EPOV

I had learned, not too long after I turned human, that sleeping in your day clothes wasn't good. It made your body feel stiff and even slightly sore and sometimes itchy, depending on the fabric. My cotton sweatshirt definitely helped, but still it would be better if I had put on a T-shirt or something. My jeans, though, spoiled the scheme. Denim + bed + turning around God knows how many times during a nap equaled to a very unpleasant feeling on my leg's skin. Someone must had taken off my sneakers and put me under the covers and maybe placed a heater next to me, which was strangely feeling good (I didn't know heaters could be made of such a soft material), but I had an inkling the disgusting smell all over me was my own sweat. It didn't surprise me that I hadn't woken up during the process, because even if it hadn't been an efficient vampire doing it, I wouldn't be disturbed during my sleep, unless my own mind did it by replaying a nightmare. If it wasn't for my constant turning, some would think I was in a coma, because the house could fall down and I would only wake up once I was dead. If that made any sense…

Modern technology is, hands down, amazing. I didn't know it had developed to the point when heaters had their own fantastic scent and arms capable of massaging your head. Okay, okay, let's stop it, I'm not that dense, I know it's Jacob.

"I need to take a shower," I mumbled groggily. He snickered.

"That you do."

"I sweat like a pig and you think it's funny, but I'm tellin' ya: it's not." My words were muffled by the comfy pillow under my head, as I tried to contain my sleepy smile.

He snorted twice, imitating a pig. I burst into giggles (not girly giggles, manly giggles, well, not really manly, more like boyish. Oh, fuck, you know what I mean).

"Doc told me what happened." His voice took on a serious tone. "You should tell your kid to be more careful."

"He's careful when you're here." I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to adjust my vision and then realized he and I were face to face. "He already likes you."

"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow, smirking. I rolled my eyes playfully, but nodded nonetheless. "Then maybe he'll listen to me." He touched my small one-month tummy with his right hand and looked down. "Hey, buddy," he greeted and I laughed softly. "I know you wanna be a famous soccer player and all, but your daddy here is not a ball, so it would be nice of you if you stopped kicking him." A pause. "Okay? Thank you."

"Who said he's a boy?" I chuckled.

"You did. You keep saying 'he'."

"That's because I don't know the baby's gender yet. He can be a she."

"There are feminine soccer teams, y'know."

"Yeah," I cackled. "I know." My subtle laughter died when I remembered something. I felt all warm inside just thinking about it. Jacob had said he loved me and I certainly believed him. Our relationship was each day stronger and our feelings were mutual. Now that he had admitted it, it seemed fairly easy for me to do the same. Besides, he deserved it. "I forgot to tell you something," I whispered, but cleared my throat for the next part. I wanted to tell him loud and clear how I felt. Jacob stared at me, expectant. I smiled, knowing my next words would change some things in our lives for the better. "I love you, too."

Jacob's grin made my day and I couldn't help but grin back, but I was sure mine was goofy, because his perfect teeth framed by his full dark lips were dazzling me. I leaned in, confident of what I was doing, and planted a chaste kiss on the side of his mouth.

"So what are we now?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to him.

"Boyfriends?" I suggested. He nodded.

"That seems good. Edward Cullen, would you like to be my boyfriend?"

"Why are you asking?" I chuckled.

"Just to make it official."

"Okay, then. I'd love to be your boyfriend. And you Jacob Black, would you give me the honor of being my boyfriend?"

"Of course, dude," he answered, with a peace-and-love voice and I laughed out loud. "We should sell the deal with a kiss, y'know."

"Ugh," I hid my face in the crook of his neck. "This sounds so cheesy."

"What about a make-out session?" he said half-jokingly and I swatted his arm playfully.

"Asshole," I mumbled. In a sudden second he jerked away slightly, making a strange noise that I could only describe as a grunt. "What?"

"Nothing," he snickered. I furrowed my eyebrows, even though he couldn't see me. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Just…don't blink," he pleaded, chuckling lightly.

"I can't…" he snickered again. "…help it." That's when I understood what was happening and chuckled silently. Without any type of warning, I fluttered my eyelashes and got what I wanted: he giggled. "Are you ticklish?"

"No," he said, but I could tell he was lying. I did it again. He moved his neck away from me, cackling. "Now you're doing it on purpose," he pointed his finger at me, accusingly.

"So you are ticklish."

"No," he replied in a convincing tone, but it wasn't enough to trick me.

