A/N: Thanks SO MUCH again for all the reviews on the last chapter and to my betas, TwilightHeart21 and DeeDreamer!

We left off with Kimber getting kicked out of Jacob's room by Ness and the two leaving for breakfast. Try not to hate Kimber too much, she's just hurt, that's all. She's a good person on the inside, I promise.

I still don't own Twilight.

Chapter 10 – To see her smile

JPOV

I never wanted to be away from Ness. My brain was plotting ways for us to spend every possible moment together. I knew she had Calculus II the hour after me and I wondered how hard it would be to change my schedule.

"Wanna go to the park after breakfast?" I asked, praying she didn't already have plans for the day. Hanging around my dorm didn't sound like much fun considering the likelihood of running into Kimber.

The expression on her face wasn't promising. "I told Warren I'd talk to him. I don't want to, but I have to." Her eyes said she was telling the truth.

"I'm coming with you," I blurted before the entire thought had even formed.

She sighed and looked at me with a straight face. "I have to do this, Jacob. Alone."

"But what if he gets angry and tries to hurt you? Or forces himself on you?" It hurt just to think about it.

She reached across the table and took my hand in hers. "He won't. I'll be fine, I promise."

"Will you call me when you get there and when you leave?" I felt pathetic for asking, like an over-protective, jealous boyfriend or something. This was different, though; he could hurt her.

"Yes, so stop worrying."

We discussed lighter topics while we finished eating. I brought her back to our dorm building and walked her to her car so she could go visit her vampire ex. Great.

"Is this Daddy's way of making up for being an ass?" I asked gesturing to the bright red BMW we were approaching.

She laughed lightly. "No, this is what you call leverage. Dad thinks holding a car over my head will keep me out of trouble."

I smirked. "It's not working." We both laughed before sharing a goodbye kiss and hug. "Please call me," I said gravely.

"I will," she whispered. I wondered how long it would be before we learned how to be close to each other without getting lost in the moment.

She got in the car and I was about to give her one last kiss when she slammed her fist onto the wheel then jerked a bright pink bow off the radio. "What's wrong?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I'll call you when I get there," she mumbled.

I pretended to walk toward the building while my eyes watched her drive away. The moment she was out of sight, I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Embry. He was still asleep but didn't mind the disruption since it had to do with paying a visit to the vampire I hadn't let him kill.

He met me just outside campus and we hauled ass to Warren's house. Embry had followed him there yesterday and knew exactly how to find it through the woods. We parked the car on the side of a dirt road and ran through the woods the rest of the way. I didn't want to hurt Warren or even show myself to him or Ness, but I couldn't let her go without some kind of protection.

We managed to make it to his house just before Ness pulled up, finding the perfect spot to watch yet stay out of sight. I saw her using the phone but I'd turned mine off so I could only assume she was leaving me a message. She looked nervous as she made her way to the door. Warren walked outside before she got to the porch.

"I thought you'd change your mind," he stated confidently. I wanted to knock the smug grin off his face.

"I'm not here because I changed my mind. I told you I'd come talk to you about all of this in the morning," Ness replied, approaching him slowly.

Warren's cockiness disappeared, quickly being replaced by scorn. I fought the growl that was building in my chest. I really didn't want Ness to know I was watching her.

"So this is it, then? You're choosing a mongrel over your best friend?" he asked with a little too much anger in his voice.

Ness looked so hurt. "I didn't know I had to choose one over the other. I hoped we could remain friends. Is that not an option?" She looked at him beseechingly.

He stepped closer to her; the distance between them was not even an arms length. "I'd follow you anywhere, Renesmee; but I'm not going to stand around and watch you fall in love. Not with a fucking dog." He paused and shook his head. "I can barely look at you."

She raised her brows. "Barely look at me? What was with all that nice shit you were saying last night?"

"You really think I was going to come in there and be an asshole when your fucking dog boyfriend was right behind the door? What, so I could have them after me again? No thanks." I hated the way he was talking to her, but I wasn't going to make a move unless things got ugly.

She looked broken. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "You don't underst—"

"And I don't care to. Just go home. I won't be a bother to you anymore." Warren's shoulders slumped and he turned to go into the house. Ness turned to walk down the stairs but he caught her arm. "I love you," he murmured, pulling her into an embrace.

"I'm sorry I couldn't love you the way you love me. I'm sorry," she said in a broken cry.

He pulled away from her embrace and walked into the house. Ness stood there for a second, staring blankly at the ground, before darting to the car. Then I remembered that she should be calling me any minute. I ran back to my car as fast as I could, with Embry right behind me, and made it just in time to answer.

"Hey, everything okay?" I asked, knowing everything was definitely not okay.

She sniffed. "Yeah, fine. Do you mind if we skip the park?"

"No, that's fine." Please invite me to your place.

"Can you meet me at my room in ten minutes or so? I…I need you." It felt good to know that she needed me, but I wished it wasn't because she was feeling hurt.

"I'll be there." I'll always be there.

