I awake with a soft moan. My joints ache and my muscles are sore, as if they've been locked in the same position for a long time. I must've been out for a while. I look around and find Jane still listening to music and Alec on the last few pages of his novel. They hadn't even noticed, just thought I was asleep. Some friends.

A hysteric, hiccup-like laugh escapes my lips. Some friends, indeed. They had kidnapped me. They have lied to me my entire life. They've called me by a false name and raised me like a lab rat. How could I have been so naïve? How could I have gobbled up Aro's pathetic stories and excuses without ever second-guessing him? I'm just as bad as the rest of them. I might as well have called him 'master' all these years.

And how could I have fallen for Jane and Alec's friendship ruse? Was Alec professing his love to me all part of the act? Aro probably forced him to so that I would want to stay with the Volturi after Jane and Alec most likely called him and tattled on me for going out and mingling with humans. Well, humans as far as they know. And as far as I knew at the time. I mean really, how's a girl to guess that the sweet guy she met a corner café is actually a wolf who knew her from a childhood life that she has forgotten?

Now that I think about, my relationship with Jake is really odd. I mean, he knew me when I was a child, a toddler even, probably a baby too. And I get that he must not age, but after knowing me and caring for me like an older brother when I was so young, doesn't he feel sort of strange smooching me now that I'm grown? Seems pretty awkward if you ask me.

And how the hell is it possible for me to be contemplating all of this so calmly? It's like my brain flipped a switch when I was out from frantic and frazzled to numb and thoughtful.

"Where are we?" I ask in a groggy voice.

"We should be landing in Philly any minute now." Alec responds without taking his eyes off his book. They're both totally oblivious to the revelations I've made about them. Neither of them realize that I despise them with a passion now.

I ask in my most innocent voice, "Is it behind an airport like usual?" I need the confirmation to calm some of my worries. The landings for the Volturi's planes are always hidden away behind actual airports.

"Yeah," Jane replies this time, "Alec and I are probably going to feed, just in case. Are you?"

Perfect. "I think I'm going to go to the airport and go to the bathroom, I hate using the plane bathrooms. I might also pick up something for Corin in the giftshop, you know she loves quirky snowglobes. And then I'll grab something to eat for later, feed on a human, and meet you back here. It'll take half an hour or more." I realize I'm rambling a bit and hope they don't catch on to my nervousness.

"Want me to come?" Jane asks although she looks uninterested entirely.

"No, that's okay, I'm just going to rush through." I lie easily, not feeling bad in the slightest. They've lied to me my entire life. They're not really my friends.

When the plane lands, Alec and Jane both meander off. I linger for a moment, stretching and yawning and doing other human-like things. Once they're gone, I hurry to where Alec is sitting. Just as I'd hoped, he's left his wallet. I quickly swipe all the cash in it, and do the same with Jane's purse.

Just so they don't think I've been kidnapped or something (oh, the irony) I use a Sharpie and the back of a receipt I find in Jane's purse. I scribble a short note and leave it on my seat so that they don't find it as soon as they come back and cause me to lose some of my precious time.

I know.

-Renesmee

I scurry off the plane and into the crowded airport. I look up Jacob's contact, commit his number to memory just in case, and then discard my phone into the trashcan. I'm not about to have Alec and Jane GPS track me or use some chip Aro installed in my phone without me knowing.

I exit the airport and hail the first taxi that I find on the streets, wanting to throw off my scent. I have the taxi take me to the city limits, pay them, and head off on foot. And I don't stop.

WELCOME TO LA PUSH – NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATION

That sign breathes life into my jelly legs and throbbing muscles and growling stomach. I have hardly stopped to rest and eat since I ditched Jane and Alec. I don't have time. Jane and Alec are probably on their way back Italy by now, unless they spent longer than I figure searching for me. Once they get to Volterra and tell Aro, they'll rally and come up with a game plan and Aro will sic Demetri on me and then all hell is going to break loose. That gives me a few days to a few weeks to reconcile with Jake, meet my old family once again, and figure out how to keep the Volturi from either killing me or kidnapping me again. I'm not sure which would be worse.

I stumble up Jacob's porch. I can hear him inside pacing nervously. His fast and furious footsteps come to an abrupt stop as I near. As I raise one weak arm to knock, the door is suddenly flung up, saving me the effort.

Jacob stands in the doorway wearing only a pair of ratty cargo shorts, showing off his impeccable muscles. His hair is more messy than usual and his eyes look tired even as they sparkle with joy upon seeing me. His lips curve into a hopeful smile.

"Juliet?" he says confusedly.

I shake my head slowly. "Renesmee."

I've never seen Jacob Black look as elated as he did in that moment. I almost thought he was about to sprout wings and fly. A huge grin nearly cracks his face in two and he grabs me in his arms, pulling me inside his house and spinning me in a circle.

