My morning classes went well and I discovered Selena had English with me for our second class of the day. We sat together and she pulled out a frayed copy of Wuthering Heights with almost identical highlights to mine. We formed a mutual respect for one another's literary taste when I flashed my copy of Little Women at her. The professor, a pudgy man in his late fifties, gave us some free time to read near the end of class and I relished in the comfortable silence while lazily rereading Laurie's treachery.

I'd read the classic over twenty times easily, though for the first fifteen or so I only made it to Laurie and Amy's engagement. I couldn't bring myself to read any further and, although I'm sure Alcott could care less, it became a form of protest for me. My mother finally nudged me to at least glance at the ending this past summer and once I read a sentence or two beyond my usual stopping point, I was hooked and quickly devoured the rest.

Another perk of bonding with Selena was her free pass to leave classes five minutes early, which she eagerly shared. Mr. Brennan gave me a look as I stood with her, but Selena smiled at him and explained that she wasn't sure she could carry her backpack and hoped he'd let me take it. He didn't bat an eye as I grabbed her backpack dutifully and hurried out the door.

Since we left early, we colonized the usual lunch table first after buying our lunches. I recalled the make-out session I walked up on yesterday and Selena rolled her eyes.

"I swear, they're like freaking bunnies. I ought to kill Gwen for publicly mauling my brother all the time." I laughed at her serious tone and she broke into a grin.

"He doesn't seem to mind."

"Yeah, that's part of the problem. My poor mother almost had a coronary when she caught them in the kitchen last night."

"Hey!" Will called out from behind us. I swiveled to see him smiling with an adorable blush dawning his face.

"It's not my fault Mom is practically Victorian." He grumbled as he pulled out a chair next to Selena and plopped down, kissing her forehead. I could certainly sympathize with old-fashioned parents. My father's angry face from this morning flashed behind my eyelids.

"Yeah, my Dad acts the same way around Jacob."

Will chuckled. "I'm sure he does. You're attached at the hip." I scowled and prepared to defend myself, but I really had no argument. We were attached at the hip. Selena grabbed my shoulder in excitement.

"Who's Jacob?" She wiggled her eyebrows and I giggled, explaining how he was my best friend.

"Picture." She demanded simply and I whipped out my phone to find one. I had a few photos of my family saved and a bunch of Jake and I intermingled with dozens of selfies from Seth. I made a mental note to clean out some of them since I had a whopping 2,287 photos and the majority were blurry shots of Seth Clearwater being a complete goofball.

I passed her my phone when I found a particularly good-looking shot of Jake. It was silly really to be scrolling through; the guy couldn't take a bad photo if he tried. She greedily accepted and practically swooned at his picture.

"Oh my god, he's hot! You guys would make some gorgeous babies." Will groaned and it masked my sputtering.

Gwen walked up, kissing Will chastely, and I was surprised when she slid into the seat next to me. She had the same knowing smile from last night.

"Jacob?" Selena nodded vigorously and Gwen laughed. "Yeah, he is. Ness has got her hands full."

Will let out an indignant noise at the same time I did and Gwen whispered "Excuse me," moving over to 'maul' him as Selena aptly described. She shifted back to her seat after about a minute and Will looked like he couldn't remember his name anymore, let alone Jacob's.

"Better?" Gwen asked coyly and Selena gagged.

Will hummed in response, clearly dazed. "Hmm? Uh, yeah, you're forgiven." He slowly recovered and muttered, "I should get pissed more often."

Danny and Derek joined us then and Danny blew a kiss to Gwen, "That was hot." I guess she kicked him under the table because he yelped and temporarily shut up.

"So does Alex just not come to lunch anymore?" Will asked, apparently regaining his mental faculties.

Selena giggled and gave him a devious smirk. "Oh, he has lunch detention." Will raised an eyebrow and she laughed harder.

"He was pissed with me and he got a little too fresh for my liking."

Gwen was laughing too. "Wish I could've seen that, what were you fighting about?"

Selena gave an innocent shrug, "Carter." Will let out a string of expletives and I was shocked by his visceral anger.

Danny jumped in. "You're still seeing that douche bag?"

Selena winced and became defensive. "Maybe, it's no one's damn business."

"Bullshit." Will growled, surprising me again. I knew how much he loved his sister, so I was inclined to automatically condemn this 'Carter', but I didn't want to take sides.

Gwen was silent but her expression read that she disapproved too and that spoke volumes to me. Selena sighed and ran a hand through her hair before Will started up again.

