Seth's POV

My alarm woke me from the deepest sleep I'd had in weeks, and I sighed and reached for my phone, turning it off before I froze.

Daisy shifted in her sleep beside me, yawning widely. She was still faced toward me, like she'd been when I turned the lamp off last night. She'd kept looking in my direction last night in the dark, and I watched her, wondering if there was any chance she'd be able to see me.

She'd done amazing at the bonfire, introducing herself and speaking easily to my friends and family as if she'd known them for ages. Just about everyone had pulled me aside at one point or another to speak their approval and wish us all the best. I knew it wouldn't be long until they started getting impatient at the progression of our relationship, but for now, I was happy to wait it out and see where it took us.

It took her a few seconds, but she shifted again and opened her eyes slowly, blinking her dreams away as she looked across at me, her eyebrows raised with confusion for a moment before she smiled shyly. "Good morning,"

"How did you sleep?" I asked her quietly.

"Mm, good," she yawned, nestling further into her pillow. "Best sleep I've had in ages. I don't even remember any of my dreams."

"Were you warm enough?" At some point in the night, she'd woken for a moment and covered my lower half with a portion of her blankets. I hadn't kicked them off, not wanting to seem ungrateful. Despite the heat, knowing I was under the same blankets that she was excited me to a point that was ridiculous.

She nodded. "Toasty," she said quietly. "I think I told you once before, but sometimes it feels like the cold has settled inside my chest, and I can't get rid of it. I was so comfortable last night, even though your room was cold. I fell asleep straight away."

"I'm glad," I smiled and pushed myself up, rubbing my face before turning to look down at her. "Bed hair suits you."

She scoffed and threw her hands over her face. "That's bullshit."

"It's not," I insisted with a chuckle. Her face was free of any makeup from her shower last night, and her light brown skin was clear of freckles and blemishes. Her eyelashes and eyebrows were a perfect natural black, dark and heavy over her eyes.

She lowered her hands to the blanket and sighed. "You have to go to work now."

"I do," I agreed. "But I think you should go back to sleep. We had a late night last night. And can you finish that bottle of water for me before you leave, as well?"

"I'm sure I can manage to do that." She sat up beside me and played with her fingers in her lap. "Thank you for letting me stay. Sorry if I took up too much room."

She'd stayed to her side during the night, except for earlier when she'd pushed her frozen toes against my leg. It had been a sudden shock, but I wish she'd left them there as we slept.

"Leah will leave in a couple of hours or so. She's usually pretty quiet, so I don't think she'll wake you. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and don't worry about locking the door on your way out."

"It's a long day for you today, isn't it?"

"Twelve hours," I said sadly. I wished I could stay here with her, all day. I briefly considered calling in sick, but I knew that wouldn't look good after a holiday. I'd never called in sick a day in my life, and I was stubborn enough to keep my record clean even if it meant I would have to be away from her. We'd spent as many moments as possible together in the past few days, and I shouldn't be greedy with her time.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Definitely." I gave her one last, long look, hating the fact that I was going to have to leave, before I forced myself out of the bed. She stayed sitting where she was, watching as I grabbed my work uniform out of the closet and hesitated to get changed. Bathroom would be safer.

I washed my face, brushed my teeth and pulled on my uniform, checking myself over one last time before exiting. I'd planned on going in to say goodbye if she hadn't already gone back to sleep, but over the sound of the running water I'd heard her make her way into the kitchen.

She was making coffee, still wearing only my shirt as she made her way around the small kitchen as if she lived there.

"You don't drink coffee," I stated the obvious as I leaned against the opposite side of the counter.

"No, but you do," she smirked. She added two sugars, aware of how I liked it and handed it to me. "You look fancy in your uniform."

"Thanks," I grinned and took the coffee, taking an initial sip. It was perfect. The best coffee I'd ever tasted in my life, though she hadn't added anything besides the usual ingredients. The guys were right, I was whipped.

"Did Leah manage to get in touch with Jake last night?" she asked casually, but her eyes were curious, and watched me closely. I kept my face as neutral as I could.

