Chapter Fourteen

Jacob, Quil and Embry walked along the gorgeous shorelines of La Push, admiring the winter sky that sat contentedly above the ocean. Waves crashed noisily on the shore, and Embry was nearly tempted to dive in again, but his companions persuaded him against it.

"Hey, have either of you heard from Leah today?" Jacob asked, as he and his friends stopped at the old water-bleached log to rest.

"Are you kidding? No one's heard from her in like a month," Embry replied. Jacob frowned.

"What do you mean? I just talked to her yesterday," he said.

"Yeah, she'll talk to you. You think she speaks to the rest of us anymore? She won't even talk to Seth," Quil said.

Jacob stopped. It had not occurred to him that Leah was no longer communicating with the entire pack. And this thought bothered him.

"Why would she still talk to me?" he asked.

"Because she's in love with you," Embry said.

Jacob burst out laughing, assuming instantly that Embry's ridiculous remark could be nothing more than a hysterical joke. However, his laughter died down as he realized that his friends were not joining in.

"Wait... you can't be serious," he said, staring at Embry and Quil in confusion.

"I wish I weren't," Embry insisted. "She's been totally hooked ever since your little adventure six years ago, when you separated from the pack. Something happened then, man. She fell for you, and she fell hard."

"Leah loves Sam," Jacob said, as if stating that fact could erase all these horrible new truths.

"She gave up on Sam years ago - and she moved on to you," Quil said. "That's why she's been so miserable, and that's why she hates Nessie so much. I can't believe you never picked up on it before."

Jacob was beginning to feel truly stupid as all the blatant signs were pointed out to him. The thought made him feel sick.

"Oh man," he moaned. "All this time I thought Leah was just angry that she couldn't leave La Push..."

"She's angry because you wouldn't leave La Push with her," Embry said.

"See what you miss when you ditch the pack?" Quil teased half-heartedly, aware that this knowledge was tearing his best friend apart.

"Hey guys!"

Jacob was torn from his shock and self-pity as Nessie and Claire came walking up the beach, hand in hand.

"Claire-bear!" Quil cried, and Claire instantly let go of Nessie's hand, rushing into his arms. Quil grabbed her, scooping her up and hugging her tightly. Nessie stopped before Jacob, pouting.

"Why don't I get that kind of greeting?" she teased. Jacob grinned, and Nessie's eyes suddenly widened.

"No! Jake, no!"

But Jacob had already grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder. The others laughed as Nessie frantically struggled to break free. Jacob laughed loudly as he dumped her onto the sand, landing skillfully on top of her, pinning her down.

"How's that for a greeting?" he asked.

"Not bad," Nessie replied, gazing up at him as he hovered over her small body.

"Get a room, you two!" Embry snapped, kicking Jacob playfully. Jacob immediately leapt to his feet, pulling Nessie up with him, fully aware of all the thoughts that were running through his friend's mind.

"Nessie, come find sea glass with me!" Claire urged, leaping from Quil's arms and grabbing hold of Nessie's hand again, pulling her towards the ocean.

"Be careful, Claire!" Quil called after her. "Don't get wet or your mom will kill me!"

"Don't worry, Quil," Nessie shouted back, as Claire yanked her further away from the boys.

"Nessie is so great with Claire," Quil remarked.

Jacob watched as Nessie smiled and laughed at Claire, who was excitedly showing her bits of rock and old glass. Nessie knelt down to Claire's level, pulling her hair out of her face and brushing some ocean spray off of her cheeks.

"Yeah, she loves kids," he said absently, as he watched all of Nessie's maternal instincts take over at once. He felt his heart swelling in a different way than it ever had before.

"Jake?"

He turned back to Quil and Embry, who were staring at him curiously.

"Huh?" Jacob asked.

"You okay?" Embry asked.

"Yeah, I was just... thinking," Jacob replied, shaking all the new ideas from his mind.

"About Leah?" Quil presumed, grimacing. "Seriously, don't let it get to you. You probably won't ever have to see her again."

"And that definitely makes the situation better," Jacob snapped sarcastically.

"She'll get over it. There's nothing else she can do," Quil pointed out.

"For the second time," Jacob remarked sadly. "Man, it really sucks to be her."

"Maybe she should stop hanging out with wolves," Embry muttered.

"She doesn't have a choice. She's our sister," Jacob insisted.

"She had no trouble leaving when you did," Embry pointed out.

Jacob fell silent. It was true. Leah had gladly left the pack when he had. She had no attachment to any of the boys.

Except him.

"You know Sue is marrying Charlie Swan?" Quil said suddenly.

"Yeah, I was at Charlie's the other night when he announced it," Jacob replied.

"I always knew they were gonna end up together," Embry said. "Leah must be thrilled to know who her new step-family is..."

"That's what made her attack Nessie," Jacob replied.

"Man, talk about self-centered," Quil snorted. "Her mother announces her engagement and Leah has to run off and cause drama with one of the Cullens to get attention."

"This is the girl who won't even speak to her younger brother. She barely has any sense of family left at all anymore," Embry stated sadly.

These words flooded Jacob's thoughts as he sat on the white-washed log, staring out at the ocean miserably.

