I Will Stay With You
Author's Note: I decided to write certain parts of "Untitled" from Nahuel's POV, I don't know if this is going to amount to a full story, it's just something I was dying to start, I still plan to finish "Untitled". . . I have at least three more chapters left for that story.
Summary: No matter how I came to feel this way of one thing, I am sure, I belong with you and with you I will stay.
Excerpts (Chapter 1 and 2)
I knocked on their door. I was already experiencing new emotions I wasn't accustom to. I tried to decipher the emotion I was feeling, just as I concluded.
"I'm nervous," I whispered in awe of the revelation. The door opened and Bella greeted me.
"Hey Nahuel, welcome!" She smiled at me briefly.
"Thank you, Bella." I said as I entered their house, this house, just like their old one was huge in comparison to anywhere I had lived. Loud uneven steps tore my attention from the house's structure and all its ambiences, and placed it on the girl who was now right in front of me. She stared at me wide eyed; the intense fiery passion that consumed them almost put me into a trance, or maybe it was their unusual color they were dark most people, more specifically humans, would have simply considered the black but I could see traces of silver like grey in them. Once I finally freed myself from their deviant spell I notice the expression she wore upon her face, the poor girl seemed terrified by something. It couldn't be by my presence I was only half of the monster, most of the Cullens were.
"Hello, I'm Nahuel, a pleasure to make you acquaintance," I offered her my hand to put her at ease, she barely came close enough to take it, her hand was warm, it would probably be considered hot to the normal human, but to me it only felt as if she held a slight fever.
"Leah, nice to meet you." It sounded as if she had been forced to speak the words; it was as if she choked on each word before she spoke them. It took a moment for her to retract her hand, it made no matter to me, the feel of her touch was unexpectedly enjoyable, she seemed so soft and delicate. The door closed and Bella cleared her throat, the noise threw me, I couldn't understand how Bella could possibly retain the ability to become choked up. In all of my years of living with my Aunt, she never once made that noise.
"Nahuel, where's you Aunt?" Bella asked as she made her way to the couch to sit.
"She decided to come at a later time." I lied; my Aunt had decided to stay in Brazil with my sisters. She had grown accustom to the way we lived and was not willing to change. I was actually glad about her decision; I wanted to have this experience alone. I knew my Aunt loved me she just had the tendency to be overwhelming. The thought of coming all this way to pursue someone and constantly being monitored didn't appeal to me.
"Where is Renesmee?" I asked and the nervous feeling that I had before resumed its attack on my stomach. Within seconds, Renesmee appeared in front of me.
"Nahuel!" She hugged me for a moment, "It feels like it's been a lifetime." Her warm brown eyes smiled at me.
"It looks as if it has." I said joking with her about her adult form. She was beautiful, the perfect blend of both of her parents. The rich warm brown eyes and the gorgeous thick curly bronze hair that she now wore in a tied up allowed me to focus in on all of the elements of her face "You look as breathtaking as I imagined." I complemented her.
"Thank you," she smiled at me, "how's your family?" As we conversed, I heard the other young woman as she left the room, it was weird I could almost feel her absence, it made the room seem colder. My focus was momentarily drawn to the area where she had been standing. The way her eyes searched me played over again in my mind. "Are you okay, you're frowning?"
"What? Oh, yes my family, they are well and they send their regards." I said as I followed Renesmee to the couch and sat beside her.
After Bella and Renesemee showed me to my room, I took a brief moment to put away my things. I took enough time to put every away by hand, I wanted to blend in as much as they did. I knew if I used my "gift" once that it would be hard to quit again, I had successfully gone a month without it and planned to tell no one about it. In honesty, it can be inconvenient especially since I was not very good at judging distance or my strength.
I took a moment to study all of the technology they consumed, I personally preferred physical books, there is something about when you hold a book in your hand a certain attachment or connection is made with the book. Adjusting to the computer among other things would be a challenge.
"It's not as hard as you think." Edward said entering the room, throwing me off guard. "The internet is a very powerful and wonderful tool." I nodded for lack of anything to say in regards to the topic, I was glad he didn't try to question me about my thoughts on my talent because it really would be a non-issue while I was in their home. "Welcome by the way," Edward, said as if it were an after thought.
