A/N: Okay, so yeah, out of the few who took the challenge, you were correct! "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," by Iron & Wine, is from both the Twilight soundtrack, played in the movie when Edward and Bella danced together at prom, but it's also played when they kiss at their wedding in Breaking Dawn Part 1. So yes, you guys got it correct, but no one mentioned that it's from both of those soundtracks. (There's a separate wedding version—though both versions are lovely.) I also intended to update this on my birthday, which was on the second of December so . . . Yeah, we can all agree that that was a total FAIL! Haha. Oh! And a few friends and I made up a word that needs to go into a dictionary: Ferf: Noun; Someone who washes their hands before going to the bathroom. (Idk.) So SPREAD THE WORD! Haha. (I am talking a lot.) Please check out the roleplay that I am currently a moderator for, it would mean so much to us, we've been working so hard on getting it back on it's feet again, and the only thing that we need to help is RP-ers, so if you could, then that would be great! ( Imprinted and Bitten!)

I apologize for the poorly written dinner and, well, chapter overall. This isn't my best job, but I did my best! Now, I hate the song that I had to choose for this chapter, ("Falling For You," by Colbie Caillat) but I couldn't think of anything better. So if you can think of something better, please tell me!

One last thing! So I was at school and a girl out of nowhere just says, [seriously; out of NOWHERE!] "I hate it when the cows run away from me. They don't like me anymore. They used to like me, but now they just run away and I'm like, 'Wait! I wanna pet you!'" How random is that?

PS: Check out Cassia4u. Seriously. Do it or I'm gonna hack your account and make you favorite her and her stories and review every chapter. Scared? You should be. XD

Enjoy! :D

Chapter 5: Falling For you

"So, Nessie, when do you leave LA?" Rachel asked, setting a steaming pan of lasagna on a hot pad, having quickly adapted to Jacob's nickname along with everyone else.

"Um, mid August," I answered simply. "Gotta get back in time to prepare for school."

"Aw, bet that time will fly by. But it's pretty cool of your parents to let you come all the way out." She smiled, taking the seat next to where Paul had three pieces of garlic bread already on his plate.

"Rachel," Jacob nearly scolded, his eyes shooting a warning.

She cocked her head, not understanding. "Jake, I'm sure that she ca—"

"Just don't bother," Jacob's voice raised slightly, causing me to wince. Though younger than his guardians, his voice held authority, ultimatum.

Embry had yet to understand that part. "What the he—"

"Um, yeah, I'm glad that I'm allowed to do this every summer," I interrupted him, eager to talk about something else. I didn't want to start some sort of feud between Jacob and his family. I mean, he meant well, he was only trying to spare my feelings so that I wouldn't break down in front of his family, but I'd rather do that than have him seem to be keeping secrets from them or get into some unnecessary argument.

Rachel bit her lip and nodded, not seeming to want to start Jake again. We passed dishes and bowls around the table, making small talk as we did. But Jacob's words still hung in the air long after the topic had dropped. They were a dull knife hanging from a thinning string. No one dared to bring it up again.

I could feel that Jacob was protective of me, even after just the short time that we'd known each other. Most times when I thought about my heart dropped, knowing that I'd be nothing but a lost memory after August was over. A face in a broken dream, nothing but a pitiful teenage girl who was without a solid shoulder to cry on.

Rachel seemed to be the one to keep the ball rolling with random questions and conversation starters, jumping topics faster than a kangaroo on steroids. I could have sworn that she went the entire time without breathing with the way that she constantly had her mouth going. Finally, the end of dinner came and she brought her dishes to the sink.

"Boys, it's your turn to clean up tonight," she said, directing her message towards Jake and Embry. They both had their mouths open, ready to protest. "Don't argue with me, just do it," she said before they could. Both muttered and grumbled as they obliged, picking up dishes and scraps off of the table. Embry winked at me as Rachel brought me into the living room. Paul followed wordlessly, seeming reluctant to leave her alone.

She sat on the couch, gesturing for me to take a seat as well. I smiled politely, looking down, feeling the awkward air get thicker the longer we sat. "So . . . Tell me about your aunt," she said finally.

