A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Just to assure you, I did not die and gone to Twilight heaven. If that's the case, I would be Edward's Bella, hahaha. That being said, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the 500+ reviews!!! That is a major milestone for my humble story.

There were a lot of questions if the last chapter was the end and I wanted to tell them 'No, it's not' but since they were unregistered readers, I can't reply. If you have questions, I suggest that you register so that I could reply to your review/question. Obviously, the story is not yet done, and at this point, I don't know how many more chapters to go.

For the other readers who have lots of comment about the beginning part of the story, I understand that the story did not really start strong, with lots of errors and some did not totally connect with the ending of the Breaking Dawn. I know, it was my mistake not to connect the dots properly, not remembering as I wrote the old chapters how Nessie was fully developed and all that. I thought about going back, polishing the old chapters, connecting the dots better, but then it will take me forever to update the rest of the story and those who had been anxiously waiting for the story to continue (including myself) will not like the idea. Bear with me, readers, I am trying my best.

Disclaimer:

Characters based on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga.

(Nessie POV)

I turned around; I didn't have the strength to face him. The pained looked that he had was softening my heart and I wanted to stay mad at him but my heart was yearning to feel him closer, to have his arms wrapped around me. I started walking forward, but I was pulled back. "Nessie, please," his voice was pleading. "Let's talk, please."

"Let me go, Jake," I said as I tried to keep my voice straight, not letting my emotions betray me.

"Is that what you really want?" he whispered. I didn't move. Is that what I really wanted? Did I really want him to let me go? If I was being honest to myself, I knew the last thing I wanted him to do was to let me go. I wanted to be with him, even just as a friend, as long as I would be with him. "Nessie," my name escaped his lips and I closed my eyes; the tears wouldn't stop. I felt my knees buckle but my body never reached the ground. He wrapped his arms around me and turned me to him; his shirt was wet with my tears in no time.

None of us said anything. He let me cry the tears that had been building inside me and I felt his hot tears as well. I wanted to ask him what his tears were for, but I couldn't find the strength to voice it out so I just stood there with his arms wrapped around me and cried for who knew how long.

When there were no more tears to cry, I wriggled out of his arms. He didn't stop me; instead he loosened his arms and placed his hand under my chin to lift it up. His face was already dry; I guessed that was because of his hot body temperature. He looked intently through my eyes, "Nessie, I'm sorry for all the pain I have caused you. This is wrong; everything is so wrong." He wiped the tears from my face, "You're not supposed to cry. I keep messing up. I shouldn't be causing you any pain. I was supposed to bring you happiness."

"Just tell me what the hell is going on, Jacob. I'm tired of this game you're playing," I said to him and I moved away from his reach. "Why are you here? What's up with that shouting competition with Dad? What…just…you know what, I don't want to know…just, argh!" my voice was starting to get louder and I was reaching my limit.

"Are you done?" he asked.

I turned around, furious at his words, "Am I done? So, now it is my fault that I am in the dark when it's everyone, including you, who keeps talking in riddles and I'm supposed to figure it out? Am I done? Yeah, I'm done. I'm done with you," I said and walked past him. I didn't get another step further. He grabbed my arm; not firmly but enough for me to stop.

"I was asking if you're done because I have a lot of things to tell you and I didn't want to interrupt your thoughts. In case you don't notice, you tend to word vomit when you're pissed," he said and I shot dagger looks at him. "Look, I'm not very good with words, much more talking to girls. I sucked at that when I was younger and it's no any better now." He took a deep breath before continuing, "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the secrecy and the cold shoulder at times. There's so many things I wanted to tell you from the very moment you stepped out of your bedroom door on your third birthday but I made a promise and I don't break promises, Nessie, I just don't." He let go of my arm and started pacing back and forth without a word. He would look up, breath deeply, and then pace back and forth again.

"Are you done?" it was my turn to ask. "You're creating a hole on the ground."

He finally stopped the pacing and looked at me, "What do you want to know, Nessie?"

"Everything."

"Then I suggest that you sit down. This will take a while."

--

Jacob tried to start telling me the story from the moment I was born but I had to stop him. This was going way back than I was hoping for. "You need to know every detail, Nessie," he said and that shut me up.

"Can't we just skip to the part where everyone started keeping secrets from me?" I snapped.

"Here's the thing, Nessie, everyone is very protective of you, including me. Your dad was the worst, but I was no better than him. Being my imprint, I'm drawn to be protective of you. It's involuntary," he said and it saddened me.

"Oh, I thought you liked being around me that's why you went with us in Hanover," I whispered. "I'm sorry for being such a burden." I looked away, "I'm all grown up now, Jake, and you don't have to feel obligated in taking care of me. I can take care of myself now." I thought of standing up and walking away, but before I could move, Jacob grab my hand.

