A/N: I love my readers so much. I was a little bit nervous about that last chapter, but all I got was an amazing response. I am surprised at how invested my readers are in these characters. It makes me happy to know that you are all as attached to them as I am :)

Many of you are getting impatient for Jacob to kiss the girl. I totally get that. I wanted them to kiss, too. They had other plans. Don't expect it in this chapter. The story is far from over, though, so don't give up yet.

Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Give Me a Sign

Chapter Eleven

Can't Make it On Your Own

You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight
Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go in alone
- Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own – U2

Jacob

I got up on Saturday, excited and nervous for the day. I left to get Nessie at the usual time and tried to convince myself that I was just nervous about what Leah was going to do.

I'd talked to Leah about Nessie, and could hardly believe how good it felt to confess my feelings to another breathing person. Of course, Leah had already seen through me. She was just waiting for me to grow a backbone and admit it. After I did talk to her, though, she surprised me by actually understanding why I didn't want to just ask Nessie out before she was ready and destroy the whole thing. She offered her help in finding out if Nessie was ready for that by telling me to bring her over on Saturday and we'd have lunch or whatever and just talk. I had a feeling Leah had something up her sleeve, and I made her promise she'd take it easy on the girl. Nessie hadn't done anything wrong.

I was used to having to knock a few times before Nessie answered, so I knocked once and waited a few minutes before I knocked again. I was also used to seeing her so beautiful when she finally did answer. Over the weeks, she had grown more and more attractive. I wasn't sure it wasn't just me, but it seemed she lost some of the darkness under her eyes, her hair seemed to shine more, and she just overall looked more gorgeous.

This day was no exception. When she answered, her hair had been done a little differently and it hung down her back in perfect waves. I greeted her and waited for her to say something back. Smile, or meet my eyes with her sad ones, or even just step back to let me in. I was prepared for a variety of reactions. Except the one she gave me.

She just stood there, staring down for a few seconds. When she finally did look up at me, she had tear tracks down her cheeks. And the look in her eyes… If I thought I'd seen her in pain before, then I knew absolutely nothing about pain. The desolation I saw in her eyes scared the hell out of me.

She brought a hand up to wipe her face clumsily. It was a hurried, jarring action. Like she wasn't sure exactly how to carry out the movement, so she was just working on guesses.

"Are you okay?" Please don't tell me you're fine, I pleaded in my head.

She looked like she was going to try to say something. Her mouth opened, but all I heard was a soft whimper. Something was terribly wrong. I put my hand on her shoulder like I'd done so many times, but this time I wasn't sure it was just for comfort. She looked like she could literally fall apart at any second.

"Nessie?"

She met my eyes again and the utter desperation there broke me. Something inside me urged me forward, pushing her back gently so I could close the door. I didn't know what to do, so I just pulled her close to me and said the first words that came to my mind.

"It's okay, Nessie."

She sobbed once, and it hurt me. She grabbed my shirt and pushed her face into me so hard I was afraid she'd hurt herself. I only held her tighter. Her entire body shook with her sobs and her gasps made my eyes water. It hurt so fucking badly to see her like this. I wanted to know what hurt her so I could have some target I could protect her from.

Her knees had given out on her, and she started to slip. It wasn't easy holding her upright even as light as she was. I picked her up and took her to the couch where I could hold her closer. She grabbed me tighter and sobbed harder as I tried to stay calm. As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew there was a good chance that this had nothing to do with people at work or even people at all. It could be a part of her pain that she suffered every single day of her life. I didn't know what the hell I would do if that was the case. I wanted to kill something for making her cry like this.

She cried for thirty minutes before the tears finally began to subside. It was a gradual process, starting with her sobs. They were less frequent, less demanding. They didn't shake her body so hard. Then she could breathe a little easier. I didn't say anything; I just held her until she pulled back a little.

She looked at my shirt for a second before looking up to meet my eyes. Hers were red, puffy, and bloodshot, but so bright and clear. She was breathtaking.

"Jake…" Her voice was little more than a raspy whisper, and I offered a small smile.

"Feel better?" Just the look in her eyes said she did. She nodded.

Her fingers picked at my shirt and I almost groaned at the sticky, wet fabric clinging to my skin.

"I'm sorry," she said, picking at the shirt again.

It might have felt gross against my skin, but I wasn't going to let her feel bad for it. "Don't worry about that; it's washable."

She nodded and lay back against me, her head resting on my shoulder away from the wet spot. I just held her and ignored the sick and twisted side of my brain that loved the weight of her body in my lap. She needed comfort, not for me to start groping her. As much as my fingers wanted to stray down her side to her hip, I kept them in line by rubbing her back and petting her hair. I loved her hair anyway, so it was a little easier to tame myself there.

