Jake's hand was still hovering over the doorknob when she opened her eyes, his expression bewildered. "Uh... Okay, then. I'll leave you alone." With that, he stepped out of her room and shut the door behind him. She let go of a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and walked over to her enormous window; it overlooked the forest that was basically their backyard. She sat down on the windowsill and just gazed outside, an odd feeling in her chest had been creeping up since she woke up and she felt strange.

Not two minutes had passed when her mother, Bella, came bursting through the door. It would've startled Nessie if she didn't have enhanced hearing, but she could hear her coming up the stairs. "Can you explain to me why you were shouting at Jake?" She demanded. Nessie rolled her eyes at the window. This was not what she needed.

"Mom, can we not do this right now? I'm gonna get ready for school." Nessie started heading to her closet to pick out an outfit.

"Not do this right now? Renesmee, it's not like you to blow up like that" Bella's tone was concerned.

"I know. I'm sorry." Nessie responded from the inside of her closet.

"Don't apologize to me; I'm not the one you yelled at." Bella said. Nessie moved her clothes to her bed, while grabbing her bag of toiletries and stopped in front of her mother.

"I'll apologize for my tone later." Bella gave her a look. "What?"

"You'll apologize for everything is what I'm hoping you meant." Bella said.

Nessie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "No, I think I was pretty clear with everything I said and I'm not sorry for it." This earned a disapproving look from Bella.

"Renesmee." She warned.

"I'm going to shower now. Like I said, I don't want to talk about this right now." Nessie headed towards the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

"Jake doesn't deserve that, you know." Bella said from the other side before leaving. This made Nessie angry again. On the rare occasions that Nessie had done something or acted out against Jacob, which hadn't been more than once or twice in her lifetime, Bella always took his side. Granted, those times had been childish tantrums hat Nessie had thrown that Jacob ended up giving into, but this time was different. Nessie wasn't a child anymore and this wasn't a tantrum.

Finals week at school was going pretty smoothly for her, which wasn't a surprise considering Nessie had been home schooled by her family before she had turned a year old. Carlisle had taught her more than she would ever learn from any high school teacher and Jasper had made sure she knew everything about the history of the United States that wasn't in the textbooks. Her father, Edward, had given her music lessons for as long as she could remember, probably making her the next best candidate to join Julliard.

School was more of a social experiment for her. Nessie was curious about normal human interactions and once she had proven to both know how to handle herself in front of humans and control her abilities, she'd gotten the clear from her family to join the high school in the nearby town. Everyone else had opted for college since they had been through high school way more times than anyone should, except for Bella, but she decided on college as well.

"Have you decided what you're doing this summer? I'm dying for this week to be over. I can't wait to feel the sand under my feet and the blinding sun." Nessie's friend, Natalia had family in the Dominican Republic and would spend part of her summers there every year. Nessie smiled at her friend's enthusiasm.

"I haven't decided yet, but I really do want to travel." The school cafeteria was buzzing with kids talking excitedly about the end of the school year.

"I'm sure Carlisle will let you go anywhere you want, you can even go to the Dominican and visit me if you want." Natalie's tone was hopeful, but Nessie knew that exposing herself under the sun in front of humans was on the top of the no-no list.

"You know, the beach isn't really my thing." Nessie turned her down lightly. "But it's nice to know I have the option."

"Okay but if you change your mind, hit me up." They giggled and went back to eating their lunch and going over their notes before the bell signaled it was time for their final test of the school year.

They were walking to the parking lot and Nessie was fishing for her car keys in her bag, when Natalia tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Jake's here." Nessie's head shot up way to fast for human eyes to see, earning a disapproving look from him when their eyes met. "Is everything okay?"

Nessie narrowed her eyes. "I don't know, I hope so." Natalie said goodbye and headed over to her car. "What are you doing here, Jake?" Nessie asked while she opened the door to her car.

"You might want to think about how fast you're whipping your head around your friends, Ness. You don't wanna give them a whiplash, eh?" He joked.

Nessie rolled her eyes at him. "Sorry about that. I wasn't exactly expecting you to show up here." She placed her hand on her hips.

