Hello, my patient loves! Here is the second chapter, rather long, just for you! Love love love the reviews and follows and favorites... gosh you guys really know how to make me smile! Oh, and I don't own Twilight. But while we're on the subject, which Twilight character would be your Valentine? Mine would be Jasper. No contest ;) Who would yours be?
Chapter 2: Again
Renesmee soon got bored of waiting for her uncles to return, especially since Alice had already ruined the outcome of their race. She was also starting to grow more and more curious about what Edward and Jacob were discussing upstairs. They had been up there a concerning amount of time. Sneaking up the stairs unnoticed by her family below her, which was an impressive feat in itself, she stood just outside her father's old room where he and Jacob were speaking in hushed tones. She strained to hear them. They sounded irritated, but about what, she couldn't tell. Then, she heard Jacob say, "Have you told Renesmee yet?"
Whoa. He was using her full name. That usually meant he was either worried about her, or she was in trouble. Either way, she felt this was a conversation she probably should be included in. "Told me what?" she asked, rounding the corner and seeing the two men on opposite sides of the room.
"Nothing," Edward said quickly. "It's nothing, Sweetheart."
Renesmee crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't believe him for a second. Her gaze shifted from her father to Jacob.
Jacob stared at Edward with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw. "It's something. And she deserves to know."
"You would risk hurting her?" Edward snarled. "Are you so willing to frighten her?"
Jacob hands shook, and he clenched them into fists at his sides. "Are you so willing to lie to her?" he fired back.
"Would one of you just tell me? I'm not a child! I can handle it," Renesmee cried in frustration.
Jacob's eyes moved from the angry vampire in front of him to her. Edward groaned, hearing Jacob's thoughts before he said them aloud. "Your dad and your aunts and uncles went looking for the platinum blonde vampire."
Renesmee gasped and looked accusingly at her father. Why had he wanted to keep this from her? She was just as eager as the rest of them were to rip that woman apart! "Did you find her?"
"No," Edward sighed. "She's gone. She left by way of the ocean again, so we wouldn't be able to track her. And Alice..."
"What about Alice, Dad?" Renesmee asked, taking a few steps towards him. "Did she see something?"
Edward nodded, unable make himself tell his daughter the frightening information they'd received earlier that day. Luckily, Jacob took over.
He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dumb headaches.
"Jake?" Renesmee asked.
"Alice saw where the vamp went when she ran," he said, taking her hands in his. She needed to know. She was just as involved in this as the rest of them were. She deserved to know what was going on. He just desperately wished he didn't have to be the one to tell her.
"See?" Edward muttered, leaning against the window that stretched from the floor to ceiling. "It's not as easy as you thought it would be."
Renesmee ignored him and focused on Jacob. "Where did she go, Jake?"
"To the Volturi," he sighed. "Nessie, she's working for them. Her name is Olivia, apparently."
"She's working for the Volturi?" she cried, glancing at her father. Edward nodded solemnly. "Well are they coming? Why was she here to begin with? Is she coming back?"
"Ness, Honey, relax," Jacob whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his embrace. Renesmee took a deep breath. It was hard to freak out when he was this close; when his strong arms wrapped around her in an such an unbreakable hold. "Everything's going to be ok."
"Everyone keeps saying that like I'm the only one who needs to be protected. But what about you guys?" she said, pulling away from her fiance, but holding his hand still as she looked up at him. "I almost lost you, Jake, and I am not about to let it happen again. I want to help. Please."
Jacob looked at her then back up at Edward, who shook his head. Jacob kept his gaze focused on him as he thought, How can I say no to her? She's just as stubborn as Bella was, if not more. We're not going to be able to keep her on the sidelines. Surely between you and I we can keep her safe. We kept Victoria from killing Bella, we can do it again to keep Olivia away from Nessie.
"I hate it when you're right," Edward groaned. "I can't believe we're going through this again!"
"Does that mean no more secrets?" Renesmee asked, looking pointedly at both of them. "You'll let me help?"
Jacob smiled at her. "We'll let you help," he said.
"No more secrets," Edward agreed, somewhat less enthusiastically. But they'd done this before and they'd do it again. He was willing to do anything to keep his family safe and together.
**~J/N~**
"So I've been thinking," Alice said as she skipped into the living room, plopping down on Jasper's lap.
"No kidding!" Edward groaned playfully as his sister threw a pillow at his head.
"Anyway," she said over his laughter, looking at Jacob and Renesmee, "I've noticed recently that I can see you too better in my visions. Well, Renesmee's getting clearer, and Jacob, I can just kind of see around you..."
"Where are you going with this, Shortie?" Jacob teased.
Alice sighed, "What I'm trying to say is that I think my visions are getting clearer because I'm around you two so much. Maybe the better I know and care for a person, the easier it is to see them."
"That makes sense, I guess," Renesmee nodded from where she sat next to her fiance.
"Well it's just a theory, but I wanted to test it. So I need you and Jacob, and someone else who I can see really well to help me."
Everyone was silent. Renesmee and Jacob got up as Alice did. Being the subject of this theory, they knew they didn't really have a choice. Alice turned her attention to Edward. "Edward, I think you owe me after that little wisecrack you made when I came in here."
"Fine," he sighed, kissing Bella lightly on the cheek before joining the three of them. "What do I have to do?"
"Follow me," she grinned happily as she headed out the back door.
"It makes me a bit nervous that you won't tell me..." he muttered as he followed his sister into the woods behind their house.
The four of them walked a ways out before Alice stopped them. "Ok," she said, "you three stand here. I don't care what you do, just remain in this general area. I'm going to try and see if I can see Renesmee, and I'm going to try and see Jacob through Edward's future. I'm going to stand over there with my eyes closed so I won't get any hints."
