Big thank you's to all of my reviewers:

ForeverSwiss

myfanfictionaddiction

SnowWhite249172

Azlady2003

And some more thank you's to everyone favoriting this story. Much appreciated, you all are keeping me writing!

I was originally going to keep this story in Bella's POV only, but Renesmee was practically screaming at me to include her in some parts, so I had to switch it up a little. I recently read Midnight Sun and tried my best to replicate some of Edward's overthinking tendencies onto Nessie as best I could. I apologize if it does ramble a bit, especially in later chapters.

Songs to set the mood to:

Where's My Love by SYML (Acoustic)—Nessie worrying over Jake

Fool by Cavetown—Jake comes back until the end of the chapter

As always I do not own the Twilight Saga or anything you are familiar with. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

Renesmee POV

My mother was a lot of things. She was a great cook, she was a good student, she worked her butt off at work to get extra tips, she was selfless and generous, she was all around a great mom. But there was one thing she had never been good at- lying. I knew right away she was keeping things from me. The second she sent me away to catch the new vampire guests up on things, I knew it was just a ploy to talk about things without me there. It was very strange to me. Her, Jake, and I were always so open. Sure there were a couple times they discussed things without me, but they would usually talk to me about the decisions later and make sure I was okay with everything. Mom wasn't doing any of that this time. She even actively tried to make sure I couldn't hear anything. Not cool. So, clearly she was hiding something. And judging by his reaction, Jacob knew something about it. If Mom was going to such lengths to hide it, Jake would have to be my point of contact here.

But he still hadn't come back.

I was already upset that he had phased so suddenly after seeing the intruders, but the fact it had been almost two hours and I hadn't heard from him at all was doing nothing for my nerves. He would usually call me or at the very least text if he was going to be out late with the pack. More than once Paul had provoked Jacob in to losing his cool when we hung out in La Push and Jake had phased. If it took him a while to calm down, one of the other pack members, usually Quil or Seth, would find out what was going on and let me know he was fine. This radio silence was something completely new.

Mom came in to check on me after her secret talk and told me to try and call Billy or Emily. I knew it probably wouldn't do any good, but I tried. I called Billy first, thinking if Jake was to go anywhere, he would run home. "I haven't heard from him today," Billy's gruff voice sounded from over the phone. "From what it sounds like, it'll take him a while to phase back and let anyone know where he's at."

"I was just hoping," I told him, biting my lip.

"Just give him some space. He'll pop up," he said, not sounding at all concerned for his son, which automatically alerted me that Billy might know something.

I tried to keep any malice out of my voice as I told him, "Thanks, Billy," and hung up. Billy hadn't been thrilled with Jake moving in with us and he definitely wasn't warming up to me too much. He was polite and let me come to the bonfires and over to his house whenever Jake visited, but I knew he didn't trust me. That was something I could never change. The feud between werewolves and vampires had been going on for so long, there was no way I could come in and completely change it, even if I was half human. Even through all of that, though, Billy still loved Jake and worried about him often. It wasn't like him to sound so calm about his son's disappearance.

I tried Emily next. She didn't care whether I was half vampire or not, she was always nice to me. I would help her make food for the pack while Sam had them patrolling, so we talked often. It could be rough being so close to someone in the pack and she understood that. I'm sure that's why she went so out of her way to be nice to me. "Hi Em," I said when she picked up. "Have you heard from Jake at all?"

"Sam was told that Jacob had something important for the pack to know and they ran out, but I haven't heard anything since," she answered. "Is everything okay?"

Of course he would have to inform Sam of the new vampires in town. I tried not to roll my eyes. I know Sam is the alpha and everything but could Jake at least call me to let me know he's okay before he went full wolf soldier? "We had some unexpected visitors at the house today. Mom says they're her old friends that used to own this house," I told her. "They're vampires and Jake freaked and phased and ran off."

The silence on the other end was all I needed to know that maybe Emily was hiding a little bit from me too. She was a better liar than Mom was though, saying smoothly, "I'm sure the new vampires just caught him by surprise. It's no wonder he needed to tell Sam. That's very important for the pack to know."

"So Jake's with Sam?" I asked, trying to get more out of her.