I nodded, looking up to meet her gaze. "She's very . . . Interesting, I guess would be the best way of putting it." I chuckled, ignore Jacob and Embry's loud clattering and hushed arguing that echoed down the hallway and into the room. "Talented, to say at the very least. Regardless as to what, she can definitely teach you something. I suppose that she acts younger than she really is. Not that she doesn't pull it off or anything, I mean, for a middle-aged woman, she looks far better than many who are even in their twenties. Gorgeous, needless to say. She was actually my dad's twin sister. Both of them were always"—gulp— "very attractive."

I blinked a few times until I knew that I wouldn't break down in front of her. I'd hate to have her feel bad for bringing it up, I knew how it felt to be on that end of that conversation. I took a silent, deep breath before continuing, another sound coming from the kitchen. "But she's awesome, to say the least. It's hard to talk about her in a disrespecting tongue."

She smiled. "She sounds great. You're lucky to—"

She was interrupted by a screeching crash of scratching metal and something shattering in the kitchen. We jumped, Rachel turning to Paul who was lounging in the recliner by the window, his feet dangling off the footrest in a lazy fashion. "Paul."

He lolled his head in our direction, his eyes drooping slightly, on the verge of shutting. "Yeah?"

"Could you please go check on those two dipshits in the kitchen?" She jerked her thumb down the hallway as something else sounded to hit the ground. "Guys, what are you doing in there?" she called, turning her head slightly.

"Nothing," Jake and Embry muttered in unison. Paul sighed, getting off of the his chair to trudge down the hallway.

Rachel turned back to me. "I was saying," she continued, sighing. "You're lucky to have someone like her. As much as nobody wants to admit it, or maybe you do, I guess that's up to you, but every teenager wants a role model. Whether it's their favorite sports star or simply their older cousin, everyone looks up to someone."

"Who did you look up to?" I asked at the same time that we heard Paul's voice echo. "What the fuck did you do?!"

Rachel winced, clearly not wanting to see what they had done. "Um . . . it was actually my aunt Sue. I'm not sure why, to be honest with you." She laughed, her eyes distant. "I guess that she was always there for not only me, but everyone. There was this one time when she was picking me, Jacob, my sister Rebecca, and her own kids up from daycare. All of us crammed into her minivan, me riding shotgun, much to Rebecca's dismay," she said, chuckling at the memory, a smile, the same one as Jacob, pulled at her lips. "Everyone else was fighting in the back, arguing over some television show when a grungy man was walking on the side of the road. He had clearly not kept up a hygiene routine in a long time and had not been walking by choice. All of the arguing in the back diminished as she pulled over to the shoulder and told us to stay in the car while she got out to walk up to the man. I couldn't hear what she was saying, only seeing their hand gestures and her kind, understanding smile as she listened to what he had to say. After five minutes or so, she walked over to my door, kindly asking me to move to the middle seat in the back. Now, if it were anyone but Sue, I'd have probably argued like the stubborn twelve year old that I was at the time, but I unbuckled myself and squished myself in between Jake and Seth in the very back seat without question. She quickly brought us to her house where her husband, Harry, my dad, Billy, and their friend, Charlie all were just getting back from fishing. Harry left with her right away while we all waited back at their house, thinking nothing of their absence." She looked at me, her teeth gleaming white in a bright smile. "A few years later I found out what they had done. Sue had heard of a homeless shelter in Seattle and she was bound and determined to take that man there. He willingly went, grateful for her assistance. Harry had always been the more cautious one of the two and went with to ensure his wife's safety."

I smiled, resting my cheek on my fist that I had propped up on the back of the couch. "She sounds amazing. That's a great story," I murmured, smiling.

She smiled back before frowning, looking down at her hands. "Her husband passed away about two years ago. She was absolutely crushed, didn't know what to do. I hadn't seen many couples who were quite as in love as they were. She lay on her bed for hours on end, not wanting to drink or eat anything. Anytime that someone would come in to try and help her, she'd send them right back out. Finally they decided to bring one of the kids into it after they'd been keeping them from getting involved in her while she was in that state. Seth walked in and she melted, putty in his hands while she started sobbing. Freaked him out more than he had already been, he was only a fourteen year old boy. His dad had just passed and the person who he'd always thought was so strong started to crumble before his eyes." She sighed. "Seeing all of this, her strength and weakness inspired me to want to be like her. I want to be that for Jacob, someone that he can look up to, someone that he can watch make and learn from mistakes and be able to say, 'I want to be like her, someday.'" She smiled at the thought.

