Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight
Chapter Thirty-Seven
*Renesmee's POV*
I sighed as I began to wash the left over dishes in the sink. I was bored. Really, really, really bored. Since my family doesn't want me going far, I was basically under lockdown. Everyone was out and about doing something, while I was stuck here. Ethan was researching, which he roped Lily into doing, so they're off doing that, Masen is probably mopping over Grace, and Lizzy was out with Aidan and Seth.
And while they were out living their lives, I was stuck here. In this big home with nothing better to do. My parents were upstairs, hanging out with each other, but I know they were still monitoring my every move in this house. Serena has been traumatizing for everyone, but I know it's eating my parents up. They just don't want to see another one of their kids get hurt again, which I understand, but Bella and Edward tend to bring a new level of over protective. There's always someone hanging around the school to watch us and we always have someone escorting us. I feel like I'm in the witness protection program half the time.
Anyway, being as bored as I was, I thought cleaning up the house could be good. It was the only thing that seemed to cure my boredom. I knew I also had a stack of dishes in the sink from last night to wash. Last night wasn't too bad because I was able to invite my friends from school over, so Tori, Lisa, Dylan, Bryan, and Carly came over to hang out.
So, I put a good playlist on and proceeded to clean the kitchen. Which turned out to be pretty amusing.
I decided I needed to spice this cleaning thing up, so I started to sway to the rhythm of the song. Which then lead to some bopping and jumping, which also lead to some air guitar...point being I began to dance all around my kitchen. I felt like that scene from Risky Business where Tom Cruise dances around in his underwear.
I now began to hum along, laughing as I twirled around some more. That was until I saw a figure in the doorway...
"I see someone is having a dance party." Jacob looked extremely amused as he leaned against the doorway. He had a cunning grin on my face as he crossed his arms across his chest. He was in one of his infamous black t-shirts and jeans. Meanwhile, I was frozen in place. I could feel my face burning up, which was probably a nice ruby red.
"I was, until you showed up." I joked, trying to hide my embarrassment. He shook his head in laughter as he walked closer to me.
"Want some help perhaps? Or too busy dancing on your own?"
"I could use a hand," I mentioned, a smirk forming on my face as he took a spot next to me. He smiled as he began to dry off the dishes while I washed them.
"So...How have you been?" Jacob asked me after a few moment of awkward silence.
"Pretty bored," I admit to him as I let the hot water cascade off the plate and onto my hand. "I'm on lockdown for the most part nowadays."
"It'll be over soon," Jacob insisted, placing a hand on my arm. The close contact of his warm hand caused a shiver to travel down my spine.
"At this rate, I'm kind of worried it never will end," I muttered, looking up at Jacob.
"You just have to not think about it sometimes. I promise we'll get out of this eventually." Jacob gave me a small smile. I shrugged, leaning against his shoulder.
"Your mom felt the same way half the time when Victoria was threatening us," Jacob told me. He stiffened a little at the thought, while I just froze. I knew about Victoria, along with her other coven members, James and Laurent, but my parents haven't told us their entire love story. I know the focal points, just not everything yet.
"She did?" I asked softly.
"Yeah. She hated the feeling that she couldn't do anything, being the human in the equation. She thought turning into a vampire at the time would be the best, but your father, the Cullen's, and I couldn't let her do that. Anyway, my point being, she felt the same you did and she got out of it eventually, just like you will."
"I guess. My problem is I know I can help, but I just feel like I can't," I explained to him woefully. "I just want a way to help. To get this over with quicker, but my parents and all these boundaries are preventing me. I don't know what I could possibly do to make this situation better."
Jacob nodded in understanding. "Ness, you'll find what you were meant to do...But, what you're doing right now is perfectly fine. You are helping, in your own way. You may not be doing a bunch of hard core fighting, but you're trying the best you can. Renesmee, everything will fall into place. Just wait and see."
"God, you're so optimistic. How?" I groaned, causing the both of us to chuckle.