"Thank you." Talking to him made me a little uneasy, I was afraid I would think something improper about his daughter. He laughed unexpectedly.
"I will admit I was a little put off know your reasons for coming here, but in light of recent developments, I feel you presence is well . . . necessary." He smirked and went to leave me to my thoughts.
"Necessary?" his statement was not at all, what I had expected. Most parents would not take kindly to someone coming to court there seven year old daughter, when I thought about I was even a little put off by my intentions, but I could ignore that sensation because I knew how I felt when I was that age, in all the ways that mattered I was a man.
"Esme is preparing dinner soon, if you are interested, if your taste buds are anything like Ren's only certain human foods appeal to you." Edward said before finally exiting my room. It had been a while since I had eaten human food that the thought actually appealed to me. As I came down the stairs, I heard Esme ask a random question.
"Steak or Chicken." She asked.
"Is that even a question? Steak always . . . medium rare." The now familiar voice laughed. Her voice had soothing qualities to me; I found myself extremly relaxed.
"Steak actually appeals to my taste buds also, but only if it is rare." I laughed and then looked at her, I expected her to make eye contact, but instead she looked down at the floor, which was weird behavior most people would have at least acknowledged my presence due to alluring qualities that vampires have, but it would make sense that she would be immune to it. I couldn't understand why I actually felt . . . disappointed that she hadn't looked my way.
"I'm sorry I forgot to ask you Nahuel, would you like dinner?" Esme smiled at me and her whole face lit up.
"That would be lovely, thank you Esme." I was floored by the hospitality everyone had offered me. I had only been here a couple of hours and they were treating me as if I had been living with them all along. The girl laughed unexpectedly or maybe it had been something I said I went back over my words to make sure I had use them correctly, English was not my first language but I had been using for over a quarter of my life. The girl went to move away from me and I accidentally pulled her towards me, I was surprised she still refused to look at me; most people would have looked around and thought they would have lost their mind. I quickly released her and hoped that she didn't realize what I had done.
"Can I help Esme?" She said as she stepped toward the counter where the steaks were located.
"Yes Leah" Esme looked at the girl she was truly touched by her sentiment, she looked around and found her something to do, "you can prepare a couple of side dishes, whatever you and the boys like." The girl moved even further away from me and for some reason I was drawn to her, I watched her face she decided on what to take from the refrigerator, a small strand of hair dangled in her face making hard for me to fully capture her full image. It was weird, I knew I wanted to see her but I couldn't land a reason as to why, maybe it was the way she frowned at the corn then laughed.
"Does the corn amuse you?" I asked and she snapped her head in my direction. Her dark grey eyes stared into mine once more, but it was different than before, she was closer. I felt intrigued by something about her. "If it does amuse you, how does it do so, I seen no entertaining qualities." I lifted the ear of corn; I couldn't believe I had tried to engage in small talk that revolved around corn.
"Huh, oh I was just remembering something." She moved that strand behind her ear and it curled perfectly behind it, drawing my attention to neck and her skin in general, which would be tempting . . . to other men besides myself.
"Sorry." I searched for her eyes again and she gave them over willingly. I stared into them so long that I felt they had hypnotized me, "I didn't . . . mean to . . .," she laughed at me once more; she had to think she was conversing with an idiot. I looked at the corn once more, simply to break the trance she was trying to put me under, I tried to decipher why this girl I had know for less than a day had captured my attention as she had. I concluded that I just wanted everyone in the house to like me and feel comfortable around me, but her actions were so difficult to read that she had me captivated.
"You laugh at the most unexpected times." I now stood beside her and assisted her in preparing her side dish. She stood beside me silently, even though she was quiet this action, being around her seem comfortable, as if I had been doing it forever. After we worked together for a while, I noticed she was smiling. "You are smiling again?" I said she looked up and smiled directly at me for the first time, I noticed how beautiful not only her eyes were but her whole face. She was not a normal beauty though there was something exotic about her, her almond shaped eyes, paired with high cheekbones, and her lips.
"Yeah, I guess I am." She said as she looked down and smiled harder, I was glad she had because I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable by my staring, and I couldn't help but stare at her.
