AN: Sorry I didn't manage to get this chapter out on the weekend like I was planning to… I had to go out of town unexpectedly to visit a family member in the hospital, so I've basically been traveling for the last three days, stuck on buses and in cars and other places where I can't post.

Anyhow, here it is…the next chapter. Hope you like it! Review responses from last chapter are forthcoming… probably tonight, when I get back from work.

Please review… I love your feedback!

Enjoy!

~Crit.

Chapter 33: The Hall

To Renesmee's utter chagrin, Leah refused to talk about what had happened during her outing with Rideau. In fact, she refused to say anything to her at all, opting instead for a frosty silence that rivaled their old interactions in terms of discomfort. After several attempts to communicate, Renesmee finally threw her hands up and stormed off to her room, where Jacob found her several minutes later, sitting on the bed not reading the open book in her lap.

"I could be wrong," he said tentatively, "But I think in order to gain knowledge from a book, you actually have to look at it. I don't think glaring at the bedpost is going to help you much." Renesmee decided to scowl at him instead.

"Oh, shut up," she said irritably, and then she slammed the book shut. "Who does she think she is, shutting me out like that?" She leapt up from the bed and stood in front of Jacob, tilting her head all the way back so she could look him in the face. "I mean, I've done nothing but help her, and she's, what, punishing me for getting her some alone-time with her imprint? So much for gratitude!" Renesmee could easily acknowledge that she was a bit over the top, but she felt unexpectedly and irrationally angry at Leah's silent treatment. And it didn't help that Jacob, who was supposed to be on her side, was just staring down at her with that irritatingly amused expression.

"Whoa, Nessie," He said reaching out for her shoulders. She twisted away from his hands with a glare, and he actually had the nerve to chuckle at her. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit? I mean, you did sort of pull a trick on her, and it's Leah… did you expect her to just laugh and pat you on the back?"

"I expected her to have such a good time that she wouldn't care about my backing out at the last minute. I expected her to at least tell me what happened!" She shook her head in frustration. "And… I thought she would want to tell me." She could feel her mask of rage slipping into one of disappointment, and she quickly turned her back on him. It was stupid, she knew, but she didn't want Jacob to see how upset she was that Leah had cast their fledgling friendship aside.

"Uh-huh," Jacob said softly from behind her back, and the next thing she knew he was standing directly behind her, his arms winding carefully around her shoulders so that she was pinning against him. She didn't even try to pull away this time; it would have been pointless anyway. "Nessie, I know you're upset because you and Leah were starting to be friendly with each other… but honey, you did act behind her back and send her out there with him alone. She has every right to be pissed off at you right now, especially if things didn't go well."

"I know," Renesmee admitted grudgingly. "It wasn't the best way to do things… but how else were we going to get them alone? If I'd gone, they wouldn't have a real chance to talk or get to know each other. Plus, I'm the last person who Leah should want around while she's trying to get close to Rideau." She pushed slightly against Jacob's arms, and he got the hint and eased up on his grip so that she could turn around to face him. "Oh god," she said, letting her forehead drop against his chest, "Do you really think it went badly? I mean, she looks pretty mad…" The deep vibrations of Jacob's soft laughter shook her body, pressed against him as she was, and he rubbed one large hand over her back.

"Settle down," he said, not unkindly. "She's not your biggest fan right now, but I can tell you one thing for sure: whatever happened, it wasn't a total disaster."

Renesmee looked up at him warily. "How do you know?" Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Honey, Leah is like my family. I've known her for a very, very long time, and she's not nearly as hard to read as she thinks. After all these years, I can tell pretty easily when she's actually upset, and when she's pretty pleased with herself and just pretending to be pissed off to make a point." Jacob gave her a small, encouraging smile. "I could be wrong, but I'm thinking things probably went pretty well."

"Really?" Renesmee felt relieved. "Well, that's good, at least."

Jacob placed a kiss on her forehead. "It's really cool of you to care so much about what happens to her," He said, and she could see the pride in his eyes. She could read between the lines and understand what he was actually saying: he was thanking her for making his pack as important to her as they were to him. A big part of Renesmee was really glad she'd never thought much about Leah and Jacob's friendship before she had discovered the truth about the imprint. It would have been easy to be extremely jealous of how much her boyfriend cared for the other woman. But at this point, it just made her happy to see Jacob's devotion to his packmate.

But it was more than that. Renesmee realized with a sudden jolt of feeling that she didn't just care about Leah because she was important to Jacob. Maybe it had started that way, when they were back at the compound: a feeble attempt to befriend the older woman as a sort of peace offering, to show that she didn't intend to take Jacob away from his pack. But in the few days since the imprinting, she'd spent more time with Leah than she had in her entire life beforehand, and she'd gotten to know her a lot better than either of them had expected. Nobody could call them best friends, but Renesmee had felt a sort of kinship with the other woman since their first real conversation. It was like the potential for a great friendship hung in the air between them, and they were working towards the place where they could both accept it comfortably. Renesmee knew that when they finally could, it would be something big.

