So…this chapter is angsty and I'm blaming that for the reason it took me so long to write and post it. I also blame it on The 100 for taking over my life. Probably going to have to write some Bellarke stuff to get me through this hiatus….

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Jacob's POV:

In a show of what I still consider great self-restraint, I waited an entire fifteen minutes after she was supposed to be there before barreling into the woods in search of her.

"You're creeping dangerously close to stalker status," Leah called mockingly from the doorway.

I caught Nessie's scent on the cooling afternoon air not too far from the house and followed it. The sun was almost gone from the sky. I picked up my pace, needing to find her before the forest descended into darkness. The only sounds I could hear were the leaves crunching under my feet and the critters scattering through the underbrush.

I found her on a massive rock, her legs pulled up and tucked under her chin. Her head snapped up as I approached her. "Stop." Her voice was a whisper but there was strength behind it. My initial smile at seeing her fell away as I studied her face. Her nose was bright pink and runny, her red tinged eyes sparkling. She was crying.

I held out my hands, itching to get closer to her, to comfort her. "What's wrong?"

She stood from the rock and backed away from me, holding her hand out in front of her. "Don't come any closer."

I stopped. She was shifting on her feet, like she was getting ready to run for her life. "Nessie, tell me what happened."

"Who's Jess?"

My stomach dropped. "How did you-"

"She was in the woods. She saw me and asked where I was going, but she already knew. It was like she'd been waiting for me."

"Did she hurt you?"

She rolled her eyes, huffing angrily before glaring at me. "Did the tiny human hurt the half-vampire? No."

I sighed with relief. Nessie was still staring at me, waiting for me to answer her first question. "I'm sorry about her. She's my ex-girlfriend."

She nodded and I could tell that she'd already deduced that. "I'm guessing the break-up was bad."

"Not particularly, just…recent."

"How recent?"

That question I didn't want to answer. "Can we talk about this at the house?"

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you until I get some answers," she nearly yelled, her words echoing around us.

"Alright relax." I looked down and scuffed my feet into the dirt. I didn't want to see her reaction. "We broke up a few days ago."

She stayed silent for so long that I thought she might have stormed off in that eerily silent way vampires could. I glanced up and immediately wished I hadn't. She was pissed. "You met me two days ago."

I didn't reply. I wasn't sure that I could. I had a bad suspicion about where she was going with this conversation and I wasn't going to help her get there.

"So when you say that you broke up a few days ago, do you mean two days ago?"

I held her gaze, my blood pounding behind my eyes. "I can explain."

"Answer the question."

"Yes, we broke up the day I met you but it's not what you think."

The noise she made then, half laugh, half sob, made me want to cave in on myself. "Well that's good for you 'cause I was thinking that you are a creepy son of a bitch."

"Nessie," I finally moved, aching to get her in my arms and make everything better.

"Stay away from me!"

In case you're wondering, that's basically the worst thing to hear from your imprint. I froze and I think my heart did too.

"You said there was a reason that I trust you, a reason I'm not scared of you even though I should be. What is it? Tell me the truth."

I groaned, resentment at the imprint curse raring to life inside my gut. There is no smooth way to start the 'you're my soul mate' conversation. I toyed with the idea of opening with a joke but the rising fury in her face weighed heavily on my weary heart.

"There's a…connection…between us." I licked my suddenly dry lips. Somehow, I knew that she wasn't going to take this revelation as well as Bella had so many years ago. I shut my eyes against the memory, as it burned bright and painful in my mind.

"A connection?" she asked, disdain dripping from every syllable.

I nodded miserably. I had never anticipated this conversation being easy but I had definitely imagined it going better than this. "It's called imprinting. It's how werewolves…find their soul mates."

I heard her swallow and take a deep breath. "Did you say soul mates?"

"Yes."

It was full night now, the moon lending its soft glow to the harsh landscape. The impulse of the imprint moved my head up, curious to see Nessie in moonlight again. She made a stunning vision, even as her heated glare threatened to scorch me alive. Her pale skin gleamed, almost sparkling, her dark hair shimmered, her eyes glittered in angry glory.

I fisted my hands at my sides to stop myself from snatching her up.

"Keep explaining, please."

I nodded and drew in a deep breath. "It happens instantly. One moment, you're an individual and in the next, you belong to someone. When I met you…the earth shifted and suddenly I knew my rightful place in the world. With you." Her face softened just a fraction. She must've heard the desperate truth in my words. "It's like fate or magic, the imprinting. It guides us to our perfect match."

"And you're trying to tell me that I'm your perfect match?"

I nodded, not trusting my mouth to hold in the onslaught of emotions pounding through my body.

"And you're perfect for me, too?" she asked dubiously.

I nodded again, swallowing hard.

"But you don't know anything about me."

She wasn't wrong. "I don't have to. It doesn't matter. You're my imprint."

She snorted indelicately, kicking the rocks around her feet and avoiding my hungry stare.

