Chapter 26.

Nessie – the truth will set you free

"I suppose, now you can say, 'I told you so?'"

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but I was now sitting with Jake on the veranda steps, the party all but forgotten. He had pulled me onto his lap and I sat peacefully, with my head resting on his shoulder. His arms held me possessively as he pressed soft kisses onto my neck, but he pulled back at these words and smiled.

"Do you really think I would be dumb enough to say that, now?" He grinned.

"Will you save it for tomorrow?" My eyes fell and he lifted my chin to recapture my gaze.

"I'll never say it. I don't think it."

"You should." I muttered, ashamed.

He asked gently. "Nessie, what's the matter?"

I sighed. "I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I could never find the courage. I'm sorry for saying all those terrible things and going away. I was wrong…" My voice broke and I threw my arms around his neck, hiding my face in his shoulder.

He tried unsuccessfully to catch my eye and eventually gave up, with a frustrated sigh. "I told you before, you don't need to apologise. I know why you acted the way you did. I even understood at the time."

"Were you upset?" My voice was muffled by his jacket.

He stroked my hair, comfortingly. "Not with you."

"But..?"

"Do you really want to have this conversation?" His voice was grim.

"I need to know. Please, Jake. Tell me…"

He sighed in resignation. "Ok, I was pretty upset. But mostly, I was going crazy worrying about you. I told Seth he wasn't allowed to get involved, but he still knew how unhappy you were. Every time we phased, I saw you in his mind. It was awful, seeing you so sad. I couldn't stand it.

"Poor Seth, in the end, he avoided being in wolf form at the same time as me. I don't blame him. Apart from my stress about his memories, I don't think my mind was exactly a great place to be." He couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of his tone. I shuddered, tightening my hold on him and he rubbed my back. "It's ok, it wasn't your fault."

I shook my head and could feel tears stinging behind my eyelids. "Yes, it was."

"I should have tried to sort things out sooner." He said regretfully. "I finally realised that, the night you were hunted in the forest. I couldn't believe I'd let things get so out of hand, I hated myself for abandoning you."

"No…" I protested, but he carried on, as if I hadn't spoken.

"And the whole time I was tracking you, all I could think was, 'why did I leave her alone?'" Instinctively he pulled me closer, as if protecting me from an unseen threat. I caught my breath and he continued.

"You've given me some scares this past year, but when we caught that revolting scent crossing yours, it was one of the worst moments of my life… I thought I was going to be too late!" His tortured voice became suspended for a moment; I could feel his hands starting to tremble. My own memories came back to me.

I spoke softly, my tone as anguished as his. "When I was running from that monster, I imagined never seeing you again… Oh, Jake! When you saved me, I knew then." Placing my hand on his neck, I showed him my revelation.

He brushed away the tears that trickled down my cheeks and kissed me. "I had no idea. When I held you, I nearly told you how I felt, then and there. I wasn't even sure afterwards that I hadn't," he added ruefully. "I was just so relieved; I couldn't remember what the hell I'd said."

"I would have remembered if you'd said that." I smiled.

"As it was, I could hardly let you out of my sight again. That night, when you woke up calling my name; it was all I could do, not to run straight up to your room."

I glanced shyly at him. "I wished that you had. I wanted you, I've wanted you ever since."

"I can't believe it." He said, laughing with exasperation. "All those months, I was fighting to hide how I really felt about you. I knew that you were drifting away and there was nothing I could do about it. It was a nightmare; I was thinking about you all the time, but I was sure it would spoil everything if you found out. I couldn't face losing you again."

I leaned forward and kissed him.

"Ahem." There was a small cough, behind us. Jake and I looked round to see Leanne's curious face peering through the veranda doors.

"Sorry Nessie! A lot of us are leaving and we wanted to check how you're getting home." She threw a meaningful smirk in my direction and said. "I'll tell the others you've made your own arrangements. By the way…" she added with a grateful smile. "Everyone's been saying what a fantastic night they've had. Thanks Nessie!"

"Oh! Thanks…" I stuttered. She shot me a final look and disappeared.

"I guess you'll have some explaining to do, next time you see her," Jake teased.

"At least she might stop bugging me for your number," I said sourly. "Now, where was I?"

He then, very helpfully, reminded me.

I couldn't believe it was past five in the morning, when Jake finally dropped me home. I knew that Grandpa wasn't expecting me back early, but I hoped he wouldn't find out how late it really was.

Jacob walked me to the door, holding my hand. It felt natural and nice. We were both looking less done up; I had unpinned my hair and he had taken off his jacket and tie, several hours earlier. I glanced up at the sky; the morning light was glowing around us.

"I can't believe its sunrise, already," I said, feeling a little sad. "That means that my best night ever is over."

"I guess so," he agreed, but added triumphantly. "But it's also our first day together."

"Good point." I leaned forward and kissed him appreciatively.

He raised his eyebrows. "Do you actually want to get any sleep?"

"The jury's still out on that one," I smiled. Then, looking up at him, I suddenly felt anxious. "You'll come back later, won't you?"

He lowered his head and gazed reassuringly into my eyes. "I'll always come back."

