4. Surprise

Renesmee POV

Dad took my hand and we ran back towards the house. The wind whipping my face felt good against my tear streaked cheeks. When we were about a foot from the house I pulled my dad to a stop. "Do I look like I've been crying?"

"No. You look beautiful."

We walked through the front door and I felt my mouth drop.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted.

But it wasn't the 'everyone' I was expecting. Along with my family, Nahuel and his aunt were there, the three Amazon vampires were there, and Tanya's family from up north. I giggled in surprise and nearly jumped into Zafrina's arms.

"Hello Nessie." She said in her wonderfully weird accent.

"Zafrina! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Well, it's only been 8 months but looking at you it looks like a couple of years."

We released each other and I went to say hello to the rest of my guests. I hugged Tanya and Kate, who had brought Garret. They were basically a couple now. Garret had even given up his old ways of hunting for a more vegetarian style. Nahuel and his aunt were the last foreign guests I got to. It was nice knowing that I wasn't just one of a kind. That there was someone like me out there who understood what it was like to be a freak of the freak world.

"Hey Nahuel."

"Hey Renesmee. It's been a long time." He said. He kissed my cheek and pulled me into a tight hug.

I was sort of surprised by his friendliness but Nahuel was a very friendly person so I didn't take it personally. They came down about once every two years just to check in. Nahuel liked talking to my mom a lot and we were friends. He was really nice and we were about the only two people that we could each relate too.

"Happy birthday. Doesn't it feel weird that this is your body for the rest of eternity?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it. It's weird to think that we're not going to be doing anymore measurements or anything."

"It takes some getting used to."

"I'm sure it does."

"So where's Jacob? He's usually always around."

"Oh, I um…I'm sure he'll drop by later." I said guiltily. Emmett saved the day though and picked me up into a huge bear hug.

"Um, Emmett? Unlike you I need oxygen." Plus I couldn't move an inch.

He set me down laughing. "The little baby of the family is all grown up now." He said in a baby voice.

I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Very mature." He said sarcastically.

"Happy birthday, Renesmee." Esme pulled me into one of her soft embraces. She always called me by my full name; I don't think I've ever heard her call me Nessie. I think she liked to hear her name in mine.

"Thanks, Esme. And thanks for the party. It's lovely."

"Well I'm just happy you liked it." She smiled sweetly at me. Esme was like my grandma in so many ways.

Carlisle came up beside her and also wished me a happy 7th birthday. It was weird to think that I was only seven years old. Alice, my favorite aunt, pulled me into a hug from behind. "You're so much better about parties then Bella was."

"Well thanks Alice."

She laughed her little tinkling laugh and Jasper smiled at me.

Rosalie was the last one of my family that I talked to. I always had a feeling that I was very important to Rosalie. I had the feeling that she really wanted a daughter of her own and I was the closest thing she would get.

"Happy birthday."

"Thanks Rose." I pulled her into a hug and she didn't let go for a while, but I didn't try to rush her.

Everyone had moved to the living room and was catching up with each other. I sat on the floor in front of my mom who was sitting on the couch, just listening to everyone talk. They talked for a long time, and after a while, I started to get really tired. I leaned my head back against the couch and closed my eyes. Today had been a very long day.

I sort of remembered being carried upstairs. The set of arms I was in were warm and comfortable. I learned my head towards their chest ready to breathe in a scent full of Jacob. But when I breathed in, a strange scent filled my nostrils. I opened my eyes warily to see Nahuel's face smiling down at me.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He apologized as he set me down on the bed.

Disappointment flooded through me. Nahuel wasn't the person I was expecting to see. "Oh that's okay. I needed to get ready for bed anyways."

He just kind of stood there awkwardly at the foot of my bed. "Did you want to sit down?" I asked cautiously. Something on his face told me he wasn't quite ready to leave.

"Sure. We didn't really get a chance to talk earlier." It sounded like he was just getting started by the looks of it.

"Did you have something specific you wanted to say?" I asked a little cautiously.

"Well, not really. I just really missed you. I just wanted to catch up I guess."

"Oh."

Awkward pause.

