(A/N) Okay can I just say "WOW". You guys are absolutely amazing and I'm beyond thrilled at the overwhelmingly positive responses that I've gotten. I know that Nahuel coming out of the closet was a bit of a shock and I wanted to take a minute to explain my choice. First, I felt like the Jacob-Nessie-Nahuel love triangle is something that people almost come to expect in a Nessie/Jacob story. I didn't want to go by the norm. Instead I created a pseudo-love triangle. I know that in BD it was implied that Nahuel would want to pursue Nessie romantically someday, but I wondered if it were possible that Edward had been wrong and misunderstood Nahuel's thoughts. Perahaps Nahuel's curiosity about Nessie was a genuine interest that was misinterpreted as potentially romantic.

As for the tattoo I put a picture of what I imagined it would look like up in my myspace album for this story. It's a tribal wolf design. It's actually one that I plan on getting someday...lol. I hope you guys keep reading and reviewing. Again, I love getting questions so ask away.

Disclaimer: They are all Stephanie's babies.

Chapter 36

Renesmee's POV

"When you say that Jacob's more your type," I asked, my brain trying to make sense of what I'd just learned, "you mean…"

"I prefer men to women," Nahuel replied with a genuine smile, his tone full of patience, "romantically at least."

After the initial shock of Nahuel's admission wore off, I actually found myself relieved. I was slightly embarrassed over the way that I'd thrown myself at Nahuel, but discovering that he was gay had significantly lessened the feeling of rejection. I knew that this had worked out for the best. Although I was still upset with Jacob, kissing Nahuel would have definitely generated more problems than solutions. For one, if Nahuel had genuinely been interested in me I would have been cruelly leading him on. For another, it would have crushed Jacob when he found out. Now that I was finally starting to think clearly again the fact that I could have ever considered such a thing, no matter how angry I was, made me disgusted with myself.

"So," Nahuel told me, "after Huilen had tried every witch doctor on the South American continent and I still wasn't "cured" she finally gave in and accepted me for who I was. It only took her 100 years." He laughed a soft, casual laugh.

"So you've really never been interested in women?" I asked, hoping I wasn't offending him with my incessant questions.

"I wouldn't say that," he replied shaking his head. "I find women to be absolutely fascinating, especially you and your mother; however I've never had the desire to pursue a romantic relationship with a woman."

"Wow," I breathed, which caused him to chuckle.

"It's not that uncommon, Renesmee," he teased.

"I know," I grinned sheepishly, "it's just that I guess this is really unexpected. When you came to Washington I got the sense that everyone thought you would want to pursue me one day. Daddy used to tease Jacob about how a little competition was healthy."

"Huilen was ecstatic when we learned of your existence," Nahuel nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose she thought that you might be able to succeed where all of her witch doctors had failed." He paused for a brief moment before continuing, "I'll admit, even I considered the possibility that your birth was destiny calling my name. It was very overwhelming and confusing for me. I do understand why people would come to that conclusion. I am the only known male of our kind and you are the only female that's not related to me," he smiled. "It's cohesive. I didn't expect to feel attracted to you as a baby and I considered the possibility that maybe that would change when you were closer to maturity, but…" he trailed off.

"You aren't," I finished for him. "So the 'lusty' feeling that Uncle Jasper got," I mused without thinking.

Nahuel's cheeks darkened and I felt my own flush for my thoughtlessness.

"Jacob is very attractive," he said softly. "I meant no offense."

"I'm not offended," I reassured him. "I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that."

"It's okay," he replied. "Can I ask you something personal?"

It was only fair. I'd learned one of Nahuel's biggest secrets. I felt like there was a new bond between us, which allowed for complete honesty.

"What did Jacob do?" Nahuel asked, "Why are you so angry with him?"

I felt an immediate pang in my chest as I remembered what I'd been trying to forget all night. I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk about it, but on the other hand it might be good for me to tell someone that could be objective about the whole thing.

"It's complicated," I began. "I told you about the imprinting thing. Well, before Jacob imprinted on me he had loved this other girl. I've known that she existed for a while, but I really didn't know anything about her. Lately, things between Jacob and I have started to turn," I paused for a second, "slightly more romantic, or at least possibly romantic."