I pushed all those thoughts away and kissed her head. "What happened?" I asked. I thought of several people from the call center that I would gladly kill for her.

She took a breath, and her fingers splayed themselves out over a dry spot on my shirt before she started talking. Her voice was weak and broke in odd places, but I listened carefully. As she told me what had happened to her father, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be relieved that nobody had hurt her or pissed off that I didn't have a target.

Everything about her made more sense now. Every time she started to close herself off, she was fighting those tears. I had been right; it was grief that caused her pain. Grief so hard and deep and unforgiving that it literally consumed her. And, although she never said it directly, I had a feeling that she blamed herself.

I closed my eyes and held her tighter. I wished to God there was a way I could take all of her pain for her. She told me about seeing her dad's body in the morgue and how she refused to believe it for a week afterward. I could only imagine what it would be like to wake up one day and that person you love is gone. I had time to prepare myself for my dad's death. What would I have done if he'd never been sick and it was quick and unexpected?

I listened as she explained how she'd handled all the paperwork. She'd gone on autopilot, she said. Just signing when someone said sign, and never answering any question with more than a quick nod or shake of her head. Even when I had been expecting my dad's death, it wasn't much different dealing with all the legal shit afterward. It was all done in a haze. You know what's happened, but it isn't reality. You're dreaming, so you do what they tell you to do with the thought that you're going to wake up anyway.

She told me how she couldn't make herself leave the house to go to his funeral. I rubbed her back and hoped that somehow I brought something like comfort.

She changed her course after she told me about missing his funeral. She told me about the man that had come by that day, just a few minutes before I got there, and asked for Edward Masen. She flinched when she said his name, and I kissed her hair again. She told me how she was in a kind of shock until I showed up.

She fell silent then, sniffling occasionally, as her fingers played with the neckline of my shirt and her head rested lightly on my shoulder. I continued to hold her, unwilling to break this now that I finally had it.

It wasn't until my phone rang with a text message that I realized just how long we'd been on the couch. It had been over an hour since she stopped crying. I ignored the text and kissed her head again.

"Nessie?" She sniffled and hummed but didn't raise her head. "Will you promise me something?"

Her fingers picked harder at the neckline and she nodded. "What is it?"

"Will you promise me that you will come to me if you need anything? I promise I will always be here for you."

I ran my fingers through her hair and she finally looked up. Her eyes were still clear, but they were so tired. She stared at me for a long moment before she finally nodded.

"I promise."

I smiled down at her. "Thank you."

She attempted a smile, but it was weak. She laid her head back down and we were quiet again for a while. I tried to think of something I could do to help her. I had to trust that she really would come to me like she said she would, but I wanted more than that. I wanted to take her pain away for good. Her fingers had stopped fidgeting, and she was so still against me that I wondered if she'd fallen asleep. Just as I was about to check, I heard her voice.

"Thank you, Jake."

I squeezed her gently. "Anytime, Nessie. I mean that."

"Leah's probably wondering what black hole we fell into on our way."

I chuckled. "Probably. But she'll forgive us; don't worry."

She nodded stiffly and finally sat up. "Do you still want to go over there?"

I was a little surprised that she was willing to do that for me. "Only if you do. Please don't feel like you have to do anything; I don't mind hanging out here with you for a bit." Leah could go to hell if she wanted to be upset about it. I knew she wouldn't be, though.

Nessie took a deep breath and looked down for a minute. "I think… I would like to go. I want to get out of the house."

I nodded; of course she'd want to get away from here. "Yeah, sure, that's fine. Do you want to clean up first?"

She brought a shaky hand up and wiped her face futilely before she nodded. "Yeah, probably."

She climbed off of my lap and I held onto her hips as she steadied herself. I had to force my eyes away from her ass. I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or not when she was able to steady herself quickly and turned to smile at me. I stood up beside her and touched her shoulder before she walked away to clean herself up.

I sighed and picked at my shirt; the cold, wet, and sticky sensation was really starting to gross me out. Even if it was Nessie that caused it, I still didn't like it. I sighed and tried to ignore it as I got my phone out of my pocket and checked the message that had come in. It was Leah, asking me where we were. Instead of texting back, I just called her.

"Where the hell are you?" she asked in her I'm-more-worried-than-mad voice.

"Calm down, Leah. I'm at Nessie's. She needed someone to talk to, so I stayed here for a bit."

"Oh. Is she okay?" She sounded concerned.

"Yeah, she's okay. You still want us to come over?" I looked up to see Nessie coming into the room in a new shirt. It was dark blue and went well with her light skin tone. Her face had been cleaned and redone, and her hair had somehow managed to keep the waves that fell down her back. She was still beautiful. She came close to me, and I reached out to touch a wave of her hair.

