A/N: This took for forever, sorry about that. A lot has happened this week, including more hours at work and 3 tests in one day.
Plus it is absolutely beautiful outside.
Anyways, here is Chapter 23. Enjoy.
Renesmee's Point of View
"Do you have any idea how graceful you are," Ross asked me while we were out hiking Friday afternoon. He had slipped quite a few times during our hike up the mountain, while I on the other hand, hadn't once been off-balanced or slipping. But I loved showing off around him, I felt comfortable with him in the almost 2 months that we had been dating and I wanted him to know exactly who I was but at the same time I didn't want that. I was afraid that when he found out he would freak out and run off, that he wouldn't care for me the way that he does and that I would have to go through life without him. After only dating 2 months it was like I knew that we were going to be together for a very long time and part of me was frightened but part of me was excited to have somebody in my life just like my parents and the rest of my family. And the thought with just one concentrated glace he could be ripped to pieces. That knowledge would be enough to send anybody running.
"I even amaze myself sometimes," I answered smugly after a few seconds. We had been hiking for around an hour and a half and it was one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen, even more so than in New Hampshire. Here it was different in the confines of the forest with the constant array of colors surrounding us. It was a complete change from Forks, especially, with the constant green that was there and covered absolutely everything. In the forest there was a beautiful arrangement of oranges, yellows, red, browns and some trees, even individual leaves, had a mixture of all of those colors. I personally loved the yellow and orange mixes and how they seemed to combine with each other like fading from one color to the other and those particular leaves reminded me to be cheerful and light, even with impending doom lurking.
"Are you really still amazed by the leaves," Ross asked me as I was picking up a leaf off of the forest floor.
"A little bit," I said embarrassed. "It's just that my last home was nothing but green. The tree trunks are supposed to be brown, like all of these," I stated looking around spinning in a circle. "But back home there is moss covering absolutely everything. It's green as far as the eye can see."
"But it also looks nice, I would assume."
"It does but it gets draining if you look at it too much."
"But maybe here you've never seen this before and you find it refreshing now but you may get sick of it."
"I doubt that," I snickered and pulled him down to the ground with me. We had reached a small clearing with the colored leaves scattered over the ground and the green ferns surrounding it like we were completely alone in the world if we were lying down. I looked up at him and smiled. "I doubt that I will get sick of it because seasons change here and it's always refreshing to see the time go by in that matter."
I had previously watched the seasons change while my mom, dad and I were living in New Hampshire but I could never get sick of watching time pass by the changing of the seasons. From the leaves changing color in the fall, to the fluffy feet of snow in the winter, the spring mornings where everything was damp and smelled so great and the summer time where it was bright and sunny and laying out in the sun just felt so great on my skin.
"And yet you still don't seem to understand how bad our winters get here. Sometimes it snows everyday for a week. At that point you get a little fed up."
"But no school would be nice," I responded trying to sound like a regular teenager that liked ditching school. Even though everyday I got to go I was so exciting after being held up in a house for 7 straight years.
"It would be nice except that my dad sees it as 'If you can't go to school, then you aren't going anywhere.' That gets depressing."
"Well lucky for you my parents are less strict about that."
We stayed lying in the leaves, snuggled into one another for the better part of the afternoon. Considering my body heat we stated out a little longer than normal people would have. However, on our walk back down Ross was cold and that made me feel horrible.
"Nessie, can you do me a favor," he asked me.
"Depends," I answered.
"Can you jump up on my back?"
"What? Why?"
"To keep me warm."
"I told you to wear pants today," I said astonished. This man and always wearing shorts when it was freezing cold out. I never once understood that.
"I know but please."
"Are you sure that you can carry me?" It would be easier for me to carry you, I thought to myself. However, seeing how he weighed probably a hundred pounds more than I did, I don't think he would take too well to that idea without some kind of explanation.
"I've done it before."
A flash came through my head as I remembered the last time that he had picked me up. We had been hanging out for the day and were playing basketball with Emmett and Rosalie. To say that day was interesting was to say the least. I really wanted to dunk the ball (having to act human and all I couldn't do it) so Ross put me over his head and onto his shoulders. Emmett did the same with Rosalie and we played like that for the rest of the fame.
I hopped onto his back and wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. I loved being close to Ross, even if it wasn't in a sexual way. We hadn't gone too far yet in our relationship. A few kisses here and there and one time making out with each other but nothing too extreme. We had only been dating a short period of time and as Uncle Emmett keeps telling me "You're innocent Ness. You just have to get used to it." And I didn't see how considering how sexually driven my entire family was. Maybe it was a vampire thing and I got the human genes when it came to sex drive.