"I'm willing to bet so, yes. Don't worry too much, Nessie," she tried to comfort me. "Jacob is still quite young and still needs to practice keeping calm in high stress situations. Sam will keep him safe until he can calm down enough to come home."

Her words didn't soothe me in the slightest. I thanked her anyways. "If any of the guys stop buy before Jake calms down, can you tell them to call me?

I just want to make sure he's okay."

"I will," she promised and we hung up.

I flopped back on my bed and looked up at the ceiling, tapping my foot anxiously. Yes, vampires and werewolves didn't like each other, but Jacob's reactions to these particular vampires had been so visceral. Just because they used to be Mom's friends didn't mean Jake had to like them. I knew that. But usually, you would put up with your friend's other friends even if you didn't like them. Jacob was straight up angry at these vampires. Like they had insulted his family name or something. His voice had been filled with so many accusations as he said, "You." Feud with vampires aside, whatever was going on with them was clearly very personal. But what happened? Mom knew. She had assured Jake everything was fine. They were somehow both involved. I let out an audible huff. Jacob was sooo going to get the lecture of his life when I saw him.

These new vampires...Alice and Jasper. Who were they? Mom said they were her old friends, Jake treated them like enemies. I felt a certain draw to them, a nagging feeling in the back of mind that was saying I should know who these people are but I couldn't make the connection. They had been nice when we were introduced to each other, though I had to admit the male was a little stand off-ish. He could stay that way. I could see faint scars covering his arms that matched the one Mom had on her hand. This was a man not to be messed with. The female seemed nice enough. She even waved at me. Their eyes were gold, just like Mom's, meaning they didn't drink human blood. She had told me the difference between the two colors when I noticed her eyes changing in comparison to Huilen's bright red. Alice and Jasper couldn't be that bad then, right? Mom had told me there were a few others that also drank from animals and not from humans, but I had never seen any before. We had tried our best to stay away from other vampires, not sure how they would react to what I was. I couldn't help but wonder if they were where Mom got the idea to drink from animals from. Huilen had always thought Mom was a little crazy for denying her body what it really wanted to survive, but Mom insisted she couldn't kill anyone. That was the only reason we were able to live in a permanent settlement like this for so long.

I knew it was hard for Mom to do and always appreciated her sacrifice. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to meet Grandpa or go to school or have any sort of normal life. We probably wouldn't have even come back here if she couldn't switch to the animal blood, and I would have never met Jacob. He was my best friend, I couldn't imagine a life without him now. Any time he was away, it felt like a part of me was missing. I loved spending time with him more than anyone else in my life, even my mom. He was just so relaxing to be around and warm. Every time I wasn't with him, everything just felt so much colder in comparison. School made it hard as I couldn't exactly bring his twenty-one year old butt to class with me, but at least I could distract myself with school work and friends. Right now, there was absolutely nothing I could distract myself with.

I glanced at the clock. Eleven o'clock. Where the hell is he? I thought. It was so late. I checked my phone. No missed calls, no texts. I got up and paced around my room, trying to think of things to do to keep my mind occupied. Nothing came to mind. I sighed, grabbed my favorite quilt, and went downstairs. Mom might berate me for being up so late, but I can't sleep now. I need to know he's safe and she's just going to have to bear with me. Mom was in the living room with the book Animal Farm in hand, but I noticed she was staying on the same page longer than necessary. It seemed like she was keeping an ear on something. Probably the two new inhabitants of the house. I could just barely hear them speaking to someone on the phone, but my hearing was dull enough that I couldn't make out any specific words. Damn human genetics. I curled up next to her on the couch and wrapped the quilt around me. Mom put her book down and pulled me close into her cold embrace.

"You should be asleep," she commented softly. I shook my head and reached my hand out of the blanket long enough to touch her hand. I showed her the flashback of Jacob phasing before running out of the house. I let me worry bleed through the memory to let her know. She rubbed my shoulders with her other hand. "I'm sure he's okay. Time will go by quicker if you sleep."

I shook my head and tucked my arm back into the quilt. "I need to know he's okay first," I told her.

