A/N: Hi guys! Sorry about the late update… I had the craziest weekend. On the plus side, this means you'll only have a day or two to wait until the next chapter is posted… So, a long wait on one end, and a short wait on the other. It balances out, right?

Anyway, we're back on track now =) I should be able to pull off regular Thursday/Sunday updates for the foreseeable future, at the very least.

I love this chapter, mostly because it brings us back into contact with Nessie's family. Expect to see all of the Cullen vamps in the next few chapters… and some pack-action too! If anybody seems like they're acting strangely in this chapter, just remember that you're reading a very LONG story, and all will be revealed in due time!

Also, I'm in a Springsteen phase at the moment. I'm actually listening to "Born in the USA" as I write this. I'm generally a strict red-and-white-blooded Canadian… but come on, who can resist The Boss?

Enjoy, and please REVIEW!

~Crit.

Chapter 21: Born to Run

Renesmee shook Jacob viciously out of his slumber the next day. "Get up, get up," She shouted nervously, trying her hardest to quell her panic. Jacob just mumbled something and rolled over. She looked at him with her hands on her hips for a moment, thoroughly unimpressed, before lifting one foot, placing it squarely on his broad back, and pushing forcefully. It had the desired effect: Jacob rolled like a sausage, twice, and toppled off the bed onto the floor.

"Ow! Fuck, Nessie!" He cried, and a moment later his disheveled head appeared over the mattress. "What the hell?"

"You need to wake up now," she said. "It's almost ten. Alice and Jasper will be here at two, and we need to wash or destroy the sheets on both of our beds, any clothes we've worn over the past two weeks, and our own bodies. I want any and all smells besides Lysol and soap gone from this loft by the time they get here. I've already mopped, steam cleaned the couch, and disinfected both bathrooms, and gathered up the laundry." Jacob just looked at her blearily.

"Give me a minute," he said, "My head is all foggy."

"Too bad," Renesmee said tersely, grabbing the fitted sheet on his bed and pulling it over the rest of the bedding, pulling the whole mess into a tight bundle. "I need you to throw these and the other sheets in the washer while I put the new ones on the beds. Then you need to shower… thoroughly. With lye, if you have to." Jacob was on his feet by this point, and he stepped around the bed to hold her shoulders in his hands.

"You need to calm down," He said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Renesmee glared up at him.

"Evidently, Jacob, you're new at this whole relationship thing, or you'd know that the worst thing you can possibly tell a girl when she's in a panic is to 'calm down'," She said with a scowl. Jacob just shook his head fondly and kissed her on the top of her head. Renesmee swatted him away. "Cut it out. You're not making this any easier."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I can't help it," He said with a mischievous look, "You're just so cute when you're m—"

"Finish that sentence and I will personally hand you to my father, gift-wrapped, along with a written account of the last two weeks."

Jacob just chuckled and grabbed the bundle of sheets. "Point made, Mistress. Your wish is my command." He headed out the door towards the laundry room at the end of the hall, and Renesmee had to smother a reluctant laugh. Her wolf was pretty charming, even when he was being a bit of a jackass.

After she had put fresh, clean-smelling sheets on both beds, Renesmee stripped off her pajamas and jumped into her huge shower. She'd just cleaned the bathroom, so there was no chance of picking up scents, and she knew she'd come out smelling perfectly clean and fresh. Even her family's discerning noses wouldn't be able to detect any hint of Jacob's odor on her skin.

She was mid-scrub when she heard the distinctive click of her bathroom door opening, and she froze. "Don't even think about it," She called out in warning. No response. She put down the soap and turned to face the sliding glass door, on the other side of which she could see a large brown blur, roughly the size and shape of Jacob. "Jacob Black, don't you dare open that—" The door opened, and she was faced with the sight of a very smug, very naked Jacob.

"What?" He said innocently as he took in her murderous expression, "You told me to shower!"