"I'm really not...I just want to see you happy again."
"Thank you," I whispered. We both smiled at each other for a bit. I remember it being like this, me and Jake, before we moved here. It reminded me of old times.
"We could dance it out again, you know to break tension," Jacob teased. I rolled my eyes at him. "Aw come on. It could be fun."
"Fine," I gave in, increasing the volume on my ipod. I then take both of his hands in mine and move them around.
We then began to twirl each other around. I felt myself beginning to laugh as we danced. Jacob and I proceeded to do some weird dance moves around the kitchen. I don't think I laughed this hard in such a long time. He started doing the robot, I started doing the electric slide, and we both began to tango, even though we both had no clue what we were doing. It lead up to the point where my arms were wrapped around his neck and we were gently swaying to a slow song.
"What in god's name are you two doing?" Jacob and I both turn around to see Lizzy and Aidan, in the doorway, with Seth trailing behind them. The guys were chuckling while Lizzy looked at them with an amused expression.
"Just having a little fun. Shoo, go away Liz," I scolded, even though part of me was trying hard not to laugh. "All of you!"
"Whatever you say," Lizzy responded, heavy on the sarcasm in her tone as she began to walk away.
"God, I can't wait to tell Lily about this later, oh wait, already did. Twin telepathy, baby! Don't you just love odd romances?" Aidan mused, trailing right behind Lizzy. Meanwhile Seth still stayed in the doorway, grinning like a fool.
"We're never going to hear the end of this, are we?" Jacob asked, causing Seth to shrug.
"Who knows. Could make really good blackmail one day," He responded as Lizzy appeared and grabbed him by the ear.
"Don't you ever listen?" She questioned while she dragged him along, followed by a few 'Ow's'.
"So...I guess we should stop?" I questioned, looking at Jacob with uncertainty.
"I guess. Maybe it's for the best. We don't want to give the wrong impression out to people."
"Yeah. Right," I agreed, feeling my stomach form into nots. "I'll see ya then."
"See ya," Jacob responded as I then walked away, straight into my bedroom.
Why does this have to be so complicated?
*Masen's POV*
I groaned as I took a seat next to Ethan and Lily on the front steps. They were both looking through notes about the sacrifice or whatever it was. I, on the other hand, was waiting for my girlfriend to just call me back. It's been almost a few days since I talked to Grace and she's ignored me since then. It's driving me crazy, not talking to her. I miss her. A lot. Even if it's been a week, ever since she came into my life it's been like we're magnets. Where she moves, I move.
"Why did you two think it was a good idea to look at your notes here?" I questioned, looking around at the people walking on the side walk. It was freezing to the average human, so they must think we're crazy for hanging out here.
"Because, there's a lot more factors now. Things my parents don't need to know," Lily explained to me, flipping through the pages.
"What?"
"It's nothing. I'll tell you later," Lily muttered. She looked really into whatever she was reading. I turn to Ethan who shrugged.
"Can you tell me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because..."
"Because what?"
"Because I said so." Lily rolled her eyes. I frown as I begin to poke her.
"Come on. Tell me. I'm your best friend."
"Fine." Lily answered, clearly frustrated with me as she shut the book closed. "Gwen and Matthew might be connected to this. Ethan and I are trying to figure out what that is."
"Oh." I know how sensitive that topic is for Lily.
"I just want to know who are they," She confessed, shrugging it off.
I didn't know what to say so I went to touch her hand lightly. She gave me a small smile as she grabs it in her own. "You'll find something about them. Maybe this was a sign, to know who your biological parents are."
"You might be right." Lily responded. "I think I learned more about them in the span of these two weeks than I ever did."
"See, this could be oddly beneficial as well," I exclaimed, causing her to chuckle. Ethan smiled too as they began to look through their notes again. I would help them, but that's when I noticed the familiar figure walking towards me.
"Grace."
"Masen," the blonde beauty replied curtly. "We need to talk."
