8. Sunrise

Jacob's POV

It was a little after 3:00 in the morning when I heard Nessie get out of bed. I could tell she hadn't been sleeping well. I had been listening to her toss and turn in her sheets. I wanted so bad to lie down beside her, sweep her hair back from her face, to hold her in my arms and comfort her. The front door opening softly broke my concentration. I lifted my head up over the bolder where I was laying about a mile away. I was in wolf form so I could easily hear the reason she was leaving.

I gave Nessie her space and trailed silently behind her. Her eyebrows were pulled together like she was in deep concentration. She didn't stop walking and she never once looked up. I usually didn't follow her, but lately I was having an unusually strong pull towards her. She was meant to be with me forever and without her near me all my senses yearned for her. I never really told her how much I needed her; it wasn't necessary to make us both suffer. I just sucked it up and tried to be what she wanted. She wanted a happy care-free Jake, and that's what I would try to give her. No matter how much it killed me just to be standing next to her as a friend when I wanted so much more.

Stop!

I couldn't think about what I wanted. It wasn't about me. It was always about her. It would always be about her if I had anything to do about it. I took a deep breath and shook off the harmful thoughts. I looked ahead at Renesmee to see that she was walking back towards her house. I got a full view of her face and she looked so strained. It took every ounce of control I had to sprint over to her, take her face in my hands, and rub all the stress lines out of her marble face.

STOP!

Those thoughts were only going to make me feel worse. Suddenly, Nessie stopped about a mile from her house. At first I thought she saw me, but she sat down on a boulder at the foot of a tree. She put her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She was staring straight ahead and I struggled to see what she was looking at. When I thought I would explode from curiosity, the sun burst from behind the horizon line. She was watching the sun rise.

The colors burned a purple, orange, and pink illuminating the morning skill. Each tree was silhouetted and with my eyes I could see the dew sparkling as the forest was woken with the sun. But its beauty paled in comparison to Renesmee. With the soft glow of the rising sun, her flawless skin was alight with a radiance that seemed to make my insides smolder and burn. My throat seemed to swell cutting off my air ways. My legs itched to run to her to the point where I had to physically hold myself back.

She sat calmly on her boulder, completely unaware of the raging emotions coursing through my wolf form, just because of her. I could no longer hold myself back and I stepped behind a tree to phase.

I walked quietly up behind her. The pain was too much for me to be separated from her now. I had to touch her.

"Nessie?" I whispered quietly. It was strange that she didn't hear my coming up behind her.

"Oh, hey Jake." She said. I had obviously broken her deep concentration.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

"Go ahead." She said motioning to the rock beside her.

I sat down eagerly barely touching her shoulder. Just that small physical contact quieted my body, but it did not satisfy it. I would gladly take it though.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" She nodded towards the sunrise.

"I've seen better things." I said shrugging.

She eyed my doubtfully. "Oh really?"

I nodded looking deeply into her eyes. Just looking at her stole my breath away. We didn't look away for a little while. I wasn't really sure I could even if I wanted to. She finally jerked her head forward breaking the connection between us. I let out my breath which I realized I had been holding and I saw her do the same. I wondered absentmindedly what she was feeling. I wondered if every fiber in her body was begging to reach out and hold onto me and never let me go like mine was.

I closed my eyes tightly and squeezed the bridge of my nose in an effort to try and control my thoughts.

"Jacob?" She asked a little panicky as she grabbed my wrist.

I didn't want to move. I didn't want to feel her let go. I grabbed her hand pretending to pull it off but I didn't let go of it.

"I'm fine." My voice was raw with an emotion that was surging through my veins, steady and strong.

"You look sad." She said, her voice dropping a few octaves.

"What do I possibly have to be sad about?" I asked draping my arm over her shoulders like it didn't almost make me pass out.

"Well…I…uh…I don't know."

"I got my best friend right here. Nothing could bring me down." I said giving her shoulders a squeeze.

She smiled but she didn't say anything. I was fairly certain she could see through my mask.

I want you to be happy.

In her message was Nessie watching me laugh from the other day. There was a tone to the memory and before I could try and figure out what it was, the image dropped from my mind.

"Nessie, as long as we're together, I'll always be happy."

She looked up at me with her big chocolate brown eyes and I stared back down at her. The familiar connection raced through me again and I knew she could feel it too. She closed her eyes, but she didn't look away. I took what chance I could and I cupped her cheek in my hand. She leaned her head into my huge palm and opened her eyes.

"I'm tired." She said with a yawn.

I bit my lip, trying not to show my disappointment. That wasn't exactly the response I was hoping for.

"You could probably get a few more hours of sleep before you have to get up." I suggested weakly. I pulled my hand from her cheek and she seemed to frown ever so slightly.

I couldn't stop the smile of satisfaction that crept onto my face. "You look a little delirious." I said trying to play it off.

"I feel a little bit delirious." She said laughing. The sound warmed me from head to foot.

She stood up and stretched and I stood with her.

"What are you doing today?" She asked more politely than curiously.

"What do I do everyday?" I asked her sarcastically.

"Hang out here." She said.

"That's what I was thinking about doing."

"Well, don't let me stop you." She smiled teasingly at her.

I made sure my feet were firmly rooted to the ground. Otherwise, I would have just lurched toward her and possibly…

"Nessie! There you are. I went to your house…" Nahuel's voice strayed off and I assume he noticed that I was with her. I wouldn't have noticed though, I was still looking at Nessie.

"Hey Nahuel. I was watching the sunrise and I ran into Jacob." She said pointing her thumb at me.

Well, the moment was nice while it lasted.

A/N: There's not really much to say…

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