"So you got him lunch detention for wanting to protect you?"

Selena shot up in anger, "It's not his job to protect me. Or anyone else's for that matter." Will just scoffed and she hobbled toward the exit of the cafeteria.

Gwen gave Will a fierce look. "Go make-up with her right now."

"But she-" Will sputtered angrily.

"Will. Go make-up with your sister." She spoke the words slower and more firmly. Will stared at her for another second before groaning and heading after Selena.

Gwen quickly changed the subject and asked Derek, who was silent throughout the entire encounter, how his morning was. I finished my lunch as everyone seemed to settle, but Will and Selena didn't come back.

I walked with Danny to art again and Mr. Bates spent most of the period lecturing on art history. I really tried to pay attention, but my mind kept drifting. I was worried about Selena and this 'Carter' guy, whether that was called for or not and Will certainly seemed to think it was. I had only met her this morning, so it wasn't really my place to be concerned and she obviously rejected anyone's concern on the matter but it didn't ease the knot in the pit of my stomach. I also felt a little bad for Alex, which surprised me. I wasn't going to judge how justified Selena's anger was, but I couldn't blame Alex for being protective of his best friend's sister. If I was being completely honest with myself, I found it attractive. He reminded me a little of Uncle Emmett in that way and I found Alex endearing for a change.

I remember the first time I saw his temper really blaze in defense of Aunt Rose. She brought me to a shopping mall in Port Angeles about two years ago, the only human venue I was allowed in at the time. We were just walking around talking and we passed Victoria's Secret. She practically forced me to go in and look at bras. At that point, there were largely unnecessary (the same couldn't be said today), but she compelled me to look around and just have fun. We were browsing for maybe a minute and a half before some human male around forty started flirting with her.

He wasn't subtle in the slightest and neither was Aunt Rose, clearly brushing off his advances. He became exceptionally bold and actually grabbed her butt. I was completely frozen, never having experienced such revulsion in my life and my stomach churned when Aunt Rose froze too. She could have thrown him across the room if she had her wits about her, but it was like she shut down, her eyes glazing over. I hissed at him, horrified by his intimidation of the strongest woman I knew, and he barely gave me a second glance, continuing to paw at her.

Alice must have had a vision because Uncle Emmett stormed in a moment later and he looked murderous as he wrenched the man's wrist back. I heard a snap and shuddered, but I couldn't summon any sympathy for the vile creature.

He didn't give the man a second glance as he wrapped his arms around Rosalie, murmuring in her ear. "I've got you baby. I'm right here, I love you. I love you my angel." His soft words seemed to thaw her and she reanimated, clutching back at him. She buried her face in his chest and drew in jagged breaths. He just rubbed her back and kissed her forehead repeatedly, ignoring the man's wails.

My father and Carlisle showed up shortly after and resolved the issue. The man had the audacity to report Emmett to mall security and rant about how he was suing. I don't know what my father said to him, but he paled and shut his mouth quickly, abandoning that agenda. Aunt Rose remained a permanent fixture in Emmett's arms for the rest of the night, her tight grip on him never wavering.

I knew a watered-down version of what happened to her, knowing I couldn't bear specifics and was even more disgusted by the man from the mall. How dare he put his hands on any woman without her explicit consent? But I felt perpetually nauseous at how incapacitating his touch was to Aunt Rose. My grandma was wringing her hands nonstop all night and constantly fluttering around her. She offered to take Rosalie hunting for awhile just the two of them, but quickly abandoned the notion when fear flashed in her eyes and she burrowed further into Emmett's embrace.

They stayed on the living room couch that night, with her tucked under his chin the entire time. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was asleep. Her breathing evened and her eyes were closed for several hours. He just held her, rubbing her back on and off and leaning to whisper something in her ear every few minutes.

I didn't catch what it was at first, but I knew it was the same thing over and over. Like a mantra, he would recite it and with every repeat, she calmed more. I finally caught the words after the umpteenth time and shivered at the overwhelming sentiment.

I'll always protect you sweetheart.

When I walked into French, only four of the ten typical students were actually there. Alex sat in the same spot at the front, next to mine and I joined him, noting the deep scowl on his face. He brightened a little when he saw me but it didn't quite reach his eyes. I opened my mouth to say something to him when Ms. Kate came in, calling the class to order. She scanned the room and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, am I that boring?" Her amusement was thinly veiled with a tinge of annoyance.

Alex piped up. "No ma'am, it's senior skip day."

She sneered at that explanation. "It's the second day of school!"