She didn't push, to which I was grateful. Another hour passed, Jacob didn't show. I couldn't stop worrying about him. My phone was still in my pocket, silent. It hadn't vibrated once since I spoke to Emily. What was taking so long? Pack meetings lasted an hour at most. What was so monumental about Alice and Jasper coming here that required Jacob to be gone for four hours? Did Emily actually pass on my message? She obviously knew something I didn't. Would that get in the way of her relaying my message? If some major emergency was getting called with the pack, Sam's word was law. Even Emily didn't dare go against him. He was the alpha, the leader of the tribe by default. And I was going to march down to La Push and throw him over a cliff if he didn't let someone tell me where Jacob was soon. But what if Jacob wasn't with the other wolves? What if he was by himself? I wasn't so worried about him getting lost, if he was in wolf form he had a great sense of direction. What if he ran into another vampire? One that ate humans and didn't know of the treaty? What if he was hurt somewhere in the forest and unable to get any help? The anxiety crept over me and I shivered. Mom got me another blanket, mistaking it for me being cold.

Another hour passed in silence. I looked up at Mom. She was trying so hard to hide her worry, but I could see the small creases in her forehead that betrayed her. Jacob was such an integral part of our little family, we both were worried sick. Mom was trying to hide her own feelings from me to be the strong one, but it didn't work. She was usually the more emotional one out of the two of us and she wore her feelings plainly on her face for everyone to see. She caught my gaze and squeezed my shoulders supportively. She didn't try to fill me with any more empty promises that he was okay. He had been away for so long, we didn't know anymore. She didn't try and convince me to sleep or read or do anything else that would keep my mind occupied. She must have realized all of those were fruitless endeavors. She knew there really wasn't anything for us to do but wait.

I was about to suggest going out to look for him when Mom's head whipped towards the door. I didn't hear anything until there were footsteps on the porch and then the door opened to reveal a very tired and aggravated Jacob. Everything else faded away in my eyes and I threw the blankets off, jumping into his arms. I gripped onto him like my life depended on it, feeling relief flow through my body. Everything was okay, he was okay. I looked him over and sniffed the air for any signs of wounds. Nothing. Just that earthy Jacob smell. He half smiled at me as I came to terms with the fact he was here and unharmed. Once I had determined he could handle it, I smacked his chest. "You asshole!" I yelled at him, not caring that my mom was in the room and probably very disapproving of my language. My eyes filled up with tears, though I couldn't tell if they were from relief or anger. "You don't just phase and leave like that and not let us know you're okay!"

He didn't stop my assault. He only bowed his head, looking more than a little ashamed. "I'm sorry, Ness," he apologized, using the even shorter version of my nickname that I only let him use. "Sam wanted a pack meeting as soon as he heard about the new vamps and it took me longer than expected to calm down enough to phase back."

My anger calmed slightly at him, but the tears kept coming. I wiped at them impatiently and hugged him again, burying my face in his shirt. I felt his warm arms embrace me and a sense of peace settled in my stomach. He was here, he wasn't hurt, he was fine. "Next time, can you at least try to have someone tell Billy to call me or something?" I asked quietly, knowing he would hear. I felt him nod and squeeze me.

"I'm glad you're okay, Jake," Mom said, reminding me we were not the only people in the room.

Jake let me go, but I refused to be separated from him. I held close to his side, keeping a loose arm around his waist. Looking up at him, I saw his face had turned smooth and emotionless. That was a Sam face. God, I hated it. It wasn't Jake. It was the Pack Mask, the face he had to try and keep careful control of his emotions and to relay messages back to the pack like a good little soldier. "Are they still here?" He asked Mom. Mom bit her lip and nodded, looking uncomfortable. I swear Jacob's face smoothed out even more. "Are there any others?"

"There will be, yes." My eyes widened a bit in surprise. I tried to think back when we first moved in this house, the only time Mom had told me about it's previous inhabitants. It was a family of vampires, all that drank animal blood. There was a total of...five? No..eight? No, seven, I think. Were all of them coming back?

Jake sighed. "Sam isn't going to like that. How many?" He was looking very pointedly at Mom, a silent conversation happening on top of the one they were willing to say in front of me.

Mom shook her head so slightly, had I not been staring at her I would have missed it. "There will be six of them here, including Alice and Jasper," she informed him.

I felt Jacob relax against me and the Pack Mask slipped from his face. In it's place was Jacob, my Jacob, only now instead of happy and sunny, he just looked concerned. "Great," he breathed. "So, where are we going?" He gestured to the three of us.