I tried to think of a way to make her smile. I went through my mental notes of her likes and dislikes, trying to think of something that wouldn't be too cliché or flat-out corny. I knew all of her favorite sweets, but trying to heal her with sugar seemed so predictable. She wasn't big on flowers, so that was out. Then it hit me – music. She loved music. I handed Embry my phone as I flew down the road toward the dorm.

"Pull up Ticketmaster; see if there's anything going on for next weekend; Metal or Rock or something. Anywhere," I stammered.

He tapped on the touch screen a few times. "How are you going to pay for it?"

"Credit card I guess."

Embry rattled off a few bands that were playing before coming to the most awesome summer tour – The Mayhem Festival. The first two names he rattled off sealed the deal: Slipknot and Korn.

"Fucking perfect. We're going to have to make a side trip."

I drove a couple of miles out of the way to the grocery store that had a Ticketmaster outlet inside and literally ran inside. I had Embry buy the tickets with my credit card while I grabbed a card to put them in. The whole stop took less than five minutes.

As luck would have it, I had a pen in the glove box and was able to scrawl a quick note into the card before running into the building.

Heaven opened the door before I even knocked. Her eyes were puffy and red. The mother fucker should be burned alive for making her cry. She wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest.

I lifted her, closed the door, and carried her to the bed. She curled against my body and it felt like a missing piece of me had returned. I rubbed her back lightly and placed soft kisses on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything," I murmured into her hair as I held her tightly against me.

"It's not what you think. I never loved him. It's just that he was the only friend I ever really had. I feel terrible for all the things I've done to him."

I placed a finger over her lips. "Shh. Don't beat yourself up about this; you didn't do anything. He knew the whole time that you didn't love him and never would."

"It still hurts, though….losing a friend."

Yeah, sometimes it hurts enough to make you run for years. "I know," I consoled. "He's a bastard for doing this to you. There's no reason for him to not talk to you anymore."

She pulled her face back and looked at me. "How'd you know he said that?"

Busted. "Well, I just figured…you know, since you were so torn up."

She glared at me knowingly. "I thought you were there. I thought I had smelled you but blew it off as it being your scent lingering on me from earlier."

I pulled her back to my chest and hoped she'd forgive me. "I'm sorry, babe. I couldn't let you go alone. He could have hurt you. I behaved, though. He didn't even know I was there."

"I'm a big girl, Jacob. I appreciate your concern but…wait, there's something stabbing me." She wiggled away from my body.

"Oh. Right. Here, it's for you. Well, us." I handed her the card I had tucked inside my pocket.

She opened it carefully and smiled at the image on the outside – a goofy faced puppy smiling. What can I say, I was in a hurry. Then she opened it and laid the Ticketmaster envelope in her lap so she could read what I'd written:

Ness,

I hope this makes you feel a little better. Sorry your friend wassuch a fucker hurt you.

Love,

Jacob

Again, I was in a hurry.

She kissed me on the cheek sweetly before returning her attention to the other envelope. Her face lit up when she read the tickets.

"This is so freakin' awesome! I can't believe it! You are THE best!" she squealed, squeezing the life out of me. "I wanted to go, but Warren was the only person I could bring and it's too sunny here for him to be out and about during the day at a concert."

"I thought you'd like it." She cut me off with fervent kisses.

"I just thought of something! Let's make a weekend of it. Ditch Friday afternoon and head down to Atlanta then come back Sunday night. What do you think?" she asked excitedly.

I laughed inwardly. Sounds like a lot of money I don't have. Guess it's time to get a job. "As long as you don't mind a cheap motel."

"It was my idea. I'm funding this," she said insistently.

I huffed. "I'm the guy. You're not supposed to pay for stuff like that."

"My dad's an ass. Do you want me to go over all that again? Just say yes." Her beautiful brown eyes were pleading with me; how could I say no to her?

"Yes, master." Isn't this supposed to go the other way around?

She pulled her laptop and a notebook onto the bed. After she had a half page of written notes – most of which she wouldn't let me see – she pulled out her phone.

"Hey, Al. Is my dad around?" she asked the person on the other end of the line.

"No. You actually want to talk to him?"

"HA! No. I have a favor to ask," she said sweetly.

"Oh no. Please don't get me in trouble," the other person said in a worried tone.

Ness didn't speak for a second. "It's nothing huge and you won't get in trouble." She paused again before speaking, working up the nerve to say whatever she was about to say I supposed. "Can you slide me five. Please, please, please, please?"

"I take it by the sound of your pleading that you mean thousand, not hundred; correct?"

Holy hell! What does she need with five fucking grand?

"Please?" she asked again.

The other person huffed. "Fine. But you have to tell me what on earth you plan to do with it," she said flatly, as if they were talking about a hundred bucks, not five thousand.

Ness perked up substantially. "I'm going to Atlanta with some friends this weekend for a little concert. They're all planning on staying at some dump but I insisted on getting us a nice room. Plus I want to check out the shopping—"

"And the strip joints, I'm sure. You freak," the other person interrupted.

"How'd you guess?" Ness smiled deviously and gave me this look that made my stomach tighten. This girl would be the death of me.