"I don't think so. I'm going to try to get in touch with him on my lunch break." Not true. If Jake hadn't answered Leah by now, he didn't want to talk over the phone. My plan was to head straight to Edward and Bella's house tonight and figure out what was going on. I'd seen the look on Nessie's face before, but never from her. It had been there, on Riley and Victoria's face, the day I received the scar on my arm. The day Bella had sliced through her own skin to cause a distraction that would allow Edward and I to take our win.

It had terrified me, to see it last night, directed at my imprint. Despite being Nessie's best friend, I hadn't trusted her in any way at that moment. I'd stepped in front of Daisy without even planning my actions, planting myself in the way to take down any threat that could have possibly been there. I'd felt the familiar heat rolling itself across my body, my hands shaking just slightly on the trays of food I was holding, ready for a fight if need be. I loved Nessie with my entire heart, but I knew I would have hurt her to save my soul mate.

We were mostly silent as I drank my coffee. I knew I was going to be a little late to work, with stalling my departure, but in the moment I didn't care. I wanted to be with Daisy, forget about the rest of the world for as long as I could.

I finished my coffee and rinsed the mug, leaving it in the bottom of the sink to take care of later. I sighed heavily, for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, and walked toward the front door, stopping at Daisy's side as I reached her.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" the scare last night had left me a little on edge, but I knew she would be safe. This was Nessie we were talking about, not a wild vampire that wasn't constantly monitored by a pack of wolves and a mind-reading vampire. "Go back to sleep, and drive home safe."

"I will," she promised. "I hope you have a good day at work,"

We both moved toward each other at the same time, and I wrapped my arms around her tightly, breathing her in as she hugged me back, resting her head against my chest. And then, plucking courage from somewhere I was unsure of, I did something I hadn't done before and pressed my lips to the top of her head, pausing long enough to drink her in.

"I'll call you today," I promised her, squeezing her to indicate the end of our embrace. She pulled away from me slowly, offering me a small, nervous smile as she watched me close the door.

I was agitated at work. I wanted to see Ness, find out exactly what was going on. No one had heard from Jake, it seemed. Quil had sent me a message asking if he'd been in touch, and said Embry had tried calling through the morning, receiving no answer. He hadn't been home, Quil had said. He would be at the cottage. Nessie was dealing with something, and Jacob would be torturing himself by going through it with her.

"Did you get up to anything last night?" Grace was looking through orders, placing her hands on a couple of plates to take out to customers as she stood to my side, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Uhh, yeah, a bonfire at the beach with a few of my friends." I managed to gauge our conversation long enough to offer her a friendly smile. "You?"

"I had a big family thing," she told me, looking very pleased I was talking to her. "My second brother just got engaged, and it was all wedding talk. I kept getting harassed about when I was going to find someone," she chuckled nervously.

I offered her a sympathetic smile, the best I could muster. "You'll meet someone soon, Grace. You're a catch," I managed to slip away from her to take care of something on the other side of the room. She picked up the plates and wandered back out the front without another word.

I had multiple messages from the guys when I finished, looking over them all as I walked to the truck, but not bothering to answer. I had nothing to tell them. They knew it wasn't their place to check up on anything, and were leaving me to deal with it myself. I answered my sister, who had said she was getting no where with her calls, letting her know I was headed out to see for myself what was going on.

I was two minutes into my drive when I prodded at the screen on my dashboard, relaxing into my seat when my phone started calling.

"Hello?" her voice was high and at ease, and I sighed in response.

"How was your day?"

"A little more boring than yesterday," she said, a smile in her voice. "Hugo was happy to have me home. I thought he missed me, but I think he actually just wanted a carrot to snack on."

I chuckled, suddenly feeling a hundred times better. "Did you see Leah this morning?"

"Uh, no. I went back to sleep. I was hiding, just a little bit."

"She won't bite," I smiled. I wondered what Leah was going to have to say to me about our sleepover when I saw her again.

Daisy laughed loudly. "Oh, so we're dropping the fact that she's a wolf-person now?"

I grimaced, wondering how that conversation would go in future. "How was work?"