"You look best this way. No need to feel ashamed, you should be happy al . . ." I then noticed Renesmee entered the room, and my reason for being here regained my focus, however a weird emotion floated over me, I was torn between where I was and where I thought I was meant to be, with Renesemee.
"Nahuel," Renesmee smiled at me and touched my shoulder, "I was wondering if you would help me with my Portuguese during your stay."
"Of course," I said without even giving it a second thought, this was opening I had hoped for, "Your wish is my command, when do you wish to learn?" I smiled eagerly at her.
"We could start tonight." I didn't know if I had imagined it but it seemed she was trying to flirt with me. "Meet me in the living room at 11:00PM." She continued to speak, but seemed as if her voice had begun to fade away from me, I noticed as the girl I was just speaking to left the room and then exited the house. The look that now covered her face was now miles away from the smiling girl who was just inches away from me. This girl seemed hurt and betrayed by something or someone. I don't know how, but I had a feeling I was the reason behind her pain.
After an awkward dinner with Renesmee and the rest, I sat in the living room thinking on its events. The girl's brother, Seth sat with us during dinner and I was glad he did because the two girls had a mountain of tension between them.
"Leah are you okay?" he stared at her and she attempted to smile in his direction.
"Yeah," she murmured looking down and playing with her food. I tried to stay focused on all of the attention that Renesmee was giving me, but in honesty, it didn't feel as important to me as the well-being of the girl sitting across from me, "I guess I'm not hungry as I thought I was." She stood up and excused herself from the room.
"I would go after her, but she usually likes to be alone when she gets like this, I'll eat this food for her." Seth said grabbing the rest of her steak.
"Seth!" Renesmee reprimanded him, she touched his arm, "She looked devastated, and she will barely talk to me today, just go check on her for me, please." Seth glared at her.
"Ren, if I know Leah, which I do she will probably go and phase and deal with whatever's bothering her in silence." Renesmee was not happy with his response.
"Fine then I will do it myself!" She stood up, "Excuse me Nahuel I will be back and we can work on my Portuguese like you promised." She smiled slightly and exited the room.
"You should know that she will never fall for you." Seth said after she had safely left the room, "She belongs to Jacob."
"Nobody should belong to anyone," I said a little put off by his statement.
"I'm not trying to be rude or anything it just a known fact around here." He continued to eat his food without even blinking.
"Maybe she deserves an alternative," she seemed interested in me earlier maybe she didn't want to belong this Jacob; maybe she just thought she had no choice.
"You may be right, I doubt it, but anything is possible. It was nice meeting ya I hope you hang around thing may get interesting." He got up, "I have a score to break, and now that Leah's not here I can set up my game systems."
It had been at least thirty minutes since Renesmee went upstairs and I was still waiting for her to rejoin me in the living room. I was thinking about going to Carlisle office or library to find a book to preoccupy my mind. When I went to leave I notice the photographs on the walls there were so many of them, my aunt didn't believe in taking pictures she considered them evidence of our existence, and to her our existence was nothing to be proud of it was actually more of a curse. I looked at the many pictures and stumbled on many pictures of Renesmee, it was like a quick summary of her life lined up in a row. She seemed so happy in all of the pictures especially when she was with the pack, the last picture a came upon was of her and the girl I had me earlier, they were embraced and smiling.
"That's one of my favorite pictures," she said taking the picture off the wall, "it was one of the rare occasions Leah actually smiled in a picture." I looked at the picture with her but instead of enjoying the moment of being with her; I was actually comparing the two girls. They were both beautiful but in different ways, Renesmee had an elegant beauty her face was flawless and typical of a normal female vampire, but the other girl had a more earthy, exotic beauty that could be considered charming.
"Yes you both look lovely," I said trying my best to focus on the girl sitting beside me.
"Thank you," she scooted closer to me, we heard a loud thump come from outside.
"Seth was right there she goes." She lowered her eyes, "I wonder what set Leah off, she seemed so hurt?" she sighed really giving it some thought.
"You two are close" I stared at her face full of concern.
"Yeah, we're like sister," she smiled briefly, and then her face seemed conflicted once more, "most of the time." She got up and placed the picture back on the wall.
"It amazes me that she has the ability to phase like the others, didn't know females had that ability." I had heard of children of the moon and shape shifters but I had never heard talk of females.
