The next day Nessie walked into her English class and for reasons she didn't really understand, immediately looked toward Hunter. He was sitting in his seat and his eyes met hers as soon as she walked into the classroom. A smile lit his face and he waved at her. She smiled at seeing him back to his friendly self.

She made her way to her seat and took it. She immediately turned to look at him, the smile never leaving her face.

"Hey Hunter." She greeted warmly.

"Hey Nessie." He greeted back in the same tone.

"How has your day been?" She asked innocently.

He shrugged and smirked. "Oh you know, boring. As school always is."

She rested both her arms across the desk. "I don't find school boring." She replied, as if it was surprising that someone would find it boring.

Hunter cocked his eyebrow. "What are you nuts?"

Nessie gave him a look. "No, this is my first time in a public school. I was home schooled for all my life."

"Ah." Hunter nodded in understanding and then smirked at her, reaching over to pat her shoulder. "Don't worry it'll catch up to you."

Nessie furrowed her brow, giving him a confused look. "Why would I want school to be boring? I actually don't see how it could be. You get to learn in a classroom with your peers."

"Not all of them are fun to be around." He pointed out. "As you should know." He shot her a pointed look.

Nessie looked apalled. "Hunter! I love talking to you!"

A confused look spread across his face, but then it quickly changed to realization and his face brightened. "I wasn't talking about me Nessie." He laughed. "I was talking about your little incident with Dave Conrad in the cafeteria yesterday."

"You saw that?" Nessie asked, her eyes widening. She didn't even see Hunter in the cafeteria.

Hunter nodded. "The whole cafeteria did. That tall guy is really protective of you. He looked ready to kill Dave. He's very intimidating."

Nessie couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at the mention of Jacob. "Jacob is a real sweetheart." She defended him. "He only gets like that if he thinks I'm in danger."

"Danger?" Hunter asked slowly.

"Oh you know," Nessie was quick with an explanation. "From stupid teenage boys. I come from a very over protective family....my...older brothers and sisters especially. Not to mention Jacob."

"I'm not dangerous am I?" Hunter asked cautiously.

Nessie shook her head, laughing softly. "Hunter no! Of course not!"

Hunter sighed in relief, smiling. "Good. I don't want to get on Jacob's bad side."

"Oh you might get on his bad side anyway."

Hunter frowned and furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"Because my attention is somewhere other than him." Nessie replied.

"What does he think you belong to him or something?" Hunter asked a little coldly.

"He's just very protective." Nessie explained. "He doesn't like me hanging out with anybody outside of my family."

Hunter narrowed his eyes. "I don't think that's fair."

Nessie shrugged. "Like I said, I was home-schooled for all of my life so I never had a chance to socialize with other people." She shot him a reassuring smile. "It might take Jake a little while to warm up to you but the rest of my family will love you."

Hunter's face brightened and he rested his left elbow on the table, propping his chin up with his hand. His sleeve slid down to the middle of his wrist and Nessie caught sight of something. It looked like a bruise, but it was a very odd shaped bruise. In fact, she could swear it was in the shape of a handprint.

"Hey, what happened to your wrist?" She asked in curiosity and concern. Hunter looked at her in confusion for a moment, followed her gaze to his wrist and then quickly let his hand drop back to the table, covering his wrist back up with his sleeve. "I fell."

Nessie stared at him skeptically and was just about to question him on the subject when the bell rang signaling the beginning of class.

Throughout the class, Nessie only half paid attention to Mr. Newton. Most of her attention was on Hunter. He never looked at her, he would only glance up at Mr. Newton every now and again and scribble down notes.

She wondered about that oddly shaped bruise. It couldn't have been from falling. There was no way. That was clearly in the shape of a handprint. What did that mean? Did Hunter get abused at home? Did he get jumped after school? All different possibilities rushed through her mind.

"Renesmee Cullen."

"What?" She snapped to attention when she heard her name being called. She heard a few snickers around the classroom and her cheeks flushed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hunter smiling at her. That made her blush even more. Darn her half human genetics.

Mr. Newton gave her an odd, yet unsurprised look. "You're partners with Mr. Badge, Miss Cullen."

Badge? Badge. Why did that sound familiar. She turned her head slightly and saw Hunter grinning at her. Oh, that's right. Hunter Badge.

