Half & Half

Half & Half - Chapter 22

Half & Half

Chapter Twenty Two

  Once the morning had come around again, the Cullen’s were deep in conversation by the time Jacob had raised his head. Groggily sitting up his head felt like it had been hit a thousand times by a bulldozer, all the voices going on from the pack back at La Push as well as Edward invading his mind during his slumber didn’t help make it feel any better. Edward had a feeling Jacob was keeping his true feelings and emotions about Renesmee a secret, so when asleep he sought the time to investigate and his suspicions were correct, though not to what he would think after all this was Jacob Black he was thinking about. Jacob seemed to be more concerned about her mental well being than what a normal male would be concerned about; this surprised Edward greatly as he stood listening to Carlisle.

  Jacob slowly rose to his feet, as he already knew what they were talking about, there was only one thing that was on his mind that he cared to hear about right now. He found it scrubbing last night’s dishes in the kitchen across the way. Renesmee often made herself busy doing other things when something was on her mind, like her mom it was a way of out letting what she couldn’t say with words. The dishes seemed to be getting the most of her attention as they more than shone; they sparkled from the bright lights above her.

     “I don’t think you’ll get them any cleaner Ness.” Jacob chuckled as he walked to her.

  Renesmee turned around once she snapped out of her daze.

    “Hm?” she looked at the plate and realised what she was doing to it, she put it down and removed her cleaning gloves.

    “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re doing your in-depth cleaning again.” He half chuckled as he knew she was still worried about him.

   Renesmee exhaled nodding.

    “I’m alright, I can’t stop worrying about you no matter how much people ask me to stop, you’d be the same way if they were targeting me and not you.” She said as she walked over to him, her arms following their usual path to their close embrace.

    “I know, I understand. This is taking its toll out on all of us in different ways. They’re talking about what they’re going to do next, is that why you’re in here?” he said as he put her face into his chest.

  She nodded and looked up at his face.

    “Yes. I just don’t see what else we can do apart from wait until Alice sees the day they’re coming back.”

  Jacob nodded and walked her over to the couch outside of the kitchen, sitting her down gently on his lap as his arms stayed around her middle, keeping her back to his chest.

    “I think they’re trying to look for a solution that isn’t there if you ask me, Edward will hear me saying this but I don’t care. I’ve had my opinion but I’m practising my holding back my tongue, not easy you know.” He smirked.

  His whit earned him a well-earned laugh from Renesmee, he aimed to keep her happy for as long as possible before anything heavy kicked off. He predicted it would soon but until he was fully sure of what was going to happen, the here and now mattered a lot to him. Renesmee leaned back against his chest now that her body was more relaxed thanks to him putting her mind at ease, for now. The two spent the rest of the morning cuddling on the couch until approached by Esme around lunchtime.

  “Jacob you’re more than welcome to stay for lunch, but Carlisle has plans for us now and I think it involves you returning back to Emily’s for a while. I only heard pieces, Emmett was rather loud when he was watching the television.” She said rolling her eyes playfully, it wasn’t often Esme let her grace and decorum slip but she felt like a second mother to Jacob since he approved of her kindness.

  Jacob looked down at Renesmee as she was already looking up watching his reaction to Esme’s news. “Will you be okay if I go away? Will it make you unhappy if we’re apart again?”  Sitting up Renesmee took his hand in hers, stroking it lovingly not caring about her audience of one watching them. “I’ll be fine Jacob. You don’t need to worry about me so much, we’ve got our phones yes? So long as you say goodnight and good morning anything else is a bonus.” Her soft tone and her blinding smile gave him the reassurance he needed, as she kissed the palm of his hand he got them to their feet, giving her a brief hug before standing back. “You’re one amazing woman Renesmee Cullen.” He smirked and went off to find Carlisle, secretly hiding his sadness in being parted from her again.

  Taking her hand, Esme led Renesmee away from the rest of the family, the two were going to go for a hunt, at least Esme was whereas Renesmee usually tagged along to spend time with the family. She honestly didn’t mind being parted from Jacob, little by little she was accepting the out-of-hand situation, it was the hidden truths that she could feel Jacob was keeping from her that was making her uncomfortable.

    “Don’t worry about him dear, he’s only doing what we all do for our mates.” Esme said as she gracefully ran beside Renesmee.

    “I know, but he was the one who said we needed to be honest, so why is he going back on his word?”

    “That’s men dear, they do that to put our minds at ease, they have a habit of underestimating us too.” Esme softly laughed before pausing, hearing some prey not far away.

  Stopping not far behind her, Renesmee couldn’t help but smile and nod. “You’re right.” She whispered as she knew the deer in question is Esme’s target prey, any sudden sound or movement from her would spook it. She has more than learned to be a figment in the shadows, blending into where she naturally stood out from, she couldn’t watch the next part as Esme apologised to the deer in her elbow before swiftly turning out its lights.

  At the main house the plan had swung into action with Jacob running back towards La Push, heading for Emily’s. The plan was to confuse Adrienne and Kairisha into thinking they were panicking for Jacob and Seth’s safety, changing up who was where in hopes that the confusion will bring about a quicker decision for Alice to see. The sooner anyone knows what’s happening the better, especially Alice, the wait is so frustrating as it showed on the rest of the family.