Nessie POV
"Stop smiling." I warned with what I hoped was a menacing look on my face. Even though I loved the fact that my grandfather and Jake were moving here, I was not happy that my father was going to be under more stress. I also was not happy that Jake was enjoying my father's misery at the moment.
"Oh, come on. It's funny." Still grinning, he started walking deeper into the forest. I made my way after him to scold him some more. "I mean, he's the mind reader. He knows just about everything before we even know it ourselves and he didn't even see this coming."
I shook my head at him. "It's still not funny. You, your dad and grandpa were blocking him, weren't you?" I asked. He flashed those pearly whites over his shoulder and I stopped in mid step. He stopped too and frowned at me. "You did this on purpose." I accused.
"Did not." he insisted while shoving his hands into his pockets. Oh, he was nervous.
"Yes, you did. You know that Alice cannot see you so she was blind to what you all were planning. And you purposely blocked my dad so he would be unprepared." I was fuming by now. "Jake, why would you do that to my dad?"
"Why not?" his hands fidgeted in his pockets. "I thought you'd think it was funny. We all know how he is about me and I thought it would be funny to catch him off guard."
"And we all know my dad has reasons for how he is about you." I started walking again and bumped his shoulder as I passed him. I heard him let out a long sigh before following me.
"Nessie, please. Stop real quick." he begged. I didn't want to stop but he was sounding desperate and I liked that. It meant that he was on the verge of apologizing, which meant that I won again.
"What?" The word was clipped and I mentally smiled when he winced.
Another long sigh came before he spoke again. "I'm sorry. I really did think you would find it funny. I thought you would like the idea of us moving here but..." he trailed off slowly and I groaned. Great, he turned this around on me. Now, I needed to apologize.
"Jake, it's not like that." I assured him. His head dropped a little and I rolled my eyes. "Drop the sad act; you look like a homeless puppy." His head shot up and he gave me a fierce glare. I smiled and walked over to him. His arms were crossed over his chest and I pulled them apart so I could fit into them. "You know that I love you are moving here. I hate being so far away from you. I just don't like seeing my dad upset." He looked liked he was about to speak but I cut him off. "And before you say that he will get over it, I know that. It's just he's under a lot of stress these days."
"He's a vampire, he can take it." he scoffed. I pinched the underside of his arm and he smirked at me. "Yeah, that one hurt." I frowned at him and he wrapped his arms around me. "Alright, I'm sorry for my-"
"Insensitive plan." I cut in and he rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, my insensitive plan. I'm dearly sorry I hurt you-"
"And my dad." I added.
I saw his jaw clench as he spoke. "And your dad. Will you ever forgive me?" he looked down at me and I purse my lips in thought. When I started to tap my chin, he hurled me over his shoulder and started walking again.
"Ah, okay! I forgive you." I squealed. "Put me down." I slapped his back and he just laughed at me. "Really! Put me down now you mangy mutt!" I heard a low growl come from his lips as he set me down on my feet and continued to walk.
"You've been hanging around Rose too much." he complained as I fell into step with him.
"Yeah, well now you're going to have to deal with her again." I grinned as he clenched his fists. "But enough about that. Tell me about everyone back in Forks. How's the pack? What's new? What's going to happen when you move?" I rattled off questions that I had been remembering to ask and new ones that I just thought of after hearing his news.
"Well, the pack will stay the same. I can still be my own pack but if they need me, they know I will be there. But everyone's cool with it." he chuckled a little. "Seth most of all. He wants to visit every other weekend after we move. Rose would love that." I laughed with him and grabbed his arm.
"Make Leah come. That would really make Rose's day." I added in and frowned when I felt him tremble a little. I looked up to see him trying to hold in his laughter. "What?"
"Speaking of the she-devil, she's been Imprinted on." My mouth could have dropped completely off my face.
"Really?" I asked. I was too shocked to say anything else. "Who?"
"That last one to change before you guys left, Alex?" I nodded and he grinned. "It was him about three weeks ago. No one knew until the other day though. Leah kept it to herself because she didn't want to hear everyone's shit."
I nodded in agreement. "I can understand her. You guys give her hell."
"Only because she gives it ten-fold." he reminded me and I nodded in agreement again. That is when the uncomfortable silence started. I knew why. I wasn't stupid or anything. Nevertheless, this was almost an untouchable subject for us. We understood what it meant but we just never really talked about it. I was always too young or we were just too uncomfortable to talk about it.
"That must make things easier for her and Sam." I whispered trying to get us back to a normal conversation. However, Jake did not want that.
"No, listen we need to talk about it." he sighed deeply and rubbed his face. "We're alone and we need to get some things straight." I knew by the tone in his voice that he was about to lay it all out on the line no matter what. Mom said that he was blunt about things and he was about to prove her right.
"Okay." I nodded. He leaned up against a tree and stared me directly in the eyes.