Mr. Newton went on to lift off partners and Nessie leaned over to Hunter. "What are we partners for?" She asked sheepishly. "I so wasn't paying attention."

"Lost in your thoughts again?" He teased.

Nessie grinned at him. "Just a little."

He laughed and pushed his notebook closer to the edge of the desk so she could read it. He explained the project and it seemed easy enough. They just had to research an author and write a one page summary on his life.

Before they knew it, the class ended and kids were quickly shuffling out of the room. Nessie shot up to her feet, eager enough to get to lunch and see Jacob. She grabbed her books and out of the corner of her eye she saw Hunter slowly pushing himself up out of his seat, wincing as he straightened up.

"What's the matter?" She asked, her voice laced with concern.

Hunter looked over to he and gave her a small smile, putting up his hand as if saying it was nothing. "I just fell remember? I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes." He grabbed his books and before she could say anything else, he changed the subject, "Could I walk you to lunch?"

"Sure." Nessie replied with a smile. She would let Hunter's 'I fell' excuse go for now. She knew there was something wrong with him. She walked at his pace, as he limped up the aisle and towards the door.

They slowly made it through the hallway and into the cafeteria. Unlike the day before, Jacob was there waiting for her at the same table as the past two days. She could spot him from a mile away but to make himself even more noticeable he rose to his feet and waved at her, grinning wildly.

She grinned and waved back.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Hunter said from beside her, a little dejectedly.

Nessie turned to him with a smile. "Come sit with us."

"You sure?"

Nessie nodded. "Absolutely."

Hunter looked across the cafeteria to the extremely large Quileute boy and then back to Nessie. "Won't your friend mind?"

Nessie rolled her eyes. "He'll get over it."

She grabbed his hand and gave him a little tug. "Come on."

A bright smile spread across Hunter's face and he eagerly followed Nessie to the table. Jacob, as Nessie approached clearly not alone, lost his smile. Once Nessie and Hunter stopped in front of him, he narrowed his eyes and stared down at Hunter, suspicously. Hunter cringed back and unintentionally gripped Nessie's hand tigther. Nessie gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and then let go and threw her arms around Jacob.

"Jake!" She squealed much like she did when she was younger. Immediately she could feel Jacob relax but when she looked up at him he didn't have his usual Jacob smile. He looked on guard. Nessie gave him a look. Hunter was in no way a threat. He was a human boy. Jacob had nothing to worry about.

She moved to Jacob's side and looked back at Hunter. "Jacob, this is Hunter Badge. Hunter this is Jacob Black."

Hunter shot out his hand, smiling warmly. "Hey, how are you?"

Jacob cocked an eyebrow and Nessie elbowed his side. Jacob frowned and stuck his hand out to shake Hunter's. After one shake, Hunter pulled back hissing, a look of astonshment on his face.

"Your hand is scorching hot." He stated, glancing at Jacob.

Jacob eyed him and crossed his arms over his chest. "My people have higher body temperatures." He stated plainly, his tone indicating that he would not go into any more detail. It was a true enough statement.

Hunter was obviously not going to question him further and shifted awkwardly under Jacob's intense gaze. Nessie elbowed him again and walked around him toward an empty seat. She pulled it out and smiled at Hunter. "Come on sit down."

Hunter furrowed his brow and looked toward the lunch line. He looked back to her and pointed over his shoulder. "Aren't you getting something to eat?"

Nessie's eyes widened for a split second. She forgot she was around someone who didn't know what her diet mainly consisted of. She caught Jacob quickly glance at her and she recovered instantly by smiling. "I'm on a special diet." She responded, scrunching her nose up in disgust. "I don't eat school food."

"So you're not gonna eat...at all?" Hunter questioned and Jacob's hands bawled into fists at his sides and he let out a very low growl. Nessie made a quick motion with her hands to tell him to cut it out.

She smiled at Hunter and shrugged. "I'll eat when I get home, no biggie."

"If you're sure..." Hunter stated skeptically.

Nessie nodded with a grin. "Positive." She looked at Jacob. "Jacob will go with you to get food though. He loves to eat."

Hunter looked at him, his face brightening. "Hey, we've got something in common."

Jacob's jaw clenched and he stood still as stone. Nessie narrowed her eyes and placed her hand over Jacob's, showing a scene of them all talking and laughing with each other. Jacob quickly glanced at her and rolled his eyes, trudging off to the lunch line with not so much as a glance back.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hunter asked cautiously.

