Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to be, aside from Renesmee's friends. I am trying to keep everyone as in character as possible, but its not always so easy haha.
It was our third night out. So far we had only come across deer and a few mountain lions. And I had absolutely no clue where we were.
I sat watching the glowing embers of the fire, soaking up the warmth. Jacob had insisted a fire wasn't necessary, that he was more than able to keep us warm, but I wanted a fire. It was pretty to watch.
"Please don't get too close," Jacob begged, leaning forward with his hand outstretched toward me.
"I'm fine," I stressed.
"You won't be fine when you're burnt to a cinder," he huffed.
I rolled my eyes.
"I think I'm more than capable of depending myself against the itty bitty flame," I teased.
"Fine, don't come running to me when you're a walking marshmallow then," he chuckled.
"Like I said, I can look after myself," I laughed with him. I dug up a small lump of dirt and threw it at him playfully.
"It's weird, but I find it hard to believe that for some reason," he caught the lump easily and grinned. He closed his fist tightly, his tendons bulging under the skin. The wad of dirt crumpled to dust.
I stared into his eyes, so bright and full of enthusiasm for life. The flames of the fire danced in them, and he smiled. His chocolate skin looked even darker in the night, and I studied his face closely. He still had his teenaged face, underneath the thick black stubble, and shoulder length hair.
He was still handsome, even if he looked like a thirty year old man. I cringed at that thought. A fifteen year old girl and a thirty year old. Charming, simply charming.
"What's wrong?" He asked with a grin.
"You need to shave, and cut your hair. You look so old," I dragged out the word 'old'.
He pouted.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
I laughed and threw another wad of dirt.
He dodged it, and reached into the pocket of his dirty, torn jeans. When his hand came back out he was holding a small pocket knife. It looked new; the blade glinted like diamond.
"Want to cut my hair for me?" He grinned, holding the knife out, handle first.
"I think you should wait to get it done professionally," I wrinkled my nose.
"You have a terrible self esteem. You don't consider yourself professional?" He scooted around to sit next to me, and punched me on the shoulder playfully.
"Not at hairdressing," I punched him back.
Then all of a sudden, he threw himself on top of me.
"Jake!" I squealed. He laughed, and tried to pin my arms behind my back. I threw him off with only a slight struggle.
He ran into the bushes, and a minute later burst out again as a big russet wolf. He growled, and leaped back onto me. I wriggled out from under him again, and leaped onto his back, putting him in a headlock.
"You can never surprise me, Jacob Black. You'll never win," I chuckled.
He howled, and threw himself down on his side, and rolled so I was crushed under him.
I groaned.
"Get off, fatty," I shoved him off.
He really was rather heavy.
I put my hand on his big furry face and let that thought flow through.
Fatty.
He barked out a laugh, and I heaved. Once he was off, I stood up and brushed the dirt of my clothes. There was a rippling of thunder then, and I sighed.
And then I heard a shrill beeping coming from the bushes. I danced over and found Jacob's pants buried in the shrub, and his mobile phone was ringing.
I pulled it out and looked at the caller I.D.
"Hey mum!" I answered chirpily. I saw Jacob's eyes narrow. He was frowning.
"Hi sweetheart, are you having a good time?" Mum asked.
I smiled when I heard her voice. I missed her.
"Sure am. Jake's been taking good care of me," I assured her.
"I'm sure he has," she laughed.
I winked at Jacob, and he rolled his eyes and barked once.
"So why'd you call, mum?" I asked curiously.
There was a pause on the other end.
"Well Alice just wanted me to warn you that you'll be having a visitor very, very soon. As in the next few minutes soon. Sorry for the late notice," she added.
"Who's the visitor?" I frowned deeply.
Jacob was staring at me with wide eyes, and then ran over to me and picked up his jeans, and continued further into the forest.
"Oh it's no one to be worried about, and as far as Alice can see nothing will go wrong at all, she just wanted me to let you know-"
I stopped listening though. Jacob was back in human form, and was throwing my clothes straight into the back of the car, without even bothering to see where he was throwing them. They were strewn all over the place. In another blink the tent was down and stuffed in the back, too.
"Jake what are you doing!" I hissed, trying to cover the phone.
"We're leaving," he muttered, and scooped me up.
"Jake!" I squeaked. He sat me in the passenger seat and quickly went around to his side and jumped in. He didn't bother with the seatbelt.
I put the phone back to my ear.
"You there mum?"
"Yes. Put Jake on."
Without another word I handed the phone to him.
"Who?"
I faintly heard 'Nahuel'.
"Oh why are we leaving? I want to see him," I scowled at Jacob.
"We'll be home in a few hours. Bye Bells." He snapped the phone shut.
"And why are we leaving exactly?" I demanded.