"I don't want to make you feel weird or uncomfortable but Nessie," he sighed again and squeezed his eyes shut. "It's hard. Being away from you, not having you. It's killing me. I mean, I know I have you but I don't have you. Ya know?" he paused to take a peek at me. I nodded once and he continued. "I don't know how it is for girls when someone Imprints on them but for the guys it's amazing, Ness. I hear your voice and I cannot stop smiling. I see you and all I want to do is hold you. I want you, Nessie. I want to hold you, to kiss you and to be that guy for you. The guy that I was born to be. And I can't hold on any longer."
Wow.
"Wow." I couldn't help but to express that verbally. I heard a groan and focused on Jake again. He was shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut.
"I'm sorry, Nessie. I didn't mean to make you feel weird. I just had to-"
I'm not sure what came over me at the moment in time but I couldn't ignore it. Jake had just spilt his heart and soul to me. He had just expressed the pent up feelings that were all for me. He admitted that he could not hold off any longer because he felt too strongly for me. He was completely blunt about it but it was honest. And it was the most romantic thing I had ever heard, and I heard a lot of romantic crap in my house from all the couples.
So seeing him at his most vulnerable state and then thinking that he made the wrong decision to tell me that. I had to let him know that it was okay. I wanted him to know that I felt the same way. I wanted him to hold me and to kiss me.
I wanted him.
So I showed him. I threw myself back into his arms and pressed my lips against his. The moment our lips touched though, I was lost. I hadn't kissed anyone in my life before. Technically, I was only like 8 years old. Yes, I grew twice the speed that humans did but still, I hadn't had the chance to go around and kiss people. I hadn't really wanted to kiss anyone besides Jake anyways but if I thought that Dad would hear and ground me.
So here I was kissing my werewolf-almost-boyfriend and not knowing what the hell I was doing. Great.
I got very insecure and started to pull away but as I did Jake held me still. He took his lips away from mine for a moment and trailed tiny kisses up my jaw and to my ear.
"Don't worry. Just go with it, Nessie." his voice was a lot deeper than it had been a minute ago. The path he used to leave my lips was the one he followed back down. His eyes met mine a second before he kissed me. His lips moved slowly against mine, showing mine how to move and soon enough, his lips pressed harder against mine and my fingers were buried in his hair.
God, his lips were perfect. Full, sweet perfection. Everything that I had heard from my family, the girls at school and on the television was put to shame. They talked about seeing fireworks or melting.
I didn't.
I didn't feel like I was about to fall, I was flying. I did not see the fireworks. Instead, I saw Jake. I saw all the time we had together. I saw him when I was little and we stood against the Volturri. Then I saw my dreams. The ones I had of him. The ones that were of him and me together in the future. No one telling us to be home by 10 o'clock. No one trying to keep us away from one another. I saw us. I saw our family.
I knew the moment his arms tightened on my waist that he was seeing what I was. He slowly pulled away from me and I saw a wet mark on his face. I was about to ask why he was crying but his hand stopped me. It was wiping the tears off my face.
I was crying.
"I'm sorry." I whispered. He just smiled and ran the pad of his thumb over my lips.
"Don't be. You're perfect." he assured me. His hand left my cheek and moved down to my waist where it snuck up under my shirt. I froze then relaxed. His hand only stayed on my waist. "I just want to feel you, Nessie. I won't go further." he kissed my temple and I leaned into his hand and body. He was warm. I mean, I knew he was warm but right now, he felt warmer.
He felt good. And I wanted more. Just a little more.
I grabbed his other hand and moved it up the other side of my shirt, stopping just below my ribs. I sighed contentedly when his rubbed my sides.
"You okay?" he asked. I looked up at him and almost nodded. I was not okay. I was still so inexperienced.
I sighed and buried my face in his chest. "Jake, I have no idea how to do this." I felt him squeeze my sides once before sliding his hands out. He laid them on my face and made me look up at him.
"Nessie, I know you don't. Well, at least you better not know." he smirked and I rolled my eyes. "But I'm not a pro at this either. I had very little experience before you came along." I felt my mouth drop again as I gaped at him.
"You mean, since you've Imprinted on me, you haven't..." I trailed off knowing that he knew what I was getting at.
He shook his head and smiled at me. "I couldn't think of anyone other than you, Nessie. It's been a killer these past years but I have been waiting for you. I'll keep waiting if I have to." I stood up on my toes and kissed him lightly once more.
"Thanks, Jake." Once again tears were running down my I didn't care this time. All I cared about was being in Jake's arms. The world could have fallen apart at that moment but I wouldn't have noticed.
The rain though, I noticed that.
"Aw man." I groaned and looked up at the sky as it sprinkled us with tiny raindrops. "It wasn't supposed to rain today."
"Well, looks like your meteorologist needs a new day job, eh? I could see the storm when we drove in." Jake said as we pulled apart. "Let's get back before it gets worse." I nodded and intertwined our fingers. We walked in silence but this time it was a comfortable one. No unspoken feelings. Just us and the quiet falling of the rain.
"Oh, look. I think you dropped something when we came out here," he pointed to a sheet of paper by a tree. I couldn't remember brining out anything when we left the house.