"Aww warmth," Ross muttered as his body starting heating up underneath mine. I guess this is the way my mom always felt laying next to Jacob. I laughed quietly in Ross' ear as we continued our way down the mountainside. I was having a great day and I didn't want that to be plagued by Jacob thoughts inside of my head.
Ross and I had been hiking many times but today we had chosen an unmarked path and the little clearing that we had found was like a small piece of heaven. I guess I would compare it to my parent's meadow in Forks but it was different at the same time. It was my own little place, a place where I could spend time with Ross just him and I. Every Friday after school, I was given the day off from training so that Ross and I could go hiking. My family also had been spending a lot of time with us. Not so much my mom and dad because I think that they were trying to give us privacy.
Rosalie and Emmett loved spending time with us. Emmett was just so competitive with Ross because if Emmett were human those two would be a match for each other. I would love to see them wrestle if I knew that Emmett wouldn't crush Ross. For now, it would be none contact sports and events. It was the only way to ensure Ross' safety.
Bella's Point of View
"I'm meeting Ross at his house," Nessie called to me from her bedroom as she was getting changed for yet another hike. I always wondered where she got the outdoorsy part of her personality.
"Do you want one of us to drive you," I called to her even though I would know her response.
"I'm capable to drive myself," she said cockily. "I even got my license the legal way."
"Yeah just be careful not to show Ross that please. He will definitely think something is up."
"But he knows we all drive underage considering we all have cars and we aren't that old. He just thinks that Carlisle and Esme like it better that way because they don't have to drive us everywhere. Plus he really loves my car."
"I'm sure that he does honey," I said as she emerged from the basement. She was wearing dark brown baggy pants and a pink t-shirt with a sweatshirt draped over her arm. She looked so cute. Only Nessie would need to make a fashion statement while hiking. "You have fun alright? Be home at a decent time."
"I will. I love you mom."
"I love you too," she said quickly kissing my cheek. She ran to the door and called I love you to her father before running to the garage to get her car. I wondered if Ross ever found it strange that she was at his house only minutes after him after having to go home, get changed and grab another car.
I went upstairs and sat on the piano bench next to Edward. We had been spending a lot of time there when we could. It had become a new hobby of mine, at least, and I was beginning to get really good at it. I had already written an untitled composition on the piano but I could never find the right lyrics to go with it. Edward had told me that it didn't need words that it was beautiful just as it was, but I felt deep down that there was something missing from it.
"What's on your mind love," he asked as he put his arms around me. "You look like you are in some deep concentration."
"I guess that I'm just feeling left out is all."
"Why is that?"
"Because Emmett and Rosalie and Alice and Jasper all get to do activities with them but we don't. I know that we are giving her her space but I feel like I never get to see my daughter. I only get to see her in passing," I stated putting my head in-between my hands. "She's got so much of a life and I sit up here all day and night and play the piano or I'm preparing for the fight or I'm doing homework. I just don't get to do anything with her."
"Oh love, she's just a teenager. I'm sure you were like that too."
"No I was doing pretty much what I am right now, you should know that. I wait for something or someone to come to me. I just hate that I don't see Nessie as much anymore."
"Well tomorrow I'm sure that we can go with all of them."
"Oh to play paintball. That ought to be fun."
"It will be. Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Nessie, Ross, me, you, his brothers and their girlfriends, it will be so much fun. Come on, they invited us to go."
"I think that she was just trying to be nice."
"I think that she appreciates the space that we are trying to give her so it's not like we are looking over her every second of the day but I know that she misses us. She can keep a lot of stuff from me but not everything. She misses the days when it was just the 3 of us hanging out without any worries at all. Don't think that she is so grown up that she doesn't need her mommy and daddy."
I looked up from my hands and attempted to smile at Edward. It was definitely going to be interesting seeing everything transpire tomorrow, that much I was sure of. Anytime you give Emmett a gun, funny stuff will happen.
"I guess that paintball would be fun."
"That's the spirit. Now come on, we've got some training to get to."
I walked into our room while he followed me. We changed into more casual clothing; jeans, t-shirts and sneakers and my hair got pulled back into a ponytail. When we got to the backyard everybody was already in their separate little groups. Aedan was working on his fire skills, tossing them at various piles of leaves and Esme was there to quickly put the flames out so we wouldn't burn down the entire forest.
