As promised, Chapter 12 {Apply Disclaimer Here}

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(Chapter Twelve)

I couldn't let my family find out what happened. I didn't want them to see me crying, so I parked the car far down the fern-lined path to the house and trudged through the thick brush until I came to the waterfall. I sat by the edge, letting the spray soak me. I didn't bother to warm the water, it couldn't be any colder than my insides at this point.

I blew it with Jacob. I got scared like I always did and I tried to fix it and it lead to disaster. I should have heard him out when he wanted to apologize. I should have explained my past, in full, and made him understand why Cullens meant so much to me. But I was too hasty and now I was paying the price. I pulled my knees up to my chin and felt hot tears roll down my face.

"Ivy?" A gentle voice beckoned.

I turned away from Esme's voice and hid my tear-stained face. "Hey, Esme." I said, trying to sound lighthearted.

"Jasper told me to come out here and check on you." She said, sitting next to me. Great, I should have known Jazz could feel my despair from here. "What's wrong honey, why are you crying?"

I turned to her then and saw the compassion in her eyes and squeezed mine shut. "I used magic to try to make Jacob stop loving me and it backfired." I blurted, desperately needing to confide in someone. But not just anyone. I needed to confide in my mom.

Esme's widened with alarm. "Magic?" I nodded shame-faced. "Oh, Ivy. Are you both alright?"

"It nearly killed him." I choked. "He's okay now, I reversed the spell, but he's mad at me. Really mad." I cradled my head in my hands. "I was stupid! And now he'll hate me forever. I betrayed his trust. And if anyone knows how hard restoring trust is, it's me." A new batch of tears escaped and Esme pulled me in a tight hug.

"Imprinted or not, he could never hate you, sweetie. And trust can be reforged if you both work at it together." She assured me.

"You didn't see him." I insisted. "He said he wanted space from me. I'll probably never see him again."

"Are you in love with him?" She asked carefully.

My eyes filled with fat tears again, much to my annoyance. When did I become such a girl? "I don't know." I admitted. "But I think I could have if I hadn't been so scared."

"Scared of how he felt?"

"Scared of him leaving." I confessed, wiping my eyes. "Dad was supposed to love me unconditionally, but he left me on those orphanage steps and I never heard from him again. And when everyone said Jacob's love was permanent, I got scared. And after I found out I was just a replacement for this Renesmee girl, I was terrified. I didn't want to fall in love with a guy who was just going to leave me for something better in a year or two. I don't think I could survive that twice in one lifetime."

Esme squeezed me tight, too tight for me to breathe, then loosened her hold. "I know how scary love can be. I felt like I didn't deserve Carlisle's love when we first met. He was just so wonderful and strong. Stronger than all of us. Here he was changing everything we thought we knew about vampirism and I there I was, busy trying to end my own life." I sat up and stared at her. This was very new information.

"It's true," She said with a sad smile. "but Carlisle gave me second chance at life. Through him I became a beloved wife and a devoted mother of six beautiful children." I got all warm and fuzzy inside because I knew I was that sixth child. "My point, little one, is that life will surprise you when you least expect it. So keep your chin up and your eye out for that silver lining." She wiped my tears with gentle fingers. "Alright?"

"Alright." I took a deep breath and sat up. "I love you, Esme."

She smiled from ear to ear; it was absolutely breathtaking. "And I love you. Everything will work out for the best, you'll see."

The hug that ensued after these sweet words was interrupted my biggest (but not necessarily oldest) brother. "Ivy! Let's play!" Emmett called. I jumped to my feet and used some water to wipe away my mascara and make the puffiness in eyes and nose fade away so he wouldn't notice.

"Okay." I said, with a wink to Esme. "What do you want to do, E?"

He trudged to the edge of the edge of the waterfall and gave it a thoughtful look. "I challenge you to a race. Whoever makes it to the top first wins."

"Child's play." I scoffed. "What do I get when I win?"

He grinned, "When I win, you have to post a picture of me on your Facebook and say "Emmet is the best person on the planet and I'm unworthy to live under the same roof.'"

I threw back my head and laughed. "What!? How do you come up with stuff like that?"

He tapped his temple with a sly smile. "I'm a secret genius up here. So, you in or not?"

"Sure, sure." I agreed, my throat almost closing around the words, but I pressed on. "But if I win, I want you to bring me pizza to school tomorrow and wait on me hand and foot like a servant. I'm so sick of those nasty lunches. Who did they hire to cook there anyway? Ex-cons with a specialty in prison gross?" Emmett chortled, but agreed to my terms. We jumped down and made our way to the base of the waterfall, each of us rolling up our sleeves and giving each other menacing looks. We had an audience by then. Alice, Jazz, Edward, Bella, Rose, Esme, and Carlisle stood at the top cheering us on. Half for Emmett, half for me.

"On your mark," Carlisle called, "Get set! GO!"

Emmett bolted forward too fast for me to track. I dove into the waterfall, feeling the pressure of several tons of water nearly crush me. I reversed the current in a single tube that shot straight up and propelled myself up fast; fast enough to made my ears pop as the altitude changed. I shot out of the top twenty feet and screamed at the top of my lungs, bringing the water up to catch me before I crashed back down. I landed with a splash and looked around. "Did I win?"

"Not a chance, little sister." Emmett said next to me. He was soaking wet, hair matted to his head, but his posture was casual as he rested on a large rock jutting out over the edge of the fall. If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd been waiting for hours. "I win! In your face!"

"Dammit!" I growled. "I had to have been close though, right?"

"Not really!" Jasper yelled from the bottom.

