Chapter Two

It was Sunday night, and I was sitting on the couch with my Uncles watching a UFC fight. Of course, they were into it, yelling at the fighters, telling them what punches to throw and what blocks to use. They each bet on the two different fighters, so it was intense for them. I wasn't paying much attention to them or what was on the TV, I was too wrapped up in my head. The past two days hadn't been the best. I had decided to attend Portland State University, as it was only 2 hours away. However, my family wasn't their usual perky selves. Every time my parents looked at me, their eyes showed worry and strain, even though they tried to act cheery around me. Worst of all was the Jacob was acting around me. The past two nights he had been staying late at the shop. Yesterday night when he came home, he didn't come into my room and talk to me like he always did. He just went straight to his room and shut the door. What happened Friday night kept replaying in my head; the way he looked at me, the intensity in his eyes. I'd never seen him show such desperation before. Why did me wanting to go to university affect him so much? Why did I want him to come with me so badly? All of these unanswered questions were driving me crazy.

My phone started to vibrate on the couch next to me, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was Ashley, I had totally forgotten to call her. I stood up, phone in hand. "I'll be right back." I said to my Uncles, heading outside on the porch. The night was cool, and I could hear the small waves crashing on the beach in the distance. "Hey, Ashley."

"What happened?" She said, irritation in her voice. "You were supposed to call me."

"I know, I'm sorry, I've just been busy." I lied

"Did you tell your parents? How did Doc and Esme take it?" Ashley believed the story we came up with when we moved. Grandma and Grandpa were my adoptive parents. Everyone in my family was adopted, including Jacob.

I looked back through the glass door at my Uncles still yelling at the television and walked towards the beach to get some privacy. Once I was standing in the sand, I answered her question. "They took it as well as I expected they would. They put up a bit of a fight, but I was able to convince them." I took off my sandals and put my feet in the water. It was cold, but my half vampire self didn't mind it much.

"That's great Ness. Did you pick a school yet?"

I sighed "Yea, one of the conditions is that I have to attend a school nearby, close enough that I can come home on the weekends. So I chose Portland."

She chuckled. "Well that made it easy for you then. You didn't have many to choose from."

I smiled "I guess; I'm just excited to get the chance to get away."

"I hear you, after 18 years of being stuck here, I'm ready to get out." Ashley was going to UCLA to study art. She was really good at paintings, she even had her own website where she sold her pieces.

I splashed the water with my foot. "I'm not going completely by myself, though."

"What do you mean?"

I looked up at the moon and the stars that twinkled around it. "Jacob is coming with me." Ashley new about the couples that were in our family. She didn't think much of it, but excepted it. She knew Jake and I were close and shared a strong connection. A couple times she commented on how he would look at me, but I just brushed it off. Until now.

She was silent for a moment. "Is that what you want?"

I closed my eyes. "I don't know, it surprised me. Out of all of my family, he seemed to take my decision really hard. He demanded to come with me."

She was silent for a bit. When she spoke, I could hear a smile in her voice. "Looks like your college experience is going to be very interesting."

I started to walk along the beach. We talked for half an hour about graduation and summer plans. I told her about the party; she was just as shocked as I was. She was wondering how many people would show up. I was never super popular in school, with girls at least. The guys in my class were very friendly to me. They were very talkative, and they always tried to invite me out to parties with them, but I was never interested. When I walked down the halls, they would all smile and say hi, but I could always feel their stares as I walked away. The girls weren't so friendly. I could hear them talk about me, but I never paid attention to them. It was about 10 when we said goodbye. I took one last look up at the bright moon above me before heading back towards the house.

When I walked back into the house, I noticed Jake's keys hanging from the key rack by the door, but he wasn't downstairs. I walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before heading to bed. Aunt Rose walked in as I pulled a bottle out of the fridge.

"Which one do you want?" She asked, tablet in hand

"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a drink.

"Your baby pictures. Which one do you want to bring to school?" I stood next to her and watched as she swiped through pictures of me when I was little.

"Whichever one you think is best." I really didn't care.

My Mom and Dad walked in together, holding hands. "Don't we get a say?" My Mom smiled, watching Rose go through the pictures.

"You guys, I really don't mind which one." I said, laughing at them as they reminisced through old photos.

