At 3:00, I left to pick up Nessie at school. I sat in the parking lot, reading, until I saw her emerge from the far building along with her friend and vampire wannabe Meghan and the unpleasant Brad Nixon. Brad seemed to be engaged in a lively but one-sided conversation with Nessie, who barely acknowledged him as the three walked toward the parking lot. Nessie stopped, turned to Brad, and said something to him, her face serious. He seemed to reply with a joke and a laugh. Nessie shook her head and began walking again. Brad followed; she stopped. Starting to pay attention, I put my book aside and cracked the car window to catch what was going on.

"I'm not walking with you, Brad." Nessie stood still, looking as if she was controlling her temper. Was Brad the student she'd been mad at, when Carlisle had given her advice on anger management?

"No, I'm walking with you." Brad tried to push her along the path ahead of him, but she's not easy to push.

"You're not. I told you already."

I was impressed at how calm she was. Meghan looked fascinated by the little dispute.

"What's the big deal? You think you're too good to..." Before he could finish his sentence, Nessie walked away. "Hey!" She ignored him. Meghan looked from one to the other, riveted.

Brad caught up to Nessie and once again fell into step beside her. Again, Nessie stopped where she was. "Brad, you have to leave me alone. I'm not walking with you. I'm not putting up with all that stuff any more. Just stay away from me."

He rolled his eyes and gestured widely. "Some people can't take a frigging joke!' Nessie kept walking. "Fine! I'll quit it. You happy now?"

"No. It's too late for that. You promise to stop it, but you don't. You can't be trusted, so you can't walk with me any more! Period!"

They stood and glared at each other.

"So?" He seemed to finally catch on that she was serious.

"So, stop walking with me! Take another direction."

"No, this is the direction I want. You take another direction." He was every terminally irritating little pest I'd ever encountered in school.

"Okay." Nessie veered off slightly, only to be followed by Brad.

"No, now this is the direction I want." Who didn't see that coming? He grinned at her.

Nessie, without responding to him, turned around and headed back to the school. Brad, after a moment, followed. Nessie and Meghan reached the building they'd just left. Nessie sat on the steps, and Meghan, clearly not vying for a leadership position, immediately followed suit. Nessie took a book out of her backpack, opened it, and started reading. Meghan sat, rocking slightly, awaiting further developments. Brad stood to one side, apparently taking stock of his situation.

"What, are you going to sit here all day?"

"No," Nessie said, not looking up. "Only until you leave."

"What if I don't leave?"

"You have to some time."

"Maybe I'll stay here all night!" He sat down on the step, clearly feeling he'd delivered the coup de grace.

"I doubt that." Nessie kept reading. "There are other people around, you know. My aunt's in the car over there." She waved a hand at my Cygnet. "Teachers are still in the building. Do you really think you can hold me hostage here forever?"

He looked deflated. "Why do you have to make such a big deal out of everything?"

"I don't make a big deal out of everything," she said, simple statement of fact, and went back to her book.

"Out of this you do! You can't take a crappy joke once in a while..."

"Brad!" He stopped short, startled by her raised voice. "I've told you this several times, but I want you to actually listen this time."

Brad started his usual mugging, but she waited him out until he snapped, "Fine! I'm listening!"

"You were rude to me." He started to answer, but she cut him off. "I don't care if you think you were. You were what I call rude, and I told you and told you to stop, but you wouldn't. You don't take any of this seriously. I don't put up with that from my friends, so you're not my friend any more. Joking about it isn't going to change that. Nothing's going to change that. No matter how long I have to wait around, or how many teachers I have to get involved, I'm not walking with you or hanging around with you any more. You messed up. You have to find other friends, and this time try to be less of a jerk to them." She returned to her book.

Brad continued to make his own views known, first jokingly, then angrily, then, when Nessie continued to ignore him, sadly. I could see Nessie steeling herself to ignore him when he got sad, but she didn't respond. He sat in silence for two minutes or so, then got up and walked off.

So much for Brad, I thought. Poor little creep chose the wrong girl to mess with. Let's hope his people skills improve before he graduates.

