Chapter Fifteen

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Renessmee

His kiss was exactly like I had imagined it. Strong yet gentle. Filled with passion and love. Able to take all of the pain away in an instant, if only I could stay near him forever. My heart turned upside down in my chest, as the seconds flew by.

But as happy as I was, the feeling was quickly replaced with an intense anger once more. Hate filled me like venom. All of these years of lies and secrets, from the person whom I trusted most in this world, even more than my parents. I knew if I had any chance of healing, I had to hurt him the way he hurt me. I had to make sure he felt the pain I have felt daily, the pain he had the chance to fix, but chose not to. And now, this was my choice. For once in my life, I was going to be in control.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I yelled, reaching out to slap the side of his face in an attempt to get him off of me. Pain shot through my hand, which instantly began throbbing.

Pure devastation poured through him as he quickly pulled away. "I just thought..."

"What?" I snapped. "That I would love you?" Cruel laughter escaped my lips, sounding foreign to me. "You thought I would love you? We're eight years apart! You watched me grow up. How sick are you to ever think I could think of you like that?"

I grasped my hand, which seemed to be sprained. Instinctively, he reached out to help. I yanked it away, causing shooting pain to fly through my arm. "Get away from me! Don't touch me."

"Nessie, please. I'm sorry," he begged. "I...it didn't mean anything." But he lowered his head, knowing I wouldn't believe that.

"I am going to call a friend to pick me up," I said slowly, making sure he took in every single word. "I am going to sit outside you house while I wait for him to come get me. Alone. You are going to tell my parents that they can come get me there. You are not going to call them before they get here; you are going to let them come in person, like they had planned. And you are going to look my parents in the eyes and tell them that you kissed me. Or I will never talk to you again, Jacob Black. And unlike you, I am not lying."

Bella

Today was the day. The day my little girl found out everything we had kept from her for seven years. And the day she would undergo the painful transformation to become like the rest of her family.

Staring straight ahead, Edward's hands were clinging tightly to the steering wheel. We had barely spoken the past few hours, both of us lost in our thoughts and in our sadness.

Finally, we arrived at Jacob's house. As soon as we entered the driveway, Jake came running outside. The panicked look on his face told me immediately that something was very, very wrong.

Edward slammed the car to a stop and as quick as lightning was in front of Jacob. "What did you do?!" he screamed. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, his eyes wild with anger.

Just as fast, I was next to them, attempting to throw myself between them. "Edward! Stop! Please stop." I slammed into Edward so hard, that he flew five feet to the side and Jacob went falling backwards. When he stood back up, he wasn't even angry; he just seemed completely defeated.

My husband whirled around to look at me. "He kissed Renesmee! And now she is gone!"

I turned to Jacob, who was still on the ground, wanting to believe that what Edward had said was not true. But I could tell by his face, that it was the closest thing to the truth that this family had seen in a long time. "Kissed her? Why Jake? Why would you do that?"

"I don't know what came over me," he said softly as he stood up. He wasn't even ready to fight Edward; he looked absolutely defeated. "Last night, everything was perfect. And then this morning, she started demanding I tell her the truth. She was so strong, Bella. Stronger than I had ever seen her before. And then...it just...happened."

"Where is she?" I demanded. "Where did she go?"

"She left. She called a friend to pick her up."

And then, another surge of anger again from Edward. He moved closer to Jacob, who was now taking a defensive stance. "WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL US?!"

I stood between the two of them with my arms out. "JUST STOP! This is solving nothing! Jacob, where is Renesmee? Who did she go with?"

Shaking, Jacob looked up at me with pain-filled eyes. "She said his name was Nick."

Renesmee

"Thank you again for coming to get me. I know it is a long drive," I told him, trying to hide the pain and panic in my voice. When he had come to pick me up, I was sitting on the side of the road, trying to compose myself as best as I could. I had figured Jacob kept his word; if he had told my parents that I was being picked up by a friend, they would have been calling me to try to stop me.

I should have waited for them to come to get me. But I wanted some time to think, time away from all of them.

Nick smiled, and reached over to take my hand. Icy chills went through my body at the feeling of his touch. "Of course. I would do anything for you." I had heard that before, many, many times from Jacob and my parents. I hoped he would be the first person to actually keep that promise.

There were a few moments of peaceful silence. And then, I heard it once more. A shiver of fear ran down my spine.

Ask him said the voice.

I won't ask him, I thought. If I do, it will ruin everything.

But he knows the truth.

I don't know if he knows the truth, I replied in my mind. It's just a suspicion. He may have no connection to my family at all. If I ask him, it will ruin everything.

Ask him the voice repeated sharply. He knows the truth. You want the truth, don't you, Nessie?

"Nick?" I asked softly.

He frowned and held my hand tighter. "Are you alright? You're trembling."

"I have to ask you something."

"Anything," Nick told me. He turned to look at me, giving me one of the sweet smiles that made my heart flutter.

"This is going to sound weird. Please promise you won't think I'm crazy."

"I promise. Just tell me."

I took a deep breath, happy that he was driving so I did not have to look him in the eye. "Ever since I moved to Washington, I noticed how different my family is to other people. They have...cold, pale skin. They're exceptionally beautiful. They don't sleep, they don't eat, and they don't grow older. And ever since I met you, I have noticed that you share...some of those same characteristics."

Silence filled the car. I was sure he was going to pull over any minute and ask me to leave. Just replaying the words in my head caused regret to sweep in; I shouldn't have said anything. I should have just let it go. Nick could have continued to be my escape from the insanity of my life, if I had let him. And now, I had ruined everything.

"Nessie," he finally said, pulling his hand away from me."

"I...it was a stupid observation. Of course you eat and sleep, what a dumb thing to say. I..."

"Nessie," he repeated, slowing the car down before coming to a stop on the side of the road. He turned to look at me, his face heavy with something I could not place.

"Yes?" I asked.

"It took you long enough" he said with a laugh.

I looked at him curiously, wondering what he could possibly be laughing about. He stopped abruptly when he saw the concern on my face.

"I am like your parents. Do you not know what we are? What you are?"

I shook my head, lowering my eyes. "They have kept everything from me."

"They have?" he asked sharply. "You mean, you know nothing about who you are? Your entire family? You know nothing of why your best friend lives all the way in La Push? You know nothing of the incredible life you have led so far? Nothing of the miracle of your birth?"

"Miracle? Me?" I asked, barely above a whisper.

He took my hand back into his. Reaching out toward me, he pushed a strand of hair away from my face, the way Jacob used to do. But instead of feeding me more lies and excuses, Nick was going to tell me the truth. This was it. In only a few minutes, I was going to be whole again.

I wished more than anything it had been my parents or Jacob about to tell me the truth. I had imagined it hundreds of times. The three of them sitting me down, telling me everything I had been missing for the past seven years. However, life had a funny way of giving you what you want in a way that you did not expect it.

"Renesmee," he said softly.

I took a deep breath. "Yes?"

"Do you have a passport?"