"Claire, no!"

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of screams. He looked up instantly, to see that Claire had run into the water, and was being knocked about by the waves.

"Claire!" Quil shouted, dashing down the beach frantically.

But Nessie had already dove in, snatching Claire into her arms and pulling her from the waves. Quil was instantly at her side, as Nessie passed her gently over to him. He embraced Claire tightly, kissing her head and wrapping his warm arms around her small, wet body.

"Claire-bear, it's okay," he hushed.

"I just... s-saw a f-fish!" Claire sniffled miserably. "I... f-fell down on the r-rocks."

Sure enough there was a huge gash across her knee, blood flowing from it freely. Quil winced.

"Come on. Let's get you home and clean you up," he said. Before leaving, he turned to Nessie. "Nessie, thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"No problem. I hope she's okay," Nessie said.

"Quil, you need us to do anything?" Embry offered.

"No, it's fine. I'll take her back to Sam and Emily's," Quil said. "Meet you guys later."

Nessie came trudging up the beach, her entire body soaked in salt-water. She looked utterly heart-broken as she watched Quil carry the little girl back up the sand.

"I hope she's okay. She really hit those rocks hard," she said.

"She'll be fine. Quil won't let so much as a grain of sand get into that cut," Jacob assured her. Nessie grinned over at Jacob, who wrapped his arm around her... and pulled away. "But we should probably worry about getting you into some dry clothes."

"You know, keeping that wet shirt on could cause hypothermia," Embry stated. "You should probably take it off as soon as possible..."

"Shut up," Jacob snapped, shoving Embry forcefully, scowling as he wrapped a protective arm around Nessie.

"All right, all right," Embry laughed. "I'll meet you guys later. Have a fun afternoon. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Embry continued laughing as he too walked up the beach. Jacob scowled after him, considering tackling him to the sand...

"Come on, Jake," Nessie said, pulling Jacob up the beach towards his house.

Jacob quickly forgot about Embry, wrapping his arm tightly around Nessie as they walked back towards his home.

"How was your afternoon?" he asked casually.

"It was restful," Nessie replied. "Spending time with Claire is so relaxing. I never feel pressured to entertain her. Just being with her is one of the greatest feelings in the world."

"Wow," Jacob said, staring at Nessie. "I've never heard anyone other than Quil talk that way about a seven-year-old."

"It's the truth," Nessie said. "It put a lot of things in perspective for me."

"So... are you heading back home?" Jacob asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Well, I need to get back sooner or later. Whether I have a decision or not," Nessie sighed.

"Decision?" Jacob repeated. "What are you deciding?"

Nessie merely stared back at him for a moment, eyes-wide, as if she had accidentally spilled a secret.

"There are a lot of things to decide," she replied, after a moment. "So many..."

It took all of Jacob's self-restraint not to ask Nessie what she was going to tell Edward. And even more to refrain from asking to join her.

"Do you want me to take you back?" he offered, struggling with all the other requests at the tip of his tongue.

"No. I want to do this myself," Nessie said firmly. "I need to do this myself."

Jacob merely nodded, afraid that if he opened his mouth again he would not be able to control himself. He had just spent almost twenty-four hours with the love of his life - and still the thought of being separated from her terrified him.

They had stopped in the backyard of Jacob's home, just feet from the dark woods that were growing darker as the sun set. Nessie looked up at Jacob... before wrapping her arms around him tightly. Jacob clung to her cold, wet body, resting his chin on her head.

"Thank you, Jacob," Nessie said.

"Hey, you know I'd do anything for you," Jacob insisted, smiling down at Nessie. And before he could stop himself, the words left his lips, "I love you."

Nessie looked up at Jacob, her eyes wide and searching as she stared at him. It was as if she were looking for something.

"I love you too," she said softly.

At that moment, Jacob noticed the tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes. He closed the gap between them in an instant, running his hands through her hair comfortingly.

"Nessa?" he whispered, stroking her hair gently. Nessie pulled away, staring up at him as the tears ran down her cheeks.

"Jacob, I..."

Jacob stared into Nessie's wide, sad eyes for a long moment, and she stared back. Jacob slowly moved closer, allowing his instincts to take over rather than his thoughts.

And this time, he knew what he was doing as he lowered his face towards hers, crushing his burning lips onto her icy cold ones.

Nessie's first instinct was to resist, until her lips settled into Jacob's. She felt the warmth of his mouth on hers, and an absolute feeling of completeness overwhelmed her.

The kiss remained nothing more than just that - a perfect kiss. After a moment that felt like an eternity, Jacob and Nessie pulled apart.

They stared at each other in awe, as if truly seeing each other for the first time.

"Oh, Jake," Nessie uttered.

And she turned, running into the dark woods, without so much as another word.

Jacob watched her go, his head reeling. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts... before a sinking feeling overcame him.

He had done it. He had finally shown Nessie how he truly felt, and she had given him a chance. She had responded.

And she had run away.

She could not love him the same way that he loved her. It was not a golden rule of imprinting, as Quil and Embry had thought. Jacob would always be no more than a brother to Nessie.

If she could even stand to look at him any more.