Jaq shuffled uncomfortably. The huge amount of vampires was beginning to affect her and she looked around for an escape. She noticed an empty outdoor balcony – the perfect place to escape this party.

"I'm just going to go over there..." She mumbled as she walked away. Once up the stairs she felt more comfortable. There were less people and she felt less threatened.

Jaq gave a sigh of relief and looked out on the balcony. It was a summer's evening and the breeze was warm against her cold skin. She looked out over the party going on below and thought about the people she had met here. The Cullens. They seemed to be nice people. Connor certainly liked them anyway. She saw him below dancing with, the child, Renesmee and Jacob. He seemed to be getting on really well with them. Especially Renesmee. It wasn't a surprise really, he hadn't been able to have much contact with other children since... Well, since the fire...

She watched his delighted expression and smiled. As long as he was happy, she was happy.

"Hi," Said a shy voice from behind her. She turned around. It was a tall Indian boy, like Seth and Jacob but some how even more beautiful. Despite the obvious muscles he seemed to be thinner than the others had been. His skin was a gorgeous light brown and he had the biggest brown eyes she had ever seen. His aura was a mahogany brown with a red shimmer. It was the werewolf, who had been looking at her strangely yesterday. He was looking at her now with the same expression. Weird.

"Hey." She replied timidly, scared a little by the intensity of his stare. He however, seemed to be just as nervous as she was. That was comforting.

She watched his aura. It gave off the impression of quite a shy person – just like her – but it was hard to be sure. She found these werewolves difficult to read.

"I-ermm-like your dress." He complimented hesitantly.

"Thanks," She replied, still nervous. "I was attacked by Alice though. I had no choice in the matter. I could look like a total fool and not be allowed to do anything about it."

"I wouldn't worry," He smiled. "It suits you."

"Thank you."

There was an awkward silence. Jaq kept her eyes off the boy next to her and watched instead the others dancing below. She could feel his gaze on the side of her face though and took a sip of the champagne in her hand.

"How can you drink that?"

"Sorry?"

"The champagne. I didn't think vampires could digest our food."

"It's a liquid," She explained. "They're easier for us to process because our bodies are made for liquids."

"Oh," He replied. "Because it's similar to blood, right?"

Jaq looked at his face carefully. He didn't seem disgusted at all. Not like most of the other werewolves usually seemed to be at any mention of the vampires' eating habits.

"Doesn't that gross you out?" She asked curious.

"What?"

"The fact that we drink blood. It doesn't seem to bother you at all."

"Oh, that." He said understanding. "Well, it used to but then I met …" He trailed off, blushing. Jaq watched his face curiously but didn't push it.

"So," She said changing the subject. "Do you live near-by or…?"

"I live in La Push, the Quileute reservation."

"Really? What's it like there?"

"Not that bad." He shrugged. "A lot of cliffs…there's beaches too... oh yeah and a lot of tourists."

"Sounds nice. Have you lived there your whole life?" She asked. She felt an inexplicable desire to know everything about this boy.

"Yeah, born and bred." He smiled. "My mom owns a convenience store there and everything."

"You live with your family?"

"Just my mom and my step brother, Ben. He's probably about the same age as your nephew….?" He looked at her unable to remember his name.

"Connor."

"Connor, yeah. He looks just like you, you know…." He trailed off with an odd expression on his face. Almost like he was trying to work out how to phrase something. "Are you- ? Do you-?" He stuttered.

"What?"

"Are you going to- to change him?" the boy asked hesitantly. "When he gets older, I mean."

Jaq sighed. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. He wants me to but…"

"But?"

"I don't think I could do that to him. I'm grateful to Nathan for everything he's done for me and everything but… This isn't a fate I'd have chosen if there was a choice involved."

"But he wants it though." He clarified.

"Exactly. He says that he couldn't bear to have to grow up and away from us. He doesn't want to slow us down anymore and stuff like that…" She sighed again. "So you see my dilemma. I don't know what we're going to do."

"Don't worry. You'll make the right choice. I can tell." He smiled at her and she found herself smiling back. She felt so comfortable and natural next to this boy.

"Thanks."

"So," He asked, seemingly as eager as she was to continue the conversation. "You have a funny accent. Are you from Europe or something?"

