Thanks as always to Nikki and Dani for their encouragement and ideas and

to Angelz1114577 & Whitlocked from PTB and their beta'ing :o)

I've set up a blog page as an easy way to display pics, etc for this story. Please see my profile for a link to the pics that I based Rosalie & Emmett's house on (imagine Rosalie's own take on the furnishings & décor though!)

Chapter 12

Nahuel PoV

As we re-entered Rosalie and Emmett's house with the groceries, I still couldn't believe how the day had turned out. It was hard to believe that it was only this morning that I'd walked away from the Cullen house, feeling so disappointed that Renesmee had gone away. She walked ahead of me down the hallway now, turning left at the end before the living room steps and crossing the dining area, into the open plan kitchen. I watched her carefully as I followed behind. She moved confidently, but her head was lowered a little; her long bronze curls not moving against her back in quite the same way as I'd noticed they did when she held her head up.

Despite paying close attention, I was struggling to be sure exactly how Renesmee was feeling about everything that was happening. So far, we'd all avoided anything but the lightest topics of conversation, and while more serious conversation was inevitable before too long, it was something that I anticipated with dread, having seen the effect even the most benign comment or event could have on her.

I thought back to the most recent one: the song that had been playing on the radio when we'd climbed in the car to drive back to the house. I'd been looking at her, thinking yet again how dazzling she was when she smiled. Suddenly, music filled the car and she looked like she'd been slapped, her face changed so instantaneously that not a single trace of the smile I'd been admiring remained. As quickly as her expression had changed, her hand flew to the radio and she tried desperately to find another station. She looked up at me, as though she'd known I was looking at her. Her hair cascaded prettily around her face and her brown eyes seemed to be filled with a huge variety of different emotions, each one alone enough to justify the tears that appeared to threaten to spill from them at any second. She looked so beautifully vulnerable that I wanted to pull her into my arms and comfort her; to place my lips on hers and kiss her worries away. As I was thinking this, her cheeks turned a delicate pink against her otherwise pale skin and she unconsciously bit her lower lip, looking swiftly back to the radio and increasing the volume as she finally retuned it. She ran her hand through her hair as she sat back, then never took her eyes from the road or spoke again as she pulled away and drove us back to the house.

****

As we reached the kitchen, I placed the bags down carefully on the island counter. Renesmee moved forward and started to pull the groceries from the bags as I walked slowly to the other side to give her more space. I guessed that she was deliberately avoiding my gaze as she lifted each item out, one at a time and stood them on the counter top. I watched her eyes flicker as she followed what she was doing, her long eyelashes appearing to brush her cheeks each time she blinked.

"Renesmee?" I spoke softly to avoid startling her. She raised her head only slightly, but lifted her eyes so she was looking out from underneath her lashes.

"Hmm?" She paused in what she was doing and watched me steadily.

"Are you ok?" I leaned forward, gripping the edge of the counter with my hands as I searched her eyes for the answer. I thought that her face crumpled slightly as I asked, but it returned to normal so quickly that I couldn't be sure if I'd imagined it or not. She thought for a moment and then in a short movement, shook her head from side to side, causing her curls to bob briefly. She looked down again and her shoulders sagged. The effect was so melancholy that, before I'd even had time to think what I was doing, I walked back around the counter. I put one hand on Rensemee's nearest shoulder and reached across in front of her, holding onto her other one and pulling her gently round into a hug. She didn't resist, instead she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back, her face buried in my shoulder. The top of her head was level with my nose and I found it impossible not to turn my face into her hair, inhaling her delicious scent deeply. I'd wanted to hold her in my arms like this since yesterday and it was a relief now to finally do it, I just wished it didn't have to be because she was upset.

I rubbed her back gently with my hand for a while before I noticed that she was shivering.

"Are you cold?" I asked her, tightening my arms around her to pull her closer into me. She turned her head so that she could speak, but didn't lift it from my shoulder. Her voice was barely a whisper when she answered. "No."

It was my turn to shiver this time and her arms shifted slightly in response. "Are you?" she asked. I shook my head.

"No." A silence descended on us, not uncomfortable, but charged with some kind of tension. I savoured the feel of having her in my arms, the electricity the contact between our bodies caused, all but visible around us.

The sound of heels clicking on the wooden stairs interrupted the mood and we jumped apart. I instantly felt less vital with the loss of the galvanizing effect of her body against mine. Feelings of guilt lapped at the edges of my consciousness, despite the fact that we hadn't done anything wrong; all I'd done was offer comfort when she was upset. I knew how it would appear to somebody stumbling across us like this though, and Rosalie had made it clear this morning when she ran my car off the road that this was about getting to know Renesmee as a friend and nothing more. She'd explained that she wasn't bringing us both here as a match-making process and that she believed Renesmee and Jake were meant to be together. In her opinion, their disagreements over my being here would be sorted out soon enough, but in the meantime, they were going to help her by providing somewhere neutral for us to establish a friendship, because this was what Renesmee wanted.

I was just grateful that I was being given an opportunity to get to know Renesmee. The wolf had upset her, and if I had to I was willing to take advantage of this. He had her, if he couldn't hold onto her, then that was his problem. If I was able to win her over, there would be no chance that I'd ever upset her enough to let her doubt me.

"Hi." She smiled warmly as she came into view, seemingly unsurprised that we were both standing around some distance apart, doing nothing.