"We do," I agreed, causing Lily and Ethan to exchange looks. I turned back to face them, "Do you guys mind giving us a few minutes?"
"Yeah, sure. Why don't we move our research session to the study," Ethan suggested.
"Of course," Lily agreed, giving me a nod before walking into the house with him.
Grace then took a seat next to me and sighed, "Tonight, we're going to dinner to meet some very important people."
"Who? And why?" I questioned, raising an eye at her. "You clearly don't want me to meet anyone in your family."
"No. I want you to meet them, but you can't...Anyway, I just said my mother. Who said you can't meet the rest of my family," Grace told me softly. "There's someone I want you to meet, my aunt."
"Alright...When shall we go?" I asked curiously.
"Right now. Come on, we're going to Bayside," Grace responded, holding up two train tickets. Bayside was in Queens, not too far from the city, and it's pretty easy to get to by train.
"Alright. Let me just tell my family, and we're off," I said, walking into the house to gather some of my things and tell my parents of my whereabouts.
"So you two are making up?" Lily asked me before I left.
"I think so," I muttered, shrugging. "She's taking me to see her aunt."
"Mase, there's gotta be a reason for all of this. Remember that," Lily told me.
"You're probably right." I give her a small smile before joining my girlfriend outside.
The train rid their home wasn't awkward nor very long. Grace and I were both quiet though, the entire train ride we didn't open our mouths at all. For the most part we were both listening to music. It wasn't until our stop Grace finally spoke, "We're here."
I look out the window to see us now in the Queens neighborhood. I proceed to follow Grace out of the train and into the new area.
"I use to live here, before my dad disappeared. We had a house here," Grace mentioned to me as we walked down the sidewalk. "My aunt lives in it now, but this use to be my old stomping ground."
"You lived all over this city, haven't you?" I mused. She shrugged.
"I was born in Brooklyn, stayed in there until I was two, and then we came here. After the incident, we moved to Staten Island and then Manhattan. After we moved to Staten Island, there was a period when my mom was dealing with the loss of my dad...Her depression, she had a lot going on. I was only ten so I didn't understand all of it, but Robert remembered. He took care of me, but he was a kid too. He didn't know what he was doing, so then one day when my mom tried to kill herself my aunt stepped in and took care of Robert and I while my mom got the help she needed. I have a lot of respect for my aunt."
"Grace," her name came out like a whisper. I know how much this hurt her. "I-"
"You don't need to say anything. I know," Grace muttered, wiping a few stray tears. "Let's just go, okay."
I nod, agreeing, as I slowly go to take her hand in mine. I'm surprised she doesn't fight it and holds tightly to it.
We walk a few blocks until we come across a quaint little house. It was brick, two stories. It had a small backyard with a garage located in the back, separate from the house. I could tell someone was in there, working on a car or something. There was also a little girl in the driveway playing with chalk. When we approached the home, she looked right up at us. She had dirty blonde hair and grayish blue eyes, almost like Grace's. A wide smile graced her face as she got up.
"Gracie!" She exclaimed, launching herself at my girlfriend. She wrapped her little arms around her neck tightly.
"Hey, Lexie," Grace responded happily, hugging this little girl tightly. "How are you sweetie?"
"I'm great!" She responded enthusiastically as Grace adjusted Lexie on her hip. "Mommy and Daddy are letting me attend school now!"
"That's amazing!" Grace gushed, giving the little girl a squeeze.
"Who's this, Gracie?" the little girl, Lexie, asked as she stared at me curiously.
"This is my boyfriend, Masen," Grace informed her. The little girl immediately lit up noticing me.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Alexandra Williams, but I prefer Lexie. I'm Grace's cousin," Lexie told me proudly. I smiled, but watched closely as she then narrowed her eyes at me. "You aren't human, are you?"
"How does she-"
"It'll be explained. I promise." Grace chuckled, putting her little cousin down. "I should introduce you to my aunt and my uncle first. Then, I'll explain."