"Because Nahuel is coming," he sneered.
"I heard that. But why does that mean we have to leave?"
"I do not want to see him."
The tone of Jacob's voice suggested that I shouldn't press the matter.
We drove home in almost utter silence. I made a halfhearted attempt at a game of I-Spy, but Jacob seemed almost as unenthusiastic about playing as I did.
And so that abruptly put a close to any further conversation on the trip.
When we pulled in the driveway at home, mum and dad and Alice were all standing on the front porch, all of their mouths pulled down at the corners.
I opened the door and leaped out gracefully.
"What's wrong?" I demanded. I was in front of my mother instantly, my palms pressed against her cheeks. I let the million questions flow from my mind to hers, and also the memories of the trip.
"Nahuel just wants to see how you're…developing," mum scowled. I glanced over at Jacob quickly.
"What?" He asked quietly, his face composed.
I cringed. I knew Jacob too well. This was just the calm before the storm.
"Nahuelplans on coming and sweeping Renesmee off her feet when she's fully grown, and taking her away and marrying her," my dad spat. His black eyes flashed angrily. Jacob remained fairly calm.
"Well, I will be personally preventing that from happening."
"It's an interesting thought though," I mused. I was teasing him, just a little. Mum frowned at me.
"Enthralling, I'm sure," Jake grumbled. "Cya guys. Hope you had fun, Renesmee."
I flinched.
"My name is Nessie," I corrected, but he was already back in the car.
Mum put her arm around my shoulder, and used the other to wave goodbye to Jake.
Once he was gone, she turned and gave me a sour look.
"I don't like what you do to him, Nessie."
"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.
I heard dad chuckle quietly.
Her frown appeared to deepen, if that was possible.
"Toying with his mind. It won't make him love you." I winced at her words. They stung, but I tried not to let her see that. Of course, being my mother, she did.
"The truth hurts honey," her eyes were soft, "but you can't do this. Be patient."
I grunted, and stomped back into the house. Alice and Jasper were sitting on the floor in front of the television, watching the news.
Neither of them looked away, and neither of them spoke. They knew better than to pry.
I walked up to my room and shut the door behind me. Two envelopes were sitting on my pillow, and I smiled. I knew they would be from my two best friends in the world, Tristan and Erin. My anger disappeared as I opened Tristan's letter.
Dear Nessie...
I miss you! Erin is driving me nuts haha. but shhh, don't tell her I told you. She might hurt me :0
How are your grandparents? I hope for your sake they aren't the smelly, ancient type like my grandparents. Erin told me you had aunts and uncles there too, though, so hopefully you've got cousins there too, y'know to save you from the old folk. I'm babbling sorry haha, how are you!? Are you having a good time? Write back A.S.A.P! miss you! Love lots,
Tristan x
I felt tears well in my eyes.. Tristan was a great friend. He was forever faithful and loyal, and he was so easy to talk to. Just as I reached for the other letter my phone buzzed.
The message was from Alice.
I know you don't want to be disturbed, but I'd just like to tell you that our futures just disappeared so I'm guessing that Jacob is coming back. If you don't want to see him I'd be more than happy to take a run with you.
I sighed. I didn't want to see him again, so I started texting Alice saying that I would take her up on the offer. Before I could send it though, it buzzed again. I backspaced my message and read the new one.
Never mind, the future came back. He's very indecisive.
I put the phone on my desk after that, and decided that it would be a good idea to go to sleep.
When I woke the next morning there were a bunch of roses lying on the pillow next to me. I didn't need to read the little tag that came with them to know who it was from. Taking off the clothes I had fallen asleep in the previous night, I quickly changed into some tastefully faded jeans and a white tank top. I went over to peer out my window, trying to judge what the weather was like, not that it affected me very much. But normal people might have noticed if I was wearing jeans on a sunny day. But of course, black thunderclouds rolled overhead, threatening to break open and bucket down rain at any moment.
I sighed, and yanked on a waterproof black coat. I decided that my little flat shoes would be a mistake, and so instead I opted for the black gumboots shoved up in the corner of my closet. I snatched a handbag off one of the shelves, and tossed my purse and cell phone in, along with a little notebook and a tin of lead pencils for sketching. I reached for the Chanel sunglasses Alice had supplied me with, but decided against it. They seemed rather unnecessary.
I knew that Alice wouldn't approve of my attire, so I tried to shoot straight past her and out the pretty new front door, but she was in front of me in an instant.
"Stop. Right. There." She growled, arms flung out as though she were shielding the door.
Guilt washed through me, and a tinge of embarrassment.
Alice looked me up and down, and frowned.
"You have better taste than your mother, I'll admit, but I thought I raised you better than this," she shook her head in mock horror.
