Chapter 14 – Consequences

Dad actually took it a whole lot better than I thought.

It was mostly a tedious, mind-numbing argument involving semantics and a lot of new rules.

Jake just sat there—super stoic man—quite the odd thing for Jake. He answered in nods and frowns.

My dad was (round eight) going down his long list: "…No being alone in your bedroom. No sex. No anything in the house. No anything while you are not in the house. I expect perfectly lady-like behavior while—"

"—Edward, Edward. It's okay," my mother soothed.

"It is not okay. She's six years old."

"Yeah, dad, because I really look like a six year old."

Instead of starring at me, dad suddenly turned a hardened stare on Jake, who pretended not to notice and gazed intently at his twiddling thumbs.

Huh. Jake must have been doing a really good job at blocking his thoughts up until this point. "Ugh, Dad. Stop reading Jake's thoughts."

My dad refocused. "Renesmee, even if you look like your sixteen and have the intellectual capacity of a much older person, you still only have six years of experience in this life. Intelligence does not equate wisdom."

"I understand, dad. That's why I have agreed to finish up at school. That's why Jake's going to Stanford after the holidays. That's why I've accepted that I'll be limited to internet porn and phone sex for the next—"

"—Nessie!" My mom interjected.

Once again my dad's gaze was focused not on me but on Jake.

"Oh, come on, dad, you know I only said those things to piss you off—there's no reason to—"

"Enough." My mom slapped both hands down on the table, causing the centerpiece vase to fall sideways—until dad caught it in an easy motion. "Nessie, Jake, go over to the main house or somewhere, anywhere that is not here. Your dad and I are going to chat some more."

Finally. Definite cue to leave. I grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him behind me out the front door. I held his hand firmly but we did not move closer as we loped to the villa's main room and plopped in front of the screen.

Emmett was sitting in the large arm chair closest to the fire.

He looked up curiously as we came in—clearly he heard the clamor from the carriage house and knew something was up.

"So what did you do to piss off Edward, Jake—lick my niece?"

My face froze. Jake said nothing. He was looking quite pale for his usually bronzed self.

Emmett missed none of this. "And he didn't try to kill you?" he asked Jake incredulously.

Jake finally spoke up. "Not yet."

I expected Emmett to laugh, but he looked a bit crushed.

"I've been waiting for six years..." His expression was completely wistful now. "I was hoping the imprint would even things up with Edward. Alpha pup versus Vamp daddy—now Jasper and I won't even get to conclude the bet…

His face shot up suddenly. "Ness, where's my sweatshirt?"

"Crap. I left it in the woods to go hunting."

"You owe me three on the pond."

I groaned. "I'm going to get it now, Emmett." I stood up and motioned Jake to follow me.

"Have FUN, kiddies." Emmett boomed.

Jake and I ran until we cleared the orchard. Then we slowed to a human pace. We simultaneously sighed in relief and then laughed.

"Still alive," he joked, leaning against a rocky outcropping.

I curled up against him. "Don't worry—I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

"Oh, you were going to defend me, were you, Renesmee Princess of Power?"

"You mock, He-Man, but you know I could take you."

"You actually got my 1980's toons reference—extraordinario for someone born all of six years ago—and yes, you can take me anytime you want." He grinned.

"Extraordinario!" I repeated back to him. "You did paid attention in your Spanish class, and yes, the reason I'm so 80s hip is because Emmett is She-Rah obsessed—you have no idea. He's been trying to get Rose into that outfit for the last two decades."

Jake laughed and then shook his head. "Yeah, sorry, don't want to talk about Ice Queen right now—"

He picked me up easily, pulling me against him.

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" I teased, trailing my fingers along his neck. Jake had not shaved since his airport troubles, and the course stubble created pleasant friction as I changed course, running along the underside of his jaw, stopping at his chin. He was so warm.

Jake responded to my explorations by lifting me off the ground so that our faces were inches apart. I stared into his almost-black eyes. His eyelashes were so dark and fantastically thick that I thought they would have looked rather feminine if the rest of his face wasn't so utterly male.

Jake broke our stare, turning his head to brush his lips against my ear and breathe in my scent.

"You smell amazing, Ness."

"Don't burn your nose, do I?"

"No, no, no—vampires smell like rotten melon. Super nasty. You smell incredible." He breathed in deeply along the arc of my neck. "Your smell is difficult to describe—very deep and complex—like a midnight meadow blooming after the sudden blast of a summer thunderstorm—or a humid jungle flower—so very female."

My amusement at his descriptions disappeared. A sudden chill went down my spine. Jake blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Orchid?" I asked.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Orchid would be pretty close. What's wrong, Ness? What did I say?"

I pursed my lips before showing him my memory.

Jake was shaking. His eyes were closed, and he was trying to calm himself.

"You left those details out of our phone conversations."

I groaned. "Jake, you phased when I gave you the mere outline over the phone. How was I supposed to tell you the rest?"

He noticeably calmed as he considered my question.

"Show me, Ness. Everything. I promise not to get upset, but I need information in order to protect you."

"Oh, please, Jake. I can protect myself."

"Show me, Ness."

I examined his face carefully. He seemed to be in super calm alpha-mode. "You promise? Because there's more."

He cringed slightly but nodded, and I curled up against him, burying my face in his neck, and letting the story travel from my mind to his. I told him everything. The entire night of the party. The avalanche and confrontation on the ski slope.

When I finished showing him, Jake growled, "Ness, if you weren't here right now, I think I'd hunt down that leech and rip out every appendage—"

"But I am here, Jake. And I'm fine."

He brushed my lips softly before setting me back down. "It's late already."

I pouted. We had already run out of time. I had promised to prove how responsible I could be—but that meant heading home. "We still need Emmett's sweatshirt."

We ran through the woods catching our trail from earlier that evening and following it to the patch of forest where we had begun our hunt.

Jake and I stopped short—Emmett's sweat shirt was not hanging from the branch where I had left it. Instead, shredded remnants of red and blue cotton were strewn across the forest floor.

"Ness, whose scent is that?"

"It's Olivier's, Jake."

And then Jacob phased.