"On your own," she said, actually shrinking away from him, "Not with me." In spite of her own resolve, she felt a distinct rush of warmth at her core, and her knees felt like they might dissolve completely at any moment. Jacob just stepped into the shower and closed the door behind him. She could feel the heat of his skin, so very close to her own now, and it was everything she could do to resist the urge to crush her body against his and attack him beneath the spray of the shower.

"Come on, Nessie," Jacob said softly, reaching for her. "Three whole days… just one last time, before we can't anymore. We've got more than three hours before they get here. I'll clean the shower again, I'll even wash the towels."

"This is extremely counterproductive," she stuttered, one final, weak attempt to put a stop to what was happening before giving in.

"Come on," he said, "I just offered to do housework. If that doesn't get you hot, I figure I should just give up."

That did it; Renesmee burst out laughing and, shaking her head, stepped into Jacob's arms. "Will you wear a French maid ensemble?"

"For you? Absolutely." He bent to kiss her, and she smiled against his lips.

"Okay," She whispered, "It's a deal." And she kissed him.

oooOOOooo

True to his word, Jacob not only scrubbed the shower after they were both clean and dry, but he put the towels in the washer with their clothes while the sheets from earlier dried. Renesmee got dressed slowly and carefully, meticulously crafting an outfit her Aunt would approve of, and then she went into Jacob's closet and laid out something for him. When he came back into the room and saw it, he looked up at her with eyebrows raised.

"Gee, thanks mom. Now I'm ready for picture day."

Renesmee rolled her eyes. "Considering I'm letting you off the hook for the outfit you agreed to wear earlier, I'd think you'd be grateful." That shut him up pretty quickly; he picked up the pile of clothing and shooed her out of the room.

"Wouldn't want you to be tempted, now. We both know how weak your will power is." Jacob gave a short bark of laughter when she cheerfully flipped him off on her way out the door.

Finally, all of the laundry was done and put away, and both Jacob and Renesmee were dressed and presentable, with about fifteen minutes to spare before Alice and Jasper were due to arrive. They had come into town the day before for a day of shopping, and were staying at a hotel (owned by Clara's father, interestingly enough). The plan was for them to show up at the apartment in the early afternoon, drive Jacob and Nessie to the arranged meeting place, and then drive back for one more night of R&R in the big city, before going back upstate to join the family for the rest of the weekend. Alice had told her the day before that she'd seen her day disappearing at two, so Renesmee was pretty sure that was when they would arrive. Sure enough, at two o'clock on the dot, there was a knock on the door, and then a high, bell-like voice called, "Open up, Nessie and Jacob!" Renesmee exchanged a worried glance with Jacob before heading for the door.

"We're coming," She called, and moments later she undid the deadbolt to let in her Aunt and Uncle, who stood beside her in the hallway, looking just as young and beautiful as always.

Renesmee was sure that Alice would have sprung at her almost immediately, had Jasper not suddenly tightened his grip on her hand and frozen in place, a stunned and shocked expression on his usually passive face. Alice immediately turned to him with a concerned look on her face. "What is it, Jazz?"

Jasper seemed to snap out of it, and shook his head as if to clear it. "It's… nothing, Alice," He said. "I was just surprised by… Jacob and Nessie's outfits." He flashed them a dapper grin, fully recovered, and said, "You two look so sharp I barely recognized you."

Renesmee didn't believe it for one minute, and she could tell that Jacob and Alice didn't, either. But after giving her husband a long, hard look, Alice shrugged and stepped forward to embrace her. "Well, he's right," she said sagely. "What did I tell you? Couture is like magic." She released Renesmee and gave Jacob a light pound on the shoulder, their typical greeting. "My, my Jacob. Zippers and buttons, and authentic fibres! We'll have you in a tux before you know it!" She reached all the way up and flicked him lightly on the nose with her index finger. Jasper made a small, uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat, which Nessie heard clearly, seeing as he was hugging her at that moment. She backed up and saw that he was giving her an appraising look.

What? She mouthed. Almost imperceptibly, Jasper shook his head.

