The Girl Who Was Taken (Renesme Cullens Twin Sister)

Forty-Nine

We didn't stay at the hotel very long, just to rest and sort out the logistics of shipping four dead bodies from Italy back to Forks Washington where they wanted to have the funerals. The adults didn't talk about it in front of us though. They made sure to keep their discussions far away. I think I was dreading the eighteen-hour plane ride more than anything though, being stuck in a seat with no room to breathe, afraid to say anything because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. My assigned seat was next to Renesme and Edward, but after five hours Mister Smelly came up the isle and patter my shoulder, although I had to remind myself to start referring to him as Jacob. The whole name thing for everyone was confusing actually, because they all called me Amber or Ember at first, and I had to tell them, that no, when the Volturi died, so did those names. I went by Stormy now. Exclusively.

But Jacob came up the aisle, and patted my shoulder. "You wanna trade seats?" he asked, a polite smile on his face.

I peered over at Renesme who was zonked out next to me, her head tipped back, her mouth wide open. She was snoring softly. I felt embarrassed for both her and me that anyone had to see us looking like that. "Who are you sitting next to?" I asked, looking back to where he came from, and trailing off mid-sentence when I realized.

The plane was packed. And the only seat that was empty was the one next to Paul. I paused, wondering if I wanted to spend the next twelve hours next to him. A swarm of butterflies entered my stomach as if from an extra-terrestrial portal, just at the thought of it, because back there was a man who had crossed oceans to get to me, who had fought in a battle against vampires for me, who I was inexplicably drawn to despite my tendency to run away from love. My stomach definitely could not handle this, and my face flushed. I had been avoiding him even though I told him I would talk later. The time still didn't feel right, but I wondered if it ever would.

I looked over at Edward, sitting in the window seat, looking off over the vast sky outside. The sun was rising, and the clouds lit up underneath us with orange. He didn't shift at all, not even when Jacob made a joke, although I didn't understand it, so it fell flat on all ears. I was almost worried Edward was in a coma, that he had lost his will to live now that Bella wasn't here.

But Jacob nodded his head toward Paul, and I knew I didn't need to stay here, so I got up and relinquished my seat to him. Then I took my time walking down the aisle, and held onto the backs of people's seats, afraid the plane would bounce or shift, and I'd fall over. Four rows back, and before I was ready, he was there in front of me. Or at least, he was sitting there, squished next to the window. A random person was between us in the aisle seat.

"Excuse me," I said to the person, "I need to sit there." It was an older woman, and she lumbered out again, tired of having to do this another time in only three minutes. I sat down and buckled myself in before I even spoke to him. I was afraid that he would smell weird, the same way Jacob did, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Paul didn't smell weird at all.

"It's good to see you," he said in a hushed voice. He slumped in his seat so that our heads were about the same level. I rested my head back against the seat and just looked at him. This was different, being with him in person. It was much more comfortable and brought less anxiety than that day on the beach. Or maybe I just couldn't feel nervous for very long right now because I was too confused about my life being turned upside down and everything changing.

"I feel like there's a lot to say, and I don't know where to begin," I said.

Then he blurted out, "You're not a monster."

"What?"

"I've wanted to tell you that since the beach. You told me you were a monster, and then you left. It was just Renesme there instead of you, and she was a mess after that. But I needed to tell you that you aren't."