"Really good, actually! One of my students is making amazing progress. It's always nice when someone who is actually musically inclined has parents that pressure them into learning. How was it for you?"

"Long and boring," I admitted. "I was so close to calling in sick today, if I'm being completely honest."

She was silent for the shorted second. "Well, I'm glad you didn't do it today. Save it for when I'm not teaching, then I won't have to leave you."

I swallowed nervously, tightening my hands on the steering wheel. "Thanks again for coming last night. The guys all really liked you."

"They were nice," she brightened up as she spoke. "I'm glad you have such good friends. You all really do seem like a big family." There was a brief pause. "Did you manage to get a hold of Jake?"

"Uhh, no, I didn't try him actually," I said honestly. "I'm going to drop by the house on my way home and make sure Nessie's okay. I really don't think she was feeling well, and Jake will be with her if she's not. I'll make sure everything's okay."

"Okay…" she was silent for another long moment, and then she sighed nervously. "Seth…I know you only think of Ness as a friend, but do you think she could have a bit of a crush on you?"

I couldn't help myself but to laugh at her question. "What?!"

"Well, she looked a bit angry last night…I just thought, maybe she didn't want you bringing anyone along. And honestly, she and Jake seemed fine before we got there, and then they just took off…" She swallowed loudly, and I frowned at the screen on my dash, as if it would allow me to see her. "I don't know. I knew you wouldn't think anything like that, but I just figured it was the most reasonable explanation."

"Don't worry about it, Daisy," I told her, my voice low and without humor at her thoughts. "I honestly think she just came over with something quickly. Nessie and I have been best friends for years, and I know she's not hiding any feelings like that toward me. I'm going to talk to her, and we'll figure it out."

We left that part of the conversation there. She told me she'd cooked pasta for dinner, all by herself, and she was going to save some for me to try when she saw me again and get my expert opinion. We discussed my friends a little more, and I ended the conversation as I pulled into the long winding drive that would carry me deep within the forest, to the little cottage not too far from the Cullen's main house.

"I've got to go, but I'll talk to you later, okay? I'm just pulling up to Nessie's now."

"Okay," she sounded as disappointed as I was to hang up the phone. "I really hope she's okay, Seth. I know how important she is to you."

"She'll be fine," I reassured her, though I wasn't overly confident myself. "Go eat your dinner. I'll see you tomorrow."

I still had a couple of minute's drive ahead of me before I reached the cottage. I could have parked a ways back and had a run on all fours to get there quicker, but I had to gather my thoughts a little. The image of her staring at my imprint last night was as strong as ever in my head, and it made my fingers tremble on the steering wheel. I understood the protectiveness the guys felt over their imprints now, for the first time. I was bitter that said protectiveness usually came when they'd been spoken to the wrong way, or looked at by someone other than their partner. It wasn't fair that Daisy had been subjected to something outside of the regular reasons in a relationship for me to flare up as such.

I had a fair idea of what was going on, but I didn't know why. Nessie had grown up around humans, even lived with them on and off over the years while she'd been attending college. Why all of a sudden, and why with the one person in the world I cared about above all others?

They had heard me coming, of course. Edward and Bella were standing in the small garden when I stopped the truck and took a couple of deep breaths, attempting to sort out my nerves and fear at the coming confrontation with two of my best friends. I opened the door and got out slowly, taking my time to shut it loudly, before turning to my extended family members.

"Seth," Bella moved forward too quickly, wrapping her arms around me for a short hug. "It's been a while. We were worried you'd forgotten about us."

I smiled back as naturally as I could. "Sorry, Bells. I've been a bit distracted the past few weeks."

"So we've heard," Edward took my hand in a firm handshake and smiled at me like a brother. "We're very happy to hear you've finally found her, Seth." He paused as he studied my thoughts on my imprint, and smiled warmly. "She seems perfect for you. I can't wait to meet her."

"Is Ness home?" I asked politely. She was. I could hear two heartbeats from inside the house, one quick like the wings of a moth. I started toward the front door, being a little rude and not waiting for the owners of the house.

