Hello, and welcome to my first fan fiction! It's Jake and Nessie, of course, because for some reason I absolutely love them, haha. This is the first chapter, obviously, so it's more like an introduction to the characters and the situation Jake's in. The title "Rough Road Leads to the Stars" is also the title of a song by Promise of Redemption (if you're familiar with Valencia, it's a side project of lead singer Shane Henderson...the music is so beautiful, I definitely recommend it) and I chose it because it basically defines everyone's journey, specifically Jake's, throughout this story (not the song, but the actual title itself).
I hope you all enjoy this! All criticism is welcomed because I am looking to make a career out of writing, and there's no opportunity for improvement if you don't know what there is to improve =) Also, I'm such a fashion nut, so if you ever want to see any pictures of what Nessie is wearing, feel free to ask. I have it all saved, haha.
Disclaimer: I don't, in any way, have any rights to Twilight. It all belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I also do not own the title, "Rough Roads Leads to the Stars." It belongs to Shane Henderson of Promise of Redemption.
Rough Road Leads to the Stars
by Eternally Summer
Chapter One: I'm Really Getting Tired of These Nagging Thoughts
I run through the woods, branches and twigs snapping under my heavy weight, with my mind fixated on only one thing. This thing is what completes my existence, it's my reason for living. People who don't know me would probably say I'm obsessed, granted that this thing is the only thought on my mind twenty four-seven, and maybe I could be labeled that if my situation was controllable, but that's not the case...it's completely uncontrollable. Not that I mind, of course, because right now I don't want it any other way.
I am literally running for my life, the one thing I can't live a day without (and I haven't, for the past six years, give or take a few days). As I get closer and closer, I feel the emptiness in my stomach begin to fill. Running towards it feels almost effortless, as if I'm being reeled in by a big fishing pole (I'm the farthest creature from a fish, that's for sure, but I couldn't help using the analogy). Every giant thump my limbs make when they collide with the hard forest floor is now drowned out by a musical sound I've had permanently sealed in my brain since the first time I ever heard it. I can clearly hear it in my head, almost as if it was merely a few feet away, and then I begin to smell it too. Part of it is a scent that I once loved to hate, but it's mixed with something so refreshing and unidentifiable that if it was the only thing I could smell for the rest of my life, my nostrils would be happy. And that's saying something because my nose is really sensitive.
It all becomes so overwhelming now. The music is ringing in my ears, the scent is pleasurably burning in my nose. I feel as if I can't take it anymore, so I pick up my pace until I see a figure emerge from behind a tree, a little less than a hundred yards away from me.
"Jake!"
I stop dead in my tracks. Part of me wants to run to her, to just gather her in my arms and never let go, but then I remember I'm not human at the moment. I quickly turn around and once behind a thick group of trees, I allow my body to distort itself back into its natural form. I hastily slip on one of my favorite pairs of cut-off denim shorts that were formerly tied to my ankle, along with a pair of old ratty sneakers. I ruffle my hair a bit in an attempt to look somewhat decent, then turn around and hurry to her.
Like always, she doesn't move. Instead she simply leans against the trunk of a tree, her whiter-than-white smile lighting up the dim forest. She's wearing a white dress, the hem of it stopping at about the middle of her thigh, and her copper hair flows down her back in soft, loose curls, ending a little before her elbow. Even with the sun blocked by the canopy of trees covering the forest, she still shines up the wooded area. Out of all the words in the English language, the ones 'flawless,' 'perfect,' 'beautiful,' and 'mesmerizing' can't even come close to describing how she appears in my eyes. My heart feels like it's beating faster than the speed of light, and even though we're not standing directly next to each other yet, I know she can hear it. As I close the distance between us she steps off the roots of the tree, barefoot as usual, and the gap disappears. A melodic laugh escapes from her lips as she throws her arms around my neck, my own instinctively encircling around her waist.
"Hey Ness," I whisper.
"Hey there, Jake," she says back to me. Her voice is like a pair of wind chimes; breezy and melodious, light and contagious.
