Chapter 9 - Miss Hale

Hannah was glued to my side as we maneuvered around the packed shopping mall, Emmett flanking her other side. My hand was interwoven with hers tightly. She stroked the back of my hand softly as though I was the one who needed calming.

I wasn't the newborn vegetarian vampire. I was completely at ease. She, on the other hand, had never been around so many delightfully smelling humans. Ignorant, blissfully, unaware human morons. This was a stupid lapse of judgment to test her like this.

My eyes flitted around so much in a second it was amazing the humans didn't notice enough to question if I was seizing. The humans were so unaware as they went about their business. I watched several teenage boys give us their ill-wanted attention, but Hannah certainly didn't help when I caught her flashing them a smile. She just giggled whilst Emmett's frown became deeper and deeper.

I must admit that brought a smile to my otherwise panicked face.

"I'm fine, you know," murmured Hannah, squeezing my hand tightly. "It smells so strongly of cinnamon I can barely smell the blood, Rosie."

"I am not letting go of your hand."

"Nice try, kid,"

Hannah let out an audible sigh, and I caught a mother giving me a knowing smile as we passed. So was this what teenagers were like?

"We still need to get the junior Cullens their presents, and mom," I mused, steering us towards the large department store at the southern end of the mall. "Any idea for Edward?"

"Something obnoxiously unnecessary," Emmett said smoothly. "Bella?"

"She'll hate everything, so she's easy."

"I'll get Nessie her present. Now let's just…" said Hannah happily, attempting to slide out from under Emmett's arm.

"Hannah," Emmett laughed, grabbing her arm now. "No."

It happened so unexpectedly I almost fell when she stopped moving, frozen like stone and completely immovable. It was in this moment I remembered that in all her five foot three stature she was as heavy and as stubborn as both of us.

Hannah's normally serene face looked unimpressed, the hidden teenage monster in her emerging as her amber eyes glared passionately at the pair of us.

"I thought we were testing my boundaries?"

"This is a test," I hissed, glancing around with panic as the humans began to huff and puff as they steered around our human bollard. "Now move, you're attracting attention."

"I am not thirsty," she whispered back harshly, a pout forming on her rosy lips. "I want to do this. Please?"

"What if something happens, what do we do then?" I replied quietly, moving closer to her and pretending to check my phone as though we were lost. "It's too risky."

"Why do you want to get Ness a present, you don't even know her?" mused Emmett, his arm firmly grasped around Hannah as he watched her suspiciously. "You also have no money."

"I took your wallet three stores ago, Emmett."

He patted his pockets, a wide grin appearing on his face. "You little thief."

Hannah just smirked, shrugging her shoulders.

"We will follow you, but one wrong move we're locking you up."

"Emmett!"

"Thanks," she smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. Hannah turned and looked at me, my hand still interlocked firmly with hers. "Rosie?"

"I swear to almighty God…"

Hannah rolled her eyes; prancing off the moment my fingers unleashed their grip. We followed behind closely. I watched her hair float on her shoulders now she was freed. People parted for her so easily, I watched the awe on their face as she temporarily stunned them. We had that effect, but I'd never seen it in action. She was special though; she stunned Emmett almost as effectively as I could.

"She's right, she needs to push the boundaries," Emmett murmured, his hand reaching for mine as we marched behind her into the department store, following her to the youth section. "This will show Carlisle that we're giving her room to grow here."

"He has no say in where she stays."

"Neither do you," he pointed out.

"Yes, I do."

Emmett chuckled. "Rosalie, she's a free-willed person."

"Under my watch," I snapped, pretending to take in the hair accessories around me, observing her from a distance. "I am not letting her go back to Carlisle for Edward to steal her away."

"You know he's as disinterested in Hannah as you are in him," Emmett responded, a rare sigh escaping his lips. "His only interest is protecting his daughter, and you know as well as I do Hannah is completely harmless."

"Edward thinks he's the best at converting vampires, trust me."