"Right. I just wanted to talk to you before you got home, face to face you know?" He leaned against the hood of her Mini Cooper.

Nessie frowned in confusion. "Talk about what, Jake? This morning? Look, I'm really sorry I snapped at you, I shouldn't have yelled. But I did mean what I said."

"I know, that's why I gave you some space." Jake stated matter-of-factly.

"You didn't give me any space, you just let me drive myself to school." Nessie's anger was spiking again. She really needed to control her temper, she'd never had to before but recently it had become a priority.

"That's not space? What kind of space do you want, then?" Nessie huffed and got in the car, shutting the door. Jake walked around and got in the passenger seat while she turned on the engine. "I really don't get why you're mad at me."

Nessie pulled out of the parking lot and started back home before speaking. "You know what I don't get? Why, for the first time since I can remember, you can't seem to understand what I'm saying to you." She was gripping the steering wheel tight enough to make her knuckles go white.

"I'm trying to, but you just keep getting riled up! I get that you want to be on your own or whatever, but you know I can't stay away for too long. You're my whole life, Nessie, you know that." Jake's eyes were sincere and Nessie thought about his words. She was sure anyone in the entire world would die to have a guy like Jacob say something like that to them. She knew Natalia would.

Nessie took a few steadying breaths and focused on the road ahead. She knew the way back home well enough to not have to focus at all, but avoiding Jake's eyes had suddenly become a top priority to her. "I know." She whispered, answering his previous statement.

"You know what I think would make you feel better, Ness?" Jake offered.

"What's that?" Nessie asked.

"I think we should go on a trip. Just you and me. We can go anywhere you want, I can talk to your dad if you're worried about him saying no." Nessie looked at him for a few seconds before turning her gaze back to the road. She was sure a trip with Jake would be a great time, but at the moment she was in need of the exact opposite. "What? You don't think it's a good idea?"

She sighed. "I think it's a great idea, but-"

"Cool! I'll talk to your dad as soon as we get home, I think he's there right now. If not, I'll tell him as soon as he gets back from class." Jacob cut in before she could finish.

"BUT" Nessie said, raising her volume. Jacob stopped long enough to look at her in surprise. "I don't want to go on a trip right now. I don't even know what I want to do this summer, I may or may not go somewhere with Alice or Rose."

Jake's breath came out in a huff and he crossed his arms over his chest. "I just don't get why you won't include me in any of your plans."

"I always include you in every single one of my plans, Jacob. I even take you to all my school events." Nessie reasoned.

"Well yeah, but that was before. For the past few weeks you've been trying your hardest to push me away from you." He sounded annoyed, which was a different reaction than what Nessie had been getting from him recently. She immediately felt guilty and angry about it.

"I'm not pushing you away. I'm giving myself some space from you so I won't get sick of you. There's a difference, Jake." She said in a steady voice. Jake seemed to think about it for a second.

By then, they had already turned the corner that lead to the front yard of the Cullen Manor. Nessie slowed down to park her car near the entrance. There was more than enough space for all the Cullen cars in the garage, but she always preferred parking outside.

"You never got sick of me before." Jacob mumbled before getting out of the car and heading for the door. He didn't wait for her. Nessie sighed and gathered herself before heading for the house.

She was greeted at the door by Esme. "How was your last day?" She asked with a warm smile, hugging her.

"It was fine. I'm glad I finally get some time off." She smiled back at her grandmother. The woman could make her heart melt just by looking at her. One of Esme's many talents, in Nessie's opinion.

They started heading for the living room, where Jasper was sitting with a book in his hand. Jacobb wasn't there, probably having headed to the guest bedroom. "Do you have any idea of what you want to do this summer?"

"No, not at all. But I do think I wanna travel somewhere." Jasper raised his gaze to meet hers and gave her a small smile. Something in his eyes told her he knew something wasn't right.

"Let me know as soon as you think of a place so I can make arrangements for you." She kissed Nessie's forehead and left her in the living room with Jasper. Her heels barely making a sound as she walked away.

Nessie considered going straight to her room, but decided against it. She just stood in front of the staircase and observed her uncle for a few moments.

"Jacob seems upset." He commented, his gaze back on his book. Nessie nodded her head slowly to herself. "And you're angry again." Nessie looked up and locked eyes with Jasper.