Nessie and her new number one fan, Meghan, got up and walked to the car once Brad had made himself scarce. Meghan said goodbye to Nessie, gave me a polite wave, and went to the shelter where students waited for less punctual family members. Nessie slipped inside my car and gave me a quick hug. "Hi, Auntie."

"Hello there, young niece." I managed to get onto the road just ahead of a slow moving bus. "Interesting chat you were having."

"Did you hear?" I nodded. "I felt a little bit sorry for Brad, but I didn't know what else to do. He just won't take anything seriously unless you're mean to him."

"What was he doing that was rude?"

"Oh, just...I don't know what you'd call it. Nasty personal remarks. You saw him the last time, right? He kissed me and then pretended my butt was a fireplace." She laughed. "It sounds weird, put into words. But that kind of thing, or worse, all the time."

"Then you did the right thing. He has to get the message, or he'll be doing the same stuff in ten years, and he'll become a complete social outcast. You've saved him from a hard life."

She laughed. "Good. Then it wasn't as mean as it felt."

"No! You shouldn't have to put up with that just because you feel sorry for someone." I was reminded of something, but just then became distracted by an ornament on Nessie's wrist. "Is that new?"

"This?" She held up her left arm. "Yeah, Jacob gave it to me. I had it in my backpack and remembered to put it on after I got to school."

I took a better look. It was a replica of the braided wristband Jacob had given Nessie for her first Christmas, except larger and slightly more elaborate. Something equivalent to a promise ring. Why did he make her another one just now? "Pretty," I commented.

"Yep." She watched the scenery. "Is William still at the house?"

"Yes, and not only that, but Mila finally came inside. We've been having a great time without you."

"I knew she'd come down from that tree eventually." She smiled and scrunched down into the car seat happily.

"So give today's highlights," I said, with one last glance at the bracelet. "Apart from the Brad debacle."

We came home to a full house. I stopped to greet Edward, and looked around at the group discussion taking place. William and Mila, dressed in Cullen donations, no longer looked like transients, and seemed more at ease here than ever. Sharing histories and information was still an ongoing process, and they were just receiving the tail end of Jasper's account as Nessie and I came home. Mila's eyes were wide after hearing about the newborn wars. That was understandable; they made the Normandy Invasion seem like a spat between rival manicurists.

"I can understand why you're ambivalent about the Volturi," Mila said. "They got an insane situation relatively under control and prevented our coming to the attention of the human population, and I suppose no one else could have done that. But you have to allow, they've become so corrupt and power-mad, they're now a danger themselves."

Jasper sighed. "I hate to accept it; they were heroes to me for so long. But the events at Forks make it clear. They're not to be trusted." His eyes went to Alice, the member of the family Aro wanted more than anyone else. She would be a primary target, and not only as a valuable acquisition. Alice was also our key defence against Aro: as long as we had Alice with us, there was no way the Volturi could sneak up on us. And as long as they had me, their preferred weapons were disarmed. That left only straightforward, planned physical attack. Although we had friends who would fight along with us, that was still a formidable threat. They had dangerous fighters in the Guard, and could easily obtain others. They would not even have to be gifted.

"Of course," Jasper went on, "the events at Forks have been spread around the world by now. Having friends with us from multiple continents ensured that. Faith in the Volturi was shaken, and that could have an effect on their decisions. They depend on people seeing them as protectors. It prevents insurrection almost as much as fear of the Guard. Aro will hesitate to do anything that will cause further bad publicity."

Mention of the showdown at Forks led to the subject of the Immortal Children, something Mila and William were not well informed about, and the family took a few minutes to fill them in. This led to further stories from William's past, and more in turn from Jasper's and then Carlisle's. We were gradually exchanging our shared histories. I got Nessie to start her homework, with the concession that she could work in the kitchen and listen to the general conversation at the same time. This was part of her education too, after all.

