"Hi Nessie!" Jacob greeted me with a smile, he seemed to be pleased that I appeared so happy.

He wore his usual work uniform, and like always it was covered in grease after spending the day underneath cars. Still, I found his scent to be both nice and comforting. "How was your day?" He asked, as he usually did. It was like a broken record, the two of us on the same day to day routine. Next he'd remove the smelly, greasy shirt from his body.

He did so, as I answered, "Fine." My heart never failed to skip a beat as I watched him remove his shirt. Only lately though did I start to feel that way though. Usually he'd come in and remove his shirt after a long day, and I would giggle as I ran up to him and hang off of his arm as he'd lift me up into the air. I was a little big for that now, and this was all getting a little awkward. So I averted my eyes and looked down at my feet as he tossed his shirt over a chair. He sat down on the couch beside me, looking at the blank television in confusion.

"What have you been up to all day?" He asked, laying back while putting one hand on my back.

I leaned into him, hoping to mask the fact that I was about to lie to him, "Nothing, really. Just some tv...and sleep..." my eyes flicked to the table where the scrapbook lay hidden under some papers. Jake's eyes followed mine, and noticed the tone in my voice was a little off.

He started to stand up saying, "Really? What's over there, then?" But as he stood up I grabbed his arms and yanked him back down, taking him off guard.

He gave me a stern look, and I frowned right back at him, "You never tell me about what goes on at work, so why don't you right now? You need to stop worrying about me and what I do all day." I said, somewhat accusingly. It seemed to work, and Jake relaxed against the couch again.

"Well," he started with a sigh. He continued to talk about some of the things that went on at work, knowing that I would find them relatively boring. But I was good listener anyways. I leaned against him again, inhaling that wonderful scent that his werewolf body produced. I never understood why vampires didn't like that smell, it was marvelous in my opinion. But before I knew it, my eyes were closed, proving that I had in fact lied about sleeping earlier. As I drifted off into sleep, I was barely conscious of Jacob moving my head off of him and slipping a pillow in his place. Then I drifted off into sleep.

I woke up to the smell of steak and potatoes. Although I did prefer to have animal blood over human food, it was better to stay inconspicuous and stick to human food, especially since I could survive just fine off of it. I heard the sounds of cooking, then a clashing sound followed by Jacob's cursing. Still barely awake, I decided to hobble into the kitchen to see if he needed any help.

"Smells great." I said softly as I entered our small kitchen. We probably could have afforded a place much bigger than this, but we didn't want to risk wasting all of the money. Jacob didn't even look up as I entered, but rather carried on as if I hadn't said a thing. "Need any help?" I mumbled sleepily, assuming that he hadn't heard me in the first place. Again, no answer. He just finished up what he was doing and within minutes I had a plate of steak and mashed potatoes being handed to me. Still, Jake made no eye contact with me. It was really frustrating, and I quickly placed the plate down on the counter so I could turn and face him again with my hands on my hips. "What the hell is wrong?" I asked, that being the closest thing to a curse word I had ever used.

Jacob looked up at me, seemingly angry, "Why don't you tell me?" I was confused, as he finished plating his food and nudged past me to get to the couch.

I grabbed my food and followed him, about to ask what he meant. But I didn't need to. As I was about to set my plate down on the coffee table, I saw exactly why he was acting as he did. The scrapbook lay on the table, uncovered and out in the open. "Oh." Was all I said, with a sigh as I sat down a decent distance from him.

"Why do you torture yourself like that?" He asked softly, looking down at the table.

I shrugged, although I knew he couldn't see me. In my own soft whisper I said, "We have to go back."

I knew Jacob would have none of it, as he always got fussy whenever I attempted to have him take me back. This time, there was no anger in his voice. Still quiet, he answered, "You know we can't Ness. If the wrong people survived, you know they'll kill you."

"If I don't go find out if the 'wrong people' survived or not, this grief and anxiety will kill me." I answered honestly, "Then everything will have been done in vain." I looked up at him, knowing that he so desperately wanted to go back too.

Before I knew it, Jacob was beside me with his arms around my shoulders, "I can't loose you Nessie! I don't want to risk that happening if we go back! I love you!"

I was startled by that outburst, but I managed to say, "I love you too, Jake. You know that."

He shook his head as he took my face in both of his hands, "No, Nessie. I really love you."