"So," Alice called behind her as she sailed past them and started to cruise around the room, exploring, "What have you two been up to this morning? I hope you weren't just sitting here, waiting for us to… oh, for the love of god, Jasper, what is wrong with you?" Jacob and Renesmee both turned to look at Jasper, who appeared to be somewhat stricken. Alice had a hand on her hip, clearly waiting for an answer. "Well?" She demanded when there was none. It suddenly dawned on Renesmee exactly what was wrong with her uncle. She felt the blood drain from her cheeks, and she looked pleadingly at him.

"Please…" she mouthed. Jasper shook his head again.

"I'm sorry, Renesmee," he said sympathetically, although he still looked moderately disturbed, "But if the two of you can't control your emotions, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to join you for the car ride upstate. I can't handle feeling that way for my niece… or for you, Jacob." Now Renesmee was sure her cheeks were on fire. Oh good. She couldn't possibly have been more mortified.

Alice had the look of someone who was trying to work out a complex math problem in her head, and then, shortly after, the look of someone who'd just solved said problem. "Oh," she said in the next moment. "Oh."

Jacob also appeared to have caught on. Renesmee noted that he at least had the decency to look abashed. He also looked terrified. "Hold on…" He said, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "We can expl—"

"Oh, whatever," Alice said suddenly, waving their panic away with one flick of her slender wrist. "It's not like we didn't know this would happen eventually."

Renesmee had been wrong: she was definitely more mortified now. "Did you figure it out the second I opened the door?" She asked her uncle, a note of misery in her voice. He nodded and gave her a wry smile.

"Sorry, but you guys were pretty obvious. The… affection was fine. But please, for the love of all things good and clean, avoid focusing on whatever it was you were doing before we got here." His look then turned very serious. "I sincerely hope that your thoughts are in better order than your feelings," he said with a note of foreboding.

"We've been working on it," Jacob jumped in quickly. "But, since you two know already… mind helping out with Edward? Try to… I dunno, think really loudly when I'm around?"

Alice laughed merrily at that. "We'll do what we can," She assured him, and the she gave him a long look and shook her head. "You dog," she said, although it sounded more like a compliment than an insult. Jacob just shrugged, and Renesmee felt the sudden urge to smack him. This was beyond embarrassing. A sudden wash of peaceful numbness passed over her, and she turned to her uncle.

"You're scary-good at that," she said, half-irritated and half-grateful.

"Guess we didn't have to do all that laundry," Jacob muttered to himself. This time, Renesmee did hit him. Not too hard, but it served its purpose.

The car ride was rather uneventful, by comparison, with Alice sending forth a barrage of questions about school, friends and activities. Renesmee felt like she was being quizzed, but at the same time it was really nice to be around her enthusiastic Aunt again. She'd missed Alice's energy, her vibrancy. Jasper was pretty quiet, interjecting a thought or question every now and then, but mostly just listening and keeping to himself. After a long while, Alice turned the wheel and they started to pull off into a carpool lot.

"All right, folks," She said in a chipper tone, "Edward brains, all of you." She winked at Renesmee in the rearview mirror. As they slowed to a stop, Renesmee caught sight of the silver Volvo, and her parents emerging from within. Her heart surged, and she flung open her door. Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad, her mind sang, and she didn't need to make an effort to hide it. Her father turned his head to look at her from across the wide parking lot, and his familiar, brilliant smile spread widely across his handsome face. Then Renesmee was hit by a force that took the wind out of her lungs.

"Mom," she gasped, "Mom… ow." Bella's grip around her shoulders loosened slightly, just enough for her to still be able to breath. Renesmee laughed, after catching her breath, and returned the embrace with close-to-equal vigor. "Hi," she said, her face buried in her mother's hair.