"How the he—oh," Paul muttered from the kitchen, glass clinking together.

"What is going on in there?" Rachel sprung up from the couch suddenly, storming into the kitchen. I froze and then got up to follow when I heard her gasp. "What did you do?!"

I came up behind her, raising my eyebrows as Paul was trying to force two broken pieces of a plate together, a large triangle missing from one side of it. He looked up to Rachel, smiling slightly before looking down, embarrassed that the situation had only gotten worse since he'd come.

Water splattered across the floor and up the walls while several sharp shards seemed to poke up in tiny pieces from the linoleum floor. "I told you to wash the dishes! How hard is that to understand?!" Rachel nearly screeched, grabbing a wet dish towel off of the countertop to whip his arm with it, water splattering from the force.

Jacob was quick to step over the mess with his unbelievably long legs. "I'm uh, gonna take Nessie home."

He gripped my elbow ushering me quickly through the hall, towards the door. "Don't you dare think that you're getting out of this, because I am not cleaning this up! You know better than—"

The door shut hurriedly behind us as Jacob burst into a sudden fit of laughter, dropping my arm and throwing his head back. I stared incredulously, trying not to get too close. "What the hell is your problem?"

He grinned as if he'd won the lottery. "We wrecked her entire dish set from trying to wash them. How does a normal person do that? C'mon, you got to admit that that's kind of funny."

"Not to your sister, obviously."

"So?! The one to fear is Paul and he helped!" Jacob choked out as he started to laugh again.

"Wait, how did that even happen?"

"You don't wanna know."

"I d—"

"Come on, let's just get you home." He stifled a laugh as he threw an arm around my shoulders and guided me to the passenger door.

Unfortunately, Alice had kept her word. At seven AM she had burst into my room, hauling my ass to the bathroom to get ready for the day; day of shopping, that is. I'd originally been planning to just throw on a plain old tee and lounge around the house for the day, but my plans had been rudely delayed when my eager aunt decided that bird-early was a good time to throw me into the bathroom and expect me to be ready in minutes. Well, ready for her, that is.

I hurriedly showered the night away from my body to look as if I'd at least put more effort than stripping out of my clothes and going to bed with my makeup on last night. I had been drying myself off with a towel when my elbow was being gripped by two long, narrow fingers, pulling me to the vanity, causing me to whirl, hiking up my towel as I felt it slip.

"You start getting ready," she demanded before sprinting out of the room, her bare feet padding lightly across the tile.

I rolled my eyes going to her closet with linens, finding it to be convenient that she had several white robes folded neatly on a shelf, making her house seem that much more like a five star hotel rather than the large home of a wealthy aunt. I grabbed one, exchanging the towel for the soft robe, wrapping it around my body and darting back to the sink before Alice popped in with a machine gun for not moving fast enough.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror as I brushed my teeth hastily, feeling the bristles scratch the insides of my cheeks and my gums. It was always times like these when I wondered why I even tried anymore. My hair looked nearly black, tinted from the water that I had yet to wring out of it, spiraling in an unmanageable, messy disarray around my head. The skin in the mirror was just a few shades of albino, only coloring when my face heated of embarrassment, signaling my obvious thoughts. I supposed that the one thing that I could be proud of having was my eyes, mainly because they'd originally been my mothers, the only thing that I actually did have of her. The eyelashes looked near black, coordinating with the dark chocolate color of the iris. I supposed that some may consider them pretty, but yet they went unnoticed, which was understandable. These days, no one little quality could stand out unless you do something extravagant. People didn't care about the little things, the little qualities that made a person great. They had to be extraordinarily smart or undeniably gorgeous, or popular, whatever the case, in come situations, no matter how hard one would try; it simply couldn't be enough to the world. If you wanted to prove yourself, prove that you were worthy of their attention for even a mere second.

