Thanks as always to my betas Angelz1114577 & Whitlocked from PTB and to my friends Nikki & Dani for their support & ideas.

Wait for the bar to lower and click into place people then hold on tight, it's going to be a rollercoaster of a chapter…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 15

Jacob PoV

I'd stayed at Seth's for the rest of the night. I was exhausted after the emotional release I'd been through, and when he offered me a bed for the night I'd accepted his offer without hesitation.

I'd expected to feel some embarrassment when I faced him the next morning. I'd laid myself bare to him, told him things that I hadn't revealed to anybody else, but surprisingly I didn't feel a trace of discomfort; things were just as they'd always been.

I stayed for a while, neither of us mentioning the situation that had brought me here last night. Eventually, I knew that I could put it off no longer. I sighed deeply and rose, scraping the kitchen chair loudly across the floor as I did so.

"I'd better be heading home, I guess." I took a step to the side, one hand on the back of the chair, and lifted it smoothly back into place under the table as I did so. I stood behind the chair for a moment, both hands resting on the back. I looked across at Seth, who was still sitting opposite where I stood.

"Seth. Thanks for last night, man. It really helped, you know…" I left the sentence unfinished, knowing that he'd understand what I'd left unsaid. He nodded.

"No problem, Jake. Anytime, you know that." He pushed himself up from his seat too. "I'll drive you." I welcomed the offer, still too tired to want to exert myself with a run home. I was also fearful of the intrusion into my head from the other members of the pack right now, not only because of what they'd hear in my head, but also because I wasn't sure that I could cope with anyone else's thoughts too.

****

It was the first time I'd been back to the house since I'd run out on Nessie. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, pushing it closed behind me. The silence was overwhelming. I'd been at home on my own before, but never had the house felt as completely empty as it did right now. I wandered through the building, pushing doors open and glancing into the rooms as I went. To say that I wasn't really sure what I was looking for would be a lie; it would be far more accurate to describe the fact that I knew I wouldn't find what I wanted to. I left our bedroom until last, standing outside for a moment before I nudged the door with my fingertips, just hard enough that it opened gradually. I was strangely torn, part of me not wanting to go into the room for fear of reliving what had happened there; another part wanting desperately to enter in an attempt to feel closer to her.

The door stood open now and I stood still, arms by my side, looking in. It was obvious that Ness had been the last one here; the bed was neatly made and there were no clothes on the floor. An out of place square of colour on my pillow drew my attention and I slowly entered the room, my curiosity piqued. I took a couple of steps and could see then that it was a note, written on piece of paper from the message pad that Nessie kept in the kitchen. The paper was folded in half with my name printed on it, in her handwriting. I bent to retrieve it and sank down on the edge of the bed before slowly unfolding it. I looked over the words and could hear her voice in my head, as if she were speaking them to me.

Jake,

I've gone to stay with Rose & Emmett for a few days to clear my head.

I'll call you when I'm coming home.

Miss you lots & love you more,

Nessie xx

I read it through at least three times before I refolded it, then shifting myself backward and swinging my legs up onto the bed, I lay down, trying to hold onto the feeling of comfort that reading her words brought me. I closed my eyes and thought about the past. I knew that my behaviour and jealousy over this whole situation appeared strange to Nessie. I also knew that it all had its roots in my relationship with Bella, before Ness was born. I'd loved and lost and I was terrified it was going to happen again. How could I explain this to Nessie though? I couldn't really expect her to accept the fact that I'd been in love with her mother before her, what kind of screwed up shit was that to be explaining to the love of your life? Worse still would be the fact that Bella had loved me too, even if it couldn't match what she felt for Edward. I couldn't even begin to imagine how Nessie could begin to accept such a revelation about the people closest to her. Would she accept it if we told her we all believed it was because of her pull, even from the beginning?

I puffed my cheeks out and exhaled slowly, opening my eyes and looking up at the ceiling. I rolled over onto Nessie's side of the bed and her favorite picture of the two of us together moved into my field of vision on her nightstand. I picked it up and studied it. It had been taken on First Beach at La Push. I was sitting on one of the washed up tree trunks that lay along the length of the beach and Ness was leaning back on me. We were both laughing at the camera, my arms wrapped around her and hers holding them there. I stroked my thumb across her face, wishing that she were here so I could do it for real and feel her soft skin beneath my hand. I set the frame back down and moved, so that my face was on Nessie's pillow. I inhaled deeply and her smell filled my lungs. The familiar scent had a profound effect on my body and I could feel the pain of the separation twisting inside of me. I languished for a while, letting the feeling of misery engulf me, giving in to it. Then, slowly, something inside me clicked into place and the black cloud that had been hovering over me began to slowly drift to one side. After a few more minutes, my head had cleared and I pushed myself back on the bed so that I was propped up on the headboard. There was no point in me pining in this way; it wasn't going to help anybody. If anything, I needed to be ready to fight for Nessie when she came home. It worried me that she was staying with Rosalie, if I was honest. She'd never hidden the fact that she wasn't my greatest fan. I knew that she only wanted Nessie to be happy, but if that happiness involved somebody else then I knew I couldn't rely on Rosalie to fight in my corner.

I pushed myself up off the bed now. I needed to be busy and the best way to take my mind off things was in the workshop. It was lucky that I didn't have any urgent jobs in at the minute and had my reputation to fall back on. I hadn't given work a second thought these past couple of days, ever since things had turned upside down with the appearance here of his sister. I headed for the shower, I needed to freshen up, regardless of how dirty I was about to get at work.

By the time I'd finished under the stream of water, I felt a whole lot better. I padded back to the bedroom and pulled some old work jeans and a T-shirt, both oil-stained and worn, from a drawer. On my way to the door, I paused at the key hook, my hand hovering over the car keys before I finally snatched the ones to my bike from the hook. Today was definitely a day for blowing the cobwebs from my head.