"Honey." Her mother's voice was so beautiful in person. Renesmee marveled at the fact that in less than three months, she'd managed to almost forget the real sound of it. Her mother pulled back and examined her carefully. "You look great," she said with a warm smile. Renesmee busied herself with listing her mother's beautiful features in her head as she breathed a sigh of relief. It was a strategy she'd planned ahead of time; focusing on her parents and how glad she was to see them wouldn't be difficult, and it would keep her from accidentally letting a stray thought about herself and Jacob slip through. Of course, her father would recognize the oddness of her thought pattern, but hopefully he'd be too pleased and flattered by her chosen method of distraction to really care.

Alice and Jasper were closely flanking Jacob, Renesmee noticed, but then she pushed the thought back as her father stepped forward to embrace her. His hug was almost as bruising as her mother's had been, and it made her smile. Her parents had missed her.

"Of course we did," Her father said, and Renesmee almost jumped. She'd forgotten how eerie it was to have someone respond directly to what you were thinking. Her father chuckled.

"I missed you too," she said sincerely.

"Your mother's right… you really do look beautiful." Renesmee felt a little odd at having everybody point it out. "Very grown up," her father added.

"Aw, thanks dad," she said, embarrassed, "But I'm pretty sure I'm exactly the same as the last time you saw me." He just gave her a small, odd little smile. She could tell he was trying to figure out what she was really thinking.

Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad, She thought as hard as she could. Her father's expression slipped for a moment and he turned away, presumably so she wouldn't see his consternation. Well good… let him wonder.

She looked to the side and saw Jacob and her mother locked in a staring contest. As she watched, mentally cataloguing her family members and thinking about how excited she would be to see them when she got home, her mother nodded almost shyly and took a step forward.

"Jake," She said in greeting.

"Bella." Jacob sounded almost wary, and that would have made Renesmee think, except that she was so focused on not thinking. Her mother nodded slowly, with an almost apologetic smile, and Jacob suddenly wore a wide grin. He bounded forward and caught her up in a hug that actually lifted her off the ground.

"Ugh, Jake!" He mother sounded miffed, but didn't really look it, as she swatted lightly at his arms to get him to release her. "Now I'll smell like you the whole way home!" Jacob, still grinning, lowered her gently to the ground.

"It might be the best you've ever smelled, Bells," he teased. Renesmee felt a weird surge of… was it jealousy? She quickly squashed it. Not now. Jacob was shaking hands with her father now, and her father was looking between them both, his frustration now clearly showing.

"So," Alice said loudly, clapping her hands together, "Change of plans! Jazz and I have decided to come straight home, instead of doubling back for a second night in the city. So we can take Jacob, you can take Nessie, and we'll all see each other back at the house."

Bella shrugged. "Sounds good to me," she said, and Renesmee could tell she was pleased at the idea of her having time alone with them, even if it was just driving time.

Renesmee looked over at his father. He didn't seem pleased. "Why did you change your plans?" He said suspiciously.

"We just figured it would be easier… more room in the cars that way. We don't really need to shop…" It was here that Alice's façade wore thin, and Renesmee picked up on a mild but poignant note of regret in her voice.

"Don't be silly," Edward said in a low voice, "There's no reason to change your plans."

"It's no trouble, really, we'll just—"

"Alice," Her father said, and it was almost a growl. "You should enjoy your weekend. We'll take Nessie AND Jacob." Oh. So her father was hoping they'd crack during the ride. Nice.

"Okay," Alice said, looking like she was concentrating very hard. "Thanks, Edward. If you don't mind…"

"Of course not." Her father was all smiles all of a sudden, and Renesmee rolled her eyes. What's up with YOU? She thought clearly, as if she really had no idea. He ignored her and turned to go back to the Volvo. "All right," he called behind him, "Let's get moving!" He and Bella started for the car, and Jacob and Renesmee lagged behind under the guise of saying goodbye to Alice and Jasper, and then started after her parents, walking at a somewhat slower pace. To any nearby onlookers, they would have looked as though they were simply dragging their feet. But Renesmee knew that Jacob had set this pace because he wanted to talk to her for a second before they were trapped in the car with her parents.

