Edward's POV-
I was currently seated at the small desk in the corner of my room struggling to wrap Renesmee's present without ripping the wrapping paper. Despite my impeccable dexterity, wrapping presents has never really been my forte. When and if I ever gave gifts in the past, I would normally forgo the wrapping paper. My family never put up a fight, especially after the incident.
It took me about four tries, but I finally got Renesmee's gift to look relatively well-wrapped. I placed the small package in the large drawer in my desk and left my room to find Carlisle. With everyone else always so preoccupied, I was normally the one to fill him in as to the activities we all were doing with Renesmee. I found him in the kitchen talking to Esme, and Alice.
"Oh, Edward! It's good that you're here. I was just about to come find you! We're all going shopping for Renesmee's gifts this morning." Alice told me. I looked to Carlisle and Esme who looked amused at Alice's eagerness. I had a feeling only about an eight of their shopping trip would be spent shopping for gifts for Renesmee.
"I already got her a gift, Alice." I said casually. I heard as her thoughts became confused and smirked to myself.
"What? When did you get her a gift?" She asked. I sat down next to Carlisle and Esme.
"Last night. After Renesmee went to bed and you all…retreated to your rooms." I told her. She smiled and her thoughts wandered off thinking about last night. "Stop, Alice!" I told her. She smiled and took a seat across from me at the table.
"Sorry. So what did you get her?" She inquired.
"Not telling." I teased. She raised her eyebrows and her eyes glazed over. I watched as she saw a vision of Renesmee opening my gift. The vision ended before I could see Renesmee's reaction. Darn. At least there weren't any paper cuts involved this time. I felt a deep pain in my chest at the thought.
"Aww, Edward! That's perfect. She's going to love it." She told me. I chuckled at both her response and because she was thinking about why she hadn't thought of the idea herself.
"I hope so." I sighed. Alice gave me a look that said 'Are you kidding me?' and reassured me that Renesmee would love the gift through her thoughts.
"Well, I have to go get ready. You two are coming, right?" Alice asked Carlisle and Esme. They nodded while mentally preparing themselves for shopping with Alice. I could hear that they were worried. Alice left and I began filling Carlisle and Esme in to what happened last night. They found the prank amusing, but just as Renesmee had, warned me against doing it again as we didn't actually know much about Renesmee's mother.
Soon enough, we were no longer alone. I'd actually heard her fluttering heartbeat approaching before I saw her. She walked in wearing a white and blue…romper? I think that's what they're called. Her long curly hair was worn down and the curls bounced with every step she took. She wore a huge smile across her face, and eagerly greeted us as she walked in.
"Good morning dear! How did the introductions with the other covens go?" Esme asked. Renesmee smiled in response to Esme's question, and walked over to the fridge.
"As well as I could have hoped. The Denali's are here." She said casually. I froze. The memories flooded my brain. I've always had a fairly good relationship with them, even Tanya, despite her numerous advances toward me. Ever since their little addition joined the coven, however, I have been less than thrilled every time we've come across the coven. "Aro said that you're close with them." Renesmee added. I looked up and saw that Carlisle was giving me a look and telling me to calm down through his thoughts. I relaxed, but only slightly.
"They're very dear friends of ours." Carlisle started. I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but they share the same lifestyle that we do." Carlisle said.
"Barely." I mumbled.
"Speaking of the Denali's…" Carlisle began, and I groaned internally knowing from the thoughts of the pair approaching the kitchen who was coming.
"Carlisle, Esme, it has been much too long!" I heard the nasally voice of Tanya say. I looked up to see Tanya and Jordan standing together at the entrance to the kitchen. Tanya had her arm locked around Jordan and he was clearly uncomfortable. It serves him right using her like he does.
As much as I tried to drown it out, I could still hear Jordan's thoughts practically screaming at me. From his thoughts, I could see and hear that he had caught Renesmee staring at him. Can't resist the J-man. I'm not surprised. He thought. She was blushing and went back to eating her banana. That was the point when everything headed South. For the sake of my own sanity, I will not repeat the disgustingly vile thoughts that flew through his mind.
A growl escaped my chest. I could kill him. If there weren't other people in the room, I think I actually might have.
