Hey, I am just trying out this story. Let me know what you think please :-)

All of these characters are Stephenie Meyer's.

Chapter 1: I Wait

"There has fallen a splendid tear, from the passion-flower at the gate. She is coming, my dove, my dear; She is coming, my life, my fate; The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;" And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" And the lily whispers, "I wait."

As I reread the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson for the seventh time there was still only one thing that came to my mind from the immortal words that he had written so long ago. One thing that, aside from my family, I could talk about with no one.

The assignment was due tomorrow. A three page paper on what I thought Tennyson was conveying through this poem. I sat with my laptop outside under my favorite tree. It was peaceful out here with the tiny river laughing in the distance and the sound of the wind as it rustled the leaves on the trees and bushes around me. I could hear the sounds of two squirrels arguing about a hundred feet away.

"Nessie, are you out here?" Jacob's voice came from the other side of the river. Quickly, I stuffed my laptop back into my messenger bag and swung the strap over my shoulder. I would never be as fast as my father, but I had inherited his competitive nature. My goal: make it to the bank of the river before Jacob could jump it.

My heart beat with the pure freedom that came from running. I loved feeling the wind whip my hair out behind me like ribbon of copper. I felt in control when I ran, a feeling that I savored.

As I approached the river I saw Jacob's hulky form as he laid his clothes on the ground and, in the blink of an eye, changed from the handsome boy into the magnificent russet wolf.

I pushed myself harder. The wolf took the stance of an animal on the verge of attack. His front paws poised so that his shoulders were lower than his hips. He was getting ready to make his move. Adrenaline surged through my veins as I burst from the woods and in one graceful leap bounded from one side of the river to the other.

"You rang?" I teased. He rolled his eyes and walked over to rub his soft head against my stomach, his usual greeting in wolf form. I ran my fingers through the thick reddish brown fur, feeling that familiar spark of electricity that surged through my heart every time our skin, or in his case fur, made contact.

Jacob and I had a bond that was unlike anything I had ever experienced with anyone else. My family and I were close, yes, but there was something else with Jacob. Something more… intimate with him. When I looked into his eyes sometimes it felt like there was nothing that existed beyond the two of us.

As we began walking to where he left his clothes I asked. "Am I late?"

He bobbed his giant head up and down.

"Crap… Alice is going to kill me! Do you mind if I run ahead? You need to change anyways."

He nodded his head in the direction of the house. I didn't run, but I walked fast. The last thing I needed right now was Alice harping on me about being late for another family get together. Last night she all but chastised my father for being late for dinner. Of course it was because Grandpa Charlie was coming over so we were serving actual human food and sitting at the dinning room table, something we only do for Grandpa Charlie.

I knew that if I were late tonight that Alice wouldn't be above tying me to a tree upside down. See, tonight was my mother and father's sixteenth wedding anniversary and everyone (yes, I do mean everyone) was coming.

Alice knew my mother well enough to know that she would pitch a royal fit if she knew there was a party being planned on her behalf, especially one of this magnitude, so she sent her and my father off to Seattle for the day. They were due back in exactly six hours, which was eight too few for all of the decorating Alice needed to do.

As I entered the living room I couldn't stop my jaw from falling open at what stood before me. Alice had actually ordered one of those giant banners, you know, like the ones you see at the prom or on a billboard, that had a giant blown up picture of my parents from their wedding with the words Congratulations Bella and Edward Cullen on Sixteen Happy Years of Marriage! May There Be Many More!

"So, what do you think?" Alice asked as she wrapped some gold streamers around the banister of the stairs.

Umm… I think mom is going to blow a gasket when she sees this! Is what I wanted to say, instead I just answered: "I think its really nice." Lame…

"It's a little small. I wish I would have gone with the color one, the black and white seemed more elegant but I think it needs a little something…"

"I like the black and white. It looks very… regal." I said with a bit of skepticism. Alice didn't miss it.

"You hate it don't you." Her pixie like face fell. I was just about to deny it when Emmet walked in holding what looked like a hundred balloons of all colors in his giant hands.

"Where do you want these Alice?" He asked. "Hey Ness, where's your wolf-boy?"

"I'm right here." Jacob said from the doorway. "Geese Emmet, did you rob the local Chucky Cheese?"

"How'd you guess?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "You know I just love playing those whack the mole games they have. They should change it to whack the wolf-"

"Easy now, there is no time for this! We are already behind schedule and we need to finish the decorating and get ready before they get home!" Alice's voice was all business. "Emmett, you can put those balloons over there on that table. Rosalie will take care of them. Jacob, go take a shower, you smell like rotting garbage. Nessie, you come with me and help set the table."

I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Why?"

Alice groaned. "Because Charlie, Sue and the pack are coming for diner."

I sighed and turned for the kitchen. I hated setting the table. I guess when you just didn't need silverware on a regular basis the task seemed so overly unnecessary. Half the pack didn't even use their forks anyway…

"Hey." Jacob came up behind me had placed his hands on my hips. It was a gesture that always made my heart beat a little faster, and I think he knew it. "When we have a minute away from the party-Nazi I think we should talk."

"Okay. Do you want to meet me at the usual place after the party tonight?

Jacob smiled, the left side of his lips lifting just a little higher than his right. "Sounds like a date." He kissed me on the cheek and walked into the bathroom. Though Alice had said he smelled like rotting garbage, all I could smell was the sweet smell of wolf that I found comforting, that felt like home.

I couldn't stop smiling as I entered the kitchen and took out the special set of China Esme always insisted on using for guests. Nothing, not even kitchen duty, could kill the sparks that were tingling in my blood, pulsing strongest over the spot where Jacob's lips had just been on my cheek.

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