"Seriously would you stop doing that," I heard Ann scream from across the yard. She was looking at Camden and he had a huge smile on his face. She ran after him and tackled him and then looked like she had been electrocuted. Apparently she was his target today. He loved taking our powers and using them against us. "Seriously Camden," she said standing up. "That shit hurts."
"Language," Esme yelled throwing water on a pile of fire.
"Sorry," she yelled. "Tell him to stop taking my powers."
"Sorry honey, I'm not his mother. I can't make him do anything."
Ann grunted and went to attack him again. This time she tried to resist the surge of electricity he sent through her but it only lasted a few moments before she was on the ground groaning in pain. Alex was at her side in an instant trying to calm her down.
It had been like this for a while now. Camden would use somebody else's powers for the day and sometimes it frustrated the others. I remember when he stole Alex powers and the entire day nobody got anything done. Every time Alex would get anywhere near him he would freeze time and move a foot to either side of him and then unfreeze everybody. While I had my shield on the entire time and was basically laughing hysterically. But the classic battles were always between Aedan and Camden. Seeing Camden chase Aedan around the yard throwing fire at him was hysterical.
The entire afternoon, Jasper and I were practicing with each other. It seemed like we were evenly matched for the most part, although he still fought a lot better than I did. He was still more agile than I was and it frustrated me but I learned to deal with it, hoping that I wouldn't be a burden during our fight with the Volturi.
However sometimes I felt like we were practicing for nothing. We hadn't heard anything about the Volturi and Alice hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary from them, so it seemed like a battle was never going to take place. However, we knew that wouldn't be the truth. Because somewhere down the road the Volturi would make another mistake and then it would be hell trying to fend them off. There was a reason they were the leaders of all vampires and it would not be easy to defeat them.
Once Renesmee was on her way home, we all began to disperse into the house. When she got home so looked ridiculous. She had leaves all through her hair and her clothes were filthy.
"What happened," I asked curiously.
"We ending up getting into a leaf fight before we got into my car to drive him home."
"Did you have fun?"
"Of course I did."
"Is the offer still on the table for your father and I to join you tomorrow?"
"Of course," she smiled excitedly. I wasn't expecting that one. "I've been wanting to do more with you guys."
"I didn't think that you would want to."
"Well I do. Ross is starting to think that you two hate him. We do things with all my other brothers and sisters but not with you two. I just tell him that you guys aren't really the sports kind of people. That you would rather read or play piano."
"I guess that is the truth but we wouldn't mind doing something with you guys."
"Well we are meeting him and his brothers at the paintball field in the morning."
"You look tired."
"I am but I need to shower. Tell Alice to wake me up in the morning."
"No problem," I told her getting up off of the couch and giving her a hug. "I love you honey."
"I love you too mom."
I kissed her forehead and watched her smile at me as she went into the basement down to her room. Her busy schedule had her sleeping whenever she could and that usually meant going to bed fairly early on Friday nights. Between school, Ross and training it was starting to take a toll on her.
Renesmee's Point of View
I woke up the next morning with Alice standing over me. I had gotten used to having to wake up early because of school but I absolutely hated getting up on the weekends. It was the only time that I got to sleep but since we had paintball at 10 I needed to get up and get ready to go. Alice was already dressed and ready to go.
I got up and put my still wet hair into a ponytail and then wrapped it into a messy bun. Alice had gotten all of us matching outfits, of course, customized with our names on the back. Once again she had to be fashionable even when the outfits were going to be destroyed by paint splatter. I put on a skintight spaghetti strapped tank top and a pair of spandex padded shorts. Then Alice handed me a pair of black and dark green paintball pants and I slipped them on with black boots. She handed me my jersey, which looked really tight and matched my pants perfectly. I left my jersey off and she painted my face that looked like war paint, in a camouflage design, playing off the colors from our uniforms.
When I walked upstairs I realized that all of the girls were wearing the same black and green uniform but all of the guys were wearing black and gray. The 7 of us grabbed our paintball gear and we all filed into the vehicle, all squished into Emmett's jeep. We had decided that taking a Mercedes or BMW to a paintball match was probably a bad idea.
The ride wasn't too long and when we arrived at the field, it was a vast field with a lot of bunkers set up through out it. The center divider was a big air ball bunker in the shape of an X and then there were various other bunkers through out the field, set up in various locations. I was amazed of how small the field actually was. But I guess it was just to keep the game going quickly, not having to run extremely far in order to win.