Going? Did we have to move? I looked at Mom, alarmed. I mean I suppose it made sense. If the family was coming back, they would want their house back. But where would we go? There was too much to hide from Grandpa, Mom couldn't go into werewolf territory, and we weren't able to get our own place yet. Where would we go?

My worry was unnecessary as Mom refused to meet Jacob's eyes. She looked uncertain. Jacob groaned. "You're not serious?"

"We don't really have a choice, Jacob," Mom defended.

"We're staying in this house, with them? Do you realize how stupid that is, Bella?" Mom flinched at his tone and Jacob backtracked, trying to sound softer. "How about this, I'll talk to Sam. He already knows the situation, I can ask and see if he'll let you cross the border and stay with me and Dad. It'll be a little awkward at first but we have another room that Rachel and Rebecca used to share."

"Jake, I appreciate the offer but we're not going to impose on your dad like that. Plus I highly doubt that Sam would let me into La Push, even with the circumstances," Mom told him, hugging herself like she was trying to hold herself together. She did that a lot and it always made me sad. "We've already talked about boundaries and they're willing to adhere to them as long as they can spend some time with...us." Her eyes flickered to me and away quickly.

Jake narrowed his own eyes and countered, "Is that a good idea? Think about what happened. And if they came back who knows if...other people from our past might show up unexpectedly too?" He tripped over his words at the last second, hastily glancing down at me. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. What were they trying to hide?

"No one else is coming," Mom reassured him, her arms tightening around her. "And what's done is done. I want them to be here now." Her chin jutted out slightly in stubbornness.

Jake and Mom stared each other down for a while and I held my breath. Jake was slightly glaring at her as if reciting the same argument, "This is insane and stupid!" In his head over and over. Mom was pleading for him to accept the decision and understand what was happening. I was looking back and forth between them like I was watching a tennis match, wondering who would cave first. When neither one of them was acting like they were going to budge, I quietly said, "I don't want to leave our home."

That worked almost immediately on Jacob. I tried not to manipulate him in that way often. He was so concerned with making sure I always got what I wanted, but I really tried not to abuse that. But I really didn't want to leave. I loved this house and the freedom it brought with being surrounded by forest. We didn't have to hide here like in other places. And I didn't want to risk moving to another town entirely and losing all my friends. Finally, Jacob thawed his frustrated expression and sighed. He looked down at me with a sadness in his eyes I didn't understand. What was so bad about staying here? What was so bad about this family? He asked Mom, "So what's the new sleeping arrangements then? I can imagine everyone will want their rooms back."

Alice came dancing down the stairs, towing a glowering Jasper behind her. Jacob's hands start to tremble on my arms, but he clenched them in fists to try and calm the tremors. As she landed on the last step, Jake pushed me slightly behind him and stood protectively around me. It made it hard to see the small woman around his huge frame. Alice said, "We can figure it out when we get back with Carlisle and Esme. We're heading out to pick them up now. Rose and Emmett should also be there in another hour or so." She ignored Jacob's glaring and protective posture as she led Jasper out and to the car.

"Fucking bloodsuckers," Jacob muttered as they drove off.

I smacked his arm. "Rude," I scolded. He grinned sheepishly and I rolled my eyes but smiled none the less. I could never stay angry at his goofy face. I sniffed him gently and wrinkled my nose. "Jake, you reek."

"I've been running around in the forest all day!" He said. "I'm not exactly going to smell like roses, you know."

"That's for sure. You smell like wet dog."

"All right you two," Mom butted in. "Jake, go take a shower and a nap. Nessie, you do still need a least a little bit of sleep too. Jake's home and safe. Come on." She took my hand and led me away from Jacob and into my room.

I wanted to fight against her hold on me to stay with Jake. I didn't want to let him out of my sight after today and I had so many questions buzzing around my mind for him. But now that she mentioned it, all I could think about was how tired I was. The anxiety had really taken it's toll on my body. I crawled into bed and under the covers. Mom sat on top of the covers to keep me from getting too cold from the temperature of her own skin. I laid my head in her lap and let me eyes close. I felt her fingers in my hair, brushing gently through it as I let my exhaustion take hold.

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