AN: Sorry! I know I'm late! But updates will be a little off until around the middle of July… I'll still update, and I'll try to every Monday and Friday, but I'm doing a summer program that requires me to go to the local college/university for classes to help me with ACT subjects, which means: more school! I'll still be able to write, but the updates may still be a little hectic.
As for this chapter… It's a little boring towards the end, so no harsh comments please. But, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the characters that don't exist in the Twilight books. Everything else-including the songs- belong to their rightful owners, who is not me.
Chapter Seven: Karaoke Night… Great. (RPOV)
"Esme, do you need any help?" I asked, watching uncomfortably as Esme cleared off the table by herself. I really didn't want to go into the living room, or wherever the others went to play karaoke. I mean… I'm not going to say that I can't sing, because I can, it's just… I don't do karaoke. Or crowds. Not that I've tried singing in front of other people. I do really well in the shower, though.
Esme just smiled at me, taking yet another bowl off the table. "No, darling. Why don't you go hang out with the others? I'm sure they'd like to get to know you a little better." she said, though she wasn't getting rid of me. That wasn't something I was used to. I was used to the: "Get the hell out of my face," things.
I shifted uncomfortably, again, then shrugged. "Karaoke's not exactly my thing." I told her truthfully.
She laughed, coming over to the table again. This time, as she grabbed a plate, I grabbed another, deciding that it was just awkward just standing there while she worked. "Honey, you don't have to do that."
I smiled a little. "Yeah, I did. It felt weird just standing there."
She smiled again. "Not to push, but why don't you want to go downstairs?"
I shrugged. "Like I said, I don't do karaoke,"
She laughed. "It's still very entertaining to watch." she told me, beginning to fill the water up in the sink. "Especially when Emmett sings. He's an okay singer, but the rules and dances he's made up to nearly every song… It doesn't get any better than that." She laughed.
I felt my face scrunch up, and handed her a plate after. "Dances?"
Esme laughed again. "Yes. Dances. Very amusing. For a twenty-four year old, you'd think he'd be a less childish and more of an adult. But… That's Emmett for you." She looked at me, love and pride shining in her eyes. That was different. I'd never seen that before. "Renesmee?"
I looked up at her. "Yeah?"
"You know that you're welcome here, right? That we want you here?" she asked, looking me in the eyes, where I could see the fear she wasn't willing to admit.
I looked at her, then back down. "This has never happened before," I whispered.
"What's never happened before?" she asked gently.
I laughed grimly. "Being told that I'm wanted." Understanding flashed in her brown eyes. "Most families don't care. I don't think I've ever seen this much love in a house that belongs to foster parents. It's just weird." I surprised myself by being completely honest with her. I could feel my heartbeat speed up, though I wasn't really sure why.
"Well… I guess you're just going to have to get used to it." she said, making me look up into her smile. "Because, though you've been here for less than ten hours, everybody already loves you, Renesmee. You're more lovable than what you think yourself to be."
My eyes were full of tears- yet another thing that had never happened. Emotions wasn't something I showed. I can't even remember the last time I cried. This family was already getting to me, and I knew that I couldn't let it happen. But I couldn't help but ask: "How?"
"Renesmee. You honestly don't know?" At the shake of my head, she continued. "Honey, you're beautiful. You're guarded, but we can all understand why- you've been dealt an awful hand at life, but yet you don't let that control your life. We don't know you that well, but we all want to. You seem like a very interesting person- that is, if you want to be. I think Jacob really likes you, too." she smiled.
I couldn't help but smile back at Jake's name. I thought back to our conversation at dinner- how I was having almost the exact same conversation with Esme as I did him. "Yeah, I think so, too." I answered before I could stop myself. To hide my embarrassment, I quickly handed her a bowl.
Esme laughed at me, quickly rinsing the bowl out. "I'm guessing you return the feeling?"
I hesitated a moment. "Not necessarily. But he does seem like a great guy."
Esme nodded, and finished up the last plate. "He is." She dried off her hands on a towel next to the stove and turned to me. "Let's go see the disaster that is karaoke, shall we?"
I chuckled. "Sure."
When we made it downstairs, I couldn't suppress my laughter. Emmett and Seth were singing "Say Something" by Great Big World and Christina Aguilera. Only… Emmett was Christina Aguilera. And, true to Esme's word, he was dancing.
Though he wasn't really dancing.
He was leaning against Seth's shoulder, singing dramatically into the microphone. Seth's expression perfectly matched Emmett's.
"And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you," they sang.
"See what I was saying?" Esme asked, laughter ringing in her voice.
I smiled a little, and nodded. "Yeah… I do."
"Anywhere I would've followed you (Oh, oh, oh),"
Like they'd done this before, Emmett and Seth moved apart from each other, each holding out the hand that wasn't holding the mic.
"Say Something I'm giving up on you," He looked up at Seth and they shared a "heartbreaking" expression, then looked down, closing their eyes as they uttered the last lyric. "Say Something…"
Once the music faded out, they both broke out into grins, turned around to face the rest of us, and bowed. Claps and laughter was spreading through the room the entire time.
"Okay!" Emmett yelled, pumped up. Seth, on the otherhand, went to sit by Sue, who gave him a hug. "Who's next?" His gaze went around the room before landing on me. "Renesmee." he said. It wasn't a question, and I could see the wicked gleam in his eyes, and the evil smirk he had on his lips. That's what made me laugh.
"Uh, no way." I told him.
His face fell. "You have to!"
"I don't have to do anything," I told him, still smiling. The people in the room were clearly enjoying our little exchange.