"You were about to kiss when I arrived," Nahuel offered. "I'm truly sorry that I interrupted."

"Yeah," I nodded. "It's okay, but if you hadn't shown up I'm sure we would have. Anyway, later when you were getting settled I went to talk to him about the almost kiss. He had told me before that before anything happened he wanted to talk to my parents and he needed to talk to me. I thought that if he said what he needed to say to me then it might speed things up when my parents get back, but he said he didn't want to talk about it right then. He does that to me all the time, but for some reason it really irritated me. I tried to change his mind and touched his hand. When I did," I paused, "I saw something."

"You saw something," Nahuel's voice was confused, "when you touched him?"

"It was like I saw his thoughts," I admitted quietly.

"I didn't know you could do that," he breathed .

"Neither did I," I told him, "It was the first time it ever happened."

"And you're so calm?" He asked in amazement. "Do things like this happen often?"

"No," I shook my head, "but I'm pretty sure I know what's going on. You know that I was born with the ability to show people my thoughts. A few years ago I began shielding like my mother, except my shield isn't as powerful as hers and I can't extend it like she can. Grandpa Carlisle and Eleazar, one of my cousins in Denali, thought that as I grew older there was a potential for me to develop my abilities. It's possible that I've developed some variant of what my father can do."

"What did you see?" He asked gently, "Of course you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"It's okay," I was actually glad to be talking to him. "I saw…her."

"The girl he loved," Nahuel inserted, understanding beginning to color his features. "That's why you're upset."

"She's my mother," I choked out. It was harder to say aloud than I'd imagined.

"I see," Nahuel nodded. "That would be a difficult pill to swallow."

"Yeah," I said quietly, staring at my hands.

"Renesmee," Nahuel's voice was full of compassion, "I understand that it would be strange to learn that the person you love once had feelings for your mother, but you really can't hold that against him. It happened before you were born."

"I know," my voice was barely above a whisper. "I just feel so hurt and angry."

"That's what it was all about then," Nahuel pointed toward my left hip.

"Partly," I admitted sheepishly. "I just wanted to do something crazy and irrational to distract myself from thinking about it. I really do love it though."

Nahuel laughed and I eyed him curiously, "What?"

"It's just," Nahuel his tone was amused, "you got a tattoo because you were angry at him, yet it's a tattoo symbolizing him."

I laughed lightly, "I told you it's complicated."

Nahuel eyed me for a moment before speaking.

"You should talk to him," Nahuel said. "Give the guy a chance to explain."

"I don't know if I'm ready to talk to him," I confided. "Plus, I saw it through his eyes. I don't know what there is to explain."

"Jacob loves you," Nahuel replied. "No matter who he loved before he loves you now. Is this really worth it?"

Suddenly I had shame to add to the plethora of emotions I was feeling. All this time I'd wanted to show Jacob how mature I was and the way I'd acted had proven the exact opposite. I'd disrespected Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice, and I'd hurt Jacob. I felt lower than I'd ever felt. There was nothing that could excuse what I'd done.

"You're right," I nodded, quickly standing up. "I should probably go and talk to him. I guess I need to apologize to Aunt Alice, too."

"I should probably get some sleep," Nahuel smiled. "It's been quite an interesting day."

"Thank you," I smiled back as I reached the door. I might have lost out on a suitor, but I couldn't help feeling that I'd gained a friendship worth so much more.

"Anytime," Nahuel replied.

XOXOXO

I took a deep breath as I raised my hand to knock on the door. It opened before I even touched it.

"Nessie," Aunt Alice greeted me as she threw her arms around me. "I forgive you."

"I'm so sorry," I breathed, my emotions getting the better of me and the tears beginning to flow. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay," she soothed as she led me over to her sofa. "Tell me what happened."

"I learned something about Jacob," I paused. "It was a little unsettling."

"He told you about your mother didn't he," Uncle Jasper piped in from across the room. "It's been weighing on his mind for a while."

I didn't want to go into the mechanics of how I'd found out. That would inspire an entirely different conversation that I didn't want to go into at the moment.

"Oh Nessie," Aunt Alice hugged me again. "It was so long ago and it's not like that now. The moment you were born everything changed."

"I know," I said quietly. "It's just a lot to take."

"Have you talked to him?" Uncle Jasper asked. "I don't think I'd ever seen him so upset."