"Alright," I responded, following Grace and the little girl.
"Who's here, sweetie?" I heard a man's voice echo from the garage.
"Look, Daddy!" Lexie exclaimed, jumping into the man's arms. He was tall with salt and pepper hair. He had blue eyes, but there was something off about it...
"Hey! Uncle Zach!" Grace greeted him.
"Gracie girl, my favorite niece!" Zach greeted her, hugging her with his free side. "How are ya?"
"Good." Grace smiled. She then linked arms with me and brought my body closer. "Uncle Zach, this is my boyfriend, Masen."
"You're a vampire!" I exclaimed, finally realizing what he was.
"Don't need to yell it there, buddy," Zach muttered. "So um...He knows."
"Yeah. He's a lux lamia..." Grace mentioned. "A child of two vampires."
"Oh wow. I haven't heard of a lux lamia in such a long time-"
"Grace! Sweetheart, is that you?" a younger looking woman, maybe around her late twenties. She was petite, just like Elaine, but her hair was more of a golden brown. She had the same eyes as her sister, Grace, and Lexie. The amazing shade of blue that always seemed to change color.
"Aunt Ava!" Grace grinned, hugging the woman.
"It's so good to see you," Ava replied, squeezing tightly to my girlfriend. "And this must be Masen, I presume?"
"Yeah. This is my boyfriend, Masen," Grace announced proudly, taking my hand in hers again. "Mase, this is my Aunt Ava."
"Well, nice to finally meet you, Masen. Grace has told us so much about you," Grace's aunt said, giving me a gentle hug.
"Nice to meet you too," I replied as she pulled away. Her scent was just like Elaine's, but more profound...
"She's a-"
"Yes. She's a witch. A practicing one," Grace informed me quietly. "Married to my uncle, who's a vampire, and my little cousin, who's a hybrid. Just like Robert."
"Oh. Wow." I gaped, looking at them.
"How about we go inside. It might be for the best," Ava said, motioning towards their front door. "Dinner's ready anyway."
"Come on, let's go Masie and Gracie!" Lexie exclaimed, grabbing both of our hands and dragging us towards the house. We all laughed as we then entered the Williams house.
When we got in there, it was hard not to notice the magic. It was just like out of a Harry Potter book. Things flying all around and spell books lining up the shelfs in their home. To say I was impressed, well that would be an understatement. I was amazed. Truly amazed.
I also noticed all the family pictures lining up on the walls. There were pictures of Lexie when she was a baby, Ava and Zach, along with other various family photos of Grace, her brother, mother and other family members. There were even a few black and white photos of Zach and some people. They reminded me of some my elder vampire relatives own.
There was one picture which caught my eye right away though. Ava had her arms wrapped around Grace and another boy. Little Grace had to be about five. She was missing one of her front teeth. The boy, I knew right away he was Robert. A little younger looking than his mature self, but still recognizable. He was smiling too, flashing his pearly whites like his sister. He looked a lot like Elaine, but there was still the features of Marcus that were dominant. Yet, he looked nothing like a Volturi...
"Here we are," Ava announced, breaking my train of thought, as she set down three plates for Grace, herself, and Lexie.
"And here you go, Masen," Zach added, setting a cup of blood in front of me. The aroma hit my nose right away and I felt senses heighten. I hitched my breath, hoping the lust wouldn't consume me. My slow heart beat a little harder in my chest.
"What kind of blood is this?" I asked as he placed another glass in front of his daughter.
"Synthetic. Try it," Zach insisted.
"Synthetic?"
"Yeah, Ava can conjure up an amazing blood substitute. You'll like it, tastes better than any blood you could ever drink," Zach told me.
I felt hesitant as I brought the cup to my lips. I felt the warm liquid slide down my throat and immediately feel my lust calm down. The taste was unbelievable, better than any animal I've drank from.