"Are you alright?" I heard Renesmee ask. I was glaring at Jordan who had caught on to the fact that I could hear his thoughts loud and clear. He was smirking at me. My bad, Ed. I guess it serves you right snooping through people's private thoughts. Jordan's vomit-inducing voice spoke to me through his thoughts. I grew even angrier if that was possible. I heard Carlisle say my name, but I was too focused on not ripping the cocky vampire in front of me to shreds to hear him.
I quickly stood up from the table and excused myself. I practically sprinted to my room to escape Jordan's disgusting thoughts. Even though Jordan hadn't been a part of the Denali clan for that long, he and I already had more than our fair share of conflict.
The first time I had met Jordan was right after he had joined the Denali clan. I remember Tanya being so thrilled to finally have met her mate. She couldn't wait for everybody to meet him. Within three minutes of meeting him, I already knew we wouldn't get along. For starters, he was recalling the several girls he had picked up the night before when he finally managed to escape Tanya.
I tried to talk to him about what I'd heard, hoping I had simply misunderstood. He then told me to stay out of his head and resumed thinking about how he was only using Tanya to satisfy his needs. I tried to warn Tanya, but she wouldn't listen to me. She said that they were still working on the terms of their relationship and that it was nothing to worry about.
The other few times I had come across him, it had been even worse. I'd accepted that Jordan was sleazy, and it was out of my control. I'd done what I could to try to warn Tanya. If she didn't want to listen, that was on her.
Unfortunately, the situation escalated when he began going after Alice, Rose, and Esme. They were all oblivious, of course, blinded by love for their husbands. The one time, he was even flirting with Rosalie at her and Emmett's wedding! How low is that? I warned my family this time. They were smart enough to heed my warning and be cautious around Jordan, but they wouldn't go to the Denali's and help me convince them that Jordan was no good.
They said that it is not our place to go and get involved in their family business. Long story short, Jordan and I were not on good terms whatsoever. I hated him. He hated me. He would even go out of his way just to make me uncomfortable, and then when I snapped, he'd pretend that he was innocent and I was some evil being that was snooping through his mind. It sounds childish, and it most definitely was, but that was the reality of it. We were like bitter childhood enemies. I was the one who was a decent person, but always seemed to lose out, and he was the arrogant asshole who always seemed to one-up me.
A few minutes later, I heard a light knock on the door. I knew it was Renesmee by the fluttering heartbeat and the fact that I couldn't hear her thoughts. I opened the door and she immediately walked by me.
"What happened?" She asked, walking further into the room while I shut the door.
"Well hello to you too, Renesmee." I answered. "I'd say make yourself at home, but I suppose that this already is your home."
"You didn't answer my question." She rebutted.
"It's not important." I answered and she raised an eyebrow. "How was the rest of breakfast after I left?" I asked her.
"Well it didn't really last long. Things turned kind of awkward after you stormed out." She told me honestly. I chuckled at her dramatics.
"Did you have a nice chat with Jordan?" I could only assume he'd try to talk to her. I'd actually be quite surprised if he didn't.
"Well I suppose so." She started.
"I assume he's told you all about his antique car collection. I just know that he loves to brag about his cars." I said. I looked over at Renesmee who had her arms crossed and a small smirk playing on her lips. "What?"
"Are you serious right now?" She asked. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Excuse me?" I responded.
"You're really that upset about Jordan?" She asked.
"Yes. I am really 'that upset' about Jordan." She rolled her eyes.
"He said he was just teasing you." She told me. I scoffed and shook my head.
"That must be the understatement of the century." I retorted. She crossed her arms.
"Okay, then. What was he thinking about that upset you so much?" She inquired.
"I can assure you that you really don't want to know." I told her. She walked over to my unused bed and laid down. "What are you doing?" I asked her. She smiled.
"This one sounds complicated. I figured I should get comfortable." She told me. I smiled a bit.
"Just trust me when I say that Jordan Denali is bad news." I told her. She smiled.
"You can't just say something like that and not explain it! C'mon, what's the backstory?" She asked, teasingly. I was starting to feel better now. I couldn't help but smile at her smiling face.
"There's no backstory. Just drop it, Princess." I told her.
Renesmee's POV-
"There's no backstory. Just drop it, Princess." He told me. I sighed like I was annoyed, but I was actually really happy because I loved when he called me Princess. That's something that a normal dad would actually call his daughter. It made the fact that he was my dad seem more real even if he didn't know it.