"Yeah, that seems to be a recurring theme as of late." She sighed and walked further into the living room. Jasper watched her in silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"I know. What I don't know is why." He said. Nessie turned her gaze away, avoiding his gentle gaze.

"It's stupid, I don't wanna talk about it right now." She mumbled. Jasper closed his book and set it on the coffee table. He walked over to Nessie and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm going for a walk, would you care to join me?" Nessie nodded in response and they headed for the glass doors in the back wall of the room. Jasper's request had more than one meaning, the main one being that leaving the house meant they could talk freely without Esme or Jacob hearing them.

They walked side by side in silence for a long time. They kept a steady pace at human speed until they were far enough from the house. Nessie waited for her uncle to speak first, knowing he'd want some answers from her. She kept walking beside him in silence, waiting.

"Are you happy school is over?" Jasper asked, breaking the silence. Nessie smile a little bit. Small talk wasn't Jasper's forte, but she knew what he was trying to do.

"Yeah." She answered.

"Are your friends staying home for the summer or are they traveling?" Nessie didn't get to hang out with her human friends as often as she would like, but mostly it was due to the fact that most of the times she got invited somewhere she either had other plans with her family or Jacob wanted to tag along. Having him around all the time usually didn't bother her friends, but when the girls wanted to do something without the boys it was a problem.

"Natalia is going to the Dominican with her family like she always does, but I think the others are staying. At least for now they are." She said.

"Oh, that's too bad. I know you really enjoy spending time with her." He offered. "But you can make plans with the other, too." She smiled up at him. He was really trying.

"Yeah, you're right." Nessie said. "I know what you're doing." She added.

"Do you?" Jasper asked with an innocent look on his face. Nessie giggled in response. "And what is that?"

"Yeah, I do." She said. "You're trying to get me to talk about my feelings."

Jasper smiled apologetically and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Is it working?"

"A little bit." Nessie said. "Your small talk skills need some improvement, though."

Jasper chuckled at her teasing. They slowed their pace a bit more and Jasper turned more serious after a few moments.

"I can get a reading about how you're feeling, but I don't know the reasons behind your emotions." He said.

"I know." Nessie answered. She waited for him to continue.

"So far, I know that for the past few weeks you've been feeling stressed and angry." He continued. "There's also a great deal of guilt. I imagine it stems from the stress and anger."

They came to a stop after a few seconds. Jasper looked at Nessie, his gaze calm as always, but deeply concerned.

"I can also tell that the main source of all that stress has been Jacob." He added quietly. He waited for Nessie's response. She took a deep breath and looked away.

She gathered her thoughts for a few moments. It was difficult for her to talk about this, but if anyone was going to understand her point of view it would be Jasper. He always understood her, no matter what.

"You're right. About all of it." She said. She shrugged. "I honestly don't know what else to say about it. You pretty much summed it up yourself."

"Why is he making you feel that way?" Jasper asked. "Has he done something in particular or is it something else?"

Nessie thought about her response for a moment. "No, he hasn't done anything in particular. At least nothing different than what he's always done."

"Alright." Jasper said. "Why do you think it's affecting you now?"

"I don't know, it just is." She said quickly. Jasper's eyebrows drew closer and caused Nessie to think about her response. "Actually... I do know why, I just don't know if you'd understand."

"Try me." He urged. Nessie looked at him, pondering. She decided it was time she told someone. She wondered where she should start. These were things she had thought to herself before, but she never had the need to organize those thoughts to try and explain to someone.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Jasper offered, answering her inner turmoil.

"Okay, that's a good idea." She said. "I guess... I should've seen this coming, you know? I grew up watching Jacob and his friends from the pack and I've always known. Even though you guys have never said anything about it, I've always known somehow."

"Known what?" Jasper asked. Nessie looked at him with sad eyes.

"All the imprints, they end up together." She said. "As in couple together. Except for the ones who've imprinted on babies. But that's because they're babies, obviously. I'm sure as soon as they're old enough, they'll get together."

Nessie expected Jasper to seem surprised at her reveal, but he only seemed concerned. Maybe she hadn't been as discrete as she'd thought.