"I didn't have any paper on me." I let his hand go and walked over to pick up the paper. It was old. Very old.
"Well, who else comes out here? I doubt that it got blown all the way out here." he looked over my shoulder as I opened it.
"Uncle Jay comes out here a lot." I mumbled and slowly scanned the paper. It had to be his...
Whoa. This was definitely his.
"Uh oh." Jake muttered.
Jasper POV
I stayed inside as long as I could. I really did. However, between Edward's anger and annoyance, Bella's joy and worry for Edward, I just had to leave. To sum it all up.
Jacob and Billy Black were going to relocate with Charlie in one month. They are moving here. Charlie is taking a spot as the chief in the town over. Apparently, Jake can get a job at a local car repair shop and Billy gets money each month from the Government so they would not have to worry about money for a place to live. As for the pack, well, Jake has already gone off on his own once before so it is not really a big deal. Especially, because he is moving be to closer to his Imprint.
That brings up the other part of this discussion. Edward laid down some rules. Hard. Even Rose was protesting on some of his rules about how much time Jake could spend with Nessie in the house. Esme cut in and told everyone that no one should be too hard on them because the business of Imprinting of permanent. Eventually they would be together and the sooner everyone (Edward) got used to it the better off it would be.
Bless that woman.
A noise in the woods caught my attention. I listened closer and heard that it was Nessie and Jake. Arguing. I frowned as they got closer and their voices got clearer.
"Just talk to him about it. It might be nothing." Jake whispered harshly. I heard Nessie's snort that she got from her mother and chuckled.
"It can't be nothing, Jake. It's obviously something." she retorted.
"You are not being serious." Jake told her in a disbelieving tone. I heard a quick slap and a deep chuckle. This reminded me of Bella with Edward when she was human.
"I am too being serious. You're the one acting like a goon." It was then that they walked into the open. Nessie's steps faltered a bit when she saw me but Jake pushed her forward. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? And suspicious?
"Everything okay?" I asked when they stepped onto the deck. Jake nodded and looked over at Nessie.
"Yeah, just talking about things," he answered when she didn't. I knew that look. And I knew this mood. She was upset about something and if she tried to talk, she would spit it out and open a can of worms and possibly tears. Bella had this mood a lot after Nessie was born.
"Well, I'm going to warn you now." I started and I saw Nessie's eyes widen. "Your father has some rules set out and I'm afraid some of them not even your mom can help you break."
"Oh my Gosh!" she stomped her foot on the deck and Jake smirked at her. "I am going to hurt him one of these days." She was completely frustrated now. I stopped them before they walked inside.
"If you need anything, like a ride to town or something, all you have to do is ask. You'll know what I mean when you hear the rules but I'm always available, Nessie." I assured her with a smile. Her emotions settled as she smiled at me.
"Thanks, Uncle Jay." she kissed me cheek and walked inside with Jake. Both of them were weary now and for good reason. They we were walking into their own personal hell. I heard the thunder in the distance and the wind pick up. Now the rain was blowing into the deck and getting me wet. Time to go inside.
I walked through the far door on the deck and into the library. I didn't feel like getting sucked back into the discussion about how long Nessie and Jake can have every afternoon together or how many dates they could have, if they were allowed to date at all yet. So I silently made my up to the bedroom were it was quiet.
I walked into my closet and thanked whoever made this house that there were two in Alice's room and mine. She had hers and I had mine. That gave me the privacy and space I needed. Space for my clothes and old cowboy boots. Privacy for the things that I have kept over the years. I pulled my jacket off and kicked my shoes into the corner of the closet. I looked to the top of my closet and leaned up to move a brown box out of the way. I used to keep all of my letters and stuff from Temperance in a locked file cabinet that Alice thought was for J. Jenks but when we moved into this house and I rummaged through the new closet I found a tiny door. I guess it was used for hiding jewelry or important documents and now it held all of my memories. I opened the door and pulled out the tinier beat up box that was within. I set it down on the small table that was in the middle of the closet and opened it up.
In this box was everything that I dreamed about. There were pictures of Temperance and myself from all over the South. There were notes that I had written her and had gotten back when we separated. There were notes that she had written me and there were little momentums of our love. There was the ring that I gave her the day I asked for her hand in marriage. There was the old pocket watch that she gave me for our anniversary. Everything that was us was in this box.
I reached into my pocket and froze. I could have sworn that I put the letter in my jeans pocket. I walked over to my jacket and searched its pockets.
"What the hell?" I muttered and re-checked all the pockets in my jeans and jacket again.
Nothing. Damnit.
I must have dropped it out in the woods. I rushed over to the window and cursed colorfully when I saw the rain pouring down in thick sheets. There was no way it had survived the rain. That letter was gone now.
Don't forget.
"I won't."
I remember when we kissed
I still feel it on my lips
The time that you danced with me
With no music playing
I remember those simple things
I remember till I cry
But the one thing I wish I'd forget
A memory I wanna forget
Is goodbye
- Goodbye by Miley Cyrus