"Yeah, sure. I have nothing better to do anyway. We could watch that movie you wanted to see the other day."

I smirked to myself. Leah had gotten a new movie I wanted to see but I'd been busy. It was supposed to be scary, and I wondered if Nessie would cling to me like she did in the movie theater the first time I took her.

"I'll talk to her about it."

"Okay, you do that. See you in a few."

I ended the call and turned to Nessie. "You look nice."

She looked a little surprised, and she blushed hard. I almost laughed, but somehow I wasn't sure that would help her any.

"Um, thank you. I guess."

"I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to embarrass you. I really do think you look nice. I like your hair like this."

She smiled a small, shy smile. "Thanks." Her eyes strayed down and her brow furrowed. "I really am sorry about your shirt."

I shrugged and tried not to wince when the fabric started to peel away from my skin. "It's really not a big deal."

"It can't be comfortable," she countered.

I sighed. "Would it bother you if I took it off?"

Her eyes widened, and I felt like shooting myself in the foot. What the hell was I thinking? But she surprised me.

"Um, no. No, it wouldn't bother me. You can take it off if you want." She stared at the wet spot for a second before she looked down.

For a brief moment, I wondered if she was just saying that to make me more comfortable. But then I sighed; I had to trust her. If she said it was okay, then it was okay. I took the neckline and stripped the shirt off. The way it peeled off of my skin reminded me all the times I'd peeled snails off of the side of my house as a kid. It felt like I should see sticky strands of slime connecting me and the shirt. Of course, there weren't any. My Nessie wasn't slimy.

My Nessie.

I cleared my throat to push that thought away and wiped my chest down with the shirt. I noticed her looking at me, and when I met her eyes, she blushed and looked away.

I took her hand and we left.

Leah wasn't surprised to see me without a shirt. She saw me shirtless almost every time we worked on the site together. She smacked my chest as we walked in the house.

"It's just not possible for you to go one whole day without removing your shirt, is it?"

I chuckled. "You know you like it."

Leah rolled her eyes, and I noticed Nessie blushing again. I smiled to myself.

We went downstairs where Leah had her entertainment center set up, and she held up the movie she'd mentioned earlier.

"Oh, yeah…" I took the movie and held it out to Nessie. "You wanna watch this?"

She took the DVD and flipped it over to look at the back. She looked back up at me uncertainly. "This doesn't look like the effects will be as stupid as the one we watched," she said softly. But I got it; she was afraid she'd get too scared. I just shrugged.

"Remember you can cling to me all you want. Even if I don't have a shirt." I smiled, and she handed the case back.

"Okay."

It wasn't hard to tell that Nessie liked my chest. Every few minutes, I'd find her staring at me. When she'd meet my eyes, she'd blush. I had an overwhelming urge to strut for her every single time I found her eyes on me.

Leah set up the movie while I grabbed some blankets for Nessie and me. I ran upstairs to grab something to eat while we watched the movie. Leah didn't have much, but I scrounged what I could and took it back down. Leah was sitting in her recliner with three remotes around her and Nessie was sitting Indian-style on the couch next to the blankets. I handed a bowl of popcorn to Leah and gave everything else to Nessie so I could get us situated on the couch. Once I spread the blanket out, Nessie planted herself so close to me she was almost on my lap. I smirked to myself and put my arm around her shoulders to pull the blanket up.

Once we were ready, I nodded once at Leah and she started the movie.

I usually preferred movies that let the suspense build until at least the middle. In this one, the blood and guts started spilling within the first few minutes. It was alright, but not my favorite. I changed my mind the instant Nessie turned her head and hid her face in my chest. I definitely liked the movie.

Nessie jumped twice as many times during this movie and once she even reached up as if she was going to grab my shirt. There was no shirt for her to grab, and her nails scraped harshly across my skin. It stung a little, and I was surprised at the bolt of lust that shot through me. Nessie immediately apologized and grabbed the blanket, but I assured her it was fine. I wanted to tell her I wouldn't mind if she did it again. And again. All over me.

I glanced over at Leah to find her smirking in my direction. It was enough to remind myself to cool it. I took a deep breath and rubbed Nessie's back.

When the movie was over, we talked about it for a while. Leah and Nessie had differing opinions on one of the main female characters, and it was interesting to watch them banter back and forth, debating their views.

"I think she should have died," Leah said. "The little whore should have been the first to go."

Nessie wrinkled her nose. It was adorable. "I liked her, though. I'm glad she survived."