At about 6:00, Jacob arrived home, made a quick stop at his cottage, then came back to the main house. He greeted us all with a wave, doing nothing to interrupt the flow of conversation, and sat down opposite Nessie at the kitchen table. I could hear them talking, Jacob going over Nessie's homework with her. I tuned out their voices for a few minutes, as William told an interesting and surprising story about his visit to Loch Ness. My attention was regained as I realized Jacob was talking about Nessie's plans after graduation.

"So I was putting off college until you start in a couple of years. I was going to try and attend the same college as you."

"That would be great! I hope we can go to the same place."

"I wouldn't want to be away from you that long. I'd miss you too much."

"I'd miss you too, Jake."

"In fact, if we're going to the same college, maybe we could share a place."

"Live in the same place, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"I hadn't thought about that at all. Most students live in dorm rooms, right?"

"Sure, but a lot of them take apartments instead. It gives you a lot more privacy. Maybe we could do that."

"Maybe," she agreed, her attention back on her work.

I braced myself. Clearly, some things could not be set aside any longer. Jacob and I were going to have to have a talk.

The conversation with our guests continued until well into the night. Two hours after Nessie had gone to bed, the discussion finally started to lag. Couples were thinking about retiring to their private rooms for the night. William and Mila, by mutual accord, rose to leave.

"I hate to think of you staying outside the entire time," Esme said. "Please consider our suggestion." The family had offered to obtain a living space for the pair, for as long as they stayed in the area. There were cottages in the state park, typically used only in the summer, which could be rented at a day's notice this time of year. I understood why they'd proposed a simple cabin rather than a well-appointed house, as Esme might have preferred: a modest offer would be less likely to put them off at this point in our friendship.

"It's very kind of you. We'll talk it over tonight," William promised. He and Mila said their goodbyes, promising to return in the morning, and ran out the door, hand in hand.

"Are they staying in a tree tonight?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Esme laughed. "William said they found it a good way to stay out of sight back home, where the forests are so small and sparse."

I read another chapter, leaning back in Edward's arms as he read his own book. I was putting things off. A little while later, music could be heard faintly, from a distance. I lowered my book and listened.

"Is that William?" The others heard as well. He was singing a sweet, rather sad song with words I didn't recognize. "What language is that?"

"Gaelic," Carlisle said. "It's a very old song, a love song. I assume he's singing to Mila."

"I like them," Esme declared. "I'm so happy they decided to come, although it must have been frightening for them at first. Do you think they'll stay?"

"I would not be surprised," Carlisle told her. "It would be hard to find a better environment for them, in terms of support and comradeship."

"They're considering it seriously," Edward added. "But they have some concerns."

"Mila's worried about you," I told him. "She as good as said so, when we went on our walk."

"I picked up on that, but I'm not sure why."

"Something to do with the Volturi. She's afraid we'll tell the Volturi about her existence, and William's. She's terrified of them. But she did seem less worried once it was clear we didn't have ongoing contact with Aro. It was Carlisle and Eleazar having lived in Volterra that gave her the idea we'd report them."

"There's more to it, though." Edward frowned. "She's trying to block something. I think it's something she doesn't want shared with the Volturi."

"Maybe they'll tell us themselves, once they feel they can trust us," Esme suggested.

Carlisle said goodnight and left for his hospital shift. Rosalie and Emmett headed upstairs to their room.

"Shall we?" Edward murmured into my ear.

I wavered a moment, ready to put things off again, but stood firm. "No." He looked surprised, and justifiably so. "Not just yet," I amended. "There's something I need to take care of. Can you come with me?"

"Of course. Where?"

"Into the park a mile or so." I stood and headed for the back door. I wanted to be out of the family's hearing for this.

"The park?" He followed me, looking mystified. "Are we hunting?"

"I wasn't planning to." I lowered my voice to the faintest of whispers. "It's just that there's a discussion I need to have. I've been putting it off a very long time, and I can't put it off any more. And it's kind of rude to ask, but could you stay to one side and just be a witness? I think you should hear it but, well, at a distance. Do you mind?"

He shook his head. "Not at all, but a conversation with whom?"

"Jacob." I knocked firmly on his cottage door.