Ross and his brothers Scott and Steve were standing waiting for us when we filed out of the car. Behind Scott and Steve were two girls, wearing the same outfit as I was minus the face paint. I ran up to Ross and gave him a hug.
"You know you guys look like one of those clown cars," he whispered into my ear with a chuckle in his voice. He put me down and looked at me smiling.
"Well you know our other cars really wouldn't fit in here."
"You've got a point there. I would like to introduce you to Courtney and Melanie," he stated pointing behind him to the girls. "Courtney is engaged to Steve and Melanie is dating Scott."
"It's nice to meet you both," I said looking at them with a smile on my face.
"It's nice to meet you too," Courtney said. She had short, cropped light brown hair with bright blue eyes and was around 5 feet 6 inches.
"It's a pleasure," Melanie stated extending her hand towards mine. I grasped it quickly and smiled at her. Her shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes seemed to glisten in the sunlight as if the sun was a spotlight for her.
After hanging out for a little while we split into our teams, guys vs. girls, and assumed our positions on the field. The object of the game was to grab the flag hanging in the middle of the field and return the flag to the other teams' base on the opposite end of the field without getting hit.
We were playing speedball and it is just what it sounds like. It was going to be very fast paced and basically you tried to shoot at the other team without them shooting you. I was chosen as one of the runners in the front line. They all knew that I was fast and I had to be careful of my father. With his mind reading skills it was basically going to make this game impossible. And I was already blocking Alice's visions so she couldn't tell me when to move. It basically sucked having a father with powers.
My mother stood next to me as another runner, both of going for the flag. She looked down at me and smiled.
"I have him blocked out," she whispered to me. A huge smile crept across my face and I knew that having my mom around was a great idea. However, I would have loved to see her when she was human trying to play this game. Even now, it didn't seem like the type of thing that she would want to do but I think it was just so that she could be with me. I felt bad that I didn't spend more time with her but there was no way. I had so much going on that I felt exhausted. The last time that I got to relax was when Ann and I went to Massachusetts. Even that really wasn't relaxing, with all of the drama between her and Carrie. Since then, they had gotten back to normal but not after a few days of Carrie being upset with Ann. However, while we were there, Carrie did end up checking on her family. Her mother was doing great, just retired from working insurance her entire life and her dad was really bugging the crap out of her mom. I guess constantly being together without any job could be enough to tear any relationship apart.
The match started with a bang, literally quite a few of them, as paintballs were being shot through out the field. The boys had chosen blue paintballs and the guys pink. I had to stop for a second and laugh at Emmett who, within seconds of starting, was covered in pink paint. Apparently he didn't understand the concept of hiding from his opponents. After that, however, he learned.
After playing quite a few rounds of speedball, the girls ended up losing by two rounds, which was to be expected. Although Ross' brothers' girlfriends were nice, they weren't really the athletic kind and whenever they got hit, man, you could here it from a mile away. I think my family was happy to leave so that we could get away from their screeching.
When we got home, we all went to our separate parts of the house. Tonight was Halloween and there were a lot of parties that we could choose from. There was also a costume contest at some club in the city that I knew were going to because there was going to be a costume contest.
After getting out of the shower and putting my hair up in rollers, I sat down at my vanity and put my makeup on. I just put on simple makeup, some black eyeliner, pink eye shadow and a little bit of clear lip gloss. When my hair was dry in the curlers, I sprayed hair spray all over the place and took the curlers out. I put my hair into high pigtails on the sides of my head and wrapped pink ribbon around the base. I was going to be a sexy Scottish girl. Ross had already picked out his costume, a wonderful pink, black and blue kilt with a matching hat, a white shirt underneath and a pair of black sneakers to go with it all. So I made my outfit from scratch, finding the same fabric that his kilt was made out of and made a mini-pleated skirt out of it. I also made an off the shoulder shirt with white surrounding my chest and tied a bow in the middle of my chest with criss-crossed plaid fabric laced over the black portion of my shirt. I wore a pair of thigh high white tights and a pair of black peep toe heels.
Bella's Point of View
"Seriously Alice," I yelled when she put a Robin Hood hat on top of my head. She had made my hair a little wavy and then put the hat on me.
"Come on Bella, you will look great."