Nessie shook her head, giving him a reassuring smile. "You did nothing wrong I swear. Like I said...Jacob is just very overprotective of me. He doesn't want to see me hurt."

Something flashed in Hunter's eyes but it was too quick, even for Nessie, to pinpoint what it was. "I would never hurt you Nessie." He told her sincerely.

"I know Hunter." She smiled and then motioned her head towards the lunch line. "Now go get something to eat."

Hunter flashed her a grin and then jogged over to the lunch line.

Nessie stood around the corner, holding up her phone to her ear as she peeked behind the wall to where Jacob and Hunter were standing a few good feet away from each other. Jacob stood closest to her, with his arms crossed over his chest. Hunter stood awkwardly, trying to avoid Jacob's hard stare. Nessie rolled her eyes and turned back to press her back against the wall.

"Hello?" Esme's familiar voice finally rang through the phone.

Nessie smiled and looked around quickly, observing there were no students around. "Hi Grandma." She greeted warmly.

"Nessie!" She could practically hear the smile in Esme's voice. "Is something the matter sweetheart?"

She shook her head. "No, I was just wondering if my Mom or Dad was around?"

"Oh of course!" Esme's voice was flooded with relief and not a second later she heard her mother's voice.

"Nessie?"

"Hi Mom."

"Is something wrong?"

"Not at all." She bit her lip. "I was just wondering if I could have a friend over?"

"A friend?" Bella asked in surprise.

"We have to work on a project and I would go to his house but his father's not home and he's very strict and doesn't like him having people over when he's not home-" Nessie was quick to elaborate.

"Nessie, slow down." Bella told her with a hint of amusement. "I don't think it'll be a problem Ness. I think you'll need to bring him to the cottage instead of the mansion."

Nessie frowned. "That's no fun."

"It's only a precaution Nessie. Emmett and Jasper went out hunting early this morning and they should be home in a couple of hours. I don't want a human being in the house when they come home because...well...you know your uncles."

Nessie noddded in understanding. "Yeah, that's true."

"But I'll warn everyone else."

"Thanks Mom." Nessie replied, smiling.

"You're welcome." Bella answered, the hint of amusement back in her voice. "So, him huh?"

"Mooom." Nessie hissed lowly, her cheeks flushing.

Bella laughed. "How does Jacob take to him?"

Nessie pursed her lips. "Jake doesn't like him. Which is really stupid cuz Hunter is probably the nicest guy in this school."

"His name is Hunter?" Bella asked curiously. "Well that's ironic..."

Nessie scoffed. "Mom."

"I'm just saying."

Nessie rolled her eyes. "You think Dad will be alright with this?" Before Bella could respond Nessie's eyes widened. "Wait, he's coming to pick us up isn't he?"

Bella hummed in response and Nessie groaned.

"Renesmee." Bella scolded.

"It's not that I don't want to see him Mom...I just...don't want him to react like Jacob." Nessie replied.

"Just tell him that you called me and I said it was alright." Bella explained. "Or hold on a second," She paused for a few seconds, "Okay it's all taken care of."

"You took down your shield didn't you?"

"I did. And you're welcome."

Nessie smiled. "Thanks Mom." She looked behind the wall and saw Edward's silver Volvo pulling up to where Jacob and Hunter were standing. "Dad's here, I'll see you in a few."

"Love you Nessie."

"Love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and started towards the car. Edward had gotten out of the car and was standing near the driver's seat, glancing at Hunter. only Nessie and Jacob knew that he was reading the teenager's mind. Nessie didn't see any disapproving looks on his face which meant Hunter just as clean as she thought. She saw Jacob look at Edward, Edward look back at Jacob and then shrug.

Nessie got to the car and smiled. "Hi D...Edward."

Edward looked at her and smiled back. "Hello Renesmee."

Nessie rolled her eyes at the use of her full name. She walked over to stand between Jacob and Hunter. "This is my friend Hunter. Hunter this my...brother Edward."

Edward nodded politely towards Hunter, his hands remaining at his sides. His ice cold hands would be too noticeable. "It's a pleasure to meet you Hunter."

Hunter quickly glanced at Nessie and then back at Edward. His face lit up when he realized that Nessie was right about the rest of her family liking him. "It's a pleasure to meet you too Edward."