Great now Uncle Jasper was making me feel even worse. Of course, I guess it was only fair. He'd experienced just how hurt Jacob was firsthand.

"Not yet," I replied. "I wanted to apologize to the two of you first."

"You were upset," Aunt Alice told me as if that excused everything. "I just wish you would have talked to us before you took off. We were all worried."

"I know it was stupid and immature," I admitted.

"You should go talk to Jacob," Uncle Jasper said gently. "It would be good for the both of you."

I nodded and attempted a weak smile as I stood up. "Thanks," I said quietly.

Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice both shot me encouraging smiles and for a moment I felt a little bit braver. I wondered if Uncle Jasper wasn't giving me a confidence boost. I left the room and took a deep breath as I headed down the hall to Jacob's room. I knocked lightly, but no one answered. I gently pushed the door open only to discover that he wasn't there. I groaned. If he were camped outside my door I was going to feel even lower than I already felt, if that were even possible. However, when I reached my room I didn't find him outside or inside for that matter. I heard a large clap of thunder outside and I had a sickly ominous feeling settle into the pit of my stomach. As I searched the rest of the suite, my panic began to reach a fever pitch. Another clap of thunder rang outside. Suddenly, I didn't care about anything anymore. I didn't care that Jacob had loved Mama once upon a time and I didn't care about how angry I'd been with him. The only thing that I cared about was him and the horrifying realization that he wasn't there.

XOXOXO

Jacob's POV

As the storm raged around me I ran as hard and as fast as I could, on two legs at least, out of the city. It had taken everything I had not to rush up the stairs and force Nessie to let me explain everything to her, but I knew that at the moment she didn't want to see or speak to me and that hurt more than anything I'd ever known. I decided that the best course of action would be to run and clear my head. When I hit the tree line I pulled my shorts off and attached them to the leather cord around my ankle. As soon as they were tied, I lurched forward and quickly phased. Even after all of this time none of the rest of the pack could phase on the fly like I could.

My pace immediately increased and I ran harder, without really knowing where I was going. I kept seeing Nessie in my mind. The hurt, the anger, the accusation in her eyes: this was what I'd been avoiding. The image of her coming in with Nahuel raced through my mind and I felt another jolt of rage.

"Wow," Leah's voice popped into my head. "Looks like you've had a rough day."

"Go away Leah" I told her, but I knew the command would be useless unless I used my Alpha timber, which I still was uncomfortable doing.

"There's no need to be like that Jake," Leah responded. "I only want to help."

"I just want to be alone," I replied stubbornly.

"She loves you," Leah went on, completely ignoring me. "She'll get over it Jake."

"I don't know," I admitted painfully. The image of her face before she'd left me in the living room swam across my mind.

"Trust me," Leah soothed. "She's hurt and irrational right now. When she calms down you'll talk to her and everything will be fine."

"Leah I appreciate what you're trying to do but I really need time to think," I told her, "alone."

"Okay," she gave in. "Try and think about what I said."

"Sure," I replied. "Say hi to Em for me."

"Yeah. Good luck Jake," she responded before her consciousness disappeared and I was alone again.

For a brief moment I thought about how much Leah had softened since she'd gotten together with Embry, but those thoughts were quickly erased by thoughts of Nessie. How had she figured it out? I wanted to blame Nahuel, but even in my irrational state I knew that he couldn't have possibly known. I knew that Jazz wouldn't have told her and I seriously doubted that Alice would have told her either. I shook it off. At the moment how she found out wasn't important. The important part was that she knew and now I had to fix it. I felt so angry with myself for not telling her sooner. Maybe if I'd just gone to her and told her everything she wouldn't be so angry. The rain began to really come down hard and I saw a flash of lightning cross the sky. I supposed I should get back. Maybe I'd luck out and Nessie would have calmed down and she'd be willing to talk to me. On the other hand maybe that creep Nahuel was giving her a shoulder to cry on. I'd bet he was eating it up. I transformed at the edge of the woods and quickly threw my shorts back on. By the time I reached the hotel I was absolutely soaked and I knew I'd have a ton of water to wipe up. As quietly as possible I let myself in. I'd barely made it through the door when Nessie came out of nowhere and launched herself at me.