Fifteen minutes later I was sat alone in the forest, not far from the meadow, shivering from the cold. In my rush, I had managed to throw on the first thing I saw, a white sundress and some converse. I mean, anywhere else that would have been fine for an August morning. Not in Forks. I hadn't counted on the thunder storm. And I still hadn't called Jacob. It didn't feel right waking him up at 4.35 in the morning, but I really wanted to see him so bad. I knew he'd be here in a second if he knew I wanted him, but I knew he should sleep. Gritting my teeth, I flipped open my cell.
I counted the rings. One... two, three, four. Jacob answered on the sixth ring.
"Hello..." Oh crap I had woken him. He sounded tired too.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep." The words came out in a rush; I was hoping he wouldn't recognise my voice. I hung up quickly.
I took a deep breath and stood up. I would call him again in the morning. But I still didn't want to be back at the house. Believe it or not I had missed Forks. I had missed the green, the fresh smell, and even the rain. I took a few fast paces and I was out in the meadow. My secret meadow, Jake always called it. I had no idea what I was doing but suddenly all my tiredness overcame me. I lay down on the soaking grass and stared up at the sky, letting the raindrops hit my face. I laughed as one tricked down my nose. Slowly my eyes began to feel heavy and I drifted off into the sleep I had been waiting for.
When I woke up I could feel the sun on my face. Groaning, I rolled over and closed my eyes again. I briefly wondered what time it was. It felt like I had been sleeping for about a year. I realised I was completely drenched and cold too, despite the sun. The grass was not very comfortable. I sat up, rubbing my forehead and looked around me. In the sun, the water droplets from the night before glistened. The whole meadow was sparkling. I shivered I really was cold. I glanced down at the white dress I was wearing. It was still soaked through, clinging to my pale skin. I guess it had only recently stopped raining. I stood up and spun around once. I felt myself go dizzy, a sudden rush of blood to the head. I sat down again. I thought about what my parents would be doing. They would be crazy with worry, send someone to track me down. I was, of course, across the Quileute border, something the elders were still pretty touchy about the Cullen's crossing. I wondered once again what the time was.
Suddenly I had the feeling I was no longer alone in the meadow. I was on my feet in an instant. I whirled around and stopped still. There, just coming out of the forest was Jacob Black.
I was by his side in a flash.
"Jake!" I flung myself into his arms, happy to find that they were nice and warm. I laughed, breathing in the familiar scent. He chuckled too. I stayed there for a while, neither of us bothering to say anything. We both knew what the other would be thinking.
Finally I took a step back and laughed again. Jacob grinned.
"Hey, Nessie." Then it was silent again. I realised that I was probably not the girl Jacob remembered. With the speed I was growing at, he had said goodbye to a thirteen year old Nessie, someone who still looked like a young girl. I guess I was kind of different. And I could see Jacob looking me up and down and realising the exact same thing. I wasn't a child anymore; I could pass for an eighteen year old if I wanted too. My mother had said seventeen. I was as tall as her now.
"Wow, Ness, you're tall!" Jake still looked a little shocked. It wasn't just my height that had changed. My body had too. I guess it was an awful lot to take in. We were silent.
"Yep Jake," I laughed a little nervously. "You missed the grumpy teenage years, though. You should have seen me for a couple of weeks there. I was driving everyone crazy. They were driving me crazy!" I was babbling. Jake smiled. I looked back up at him. He was still a lot taller than me.
"God, Jake, have you grown even taller? How am I ever meant to catch you up?" I half joked. He didn't say anything. He looked thoughtful.
The trees swayed slightly in the wind. I shivered. Jakes eyes filled with concern.
"You're freezing. Is this where you've been all this time? And wearing only that dress?" He paused, glancing down at my outfit. I looked down too. Crap. The stupid dress was clinging to my frame; the white fabric was practically see-through. You could see my black underwear set perfectly.
I felt my cheeks heat up; I imagined they were pretty red by now. I'd never felt uncomfortable with Jacob before, but suddenly I felt awkward. I wanted desperately to cover up. I could barely meet Jake's eye. I saw that he looked uncomfortable too. He shrugged off his big leather jacket and handed it to me pretty fast. I accepted it gratefully, pulling it on. It was miles too big, coming down to my knees. It was very warm.
"Thanks, Jake." I murmured. He smiled again.
"It's good to have you back Ness." He said seriously. "It's been so boring without anything to do. Billy was out fishing and I was just stuck in the house. Except for making sure that Seth wasn't killing himself, I had nothing to do." I laughed.
"Well, I'm back now, so it's back to the old routine. You now I'm old enough to cliff dive now. I've only been waiting forever."
He smiled and reached for my hand.
"Well, we'll wait and see—"I could see where he was going with this one.
"Jake." I interrupted him. "I am not a baby, in case you haven't noticed." I gestured to myself. Jake looked away.
"No, you're not." He whispered almost too low for me to hear. Just then his phone rang. He dropped my hand and reached into the pocket of the leather jacket I was wearing and snapped it open.
"Hey—"He frowned.
"Yes, I know. I found her." He looked unhappy, a little annoyed. As he listened to the voice on the other end of the line, I sighed. I had forgotten how they'd be looking for me. My dad still liked to think I was about two years old. I turned and walked back into the meadow, sitting down on a mossy log. Jake was still talking.
"Just where I said she'd be. She's fine. Honestly, Edward, she is. "He paused, listening to the reply.
"I'll have back in ten minutes. Okay?" I heard him hung up.
I stared at my shoes. "Is he going crazy?" I asked, knowing the answer.
Jake walked over to where I sat. "Of course he is. You've been gone six hours. Its twelve now. They were all going crazy. They phoned me at eleven. I guess I just knew you'd be here. "
I sighed again.
"I couldn't sleep. I wanted to be outside, I wanted to see you."I listed the reasons why it had seemed a good idea at the time. I hadn't counted on falling asleep. I looked up at him. "But you weren't awake yet, so I just lay down and fell asleep."He laughed his deep, warm laugh. The laugh I had missed so much. I grinned at him. "So are we going home or what?"