"That's not what I meant, Nessie. I'm really trying to tell you what's going on, that's why I wanted to start from the beginning. I can explain better that way. Please," he pleaded. I took a deep breath and waved my hand for him to continue. "I was there the moment you were born, but I was there because of Bella, not because of you. You were known as the 'evil spawn' back then." Mom and Rosalie hated it when my own father thought that I shouldn't live. Not that I could blame him really; as far as I could remember from Mom's thoughts, I was killing her slowly and painfully. "Bella was my best fried and she wanted me to be there so I was there."

"Not to mention she was your first love, too," I muttered.

"You could say that because, at that time, she had a strong pull to my heart even though I know I didn't imprint on her. Then when I set my eyes on you, I then realized the pull I had with her, well, it's not her, it was her future daughter; it was you."

"That's kinda creepy, Jake. I wasn't even born yet and you 'sorta' imprinted on me," I said while using air quotes.

"If you're going to put it that way, then yes, it does sound creepy, doesn't it?" he chuckled. In a way, this helped the tension a bit. "So, anyway, I became very protective of you," he continued. "Everyone I knew who imprinted suddenly developed that extra sense dedicated only for their imprint. I'm tied to you like you wouldn't imagine. I even challenged Bella before I let her see you."

"I remember. I was flapping my arm to reach her, but you were blocking her. I couldn't believe you did that."

"She was a newborn, Nessie. If I felt protective of you towards your uncles and aunts, how much more towards your newborn mother who still had an appetite of ten thousand vampires combined?" I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration. "So anyway, I was there twenty-four seven watching you. Rosalie hated it; Edward was pissed about it, but they both know there's no getting rid of me. I am bound to be whatever you needed, an older brother, a babysitter, heck I was even there as a puppy." I smiled at that; I remembered how we used to hunt with my parents and he would be in wolf form and I would ride on him while we were racing with mom. We never won, of course, but it was fun. "As you grow older, you start to change and so does my role in your life. I was still there when you needed an older brother, but I was also there when you need a best friend. If you need another uncle, I'll gladly to play the part, too." He paused, got up and paced again. "There was never a problem. We all noticed how fast you were growing and we started to get used to it. We figured it will give us a bit more time, maybe ten years before you become a full-grown woman. In the end, we're all wrong."

"Because at age three, I turned from a girl looking like eleven to a lady at the age of eighteen," it wasn't a question.

"Yes, exactly. The thing is, all along I thought I was there for you as whatever you needed me to be. But that day, that moment I saw you, all mature, not only mentally, but also physically, that's when I started to feel…well, let's just say that the older brother that you used to find in me walked out of the door that day." He took a deep breath; he seemed to be taking more breaths than necessary. "I tried to be a reasonable friend to you, Nessie, but a part of me is letting me."

This was news to me. He was still around when I needed him to be there, except this last time when we separated at the airport. "What do you mean, Jake?"

"I wanted to be a fair friend, not a jealous jerk just because a guy asked you to be his date for prom."

So, this was about Ken? I asked in my head.

"It's not just that, Nessie. How am I going to put this? I don't want to be just a friend to you, Nessie. I want to be more than that. I want to get to know you like a regular guy who likes a girl and will go through hoops to get her attention. I want to go to your house, not just barging in, but actually ring the doorbell and sheepishly wait while your parents, uncles and aunts grill me to where I'm going to bring you on a date and what time I'm taking you home."

"Wait, you…you figured out all these since September?" I asked as I back tracked everything that he confessed earlier. All these months that I had been hiding my attraction towards Jacob, he had been feeling the same all along. He nodded as a response to my question. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I made a promise to your parents that I will let you live your life as normal as possible," he explained.

"Nothing in my life is normal," I countered.

"Yes, we all know that. They're afraid that you will not try to discover other things; that you're life will start revolving around, well, me."

"What makes you think that my life will revolve around you?" I was starting to get irritate. He was explaining things in riddles and it was getting on my nerves. I liked him, but he didn't have to be arrogant about it.

"Because aside from being a friend, a brother, a confidant, as my imprint, we are also bound to fall in love with each other and be together," he answered.

"But you said before, when I asked you about Sam and Emily, Paul and Rachel, Embry and Tanya, you said it's not automatic. You even used Quil and Claire as example. You mean, they will end up together, as in lovers together, in the future?" He nodded. "How could you lie to my face like that, Jake?" I got up and started walking away.

He reached for my arm again, "Nessie, wait…"

"You know what, Jake; friends don't lie to each other. I understand that you need to keep secrets because of what you promised to my parents, but to lie on my face like that, that's rich," I snatched my arm away from his grasp and ran towards the cottage. When I got there, Mom was waiting for me with open arms. I ran to her and for the second time, pools of tears fell from my eyes.