"What you mean is that there's no backstory that you feel like sharing with me." I responded and he smiled his signature crooked grin. "You can at least tell me what he was thinking that set you off." His face fell.
"I meant it the first time when I said that you wouldn't want to know." He responded. Why does he have to be so damn stubborn? I asked twice, I obviously want to know.
"Please tell me, the suspense is killing me! I'm not leaving until I find out." I told him. He sighed.
"Renesmee…" He began with a voice that meant that he wasn't going to tell me.
"I guess I can always go hang out with Jordan and ask him myself." I was bluffing, but he shot me a serious look and I could tell that my words got to him.
"You, Renesmee. He was thinking about you." He spoke, with a highly annoyed voice.
"What about me?" I asked. I wasn't expecting that answer at all. I was thinking maybe he was taunting my dad about something in his head, not thinking about me. I looked at my dad and once again, he looked pissed. "What about me?" I repeated my question. He shook his head.
"He was thinking about you and him… together." He clarified. I felt like there was a lot more that he wasn't telling me but he already looked super uncomfortable and I was extremely embarrassed so I didn't push it.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" I groaned, covering my face which was as bright red as a tomato.
"I told you that you wouldn't want to know." He spoke. I dragged my hands down my face, lightly tugging my cheeks down with them. "I must say it's a relief to know that you don't reciprocate his feelings. I feel very…protective of you, and I can't say that it would've turned out well if the two of you were to get involved." He continued, subtly trying to get back at me for pestering him.
"STOP! This is a nightmare." I groaned. He chuckled and came to sit beside me.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you from the big, bad vampire." He mocked me. I groaned again.
"This is horrible. If I had known, I never would have agreed to let him teach me to dance." I sighed.
"Why would you accept his offer in the first place? Even without knowing what he's thinking, he still acts like a conceited jerk." My dad commented. I knew he was right.
"I was trying to be nice. I thought that he was joking." I defended myself.
"When is your dance lesson?" He asked. I looked at my watch on my wrist.
"Well it's supposed to be now, but I wanted to make sure that you were okay." I admitted. How ironic that the situation completely turned itself around and now I was the one that needed help. I looked at my dad's face and saw that he looked very serious now.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I heard him whisper before standing up and walking over to the door. I stood up and followed him. He opened the door just as Jordan was about to knock.
"Ah, Edward. It's good to see you again. I hope you're not still upset about the little incident earlier. It was an innocent mistake." He explained, his tone revealing that he was obviously not sorry at all. I was hidden from Jordan's view, but I could see my dad glaring at him.
"No." My dad responded, probably an answer to something in Jordan's mind. I stepped forward so I could see both my dad and Jordan's faces.
"That's too bad." Jordan said, tilting his head to the side slightly. He looked over at me and smiled. I felt sick. "Are you ready, Renesmee?" He asked me. Immediately, my dad stepped in front of me, blocking me from his view.
"Actually that won't be necessary because I'm teaching Renesmee how to dance." He spoke to Jordan. I was surprised, but I decided to play along. I would do anything to get myself out of this situation. I stepped around my dad so that I could see Jordan who was trying to hide his anger at my father.
"I'm sorry, Jordan. I completely forgot that Edward told me earlier this week that he'd teach me to dance." I told him. His eyes softened as he redirected his gaze from my father to me.
"It's alright, Renesmee. I understand." He told me. I relaxed a little bit. "Save me a dance tomorrow?" He asked me. I wished he would just leave. I nodded, hoping that when tomorrow comes, I could just avoid him. He kissed the back of my hand, looking my father directly in the eye while doing so and walked away. I stepped back from the door and my father slammed it shut.
"I could kill him." He said, and I smiled internally at his protective nature. It was silent for about a minute, both of us caught in our thoughts. I was eventually the one to break the silence.
"You know, I wasn't joking when I said that I don't know how to dance." I said. He broke away from his thoughts and walked toward a table where his phone was sitting.
"Well, good, because I wasn't joking when I said that I would teach you to dance." He responded. His phone started playing soft piano music and he walked back toward me, offering me his hand. Before taking it, I consciously warned myself not to lose control of my gift. I didn't want to accidentally show him something again.