I want to stand this way forever, just gazing into her eyes and holding her close to me, until reality gives me a nice blow in the ass as she unwraps her arms from around my neck and steps back, causing me to reluctantly draw mine back to my sides. "Ready to eat? I'm starving!"
Yup. I get all hyped up and romantic just to go hunting. That's how much this girl affects me. Simply going hunting with her makes me all mushy inside. It's pathetic.
It's always this way for me though. I'm Jacob, the best friend, never anything more. Might as well have it written out in blinking neon lights that hover over my head all day.
"Sure, sure," I say, following her as we begin to tread deeper into the woods. She looks at me questioningly. "Did you smell anything good on your way here?"
I shrug. "Nothing in particular. It seems pretty quiet today, but if we head north I'm sure we'll find something."
Nodding, she begins to lengthen her stride to stay in step with me. Normally at this point I would propose some kind of race to see who could catch a good kill the fastest, but for some reason I'm not up to it today. I think the realization of the fact that Nessie sees me as nothing more than her best friend with whom she likes to play games, do homework, and hunt finally hits me. Talk about romantic. For a slight instance, when Nessie had her arms around my neck and mine were so yearningly wrapped around her tiny waist, I thought there was possibly something more. I thought that maybe there was hope for me, for us, and that I wouldn't get my heart broken a second time. Sure, the first time I suffered heartbreak (by her own mother, how ironic is that?) I knew it was something I never wanted to experience again for the rest of my days. At that point I thought there was nothing that was going heal it. Once I told myself that things couldn't possibly get any worse, my life was literally turned upside down and sent in all different directions by a baby girl named Renesmee Carlie Cullen, and things got unbelievably better. One look into those enchanting brown eyes, and something inside of me snapped. All the ties that I had, everything that was binding me to all of the important forces in my life suddenly converged into one and pulled me towards a person who was only a few hours old. That's all it took for me to commit my life to providing this wonderful girl protection, happiness, and in my case, eternal love.
Nessie senses that there's something wrong. She always does. She innocently takes my hand and asks me in her special way if something is bothering me. I shake my head, trying to reassure her that it's nothing. "I'm fine, just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
Is there anything you need to talk about? she asks, sending her thoughts from her brain to mine via her hand. Unlike her father, luckily for me, she can't read my mind. Yeah, but if I do it'll probably ruin everything we have together and I'll regret it for as long as I'm alive.
As much as I hate life sometimes, I can't be unsatisfied for the fact that I can just be with Nessie. I always need to remind myself that being in her presence alone is something I should be thankful for. The problem is, I selfishly want more of her than I already have. I want to be able to kiss her simply because, and I want to hold her without knowing in the back of my mind that I eventually have to let go before I scare her off. As much as I like to think that because she's my imprint, Nessie could possibly be my destiny too, but now I can't help but think that my destiny is simply unrequited love. Call me a lovesick puppy if you want, but I'll admit I'm completely and hopelessly devoted to her. It's as simple as that. Not only will this likely turn out to be my second heartbreak, this is be something that I can never get over, because my soul is bound to hers forever, no matter how she feels about me in return.
"Nah," I finally answer. "Like I said, I'm just tired. Maybe once I have a good bite to eat I'll get some energy in me."
"That's the spirit!" she laughs. "Daddy said there's probably some good elk around the border so we'll go north, like you suggested."
"Sure, sure," I say for the second time.
Nessie suddenly begins to speed up, clearly initiating a race, and I decide to stop sulking about my thoughts so I can focus. She knows I don't let her down easily when it comes to speed and agility, so I'm all for competing no matter what my mood is. "Oh, so we're gonna race after all?"
She flashes her teeth at me and I can see how two of them are slightly sharper than all the others. Normally I would be thrown off by that, but nothing about her ever throws me off. If anything, it does the complete opposite. "Yeah!" she sings, her legs moving so fast that they practically become a blur. "Are you up for it?"
"Always am," I say before shifting back into the previous form I was in. Once again I can hear the thumping of my limbs as I pound them on the ground, moving with such celerity that everything around me is like a white light. I can hear Nessie laughing as I gain some distance on her (she's a pretty lighthearted loser, never really complains much about it), and that only encourages me to move quicker. You can say I'm doing this simply to impress her, but once I catch a whif of potential prey up ahead, my motivation completely changes.