Renesmee giggled as she watched Jacob shift anxiously from foot to foot. He had been restless all day, so she was glad that her auntie had needed them for this experiment. Some fresh air would be good for him. She then looked at Edward, who stood with his arms across his chest, trying to look as though he was not amused by his younger sister's excitement over the experiment. He had been in a relatively pleasant mood today though, which, coupled with Jacob's restless energy, meant this was about to get really interesting.
Alice bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet. "C'mon guys! Give me something to work with," she whined.
Edward smirked and reached one hand out to smack Jacob on the back of the head, so quickly that no one really knew what had happened until Jacob protested.
"Edward," Alice scolded, "you know you have to give me a little time in between your decision and it's execution!"
"Fine," he smirked, resuming his stance. "Sorry, Alice."
Jacob muttered something unintelligible, and Renesmee rolled her eyes.
They stood in silence for a moment before a grin began to play at Jacob's lips. He waited a few seconds to let Alice catch up, but Edward heard his thoughts and said, "Don't even try it, Black."
"Try and stop me, Cullen," Jacob said, lunging at Edward. Edward dodged him, and as he did so, he witnessed the vision Alice was having of Jacob smashing into a tree. He laughed as Jacob came running at him again. Edward pushed his hands against Jacob's chest, sending him flying into a tree. Jacob crashed against it, causing the tree to shudder and nearly snap in half before he fell to the ground. Renesmee gasped, but Jacob hopped right back up onto his feet before she could even ask him if he was alright. She shook her head and sighed. She couldn't believe they were doing this. They were such children sometimes! But even though they appeared to be fighting, she could tell they were both enjoying it.
Edward laughed even harder. "Thanks Alice," he said, looking at his sister, who's eyes were still closed. Alice shook her head slowly, and suddenly, Jacob was throwing Edward to the ground, a thunderous crash echoing in the woods as he hit the forest floor.
"If you wouldn't have been so cocky, you would have seen that coming," Alice sighed. Edward looked up at Jacob's grinning face and they both began to laugh. Jacob helped him up and Alice called out to Renesmee, "Your turn, Renesmee. Let me see if I can see you."
Renesmee looked at a tree with some lower hanging branches. She could probably make it in one jump. "I can see you," Alice cried happily. "I see you hanging from a tree and Jacob is tickling you, but it's a little fuzzy. Oh, wait! I can see Jacob too!"
Renesmee threw Jacob a look. He had always loved to tickle her, ever since she could first remember. She had hoped the amusement he got out of it would fade with time, but apparently it hadn't. Jacob shrugged and winked at her. She smiled. He was so adorable! She never could stay mad at him for very long. She took a step forward, intending on kissing those warm lips, when her decision was revealed to Alice through a vision, which was revealed to Edward through her aunt's thoughts. Her father cleared his throat, "I know you two are engaged, Renesmee, but please wait until I am not around before you do that."
She frowned. This experiment had suddenly gone from being amusing to irritating. A plan forming in her head, she started off toward the house. "I'll be right back, Auntie."
Alice giggled, "I know."
"Mom?" Renesmee called when she reentered the house.
"In the kitchen, Baby," Bella called. Renesmee almost laughed out loud. Why in the world would her mother be in the kitchen? She found it funny when her family tried to act human. Upon entering the kitchen, she found her mother and Uncle Jasper sitting at the table. She didn't need to ask where Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett were. They had been upstairs all day...
"What's wrong Darlin'?" Jasper asked, sensing her exasperation.
"I need your help," she said looking at them both.
"Is Alice not getting the results she wanted?" he laughed.
"No. Just the opposite actually," Renesmee sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "She can see Jake through Dad's future and mine, which she can sort of see."
"And that's... bad?" Bella asked, not quite understanding where her daughter was going with this.
"Yeah!" Renesmee exclaimed. "Now that Auntie can see me, Dad can hear her thoughts and anticipate everything I do! It's like he can suddenly read my mind. I do not like having him in my head!"
"Oh so that's it," Bella laughed. "Don't worry, Baby. I'll come out there and use my shield so you and Jacob can escape. You two haven't had any time to yourselves for a while."
Renesmee grinned, "Thanks Mom."
Jasper got up as they did, saying, "I'll come too. Edward's going to be irritated when his powers are cut off. That should be amusing."
"Will you make sure he doesn't get too angry?" Renesmee pleaded as they went outside.
"Of course," Jasper said. "It won't be the first time I've cooled my brother off, and I doubt it will be the last."
When Edward looked up and saw his wife coming toward them, the joy on his face was impossible to miss. Jasper felt it, and it only made him more excited to see Alice. He wrapped his arms around his wife as soon as she was within his reach. Edward kissed Bella's lips tenderly, before he realized that his powers were gone. Everything was quiet in his head, except for his own thoughts. It was a weird experience. He looked down at his wife skeptically. Bella just smiled at him, then turned to wink at their daughter.
Renesmee smiled and pulled Jacob towards her, kissing his sweet lips passionately. Jacob was pleasantly surprised. Her father was surprised as well, but the scowl on his face was anything but pleasant. Renesmee giggled and grabbed her fiance's hand. "C'mon," she whispered.
As much as Edward wanted to feel angry as he watched his daughter and Jacob run into the woods together, he couldn't. Not with his brother so close. He turned to look at Jasper and Bella accusingly. "You two were in on this, weren't you?"
Jasper laughed and Bella smiled mischievously. "They need some time alone," she said, walking over to him and kissing his neck, "and so do we."
Edward curled his arms around her with a throaty laugh, before he claimed her mouth with his. After all, how could he argue with that kind of logic?
