The Jaguar Versus the Wolf
Chapter 16 - The Lecture to End All Lectures
Orbiting Satellites Book Two, Chapter 16 - Driving and Dating companion
I was reading one of the books in Carlisle and Esme's library when Renesmee came in. "Where's your bodyguard?" I expected the dog to be following her, but I didn't see him, didn't even smell him anywhere in the house.
"He's in the garage with my Aunt. They should be occupied for some time. That's why I came here now; I wanted to speak with you alone."
"Gladly." I said, throwing down the book. This was the first time she had sought me out. Normally it was me trying to weasel my way into her life. "What is it you wanted my dear?"
Judging by her reaction, my calling her something other than her name did not go over as well as I hoped.
"Err… I wanted to talk to you about us."
Oh, so maybe I was not so far off the mark as I had just thought. But I didn't want to jump to conclusions like last year in the woods. "What about us?"
"Well… I've been speaking to my father about the possibility of us dating."
"You have?" I didn't mean to interrupt, but the fact that she actually talked to Edward about this was amazing progress.
"Actually… no." Her face, that just a moment ago held a cautious smile, now showed… sadness, I think. "In all honesty he was the one who brought the idea up with me." Oh, that's not good. "He…" she paused, "rather reluctantly," she whispered, under her breath, before returning to a more normal tone of voice, "came to me the other day, wanting to speak about my…" she hesitated again, "you know my… my deadline." This was clearly a struggle for her to talk about. Not wanting to interrupt her again, I let her continue, but despite her discomfort, her words were making me very happy at the possibilities they might hold. "He heard me thinking about how much I was looking forward to having a child, that's why he thought he needed to talk to me. I want to make this next part very clear Nahuel." She took a deep breath, before continuing. "I don't believe I'm ready to become someone's mate, but I need to start somewhere. And that somewhere is dating... You," she added as if it wasn't already clear.
"I thought that what we had been doing already was perfectly acceptable," she continued. "Hanging around the house, reading books together, watching movies, playing chess; but my father seems to think that we need more one-on-one alone time to really get to know each other first. He suggested we start dating."
"Yes!" I readily agreed, trying not to shout. But there was one thing we needed to talk about first. "About your wolf…" I began to ask her. There was no point in us dating if he was only going to interfere; prevent us from growing closer.
"I'll make sure he keeps his distance," she assured me, already understanding where I was going with my question.
"Wonderful I can be ready in twenty seconds. Where would you like to go on our first date?"
"Actually I think I'm going to need some time first to prepare," she backtracked, the shock outweighing the calm façade she was trying to project.
"Of course." I'd seen on television how woman prefer to get dressed up when they go out on a date. "Would tonight work better for you?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of a few weeks from now. Or maybe even a month. Even if I talk to Jacob this moment he is still going to need some time. It's going to be a big shock to him and I'm not sure how he's going to take the news. I think if you're going to have any chance surviving the evening he's going to need some time to cool down first."
A month? I'd waited over one hundred and fifty years for Renesmee. One month I was nothing and it gave me time to plan the perfect date. Even as she continued to rattle off reasons why a month was a justifiable amount of time to wait, none of which concerned me, I began picturing the two of us together; wrapped in each other's arms, her soft hair cascading over her shoulders, the feel of her eyelashes on my cheek as I kissed her, the touch of her warm body underneath mine. Then I began thinking of the taste of her lips, her skin, her blood... NO! As soon as that thought entered my mind I banished it. I hadn't thought about drinking blood for months. Now I had as soon as the possibility of being with Renesmee was made real.
Bosta!
Perhaps this month would be good for me as well. I would need that time to prepare myself, regain the control I thought I already had.
Perhaps if I gorged myself on human food that would be enough to drive away any lingering desire for her blood on its own.
"Bella, there you are. Everyone else is either at school or hunting. I need your help. Since your husband doesn't want me running all around the state I was wondering if you could give me a ride into town. I need to pick up a few things,"
"Didn't Jasper just drive you to the store yesterday?"
"Yes, I'd run out of chips." They'd rapidly become one of my new favorite foods, especially the sour cream kind. It's a good thing I was a hybrid, because I'd been trying to eat two, sometimes three bags a day. If I were human, would probably either gain a few hundred pounds, or develop diabetes, or a heart condition quickly.
"You're out again?" She looked at me in disbelief.
"No," I assured her. I'd stocked up so there would be no possibility of running out, and being hungry, for anything, until Esme or Bella went food shopping again.