"Nessie, you don't have to feel pressured into anything. We don't expect anything from you, and Jacob doesn't either." He comforted her.

"No, let me finish. I know that Jake isn't waiting for me to suddenly fall in love with him. That's extremely clear, trust me." She said. "What I'm trying to say is that even though I've always known, I also kind of expected to someday wake up and things would have fallen into place the way they're supposed to. I mean, all my girlfriends are always telling me how attractive Jacob is and I get it. I mean, I'm not blind, and I know him better than anyone. I know he's funny and loyal and he'd do anything for me."

"But?" Jasper interjected.

"But... I just don't feel that way." She managed. "I'm angry and I'm stressed because I know that Jacob's entire life revolves around me. Every single breath he takes, he does it thinking about me first and that' lovely for the most part. But I also can't help but feel a bit jealous every time one of my friends goes on a first date or tells a story about buying coffee for a pretty girl at the coffee shop. And it's silly because I obviously can't just go out on a date with a random human, regardless of Jake being a part of the equation or not."

"You want that freedom." Jasper said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I do, but I don't want that freedom for me." She reasoned. "Jacob isn't going to be around forever, Jazz. He's human. He isn't aging right now for some reason, but someday he will and I can't even begin to think about what that would mean to me. Even if, by any chance, things were to work out between us and we ended up getting involved he'd die and I'd live. What's fair about that?"

Jasper seemed surprised at her words. It took a few beats before he said anything. "Ness, I had no idea you were thinking like that." He said. "I know it seems really scary to you right now, but you don't need to be angry about it. You'll never know what could happen tomorrow."

"I'm not angry about the finality of Jacob's life." She said, her voice sounding harsher than she intended. "I'm angry because he doesn't have a life outside of mine. I'm not interested in him, romantically speaking, and I don't think he'll be interested in me either as long as I feel that way. But he should be aloud to do whatever he wants, he should be allowed to have a life."

"He's happy with his life now." Jasper said.

"I know that." Nessie replied. "He's happy because he's wired that way. He's going to be happy with whatever life I can offer him and that's just wrong. And every time I feel like I need to be away from him I feel guilty for being so selfish, but then I feel angry for feeling guilty. I want to be able to feel however I want to feel without constantly having to justify it."

"And I can't just tell him to go get himself a girlfriend because he won't. I know deep down that he won't seek out a life that doesn't revolve around me. I honestly don't know what to do and he keeps following me around and just smothering me and I know he can't help it." She continued. "And I need him. I need him around all the time like that. The imprint makes it a physical need for me to have him around all the time, even when I'm sick and tired of seeing his face."

Jasper seemed surprised to hear all of this. Nessie took one look at his face and the guilt immediately set in. "Oh my god." She whispered, feeling more ashamed than she ever had before. "I'm a horrible person, I can't believe I just said all that!" Her hands flew to her mouth. "I'm a horrible, horrible person. I'm so sorry, Jazz. I'm a horrible person." She started pacing around repeating the word 'I'm a horrible person' over and over again. She kept going for a few moments like that until Jasper grabbed her shoulders and stopped her mid sentence.

"Hey, hey stop!" He said. "Renesmee, you need to stop. You're not a horrible person, don't you ever say something like that ever again." Nessie felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She felt so ashamed, but everything she had just told him where her deepest thoughts and she knew that. It made her feel terrible. "Please, don't do this to yourself. You've enough to handle already."

Jasper drew her into a tight hug and she buried her face in his chest. He held her like that until she calmed down enough to listen to him. "I don't know what do, Jasper. What should I do?" She said, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"I dunno, darlin'" He said, apologetically. "I really wish I knew what to say, but right now all I can come up with is that it'll work out somehow. You'll be just fine, I know it."

"How do you know?" Nessie asked.

"Because I believe in you and I know that you're the most pure-hearted person I've ever met." Jasper replied. Nessie stayed in his arms for a little while longer.

The sun had begun to set when she pulled away from him. Jasper stroked her cheek and smiled down at her. "Do you feel any better?" Nessie gave him a weak smile.

"You tell me." She said, back to her regular joking. Jasper chuckled.

