Author's Note: Oh hi.

So, we're back. I don't really know what to say to you all, after years (Years!) of absence. I can only tell you that I experienced a life-alerting occurrence around the time that I stopped posting, and for a while writing was the last thing from my mind. However, I always had an ending in mind for this story, and with the final movie being released in a few months I thought I should see if I could get the ball rolling again and actually get to that point. If anyone is still receiving chapter alerts on this story, I hope you'll pick it up again. If not, I hope that anyone new who finds this will enjoy it. I'm going to try my best to finish. The second half of the story is about 75% finished, so I should be able to make it happen. I hope so, anyway.

If anyone, anyone at all, is still with this from before, thank you so much for coming back. I'm so sorry for making you wait, and I will do my level best to never do it again.

Thanks all,

Critiquelle

Chapter 38: White Flag

Renesmee was surprised to find the loft so quiet when she got in the door. The main room was completely deserted, and the lights were off on the lower floor. Curious, Renesmee started up the stairs. There was light shining from beneath the door to her bedroom, which was closed. The door to Jacob's room was open, but there was nobody in there, as far as she could tell. She moved a bit further down the hallway to scope out the guest room. Leah's door was closed and the lights were off, and Renesmee immediately noticed that there was a white pillowcase hanging from the doorframe. It took her a moment to figure out what was going on, and when she did she covered her mouth to avoid laughing out loud. Leah had put up a white flag.

Quietly, she crept back towards her room and opened the door, stepping inside. Jacob was sitting on the bed, and he looked up when he heard her come in. The sight of him gave her heart a funny little twist: he was seated on the mattress in his track pants and an undershirt, surrounded by what appeared to be textbooks, one of which he had open in his lap.

She grinned at him as she crossed the room. "You're studying?" She asked, amused. "Your classes don't even start until the new year!"

Jacob shrugged. "I know, but I registered for my courses today, and then I looked up the syllabi and figured I should probably pick up some of the books early, before they sell out in January."

"Mmm… I love it when you use words like 'Syllabi'," Renesmee joked, sitting down beside him on the bed and giving him a seductive look. Jacob laughed.

"You would." He closed the book in his lap and began to gather up the others into a neat stack.

"Don't stop on my account!" Renesmee said. "If you still want to read…" She was actually kind of anxious to put off the conversation they were about to have.

"Naw, I'm done for tonight." He put the stack of text books on the bedside table and then leaned and kissed her. "Hi. How were your adventures in Claraland?"

Renesmee laughed, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "Pretty good. Um… enlightening."

"Yeah?" Jacob turned to face her fully. "That sounds like it has a story attached."

She nodded slowly. "You could say that. So… you might want to get comfortable. This could take a while."

Jacob ran a hand through his hair and gave her a wary look. "Why do I get the feeling I'm about to get caught up in an exhausting and drawn out conversation?"

Renesmee sighed. "Because you know me too well?" Jacob smiled at that and nudged her shoulder with his own.

"Okay," he said in an exaggerated voice. "Bring it on."

She took a deep breath. "I… did something tonight, Jake, something you're probably not going to be too happy about. And I don't know how exactly to tell you, except to just explain it the best I can and hope that you understand."

He was watching her closely, a searching look in his eyes. "Nessie, what did you do?" She knew from his voice that he was taking her completely seriously.

"I… I told Clara about my ability." Jacob got very still, very suddenly. Renesmee was silent, not knowing how to continue. After a few moments of tense silence, she decided to attempt to explain further. "I can ex—"

"You did WHAT?" Jacob roared, grabbing her shoulders. This time, it was Renesmee who was paralyzed, in shock at his sudden outburst. She sat there, immobilized, as he shouted. "Are you INSANE?" She could feel his hands trembling where they gripped her arms. Vibrating.

"Jacob, calm down."

He didn't. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" He cried. "Maybe you've forgotten what happened to the last human who got pulled into your family's world…"

That did it. She tore herself out of his grasp and leapt up from the mattress, putting a safe distance between them. "Yeah," she retorted angrily, "As I recall, she got married to the love of her life and gave birth to me! What a horrible thing to have happened… I can see why you'd be upset!"

Jacob at least had the decency to look a bit taken aback at that. "That isn't what I meant," he said lamely. She could see that her anger was already beginning to take the bite out of his.

"It's exactly what you meant," she replied almost instantly, and then, with less malice, "but I know you didn't mean it in that way." Jacob took a deep breath; Renesmee did too. Their eyes met, and Jacob gave her a loaded look.

