they continued on with their conversation. I wandered off to the kitchen and saw Mom and Dad sitting at the kitchen table, Mom reading a book and Dad reading the news paper. They both looked up at me. Mom grinned; Dad snorted. I ignored Dads reaction, grabbed the pop tarts and walked to where Mom sat and kissed her on the cheek then Dads. I heard Uncle Emmett say “Nessie, you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry.” “Bye Mom and Dad. See you later. Love you guys,” I yelled as I ran to the garage where Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett sat waiting for me in Auntie Rosalie’s shinny red convertible. I sighed. This was sure to make me look normal. I got in anyways; this was the fastest way to go.

Uncle Emmett started the car and the house quickly disappeared behind us. I ate slowly and thought of my school. This was my last year in High School but I didn’t really get the point of it; I knew everything already. Dad taught me everything as soon as I could write. I knew more than the teachers themselves and yet I had to still endure it. Why couldn’t Grandpa Carlisle just home school me? At least it would be challenging then. Dad said that he and his family were excluded from everyone else in High School; they were freaks. But me, everyone is my friend. I know practically everyone. I guess you could consider me as a “popular” girl. I don’t care about that though. Guys always drool after me and girls always envy me and teachers love me. High School wasn’t bad, it was just boring. I wish I went to school with Jacob, and then we would always be together. I smiled at the thought and sighed. Mom said I couldn’t because it would distract me; and I knew she was right. We arrived at my school; Forks High School. I got out of the car and said brief good-byes to Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett and turned to go to my first class of the day. As I walked I was greeted by one of my favorite friends, Luna. Luna was beautiful. She had the same white skin as my parents did and the same golden eyes. Her face was that of a china doll. Her long dark curly midnight colored hair sat on her shoulders, her almond shaped golden eyes always so trusting with luscious lashes that touched her skin when she looked down, her lips full and balanced, her nose perfectly straight, her cheek bones high and prominent, her long arms and legs so graceful. She was a beauty. Luna always disagreed with me saying that I was born looking the way I did, she was turned, but still I couldn’t deny that she was beautiful, every bit as Mom and Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie. Luna met me half way and we kissed each other’s cheek. This was something she did to everyone when she lived in France. She too was a vampire who had followed Grandpa Carlisle’s way of life; preying only on animals. She knew my whole family, she even knew Jake. She didn’t like his smell but she liked him. She smiled at me and whispered “Tell me!” in her strong French ascent. I knew what she was talking about. She wanted to know the details of what I had already told her somewhat of what happened between me and Jake. I nodded and started as we walked side by side being greeted by all our fellow class mates. I heard Phil, an annoying, obnoxious, loud mouth jock, whisper to his best bud Alex “I bet I could get her to go to the homecoming dance with me.” As we passed I laughed out loud. I wouldn’t go out with him even if I wasn’t madly in love. Luna giggled having heard him. I heard both of their heart rates splutter as they heard our voices. I was no Aunt Alice but boys were so predictable. Luna and I had basically every class together except for Advanced Physics. That was the highest I could go. Sigh. We had about a minute left to get to class and I didn’t want to have to rush to class so I turned to Luna and said “I’ll tell you at lunch.” Luna nodded and turned the corner to get to her class. I walked into Physics and went to sit at my seat, conceiving a few hellos’s here and there until Mr. Mason called the class to attention. Sigh. This was going to be a long day, but thankfully I sat in the back next to the window. I stared out the window not bothering to act like I was paying attention; Mr. Mason could never catch me off guard. My mind didn’t want to think about Mr. Mason, it wanted to think of Jacob. I was remembering that whole night and sighed, I did this so often Adam, the boy who sat beside me, did not turn as I had intended but a boy who sat directly across from my table did. He turned his head in my direction and turned back around. Who was this boy? I reviewed all the student’s faces in my head and could not pick his face out. Ah, so this was the new student we had been expecting. I walked right by him and didn’t even see him.

Hmm, that was awfully rude of me. I would introduce myself to him later. I looked back at him and saw that he was beautiful and familiar. Why was that? I thought about it for a few seconds and then realized that he reminded me of Jake, though they were total opposites. He had pearl colored skin and hair as light as hay. I had an urge to look at his eyes; I wanted to know how they looked. He must have felt someone staring so he turned towards my direction. The moment he looked over, it looked like I was just staring outside, which was perfect. If I hadn’t acted like this, he would have known that I was the one gawking but I had much practice with this; I would often stare at Jake and at first he would always catch me and I would always blush, but after a while he couldn’t catch me. Thinking of Jacob made me feel all warm inside and made my lips tingle, remembering how they felt under his. But while I thought of this I still saw him staring; his eyes were a beautiful dark gray with a hint of blue. They were absolutely beautiful, like nothing I had ever seen. I’d seen colors from brilliant red to gold to brown to blue to green to hazel but nothing like his before. I turned my head to look towards the front and he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe; his face was turning a slight blue. I smiled at him and heard him gasp in some air and his heart doubling over. My smile grew wider hearing his reaction. His breathing sped up again and he was gawking at me...again. His whole body was turned in my direction now. Mr. Mason seemed to notice now and said “Well Mr. Vandergilt what is your opinion?” in a clearly irritated voice. What was his name? He didn’t know what to say so I covered him. “Um Mr. Mason, it was my fault. I asked him where we were because I didn’t hear you and I didn’t want to interrupt you,” I lied smoothly and added an innocent smile. Vandergilt looked at me thankfully. Mr. Mason looked at me with suspicious eyes; He never had to repeat a word to me. He couldn’t push it any further so he cleared his throat and said “Well then Miss Cullen, you should try to pay closer attention so this will not repeat itself?” I nodded and said “Yes Mr. Mason. It won’t happen again, I assure you,” and smiled at him with the most angelic smile I could manage. He nodded and turned back to the front continuing where he had left off. Vanderglit was still staring at me; was he stupid? Did he want us to get in trouble again? “Turn around!” I hissed at him. He suddenly sat up and nodded and turned to pretend that he was listening; he kept his head at an angle so he could still look at me. That made me smile. The rest of the class passed quickly by with a dream like feel. The bell rang which meant it was time for lunch; Luna would be waiting for me. I got up and walked towards the door excited to get out of this hell hole trying to juggle my book bag, books, and cell phone. I walked hastily towards the lunch room where Luna would be waiting at our lunch table wanting to know what happened with me and Jake; usually when I started to think of Jake I forgot what was going on, so as I walked through the doors toward my table, my phone fell. I bent down to get it but a hand beat me there. I jerked up waiting for Phil to read me a corny line out of his pick up line book but instead of seeing blue eyes I saw dark grey eyes. We stared at each other for a second and then he handed me my phone. “Here you are.” I couldn’t move my eyes from his; I was mesmerized. He just looked at me while I stared at him, and finally I could think. “Uh…err…yeah…th-thanks,” I stammered blushing crimson. He probably thought I was mentally incompetent or something. I didn’t know what to do so I said “Well um thanks,” and smiled not meeting his eyes, though it looked like it to any human. I smiled again and walked to my table. Luna was there looking at me with an excited expression. “What was that all about?” she said nodding toward Vandergilt. “Um I don’t know,” I said honestly. She looked at me for a few seconds then started with “So tell me what happened with wolf-boy!” I rolled my eyes. She had started that irritating name for Jacob. I gave her that face; the I’m-not-going-to-tell-you-anything face because she knew I didn’t like it. She stared at me then said “Oh. I mean Jacob.” I nodded and started telling her about it. She nodded and laughed at some parts, but on most of the parts I could tell she was with Aunt Rosalie and Aunt Alice. Finally I told her about the end and she had about the same smile as Mom had that night. Thinking of him made me so happy. Finally lunch was over. One more block and I would be free to think of Jacob for hours. Luna and I grabbed our stuff and ran to class, wanting the day to pass by faster. When we got to class I went to my seat saying hello to everyone and then went into my pocket to retrieve my phone. Hmm, it wasn’t there. Must be in my back pack I thought; I checked and it wasn’t there! Crap! Where was my phone! I started to turn and look around seeing if I’d dropped it; but of course I hadn’t, I would’ve heard it if it was falling out of my pocket or Luna would’ve heard it! “Luna where’s my phone!” I all but I hissed to Luna to low for human ears to hear. She turned her head slightly making it look like she was staring out the window and whispered back “I don’t know! Didn’t you bring it?” “If I did I wouldn’t be asking you!” I hissed truly irritated now. “Did you have it in lunch?” she asked. I must’ve left it in the cafeteria! I sighed and said “I’ll check after class.” Class continued slowly as if to mock me and then finally, oh finally, the bell rang. I got up and rushed out without pausing to listen for the homework; Luna would catch me up later. I nearly sprinted to the cafeteria; I had to remind myself to walk, well jog, at a human pace, I wasn’t alone here.

When I got to cafeteria the janitor was cleaning. I rushed over to him and nearly slipped having not seen the caution wet floor sign in my rush. He caught my arm before I could fall. “Can I help you with something miss?” He asked in his southern accent. I nodded my head quickly. “During lunch I think I left my phone here?” I asked. He shook his head. “Sorry miss, but I haven’t seen a phone in this here cafeteria.” I nodded and started walking away feeling uneasy; how was I going to answer Jakes call? I walked out of the cafeteria expecting Luna to be there. Luna saw my face and just walked silently beside me. “We have to read the novel he assigned us and write an essay that’s due next Wednesday.” I nodded but wasn’t paying much attention. We were almost to the parking lot where I could hear Dads Volvo waiting, when suddenly someone stepped out in front of me blocking my way. I stopped and looked up into dark grey eyes and a wide, warm smile. “I tried to catch up with you and give you this,” he said looking down and handing me my phone and continued “but you were already gone.” I smiled. “So,” I said “Who do I have to thank?” He looked at me with those hypnotizing eyes and said “Vandergilt. Blake Vandergilt.” I nodded and smiled at the way it sounded and said “Well thank you so much Blake.” He nodded and said “Well since you know my name, it would only be fair if I knew yours.” I had completely forgotten that Luna was beside me until she nudged me; she did it so fast no one would see anything well except for the person who was in my Dad’s Volvo still waiting! “Um…” I stuttered trying to think things through but it was hard to concentrate with those piercing grey eyes on me. “The name is Renesmee Cullen.” I put my right hand out to shake his; instead of shaking my hand, he held it and kissed the top of my hand. I blushed. “Well, it’s a pleasure meeting you then Renesmee.” I laughed and then heard someone grit his teeth. I glanced around to see Phil turning bright red and some of his friends holding onto his shoulder, like…like they were preventing him from coming to hurt this gorgeous boy. HA! Like I’d let that happen! Blake turned his head to look and spotted Phil and his group of jocks and laughed loudly. “I’m guessing your boyfriend wants to rip my head off huh?” He asked me quite cheerfully. Now I laughed. “Ha! That wouldn’t be my boyfriend even if a sword hung over my head,” I said. He laughed sounding relieved that I was telling the truth. I heard a honk. I turned to see Luna sticking her head out of the Volvo waving her arms. I was irritated with her, she was ruining my conversation. I looked at her and sighed. “Well Blake, thank you so much…you just saved my day, but as you can see I have to go.” He nodded and said “Until we meet again Renesmee,” and gave me a smile so beautiful I had to take a deep breath. “Yes, until we meet again,” I said and turned feeling his eyes on my back and walked to the Volvo, where Mom and Luna were waiting. “Jeez could you be any longer?” Luna said as I got in. “Shut up Luna,” I replied. “That was very human of you, leaving that fast.” Luna laughed. “No one saw me.”


Chapter Four: Backfire.

 “Exactly,” I hissed. She was always so careless. “Enough you two,” Mom interrupted. The rest of the ride home was quiet. Mom dropped off Luna at her house then we turned around and headed toward home. I was in the front with Mom now but I didn’t know that Luna had filled my Mom in. Sigh. That was so Luna. Mom started with “So who’s the human boy?” “I’m not really even sure,” I said truthfully. She nodded. “Well…looks like he likes you…” I sighed. “Well it doesn’t matter Mom, because I’m in love with a werewolf.” She laughed. We drove up to the house and I got out. I went inside and went to my room, grabbing a muffin from the before the kitchen before I hit the stairs. I missed Jake so much! I wanted to call him but I wasn’t sure if he was asleep or awake. I had my phone in my hand with a picture of him. Sigh. I would try and if he didn’t answer, I’d call him back later. I dialed his number and waited. It rang twice then someone picked up. “Hello?” “Jake?” I said. “Hey Nessie, ” Jacob replied. He sounded happy. “Yep. How are you?” He sighed and said “I want to come back now…” “Why?” I asked. He laughed and said “Think about it.” I thought and thought but still nothing came. “Jake,” I said “I don’t know! Tell me!” He laughed and answered “Because I miss you…” in a soft voice. I blushed and said “Miss you too.” We talked for about 2 hours then he said “Sam wants help.” I sighed feeling gloomy already and said “Oh…well…you should go then…” of course it was half-hearted. He said “Okay…” and trailed off. Neither one of us wanted to say good-bye. “Love you Renesmee,” Jacob said. “Love you Jake,” I replied. Then he said “Don’t worry Renesmee, I’ll be home soon and then we’ll be together again.” I smiled at that and said “Be careful.” He laughed and said “Apparently I have too, I have priorities now.” I laughed and said “Bye Jake. Call me later okay?” He agreed and then the line disconnected. As soon as I put my phone down Aunt Alice was there with excitement written all over her face. She dragged me to the closet to change my regular clothes for a yellow colored halter dress with sliver high heels. This was so Aunt Alice. She gleamed as she saw me. Then she took my hand and we turned toward the door heading for the stairs. She brought me down and had me turn in a circle showing me off to everyone. I blushed crimson. Why did she always do this? Everyone murmured about how adorable this dress was on me and what not. Mom looked up with a sympathetic look; like she knew how I felt. I bet she did. She kissed me and said to go have fun. We took Aunt Alice’s Porsche as usual. After I got my hair cut and four new outfits and four new pairs of shoes Aunt Alice brought me lunch. We sat down and I started to eat. She started by saying “So…who’s the human boy?” I sighed. “Aunt Alice I don’t even really know.” She nodded. Then she said “Hmm…I wonder why I keep seeing him so clearly…and then as if I’m going to get a clear picture Jacob comes back up and ruins the whole picture.” I stared, gaping. “W-what?” I stammered. “What are you saying?” She looked at me with troubled eyes. “I’m not sure Renesmee.” I shook my head. “What are you seeing Aunt Alice? Tell me,” I begged. She sighed and said “Well…Renesmee sweetie…I’m seeing this human boy very often…more often than Jacob but as soon as I think I’m going to get a clear picture of this boy Jacob comes back into the picture, blurring everything again, I wonder why that is…” I stared at her so hard; I’m surprised my eyes didn’t fall out. “So…what are you saying?” I asked. She looked around me and held my face in her hands and said “I’m not sure Renesmee, we’ll talk more when were alone.” I nodded. “Eat honey,” Aunt Alice said. I shook my head; I no longer had an appetite. She sighed and said “Should’ve listened to your father.” I really didn’t care anymore. I was thinking about what she said. What did that mean? That she could see Blake better than Jacob then as soon as she was going to get a clearer picture Jacob came and blurred everything out? I shook it off internally because Aunt Alice still had a hard time seeing Jake because he was a werewolf, so it shouldn’t worry me…should it? We went home and I went up stairs taking all my new items and putting them away. I put on some jean shorts and a tank top and some sandals. I wanted time to think. I grabbed my phone and ran down stairs. Dad and Mom looked up when I came in. “I’m going down to La Push okay? I…I just want to be by myself for a while, to think.” They nodded. I was almost out the door when Dad stopped me. He said “Nessie love, don’t be out to late. We have to talk as soon as you come back alright?” I sighed and mumbled “Sure, sure,” and sprinted into the woods. I ran fast, wanting to be far away from everything I’ve seen for far too long. I felt so free, running with nothing to worry about. I arrived at La Push feeling free.

I walked toward Jacob’s house knowing his Dad was at home. “I hadn’t seen him in while, might as well say hi while I was here,” I thought to myself. I could never lie to myself feebly. I walked up and knocked. I heard wheels coming toward the door and a grunt as Billy reached for the lock up then the door opened. Billy looked at me with surprise and said “Well hello there Renesmee, haven’t seen you in a while. Come here and give me a hug.” I smiled and gave him the biggest squeeze I could manage. Billy laughed and said “Well what brings you here? Jakes not back yet.” I smiled and said “I can’t visit an old family friend anymore?” He laughed and said “Well I suppose so.” Then Billy really looked at me and said “What’s bothering you Renesmee?” Sigh. He knew me just as well as his son. That’s why I always came to La Push; I could always talk to Billy. I turned around then, looking out to the sunset. “I want to talk about Jake,” I said. Billy laughed his throaty laugh and said “That’s not a surprise to me.” I didn’t laugh. He sensed that it wasn’t a laughing matter. He turned to me and said “Renesmee, what’s really bothering you?” I didn’t know how to start but I started anyways. “Billy…how much do you know about me and Jake?” I whispered. He cocked his head to the side and said “Renesmee, I know pretty much everything. Why?” he asked, confused. I nodded and then said “Well…I was just wondering abou-“I was interrupted by a howl coming from behind the house. I spun and listened harder, so did Billy. He wheeled himself off the porch going toward the back of the house; I was right behind him. My heart was hammering, my hands cold, my breath coming quickly now. We were close to the back now. Five steps left. Four.Three. Two.One. We were at the back now. I looked around half expecting a red-brown colored wolf to come out or to see his long, dark skin sitting there waiting for me, but instead we saw nothing. We could hear one of them in the woods but we couldn’t see him. I sighed frustrated. Why couldn’t he just come out? Then I sniffed. I skidded back a few steps pulling Billy’s wheel chair with me; it wasn’t a scent I recognized. Billy looked at me and whispered “What’s the problem?” “It’s not one of them,” I hissed. I pushed Billy behind me, I had to protect him. I heard the familiar sound of someone phasing. I sniffed again. It was an unfamiliar smell but the same? “Who’s out there?” I said; I was crouched in front of Billy now. I heard footsteps coming forward; they were much too light to be a male. I hissed. I snatched my phone out and was dialing Dad’s number when I heard “Chill Renesmee. Can’t a girl come home anymore?” Whoops. So I had overreacted. Leah left when I was eleven. She used to come often but she stopped coming about three years back so her scent smelt new. I came out of my crouch and sighed with relief. There was no danger. But as soon as relief left me, disappointment flooded through me. I felt my face fall. Leah saw this and said “Jeez that’s real nice. I finally come back and you’re all pouty. Maybe I should’ve just stayed away.” I rolled my eyes; she was still the same Leah. Then Leah sniffed. “How long has the pack been gone?” “Just a few days,” Billy replied. She nodded then said “Renesmee what’s up with you? You look all depressed.” I rolled my eyes again. She looked at me for a bit longer and then said “Ah. Guess you found out about her…I guess he still isn’t over her. Darn. Well I would feel depressed too cause he says he loves you when really he’s still in love with your-“Billy interrupted her quickly nearly shouting “Leah, you’re here now, go see your mother!” She looked at him and he looked panicked. Then she looked at me with surprise in her eyes. “How long do you think this little charade is going to last Billy?” Who was she talking about? Me? “What are you talking about Leah?” I whispered, confused. Billy said nothing and neither did Leah. “Leah, what were you talking about?” I nearly screeched.

Leah sighed and shook her short spiky hair.”Billy this ridiculous letting this go on for so long. She’s going to find out someday.” Billy sighed and said “The time well come and when it does…someone…will tell… her.” She shook her head again and said “I knew he wouldn’t get over her…even with you here.” I stood there gaping at her. What did that mean? Billy wheeled towards her and said something in a language I didn’t understand. He was speaking to her in Quileute which roughly meant he didn’t want me to know; Great. Leah sighed again and finally said “Billy I’m going to go to my mom’s house, come when you’re done here.” He nodded, seeming upset and uncomfortable and torn; as if her words were true but he wouldn’t say anything else. She looked at me again with sadden eyes; obviously it was towards what they were hiding from me. I stared at her in mute horror. Another secret I didn’t know. I watched as Leah’s silhouette faded away with the light. Finally I turned to Billy, who looked as if he was trying to find something to distract me with. My eyes stung, I could feel the angry tears coming. He sighed and said “Renesmee…it’s late. You should head on home. You can come back...another day.” I nodded and turned, fearing if I spoke then I would explode on him; better to explode on someone away from here; this was my refuge. Instead of going home I went to the cliff. I sat there, fuming and chewing over the conversation. A few angry tears escaped but only a few. “I knew he wouldn’t get over her even with you here.” “She’s going to find out someday.” “Guess you found out about her,” I heard Leah’s voice echo. Who was she? Had I ever seen her? Well that was a stupid question to ask! Apparently I did know her, well from what Leah said. I reviewed all the faces of girls that I’d seen. Jake never said anything about them...then again he hid a lot from me. I felt anger pulse through me. I bet he had liked one of those girls, he just didn’t tell me! I decided to direct my thoughts elsewhere otherwise I would do something awfully embarrassing. Okay so obviously he had been in -wince- love with her…that shouldn’t bother me…people fell in and out of love plenty of times before they actually found their true love…but something about that made me feel even more suspicious. Why hadn’t Jacob spoken of this girl? And what did Billy mean by “When the time comes?” What did Leah mean by “he says he loves you?” He loved me and I loved him…right? I sighed when the sun was no longer up; I had to go home now. I got up and ran, slowly, home. The lights were on and I heard mummers from inside. I heard Dad growling about Leah. Ugh. Of course Aunt Alice would tell everybody about the “Almost danger,” scene. I didn’t want to go in yet. I sighed and took two deep breaths and started walking again and thought “I’m completely fine Dad, stop freaking out,” and as soon as my foot touched the lawn, the door opened. Dad was there, sighing loudly, Mom was right beside him. They embraced me and took me into the house where everyone was sitting, waiting. Mom and Dad squeezed me between them in the love seat while everyone else disappeared. I guess once they saw that I was alive they could leave. Dad looked at me and said “Renesmee, didn’t I tell you not too long? I almost went crazy!” I sighed. Mom took my face in her hands and said “Nessie, we were so worried about you! We were going to call Billy!” Speaking of Billy brought back that conversation. Dad hissed and said “Curse Leah to the pit of hell!” Mom looked at him and with a worried expression. Dad looked at me then back to Mom. I turned to Mom; her face was paler than usual, her eyes bulged. Did I miss something?”Mom” I said in an alarmed voice “What’s wrong?” She coughed a little, like she was chocking, and shook her head. Finally she cleared her throat and said “Nothing you have to worry about now.” I sighed and got up. “I’m going to bed.” I didn’t feel like being around everyone. I heard Mom start to get up but Dad grab her hand and whisper “Let her be.”Mom sighed and sat back down. I went to my room and lay on my bed. I could hear Dad whispering something to Mom, much to low for me to hear. I laid there for a while just thinking about everything, when my hand felt over something in my pocket; my phone. I took it out and looked and saw that I missed Jacob’s call!

“Great,” I muttered, internally kicking myself. What if he was asleep? Would I be able to talk to him? I sat up and quickly re-dialed his number, crossing my fingers. It rang twice and then Jake picked up saying “Hello?” he said in a sleepy voice. “Hey,” I said trying to sound happier. “What’s wrong Nessie?” I rolled my eyes; he knew good and well what was wrong with me. “Jake I ran into Leah-“before I could finish he said “Renesmee whatever Leah says is a lie, don’t listen to her okay?” “I don’t see why I wouldn’t listen to her, seeing as your Dad stopped her just as you did.” Jacob was silent. “Jake, what the hell are you hiding from me? Why can’t you ever just tell me the truth?” I growled. He didn’t answer me. I felt the tears start overflowing and my breaths became hitched; he didn’t trust me enough to tell me everything. “Jake,” I said in a broken whisper “Please just tell me, please?” He didn’t answer me, though it sounded like he wanted too. I started to cry more because that silence hurt me more than anything else. “You don’t love me! You’re not over whoever she was! You lied to everyone including me!” I shrieked. I heard him say something but I didn’t care, I was so upset. “Well I hope you’re happy because you just proved to me that you love her more! Be happy with her!” and hung up the phone cutting off whatever he was saying. I threw the phone against the wall and wailed so loud; how could he love me if he still loved her? I sobbed into my pillows for who knows how long. No one dared come in my room. I cried myself to sleep. The next morning when I woke up the house was silent. Everyone went hunting and left me; probably didn’t want another break down. I got up and went to my window, careful to keep my eyes off the phone that somehow survived the vicious throw. I went into my bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror; I looked like hell. My eyes were puffy and still red, my hair stuck up in different, weird ways. I shook my head and went to take a shower. I let the water run across my body as I laid my head against the wall. I thought of Jacob. Maybe he was happier with her…maybe he was just with me because he needed someone to replace her. Ha, great I was the second place half breed. The warm water started to remind me of Jacob’s always warm hands so I quickly shut it off and grabbed my towel. I got dressed in a daze, not really seeing what I put on. I walked right past the window and phone and went down stairs. I went and tried to fix me some breakfast but I really didn’t have an appetite. I couldn’t clean the house because Aunt Alice always kept the house clean, I didn’t play the piano because I knew I would start playing of me and Jacob, I couldn’t go outside because it looked just how I felt; empty and lonely. What else was there that I could do? I sat in the living room and looked around, irritated. How come when I didn’t want something to do I had so much to do but when I really wanted some back-breaking work there was nothing at all! I sighed. “Think of something,” I told myself. “What can I do today?” I thought. A small voice, from the back of my mind said “Go look at your phone.” “NO!” I exploded back at it. “Why would I do that?” “Because you know you want to!” The voice answered with more volume. I sighed. The voice was so right. I sighed and walked slowly up the stairs to my room. I sat on the end of my bed and stared at the phone, laying face down, next to the rocking chair. I sat there for nearly an hour and a half, deciding wither or not I should go pick it up. I decided I was not going to go pick it up; I was going to find something else to do. I got up, made my bed, vacuumed my floor, the stairs, Mom and Dad’s room, the living rooms, the family office, Grandpa Carlisle’s office, Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett’s room, Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper’s room, and then the guest rooms. Then after that I scrubbed all the marble counter tops, the floors which included bathrooms, and the wide walls of glass we called windows. After that I washed all my clothes, dried, pressed, ironed and hung them all. I also did that for everybody else’s clothes too. I’d completely cleaned the house and it hadn’t even been two hours! I sighed again. What else was there possibly to do? I walked up the stairs back to my room. I opened the door and headed for the bathroom when I heard my phone go off. Someone was calling me. I ran to pick it up. I held it face down, afraid of seeing who it was. I sighed and said to myself “Don’t be a coward,” and turned the phone around; even though I knew who it was going to be, I hoped for something different. Incoming call Jake. 

Chapter Five: Roller Coaster Ride.

 “What?” I said with the rudest voice I could manage. “Renesmee come on! Don’t be like that!” Jacob whined from the other line. I snorted and said “Why not? At least I’m straight forward with you.” He sighed and said “Nessie, I know I’m not being fair but…Renesmee I love you. I really do!” Even though I was supposed to be mad, hearing him say that made my heart flutter. I shook my head feeling dizzy. “What do you want Jacob? I really don’t have the time for your lies,” I said angrily. He hesitated and said “Renesemee…I did love her but it was nothing compared to what I feel for you, nothing at all!” He waited for me to speak. “Well then why did you never tell me about this girl? Why are you always keeping something from me?” I questioned. He sighed and said “Renesmee…I’m sorry I never told you…I really am…it’s just…I’m scared you’ll end up hating me.” I was perplexed. “Jacob I would never hate you, ever. You know me better than that.” It was silent. “Yes you would…you would probably never want to see me again…you would probably feel sickened by me…” Jacob whispered. I shook my head, forgetting that he was not able to see me. “I would never Jacob.” He groaned “Oh come on Nessie! Call me Jake like you always do!” I half-smiled; He knew if I was mad at him I called him Jacob not Jake. I sighed. “Nessie…I promise I will tell you someday, I will, but just not now okay?” I sighed knowing that was all I could ask for. “Okay fine, fine! But pinky promise me that you will tell me someday.” He laughed “I would but I’m not there.” My eyebrows raised up “Are you avoiding the promise?” Jacob laughed again and said “Pinky swear Nessie.” I nodded and said “Okay then.” “Can I apologize?” he said in a soft voice. My heart melted hearing him say that. “No apology needed,” I said in an adoring tone. “Still, may I?” he asked. I sighed and said “Sure.” “I’m sorry Renesmee, I’m sorry that I’ve caused you so much stress and pain and that I’ve lied to you so much. Will you forgive me Renesmee?” We both laughed. “Of course Jacob, I’ll always forgive you, no matter what you’ve done.” We both laughed again. Then he said “Can I get my name back please?” I laughed. “Yes Jake, you’ve earned it back.” He laughed and sighed and yawned. “Jake now can I apologize?” He seemed surprised “Apologize for what? You did nothing wrong.” “Jake I’ve kept you up all night! I did do something! Now can I apologize please?” he chuckled and said “Go ahead.” “Jake…I’m sorry I’m being so emotional. I’m sorry I kept you up all night, and I’m sorry that I’m probably causing you so much stress. Will you forgive me for being an over reactive girlfriend/best friend?” Jacob laughed. “Most definitely, you know you were forgiven before you answered the phone.” I laughed. “Jake when are you coming home? I miss you,” I whispered the last part. He laughed and said “Not sure but I’ll let you know as soon as I know kay?” “Okay.” And from there on we talked about everything and anything. I don’t know how long we were on the phone for but when I heard him talking nonsense I knew he was asleep; exhausted from staying up so long and running patrol all night. “Good night Jake, love you,” I said. I heard someone pick up the phone and then a familiar voice came on “Hey Nessie.” “Hey Embry,” I said. “I was just about to use the phone when I heard Jake mumbling,” Embry said. I laughed out loud. “Yeah, sorry about that, I’ve kept him up all night. Tell Sam I said sorry kay?” He laughed and said “Just happened to Quil yesterday so he won’t be mad.” I nodded and said “Is there something more that you want to tell me Embry?” I asked. He hesitated and said “Um…well…I was gonna ask you something…” he trailed off. “Uh-huh?” I prompted. “Well…I called Sarah before Jake called you and…well we kinda got in an argument…and uh…she hasn’t answered my calls…I was wondering if uh…she called you and told you anything yet?” I smiled and said “Embry she hasn’t called me yet but do you want me to talk to her?” I heard the relief in his voice “Thanks Nessie, I’ll own you big time!” I laughed and said “Stay by the phone she’ll call you soon kay?” “Kay. Thanks again Nessie.” I laughed and hung up. Then I dialed Sarah’s number and called.

“Hello?” A dull voice answered. “Can I speak to Sarah?” I asked confused; I thought I dialed the right number. “This is her.” I laughed and said “Hey Sarah, it’s me Renesmee.” “Oh, hey Renesmee” she answered, a bit louder. “Sarah…Embry called me and he’s really worried. You should call him.” “He called you?” she asked in a small voice. “Well technically he didn’t because I was on the phone with Jake and Jake passed out cause I overreacted to something last night and made Jake stay up all night and Embry was on his way to call you and I just happened to be there.” “Oh,” she said relieved. “Sarah, you shouldn’t make him wait too long, he really loves you,” I said in a soft, understanding, voice. “Why should I? I’m the one who suffers?!” she said angrily. I knew immediately why she was so upset. “Sarah, do you really believe that Embry wants to stay away from you just to stay away?” She didn’t answer so I went on. “It’s difficult for him also,” I said in a soft tone. As I told her these things, I realized that I would follow my own advice. “Don’t give too hard of a time…remember he’s doing this for you.” She sighed and I knew she would call him shortly. “Just think about it Sarah,” I said. “Okay,” she whispered. We sat there in silence, letting her think when she said “You’re right Renesmee! I’m being so unreasonable! I’m going to call him now! Thank you Rensemee, I love you!” We both laughed and then I said “Yeah love you too; now call him before he goes mad.” “Okay, Bye!” and then the line disconnected. I shook my head and smiled. Embry imprinted on her on my 16th birthday party. Aunt Alice had sent him and Jake to the back to get more drinks and BAM. Sarah and Embry bumped into each other and then it was over; they were in love. This made me envy Sarah; she had been imprinted on by Embry which roughly meant he wouldn’t leave her for another person because she was “the one”. Me and Jake though…he hadn’t imprinted…not yet. I shook my head; I would not think of that. I heard the whole family crossing the river as I took the finished lasagna out of the oven. I heard Mom and Dad hesitate, not coming in immediately. I smiled and said “Mom, Dad, I’m fine, really. You can come in.” I chuckled at the end. Mom and Dad poked their heads into the kitchen and examined my face. I laughed at their expressions; Dad flinched back when he heard my laugh, probably expecting crying instead. I laughed again. “I’m really fine Dad.” He sighed and exhaled and said “Love, you scared me for a bit.” I smiled and said “Yeah I know, sorry about that.” He smiled and walked over to hug me tightly and kiss my forehead. Mom came over and stared at me with a weird expression. “What’s wrong Mom?” I asked. She sighed and smiled and said “Honey, you cleaned the house.” “So?” I prompted. She laughed and said “You never clean the house.” I blushed. “Thanks Mom.” She laughed and touched my cheek. “You must’ve had something on your mind?” she guessed. I smiled and said “Yeah I did but it’s solved.” Somewhat I thought internally. “What was that Renesmee?” Dad asked me. Crap! I forgot Dad was here! “Uh…nothing” I said. I turned away from Mom so she wouldn’t see the blush from getting caught. Mom seemed to realize. “Renesmee, what was your Father talking about?” “Uh…he was talking about nothing, nothing at all. Um I’m gonna run this lasagna down to Billy and Sue okay?” “Don’t say anything to Mom, Dad! You’re gonna get me in trouble!” I thought. Dad didn’t laugh but his eyes were amused, he thought this was funny! This was sooo not funny! His eyes gleamed and this time he couldn’t help but chuckle. Mom turned to look at him and asked “What’s funny?” He shook his head and said “Renesmee.” Mom turned to look at me with suspicious eyes. I smiled at her with an innocent expression. “Well I’m gonna go now okay? I’ll be back soon.” They both nodded. “Don’t stay out too late Renemsee,” Mom said. I nodded and left.

