The next morning, I awoke around 9:30. I raced to the bathroom and threw on a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants, and pulled my hair into a messy ponytail.

"Boo!" someone yelled from my doorway while I was brushing my teeth.

I screamed and threw my toothbrush at the door.

"What the hell?" It was Jake. "Eww, I have Nessie spit on me!"

I smiled and spit into the sink. "You had it coming!"

"Quit messing around," Leah said. "Let's get this torture over and done with."

"Torture for you, fun for me!" my Aunt Alice said from the doorway. She carried two large brown boxes.

"What's in there?" I asked.

"Some makeup..." she answered.

Aunt Rosalie walked in with my mom and some more boxes.

"How much makeup did you buy?" Leah asked.

"Well, I figured you would want options..."

I stumbled over and opened a box. Inside was endless cover up, lip gloss, and blush. It looked as if she had bought the whole makeup aisle.

"That's my cue to go..." Jake raced out the door.

"Fine! Leave me in my time of need!" I yelled after him.

"Torture," Leah muttered under her breath.

"You can say that again," my mom said.

"Oh, come on! The only reason it's so awful is because you're going in with bad attitudes!" Aunt Rosalie complained.

"Fine," my mom, Leah, and I sighed in unison.

"Good. Now come on, we have a lot of work to do." Aunt Alice said, pulling out two bottles of cover up.

Surprisingly, the whole procedure went by fairly quickly. We were done by 11:30. My hair hung down in its natural brown curls over my soft purple dress. I had on light purple eyeshadow, and a subtle gray eyeliner with black mascara. Leah had everything fixed the same as me, except she looked more like a supermodel than a bridesmaid. And I looked... simple. Simpler than simple. I looked plain compared to Leah. I moped down the stairs, realizing that I would never be as pretty as any of the other girls. I would always be simple little Nessie.

With a half an hour to spare, I raced to the kitchen, checking to see if there was any deer blood left in the fridge. I hadn't hunted in three days, and I was thirsty. I pulled out the dark blue pitcher and poured some into a cup.

"Whatcha drinkin'?" my Grandpa Charlie asked.

"Grandpa Charlie!" I yelled and wrapped my arms around him. I hadn't seen him in two years, when I still lived in Forks. Before I moved here to Tulgey. "Sorry, it's strictly need to know, remember?"

"Ah," he nodded. He didn't know we were vampires, but he knew there was something strange about us.

"Can I get you something?" I asked, shoving the pitcher back into the fridge.

"No thanks. So, you excited?"

"A little. Everything looks great. But it's not so much a wedding as it is renewing their vows."

"For the fourth time."

"Yeah. Wow. Four times in eight years. I hope someday I'm able to do that with my husband. Guess it comnes to show true love never dies."

Grandpa Charlie's face turned hard and he stared through the window. He strayed away from everything that had to do with romance and emotions since my Grandma Renee left him when my mom was little. My mom always said he never got over my grandmother. Watching him now, I realized it was true.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant--" I stuttered.
"It's fine," he mumbled. "Let me tell you something Nessie. I made a stupid, wreckless decision when I was young. Teenagers just... don't usually know anything. With the exception of your parents. I don't regret it though. It's what brought me your mother. Ask Grandma Renee, and she'll say the same. It's also... what brought me you. But promise me something. Promise me you'll never do anything stupid and wreckless like I did. Go to school, get an education, and take some time before you start a family. Promise me that much."

"I... I promise." I swore.

"Well." he said. "I think I should go see if there's anything I can help with."

"Um," I said. "Okay."

I drank the blue pitcher of blood dry. Since my parents were out tonight, the rest of us Cullens were going to go hunting. We'd be okay until then.

"You look... amazing." Jake's familiar voice filled the room. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a red handkerchief hanging out of his left coat pocket.

"Aww, thanks," I said, turning to hug him. A blush colored my cheeks, but I hoped he wouldn't notice.

"So I was thinking...," he began. "Since everyone has a date besides you and me... well... I was wondering... if you'd maybe... be my date?"

My heart beat so fast I thought it was going to pop out of my chest. "Yes! A million times yes!" His lips twitched up into his perfect bright white smile.

"Well then Miss Cullen," he said, offering me his arm. "I believe we have a wedding to attend."

I giggled and hooked my arm around his. "Yes, Mr. Black, I believe we do."

"Nessie!" my mom raced into the kitchen. "Come on! It's time!"

We walked down the aisle in pairs: Aunt Alice with Uncle Jasper; Aunt Rosalie with Uncle Emmett; Leah with Seth; me with Jacob.

Everyone turned to look at my mother as she walked in. Except for me. I remember watching a movie, and the two main characters said their favorite part of the wedding was looking at the groom. I stared at my father and saw the undying love he still held for her burning in his eyes. I found myself dabbing at my eyes, where tears had formed.

The wedding passed beautifully into the reception held outside. The night was a deep purple. Figuring nobody was looking, I snuck off to go stare at the stars. They were so beautiful, so clear. You couldn't see anything like this in a city.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Jacob asked from behind me.

"Yeah," I kept my eyes fixed on the sky. "It's like you read my mind."

"Great minds think alike." he said, a slight smile playing across his features.

I smiled and turned to face him.

"So," he began. "Since you're my date, how about a dance?"

"With my two left feet, that might be a bit dangerous," I laughed.

"Oh come on," he said. "The night is still young. There will be plenty of time to break people's legs."

We both laughed, although that may be the honest truth.

"Alright," I decided. "One dance."

He held my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I wasn't sure if there was a slow song playing, but I didn't care enough to go check. I couldn't leave... this moment was so perfect, so right. It felt like I was tied to him, and if I left, I'd be lost in space. I stared deep into his dark brown eyes, as he was mine, and felt secure, like nothing could hurt me. We locked gazes for a few minutes, not caring about the party. There was this feeling I had tugging at my gut, but I couldn't place it. It was like nothing I'd ever held for anyone before. Before I could comprehend what it was, Jake did the unexpected. He leaned in and kissed me. And strangely, I didn't fight it. I embraced it.

Once we pulled away he said the unexpected.

"I love you." he whispered.

Suddenly, I could place that feeling.

I wanted to tell him he didn't, and say he was lying. But I just... couldn't. I wanted to deny that I loved him, but I couldn't lie to him. Those powerful words burst through my lips.

"I... I love you, too." I murmured, staring deep into his eyes.

A wide grin spread across his features, my favorite grin. Suddenly, I felt like eyes were boring into my back. I turned to see Leah with a huge smile across her face. Reality snapped back, and I was aware that I wasn't alone in my mind... so where was my dad?

"Aww," Leah cooed.

"Go away, Leah," Jacob warned, his gaze never leaving my face.

"Um," I said. "I'm going to go back to the party. Come on guys."

We all walked back in silence. When we entered, my dad shot daggers at me from across the yard. Uh oh.

"I'm so sorry, Nessie," Jake whispered. "I should have never---"

"Don't be!" I interrupted. "I... I kinda liked it."

"Renesmee," my dad said from my side. Damn, he was fast. "We need to talk. Privately."

Crap.