A friendship with no secrets. It was something she wanted, more than anything. She couldn't have that with Clara, or with Rideau, or any human being she might meet. Her family was too close, and they all held her up as something perfect and pure. Jacob loved her too much. Seth and Embry would always see her as a kid. There was only Leah left. Leah, who wouldn't hesitate to call her bluff or tell her she was being stupid. She'd never pretend to be something she wasn't just to make somebody else comfortable… Renesmee wasn't sure she could. Behind her cranky exterior, Leah was one of the most honest people Renesmee had ever met, and she could be surprisingly open and insightful. She was also very, very sad. And Renesmee found it mattered to her the Leah was unhappy, and she wanted to change it.

"I do care," she told Jacob earnestly. "I care a lot. I know it sounds really weird, but… I think we're going to be friends one day."

Jacob gave her a searching look, and then his face was split by an enormous grin. "I wouldn't exactly be shocked by that," he said, giving her another kiss on the forehead. "She's not going to stay mad forever, either… so just let her work it out of her system. Trust me… I'm an expert when it comes to the moods of Leah Clearwater." Renesmee laughed quietly as Jacob released her and they sat down on the bed, facing each other.

"Jake, can I ask you something?"

"Anything, Sweetheart."

"When I was little, too little to really be your friend… you were really close with Leah, weren't you?" Jacob raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm still really close with Leah," he replied. "Maybe we spent more time together back then, but we still have the same friendship."

Renesmee frowned. "Okay… but there's something that's been bugging me, just a bit." She looked up at him warily. "A couple days ago, Leah mentioned that you never tell her when you and I fight. And the way she said it, it sounded like she expected you would have told her, as if you tell her pretty much everything. And that's fine," Renesmee was quick to add, "Except I was wondering why you wouldn't tell her when you're mad at me. If you guys are good friends… why would you hide that?"

Jacob was looking at her like she was a little bit nuts. "Don't take this the wrong way, but… I'm not sure what you're trying to get at. Are you suggesting that I should have been sharing the details of our fights with my friends? I would have figured you'd want that stuff to stay between us."

"I do, I guess." Renesmee wasn't exactly sure how to get her point across without sounding like a crazy person. "It's just something Leah said that stuck with me… she said I'm nothing like how you see me."

"I beg your pardon?" Jacob did not look impressed.

"She said… she said that you've never said or thought anything bad about me when she could hear it. And that you think I'm perfect."

Jacob snorted. "Honey," he said in a very even tone, "I know you're not perfect."

"Well thanks," Renesmee said, rolling her eyes. "That wasn't my point, though… I know that you know that I…" she stopped, took a breath, and started again. "I know that you love me, in spite of… or maybe in part because of the less-than-perfect things about me. And what I just don't get is, why would you want to hide the fact that I can sometimes act crazy and annoy the heck out of you from your friends?"

Jacob shook his head. "I'm confused, Nessie. It kind of seems like you're chewing me out for not badmouthing you to my buddies."

"I'm not trying to chew you out," she said, offering a small smile as evidence. "See? Not pissed off! Just sort of perplexed."

Jacob heaved a sigh, as if she was trying his patience tremendously. "Okay, see… I've always avoided sharing our disagreements with Leah because, number one, I figured you'd be even madder at me if I went and ranted to someone else while we were in a fight. And number two, as I'm sure you've figured out, Leah can be a bit hyper-critical. And since she's never been a huge fan of the idea of us being imprinted, I didn't want to give her anything as fodder for a rant about how toxic our relationship is. Because honestly? She would have gone there. And if she'd said anything bad about you, I would have had to go up against her. That would put me in a fight with both of you at the same time. And I'm a pretty tough guy, Nessie, but I don't think I could handle both your wrath and Leah's at the same time."

"Oh." Renesmee's eyes were wide as she contemplated what Jacob would have had to deal with in that situation. "Yeah, that probably wouldn't be too much fun for you."

"You think?" Jacob's voice was extremely sarcastic, but he had a tiny grin on his face. Renesmee couldn't help herself; she started to laugh. Jacob waited patiently while she got herself back under control.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I know I'm probably just irritating you with this discussion. I do have a point, I promise."

"I'm sure you do," Jacob quipped. "Care to make it any time soon?"

Renesmee nodded, though not before rolling he eyes. "I just wanted to say that Leah actually seemed glad to find out I wasn't some flawless thing. And I think it's safe to say that her views on imprinting have changed a bit. So from now on, I think you can stop censoring what you say about me. I don't really mind Leah or anybody else knowing that I'm a regular person, with issues and quirks like everybody else. Perfection is kind of a hard standard to live up to. Plus, you need to be able to talk to someone who isn't me sometimes. I would be okay with it if you want to talk to Leah."

Jacob nodded, looking amused. "Fair enough," he said. "I'll badmouth you every chance I get."

"Jacob, that's not what I…" He cut her off.

"Kidding, kidding!" He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Nessie, I get it. And I'm really glad you and Leah had that conversation. I didn't realize that I was building you a reputation that's next to impossible to live up to. I just didn't want any extra conflict. That, and I really do like you, so it's not exactly hard for me to go on about how great you are." He gave her a pointed look, and she laughed again.