The lasagna was still very warm so I ran fast, not wanting it to be cold. I ran too La Push and went to Sue’s house first. She thanked me and told me how lovely I looked. I laughed and thanked her and left off to Billy’s. When I got there, Billy wasn’t there. I searched around panicked. Where was Billy? I followed his scent and found him on the beach shore, near the driftwood. I sighed, feeling relief. “There you are!” I yelled behind him. He jumped and turned to look at me. His eyes seemed surprised, like he wasn’t expecting me here for a while. I went and sat next to him on the driftwood. His eyes were still bewildered but he controlled it. “Renesmee, I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” I nodded and said “I didn’t either,” and smiled. He shook his head and sniffed. “So what’s that you got there? It smells delicious.” I laughed and said “Lasagna. I made it for you. Come on I’ll make you a plate.” I got up and wheeled him towards the house. Once we were inside I made a plate for him. The house was a wreck! Clothes everywhere, beds not made, dishes filled the sinks, refrigerator empty. Jeez. This house was so dark too. I got the hamper and picked up all the clothes, opened all the windows and curtains, vacuumed, scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen down, then the dishes. The house looked so different after I cleaned it; it was bright, open, clean and tidy. It actually looked like people lived here, not werewolves. I smiled, happy with myself. When Billy was done I cleaned up after him and wheeled him to the front porch, even after he objected to it, and sat in the rocking chair next to him. “Renesmee, you spoil me,” Billy complained. I laughed. “Well someone’s gotta take care of you.” He shook his head and said “I can take care of myself.” I stared at him and said “That’s why the house looked a mess, right?” We both laughed. Then he said “Well I try…but things aren’t always easy especially with me not being able to walk…” I felt so sad. He had no one but Jake. His daughters didn’t visit often. I felt the tears overflow. They fell silently down my face and I turned away so he wouldn’t see; but he noticed and said “Renesmee, are you alright?” I nodded. Billy didn’t believe me and waited for me to say something. “Billy...” I said. He waited for me to continue. Internally I told myself that this was my duty, he had no one else, except for Jake and even he couldn’t always take proper care of Billy…heck I took care of Charlie if Mom didn’t but she did often, almost every day, wither it was a call or a visit. “Billy, I know you probably are told this often and I’m not underestimating you or anything but…some things you just can’t do because you can’t walk and I wanted to ask you if I could come every day you know too make sure you have food to eat, clean clothes to wear and company. I know it must be lonely here…” I trailed off, hoping I hadn’t offended him. I looked up at him and saw him smiling. He looked at me with a gentle expression. “Renesmee, that’s kind of you but I’m sure you won’t enjoy it…it will be like a nursing home without getting paid and I can’t ask you to do that.” I shook my head. “Billy, I want to do this. Billy you’re…you’re important to me and Jake…” He smiled and said “I don’t know Renesmee. You’ll probably just die of boredom trying to talk to an old man.” Billy laughed his throaty laugh; I tried to laugh too but couldn’t. Billy saw that in me and sighed; he knew I wasn’t giving up. “Please Billy, this would help me sleep. Please?” He sighed and said “Fine…whatever you want to do.” I smiled with delight. “Thank you Billy. Stay right here I’ll be here in a few minutes okay?” He looked confused and asked “Where are you going?” I smiled at him and said “We have some shopping to do,” and left.

Chapter Six: Room Service Anyone?

I ran to the house and told Mom and Dad everything and they both looked at me with proud expressions. When I asked for the car, my parents didn’t hesitate; I drove well. I ran upstairs and changed into some normal clothes and grabbed my purse and went to the Volvo. I drove to La Push in a hurry. Billy sat there and looked at me with amused eyes. I pushed his chair to the Volvo and got him in the front seat and his wheel chair in the back, and then I went into the house and grabbed all the clothes and returned to the car. Then we were off. We went to Seattle to do the laundry and the food shopping. After the clothes were washed and folded and bags of food were in the car we finally left. After all the food was in the fridge, and the clothes put away and Billy full, I left. I told him I would be back tomorrow to check on him, he didn’t say no because he knew I would come anyways, wise of him. I headed back to the house, realizing that my phone had not gone off once today. Keeping my eyes on the road, I took my phone out. I glanced and saw that Jacob hadn’t called me yet. Panic ran though my body; had something happened to him? I really hit the gas then. I nearly jumped out of the car and ran into the house. “Mom” I yelled. She was by my side quickly, alarmed by my voice. “Mom, has Jake called at all? He hasn’t called me all day! What if-“ Mom broke me off by saying “Calm down Nessie! He’s just busy! He’s fine!” I nodded and plopped down onto the couch, suddenly so tired. Mom sat next to me and held my face. “Better?” “Uh-huh. Thanks Mom, I was gonna go crazy!” I laughed and she laughed with me. “So what did you do with Billy?” Mom asked. I shrugged. “Washed the clothes and brought food for the house and I made him dinner.” Mom nodded and smiled and said “Renesmee you’re a wonderful person and I’m so proud of you.” I smiled. “Thanks mom, that means a lot to me.” She kissed my forehead and hugged me. Then she pulled me back, so she could see my eyes and said “What brought that on though? It’s good that you want to help and all but I’m just curious.” “Well…um…really I just think of Billy as family. He needs to be taken care of too.” Mom nodded and said “So how was it?” “Mom you should’ve seen the house! It was a mess! It was dark and stuffy and ugh! Don’t get me started on the rooms! And Mom there was absolutely no food in the house! No food at all! I really don’t understand how he lived,” I said frowning. She laughed and patted my head and said “Renesmee you’re a mess.” I laughed along. Then I said “Mom, I miss Grandpa Charlie. Can we go see him tomorrow?” She smiled and said “He’s going to be soo happy when we call and tell him.” I smiled. “Can I call him now?” She nodded and I pulled out my phone and dialed the all too-familiar number and let it ring. It rang four times then a distracted voice answered. “Hello?” “Grandpa,” I said. I suddenly had all his attention. “Nessie! How are you honey?” I smiled. “I’m great Grandpa, thanks, how about you?” “I’m making it through the days,” he teased. “So do you have plans tomorrow?” I asked. “Um maybe fishing but I’m not sure, why?” “Well I was just wondering if I could come down and visit you, I haven’t seen you in so long.” “Of course you can honey! You know that! Grandpa’s house is always opened to you!” He sounded so happy I could feel it radiate though the phone. I smiled and said “Okay I’ll be at your house say around ten thirty?” He laughed and said “The sooner the better.” I laughed and said “I’ll go fishing with you.” I actually enjoyed fishing and I loved fishing with Grandpa because he was funny to watch. He was elated. “Wow, who would expect that my granddaughter would love fishing when her Mother never could stand on flat ground without falling?” I laughed. “Okay grandpa, I can hear the game so I’m gonna let you go watch it okay?” “Sure thing honey,” “See you tomorrow Grandpa.” “See you soon honey,” and the phone disconnected. I sighed. I would miss everyone when I left to go to college, especially Jake. Speaking of Jake, I was on my way on calling him.

I turned to Mom and said “Did you hear Grandpa Charlie cracking jokes about you?” Mom chuckled and said “I sure did.” I smiled and said “Well Mom I’m gonna go call Jake okay?” She nodded and walked off to find Dad. I walked up the stairs and to my room. I sat on the rocking chair and called him. No one answered so I was going to leave a message. Beep. “Hey Jake, It’s me Renesmee. Well I just called to say I missed you and that I had a great day today. Call me back whenever okay? Love you, muah,” and hung up. I charged my phone on my dresser; didn’t want Jake to call and not have batteries. After that I went and got ready for bed. I took my shower and got into my pajamas which were a tank-top and cotton shorts. I pulled my bronze hair into a messy ponytail and turned on my laptop. I checked my mail from Grandma Renee. She wanted me to visit before I left for College and she kept asking if Jake and I were getting serious, if we had moved from the friend stage to boyfriend girlfriend stage. I smiled. I really did miss her. I typed back telling her I promised to visit before I left and that yes me and Jake were serious, we had moved beyond boyfriend and girlfriend, we loved each other. I thought about that part; should I take it out or leave it? I shrugged and thought “Hell she probably already knows.” Then I checked my Face book and MySpace. Of course I had new messages asking me to the Homecoming dance which was next week, I left those alone. Suddenly I was exhausted, my eyes drooped and I yawned widely. I got up and went down stairs and saw everyone doing something different. Mom and Dad talking holding hands on the love seat, Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme talking, hands linked, heads bent toward one another and backs facing us, staring out the back door, Uncle Jasper and Uncle Emmett playing chess with Aunt Alice mouthing the moves Uncle Emmett would be making to Uncle Jasper and Aunt Rosalie smiling at Uncle Emmett not even noticing Aunt Alice, probably thinking about that bouquet of roses Uncle Emmett sent her today. “Night everybody,” I said. Everyone looked up. Mom and Dad got up and were at my side. Mom hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Goodnight Nessie, don’t over sleep, you have Charlie all excited now about tomorrow,” Mom teased. I smiled and said “Mom do you really doubt me that much?” She chuckled. Dad grabbed me next and hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead. “Goodnight love.” “Night Dad,” then everyone whispered goodnights and I finally went upstairs. I went to my bed and collapsed into bed, waiting for sleep to evade me, and just as my eyes closed and sleep crept toward me, my phone went off. “Ugh,” I muttered. My eyelids fluttered open unwillingly and I turned over and forced myself to walk to the dresser and pick the phone up. I looked at the number and answered. “Hello?” I said in a sleepy voice. “Uh sorry Renesmee, did I wake you?” Embry asked. I shook my head and said “Nah. What’s up?” “Well I just wanted to call you and say thanks again. You really helped.” I laughed “No problem Embry.” Then he said “Okay wait! Jeez!” My eyebrows mashed down. I didn’t say anything. “Embry were you talking to me?” I asked. “No, no, I was talking to Jake. He’s getting really impatient so here you go and again, thanks.” I laughed. “Okay bye Embry.” I heard the phone moving then a “ouch”. “Hello?” Jake said breathless. I smiled. “Hey Jake.” He sighed hearing my voice. “So what did you do all day Nessie?” “Um not much just hung out with your Dad all day. What about you?” “You hung out with my Dad?” he asked surprised. “Yeah, we had a great time.” “Cool.” “Jake what would you say if I told you that I’m going to take care of your Dad from now on?” He was thoughtful. “Hmm…I would say that’s cool. That means you would come over more.” I smiled. “Do you like me coming over more?” “Nope, I love it. That means we get more time together.” I could hear him smiling through the phone.” “Yeah, and that means I get too kiss you longer,” I said. He laughed and said “As long as you can without breathing.” I laughed then sighed and said, no nearly groaned, “Jake when are you coming home? I miss you like crazy!” He laughed and said “I’m sorry Nessie, I don’t know. We’ll be back soon, and trust me I miss you more than you know.” I smiled hearing his answer. “Okay Jake but let me know okay?” He sighed, clearly frustrated “Renesmee I told you I would tell you as soon as I knew. Didn’t I?” I sighed and said “Yes, but I just wanted to make sure…again,” and laughed. He laughed too then he said “So uh…I hear that its homecoming this Friday.” “Um…yeah it is. Why?” He cleared his throat and said “Well…uh…I was just wondering if you were going with someone.” I smiled and said “Actually I am.” He didn’t answer for a few seconds and said “Oh…well…who is he?” He sounded so murderously angry. I smiled and said “Well you don’t know him but he’s so amazing.” He took a deep breath and said “Oh…well…have fun?” It was half-hearted. I laughed. “What’s so funny?” he asked totally bummed. “Jake, I’m kidding!” I laughed. I heard him join in and finally when I could manage to turn the laughs into giggles I said “Jake, I’m really not going with anyone. You are so over reactive.” I laughed again. He laughed too. “Well then would you like an escort?” He asked. My heart fluttered. “It depends on who were talking about.” “Hmm…well how about the best of the best?” I smiled. “Tell me about him.” “Well he’s the biggest jerk, totally taller than you and darker and he turns into a wolf and oh he loves you. How does that sound?” I laughed. “Hmm…well tell him I’m flattered but I’m going with someone who is a total sweet heart, is taller and darker than me, turns into a wolf, is my best friend and I love him.” He laughed and said “Well then I’m totally screwed.” We laughed so hard. “So is that a yes Renesmee?” I smiled, he sounded so formal. “Yes Jacob that was a Yes.” He laughed. “Miss you,” He said. “Miss you more,” I said back. He laughed and said “You’re tired, I can hear it.” I shook my head “No I’m not.” He sighed and said “Nessie the phone well be here all day, I’ll call you tomorrow, promise.” I nodded and sighed and said “Fine.” He laughed at my glum voice and said “Love you Renesmee.” “Love you Jake.” “Night Nessie” Sigh. “Night Jake,” then the line disconnected. I put the phone back on the dresser and turned to go to my bed. I laid there and couldn’t find sleep. My mind was wondering about what I was going to wear to the homecoming dance. I kept turning. Ugh! I couldn’t sleep! I had to get up and talk to Aunt Alice. I got up and went down stairs. Things had changed. Mom and Dad were no longer here, probably out by the cottage. Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme were in the office; Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett were nowhere in sight and Aunt Alice sat on the couch with Uncle Jasper. Aunt Alice’s smile was so excited and smug, Uncle Jaspers smile was expectant. Of course Aunt Alice would see this. Before I could talk Aunt Alice said “Honey well talk about it later. I see that if we discuss it now you’ll over sleep.” She smiled at me. I grimaced. I want to talk about it now! But I thought about Charlie and how excited he was of hearing me coming over, I didn’t want to disappoint him. Sigh. Fine. My eyelids drooped and I nodded my head and shuffled my way to bed. I collapsed in my bed, asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Chapter Seven: Healthy Competition. 

I dreamed I was on a plane flying somewhere. I finally got off the plane. My family surrounded me at once. Mom looked worried, Dad looked very upset, Aunt Alice looked pissed off, and Uncle Jasper looked pissed off too, Aunt Rosalie’s beautiful face looked so scary, she looked like she was going to rip someone’s head off, Uncle Emmet wore no smile today, Grandma Esme hugged me close and cried in her vampire body, Grandpa Carlisle hugged my shoulders and looked so sad. Why did everyone look like this? I really didn’t know. My chest felt empty, and I couldn’t really breathe. All I knew was that I had a since of loss? I was suddenly aware of someone shaking me. I sat upright and gasped. Sweat matted my hair to my forehead. I looked around and saw that I was still in my room. I felt a wintry hand wipe my forehead. I turned and saw Aunt Rosalie eyeing me. “What’s wrong honey?” Aunt Rosalie asked. I shook my head and gasped again. She eyed me, looking worried. “Are you sure?” she asked me skeptically. I nodded fast and tried to calm myself down. “Can I have a minute please?” I asked; my voice broke. She nodded and said “Breakfast is down stairs honey,” and turned and left, closing the door. I pulled my legs toward me and rocked. My hands were shaking and my chest hurt. “Get over it,” I thought to myself. It was a dream, nothing more, nothing less. But I couldn’t shake it off. Something about this dream made me uneasy…I just couldn’t let it go. I kept thinking about the meaning behind it, the hidden message, but nothing came. Finally I decided I had to move, Grandpa Charlie was waiting for me. I got up with shaky legs and walked to the bathroom. Once in the shower I felt so much better. I finally got a grip on myself and decided that I would not think of it today. I expected today to go by slowly, seeing as I had a bad morning but instead the day sped by so quickly. It seemed like I was just getting to Grandpa Charlie’s house when Grandpa Charlie was saying bye, I’d run down to Billy’s and now before I knew it I was home and it was time for bed again. What had happened to my day? My head spun; like things were going too fast and I couldn’t breathe. I shook my head and tried to breathe. I lay in my bed trying to remember today, nothing came. I didn’t even remember answering Jake’s call or how I ended up even laying on the bed. I was so confused and I wanted to try to remember but my heavy eye lids would not let me, they closed without my permission and I drifted off to sleep, or so I thought.

Throughout the whole night I tossed and turned waiting for sleep and finally oh finally I fell asleep, exhausted. I woke up gasping again, and once again Aunt Rosalie was there wiping my sweat drenched forehead with cold hands looking at me with worried eyes. I told her it was nothing and ran to the shower to hide from her always too perceptive eyes. After the shower I felt calmer, but I also felt my sleepless night. My eyes were half closed as I went to the closet to get dressed. I picked out whatever clothes I touched, grabbed my phone, converse’s and book bag and headed down stairs. Instead of going to the kitchen I collapsed into the love seat and tried to put my shoes on. I blinked and forgot how to open my eyes again. I heard snickers coming from not too far and I heard something like a click. Was someone taking pictures of me? I opened my eyes and looked at everyone. No one had a camera but they were all smiling. After Mom helped me put my shoes on and, a pop-tart in my hand and a kiss on the head from Dad, I was off. Grandma Esme was driving me to school today. She let me sleep not making a sound. Unfortunately we made it to school and I had to wake up. I walked out feeling grouchy; I was so tired! Luna sat on the bench waiting for me. She walked up to me and said “Are you all right Renesmee?” I shook my head and said “Didn’t get much sleep.” She nodded and said “Good thing I’m not human anymore.” We both chuckled. Then we walked to class. I went to Mr. Mason’s class in a daze. Mr. Mason explained about the 200 questioned test he was giving out today. Excellent! I could actually get some sleep. I settled into my chair, feeling my sleepless night yet once again and waited impatiently for him to hand me my quiz. Finally he handed me my quiz and I started immediately; I was done within minutes of getting my quiz so I had about an hour and a half to sleep. I put my head down and drifted off. After a while I heard Mr. Mason coming around to pick up the quizzes. I sat up and stretched and felt better. I looked around and everyone was talking quietly to one another. Anna, a funny, pretty girl, who sat in front of me, turned around and said “Hey Renesmee.” I smiled back.

“Hey Anna, so who are you going to the dance with?” She blushed and looked down. “I’m going with Tony,” she said. I smiled. Tony was a nice guy. She looked up and said “What about you?” I smiled and said “A friend.” She smiled and whispered “Who?” I smiled back and whispered “Nobody here,” and giggled. She cocked her head to the side and her expression became confused. “What?” I asked her. She hesitated and then said “Well…Phil said he…was taking….” She let it trail off, probably because of my expression. “Phil said what?” I said through my teeth. She looked frighten so I had to take a deep breath and said in a softer tone “What exactly did he say?” “Uh…he said he was taking you to the dance.” I tried to smile but couldn’t so I just grimaced. “This is unbelievable. Who else knows about it?” She shrugged and said “Not sure.” I sighed and said “Well thanks.” She smiled and said “So what are you wearing?” My brows furrowed. “Not exactly sure yet but I’ll figure it out. What about you?” She shook her orange hair and sighed “I’m not sure either…I wanna go shopping but nobody will come with me.” I smiled and said “Hey, how about you me and Luna go shopping Wednesday?” She smiled and jumped up and hugged me. “Really? This will be so much fun! I can’t wait!” I smiled and hugged her back and said “No problem you would do the same for me.” But my Aunt Alice will I added internally. She smiled and exhaled, like a big burden had been taken off of her chest. Mr. Mason then came to the front so she turned around. Today was a good day. “Alright class. I’ve graded the test and I will read the top scores.” I smiled feeling a bit smug; my name was always called first. “With a one-hundred percent A, Mr. Blake Vandergilt, and with a ninety-eight percent A, Miss Renesmee Cullen,” after my name, I let it trail off. WHAT? I stared at Mr. Mason expecting him to burst out laughing and say that it was a joke, but he wasn’t, he continued down the roster. Everyone’s head was turned in my direction, probably reading my expression. Everyone applauded. I stared gaping, not being able to believe this.

Blake got up and came in front of me with a hand extended and said “Congrats.” He kept his hand in the air. I stared at it wishing I could snap it off. The room was completely silent. I looked up and saw him still staring at me, looking so smug. I wanted to wipe that beautiful smile right off his face! “Take your hand away from me,” I whispered menacingly. I glowered at his hand. He dropped his hand awkwardly and said “Well someone’s not too happy about me getting the highest grade.” My jaw dropped. Who did this insignificant little human boy think he was? “Get. Away. From. Me.” I growled through my teeth. Everyone stared at me with shock. I had to tell myself to calm down, I wasn’t at home. I stiffly grabbed my stuff, stuffed it into my book bag and walked out the door into the hallway. I went to the girl’s bathroom and told myself to calm down before I hurt him; he wasn’t Jake so he wouldn’t heal. I stayed until the bell rang and I rushed to lunch. When I came into the cafeteria everyone stared at me. Ugh. It was like the first day of school again! All because of that stupid human! I went to my table and sat fuming. Luna came over and said “Do you want to talk about it?” I shook my head sharply and exhaled. She nodded. We sat in silence the whole time. Finally the bell rang and I took off going to Mr. Mason’s class. “Mr. Mason you had to make a mistake,” I said. He shook his head and said “Miss Cullen there is no mistake here, you missed one.” He showed me my paper. How did this happen? How? “Mr. Mason there has to be a mistake, there just has to be!” He shook his head and said “Miss Cullen, this is your grade.” I took a deep breath and turned and walked out of his class feeling even more frustrated than before. I didn’t realize how late I was to class until I entered. As I walked in Mr. Andrews gave me a glare I didn’t care to see. Everyone stared at me…again. Ugh! All this because of an insignificant human boy! Ugh! How did this happen? How did a mere human boy beat me? I’m half vampire for crying out loud! I had perfect memory but a human got a higher grade than me? Impossible! I was so caught up in thinking that I didn’t notice Mr. Andrews call my name until he walked right up to my desk and waved his hand in front of my face. “Renesmee, did you hear me?” he asked in an upset voice. “Um…er…what sir?” I asked confused. “What is your excuse for being late?” he said. “Um…I had to talk to Mr. Mason,” I said. He nodded and said “Speak to me after class.” I sighed. Ugh.

I couldn’t pay attention, I was still so infuriated! I told myself to let it go and calm down, but every time I told myself that I just made myself angrier. Finally the bell rang and I got up and nearly ran out when Mr. Andrews called my name. “Renesmee, please come in here.” I sighed and turned back around. “Yes Mr. Andrews?” I heard my voice, it sounded too tense and I guess you could say pissed off. “You will have to make up class.” I sighed. “Alright.” “Also I will be calling your parents telling them of your little incident, but I assure you, it’s just teacher procedure.” I rolled my eyes and said “Can I leave now?” He nodded and I stalked off. I went out the door and looked around for Luna. That was so odd, usually she was here waiting for me if I didn’t meet her in the hall way. I looked around when I heard someone burst out laughing. I turned to see where it came from and found it. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened. Blake was at the car, talking to my Mom, staring at me smirking gorgeously and taunting me with those beautiful eyes; his eyes danced and gleamed. That did it. My fury peaked and I realized suddenly that I was walking too fast for a human and that I was hissing. I was next to the car within seconds. I breathed deep, slow breaths, feeling more like a werewolf then a vampire. He chuckled and said “Well hello there Renesmee, I just had the pleasure of meeting your lovely mother,” and winked. I growled back, too angry for words. “Also may I add that you look very much like her,” he added in an antagonist tone. “It’s doesn’t matter who I look more like because it is none of your business,” I hissed. Blake nodded thoughtful. “Well I also told your mother about how I got the highest grade and how perhaps I could tutor you,” Blake smiled kindly. My lips pulled back from my teeth without my knowing and almost showed my fangs, almost. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to get a grip on myself. I knew I would lose control if I didn’t leave…now. I opened my eyes and pushed past him, no, shoved past him, and went to the passenger seat and got in. “Mom, get me out of here before I do something,” I said through my teeth. She looked at me and said “Shouldn’t you tell your friend Blake goodbye?” “He. Is . NOT. My. Friend, ” I hissed. Mom looked at me and probably decided that she was pushing it, so she nodded and turned to Blake. “Well it was nice to meet you Blake.” He nodded and ducked his head in through my window. “So what do you say about tutoring?”Blake asked. I glared at him and said “Get the hell away from me,” putting as much venom into it as I could. He chuckled and said “Don’t worry when you change your mind I’ll be here,” and then left. I was so bewildered I sat there and blinked several times. I watched as he got into a silver van and drove away. “Let’s get out of here,” I spat at Mom. She sighed and drove. The car ride was quiet, I’m sure Mom felt the anger radiate out from me; she knew I was mad as hell with her. Luna said nothing either as we dropped her off. She said thank you to Mom and left. Mom turned around and drove back home much slower than usual, ugh she so wanted to talk to me. I could tell she didn’t know where to start; she would often open her mouth as if to say something but then just closed her mouth once again. I glared out of the window watching as the green fly by us, getting closer to home. It was only a matter of time before she said something.

Chapter Eight: Family Love.

She cleared her throat and said “So how was school Renesmee?” “Fine,” I growled. She nodded and sighed. Finally Mom spoke. “Renesmee why are you so angry?” “Because I know that Luna informed you about what happened today and yet you pushed the subject!” I yelled. She sighed. “Renesmee, I didn’t know your reaction was going to be so strong.” My anger flowed out now. “Oh, so since you didn’t think I would react that way you push it? Mom I was PISSED OFF,” I shouted. Then I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Honey,” Mom began in a soothing tone. “I was just messing around with you; I don’t know why you’re so angry for…” She stared at me for a long time. Then she asked me “Honey is there more to this?” I looked down. “No.” “Then why won’t you look at me?” “Cause,” I didn’t want to tell her that I was really down because even as a freaking half vampire I couldn’t beat a mere human. We finally got home. I jumped out and went straight for the door but Mom blocked my way and held my face. “Renesmee, what’s wrong. You can always tell me.” I stared at her butter-scotch eyes and saw no trace of humor so I explained, rushing through it. “Mom, I’m half vampire but I can’t beat a mere human in school. What am I gonna do with my life if I can’t beat a human! A human Mom! See I told you I’m not going any-“ “Renesmee, calm down honey! It’s alright! You made a mistake, big deal! Everyone makes mistakes! Remember you are half human as well,” Mom interrupted me. She held my face a tad bit tighter to make me look at her. Her eyes were fierce her voice soothing. “Renesmee you can’t let one mistake bring you down, understand?” I nodded and she smiled and kissed my forehead. “Now let’s go inside, it’s starting to rain.” I looked up as drops of rain fell on my face. I nodded and walked next to mom. As she opened the door, I heard Uncle Emmett’s booming laughter; I could feel the embarrassment already. We walked in and everyone had grins on their faces. I could feel the blood run to my face. Uncle Emmett couldn’t hold his laughter any longer; he busted out laughing so hard the house shook. Everyone joined in. I felt my face get hotter. “Beat by a human!” Uncle Emmett laughed. “I was not beat by a human,” I said. “Then why are you so mad?” He questioned. I growled. He laughed again. “I didn’t get beat by him; there simply is a mistake that has not been found yet, but will soon.” I knew he did something to get by but what? Then I heard Aunt Alice’s silvery laugh. I looked at her. She laughed so hard I blushed again. Dad looked like he was holding laughter back himself. “What?” I asked. Aunt Alice shook her head and said “Are you sure there is a mistake?” I nodded. “Of course, why?” She laughed again. UGH! This was so not funny. I turned and ran to my room, escaping from the laughter. I then threw myself into studying, something I never did…until now. Then a thought occurred to me; he probably cheated! AH HA! I knew it! I laughed out loud and stopped studying, closing the book and walking down the stairs with a smug smile; I knew it. I walked into the living room and plopped down on the coach, melting into the cushion. Dad eyed me speculatively. Uncle Emmett turned from the TV and smirked at me.

“Aren’t you supposed to be studying Renesmee?” My chin jerked up. “Nope, I figured it out.” He raised his eyebrow and said “Figured out what?” I shrugged. “How he beat me.” He stared at me, looking confused. “He cheated.” Aunt Alice busted out laughing so hard everyone jumped. She laughed so hard that if she was human, I swear she’d be crying. Dad joined in too. I frowned. “Why are you two laughing so hard?” I asked annoyed. Dad shook his head and snickered. Aunt Alice sighed and giggled and leaned into Uncle Jasper. Uncle Jasper adjusted so that her head was on his chest and his right arm hugged her close. I stared at them and thought of me and Jake. Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice have been together for so long…would Jake and I get there as well? And then I looked at Mom and Dad, always together, and Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rosalie, they were the most romantic and then Grandma Esme and Grandpa Carlisle, they always had that look in their eyes…in fact all of them did. Dad cleared his throat. I looked up and blushed. Uncle Emmett laughed guessing. I blushed again. Then Mom said “So how do you think you’ll do tomorrow?” I shrugged. “Don’t really know.” Aunt Alice snickered and said “Renesmee he didn’t cheat.” I grimaced. Shoot, how did he beat me then? Uncertainty crept back and had me running up the stairs to my room again. I heard Uncle Emmett laugh again. He was seriously getting on my nerves, if he didn’t watch it I was going to bring up him getting beat by mom in that arm wrestling match. I smiled imaging his reaction. I shook my head; I had to concentrate. I studied my book for quite some time until my phone buzzed. I jumped up and ran to get it. I picked up seeing the name. “Hello,” I said breathlessly. “Hey,” I sighed in relief hearing Jacobs voice. “How are you?” he asked me. “Great now,” I smiled. He cleared his throat and said “So how was school?” My eyes narrowed. “Fine,” I said curtly. “Really?”Jacob asked. “Yes really why?” “Well…er your mom called me and told me ab- “WHAT?” I screeched. Jacob back tracked. “Er…something about a human …?” I was furious! “What about it?” I hissed. “Well I was just wondering wither you were gonna take the tutoring offer.” I stared gaping. I closed the phone quickly with a twitch of my fingers. I set it down and shoved my face back into the text book for about five seconds until my phone buzzed again. I sighed and answered. “Hello,” I said. “Hey,” Jacob said in a small voice. “Look Nessie I was just thinking about your grades when I asked about the tutoring. I didn’t mean to make you upset…”I sighed and said “Jake I know you were…I was just pissed off cause Uncle Emmett.” “Oh,” he said relieved. “So what’s new with you Jake?” He sighed and said “Nothing. We’re searching and still coming up with nothing. Sam is starting to think it was a waste of time, I guess we’ll be coming home soon then.” His voice dragged at first but at the end it grew cheerful. I smiled. I yearned to stroke his dark beautiful skin; I yearned to crush myself to him like I had. He seemed to be on the same path. He cleared his throat and said “Well I’ve been thinking…” he didn’t continue. “Thinking about what Jake?” “Well…about telling you something really important.” “Like?” He took a deep breath and said “Renesmee…I…I…” “You what?” I said. “I’ll tell you when I come home…it’s special and I don’t think telling you over the phone is special.” I heard a smile in his voice. My stomach flipped thinking of what it was he wanted to tell me. “Kay.” “Hey speaking of coming home, I’m thinking about leaving soon.” I gasped. “Really Jake? Really?” He laughed. “Yeah, it sucks being away from you.” His voice was soft, and yet passionate. “I know! It sucks going down to your house and you not even being there.” He laughed. I sighed and got up and lay on my bed. “What are you thinking about Renesmee? Jacob whispered. I sighed. “Nothing much.” “You’re lying Nessie.” I sighed and blushed. Whispering as light as a moth’s wing I said “Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett…are going to…you know…have another…” I broke off. There’s no way I was going to get this out. “Another what?” he asked, sounding curious. I swallowed hard. “Um…?” He sighed and said “Nessie come on, you can tell me.” I sighed and decided to tell him. “Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett are planning too…have another…uh…honeymoon soon.” “And?” he questioned. I sighed. “Never mind,” I said quickly. “Renesmee, your killing me, come on tell me!” Jacob groaned. “No,” I said I shaking my head. “It’s too embarrassing.” “Nessie come on,” Jacob whined. I sighed heavily. “Fine! Well…I just wanted to know if…that…could…ever…” “Ever what?” Jacob asked again.