I had nothing to prove. I was incredibly stubborn, an unfortunate combination of my parents' ability to be reluctant to give in. My ability to do anything physical was an absolute zero, especially dancing. My personality was too awkward to understand the humans around me, making no further friends than neighbors who waved apologetically at me, wondering endlessly about the mysterious girl in the Cullen mansion. There wasn't anything to me that I had to offer, no hopes or dreams. The only one would be to find a way to bring my parents back and share my life with my creators, but that was the one wish that couldn't be granted with a life like mine.

I'd always said that I wanted to go to medical school, study the same practices that my grandfather had. He had always been inspiring to me, completely selfless, never wanting anything more than to cure and improve the quality of life for those around him. His thoughts never swayed from that, either, never growing tired of the great deal of effort and strain that it sometimes took of his life; he just never stopped. I knew even now that retirement was going to be a great battle in itself, knowing that he'd worry about the lives that he wouldn't be able to better, to save.

And I'm sure that those patients were more than thankful for his presence—and not only because he could keep their heart beating. When he walked into a room, women would gasp, waiting until he left to finally exhale while men would turn deep green with envy. Even in his older age, he still stunned even girls as young as myself—much to my horror, of course. Though I guessed that I saw the appeal, I mean, it was hard not to be somewhat shocked at his still-healthy, shiny, golden hair flecked with gray in certain lighting that only made him more wise, his pale blue eyes that seemed to stare right into you, not missing a thing.

"Okay, so I picked out a few things," Alice started, leaning in the doorway, causing me to jump, toothpaste dripping off of my chin.

I grimaced as I rinsed my chin off, before going back to brushing my teeth. "It's supposed to be nice out today, so I thought maybe these." She threw a few articles of clothing at me as I tried to catch them, hooking my finger on the collar of a shirt, still managing to keep the toothbrush from falling. I nearly jumped when something hard hit me on the foot, shooting a look at Alice before glancing at the object in distain.

"Alice," I started, picking up the shoe. "I'm not wearing heels shopping. Anywhere else, sure, whatever but you know that this," I shook the floral wedge in my hand. "cannot end well."

"But they'll look great with the shirt! And your legs will look so long!" she complained, pouting like a child. I resisted a laugh.

"Alice! I can get myself ready without your assistance. I promise not to jump out of the window to get away from you, I promise not to run away from you when we're in town."

"But I—"

"Alice," I warned, feeling like more of an adult than she was.

She sighed, closing the door, finally leaving me to get ready.

A half hour later, I sat shotgun while Alice was speeding down the road in her canary yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. I couldn't help my smile when we passed Jacob's house, something that my observant aunt didn't miss. "What are you smiling about over there?"

I sighed. "Nothing."

"You lie like your mother."

"Oh? And how do I tell the truth?"

"Like your father. Always blunt and sometimes spoken too soon." She smirked, laughing.

I rolled my eyes, staring out the window, watching the monster houses fly by.

"So, what is it?"

"It's nothing, Alice."

She snorted. "Did I not just tell you how you lie? You suck at it. Come on, no one would be in this much denial unless it involved a boy," she teased, a smile hinting in her voice.

"It's nobody," I snapped.

"So it is someone!"

"Alice, ple—"

She interrupted me. "No! Come on, you know that you can't win! Just tell me his name, what he looks like, anything!" she begged, sounding like a fourteen year old fangirl.

"I never said it was a guy," I pointed out, my blush giving me away as I turned to face her.

"Renesmee, please?" she pleaded, her speed slowing slightly.

I sighed, biting my lip. "Um . . . So, his name is Jacob."

She beamed at the windshield as we finally left the private neighborhood. "Hmm . . . It's . . . biblical? I don't know, that's a common name, you can't leave me hanging with that."

"He's, err—tall?" I said like a question, raising my eyebrows at her. I cursed my inability to keep these types of things secret. Granted, I'd probably be spotted with him soon enough and she'd find out that way, being one of those people who are very up-to-date with social networking.