"Don't think about anything," Jacob subvocalised. Renesmee was just able to pick it up, so she knew her parents, who were already climbing into the car, wouldn't detect the sound of his voice. She glanced at him rapidly and then back to her feet again just as rapidly.

"I'm not. But if you keep bringing it up, I soon will be."

"Seriously, Nessie." He risked another long look in her direction. "If either one of us slips…"

"Well, you don't have to worry about me… I'm completely in control." Jacob still looked concerned. Renesmee let out a small sigh before riffling through her bag and coming out with a book. "Here, this should keep you busy," she said in the most platonic, friendly tone she could muster. "Read it in your head." As she watched, a small, reminiscent smile crawled onto Jacob's face and he took the book from her.

"I'd forgotten how you used to do that," he said fondly, turning the book over in his hands. "Edward knew exactly what you were doing, but you just kept denying it, telling him how much you loved to read."

"And you and I would spend entire afternoons finding books we knew would drive him crazy—"

"—Like Nancy Drew—"

"Or, oh man, do you remember his reaction to Ann Rice?"

Jacob screwed up his face into a scowl that was clearly meant to imitate Edward. " "You could at least make an attempt at subtlety"," he mugged. Renesmee cackled. "Or, how about that week you went through that e.e. cummings collection?"

" "Renesmee, for god's sake! It's not possible to think in lower case!"."

"What do we have today?" Jacob said, actually looking at the cover of the book for the first time. "Cup of Gold. Hey, Steinbeck… isn't that the guy who wrote the book about grapes?"

Renesmee gave him a withering look. "The Grapes of Wrath. It's not actually about grapes."

"Whatever," Jacob said, scrutinizing the cover of the slim volume. "This one's not on the high school reading list, is it?"

"Not usually," Renesmee said, trying to disguise her amusement, "and it's about pirates."

"Oh." Jacob sounded somewhat more optimistic. "Okay."

They reached the car, and Renesmee quickly organized her thoughts. Bella and Edward were already in the front seat. Renesmee climbed into the back seat and sighed. Yet another car trip with Jacob and her parents. She settled into her seat and began going over her essay topic for her North American Prehistory class, lining up points and arguments. Beside her, Jacob had opened her book and his nose was inches from the pages. He read with a deep furrow between his brows, and she presumed that he was concentrating as hard as possible on reading the words 'aloud' inside his head. Her eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, in which her father was watching Jacob with a look of irritation. He saw her looking and shot her a glance that clearly told her how unimpressed he was. Renesmee shrugged and smiled back at him sweetly. Beats me, she thought as clearly and innocently as she could. Edward shook his head and his eyes turned back towards the road.

About half way through the trip Renesmee began to notice that Jacob was looking strained. He kept rubbing his eyes and blinking, and he was slumped uncomfortably in his seat. He was going to lose his focus on the book any minute, she realized. Jacob just didn't have the attention span that she did when it came to quality fiction. Should have gotten him a graphic novel, Renesmee thought, provoking a short bark of laughter from her father. A flash of green on the side of the highway caught her eye: a service station, two miles away.

"You need to pull in at that service station, Dad," she said with a certain level of authority.

"We've still got half a tank," Edward replied easily, gunning the engine as if to prove that he meant to breeze by the exit. Renesmee scowled internally.

"I need you to stop… some of us need to void our bladders, you know." She cast a quick glace to the side. "Isn't that right, Jake?" Jacob looked up from the book for the briefest moment.

"Right. Gotta pee," he said, and then glued his eyes once more to the page. Edward caught his daughter's eye in the mirror, but said nothing and took the exit.

"We'll be back," Renesmee practically shouted as she pulled Jacob's arm and dragged him out her side of the backseat. As fast as she could without arousing suspicion from any watching humans, she tore off towards the dingy service centre building, Jacob dragging behind her like a lead weight. They crashed through the doors and she slumped against the wall, exhaling upwards so that the hair on her forehead fanned out and lifted away from her face for a moment.