It was wonderful being here in New Hampshire. Mostly because of Renesmee. With our first date finally scheduled things were rapidly improving on that front. And the Cullens were hospitable enough, but I missed my Aunt and my home. Bringing a little of home here might go a long way to making me feel better. "I was hoping you could take me to a flower store."
"I thought your date wasn't for another few weeks?" Despair started to set in at the thought that she was going to turn down my request, but as she talked she grabbed her car keys.
While she drove I let her in on my plans, but when we got to the store I discovered that they did not carry the types of plants I was looking for. No one in the state did.
"Don't worry, everything is available online." Bella seemed to understand how important this was for me and once we returned home she was able to order me seeds so I could grow the plants myself.
"Nahuel you got some mail," Esme said to me a week later as she, Carlisle, and Edward returned from their hunting trip. I was in the kitchen, devouring a blueberry pie.
The envelope contained the seeds I ordered but my excitement quickly dwindled when I read the accompanying paperwork and learned that they were unlikely to grow in a north-eastern climate.
"Not to worry, Nahuel," she said. "I'm sure we can find a way to work around that. What about a green house? We could build one in the backyard."
"That's very kind, but I don't think so."
"Nahuel feels that it would negate his idea if he had to go to another building to be surrounded by the flowers," Edward explained.
"Perhaps we could turn one of the rooms here into a greenhouse for you. Would that work?" Carlisle asked.
That seemed like a wonderful idea and we quickly came up with a list of supplies that would be needed to turn the mostly unused dining room into a sunroom.
"Most of these things can be ordered fairly easily online, but we should buy some of the supplies in town, so the neighbors don't get suspicious about us," Esme said.
"Excellent. If someone can give me a ride I can pick these up tomorrow."
"Nahuel, I think it's time you learned to drive," Edward then said to me.
Drive? No, I couldn't. I didn't like technology. It reminded me too much of my father. And I tried to avoid anything that had to do with him. It was already hard enough for me to ride in cars when I needed to, driving would just be beyond anything that I would be capable of handling.
"Nessie wants to learn. The two of you could take driving lessons together," he said.
Of course he knew my weakness when it came to his daughter, but I still didn't think it would be enough to make me want to…
"If you learned, then you could drive her on your date in a couple of weeks."
"Fine," I said, trying to not sound too eager.
My date with Renesmee was in a few minutes. Tonight I would finally solidify my relationship with her and make Renesmee my mate. I was currently standing in her living room waiting for her to be ready. While she had told me that it was her father's idea that we start dating, now that it was here he didn't seem happy, actually he seemed almost angry. And Bella looked sad.
"Nahuel, are you familiar with the term courting?" he asked me.
"Huh?"
"How about namoro? The strictest translation."
Oh. My heart sank. If I understood Edward correctly, that meant that I would not be mating with his daughter; at least not tonight. He growled. Or any time soon apparently.
"You are correct," he told me. "Nessie is to remain untouched; until SHE decides that SHE is ready to advance her relationship with you. While you are cognizant of her reproductive deadline, it by no means, justifies rushing things between the two of you. It may happen in a month, a year, or a decade; or it may not happen ever."
"But I thought…"
"You will NOT mate with my daughter," Edward stressed, raising his voice, but keeping it from becoming a yell. "Also, unless you want me to sick Rosalie on you, you will not kiss, hug, snuggle, caress, fondle, or even hold her hand, unless SHE initiates it. Do I make myself clear?"
"It seems like I don't have any other choice."
"Is that all that you were looking for here? To father a child?" Edward seethed. Hearing her husband say that, Bella started growling at me as well. "My daughter means nothing to you, other than a receptacle to -"
"No, of course not," I cut him off. "Renesmee is amazing." I quickly added. "Yes, I want to have a child, so of course her deadline is on my mind, but if that doesn't happen then…"
Before I could finish my statement Renesmee came out of her room.
"Renesmee, we would like to have a word with you before you leave with Nahuel tonight," Edward called to his daughter. "Um, Renesmee you remember what we talked about before?" Judging by his expression I guessed he already gave her the same no mating lecture.
"Yes of course, dad."
"Alright then, you two go and have fun tonight and we will see you when you get back," he simply said, while Bella hugged her daughter. I thought they were going to say something else, or threaten me again, but neither of them said another word to me. So before they started up again I led Renesmee to Bella's car. She'd mentioned earlier that we could take it since she never used it anyway. I still didn't like driving, even worse since Edward forced me to be taught by the dog, which had only been made bearable by the fact that Renesmee was in the car as well. He wasn't a bad teacher; I just didn't want to be near him if I didn't need to be. And we weren't even going far, seventeen miles, easily run-able, but the Cullens stressed maintaining a human façade so I drove.