I took a deep breath and said “Do you ever think that could happen…for...um you or me?” I changed my mind at the last moment. “Um…yeah of course. Why?” Jacob asked. “Just wondering,” I mumbled. Jacob sighed. “Renesmee that wasn’t what you were going to ask before.” I sighed he knew me so well. “Jake…I wanna tell you…but I don’t feel it’s the right moment.” “Nessie! Come on!” Jacob sounded frustrated. “Jake, listen to me! I will tell you but I’ll tell you when I see you,” I smiled. He sighed and said “Okay, fine.” After that we talked until he passed out. “Love you Jake,” I whispered and hung up. Then I jumped into the shower to take a fast shower. After I got out I stared at my reflection. The image in the mirror changed. There stood a beautiful woman. I looked at her face; perfectly smooth, pale white and an undertone glow, her cheeks a soft rosy pink, her lively chocolate brown eyes were framed with long dark lashes that seemed to go on forever, her lips were full and balanced. Her hair was half-up half-down; a waterfall of cascading bronze curls fell gently down on her left shoulder caressing her long graceful neck while the white veil mixed in with the curls on her back. She wore a long, princess strapless white wedding dress. The sweetheart neckline, shaped like the top half of hearts, made her collarbones prominent and arms long and graceful; the corset hugged snuggly at her curves; little pearls made an elegant ring around her waist as the dress bloomed out into a royal train with little wavelets of silk that reached the ground. To regard the lovely dress she held a bouquet of colorful flowers; Bright Peony’s, Peruvian Lilies, Queen Anne’s lace, Jasmine, Impatiens, Freesia and Tuberose. Holding that bouquet of flowers, on her long, slim third finger was a diamond ring. It was simple but absolutely beautiful; the top of the diamond was cut in a square shape and glistened brightly. The overall shape was that of a pyramid; the silver band made a circle then towards the diamond criss-crossed and coiled, wrapping around the diamond. She stood staring; then there was a figure behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, murmuring something into her ear; she giggled. Then he placed a Jacob’s ladder behind her right ear and kissed her cheek. He had a ring as well; sliver and masculine but still graceful. I watched as the woman morphed into me and the man morphed into Jacob. I wanted this to happen, I wanted to belong to him and I wanted him to belong to me. I suddenly felt a sort of greediness; I wanted Jacob for myself. I was so caught up in this illusion that I was startled when I heard an engine start. I walked out of the bathroom glancing at the mirror, trying to make the image in the mirror linger. I walked to the window tying my robe and heard a car driving away, it hadn’t been that far. I went down stairs and everyone was there. Dad and Mom talking about a trip they were planning to go on in a few months, Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme were talking about their days in the back, Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper in the back past the river wrestling, and Aunt Rosalie and Aunt Alice in the kitchen, discussing a shopping spree soon.”Hey Dad did anyone have a guest over?” I asked. “No love, why?” Dad questioned. My brows furrowed. Then whose car was that? It surely was not one of ours. It didn’t make sense…why would someone even come up here? Nobody knew where the Cullen’s lived except family. “Love it could’ve been someone who got lost,” Dad said in a soothing voice. I shook my head. I felt suspicious but for what reason? “Love what’s all this about?” he asked sounding worried. Everyone had come into the house now and everyone was staring at me. I felt uncomfortable under everyone’s eyes. “Nothing Dad,” I said and turned and went upstairs; my mind wasn’t safe down here. I went to my room and sat down on the bed. Something was off…I had no actual evidence…but something wasn’t right.

Chapter Nine: 

White curtains were opening on either side of me. As the curtains opened, I realized I was on a beach that looked all too familiar, the sand was a deep chocolate brown and the water was midnight black. The moon, high up in the black star-filled sky, beamed down brightly on me as I walked out. There was a huge white tent that bloomed with Calla Lilies and Sweet peas; Handel’s Finale was being played by the orchestra. To my left were blurred faces, looking fuzzy like bad reception on T.V, I couldn’t see the faces but they had beautiful copper skin. I turned to my right and saw the immediate difference. They were too still; too white and they glittered gently even though it was dark out. I knew the people even though I couldn’t see the faces and I knew where we were. We were on First Beach in La Push and the left side would most likely be the local Quileute’s, the right was obviously my side of the family. Then suddenly out of no-where, Jacob stood under the tent looking so beautiful, I gasped; He wore a black tux with the traditional black jacket and pants and white button up shirt under. He smiled at me; I wanted to run to him but when I tried to run I realized that I was in a familiar dress; the dress from the vision in the mirror. Then I felt something cold touch my right arm lightly and turned to see Dad holding my arm. He smiled and winked at me and said “Ready love?”I heard Wagner’s traditional start playing and nodded and felt my heart racing. Small white lights guided us on the long white carpet leading up to the altar. Finally we reached Jacob; Dad took my hand, and placed it into Jacob’s and smiled. Then I could no longer pay attention to him because I knew what was happening; Jacob and I were getting married. I couldn’t help the slow burning I felt deep within me. He was mine! He smiled at me and held my hands. The minster then started off. I couldn’t quite concentrate, but I tried. Finally, oh finally he said: Do you, Renesmee Cullen, take, Jacob Black, to be your lawful wedded husband? To love and to cherish, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health?” I made sure I spoke loudly, opening my mouth and answering in my clearest voice, “I do.” He then turned to Jacob and said: And do you, Jacob Black, take Renesmee Cullen, to be your lawful wedded wife? To love and to cherish, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health?” Jacob stared at me and said in a strong sure voice “I do.” “I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.” Jacob took my face in his hands and bent his face to mine. I let him pull me close and put my arms around his neck and kissed him with so much passion that it was almost violent. I heard laughing coming from around but I didn’t care; I never wanted to let this end. Then he pulled his face from my and brought his soft, warm lips to my ear and whispered my name. “Renesmee, Renesmee, Renesmee,” Jacobs voice changed from his to a lighter voice and then I was aware of cold hands shaking me and saying my name. “Renesmee dear, time to wake up,” I heard Grandma Esme say. My eyes fluttered open and I stared at the ceiling, tears welling up and over flowing. “It was just a dream,” I whispered, felling the pain. I wanted it to be real, I wanted it to happen…but it was just a dream. Realizing that all of that was nothing more than a dream, I started to cry. “Renesmee, whats wrong?” Grandma Esme asked hastily. She picked me up and hugged me and rubbed my arm. “It’s alright Renesmee, shh, it’s alright,” She said over and over again hugging me close and rubbing my arm. Then I laughed out loud and sniffled. How ridiculous of me, crying about a dream. Finally when I calmed down Grandma Esme turned me to look at her in the eyes. “Renesmee, are you alright?” I shook my head feeling embarrassed. “I’m fine, really Grandma,” my voice broke twice, making my bluff unconvincing. She nodded, not really believing me. I assured her I would be fine and asked for some privacy. She nodded and kissed my head and left. I got up and went to the bathroom and took a shower remembering that dream. It was so real! I felt the cool breeze and smelt the delicious smell of food and flowers all together! It was so real that it could only be a dream. I heard Grandma Esme talking to my Dad about it; ugh just perfect. I dressed in a daze, not even noticing what I picked up and put on. My mind was on the dream; how real it was! I wouldn’t think of it when I went downstairs, Dad would be sure to be listening as soon as I was down. I brushed my bronze curls, grabbed my book bag and walked down stairs. Dad and Mom acted like they weren’t looking at me but they were. I grabbed a hot pocket and popped it into the microwave and turned to face them. “How are you today?” Dad asked, trying to sound indifferent. I almost pulled the wedding image up when I remembered Dad listening. “Uh,” I said and cleared my head. “Um, I’m…fine,” I shrugged. Dad raised his eye brow, questioning me. Mom’s beautiful face looked stressed. I sighed. I walked over to Mom and sat in her lap and hugged her. Mom wrapped her arms around me, probably feeling surprised because I stopped doing that after I was twelve. “Mom, I’m really fine.” I put my hand to her cheek so she could really see that I was fine. She smiled and said “Alright if you say so.” I nodded. Suddenly Dad was next to me with an arm around both of us. “Did you two forget about me already?” We both laughed. Dad stretched his perfect long neck up so he could kiss Mom on her full lips. When Dad kissed Mom, it was like an electric current ran though her. I watched her jump slightly as if she had been shocked and then gasped when her always careful cold arms became steel bars, closing too tightly around my torso; Mom forgot a lot when they kissed. They didn’t seem to notice. “Can’t…breathe… grip…too tight,” I gasped. Mom and Dad seemed to have forgotten I was there until that moment. Mom finally released me and I gasped deeply. Dad and Mom chuckled and Mom said “Oops.” I laughed, a bit breathless and dizzy. Mom sat me in my own chair and I breathed deeply. Mom looked at me apologetically and I just smiled. I jumped up and went to the microwave and took the hot pocket out and went to the fridge to get some juice and returned to the table and sat next to Mom and started eating. Before I knew it, Dad said “Nessie, time to go.” I sighed. “Dad can I drive myself now?” He was shaking his head before the words even came out. “Absolutely not Nessie.” “Why not?” I whined. “Because you can’t afford to have another tardy,” Mom said. I turned to glare at her; she was supposed to be on my side. Dad got up and said “Renesmee, when you learn to be responsible we may discuss this.” His tone made it final; no driving myself. I sighed and pouted; ugh I soo hated it when I was treated like a baby. Dad came to my side and said “Renesmee its time to go.” I sat there refusing to move. I was seventeen, practically an adult! Dad sighed and lightly tugged on my hair. “Come now Renesmee, you are being absurd.” I crossed my arms and huffed; I wasn’t moving until I got a deal. He sighed, clearly frustrated. “Why must you be so…so” “Stubborn?” Mom said, finishing Dads sentence. I looked at Mom and she was smiling. Dad chuckled and said “I guess you’re exactly like your Mother.” I smiled at him, hearing some compromise in his voice. He looked at me for five seconds and sighed heavily. I jumped up and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you daddy!” I screamed. He laughed and hugged me and pulled me back to look me in the eyes. “Now just because you have the privilege of driving today does not mean get a ticket or another tardy.” I nodded quickly. “Just get to school on time alright and you can keep driving yourself.” I nodded and hugged him again. Dad kissed my forehead and said “Better get going if you want to make it on time.” I nodded hugged him and kissed his cheek, then ran to Mom and kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her tightly and whispered “thank you” in her ear; I knew the only reason why Dad was letting me was because Mom. I got up and ran to get my book bag on the couch. I tied my shoes and put my jacket on, not that I would feel cold, but for humans it was cold out so I needed it. I turned around and Dad threw something at me. My hand automatically opened and caught it; the keys to my Koenigsegg CCX. I squealed with delight and jumped up and down and had to kiss Dad again. He laughed and said “Time for school.” I nodded and ran to the garage. I ran to J and stroked his glossy, black coat over and over; I hadn’t ridden him in so long. “Finally able to drive yourself Nessie?” I heard Uncle Emmett ask mockingly. I turned my head and stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed. Aunt Rosalie smacked his arm and grinned at me and said “Don’t be late.” I smiled and nodded. I unlocked J and sat in the black leather seat and closed the door. I sat there for a bit, letting the smell of the leather and the old scent of Jacob intoxicate me. Finally I decided it was time to go. I turned the key and heard the engine; I smiled widely, J gave me chills. I opened the garage door and backed up without looking and then the familiar path of home disappeared and I was on the road. I remember the day I got J.


**** “Renesmee are you sure you want that car? It’s quite conspicuous is it not?” Dad asked me. I smiled widely at him. “Dad does it really even matter? This car is beautiful and fast.” He grinned at me and said “So this is the car that you desire?” I nodded. He looked at Mom and Mom was looking at me with a -some-what worried expression. I sighed heavily. “Mom I’m not going to crash, I promise.” She looked at me like she doubted it. “Mom,” I said and pointed to my chest and said “Vampire remember?” She frowned and said “You’re also human.” “Mom you worry way too much.” She wasn’t budging. “Mom, I’m only going to drive the car to school and back and ill drive below speed limits please?” I whinnied. Her perfect brow puckered as she considered it and when it finally relaxed I screamed in delight. “OH THANKS MOM! THANK YOU!” I couldn’t believe it. Dad and Mom held each other looking at me kissing the glossy black coat and cooing to the car. I decided that I was going to give this, my car, a name. I thought threw what this car reminded me of and realized this car reminded me very much of Jacob and in that I found his name. His name would be J. Dad went to the front and bought me J. “Dad can I drive J down to La Push? Please?” Dad raised a brow and said “What did you just call the car?” I blinked and said “Um I named him.” Mom laughed. “Who’s J? “Um,” I said and blushed crimson. Dad chuckled and said “Jacob.” Mom laughed again. “Can I please?” “Sure,” Mom and Dad said at the exact time. They smiled at each other. “Well I’ll meet you guys at home okay?” They nodded as I got in and started J’s engine. When J’s engine started I squealed; this car was made for speed and Jacob was going to love it. I drove to La Push in a hurry, anticipating Jacob’s reaction. Finally I made it to Jacob’s house. I turned the engine off and opened the car door and ran to ring the door bell. I ran it twice and was nearly jumping up and down. I heard Jacob come to the door and unlock it. When he opened it and saw me, his heart stuttered; I heard my heart stutter just as his did. We stared at each other for a few seconds until he cleared his throat and said “So um…what’s up?” I cleared my throat and said “I just got my car.” He looked at me, with excited eyes and said “What did you get?” I let him sit there for a minute and then said slowly “I got a Koenigsegg CCX.” He stared, gaping at me, like he couldn’t comprehend what I was saying. I laughed and said “Jake, you wanna ride in it?” He looked at me with wide eyes and said “You have it here?” I nodded eagerly. “Where?” He asked excitedly. I laughed and said “Right behind me silly.” He finally noticed it and his already wide eye’s grew even wider. He shook his head and laughed and said “No way!” I laughed and said “Come on Jake.” He laughed and took my hand in his and towed me down the porch stairs. At first I walked perfectly fine until I walked atop a moist moss covered rock and flipped backwards; My balance seemed to be perfect when I was young but apparently the older I grew, the clumsier I got, thanks to my human side. I thought I was going to hit my head on the gravel but warm hands caught me before that could happen. Jacobs’s beautiful face was just inches from mine and his warm eyes melted into mine. His right arm gripped my left hip and left arm held my head. We stared at each other for a while when we heard someone chuckle. We both looked up and saw Embry and Quil staring at us. “Nice save,” Embry noted. Then they both started laughing and I blushed. We spent the rest of the day taking turns driving J. Finally it was time to go home and I was still debating on wither I should tell Jake about J’s name and finally decided not to, but then Jake said “This thing runs great.” I looked at him and said “He has a name so stop calling him a thing.” Jake looked at me and said “He?” “Uh…” was all I could say. It seemed like I just started thinking of those days when I was already at school. I heard everyone’s gasp as I pulled in. I parked in a spot and got out. When I got out, I heard Phil whistle and whisper to Alex “Hot and rich.” Alex nodded and stared. I started walking and met up with Luna at the entrance. “Nice car,” she said nodding toward J. I nodded. The day passed by so slow. The clock seemed to never move. Throughout the whole day everyone complimented me about my car and my name was constantly said, either with envy or jealousy. Finally I made it to Mr. Mason’s class, truly the only reason I looked forward to school, beating Blake was my one and only priority in school. “Today Blake Vandergilt’s luck was going to run out,” I thought as I heard Mr. Mason explain about the thirty questioned pop-quiz he was giving in five minutes. He smiled like he was being nice. Everyone, not having studied the material, sighed with relief and found notes and books while others quizzed one another. I didn’t even move; I knew the material and Mr. Mason knew that and so did the other students. So I sighed deeply and waited…until I realized that I wasn’t the only person not studying. Blake Vandergilt sat in his chair and stared at others studying instead of studying himself. He felt my stare and turned to smirk at me; those grey blue eyes pierced me into stillness. He then rose, quite gracefully, and walked over to my table and grabbed a chair and planted himself in front of me. “What the hell do you want?” I said sourly. He smiled widely. “Are you sure you don’t need tutoring?” My eyes narrowed and I spoke through my teeth. “Even if I did I wouldn’t ask you,” I spat. He laughed quietly and a spark came into his eye. He looked down at his hands for a second and then looked up at me and smiled; my heart faltered. He put his hands on my table and leaned in and said “Do you like competition Renesmee?” I could feel him expecting me to say no so my jaw jerked up and I said “Of course I do. What’s it to you?” He looked at me and said “Well you didn’t seem like the type, especially when I beat you.” “Ha! You didn’t beat me, there was a mistake.” He chuckled and said “Is that so?” I nodded once. “Well how about we make a bet?” I folded my arm across my chest and leaned away from him, so I wouldn’t do anything rash. “No,” I said. “Why? Too scared?” he said sarcastically. My eyes flared. This little boy thought he could scare me? Ha! If only I could tell him what I was and maybe show my fangs a bit. Ha-ha. That would scare him beyond words. I sighed and rolled my eyes; better not let my imagination get out of hand. “Am I annoying you?” he asked in a humorous tone. My eyes flashed back to him and narrowed when I saw that he was smiling. “Don’t you have something better to do otherwise bother me?” He smiled sweetly and said “Nope, this is really fun you know.” I sighed again and looked around the room trying to distract myself. It was quiet finally and I could feel him staring at me. He sat there and stared and stared. Finally it was too much; I looked at him and said “Why are you staring at me for?” He smiled and said “Because you are utterly amazing to look at.” I stared at him; what was wrong with this boy? He kept staring and I felt my face turn red and hot so I quickly looked down, hoping he hadn’t seen that, though of course he did. He chuckled making the blush even brighter. What was wrong with me? Why was I blushing?? I glared at my shoes for a few minutes, until I was sure the blush had faded. Finally I looked up and still he was staring. “Isn’t staring rude?” I asked, irritated. He smiled and said “Well clearly there is more to you than normal, so I don’t think it applies.” I gasped. Did he know? How? I hadn’t done anything that would have tipped him off…did I? He looked so amused and finally said “I’m sure everyone, even you would stare at an angel if she appeared in flesh, would you not?” I exhaled and relaxed. So he didn’t know. He was just talking about how I looked. He watched me and that made me feel weird. “Your reaction…something about it bothers me.” I shrugged and said “So? I really don’t care.” He smiled and said “What did you think I was talking about?” I rolled my eyes and said “Get your life together Blake.” He laughed and said “What’s that supposed to mean?” “It means leave me alone and go away.” He laughed again. I rolled my eyes and looked somewhere else and caught Anna’s eye. I smiled and waved. She smiled back and then her baby blue eyes darted to Blake and back. She smiled but I could tell she wanted to ask me something so I waved her over. Blake watched me as Anna walked towards us. Finally she came to our table and looked at me with questions raging in her eyes. “Hey Anna,” I said. “Hi Renesmee,” She said in her light, babyish voice. It was quiet for so long, I understood why now. They wanted me to introduce one another. “Er…Anna. Blake, Blake. Anna.” I waved to him and back to her. Blake stood up and walked towards her, right hand outstretched. “I’m sorry for being so rude. I haven’t introduced myself properly, I’m Blake Vandergilt.” He shook her hand. “Oh…well um I’m Anna Williams, nice to meet you.” He smiled and said “Well I’ll leave you ladies to chat.” He smiled at her and turned his back to her and said “But before I go, Renesmee are you still willing to make a bet?” I glared at him. “I already told you no.” He ran his hand through his light gold hair, which I noticed was short and shaggy, just as Jacob’s was. “I bet I’ll beat you…again.” He smiled angelically. My teeth grinded together; Anna looked at me with curious eyes. I couldn’t believe this; he was trying to embarrass me! I couldn’t let this happen. My jaw jerked up and I said “Fine. I beat you and you have to stop talking to me.” He smiled, clearly delighted. “Alright then, and if you lose?” I snorted. “Now Renesmee we can’t make a bet if you don’t play fair.” Ugh. “Um…if I lose then…then…I don’t know.” He smiled and said “You choose the consequence for me and I choose the consequence for you?” “Um…sure.” “Alright so if you win I stop talking to you correct?” I nodded. “Alright then, now when I get the highest grade-smirk-, you have to give me your schedule.” “Um…why?” He shook his head and said “Do we agree?” I had a feeling I was going to regret this greatly…but what was the worse he could do? End up in all my classes? No mere humans could do that.

font;15pt>Chapter Ten
"Deal,” I said with confidence; he was going to regret this. He smiled widely and extended his right arm toward me. I just looked at him. He found that very funny and laughed and said “I’ll leave you two to chat now, and Renesmee” -looked at me- “good luck,” wink and strides off. Anna sat down in front of me and watched him walk away. She turned back to me and whispered “I didn’t know you and him were such great friends.” I wrinkled my nose and said “Were not, he just won’t leave me alone.” She looked at me like…like she didn’t believe me! “What? You don’t believe me?” I asked, not watching my face. She bit her lip and quickly looked down. I heard her heart splutter. “Take a breather,” I told myself and softened my expression; I was scaring her.

She hesitantly looked back up. Finally when she saw that I wasn’t going to bite her head off she said “Well…he’s absolutely gorgeous…a-and every time I look over, you’re talking to him…so I sorta kinda…thought…you liked…him.” I shook my head and said “I don’t like him at all.” She shrugged her shoulders and played with a strand of her orange said “Okay if you say so...” I rolled my eyes and then a poster grabbed my attention. “So you ready for Wednesday?” She looked up and smiled. “You remembered?” I guess because I was “popular” she thought I wouldn’t remember her. I smiled and said “Duh. How could I forget?” She shrugged and said “Well you know…you must be so busy with everything…always getting asked out and always being invited to parties and stuff…it could’ve slipped your mind…” I felt pity for her…she was such a nice girl and yet no one noticed her. “Well Anna, you’re honestly the only person here along with Luna and a handful of people that I really would consider friends, everyone else here are associates that I try not to associate with.” I hoped she understood the end because it sounded weird. She looked at me with bugging eyes. “Really?” I nodded and smiled “Your different Anna and I see it and so does Tony.” She smiled a gleaming smile. She looked at me and said “You really think he likes me? That he’s not trying to pull a prank on me like Phil did freshman year with Wendy?” I scowled. Phil had asked Wendy Anderson, a red haired “nerd” to the dance freshman year, as a joke and at the dance announced it to everyone on the PA system and embarrassed her in front of the whole school; she left school with tears streaking her face and a grudge against all the “popular” kids. She came back the next day with a base ball bat and almost pounded Phil’s model face in; she was expelled and never heard from again. I remember her face that night…it was heart breaking. “I’ll kick his ass if he tries,” I growled. She looked frightened but relieved, probably happy that someone would say something if it turned out to be a joke. “Thanks Renesmee really, but you don’t have to kick his a-ass.” She stuttered over things when she was nervous. “Yes I do, he’s messing with my friend.” She smiled and said “So who’s your date?” I smiled and said “His names Jacob.” She leaned in and put her face between her hands and said “Spill your guts. How old is he? How long have you known him? Does he go here? How does he look?” We both laughed. “I’m sorry, I sound so noisy, you don’t have to answer them,” She said nervously; her face turning crimson.”No no,” I said quickly. “Um…well let’s see he’s twenty-I added quotation marks mentally- and I’ve known him basically my whole life, and no he does not go here, and as for the looks you’ll have to find out yourself.” I grinned at her. She smiled and said “So any specific color or style of dresses in mind yet?” “No not yet. You?” Her lip pouted and she said “Me neither. This is gonna take so long.” She sighed. Well she never met my family before so…eh what the heck. “How about we have a professional help us?” She looked at me with frightened eyes. “Renesmee I don’t have that kind of mo-“I cut her off. “Anna take a breather; you don’t have to pay anyone.” She looked confused. “So…who then?” I smiled widely seeing Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie’s faces when they knew what they were going to do. “My Aunt’s are experts at this kinda crap and they would love to dress not only one but two people up. What do you say?” I hoped she wasn’t scared. She looked excited and nervous but the excitement seemed to hold the nervousness off. “S-sure if it’s not too much trouble…” I shook my head. “Of course not, now my aunts will probably order dresses from France but-“she cut me off saying “Holy cow! F-France? There’s no way I could afford anything from Fra-“I cut her off again, saying “This is on me! Don’t worry about it Anna.” She shook her head and said “Renesmee I can’t ask that of you.” I shrugged “Sure you can.” She shook her head furiously and said “No I can’t.” I sighed and said “Listen Ana, you want Tony’s eyes to drop out of their sockets when you walk in don’t you?” She calmed down for a bit and put a finger on her chin and looked down. “I guess I do…” she mumbled. “Then it’s settled. You’re getting a dress from where ever my Aunts want and you’re going to look gorgeous and you’re going to make his eyes drop out or disintegrate.” I folded my arms across my chest, making it final. She sighed having sensed she wasn’t going to win and gave up. “Fine…but on one condition” She said hands up, palms facing me. I sighed heavily and scowled at her. “It can’t be too expensive okay?” I rolled my eyes and said “Okay, promise.” She nodded and started to relax into her chair when Mr. Mason called the class’s attention. “Alright class, take your seats and prepare for the quiz.” Anna got up and said “Good luck Renesmee, but of course you don’t need it, you always do great.” I smiled and said “Thanks and good luck to you as well.” She nodded and said “See you at lunch?” I nodded and said “I’ll meet you at the door.” She smiled and walked to her desk. She really was a great person and if Tony knew what was good for him, he would treat her right. I sat in my chair and prepared myself; I was going to win this darn bet. I but my game face on and threw a glance at Blake who had his hand over his mouth, covering that breath taking smile as he assessed my every move. I stuck my tongue out like I was five and turned my head toward the window; this was going to end. Mr. Mason walked by and passed me the quiz; I started immediately. I did each problem unnecessarily careful, making sure I didn’t make one mistake. Finally I was done; even though I was done I had to look over my work…just in case. I checked once, twice, three times, four times and a final fifth time. I looked up and saw Blake watching me with humor in his eyes; crap he had been watching me the whole time. Irritated, I gave him the finger and childishly turned away to the window. He laughed out loud and everyone starred at him like he’d gone mad. His face was brilliant red and he kept chuckling. Mr. Mason’s face was full of disapproval and gave him “the stare”. He finally shut up. Now that it was quiet and I was building a defense on how to ignore Blake’s stares, I could pull that dream back out. I remembered the smell of flowers and food; I remember the smell of the ocean water, the color of the sky, the water, the way he pulled me close and kissed me. I remembered it all and remembered that it was only a dream. Just as this morning I started to cry. How idiotic! I didn’t ball my eyes out like I did at home but a few tears escaped; I quickly wiped them away and stared at my scruffy, red notebook. It had dozens of black hearts spread evenly throughout the cover with JB+RC. There really was no room left to doodle so I turned it on the back and thought of how my first name and Jacobs’s last name would sound. Renesmee Black. Huh…sounded…perfect! I smiled widely to myself and started to draw it all over the back. I’m not sure how long I sat there doodling but eventually my humanness leaked in and I had to flex my hand; it hurt. Finally Mr. Mason came to pick the quizzes up and grade them; I waited impatiently to hear the results. He graded it so slowly! Minutes passed and he still wasn’t done! Usually quite Adam rarely ever spoke to me but today he was quite talkative. “So you like Vandergilt huh?” I looked at him and smiled and said “Oh no, I hate his guts.” He looked at me with his bright brown eyes that matched his light brown skin and went perfectly with his jet black hair and said “Is that so?” I merely nodded. He shrugged and said “Well if you say so.” Just like Anna, he didn’t believe me. He was so quite I looked over and saw why; he was staring at Raven Ford. Raven Ford was what people called “weird”. She wasn’t very normal but that’s why I liked her, but how could I judge her? I wasn’t even fully human. Her face was shoved into a book as thick as my leg, her long brown hair hung dully on either side of her face and her glasses were slipping down her nose. The jacket she wore was much too loose for her, must be her fathers. She was really pretty once you got past the gruffness but no one paid attention to her like Adam and I did; me because I was part Vampire and saw everything even if I didn’t intend too, Adam by choice. He watched her every move and sighed quietly; was that how I sounded? I saw him go into his pocket and take a crumpled piece of paper out; he held it at an angle so I wouldn’t see but of course my eyes saw; Aw how sweet, a will you go to the dance with me note. “What cha got there Adam?” I asked as if didn’t know. He scrambled to hide it. “U-um...er …n-n-othing, nothing,” He stuttered. “So are you gonna ask anyone to the dance?” I hinted. He played with his fingers, twisting them this way and that way. I waited. “Well,” he began “I-I was thinking of asking…um -gulp- a-asking R-R-Raven.” “Oh cool, when?” I asked with polite curiosity. “Um…not really sure?” he said. “Adam you need to ask her before someone else does.” He looked up at me and said “Like who?” His eyes searched the whole room. “Um how about Timmy for starters,” I said nodding toward Timmy Nelson, an unusually small, pale boy with hair as big and dull as the school, who eyed Raven graciously. Adam’s heart beat quickened; he was jealous. “You better or he will,” I said. He got up walked over and turned right back around and sat down. I stared at him. “What was that?” I asked incredulously. He stared at me with nervous eyes. “I’ve never…done anything like this.” I sighed and said “Come on, grow a pair and go ask her.” He looked shocked. I sighed. “You want me to ask her for you? I mean you’re gonna look weak but I’ll do it if you want.” He shook his head. “I got this,” he said and took a deep breath and walked toward Raven and tapped her on her shoulder. Raven flinched and looked up. Her long brown hair finally out of her face. I heard him make small talk; asking her about the book and homework and then school. She just stared at him, waiting, and then finally he said “So um…you going to the dance?” She shook her head and said “No one ever asks me.” He nodded and said “Well…um…do you…wanna go with…m-me?” She stared at him like he said something in Italian and then quickly looked down and blushed delicately. “Oh no,” she said in her whisper quite voice. She shook her head and said “Me and dancing don’t go together, ill just probably make a fool of myself.” “Please?” he begged. She looked up and thought for a minute and said “Oh..kay,” he smiled with delight and said “Er…ill pick you up at six?” She blushed and nodded, still looking down. He turned around and walked back and sat down and exhaled a huge gust. I smiled at him and said “How did it go?” He smiled at me and said “I got a date.” I smiled and high-fived him. Then Mr. Mason called the class to the front; I shot a look at Blake and saw him staring at me as usual. “Alright class, the highest score, well I mean scores, are from Miss. Cullen with a 100 percent A and Mr. Vandergilt with a 100 percent A. Please give them a round of applause.” Everyone applauded. Hmm…we both got good grades. “The rest of you should delegate yourselves to achieve grades such as Miss. Cullen and Mr. Vandergilt,” he chided the class. Then he turned around and sat at his desk and started reading his book, giving us the signal that we were free. Adam turned to me and stretched his right hand out to me. “Congrats Renesmee.” I shook his hand and said “Thanks.” I looked up and saw Blake get up and walk over. “So it seems no one wins and no one loses.” “I guess, though I sure would have wanted to win so you would stop talking to me.” He sat down on the table, right in front of me; I flinched back and scooted my chair back and crossed my arms again. “Well if I weren’t a prodigy maybe your wish would have been possible,” He said and smiled at me. “Wait what?” I asked. He waited. “So you’re saying you’re a prodigy?” I asked. He nodded and said “I guess it isn’t fair...” I sighed with happiness. This acknowledgement cleared my mind and made me relax; this human boy wasn’t even really human. Now that he cleared that up, I actually wanted to like him. “What are you thinking about?” he asked me, suddenly beside me. I flinched and stared at him. “When did you get there?” I asked, confused. He laughed. “Renesmee it’s not my fault if you dose off and don’t notice your surroundings.” I shrugged and smiled. “So what were you thinking about?” he asked again. I thought it through because I didn’t want it coming out sounding wrong. “Well I was thinking that now since you aren’t trying to steal my title, I actually want to try to like you.” As I said this, a twinkle came to his eyes. Uh oh, definitely came out wrong.

