Jacob's POV
"Please Jake, pleaseeeeee," Quill whined through the phone. "We'll keep you safe from the scary vampire's baby girl, don't you worry. Just come with us man."
I groaned back, running my fingers through my hair, trying to find any other excuse. But Quill knew me best and hit the nail on the head, I was scared to run into the Cullen. I knew I just needed to man up and go. What was the worst that could happen?
"Alright, fine. I'm about to wrap up at work. You all go on and I'll meet you there." Quill's answering whoop could be heard across the echoing garage. I laughed and hung up, cutting him off mid celebration.
I took my time finishing up this last customer and getting things squared away at the desk. Once, I ran out of ways to stall, I hopped on my bike and made my way to the diner. When I parked in the nearly empty lot, I could see Quill and Embry through the furthest window already seated. I jogged up to the door, my stomach growling after another long day. I was only a few steps inside when someone bumped face first into my chest.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry!" I said, reaching out instinctively to make sure they didn't lose their balance.
"No, it was totally my fault, I'm sorry!" I looked down to see the top of a head of curly auburn hair, reminding me of something I couldn't quite place. In the next second, I was hit by the sweetest, most unique scent. I breathed deeply, wanting to fully capture it.
"Are you okay? Do you need help with that?" She was juggling around a purse and a to-go bag. I looked around, concerned, wanting to make sure nothing hit the floor. It was then that she looked up at me with a reassuring smile. I missed hearing her response as I locked my gaze with her deep brown eyes.
At that moment, I seemed to forget everything. As if my mind was wiped clean. I couldn't tell you anything about my family, my friends, even my own name. All that mattered was this girl in front of me. I may have just met her but she was everything to me now.
For a moment I panicked; was I passing out? Was I having a stroke? But in the next second it clicked. Of course! This was imprinting. I thought I understood, hearing the other guys' minds, but it was so much more powerful than I expected.
Her expression changed to one of concern, her smile turning down at the corners. She started to talk again and her voice cut through the haze in my mind.
"Hey, are you okay?" The sound of her melodious voice helped me focus enough to respond.
"Oh, yeah yeah, I'm good." I tried to smile reassuringly. "I'm Jacob." I unwrapped my arms from around her, somewhat unwillingly, and reached out to shake her hand.
"Renesmee," She responded and returned the shake.
"Wow, that's an interesting name." I blurted out, still coming to terms with my latest epiphany. Her eyebrow furrowed, unsure if that was meant as a compliment or insult. Before I could backtrack, she laughed.
"I get that a lot. My mom came up with it, playing around with family names. But it grows on you if you get to know me." I smirked at her response.
"Well I would actually love to get to know you. Were you leaving?" I assumed as much with the to-go bag, but had to be sure.
"Yeah, I already ate. Taking home some leftovers to my family." I'm sure my disappointment was all over my face. I started to panic, wanting to spend time with her but having no idea how to get that to happen. I met Quill and Embry's eyes from across the room, trying to communicate with my face all that had just transpired. I was hopeful at least Quill might catch on, as someone who had imprinted years ago.
"Are you here on your own? I'm meeting some friends here to watch the game. Would you be up for joining us, at least for a bit?" I mentally crossed my fingers and toes hoping for her yes.
"Well," I watched her hesitate, looking from me to the guys, debating. Something in my smile seemed to convince her, so she shrugged. "Sure, why not? I'm not in any rush."
I felt like I was barely a teenager, so incredibly nervous to talk to my latest crush. I led us back to the table, seeing Quill and Embry's equally surprised faces. I worked to give them a look that said Be cool guys, please.
"So these are my friends, Quill and Embry." I motioned to each of them across the table, pulling out one of the remaining two chairs for her. Clearly trying to put my best foot forward. This only pushed the guy's faces into further shock. "Guys," I tried to inconspicuously emphasize this, working to get their attention to just act normal. "This is Renesmee."
"Hello," she sweetly greeted them both, waving as she sat. A strange flicker of recognition crossed their faces, looking quickly at one another. Embry looked back to Renesmee, while Quill focused on me. When I met his stare, I could tell immediately that he understood. A wide smile broke across his face.
"Hey aren't you…" Embry started to ask, but I cut him off, wanting as much of Renesmee's attention for myself.
"So Renesmee, I've not seen you around before. Are you new to Forks?"
"You could say that. I'm here visiting family." I felt as though I had a thousand questions for her. But first and foremost, I needed to know how much time I had with her.
"How long have you been in town? Are you here all summer?" I could feel my excitement rising and tried to pace it down. Be cool dude, be cool. Don't scare her away.
"Actually, I just arrived yesterday. And yes, I'm here for the whole summer!" Her face was peaceful at the thought, while my heart was leaping with joy.
"And when you're not in Forks? Where is home?" Strangely she hesitated at this, looking torn. I worried I was coming across too nosey. Fortunately, before I could nervously try to backtrack, she answered me.
"St. Helens, Oregon. Not too far." She shrugged, casually. Thankfully, before I arrived, the guys had ordered all of our food and it arrived quickly. I fought off my ridiculous hunger, trying to not appear to be an animal as I took small bites of my fries.
"I've never been there, what's it like?" Before she could answer, we were interrupted by Embry's loud whoop, eyes glued to the tv. I looked up to see that the Mariners had just hit a home run, but I couldn't find the energy in me to be excited for anything else but the girl next to me.
"Sorry about that, we came to watch the game. We're all pretty big fans. But we can tune them out". I reassured nervously, not wanting to be off putting to her.
