"So, what exactly happened between you and Paul?"

Grace's head snapped up from where she'd been browsing her collection of movies to stare at Renesmee.

They'd had a great dinner of chicken pasta and a light salad before deciding to watch movies and gorge themselves with candy.

"Sorry," Renesmee shifted in her seat and fiddled with her water. "Jacob mentioned it in passing and I was curious. Everyone's kind of tense back home…"

"Ev-everyone?" Grace abandoned her movie search and plopped back onto her butt as she waited for Renesmee to elaborate.

"I heard Rebecca and Solomon talk about you one morning; they sounded worried and the Uley's came up." Renesmee bit her lip in hesitation. "And I saw Paul. My car had made some funny noises and so I took it into where his dad works – my usual mechanic is out of town. He looked really down in the dumps…"

Grace stared at her socked feet as she processed the information. The fact that Rebecca and Sol were worried was no surprise but she didn't understand why Sam and Emily were involved.

And the fact that Paul was sad didn't surprise her either. He'd sounded positively depressed the last time they'd spoken; a feeling she now mirrored.

"Did he try anything bad?" Renesmee scooted closer and Grace frowned as she thought about it.

"He turned up at Billy's about a week and a half ago with flowers and a basket full of food." Grace blushed at the memory of the lovely purple and white wildflowers. "Rebecca told him that I was leaving and he stormed off. A local found his truck and everyone panicked; I mean the cops were involved and my brother and Rebecca were driving around looking for him. Then he just turns up at Billy's again, tells me I'm his and then nearly bruises my lips with the most uncomfortable kiss. It freaked me out… so I told him to leave and he lost it again."

Renesmee's face had been eager the entire time and Grace let out a breathless laugh when Renesmee gasped and covered her face. "That's so not good… and it doesn't sound like the Paul I know."

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "He'd been perfectly fine up until then. He was sweet and helped a lot when I went out to photograph First Beach but it's like his brain just flipped a switch."

Renesmee shook her head and fell back onto the sofa cushions. Her beautiful face had turned pensive and so Grace joined her and they sat in complete silence for a while as they both thought about the situation.

Lanikai beach was absolutely perfect for a wedding – especially the one Renesmee's bride wanted. Grace had brought along her camera to take photos of Renesmee at angles perfect for wedding photos and the girls had a fun time.

They'd spoken to three of the hotel managers for quotes and they had flipped through several of Renesmee's design books for color swatches that would fit the surrounding area.

Grace loved doing weddings but she rarely got the chance. Messing around with Renesmee was fun too and Grace found it easy to talk to the girl about anything.

"So, this Kelly offered you a job?" Renesmee asked as she took a small bit out of her almost finished cone. They had gotten ice-cream and went in search of a quiet spot to enjoy it.

The area surrounding them was quiet – almost deserted – and Grace relished the feeling.

"I'm expecting the contract within the week." Grace licked at a stray drop of ice-cream. "All I do now are freelance shoots for the hotels and surrounding tourist businesses and the occasional family photoshoot… it's great but I'd like something permanent."

Renesmee nodded understandingly. "It must be hard being away from Solomon, though."

Grace blinked and then sighed. "He's the only family I have left but he has his own family now and I…"

She trailed off. She'd been about to say that her life was in Kailua but that wasn't entirely true. She'd grown up there, true, and she had jobs and a few friends she didn't see that often, if she were being honest with herself. And until they had moved, she had had Sol and Becca. They'd been the only constant in her life.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" she asked and Renesmee laughed and shook her head. "I feel like one. I mean… I was so sure that I had everything I needed right here but… I'm not so sure anymore."

Renesmee took her hand gently and smiled. "It's natural to want to be close to familiarity."

And that was the truth. Kailua was familiar; all she had ever known.

"It's much better being with family, though." Grace laughed wryly at her own stupidity and looked at Renesmee with a determined gleam. "Because Billy and Jake are family now too…"

Renesmee chuckled and opened her mouth to say something but stopped when a hibiscus flower suddenly appeared in the middle of their table.

"A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman." The man was leering at Renesmee and Grace frowned.

"She's taken."

"I don't see a ring, lady." The man snapped.

Grace rolled her eyes and stood. She could see a few other men over his shoulder and crossed her arms. "We were leaving anyway. Come on, Ness."

The man blinked as he watched Renesmee grab her bag and stand up daintily. The man was twice their size and the others leering behind him made a chill spider-crawl its way down Grace' spine.

"I wasn't done talking to you," the idiot made a grab for Renesmee's wrist but Grace had her pepper spray out before he could.

"Back off." She yelled. "She's not interested, asshole."

The man scoffed and took a step forward. Grace didn't hesitate to push the trigger and listened as the guy screamed in agony.

His friend, the one standing closest, lunged forward to grab the little bottle from her hand and toss it away.

Pain suddenly sizzled down the side of her face and Renesmee screamed angrily. Grace was aware that she had fallen backwards but the spots dancing around her eyes made it hard to see.

She could hear grunting and a bone snapping but then it went silent.

"Grace?" Renesmee's cool hand touched the side of her face. "Can you sit up?"

Grace shook her head and clutched at it when it only made the spinning worse. "Damn, he's got a mean hit."

