Equinox Chapter 4: The Deal, a twilight fanfic

A/N: REDEMPTION! (I hope). But hey, at least I posted this chapter less than 24 hours after the third one! I think that's a record for me. But then again, maybe not...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks for reading! :)

Chapter 4: The Deal

Renesmee Cullen's POV

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"Ness! Ness, time for dinner!"

Through my ragged intakes of breath, I heard my grandpa call up the stairs to me. Slowly, I sat up, wiping my eyes on my shirt sleeves.

"Hold on," I called, trying to make my voice as steady as possible.

"Alright."

I walked slowly out the door and across the hall to the bathroom. I took a small rag out of the towel closet and dampened it, wiping it on my face, trying to make it look as though I hadn't been crying nearly as much as I had. I didn't want to be even more of a burden to Charlie. I also knew that he wasn't crazy on discussing anyone's feelings, so I thought I would save him from having to ask if I was okay.

When I thought myself to look decent enough, I meandered down the steps and into the kitchen, where Charlie was standing by the stove, finishing off what look to be macaroni and cheese. But when Charlie tried to stir it, I noticed that the pasta wasn't moving all that easily, and there was a slight burning smell in the air. I walked over to him.

"Need a little help, there?"

He sighed. "Maybe we should just go somewhere for dinner..." he trailed as he tossed the spoon that he was using into the sink, pieces of macaroni still clinging to it.

"Whatever you want to do..." I said.

"We're going somewhere."

He set the pan in the sink with the spoon and I went over and filled it with water in an effort to un-stick the pasta. Charlie walked into the living room and I turned the stove off, because he forgot to. Perhaps it was lucky for him that I was here.

We both walked outside, where it had begun to rain. I walked quickly to the car, trying to get out of the wetness as soon as I could. Charlie got into the car shortly after me, and started the engine.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, turning up the heater dial.

"You pick."

With that, he backed out of the driveway and drove into the little town. I hardly thought that it should count as a town at all; it was so miniscule compared to basically all of the others that I've been to. Even in Alaska, the cities were a bit bigger than Forks'.

After about a five minute drive, we were at a small diner. I knew this place to be one of my grandpa's favorites to go to.

When we were inside and sitting at one of the tables, almost everybody in the restaurant came up and said hello to Charlie. Hardly any of them recognized me, for which I was grateful.

I ordered a cheeseburger and ate rather quickly; I wanted to get back home. But I was completely finished when Charlie was only half-way done. So, I waited patiently.

"Ready to go?" I asked my grandpa after he was finished eating.

He took one last drink and stood up. "Yes."

The ride home seemed to be shorter than the ride out. I was happy about that. When I got home, however, I wasn't very happy.

I went back up to my room and saw my cell phone that I had laid on the side table, so I picked it up. I saw that there was a message from my dad, and immediately thought, I'm dead.

I read it and, sure enough, it read, Where are you? I know you're not in California.

how do u know that? I replied, trying to buy myself as much time as possible.

I got a response within a minute, which was pretty fast, seeming as he was in Alaska while I was in Washington, and also considering the length of the message…

His response read: Don't try to stall, Renesmee. You're in Forks, aren't you? Trying to find Jacob, I presume? If that's the case, then I don't see the point of you being there. If he was that close this whole time, then he would have come to visit a few times, I'm sure of it. You need to come home. Right now.

I sighed. I saw this coming. there is a point to me being here, actually.

He answered: Really? And would you like to elaborate on what that would be?

nvm.

Renesmee, tell me. Now. I could almost feel the anger emitting from his words. I knew he wasn't happy with me.

no. It took half of the courage I had to text that back to him. And at that point, I knew things were only going to get worse.

I'm coming to get you tomorrow. You better be ready to go when I get there, Renesmee. End of discussion.

I groaned and set my phone unnecessarily hard onto the side table, then threw myself onto the bed.

I went to bed early that night, only about eight thirty. But even if I got into bed earlier, it didn't mean that I fell asleep any earlier.

My eyes kept wandering to the pictures of Jacob beside the desk. I kept wishing that those pictures would come to life and bring me the real Jacob, but I knew they never would.

After I'd been awake for about an hour and a half, I heard the phone ring and a loud, shocked snore emitted from Charlie as he was shocked awake by the shrill sound of the ringtone.

"Hello?" I heard him mutter groggily. I didn't pay attention to the rest of the call. That is, until Charlie yelled, "Nessie, phone!" at the top of his lungs.

I groaned and got to my feet, heading into the hallway and down the stairs. I went into the living room and took the phone from Charlie. "Hello?" I asked.

"Ness, it's Billy. I just wanted to let you know that Leah is here—"

"I'll be over as fast as I can. Bye."

If he had any objections, I didn't give him any time to voice them as I hung up the phone and ran upstairs to throw a jacket on over my camisole.

"Hey, where are you going?" Charlie droned tiredly.

"To Billy's. I'll be back later. You don't have to wait up until I get back." Then I charged out the front door, pulling on my pair of black Converse as I went.

I ran into the dark, wet cover of the trees so I could run as fast as my feet allowed me to.

"Renesmee!" I heard Charlie call, but the echo was soon lost with the sound of wind running through my ears. I tried not to let myself worry about any consequences that I might receive.