He held up his hands in a placating gesture and I laughed as he scrambled to disassociate with the skippers. "Don't shoot the messenger." She did too and the tension dissolved as she jumped into a lesson on basic French phrases; where's the bathroom, how much does that cost, I do not want to sleep with you. She stared right at me, grinning, for the last one and Alex started coughing to disguise his laughing fit.

He walked with me to the parking lot and my car was still parked in front. I smiled to myself, knowing Jake ran back so he could leave it for me. I whipped out my phone to text him thank you and almost slipped by saying see you tonight. I looked up after pressing send to witness Alex's jaw hit the pavement.

"No freaking way this is your car." I grinned at his gawking and pulled out my keys to unlock it. I forgot that he was as obsessed with cars as Jake and his awe boosted my self-confidence. I didn't usually like to show off, but I loved the way he was looking at me right now.

"Unbelievable," he muttered more to himself than me. I shifted my feet awkwardly beside the front door, not quite ready to leave yet. He was grinning too, but I watched the color drain from his face as he peered over my shoulder. He clenched his fists at his sides and practically growled. I didn't know a human could make that sound and I whirled around to see what upset him.

Selena was in the row across from us, sitting on the hood of a huge, black truck. I only really knew it was her because her crutches were resting against the headlight. Her whole frame was covered by a massive guy currently winding his hands in her hair. Her criticism of Will and Gwen earlier seemed laughable, because she and presumably Carter put them to shame ten-fold. Her legs, cast and all, were wrapped firmly around his waist and he leaning her back further onto the hood to kiss her neck. The sight initially stunned me, but as it continued to unfold, I noticed more than just the blatant display. He had almost platinum blonde hair, tannish, honey colored skin, and a sleeve of rose tattoos with black script curling around them that I couldn't quite read from here. He was probably an inch or two shorter than Alex or Jacob, but was absolutely massive with broad shoulders and matching giant biceps. He looked closer to Jacob's age than Alex's and my curiosity bubbled to the surface.

"He's not a sophomore, right?" Impossible.

Alex gritted his teeth. "Oh, he's a sophomore alright." Given his tone and look of absolute disgust, I understood that Carter was a college sophomore. Nineteen at best, probably twenty. Jeez, Selena's only sixteen.

I was really starting to judge them and then reality pulled me up short. I wasn't any better; a seven year old spending time with kids nine and ten years older. That's without throwing in my twenty-five year old best friend. My stomach flipped. If her sixteen to his twenty warranted disgust, what the hell did our age gap warrant? He was a whole legal adult older than me. Surely that was prohibitive for anything more than friends. Why did that thought make me nauseous?

Alex distracted me from my festering anxiety. "Can I have your keys for a sec, Ren?" I tossed them to him without much thought and he slid quickly into the front seat, putting my keys in the ignition. He turned on the car and blared the horn loudly for five whole seconds. He turned it off and came back out, smugly holding out my keys.

I took them and didn't bother to glance back at Selena and Carter, knowing he disrupted them. "Was that really necessary?"

He shrugged. "It was either that or break his jaw. Take your pick." His own jaw clenched and I knew he was serious.

"Calm down, they seemed to be getting along just fine." His whole frame tensed and he inhaled sharply.

"Yeah. Today." He didn't elaborate, but his tone was fierce enough that I decided I didn't want to know.

The last part of his request registered late and I jumped at the distraction. "Ren?"

He tried to shrug it off, but a smile ghosted his lips. "Renesmee is a mouthful." I rolled my eyes to offset the smile on my own face.

"Can't you just be nice for more than two minutes at a time?" I felt the urge to stamp my foot, but I decided it was too childish. My coherency waned when he leaned very close to me and breathed out a response on my face.

"You want me to be nice?" He was smirking and barely six inches from my face, from my mouth. I'm pretty sure my heart stuttered in my chest, so I was grateful he didn't have vampiric hearing. He leaned in further and I was pretty sure he was about to kiss me, but the rational part of my brain kicked in.

"She's watching right? That's why you want to kiss me." I didn't have to turn because I knew Selena was watching us and it all clicked in my brain. He liked her. The smirk fell from his lips and he became guarded.

"That's ridiculous." He put up the mask well, but I could see his apprehension peeking behind it. It was some kind of sick irony. The guy who dates all these girls can't have the only one he really wants.

I shook my head. "I don't think it is." His expression hardened and his eyes were blazing on mine.

"You're wrong." He was adamant, but I heard the desperation behind it. He pushed us away from that topic.

