After a while TV got boring. By that time it was the morning and the restaurant downstairs had opened for breakfast, so Nahuel and Renesmee went to sit down at one of the tables. Renesmee served herself bacon, ham and fried eggs. Nahuel took fruit, fried mushrooms and bread. When she saw his plate, Renesmee's eyes widened just like Nahuel had known they would.

"How can you eat so much...plant food?" she asked incredulously. "I mean, I know we don't have to drink blood like full vampires do, but I still..." she paused. "I wouldn't want to eat any of that."

Nahuel just grinned mysteriously. I do it for you, he thought. Because it impresses you. But of course, he didn't say it out loud.

It didn't take long for the Cullens to join them. Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle and Esmee all wished Nahuel happy birthday with varying degrees of cheerfulness and friendliness before sitting down at the table with them. They didn't take any food. Obviously. But they did watch Nahuel and Renesmee almost warily. From the corner of his eye Nahuel saw them note when she touched his arm during conversation, when she laughed hard at his joke, when she leant her head, briefly, against his shoulder. The only person in Renesmee's family who didn't know how Nahuel felt about her was Renesmee herself. With Edward around, nothing stayed secret long. Nahuel supposed he should just be grateful Edward hadn't enlightened his daughter as to exactly the way in which he loved her.

Nahuel was never sure if the Cullens liked him or not. Sure, they had celebrated his birthday by booking the entire family into a hotel up north for a night. That had been Renesmee's idea. It had also been her who persuaded them not to overdo the luxury thing with their choice of hotel. Left to themselves, her parents would probably have chosen to buy a hotel rather than just buying a room in one.

But anyway, that kind of gesture made Nahuel feel...well, almost like family. And that was something he wanted more than he was willing to admit. Nahuel had a family already, of course, but they weren't exactly an ideal one. His mum, Pire, had apparently loved him more than words could describe, but had died bringing him into the world. His aunt Huelin had told him with a hint of accusation how much his mum had loved him and who when Nahuel was a baby he had her bitten and so turned into a vampire. His dad. Well, Nahuel hated him. And he was dead now too, in any case. Three sisters. He didn't want to think about them. Huelin had been with Nahuel almost his whole life, but when he had met Renesmee he had left her without a second thought to live with the Cullens. Huelin wasn't invited into the coven. She wasn't willing to boycott human blood. So she had gone back to South America on her own, and now that was another thing Nahuel felt guilty about because he was all that Huelin had left in this world.

When Nahuel saw the way the Cullens loved each other, and how straightforward it all was for them, he would feel as though he was a beggar outside on a snowy night looking through the window of a house with a family sitting round a warm fireplace, wishing desperately he could get in and get even a fraction of that warmth. Because even though the Cullens had been generous and kind to him, Nahuel felt that most of them didn't really like him. And he knew why that was.

"Snap!" Renesmee said, an instant before Nahuel could put his hand down on the pile of cards they were playing with. She stuck her tongue out in response to his indignant expression.

"Nessie", Bella said suddenly, "I'm not sure you should be playing this game here. You're both too fast. People might notice."

Nahuel sighed. This was one of the reasons he missed the Amazon. You weren't constantly under observation there. You weren't always having to act so...human.

"Nessie", another voice called out. Jacob Black had sauntered up to their table. He pulled out a chair and sat down by Renesmee. Her face immediately tensed. Things were...difficult between the two of them at the moment. They were having trouble navigating the imprint. Neither of them was quite sure at what age things should get more romantic.

Jacob didn't say a word about any of this to Nahuel. The two of them had never got on. Nobody had actually told Jacob that Nahuel wanted to move in on his imprint but he seemed to have figured it out for himself.

As far as Nahuel was concerned, Jacob being here had spoilt the morning. He couldn't stand Jacob. Just because he had imprinted on Renesmee, everyone, even her own parents, acted as though it was assumed they would end up together. It hadn't seemed to occur to anyone besides Nahuel that Renesmee was entitled to a say in this too. It hadn't seemed to occur to anyone besides Nahuel that Renesmee might not want Jacob.

Nahuel's eyes roamed around the room, searching for distraction from the darkness of his thoughts. He found it, but not quite in the way he'd wanted.

Two vampires had just come from the stairs and were sauntering across the hotel restaurant for all the world as if they owned it. One of them was Via Red, from earlier. The other was a guy. They seemed to be looking for something. And as Nahuel stared at them, his gaze seemed to draw Via's eyes to him. She turned her head in his direction and behind her sunglasses Nahuel was pretty sure it was him she was looking at.

They walked over to the Cullen's table.

"Carlisle", the guy said calmly, and suddenly Nahuel recognised him. He was one of the Volturi. He had been at the battle. Alec was it? Alec hadn't looked so calm back then. He had seemed furious actually.

Via slid into the seat beside Nahuel

"Wanna take a walk?" she asked.