"You have to do this, though! It's a must! Think of it as an initiation; you're only an honorary member right now. Once you sing- and you only have to once!- you are an official Cullen member. And, face it, who doesn't want to be this awesome?"
"I'm okay with being an 'honorary member,' as you put it, for now." I told him, smiling.
He glared playfully at me, and walked over to me, thrusting the microphone into my hands. "Sing." he demanded.
I put the mic back into Emmett's hands. "No."
"Why not?" he whined.
I smiled. "Because I don't sing."
"As in, you can't sing? Or you won't sing?" he questioned, raising one of his eyebrows.
I raised one right back. "Is this a trick question?"
He smirked. "Maybe." He put the microphone back into my hands. "Sing."
I shook my head, handing it back to him, again.
I could tell he was about to give it back to me whenever Edward spoke up.
"Emmett, she doesn't want to sing right now. Leave her alone." he defended me, but I could see the hint of a smile on his lips.
Emmett pretended to ignore the comment. "Renesmee. I'll give you three choices. One: you can skip this one time. Two: You can go ahead and get it over with. Three: Go ahead and get it over with, and sing every single time we play. Oh, and four: Sing, and we'll be the judge on if you should ever sing again."
"You only said there were three choices." I reminded him.
"Yeah, well, I lied. I don't think the fourth one will happen- you look like somebody who can sing really well. So… which will it be?"
I paused a minute, appearing like I was trying to choose. "How about Choice Five?" I asked.
He looked confused. "Five?" he asked.
I looked up at him innocently. "Five: I don't sing now, I don't sing ever."
He glared at me again and the entire population of the room began laughing.
"Nope. You can't choose that one! One, two, or three?"
I gathered that he wouldn't let this go until I actually sang. I breathed a deep breath, ready to consent, when I remembered what Esme had told me.
"Before I make a decision, what are the rules?" I asked, leaning up against the doorframe.
"Sing a song, do an encore if we deem you worthy enough, stop if we tell you to, oh, and you don't get to pick your own song."
I looked at him. "I'll do it. But, I get to pick my song. And, I'll just do it once, this time. No 'encores'."
He seemed to know that it was as good as it was gonna get. "You gotta deal." He grinned, handed me the microphone, and went to sit over with Rosalie.
"Okay, little girl. What song to you pick?" he asked me. He kept scrolling down until I saw the song I wanted.
"'Unbreakable' by Fireflight." I told him.
When he didn't choose it automatically, I turned to look at him. He was staring at me.
"You sure about that?"
"Yep." I popped the 'p'.
He shrugged. "Okay. You asked for it."
I smiled as the music started.
"Where are the people that accused me?
"The ones who beat me down and bruised me."
I could hear the gasps already from the people sitting behind me. I closed my eyes to forget about them and focused intently on the music.
"They hide just out of sight, can't face me in the light,
"They'll return but I'll be stronger.
"God, I want to dream again,
"Take me where I've never been.
"I wanna go there.
"This time I'm not scared.
"Now I am Unbreakable, it's unmistakable.
"No one can touch me.
"Nothing can stop me."
I waited for the instrumental to end before I started again.
"Sometimes it hard to just keep going.
"But faith is moving without knowing.
"Can I trust what I can't see,
"To reach my destiny?
"I want to take control but I know better.
"God I want to dream again,
"Take me where I've never been.
"I wanna go there,
"This time I'm not scared.
"Now I am Unbreakable, it's unmistakable.
"No one can touch me,
"Nothing can stop me.
"Forget the fear it's just a crutch,
"That tries to hold you back
"And turn your dreams to dust.
"All you need to do is just trust.
"God I want to dream again,
"Take me where I've never been.
"I wanna go there,
"This time I'm not scared.
"Now I am Unbreakable, it's unmistakable.
"No one can touch me,
"Nothing can stop me.
"God I want to dream again,
"Take me where I've never been.
"I wanna go there,
"This time I'm not scared.
"Now I am Unbreakable, it's unmistakable,
"No one can touch me,
"Nothing can stop me."
As the music faded, I couldn't hear anything- not even breathing. When I turned around to face Emmett, I smirked.
"There ya go, Emmett." I smiled.
Jake was the first to recover. He just laughed. "Oh, my God, Emmett! She's just like you! Renesmee, that was... Amazing! Perfect! Definitely put Em in his place!" Jake stood up and began walking over to me. "You did great. You're by far the best singer here."
"You really did, Ren. That was the best performance I've ever witnessed. Sorry, Em." Rosalie told me, before looking beside her at Emmett, who was still gaping at me.
Esme came around to hug me. "That was great, honey. You have a wonderful voice." she said sincerely.
"I believe it was better than the original song." Leah said, sounding a little dazed.
"Thank you..." I said, blushing.
Emmett just continued staring at me.
"Can I help you, Emmett?" I asked sweetly, too sweetly.
"But... But you- you said-" he stuttered.
"She didn't say anything about her not being able to sing, Em. Just that she didn't want to." Edward protested.
"But if you could sing like... Like that why would you not want to sing?" he demanded weakly.
I just shrugged. "Too much attention, I guess..."
"It might be too much attention, but darlin', you can sing." Jasper told me.
I blushed again. "Thanks..."
AN: Okay, so this was really just a filler chapter- I wasn't really sure how to keep going after that without boring you all to death, so really, all you need to know is Esme and Renesmee are bonding, slowly, and Ren can sing which Emmett doesn't like.
I highly recommend the song "Unbreakable" by Fireflight- it's amazing.
Please review- I promise the next chapter will be better!
~Em