"Atlanta is known for two things – Hip Hop music and strip clubs." They both laughed. "Okay, the transfer is complete. Be a good girl, 'kay? And tell Warren we all said hi."

Ness's smile faded for a moment but it came back as soon as our eyes met after she hung the phone up.

"I don't want you bitching about how I spend my money, alright?" she feigned bossiness. Two could play that game.

I grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the bed beneath me. "I wouldn't call it your money; I'd call it Daddy's. And what exactly do you plan on doing with five grand?" I let the Alpha come through. The look on her face – surrender and arousal – was so sexy.

"A hotel room, you, shopping, booze, strippers, new naughty bedroom attire, sexy outfits." She paused for a second. "I think that's all. And it's my money, not my dad's," she added.

I pulled her up into a sitting position beside me. "How do you do that?" she asked quietly, looking a little dazed.

"Do what?" I asked. I knew exactly what she was referring to – the Alpha tone that made her submit so easily – but I wanted to hear it from her lips.

She shook her head a little. "Sometimes when you tell me what to do or ask me something, it's like I can't say no…I have to do whatever you say or ask."

"Oh." I shrugged, forcing myself to once again focus on the woman in front of me. "It's an Alpha thing."

She cocked an eyebrow. "A what?"

"Alpha. The boss." I'd been avoiding this subject for several reasons, but I didn't want to keep anything from her, especially not if she asked flat-out. Plus, I sort of brought it on myself. "I'm sort of the leader of my pack. Not a very good one, but still. When you're Alpha, you have that power over everyone in your pack, and apparently your imprint as well."

She eyed me seductively. "So you're the leader and can command me and your…pack… to do whatever you say, and we can't help but obey?" The impish tone in her voice told me that now wasn't the time to explain the whole Sam's-pack-bloodline thing.

The back of my mind was occupied with thoughts about whom exactly that money was coming from if it wasn't her dad…and why she mentioned her dad being an ass then claiming the money wasn't from him. We'd known each other for exactly two days; it wasn't my place to meddle in her finances. I'd find out one day, though.

"Pretty much," I replied instead.

"That's really sexy. Mmm." She crawled into my lap and started nipping at my ear. That fucking hand came up to my face and my mind was assaulted by images of us doing all sorts of kinky things while she moved her perfect lips across mine. All of the images shared one common trait – I was in charge and she was submitting. Then her voice came in through her touch…dominate me…make me scream…"Fuck, Ella's here," she muttered, climbing off my lap.

I could have sat there and watched her fantasies all afternoon then acted them out all night. Why did we have to be college students living in a dorm with roommates? At least we had this weekend to look forward to. I always wanted to try the Alpha thing out in the bedroom. With Kimber, I had always played the dominant role; I'd tell her things and let the Alpha out a little, but I couldn't be sure if she was just playing along or if it was truly affecting her.

We ate lunch together in the park. I tried not to look like a lovesick idiot, but failed at every turn. I caught myself staring at her over and over again when I should have been eating. I couldn't help it…the wind kept blowing this little lock of hair across the side of her face…then I'd see her focused on something far away and I'd take the chance to memorize the lines around her eyes when she squinted. One of my favorites was probably watching her drink from her can of soda…the way her lips moved as she pulled it away, how they sort of stuck to the metal. Lucky can.

The thing that topped them all, though, was her skin. It didn't do that creepy sparkle thing that vampire skin did in the sun. She sort of glowed. It reminded me of how my skin looked that one time Rachel dusted some sort of bronzing powder shit all over me when I was sleeping, except Ness was much paler than that. The glow wasn't bright enough for human eyes to notice, but I was able to see it. Beautiful.

We didn't talk a whole lot, but it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. I wasn't sure what to say anyway. Things were progressing so, so fast with us. It wasn't like this with the other guys and their imprints. Their relationships came together pretty quickly, but not in one weekend like this. Ness said she was in love with me. She didn't understand it, but she felt it. We were drawn to each other in a way I'd never seen before in any of the other imprint couples.

There were reasons I didn't feel like talking much – subjects I didn't want to come up. Things like that fucker who made her cry, my family and the pack, and how we'd have to actually attend class tomorrow instead of spending every waking moment together. Neither of us had shared much about our family history yet. I got the feeling she had a lot of hard feelings towards her parents, but she never gave many specifics.

I wanted to know more about her vampire side. She always said 'parents' in the plural, but surely she couldn't have had two blood relation parents. Even if Bella had survived that…birth if you can call it that…surely there can't be a second woman in this world capable of surviving something so…I couldn't bring myself to call something that brought Ness into this world disgusting. It didn't matter, though. With any amount of luck, I wouldn't be meeting them any time soon.

It would take a lot of time and mental prep before I could really accept the fact that this amazing woman's parents – or at least one of them – were vamps. Real blood-sucking, undead, stone-cold vamps. I tried to push aside the fact that Ness was half vamp; I pretend she was some other form of supernatural, her own type of mythological creature.

But pretending didn't change reality. Ness was a half-vamp who thirsted for blood – at least on some level – and she had the power to take down the entire student body. And yet, I knew without a doubt, she was mine.