She then handed me a pair of boots that went above my knees. I looked at her like I was going to kill her and I basically was. I went into her closet and saw my costume hanging there. She was having me be a sexy female Robin Hood. I reluctantly started putting the layers of clothing. The skirt was extremely short but I guess that's how you dressed when it was 40 degrees out on Halloween night. The basic color of the dress was dark green velvet and then there was a heart shaped piece of tan fabric around my chest and the same fabric was the hem of the skirt. And on top of it, the hat on my head had a red feather sticking out. I looked absolutely ridiculous.
Edward was a male Robin Hood. He had a tan hat (with the stupid red feather), a white long sleeved puffy shirt with a burnt orange vest over it and a black belt around his waist with tan pants and pair of black boots.
However, when I went downstairs, Carlisle and Esme looked adorable. They were both dressed up as pirates. They both had hats on and were dressed to the nines. They both were adorable. Esme's outfit was a little sexy but not too much, just showing a little bit of cleavage, and Carlisle even had an eye patch on.
Emmett and Rosalie were standing in the middle of the room.
"I'm not going with you if you are dressing like that," she said looking at his costume on the table.
"Come on babe, you can be my burrito."
I looked closely at the costume and it looked like a huge taco. I looked at Edward and he was trying to hold in his laughter.
"Only if you pay a lot of attention to my taco," she said angrily but also suggestively. I made a gagging sound towards them and started laughing. I sat down on the couch with Edward and waited for Alice, Jasper and Renesmee. I had no idea what Renesmee was planning, only that she did it all on her own, in calibration with Ross. Jasper had also gotten Ross a fake ID so that he could get into the club with us.
Emmett and Rosalie had disappeared upstairs to finish getting ready. Only Emmett would think of being a giant taco for Halloween. And I was completely amazed that Rosalie agreed to be dressed as a burrito.
Alice and Jasper came down the stairs and they looked the best of all of us. Jasper was dressed in a pair of black pinstriped pants with a matching vest with a tight white collared t-shirt and a black tie with a matching black hat tilted to the side. Alice looked like a sexy mafia girl with a pinstriped half shirt with half sleeve and a tie wrapped around her neck. Her skirt matched her top and was shorter than any of ours. Her bare legs led down to her black stiletto heels and she had her hat tilted to the side just like Jasper's.
When the doorbell rang Edward got up to answer it. He almost keeled over laughing when he saw Ross standing in the doorway with a kilt on.
"Can I come in man? I'm freezing," Ross stated before making his way past Edward and sitting on the couch. He looked uncomfortable but at the same time confident. Now Renesmee was about to make an entrance. I walked over to Edward and held on around his waist. If this were the costume that Ross had picked out then I was sure Renesmee's wouldn't leave much to the imagination. I watched as she came out of the basement in a very skimpy outfit but at the same time, she still looked innocent. Maybe that was just because she was my baby girl. I had to restrain Edward from running over to her and covering her up with something. Or I was restraining him from going and beating the crap out of Ross. He probably thought that Nessie's costume was all Ross' idea and I wasn't going to let him hurt Ross because of that.
Renesmee's Point of View
When we got to the club, everybody looked amazing but to be honest, I knew somebody in my family was going to win the costume contest. Everybody complimented Emmett and Rosalie on their costumes constantly. It had been his idea to be a taco for Halloween and I knew that there was a reason why I loved Emmett. And of course, when he and Rosalie won the costume contest, he threw it in her face for the rest of the night.
"I told you so," he told her when they received their praises.
"Shut up," she always said completely bothered by the point that Emmett was right.
It was fun hanging out with my family and Ross. It seemed like he fit seamlessly into our family, although he wasn't a vampire. Alice had been making hints towards him though. She had said that his future disappeared. It frightened me because I didn't know if something bad was going to happen to him or if it was because he was choosing to be with me for a very long time. I had always wanted for Alice to be able to see me so that I knew that everything was going to be alright but at the same time I was happy that she couldn't. It meant that I could make my own decisions and not rely on her to tell me what was going to happen. Life was going to play out the way that it was supposed to. Nobody interfering and telling me not to do a certain thing because it would break the future that was already set in front of me. I went to sleep that night with Ross on my mind, just like I always did, wishing that he were lying next to me.
A/N:
All the costumes and uniforms from this chapter are up on my profile, if you want to take a look at them.
Okay I now have 112 favorites for this story and 194 reviews.
I really want to get that number up.
The last chapter didn't get much response but I hope this one does.
20 reviews pretty please with a cherry on top.