"Let's go back to the house, I'm sure most of our family should be back by now." Nessie nodded and followed him back towards the Cullen manor. The others had either work or afternoon classes, but it was about time for them to be back. Nessie knew she would have to deal with her father reading her mind, even if she blocked her thoughts from him. Jasper wasn't as good at it as she was and Edward knew enough to keep close tabs on him whenever he wanted to know something about his daughter.

They reached the house in just a few minutes running. Jasper had a weird expression on his face as soon as they were in hearing range, but before Nessie could ask him about it, they were already walking through the glass doors into the living room.

Alice practically jumped on Nessie the second she set foot into the house. "We've been waiting for you two!" She chirped. "How was your last day of finals?"

"It was good." Nessie said. "We were just-"

She heard a conversation going on in the kitchen and very quickly, she understood Jasper's weird facial expression from before. It was Jacob and her parents; it sounded like Jacob was trying to convince them about some sort of trip. Nessie's blood boiled under her skin as she stalked into the kitchen.

"Renesmee, there you are!" Bella said. "Jacob was just telling us about-"

"What do you think you're doing?" She snapped at Jake. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Renesmee." Edward warned her.

"I was just telling your parents about our plans of going on a trip together now that you're off school." Jacob said, innocently.

"What trip are you talking about Jacob?" Nessie asked.

"What do you mean 'what trip'?" He said. "We were talking about it this afternoon, kid."

"No no, I told you that I didn't want to go." She said quickly.

"I just thought if I talked to your parents for you, it would take a bit of the load off you." He explained. "And you said it was a great idea."

"I said it was a great idea, but I don't want to." Nessie said in a hard voice. "And the only load I need off of me is you! You need to back the hell off!"

"Hey!" Bella rose from her seat. "Apologize right now, Renesmee!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Nessie exclaimed.

Edward rose from his seat as well. "Renesmee, calm down!" He said.

"See? This is what I keep telling you, Ness. You keep blowing up for no reason." Jake intervened.

"For no reason? Are you hearing yourself?" She said, exasperated. "I told you specifically that the only thing I maybe wanted to do was travel somewhere with Alice or Rose."

"Well then, you can bring Jacob along with you." Bella offered. Nessie's head whipped in her direction.

"No!" Her voice rose again.

"Why not? He's your imprint!" She replied. "And stop yelling!"

"Bella." Edward stepped in. "Renesmee, you need to stop screaming. If you don't want to go on a trip with Jacob, you don't have to. But you can't yell at us for trying to offer a solution."

"Look, we can figure something else out." Jacob said. "We'll talk it out, okay? There's plenty of time, kid."

"I told you." Nessie said through her teeth. "DON'T CALL ME KID."

"Renesmee, get back here!" Bella called after her.

"Let her go, Bella." Edward said. With that, Nessie stormed upstairs to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

She leaned back against the door and slid down until she was sitting on the ground. Her mind was racing, she needed to regain control before her dad fished out any stray thoughts. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, focus.

Her breath slowly began to deepen and she felt her heart slow down significantly. She hadn't realized how fast it was beating before. She opened her eyes and looked around her. "I need to get out of here." She whispered to herself.

Later that night, her parents decided to hunting nearby. It was Friday, so they didn't need to head back to class the next day and they told Nessie they would give her some space to think about the things she'd said earlier. Alice and Emmet went with them. Jacob was instructed by Edward to keep his distance from Nessie for the night. He decided to phase and go for a run through the woods.

As soon as Nessie felt them all a safe distance away and the house went back to being silent, she made a decision that would forever change the course of her life.

She didn't know how long she had until someone realized what she was planning, but she knew that as long as Jacob's future was mixed with hers she was safe from Alice's visions. She went through her closet and grabbed three sets of clothes and stuffed them inside an empty backpack. She grabbed her wallet and checked her debit cards. She would need money, but she knew credit cards were traceable, so she ditched those. She would have to take out cash from a cashier somewhere.