As I focus in on the stench of the elk, my mind begins to wander to Nessie again. She's known that she's my imprint for a while because her parents decided to tell her about it four years ago, once she began to question why I'm different from others in the family, and why I'm around so much. In the beginning all she really knew was that I'm her best friend and playmate, and that we have a bond no other person in her life can share with her. I was afraid of what her reaction would be when she found out, whether she thought it was weird or creepy or just plain freakish, but she was pretty excited about it; she always referred to me as 'her Jacob' after. Her parents didn't really tell her about it in full detail, but they explained enough so that she understood we have a relationship unlike no other, and that she's extremely special to me. As the years passed by and I watched her grow up at an incredibly accelerated rate, I really can't pinpoint the exact moment when I began to fall in love with her. It was within this past year and a half, I know that much, because up until her mind and body were equivalent to that of a fifteen year old, I strictly only thought of her as my younger sister. When it happened, it kind of just sprang up on me, like a Girl Scout when they knock on your door and you realize, "Oh hey, it's cookie season!" It's something I never expected, something I didn't plan for to happen, but it did.
In the midst of my thoughts, I lose track of Nessie. I can smell her faintly, but I can't tell whether she's ahead of me or behind. I increase the cadence of my steps as I hammer my way through the forest, determined to reach the elk before she does.
Thanks for the mini soap opera! someone scoffs. If I really wanted to watch one, I could've stayed home and put on the Soap Network!
I groan to myself. Leah. Of course whenever I get too deep into my thoughts about Nessie, I always forget that I possibly may have an audience. Most of the time I usually do, but it's the worst when it's Leah. She's gotten better over the years with her attitude, but she's still sour toward the Cullens, including Nessie, even though she's only half of what they are. Whenever Leah catches me thinking about her, which is pretty much every single millisecond of day, she's anything but sympathetic to me (not that I want sympathy, but her sarcastic remarks are far from comforting or reassuring).
Keep your comments to yourself, Leah, I demand. We never nagged on you when you thought about Sam all the time, so cut it out and mind your own damn business. I wince a little bit after I say this, knowing right away that I hit a nerve, but at the same time it's the only thing that's going to shut her up. She growls.
I second that! someone chimes in. Don't worry man, you know I'm pulling for you the whole way. Great, Seth's listening too. Yeah, thanks, I say quickly.
Now the elk's scent is five times stronger than it was a few minutes ago; I know I'm getting closer. I drown out the voices of Seth and Leah, who begin to argue with one another, as my pray comes into view. There's a large herd of them, certainly enough to satisfy Nessie and I. I slow down my pace, careful not to make them stir, and try to remain as quiet as possible. Readying myself in a position to attack, I'm about to go for it when I suddenly feel a gush of wind fly past me.
Nessie, as swiftly as any one of her kind would, springs up behind the elk and lands on its back. She dips her head down and delicately sinks her teeth into its neck, causing the animal to jerk in all directions, a method of defense. It obviously doesn't work because Nessie is draining its life away pretty quickly.
How is it that I can find a vampire (well, half-vampire) sinking its teeth into an animal and sucking its blood so...beautiful? If someone a few years ago told me I would be thinking this way in the future, I would've probably died of laughter. Ugh, I find it so sickening yet at the same time, I can't help but find it extremely attractive.
I know why, of course. Because it's Nessie. Because I find her amazing, even when she's sucking the life out of an animal.
Man, I'm so whipped. I really am. And she doesn't even have to do anything! It's like I'm magnetized to her. I mean, I welcome it completely, but having thoughts like this makes me realize that I'm just altogether absolutely and utterly crazy about her.
Nessie's disruption startles the rest of the elk, but only now are they starting to run so they can escape. She was so quick that the animal only suffered a couple of seconds, and now the remainder of the herd doesn't stand a chance. I take this as my opportunity to satisfy my own hunger and charge toward one of the largest in the crowd.
We complete our hunt in under ten minutes. Since the elk are so large, they're not the fastest runners, which makes catching them so easy. Once we clear almost the whole herd, it seems as if both of us are satisfied.