"How much did you tell her, Renesmee?"

She was surprised that her own name could sound so hostile. Jacob only ever called her by her full name when he was being very serious. "Just what I can do. Nothing about my family, or yours." She paused. "Jake, she has an ability too."

"What?" Now it was Jacob's turn to look shocked. Renesmee nodded slowly.

"She told me… she wanted to come clean, she felt guilty for keeping secrets from me." She gave him a pointed look. "She was so worried I'd hate her for it, or think she was a freak, and she was so honest with me… I just couldn't listen to her bare her soul like that and not tell her that I know how she feels. So I told her. Well, actually, I showed her. And it was fine, Jacob… she was fine with it! She understands."

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut, as if thinking about the situation was giving him a massive headache. "Your father is going to fillet me," he said slowly. "I'm supposed to be making sure you stay safe, and you're putting yourself directly in the line of danger."

"Clara isn't dangerous," Renesmee protested vehemently, "She just has a power. And she's worried and a bit freaked out. She needs advice, and somebody who understands. I know you can understand how that feels."

Jacob opened his eyes and looked at her dubiously. "You seriously think it's a coincidence that there just happens to be a super-powered human in your classes at school, who just happens to have befriended you?" He shook his head. "Wake up, Renesmee."

She found it hard not to be offended by that. "Is it so unbelievable that someone might want to be my friend for normal, innocent reasons?"

"Of course not. But let's think about this for a minute… how many normal, innocent humans have you known who just happen to have supernatural abilities?"

"My mom did," Renesmee said triumphantly. "She didn't know it at the time… but she always had it. It just didn't get strong enough for her to really use it fully until she was changed. So who knows… maybe more people have abilities than you think, and they just don't realize it. Maybe everyone has an ability."

"Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?"

"I've heard crazier. I don't really care if it does sound nuts… what matters is that I know there's nothing dangerous about Clara. I know it, Jake. And it makes me so angry that you don't trust my judgment enough to believe it." They stood there, glaring at each other, until finally Jacob's shoulders fell and he looked away.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said in a small voice.

"And grabbed me," Renesmee added.

"And grabbed you. I didn't mean to lose control like that… I just got freaked out."

She just shook her head. "'Freaked out' is no excuse for flying off the handle," she pointed out. "You're just like my father… you don't trust me to handle anything on my own, and you get mad at me when I try."

"That's not fair," Jacob said, getting to his feet. "This isn't some stupid, trivial thing. I know you think I'm being patronizing, but I really don't think you understand. The last time a human got mixed up with your family, it started a war. People died, Renesmee. Your family was almost wiped out."

"I know what happened, Jacob," Renesmee said quietly. "And I know it was my fault, mine and my mother's. I don't need you to point that out to me."

"That's not what I—"

"This isn't the same. Clara doesn't know anything about vampires, or werewolves, or any of that. She just knows that she has an ability, and that there's someone like her. Maybe you don't know how it feels to think that there's nobody else like you in the entire world, and that you're completely alone… but I do. And I won't let somebody else feel that way." She squared her jaw and added a mental so there.

Jacob came towards her slowly, cautiously. She stayed very still, regarding him sternly as he approached, until finally he came to a stop in front of her. He brought his hands up and took her once more by the shoulders, this time very, very gently. "You've never been alone. How can you possibly think that, when there are so many people who love you?" He actually looked hurt by the idea. Renesmee relaxed into his touch. The last thing she wanted was to fight with Jacob right now.

"I know how much my family loves me… how much you love me. That's not the point. I'm still always going to be alone in a way. I'm not a vampire, I'm not a human, and I'm definitely not a wolf… I'm the only one there is of me."

"There are other half-human, half-vampires out there…"

Renesmee shook her head. "Hybrids who drink the blood of humans, who produce venom, who kill by choice. I'm not one of them, either." She felt tears prickling behind her eyes. "I don't know what I am, Jacob."

Jacob drew her closer. "I know what you are," he said, his hands moving from her shoulders so that his arms encircled her completely.

"What am I?" She muttered into his chest. Jacob paused.

"I don't have a word for it," he said a bit awkwardly. Renesmee surprised herself with a hoarse burst of laughter; there was an answering rumble deep in Jacob's chest. "But I know it just the same."

"That's really reassuring, Jake," she said sarcastically. But they both knew she really meant it. Jacob sighed heavily into her hair.

"Nessie, what are we going to do now? This is a very big deal."