"Why won't you admit it? There's nothing to be ashamed of," he laughed.

"And you're just saying that because you're ticklish, too."

"Really?" I asked, because, to be honest, I didn't know yet. Faster than I expected, Jacob's hand shot to my neck and he moved his fingers. I giggled, shutting my eyes and tilting my head, blocking his hand. So, yes, I was ticklish. It was a weird feeling; a funny and uncomfortable one at that and any type of laugh seemed unavoidable. He did the same just above my ribs and I squirmed, laughing out loud. "Okay, I got the point," I said, as he leaned in, brushing his lips against mine softly. My eyes closed automatically and I crashed my lips to his more forcefully, savoring his spicy taste and the happiness and peace of the moment. I pulled away slightly and brought my hand to his cheek, caressing it. He, too, lifted his and let it fall on the top of my head, ruffling my hair slowly and gently.

"Your hair is really cool," he commented and I furrowed my eyebrows, trying not to smile.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," he nodded. "It's strange but it's cool. It's really thick and soft. It feels like silk."

"It's all messy," I complained.

"It fits you."

"How so?"

"Uh…" He huffed. "I don't really know. It just…does. It makes you even more beautiful." I smiled, happy with his confession. Although not directly, he had called me beautiful and even though I knew I wasn't, it felt good to know that in his eyes I was. "And then the color is really weird, I've never seen anything like it, but I think it resembles the autumn."

"Wow, Jacob, you just used a figure of speech! I think you're becoming a poet," I joked.

"Shut up," he laughed. "What have you got anyway, smartass?"

"Your eyes…" I started, not knowing what to say next. "Your eyes, …uh…"

"My eyes?" He smirked.

"Hush, I need to concentrate." I pinched his arm.

"Ow!"

"Your eyes remind me of hazelnuts," I blurted out. He shook his head with mock disappointment. "It's not like yours was that good," I retorted. "Okay, let's just be honest," I chuckled. "We suck at this."

"Well, you shouldn't. You're a compulsive reader."

"No, I'm not," I said, confused. I liked reading, but there was no way I was some bookworm.

"Then why are there so many books in your room?"

I tilted my neck and looked around. There were, indeed, a lot of books in the room.

"Because a vampire's life is boring and there're not many things besides reading to fill your schedule, but now I can't remember much of what I read."

"I don't understand how someone could want to be bitten."

"Me neither."

"I heard it hurts like hell to become a bloodsucker."

"Literally. It feels like you're on fire."

It was in this kind of moments that I cursed my own mind and my memories. It seemed as if I couldn't forget the worst things that had happened to me, but I wasn't even aware of some good and important ones. Things that I could classify as useful had to be taught and explained, because I couldn't remember them, while awful events were resident subjects in my mind.

"This may seem pathetic, but I couldn't stop crying for my mother."

"It's not pathetic. It's normal. We all do in that type of situation."

"Even you?" I asked. He fidgeted uncomfortably and it took me a moment to understand what I had just said. I knew Jacob's father and sister (who was a really nice girl, by the way) and I knew he had another sister living in Hawaii, but I didn't have a clue about his mother's whereabouts, that is, if she was alive at all. I could see this wasn't something he liked to talk about. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"You didn't."

"When?" I questioned quietly, now sure, by his expression, that the woman that gave birth to him had indeed passed away.

"I was eight. It was a car accident." His voice was thick and his eyes were watery. I didn't know what to say. I hated seeing Jacob like this and knowing that he, too, had gone through something heartbreaking. And Billy and Rachel. They were all incredibly kind people and didn't deserve that kind of suffering.

"I'm sorry," I said, finally, but it sounded sad and all I wanted was to make it up to him. "But you know what? I bet she's up there clapping at you. I'm sure she's really proud of you." His eyes immediately lit up like a child's on Christmas' day and I couldn't help but grin at his adorable expression. I reached up and kissed his forehead, before resting mine against his. There was something Carlisle had told me when I was a newborn about the death of my biological parents and I would remember it until the day I died (completely). It seemed proper to say it in that moment. "One less lovely human on Earth, one more beautiful angel in Heaven," I whispered. He stared at me, stunned, before attacking my lips with his own. When he pulled away, I laid my hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat under my palm. It was strong and steady. "We all need a mother when she isn't physically there, but your real one, the one who loves you unconditionally is always inside your heart. There's no reason not to cry out her name when you feel the need to do so. Not just your mother, it can be your dad, one of your sisters or all of them.