"Oh look, this is one of my favorites." My Mom smiled, showing me a picture of me on my Dads shoulders with a huge smile on my face. I looked like a 2-year-old in the photo. I laughed, taking the tablet from her. I remembered the moment perfectly. I was playing airplane while my Dad ran around the house. I continued to look through the pictures. There were some with me and my Mom, Emmett, Rose, Alice, everyone. I remembered all of the moments well, and it warmed my heart thinking about them. I continued to swipe until I stopped on one. My heart sped up as I looked at the picture in front of me. I looked 6 in the picture, and it was taken on Christmas Eve 4 years ago. I was standing in front of the tree, a huge grin on my face. I was wearing one of Jake's old T-shirts that had a cheesy wolf portrait on it howling at the moon. The shirt came all the way down to my ankles, and I was wearing the leather bracelet he had made for me.

I stared at it for a bit before speaking. "What about this one?" I handed the tablet back to my Mom.

She stared at the photo a moment before giving me a small smile. My Dad came up behind her to look at it, chuckling as he saw it. "I like this one." My Mom said

"Let me see." Rose said, taking the tablet. When she saw it, her brows furrowed. "This one?" She scoffed, looking at me.

"Why not?" I said, taking another drink, a bit embarrassed.

"It's nice." Dad said. "It's a good choice."

"Ugh, fine." Rose said, heading out of the kitchen. "I'll go print it out."

"Ready for your last week of school? Ready for your tests?" My Mom asked, sitting next to me at the table.

"Yea, it'll be easy. I already have the highest scores in all of my classes." I said proudly

"We're so proud of you." Mom smiled, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Everyone is," Dad added "Everyone will be so happy to see you walk across the stage Friday."

"Everyone?" I asked "Isn't it just you guys?"

They looked at each other and smiled before Dad spoke again. "Everyone from Forks is coming to see you graduate. Your Grandpa Charlie, Sue, and some of the pack."

I stood up, shocked. "Really? You aren't joking right?" A smile starting to form.

"We were going to keep it a secret and surprise you, but we figured you'd like to know. They'll be arriving Thursday." Dad answered

I was so excited I hugged both of them. I hadn't seen everyone since Christmas. Rose walked back into the kitchen, handing me the printed photo. I gave them all a kiss and said goodnight, heading up the stairs to my room. I paused before heading into my room. Jacobs' door was closed, and I couldn't hear any movement inside. I stared down at the picture in my hand, moving my thumb across the wolf on the shirt. I wanted to talk to him, but I knew he didn't want to. I hated this, he had never stopped talking to me before. I turned and looked at the closed door in front of me. I hope he wasn't mad at me. I didn't know what I could have done to upset him so much. I put my hand on the door, as if I could will him to come out. I only closed my eyes and sighed, walking into my room and closing the door.

The next couple of the days flew by. I had aced all of my finals and now all that was left was graduation and the party. I don't know how Alice got the word around, but by Thursday morning everyone was talking about it. It was going to be held Saturday night. Jake and I still weren't really speaking. At most we said good morning when we saw each other in the morning. It hurt me to have this distance, but I didn't know what I should say. I didn't know what was upsetting him or how I could make it better. I figured the only thing I could do was wait for him to speak to me again. He couldn't avoid me forever; we were going to the same college. At least I hoped we wouldn't be like this forever.

It was Thursday afternoon and Ashley and I had just gotten out of school. We got into my Dad's Volvo and drove towards her house.

"Isn't your family coming up today?" She asked, flipping through the radio stations.

I smiled, I had been looking forward to this all week. "Yea, my parents bought everyone plane tickets to fly down. They should be at the airport now picking them up."

She settled on a Kaleo song before speaking again. "Are you ready for tomorrow? The day's finally here."

"It honestly couldn't have come fast enough. I was tired of my classes; they were too easy."

"Speak for yourself, some of us actually had to work hard to pass their classes." She huffed

"Oh come on, you did just fine." I laughed

"I guess," she answered, looking out the window. "Do you have a dress picked out for tomorrow?"

"Of course," I sighed "Alice has had one picked out for weeks now, but she never let me see it. She even has an outfit picked out for Saturday's party."

"Lucky, my mom and I are going to town tonight to pick one out. I can't believe it's mandatory we dress up. I'd much rather wear my cargo pants and T-shirt."

I rolled my eyes "It's a big event, you have to look nice, Ash."

"My Mom's even making me wear heals." She pretended to gag.

I chuckled "You'll look great, don't worry about it."

