Chapter 2: Jacob

I couldn't believe it. My mind was having an extremely hard time grasping the truth, let alone accepting it. Jacob was here. Those thoughts kept running through my mind as I raced back into the forest with some men's clothes I'd bought from the store.

Jacob was still in the exact same spot where I'd left him. I pinched myself to make sure that I was awake. Yes. Definitely wide awake. I wasn't dreaming. I threw the clothes to him and he caught it effortlessly.

"Thank you," he said. He then started to get dressed.

"Jacob when was the last time you ate a decent meal," he had definitely lost way too much weight over the years.

"It's been a few days. I think. It's impossible to keep track of time. Regular meals are hard to come by as a wolf,"

I shook my head in horror. "Come with me and we'll get some cheeseburgers or something,"

He smiled. "I haven't had one of those in-wait-what year is it anyway? Last I remember it was 2006,"

"It's 2019. It's been nearly thirteen years since that God awful day. You've really been a wolf all this time? You never phased back once?" I had a hard time wrapping my mind that he'd been living wild all these years.

"Nope," he said.

"But why?" I kicked a nearby rock as we started walking.

"Being a wolf is easier than being human,"

I sighed. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that,"

"Human pain, emotional pain, is much easier to deal with as a wolf. When you're a wolf getting enough to eat and drink is your biggest worry. Wolves don't get emotional the way humans do. So being a wolf numbs the pain,"

"Pain of what,"

"Losing you,"

Whatever I was expecting him to say it sure as hell wasn't that. I didn't know what to say.

"But enough about me. I want to hear about you,"

I gulped nervously. "Well what do you want to know?"

"How you escaped? Why you never returned?"

My heart was racing and I was sure that he could hear it. We arrived at the restaurant just then. I pretended like I was admiring the Halloween decoration that had been carefully laid out around the diner. Really, though, I was biding my time and trying to choose my words carefully.

We were seated at our table right away. Once the waitress had left and I was facing Jacob I knew that I couldn't avoid his question any longer. "Because I thought it would be best if everyone believed that I was dead. All my birth did was cause trouble from the very beginning. I nearly killed my mom when I was born. Then after the mess with the Volturi I realized that everyone was better off without me around,"

Jacob became speechless. I knew my words weren't going to go over well. But my words were the truth. I believed and still believed that what I did back then was the right thing to do.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen do you realize how insane that sounds? You were the very best part of our lives how could you just-" Jacob's body was shaking. I sat there frozen in shock. Hearing my full name spoken out loud for the first time in thirteen years messed with my emotions so fast I couldn't even process what I was feeling.

"I'm sorry Jacob. I shouldn't have told you that. All I've done is upset you and we haven't even been reunited for two hours yet,"

"No," he shook his head in disagreement. "I'm glad that you told me the truth. Even if it is the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my life,"

Before we could say anything else on the topic the waitress came back to take our orders. I was in awe of the amount of food that he ordered. Jacob was equally shocked by my choice of double cheeseburger with fries and a strawberry milkshake.

"What?" I asked when I caught him staring at me as I took my first bite.

"I didn't think you were going to order food for yourself. I thought you couldn't stand the sight of human food. You wouldn't eat anything other than blood. When did that change?"

Damn. Right. My humanity. Then I laughed. "Now it's blood that I can't stand the sight of,"

Jacob looked at me as if I had just completely lost my mind. I took a deep breath. I dug around in my purse until I found the pills. "Thanks to these pills I've been fully human for the last thirteen years,"

"What-how-I mean what the fuck?" I almost laughed when Jacob cursed. He snatched the pills from my hand. "How-what-I mean-what?!"

"Jacob lower your voice," I scolded when several people looked at us in annoyance. "Let me explain," I said. I took a deep breath. "After I escaped I met this doctor who used to be a vampire and-"

"Used to-"

"Let me finish before interrupting me will you? Yes she used to be a vampire. She's a bit of a genius scientist. She invented this medicine that can cure vampirism if you will. Or in my case turn me fully human. The way it works is like this. When ingested medicine will enter the bloodstream and from there the blood will distribute the medicine throughout the body. This medicine will then infect every single cell in your body and turn you human. For a vampire its the venom that that carries the medicine throughout the body instead of blood. Infecting every part of the body until itis fully transformed,"

I put the pills back in my purse just as Jacob reached out for them. "How is that even possible?" he asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know the exact science behind what Dr. Brown did when she first created these pills,"

"and what would happen if you stop taking these pills?"

Again I shrugged. "I don't know. That's not something she has ever studied. So yeah, I have no idea. Only a handful of people actually know about her invention. But I'm definitely not her only customer,"

Our food arrived just then. Jacob was in awe when he saw me take my first bite without hesitation. My watch started vibrating. It was Austen calling me. I had forgotten all about my best friend. I searched through my purse for my phone. I took out numerous different items to get to my phone which was somehow at the bottom of my purse. It was too late. By the time I actually found my phone it had gone to voicemail.

"Damn it. I really should turn the ringer back on my phone,"

"How'd you even know that someone was calling you?"

"My Samsung smart watch silly,"

Jacob looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. "and what are these things?" he asked me.

"That's my Nintendo Switch and my iPad. I bring them with me everywhere I go,"

"What?" Jacob asked me with a very confused look on his face.

Then it hit me. "Oh that's right. You haven't seen civilization in thirteen years. Let's just say there have been a few technological advancements since you were last human. But don't worry. I'll have you all caught up in no time,"

"You get phone calls on your watch?"

"and text messages also among a few other things. That was Austen texting me,"

"Is that your boyfriend?"

"No but he is my best friend. We've known each other for about ten years now,"

"Oh I thought maybe he's the one who got you-well-nevermind,"

I blushed. Of course he could hear the baby's heartbeat.

"What are you thinking about now Jacob?" I could tell that he was deep in thought.

"That I need to let your family where you're at. I know exactly where there at. I crossed Bella's scent a few weeks ago. I'm going tonight,"

I felt my heart stop beating altogether.

"No. Jacob. Please. Just leave this alone. It's better to leave things the way they are. Everything is fine the way it is. My family doesn't need to know,"