"And? Is he cute?" she asked, jumping right to her top question.

I blushed. "Um—well, he—he's not unattractive."

A squeal squeaked out from her throat, speaking at record speed. "I knew it! I knew that there were hormones in you! Rosalie and I had been making bets on when you might finally say yes to Nahuel, I mean, let's be honest, look at the kid—you can't turn that down forever. Unless you're a lesbian of course, which that thought actually occurred to me the other day, though you still could be bisexual, and even if you were, that would be completely fine with that because I totally support it, but now I know that you're not because you like him! Ooh! What if—"

"Alice!" I choked out, cutting her off, resisting the urge to duct tape her mouth shut.

"Yes?" she asked, excitement causing her already soprano voice to climb up an octave.

I heaved a sigh. "I never said that I liked him."

She looked over at me once we'd stopped at a red light. After a few moments of awkward silence, she snorted. "Okay, Bella."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"You liiiiiiike him! You want to kiiiiiiiss him!"

"Don't quote Miss Congeniality," I muttered, annoyed.

"Oh, you know it's true!" she teased, her right arm reaching over to nudge my shoulder.

"No, I don't."

"Oh, come on, I'm just teasing you! Do you have a picture?" she hedged.

I checked my phone, surprised that I didn't. It was probably better that way anyway, but still. "No, I don't."

"Seriously? You suck. You finally get someone to flirt with and you don't even have a keepsake of what he looks like."

"Just friends—"

"Hey, at least you have a friend," she mused, finding a parking spot in front of a large mall.

I nearly gaped at her as I stepped out of the vehicle, shutting the car door a bit harder than necessary. "Is that a jab at social status?"

"Let's be honest, how many sleepovers did you have as a child?" she asked, linking her arm in mine as we walked towards the huge building that took up probably eight blocks worth of space.

"A few, but can you blame me for being at the bottom of the popularity chart? You guys have had me bottled up in a little bubble since I was in Grandpa's custody!"

She looked hurt. "Renesmee, that's not what we mean to—"

"But that's how it is!"

"You think we do it to keep you from being happy? Of course not! This is what your parents wanted, we're honoring their will! What do you want us to do, spit on their grave?!"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, pulling my arm from hers as I walked faster into the mall, shoving through the doorway.

"Renesmee, you don't know your way around!" I heard Alice call from behind me.

"I'll find my own way!" I barked back at her as I moved through a thick crowd of people.

Tears were already welling in the corners of my eyes, one daring to slip down my cheek. I could feel a few gazes on my face as I made my way, glancing down hallways, searching for a bathroom where I could save my tears for private.

I couldn't believe that she of all people would mention what happened, was she simply desensitized to it? Did she not care anymore? Alice knew that I was sensitive to the subject! If it were anyone else who didn't know anything, sure, I'd feel the stab of guilt, the knife twisting the memories that were just enough to tease me of what I never got to have, the only thing I'd ever wanted, but she knew all too well, she knew and felt the pain herself.

I felt a single sob escape my chest, the lump in my throat growing thicker as I tried not to break down in the middle of the mall, not wanting to make a scene. Finally, finding a hall, I sprinted down once I was out of the main crowd's view, hoping to find a restroom somewhere along the long, pale blue walls. I was beginning to lose faith in finding someplace to let it out when I only saw utility rooms and an emergency exit at the end, but let out a shaky sigh of relief when two more doors peeked out just before. If I hadn't been so damn determined to find them, I'd have completely overlooked their metal trim that matched the walls that they nearly blended in to. My blurred vision finally picked up on a sign with a symbol of a woman in a dress.

I wasted no time pushing through the door, my hand flying up to wipe the salt water from my face once the door shut behind me. There was yet another long hall that I had to round before making it to the stalls, but I hardly cared. I leaned against the tile wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the ground, hugging my knees to my chest.