"Besides, we both know you are head over heels for Jacob." I glared back at him and he reached out to tug the collar of my jacket. Jacob's jacket.

"For someone who doesn't have a boyfriend, you sure wear his clothes a lot." My cheeks flamed, more from anger this time and I pulled open my door, forcing some distance between us.

"Why did you bother to ask me out in the first place if I'm supposedly drooling over Jake and you're obviously hung up on Spitfire?" He glowered at me and gripped my door frame as if to steady himself.

"I have absolutely no idea." I didn't let the words sting until I was already pulling out of the spot, let my wheels screech on the pavement. I drove about four blocks and pulled off the road because my vision was blurring with tears. I sat there and cried for a little while, pissed that I even let him affect me that much. I jumped when my passenger door opened, but immediately climbed into my Mom's lap when I recognized her. She cradled me like she did when I was younger and I wanted to protest, but it felt too good.

"Boys are assholes." I muttered into her tear-stained shirt. She shook with laughter and kissed my forehead.

"I know, baby. It will get better, I promise." I just groaned in response, hating the idea of sifting through a sea of guys like Alex for someone suitable. My mind immediately went to the one exception, but I couldn't entertain that thought right now.

"You know I had to talk your father out of wringing that boy's neck." I giggled and moved back into my seat, wiping my eyes.

"He's just trying to make up for being a jerk this morning." She pressed her mouth into a thin line and I knew she was biting her tongue. Over the years, she resolved to stay out of disagreements between my father and me, only intervening when things turned volatile. I think I handled myself reasonably well today given his antics, but sometimes my control slipped and she had to hold us both back.

"I'd like to say you're right, but my temper might have lapsed if I was in his shoes." There was an undercurrent of scolding in her voice and I recoiled from it. They needed to drop this thing with Jacob. Hell, everyone did.

"Why are you all so convinced that I'm trying to jump him?" The words came out sharper than intended and Mom grimaced, releasing a low hiss. I watched the anger fade from her eyes and another emotion replaced it, making my stomach turn and my face heat up.

"Oh god, not you too, Mom." She brushed a hand across the side of my face and tilted my chin upward.

Her expression was the perfect balance of questioning and knowing. There was very little my Mom couldn't inherently guess about my thoughts and she probably knew me better than anyone else- more so than my Dad, who could read my mind directly. She was clearly unsure as it related to my feelings about Jacob and maybe that's because I was. I reached a hand to her cheek, dropping all pretense of embarrassment and just showed her my confusion. I didn't repress my blatant attraction for him, but I carefully intermingled my doubts about a relationship and my fear that we would lose what we have now.

She didn't rush me and just listened or I guess watched intently. When I finished, she waited a moment with a thoughtful expression. Her jaw was clenching and unclenching like she was fighting with herself.

She swallowed unnecessarily and finally spoke up. "Who do you think called me, Renesmee?"
"Alice." I answered automatically before I realized what she meant.

"He called you?" I felt the smile spreading across my face without my permission. She nodded.

"He was in a bit of a panic actually. He's at the appointment with Billy and he said he just knew you were upset but he couldn't get to you." I shook my head, marvelling at him. Maybe there was someone who knew me better than my mother.

I held my hand to her cheek again and I forced myself to relive our awkward encounter from this morning and she leaned over to kiss my cheek.

"Trust yourself, Renesmee. Just do what feels right and I promise the rest will work itself out." I tried to have faith in that notion. Could it really be that simple?

My phone buzzed prophetically.

Hey Ness, I'm sure Bella's there by now but I just wanted to tell you I love you and I will stop by later tonight if I can or first thing tomorrow. Please don't be sad honey.

Maybe it was pathetic to go from wallowing to flying, but I was. I was flying above all the rest of it; arguing with Dad, Alex's bullshit, even Billy being sick, because I had Jacob. In his own way, he protected me like Emmett protected Rosalie and Alex protected Selena. I wanted to flash back to this morning and answer correctly. No, it wasn't such an insane idea.

"Alright, Mom, I have to go."

She gave me a quizzical look and I held out my phone to show her the text.

"Rachel and I are in cahoots. I'm making dinner for him and Billy." She laughed and kissed my cheek again.

"That's my girl." She didn't hold me up any longer, just reminding me to be home by ten. I agreed and sped toward LaPush, deciding what recipe to follow for tonight.

A/N: Okay, I know that was a lot of filler but there was definitely some character development in there. Next up is her dinner with Jacob, an unexpected phone call, and a shocking death. (Can anyone guess?)