"She's in her room…" Bella started unsurely. "Just – be gentle with her, okay, Seth? She's a bit torn up over everything."

I twisted my lips and opened the door, stepping inside and marching my way directly to her bedroom. The door was open, and she was sitting against the pillows leaning against her headboard, her knees folded up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, seeking comfort. She was in a silk pajama set, and I wondered if she'd gotten dressed at any point in the day.

Jacob was seated at the end of her bed, and his eyes were guarded as he watched me walk into the room, his shoulders lifted in preparation to stand guard if it was needed.

The memory of look on her face from the night before, directed at the one person I cared about above all others, flashed through my mind and made head flare through my spine. "What the fuck, Ness?!" I asked incredulously, for a moment forgetting that I was meant to be gentle with her. Jacob growled loudly, and I immediately lowered my voice and my stance at his warning. Damn Alpha.

I took a deep breath, feeling a little bad at the teary look Nessie was sending my way. My voice was a lot calmer and I spoke through my teeth when I felt I was ready to talk again. "Can someone please explain to me what the hell happened last night?"

"Calm down, Seth," Jacob threatened, his voice laced with a hint of the Alpha in him.

I sighed and lowered myself into the old wooden chair facing her bed, putting my head in my hands, rubbing my eyes wearily before I looked back at them. "I have an inkling of understanding about what was going on last night, but I'm confused. I know you're better than this, Nessie. Why her?"

Jacob adjusted himself, sliding on the mattress so he was positioned just slightly closer to his imprint, and stared at me in a way he'd never done before. Like I was a threat and couldn't be trusted.

"I'm sorry," she choked out suddenly, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "I – I couldn't help it, and as soon as I could think, I told Jacob to take me away. I didn't want to do anything I –" she stopped herself and took a deep breath, her lungs shuddering with the air.

"Do what, exactly?" I hissed.

"Seth –"

"Jacob, leave it," Nessie sighed, rubbing roughly at her face and swiping her tears away. "I deserve this." Jake rolled his eyes, but leaned back, against the wall, his mouth pressed together tightly. He hated taking a step back from being in charge when he felt he needed to, but he would do anything his imprint asked of him. He was the boss of the entire pack, but Nessie was able to make the rules between the two of them.

I let out a heavy breath, agitation still flooding through me, but steading myself at the sight of my best friend's obvious suffering. She was being harder on herself than I would ever manage to be myself, even given the present circumstances. I raised my hands toward my brother as a sign of peace as I stood, seating myself beside his imprint on her bed. I couldn't bring myself to reach out and take her hand, so I laced my fingers together and watched them as I spoke.

"I just want to know what is going on. I want to know what I need to do."

"I don't know," she said hopelessly. "I've never felt like this before…I love you, so, so much, Seth, but I don't think I can be around you when…" she swallowed heavily, her eyebrows pulling together in pain with the action and shook her head, letting the conversation fall flat.

I watched her, waiting for more answers, but Edward spoke, standing in the doorway as he watched us. "Daisy's blood sings for Renesmee," he said evenly, watching me as any father would after witnessing his little girl be torn to pieces by her friend. He continued, seeing my confusion. "It's perfectly designed to be everything Renesmee wants, her exact tastes, if you'll allow me to explain it in such a way. It's rare, but not unheard of. Renesmee acted extremely well given the circumstances, and I want you to know she did everything she should have to get herself out of the situation you found yourselves in last night."

I turned back to look at Nessie, who was now staring down at her feet, looking extremely pathetic. "So, what? There's nothing you can do to help it? I just keep the two most important parts of my life completely separate? Focus on my imprint and leave half of my family behind?"

"That might not be necessary," Edward said softly, and he lowered himself into the chair I'd been in not a minute before, leaning toward me as he spoke. "Renesmee is only half-vampire. I truly believe she will be able to tackle this more quickly than a full vampire would. She will be prepared, when she meets Daisy again. She will know what's coming for her, and she'll be able to control herself."