"This isn't working," Jacob said, echoing her thoughts. "I'm trying really really hard to just focus on the book, but I've been reading for an hour and a half now, and my eyes are starting to go squirrelly…"

Renesmee squeezed her eyes shut. "This is so, so, SO not good." She looked back up at Jacob, who reached over and brushed her cheek with his fingers. Instinctively, she moved towards him, and their bodies were flush with each other. They stood that way for a moment before something snapped behind Jacob's eyes and he jumped back from her like she'd electrocuted him.

"Not helping!" He cried, running one huge hand through his hair. "Okay… I think I should probably remove myself from that car. I can slip off into the woods, phase, and run the rest of the way…"

"No good," Renesmee said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "If you do that, he'll know for sure that something's up. I mean, something more than he already knows, because clearly we're both playing keep-away with our thoughts. If you disappear, he's going to automatically assume the worst., and when he questions me about it I'm not sure that I'll be able to stop myself from thinking of you and me." She sighed heavily. "Okay, I'm actually going to go to the bathroom, and I'd suggest you do the same. Then go get us some sort of food to bring back to the car, so they'll think we had a reason to take so long. I'll… I'll think of something."

Jacob nodded, looking more than a little grim. Without thinking, Renesmee went up on her toes, and he met her halfway, joining their lips together briefly. This time, Jacob didn't jump back, but pulled away reluctantly, walking backwards toward the men's room so as not to take his eyes off of her. Renesmee felt the warm, pleasant rush of feeling that she always had when he looked at her that way, like she was the most important thing he'd ever seen. She had a moment of screw-you-Edward before coming back down to earth and focusing on the problem at hand.

Jacob obviously wasn't going to last much longer with the book. She'd take it over, since she was getting a bit tired herself, going over her thesis again and again. As she sat on the closed lid of the public toilet, she rummaged through her bag for something that might help. Make-up: No. Another book: No. Hairbrush: Hardly. iPod…

iPod. Renesmee felt a grin spreading over her face as she pulled the music player out of her purse by its tiny white headphones. That would do.

"Put this on when we get to the car and hit play," she said when she met Jacob in the line for the coffee place a few minutes later, handing him the iPod. "And just focus on the music." A look of intense relief crossed Jacob's face.

"I love you," he said, grabbing her hard and kissing the top of her head. "Seriously."

"Seriously, you ought to. I just saved your ass. And I made you a playlist."

"The sacrifices you make for me are staggering, it's true." Jacob smirked down at her.

"Shut up. Bella-and-Edward Faces." She rearranged her expression as the carried their coffee away with them and exited the building. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jacob doing the same: His face was now neutral, calm and he was definitely not staring at her. Just before they reached the car, He popped the headphones in and hit play. Renesmee smiled ever-so-slightly to herself. She'd filled the playlist with songs about cars and driving, the one subject she knew would grab Jacob's full attention.

As she slid into her seat, she caught her father's eye again. He was now flat-out glaring at her. Obviously he knew she'd given Jacob the iPod on purpose, to distract his thoughts until they reached their destination. In her anxiety over her father's irritation at her, Renesmee felt her control beginning to slip.

"Jake," She said, looking at her wolf. His eyes were closed, and his head was bobbing ever-so-slightly to the beat. She pushed back the surge of fondness that threatened to make her think inappropriately, and reached over to poke him on the arm. "Jacob." He looked up and pulled out one earbud, and Renesmee put out her hand. "Share?" Jacob's mouth turned up at one corner, and he handed her the headphone. She quickly put it into her ear, and Bruce Springsteen was suddenly in her head. She felt like Jasper had just sat down beside her; a wave of relief broke over her, and she sank back into her seat, letting the music take over her mind. Sprung from cages out on highway 9,Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line…

"I'll never understand how people can appreciate that unintelligible mumbling, let alone call it 'music'," She heard her father mutter from the front seat. Her mother turned around to look at them over her headrest.

"What are you listening to?" She said, clearly curious at what her husband could possibly find so cringe-worthy.

"Springsteen," Renesmee said calmly, at the same moment Jacob replied, "Born to Run." Bella grinned.