Her words were slurred and the pain in her cheek had gotten worse – burning with every twitch. She felt Renesmee prodding the area and hissed.

"I think he broke it." Renesmee sounded unnaturally angry and Grace opened the not-sore eye and looked around. The guys were gone and her ice-cream cone was melting to a puddle where she had dropped it.

"We need to get you to a doctor." Renesmee sighed. "He might've damaged your eye."

Grace groaned and let her new friend help her up. The ground swayed for a moment before they started moving and Grace bit her lip to stop from crying at the throbbing.

"I have the worst luck ever." She mumbled and Renesmee squeezed her arm consolingly.

"A what?" Rebecca screeched and Sol and Jacob jumped at the sudden sound.

Renesmee had called and asked to talk to Becca immediately. Jake had listened in abject horror as she had gone on to describe what had happened to Solomon's sister to land her in hospital.

"This is… is she going to be okay?"

Solomon's knee was bouncing and Becca gave him an apologetic stare and sat down on his knee so they could share the phone.

"Like I said – the doctor said it's only an orbital fracture and that her eyeball itself is fine." His imprint sighed. "She also hit her head on the cement walkway so she has a concussion. She's a bit loopy at the moment, otherwise I actually let her talk to you guys."

Solomon frowned and shook his head. "We need to head back to see her."

"NO!" Grace's voice suddenly cut across the line. "'m fine. You hover and 'm gonna hit you."

Renesmee chuckled. "Sorry, I had you on speaker for ease of talking while I fluffed her pillows. She's quite adamant for you to stay there-

"And what use?" Grace was grumbling and they heard her sneeze. "Ow, my head hur's now. Ness, tell them to stay. I be fine… they only gonna have to go back with me again."

Sol frowned at his sister's words. "What?"

"Oh, yes. Grace got a job offer working for a marketing company in Seattle." Renesmee sounded much closer now. "She met a woman on the flight home and they got talking. Kelly dropped off her contract about fifteen minutes after we got back from the hospital."

Rebecca laughed incredulously and glanced at Sol. "Does that mean she's moving to Seattle?"

"I'm not sure. She's been mumbling about internet connections ever since Kelly left. That and that Kelly is a liar… Grace thought she worked for a coffee company."

Jake shifted and glanced down at his legs. He was itching to talk to Ness but he'd wait his turn.

"Well… keep us up to date." Sol said reluctantly after noting his brother-in-law's movements. "And tell Grace that she should just do what feels right; not to feel pressured."

Renesmee murmured her acquiescence and Becca handed the phone back to her brother.

"Hello?"

"Hey." Renesmee giggled. "I guess you heard everything. She's really stupid for standing up to them like that but I appreciate the thought."

"She's okay?" he said just as a filler in the conversation.

"Yes. The doctor said she'd be just fine so long as she rested; it looks awful, though."

Jake sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I miss you."

Renesmee laughed melodically and Jake's insides twisted. "I miss you too. I'll be staying another week until Grace is back to normal and then I'll be home."

He wanted to tell her to come home immediately – or that he'd fly out there – but stopped himself when she saw his sister watching him casually. "Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Jake." And the line died.

"I forgot to thank her for staying with Grace." Sol muttered.

"She knows; besides, she wouldn't just leave her anyway." Jake tried to laugh but it felt forced. "We really need to get Grace some safety gear if she's going to get hurt this much…"

The three of them laughed and didn't notice the seething figure just inside the tree line.

The phone was ringing somewhere close by. She could feel the vibrations against her but wasn't sure which part of her body it was.

Renesmee had tucked it close so she could call to check on her while at the store. Grace groaned and tightened her hand, finding that the vibrations were stronger now.

She fuzzily pressed the right button and put the receiver to her ear. "'lo?"

There was an exhale and Grace had a feeling she had had this experience before. "Grace, are you okay?"

Silk and chocolate. Grace smiled goofily and nuzzled her cheek into the phone. "Paul. I'm fine."

He was silent for a moment and she almost thought he was gone. "You don't sound fine. What happened?"

Grace frowned and tried to remember how to form proper sentences. "Were eatin' ice-cream… so good and then… then we were… there was a flower. S'trying to flirt with Ness… with Ness and then I said no and… there was pepper spray. They didn't like that…"

She heard something crack in the background. "Why didn't you just leave?"

He was shouting and her head throbbed. "We… try… tried… he grabbed Ness! I had spray… don't get mad 't me!"

Paul exhaled again and she felt her eyes droop. "I'm sorry. I just… I'm mad that that asshole hurt you."

She smiled and then frowned when the sudden thought hit her that she was mad at the man on the phone too. He had… he'd been …

"Grace?"

"M'tired now. Rest now… before… Seattle."

Paul scowled as he pulled the phone away from his ear and cursed. He ended the call and redialed the number but it rang and then went to voicemail. "Shit!"

A/N: Uh…

I am SUUUPER late with this chapter, I know guys. I am sorry, though, but it is most assuredly not my fault.

I got a new hobby, new job, our Wi-Fi was cancelled and I've been struggling to get it sorted out...

And I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT DIRECTION I WANTED THIS THING TO GO…

Okay, so that last one was definitely my fault… but I'm back now and I'm trying real hard to give you something worth reading.

Let me know what y'all think…

Love,

Nikolene.