Emmett gave me the idea to go to a Christmas Tree farm. When he suggested it I thought it was a wonderful idea. There was nature, the night sky, other couples walking around, twinkling lights, a romantic festive atmosphere... But our first date wasn't going as well as I had hoped.
I wasn't sure what the problem was. Renesmee definitely seemed a bit hesitant as we wandered through the trees. Only a few of them, every now and then, were lit up, probably so the humans wouldn't stumble into one another with their weak eyesight. I thought they added to the romantic atmosphere.
Could whatever the problem was be me?
I'd been thinking of Edward's words the entire night and his warning to not attempt anything with his daughter, so I don't see how I could have made her uncomfortable. I hadn't laid a hand on her. And yet she was growing more uncomfortable by the minute. Maybe that was it. Maybe she wanted me to touch her… to make the first move. Fearing getting my arm ripped off I instead tried talking.
"It doesn't seem like you are enjoying yourself. Would you prefer to end the evening?" I don't think either one of us could take the tension any longer.
She only nodded.
"Okay," I sadly replied, turning us around, back in the direction of the car. Before I returned her to her parents I decided to ask Renesmee where she wanted to go for our second date… if she wanted one. Perhaps the outdoors was not something she enjoyed, so I suggested a more human activity, seeing as how her family liked to pretend to live as they did. While I didn't know much of North American culture, the television was incredibly helpful and I learned that watching a movie and eating dinner at a fancy restaurant together was a typical first date. Since our actual first day was such a disaster I thought it might be fine for a second date as well, or even a do-over of our first.
"No! Absolutely not," she practically yelled, seemingly shocked at the very idea. "The outdoors is much more appropriate," she told me after she calmed down. It was then that I remembered how much she despised human food. It was funny, she had acclimated herself so well to human life, it slipped my mind that that was one of the things that she did not care for. I use to share her despise of human food, only finding it tolerable when needed, but she seemed against the idea of going to see a moving picture as well. "How about we start off on something simple, I like the idea of having dinner together, but let's do it outside," she suggested. "There's a forest, not too far from here, I can feed and we can bring a picnic basket for you."
"It's a date," I happily replied, and we set up a time to meet the day after next, at 5pm.
When we returned to Renesmee's house Emmett and Rosalie where there to greet us. Or not. Rosalie couldn't stop laughing and Emmett just shrugged his shoulders. After Renesmee went to her room he mumbled something like "You're not the one that has to live with Rose." Apparently it was supposed to be his version of an apology. I still didn't understand but didn't think I would be taking either one of their advice again.
Our second date went much better. Renesmee seemed to have a wonderful time.
As the weeks went on things began to get better and better. We took some strolls, went stargazing and sightseeing (outdoors only, at her request), raced through the mountains, even had a picnic where she ate human food too. I learned that Renesmee had an affinity for eating a variety of fruits, if nothing else.
All this time, I hadn't tried to kiss her. It was hard but Edward was always giving me these looks when we would leave, tapping his forehead, reminding me that he would know if I tried anything.
I'd have to wait for her to make the first move. She seemed so strong and independent. She knew her deadline as well as I did. Surely if she wanted to kiss me then nothing was going to stop her, she just wasn't ready yet. We had time, not a lot, but I could give her a little.
The next night we had another date planned, another picnic. Everything was going well until I heard something in the bushes. Anyone else would have thought it was just an animal, but most animals were smart. They knew Vampires were dangerous and keep their distance. Dogs on the other hand were apparently incredibly stupid. I grabbed the first thing I saw and threw with all my might. The whimper I heard a second later let me know I hit my mark. Good, I growled. I wasn't sure I was going to, only having a faint idea of where he was.
"Nahuel, it is okay, it's just Jacob," Renesmee said. She must not have realized I already knew that. But how had she? I was about to ask but she dashed over to him before I could. "Jacob, are you hurt very badly?"
"I'll be fine, honey."
They both knew? Had they planned him coming along? "What is your wolf doing here?"
"Nahuel, you know Jacob is my protector, of course he's here. He's always with me. You know that. Did you really expect him to be sitting at home waiting for us to return?" she acted as if it was obvious.
It then dawned on me that he must have tagged along on all of our dates. That must have been why she insisted they all be outdoors. "Yes, I'm well aware of his duties, but I was expecting you to call him off during our private time together. Can't you give him the night off or something?"
"I'll go wherever I want!" he growled.
