JACOB
"Jake… I'm scared." Nessie whispers, almost silently. I turn around quickly, away from the window, and cross the room to the couch in two steps. I sit beside her and scoop her into my lap easily.
"It's okay. I'm gonna protect you. No leeches are gonna be getting to you, I swear." I stroke her hair back gently and kiss her forehead. "They'll be gone before you know it. Your parents are already chasing the bloodsuckers, and the whole pack." I try to comfort her.
She nods and buries her face in my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her and rock gently back and forth to calm her down.
"Ha! I found the precious little half blood!"
In half a second, I'm on my feet, Nessie safely behind me. The vamp stands in the middle of the room, a demonic smile plastered to his face.
"I always wondered what vampire blood would taste like… and now I've got a walking blood cocktail! I wonder if she'll struggle…" The vamp slurs.
"You. Are. Not. Going. To. Touch. Her." I growl. Nessie gets off the couch and backs up slowly. The leech charges, and before I even register what I'm doing, I've pushed nessie behind the couch, phased, and chased the vamp from the house, destroying my fair share of furniture on the way out.
RENESMEE
Jacob shoves me behind the couch and when he phases I feel a sudden slash of heat shoot through me, a fiery pain.
A minute later, he's gone. I stand up, wincing. Only then do I realize that a long gash runs down my face, over my jaw collarbone, down my arm all the way to my wrist.
The first thing I think of isn't the pain, but what Jake's reaction will be if he finds out. I pull my sweatshirt off, wincing as the would shifts. I ball up the sweatshirt and try to staunch the blood flow. Blood from my forehead runs into my swollen eye. I frantically try to stop the sticky red flow, gasping as the sweatshirt touches the open wound.
I hear the door open. "Renesmee?!" My mother's voice.
"Mom! In here!" I call. She's in the room before the words leave my mouth.
"Oh my g- Renesmee what happened? Are you alright?" She swallows violently and tries to stop the smell of blood from affecting her.
"Jake ph-phased, and I was a little close." I press the soaked sweatshirt to my face. Carlisle appears behind my mom.
"Bella, go outside to Edward. I'll take care of her." he says. My mom refuses to leave until my dad comes in and drags her off, while Carlisle starts doctoring me. Stitches down my arm, over my collarbone, tiny bandages over my forehead and jaw.
"D-do you have something else I can wear? I-I don't want Jacob to see this. He-He'll freak out." I mutter, trying to control my trembling voice. Carlisle nods.
At that precise moment, I look up to see jacob standing there, eyes wide with shock.
"Jacob, Jake wait." I try to stand up, but Carlisle holds me back.
"I-I did…" Jacob looks down at his own hands, backing up slowly.
"Jacob stop right now!" I yell as he turns and runs, the front door slamming behind him. I shove Carlisle's hands off me, effectively tearing out the last few stitches and chase after Jacke, getting outside just in time to see him phase and bolt into the forest.
JACOB
That night, I ran hundreds of miles, destroying everything in my path. I ignore the voices of my brothers in my head, only running as far as I can from Nessie. Emotions flood through my head, but one is at the forefront. Pure, concentrated hate. I did that to her. I hurt her. The one person I'd do anything to protect, the person I could've killed with my carelessness.
I stay away from Nessie, from Forks, for three weeks. It almost physically pains me to stay away, to not see her, hear her honey sweet voice. I've only phased back twice the whole time. I haven't spoken to anyone.
Every day, I run. I run so fast and hard that by the end of the day, I can't even raise a paw, my muscles liquid fire. It's the only way to keep my mind off Nessie, and what I- what I did to her.
She could've died. Because of me. I could've lost her just because of my own stupidity. I could've destroyed the only reason I'm here, the one holding me to the earth.
And even though it hurts so, so badly to stay away, its nothing compared to the pain, the guilt that wracks me from knowing that I hurt her. Every day, I try to run away from it, to protect her, but every time, I return, lured by Nessie. Too weak and selfish to leave her behind for her own safety, just strong enough to stay away.
I was sure she would hate me. Despise me for doing that to her. The Cullens would probably rip to to shreds if I ever returned. I wasn't even sure I would stop them.
The one thing I never expected was for her to come to me.
RENESMEE
I haven't seen Jacob in three weeks. Every day, I wander around in the woods, trying to find him, but I never can.
My injuries are almost completely healed, only the thick scars running from forehead to wrist remaining.
I wander into a clearing to see an enormous red wolf lying in the center, panting. He faces away from me, and is oblivious to my approach. I pull my sleeves down to hide the scars, and let my hair out of its ponytail so the scar on my face is covered.
"Hey Jake." I whisper.
JACOB
I spin around, hackles already raised and teeth bared. I recognize Nessie's sweet face and immediately relax. Part of me is relieved, but most of me is terrified. I back away from her slowly.
"Jacob, please, please just listen to me." she pleads. I want to run, but the desperation in her voice and the wild look in her eyes makes me drop my tail to the ground and look at her expectantly.
"I know you feel guilty. But I am perfectly fine. All you did was protect me. If you hadn't been there that night, I would've died for sure. What happened was a small price to pay for my life. And I know that you think that staying with me will only hurt me more, and you don't want to hurt me. Well I hate to say it, but you're killing me. I can't stand not knowing...just wandering around, not knowing where you are, if you still even care, if you're even alive! I have to pretend like it's all okay, lie to my parents every day, and I can't..I can't do it anymore. You can choose to do whatever you want, all I'm asking is that you tell me if you want to stay or leave. I'll give you time, if you don't want to come back right away, but I need to know." Her voice breaks a bit at the end. My heart twists seeing her look so weary, so tired and weak.
I stand up, and take a step toward her, but then turn around and disappear into the forest.
RENESMEE
I drop to my knees, my balance gone and my vision blurred, liquid pain pulsing through my veins.
No.
I won't let this crush me. I won't let it. I'm more than this. I love him, and it hurts to be without him, but I can live. I'm my own person. My life doesn't revolve around him. I stand up and tie my hair up, roll back my sleeves. I don't care who sees my scars. They're a part of me, an important part of me.
((((WHAT BELLA SHOULDA DONE))))
"Nessie."
The sound is barely a whisper, and for a second I can't tell if it was real.
I spin around, my hair flipping over my shoulder. Jake stands a couple feet away, looking so very vulnerable, so very scared, so small and alone. He shouldn't look like that, not ever.
"I-I'm sorry. And...well… if you still want me, I choose to-to stay." he whispers.
I smile, just the tiniest little smile.
I run to him and throw my arms around his waist. A relieved grin splits his face. He cups my face in his big, warm hands, and leans in a bit to kiss me, but then freezes. He ever so gently traces the scar on my face. The touch of his thumb is so light, so gentle, that I can' barely feel it. His fingers travel down my cheek, over my shoulder, then down my arm. Then he traces the scar on my face with his lips, finally landing on my mouth.
He pulls back and cradles my face in his warm hands. He leans his forehead against mine slowly.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." he whispers, his voice impossibly quiet. "I promise that I will never leave you again."
"Never?"
"Never."