"It controls blood lust too, so you won't feel it at all around people," Ava explained to me as I placed the cup down. "It helps Zach and Lexie live normal lives, even though Lexie's lust for blood isn't very intense, it controls it. I've also learned ways to make vampire food using the synthetic blood-"
"Vampire food?" I questioned slowly.
"Like in cakes or other forms of human looking food. It makes it easy for social situations," Zach explained to me.
"How?"
"My magic," Ava responded simply and quite proudly. "We want a normal life for each other. So I experimented a little, and found a way for us to live amongst humans...I wish it was enough to convince my sister not all vampires are bad...But, sadly, that's her opinion."
"And it always will be," Grace muttered, causing a small silence amongst us.
"So, she knows about you and Zach?" I asked Ava curiously. "Elaine?"
"Yes. My sister, she knows of Zach and I...She hasn't talked to me in years...Probably since Lexie was born. That's almost six years ago..."
"But why? This still doesn't make sense to me," I confessed, looking around the room. I was pretty confused. "Her son, he was half vampire. She's a witch. She...I just don't-"
"We don't know either kid, but I mean she's had a bad experience with vampires. I don't blame her for being scared," Zach mentioned, taking a sip of blood from the 'world's best dad' mug.
"My sister was raped by one and our father was murdered by one. She sees them all as evil, and I did too for a long time," Ava explained. "But, after I met Zach and his family, I learned there's more to vampires than one thinks. Not every vampire is evil, and I'm sure your family proves that stereotype wrong as well."
"Yes. My family and I drink animal blood. We try to live amongst humans as well, live normal lives," I confirmed.
"Well, my sister doesn't understand that. She doesn't want to give Zach a chance. She thinks all vampires are monsters, yet witches and werewolves and all supernatural creatures are the same. Yes, vampires are bloodthirsty, but witches have been notorious as well. The bad witches have caused mayhem in history, killed innocents, and made lives terrible. I'm sure many of the tales you've heard about witches are true. There are good and bad witches, just like vampires," Ava preached, placing a scoop of mashed potatoes on a plate for Grace and her daughter.
"That's a really good view on it," I told her truthfully. Ava gave me a small warm smile. "My mother had a similar view too, about my father. My mom was human when she met my dad and I guess you can figure it out from there..."
"I know about your family. The Cullen coven is quite known, plus Grace here has been telling me about you," Ava explained, giving me a grin.
"I tell her all the things I wish to tell my mother, but can't or she'd skin you alive," Grace whispered to me, slightly blushing. I chuckle nervously as I turn to Ava and Zach. "Plus I visit them monthly. When I was old enough I started to come back here."
"I think I speak for everyone, when I say, don't you dare hurt her or we'll kick your ass," Zach threatened. I gulped, turning to Grace who just laughed.
"So...How did you two meet? A witch and a vampire?" I asked curiously, trying to continue the dinner conversation.
"Oh us. Well, it's a sweet story," Ava gushed, reaching out for Zach's hand. He smiled, holding tightly to hers.
"We first met in college in Boston. She was in medical school, trying to become a doctor. I was going through my second run of college and was thinking about becoming a lawyer. We met at a party..."
"I knew he was a vampire and told him to leave me alone. I thought he'd hurt me, but after awhile we just slowly became friends. In fact, I saved his butt from some vampire trying to hurt him. Since then, we've been in love," Ava explained, sighing happily. "Elaine and my mother didn't know about him until our marriage...First my mom cut contact with me and then my sister...It's been hard."
"We became each other's family. One of my brothers and his human fiancé were murdered while my youngest brother cut contact with me after the murder. It's been hard for all of us, but life turned out good for us. Ava's an amazing doctor, I'm a lawyer, and we have a wonderful little girl and another one on the way-"
"You're pregnant!?" Grace cried out excitedly. "When are you due!?"
"I'm only a month pregnant, but oh, we were going to wait to tell you but I this whole process is going to go by so quick," Ava rambled.