font;15pt>Chapter Eleven
He stared at me with those deep grey blue eyes and had me speechless. The bell rang, loud and demanding, and made me jump. He laughed and said “Shall I walk you to lunch today?” I looked at him and said “Um no thank you, I made plans with Anna already.” He nodded and smiled and said “Alright then, I’ll see you soon.” I got up and walked over to Anna and nudged her. “Ready?” I asked. She looked at me and said “I can’t, I have to make up this test or I won’t be able to go to the dance, I’m so sorry,” she said in a sincere voice. I shook my head and said “Don’t worry about it, its fine. I’ll see you later then okay?” She nodded and said “So sorry,” again. I smiled and left. “You’re not going to lunch today?” Blake asked Anna. “Um no…why?” “Well I wanted to walk Renesmee to lunch but she said she had plans with you,” His tone sounded distrustful. “Well we were, but I have to stay to make up a test.” “Oh well thank you for your time.” I suppose I should’ve started running or something but instead I walked slower. He eventually caught up with me and breathlessly asked “Since your friend is busy, can I join you?” “Um…sure,” I said. We walked in silence until we got to the cafeteria. “What would you like?” he asked. “Oh,” I said feeling flustered. “Um…I can buy my own lunch really.” He shook his head and said “This is on me.” I sighed and said “Um…pizza and fruit punch?” he laughed and ordered two slices of pizza and two cans of fruit punch. He held the tray and walked to a deserted table and pulled out my chair for me. I smiled with delight and watched him sit across from me. We started eating and chatting about everything and anything. I really did like Blake. “So where have you gone?” he asked me. “Well I’ve been all over the world, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, London, Paris, Rome. “ I shrugged. “What about you?” “Hm…well I’ve never been to any of those places, but I intend to someday …” “Well there lovely places,” I said smiling at him. “So where do you intend to go to school next year?” he asked curiously. “Well…I’m not quite sure…” I said tracing the lid of my can. “What’s the matter?” he asked, probably alerted by the sudden sorrow on my face. I sighed and said “All the schools are so far away…and there’s so much I’m going to miss…” my throat got all tight and my stomach knotted. He nodded and said “I understand, well I’ve lived on my own since I was six so I’m used to it,” and shrugged. “You’ve lived by yourself since you were six?” I asked, shocked. He smiled and said “Well my parents are alive and well but they traveled all the time, leaving me with a jar full of money, a cell phone, and anything I wanted.” Towards the end, his joking tone had vanished and turned sad. Without thinking, I placed my right hand on his left hand and gave it a gentle squeeze; his hands were warm, and strong. He stared at me shocked. I smiled. His heart beat faster and his face turned a deep crimson. I breathed in and the scent burned my throat; ouch. I needed to go hunting soon. He turned my hand so that he now held it and reached across the table to retrieve my left hand; He leaned in and gazed at me. I took myself out of the situation and looked from out there, we looked like a couple! I kept the smile in place with some effort but took my hands away from his; I was starting to feel uncomfortable. He smiled as my hands slid back and quickly grabbed my right hand and held it firmly. “Blake,” I said, starting to get irritated. “What?” he asked with wide innocent eyes. I sighed and said “Let my hand go.” “Why?” he challenged. I sighed again. “People are starting to look Blake.” And it was true; nearly everyone was throwing glances over here.” He turned his head and looked around the room and turned back to me and smiled and said “So? Who cares what they think?” I stared at him…did he really think we were together? I shook my head and ripped my right hand out of his and said “Blake, you walked me to lunch, that’s it,” I said a bit too harshly. His face fell. I sighed and made my voice soft and kind “Blake, we’ve just met, we don’t even really know each other.” He looked at me and sighed and said “I guess…but after time?” he asked eagerly. I had to kill his hope now. I looked down and played with the promise ring Jake had given me on my second Birthday. “Blake…I don’t think we could…ever…” I couldn’t finish. He was silent. Finally he said “Is there someone else?” in a husky, sadden voice. As sad as this was, I couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Yes…he’s been here the whole time,” I said looking up at him and smiling a bit, hoping he would understand. He sighed heavily and said “Well…we should be getting to class.” I looked up and saw everyone leaving, eyeing us. I nodded and got up and picked up my trash. He made no approach to move, he sat there staring at nothing. “Blake,” I called. He didn’t look up. I sighed and put my trash down and walked over to him and crouched by him and said “Blake, come on, the bell rang.” He sighed and said “You…go ahead. I’ll catch you later.” I felt so bad. I sighed and said “Blake, this isn’t some lame excuse to just say no to you, really.” He nodded and said nothing. I shook my head and said “Come on, you don’t wanna be late.” He closed his eyes and said “I just kinda wanna be alone right now…” I rolled my eyes; see this was the exact reason why I never dated human boys, they were so dramatic. “Okay,” I said and walked away leaving him and his human hormones behind. I got to class just as the bell rang, so I knew he was late. I sat in my seat and could feel the stares from all over the room, even from Luna. I couldn’t really concentrate in class, Blake’s rejected face made me feel guilty…but it’s not my fault I was in love with a werewolf! Guilt made a fine, thick blanket around me and kept pulling Blake’s rejected face back up. Finally class was over and everyone packed up, and started leaving. Luna looked at me and said “You’re my best friend and you don’t even tell me?” she said in her French accent. My brows furrowed. “What are you talking about Luna?” I asked shocked. “I mean it’s weird because you didn’t like the human boy’s gut but now you’re sitting at lunch with him but it’s even weirder going to the dance with No brain.“ I stared at her, not comprehending what she was saying. “What?” I asked in shock the guilt disappearing. She looked at me and said “No brain said you were going with him to the dance.” My teeth grinded together and my face became hot red in a second. Phil was telling people we were going to the dance together! That must have been why Blake was so down! Anger pulsed deep and fast in my blood. Luna stared at me, smiled and relaxed. “I thought it was true, whoo, glad it’s not, because if it was, I would’ve been really hurt.” I shook my head and said “I’m going to rip his throat out,” and stalked off. I knew where he would be, at his car telling more bull to everyone. I walked right out the doors and heard him call to me loudly. “Renesmee, there you are.” I walked over and saw him leaning against his truck, looking smug. I smiled the biggest and sweetest smile I could and kept walking towards him. Everyone around looked shocked. “That’s my girl,” he teased and winked at me. As soon as I closed the distance I walked right up to him and slapped him as light as I could manage…will I tried too. Everyone watched, waiting for a reaction. “That’s what you get for telling everyone bullshit,” I hissed with as much venom as possible. He looked at me and said “You have a real hard hand you know that? Maybe you should play Volleyball,” and smirked at me. I was furious. “Shut up,” I said and turned to walk away when someone grabbed me and turned me around; there was no time to react. One minute I was turning around and the next Phil’s lips were on mine. He held me close and his lips mashed down on mine urgently. I heard the loud gasp from the crowd and then his buddies whoops and yells. I was going to push his face back when abruptly he was gone; He had jumped back. I started to charge toward him, really about to make him feel pain, when someone restrained me from behind. I flailed my arms and said “Let go of me, I’ll kill you, you dumb jock!” I kept flailing while he smirked even wider and received high fives from his friends. I yelled in defiance and struggled to be freed. “Renesmee calm down! He’s not worth it!” I heard Blake yell at me. “Let me go!” I snarled. I was so mad the angry tears burned in my eyes. Suddenly I was not alone. “Get your hands off of her,” I heard someone say. Blake’s hands disappeared immediately. Jake was by my side instantaneously with his arms wrapped around me, the heat of his skin burning through my jacket. “Are you okay?” he asked me anxiously. My anger abruptly vanished and I nodded and smiled and said “I am now.” I knew Jacob wasn’t too happy right now and I wanted to ask him so many things and I wanted to do so many things right now but we had to get out of here first. I tugged on his arm but couldn’t force him to move. “Jake!” I hissed. Everyone was quite. Jacob looked at Phil and started walking toward him. I grabbed his arm even tighter and when he didn’t stop, I ran in front of him. “Jacob stop,” I said firmly, really fearing for Phil, even though I didn’t like him. “It’s okay…I just want to make a point,” And then to low for human ears “I won’t kill him…yet.” I looked at him until he looked down at me and smiled his Jacob smile and I knew it was true. I nodded and smiled and turned to walk with him. I had to see this. Jacob took my hand in his and we walked toward Phil, who looked like he was going to puke. Everyone watched and I could feel everyone anticipating a fight, Phil was going down…bad. We finally reached Phil and his Jocks. “Phil,” I said in a sugar sweet voice “This is my boyfriend Jacob.” Phil swallowed loudly and nodded his head. Ha! He was so scared! Phil barely cleared Jacobs’s very firm, sexy midsection. Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close and kissed me on the cheek and smirked at Phil. “Who’s this little punk?” he asked in his deep husky voice. Phil felt the challenge and although he was scared, he had a reputation to keep so he dared say something. “The names Phil,” He said loud and clear, like he wasn’t scared. I could hear his heart racing. Jacob looked at him and laughed and said “Why were you about to kill him, he seems annoying but he isn’t really anybody,” Jacob said. You heard the crowd go “Ooh.” Phil’s chin jerked up and he said “I kissed her, and what?” the whole crowd said “Ooh,” even louder.” Jacob had a temper so I cautioned him by touching his hand. Jacob dropped his hold on me and stared Phil down and took a step closer to Phil, so that they now were barely a foot apart; Both of them shaking, Phil from fear, Jacob from anger. “She is mine. Kiss her again and I’ll break your face,” Jacob whispered menacingly. Phil stepped closer and said “Yeah is that right?” Jacob took another step towards him so now they were toe to toe and face to face. I reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked at Phil right in the eyes and said “Try me.” Everyone went “GASP

,” and I smiled with delight and decided this was enough. I was going to be selfish and wanted Jacob’s time spent on me, not Phil. So I stepped between them; Jacob backed up so that there was three feet between us and automatically wrapped his arms around me. I smiled at Phil and said “We understand each other now?” Phil, with his jaw tight, looked around and saw everyone watching and turned around and got in his truck and drove away. Everyone started laughing and girls started giggling about how cute Jacob was; that was annoying me. I turned around so that we could see each other. “Why are you here?” I whispered. “Do you not want me to be here?” he asked, pretending to sound hurt. I laughed and hugged him close and said “Of course I want you here but aren’t you supposed to be with Sam them?” He hugged me closely and kissed my forehead and said “Let’s get out of here.” I nodded and we turned around when Jacob stopped. I looked over and saw him looking at Blake. Blake didn’t look scared but he didn’t look too confident. He walked over and said “If you ever touch her again I swear-“I cut him off. “Wait Jake, it’s okay, he was trying to help me.” He looked at me and nodded and turned back and stuck his fist out and said “Thanks.” Blake nodded and they knuckled one another and then Jacob took my hand and we walked toward my car. As we walked I heard whispers everywhere and knew Phil would never hear the end of this. Luna appeared quite out of no-where and smiled hugely and said “Hey Wolf boy.” He smiled and said “Hey what’s up Vamp.” She smiled and said “I thought you were gone.” He nodded and said “Her Aunt gave me a call so I headed up here. Good thing I came in time huh?” They laughed. Usually I would glower at them for teasing me but I was too happy; Jacob was here with me, holding my hand. I couldn’t stop myself, I dropped his hand and grabbed his face and crushed my lips to his. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him, he held the back of my neck and pressed me to him; we kissed passionately. Finally we needed to breathe; I laughed dizzily and laid my head on his chest and kissed his neck and said “I’ve missed you.” He laughed and hugged me and said “I missed you too, now let’s go.” I almost hugged Luna but she plugged her nose and said “Er…maybe…another time…” and smiled. I laughed and said “Okay bye.” Jacob walked me to the car and opened the passenger side for me and then went to the driver’s side and started the car and left the school parking lot. Jacob held my hand while he drove and I just stared at him driving. When we came to the house, it was empty. Hunting again without me, on a regular day I would’ve rolled my eyes and grumbled about how family always mistreated me but today I could care less; they could stay away for a week or even a month because all I wanted to do was be with Jacob. Jacob and I walked hand in hand into the kitchen. “Are you hungry?” I asked him. “Um…not really…” he said; he would’ve gotten away with it because he said it so sincerely but then his stomach growled. I laughed. I cooked us both some sloppy Joes and made lemonade. We ate in the living room while watching Football. When we were done I took the dishes to the sink and washed them. Jacob came in and wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me on the neck; my heart jumped erratically. He left his chin on my shoulder, face pressed against my neck and waited for me to finish, and once I was, he and I walked to the living room and sat down. We sat in the love seat and I stroked his face and he watched me. After who knows how long I realized that Jacob was really here! I missed him so much; I was overwhelmed with emotions, I wanted to love him with all my might, and quite suddenly, the distance was too much. I got up and sat on his lap and curled my legs around him and wrapped my arms around his strong neck and planted a row of kisses on his face; he wrapped his arms around me and held me close and shuttered when I kissed him on the neck. He held my face and kissed me on the lips slowly, showing me there was no need to rush. The slow kiss escalated and became more passionate. We broke off gasping but I never let my arms drop. I pulled myself to him, feeling light headed and laid my head against his chest and listened to his heart. We sat there in until our breathing went back to normal. I moved my head off of his chest and kissed him on the lips and said “Welcome home.”

font;15pt>Chapter Twelve
He smiled and kissed my neck. I blushed and smiled and said “So you’re back for good?” He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. After he let me breathe, I said “So I take that as a yes.” He laughed and said “Sam decided that everything was safe…for now, so no need to stay.” I sighed happily. “What time is it?” he asked. I checked my phone. “Three forty-five, why?” I asked. “Well you probably have homework that you should be doing,” He chided. I frowned. He laughed and said “Come on lazy butt,” and pulled me by the hand and walked up stairs. I did my homework for the next hour or so, only because Jacob refused to hold me until my homework was completely finished. Finally, once I was done, I jumped out of my chair and onto Jacob, who was lying on my bed, hands behind his head. I curled up on his side and rested my head on his shoulder as his fingers brushed my arms. After a bit of silence, I turned around and pinned Jacobs’s arms down. “So Aunt Alice sent you eh?” I asked smiling. His dark eyes looked surprised. “Yeah she did.” “When?” I asked. He shrugged and said “This morning.” This morning? The Makah’s reservation was kinda far. He took my distraction to his advantage; one minute I was on top holding him down and the next he was holding me down. “You really had to run didn’t you?” I asked breathlessly. He smiled and said “Yeah, I couldn’t let you get in trouble over some Jock.” I smiled. “Hey if that Jock ever puts his hands on you again,” I interrupted saying “Jake it won’t happen again, he’s not that stupid.” He frowned and said “But still, if he ever does…” “I’ll let you know,” I finished and smiled and stretched my neck up to kiss him; he let my arms go and I wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer. His right hand held my face and his left gripped my waist, pulling me closer. We spent most of the alone time kissing and cuddling and laughing and kissing some more. Jacob was lying on my bed with me on top, both facing the window with his arms cradled around me, hands together, fingers intertwined, when a thought came to me. “Hey Jake,” I said and looked up at him. He looked down at me and said “Yeah Nessie?” “What did you want to tell me on the phone but didn’t?” He hesitated. “Um…nothing.” My eyes narrowed and I said “Jake, you’re lying to me.” He moved his eyes so I couldn’t see, but his cheeks blushed; yep definitely lying. “Jake tell me,” I whined. “I don’t have anything to tell you, really,” He said. He sat up and looked away. So whining wouldn’t help…what else could I do? I couldn’t think of anything until I remembered earlier, when I pinned him down, he was weak with surprise. Fine, I couldn’t whine my way in but maybe I could sexy my way in; I was soo grateful Dad wasn’t here, I mean I could just die right now from embarrassment but i decided that I’d better get to trying to be sexy. So I thought of those commercials where you saw that gorgeous girl and that extremely sexy guy, kissing on each other’s ear or something like that, so that was what I was aiming for…oh gosh I can’t do this! I don’t know how to be sexy! I just knew how to be…I don’t know….be un-sexy! I laughed inside but focused on getting what I wanted. I got up and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly and persuasively, hoping he wouldn’t notice what I was trying to do. He wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me closer; my plan was working! I was so caught up in the way he kissed me that I almost forgot my intensions...almost. I removed my lips from his and let my hands slide down to his chest and pushed him down and climbed on top and held his hands down. As I leaned down, I racked my brain on how those women’s voices sounded on commercials. “What did you want to say?” I whispered as sexy as I could manage. His heart was pounding so fast and his always hot skin felt even hotter. “Um…what?” he gasped. My hands slid to his neck and I kissed the side of his lips slowly and whispered “What did you want to say?” He shuddered and his heart pounded even harder. I smiled a little. “Come on, you know you want too,” I said seductively and nibbled his ear. Suddenly he flipped me over and once again I was on the bed; His eyes were bright with excitement. “Nice try,” He said with a laugh. I frowned, and I thought things were going so well. He just stared at me so I asked “Why are you staring at me like that?” He laughed and said “Because you were driving me crazy.” I smiled and then looked away, feeling the all too familiar blush. “Jake please? I really wanna know,” I said. He looked at me with pursed lips and shook his head. “Jake!” I whined. “You can drive me crazy again and see if that works,” He said with a smile. My eyes narrowed. “Please?” I asked. He looked at me and sighed and said “Alright! You win!” I smiled and waited. “Well…I was gonna say that…well, I-“at that exact moment Dad busted through the door, looking really upset. Jake and I froze in the position we were in; Jake on top, pinning me down. “That’s enough,” Dad growled at Jake. I moved quickly from under Jake and now we sat by one another, holding hands. “Stop Dad,” I said; I didn’t like him talking to Jacob like that. Dad looked at me and hissed “Stop what?” That made my anger peak. “That right there!” I hissed right back. “Jacob, outside NOW,” Dad growled at Jacob. Jacob started to get up but I quickly grabbed his hand and said “Jake you don’t have to go anywhere; whatever he wants to say to you he can say in front of me,” I said. “No, it’s fine,” Jacob said, walking forward again. I stood up and turned Jacob around and said “Really Jake, you don’t have to.” He smiled and gently stroked my face and said “it’s okay Nessie, I’ll be back in a sec,” And turned around to face my Dad; Dad looked like he was going to do something stupid; he glared at Jacob and motioned for Jacob to leave the room. Jacob left and Dad followed and shut the door. I heard Dad curse at Jacob and him say that he was band from my room! Before Jacob could say anything, I opened the door and stood between them. “Dad that’s not fair!” I screamed. “Renesmee, get in your room, ill deal with you later,” Dad growled at me. “No! Why are you freaking out? Jake and I have always stayed in my room!” I hissed, really upset now. “Change of rules, Jacob is no longer allowed in the house past seven and he’s not allowed in your room ever again!” Dad said threw his teeth. I stared at him and felt the angry tears threaten to overflow. “Rules? Since when did we have rules?” I yelled. “Since now!” he hissed at me. “You’re being so unreasonable and idiotic!” I screamed at him. He glared at me and said “Say whatever you like, it still doesn’t change things.” Too angry for words, I shrieked at him. Jacob came in and said “Edward, Nessie is right, this isn’t fair, we didn’t even do anything.” Dad glared at Jacob and said “This is none of your business.” I jumped in and shouted “It’s his business too!” “How?” Dad snarled. “Because I love him,” I yelled. Dad’s eyes narrowed. “Renesmee, I’m trying to fulfill my role as your father but you’re making it awfully hard.” “No you’re not! You’re trying to ruin my life!” I screamed dramatically. “No I’m not; I’m trying to protect you.” I snorted and said “How? By putting a limit on how much I can see the one I love?” I said mockingly. “No,” he answered curtly. “Then what Dad?? WHAT?” I yelled. Dad growled. “There weren’t ridiculous rules before and there aren’t any now and Jacob is allowed to come whenever he wants and he can come in my room, the end,” I said. Dad clenched his jaw and said “Starting today there are rules and regulations both of you will have to follow, weather you like it or not.” “No there’s not!” I growled back. Dad and I stared each other down; I wasn’t gonna back down and neither was he. We were still staring at one another when I saw Mom come. “What’s all the yelling hissing about?” she asked eyeing Dad. “Dad’s being a jerk for no damn reason!” I yelled. “Now Renesmee, that’s not how you talk to your Father,” Mom scolded me. I rolled my eyes. “Now, Nessie what’s going on?” Mom asked. “Dad is trying to put up some stupid ass rules saying that Jake can’t come here after seven and he’s not allowed in my room anymore!” I shouted. She nodded and said “I think that’s reasonable.” Both Jacob and I dropped our jaws and stared at her. “Wh-what?” we both stuttered in unison. “Mom you’re agreeing with him?” I asked, completely surprised. “I got a call from your teacher Renesmee,”was all she said. I froze. OH CRAP! I completely forgot about that! “I can explain that,” I said after a few quiet moments. “Really? When did you intend to tell us?” Mom asked. “I really was Mom; I just had other stuff on my mind,” I answered honestly. She crossed her arms and glared at me. “Jacob, from this moment on, Renesmee is grounded until she can prove to us that she can be responsible, so until she does, there will be visitation hours, but it’s not permanent…yet.” I stared at her gaping. “What!?” I yelled. “You heard me right Renesmee, you are grounded until further notice and Jacob can only come on designated hours.” Dad turned to Jacob and said “Well then Jacob, it is eight thirty.” “So, Mom never said any specifics,” I said and glared at Dad. “Well love?” he turned, asking Mom. She sat there with her right hand holding her chin and her left tucked under her arm. Dad turned back to face me with a smile so big, I swear his cheeks hurt. She was mad and because she was, I wasn’t going to win. “Jacob,” My dad simply said and motioned to the stairs. Jacob sighed but knew we were outnumbered. He turned to me and lifted my face up with his hands; he stared straight into my eyes and said “Don’t worry about it Nessie, we’ll still get to see each other and plus it’s only temporally.” I felt the silent tears fall down and the ache in my heart; no matter how short the separation, it was still so painful. He leaned in and kissed the tears away and hugged me close. I threw my arms around his neck and really started to ball. He stroked my hair and kissed my head and whispered “S’okay Nessie, stop crying.” But I couldn’t. Finally when the sobbing stopped and came to sniffles, he let go of me and whipped my eyes with his warm hands and smiled his Jacob smile. I smiled back, even though my eyes were puffy and red. Dad harrumphed; I shot him a dirty look. Jacob looked at Dad through narrowed eyes and turned back to me. He pulled me gently to him and kissed me on the lips. I gripped his shoulders tighter and crushed myself to him, wishing I could really mold in with him and we could become one. Dad growled and I smiled inside, I knew Jacob was too. Jacob kissed me once more then pulled back and stared at me. “I think I should leave now,” He said. I felt the tears start again but tried to hold them in. I nodded, not sure if my voice would come out right. He held my face once more and started walking towards the stairs. Agony rippled though me. “Wait Jake,” I yelled. He turned and I walked past mom and dad and took his hand. “I’ll walk you out,” I whispered, wiping the remaining tears with the back of my hand. He smiled and we walked, hand in hand, to the door. The sky was a mix of brilliant orange, red’s and pinks. He opened the door and bent down to kiss me. Then he pulled me close and whispered “Be good Nessie, the sooner you start acting right, the sooner your Mom will let me come back and un-ground you kay?” I nodded and said “I will, promise.” He sighed and said “Bye, I’ll come by tomorrow kay?” I nodded. He picked my hand up and kissed it and turned and walked out the door. He paused at the edge of the lawn and I blew him a kiss; he caught it and put it to his heart and then turned around and disappeared. I stood there until the sky turned purple with barely a trace of orange left. Then I heard Mom and Dad come down. “Renesmee” Mom called. I sighed, closed the door and turned around. “What?” I whispered. I didn’t know how my face looked but Dad and Mom looked pained. “Honey, were just trying to do the best for you, you know that right?” Mom asked. I remembered what Jacob said but I also remembered everything else; that made my blood boil, but I had promised Jacob. “Whatever,” I said indifferently. Mom just stared at me. Dad finally spoke and said “Now for the times, Jacob is allowed”- I interrupted him and said “Ugh! Yes, I have to be micromanaged because you don’t like Jake!” He stared at me and said “Renesmee, you know that’s n-““Oh yes the hell it is!” I yelled. “That’s why you’re always so mean to Jake and you’re always finding something to say!” I screamed; So much for my promise. Dad didn’t say anything and I knew I was right; I felt the dam that held the overwhelming anger break and felt the anger pulse through my body fast and strong. “Well if I were you, I’d get used to it because I LOVE HIM! AND THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!” I yelled fiercely and stared him straight in the eyes.

font;15pt>Chapter Thirteen
Dads teeth clamped down together so hard, I thought his teeth would shatter. “Yes the hell I can! I’m your father!” Dad yelled right back. “So?” I asked. “So what? Just because you’re my Dad, you think you can stop me from loving Jake? WRONG!” I yelled. “No one is going to tell me who I can and cannot love, not even you Dad!” Dad glared at me but said nothing, probably to angry for words. Mom came in and said “Enough Renesmee, your Father has a say”-“No he doesn’t and neither do you,” I said harshly. Mom flinched and stared at me. “Go up to your room Renesmee and stay up there. When you’re ready to talk and not yell, come down,” Mom said, suddenly tired. All this fighting was making me tired as well. I started walking up the stairs and said “Well I guess you guys better not wait up for me then,” and slammed the door before anyone could say a word. All was quiet as I curled up in a ball, under my blankets. After the long stressful day, I really felt exhausted. I felt my body start to relax and knew I would be asleep in no time. I opened my eyes and felt my stiff arms and legs finally move. I looked over to the nightstand at the alarm clock; the red numbers read that it was six in the morning. I huffed and lay back down and really stretched and heard my bones crack and felt my muscles stretch with glee. Guess all that arguing and crying had me so worn, I feel asleep and hadn’t moved an inch. I lay in bed, feeling well rested, and stared at the ceiling, thinking. How was Jacob? When would he come? And if he did would there be a bigger blow out? And how would Blake feel today? Would our short lived friendship end already? What did Phil have up his sleeve now? Was he planning something worse than ever? “Guess there’s only one way to find out,” I told myself and got out of bed and went to the bathroom and stripped off all my clothes and put them in the hamper and turned on the shower. As I waited for the water to get hot, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. After that I hopped into the shower. After the shower I got out and looked around for something to wear. “Hmm,” I thought silently to myself. “What to wear…” I didn’t know what time it was so I ran to my room and found my phone and saw that it was only six thirty. That gave me nearly an hour and a half left before I had to be at school. “Great,” I muttered. I decided I wanted to “dress up” today since I had the extra time...and because I really didn’t want to go down stairs to face my parents again. I went to my enormous closet and looked in my barely used dress up section. There were a lot of frilly, girly and flashy colored outfits that looked like they should be on the red carpet. I looked for the most simple and not too noticeable outfit. In the end, I wore a simple silk, tight fitted, knee length purple dress with a natural colored Deux Pointelle Beret and scarf and simple black tights with a pair of gray Uggs. I even put on some make-up. Nothing too much just very light eye-liner, mascara, a bit of blush and bronzer and some lip gloss. I decided not to look in the mirror and rushed into my room to grab my things and check the time; seven sharp, still too much time left. I couldn’t put it off any longer and with a sigh, opened my door with my book bag on, and headed down stairs. I poked my head into the living room and saw no one so I quickly darted around the wall and into the kitchen. I was really hungry now, going to sleep on an empty stomach never worked for me. I listened to everything and heard everyone out past the river, which gave me the house to myself. I sighed happily and dropped my bag with a GLUP and turned to the fridge. I got out some orange juice and poured some into a cup and went to the freezer and got me a pack of microwavable pancakes and set them in a plate and popped it into the microwave. As my breakfast was on its last revolve, I heard footsteps coming from the back window. The microwave beeped and I took the plate out and carefully kept my eyes on the steaming pancakes and walked to the table where I could look elsewhere. I sat down and put some butter and syrup on and cut in and started eating. All was quiet and whoever was at the back window, had disappeared. I sat still eating when I heard light footsteps come in. I glanced up, apprehensively, and sighed with relief when I saw Aunt Alice. She stared at me, looking confused, and said “You’re up already?” I took a bite of my pancakes and nodded my head and took a sip of orange juice and said “You sound surprised.” She nodded and walked over to me and touched my forehead, then picked my hand up and felt for my pulse and touched my neck. She disappeared for two second and returned with a thermometer. I whacked at her when she tried to put it in my mouth. “I’m fine Aunt Alice,” I mumbled. “This isn’t your normal behavior, waking up early and dressing up, by the way that outfit is adorable on you but like I said, not normal at all,” She said. I rolled my eyes and she eyed me. “I just woke up early,” I stated. Aunt Alice looked at me and said “I wish you would dress like that every day.” My nose wrinkled and I said “Never gonna happen.” She laughed and said “Well it’s time to go.” I got up and went to the key hooks and looked for my car keys and came up with nothing. I searched all hooks and still came up empty handed. Aunt Alice chuckled from behind. I turned and said “What happened to my keys?” Aunt Alice smiled and said “Grounded remember?” Ugh, of course. “Fine,” I mumbled. Aunt Alice was taking me to school today. She was driving and I was off in my own little world when she said “So are you going to homecoming?” I was about to say “Hell yeah!” but decided that I was probably going to get in trouble if I snuck out, so why not get Aunt Alice to convince them?? I let my face fall and made my lip pucker and tremble. Aunt Alice rubbed my arm. “It’s okay Nessie.” I looked up and looked into her eyes and suddenly felt really bad, I couldn’t manipulate her into getting Dad to let me go to homecoming with Jacob and un-grounding me. I couldn’t do that to Aunt Alice …could I? The ride to school was quiet as I chewed over the fact that I wanted to go but I couldn’t without manipulating Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice could feel the tension from me; she kept throwing glances at me, so I had to take a breather. We were getting closer to school and I was running out of time. “I have to do this,”