"Yea, I'll look great as I fall and break my ankle on stage." She laughed

We pulled up to her house, her dog happily barking like he always did. We sat in silence for a bit, the mood falling. This would be the last time I would drop her off her at her house. I've been picking her up and dropping her every day since a week after school started. I loved her, she was like a sister to me. Even though we still had the summer, it was still sad to know we wouldn't have this anymore.

She reached over and hugged me, "I love ya, Ness." Her voice breaking slightly.

I hugged her back "Come on, we still have Summer, it's not over yet."

She pulled back, her face returning back to its usual 'no-fucks-given' face. "I know, it's this stupid graduation thing, it's making me all sentimental." She opened the door and hopped out.

"I'll see you tomorrow night." I smiled, watching her walk back to her house.

"5 o'clock" She waved, heading into the house.

When she stepped inside her house and closed the door, my face fell. One horrible thing about living forever was how little time you got to spend with people that mattered to you. When her and I first met, I didn't know she would turn into such an important person in my life. I knew at the end of the summer when we both went off to college, I would have to slowly lose communication with her. I couldn't allow her to see me not age. I knew I had to make the most of the next couple of months.

I started on my way back home, driving through to the outskirts of town and turning down the narrow road to our house. Once I turned the corner and saw that two cars were parked out front, I immediately perked up. They were early.

I parked the car in the garage and sprinted to the door. When I opened it, I could immediately smell the familiar scents I had grown up with. I could smell Charlie, Sue, Seth, and Leah. I could hear them all in the living room. I closed the door and headed over. When I turned the corner, I saw my whole family lounging on the couches. Once I came into view, their heads turned. My eyes immediately went to Grandpa Charlie's. Before he could stand up all the way, I dropped my backpack and ran over to him, pushing him back down onto the couch in a big hug.

"Hey there, kiddo." He laughed "Careful there, I'm not as young as I used to be."

With my face still buried in his chest, I mumbled "I missed you, Grandpa!"

"It's so nice to see you again." Sue said, sitting next to us.

I released Grandpa and gave her big hug. Even though Grandpa and Sue were married, we weren't as close as Grandpa and I, and I never called her Grandma. Never the less, she was a sweet woman. "You've grown since Christmas." She smiled, taking my hands and looking me up and down as I stepped back.

"Yes, I can't believe how big you are." Grandpa said in awe "And I can't believe you're graduating high school . . . already." He had always been uncomfortable with my aging, but never-the-less, he loved me unconditionally.

I felt two arms wrap around me from behind, pulling me off the ground into a big bear hug. "Look at you, all grown up!" Seth said, fake crying.

"Seth!" I laughed. He put me down and I turned and gave him a big hug. "I missed you too!" Seth and I were close; he was like a brother to me. Growing up, he would babysit me sometimes and take me out to the beach and we would play in the sand and build sandcastles. Over the past 5 years, he had graduated high school and was just working on the reservation while attending a community college.

When I pulled away from Seth, I looked over at Leah who was quietly sitting on the couch. "How have you been, Leah?" I asked sweetly. Her and I had a strained relationship. We had never been close, but whenever we talked to each other we were never mean. The only reason she had come up to see me graduate was most likely to make sure Seth didn't go alone and to see Jacob. They were still the only two in his pack.

She gave me a small smile. "I've been good. Congratulations on finishing high school." Leah hasn't done much in the past few years. She mainly just keeps an eye out on Seth.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly.

"Today was her last day of school." Dad stated, walking up behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders.

"We're so proud of you." Esme smiled. Grandpa Carlisle was standing right next to you, looking equally as proud.

"Onto the real world." Uncle Emmett laughed "No more kid stuff."

"Oh stop," Aunt Rose said, nudging his stomach with her elbow. "She's still only 5."

"A very mature 5." Alice chirped in, dancing over to me and grabbing my hand. "She's more like a young woman now."

We could hear Charlie grumble as he scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. We decided to change the subject. My Mom walked over, handing me my backpack. "Why don't you go put your stuff away while everyone gets settled and ready for dinner."

"Ok, Mom." She kissed my forehead and I started up the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something I hadn't noticed before; Jacob. He was standing in the corner of the living room, his hands stuffed into his pant pockets. His head was low, but he was staring at me. His face was softer than it had been the past couple of days, but the tension between us was still uncomfortable.