"I'm gonna be a big sister, to a baby brother!" Lexie cheered.
"Yes. You are, and you'll be the best big sister ever," Zach praised, stroking the top of his daughter's head.
"You already know it's a boy?" Grace asked curiously. "Did you look into the future?"
"Just a bit. Not much, we just wanted to make sure the baby would be healthy, which he will be," Ava explained nonchalantly.
"See the future? Like Alice?" I asked incredulously. "You're physic?"
I watched as Ava, Grace, Zach, and Lexie suppressed their laughter. "Not exactly. An old spell. You know how you see in those T.V shows, how the witches have those caldrons, it's something like that. You'd be surprised what magic you can do with water," Ava explained to me, chuckling. "I mean look at Lux Lamia. Your entire species was conceived from light energy."
"Aunt Ava taught Robert and I a lot of what we know about magic. My mom taught very little. My grandmother tried, but I haven't talked to her in years. The only reason I know so much is from the books I snuck past my mother and Aunt Ava and Uncle Zach," Grace confessed, giving her aunt a small smile.
After that, we talked for another hour. It was mostly about normal stuff. It was great though getting to know Grace's family. Lexie was adorable, she reminded me of my sisters when they were kids, Zach was pretty awesome, and Ava was sweet.
"Say goodnight, Lex," Zach said, hoisting the little girl on his hip. She was in a pair of disney pajamas and her hair was in two little braids.
"Night Gracie! Night Masie! Come again soon," Lexie told us, yawning wide.
"Night sweet girl," Grace said, kissing her cheek. "Night Uncle Zach. See you guys soon."
"See ya guys. Get home safe, call us when you get home!" Zach told us one last time before carrying a sleepy Lexie upstairs.
Ava smiled at us as she walked us out, "I hope you guys come again soon!"
"I hope so too," Grace said, giving her aunt a huge hug.
"Now take care. Call me if you need anything, I'll always be there for you," Ava muttered to her niece.
"I know. Thank you so much, for everything," Grace replied as they pulled apart. Ava then gave me a hug before sending us off to say goodbye.
The walk to the train station was quiet, and it wasn't until we got on the train when I could smell the salty tears forming in Grace's eyes. "Now, do you understand why I can't show you to my mom...Even though I want to more than anything. She even broke contact with her only sister...I don't want to loose contact with my mom, and they're the only family who'd accept you...I just don't want to loose you or my mother. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm not sorry for the things I've done." Grace began to cry, trying to stop her tears, but couldn't help but let them cascade down her cheeks.
"Shhh. No, Grace. I'm sorry," I muttered, cupping her cheek. "Thank you for showing me your family."
"Good because I'm happy I did...I just wish my mom would just stop. For my sake." Grace sniffled, wiping the tears away from her swollen eyes. "I'm tired of letting this drag on. I'm just so tired..."
"I know," I muttered, wiping a tear from her eye. She then proceeded to burry her face into my chest. I then wrap my arms as tight as I can around her.
"You're my family now. I still have what's left of my family, but you and the rest of yours is mine now...I don't ever want to loose you guys. I've lost so much already," Grace whispered.
"And you won't. I promise," I muttered into her hair. "I love you, to the moon and back."
Grace gently lifted her head up and smiled. I brushed some hair out of her face as she then leaned forward to give me a soft kiss on the lips. I joined in, our warms lips pressing together. For the rest of the train ride, we held on to each other tightly. It was then I decided I wasn't ever going to let go of her, ever again.
A/N: Hey guys! Long time no updates. Well...My life is so stressful right now it isn't even funny. I've got a lot going on, and hopefully when that all passes I can update a little more because i'd like to finish this story. I'm so close too. I think there's like only ten more chapters left? Maybe even a lot less. I know the beginning doesn't seem that important, at all, but you'll see. A lot is going to be happening the next couple of chapters so get ready ;) Anyway, I hope you all liked it and be on the look out for the next update! :D