"I guess you do." She gave him an apologetic look. "Can we hug it out?" Jacob chuckled and then nodded and spread his arms. Renesmee lunged forward and fell against his chest, feeling a rush of affection as he closed his heavy arms around her. She squeezed him back, hard. "So," she said when they separated, "How long do you think Leah's going to give me the silent treatment for?" Jacob winced. "Right. A long time, then." Renesmee sighed. "Fine. I'll just have to find out from Rideau tomorrow at school."

"Um… she's not going to like that." Renesmee shrugged.

"Well, if she wants to order me not to talk to him, she'll have to talk to me, won't she?"

oooOOOooo

Renesmee was standing in a large, dark room. It was nighttime, and through the high, beveled windows that lined one wall she could see the small, sharp sliver of the crescent moon. Its weak light spilled in through the glass and onto the gleaming wood floor at her feet. This wasn't a place she recognized, and she knew instinctively that she was trapped there, alone.

She did a full turn, looking all around her at her surroundings. The room was completely empty, but it still managed to be lavish and beautiful through embellishments on the walls and fine detailing around the windows and closed doorways. The ceiling was vaulted, with carved moldings running across its width. It was obviously some sort of hall or ballroom, although now it was deserted and dark.

Renesmee took a couple steps toward the wall with the windows. Her shoes made a loud clicking noise that echoed throughout the empty space, and she went up on her toes and walked that way to lessen the sound. She wasn't sure why she needed to be quiet, only that it was absolutely imperative that she was as silent as possible. Somebody was looking for her.

She reached the window and pressed her palms to the glass, looking out onto a short stretch of lawn bordered by a garden, which in turn was bordered by a high brick wall. The grass was green, the plants blooming and leafy. Where was she, and when?

There was a sudden crashing noise, like shattering glass, and a loud thud not a second later. Renesmee looked up in alarm, expecting to see broken window panes, but the windows were still intact, and she was still alone. At least, it looked like she was. It was hard to believe that, though, when it sounded like at least ten people had begun to shout at once from all over the room. She looked all around her; still nobody there, despite the din. What was happening?

"Get down! Get back," a familiar female voice called out. "Stay by Nessie! Seth, Embry, on my word! Stay low to the ground." Leah. Several voices called out in response, some in a language she couldn't understand. Then came a voice she did recognize.

"—if I can just get close enough for them to hear me clearly I think I can—" It was Clara! Why in the world would Clara be there, with the wolves, in the middle of what was evidently a battle?

"—my hand, if I can make contact then maybe—" Renesmee recognized her own voice, although it sounded strange in her ears.

"Wait, Leah—" Rideau. Renesmee's heart sank as she realized in horror that yes, her human friends were in fact present.

"NOW!" There was the distinctive sound of one—or possibly all three— or the wolves shifting, and then the room fell silent again, as suddenly as the noise had begun, and Renesmee was once again standing in a completely silent, empty hall.. Disoriented, she spun around to do another sweep of her surroundings—

--and found herself face-to-face with a pair of narrow green eyes, set in a pale face that was both familiar and strange at the same time. The woman was short and pretty, with sandy brown hair that hung around her face in gentle waves. Renesmee had just one moment to regard her before the stranger lurched forward and clasped her thin fingers around her arms.

"You're being followed," she said in a low whisper.

Renesmee's eyes flew open. The sounds and scents of home were all around her: Jacob's soft breathing beside her head, the soft smell of fabric softener, the much more distinctive scent of all four sleeping wolves. She took a single gasping breath and held it, determined not to wake Jacob. It was another of those dreams. She clenched her jaw and willed her heart rate to slow down.

She went over it all in her head, once she trusted herself to think and breathe normally. The abandoned ballroom, the sounds of the erupting battle, apparently involving her human friends. Leah, Seth and Embry were there, too, with Leah acting as the leader of the three. That would make sense, with Jacob absent, but where was Jacob? Renesmee looked at the sleeping form of the man she loved. She had the same feeling about this dream that she had with the ones before: that it was a sign of things to come. A premonition. She already knew that Jacob didn't believe there was anything to the dreams but her subconscious acting overtime. There was no sense in even discussing it with him further: he'd only attempt to placate her and shut her down. She had to keep it to herself, until she could talk to somebody who would listen. Jacob was too close to take her seriously.

She turned onto her side. Jacob was facing her, one arm cradling his head and the other over top of the blankets. Slowly, and very carefully, she moved over so that she was pressed against his bare chest, and then reached up and gently pulled his arm around her. He made a soft, content noise in his sleep, and pulled her even closer, subconsciously tightening his grip. Renesmee closed her eyes tight as she felt the tell-tale prickle of tears beginning behind her eyelids. She wouldn't cry. She would just lie there, surrounded by Jacob, until she forgot about the dream.

At least, she would try her best.

In the Next Chapter:

Alice leaned in a bit, her elbows on her knees, and continued, "Maybe she wants to tell you, maybe she's planning to, but she's worried you'll overreact." At Edward's dubious expression, she rolled her eyes "Well, you do overreact on occasion, you know."

Please Review!