I open my eyes slowly, squinting against the bright, morning light blanketing my room in a rich, white glow. I roll over and snuggle deeper into my pillow. After a while, I realize I won't be able to go back to sleep and reluctantly sitting up, I look around my room. The pale pink of my walls looks almost white in the sunshine, and dust particles swirl visibly around.
My gaze falls on my clock and I stare at it for a while, not really seeing the clear, dark numbers or the thick clock hands. 10 o'clock, I think vaguely, and then something clicks. Crap. I jump out of bed and run to my mirror. Jake will be here, I find myself thinking, and I quickly banish the thought. I straighten out my shorts, shorter than usual, and my black singlet – a far cry from the pink cotton pyjamas I'd worn up until a week ago. And even though I refuse to think the name, I know this is all because of him.
Quickly brushing my hair, I head downstairs to see my family lounging around the living room. I guess it doesn't matter to them whether it's day or night. There's one exception, and he sits at our huge, glass dining table, devouring a bowl of cereal as his warm eyes look over a newspaper. I watch the thick bands of muscle wrapped around his arms flex slightly as he turns the page, and the square of his jaw as he chews. My heartbeat picks up as I think about his lips, and my whole family looks up, acknowledging my presence. "Good morning, Nessie," they call out, and I know Auntie Alice, at least, has registered my blush by the mischievous grin on her face as she looks from me to Jacob, and back.
I mentally apologize to my dad for my thoughts as I notice him glaring at Jake as he looks up from his breakfast. "Hey, Ness," he grins, and even I notice as his eyes wander down to my tiny shorts. I blush, and try not to picture his tanned arms around me. "Hey," I quickly glance away, too aware of my parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties watching our exchange. I try not to look at him as I sit with Auntie Rose and Alice and pretend to listen as they plan a shopping trip. I'm scared he'll find out how I feel about him; scared he won't feel the same way.
We sit there for around fifteen minutes before the 'grown-ups' decide to head out. I listen distractedly as they tell me about their plans – something about meeting old friends of Uncle Jasper, and, of course, the shopping trip. Most of my attention is focused on the realization that Jake and I will be alone for the entire day, and I can suddenly feel butterflies in my stomach. They offer to take me, and I decline as innocently as I can under my dad's scrutiny. He stays behind as everyone walks out, and glares at me, "Eat something, Renéesme." I nod to his back, but I know he heard me.
Slowly I turn to see Jake still sitting at the table with empty plates around him. There's no smile on his face as he stares at me. I look down, unable to compete with the intensity of his gaze, and shuffle towards the fridge behind him. I pull out some bread and put it in the toaster, taking occasional peeks at his still back. When my toast comes up, I consider taking it up to my room and avoiding him altogether, but I need to know what's bothering him.
I sit a couple of places down from him, and begin nibbling at the bread, all my attention on him. He sits there, for exactly two minutes and 16 seconds before his husky voice interrupts my musings. "So is there a reason you were ignoring me, before?"
"I was not!" And I really wasn't – I was simply acting disinterested.
"Uhuh," he says infuriatingly, and goes back to reading the paper.
I sit there watching him for a few minutes before the smirk on his face starts annoying me. I tip the rest of my toast into the bin and brush past him to go to my room. A warm hand grabs my wrist and Jake pulls me around to face him. "Where are you going?" A small crease appears between his eyebrows and it takes all my willpower to stay mad at him.
"Upstairs."
He stands up and pulls me closer to his body. "I didn't mean it about the ignoring thing," he says softly, and I look up to smile.
"I'm sorry, anyway." I love the wide smile that appears at my words, and the smile in his eyes warns me that he's going to do something. I try to pull away slightly, but he sits down on the floor, pulling me on top of him, and starts tickling me until I'm giggling like a toddler. When he stops, we're in a tangled mess on the floor, and my heart starts beating faster as I realize how much of our bare skin is touching. It's funny, because I've been skin-to-skin with Jacob Black for my entire life, and all of a sudden it's making my breath come in shallow gasps, and my heart beat erratically. I silently pray he won't notice me hyperventilating in his arms, he won't notice the blush gracing my cheeks or my sudden inability to look him in the eye.
He notices.
"Hey, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?" he pulls me up and looks me over, his eyes are worried and his hands hold my arms tightly. I consider lying, pretending to be very, very hurt just so that he'll keep holding me, but I can barely remember my name, let alone the part of my body that could be hurt. "No, Jake, I'm fine."
"But you were, like…hyperventilating," his eyes keep raking over me, trying to find some sign of a bruise or injury. "Did I – do something? Tell me, Ness! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Should I take you to the hospital? I'll call Carlisle." His hands let go of me, and he turns around to find the phone. I want to laugh, and cry. I don't understand how he can't see it. I shiver at his every touch and my heartbeat picks up just because I'm around him. I put my hand on his arm and tug until he turns back around. "Jake…I'm fine."
"Then why –," he's one stupid werewolf. I realize he still doesn't believe me, and I find myself laughing hysterically. I pull myself to him and kiss him as hard as I can. He responds immediately before pulling back to look at me. "Wait, you're really ok?"
"Yes."
And he crushes me to his chest again and his lips meet mine and I'm engulfed in his warmth. His fingers trace my face and I clutch at his arms, pressing myself as close as I can to him. He brings his arms around me, and I know that he'll never let go.