I took his hand, and with that, he began teaching me how to dance. He spent three hours teaching me to dance before I actually seemed somewhat graceful. In that three hours, I stepped on his toes a numerous amount of times, and nearly tripped over myself at least nine times. He was very patient though, which I was thankful for.
"You're doing very well, Renesmee. It's been at least ten minutes since you last stepped on my foot." He told me and I laughed.
"Well now what happens when I have to dance with somebody that's not you?" I asked. He smiled.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Renesmee. And if not, fake a cramp in your leg and come find me. I'll be the one sulking in the corner." He joked.
"Nessie, where are you?" I heard Alice call. I was surprised that she was back already, but I guess it had been a few hours.
"In here!" I called. I knew she'd be able to find me just based on that. I heard her walk down the hallway and soon enough she walked through the door.
"I saw some stuff I thought that you would like at the mall so I got it for you." She smiled at my unamused reaction. "I can see that you're busy though, so I'll just show you later. Where do you want this stuff?" She was holding about six large bags in her hands.
"I hope not all of that is for me." I told her. She smiled.
"Don't be silly. Only these five. This one is for you, Edward." She placed my father's bag on his bed, avoiding my gaze. My father mumbled out a thank you. I hated to think she was spending so much on me.
"So where do you want this stuff?" She asked again. I shook my head. She was relentless.
"My room. Thank you, Alice." I said. I really did appreciate everything. It was just so much! She skipped out of the room on her way toward my room.
"Did you expect that she wouldn't buy you all that stuff? In case you haven't noticed, Alice likes to go above and beyond what is reasonable." My dad explained to me.
"No kidding. She already got me so much. I feel bad accepting all these expensive gifts." I told him.
"That's too bad because I actually wanted to give something to you." He said and I groaned.
"Your family has given me so much already. I don't need anything else." I explained. He walked over to his desk and pulled out a neatly wrapped gift.
"That's all Alice. This—" He said, handing me the gift. "—is from me. I know your birthday is tomorrow, but I figured it would be better if you open it today." I held the box in my hand, hesitant to open it.
"Edward, I feel really bad accepting all these expensive gifts." I told him. He shrugged.
"It really wasn't that expensive. I promise." He told me. I began unwrapping my gift and when I finally realized what it was, I was thrilled.
"You got me a camera?" I asked. He smiled. I opened the box it came in, looking at all the other gadgets that came with it. Bullshit, it wasn't expensive! This thing is super fancy.
"I figured that you could use one seeing as you're always taking pictures." He responded. That was super thoughtful. "I can see you're worried about the price, but I can assure you that this is probably the cheapest gift you're going to get from my family." I smiled. I could cry I was so happy. I really loved this gift! I set the box on the bed beside me and my father quickly assembled the lens and body of my new camera. I saw him hold it up and I smiled at him. I heard the click when he took the picture. He pulled it away from his face to look at the picture.
"That's a really good one." He said, turning the camera and showing it to me. It was a cute picture.
"It's alright, but I think something's missing." I commented. He looked puzzled.
"What?" He asked. I took the camera from his hands and turned it around so that it would take a picture of both of us together.
"Smile!" I told him. He chuckled. I took the picture and immediately turned to look at it. It was perfect! I turned the camera to show it to him when I heard Alice's voice calling me.
"R-renesmee! Can you come here, please?" She hollered. I could hear her, but just barely. She sounded worried.
"Coming!" I yelled back. I looked to my dad. "Should I be scared?" I asked him. He smirked.
"I don't know. She's hiding her thoughts." He told me. I turned and started walking. The closer I got to my room, the more nervous I became. I had a bad feeling about this.
Author's Note:
What do I even say?
So Jordan is sleazy as many of you anticipated, and Edward hates him. I guess that's to be expected. Any of your opinions on him change since the last chapter?
Isn't it sweet that Edward saved Nessie from the vile Jordan? And to top it off, Edward gave Nessie the perfect gift.
What do you think is going on with Alice? Leave your reviews. I'd love to know ;)
As always, I am super grateful for everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted, etc! You all are amazing. I was hoping to get to 160 reviews last time and I got to 167! That's spectacular! Thank you so much (:
I'd love to hear your thoughts and predictions about this chapter! I would love to get to 185 reviews before the next update.
If there are any questions or concerns, feel free to review or PM me.
Until next time, Taylor