I thought with a blazing determination. I concentrated on making the most heart breaking expression I could and tried to make my voice sound miserable. “Aunt Alice,” I mumbled almost incoherently. She looked at me and her face looked so worry. “Yes hun, what’s wrong?” she said her voice high from stress. That brought a whole round of guilt but I had to focus; get what you want now, mope and feel bad later. I sighed and leaned onto her arm and said “I wanted to give you the best birthday gift ever but now it’s ruined. “ She laughed and said “Nessie, it’s okay; it’s the thought that counts.” I shook my head and said “I really wanted to give you the BEST gift ever, but I can’t,” my voice broke, making my lie sound real. Aunt Alice wrapped her arm around me and said “Nessie, don’t be upset.” I sniffed and thought, “Can I really make myself cry? COULD I?” and sure enough the tears came. They weren’t water works but tears came down. Startled, Aunt Alice stomped on the brakes and turned to face me. She looked me over and I saw my expression reflect from her eyes; I looked miserable. “Nessie, you tell Aunt Alice what you want and you can have it,” She said confidently. Inside I smiled and grimaced at the exact same time but I knew that this was the only way I could go and the only way I could give Aunt Alice her best birthday gift. I sighed and said “Well…I wanted to…to…let you pick out my homecoming dress…” I heard her sudden intake of breath and smiled inside again. “Nessie! That’s the best gift ever! Oh, why did you wait so long? Dresses take lots of time to pre order! Ooh you should’ve told me a while ago, but non-the less, we will get you the most beautiful dress!” She stopped and stared at me. “What’s wrong Nessie?” I sighed and said “Well…I really wanted to go to the dance, but it’s this Friday.” She waited for me to continue. “And… I know Mom and Dad won’t let me out by then…” Acknowledgement flashed in her eyes. She sat there and tapped her finger to her chin for four seconds and sighed and started the car again. I glanced at her from the side and saw her face; it wasn’t looking good at all. I looked out the window and threw myself into plan B which at the moment wasn’t anything. Finally an idea popped into my brain. “My friend Anna wanted to go dress shopping, but I guess since I can’t go, she’ll end up dress less and really sad…and she has a really hard time finding dresses that fit her cause she soo petite. Oh well I guess,” I said and shrugged. Aunt Alice was biting her lower lip now and she looked pained. I smiled widely to myself and let it sit there, just waiting. She sighed as we entered the school parking lot and said “Alright, I’ll do the dress shopping.” I turned to her and said “But Aunt Alice, I won’t be able to go.” Her eyes narrowed and she said “Oh yes you will! I don’t give a damn what your father says, and if he doesn’t like it, Esme, and Rosalie will back me up,” She smiled widely. I opened my eyes in false surprise and said “Really Aunt Alice? Really?” She nodded and smiled at my “excitement”. I threw my arms around her and said “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” She laughed and smoothed my hair, pulled me back and looked me in the eyes and said “We start shopping today. Bring your little friend home today and I’ll have some dresses alright?” I nodded quickly. “Now hurry up and get out, I have some shopping to do,” She said with a smug smile. I nodded and kissed her cheek and started getting out and turned around and said “Thank you Aunt Alice. You’re the best.” She laughed and said “Have a good day at school,” And drove off. As soon as she disappeared, the guilt wave hit me and made me unsteady. I was using Aunt Alice…and that wasn’t very nice…but my less noble side said “Shut the hell up! You get to see Jacob and Aunt Alice gets her fun. Everyone’s happy.” I nodded and said out loud “Aunt Alice does get her way…” and walked off to find Luna. Luna was over at the benches when I arrived. “Hey,” She said as I sat down. She looked me up and down and said “Where’s wolf boy?” I glared at her but said “At home, why?” She looked at me and said “Well you’re dressed all extra so I figured he would be somewhere close. By the way, he is hot,” And grinned at me. I laughed and said “Wow Luna, you are soo bizarre.” She laughed and said “It’s about time I find me a “boyfriend.” She did the quotation marks. Technically she couldn’t use the term “boyfriend” because the vampires she dated were always older than her and they really couldn’t be called “boys” when they’ve lived longer than your grandparents. I rolled my eyes and said “Luna, go out and date but don’t ever and when I say ever, I mean EVER, date a loser like Mitch again okay?” Mitch was her ex; he was such a annoying, whinny, brick stupid, douche bag. I hated him and almost beat the crap out of him too. She sighed, her thoughts with my, and laughed and said “Yes I know. No more losers allowed.” The bell rang and I nodded and then we got up and walked towards the main building. As we entered, everyone gawked. “You’re the center of attention now, with that outfit and your boyfriend embarrassing Phil,” Luna whispered. I grimaced but continued to walk. The whole day went like that, I would hear my name and sometimes good things but often, I would hear my name and words you didn’t hear much out of at a truck stop, but I didn’t have time to think about it because I was looking for Blake. How was he feeling right now? Was he even more hurt? I constantly scanned the rooms or halls looking for him but he just wasn’t there. “He’s here, I saw him come in this morning,” Luna told me. I nodded and knew that even if I didn’t see him now, I would see him in Mr. Mason’s class. Luna and I walked and talked about the homecoming and she kept complaining about not having a date. “I don’t wanna miss this year’s homecoming! It’s our last year!” she whined. “Luna, just accept one of the human boys here as your escort.” Her nose wrinkled and she spat. “Never.” I sighed. “See Luna, that’s why you don’t have an escort, your way to picky.” She sighed and said “But there all the same!” I rolled my eyes and said “Luna, I’m sure there’s someone here that isn’t so repulsive to you.” She jabbed me in the ribs and I flicked her nose and we both giggled and locked arms and turned the corner to my locker and froze. My locker was completely ruined. The door hanging off, all my books and papers thrown all over the hall, some of my pictures ripped, red paint coated everything I owned; Luna hissed, low and fierce. I stared at everything, trying to grasp what had happened. I walked forward and went to the broken locker and picked up a picture of what used to be Jacob and me; there wasn’t much you could see anymore. Luna walked over and patted my arm and said “Phil did this, I can smell him.” I could too and my breathing picked up and I felt the blood rush to my head, my hands shook; he had crossed the line. I whirled and was about to run and find that SOB but stopped when I saw him standing there, smiling. I breathed in deep and slow breaths. He looked around at the mess and said “What happened here?” I glared at him and said “You have no idea what you have just gotten your pathetic self in.” He snorted and said “Yeah right, your little boyfriend is soo scary, ooh” And laughed. I smiled a vicious smile and said “Yeah, you know the one who scared you shitless yesterday? The one who made you look like the pathetic loser you are? You remember don’t you?” His eyes blazed and his nostrils flared. I started walking towards him and he tried not to move back but he did. I walked right next to him and leaned in and said in a whisper as light as the wind but as threatening as a vampire “Phil, if I were you, I would watch myself,” and walked away without glancing around. No one else heard a word, otherwise Luna. Phil’s face must’ve been a sight to see because someone whispered “He’s so white, wonder what she said to him.” Luna was instantly beside me and hugged my shoulders and whispered “I’m so proud of you ma petite soeur, you didn’t even hit him.” I laughed and she kissed my cheek. We went to the office and I talked to the new Principle, Mrs. Boyd. I told her that Phil ruined my locker and all my personal belongings. She shook her head and said “I’d love to believe it but I need some evidence.” I rolled my eyes and said “Mrs. Boyd, if you were to walk down the hall where my locker is- well was located, you would see the evidence, no doubt.” She nodded and said “Alright, let’s take a look at this mess shall we?” I nodded and walked her to the hallway where my locker used to be. When Mrs. Boyd saw the mess, her eyes bulged and she looked horrified. She looked at all my things, closed her eyes and shook her head, slow and long. She went to examine my things closer and sighed loudly. She turned around to face me and said “Renesmee, I am so sorry. I will speak to Mr. Hampton and his father this afternoon and I will make certain that everything is replaced and all your damaged property will be paid for.” I nodded but still felt pissed off, I wanted him to get in more trouble but it was time to go to Mr. Mason’s class and I was anxious. Luna tried to calm me down but didn’t succeed and suddenly we were at the door; I froze. Luna tugged on my arm, I didn’t budge. “Look if he’s in there,” I whispered. She rolled her eyes and ducked in and was back out within a second. “Yep, he wasn’t looking up when I poked my head in so he didn’t see me.” I sighed and said “How do you feel about skipping this block?” Luna laughed and yanked me into the class room. I stared at her, bewildered, as she laughed and walked away. I closed my eyes for a second then snapped them open, kept my composer, and walked toward my table. As I sat down he turned to look at me and smiled, and I sighed quietly. He acted more like himself as he walked over and sat down in Adams chair which for the moment was empty. “Hey,” he said softly. “Hey,” I answered just as soft. We sat for a minute until Mr. Mason stumbled in, looking quite different; sweat dripping down his face, eyes red, cheeks flushed. I jumped up, worried until he yelled “My daughters having her baby!” Everyone clapped, I sat in relief. He rushed around searching for his briefcase and said “A sub should be coming, please behave; I don’t have time to leave any assignments so just stay seated and try not to cause trouble alright class?” Everyone agreed. He nodded and said “Renesmee, could I please speak to you outside?” I nodded and walked out with him. “I understand that you all are seniors but I still can’t trust many of your classmates,” he said. I rolled my eyes and said “Yeah I know.” He nodded and looked at his watch and said “I really have to go, he could be born any minute and I’d miss it, so please just watch the class, just make sure nothing explodes or is broken or vandalized or whatever and no one leaves the class.” I nodded and said “I have it all under control, you don’t have to worry, now go on, you have a grandchild being born!” He nodded and sprinted toward the doors. I watched him, thinking about my future. Where did Jacob fit? If I was somewhere, probably on the other side of the world, how would Jacob and I see one another? Would our relationship fail because of the distance? Would we break up? Pain constricted my heart and made me breathless. We couldn’t, I knew if he ever, ever left me, I would die, maybe not physically but mentally for sure. I blinked a few times and tried to get my mind back to reality. I looked around and took a deep breath and opened the door to the classroom. Everyone stared at me and I wondered how my face looked. “So Mr. Mason is gone and he left me in charge of you children,” and smiled, hopefully, a pleasant smile. There was so much chaos in my head that I barely heard myself finish and answer questions and go to my seat where I didn’t even remember Blake. I stared out the window, trying to imagine my life without my sun, my Jacob, and came up with nothing. Jacob was my life; he had been from the very beginning, always my knight and shining armor. I loved him so much and couldn’t even see myself with anyone but Jacob. I brought that picture of me and Jacob, holding hands under thousands of lights saying ‘I do’ and imagined my life after that. Who knows, maybe we would stay here, in Forks, in La Push and in ‘we’ I meant my family and friends. I could see it all, Mom, Dad, Emily, Sam, Kim, Jared, Quil, Claire, Embry, Sarah, Seth, Amber, Billy, Sue, Uncle Jasper , Aunt Alice, Uncle Emmett , Aunt Rosalie, Grandpa Carlisle, Grandma Esme, Grandma Renee, Grandpa Phil and Grandpa Charlie, all of us together enjoying life as it passed by. And then I saw a scene that shocked me; I cradled my large stomach as Jacob bent down and kissed my stomach and we both smiled at one another, so happy. I was glowing and so was Jacob. He wrapped his arms around me and our baby as the blinding sunrise rose and stole that beautiful scene. I stare, bewildered and utterly shocked. Another image that stuck so hard, I couldn’t pull myself back. I thought nothing would ruin this beautiful picture, until someone tapped my shoulder. I whirled, shocked, to find Blake staring at me again. “You okay?” he asked worriedly. I nodded and settled closer into my chair and said “Did anyone try to escape from prison yet?” He shook his head and said “You know for a prison guard, you suck,” and grinned. I smiled and looked down and said “So how have you been?” He looked down too and said “Same old, you?” I shrugged and said “Same here.” Things were quiet between us. I didn’t know what to say to him and he didn’t know what to say to me. “So,” he said, finally, after long moments of uncomfortable silence. I looked up at him and saw life in his blue-grey eyes. “You going to homecoming?” I nodded and said “You?” He shrugged and said “Not sure, need a date.” I sighed internally; this was going to be bad. “Oh, well LOTS of single girls here,” I hinted. He nodded and said “Yeah I know, but not really my type.” I nodded and looked away and cleared my throat. “Well um, you have anyone in mind?” He nodded and stared right ahead. “Yep.” I knew I really didn’t want to know who he was interested in, but of course I already knew. I said nothing. “You want to know who?” he whispered. I shrugged. He turned, took my hands and forced me to look at him. “You,” he whispered. I dropped my gaze and stared at his shoes. “Blake,” I whispered. “Can’t we ever just have a regular conversation?” “We are,” he replied. I looked up and said “Blake, let go of my hands.” He shook his head and stared straight at me. I shook my head and said “Please Blake, your just making things much more difficult.” He still didn’t let go. I looked him in the eyes and said “Blake, I can’t be with you, I love Jacob.” He stared at me and said nothing. “I love him,” I said once again and finally he dropped my hands but held my eyes. He sat back and looked at me and said “Well, time should help.” I stared at him and said “Help what?” “Nothing, I’ll wait for the right moment,” He said. I shook my head and said “Blake Vandergilt you are so odd,” and rolled my eyes. Thankfully Anna walked over. “Hey Renesmee.” “Hey Anna.” She looked at me and Blake and said “Um am I interrupting anything?” “No,” Blake and I said at the exact same time. We both looked at one another. I shook my head and turned my attention to Anna. “What’s up?” I asked. She looked from Blake to me for a few seconds but finally said “Uh, well I just wanted to know when you wanted to go shopping.” I smiled and said “How about today, after school?” She blinked a few times and said “Really?” I nodded and she shrugged and said “Okay, the sooner the better.” I smiled and told her about what Aunt Alice had said. She frowned and said “Renesmee, remember the conditions?” I sighed and said “Yes Anna, I do.” She nodded and squealed. “I can’t wait! What’s the theme again?” “To the Stars right?” I asked. She shook her shoulders and ran over to the bulletin board and ran back nodding. “Yep, Can’t wait! Ah! It’s gonna be soo romantic!” I laughed and actually couldn’t wait to go home. Blake excused himself and left us alone. Anna and I threw ourselves into the conversation of how we imagined that night would be and that excited me even more. Before I knew it, Anna, Luna and I were in the parking lot waiting for Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice pulled up and everyone got in. “Aunt Alice this is my friend Anna Williams.” Aunt Alice turned around and smiled a warm smile and said “So nice to meet you Anna, I’m Renesemee’s Aunt Alice, you can call me Alice.” Anna blinked, missed a beat and scrambled to say something back. “No, n-nice to finally meet you A-Alice.” Aunt Alice smiled and said “Well, I’ve been shopping all day for dresses and have them at our house so you girls ready?” All of us nodded. Aunt Alice drove us to the house and I could feel Anna’s nerves. Finally we came to the clearing and Aunt Alice parked in the garage; all the cars were gone except for mine. Everyone got out and Aunt Alice opened the door and Anna stepped in and gasped. She whirled and gawked and finally was aware of us watching her; she dropped her eyes and turned a bright red and whispered “I’m so sorry; I just have never seen such a house this beautiful before.” Aunt Alice laughed and said “Don’t worry hun, you girls hungry?” We all agreed but Luna actually wasn’t, she just had to keep up the pretence. Aunt Alice made us all grilled cheese sandwiches and gave us sprite to drink. Luna conveniently wanted to watch the food network in the living room, while Anna and I ate in the kitchen. I heard her throw the sandwich into the bushes and dump the soda in a flower pot. I smiled to myself and looked at Anna and said “So how are you feeling?” She swallowed a bite and said “I feel really different but your Aunt’s so nice and Luna’s so nice…I feel pretty good actually,” and smiled a huge smile. I smiled back and said “That’s great! My Aunt Rosalie would’ve loved to help but I guess my Aunt Alice just wouldn’t let her do any of it.” But the truth was, Aunt Rosalie had to go hunting, she hadn’t gone in a while and Anna was my friend. Aunt Alice called us up to her bedroom and as we walked in we all froze; there were racks and racks full of nothing but dresses! Aunt Alice turned to us with an innocent expression and said “What? They had a sale.” Aunt Alice started with Luna then continued to Anna and as always saved me for last. Luna was to wear a sparkling emerald short dress. It was halter topped and had a low cut neckline outlined in beaded accents that continued around the empire waist and had a dazzling rhinestone design in the center with silver ankle strap high heels. The emerald dress made Luna’s pale skin dazzling, her dark hair looked even darker and her gold eyes were hypnotizing. Anna was to wear a short black strapless sweetheart dress with sequins and black peep toe stilettos. The dress brought out her light baby blue eyes and her long, wavy orange locks. Her skin looked like peaches and crème and she looked gorgeous. They found theirs after about the first five but everyone I tried on, Aunt Alice didn’t like and neither did they. So I was still trying on dresses, trying to find one that actually got an approval. Finally I tried one on and stepped out and I guess it was the one because when I stepped out, they all gasped. I rolled my eyes and Aunt Alice smiled so big. “If I could cry,I would,” Aunt Alice said. Anna looked at Aunt Alice for a second and when I saw her eyes I saw nothing but confusion and bit of fear and quickly spoke. “Aunt Alice, I’m sure you would too, if you weren’t such a heartless shrew,” and smiled. Aunt Alice laughed, playing her part, and said “Oh my goodness Nessie, this dress is so beautiful on you.” Luna and Anna nodded their heads and smiled widely. I walked to the mirror to look at myself. The dress was a crème colored knee length strapless dress with a black tie at the waist. My bronze hair looked even darker and my eyes looked so dark they were almost black, like Jacobs and my pale skin really popped. I looked just as beautiful as Anna and Luna did. Aunt Alice walked over and said “You’ll be wearing these,” and held something in her hands. I looked at her hands, trying to find my shoes until I realized those were my shoes. Three inch black heels with black ribbons. I looked at Aunt Alice and said “How am I supposed to put them on?” She laughed and motioned for me to go sit down. I did and watched in horror as she slipped the three inch heels on and wrapped the black ribbons around my ankle over and over, criss-crossing along here and there, until it tied up half way to my calf. “I hope you watched because you’re going to tie the other side,” Aunt Alice instructed. I gulped and lifted my shaky hands to retrieve the heel. I slipped it on and concentrated on remembering how Aunt Alice’s hands had moved. I wrapped it over and over, crossing back and forth and finally finished with a bow just like Aunt Alice’s. Luna, Anna and Aunt Alice clapped and I looked up and blushed. “Well done Nessie, I swear if your Mother tried that, she probably would’ve tied her fingers.” We all laughed. Aunt Alice looked away for five seconds then her face became very irritated. “Luna, Anna, please help Renesmee out of the dress.” Luna and Anna turned their heads to look at Aunt Alice, probably wondering why she was suddenly in such a bad mood. I on the other hand knew exactly why, Jacob was on his way. I jumped up, nearly falling, but kept my balance and ran, as much as was possible with these death traps strapped to my legs, and finally arrived to my destination: the bathroom. I sat down while Luna and Anna took the ribbon deathtraps off and once they were off, I jumped up and unzipped the dress and let it fall. Anna’s eyes popped wide with surprise and looked down quickly and blushed red. I sighed internally and said “Jacob’s coming.” She looked elsewhere and nodded, some understanding coming to her face but not enough to make the shock leave. I ran quickly to where my clothes lay and picked up my bra, clipped it on, pulled on my jeans and pulled over my thin cotton hoodie. I turned around and faced Luna and Anna. “How do I look?” I asked breathlessly. Luna rolled her eyes and said nothing but Anna answered. “You look gorgeous, as usual,” and smiled warmly at me. Luna sniffed and silently cussed. I ran from Aunt Alice’s room and flew down the stairs and just in time to hear a knock at the door. I ran to the door and yanked it wide open. There he stood, beautiful as ever. I jumped for him as he reached for me. As my arms and legs wrapped around his warm body and his strong arms wrapped around my waist, our lips met. I felt his hot breath enter my body and felt his hands grip me tighter. My hands now gripped his long shaggy hair and all the while our lips never parted. We had been kissing for who knows how long when someone eh-hemmed loudly. Jacob set me down and we laughed, well gasped really, and turned red. Luna laughed and said “Wow, major make-out scene.” I wrapped my arms around Jacob and snuggled my head into his chest and said “Shut up Luna.” Jacob stroked my hair and laughed. I lifted my head and stretched my neck and stood on my tippy toes to whisper into his ear “I missed you.” Jacob leaned down and whispered “I love you.” Luna made a gagging sound. I turned around, still holding Jacob, and stared at her through narrow eyes and said “Shut up.” She laughed. “Anna, you ready to leave or do you wanna sit here and throw up?” “Who?” Jacob asked. Anna rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Her pupils dilated as she focused on Jacob. I saw her eyes take in all six foot five inches of Jacob and his beauty. She blushed and I saw her swoon a bit. Oh no, don’t tell me she was crushing on Jacob! Luna looked from Anna to me, seeing me taking in her Anna’s expression, and said “Um, ready?” Anna shook her head and stumbled forward and mumbled “Uh yeah sure.” My eyes narrowed as she walked closer and I wrapped my arms around Jacob defensively, making it clear that he was off limits and he was MINE. Her eyes kept returning to Jacob but I could see reason return to her face. “Uh, bye Renesmee…and J-jacob ” Ana mumbled. I knew my face was probably looking really unfriendly and I probably looked like I was gonna serve an ass-beating on a platter but I didn’t care, he was mine and mine only. She left with Luna hot on her heels, probably making sure I had no room for an attack. Once they left, Jacob laughed his loud throaty laugh. “What?” I asked. He laughed and looked at the possessive stance I kept in front of him. “Oh,” I said. He laughed and said “She’s probably throwing up right now.” I laughed and hugged myself closer to him and said “So? I hope she understands that you are mine and only mine and ill kick her ass if she tries to steal you away.” Jacob rubbed my back and said “Trust me, no one could take you and I apart, even if the world was ending.” I looked up and smiled and said “If the world was ending and I had your hand, I wouldn’t care.” Jacob smiled and said “Nothing,“ and tilted my chin up and leaned forward and just as our lips met, Dad came in and stood right next to us. I growled and said “Go away!” “Certainly, after you two are not touching.” I turned on Dad and said “Why can’t you just leave us alone?” He looked at me coolly and said “Because I am you father.” I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly and said “You just know when to ruin the perfect moments don’t cha?” He said nothing but stood there. I rolled my eyes again and took Jacob’s hand and started walking up the stairs; Dad was in my way. “Have you forgotten the house rules?” Dad asked in that annoying parent voice. To stop myself from saying something stupid I mashed my lips together, turned around and walked toward the door, Jacob’s hand still in mine. “Where do you think you’re going young lady?” Dad asked. I opened the door, shoved Jacob out and turned to face Dad. “Since you want to act like an ass, I’ll just go to his house!” I yelled and slammed the door. Then I grabbed Jacob’s hand and we were off. We didn’t care if Dad came running after us anymore, we were together. We ran through the forest as light rain started to fall on us. When we arrived at La Push, dark purple and grey clouds were rolling in. I wanted to go to our driftwood but Jacob didn’t want me getting sick so we went to his house. We walked in and saw Billy watching football with Grandpa Charlie. I squealed, jumped up and down and ran to him and hugged him tight. He laughed and kissed my hair. “Hi Grandpa!” I said. He laughed and said “I was just about to come down and see you hon, how are you?” I sighed and said “Ugh, don’t even ask.” He looked at me and said “You all get into a big blowout?” I nodded, he sighed. He looked over my shoulder and said “Hey Jake, how’s it going?” Jake walked closer, still holding my hand, and said “Can’t complain. How about you? You doing alright living by yourself?” Grandpa Charlie laughed and said “I’ve lived alone almost all my life until Bella came, I’m fine.” Then he sighed, probably for the old days. Billy looked at me and smiled warmly and held his arms out for a hung. We exchanged a few more words and finally they turned their attention to the TV. Jacob and I walked into the kitchen and tried to come up with a plan on how we both were going to be able to get to his room, without getting in trouble. Finally we decided, I would go first, and Jacob would climb though his bedroom window. I walked casually down the hall and went into Jacobs’s small room, closed the door and sat on his small bed and waited for him. Not much later, Jacob came through the window, with raindrops falling from his hair and his shirt soaked; It was raining harder now. He closed the window and sat next to me, shaking his shaggy hair and spraying me with rain. I giggled and smacked at him. I got up as his hands reached up and grabbed my waist. Jacob lay down on his back, with me on top, and kissed me. Our lips were glued to one another, not even parting as I moved my hair to my right side and his warm hands gripped my hips closer. I moved my arms so that I was kinda sitting on him but my upper body was up at an angle. Jacob kissed me feverishly and I felt a shiver go through my whole body as something clicked in me. I wanted Jacob, more than he knew. I not only wanted Jacob mentally, I wanted him…will…physically too. I blushed just thinking the words, not even saying them. His lips moved from my lips to my neck. He placed a little row of kisses down my neck, to the tops of my breast, which at the moment were in clear view. My breathing was too loud, but what could I do?? This was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I brought his lips back to mine and placed my hands on his warm, chest and let my hands run down his beautiful body. Jacob shivered and very lightly groaned, which made my already fast breathing, quicken. I sat up and unthinkable, pulled my top off! Before I could even tell myself “STOP!” or “ARE YOU CRAZYY??” it was off and Jacob was still with surprise. I watched his eyes pop wide open as he took in my black lacy bra. (Thank you Aunt Alice!) Jacob had never seen me like this and was completely shocked. I leaned forward and kissed Jacob with a burning passion I’d never felt before. He was hesitant but eventually, his warm hands found the small of my back and my hips. Jacobs’s warm hands ran across my back, which felt icy cold and shaky. I lifted my shaky hands from Jacob’s chest and aimed for my bra clasp. As I almost unhooked it, warm hands caught them. I looked at Jacob, shocked. “What?” I whispered. His eyes were wild with something I’ve never seen and he sat up, still holding my arms, and hugged me tightly. Jacob laughed a shaky laugh and said “Renesmee, I can’t….” I felt rejected and wanted to cry but I told myself not too, instead I told myself to just stay still and breathe in and out. It worked, I didn’t cry. We were quiet for some time, until I decided that I could speak without crying. “Why?” I whispered, hoping the hurt wouldn’t leak through. He sighed and kissed my hair and said “Because.” It was quiet so I asked again. “Why?” He sighed and kissed my neck, sending tingles up my neck and making me shiver. He released my arms, moved me from him and got off the bed and walked toward his closet. I looked down at the comforter and felt absolutely ridiculous, he didn’t want me, but I just threw myself at him, shirtless and all. I felt like shit, just downright shit, and I felt like dying. I just threw myself at him and now I was rejected, still shirtless. I didn’t know what to say or do, even though I knew I should grab my shirt, and yank it back on as fast as I could but my body wouldn’t move. Jacob came out of his closet with a new shirt. “Renesmee?” he called. Hearing his voice made me want to cry again instead I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I knew I wasn’t going to cry, I bent down, picked up my shirt and put it back on, not meeting his eyes, then said barely above a whisper “Jacob, I think I’m gonna head home.” Jacob stepped forward and said “Why? You just got here?” I turned my head toward the window and said “It’s late. I should go.” He walked forward and almost touched me when I jerked back and nearly flew to the end of the bed. “Don’t touch me,” I said in a razor sharp voice. Jacob plopped down on the bed next to me and reached out to take hold of my hand. I didn’t pull it back because I knew he’d win regardless. I sighed at the touch of his skin and turned away so he wouldn’t see the tears. I bit my lip, hard, and watched the sun set and let the hot tears roll down with all the pain and rejection I felt. I was so focused on not sobbing that I didn’t notice that Jacob had put himself down next to me. I saw him take in my face; teeth clamped down on my lip, tears running down my face, and the hurt expression, and knew something was seriously wrong. He took my face in his hands and said “Renesmee, I’m so sorry!” I pushed his hands away and wiped my face and said “Not your fault.” He turned me around to face him and said “If it’s not then why are you crying?” I sighed and pushed him off. “I’m going home,” I announced and got up and started walking toward the door. Jacob was there, blocking my way and said “I’m not letting you go anywhere until you tell me the truth.” I rolled my eyes and turned toward the window, but Jacob wasn’t having any of that, he was their too. “Jacob, just let me go home okay? I’m not in the mood.” I could feel my bitchy attitude faltering. He said nothing and waited. I sighed and whirled for the door just to smack right into his chest. Jacob hugged me close and I hugged back for a second then shoved him back. He stared at me and said “Renesmee, what’s wrong? You can tell me.” I breathed in and out and felt the anger fill me completely. “You want to know what’s wrong. Well I feel like a total dumb ass! That’s what’s wrong! I threw myself at you and you rejected me! And then to top that off, you can’t even give me a reasonable reason why, you ASS-HOLE! Ugh! I HATE YOU! No matter what I freaking do, no matter how happy we are, something ALWAYS has to fuck up and I end up being the fucking cry baby! SO if that answers your question, I would like to leave!” I screamed. Jacob didn’t budge and I breathed in and out and as the rage left my body, shame flooded in. Did I really just say that I hated Jacob? I was utterly shocked at myself. Of course I didn’t hate Jacob; I loved him more than anything and anyone in the world. I stared at the carpet and whispered “I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean…you know…anything…” I rolled my eyes and felt the tears come down. I wiped at them and said “I’m sorry…I have to go,” and walked past Jacob, where he still stood, frozen. I walked out of his bedroom door and right by Billy and Grandpa Charlie and out into the thunderstorm. It poured on me but I didn’t care, and apparently neither did Jacob. I walked slowly and finally just couldn’t hold anything back. I started to sob, wishing I could take all those evil words I said back, wishing I hadn’t thrown myself at Jacob like that, just wishing I hadn’t been born. I leaned against a tree and slumped down onto the ground, still sobbing, and curled up in a wet ball and kept crying. I kept my forehead placed atop of my knees with my arms wrapped around. I sobbed and shook uncontrollably from the pouring freezing rain but didn’t move. I cried for what seemed eternity until I heard someone yell my name. Someone called for me again and again and came closer and closer until it was very close. I held my breath and stayed very still; I hadn’t had enough time to sob. “Renesmee,” I heard Jacob’s deep husky voice say. “Just leave me alone okay?” I shouted, springing up and darting through the trees, weaving in and out, running full speed ahead trying to lose him. I tried. Somehow his arms managed to constrict around my torso. I failed as much as I could and I kicked and wiggled but to no avail. Finally realizing that I wasn’t getting anywhere, I slumped into his warm arms and sobbed. He turned me around and gently stroked my hair and held my shaking body as it heaved with sobs. I hugged Jacob tightly and touched his face and just thought of how sorry I was; I knew I wasn’t going to be able to say it without sobbing even louder. Jacob leaned down and whispered “Let’s get you out of the rain,” and lifted me up into his arms as I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran. As Jacob ran, I managed to calm my sobbing into sniffles and as the sobbing lessened, I started to slip away, so tired from crying and stress. My arms started to slip from Jacob’s shoulders and he tried to put them back in place. Jacob said something but I couldn’t hear. I told myself to stay awake but my eyelids kept drooping. “Renesmee, you okay?” Jacob asked as his little red house came closer. “So…tired…” I managed to whisper. Jacob laughed and kissed my cheek and said “Sleep, it’s okay, your fine.” I tried to shake my head but it felt so heavy. “No, I messed everything up.” My words came out slurred. Jacob said nothing as the door opened and nothing as he walked into his room and set me gently on the bed. He went to the door, closed it and came back. As I watched his face, tears started to come again. I didn’t deserve Jacob; he was unselfish, kind, loving and forgiving. He sat next to my head, stroked my wet hair and whispered “What’s wrong?” I placed my hand on his face and replayed everything. He laughed and said “We had a fight, big deal.” He wipped the tears away and kissed my forehead. I touched his lips and then suddenly wondered what time it was. Jacob looked over and said “It’s only six-thirty, but you can’t go running in that storm.” I nodded and looked at my clothes; they were soaked. Jacob followed my eyes and chuckled “I don’t wanna have to argue with your mom and I don’t want you to get sick so we need to get your wet clothes off.” I nodded and sleepily got into a sitting position. I started to take my shirt off; Jacob turned around. I laughed and said “Not like you haven’t seen me without a shirt on before.” Jacob said nothing and didn’t turn but I knew he was blushing, I was too. I stood and took off my pants and said “Done,” meaning ‘I’m done so go get me some clothes’ but he didn’t understand and turned around. I yelped and helplessly tried to shield my body with my arms. Jacob’s eyes bulged as he took me in, almost completely naked. “Perv!” I shouted and jumped into the bed, covering myself with the blanket, blushing all the while. He looked at my face, completely red faced and said “Oh crap! Nessie, I’m so sorry! When you said ‘done’ I thought you meant you were dressed! Crap, I’m sorry!” Looking at his red face, wet shaggy hair, and soaked white t-shirt that clung to his every muscle, it kinda turned me on. “Why are you smiling?” Jacob asked, completely confused. I blushed, looked down, smiling even bigger and said “Nothing.” Jacob sighed and said “You are such a weird chick,” I looked up through narrowed eyes and he smiled and continued “But that’s why I love you.” I smiled. “Jacob, I’m getting cold,” I reminded him. He nodded and went into his closet and grabbed a few things and came back out with a sweat shirt, two pairs of sweats and two t-shirts. He threw me a pair of sweats, a t-shirt and the sweat shirt. I knew they were going to be much too big on me and rolled my eyes. “Turn around perv,” I said with a smile. He smiled and turned around and took off his shirt. I watched him and felt a sudden rush of pride; he was mine! YES! Ha! He turned a bit so he could look at me, still pulling down his new t-shirt and said “And I’m the perv? Ha right,” and smiled. I laughed and said “Hey? You got a free look, my turn,” and winked. I got up with the blanket wrapped tightly around me and my clothes and walked to the corner furthest from Jacob. Jacob laughed, rolled his eyes and started taking his pants off. My eyes bulged and I looked away, red faced. I heard Jacob chuckle and cleared my throat. I turned my back to Jacob but peeked over to make sure he wasn’t looking. Jacob wasn’t looking, so with a sigh I dropped the blanket. I felt completely naked but obviously I wasn’t…not really. I bent down to pick up the pants and when I did, I saw Jacob peeking. I thought I would scream and jump into the open closet or something close to it but instead, I did the complete opposite; I smiled and just pulled them on. Then I grabbed the shirt and put it on, feeling Jacob watching my back and shivered. Once the freaking shirt was on, I pulled on the sweat shirt and turned around, picking up the blanket and walking toward Jacob. Jacob smiled and I smirked at him and said “I saw you peeking.” He smiled even wider and said “Well you didn’t stop me so it doesn’t matter.” Smiling, I rolled my eyes and walked over to where Jacob stood and wrapped my arms around him. He lifted me off the ground and kissed me with such intensity; we both fell onto the bed. We laughed, still kissing. I wrapped my legs around him, exhaustion completely forgotten, and pulled him closer to me. “Calm down girl,” I told myself, “This is what got you two out in the rain in the first place.” But I just couldn’t help myself! Every time Jacob kissed me, I went crazy. The kissing became even more intense, like we both were thinking the same thing. Jacobs’s lips moved from my lips to my jaw to my ear to my neck. He very lightly nibbled on my neck and my mind just went blank. My eyes rolled into the back of my head a little, and my breathing quickened. I ran my hand through Jacob’s long shaggy black hair and shivered convulsively when I felt his hot breath on my collarbone. Jacob was just starting to nibble on my neck when there was a loud knock at the window. Startled, Jacob sunk his teeth into my neck. I screamed, totally shocked. Did Jacob just BITE me? My neck throbbed painfully and stung as I felt the cold air lick at it. Even though it hurt, I thanked god that Jacob was a Werewolf and not a Vampire, because getting bitten would have been bad…very, very bad. Grandpa Carlisle searched for information on my growth after the Volturi left and Grandpa Carlisle’s efforts just weren’t getting anywhere until the Amazon coven contacted us with an emergency. (Huilen and Nahuel had grouped with the Amazons and had become a part of the Amazon coven.) Our covens met and we found out that one of Nahuels sister’s had been bitten; she died a week later, slowly and agonizingly. Grandpa Carlisle examined her body and said it was like having an overdose of drugs, except venom was much more painful. So being bitten wouldn’t be good. Jacob’s voice brought me back to reality. “Renesmee, Renesmee, you okay?” I blinked a few times and smiled. “Ouch.” He rubbed his face a few times, sighed and quickly pecked me on my lips and started to move back. When he tried to move back, I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close to me and whispered into his ear “Even though that hurt like a bitch, I’d like for you to do it again, but this time on purpose.” He laughed into my ear and whispered back “You screamed loud as hell, why would I do it again?” I bit his neck, lightly, and heard his breath leave and whispered “Because you know you wanna.” He laughed and kissed the side of my lips and wrapped his arms around my waist. We had totally forgotten about the knock at the window when someone knocked again. We both jumped and laughed. Jacob quickly bent down to kiss wear he had bitten me and got up and went to the window. I grabbed my phone and took a picture and quickly looked at it; it wasn’t even red. Ha! I sighed heavily with relief and hopped up and off the bed and went to Jacob’s side. It was Quil, Jared, and Embry. “Hey guys,” I said. All their eyes went to me with shock, like I’d just appeared out of nowhere and back to Jacob. It was silent for two heart beats then suddenly they all laughed loudly. I looked to Jacob, whose face was redder than a ripe tomato and wondered what was going on. Quil and Embry kept chuckling, while Jared just smiled. “What?” I asked. Jared answered me. “Jacob here” -pointing to Jacob- “said he was asleep, that’s why it took him so long to open the damn window.” I stared at Jared and felt the blush fill my cheeks, making them all laugh again. I laughed too but said “Well it’s not what you guys think.” “Sssuuurrreee,” Quil said. That brought on a whole new round of laughing. I blushed and said “Shut up Quil, don’t make me bring out that time I found you sneaking out of the woods with Claire, with twigs and leaves falling out of her hair, wait oops, it just did,” and laughed with everyone. Quil jumped up and down and said “Heyy! No fair. Fine, truce,” and extended his hand to me. I shook his hand. “So what’s up?” I asked, leaning into Jacob. Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist and held my hands. “Were having a bonfire Friday night and just wanted to know if Jake here was in,” Jared said. I looked up to Jacob and said “Are we?” Jacob looked down at me shrugged and said “If you wanna.” I smiled, stretched my neck up and kissed Jacob and looked back to Jared and said “Yep, we’ll be there.” Jared nodded and said “Alright then, see you guys Friday, it starts at eight, don’t be late or there won’t be any food left,” and smiled. I smiled back and said “Hey Jared, is the whole gang gonna be there?” He nodded and said “Everyone’s coming, but only us, not the elders.” I nodded and said “Well tell Kim I said hi.” He smiled and said “I will.” Everyone exchanged some words and then they were gone. Jacob pulled me close and said “So are you able to go to homecoming Friday?” I sighed and said “Not sure but Aunt Alice says I am, she even got dresses for us to put on, that’s why Luna and Anna were at the house today.” Jacob kissed my forehead and said “I need a tux.” I pushed Jacob onto the bed and curled up next to him as he wrapped his arms around me. “Aunt Alice could get you one,” I said. Jacob sat there for a minute and said “Hmm, I guess.” I smiled and said “She’ll be so happy.” He nodded. It was silent but not uncomfortable. We just lay with one another, wrapped in the same worlds of unconditional love and were just happy to be together. We feel asleep, so comfortable in one another’s embrace when I heard a shrill ringing. I opened my eyes and looked around. The sun was gone. “Crap,” I croaked, my voice thick with sleep, and jumped off the bed to get my phone. It was Mom. I rolled my eyes and answered. “Hello?” and yawned. “Renesmee Cullen, it is ten-fifty, where are you?” I sighed and said “Mom calm down, I’m at Jake’s.” Jacob stirred but was fast asleep. “Are you insane? It is a school night!” I sighed again and whispered into the phone “I know Mom; I didn’t know I was gonna crash.” “Put Jacob on the phone this instance and why are you whispering?” “Cant. Jake’s still asleep, he needs to sleep to you know,” I chastised. Mom sighed and said “Fine, get your butt home now missy.” “Yes Mom, I’m on my way,” I said and hung up. I walked over to Jacob and smiled at how peaceful he looked. I stroked his beautiful face and leaned down to kiss his lips gently. He sighed at the touch of my lips, as if he had been waiting for it. I smiled and ran my finger through his shaggy black hair and whispered into his ear “Night Jake. Love you.” He smiled some and started snoring. He was officially out. I giggled and kissed him once more, tucked him in and left. Once the door was closed, I tip-toed down the hall and walked past the living room and out the door. Once I was out of the house, I started running. When I got home, the lights were on. “Oh great,” I thought. I walked in and started running up the stairs when Mom said “Renesmee, you get your butt down here now.” I rolled my eyes and came back down and said “What?” Mom’s face was stern and Dad’s was furious. “Look, I didn’t deliberately stay out past freaking curfew to find some way to just argue with you guys okay? Jake and I fell asleep. Sorry,” and started to walk away. “You wait just a damn second Renesmee,” Mom said. I froze, Mom never cursed…ever. I turned to face Mom. Mom stared at me, breathed in deeply and finally said “You know better than to be out so late and on a school night.” I sighed and said “I know Mom, I was trying to come home earlier but…things happened and I just fell asleep.” “What kind of things?” Mom asked. I looked down and felt the blush come said “Nothing…” “If it’s nothing then why are you blushing?” Dad asked. I sighed and said “Because I’m not comfortable talking to my parents about my relationship with my boyfriend.” Dad sighed and said “Your Mother and I have been talking about that.” I looked up, the flush fading but coming back stronger, not from embarrassment, but anger. “Particularly about what?” I asked trying to keep the anger muted. “Ever since you’ve two got serious, you’ve been a problem,” Mom said. I sat there for five seconds and then finally said “So you’re saying…Jacob’s a bad influence on me?” Mom and Dad nodded in unison. I looked down and said “What else?” Dad answered. “We think you two…need to take a break, just for a little while.” My eyes flashed back up, my cheeks burned, my breathing deepened, and my head spun. Mom and Dad looked worried and I saw myself in their eyes; I looked like a grenade that had just been opened. “No,” I whispered. Dad sighed and said “Love, I know this is hard but-“I interrupted him and whispered “No.” Everything was dead silent. I felt the angry tears slip down my face and quickly wiped them away. “You’re my parents and I understand that you have full authority, but not when it comes to me and Jake,” I said, voice small but clear with my decision. “Renesmee, we are your parents and you will listen to us,” Mom said some anger in her voice. “Did you listen to Grandpa? No you didn’t, so don’t go there with me,” I snapped, my voice hard and fast as a whip. Mom flinched like I’d slapped her. I felt so bad and instantly regretted saying that. “Mom,” I whispered in the softest tone I could manage. “You’ve felt how I feel, why are you doing this to me?” I felt the tears slip again. Mom walked to me and stroked my face. “Renesmee, were just trying to do what’s best for you.” I looked up into her gold eyes and said “Mom, Jacob is a part of me, just like Dad is a part of you.” Mom looked into my eyes and suddenly her face was so heart breaking. “Mom,” I whispered. She looked down and I knew she was crying, as much as a vampire could. Dad was next to us in a second and lifted Mom’s face up and said “Love, what’s the matter?” Mom shook her long brown hair and sniffled but looked back up to me and said “Of course Renesmee, how could we not see that.” Dad looked at Mom and I knew he was listening to her. Dad sighed, looked at me and hugged Mom close. “I guess you’re exactly like your Mother then, once you make a decision, you stick to it,” and smiled at me. I stared completely shocked. “Love, it’s late, go to sleep,” Dad said and stepped forward to kiss me on the forehead. I nodded and hugged Mom and walked toward the stairs. I started up but knew there was something I needed to say. I turned back around and walked into the living room. Mom and Dad’s face looked so hopeless I almost started crying again but didn’t have a chance. “Mom, Dad,” they both looked up at me. “…I’m sorry…” I whispered, looking down at my feet, which still had on shoes. “I’m sorry I’m always yelling and causing you guys so much stress…I’m sorry I’ve been…a difficult half-breed,” and felt the shame, as I realized the truth in my own words. Mom and Dad were by me instantly and hugged me from both sides. “It’s alright love,” Dad kept repeating. “Were sorry for being so hard on you Renesmee,” Mom said. I sighed and said “No more shouting and fighting okay? That crap really stresses us out.” They both looked at me and I stuck out my pinkie and said “Promise?” Mom and Dad took turns wrapping their pinkies around mine but said ‘Promise’ together. After a few more apologies, kisses and hugs, I was sent to my room to sleep. I checked my cell and realized that it was midnight. “Great,” I thought and torn off my shoes and curled up in a ball and passed out. I slept like a baby, exhausted from all the stress and excitement. “Wake up Renesmee,” Aunt Alice commanded. “Ugh,” I grumbled and rolled on to my right side. Aunt Alice sighed and ripped off my blanket. I groaned and turned over to my left. “Get your butt up,” Aunt Alice said, slapping my butt. I sighed and said “Okay, okay,” and slowly got up into a sitting position. “Honey, it’s only Tuesday,” Aunt Alice reminded me. I sighed and said “Yeah I know,” and got up. I yawned, and stretched. I thought Aunt Alice had already left when I looked over to the door. Aunt Alice stood there, staring at me really hard. My mind suddenly went to my neck. I pulled the hood of the hoodie closer to my neck and said “What?” Aunt Alice stared at me with narrowed eyes and said “Those cannot possibly belong to you.” I nodded and said “Their not mine.” Aunt Alice nodded and looked away, repeatedly tapped her chin with a thin, pale, graceful finger and said “I’m absolutely positive that you left with much different clothing,” her eyes cutting back to my face. I swallowed loudly and said “Uh…yeah I did, these are my…my sleeping clothes,” I finished weakly. Aunt Alice puckered her lips and said “Really?” I nodded and tried to think positive. “Well give me your clothes, I’ll wash them,” Aunt Alice suggested lightly. I almost died, but kept the pretence. “No it’s okay, I’m gonna do laundry today.” Aunt Alice nodded, not completely convinced but said “Get ready, and oh! Today we figure out the hair styles for you all.” I nodded and said “Can I even go?” Aunt Alice smiled and said “Leave that to your Aunty.” I smiled and watched her turn around when I remembered. “Oh wait Aunt Alice!” I shouted. Aunt Alice whirled and said “What is it Renesmee?” I bit my lip and thought of the most pleasant way to say it. “Um…someone else may need your…assistance.” Aunt Alice looked at me and said “Who?” I sighed and Aunt Alice’s eyes focused elsewhere. ”Jacob,” Aunt Alice whispered. Aunt Alice’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Please Aunt Alice, please?” I begged, clutching both hands in front of me. Aunt Alice stared at me; arms crossed, looked away and mumbled “Fine.” I jumped up and down and ran toward her, about to hug her when she stuck out her finger. I paused. Aunt Alice looked at me and said “One condition,” I nodded quickly. “He does what I say, and when I say what I say, I mean EVERYTHING I say, do you understand me?” I nodded and said “Promise, Jacob will be on his best behavior.” She sighed and opened her arms for me. I ran and hugged her tightly. “Thank you Aunt Alice,” I mumbled into her cold chest. She sighed, fanning her sweet natural perfume into my face, and said “Anything for my little niece.” I laughed and kissed Aunt Alice on her cheek. “Now go on and get rea-,” Aunt Alice stopped short. “What?” I asked. I took a step back from Aunt Alice to get a good look at her face. Aunt Alice’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “What is that on your neck?” Aunt Alice whispered, shocked. The blush filled my cheeks as I scrambled to find an escape route. I quickly covered my neck and retreated toward the bathroom. “Nothing, of course it’s nothing,” I mumbled and added a shaky laugh. Aunt Alice started saying something but I quickly interrupted her. “I gotta get ready for school Aunt Alice.” I didn’t wait to hear if she agreed or not and dashed into the bathroom and sighed when I heard her leave my room. I walked to the mirror thinking “There wasn’t anything there yesterday,” but when I looked in the mirror there was something alright. It was a discolored bruise, the shape of Jacobs’s teeth, and it was HUGE! I stared in horror; how was I going to hide this? I sighed and jumped into the shower, constantly feeling self conscious of the conspicuous hickey on my pale skin. During the shower, I thought of ways to somehow hide it. I came up with nothing. I cautiously walked out of the bathroom, towel covering my hickey just in case, and ran to the closet. Once inside, I really had to think. What could I do to hide the hickey, but not look so noticeable? I pulled on a white cashmere turtle neck that covered my hickey nicely. That wasn’t too noticeable. After that I pulled on some regular black skinny jeans and slipped my feet into my favorite guess flats. Then I ran to my bathroom and scrunched my hair with some mousse and I was done. I grabbed my phone and book bag and headed downstairs. Mom and Dad were down there, reading as usual. I walked in, pecked them on the cheeks and grabbed a pop tart and sat at the table. “You look nice today,” Mom commented. I flashed her a grin and said “Thanks Mom.” “Renesmee, you need to start looking for colleges,” Dad chided me. I sighed, rolled my eyes and said “Yeah I know Dad; I just haven’t been able to. I’ll get to it today okay?” Dad nodded and said “Take your time choosing alright? Your Mother and I would prefer you go somewhere close to home but…you’re old enough to make your own decisions.” Dad looked down at me with eyes that were obviously sad that I was leaving but also something more. I walked over and touched Dad’s face. “What’s wrong?” I thought. Dad sighed and said “You’re not my little Renesmee anymore.” I felt tears fill my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away. Dad patted my back and stroked my hair. I sat in Dads lap, like when I was five, and he cradled me in his cold arms and hummed me Mom’s lullaby. “You’ll always be my Renesmee,” Dad continued in a quiet whisper. I hugged Dad tightly and said “And you’ll always be my Daddy.” “Time for school love,” Dad reminded me. I nodded and kissed him on the cheek. Dad kissed my forehead and let me go. I walked over to Mom, who looked at Dad and me with a sad yet tranquil smile. I hugged her and she sighed loudly and said “Oh Renesmee, we love you so much.” I sighed and said “I love you guys too.” Mom sighed and said “Have a good day at school.” I nodded and walked out of the kitchen feeling sad. Mom and Dad knew I was leaving soon and that’s why they were sad and until this moment, I hadn’t even really wrapped my head around it. I must’ve looked too much in thought because Uncle Jasper insisted that he drive me to school today. I heard Aunt Alice whispering something much too low for me to hear to Uncle Jasper as we walked to his newly acquired two seated Bugatti Veyron. Obviously only Uncle Jasper and I were going to ride. I opened the passenger side and climbed in. Aunt Alice whispered a few more things to Uncle Jasper and then very lightly kissed him on the lips and disappeared. Uncle Jasper climbed in and smiled at me. “How are you holding up Nessie?” I sighed and mumbled “You know just as much as I do.” Uncle Jasper nodded and as we pulled out of the garage, I suddenly felt less stressed and quite peaceful. I knew what was going on but instead of fighting it, I welcomed it, I welcomed the peacefulness so I could sort through all the chaos in my head, all the fears, all the worries. Uncle Jasper didn’t interrupt me as I stared out the window; observing my moods to report to Aunt Alice. From the corner of my eye, I saw Uncle Jasper smile and I knew I was right. Thinking about the fact that she cared for me so much overwhelmed me and threw the peacefulness out the damn window and brought back the worry, panic and chaos. Uncle Jasper once again calmed me enough that I could breathe evenly. “Renesmee,” Uncle Jasper said in his deep low voice. “Why are you so panicked?” I counted to ten and made sure I had control of myself before I answered. “Uncle Jasper, I’m walking into a completely different world, totally unknown, and I’m leaving so much behind,” I whispered, trying to keep the trembling out of my voice. He nodded and smiled a comforting smile and said “Renesmee, I know how you feel.” I looked up at him and said “It’s not the same; you had Aunt Alice.” He smiled a gentle smile and lightly shook his head and said “I was speaking of when I came into this world as a vampire.” My mind blanked out. “Oh,” I whispered. He nodded and said “Renesmee, we’ve all felt that way before, even your Mother. Don’t be afraid to admit that you need help because we are your family Renesmee, and we love you and are here to help you whenever you need us.” Uncle Jasper looked at me and smiled encouragingly. I was completely awed. Uncle Jasper and I have always had a close relationship, but this was like…closer than ever. “Here we are, school,” Uncle Jasper announced. I nodded and got out of the car. Uncle Jasper got out and leaned on the car and said “Have a nice day at school Renesmee.” I nodded and started walking but turned around and rushed to Uncle Jaspers’s side and hugged him tightly. Uncle Jasper froze, shocked, but once the shock went away, he hugged me back. I closed my eyes and whispered “Thanks Uncle Jasper…that’s exactly what I needed.” Uncle Jasper chuckled and said “Anytime.” I heard mumbling about Uncle Jaspers car and said “Thanks again, I gotta get going.” Uncle Jasper squeezed me once more and finally let me go and got in the car and drove away. I walked toward the benches where Luna sat. When I walked over Luna said “Your Aunt Alice is soo lucky!” I laughed and said “Thanks?” I sat down next to her and sighed. Luna wrapped her arm around my shoulders and shook me lightly. “What’s wrong?” Luna asked in a worried tone. I sighed deeply and said “Well…just a lot.” She looked at me and said “I have all day.” I rolled my eyes and touched her face and just let everything pour out. She nodded and said “Ah, got butterflies in your stomach I see.” I nodded and looked away. “Don’t worry Renesmee,” Luna cooed, and stoked my hair. “It will all work out, I’m sure of it,” Luna continued. I sighed and said “Really? You think it will?” She nodded and I smiled. “Thanks Luna,” I mumbled as she embraced me and rubbed my back. I was still hugging her when she suddenly pulled down my turtle neck and I felt the cold air lick at my hickey. I gasped and quickly pulled it back up. “Luna!” I hissed. Luna laughed and said “Damn, that boy bit you hard!” I felt the blush come and looked away. This only made Luna laugh more. “Shut up Luna,” I said with a smile. “Let me see it one more time,” Luna pleaded. I sighed, looked around and quickly pulled it down. Luna came closer, examining it, and let out a low whistle. I laughed and quickly pulled the turtle neck in place and said “What?” Luna laughed and said “That boy did a number on you, anyone else seen it?” I shook my head and said “If my parents found out, they’d freak out,” and rolled my eyes, seeing it in my mind. Luna pursed her lips and started to say something but stopped herself. “What?” I questioned. Luna shrugged and said “Nothing…it’s just…I wanted to ask a question…” I nodded and said “Go ahead,” she nodded, looked around with her golden eyes and leaned in toward me and swiftly asked “What were you two doing?” I laughed and said “Just making out as usual.” Luna nodded and said “Can I ask another?” I nodded. She leaned in and said “Have you two…you know?” I stared at her confused and said “Have we what?” Luna sighed and “You know…” I shook my head and said “I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Luna sighed impatiently and whispered in my ear “Have you and Jacob…gone past making out?” I understood her meaning now; I blushed a deep red and fiercely whispered “No!” Luna laughed and said “You’re blushing, why?” I rolled my eyes and said “You just asked if I was still a virgin, how could I not be blushing?” Luna laughed and said “Do you…you know…wanna?” I looked away and bit my lip. “Is that a yes?” Luna asked. “Maybe,” I simply replied and got up and started walking toward the school. Luna followed behind me and kept asking for a straight answer and I would simply reply the same as before and blush. As we walked through the halls and to my newly replaced locker, I couldn’t help but keep thinking about Luna’s question. Did I? Would Jacob want to? If he did, how was it supposed to happen? Thinking of these questions made me chew on my inner cheek. It seemed like the day just began when Luna was telling me she’d meet me at lunch and I was walking into Mr. Mason’s class. Mr. Mason was back, with picture frames full of his new grandson. He was so beautiful. As l walked to my seat, I saw Anna. She waved and I waved back. I pointed to my hair and mouthed ‘today’. She nodded her head quickly as Mr. Mason started class. I looked around the room and realized that Adam no longer sat next to me. He was now across the room, in the front row. I looked around once again and realized even Anna had been moved. I looked at the board and saw the names and seats. I found my table, and stared in horror. Blake and I were going to be partners…for the rest of the year. I sighed loudly and turned my face to the window. It was difficult as it was, barely seeing him in class, but now it was going to be so much more difficult. Blake liked to express himself, which was fine by me, but he expressed things that he shouldn’t…not for his sake. As I thought these things over, Blake entered the room, took a look and with a smug smile, sat next to me. “Not his fault,” I told myself and threw him a short smile. He smiled back, but made no move to stop. I sighed internally and thought “This is exactly what I mean.” I dropped my eyes and looked away. I felt him staring and refused to look. “Now, get to work,” Mr. Mason commanded. I looked up, confused. He gave us something to do but I didn’t hear a thing? I looked over to Blake, who was still staring. I sighed and said “What are we supposed to do?” “Were supposed to finish that two-hundred paged packet he just passed out,” he replied. I nodded and reached for a packet; Blake’s hand touched mine and made me pull back. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, looking down at my hand. “Renesmee,” he whispered with so much emotion that I looked up and made the mistake of looking into his gray-blue eyes. He softly took my hand and just stared at me saying nothing with his lips but everything with his eyes. I melted, just staring into those never ending gray-blue eyes and felt light-headed. It seemed like forever but finally my mind caught up with reality and I pulled my hand away. “Blake,” I said. “We have work to do,” and turned to my work. I watched him from the corner of my eye; he still hadn’t moved. I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote “Look Blake, stay after when the bell rings for lunch, we seriously need to talk,” and passed it to him. He looked down and slightly nodded and started with his work. So many emotions were running through me right now but I had to focus; Easier said than done. Time passed soo sluggishly but finally the bell rang and it was time for lunch. Everyone eagerly left but Blake and I sat still. Mr. Mason left us with simple instructions; Close the door after we were done. It was finally just me and Blake. It was quiet but then I broke the silence. “Blake,” I started. He turned toward me and said “Yeah?” I sighed and said “Blake…you seem to not understand me…” He just stared at me. I sighed again, tired of beating around the bush and said “Blake…we can’t be anything more than friends.” He sighed and looked away toward the front. “I’m sorry Blake…I really am but…I love Jacob more than anything...more than my own life,” I said. He still didn’t look at me so I reached out to touch his face with my hand, blocking out my vampire ability; he stared at me, completely bewildered. I stared at his eyes, beseeching, hoping he would understand. He stared at me and finally looked down and said “I‘m sorry…” It hurt me to see him so hurt. “Blake,” I whispered, and got up and hugged him. I don’t know why but I just had to do it, I couldn’t see him in pain. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and heard his breathing near my ear. We embraced one another for lord knows how long when he spoke. “Renesmee,” he whispered. “Yes Blake?” I whispered just as quiet. “Was there every a possibility?” he whispered, hushed agony in his voice. I hesitated and whispered “No…” He sighed and straightened up. I let go of him and started backing up, but he pulled me back to him, kinda hard actually, hard enough that I ran into his chest with a thud. He looked down at me and said “I’ll just be your friend now Renesmee, I promise…but if you ever need me to be more…I’m here.” I stared into his eyes for any trace of pain but saw nothing but truth and seriousness. I looked at him and thought “it’s the least you can do,” and said “Okay Blake.” He smiled a warm smile and bent down toward me. I thought he was gonna try to kiss me on the mouth and started to protest but when I felt his lips touch my forehead, I stopped fighting. My eyes closed on their own accord and an overwhelming feeling circuited throughout my body. I felt his soft lips leave my forehead and his fingers brush my hair away. He didn’t try to kiss me on the lips? I opened my eyes and looked into his eyes wordlessly. He smiled a peaceful smile and softly said “Let’s get you some lunch,” and motioned toward the door. I nodded and broke from his embrace and gathered my things. We walked in silence and as we got our food, but once we sat down, Blake started chatting away, like nothing ever happened. He talked about things friends would and not once did he try to hint any of his feelings for me, which really surprised me. What surprised me further was that he had the hugest since of humor ever. He was hilarious and made me laugh so hard, my stomach hurt and almost made apple juice come out of my nose. It seemed like we were just really talking when the bell rang. Blake hugged me, not in an ‘I like you’ way, but in a ‘were friends’ way and left with a bright smile on his face. I stared at him completely shocked; that had been so easy. Guilt lifted off of me and I felt like I could really breathe again. I walked to Mr. Andrews’s class, totally blissed. Luna noticed. “Look who’s all happy,” Luna said. I turned to her and flashed a grin. She laughed and said “You talked it out with him?” I nodded and said “He’s completely stopped with it, were really just friends now,” and couldn’t hold my smile back. She laughed again and walked to her seat as Mr. Andrew’s started class. Class dragged but my mood was too happy to be brought down and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I jumped up, eager to go home. Luna and I walked to the front and met Anna. Anna looked at me with shock and said “Renesmee, I never knew you were like that…” I stared at her and said “Uh what?” Anna looked at me and said “I bet if Jacob knew, he’d be really upset.” My heart stopped, and then doubled overtime. Who the hell did she think she was? I narrowed my eyes and said “Keep his name out of your mouth, and what the hell are you talking about?” Anna flinched and slightly backed up; scared of the venom in my voice. “First that guy from this morning, then Blake. You don’t think he’d be upset?” she asked in a small voice. My jaw fell. “What?” I whispered, totally shocked. Luna was in Anna’s face before I could even blink. “That is just fucking sick! The guy from the morning is her fucking Uncle and Blake is just a friend!” Luna shouted. Anna cowered, scared. I pulled Luna back and said “Luna, calm down.” Luna breathed in deeply and nodded. I looked back to Anna, who now had tears running down her face. Anna was the one to cry when she was yelled at, and she considered Luna and I close friends so it really hurt her. I walked over to Anna and said “I’m sorry Anna; you just took me and Luna by surprise.” She sniffled and stared at me. I hugged her and sat her down. “Anna, where did you hear this from?” She sniffled once more and said “Tina Connors said that some of her friends had been outside when you arrived and said that you were with some gorgeous blonde guy and that the way you guys talked made you guys looked really into each other, then someone told Chris Johnson that they walked by Mr. Mason’s class during lunch and saw you and Blake making out and,” I stared at her in complete horror as she continued to talk. All of this was a lie. Well almost all. Yeah Blake and I had been in the same room but we never made out! “And I’m soo sorry I jumped to conclusions and I listened to them, I should know better than to listen to them,” she finished sounding ashamed. I smiled a tight smile and patted her back. “It’s okay Anna, I’m sorry I was so mean.” She nodded her head and flinched when Luna spoke not having heard Luna move closer. “I too, am so sorry Anna. I was just so sick of all the talk,” she bent down to grab hold of Anna’s hands and looked her in the eyes. “Forgive me?” Luna asked. Anna looked at her and said “Of course Luna, you didn’t do anything wrong, I did.” Luna shook her head and said “Do you know the source of everything?” Anna shook her head and said “No, but maybe Tina or Chris…” Luna nodded and started walking toward the groups. Oh no! I quickly ran to Luna’s side and said “Luna, what are you doing? You’re just gonna get yourself in trouble!” She barely looked at me and said “No I’m not; I’m just finding out who’s making up this shit and shutting it down.” “Luna!” I hissed. “You could kill one of them and blow our cover, think it through!” I hissed desperately. Luna nodded and said “I won’t hit anyone.” I growled and said “Luna, just let it go.” “Nope,” she said. We were walking through the groups now. “Luna, please,” I begged. Luna sighed and turned to me. “Renesmee, I swear I’m not going to hit anyone of those girls okay?” I looked into her eyes and saw nothing but the truth and slowly said “Oh…kay.” Luna smiled at me and once again turned around and searched for Tina. Tina stood with her little group of shit talkers and whispered urgently to one another. They were all typically considered “pretty” but they were such fake bitches that once you got to know them, they were the ugliest things alive. One of her friends looked up and had to do a double take. Fear flashed through her eyes and she quickly nudged Tina. Tina looked at her, clearly confused and followed her gaze to see Luna and me approaching. Her eyes widened as the fear settled in; we weren’t the ones to pick fights and we never really confronted anyone in particular but everyone always knew we weren’t to be fucked with. Everyone now noticed, and now instead of hearing whispers of scandals, I heard whispers of anticipation. Money and items were placed on Luna punching Tina in the face. We finally stopped walking about seven feet from Tina and her group. The atmosphere suddenly felt thick. “So,” Luna’s loud voice projected. “You saw Renesmee here with some gorgeous blonde this morning did you?” Luna questioned in a sickly sweet voice that gave me chills. Tina swallowed hard. “Yeah, she was all over him, everyone else saw too,” she said, bitchy as ever. Luna smiled sweetly and said in the same sweet voice “Was she?” Tina simply nodded; Luna smiled. Luna was always dangerous but when she was sweet such as now, she was deadly. I touched Luna’s arm, cautioning her. “Did you know that the man from this morning was her Uncle?” Luna asked. Tina’s eyes opened a bit and her face seemed confused now, as if the story she heard didn’t make since anymore. Luna moved right in her face and whispered so low no one else but me heard would hear. “Give me the name of the person and I’ll let you live.” Tina’s hazel eyes opened wide, and she stayed completely still. “Phil,” she barely managed to whisper. Luna backed away from Tina and smirked. Tina still couldn’t move. Luna smiled and walked away; I knew she was going to go find Phil. I threw one more look at Tina, who was very pale but alive and ran after Luna. “Luna,” I started. “That’s enough okay? Haven’t you terrorized people enough today?” I asked as we jogged to find Phil. Luna didn’t answer. “Luna!” I shouted. She stopped and stared at me. “What is it Renesmee? I have business to do,” Luna said formally. “Oh god Luna, just leave it alone please,” I begged. Luna rolled her eyes and started considering it when we heard Phil’s loud mouth. Luna’s eyes narrowed, I flinched—This was going to be bad. Luna walked toward Phil and his group of idiots, who once again tried not to act scared because she was a girl, but he didn’t fool me, nor did he fool Luna. Luna walked right up to him and said “What the hell’s your problem? Why are you so obsessed with Renesmee?” She sounded like a pissed off Mom. Phil laughed and squealed in what was supposed to be a girl voice “Oh I’m so scared of Luna, someone save me.” His idiots laughed along with him. Luna stayed calm and said “Phil, I really don’t want to hurt you but if you don’t leave Renesmee alone, I will.” Phil and his idiots laughed loudly and that was one thing Luna didn’t take. You could call her a whore, slut, bitch, whatever, she didn’t care, but when you laughed in her face like there was no tomorrow, there was no going back. Luna’s lip curled as he laughed in her face. “Luna DON’T!” I yelled as I flung my body toward them, but I knew I was too late. I heard a crunch as Luna’s fist connected with Phil’s nose. Phil flew a few feet then landed on the ground, knocked out. His nose, which had been perfectly pale, was now a startling purple and blue. Blood rushed from his nose and on to the ground. Great, not only did Luna just break his pride, she broke his nose. Luna grinned at him lying on the floor and said “Good night Phil.” All of Phil’s idiot friends jumped back and scrambled away from us. “Luna!” I screamed once again as I sat next to Phil, who was now groaning. “What?” Luna asked amused. I stared at her in horror and said “Did you have to hit him so hard?” Luna laughed and said “I didn’t hit him that hard, he’s just weak,” and winked at me. “Guess I won’t be going to homecoming,” Luna said cheerfully. I sighed and shook my head. Phil lay there groaning like a little baby and it made me feel bad. “Phil, shh, it’s gonna be okay,” I whispered as I stroked his head. I didn’t know what everyone thought of this and I didn’t care, seeing even the person I hated the most in pain cut me deep. Phil groaned and tried to open his eyes but I put my hand on his eyes and said “Phil, your hurt, just rest.” He nodded lightly and asked in a hushed whisper “Renesmee?” I stroked his head again and said “Yes, it’s Renesmee, now hush.” He nodded his head and stopped talking. The paramedics came and took Phil away. I sighed as I heard Luna getting chastened by the Principle and school staff. Luna was in big trouble. I sighed and remembered it was time to go home. I looked for my stuff and then drove home. When I got home I explained everything to Mom and Dad and they both shook their heads. I ran up to my room and called Jacob and told him about it. He laughed but sighed and said “Damn, feel bad for him.” I laughed and said “Yeah me too, hey, want me to run down to La Push?” “If you want, or I could come up?” Jacob questioned. “I’ll run down,” I said but as soon as the words slipped out, Aunt Alice was there shaking her head. “No you’re not; you’re staying right here so we can figure out your hairstyles.” “Oh crap,” I said out loud. I had totally forgotten. “What’s wrong Nessie?” Jacob asked. I sighed and said “I forgot that I had something to do today.” “Oh,” Jacob said. “Well ill just come down there then.” “Really?” I asked. “Yeah, why not?” Jacob asked amused. I smiled. “Okay, but you’ll have to wait downstairs until my hair is done,” I warned. Jacob laughed and said “Okay, I’d rather not get in trouble.” “Okay then I’ll see you later then Jake, love you.” “Love you more,” he replied and then the line disconnected. “Alright, now that I finally have your attention, you should call your friends up,” Aunt Alice said. I rolled my eyes and said “Okay, but Luna probably can’t even go anymore.” Aunt Alice shrugged and said “Call her anyways.” I dialed Anna’s number and asked her if she could come down to my house, she wanted to but didn’t know how to get here so I volunteered to pick her up. I then called Luna and asked her the same thing. “You know I probably can’t even go anymore right?” Luna asked bemused. I laughed and said “I know that, but Aunt Alice said to ask you anyways.” “Well, if your parents haven’t considered me a hazard to you, then sure,” Luna asked skeptically. I laughed and said “Even if they did, you’re one of my best friends.” Luna agreed so I told Aunt Alice I was heading out to get them. When I got to Anna’s house, she was already outside, waiting for me. She climbed in and greeted Luna and then we drove in silence. “They said his nose is really bad,” Anna whispered, almost silently. I shook my head and said “He knows not to mess with Luna, it’s his own fault.” Luna laughed and said “He’s never going to get over this,” and smiled happily. When we got home, I heard everyone in the house and thought to warn Anna. “Hey Anna,” I started. She looked up at me as she stepped out and said “Uh-huh,” I looked back at the house, biting my lip, thinking should I tell them all to scram or just let it be, and turned back to Anna and said “Well uh…my family’s actually home and are dying to meet you, would you like to meet them?” She stared at me for five seconds, fear and curiosity all mingled into one. Finally she squared her shoulders and said “Sure, I’d love to meet them.” I smiled and thought “Please don’t throw up.” We all walked toward the house when the front door swung wide open, and their stood Aunt Rosalie, looking like an angel with a golden halo. She smiled warmly at Anna and said “You must be Anna,” and motioned for us to enter. Anna nodded but couldn’t stop staring at Aunt Rosalie. “Everyone stay back, I don’t want her to be overwhelmed,” I thought, I knew dad would pass it along, if Aunt Alice hadn’t already. Everyone stood in a line and waited to be introduced. I rolled my eyes and thought “Bums!” and saw Dads mouth twitch. “So very nice to meet you Anna, I’m Renesmee’s other Aunt, you can call me Rosalie or Rose,” Aunt Rosalie said. Anna nodded. I pointed to Uncle Emmett and said “This monster here is my Uncle Emmet.” Uncle Emmett smiled and said “Welcome.” Anna smiled and said “Thank you.” I moved on to Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper. “Anna, you must remember my Aunt Alice,” I said motioning toward Aunt Alice. Anna nodded and said “Yeah I do, hello again,” and smiled at Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice smiled said “So nice to see you again Anna.” Then I motioned to Uncle Jasper and said “And this is Uncle Jasper.” Anna nodded and smiled kindly. Uncle Jasper smiled warmly at her, making no move to approach her but from her smile, he was making her calm which was good. Next were Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme. I hugged them both and said “This is Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme.” Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme hugged me back. Grandpa Carlisle smiled welcomingly at Anna and said “So glad to finally meet again Anna how’s your mother and the baby?” Anna smiled at Grandpa Carlisle and said “They’re both doing great, thank you.” Grandma Esme smiled at Anna and said “It’s a pleasure to meet you Anna.” Anna smiled and said “Nice to meet you too.” Then it was Mom and Dad. I walked over and hugged them both. “This is my Mom and Dad,” and smiled at them. Mom kissed my head and smiled at Anna and said “Hello Anna.” “Welcome,” Dad said. Anna smiled, genuinely calm and said “Nice to finally meet you Mr. and Mrs. Cullen.” Then Anna looked at everyone and said “It’s so nice to meet you all.” I sighed quietly, pleased that she hadn’t passed out or thrown up. I started toward the kitchen when Anna stopped me. “Um, can I ask a question?” Anna asked. I spun around and said “What?” Everyone looked at Anna like they’d been surprised too. Anna looked from face to face with curiosity in her eyes. Uncle Emmett looked around and shrugged and said “Sure kid.” Anna looked around and said “Please don’t think of me as rude, I’m just curious.” Everyone waited. “Why do you all look so alike?” Everyone laughed but I saw the looks they threw Anna, especially Dad. I smiled at her and said “Your eyes are messing with you Anna, hey come on, let’s grab something to eat,” and motioned toward the kitchen. Anna hesitated but followed me. I heard everyone rush off to do something to look normal. We ate Mac N cheese and drank fruit punch. Unfortunately for Luna, there was no escape. After we ate, Aunt Alice called us up to her bathroom where the countertop was covered with products, promising perfectly beautiful hair. As we walked in, I remembered my hickey and almost collapsed. “Shit,” I muttered. Aunt Alice and Luna glanced at me. I smiled and said “Stubbed my toe.” Aunt Alice turned to look for something but Luna’s eyes stayed on me. I motioned to her to come out with me. Luna and I were almost out of the room when Aunt Alice caught us. “And where do you two think you’re going?” Aunt Alice asked suspiciously. Luna and I froze. “Er…we were just going to uh…get something to drink,” Luna said with a smile. Aunt Alice narrowed her eyes and started saying something. “Aunt Alice, start on Anna, well be back soon,” I quickly interrupted. Before Aunt Alice could say anything, Luna and I were down the hall, in my room. “What’s up?” Luna asked me. I pulled the turtle neck down and pointed at it but also put a finger to my lips and motioned to my ears and down stairs. Luna nodded and looked at my neck. She bit her lip and shook her head. I closed my eyes and groaned. “What am I gonna do?” I asked Luna as I plopped down on the bed next to her. Luna sighed and said “I don’t know.” I stared at the ceiling and mumbled “Great.” Luna sighed and said “Well…I might have a plan—but it’s risky.” I jumped up and said “Okay.” Luna sighed and said “Okay, since theirs way too many ears, you just leave it to me okay?” I trusted Luna completely but…the look in her eyes was starting to scare me. “Um…okay,” I hesitantly mumbled. Luna smiled at me and then dragged me back to Aunt Alice’s room. Aunt Alice peeked at us but continued to do Anna’s hair. Aunt Alice moved with precision and before you knew it, Anna’s hair was done. Anna’s hair was naturally curly but Aunt Alice made her long orange locks fuller and tamer. Anna’s long spirally curls fell on either side of her face and looked perfect. Luna and I rushed to Anna and complimented her graciously. She blushed and what not and when Aunt Alice allowed her to look in the mirror she couldn’t help but gasp. “Oh my,” Anna said, reaching out to touch her hair very lightly. Aunt Alice stared at her and said “You like it?” Anna shook her head and said “I LOVE it,” and smiled at Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice turned to us and said “Whose next?” I froze. Luna walked over and said “I’ll go next.” Luna sat in the chair and Aunt Alice started immediately. I looked at Luna and hoped she saw the panic because this was serious! Luna nodded and mouthed “I got this.” I shook my head but tried to think positively. Luna said she had this, no need to worry...right? But as time ticked on and Aunt Alice finished more and more of Luna’s hair, I could no longer think positively. “Oh shit,” I thought over and over again. This was so bad! Suddenly Aunt Alice stopped and I thought “Oh thank you!” Luna looked at Aunt Alice and said “Why’d you stop?” Aunt Alice smiled but her eyes went to Anna. “My arms are super tired right now, we’ll continue in a few,” and walked out of the room. Luna and I stared at each other, what were we gonna do? I walked over to Luna and whispered “What do I do?!” Luna sighed and said “Just chill Nessie, I have a plan and it will work but you need to just calm down, just take the time that your Aunt is doing my hair to relax okay?” I bit my lip and nodded quickly and walked to the bench. I sat and thought “Just relax, you have a while to think of something, just relax,” boy was I wrong. Aunt Alice walked in but right behind her was Aunt Rosalie. Oh my god! I forgot how to swallow and choked on my spit. Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie rushed to my side and bombarded me with questions but I couldn’t concentrate; I was so dead. Aunt Alice walked away toward Luna and I was faintly aware of Aunt Rosalie walking me to the seat next to Luna. As I walked by, Luna’s eyes caught me. The look in her eyes was ‘Oh shit’ just like mine. Aunt Alice looked at me and said “Renesmee, what’s wrong?” I tried to smile but couldn’t hold it so I just looked away and mumbled “Nothing.” Aunt Alice threw Aunt Rosalie a look but started on Luna’s hair. Luna’s long straight black hair was now large, luscious and wavy, not too curly but not too straight. Aunt Rosalie and Aunt Alice mumbled back and forth about Luna’s hair when Aunt Rosalie turned to me. “Renesmee, could you move your shirt? We want to be able to see your neck.” I swallowed loudly and said “S-sure,” and slowly folded the turtle neck while Aunt Rosalie’s attention was elsewhere. I threw my hair out and covered the hickey with my hand. My head was starting to swim and my heart wouldn’t slow, Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie were going to notice if I didn’t get better control of myself, so I breathed deeply and thought “What’s the worst that can happen?” and immediately regretted the thought. “Rose,” Aunt Alice chimed. Aunt Rosalie looked over and said “Yes Alice?” Aunt Alice put down the curling iron and said “I’m going to get started on Renesmee, could you help finish up?” Aunt Rosalie nodded and walked over to Luna. Luna’s eyes met mine once again but this time, there was nothing we could do. I closed my eyes and thought “I’m so done,” as Aunt Alice began to move my hair. Suddenly there was a noise, it wasn’t loud but it sounded like something flying, and whatever it was, it was going fast. Then just as suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my neck. I flinched and cursed; it hurt. Just as I cursed I heard Aunt Alice yell “Luna!” I looked over to Luna who winked at me. What? This was her brilliant idea? Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie whirled the chair around and I saw it in the reflection; purple and blue again but this time there was blood. I smiled inside; you couldn’t even tell there had been a hickey there! “Luna, what was that?” Aunt Alice asked demanded. Luna shrugged and looked at use with innocent eyes. “I was just playing with marbles and my finger slipped,” and looked over at me and said “Are you okay Nessie?” I wanted to laugh so instead I bit my lip and tried to hide my smile and just nodded. “Look at her neck now, all purple and blue,” Aunt Rosalie mumbled. Aunt Alice sighed and said “It’s alright, it’ll heal up enough by Friday so we’ll just cover it with make-up, lets continue.” Aunt Rosalie started on Luna again as Aunt Alice started on me. Anna was now slumped on the couch, fast asleep. I smiled. “Done,” Aunt Alice said. I looked up at her and said “Can I look?” Aunt Alice nodded and I turned to the mirror. My bronze hair was now in a beautifully graceful up-do. “It’s beautiful,” I said and turned to Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice smiled and said “I’m glad you like it, now let me go talk to your father.” I stared at her and said “Dad doesn’t know?” Aunt Alice smiled and said “He knows.” I shook my head and said “He’s so not gonna let me go now.” Aunt Rosalie looked at me and said “Don’t worry about it, well take care of it,” and smiled. I smiled and said nothing because if I’ve learned something since I was born, it was that whatever Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosalie planned always worked out. Aunt Alice grabbed Aunt Rosalie by the hand and pulled her out of the room and down the stairs. Luna and I stared at each other and then started to laugh. Luna walked over and patted my back. “See, told you I had a good idea.” I laughed and said “I thought it was gonna be something much more…creative,” and laughed some more. Luna chuckled and said “Well you’re free now.” I nodded and said “Thanks, now, I think we should take Anna home.” Luna looked over and said “Okay, let’s take her home.” I nodded and said “Hey wanna sleep over?” and giggled when Luna stuck her tongue out at me. But then Luna looked at me and said “Do you think I could stay over though?” I nodded and said “Of course, we’d love to have you over.” Luna turned away and left out of the room before I could ask why. Something was bothering Luna…and I was going to find out. I woke Anna up and then we went down where everyone said good-byes to Anna and then we were in my car driving down the black road. Anna and I, with some input from Luna, chatted lightly about Friday, school, and what not until Luna just stopped altogether. Something was really wrong and now I was anxious to get Anna out so I could talk to Luna. As we pulled away from Anna’s house, I broke the silence. “What’s wrong Luna? And don’t you dare say nothing because I’m not falling for it,” I said looking at her. Luna stared out of the windshield and said nothing for a bit but as time passed, she realized that I wasn’t giving up. Luna sighed and said “Ashton’s back…” “And?” I asked. Luna sighed and looked over at me and said “He slipped up again…” I swallowed back the bile that I felt rise. “When you say…he slipped up…” I whispered. I couldn’t even finish, it was just too horrible. Luna looked at me with pained eyes and slowly nodded. I looked away and out to the wet road as my stomach churned. Ashton killed someone. “He reeks of blood…” Luna whispered. I stopped in the drive way and turned to her. Luna hadn’t slipped up in a really long time but being around her brother and the scent of human blood was bound to mess that all up. “Luna, its okay, I’m sure you can stay as long as you want, as long as it’s okay with your parents.” Luna looked at me and said “Are you sure?” I smiled and leaned over to hug Luna and said “Of course, you’re always welcomed.” Luna hugged me back and said “We should probably go ask.” Everyone was glad to have Luna over and welcomed her with open arms. I ran upstairs to wash up as I smelt the all too familiar scent of Jacob. I noticed that everyone seemed to not hate the smell so much anymore. I quickly combed out the fancy hair-do and brushed my teeth. After I was done I ran out of the room and down the stairs, anxious to get to Jacob, when I slipped on the marble floor; this was going to hurt. I braced myself for the pain once my body hit the floor. Instead, warm arms snagged me mid-air. I opened my eyes and looked into midnight eyes. Jacob smiled at me; I smiled back. “Nice catch,” I said breathlessly. Jacob grinned, pulled me close and kissed me. I grabbed onto his shoulders and pushed myself right up to him, allowing no space to come between us. I felt his lips curve up at my enthusiasm and couldn’t help but smile back. His lips brushed my jaw and made me shiver. “I love you Renesmee,” Jacob whispered against my neck. I clutched him closer and brought his lips back to mine and kissed him so long, my head spun. He wrapped his long arms around my waist as I placed mine around his neck. I looked into Jacob’s eyes as our foreheads touched and wanted to be with him forever. Looking at Jacob made my knees weak and all I wanted to do was show him how much I loved him. Thinking this through, I wrapped my arms tighter and rested my head against his and whispered “I love you so much Jacob.” Jacob pulled back a bit and leaned in and very lightly kissed me on the lips. It was brief and very sweet and it showed how much he loved me. I smiled and thought of how I wanted to stay like this forever. But of course Luna was here. “Ahem,” Luna said loudly. Jacob and I laughed and turned toward her. Luna leaned against the wall, smiling. “Hey wolf boy,” Luna greeted. Jacob grinned and suddenly ducked down and kissed my cheek. I smiled and looked at Luna and said “So what are you gonna do all night?” As I spoke Jacob and I adjusted so that we were now holding hands. Luna sighed, walked over to the single sofa and plopped down. With a finger to her chin Luna said “Not really sure…I guess I could start on Mrs. Annoying’s homework.” I rolled my eyes and said “You should, you have nothing else to do.” Luna laughed and said “Especially since I punched the shit out of Phil,” and grinned at the memory. Jacob chuckled and said “Yeah, about that, how did it feel to punch him? I mean I would’ve loved too but I would’ve gotten arrested.” I slapped his shoulder and could see Grandpa Charlie arriving to arrest Jacob. Luna smiled, instantly animated and said “It felt wonderful. His perfect nose made the most delicious sound when it broke.” I stared at Luna and after a minute said “You’re fucking crazy Luna.” Luna and Jacob laughed and I of course had to join in. Aunt Rosalie walked in then and scrunched her nose. “I knew something smelt awful,” Aunt Rosalie said and very meaningfully looked at Jacob. Jacob chuckled and said “It’s nice to see you too Psycho.” Aunt Rosalie narrowed her eyes but looked at me and broke out into the most beautiful smile and said “Your Dad wants to see you.” I grimaced but said “Thanks Aunt Rosalie.” Aunt Rosalie flashed me a quick grin and disappeared into the kitchen. I took a deep breath and tugged on Jacob’s hand and said “Let’s go.” We met Dad out back. It turns out all Dad wanted to talk about to me about was College. After the College conversation, it was a school night so Jacob and I had to say good-bye. I watched Jacob walk away from the front door, my lips still tingling from kissing him. I sighed happily and skipped to my room where I went to the bathroom and stripped off my clothes. I took a fast shower feeling sleepy and quickly pulled on my pajamas. Then I dashed to the hallway and called out a quick goodnight to everyone and finally lay in my bed. I lay there and focused on relaxing my body and slowly slipped into unconsciousness. I woke up well rested and blissful. I took a quick shower and pulled on a white tank and blue cardigan and denim skinny jeans. “Good god Renesmee, I thought you were never going to shut the hell up,” Luna said as I came down to the kitchen table. I blushed but looked up at her. “What?” I asked, confused. Luna laughed; she found my face very funny. “Renesmee spoke while she was asleep?” Dad asked. Mom put down the book she had, curious. “What was she saying?” Mom asked Luna. Luna shrugged and ran a hand threw her long black hair. “Who knows? It was just a bunch of nothing.” I flushed and turned to glare at them. “Could we please stop talking about what I was talking about? It’s my dream, my head, keep out,” I snapped. They all stared at me and I turned away, fixing myself toast. “Come now Luna, what did she say?” Dad asked, unashamed. I whirled and said “Really Dad?” Dad didn’t look up at me, he stared intently at Luna and Luna looked back, like they were having a private one way conversation. I growled uselessly and stomped out of the kitchen, no longer hungry. I sat on the porch angry but was curious so I listened intently to their conversation. “She mostly just mumbled about being scared of losing something. She said ‘I’m scared’ but I didn’t know what to make of it,” Luna mumbled. “Hmm, what is it that she’s afraid of?” Mom asked herself. “What else did she say Luna?” Dad asked. Luna thought for a minute then said “Not much else really, but she did make a lot of weird noises like she was crying or something…it was really confusing,” Luna said, trailing off. I stared at the gravel beneath my shoes and thought back to my dream. I couldn’t have said any of that; Luna must’ve lied. My dream had been perfect, everything I’d ever wanted. Jacob and I, alone somewhere far from everyone and we were perfectly happy. “Where would you like to go Renesmee,” Jacob had whispered and kissed my swollen belly. I stroked my belly and said “I think the baby hates the heat…maybe back to forks? It’s a lot cooler over there…and we can see Charlie and Billy a lot sooner.” Jacob nodded and said “If you want.” And then there we were, Forks. We met Charlie and Billy and they were both very excited. Even though I couldn’t see my toes, the pain in my back always got worse and my ankles swelled; I loved every moment of it. The whole time I was pregnant, I didn’t complain. Who could when this was all you wanted, and that’s as far as I got, and I felt so happy. Good thing Dad was distracted, otherwise he would’ve heard me and he would’ve been all “Love, please think of other things,” and what not. Luna and I pulled into the school parking lot and parked. “Well, I guess this is where we part,” Luna said with a sigh. I turned to her and said “You’re suspended.” Luna nodded with a grin. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “See you later,” I said and threw the keys at her. I walked toward the double doors, into the school and down the hall to my locker and grinned when I saw Blake leaning against it. “Hey,” I said as I opened my locker. Blake grinned and said “Hey.” I rummaged for a bit finding my homework and books and when I found it, stuffed into my book bag. “Mind if I walk you to class?” Blake asked. I hesitated; already? Blake grinned down at me and said “I’m just walking you to class, that’s it.” I sighed and said “Sure,” and started walking to class. When we got to class I turned to Blake and said “Thanks for the walk,” and smiled. Blake grinned back and said “My pleasure.” The minute bell rang. “Gotta get going, see you at Mason’s?” Blake asked, taking a step back toward his class. I smiled and said “Yeah, see you then,” and watched Blake walk into class. School passed by the same. Blake and I joked and had fun, classes went by smoothly, and now it was time to go home. I was turning the corner of the school building where I had parked when a figure stepped out; I froze. “Hey Renesmee,” Ashton said as he flipped his black hair from his red eyes. I stared at him. “Why are you here?” I asked throwing a glance toward the emptying parking lot, making sure no one else was approaching. Ashton leaned against the brick wall and said “Just wanted to know where my sister was.” I took a deep breath and said “Well she’s with me, now leave.” He looked up at me with those red eyes and grinned slightly. “Guess she already told you,” he said, grinning even deeper. It made me sick knowing that he could still smile after what he’d done. “Yeah she did, but she didn’t have to for me to be able to smell the blood,” I spat. He lifted something, a piece of a shirt, and inhaled deeply. He smiled as my stomach lurched; the shirt of a girl he’d killed. I stared at him and said “Leave, or you’ll regret it,” and walked past him. His arm came out and blocked my way. My nostrils flared. “Get your arm out of my way,” I hissed. Ashton kept it there and grinned at me. “You know, I’ve always liked you, so…dangerously sexy,” and leaned in closer to me. “If you want to keep that arm of yours, get it out of my fucking face,” I hissed, baring my teeth. Ashton grinned even deeper and leaned even closer so that we were now an inch apart. I could smell the blood from his breath. “I don’t know what I want more, your blood or your body,” Ashton whispered. “How about never, you fucking loser,” I said sourly. I knew I could probably smash his face into the wall hard enough that his face might crack, but I knew I wasn’t strong enough to kill him if I had too, curse my human side, and I didn’t know how I was going to keep this quiet, although there weren’t many witnesses left. He chuckled and licked his lips. “Come on, you get to choose,” Ashton said, like I was a willing participant. “Like I said jerk-off, never,” I hissed. Ashton laughed but then a speculative look came into his eyes. “Maybe both…” looked me up and down and said “Yeah, definitely both,” and leaned in so now our noses were touching. “Go ahead,” I said indifferently and looked away. I hoped Aunt Alice was seeing this. He grinned and leaned in closer and sniffed my hair. “I’ve never tasted a half breed’s blood before,” Ashton whispered brushing my hair aside. “Ashton,” a furious voice screeched. Ashton and I looked up at the same time and saw Luna six feet away, glaring furiously at Ashton. Ashton smiled and took a step back from me. “Hey Luna,” Ashton greeted lightly. “What the hell are you doing?” Luna hissed. “Just talking to Renesmee, we were just gonna leave and head back to our house,” Ashton joked. Luna darted to my side and said “Let’s go Renesmee,” and tugged on my arm. We started walking but then something pulled hard against me. I looked back, startled, and glared when I saw Ashton holding my arm. “You’re not leaving until I say so,” Ashton whispered menacingly. “Let. Go. Of. Me,” I growled. “Ashton! Leave her alone!” Luna hissed. In a blink of an eye, Ashton had kicked Luna and sent her flying into the green forest. “Luna!” I shouted and tried to run to her but suddenly I was face down on the floor. “Don’t move Princess or ill snap your arm in half,” Ashton whispered in my ear and tightened his grip on my arm. I gritted my teeth as my bone protested. So softly that I hadn’t even noticed, Ashton swept my hair from my neck. I turned my head and looked into Ashton’s eyes and saw what he was about to do. “No!” I shouted and tried to move out of the hopeless position I was in. “No, no, no!” I thought. I squirmed but didn’t move an inch, Ashton was too strong. Ashton leaned down and lightly kissed my hickey. “A love mark I see,” Ashton whispered against my neck. I shivered with disgust and shook my head. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick, I wouldn’t want you to be in pain,” Ashton whispered as I shuddered hearing his fangs slide out. “No,” was all I could think. If he bit me, I was dead. I wouldn’t get a chance to live. “Please, not today, not now,” I prayed with all my might as I heard Ashton move in to send me to my death. Suddenly I heard a howl and the crushing weight of Ashton disappeared. I waited for the pain, the agony to make me want to die but felt nothing, nothing at all. As things became clearer, I could hear things, several loud beating hearts, and a woodsy smell. Jacob. I could also hear hissing and smelt the sweet scent of my family. I looked up and saw the red-brown of the wolf I loved, standing in front of me, guarding me from danger. Furious snarls escaped Jacob’s mouth as the pack circled Ashton. “Jacob,” I choked out, finally finding my voice. Jacob turned then and curled on the floor right next to me and looked at me like he was so happy to see me. I looked up and saw that my family had made a wall in front of Jacob and I. Everyone and when I say everyone, I meant everyone, glared at Ashton with hateful eyes. Mom and Dad were half crouched, ready to pounce, and hissing. Ashton, in the eye of the wolves, looked startled and unprepared. Ashton eyed the wolves with disgust and hissed when the circling wolves closed the distance and came much too close for comfort. The wolves made a rumble as if they were laughing. Ashton took a daring swipe at Paul, which Paul quickly dodged and came in with his own attack. Paul darted back into place with Ashton’s hand. Ashton screamed in agony and instinctively tried to attack Paul; big mistake. Ashton was fast, but Mom and Dad were faster. Dad had Ashton on the ground while Mom got a good grip on Ashton’s arm and started to heave when Luna’s piercing scream made us all freeze. “Stop!” Luna shrieked and ran through all the wolves to stop a foot away from Mom and Dad. “Please,” Luna begged sobbing tearless sobs. Mom and Dad hesitated but then Dad nodded to Mom and they were back in place. Luna bent down and cradled Ashton like he was a baby. “It’s alright Ashton, it’s okay,” Luna whispered as Ashton whimpered and gasped for air; Dad must’ve put a lot of weight on Ashton. Luna looked up at us with sorrow filled eyes and said “I’m sorry…he just can’t control himself…” and looked down at Ashton who now looked afraid. Paul threw Ashton’s hand back and growled as if to say “You’re lucky I’m feeling nice.” Luna quickly grabbed Ashton’s hand and gave it to him. “I suggest you leave immediately, and heed this warning, lay another hand on my daughter again and I will finish the job,” Mom snarled, glaring at Ashton. Hearing mom snarl like that gave me goose bumps. Ashton quickly nodded, removed himself from Luna’s arm and ran off into the forest without so much as a thank you to his sister who just saved his life. Luna sat on the ground staring at the spot where Ashton had disappeared. She turned back to us with such a hopeless look, my heart broke. Luna tried to smile but couldn’t, the right side of her beautiful face was cracked. “Sorry Nessie,” Luna whispered, and slowly got up but fell onto the ground. “Luna!” I yelled trying to get up but I couldn’t find my legs. Grandpa Carlisle was at Luna’s side and immediately began to work on her. “Lie still, I have to close up your face,” Grandpa Carlisle said as he worked on Luna’s face. Aunt Alice was at Grandpa Carlisle’s side with his medical bag. Jacob barked out an order and the wolves all disappeared into the forest, probably to make sure Ashton was gone. Mom and Dad crushed me to their chests. “It’s okay Nessie, Momma’s here,” Mom whispered as she stroked my hair and kissed my forehead. Dad just squeezed me tight. “I’m sorry,” I whispered breathlessly. Mom looked down and grinned a teary-eyed grin and said “What are you apologizing for?” I tried to smile back but my eyes pricked and my breathing was off. “Your right Jacob,” Dad mumbled and looked down at me. “What?” I whispered confused. “Bella love, why don’t we leave Jacob and Renesmee alone?” Dad whispered to Mom. Mom started to protest but Dad looked over at me. Mom followed, staring at me for a few seconds and then she slowly nodded. “We’ll see you at home Renesmee,” Mom whispered and took Dad’s hand. Mom and Dad darted to the others and explained in hushed whispers about leaving Jake and I to be alone. Dad looked at Jacob and after a few seconds of silence and said “Very well, we’ll see you there then,” threw me a worried look and then darted into the woods alone with everyone else. All was silent as I stared at the forest that could’ve been my grave. Jacob brushed my side with his head and took my attention. Tears welled in my eyes as I looked at Jacob and thought of how I almost would’ve never seen his beautiful face again. I got up with wobbly legs and threw myself at Jacob, sobbing as I hit him. Jacob purred in my ear, telling me it was okay and it was, because he was here. “Jacob,” I sobbed rubbing my face into his fur and clutching him closer. Jacob whinnied lowly as he heard what I was thinking and saw what could’ve happened. Jacob nudged me and made me look up. He looked at me and then anxiously at the forest. Oh, he wanted to phase. “Hurry back,” I whispered, releasing my hold on his enormous torso. Jacob darted into the woods as I tried to collect myself, it was hard enough for everyone, and I shouldn’t make it worse. I was still alive. As the fear faded, relief and joy overpowered everything else. I was alive! I had taken every day with Jacob and Mom, Dad, Grandpa Charlie, and everyone for granted. I’d always loved hard but after today, I would love even harder. I would appreciate every single breath I took, every kiss I received, every moment of life. I stared at the sky and thanked my lucky stars that I could still see the semi-gray clouds rolling in. I heard the sound of Jacob rushing to me and jumped up in time to see Jacob’s arms ready to snatch me up. Jacob crushed me to him and said nothing. He stroked my hair and squeezed my waist so hard it was hard to breathe and yet I wanted him to hold me tighter. I stroked his hair and kissed his cheek and whispered “I’m sorry,” into his ear. Jacob’s body which had been shaking lightly shook even harder. It felt like he was going to explode. “Shh Jake, shh, it’s okay, I’m fine, were fine,” I whispered as I felt tears falling on to my shoulder. I pulled Jacob onto the ground with me and laid his head in my lap. Jacob stared up at me, as if he had lost me. I kept my hand on his face, thinking of how I was okay and that I was here and I loved him. The sky was now a dark gray, a storm was coming. I leaned against the school building and stroked Jacob’s hair but after a while, my eyes drooped and I thought “I’ll close my eyes for just a second…” I was aware of warm arms constricting around me and the movement of Jacob’s chest moving in and out. I groggily opened my eyes and realized I was home, in my room. “What time is it?” I whispered, stifling a yawn. Jacob leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry about it, just go back to sleep Nessie,” Jacob whispered. I snuggled closer to Jacob and said “As long as you’re here.” “Always,” Jacob whispered as I started to drift off. “I love you,” I whispered, though I wasn’t quite sure if he could understand it. Jacob chuckled, so I guess he understood but he said nothing and just pulled me closer and let me fall asleep on his chest.
I lay on the floor gasping for air, my heart was racing much too fast with the smell of my blood in the air. Ashton stood above me smiling that same cruel smile he had before. Blood dripped from his pointed fangs as he watched my life spill from my neck. There was so much pain, it felt like I was being roasted alive and sliced to pieces with a dull knife. The blood pouring from my neck ran out like water from a faucet, I felt it pooling around my scalp and soaking my shirt. Time was running out and there was nothing I could do but wait to die. As the venom licked through my veins, I thought of Jacob and my family. Jacob kissing me, Jacob adoring me, Jacob loving me…so much love and it wasn’t enough to bring me back to him. My insides were burning but my body was cold, it wasn’t long now. I brought up a memory of each of my family, remembering how much they loved me and how much they would miss me. I felt my useless tears pooling on either side of my face as my life slipped away with the sun. My heart was now thumping too fast, it really wasn’t long now. I closed my eyes, tired of looking at Ashton’s red eyes smiling mockingly at me and just thought of how much I loved Jacob and how I would miss him so much. “Renesmee, Renesmee, wake up!” I heard Jacob whisper and suddenly felt my body shake. It was too late; I knew it then because my eyes wouldn’t open. “Renesmee, it’s okay, don’t cry, I’m here,” Jacob whispered urgently. My eyes fluttered open as I heard a new sound. I looked around and saw that it was light now, maybe around two ‘oh clock. My hands gripped Jacob’s shirt so tight, I thought it would rip. The sound that had awaked me was my loud sobbing. I took in the room, Jacob holding me and realized it was all a dream. “Jacob!” I sobbed and flung my arms around Jacob’s neck. Jacob patted my back and stroked my hair and comforted me. After I calmed down, Jacob asked me what was wrong. “I just had a really bad dream,” I whispered, trying to keep the shaking out. “Show me,” Jacob urged gently. I swallowed hard and slowly raised my hand to Jacob’s face. Jacob watched in silence as my breathing started to pick up again as I relived the nightmare. “Shh, it’s okay Nessie, that’s never going to happen, shh,” Jacob whispered as he pulled me closer. I nodded numbly and tried to control my breathing. Jacob would never let that happen to me and I knew that but…it could’ve happened…so easily. After I woke up again Jacob urged me to go down and eat. We walked down stairs hand in hand and stopped when Luna appeared at the bottom of the stair case. Jacob quickly pushed me behind him and rushed to Luna’s face. “Don’t you understand a fucking thing? She needs time!” Jacob hissed at Luna. Luna flinched and quietly said “I know I know it’s just…I needed to see that she was okay...” Jacob sighed and mumbled “I don’t know Luna, maybe you shouldn’t be here…” and motioned for the door. Luna sighed but started to turn. “Wait,” I called out. Luna and Jacob froze. I walked down to Jacob and took his hand in mine. “Luna, this wasn’t your fault, everything that happened…happened but I don’t hate you, you know that right?” I asked and placed my hand on her shoulder. Luna turned to face me with a devastated expression. “Luna, don’t cry, it’s not your fault,” I whispered and cupped her cheek. Luna gasped like she was trying not to sob and looked at me with sad eyes. “But it was my brother who tried to kill you, it was my brother I ended up protecting, and I’m so sorry Renesmee.” I forced a smile and said “Nothing happened to me, I’m still alive and Luna he’s family, so don’t beat yourself up for something you had no control over okay?” Luna slowly nodded and dabbed her eye like there had been a tear. “Still friends?” Luna asked with a half hopeful grin. I pulled her into me and squeezed her tight with one arm. “Of course Luna, of course,” I whispered into her hair as she sobbed tearless sobs. Luna needed me so I sent Jacob to go get some groceries from the store so I could make dinner for the pack and Grandpa Charlie. Luna kept apologizing and I kept telling her that I was gonna smack her if she apologized again and finally I did. Luna was sitting next to me in the love seat and opened her mouth to say sorry for the billionth time when my hand flew out and smacked her. I didn’t smack her hard and it wouldn’t have hurt either way but she was shocked. She froze with a shocked expression probably thinking “Why did she just smack me and why is she smiling?” I was smiling because she needed to realize that I was serious. “Sorry Luna,” I said and pulled her into my arms. “It’s not your fault…now stop or ill do it again,” I whispered, trying not to laugh. Luna busted out laughing and I joined in. Luna kissed my hair and said “I’m sorry but not for before, for being such a mope.” I hugged her tight and said “it’s okay.” Later when Jacob came back, I had to make two batches of spaghetti and meat balls, one for the pack and grandpa Charlie and one just for Jacob. Jacob swallowed it down without seeming to take a breath; I must’ve really worried him. Luna left before Mom and Dad got home, she thought they still might need sometime, even though I tried to tell her that it was okay for her to stay. Mom and Dad came home just as Jacob and I were on our way out the door with the food. “How do you feel Renesmee?” Dad asked lightly, taking a seat. I wrapped myself in Jacob’s arm and laid my head on his chest. “Just fine,” I said and looked up with a smile when Jacob kissed my hair. Dad nodded but frowned at our affection. Mom grinned and winked at me; we both were on the same track. I laughed out loud and pulled Jacob to the door and said “Get used to it Dad,” and heard Dad chuckle as I closed the door. “Do you wanna run?” I asked Jacob. Jacob thought for a moment and finally said “Nah, you look tired, let’s just drive, well, I’ll drive,” and winked at me. I smiled and took the container of food out of Jacob’s hand and walked over to the garage and opened it. Jacob opened my door for me and then got in and then the house disappeared. It was pleasantly quite on the way to La Push, our hands intertwined, thinking of nothing really, well I wasn’t. “I won’t let anything ever happen to you again,” Jacob said out of the blue. “What?” I asked totally confused and turned to Jacob. Jacob stared ahead and for a moment said nothing. Finally he spoke. “The other day…when….when he,” Jacob stopped and clenched his teeth. He was shaking so hard, my hand was vibrating. “Jake,” I whispered, tears foolishly coming to my eyes. “Don’t be such a cry baby Nessie,” Jacob said and turned to me with a heartwarming smile and stroked my face. I couldn’t hold back my smile, even though it was probably ugly, and leaned my head into his palm. After a moment of silence, I spoke. “Where did that come from?” Jacob stared at the dirt road as we drove past the little shop, which looked awfully empty, toward his house. “I’ve been thinking of it since the moment your Mom called me, all panicked…I just can’t believe I wasn’t there to protect you…” he whispered. I watched Jacob pull into his drive way and closed his eyes in concentration. “Jake,” I whispered and touched his face. I waited until he looked at me. “What’s wrong,” I asked and looked deep into his eyes. Jacob opened his mouth to say something but there was a bang on the car. We both looked up and saw Embry and Sarah at the door, waiting for us, and a shoe on the front of the car. I smiled back and turned to Jacob. He smiled but it wasn’t a real one, and before I could say anything, he was out of the car and walking toward them. I sat, dumbfounded. Why was he so touchy!? I mean yeah, I almost died, not him! I hadn’t noticed that Sarah had walked over to the car and opened my door until she touched me. I gasped. “I didn’t mean to scare you; I thought you saw me coming?” She questioned. I smiled and said “Uh yeah, just was thinking about something.” “Come on, were all waiting for you,” Sarah said and smiled. We walked to the door and as she opened the door I said “Um, well actually, I have to get going, but it was good to see you.” “What? Why?” Sarah complained. I could hear them all in the back, laughing and chatting and I knew Jacob would come searching for me soon, which meant I had to hurry up. “Um, college applications,” I said lamely, I didn’t want her to have to worry about me and Jacob; she was having a good time. Sarah sighed but said “Okay, I’ll see you this Friday though right?” I grimaced, not completely sure how things were going to turn out. “Maybe,” I finally answered. Sarah noticed I was a bit irritated and unsure and just let me go, but only after I promised that we would hang out. I got in the car and floored it as soon as I could. I didn’t want to go home, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Ugh. Then I remembered Blake. I flipped my phone on and scrolled down the list and found Blake; I got it one day when he was talking to a friend, don’t really know why though. I looked at his name and number and couldn’t help but feel a little weird. What would he say? I started to chicken out when Jacob called. I bit my lip, unsure. Should I answer or ignore it? My hand was frozen for just a second but then I clicked off the sound. Jacob’s name kept coming up, but I didn’t hear it anymore, and for some reason, I felt better. After Jacob stopped calling, I dialed Blake’s number and pressed the send button. I bit my lip as it rang and secretly hoped he wouldn’t answer. It went to voice mail…ugh. “Can’t answer, call another time,” Blake’s voice said and then there was the beep to leave a message. “Um…hey Blake, it’s me Renesmee,” I said not really sure what to say. “Well um…yeah, call me back?” I wanted to punch myself in the face! Why would I call Blake!?! Out of all people, Blake! REALLY!? Ugh! I quickly hung up the phone and touched my cheek; it was really hot. I frowned, not sure where to go when my phone rang. I really didn’t want to pick it up, it was probably Jacob, but I did anyways. I did so without looking at the name and just answered. “What?” I sighed. “Renesmee?” Blake asked surprised. I froze. That was fast. I quickly put my thoughts together and answered Blake. “Uh yeah, it’s me,” I said. “Um, well how’s your day been?” Blake said, almost too fast, like he had been hoping for this day for a while. “Not the best, how about you?” I asked. “It’s been bland,” he replied. Then the conversation kinda died. “So…was there a specific reason why you called me?” Blake asked softly, careful of how he said it; Smart boy. I sighed; I really didn’t want to talk about it. “Uh…” I said. And then, I chickened out. “Um, well actually, I’m not really sure why I called, sorry,” I said, wishing I could just die! I was such a dope! “Well if there’s nothing, I have to go,” Blake said with impatience. Aw, he was mad at me. “Sorry,” I whispered. “Have a good day Renesemee,” Blake said and hung up. I pulled into a rest area and put my head on the steering wheel. Now what was I gonna do? I didn’t want to go home with Mom and Dad; I really wasn’t in the best mood. I didn’t want to deal with Jacob right now either, I knew it was only a matter of time until we had to face each other and fix this damned problem, but I really didn’t have it in me right now. I sighed and turned my head and stared out the window. Two birds flew around following one another. Then I acted on impulse. I pulled my iPhone from the cup holder and went to the student inventory, found the address I wanted and then started driving. Logic tried to break through the craziness but I blocked it all out and just kept driving. Finally I pulled up to a large white house. I drove up and parked. Logic was starting to break through, so I had to act quickly. I quickly shut down the car and ran up the stairs and rang the door bell. As I waited, logic finally burst through the walls of insanity. “REALLY?! BLAKE’S HOUSE??? ARE YOU STUPID?!” I yelled at myself. “Why would you do this? You know it’s gonna give him the wrong impression Renesmee!” Logic screamed at me. I sighed and before I could answer back, the door opened and before me stood an older woman. She was average sized, pale, with startling green eye’s and golden hair so shiny it look like gold silk with sliver silk intertwined. Over all, she was still quite beautiful. “How may I help you?” She asked in a pleasant voice. I bit my lip not sure. What did I want? I sighed and ruffled my hair with my hand, not sure how to answer. She waited. I looked apologetically at her and said “I’m sorry but I’m not exactly sure what I want,” and added a slightly shaky laugh. She didn’t laugh so I continued. “Well, er, I’m not crazy, I’m just not exactly sure why I came here...” I stopped blabbing; I sounded mental. I sighed loudly again and closed my eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m not having a very good day,” I apologized. “What’s your name child?” She asked me. I looked up to see her smiling kindly at me, much like my Grandma Renee or Granma Esme would. “Renesmee,” I said, uncovering my eyes. She smiled and said “I’m Alana.” I hadn’t ever seen her had I…I’m sure I wouldn’t have forgotten her face nor her smile. “You haven’t met me child,” Alana guessed and chuckled. I smiled back. “Come in and take a seat child,” Alana said and moved to the side of the door, allowing some space for me to enter. I wanted too but couldn’t. I shook my head and said “Oh no, I’m fine really.” Alana looked at me strangely as if to say ‘Then why are you here?’ I sighed and looked around. “Can I just sit here? Like right here for a while? I won’t cause any trouble I promise,” I pleaded. Alana stared at me for a bit, taking in my expression and thinking it through. Finally she answered. “And you wouldn’t want me to inform Blake of you…er…staying, am I correct?” Alana asked. I shook my head furiously and said “Please, just between you and I.” Alana looked at me for a bit longer, ducked in for a few seconds and came back out with a bottle of water and a pack of cookies. “Here you are child,” Alana said as she handed me the water and cookies. I took them, but hesitantly. “Thank you so much but I don’t need,“ I stopped. Alana was giving me the look that said ‘Just shut up and take it.’ I smiled thankfully at her and said “Thank you, really.” Alana smiled and started to say something when I heard Blake’s voice. Alana stepped back into the house and before closing the door completely, winked at me. I smiled and laughed quietly to myself and sat down on the steps. I sighed and placed my face in my hands and just stared at the sky turning pink, orange, purple and then a mixture of all. I refused to think of anything except breathing in and out, I was so calm here, no need to mess it up. I knew I should be going home, but I didn’t want to leave, childishly, I didn’t want to face my problems. Just thinking of that made me laugh a small laugh. And then I sighed and leaned against the cold metal rail. Of course that was exactly what I was going to have to do, go back and face Jacob. I sighed just thinking the words. I was so absorbed I didn’t notice that someone was standing beside me until the person moved. I gasped and backed away and as the shock disappeared, embarrassment flooded my cheeks. Blake looked out toward the setting sun with a hand shoved in his pocket. “What a lovely sun set,” Blake murmured and turned to look at me. I got up, embarrassed and looked away. “Uh, yeah…” I said, chuckling nervously. We stood there for a quiet moment when he finally spoke. “I heard the doorbell ring and when I asked Alana who it was, she nervously said no one and then I look out the window and saw a very familiar car and a very familiar girl…” Blake said with humor. My face had to be redder than a lobster. “I uh…needed sometime alone,” I finally answered, looking down. Was he going to call the cops? I could see Grandpa Charlie pulling up to arrest me. “Well then,” Blake spoke and handed me a bright orange flower. “Come on in,” and smiled. I took the flower and walked to the door with Blake. Entering the house, I saw lots of paintings, intricate and beautiful pieces, some of which I could smell of the origins. France, Japan, Italy, and Germany were the main scents. Looking at them, they had to be expensive. “My Father is a portrait collector,” Blake answered, smiling at my intrigued expression. I smiled back but looked back to the closes painting to me. “Paris d'en haut,” Paris from above, was the name for this one. Below, the water glittered and disappeared under a bridge that led to the boutiques with colorful signs and interesting clothing. “Wow,” I gasped, looking at the amount of detail, I mean every nook and crack was visible. “Father always chose the best,” Blake mumbled with chagrin. I turned to look at him. He wasn’t looking at me; he was looking intently at a different painting. I walked over to look at it. It was a picture of a woman on a bus staring out the window; she looked absolutely heartbroken and yet absolutely beautiful. Her eyes were puffy, her hair tied in a messy knot and a bundle of possession’s and suitcases next to her. “That’s my Mother,” Blake said quietly. “What?” I asked shocked as I turned to stare at him. He stared right at the picture and softly stroked her cheek. “I thought you said you’re parents were art collectors,” I said, trying to remove the pain from his face. “Oh they are. Mother and Father did it because they loved art, they loved unique pieces,” he said and stopped. I waited for him to continue but he didn’t. “Go on,” I said gently. Blake took a deep breath and started again. “But then Father couldn’t stop searching for the next unique thing, he just couldn’t. He didn’t want too…and then he left Mother for a woman twice as young …” and suddenly broke off. I could sense what was to come. I softly touched his arm, telling him I was here and urging him to go on. He closed his eyes and clenched his hands. “He threw her out, I along with her, he threw his own family out for a woman who was younger,” Blake whispered angrily, tears slowly slipping from his eyes. I stared at Blake’s Mother for a second and then wrapped my arms around Blake. I leaned my head against his shoulder and rubbed his arm until he stopped shaking. As the shaking disappeared, I peeked up at Blake and was relieved when all the anger had left his face and had been replaced with some sort of peace. “Better?” I asked. Blake slowly nodded and a sudden smile replaced his frown. I laughed out loud. “What?” Blake asked, amused. “A second ago you were really mad, now you’re smiling like a psycho?” I laughed again. He laughed along. “Well if you must know, he got what he deserved. She sold most of the paintings and disappeared and he came crawling back to Mother and my Mother has always loved him, so she let him back in and now he has the upmost respect for my Mother,” he finished with triumph. I patted his back and looked at the painting of his Mother and wondered if I would ever get to meet her. “You want something to eat?” Blake asked. “Sure,” I said without thinking and then remembered Jacob. “Er,” I said and made Blake turn to look at me. “Um, actually I should get going, I’m sorry,” I said and bit my lip. Blake’s face soured for a second but then smoothed out. “Alright, I’ll walk you to your car,” and opened the front door. We walked out to the car where he opened the door like a gentleman and shut it for me when I got in. “See you at school,” Blake said as I rolled down the window. “Yeah, thanks for the escape,” I said and smiled. “Bye,” Blake said and moved away from the car. I turned and backed up and into the road, of course I didn’t need to, I could’ve done it with my eyes close but Blake was here. As I put the car in drive, Blake called out my name. “Yeah?” I asked, and watched him jog down to the window. “We should do that again, you know, hang out,” Blake said nonchalantly. I laughed and said “Sure, hang out.” “Maybe next time I’ll come over to your house,” Blake said and with that, turned around and ran back to the house. I stared after him and laughed; he left me no room for argument. I took my foot off the break and started driving down the street and soon enough I was on the highway. As I drove, I caught sight of myself smiling, not just smiling, but REALLY smiling. I blushed and shook my head and reached for my phone. Three missed calls. I unlocked it and saw that they were all from Jacob. I rolled my eyes and grudgingly called back. “Where have you been?” Jacob said quietly after the second ring. “A friends, why?” I asked just as quietly. “Oh,” Jacob said and then it was quiet. I shook my head as the silence lasted and then said “So why’d you call?” “Sarah told me you just…left. She said you were pretty upset too, just wanted to see what was wrong…” Jacob said with a bit of sourness. “Yeah I was, seemed like you were a little upset too,” I said mockingly. Then I took a deep breath and said “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me…” “Can you meet me?” Jacob suddenly said, and this time with some anger. “Um…sure,” I said, unsure of the sudden change in his voice and then he hung up. I looked down at the phone and said out loud “Jerk.” I drove down to La Push and prepared myself for whatever the hell it was that was going to go down. As I pulled into his drive way, I saw him and the rest of the group. Okay…something was up. I pulled to a stop and got out. They all stared at me with mixed emotions as I walked toward them. I stopped a few feet from them and crossed my arms. It was dead silent for a few seconds then Jacob spoke. “Is something bothering you?” He asked condescendingly. I felt my face scrunch the slightest. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked, angry by the way he was glaring at me. He laughed angrily but it stopped as suddenly as it had started. “You’ve been acting weird you know that? Disappearing, avoiding calls from everyone, avoiding talking to anyone for too long….what’s up?” Jacob asked this with no attempt to hide his anger. I stared at him for five seconds as I ran through his words. Was he… asking if I was what, with some else?! I felt the blood rush to my face. “What are you implying,” I asked, letting my anger leak in. He said nothing but his face was accusing. I backed up; hurt and then the anger came. “Go fuck yourself,” I said and walked toward the car. “I’m talking about you’re ‘friend’, you know, the one you’re going to behind my back!” Jacob yelled. I couldn’t believe this. Before I could even think, I was in Jacob’s face and I was kicking and punching. I kicked him in the knee twice, then in the groin and once he was on the ground I slapped him across the face and landed one good punch right above his right cheek. And just as suddenly, I was far from him, and I was screaming. “Calm down Renesmee!” “Jacob, are you okay?” “Damn!” “Someone call Billy!” “Jacob!” A whirl of faces and voices gathered around me. “How dare you, you fucking asshole!” “Let me go! I want to hear him beg for me to stop, fucking piece of shit!” I heard myself shouting as I struggled to get out from the arms that restrained me. I watched Jacob get up and speak to Seth, his cheek was split and swelling. “What’s going on here?” I heard Billy ask, shocked. “Whoever it is holding me, let me go or you’ll end up like that asshole!” I yelled. The arms disappeared and now I was standing alone as they all stood around Jacob. Billy stood between us and took in the situation. “What’s going on?” Billy asked again but this time with authority. I turned around and tried to stop my head from spinning. “Ask her,” I heard Paul say with disgust. I whirled and said “Go fuck yourself you arrogant bastard.” Billy looked at me with complete shock. Paul looked at me like he wanted to say something back but didn’t because Billy was here. “Renesmee, what’s going on?” I bit my lip and turned away, I couldn’t hold my tears back anymore. “Renesmee, what’s the matter?” Billy asked and wheeled himself to me. I couldn’t stop the sounds coming from within but pointed my finger at Jacob and managed to say “Ask him.” “Jacob, what the hell is going on?” Billy demanded, upset now. Jacob said nothing and all was silent except for my sniffling and sudden sobs. “Sarah,” I heard Embry say as she started toward me. I really hope she wasn’t trying to come over here and say something to me; I was not in the best mood. Embry clung onto her arm but she ripped her arm away and walked over to me. “Oh Renesmee,” Sarah said and hugged me. I couldn’t stop the sobbing now. “Shh, don’t cry, I know you wouldn’t do that, I know you wouldn’t, their just being idiots,” Sarah said to me as she rubbed my back. “Jacob’s accusing Renesmee of cheating, like the freaking idiot he is,” Sarah said away from me to Billy. “Jacob, I thought I taught you better,” Billy chided. “Dad,” Jacob started to say but Billy cut him off. “For you to drag everyone into your problem and publically humiliate and gang up on Renesmee, the woman who has stood faithfully by your side is unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable,” Billy said with anger and disappointment. Jacob said nothing. “And as for you all,” Billy said to everyone else. “Shame on you for even agreeing to this, you all are just as guilty as Jacob.” Sarah moved me to the side so I could see everyone but it wasn’t really working, tears were blocking most of my vision. “Billy, we felt it would end up like this, we were just—,” Sam stopped short when Billy raised his hand. Everyone’s head hung down as Billy became quiet. “I’m sorry Billy, I didn’t mean to use that sort of language…I’m just really upset,” I whispered and wiped at the tears. “It’s alright Renesmee, calm down,” Billy said soothingly to me. Sarah hugged me a tad tighter when my phone went off. I took my phone out and as I did, I dreaded to see the number and name that would pop up. I cursed my phone and as the ringing continued, the silence thickened. “Renesmee, answer it,” Billy said with a sigh. I obliged, and with a shaky hand answered. “If he wants’ to breathe for another minute, he’d better start running, and that goes for every single one of those damned dogs,” Dad spoke angrily as the sound of wind flew by. I knew then that the whole Cullen clan was coming and even after Jacob accusing me of such, I loved him, and wouldn’t want him hurt. I quickly hung up and tore away from Sarah’s arms. “I have to go,” I said quickly and started for the car but then decided that I would stop them in the woods. I started running when Billy called to me. “No, let them come here,” Billy said. “Billy I can’t do that, what if they hurt,” I broke off and swallowed the lump in my throat and wiped the tears. I looked over to Jacob for a second and then looked back down. “Renesmee, let them come,” Billy said and his face promised peace. I shook my head and ran into the forest. I pushed myself past my normal limits, I couldn’t let this happen. I could hear Dad, he was close. “Dad!” I shouted. I ran toward them now and prayed I would make it. Dad flew by me but I grabbed his arm, of course nothing happened to him, I just got dragged along side with him. “Don’t try to talk him out of trouble Renesmee, this will not be forgotten,” Dad growled. “Please Dad!” I yelled. Dad refused to speak to me and I knew this was pointless. I pushed myself off of Dad and went the way I had come, I had to be there before they were, that was the only way I would be able to stop this. My heart beat loudly as the silence of the forest haunted me. As I broke through the clearing, I heard everyone asking Jacob what was wrong with him but getting nothing in return. I walked over to Sarah who wrapped her arms around me but worriedly looked at Embry. The seconds ticked by sluggishly and brought back that terrible day when we awaited the Volturi, and then we heard them, flying through the forest like torpedoes headed straight for a ship. They were around me within seconds. Sarah was frightened but held onto me. “Billy,” Grandpa Carlisle said, and as soon as he did, I felt a sudden calm. I looked over at Uncle Jasper, he was making us all calm but he didn’t look too calm. Aunt Rosalie, Aunt Alice, Grandma Esme and Mom were around me and asking me if I was alright. I nodded but kept my eyes on Dad and Uncle Emmett, who were inching forward, with no intent of calming down. “Jacob,” Grandpa Carlisle confronted directly. Even though Grandpa Carlisle usually was the calmest one, he was having a hard time. “I would have never expected this from you Jacob, you can be disrespectful to me, but never to my family, let alone Renesmee,” Grandpa Carlisle said with anger. “You fucking mutt, I should kill you right now. Having the audacity to speak to my daughter like that,” Dad hissed menacingly, his hands becoming claws at his sides. Aunt Rosalie and Alice hissed in unison, agreeing with Dad. “The damage is done, now step up dog,” Uncle Emmett growled. The pack reacted. Growls and hisses came from everywhere. I looked at Sarah who stared at Embry with utter fear, at Kim who stared at my family with fear, at Jacob who looked at Dad with pure blood thirst. “Stop!” I heard myself shriek. I broke past everyone and went between everyone. “Please, just stop,” I said and then broke down. “I can’t bare to think of losing anyone of you, please, no fighting,” I pleaded with everyone, making eye contact with everyone. Dad walked up to me and hugged me. “Of course love, I would never hurt you,” Dad said and rubbed my face. “Haven’t you done that a few times already?” Jacob taunted. Dad looked up. Mom came up beside me and spoke to Jacob. “I never thought you’d do something like this to Renesmee and that is exactly why we never stopped her from being with you…but now you’ve proved me wrong and you should be ashamed,” Mom whispered with anger and regret. “Spare me the lecture Bella,” Jacob said sharply. “Jacob,” Billy cautioned. “Watch yourself or I will rip that mouth of yours right off,” Dad hissed, breathing deeply now. “How many times have you threatened me and done nothing, huh? Nothing!” Jacob mockingly yelled and then suddenly laughed hysterically. I stared at him and didn’t even know who he was anymore. A growl that had been building from Dad’s soles to his head escaped and shook everything, as Dad shifted forward. “Jacob!” I screamed. Everyone looked at me, including Jacob. “I don’t even know who you are anymore,” I whispered and backed away. Jacob looked at me and for a second, it seemed like he didn’t know who he was either. “Jacob, I love you, why would you accuse me of such a thing?” I asked. “Who cares? I don’t care anymore. He can have you, I don’t want this bullshit relationship anymore, I’m done!” Jacob shouted right in my face. I stared at him, trying to swallow what he just said. Hisses erupted from everywhere. “What?” I asked. “You heard me,” Jacob said angrily. It felt like my face would fall off. “Jacob…you can’t do this, why, what,” I blubbered, trying to make a coherent sentence. “Were done Renesmee, now leave,” Jacob said with a smirk, like he enjoyed my pain. “Jacob,” I whispered, trying to breath. “What, gonna kill me cause I dumped your daughter? You can’t, there’s no law saying I have to be with her, not like we’re soul mates or any of that bullshit,” Jacob shouted and laughed again. “Were going to take our leave now before any accidents happen,” Grandpa Carlisle said, not even trying to hide his anger. Everyone stiffly departed but not without giving Jacob the ultimate stare down. “I’m sorry Edward and Bella, I really didn’t see this coming,” Billy whispered with pain. Mom and Dad stiffly nodded but said nothing. I walked, numb, beside everyone, and tried to focus on nothing but breathing in and out. No one spoke as we flew home. Once in the house I walked up the stairs and into my room and once inside my room, I sat in the rocking chair and let the tears come. I stared at the dark sky and prayed that this would just be a dream, that Jacob still loved me, that it wasn’t over.