I nodded wordlessly and unlocked the front door. I could hardly tear myself away, as I stepped into the house. Closing the front door behind me, I felt a sudden wave of separation anxiety. I ran quietly up to my bedroom. Hurrying over to the window, I pushed it open and leaned out.

Jacob was standing on the front lawn, still watching the house. He glanced up when he heard the window open.

"Jake!" I whispered.

"What are you doing?" He whispered back in an amused voice.

I blushed sheepishly. "I missed you." Wow, that sounded corny, even to me!

Before I had a chance to say anything else, he had bounded towards the house and with one agile movement, caught hold of the tree by my window and swung himself onto the windowsill. He threw his legs over the ledge and stepped into my bedroom.

"Jake, are you crazy?" I said, trying to smother my laughter with my hand. This would not be the moment for Grandpa or Sue to wake up.

"I missed you too." He said huskily and caught my face in his hands, before leaning down and softly kissing me. I closed my eyes, losing myself in the moment and then he released me with a sigh. A second later I heard a soft thud. My eyes flew open and I found myself alone in the room. I quickly looked out of the window and saw him waving goodbye as he jogged to his car.

Reluctantly closing the window, I started getting ready for bed. Although I had been up for most of the night, when I finally crawled under the covers, it took me ages to fall asleep. I was too happy. I replayed the whole evening in my head and built beautiful dream castles. How did people in love ever get any rest?

"So, how was last night?" Grandpa asked when I stepped into kitchen, just before lunch.

Sublime, magical, the best night ever..!

"Err… nice."

"Jake seemed to have enjoyed himself, he already called but I said you were sleeping. He didn't want me to wake you."

I glanced at Grandpa, trying to look casual as I poured myself a glass of juice. "Um, what did he say about last night?"

"Just that the party went well, and he hoped that no one was woken up when he brought you home."

Jacob was clearly good at this. Sue came into the room and I noticed that she was looking in high spirits.

"Good morning, honey," she smiled happily.

I remembered what Jake had told me about Seth and Marie. I wondered if she had been hoping that they would get together from the very start. It would certainly explain why she had always looked annoyed when Grandpa talked about Marie and Jake.

"Good morning," I hugged her exuberantly, wanting to share my good mood, then I hugged Grandpa too. They both seemed surprised, but pleased. "Where's Seth?"

"He's at La Push," Sue answered, looking a little smug.

Yes, she was definitely delighted about Seth and Marie! I was pleased for them too. It was strange the way that my resentment of Marie seemed to have melted overnight, like frost in the blazing sun. Well that made sense; Jacob was a very solar sort of person.

I glanced out of the window and saw that it was a glorious sunny day. How appropriate to my mood. And it was a Saturday, so Jake wouldn't be at work. I suddenly felt a strong urge to see him. Drinking my juice in one gulp; I put down the glass and ran upstairs to shower and change.

I was ready and dressed in record time. Knowing as I did, that bright sunny days were a rarity, I took the opportunity to wear a pair of fitted surf shorts and a small cotton top, which tied up with strings around my neck and back. I slipped on some beach shoes and headed downstairs. I stuffed my dark glasses and phone into the purse I'd grabbed from the hall table, and hurried out of the house.

"I've just got a couple of things to do, Grandpa." I called on the way out. "If Mom calls, can you tell her I'll be over later?"

"Sure thing. See you later, sweetheart."

I jumped into my car, on my way to La Push. I wondered if Jake would be surprised to see me. He'd probably be pleased. I followed the winding road, through the sunlit forest. It was hard to believe that only yesterday Grandpa and I had seen that awful accident. I slowed down a little and scanned the trees for stray deer. It would be unlikely that – with my reflexes – I would hit anything, but I didn't want to be held up today.

My phone rang and I jumped. I saw the caller id and picked up. "Hey, Dad."

"Hi, sweetheart. How was the party?"

"Um… great. I think everyone had a really nice time." I know I did!

"I'm glad you went, Charlie told us about your graduation. I'm sorry about that; I know how much you were looking forward to it." He said sympathetically.

"It's ok. I suppose – being a Cullen – I'll probably have other chances."

"True..!" He paused. "So, did Jacob and Seth go to the party?"

"Jake did," I hoped that I didn't sound nervous when I answered. "But Seth was detained," I added cryptically.

My father was quick to pick up the note of mystery in my voice. "What happened to him?"

"Don't worry, it was nothing bad. I'll tell you, when I see you this afternoon." I had a vague hope that I could use Seth's news to distract from my own.

"Ok, we'll see you then."

"Bye, Dad." I hung up in relief. I was no good at this cloak and dagger thing.

Author's notes:

Hello again, I just wanted to say a special thank you for all the lovely comments since last time, I'm glad that everyone was pleased with the outcome of the last chapter! All the reviews have meant a lot to me :) Also thanks to Robmau (cause I can't PM you!).

I was contacted about how to bypass the posting problems. Just in case there is anyone out there who is too shy to ask me, I have included it here, good luck:

If you click the "edit" button in my stories then it takes you to this link: login(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/story/story_edit_property(dot)php?storyid=NUMBERHERE

If you take the number from the end there and then type this in directly: login(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/story/story_edit_content(dot)php?storyid=NUMBERHERE

I will post again next week (if I can, with all the technical stuff), have a great weekend, Mad :)