"So, how are things back home?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

"They're pretty good. My sisters have been traveling around with us more now. You know, since the Volturi went and dealt with my father. They're starting to see themselves as people instead of gods though, which is good."

"Yeah. Not too much has happened around here." I said lamely.

"Really? Something tells me that something happened between you and Jacob."

The pain from earlier today hit me like a brick wall. The familiar gravity crushing feeling was coming back and I started breathing in little pants. "Yeah, kinda." I said a little breathless.

"Whoa, Nessie. Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Hey don't cry." He scooted up beside me and put his arm around my shoulders pulling me in.

I let my head fall against his chest. It was comforting, just having someone to sit there while I cried. We sat like that for a long time. Nahuel didn't say anything, he just let me cry. It wasn't loud sobs or anything at least; it was just silent tears spilling out of my eyes and over my cheeks. It was like a relentless little stream, quiet but unstoppable. I started to get really tired again, and my heavy eyelids drooped.

Nahuel seemed to get tired too and I felt his body relaxing more and more. I drifted off to sleep with my last conscious thought being Jacob's pained face in the woods.

"Renesmee!" Someone whispered harshly in my ear and shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Nahuel's body underneath mine. We had fallen asleep, and this probably didn't look to good.

I looked up to see my mother's enraged face looking down at me. Uh-oh.

"What do you think you're doing?" My mom's whispers were absolutely furious.

"I-uh-I…"

Nahuel started to move and we both froze.

"Jeez Nessie you're going to wake Nahuel!"

Me? I had barely said a word. She was definitely mad at me. "Mom nothing happened. We were just sitting here talking and we fell asleep."

"On top of each other?!" Her shrill voice raised a few octaves and I was sure the rest of the house could hear it. My cheeks flamed with embarrassment.

"Could we talk about this later? Everyone will hear." I whispered harshly.

My mom just turned around furiously, not even looking at me. When she got to the doorway she turned around and said, "How could you do this to Jacob? Your father and I are going home. Get up out of bed and come downstairs immediately." And then she walked out.

She didn't even know how much that hurt. Before I could dwell on the pain, Nahuel rolled over and opened his eyes. He rubbed the sleep out of them and then he seemed to realize where he was. "Oh, did we fall asleep?"

"Yeah." I said. It came out really sluggishly, so he probably just thought I was really tired and not in severe pain.

"What time is it?"

I glanced over my shoulder at the clock. "It's only 5 in the morning. Um…my mom just left the room. I have to go back home." I started to stand up but Nahuel didn't move much.

"Uh, if you don't care I'm just going to go back to sleep." From the sound of it he was already half way asleep.

"Okay. I'll see you later today."

I got up off the bed taking my time. I was afraid to wake Nahuel, and I really didn't feel like being in too much of a hurry to see my parents at home. My dad would understand though, and he would take my side. Jacob still wasn't his favorite person in the world. Plus it helps that he could read my mind and see that nothing happened between Nahuel and me.

I came down the stairs to see that everyone was still sitting in the living room chatting. Emmett looked up at me and smirked, so I figured they all heard what my mom said to me. I took a shy step in the room and looked at the floor. "Thanks for coming to my party to say happy birthday. I have to go home for a while but I'm sure I'll see you later today."

Some people replied with 'your welcomes' and 'see you later' but I didn't even look up. As soon as I was out the front door I started running. I wasn't running my hardest; I was just at a leisurely jog. I made it to the river when I started getting an eerie feeling. I looked up to see a pair of big brown eyes staring at me. My heart picked up in double time and I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jacob looked at me, questioning me with his eyes whether or not to come forward. I smiled slightly in encouragement and he walked up to me. I barely came past his shoulder and his huge brown eyes seemed to pierce right through me and straight to my soul. I reached forward and gently rubbed his nose. His eyes closed and there was a deep moan in his throat that was almost like a purring noise. I dropped my hand from his face and turned around, trying to signal that I wanted him to phase back.

I felt him stand up behind me. His chest was nearly pressed on my back. I slowly turned around and looked cautiously up into his eyes.

"I know you don't want to be my imprint." He started softly.

"Jacob I--"

He pressed his huge finger up to my lips to silence me. Just that small physical contact made my breath catch in my throat and goose bumps rise on my arms.