"How, though? How did she survive? It's not like she was smarter than the others. She was brunette and dumber than the blonde chick. And she slept with almost everyone in the dorm, including the women."

Nessie glanced up at me and licked her lips. "Help me out here, Jake."

I chuckled. "She survived 'cause she had nice tits."

Both Nessie and Leah glared at me.

"What? The only reason she lived is because the hackers couldn't bear to destroy such perfect boobs." I stated it as a fact, because, honestly, if I was the maniacal killer in the movie, I wouldn't have been able to hack those things up.

"What about the blonde girl?" Leah questioned. "Hers were bigger."

I took a drink before I answered. "Yeah, but hers were fake. Nobody cares about fake."

Nessie blushed and Leah laughed. "How can you tell they were fake?"

"I'm a guy; we know these things." I shrugged like it was built into my DNA or something. Truthfully, the blonde's boobs were just too perfect to be real. And I was a little scared of tits that took up a whole half of the girl's body mass.

"I don't buy it," Leah said, standing up. "Nessie, come here a sec."

Nessie got up a little nervously to stand by Leah. Leah made her stand straighter. When I realized what she was about to do, I almost got up and yelled at her. But then the twisted side of me said that this was a perfect opportunity to ogle Nessie in a way I couldn't do in any normal situation.

I felt like a complete pervert as I kept my mouth shut and let Leah do what she wanted.

"So, Jake," Leah said, turning Nessie and herself to face me. "Let's say one of us had fake boobs. How would you tell?" Nessie blushed so hard I almost felt bad for her.

I sighed. "You know neither of you do." I told myself I'd let this go on for a few more minutes and then I'd cut it. Nessie looked a little uncomfortable.

"Well duh. But how would you tell?" Leah stood up straighter and put her arm around Nessie. Nessie was still looking down, her face permanently red.

I stood up, pretending to think about my answer as I just stared at Nessie's tits. I'd never really given myself an option to look at her before, and so I'd never really noticed how flawless hers really were. In all actuality, she could put the brunette from the movie to shame.

I cleared my throat, suddenly uncomfortable. I couldn't tell Leah to leave the room, and I couldn't stare at Nessie properly with company.

"I'd just know, Leah. You done?"

Leah's smile fell, and I saw in her eyes she knew I was done. She smiled again. "Yep, all done." She released Nessie who came up to me shyly, staring intently at the floor.

Leah took the bowls from our popcorn upstairs. I put my hand under Nessie's chin to get her to look at me.

"You okay?" I asked. Her face was calming down; it wasn't quite as red now.

"Yeah, I just… Um…"

"No, it's okay. You don't need to explain. I'm sorry for that, though; Leah will be Leah." Like it was all Leah's fault.

She smiled a little, and I knew she was okay. "Leah will be Leah," she agreed.

We left not long after that, and I took Nessie home. I followed her up to her house and she stepped back to let me in. It felt nice knowing she wasn't upset with me about the whole boob issue. I really did feel bad for looking at her like that; like she was nothing more than a pair of tits. A pair of really fine, perfectly round tits.

I shook the thoughts out of my head as she closed the door behind us.

"Thank you for taking me with you, Jake." She took a step closer to me, and I held out my arm. She smiled and pushed herself into me. It felt nice.

"You're welcome, Nessie. Thank you for coming with me." I kissed the top of her head. God, I wished I could kiss her lips. She looked up at me, and I decided I'd do it. I touched her hair and started to lean down when she stepped back and looked down.

"I had fun. Although… I think, maybe…"

As much as I wanted to kiss her, I wasn't going to push her. I settled for running my thumb over her jaw. "You think maybe what?"

"I think maybe you should wear a shirt if I ever watch another scary movie with you. I left marks." She reached up and gently touched me where she'd accidentally scratched me earlier.

I looked down and, sure enough, there were three dark red marks there where her fingers were. I just shrugged. "It honestly doesn't hurt. I wouldn't have known they were there if you hadn't said something. But, if you would feel better, I'll make sure I stay dressed next time." I grinned at her and she blushed lightly, giving me a shy smile.

"Thank you."

I squeezed her gently. "Call me if you need anything, Nessie," I said softly. "I mean that; anything at all."

She met my eyes for a minute before nodding. "Okay."

I left shortly after and went home. I stared in the mirror for a long time, just inspecting the marks Nessie had left. I wouldn't tell her yet, but she'd left marks on me that ran much deeper than the tiny welts from her fingernails.

I berated myself again for how I'd acted earlier. How could I have been so insensitive? I'd made her so uncomfortable. Was that really how I was going to show her that I could give her what she needed? I sighed and finally turned away from the mirror. I got ready for bed and set my pill bottle on the table to remind myself I needed a refill before long.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think :)