I thought back to the few memories that I had of them, one of the dimmest being a birthday party. I was probably turning about three or four, I hardly remembered it, but I cherished it more than anyone would ever know. My hair was a lot shiner and curlier than it was now, bouncing in front of my eyes just as I was about to blow out, well, more like spit on, my birthday cake, thick with red and white frosting, Elmo from Sesame Street's face printed on the top. I felt cool fingers brush my curls back before all of the candles were blown out, only a little smoke rising from the hot wax. Before anyone could stop me, my fingers were reaching out to touch the charred blackness on the top, curious to the feel. I screamed, stomping on the chair that I was standing on when I felt heat sear into my tiny hand.

"Whoa, sweetheart, what's wrong?" I felt my grandma Esme's hands me from the chair in an instant, thick worry in her voice.

I didn't know how to respond, the only thing that I could think to do was scream, hot tears pouring down my chubby cheeks. I didn't even think of what my grandmother had said, all that I could even think about was the pink spot that swelled up from the candle.

"What happened? Is she okay?" my Daddy's panicked voice came from the opposite side of the room where he had been managing a cam-corder for the past hour. He rushed over, looking me over head to toe.

"Daddy!" I screeched, reaching out towards him, my hysterics climbing when my hand brushed his shirt.

"Edward, I think she burned herself," Esme said, finally spotting the redness of my spread fingers.

"Bella? Could you get a wet cloth?" he called behind him, wiping a few tears from my cheeks.

"What about ice instead?" Esme wondered, her voice close.

Daddy shook his head, a single strand of his dark hair falling down onto his forehead from it's usual, messy, rolled-out-of-bed style. "She has no tolerance for ice. It's too cold, so she refuses to touch it."

I sniffled, whining to get his attention again. "You're fine, sweetheart," he cooed softly, stroking my hair, my tears running dry.

"What did you need this fo—oh," I heard Mommy's voice come closer, my head whipping towards the sound, whimpering again as I held my still-hurting hand to her.

"Mommy," I murmured, as if I didn't have her attention already, more than overjoyed to see her kind brown eyes meet mine, smiling apologetically as the made her way to me.

I felt a cold washcloth wrap around my hand, causing me to try and jerk away. Her hand just held mine in place, making sure that the cloth stayed on it. "Shhh. It's okay, baby."

I swallowed breathily, resting my cheek on my Daddy's shoulder, feeling his lips press into my hair. "Did you get an owie, sweetie?" she asked in a soft tone, brushing hair from my forehead.

I nodded slightly, blinking as the pain started to ease. It still hurt, but not near as much. Far more manageable. I huffed lightly while my daddy rocked me softly in his arms, my eyes drooping from my sobbing. Soon enough I drifted to sleep hearing the endearing voice of my father singing in my ear.

A small bang from somewhere caused me to jump out of my reverie, gasping. The bathroom suddenly seemed colder, the collar of my shirt sticking to my chest for it was damp with my many tears and sweat. I stood, trying to steady myself as I went deeper into the restroom.

I must have looked like hell, feeling that some of my dark curls were matted together in the back, feeling sweaty and weak, knowing that my eyes would be rimmed red for the next hour.

I was about to check myself in the mirror, make myself look a little more like I had before when an arm suddenly had me in an all-too-tight headlock, a dirty hand covering my mouth.

I screamed as loud as my straining throat would allow, sure that no one would hear my thin, weak sobs as a masculine, strong man hauled me down the corridor, back out of the bathroom and shoving the emergency exit.

"Enough! Not one more word out of you!" the voice of the man restraining me barked in my ear, his voice unattractive and sadistic.

"James! Hurry up!" a French-accented voice hissed in an urgent tone. I could barely see, my vision starting to go black as oxygen went thinner and thinner to my brain. The headlock was choking off my air supply, unable to scream anymore, only flailing my limbs weakly and uselessly as we stumbled down the concrete sidewalk.

"You're gonna, cut this out NOW! You're gonna get in the fucking van and not say another word! Stop struggling!" Something kicked the back of my knees, causing them to fold under me, making it easier for James to haul me along.

"Wha—Nessie?!" I heard a familiar voice from behind me shout, bolding forward before I had time to react, a tanned arm swung out in front of my face, only a few inches from hitting me, thankfully hitting my captor.

I fell to my knees, my hands clasping at my burning throat as I heard a scuffle and then a car screeching away, gasping for air as I looked up at my savior.