"But I did imprint on you. I wish I could have some control over it, because I know that's what would make you happy. I just came here to tell you that I can be whatever you want me to be. I know you don't want to get involved romantically and if all you want is a friend, I can be there for you. I don't want to force my love on you."

My throat was so thick I wasn't sure I could speak. I cleared my throat and began, "Jake. You'll always be special to me. And it's not that I don't want to be your imprint, it's just that I don't want you to feel like it's your duty to love me. And, I love you too Jacob. I'm sure you know that I do. But is that just because of imprinting?" My voice broke on the last word and the tears started spilling out over my cheeks.

He grabbed my face fiercely between his hands. "Nessie, why can't you just trust your feelings? Don't you feel that connection between us? It's meant to be there."

"It's there because of imprinting!" I nearly screamed it in his face. I didn't mean to really, my voice was just so thick that it was about the only way I could get any words to come out.

Realization crept slowly across his face. Jacob finally understood what I had been trying to tell him yesterday in the woods. He slowly pulled his hands away from my face. "I know how I feel about you Nessie. Until you know what your feelings are, I'll be here for you as a friend." As he said this, his face had somehow hardened. It was like he had put on a mask to hide the pain. He was trying to make me happy. Jacob was trying to understand, and to give me what I wanted.

I started crying even harder and my knees felt like they were going to give out. I wobbled slightly and Jacob wrapped his arm around my waist and I threw my head into his chest. He pulled me in tight trying to comfort me.

"Nessie, why are you crying?"

"I-I d-don't kn-now." I said between sobs.

"Tell me." He whispered to the top of my head.

"I'm hurting you. I know I am. And that hurts me too, Jacob." I pressed my hands up to my face trying to get the ridiculous tears to at least subside so I could walk the rest of the way home.

"Don't worry about me. All I want is for you to be happy."

Why did he have to be so freaking nice to me? I held my breath to try and stop the sobs from escaping until Jacob shook my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" He said. He sounded more like a parent then, and that helped me to feel a little bit better. Maybe we could pull off this friend thing.

"I was holding my breath. It makes you stop crying faster."

"That's ridiculous."

"No it's not." I insisted. "See, the sobs are gone."

"That's just because we're teasing each other."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yes huh."

"Fine." I mumbled in defeat.

Neither of us moved for a while. I just laid my head against him, completely warm and content. It seemed like maybe we could get through this. Maybe we could really just stay friends until I knew exactly what I wanted. I felt him sigh and it pulled me from my thoughts.

"I should probably get home. My parents are waiting for me."

"What did you do?"

"What makes you think I'm in trouble?" Jeez, he knew me really good.

"Nessie, your face is like a book."

"I guess I get that from my mom." I mumbled.

He laughed and waited for me to tell him why I was in trouble. I wasn't sure I could tell him though, so I just pressed my hand up to his face. I was good at telling a lie visually. I showed him that Nahuel had carried me up to bed after I fell asleep and then I showed him that Nahuel had asked to bunk with me. Then I showed my mom walking in on us and her assumptions. I left out the part where I was balling on Nahuel about Jacob and what my mom had said. I pulled my hand back and looked up to his face. The same mask was there, so I figured that he was a tiny bit jealous. Which, of course, did not make me feel a tiny bit pleased or anything.

"Well. That was interesting. I'm surprised Bella got so mad."

"Yeah I was too."

He definitely knew I was leaving something out.

"Why are you still standing here? You better get your grounded butt home." He smirked at me and released me from his arms. Even though my skin was just as hot as his, I felt cold when he let go. I looked longingly at his arms and then turned my head toward my house.

"I'm not going to get in trouble. My dad can dig around in my head and see that nothing happened."

"Oh." He sounded a little surprised. It was obvious that I was telling the truth.

"See you later Jake."

"Bye Nessie."

I hopped over the river and headed home, my heart much lighter than it had been about 20 minutes ago.

A/N: Yeah, this is kind of a long chapter. Sorry if it hurt your eyes. I had a certain request to make longer chapters. Not saying any names. *Cough* mynameismaxx *Cough* *Cough*

Here's a fun fact! She writes really good stories. Peep em.

Oh, and please please review!!