Jacob shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips and his hand found his way to my shoulder where he let it rest.

"I wish I had really known you sooner," he whispered.

"I'm still here," I murmured. "It's never late."

"I know," he sighed. "But I wish I hadn't been so judgmental towards you before this all happened." I raised an eyebrow at him. What was he talking about? "You don't remember?"

"What?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Never mind."

Curiosity got the best of me. "No, now that you started it, you have to finish it. I wanna know," I said, firmly. I knew that Jacob and I had hated each other before…I tried not to shudder. I sometimes still panicked over it. Translation: I always panicked at least a bit if I thought about it.

Now thinking about it, I didn't exactly remember why Jacob had hated me. And honestly, I didn't know why my feelings had been mutual either. Bella could be the main reason, but surely such hatred couldn't be out of mere jealousy.

One second.

"Oh…I got it," I blurted out. "Mortal enemies and stuff." He gave me an amused look, but it didn't last long and was then replaced by a serious expression.

"You remember Leah's brother, Seth?" I nodded. How could I forget? Oh, right, memory loss. But I did remember the kid. He was such a good soul. "He actually likes you…as a friend, of course," he rushed out.

"Did the others get along with me or my family, too?"

"No." He shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is that all of us could have made an effort to just get to know you guys a little better or simply not think about you the way we did. If Seth could do it there was no excuse for our behavior. Most of us still think the kid is naïve-"

"He's not naïve," I cut him off. "Far from that. He's actually really smart. He has a very interesting mind. He…understands, y'know? He doesn't judge my family because he tries to see from their point of view." Jacob looked away for a few seconds and licked his lips before settling his gaze on mine.

"How does it feel?" he asked, almost shyly.

"For a normal vampire, it's fascinating. They love the power, the strength, the beauty. They love watching their innocent victims' plead for mercy," I spoke through clenched teeth. "It's disgusting," I whispered. "But the Cullens and Denalis..." I shook my head. "None of us chose this. None of us wanted this. And it tears you apart when you look in the mirror and all you see is a monster. It tears you apart knowing there's no turning back and that you'll just have to be like that forever, that you can't cry, sleep or eat. And it hurts so much when someone you love just throws away a normal life, a normal family and everything you ever wanted like it was trash just before your eyes. And it's so frustrating having to hold back all the time not to hurt them. And you just hate yourself because you're a fucking moving corpse that sucks away life and because as much as you don't want to you can't help but imagine how good it would feel to taste human blood." It took me a moment to realize I had silent tears running down my cheeks, which Jacob gently wiped away with his thumbs, his face shocked. "I'm sorry," I sniffled, apologizing for my outburst.

"N-no,I am sorry. If I knew that was how you felt I wouldn't have treated you the way I did."

"How could you know?" I shrugged. "You couldn't read my mind," I tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"Neither could Seth, Edward. Why do I always have to be so damn impulsive?"

"Uh…good question," I chuckled, mocking him. He smiled at me and pulled me in for another kiss. When we broke it, I threw my arm around his waist.

"And why do you always remember the worse things?"

"To hell if I know," I sighed, moving closer to him so that our bodies were pressed against each other. His skin was soft, but his body was hard and muscular. And beautiful. Now that we were both in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence, I was reminded by an awful odor that I still needed to shower. Today I needed to do a lot of things, but first I had to take care of my physical needs. "Hey, Jake, aren't you hungry?" I felt his chin move up and down against my forehead. "Then why don't you go downstairs and grab something? You can even ask Esme to cook something for you. I need to take a shower and I'll be there after I finish, okay?

"Okay," he whispered, pulling away. I leaned in for a kiss. Our tongues simply relaxed against each other as our lips did the work. My hands fisted in Jacob's hair, while his moved up and down my back. This is heaven, I thought. It was pure happiness and peace. I couldn't help but smile against his lips. I broke the kiss, breathless. Jacob pecked my forehead.

"Don't take too long," he almost panted.

I closed my eyes. "I won't."

I watched him cross the room only in his denim shorts, hanging his sneakers on his right hand. He opened the door, but before he walked out he turned to me with what was supposed to be a seductive look, which I just found amusing.

"Hasta la vista, baby," was the last thing he said before stepping out and closing the door behind him, leaving me laughing uncontrollably on my king-sized bed.

This boy never failed to amaze me.