Edward nodded once and his eyes flickered over to the side. Nessie followed his gaze and saw Mr. Newton standing in the window of his classroom staring out towards them. Her vision is not as good as her father's but is still stronger than a human's and she could see a shocked look on his face. There was no doubt that Edward had seen it and was reading his thoughts. Nessie glanced back at her father, studying his forever seventeen face. Surely Mr. Newton could see Edward and noticed that he hadn't aged a day since high school. Edward suddenly looked back to her and he gave a very subtle nod in her direction, affirming her thoughts.

"Nessie, why don't you and Hunter sit in the back." Edward instructed. Nessie nodded, agreeing. That would probably be the best. Jacob and Hunter being in the back seat together would be awkward beyond words.

Nessie pulled open the passenger door and slid the seat forward and both she and Hunter slipped in the back. Then Jacob and Edward got in the car and the car was soon headed off to the Cullen's place.

"Woah." Hunter muttered staring out the window at the big white house. "Who lives there?"

Nessie didn't know how to answer that and glanced at her father through the rear view mirror. Edward looked back at her through the mirror.

"Our family." He answered and Hunter's eyes widened as he looked through the back window to the disappearing big white mansion.

"We have two houses." Nessie quickly offered up in explanation at seeing his confused expression.

"Two?!" Hunter's wide eyes turned to Nessie. "Is the other one the same size?"

Nessie laughed and shook her head. "No, this one's a lot smaller. And it's a lot quieter too, we'll be able to concentrate more there."

Hunter nodded, still looking awestruck.

Edward finally pulled up to the small cottage and Jacob, who hadn't said a word the whole trip, pushed open the door and slid out. Nessie pushed the seat forward and got out and Hunter followed soon after.

Nessie should have been surprised to see Alice, Bella and Esme standing at the front door, but she was not. Alice was always welcoming to new people, even humans. Her mother she was sure just wanted to meet the boy she brought home. And Esme, well she was supposed to be posing as her mother, so she had to meet Hunter.

When Hunter's eyes landed on the three ladies standing at the doorway his eyes widened. "Woah..." He muttered under his breath.

Nessie heard the low growl rumbling in her father's chest from where he stood behind his Volvo. She could only guess that Hunter was thinking about Bella. Or all three of them she concluded seeing his eyes flickering between the three vampires.

Alice gracefully moved towards Hunter with a smile and embraced him quickly. "Hi I'm Alice." She greeted. "I'm Nessie's sister."

Hunter's body tensed as he looked utterly awestruck from the moment Alice hugged him.

Bella walked forward and gave him a welcoming smile. "I'm Bella." Only the non-humans noticed Bella's jaw tighten at her next words. "Also her sister."

Esme was next to follow with her usual warm smile. "It's a pleasure to have you here Hunter. I'm Nessie's mother."

Hunter's eyes widened again. "You're Nessie's mother?"

"Adoptive mother of course." Esme added. "Nessie's parents died when she was younger." She slung an arm around Nessie's shoulder and pulled her into her side. "I see her as my own though, the same with the rest of my children." She looked towards Alice and Bella. "You've met Edward." She motioned towards Edward. "Rosalie is back at the house, and Emmett and Jasper are out hiking."

"You have that many kids? Geesh. You take care of them all by yourself?"

Esme laughed. "Oh no, I have my husband, Carlisle. He's a doctor down at the hospital. And our kids are perfectly capable are taking care of themselves." She smirked looking between them. "Most of the time."

Nessie giggled and the rest of the Cullens smirked, even Jacob cracked a small smile. But it was soon dropped when Nessie grabbed hold of Hunter's hand. "Come on, I'll show you to my room." Nessie told him and dragged him past her family into the cottage.

Jacob growled quietly, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.

Bella looked over to him. "Jealousy doesn't suit you well Jacob."

"I'm not jealous." Jacob protested.

Bella gave him a look. "Jake, seriously?"

"I just don't trust the kid that's all!" Jacob explained.

"Edward wouldn't let him near her if he sensed a threat." Bella told him as Edward walked around the Volvo and stood next to Bella.

"His thoughts are clean Jacob." Edward told him. "There's nothing to worry about."

Jacob pursed his lips. "I just have a weird feeling about this..." He muttered as he stared at the door, Nessie and Hunter disappeared behind.