I look over at her, somewhat surprised that her white dress is entirely clean and there's not a trace of blood anywhere on her. It makes me think back to when she first started hunting and how she was extremely messy. I chuckle to myself, receiving a curious look from Nessie in return. She tilts her head to the side, her bangs shadowing her face. Laughing, she raises one eyebrow. "What? Do I have bloodstains on my teeth or something?"
I shake my head, sticking my tongue out and laughing the way I do when I'm not human. I want to phase back so I can actually speak to her, but in midst of the excitement that I get when we race, I forgot to properly remove my clothes and tie them to my ankle. Nessie, because she knows me so well, notices this right away.
"Come on," she says, beckoning me to follow her after giving my head a quick stroke (which she does all the time when I'm phased into a wolf, and it absolutely drives me insane, in a good way though). "Let's head back to the main house and get you something to change into."
We reach the house pretty quickly. Nessie runs inside to retrieve a pair of my shorts and sneakers, and I wait out front because I can't even fit through the door in the state that I'm in. It was her idea for me to keep some spare clothes at her family's house because my phasing right out of them, shredding each garment to pieces, was becoming a frequent occurrence lately. Since we usually always hang out at her place, keeping a couple pairs of shorts, shirts, and shoes there seemed like the most logical thing to do.
I can hear her talking to people in the house, picking up the voices of Alice and Jasper, her aunt and uncle. There's a shrill laugh, probably from the pixie, and then Nessie emerges from the house carrying a pair of denim shorts, a white t-shirt, and another pair of my old sneakers. She sets them in front of me.
"I'll be over by the stream behind the house when you're finished," she says to me. "It's such a nice day out...and really warm, too! I need to cool off after all that hunting."
I nod as she turns and walks toward the back of the house. She sneaks a quick glance over her shoulder at me, smiles, and I feel my heart skip a beat. I set off into the woods, phase back to my human self, then put on my clothes faster than you can say 'hopeless lovesick pup.' As I head over to the stream, my thoughts race back to the ones I was having earlier today about imprinting. How much did Nessie really know? Did she realize I was going to be in the her life for good, that there was no force that could ever tear me away from her?
Nessie and the stream are now in my view. She's sitting beside the body of water, leaning on her elbows with her face stretched up toward the sun. It's a rare day for the tiny, almost nonexistent town of Forks. Normally it's covered by a constant cloud of rain, but today, in the middle of July, there's not a cloud in the sky. Nessie loves these days. Unlike the rest of her family, who're full vampires and sparkle in the sunlight (I know, sparkle, how gay is that?), she glows. It's actually one of the most astonishing things I've ever seen in my entire life, next to Nessie herself, and every time her skin beams the way it does, I fall just a little bit harder for her if that's even possible.
She hears me approaching and turns in my direction, smiling. I return the smile and give her a little wave before I sit down next to her, the sun beating down on both of us. I sigh, taking in my surroundings, content with almost everything in my life at the moment. Almost is the keyword.
I'm racking my brain, wondering if I should ask her what it is she exactly knows about imprinting. I find it funny how it never really mattered to me, just as long as she knew there was something special about our relationship. But I guess once my feelings for her changed, then it began to mean something.
"What are you thinking, Jake?" Nessie breaks me away from my thoughts. "You've been really quiet today. It's got to be something other than the fact that you're tired, right?" She picks at the grass, looking at me with concern. Her hand slowly makes its way towards mine. You know you can talk to me, I'll listen.
Her touch sends a surge of electricity through my entire body. I wish I could just entwine my fingers through hers and lay here in the grass with her on this perfect summer afternoon without a care in the world, but unfortunately life's not always that fair. Especially for me, in that case, where it always seems to be playing games and finding ways to twist around my happiness.
I exhale sharply. Well, here goes nothing.
"Ness," I begin, knowing that this conversation has potential to change everything there is between us. "How much do you know about imprinting?"
There you go! Let me know what you all think. Chapter two is currently in progress so if there's good feedback, it'll be up pretty soon. Thanks for your time everyone =)
