Animal I Have Become

"Are you going to tell us what he meant by that?" Daddy finally spoke when we were in his car.

I simply kept quiet, balling my fists as I tried to do some breathing exercise. Jacob had his arms comfortingly around my shoulders, trying to keep me warm. When I saw Daddy looking at me through the rearview mirror, I decided to take charge of my own life.

"No," I answered and the car screech to a stop. I could hear Emmett's jeep screech to a halt right behind us.

"What's going on?" I could hear Emmett saying with my super sense of hearing.

"And why would you not want to tell us what he means?" Daddy had his voice leveled and controlled.

I look at Jacob, who was looking back at me with a confused expression. I knew he didn't like this side of me. But I kept up with it anyway.

"Because I have my rights whether you like it or not, Daddy. And you have to respect that."

I could see anger slowly crawl up his face as he clutched onto the steering wheel hard. "Respect?" he hissed.

"I bet Mom wouldn't pressurize me about this if she was still alive!" I blurted.

I could see the emotion was replaced with sadness - pure sadness. And instantly, I felt guilty for saying it.

Jacob's arm left my body as he crossed them and stared outside the window. I turned to look at Daddy, who didn't even try looking at me through the rearview mirror. Instead, he continued driving - and for the first time, he drove really slow.

The journey throughout was filled with silence. I wanted to scream for anyone to say something - anything. But I didn't have the guts to, after what I had said. It must've been a real blow to Daddy when I said that.

Daddy turned off the ignition and immediately got out of the car without a word. I saw Esme by the door with Carlisle next to her. As soon as Edward stepped into the house, Carlisle followed suit.

The sound of the door closing made me turn to my left and I saw that I was alone in the car. Swiftly, I got out of the car and saw Jacob was already halfway to the woods.

"Where are you going?" I asked but he kept walking. I ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder, making him turn to look at me. "Where are you going?" I repeated myself.

I saw Jacob's face was emotionless as he looked at me. "You shouldn't have said that, Nessie. It was really low of you to hurt your dad's feeling like that. You knew how much your Mom meant to him."

I was about to protest but he shook his head. "I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

He didn't even bother to wait for my answer. I watched as he transformed into a big wolf and ran into the woods.

[Third party's POV]

Damon watched as Charlie walked up to the sink and washed the dishes.

"It is really nice of you to take me in in such short notice," Damon said, deep down, he was smiling on his victory.

"Don't worry about it. This house needs a little occupant with me being in the office most of the time," Charlie turned to look at Damon. "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

Damon nodded his head as he stood up.

"I've already had my fill." He smiled at the secret joke where Charlie would never understand. "I'm turning in now."

Damon stop walking half-way up the stairs because something caught his eye - a potrait photo of Renesmee was hanging by the wall. Slowly, he reached out to caress the photo, his head tilted to the side. She is much more beautiful in person.

"My granddaughter, Renesmee," Charlie was down the stairs and Damon quickly pulled his hands away from the potrait.

"There are dusts on these photos," Damon lied and Charlie nodded his head.

"I didn't have the heart to clean this house up. It would remind me of my daughter."

"Your daughter?" Damon asked, as he remembered that he hadn't met her yet.

Charlie walked up the stairs and stopped right next to Damon as he pointed to another photo next to Renesmee's.

"Bella," Charlie said. "She died a few years ago."

Damon's eyes followed Charlie's hand to the photo of Bella and if his heart could jump in surprise, it would.

"That's a real shame," Damon made himself sound apologetic, ignoring his surprise feeling.

Charlie waved him off and walked up the stairs. "Can't stay in regret forever, can we?"

"No we can't," Damon turned to look at the photo of Bella again, this time, he stared intensely into the photo.

"What a coincidence," he mumbled.