"Hannah doesn't care for him, she saw what he was like that first day," he told me, kissing my neck. "Don't worry, she's fascinated with Ness but not in that way."

I watched Hannah make her selections and walk assertively to the register with Emmett's cards. She was doing this so confidently I almost questioned if she'd done it before, until I remembered she hadn't been out of our sight since before we met.

"How is she fascinated with Ness?"

"Well, who isn't?"

I broke my gaze to look at him. "What is it about Renesmee?"

"You know they've been emailing, don't you?"

My mouth opened in surprise, but I quickly shut it. "Since when?"

"Since Alice gave her an email address."

"That bitch has some nerve."

Emmett just laughed, nodding towards Hannah who was now having a perfectly amicable conversation with the sales girl. "She's a natural at this, much better than I was," he said to me. "Kind of like you, hey?"

We hadn't ever discussed Alice's prophecy; in fact I had no idea if he'd even been told it. But hearing him make a comment, whether he knew or not, made me feel warm and content. It made me wonder how much truth there was, but I didn't need to wonder I knew. I knew she was right. Why else would I care so much about an otherwise uninteresting vampire?

"I told you I could do it," Hannah beamed, walking over to us with a bag brimming with lord knows what. "That girl had no idea. She even invited me to her New Year's party, was completely devastated when I told her I was visiting family in Michigan. Isn't that great? I told you I could do this!"

"Well done, Han," Emmett grinned, reaching down and ruffling her hair.

She glared at him, but turned back to smile at me. "Worried for nothing, hey, Rosalie?"

"You were great," I said softly, stretching out my hand for hers again. "But let's go, we don't have all day."

"Actually we have a whole week."

"Don't be a smartass, we have Emmett for that."

Hannah just grinned.

- - : - - : - - : - - : - -

We were to be at our parents' new home for Christmas Eve, and due to the vast distance between them and ourselves we were preparing to fly. Given the usual madness that was holiday travel, I was intending to be immaculately organized.

I spent three days packing our bags, ensuring each day of our two-week visit had appropriate clothes already prepared. Emmett didn't care much for what he wore, and Hannah was almost as easy going, so I felt the need to organize them before Alice had the chance.

Hannah watched me with amusement; it wasn't until we were hopping into our car for the airport that panic flit across her face. She looked so concerned even Emmett stopped in his tracks.

"Do you need to hunt? We still have time; we can meet up with Rosalie on the highway…" he said quickly, flashing me a look.

"No, no," Hannah said, shaking her head. "No, how can I fly?"

"Oh, haven't you flown?" Emmett asked, relief spreading across his face as I watched her in confusion. "It's no big deal, trust me. Besides if it goes down we're all good to go."

Hannah looked sickened at the remark but kept shaking her head. "I don't have a passport, let alone ID! Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Oh honey," I smiled, realizing where her panic was leading as I walked over to her. "Trust me, that is not a problem."

"But I need ID!"

"You have some, in fact three, we should probably pick which one now," I mused, leafing through my purse for the packet containing our passports and Emmett and my driver's licenses, we decided Hannah was visually too young to pull off being able to drive.

I found what I was looking for and passed them to Hannah, awaiting her approval. "You never told us your last name, so we got Hale, McCarty and Main. You can choose which one, it doesn't really matter anyway."

"It's all illegal," said Emmett cheerfully, placing the last of our bags into the boot. "Anyway, it's time to roll."

I watched her expectantly; her face was a mask of emotions. She stared at me, her lip quivered in a human fashion.

"I've never had a passport."

"Well, now you do," I said slowly.

"This is just so nice."

I laughed. "Come on, Hannah, you've not even seen nice. Just wait until you see an Esme Christmas."

"Okay," she said quietly, giving me two passports back. "Thanks, Rosalie."

I just nodded and watched her disappear into the car. I raised my hand to Emmett and jogged back to the house to drop off the last two passports. I hesitated for a moment and flipped them open. Hannah Main. Hannah McCarty.

I smiled to myself as a warm wave of happiness filled my body.

Miss Hannah Hale. Well there you go.