"I know." She pulled back a bit so that she could look at him. "But nothing is going to happen tonight. Clara's not going to tell anybody, we can trust her. Tomorrow, if you want, I can call her and you two can meet. I promise that once you talk to her you won't have any doubts. She's a bit spoiled and a bit crazy… but she's a good person, Jacob. You'll see."

Jacob still looked doubtful, but at least he didn't look panicked anymore. "Are you going to tell your father?" He asked. It sounded more like a suggestion that a question.

"Yes," She replied, "But not yet. I have to figure out how… and besides, it isn't really my secret to tell. I shouldn't even have told you about Clara… but this isn't something I want to hide, Jacob. The ability to be at least partially honest with one of my friends shouldn't come with the handicap of having to be dishonest with you."

"Plus, you're a pretty terrible liar."

"And there's that." They smiled at each other, and Renesmee knew that Jacob was going to reluctantly let her win this one. Thank god. "I know you're not happy with me… that you think what I've done is stupid. But Clara's my friend, and I want to help her. I had a decision to make… and I think I made the right choice."

Jacob took a moment before saying, "All right, Nessie. I'll trust your judgement."

She felt her eyebrows creeping upwards. "Seriously?" Jacob shrugged.

"What choice do I have?"

"Good point."

"I do want to meet her, though. That's going to have to happen as soon as possible."

She nodded quickly. "Like I said… I'll call her, I'm sure she can get together with us tomorrow." Jacob went back to the bed and sat down, patting the mattress beside him. Renesmee joined him, leaning against his side, her cheek against his shoulder. They sat there silently for a while, Jacob's hand resting on her knee, his thumb brushing back and forth over the stiff denim of her jeans.

"Nessie?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"What can she do?" Jacob sounded genuinely curious, so she figured it would be no harm to answer.

"I think I'd call it persuasion," She replied carefully. "She can get people to do or say pretty much whatever she wants them to. The way she put it is, she gets whatever she wants."

Jacob looked thoughtful. "I met a vamp like that once… actually, you did too. One of your family's friends… Carlisle always said she had the 'remarkable gift' of influencing the outcome of things so that they turned out the way she wanted. She kept denying it was an actual ability."

Renesmee nodded. "Siobhan. I barely remember her, but I've heard stories about most of my family's acquaintances. I think Grandpa was pretty intrigued by her particular gift… but Clara's isn't the same. Similar… but not the same."

"How do you mean?"

"As far as I understand it, Siobhan's gift was centered around the idea of her visualizing an outcome, or hoping for a particular thing. Clara's ability applies to individuals and specifics. And it's verbal… she has to actually give the instruction for her influence to have an effect. At least, that's how she seems to think it works."

Jacob let out a long breath. "That's a pretty heavy ability."

"She's in control of it," Renesmee added quickly. "I asked her if she'd ever tried to make somebody do something they really didn't want to, and just the idea of it seemed to make her uneasy. She said she's not willing to cross that line. She throws it around a bunch, just to amuse herself, I think. But where it really matters, she seems like she's got pretty good discretion."

"Hm. Well I guess that's reassuring, at least." He patted her knee softly where his hand was still resting. "How did she react to your ability?"

"She asked if she had a brain tumor." Jacob burst out in unexpected laughter. "When I told her she wasn't hallucinating, she made me do it again."

"What did you show her?"

Renesmee felt herself blush. "Well, I showed her some of the things she and I have done together since becoming friends, and I showed her my aunts and uncles and, well… you."

"Me?" Jacob sounded surprised.

"Well, yeah. I wanted her to see… what's important to me."

"Oh." Jacob raised his arm over her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. "Now I feel really bad about shouting at you."

She shrugged and burrowed further into his side. "It's okay. I knew you'd be upset. I just wish we didn't have to be so… so mean to each other when we fight."

"You're not mean, Ness."

She turned her head and gave him a look. "Are you being serious?"

"I… thought so…" He looked at her cautiously. "Wrong answer?"

She sighed. "Jake, you know how we had that discussion about how you think I am versus how I really am? This is a good example. When we fight, you get loud and angry. I'd describe that as mean. I, on the other hand, get sarcastic and stubborn. I also know exactly how to hit you where it hurts, and I do, frequently. That could also be described, in what I think is a pretty huge understatement, as mean."

"Huh." Jacob was clearly considering it. "Okay, that's fair. You're mean." He looked her in the eye, and they stared each other down for a minute before he finally burst into laughter. "Geez, Nessie, you're so hard on yourself!"

"Jacob! I'm trying to be serious!"