I was used to quick showers in a small bathroom accompanied by the usual breakdowns, the sound of my sobs muffled by the water running. I wondered if Jacob had been able to hear any of it. Showers were, for me, the perfect occasion to simply let it go, do what we wanted to. No wonder there were people who had the habit of singing while washing themselves. But right now, there were no tears, only sighs of contentment.

Well, maybe it was because I was having a bath instead.

Jacob's plea to not take too long must have fallen deaf on my ears, but he would understand. I was enjoying myself right now, inside the huge bathtub, my body covered by warm perfumed water and foam.

I felt like a fucking prince.

I had used at least a bit of every single shampoo and body wash in the bathroom. My hair smelled of a strange mix of fruits and flowers. And chocolate. I couldn't forget the chocolate. My body, on the other hand, carried by now a jumble of other fragrances like oats, cashmere and well, body wash. All in all, bittersweet.

A foam bubble floated in the air and I watched it carefully until it reached the smooth surface of the edge of the bathtub, popping ever so softly and disappearing.

It was official. Jacob and I were boyfriends. I resisted the urge to say it out loud to see if it would make it more real. Well, of course it is, I remembered. We even asked each other and sealed it with more than one kiss. Snap my neck if it wasn't one of the most amazing moments in my entire life.

I couldn't ask for a better person to love me. This didn't just made my day, this made up for weeks of silent suffering.

Life was rolling on the right path. Soon I would be entirely happy. I could feel it.

I knew I would never forget what had happened that day in the woods and there were certainly a lot of things that still needed to be solved. But as long as I didn't think about that unfortunate day, everything seemed to be fine. I just needed time. Time would seal my wounds eventually.

Not planning on leaving the house, I put on a pair of grey sweatpants and a plain white T-shirt. It wasn't my intention to impress anybody and I was in my house, after all. Besides, I didn't want to make the same mistake and accidently fall asleep with jeans on. Today I just felt like cuddling up with Jacob.

As soon as I entered the rarely used kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs assaulted my nose and my stomach grumbled quietly. Only now I realized it had probably been a long time since I had last fed. Long time meant this morning, of course. For a vampire it would mean three or four days.

"Well, good evening, sir," Esme greeted with a loop-sided grin. My eyes widened. How long had I been asleep?

"What time is it?" I asked, noticing she had an apron on.

She threw a quick glance at the clock on the wall before answering. "It's a quarter to seven, dear. You could have figured that out for yourself," she chuckled.

"Eh, I'm just too lazy," I joked and looked around, my gaze settling on the table where I found a full plate with eggs and bacon, along with a glass with orange juice. My mouth watered. "Is this for me?" I pointed at them. Esme nodded, smiling and I sat on a chair and started eating. As I expected, it was delicious and I had to ask for more, only then killing my hunger. Esme commented about my overwhelming smell and I realized maybe I shouldn't have used so much hygiene products because of their too sensitive noses.

"Trying to impress someone?" she questioned, amused. I shrugged, but failed to contain my blush.

"Where's Jacob?"

"He's in the living room with your brothers." She took my plate and glass, placing them on the sink. I stood up.

"I'll just go and see what they're up to," I informed half-truthfully (it was a good enough excuse to see Jacob again) and turned to leave, but before I could step out of the kitchen, Esme called my name. I twisted my neck to look over my shoulder at her.

"I'm really happy for you and Jacob," she said. I smiled.

"Me, too. And thanks."

The three boys turned simultaneously to look at me. I thought I saw a distressed expression on each of their faces, but I wasn't sure, because they were now staring at me expressionless, except Jacob who couldn't hide his smile. I returned it, sitting next to him on the couch.

"Dude," Emmett said. I turned to see both he and Jasper wrinkling their noses. "Why so much fragrance?" I shrugged and turned to Jacob ignoring them. "It's bad enough as it is with the dog here." This time I turned to look at him, fury taking over me. I grabbed the collar of his shirt, bringing his face to mine and giving him my best scaring glare.

"Call him dog one more time and I'll bite," I sneered, only to frown soon after as all of them burst out laughing. "Ok, I won't bite, but I'll make your life hell, got it?" Jacob was the only one who found it funny. Emmett and Jasper knew what I was capable of. I decided to tease him a little. "Now, Emmett, be nice and polite," I said sweetly, straightening his collar. "Apologize," I commanded. He gulped and looked down.

"I'm sorry for calling you a dog, Jacob," he mumbled like a child after being caught. I grinned evilly, content with the results. But I wasn't finished yet.

"Say 'Jacob, you're not a dog'." He raised his head to glare at me, but I simply glared back warningly.