"It's only Forks," I tried to defend myself, "no one will think twice if I walk down the street in sweat pants!"
"I don't care if you're in Hollywood or deserted in Madagascar! No relative of mine will dress like this," she wrinkled her nose and motioned to my boots.
"Alice-" I tried to plead.
"Nope, I won't here it. Upstairs, right now," she ordered.
I grumbled the whole way back up, very unenthused. Normally I didn't complain too much when Alice helped me out, but that was usually when she was sending me the latest off-the-runaway clothes for me to flaunt around in front of everyone at school. In Forks, fashion was the least of my priorities.
Alice yanked off my coat, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Hmm. Yes, I can see this working. She pulled out a wide, tan colored belt with a gold buckle. The belt itself seemed to be made up of strands of leather woven together. She wrapped it right under my boobs, and buckled it up in less than two seconds. Next, she reached down and deftly unbuttoned and unzipped my pants, pulling them down leaving me bare in my underpants.
"Al-ice!" I moaned, blushing and burying my face in my hands. In a few more seconds I was in jeans again, a slighter darker pair, that were a tight, skinny-leg style. Alice continued digging through my wardrobe, and flung a pair of strappy brown and gold heels at me, which I quickly put on.
Along with that, she fished out another coat, one that matched my shoes and belt, and I slipped my arms through the sleeves.
Alice grinned winningly.
"There, it's perfect. You now have permission to leave the house."
"Thanks. Is my mum here?" I wondered aloud, straining to here the sound of her melodic voice or feathery footsteps.
"Nope. She and Edward went hunting. They said they won't going to be long, though," she tacked on at the end, noticing my expression. "I could give you a lift to La Push if you like?"
"Oh, I'm not going to see Jacob," I said with a hint of annoyance. The flowers had been beautiful, but they hadn't changed a thing about the stance of our relationship. They were more like pity flowers.
As in, I'm sorry, but I don't love you. No hard feelings, right?
Then there was always the charming line of 'we can still be friends. Having the love of your life tell you that, I imagined, would be similar to a pet dying and your mum saying you could still keep it. I refused for Jacob to be my dead dog.
I winced at the sick joke in that.
"So where are you going to get all dressed up for?" Alice asked, perplexed.
"I didn't dress myself up, remember?" I laughed. "But honestly, I'm not sure. I haven't thought about where I'm going."
"Shopping?" Alice asked hopefully.
"Uh, no. I'll just wander around Forks for a while. I'll see you later." I smiled, waving.
I fled down the stairs and out of the house as fast as I could, before Alice could catch me and force me into a shopping trip.
But the forest reeked of a deep, musky scent. And it was only very, very fresh.
Instantly I felt my lip curl back into a feral snarl.
"Such a drama queen," he emerged almost out of nowhere, rolling his eyes. There had just been an endless expanse of mossy green, and then as tall and brown as a tree trunk he was suddenly just there.
I stiffened, and snarled again.
"Nessie, relax. What are you achieving by growling at me hmm?" He raised an eyebrow.
I sighed, and I did relax.
"Sorry. But what are you doing here?" I demanded.
"I wanted to stop this ridiculous fighting we've been doing," he scowled, but not at me, "it's leaving me feeling like crap all the time, Ness. I'm sick of hurting you," his tone was softer then.
I could feel my heart melting in my chest. His brown eyes were so gentle, filled with so much compassion.
"I'm sorry too. I…know I shouldn't try to make you jealous to get you to want me, I just don't know how…" I sighed. He had his big, warm arms around me then, and I snuggled into them.
"You don't need to know how. But understand that there are different stages to the imprinting. It feels like I'm stuck between the friendship and brotherly stages," he shook his head.
I considered that for a minute. Which would I rather?
"I have a need to protect you, but to make you happy, to do fun things with you, but I'm slowly realizing that I just can't see you as a little sister anymore. I can't deny the fact that my desire to be with you is more than sibling bonding. I want you in my life. Not just me in yours, but I want you in mine," there was confusion, anguish in his voice.
I felt sparks of hope flying off me, not sure how far he was going to take this. He pulled his face back slightly, so he was staring straight into my eyes.
My throat tightened, my heart constricted, and I closed the tiny space between us and pressed my lips to his. He didn't pull away, but he didn't continue the kiss, either. He seemed slightly surprised, and I smiled a little.
"That's just a thank you for the flowers," I blushed. He raised his eyebrows.
"The roses," I prodded.
"What roses?"
"The ones you left on my pillow…" I trailed off. If they weren't from Jacob, then who?
I gasped.
Someone would have realized, wouldn't they? Would have smelt him, heard him…but they probably figured that because Alice couldn't see him it was just Jacob…
"You didn't leave the flowers," I groaned.
Nahuel.