"Hi," we spoke together, sneaking a nervous glance at each other at the same time. Rosalie paused, obviously aware now of the odd atmosphere in the room. Renesmee turned quickly back to the bag she'd been unpacking before our embrace and began to empty it.

"Did you get everything you needed?" Rose was standing next to Renesmee now, looking over the food we'd bought, picking a packet up for a closer look and wrinkling her nose in distaste at the contents.

"Yeah, I think so." I smiled at her and she smiled back at me, placing her hand momentarily on Renesmee's shoulder before letting it slide down her arm as she turned and walked away, round the corner and down into the living room. The sound of her shoes faded and I assumed she'd gone outside. I looked across at Renesmee, who was dividing the groceries into hers and mine. She moved everything that she needed over onto the opposite counter, while I rearranged mine on the top next to where I stood.

"Are you ready?" she asked, a playful look on her face as she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. I couldn't help smiling.

"I am," I confirmed. She smiled back at me.

"Cool, let's cook!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

We both began opening cupboards and drawers to find the equipment that we needed, working in a companionable silence. Soon, the only sounds were those made as we prepared and cooked the food; although we both often sneaked a glance across the kitchen, only to find the other looking back.

Eventually I had prepared my dish, the meat was coated with the spices and I just needed to add oil before it could be cooked in the oven. Renesmee was frying chicken on the stove, the oil bottle on the counter next to her. She had her back to me, but as I walked up behind her and reached around her for the oil, she suddenly turned. As we bumped into one another, her hand touched my chest and a shiver darted through me again, catching me by surprise. She looked equally as startled, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.

I knew that she hadn't known I was there; I guessed she'd been turning to walk away, but my position meant that she was now trapped, pressed between me and the counter. Her eyes made a connection with mine and her pupils dilated slightly in her chocolate brown irises. My heart stuttered in my chest and I was frozen to the spot momentarily. I wasn't embarrassed as I'd heard her heart do the exact same thing; a thought which sent another thrill through me as I registered that she was feeling the same things that I was. I quickly collected my thoughts.

"I'm, uh, sorry…I was just getting the, uh, oil." I stepped to the side and reached down to pick the bottle of oil up. I held it up to show what my intention had been and offered a tight-lipped smile by way of an apology.

The tip of her tongue slid out of her mouth and licked her lower lip slowly, before she pulled it back in and bit her lip, a gesture that I'd come to realise she did when she was nervous.

"That's ok." She watched me as I took a couple of steps back toward where I'd been preparing the food, then she turned back to the chicken, picking up the tongs from the side to turn the pieces over, evidently having forgotten what she'd been about to do when she'd turned and we'd collided.

****

Some time later we sat at the dining table leaning back in our chairs, empty plates in front of us.

"I have to say Nahuel, that was possibly the best meal I have ever tasted." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Well, as far as human food goes that is," she laughed and I joined in.

"I enjoyed your cooking very much too. For human food that is," I teased. I sighed, happily and stretched my legs out. "You know, it's been a strange day, that's for sure." Opposite me Renesmee snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it! I could do without any more like it."

Her words stung. I sat and watched her while she fidgeted with a clean spoon, twisting it round in her fingers. Suddenly, she looked up and took in the expression on my face. She raised one hand quickly to her mouth.

"Oh! Nahuel, I'm sorry! I didn't mean…Oh shit. I mean…" she let out an exasperated sigh before taking a deep breath and waiting a moment; I assumed to collect her thoughts. She winced before she spoke again. "I only meant that I can't stand things being like this with Jake. I hate that I have no idea where he is or what he's doing. It hurts to even think about him right now because he's so unhappy and I know it's my fault." Her mouth turned down and her eyes were unbearably sad. I looked at her as she sat blaming herself over her boyfriend's possessiveness. My simmering anger at him for leaving her feeling like this was bubbling within me, only kept under control by the overwhelming effect her sadness had on me. I felt bad asking my next question but I was desperate to know. I leaned forward, my elbows on the table and my hands clasped in front of me.

"What happened with him when you left me yesterday?"

She gave a small, embarrassed smile and shook her head.

"I'd rather not tell you the details if that's ok?" There was no question in the statement as she spoke it, an apologetic look on her face. "He ran off again though." She stared at the table.

"Was it because of me?" I hardly dared to ask because I knew I'd feel so much worse if she confirmed what I knew; that I was responsible for the situation that was making her feel this way.

She smiled sadly. "Let's just say that it wasn't anything you'd actually done." Although she hadn't addressed my question directly, it was clear that the discussion was over. She rose from her seat, collected the plates and walked away from me into the kitchen, leaving me to reflect on the meaning of her response. Finally, unable to reach a conclusion I spent some time thinking that I'd never experienced such a range of strong emotions in such a short space of time. Ever since I'd had my first meeting with the fully-grown Renesmee, my heart had swooped into my stomach and back when we interacted, felt torn from my chest when I'd heard from her father that she'd gone away, nearly thudded from my body with happiness when we'd been reunited and was now literally aching from seeing her so upset. I sighed, wondering how much I could take, if this emotional rollercoaster were to continue at this rate.

A/N - So what do you think to the direction that Nessie & Nahuel's relationship is taking? Are you rooting for Jake or wanting Nessie to resist the force of the imprinting and take a chance on Nahuel?

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