"Nahuel, that's not how it works. Jacob's here to protect me," Renesmee said.
"I see. And he feels like he needs to protect you from me." She didn't trust me. Or was it him who didn't think I could control myself around her?
He would keep his distance, that's what she had promised me a month ago. I thought that meant we would be alone on our dates. Not that he would be lurking a few meters away.
"No, I'm sure that's not it," she said. "He trusts you, I know he does, I even heard him tell Aunt Rose how much you have changed and there was no need to worry. But there are other dangers out here, and Jacob would never take my safety for granted."
"In that case, may I suggest a compromise," I suggested if only to test that belief. "I believe that I'm more than capable of protecting Renesmee as well as you. Jacob, you should of course continue to watch over her while she is attending school and during her hunting trips. But I would request that you let me oversee her care during our dates. I'm sure the two of us would be more than capable of handling anything we would come across out here. And I believe Renesmee carries a phone that she can call you if we happen to run into an army of rogue Vampires out roaming around the New Hampshire wilderness."
"Jacob, please," Renesmee said to her dog. I didn't see why she pretended to be so nice to him. Couldn't she just order him to go away? He seemed to do everything else she told him to do.
"Fine, but if I see anything damaged on her, I'll do the same to you. Splinter, skinned knee, broken arm, or worse, you get the same... understand?" Was he really trying to threaten me? Pathetic. I agreed but only to end this ridiculous discussion.
It started raining and the car was parked more than a mile away.
We ran and made it before getting completely soaked. As much as I hated the idea of the dog riding with us, Renesmee would have never forgiven me if I made him run home, so the three of us drove together, like one weird dysfunctional family.
During the ride I realized that if we were going to become mates there could be no lies, no secrets between us. I had to tell her about my past. I had alluded to it last year, but hadn't gone into great detail. I would need to, if only to clear my conscience. And to let her know of the risk she might be taking being with me.
My self control was only iffy, at best, when I got really into carnal activities. Staying in control – without feeding and breaking whoever I was with had never been tested. Now that I'd made the decision to commit to Renesmee, having sex with a random stranger, to assure myself and test my control seemed wrong somehow.
"So every time you would feed it would be while you were with someone?" she asked me after I was done telling my tale the next evening.
"Yes," I confirmed. "It's not uncommon for our kind, and it would ensure that there would be no progeny from my conquests." I thought my logic was sound but she looked horrified.
"Three women a month on average, twelve months a year, one hundred and fifty years, that's roughly… five thousand four hundred women you've slept with. And killed," she added with a gulp. "And you want me to be number five thousand four hundred and one."
"No Renesmee, it's not like that. I genuinely care for you. I want to be with you and only you from now on."
"I… I need some time to think," she said.
Those were the last words she spoke to me for an entire month. A month! She had left me stewing all that time, without a word, a smile, or even a look, while she decided if she could move forward with me… us.
Finally when I was about to pull my hair out Bella came and found me in the forest to tell me that her daughter wanted to talk to me. "She's waiting for you in the greenhouse."
I ran as fast as I could, not knowing if when I got there I would be continuing our romance, or rejected and sent packing once again.
"Renesmee?" I hesitantly called, as I walked into the former dining room turned green house.
She had her back to me, but when she turned around she returned her own hesitant smile.
I wasn't being sent packing like I'd feared!
But we were also not going to pick up where we left off, not that our relationship had advanced very far… or at all, but she insisted we start over. A clean slate, she said. No new dates had been scheduled but I was hopeful. She had already beaten me twice this afternoon, and as far as I could tell was about to capture my Queen.
"So there's this show I heard about," Renesmee mentioned the following day as we played a game of chess. "Its next week and I wanted to go to it and thought you might like to come with me."
She was asking me out? Wonderful. No matter the type of music I wouldn't say no.
"I'd love to. Who are we seeing?"
"It's not that type of show. It's an Engineering Lecture on Yielding and Plasticity. It's being given at MIT in Cambridge, they are opening it up to the public. Jake's going with me, but I thought you might like to come too."
"Great, looking forward to it," I lied through my teeth, trying my best to hide my disappointment.
Once we were there I wished I hadn't. It was the most boring thing I'd ever experienced in my entire extra long life. I know English wasn't my first language, but I didn't think they were even speaking that. Yet the dog seemed to be following along well enough. That annoyed me more than anything. And he seemed to enjoy every huff I made as he smugly took his notes.
Hopefully this was the last of these events that I would have to attend. I looked forward to the day when Renesmee and I were mated and living back home in the jungle.