She left her cellphone in her night stand and grabbed a few more essentials and stuffed them in her backpack. She tried to make as little noise as possible while she ran around. Her hands were trembling in fear. It was only a matter of time until Jasper sensed the whirlwind of emotions she was going through and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to face him when he did. She knew he'd try to stop her, and she also knew he'd be successful. She didn't even take a last look at her bedroom before she opened the glass doors that led to her balcony. She jumped off easily and landed in the back yard.

She ran into the woods and immediately stopped herself. Jacob was in there somewhere and she could feel it. She would have to run around the house and head in the opposite direction if she wanted to get away fast, so she did. She made it off the Cullen's property and ran all the way through the nearby town without being seen. She was back in the forests in no time and kept going as fast as her feet could carry her. She had no idea if anyone in the house had noticed her gone and was following her, but she didn't stop to check either.

She ran for a good 45 minutes and reached a clearing. She noticed something there and came to halting stop once she realized it was a man. She was panting and her eyes were wide in shock as she noticed it was exactly who she didn't want to see.

"I heard you open the doors to your balcony." Jasper said in a cool voice. He stood with his hands in his pockets.

"You heard me leave?" Nessie asked, panicking.

"I did." Jasper answered and looked down. He looked sad, or maybe he was disappointed. "But I knew you would even before that."

Nessie was shacking at this point. She didn't know if it was possible for her to have a panic attack, but she felt like she would. "Did the others hear me too?"

"I don't think they did, but they'll know soon." He replied. He stepped closer to her and she took a step back in return. Jasper looked sad again, or disappointed.

"Please, don't." Nessie warned him. "I can't go back."

Jasper looked at her for a moment and then proceeded to take something out of his pocket. Nessie flinched, alarmed.

"Are you gonna call them?!" She gasped, but Jasper held up his wallet so she could see. Nessie felt her eyebrows draw together in confusion.

"I understand why you'd want to leave without saying good bye, but I couldn't help myself." He walked closer to her and took something out of his wallet. He extended his arm out towards her, trying to hand her a black credit card. "Take it. I'll arrange for the bank not to block it if you use it in another country and you can destroy it afterwards if you don't want me to trace it back to you." Nessie slowly took the card from his hand and he immediately handed her a debit card as well. "There's enough money in this one to last you for a while, take out as much as you need."

"Why are you doing this?" Nessie asked him. She couldn't believe he was actually helping her escape. Jasper gave her a small smile.

"I told you before. I believe in you." He said. "And I want to make sure you'll have everything you need." Nessie felt a single tear roll down her cheek and before she could stop herself, she crashed into Jasper's arms and hugged him as tight as she could.

"I'm so sorry, Jazz." She said. "I have to get away, I have to do this." He returned her hug.

"I know." He said. "We've all felt overwhelmed at some point. It's not easy to live the way we do, I can't imagine what it must be like for you."

Nessie gave him one last squeeze and loosened her grip so she could step back. "I'll come back, I promise. I just need to take some time off."

Jasper smiled in return. "I know." He said. "But you need to leave now if you want to make it wherever it is that you're headed."

"I still haven't decided where I'm going." Nessie said.

"That's alright, I just needed to make sure you'd be alright." Jasper replied. "Please promise me that if you sense another vampire close to you, you'll run away immediately. Not everybody is as friendly as we are."

"I will, I promise." Nessie said quickly. "I'll try to stay among humans most of the time, that way I'll lower my chances of finding someone like you."

"Okay." He said. "You need to go now, Nessie." With that, he gave her a kiss on the forehead and let her go. Nessie took a deep breath and started heading off in the same direction she'd been going before.

"Nessie!" Jasper called out. She turned around. "I don't know if this is too much to ask, but could you please call me every once in a while? So I can know you're okay?" Nessie considered it for a moment.

"I'll try." She said. She turned back around and she was running again. She knew that not making any decisions would further help her confuse Alice's visions, so for as long as she could she just kept running forward. She thought about Jasper and the trouble he'd be in with the family once they knew what he'd done. "Thank you." She whispered in the air.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter and how long it turned out. I needed to get the story going, so I ended up cramming two chapters in one. The next chapter we'll find out if the Cullens and Jacob are able to catch up with Nessie or not.

Hope you all enjoy how the story is going so far, I know it has nothing to do with the description yet, but we'll get there.

Till next time.