"Well, joke's on you Emmett, because I don't have a Facebook." I grinned impishly.

"Damn it! That's cheating!" Emmet yelled and smashed his fist down on a rock and it split in half with an unnerving sound.

I rolled my eyes. "That'll teach me to bet on a race with a vampire. The temper tantrums are a bitch." I smiled smugly when I got a laugh from all the vampires in the immediate area.

"Ivy, that looked so awesome. You've gotta let me try that!" Emmett said, done with the bragging and pouting and ready to play some more.

"The water-tunnel-canon-thing I just invented?" I said, and he nodded eagerly. "Sure thing. Race you to the bottom!" I chucked myself over the edge of the waterfall, and bent the falling water out and froze it to make a smooth slide all the way to the bottom.

My audience clapped in appreciation and I bowed when I reached the bottom. "This is awesome!" Emmett yelled, getting a running start to go down the slide. He was about half way down when I melted the water. He crashed to earth with enough force to knock me off my feet. I laughed until my sides ached.

One at a time, I shot my family up the water-tube-cannon-thing (now dubbed the 'water catapult') until I was aching from head to toe from laughing and using my muscles to manipulate the heavy current. We were all soaked to the skin, I was tired, but remained in in the highest of spirits as we scooted down the frozen waterfall slide (this time everyone made it to the bottom, although I was tempted to let Bella drop just to see Edward's reaction, but I didn't have a death wish) and started the trek back to the house. We were just chatting and joking around, Emmett and Edward shoving each other hard enough to knock over baby saplings, when a tall figure stepped from the woods.

It did not escape my notice that I was the only one who was truly surprised by his unannounced arrival. "Jacob?" I asked, looking between him and my family warily. I so did not have the energy to break up a werewolf/vampire fight right now.

"Hey, Ivy." He said, hands in his pockets. He had no shirt or no shoes, just wore a pair of low-slung jeans. He must have shifted and run here which would explain the lack of clothing. My eyes drank in the sight of his muscled arms, chest, and shoulders. All the thick, chorded muscles were perfectly defined. Like, I-probably-could-have-counted-his-abs-in-the-dark defined. Why did he have to be so freaking hot? It wasn't fair! I stepped a bit closer to him, the eyes of my siblings and parents boring into my back. "How long have you been watching us?" I dreaded the answer.

He shrugged, his eyes on me, not giving my family the slightest bit of hostile attention - which was good. "I followed you as soon as you left my house. So… the whole time, basically."

My face flamed with mortification. "Did you eavesdrop on my conversation with Esme?" I demanded.

He met my stare evenly. "Yes. And I'm glad I heard it, Ivy. You never would've said that stuff to me in a million years."

I rounded on my family, my eyes landing on Alice's all-too-innocent look. "You knew he was out there, didn't you?!"

Carlisle answered, confirming my suspicions. "Alice foresaw Jacob arrive and speak to you. We knew he needed to see us together as a family. We all discussed a way to give him the peace he needed and agreed to act like he wasn't there."

"So this whole family bonding was all for show?"

Emmett snorted. "If it was for show, I might've let you win because I'd feel guilty."

I nodded after a moment. "True." I looked back at Jacob. He didn't seem malicious toward my family, he wasn't even glaring at them or, more importantly, me. "Will y'all give us a minute?" I asked.

There was a communal 'sure' before my family ran home with their full strength, Bella has Edward's human backpack. All but Emmett, who speared Jacob with a single look. "Make my sister cry again, and I'll rip out your spine. Got it?"

Jake bristled and I tensed, ready for a fight, but the werewolf surprised me by extending his hand to Emmett. "If I make her cry again, I'll come to you myself." Emmett smiled, impressed, and shook his hand. Then he was gone. His burly frame melting into the tree line like a wraith.

"Jake," I blurted out as soon as we were alone. "I'm so sorry. I should have never used magic on you. It was so stupid and we're lucky there was a cure. I mean, I could have killed you! And not to mention the frail trust between us is completely—"

"Hey, hey hey. It's alright." He interrupted, stepped closer and running his thumb down my cheek. I leaned into the warmth, immediately feeling calm. I guess that little trick worked both ways… \"I forgive you, Ivy. I forgave you as soon as you walked out my front door."

"You did?" I said in a small voice.

"Yes." He cupped my face in his hands, his brown eyes peering into mine so tenderly I could forget myself in them. "I followed you here and I heard what you said to Esme about being afraid and I saw you interact with the Cullens and, even though my heart almost gave out a few times when Emmett threw you up in the air sixty feet, I could see how much they care for you and vice versa. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge."

I threw my arms around him and squeezed as tight as my sore muscles could manage. "Thank you. You don't know what it means to hear you say that."

"I love you, Ivy Adair." He said simply. "I always will. It might seem strange to you, but to me it's more natural than breathing. You are not a replacement for some girl who doesn't exist and you can rest assured that I will always be here. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth and beyond. Your hold on me is permanent and unbreakable."

I put my hand around the nape of his neck and pulled his lips down to meet mine in a gentle, but smoldering kiss. Relief filled me from head to toe and then some as his strong arms wrapped around my waist, picking me up off my feet to equalize our different heights. "I'll never try to magic your feelings away again." I promised, winding my fingers in his hair.

"I'd appreciate that." He smiled against my lips.

And I think that was when I started to fall in love with Jacob Black.

Ahhh! I loved writing this chapter.

I hope you all liked it. I've been carefully planning the next several chapters and I'll be updating later this week.

P.S. Forgive any grammatical errors. I caught a few, but some always manage to slip through the cracks.