"I know. But seriously? I can take it."

She shook her head. "That's the thing… I don't want you to have to 'take it'. We have to be nicer to each other!"

He chuckled again, this time more softly. "Okay, sweetheart. I promise I'll try."

"Me too." She closed her eyes as he kissed her on the forehead. "No more fighting, okay?"

"Oh, I'm not sure about that." She opened one eye to peer at him warily. "No fighting means no making up," he explained casually. And then he tackled her to the mattress.

Renesmee made a mental note to amend her "No Fighting" rule, just as soon as she could think straight again.

oooOOOooo

Clara came over late on Saturday morning, after an early phone call from Renesmee. She insisted on bringing breakfast, which Renesmee figured would only help her case with Jacob. She showed up on the doorstep promptly at eleven, armed with a bag of flakey croissants and a giant container of fruit salad. Renesmee poured her a coffee from the pot she'd just brewed and they went into the living room to sit down.

"Jacob and the others are out," she began. "He's coming back in a bit, but I wanted to talk to you alone before you guys meet."

Clara gave her a sly grin over the top of her coffee mug. "Is this where you warn me to keep my hands off your man? You don't have to worry… I don't want any mob hits out on my head."

Renesmee rolled her eyes. "I'm not involved with the mafia," she reiterated for what felt like the thousandth time. "No, I just wanted to tell you something privately, without him being around."

"Okay…" Clara said warily, looking at her like she might be crazy, "Go for it."

With a deep breath, Renesmee began. "I told Jacob that I let you know about my ability. He was pretty freaked out… worried we wouldn't be able to trust you. I told him that wasn't true, but he can get… carried away sometimes. He's just always really concerned that something bad will happen if people find out what I… can do. And to stop him from getting overly paranoid I… had to tell him about you." She cringed a bit as the words left her lips. "I'm so sorry… I know it wasn't my secret to tell… but Jacob is somebody who understands people like us, and I promise you he's on your side. Or will be."

Clara looked stunned. "You told your boyfriend about me?"

Renesmee's heart was thumping hard in her chest. This was not going well. "He had to know that we can trust you. Believe me, it won't make any difference to him, what you can do."

Clara was silent for a moment. Whenever Clara got quiet, Renesmee got nervous. It just seemed unnatural. Finally, she looked over at Renesmee, a calculating expression in her eyes. "Just tell me one thing, Ness: does the reason you had to tell Jacob about me have anything to do with the other stuff you so neatly avoided talking about last night? The 'more'?"

Now that she knew how it felt, Renesmee recognized Clara's persuasive influence as it washed over her. Looking into Clara's eyes, she realized that the other girl meant for her to recognize it. "Yes," she answered promptly, and then added, "But you really didn't have to compel me to answer… I would have told you the truth anyway."

Clara nodded. "Okay. One more question, then… Will you ever tell me what the 'more' consists of? Some day?"

Renesmee couldn't answer that as easily. "I hope so," she said honestly.

With a sigh and a wave of her hand, Clara's demeanor returned to her regular standard. "That'll have to do for now, then," she said breezily. "Don't worry about telling the boy… I sort of figured you might anyway."
Renesmee blinked in surprise. "You did?"

"Sure. You tell him entirely too many details of your life to begin with. How you keep him interested is beyond me, but hey… whatever works for you." She got to her feet. "Do you have a big bowl? I want to put out the fruit…"

Renesmee followed her friend into the kitchen, directing her as the blonde girl flitted around, rifling through her cupboards for plates and serving pieces. She wondered if she could ever learn to be as miraculously unconcerned by the troubling things in her life as Clara seemed to be. The other girl could give lessons in taking things in stride.

They were still in the kitchen when Jacob came through the door. Renesmee turned and gave him a wave, and then went to meet him by the door. Clara followed behind at a distance, a basket of croissants in her hands. Renesmee looked quickly between the two of them.

"Clara, this is Jacob," she said, gesturing. "Jacob… Clara." Clara started forward, standing in front of them.

"Hi," Jacob said.

"Pastry?" Clara responded, holding up the bread basket. Jacob was looking at her like she'd sprouted a third ear. Renesmee elbowed him.

"Uh… thanks," he said, reaching forward and gingerly picking up one of the flakey rolls between his thumb and index finger. The croissant was dwarfed by his mammoth hand, and Renesmee had to fight with herself to avoid laughing. It was by far the most awkward meeting she'd ever witnessed.