"Jacob, you're not a dog."

"Say 'you're a very sweet person'."

Emmett furrowed his eyebrows, confused, but complied anyways. "You're a very sweet person."

"Tell him you like him very much."

"Wha-"

"Tell him!"

"Jacob, I like you very much."

"And that you want to marry him." I tried to sound authoritarian, but it came out between chuckles.

"Oh, come on!"

"Okay, okay," I laughed. "That's enough. Good boy." I ruffled his hair. Emmett huffed and Jasper snickered. Jacob was staring at me, dumbfounded, but I could see he, too, was amused. I shifted closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his shoulder. He brought his hand to the top of my head and let his fingers play with my reddish hair.

"You smell good," he commented.

"I'm glad someone thinks so," I cackled. Someone cleared their throat. I looked at my bear brother, who was watching us, visibly uncomfortable. Emmett was a very cool guy, he really was, but if someone in the family didn't approve of my and Jacob's relationship, that would be him. Not because Jake was his "mortal enemy"; it was because he was a boy. I didn't believe he would feel disgusted by it, but it would definitely take a while until he could completely accept it.

"So…" he started. "You, him…"

"We're dating," I clarified, knowing it wasn't needed. He had probably heard our whole conversation.

"That's…" he narrowed his eyes, searching for the right word. "…weird."

"You'll get used to it eventually," I assured him.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I hope so."

"Em, let's go hunting. I'm starving," Jasper said with false enthusiasm. He was definitely not starving; his eyes were almost yellow. I knew he was dragging Emmett with him to leave me and Jacob alone. It couldn't be more obvious, he fucking winked at me before he left. But why did I have a feeling there was something else? That they would do something else? And that Jacob knew?

"They didn't go hunting, did they?" I asked, quietly. Jacob shook his head, but I could see he wouldn't give me more details. I decided to drop the subject for now. It was probably something I didn't want to know anyway.

He yawned loudly and I frowned, only now noticing the dark circles under his eyes. He had been on patrol the previous night and I was sure he hadn't gotten any sleep today.

"Are you tired?" He nodded slowly. I made my way to the other side of the couch, sitting and patting my lap. He laid on his side, facing the opposite wall, his head on my lap, as I ran my fingers through his dark hair gently. I caressed his cheek from time to time and within minutes his breathing evened out and I knew he had fallen asleep. I watched his torso and shoulder rise up and down rhythmically, until I was distracted by a flash of blonde in my peripheral vision. I turned my head and faced Rosalie who sat in an armchair, nervous.

"Hey," I murmured. She raised her eyes and looked at me, surprised. She probably thought I was still mad at her. I had to get things clear, because I wasn't. I knew she had the tendency to act impulsively when blinded by envy and I didn't blame her. She regretted it and she had already apologized. Besides, I respected her for knowing what I had been through.

"Can we talk?" she asked, timidly. I nodded and lifted Jacob's head, careful not to wake him up. I slowly stood up and laid it after grabbing a pillow and putting it under his skull. Rosalie seemed confused by my actions.

"Not here," I explained lowly.

We ended up in her bedroom. We both sat on the bed next to each other, silent, not having a clue how to start. I decided to make the first move, since she seemed to be struggling. "I don't want you to think I'm mad at you." She looked at me, caught off guard. I shook my head. "I'm not." Instead of relief, I found disbelief.

"Why?" she whispered.

I shrugged. "It wasn't you, Rosalie. It wasn't you who hurt me the most. I…understand. When I just ignored you earlier today… I was pissed at everyone and I needed to make them suffer, but I didn't say anything to you because…because there wasn't anything to say. Because you had different reasons and I understand them. Besides, you didn't surprise me."

"So I'm forgiven?"

"Yes," I smiled warmly.

She smiled back. "So, are you ready to be a daddy?"

I nodded. "You can be the Godmother," I offered. Her smile grew impossibly huge. She was practically beaming.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," I laughed. She threw her arms around me and I hugged her back.

After releasing me, Rosalie looked down at my stomach, thoughtfully.

I gently grabbed her cold hand and placed it on my small covered tummy. She gasped. When she looked up, her eyes were glistening and I knew she would be crying if she could.

"Thank you," she whispered truthfully.

For many, Rosalie was a bitch. I disagreed deeply. She was slightly bitter, that was certain, but, after all, who wouldn't with a story like hers? She could be intimidating when she wanted to and had the tendency to scare away people she didn't trust, but once you got to know her, you would gladly enjoy her company. Well, when no one mentioned sore or too serious subjects, that is.