"Would you like to take a run with me after this?" I asked her a little more than an hour into the lecture.
"Huh? Oh, sure," she said. But I wasn't sure she really heard me.
"There's this place I spotted on our drive down here that looked like it might offer some tempting hunting grounds."
"Oh… are you hungry?" she then turned to ask me, looking confused.
"No, but I thought you might like it."
She took a few seconds to answer, too caught up in the speaker's ramblings. "I went hunting with Jake a few days ago. I'm fine."
"Then we could just enjoy the view."
Again there was another long pause before she answered. "Um… I don't know. It'll probably be pretty late by the time the lecture is over and it will take us a while to drive home."
Humph! I snorted at the same time that the dog started snickering. That got Renesmee upset and silenced the both of us with a quick "Shh!"
"Sorry," the dog apologized, as he went back to taking notes. Pathetic. I might not have a clue what the speaker was talking about, but I could at least recite everything, just as well as Renesmee, word for word once the lecture was done. Or I would, if I was paying better attention.
Over the next hour I entertained myself by imagining what the humans in the lecture hall would look like as Vampires. Some, the prettier ones, it was not that hard – a straighter nose, tighter jawline, muscle where fat currently resided, smoother, blemish free skin, these were easy to picture. But the majority of individuals were harder to imagine. Some were so hopelessly flawed and disfigured I didn't see how they could ever be made to come close to the exquisite beauty of a Vampire. "Eck!"
"What's wrong?" Renesmee asked me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say anything out loud." I then went on to quickly explain to her what I had been doing.
"Why don't you try paying attention to the speakers instead? It's fascinating." She seemed excited and annoyed at the same time.
"This isn't exactly my kind of fun," I truthfully replied.
"I thought you stopped your kind of fun," she snapped, misreading what I was referring to.
"That's not what I…" the glare she gave me got me to shut up. I would explain later, once we were alone, when I had her undivided attention… and she had calmed down. One thing I had learned over the decades living with my aunt was that there was no point arguing with a woman when she was angry. Nothing I said was going to change her mind at the moment. And I would just push myself further away from her.
Renesmee had insisted. That was the only reason I was here. After the disastrous lecture, and I had explained that I was just bored, she thought that if we were going to have any chance at being together I needed to better understand her world and apparently that included attending university with her. Not full time, I wasn't enrolling or anything; I was just accompanying her for the day. She probably thought I would fall in love with the place as much as she had and would want to come with her from now on. But everything I saw just made me want to turn and head for the hills. Or the forest, in my case. But I couldn't even do that. The Cullens were against running anywhere in public and her dog had driven us. It was just the one class, and Renesmee assured me it would be over in an hour and a half, then we could leave straight after.
As we walked from the parking lot to the building I smelled something familiar. Just a faint whiff. But it couldn't be her. Not here. It must have been someone's perfume, or shampoo, or something that gave off the same fragrance.
Taking my hand in hers, Renesmee asked me with her gift, Are you alright? It was so strange. I could feel along with the words that there was more to her question. She was also asking me if I was having a problem being around so many human's blood and if I was going to have a problem being here.
I reassured her that I was fine, but then a second later I smelt it again. Again it was very faint. If I hadn't been concentrating I would have missed it.
I still wasn't sure if it was her or not. The hallway was filled with too many scents from the hundreds of students and their professors.
Renesmee led me into her classroom, but instead of the scent getting stronger like I had hoped, it completely disappeared. If it was her, she had not come in here. There was only one window in the room. She might be nearby… watching, waiting. I peered through it for the remainder of the class while tasting the air as each new student arrived, hoping she had touched one of them, depositing her scent, and confirming she was here. Renesmee would probably me mad that I hadn't paid attention to what she was studying but this was important. Deadly important.
When the class was over, and I never saw or smelt any other signs of her, I relaxed. My original assumption must have been correct. It was just a coincidence, a combination of several students' fragrances that mimicked hers. If she had really been here she would have found me.
A.N. longest chapter... so far. It was a big one for Nahuel. He and Nessie are dating. What do you think? If you read Sunrise or Orbiting Satellites - Book 2 you know how upsetting this is to Jake. But what do you think, seeing everything from Nahuels point of view? Is anyone starting to like him a little bit?
I know not a huge amount of people are reading this, and no one has commented yet, but I've decided that i'm not posting another chapter until I get at least two reviews.
Please, Please, Please
Also the next chapter covers Nahuel and Nessie's first Valentine's Day together (and it wasn't covered in the other versions so it's your only chance to read what happened.)