"You are all I think about," she mumbled.

For one confused second, I was certain that I'd spoken aloud again. Before I could consider it further, she plowed on. "Since the moment we met, even when I'm focused solely on something else, you're in my mind, underneath every thought, a constant undercurrent in my subconscious." She paused, panting heavily. "And until tonight, when I was confronted by your ex-girlfriend, it never occurred to me how completely wrong this situation is."

"I know it's weird-"

"Weird doesn't cover half of it." She threw her arms out suddenly. "I snuck out of my dorm, on thesecondday at my new school, to go traipsing through a forest so that I could see my professor. At night. With no supervision." She sniffed loudly and scrubbed her hand over her face. "I'm not this girl and I don't want to be this girl."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She growled and jerked her head back in exasperation. "I'm not going to lose my shit because of some hot guy."

I tried not to smile. I tried really hard. "Hot, huh?"

"This isn't funny."

I looked at her somberly. "I am sorry. I know this isn't an easy thing to accept."

Her face froze, her eyes cold with dread. "I'm not accepting this."

I tilted my head, wanting to be delicate with her but my patience was starting to fray. "There's nothing you can do about it."

"I can leave this school and never see you again."

Ouch. "That's not an option."

"Says who?"

"Fate will find a way to bring us together, always. You think you came to this school of your own volition?"

She bit her lip, frowning hard. My frustration finally got the better of my control and I started yelling.

"Do you think I ended up being your professor by chance? Do you think that Leah found you in the woods by sheer luck? Do you think Bella and I were best friends by accident?"

"Bella?"

Shit.

"My mother?"

Shit shit shit.

"We were friends, a long time ago."

"When? How? Did you…did you live in Forks?"

I sat down on the ground, suddenly exhausted. I motioned for her to do the same but she glared and crossed her arms. "Suit yourself but it's a long fucking story." Finally, she mirrored my position from a safe distance away.

Then I began.

I had never verbally recounted my history with Bella before. It wasn't as difficult as I'd expected. I was so detached from it now. It helped that I was staring into Nessie's face, focusing on every minute detail of her expression as the complicated tale of our overlapping histories fell heavy between us.

They hadn't told her a damn thing. She gasped, managing to somehow look excited and betrayed simultaneously, when I spoke about Emmet and Rosalie, Alice and Jasper, Carlisle and Esme. She couldn't hold in a giggle when I poked fun at how stuffy and overbearing Edward was.

"Some things don't change," she whispered fondly.

When I spoke about Bella, and the depth of my feelings that she'd never truly returned, an impossible pain crumpled her face. She'd acted like she could easily walk away from me, but the imprint wouldn't allow her to feign indifference toward me.

I told her about the disastrous dance at the wedding, the last burden I subjected my tender heart to and she had to wipe a few tears from her cheek. I told her that my soul felt like it had blasted apart, into tiny shards of killer glass, when my father told me she had been successfully turned into a vampire. He didn't tell me about any baby. I had already left Forks, my pack, and my entire life behind. Only Leah and Seth and Embry had followed. He was probably trying to protect me. It was something he would do: attempt to shelter his grown-ass Alpha werewolf son from girl drama. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't have handled it well.

I began to tell her about how I rebuilt my life at Evergreen Academy but she was distracted.

"Say something."

She sniffed and wiped a hand over her face. "Why did you love my…her?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I'm you're imprint, then how were you able to have such strong feelings for someone else?"

I actually had to think about that for a second. After I'd lost Bella to Edward, I had spent most of my time actively not thinking about her and everything that had happened between us. "I guess because you didn't exist yet."

"So, if I was never born, then you would have spent the rest of your life alone, never finding love, never having someone to share your life with?"

I shrugged and shot her a wry smile. "Luckily, you do exist."

She rolled her eyes, sighing with annoyance while she raked her hands through her hair. "I hate this."

"Nessie-"

"This is why I left my home and my family. I couldn't stand being alone, surrounded by obsessive love twenty-four seven."

"Edward and Bella were pretty sickening with each other."

She stared at me, her sad gaze piercing my heart. "I never wanted to be like that. I always thought it was sick, they way they revolved around each other, like the rest of the world wasn't even happening. Now look at me."

"We wouldn't be like them."

"We'd be worse."

"No-"

"Please tell me there's some way to get rid of this?"

I sighed deep and the crisp night air burned my lungs. "There's not." I was hoping she couldn't hear the hitch in my voice but then-

"But?"

I closed my eyes, already knowing what would happen, which path she would choose. She'd made it abundantly clear. "You're my imprint. I would do…anything for you." I finally looked up into her devastatingly hopeful face. "If you ask me to leave alone…I will."

End Note: The development here is essential to the story so please stick with me. I have a plan and Jacob and Nessie won't be suffering for long. Also, I know that Nessie's feelings towards her parents right now seem harsh but there is a plan for that as well. I LOVE reviews so if you're enjoying this story at all, please let me know!