"Edward," Carlisle called, before I could climb down the stairs.

"Yes?" I turned around. He walked towards me confidently, in contrast with what I had seen earlier.

"Can I have a word with you in my office?"

Something in the back of my mind tells me you won't be the only one wanting to "have a word" with me.

"Sure."

It figures Carlisle wanted to talk to me about my and the baby's health. After examining me the only way a vampire doctor could, he proceeded to explain to me a few things about my pregnancy. If I were a woman (a normal one at that), I would be seven weeks pregnant. He said that my child had developed very rapidly that first night and by the time he arrived home in the next morning, it equaled to two weeks in a normal pregnancy. When he finished telling me how much the baby had changed in form, I was close to tears. My little angel already had a heartbeat. He gave me some information about the symptoms I was most likely to experience and explained how I could reduce the morning sickness. He told me to be careful with my food nourishment (seems like I have to stop eating chips) and that I was forbidden to have some substances. No alcohol, no coffee, no tobacco, no drugs.By the end of it, I felt like saying No shit.

The conversation flowed easily and it was nowhere near awkward, but when he finished speaking, we were both completely silent.

"Thank you," I murmured, remembering all of a sudden of good manners. He closed his hands into fists, as if preventing them from moving. I stood up and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face above his collarbone. Slowly, his own arms encircled my waist, keeping me close to him, his forehead pressed against my chest.

"I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself," he whispered in a broken voice. Hearing my father talk like that made my heart stir in pain, even though a few hours ago it would have brought me pleasure.

"Well, you should." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "'Cause I've already forgiven you."

«-»

I didn't like feeling people's eyes on me, specially a group of vampires. It's understandable that someone likes to watch you sleep or simply think, because we, humans, have strange and humorous reactions in those moments, but when you're eating…Like… seriously, it's not even funny. I wondered what was so interesting about my actions: was it the way my jaw moved? How I swallowed? It didn't make much sense, really. For all I knew, my brothers and sisters thought of human food as repulsive, so why would they want to focus on me while I had dinner?

Dinner was rice with mushrooms and fish. Well, for me, at least. Jacob was devouring ribs and I bet he wasn't even aware of the four pairs of eyes watching him. What I was chewing wasn't exactly delicious, but it wasn't bad either. I supposed this kind of food should be part of my routine. Esme's cooking skills were awesome, but such tasty food couldn't have less than a scandalous number of calories.

"Ugh, how can you eat that?" Jasper made a face.

"The same way you drink blood," I shrugged, giving him a "duh" look.

We were now in the living room, each couple snuggled up, watching some cheesy movie I couldn't remember the name. It was supposed to be a romantic comedy, but, as every movie of the type I had seen before, it bored me to no end. Not like my opinion on the matter was in any way valuable. The Cullen women had been the ones to decide what we would watch. Emmett pretended he was snoring and Jasper sighed dramatically. I couldn't describe the others' posture, because the lights were out, just like in the theatre. Alice and Esme were the only ones who chuckled occasionally. My legs were on Jacob's lap, my head on his shoulder and his arms around me. In the dark, it seemed as if we had more privacy, even though the people in the room could still see and hear us. Nevertheless, I took the moment to talk to my boyfriend. Eh, boyfriend. I liked the sound of it.

"Jacob," I murmured right next to his ear. "I'm going to stay here." I decided this was probably the best moment to tell him I would leave his house. I felt him freeze and only after a few seconds, he replied in the same tone:

"Why?"

"I can't stay away from my family anymore. We can still see each other. Every day, if we want to. Well, of course I want to."

"It won't be the same…"

"Jake, I wanna do things right. I wanna do them as humanly as possible. Let's behave like the teenagers we are, okay?" I chuckled a little. "Face it: teen couples don't live together."

"So this is goodbye?"

"Don't be silly. Of course it's not goodbye. I'll see you tomorrow." I hope.

"Alright. I'll come back next morning and I'll bring your stuff."

"No, I…I'll go to your house instead."

I felt his lips brush against my jaw, then my cheek, then my own lips. They moved in sync but our tongues didn't touch. It was simple, sweet, gentle. Perfect.

Jacob refused to leave until he made sure I was in my bed, warm and comfortable and close to succumb to exhaustion. He kissed my forehead and told me goodnight. Then, I was alone. Within a matter of minutes, my lids finally dropped and I welcomed the much needed sleep.