After about five minutes of running as fast and as hard as I could, I was knocking on Billy's front door. A few seconds later, he answered.

"Leah's here," Billy said.

I couldn't believe my luck. The first day that I was in Forks and Leah shows up. And, on top of all that, before my dad could even come to get me. Leah had wonderful timing.

"Thanks," I answered Billy.

I stepped into the house and saw Leah and Sue sitting on the living room couch, talking softly. I was aware that I was soaking wet, so I didn't sit down anywhere. When Sue saw me, she smiled widely.

"Nice to see you again, Nessie."

"You too." I smiled genuinely back at her.

Leah didn't say anything at first. She and I weren't exactly enemies, we just weren't friends. At all. In fact, every time I used to come to La Push with Jacob, he made Leah promise to be nice to me. But now, since Jake wasn't here, she would most likely do whatever she wanted.

I spoke first. "Hi, Leah," I greeted politely, forcing a smile.

She took a deep, calming breath and let it out, smiling a little too sweetly as she did so. "Hi, Renesmee. I know that Jacob would want me to be as polite as I possibly could to you, so that's what I'm going to try to do, or else I'm sure that he'll chew me out."

"Leah," Sue drawled disapprovingly.

I shook my head. "It's alright. Act however you want to, Leah."

Leah sighed. "Jacob's still alive, in case you were wondering," she informed, jumping straight to the point. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she looked simply tired, completely exhausted. There seemed to be an endless column of lines under her eyes, and there were scars all over her arms and legs, and even some on her face. She looked thinner, more gaunt, and her chin-length black hair looked as though it hadn't been combed for some time. Her clothes were also pretty shocking. Her usually white tank top was covered almost entirely with smudges of dirt and mud, and there were tears in her grass-stained denim Capri's. Even though she was faking sweetness with every word she uttered to me, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic. But I wasn't going to tell her that.

"That's good," I said quietly. All of the sudden, it was easier for me to breathe.

"And he misses you. God, you're in basically every thought he thinks. It's sickening," she told me, rolling her eyes at the floor.

I could tell that Sue didn't approve of what her daughter was saying, but she didn't interfere again. I heard Billy tell her to head into the kitchen, and she did. He followed her. It was just me and Leah now, but I was pretty sure, even with mere human hearing, that Billy and Sue could still hear us.

"Okay, Renesmee, why did you come back here?" Leah asked, dropping the sweet act and standing up, perching her hands on her hips.

"I-I…I honestly have no idea," I murmured. "But…why have you all been gone so long?"

"It's not easy, you know," she said suddenly. She started pacing back and forth across the small space. "Fighting bloodsuckers day and night. You're afraid to sleep because you're sure that they'll come back and try to finish you off. And even when you do sleep, you're still somewhat conscience, since half of us are still awake, and their thoughts give you nightmares…" She tried to hold back a shudder, but failed. "Jacob is trying to take them all just because he wants to get back to you as soon as he can. I keep telling him it's stupid to put himself in mortal peril just so he could get back quicker. I actually had to resort to telling him that you would rather wait longer for him to get back than everyone else come back and he's dead. I'm assuming that's true?" She stopped pacing and turned to look at me.

I nodded. I didn't know what else to say at all.

She proceeded in her pacing. "I'm thinking that we should be almost done with the leeches. There haven't been nearly as many as there were in the beginning. You'll be able to see Jacob soon… That is, if he doesn't decide to do anything drastic and stupid that he thinks is noble."

I wasn't sure whether to be happy or worried about this information. When Jacob did come back, would he be the same as before, as I remember him? Or would he have a newly inherited seriousness? Either way, I'd still love him, but I would miss the old Jacob, the one who was always joking around and whatnot. But I decided I shouldn't worry about anything like that yet, not until he gets back. If he gets back, a voice in my head that sounded a whole lot like Leah's reminded me.

"He'll go berserk if he knows that I saw you. He'll want to come up here next time. But they won't let anyone but me go, just because I'm a girl, and I can't do as much. Please." She rolled her eyes. She turned to me. "I know Jacob would be happy if he saw you, and Lord knows it might get him out of my head for more than a few minutes at a time. So…I'll make you a deal." I raised my eyebrows. If she could make Jacob come back, then what could I possibly do for her? "I'll try to persuade everyone to let Jacob come back. But I'm not promising anything. They've been really stubborn and uptight lately. So the chances are slim. So, be prepared to wait another several months or so before you see him if it doesn't work out."

"And what do I have to do?" I asked, almost dreading the answer. But for Jacob, I would do basically anything.

She was trying to hide a slight smile. It looked to me like she was almost embarrassed. "Try to get my hair untangled."

I was shocked, but smiled anyway. It was a very sudden change in topic, but I went along with it. "You have a comb?"

Leah smiled wider and left the room. She came back in about half a minute carrying a brush that she got from what I expected to be Rachel or Rebecca's old room.

"Do what you can," she said, handing me the brush. I continued to smile as Leah sat down in one of the wooden chairs that she brought in from the kitchen, and then I began to brush.

I know it's odd—brushing hair, of all things—but as Leah and I talked about random things that we would never have usually talked about with each other, I felt closer to her than I ever had before in my life.

A/N: If you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview of chapter 5... You know you want to review... :D Lol.

THANKS FOR READING!