"Well, this is awkward," Clara said, mirroring her thoughts exactly. Jacob gave a loud snort of laughter, effectively breaking the ice. "Ness told me everything, about how she told you everything," she explained, crossing the room to place the basket on the coffee table.

"She would," Jacob said, earning himself a hard look from Renesmee. Clara just cracked up.

"I like him, Ness," she said, "He's funny."

Renesmee rolled her eyes. "Yeah… you're both hilarious." She went and sat down at the coffee table. Jacob went and retrieved a cup of coffee from the kitchen and then sat down beside her. Clara sat across from them on the other couch, leaning back against the cushions with her arms crossed.

"So…" Renesmee said, looking between her boyfriend and her best female friend. Jacob promptly shoved the remainder of his croissant into his mouth, effectively allowing him to avoid being the one to talk. Clara wore a tiny smirk as she looked back over at them.

"So, about the elephant in the room," she said casually. "Yes, I can get people to do pretty much anything I tell them to. Yes, I've always been able to, although it's gotten way stronger lately. No, I don't plan on using my powers for evil." She clapped her hands together. "Questions? Comments?"

Jacob was staring at her openly in disbelief. Renesmee smothered a giggle… Clara could be a bit of a shock to the system, and Jacob clearly hadn't anticipated it. He cleared his throat.

"Um, no," he said, "I think you've basically covered the important bases there."

Clara smiled brilliantly. "Good. I'm glad that's out of the way. Not that I wasn't looking forward to a good old fashioned Saturday morning interrogation…"

Renesmee looked sideways at Jacob; with everything that came out of Clara's mouth he appeared to be more amused and less concerned. She smiled to herself. Leave it to Clara to disarm a territorial wolf in less than ten minutes.

"What I can't figure out," Clara continued, popping a melon ball in her mouth and talking around it, "Is how Ness and I came to meet each other. I mean, what are the odds? It's pretty freaky, don't you think?" Her voice was casual, but she finished the sentence with a searching look that moved between both of them.

"It is a pretty strange coincidence," Renesmee said tentatively.

"If it is a coincidence," Clara said, and then she turned her gaze fully onto Jacob. "Is it a coincidence, Jacob? Maybe you can tell me."

Renesmee saw Jacob go rigid beside her. "Clara…" she began warningly, but Jacob cut her off.

"Are you trying to imply something?" He ground out with some effort. Clara laughed suddenly and shook her head.

"Of course not… tell me, what could I possibly be implying?"

"If you think that by being charming you can distract me from the fact that you're trying to play with my mind, think again," Jacob said, leaning forward in his seat. "I'm used to having scarier people than you in there… it's not gonna work." Renesmee drew in a sharp breath, and Jacob turned suddenly to her, realizing his mistake. Clara's eyes narrowed as she looked between them.

" 'Scary'… now that's an interesting word," she said, watching them carefully. "I think you'd better tell me what Jacob meant by that, Ness."

"He means you're not nearly as intimidating as— " Renesmee's hands flew to her mouth as she nearly blurted out an answer without thinking. Jacob rose to his feet; Clara did too. Renesmee focused as hard as she could and then dropped her hands again. "Stop it," she said to Clara. "I've already told you I can't tell you anything else!"

Clara shook her head. "That was before your boyfriend started using words like scary."

Jacob leaned forward, just a bit menacingly. "You're not going to make me less suspicious of you by acting like you're suspicious of us," he all-but-spat.

"Suspicious of me?" Clara snorted. "You two are the ones who won't tell me what's going on! There's clearly something you're trying to keep from me, and it's enough that Ness has to cover her mouth to keep from saying it out loud. And you're suspicious of me."

"You just tried to use your power on both of us, without permission!" Jacob pointed out. And fairly, too, Renesmee thought… Clara was being reckless, probably figuring neither one of them would have a huge problem with it now that they knew. She was wrong, though, because there was no way Jacob was going to take that lying down, already on-edge as he was.

"Well, I happen to think just maybe it's justified, if both of you are being dishonest!" Clara said. They were both leaning over the coffee table now, and the short piece of furniture was the only thing stopping them from being right in each others' faces.

"Let me guess: you're the one who decides when it's justified to use your mind-control on another person? Sounds really well-regulated to me."

"Back off," Clara said warningly. Jacob immediately took a step backwards, sitting down with a thud as the back of his legs hit the couch. "That time was justified because you're like eight feet of muscle, shouting directly into the face of five and a half feet of little girl. Seeing as we're talking boundaries, let's discuss the appropriateness of you being physically threatening towards me."