****

The next few days had passed a lot more easily once I'd thrown myself back into work. I'd had a backlog of people wanting me to take a look at their cars for them due to the couple of days that I'd been closed for. Thankfully, I was known for my reasonable prices and ability to do my job well and people had been prepared to wait for me. Finally, after several fifteen hour shifts, I'd caught up. I decided that I'd let myself finish early for a change and maybe ride over to see Seth again. He'd been worried enough about me to keep in near constant touch since he'd dropped me back at home the other day, and I wanted to show him that I was ok. The kid had a good heart and I didn't want to take advantage of it.

I was just wiping my hands on an old towel, when my phone rang. I took a couple of steps on my long legs and covered the space to where it sat on top of my tall tool chest. I glanced down at the display and my heart almost leapt out of my chest when I saw who was calling. I pressed the answer button quickly and brought the phone up to my ear.

"Ness!"

"Hey Jake," she answered. Her voice was smooth and I could hear the smile in it as she took in my exuberance. "How are you?"

I was grinning too now, just from hearing her speak.

"About a hundred times better for hearing your voice Ness," I told her.

She paused for a moment before she spoke again.

"I, uh, I mean, if it's ok with you, I'd like to come home." She was speaking more quietly now and I could see her in my mind's eye, nervously biting her lower lip as she waited for my reaction.

"Ok? You have to ask?" I laughed loudly and heard her giggle at me. "I'll come get you now, I was just finishing up at work---"

"NO!" Her raised voice was so sudden that it took me aback.

"Oh. Uh, ok." Her tone had brought me back to earth with a jolt. I heard her sigh.

"Sorry Jake, I just meant, there's no need. Rose & Emmett are going to run me back tomorrow and call in on everyone; it's been a while since Emmett visited. That's all." I nodded, despite it being a telephone conversation.

"No, don't worry, I understand." I was still pleased she was coming home, but I couldn't help feeling like a puppy that had been accidentally trodden on in it's excitement to greet its owner.

"Aw, Jake, please don't feel bad about it. I can't wait to get home and see you. I've missed you like crazy!" I brightened at her admission, a hint of a smile reappearing now.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. Did you miss me?"

I snorted at the understatement.

"Ness, you have no idea just how much I've missed you. I've never been apart from you for so long and I never want to be again, it's been hell." The tone dipped again but I was determined not to end the conversation on a negative note. "I can't wait to see you honey. You make sure that Rosalie drives, she's faster than Emmett!"

Nessie laughed softly.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. Tomorrow. Love you."

"I love you too, Jake." My heart thudded when she said that, as it always did. She hung up before I did, unable to bring myself to press the button to end the call.

I couldn't believe how different I felt; how much better than I had just five minutes ago. It was as though my orbit had switched from an automatic one to one with a purpose again. I abandoned my plans to visit Seth tonight in favour of going home and enjoying being there again, knowing that Nessie would be back there with me very soon. I just had one thing I wanted to do first and, after a quick phone call to Carlisle for the address, on the premise of making amends, I was kick-starting my bike to life and on my way.

****

I'd double checked that I'd got the right place before I knocked at the door. After a few moments it opened and I faced an unfamiliar, although beautiful, woman. I could tell by her face that I was just as unfamiliar to her as she was to me. I spoke first, my voice strong, although my heart was hammering in my chest from the adrenaline of what I was doing.

"Hi. Is Nahuel in, please?" She looked steadily back at me with her brown eyes, her long, straight black hair cascading around her shoulders.

"Do you mind me asking who wants to know?" I smiled at her, covering my irritation at the delay. I just wanted to get this over and done with.

There was no way I was letting Nessie come home, knowing that he was still around. I'd come up with a plan. I was going to warn him off and send him home; pay him not to come back if I had to. I didn't have a lot of money, but it would be worth what I did have to see him leave for good.

"Yeah, uh, I'm a friend of the Cullens." There was still some scepticism in her face as she looked at me, obviously aware that I wasn't a vampire, although not appearing sure exactly what I was. Despite this, the Cullen name seemed to have the desired effect and she appeared to relax a little.

"Oh, well, no. I'm afraid he's not here. He's gone away for a few days." I sighed inwardly that my plan had been thwarted. This would be a whole lot more difficult to sort out once Nessie was back. I knew for a fact that there was no way in the world she'd approve of this.

"Do you have any idea when he'll be back?" She gave me an apologetic smile and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, no. He just said that he was going away with Renesmee for a few days to her aunt's house."

I froze.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said, no, he didn't say when he'd be back."

"No, I mean the bit after that. Where did you say he'd gone?" She looked confused.

"To Renesmee's aunt's house with her?" She spoke it as a question, making sure she'd got the right information this time.

As my head whirred with what she'd told me and the implications of it, another female voice drifted out from behind the woman.

"Lican? Who is it?"

Another figure came into view and I found myself face to face with a woman that I recognised. I could tell that she recognised me too. Her eyes narrowed, but were apprehensive. She knew, of course, exactly what I was capable of as she'd seen me phase and attack before.

I turned and strode quickly away, hearing their voices babbling frantically together behind me as they watched me leave. I could feel my anger building now that the information had sunk in, and I was beginning to tremble. I broke into a run to where my bike was parked, controlling the shaking, because phasing wouldn't be helpful at

this moment…maybe later, I allowed myself to think. I kick-started the bike again, with more force than necessary and roared away, in the opposite direction to home.

My mouth curved into an aggressive snarl as I thought about what I'd like to do to him right now.

A/N – Oh dear, the proverbial's going to hit the fan now…

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