"She won't be seeing her again anytime soon," I promised them darkly. Jacob's hands shook in his lap, but he stayed silent at Nessie's wishes. "I don't want her anywhere near Daisy, if there's any chance it could end badly. Especially not now, without her knowing…"

"Wait until she knows," Edward offered. "Give her some time to adjust to the fact that the world isn't the way she's always believed it to be. I know, without a doubt, Renesmee will be able to control herself. It will get easier, over time. Eventually they will be able to exist together without any indication she's struggling."

"You can't know that, Edward," I muttered, frustrated at myself that I couldn't shake the protective anger that had taken over me.

"I can know enough," he reasoned, leaning back in the chair to allow his wife to flash into the room and seat herself on his thigh. "I struggled with the same issue, when I met Bella. It was a shock, initially. Without warning, it seems almost impossible to withstand. But knowing ahead of time, preparing to keep a hold of myself, it was easier to keep myself in check. And after a while, I adjusted to be able to be close to her without feeling like I was going to break. Nessie doesn't need blood the way we do. She is half as dangerous as I was to Bella, and you know how our story ended."

I thought over that for a long moment. "I don't feel comfortable with all of this."

"And we don't expect you to," Edward spoke over his daughter's whimper, and I smelled a few more salty tears escape her eyes. "But you need to understand that Renesmee is struggling, and she is more harsh on herself right now than you could ever be. You're not that person, Seth. You won't hold it against her. But you should be there for her. She was strong enough last night to keep your secret, and reigned herself in without any accidents. She did very well, and we're proud of her." His eyes softened as he looked toward his daughter.

I wasn't about to start thanking Nessie for not killing the love of my life in front of all of our friends last night. I knew if she'd tried anything, I would have exploded and ripped her apart without a second thought, and the knowledge of that made my sick to my stomach. Daisy was the most important person in my life, but Nessie had been that person to me just a few weeks earlier. My little sister. My best friend.

"I don't want to lose you," her voice was quiet, filled with tears, as she gasped the words behind me. I turned to face her again, twisting my lips with anguish as it was the best smile I could manage.

"You're not losing me, Ness," I finally was able to reach out and took her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "You know I'd do anything for you, right? Just…give me some time. I want you to know her. I thought the two of you together could be something amazing, but…" I sighed and rubbed my temples with my other hand. "I can't have you anywhere near her right now. Not until I can calm down over it all a bit."

She nodded, her tears flowing, and Jacob reached out to pull her to him, out of my grasp.

"Can you please tell everyone to stop calling me?" he muttered, not looking at me. I was in trouble, and I was going to pay for it.

"Can do," I sighed, standing from her bed. I nodded my head at Edward, glancing at Bella who gave me a sad smile and followed me to the front door.

"It will be okay, Seth," she promised. "Edward was right with what he said. It caught her off guard, that was all. He told me it wasn't anything like what he'd felt, the first time he saw me. Nessie was aware of herself immediately. She wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"I know she wouldn't," I lied quietly. "I just can't take the chance, Bells."

"We understand that," she followed me to my truck, standing beside the door so I wasn't able to get in. "I'll try to pacify Jacob. I think he wants to tear your head off."

"That's to be expected," I agreed. "I'm sorry for losing my temper. I tried to be reasonable, I really did."

"It's nice to know you're human, outside of all that cheerfulness," she grinned.

"She's bringing more out of me than I would normally like to admit," I referred to my imprint, and Bella nodded knowingly.

"It would be wrong, if she didn't. I am very happy for you, Seth, despite the current circumstances. You deserve to have found her. I hope I get to meet her, soon. Jake's told me a lot, from what he's seen. He and Nessie were looking forward to getting to know her last night."

"She's amazing," I managed a genuine smile for the first time since arriving. "Tell Ness I'm sorry, okay? And tell her I love her. I'd be there for her in a heartbeat, if she needed me. I want her to know that."

"She knows," Bella said quietly. She didn't need to tell Ness. She'd be able to hear everything from her bedroom.

"Sorry, Jake," I said quietly, turning to the house for a brief moment before Bella stood back, allowing me to jump in the truck and start the engine.