"Yeah English, born and bred." She grinned and winked. There was something about this boy that brought out the more confident her from inside. "I used to live in the South."

"English," He mused. "I thought you sounded posh." He grinned back cheekily. She feigned a gasp. "Kidding."

"Well," She allowed. "I guess I did live in the posh area…at first…"

"At first?"

"Yeah, we lived on farm in the countryside it was great."

"What happened?"

"There was a fire. It destroyed everything. My parents didn't believe in insurance so we were left with nothing."

"Where did you go?"

"My dad got a job in the city and we moved to a tiny house in a near-by suburb. We all had to share one bedroom – my parents, my two older brothers and me. It was a really rough area, but there was nowhere else we could go… My dad began to drink and almost all his earnings wet to the local pub, so we sank further and further into debt."

"My dad used to drink," Said the boy, sadly. "That's why we left him. Well, that's what my mom says anyway. I was too young to remember." Jaq felt a strange urge to protect him, it was a ridiculous feeling – he was almost twice her height and had several times the amount of muscle. What a totally irrational thought. She shook her head and went on with her story.

"My oldest brother Richard, married a woman named Gemma, they bought a house of their own and had Connor. Only about two years later he came down for a visit and asked my other brother, Sean and I to move in with them. We said yes gladly - our dad was slowly getting worse by the day. He tried to convince my mum too but she refused to leave him, so we left her to go live with Rich and Gem.

"It was a struggle, both Richard and Gemma in full time jobs, but we managed. As soon as he was old enough Sean got a job and contributed. A few years later I followed suit. It was difficult, but we were happy."

"So what happened then?" The boy asked. "What happened to make you like this?"

Jaq looked away from his gaze. "It was a cold night," She said quietly. "I had just finished visiting my mum. Again, I had tried to persuade her to come back with me but she was persistent as ever. She wouldn't come.

"I was waiting at the end of the road for Sean to pick me up. I was nineteen at this point but didn't have enough money for a car or even a license.

"The memory is a fuzzy human one so I don't remember exactly what happened. All I know is that I was attacked by one of the gangs in the area. I can't remember why. I only remember how much it hurt. I vividly remember the cold jolt of fear that ran through me as one of them pulled out the knife."

Jaq shuddered at the memory. She looked up to the boy who was watching her with a tortured expression.

"What happened?" He whispered. "Did they-?" He broke off clearly not liking the images in his mind.

"They left me for dead on the side of the road. I could feel myself dying but all I could think about was my brother. I didn't want him to find me like this..." She trailed off and looked down to the dancing crowd. "It was then that Nathan found me." She smiled. "In a way, he saved my life.

"For obvious reasons I couldn't go back to my family, but I watched from a distance. We stayed nearby but out of sight – just checking that they were alright.

"But one day we noticed someone else watching them too."

"Delano." The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah," Jaq nodded, the smile completely gone from her face. "We confronted him, wanting to know what his problem was. He was watching Connor. He said he had felt some supernatural power in him and wanted to have him in his coven but he was too young to train as a vampire so he was waiting for him to get older. He wanted me in it too after sensing my abilities but I said no. We asked him to take his coven and leave my family alone."

"And he didn't like that?" The boy guessed.

"No he didn't." Jaq looked away again. "He burned down my brother's house and tried to kill me and Nathan. Luckily we survived, but Richard Sean and Gemma didn't. We took Connor and ran... and they've been following us ever since."

"So, he wanted Connor?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jaq frowned. "He must've sensed something pretty spectacular in him to want him that bad."

"Well," the boy smiled. "At least you have all of us on your side now."

"Yeah," She smiled. "Though I'm not sure why you're all risking your lives for us. We're not really that worth it."

He looked over into the crowd to where Jacob was beckoning him over.

"You are." He smiled again, turning back to her. "You are defiantly worth it."

"Thanks," Jaq frowned. "Sorry, I don't know your name." She admitted sheepishly.

"It's Embry, Embry Call."

She smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Jaq. It's nice to meet you."

He smiled back, took her hand and kissed it with his warm lips. "My pleasure, ma'am."

"Well aren't you polite."

He smiled again and pretended to tip an invisible hat before walking down the stairs to Jacob.