"Don't worry… I'm sure if you felt you were in danger you could just talk me out of it."

Renesmee had had enough. Finally over her shock at the deterioration of their meeting, she stood up and spoke. "Guys… stop it! Both of you… this isn't helping anything!"

Clara shot her a dirty look. "I hate to tell you this, Ness, but your boyfriend's a jerk." She shook her head. "I am so out of here."

"Clara, wait…" Renesmee moved to grab her friend's arm to stop her from leaving, but Clara turned on her with a furious look.

"Don't touch me," she ordered in a low, firm voice. Renesmee froze in place; she literally couldn't continue towards the other girl. Clara's eyes softened slightly before she turned on her heel. "Sorry, Ness," she said over her shoulder as she headed for the door, "This is too much, even for me."

Renesmee looked helplessly between the doorway and Jacob, who was glowering over at her from his spot on the couch, arms crossed. Renesmee made a split-second decision and started for the door. She was going after Clara. Jacob would forgive her… her friend might not.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she paused to slide her boots on.

"I'm going to go after her… make her understand why we can't tell her everything just yet." Jacob rose to his feet.

"Why would you want to do that?" He looked at her like she was nuts. "I agree with you about one thing: she's not working on anybody's behalf but her own. But did you see her throwing her ability around like it was a party trick?" He shook his head. "She's obviously crazy. And you're not spending time with her anymore."

Renesmee wished she was surprised to hear Jacob ordering her around, but the truth was it didn't shock her in the slightest. "Just stop it, Jacob," She said wearily. "You can be as mad as you want… I'm still going after her."

"Renesmee, don't walk out that door," Jacob said icily. She sighed.

"You know what? When you're done being difficult, let me know. I'll be busy making peace on behalf of both of us. Until then… have a great morning. Enjoy the fruit salad."

She didn't wait for a reply, tearing through the door and slamming it shut behind her. She took the stairs; waiting for the elevator was a waste of time. She found Clara in front of the building, angrily punching numbers into her phone and glowering at the curb, where her towncar obviously wasn't waiting for her.

"Clara."

"Oh hi." Clara gave her a lofty, unimpressed look and then turned back to her phone.

"Your car left?" Renesmee asked, for lack of anything better to say. Clara kept fiddling with her phone.

"Yes. Evidently you can't count on anybody these days." Renesmee felt Clara's not-so-subtle dig like a punch in the gut.

"Look, I'm sorry," she said, moving to stand in front of the other girl in hopes she'd look up at her, "I know how it must seem to you, with Jacob acting the way he acts, but there's more to it, and I just—"

"I'm tired of hearing about this infamous "more"," Clara said, dropping her hands to her sides and looking Renesmee square in the eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Ness, and I've spent my whole life around people who keep a lot of secrets. There are only two reasons for you acting the way you do about whatever it is you're not supposed to tell me: either you're keeping it from me to protect me, or you're keeping it from me to protect yourselves. If it's the former, then let me make things easy for you: it's not your job to protect me. I can take care of myself… have been for a long time, in fact. And if it's the latter, well… if you can't trust me to be on your side, then maybe we're not the sort of friends I thought we were. Which is really too bad, but if that's how it is then that's how it is."

Renesmee was brought up short by the brusque, unattached tone Clara's voice had taken on. It sounded like she didn't care either way whether they remained friends or not. She was putting on the personality so many people assumed was hers by nature, and Renesmee wasn't fooled at all.

"Clara, come on." She stared her down, crossing her arms. "You know that's not the case… not at all." Clara simply raised an eyebrow.

"Which is it, Ness? Who are you protecting: me, or you?"

"Both of us."

In the long pause that followed her quiet statement, Clara's car finally pulled up, coming to a smooth and almost silent stop behind Renesmee's back. They stared at each other for another moment before Clara rolled her eyes and gestured to the door that her driver was now hurrying to open.

"Well? Are you going to get in, or not?" Then she breezed past her and gracefully slid across the leather upholstery to the far corner or the back seat. Renesmee stared for a moment, caught off guard, and then followed her friend into the car, trying not to flinch as the chauffer closed the door and sealed her into what was bound to be a very uncomfortable commute.

oooOOOooo

In the next chapter:

She leaned forward, staring him in the face. "You may belong to her, Jake, but she doesn't belong to you. And maybe you think you can live with her as the only person in your world, but she'll never be that way. You can't make her that way. And if you try… you'll lose her." Leah backed off slightly and shrugged. "You just will."

Thanks (seriously) for reading. Please review... I will always respond!