"I knew you could do it!" he crows as he sets me down and hugs me. My arms encircle him, for the first time fully appreciating who he is – my Jakey.

"I'm so sorry," I tell him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you and I shouldn't have just left without actually saying goodbye. I shouldn't have left at all, actually. I really wish I would've remembered everything sooner."

"The important thing is that you did," he murmurs into my hair, still hugging me. "And Nes.. I'm so, so, so sorry about that day.. I shouldn't have let Seth.. I mean.. I just didn't think that there would actually be a fight.. I should've protected you." His shoulders hunch and suddenly I'm supporting a lot more of his weight, which is a much more difficult feat when you're half starved and exhausted.

I pull back and look into his devastated eyes. "None of that," I command, tapping his nose almost like a naughty dog. "It's in the past. I don't hold you responsible for what happened. It's no one's fault except theirs." I can't even bear to utter the name now. They repulse me.

Jacob stares at me with a small smile playing on his lips. "You really remind me of your mother sometimes."

My body goes tense. "M-my mother?"

"Yeah. She lives somewhere in Canada now with your father. They're really great people, those two. Except she's hardly ever left the house since that day.. We've all thought you were dead since. We figured they had killed you."

A shudder runs down my spine. "When can I see them?"

Jacob thinks about this for a minute. "Well first I have to call Bella and explain the situation. She probably won't believe me. So then I'll have to call Edward. I would just skip that and call Edward first, but Bella would be furious at me if I did even though she won't believe me. It makes no sense, but that's just Bells." The way Jacob smiles when talking about my mother is enough to almost make me…jealous. Which is absurd, I mean she's married and she's my mom. But still, it's obvious how fond of her he is. "And then I imagine they'll be down here within hours of convincing them."

I take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. "Okay. Well.. Let's wait to call them until tomorrow. I haven't eaten or slept in a while and I could really use a hot shower.." I hint not-so-subtly.

"Oh yeah, of course," Jacob gestures to where he knows that I know the shower is.

I begin to head that way as Jake goes to the kitchen to cook me something, taking my bag with me that I had brought on the plane with a single change of clothes so that I could've changed before arriving in Volterra.

I take a hot shower and get out and dry off. My body is so sore that shoving my legs into skinny jeans just does not sound pleasant. I wrap the fuzzy white towel around my body, my wet ringlets splaying across my ivory shoulders, and walk to where I can hear Jake cooking in the kitchen. It smells like Italian – maybe lasagna – which he knows is my favorite.

"Jake?" I say a little shyly, noticing suddenly that the towel is pretty short. When Jacob looks up at me, his eyes roam my bare legs and arms and shoulders hungrily, causing a blush to rise to my cheeks. He looks intoxicatingly attractive without his shirt on. I realize for the first time that I'm all alone with Jacob in his house, both of us more naked than not, and a sexual passion crackling between us that could burn the place down.

No, no. Too soon to be thinking about those things.

But that body..

Good god, get a grip, Renesmee.

"Uh.." Jake looks dumbfounded as his eyes absorb my every feature. He suddenly pulls his eyes away and scratches the back of the neck which he always does when he's feeling nervous. "Yeah?" He goes back to chopping an onion, making an obvious effort to not allow his eyes to so much as glance at me.

"I was just wondering if I could borrow a shirt or something.." I rub my arm in the same manner that he scratches his neck. I've never been nervous like this around a guy. Not awkward nervous – no, more like butterflies and excitement nervous.

"O-of course," Jake mutters. He stares straight ahead as he walks past me and I'm suddenly very aware of the effect I have on him. I grab his arm with one small hand and he stops abruptly. "What's wrong?" he asks, looking down at my hand and then into my eyes.

A blush rises to my cheek as I realize all the inappropriate thoughts running through my head as my fingers clench around his solid forearm. "Um, nothing," I mumble awkwardly, allowing my hand to drop. He stares at me longingly for a moment longer before rushing into his room and returning hardly a second later with a large black hoodie.

I return to the bathroom and put it on, and by the time I'm back in the kitchen my stomach sounds like it contains an angry alien trying to claw its way out. Jacob chuckles at the obnoxious noises as I suck in my gut in my best attempt to silence it.

I all but inhale the lasagna. It's the best I've ever tasted, and that's not just because I'm famished. I didn't realize Jacob is a terrific cook.

So let's think about this. He's sweet enough to stick by me though I've acted like a brat towards him, loving enough to think of ways to get me to remember a past life without taking the easy way out and telling me and most likely causing me to have a panic attack, clever enough to mend a seemingly irrepairable and scattered family, is a supernatural being just like me that can also live forever, has unearthly good looks and a killer body, and he can cook?

I just might want to spend the rest of my life with this boy.