"Oh no, I don't mind at all. I grew up in a big baseball house and am a fan myself. Who's playing tonight?" She peeked up to see for herself. I was skeptical, wondering if she was telling the truth or just wanting to find common ground.
"Oh really? Do you have a team?"
"Well that's also a touchy subject in our house." She hesitated nervously before continuing. "A lot of my family didn't grow up together, so they all consider different places to be their hometowns. One of my uncles cheers for the Astros while the other roots for the Braves. My dad is partial to the Cubs and I probably side with him most often. We're really close. And I have family here too who choose the Mariners. I really can't go wrong." She shrugged again, casually. My face was a mix of shock and awe at this response. She may not choose my team but I loved to hear she was a sports fan.
"I can respect that. Do you watch any other sports? Or only baseball?"
"Baseball is probably my favorite. You know, America's pastime." She had the cutest smirk. "But because of my uncles, I've been a fan of most sports since I can remember. I didn't really have a choice. I will say it's always a blast with them, whether we're watching or playing it ourselves." She laughed and I felt as though it warmed my entire body.
"They sound like my kind of people!" Quill seemed to hide a laugh behind a cough, but I couldn't spare him a thought to wonder about the action. "So tell me more about you and your family. What else do you do for fun?" Again, I saw Quill and Embry tense up, but I tried to ignore them. I didn't need them to make me feel any more awkward than I already did.
"Oh tons of things!" Her eyes sparkled, showing how excited she was. Seeing her like this, I would let her talk for hours just to soak in her pretty face. As she talked, I worked to carefully finish off my burger.
"Anything outdoors: camping, hiking, swimming. I already mentioned sports, the only family joins in and is super competitive, no matter what game we play. I have a favorite activity to do with each of my family members. My mom and I love to read together, we are basically a two person book club. My dad has taught me how to play just about every instrument you can think of. My grandparents taught me to love art; I paint with my grandma and visit art museums with my grandpa. My uncles are behind most of our sporting events. One of my aunts is a major fashionista; she's still working to fully pull me into that with her. My other aunt is quite the mechanic, oftentimes she invites me into the garage with her to tune up our family's long line of lavish cars."
I nearly choked at that. Was I dreaming? It was as if every piece I had ever imagined about my dream girl had fit together and was sitting right in front of me. This imprinting business was no joke. I mentally took back every spiteful thought I ever had about the whole ideal.
"What? Was that too much information?" She asked self-consciously, looking down to her lap.
"No, no, not at all!" I rushed to say. "I was just shocked, we have so much in common! I own a garage over on the reservation; working on cars is my passion. When I'm not there, I basically live outdoors." I tried to hide my smirk, that was sure an understatement. "Speaking of outdoors, you have to come see First Beach. It's so beautiful."
"Yeah, you know, I've heard that." She fidgeted nervously. "So you live in La Push? Have you always lived there? Tell me about it." Now, it was my turn to be nervous. I wanted to tread carefully here. Learning from my friends' experience, dropping all of the werewolf/imprinting knowledge at once was overwhelming, but knowing not to wait too long either.
"I have. Like I said, the area is so beautiful. Growing up, it felt as though there was always somewhere new to explore. It was almost too easy for us boys to find trouble." I smirked over to my friends across the table, who were kindly trying to ignore us. I was eager to continue to ask her questions when her phone dinged loudly once from her pocket. She quickly took it out and read a text.
"Oh shoot. I've got to get home. My," She seemed to stumble over words as she looked at me. "My cousin is almost home and this food is for him. I should get going."
"Of course, yeah." I tried to hide my disappointment. I knew I wanted to stretch this time together out as long as possible. "I'm finished up here. Let me walk you out." I offered and she smiled back. I passed some cash over to the guys to cover my meal, winking at them as I left. They both looked on the edge of laughter, so I knew I would get hell for this later. But feeling as I felt, I couldn't have cared less.
As we walked together toward the door, I felt a rush of courage. I reached out for her hand, guiding us both out of the restaurant. My heart soared when she didn't fall away, but instead squeezed once. Following Renesmee out to the parking lot, I faltered a step when she moved toward her car and I realized it was the silver Volvo I had seen yesterday in town. Get a grip dude. Tons of people drive Volvos.
"I'll follow you, just to make sure you make it back safely." I could see her hesitate for a moment, but then smile and nod. With a squeeze of her hand, I jogged over to my bike and swiftly followed behind her out of the parking lot. As we drove, I started to be curious over seeing what family she was staying with in town or if I would recognize them. At first, it was as I expected, we drove across the already quiet downtown.
I grew suspicious, as we continued on further south with the houses becoming further apart. I hadn't driven this road in years. My breathing grew quicker as we drove further down the familiar streets, still waiting for her to turn off onto a new route. She never did. Instead, we were soon coming up on a house I never thought I would see again. The house looked the same as always, only missing the rusted red truck out front.
You've got to be fucking kidding me. It couldn't be. It can't be. That makes absolutely no sense.
My thoughts spiraled in on themselves, running in circles. I couldn't swallow the information staring me in the face. Renesmee parked her car in the driveway and stepped out, looking back with a shy wave. I robotically waved back. I sat idling in the middle of the street until she was safely inside. Inside Charlie. Swan's. House. So that would mean…
Holy shit. She's Bella's daughter. I just imprinted on Bella Swan's daughter. I just imprinted on Edward Cullen's daughter. What are the odds?!
Fighting the panic rising inside, I whipped my car around and sped back towards La Push, hoping to find the two people I needed to talk to most.