"Edward…" She said slowly. Her husband took his eyes off the road momentarily to look at her.

"No," He said firmly. "We are not putting that tripe through my speakers."

"But it's a classic," she wheedled.

"Verdi is classic. Bach is classic. Bruce Springsteen is noise pollution."

"Oh, fine," Bella said, peevishly crossing her arms over her chest.

" Bach is Baroque," Renesmee piped up. Her father gave her a withering look, and she just smiled serenely. Her father having to listen to whatever music they were listening to by way of their thoughts wasn't something she'd thought of back at the rest stop, but the results were amusing, and effective. A thought occurred to her, and she quickly pushed it back, focusing on the lyrics and tune as she acted on it. She put her hand out to Jacob, who handed her the iPod with a skeptical look. She swirled the click wheel until she settled on what she was looking for. As she hit play, she saw her father's left eye twitch ever-so-slightly in the rearview mirror.

"Aw, what the heck?!" Jacob spat, pulling out his headphone and giving her an accusing look. Renesmee inclined her head ever-so-slightly towards the front seat, and Jacob looked at Edward, who looked very still and very disturbed. She just looked at Jacob and 'sang' along to the music in her headphone inside her head. He seemed to get it, and he put his headphone back in his ear, grudgingly.

Bella was watching the whole scene with a great deal of interest. "What are you doing to your poor father, Renesmee?" She asked, not really sounding like she was all that sympathetic towards her husband. Renesmee gave her mother an innocent look.

"Nothing," She replied sweetly. "I happen to like 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. Is there something wrong with listening to music that makes me happy?" Her mother looked stunned for one moment, before bursting into a loud peal of laughter.

"She mentally Rickrolled you, Edward!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "That's a new tactic... How do you even know about that, Renesmee? I'd think it was a bit before your time."

She just shrugged. "Some things are timeless, Mom." Renesmee snuck a look at Jacob; he was grooving out now, as hard as he could. He saw her watching and, with a huge grin, began to play air-synth. Renesmee giggled and rocked out along with him.

As the introduction to the song repeated for the fourth time in a row, Edward's eye twitched one final time, and he turned his head to look at his wife. "Bella," he ground out through clenched teeth. Bella shot her daughter a small, conspiratorial smile and Renesmee felt the gentle shimmer of her mother's shield falling over her and Jacob. She immediately relaxed against the back seat, and Jacob gave her a surreptitious, questioning look. She nodded, and he pulled out his headphone. She did the same. Jacob, Jacob Jacob, she thought freely, willing her mind to touch his, even though she knew it wasn't likely to happen, I love you, Jacob. I need you and I want you and I love you. It was like stretching after sitting in the same position for days. From the look on Jacob's face, he felt the same way.

Renesmee noted the sound of her father's teeth grinding, something he only did when he was really unhappy about something but exercising restraint nonetheless. Her mother turned briefly and looked at her, and then regarded her husband. "They've been working hard all afternoon," she said in a voice clearly meant to placate. "They deserve some reward, at least, for their determination."

Edward just shook his head and turned his eyes back to the road. "Enjoy it while you can," he said peevishly to his daughter, "We've got a whole weekend ahead of us."

In the Next Chapter:

Jacob realized that nobody had mentioned where Edward was. "Where is your dad?" He asked Renesmee.

"Sulking," Rosalie piped up before Renesmee could answer. A chuckle rippled through the room, although Esme and Carlisle made a good effort to look disapproving. Renesmee nodded to qualify her aunt's statement.

"He's still pissy about the ride here. Mom's with him… I think they went for a run."

"We all know what that means," Emmett said, making a lewd gesture. Renesmee groaned.

"Disgusting."

"It's a fact of life, Nessie," Emmett said sagely. "One day, you'll understand." Renesmee flushed noticeably, but that could have just been attributed to her humiliation at discussing these things with half her family. Jacob was extremely thankful that his skin tone didn't allow for blushing; otherwise, there would have been trouble.