"Yeah she is the first to Carlisle's knowledge as well, one time I heard him talking about how he would love the ability to run test on Leah to see what makes her so different, he already has tested Seth and Jacob," she shrugged, "but anyway . . . Portuguese, shall we get started." she said attempting to sound seductive.
"Yes, let's start with the basics." I pulled out a book on subject, even though I spoke the language well it wasn't my first language. I went to open the book and she stopped me.
"Nahuel, did you really want to do this I thought you wanted to talk to me." I didn't know what to say to that remark. I did want to pursue her but I wasn't expecting it to be this easy, nor was I expecting to feel the way I did, which awkward and almost guilty on some levels. She sat even closer to me on the couch. "Well?"
I went to speak and the door opened unexpectedly, I guessed must have been Jacob because he was the only one of the pack I had not met.
"Jacob!" she jumped away from me and seemed nervous. He surveyed the area and the frowned at her.
"We need to talk." His tone was serious and they both acted as though I was no longer present. She just stood up and followed him upstairs. After a few minutes of listening to them argue back and forth I became angry not because of any emotion I had gained for Renesmee but because she would use me in such a juvenile ploy to make her apparent boyfriend jealous. I was actually relieved that she had him because the more I actually thought about, I realized that didn't want her. I went upstairs to pack my things.
"I guess I should leave," I pulled out the small bag that I had brought and placed my clothing in it once more, "it will be as if I never came." I didn't understand why I was still feeling like this is where I belonged.
"I know why you feel the way you do," Edward and Bella came into the room, "I just don't know if it is proper for me to butt in."
"Honey, let's be real you always butt in." she said to him lovingly.
"There is someone here that still captivates you." He said, I waited for him to finish his statement but he just stared at me as if I should know the answer.
"Who?" I asked I had feeling I knew where he was going but I was not ready to admit to anything.
"Yeah Edward who?" Bella said seconding my notion.
"You already know who." He said grabbing my bag and placing it back into the closet, "Alice will want to shop tomorrow once she sees these." He shrugged.
"She won't have to I plan to leave in the morning." I retrieved my bag that he had just thrown into the closet.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I don't think you would be able to if you tried." He smirked.
"What going on?" Bella said stealing the words from my mouth, "just tell us what you know." She huffed and poked him in the arm.
"Okay come with me." We now stood at her door, I walked in so that I could see her face better, but all her hair covered her face, she looked as if she had been caught in a tornado.
"She thinks she is awake," Edward laughed, "it isn't funny really, she is really uncomfortable." I took another step towards her and brushed the hair from her face, she sighed deeply it seemed as if her whole body relaxed, which made my body react too.
"Amazing!" Bella whispered, I looked back at them I hadn't realized how far I had ventured into her room until then.
"I should go." As soon as I went to walk away, a horrible discomfort came over me, my heart felt so heavy that I didn't think that I would be able to leave the room.
"Well, that was interesting." Edward mused.
"So I am attracted to her, it means nothing." I fought with the urge go back into her room I just wanted to be close to her to rid myself of the horrible feeling I now had.
"It's more than that, she imprinted on you!" Bella seemed overly enthusiastic about this news.
"Imprint? She chose to make me feel this way!" I was livid, what was she some kind of witch or something I would get her to remove whatever this was, "can she take it back?"
"No, she didn't choose this and if you wish to leave she will probably let you go, but all it will do is cause extreme pain for you both . . . personally I would just deal with it." He said bluntly.
"Really, you would just deal with I remember this one time when you ran away from what you felt for me .. ." Bella started and Edward stopped her.
"That was to save your live; their situation is not the same as ours." She rolled her eyes, and he focused attention back on me, "I think you should tackle this head on it will save a lot of problems later."
"I don't know what I plan to do." I walked away from them and stood by her door again, I just wanted to see her one more time.
"You should be with her it will make her sleep easier; I will come get you before she wakes up." They left me alone to make the final decision. I walked hesitantly into her room and sat on the floor beside her bed, her face wore a frown as she repositioned herself back and forth, I took her hand in mine, and all of her motion stopped and she sighed once more.
"Leah," When I spoke her name I felt a tingling sensation capture my whole body, "No matter how I came to feel this way of one thing I am sure, I belong with you and with you I will stay."