Book Two: A New Start. 

Chapter One, Book Two: Coming Back To Reality.

Life ceased to mean anything as he spoke those hurtful words. Every promise, every touch, every kiss…all lies. All along, he said he loved me and that I was all he wanted…and I was stupid enough to believe it. The unbearable pain that radiated through my shredded heart sharpened and stole my breath. My lungs opened wider and wider for air but air wouldn’t come. I was gasping, trying to get some air, as the pain throbbed through me, from the tip of my head to the soles of my feet. “No,” I thought. “Please, not today,” I pleaded. I found myself lying on the floor, lying flat on my face trying unsuccessfully to open my airways. “Think through it Renesmee,” I told myself. “It’s only a panic attack, you’re not dying, calm,” I whispered to myself, trying to do what the doctor had explained. “Come on breathe, breathe,” I whispered, hoping it would work, but I’d gone too far this time, I’d cross the boundaries of sanity and now I didn’t know how to bring myself back. Everything just kept replaying over and over again. My breathing would not slow and my head was spinning so fast, I knew without a doubt that if I didn’t control this panic attack, I was going to pass out. “You’ve been through worse Renesmee,” I whispered. And then everything became clear; I seemed to have found my lungs again and now gasped mouthfuls of air and the room was no longer spinning wildly out of control. It was over and I was still alive. I breathed in and out and waited until my heart returned to its regular pattern and slowly got up. I lay on the bed, so exhausted from the panic attack and thought. Usually I would only have to sit for a few minutes but this panic attack was the worst I’ve had in five years. Yeah, it had been five years ago but my heart still ached and the memories were so crisp and fresh, like it just happened today. I laid there, exhausted, and closed my eyes. Sleeping was usually the worse time for me. I couldn’t stop my mind from rewinding, but after such a terrible panic attack, my mind had nothing to dream of, just myself in thought really. We were going back to Forks in a few weeks. That might sound normal but the truth was it was anything but normal. I hadn’t gone back once these past five years. Shortly after Jacob moved on, Grandpa Charlie passed, and half of me went with him. I shattered into thousands of pieces, some going that way, some going this way; There was no way I could be put back together. Things weren’t getting any better with me and I was becoming much more depressed when my dear loving mother (Lots of sarcasm there) informed me that Jacob had in fact been in love with her, much earlier before my birth and that his love for her only ‘ceased’ when I was born. That was just too much. Right after I discovered this hideous secret, I moved out. I grabbed my phone, and left the house with nothing but the clothes on my back. I ran to Luna’s and moved in for the remainder of the summer until we left for college. Mom tried to see me but I refused. I occasionally would see Dad but never Mom. I knew that Jacob falling in love with her wasn’t her fault but she was the reason he’d left me, she was the reason he couldn’t love me and that was enough to make me despise her. After the summer, I moved all the way to California and started attending California State with Luna. Why so far? Because I wanted to be far, far away from everything, being anywhere…green reminded me too much of what I’d lost. I called the family on special occasions and birthdays but never visited and when ever Mom tried to talk to me, I refused to talk. Whenever Dad was on the phone he tried to persuade me to come home or talk to Mom, both of which I refused, and once in a while, Dad would mention Billy and then I’d have a panic attack right there. After a few panic attacks, Dad realized to not speak of the family that had once been so dear to me. I actually never intended to go back, too much pain and loss for me, and I thought that was going to stay that way…until that one faithful day, a knock came from the apartment door. Our apartment was expensive and since I was trying not to rely on Dad’s money for College, Luna and I needed help with rent. I expected nothing more than a roommate as I opened the door, but I was wrong. “Renesmee,” whispered a voice I knew all too well as I looked into gray-blue eyes.

I gasped awake as I felt lips touch my face. Blake looked back at me with worry. “Are you okay beautiful?” Blake asked in a hushed whisper. I sat up and slowly nodded. Blake wrapped his arms around me, which made me feel better; when ever Blake touched me, I was always better. “Thanks,” I said and kissed his cheek. We sat there for a while when Blake spoke. “Renesmee, we really don’t have to do this, you know that right?” “I know Blake, but I want to.” Blake sighed and hugged me closer. “As long as I have you, I can do anything,” I whispered and hugged him just a bit tighter. Blake pulled back and cupped my cheek. “Always,” he vowed. I smiled, knowing he spoke the god honest truth and kissed him. After, Blake left for work down at the hospital; he was always on call. I wondered down to the living room trying to find Luna and Kaine. It didn’t smell like they were home, must’ve gone hunting. I decided to go make something just to do something. I pulled out the basic vegetables for fried rice and the basic sauces. After finely chopping the carrots, cilantro, green onion, peppers and chicken, I filled a large pot with some oil and dumped the chicken in to cook and scooped a large bowl of rice out. While waiting for the chicken to fully cook, I reminded myself that I had to call Dad…and Mom. Just thinking of seeing her made me chew my inner cheek and made my heart throb, because not only was I seeing her face, I was seeing his. I stopped right there. I couldn’t put myself through that again, not today. I took a deep breath and redirected my thoughts. Enough procrastinating, I had to do this. Slowly, I inched toward the phone by the window and hesitantly lifted the phone and dialed the almost forgotten number. As it rang, I held my breath, my heart speeding and my hands becoming cold. “Hello?” I heard the familiar and yet forgotten voice of my Dad answer.

“Dad,” I whispered. There was a moment of dead silence. “Nessie?” Dad gasped. I bit my lip against the whimper trying to escape. Hearing Dad sound so…incredulous made me hurt. Finally when I was in control I answered. “Yeah, it’s me Dad.” Dad rushed to ask questions about school, Blake, Luna and Kaine and that the family missed me. I could hear mummers in the background, great everyone was there. Dad chuckled and said “Like I said, everyone misses you.” I bit my lip once again, trying to find a way to word this. “Dad…I want to come home.” Silence again. Would he tell me no? I bit my lip a little harder as the silence lasted. “Renesmee, that would make me so happy,” Dad finally managed to whisper. It was evident that he was trying not to break down and that made me want to break down, so once again, I bit my lip and kept the sobs in. After a few moments of silence and the control had returned, we discussed the visit. Dad eagerly rushed to please me, asking where I’d like to go, what I’d like to do, anything to promise my return. “Dad, I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything except be with you all,” I said and laughed. Dad chuckled and then suddenly said “Your mother.” I paused and tried to contain the loathing words that crawled up my throat. Although I had already practiced this millions of times, although I knew this was coming, I couldn’t help but be silent. With some concentration and plenty of will power, I managed to answer Dad.

“Don’t worry about it Dad, it’ll work out fine,” I said threw gritted teeth. My tongue seemed to be on fire. Dad listened to my thoughts for a second and then said “You’re coming for Christmas then?” “Yeah, Blake and I kinda already brought the tickets, we just had to find a time to… call you guys,” I said, a little red faced. Dad chuckled and said “Oh Renemsee, how I’ve missed hearing your voice. You haven’t called since March.” I sighed, feeling guilty and said “Yeah I know and I’m sorry about that, I was just going through a rough time…” I trailed off, refusing to remember. “Renesmee,” Dad started hesitantly. I knew what was coming and forced myself to continue, I wouldn’t let it have power over me any longer. “Yes,” I said very calmly, preparing for what was to come. Dad hesitated for a moment, reading my thoughts once again and then said “Your Mother would like to speak to you.” I closed my eyes for a moment and thought of good things and when I knew I wouldn’t say something rude, opened my eyes and said “Sure, but Dad,” I hesitated. “Yes, Renesmee?” Dad said eagerly. “Were not going to talk about any of that, alright?” I said firmly, suppressing the memories.”Of course not love,” Dad said and then away from the phone “Bella love, Renesmee would like to speak to you.” A moment of silence and then the phone sifted. “Renesmee?” Mom timidly called. I shut my eyes and thought past the anger and pain, thought to the good days we had, thought to the fact that she was my Mom and that I loved her. “Hey,” I said, not yet ready to say ‘Mom’. “How are you baby? I miss you so much. Seems like so long since we’ve spoken, how’s Blake? Luna and Kaine? How are your grades? Oops, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ambush you with so many questions,” Mom blabbed on nervously. I smiled a little as I remembered how Mom would always talk too much when she was trying to hide something or be sneaky; she was a terrible liar. “Lots of questions,” I said, surprised I didn’t have a bitch undertone. “I’m sorry, I’m just so excited that you and I are talking,” Mom admitted, hoping it wouldn’t hit a nerve. It did, but I thought happy thoughts and reminded myself that the past was the past, and that I had to move on. “Well I miss you too, Blake’s been well, so have Luna and Kaine and my grades are great,” I answered. “That’s great hon,” Mom said approvingly. “Mom,” I said, playing with some rice. “Yes?” Mom asked excitedly. “How about when we come and visit, we take a day for just you and me. How’s that sound?” I asked, hoping I sounded happy. “I’d love to Renesmee, I’d just absolutely love too,” Mom gushed happily, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was crying.

My control was slipping, I was weakening. “Uh, could you put Dad back on the phone Mom, please?” I asked, hardly able to control the shaking in my voice. “Sure,” and then away from the phone “Edward.” I waited as the phone shifted. “Yes Renesmee?” Dad asked worriedly. “I have some um, errands to run, can we talk later or whenever?” I asked hurriedly now, not sure how much longer my control would last. Dad sensed the urgency and said “Of course Renesmee, call us when you’re able, but your Mother would like to say something before you go, is that all right?” “Uh-huh,” I said, trying to calm down by thinking “Just a few more seconds, just a few more seconds.” “Renesmee, I’m so glad you’re coming home, Charlie hasn’t been visited by you in a long time, he’ll be so happy,” Mom said, and I could tell she was crying. This time, the tears I couldn’t hold back, but they were not tears of anger or pain, they were tears of happiness. “I know,” I whispered, smiling and biting my lip. “Call us soon alright? We love you guys,” Mom said. “Yeah we love you guys too and I’ll call tomorrow, bye,” and hung up. I stood staring out of the window for some time when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “What are you trying to do babe? Burn down the apartment?” Blake joked, nodding toward the pot in the sink with a cloud of smoke around it. I caught the scent of burning chicken then. I laughed and said “I’m sorry, I was…distracted.” Blake heard my hesitance and walked over to me, his arm’s already opened. I ran into his arms and laid my head on his chest as he rubbed my back. I bit my lip, as the tears he couldn’t see, fell gently on to the hardwood floor. 

 

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Texte: Google images.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.03.2011

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Widmung:
I’d like to thank my readers from SodaHead. Without you guys, I would’ve never had the guts to write, thanks sooo much for the support and patience. You guys are awesome! I’d also like to thank my sisters, Barbie and Jasmine, for all the editing and ideas when I had writers block and for the support when I wasn’t confident.