I went into my room and closed the door, dropping my backpack into the corner. I wouldn't be needing that for a while. I went to my closet to change my clothes. I took off my jeans and replaced them with black leggings. I put on my loose grey long sleeve shirt and slipped on my comfy tan wool slippers. I put my hair up into a loose bun and put the necklace Jacob had gotten me back on. Other than bathing, I hadn't taken it off since he gave it to me. Throughout our argument, wearing still made me feel close to him. It still made me feel as though he was right there with me even though he had been avoiding me.

After changing, I went back downstairs and hung out with everyone. Grandpa Charlie, Sue, Seth, and Leah were staying in the two guest bedrooms on the upper level of the house. Everyone talked for a couple of hours, chitchatting about this and that and getting caught up while Grandma Esme and Sue, who had insisted on helping, were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Even Jacob seemed relatively cheery as he smiled and chuckled while talking to Seth and Leah on the opposite side of the room. I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous over the fact that he hadn't smiled around me for the whole week.

Grandma called us all into the kitchen and we sat around a tableful of food. It was a buffet of salad, potatoes, steak, rolls, and pasta. Of course, Seth, Leah, and Jake dug into the food immediately. We all filled our plates up, even my family who had put food on their plate and nibbled here and there to keep the charade up in front of Charlie. We laughed as Seth had told us stories of his school and discussed cases Charlie was working on back in Forks. We sat at the table for almost two hours just talking over dessert, and even played a round of cards. It was nice to be like this, to have everyone I loved sitting at one table.

It was almost midnight when Grandpa Charlie and Sue had decided to head to bed. Everyone else followed suit. I kissed and hugged everyone goodnight and headed off to my room. I had a huge smile on my face as I brushed my teeth and changed into my pajamas, which were just small black shorts and a baggy shirt. Just as I was about to crawl on my bed, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called, sitting on the edge.

It was Jacob. He slowly stepped into my room, keeping his head down. I was surprised, I thought he was avoiding me.

"Jake," I said softly, my eyes wide. He didn't move, he was just leaning against my door, his head still down. "Is everything alright?"

We sat in silence for a few moments. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. "I wanted to say congratulations on your last day of school." He said slowly. He looked up at me, his face looking pained.

"Oh," I whispered "Thanks."

He slowly started making his way over to me. "I also wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I've been acting this past week. I've been a real ass."

I was still in shock; I didn't know what I should be saying. I opened my mouth to try and mutter something but he raised his hand. "You don't have to say anything. I've been a huge jerk, and I'm really sorry." He was at the end of my bed now. He wasn't looking at my face, he was staring at the necklace that hung from my neck. "You're still wearing it?"

I grabbed onto the two charms, looking away, embarrassed. "Of course, you gave it to me as a graduation present."

"Ness, I – " He started, I noticed his hands were balled up into fists. They were shaking. Was he mad? I didn't know what I could do to make this whole thing situation disappear, to go back to the way we had always been. It had been the worst week of my life, and I just wanted it to end. Before I could say anything though, his arms were around me, and he pulled me into his chest. I could hear his heart beating in his chest, mine following just as loudly. His breathing was uneven, and when he spoke, his voice was shaky.

"Renesmee, I'm sorry. I'm sorry we're even in this situation right now." He had to take a few breaths to steady himself. "When I heard you wanted to leave for college, I didn't know how to react. I was shocked you wanted to go by yourself, and I couldn't take the thought of me not going with you."

He pulled back a little, allowing me to look up at him. His eyes were pained and glassy as he stared into mine. I couldn't move or speak, he had me totally consumed and locked in his stare. "I know you don't want me to go, but understand that I have to. Understand that I can't be away from you, I need you with me, every day."

These weren't the words that someone would say to a friend, even if they were as close and Jake and I. What was this feeling? What was this change him and I were going through? It was like we were still best friends, but there was something else. Something was starting form in the air around us. I didn't know what it was, or if I should like it. But somehow, it felt right.

I put my hand on his arm. "Jake, it's ok. I've been putting a lot of thought into it, and I want you to come with me. I can't explain why, but it wouldn't feel right without you there." I gave him a small smile, and watched as his expression eased up and his eyes had small flickers of happiness. He drew into another big hug. This felt nice. The tension between us was slowly fading, and I felt ties in our relationship begin to intertwine again. I was still very confused, but I had my wolf back, and that's all that mattered.