I still don't own Twilight.

Wooo! Chapter Five! Thank you reviewers, you guys rock. Keep on telling me what you think.

NPOV

Though I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, I wasn't tired in the least. Although... laying down and pretending to be asleep for the next twelve or so hours so Jacob didn't have any urges to question me about earlier's incident seemed like a better and better idea by the second. I needed to try to fall asleep. I wanted to get rid of this feeling. This feeling... I've never been so small. And it didn't help at all that the person I was trying to stand next to towered over me and into the clouds, while I stayed stuck on the ground. But it didn't matter. Not now. Going home was the important thing, and everything else will be put on hold.

Will Charlie remember me? Will he totally freak out? Will Billy forgive Jake for the sudden re-disappearance? Will my mother be waiting for me, right where I'd left her?

I clutched the gold piece I wore around my neck and held my gold heart to my beating one as I remembered her voice when she would soothe me to sleep. 'I love you, my Renesmee', she'd tell me. More than my own life.

I heard the bedroom door click softly behind me, causing me to freeze. I kept my eyes open, letting Jacob decide for himself if he wanted to believe I was actually asleep or not. I tried to bring myself back to the interrupted thought of my beloved mother, but I found myself instead listening for Jacob's movements. I couldn't hear much. Just the ruffle as he doffed his shirt and the light noise of it landing on the floor. I opened my mouth to protest, but then my lips clamped together. I was supposed to be asleep.

I felt the pull of the bed when his large body sank into the mattress, and I closed my eyes. I felt him shift under the covers, fumbling around to get himself situated in the huge bed. There were a couple seconds of silence, and his sent flooded the air. It made my eyelids heavy and my mind light with ease. Even when I was supposed to be irritated with him, I couldn't deny that I needed him like air. It was so dangerous to need someone as much as I needed that man. People who are needed are so often the first to be taken away.

I had only a second to feel the close heat before the huge arms wrapped tightly around me, and I could feel Jacob at my back. I was so tiny against him. I put my hands on his arms, hugging them to me. He wasn't going to ask me any awkward questions about earlier. My mind spun with relief... and with something else. I felt Jacob's lips at the nape of my neck, and my heart sped up. I had to fight to control my breathing, and one of my little hands went off of his arm and clutched onto the bedspread, as if it were the only thing real in the room, and I had to hold on tight to keep from losing myself. He had his cheek pressed to mine, and me moved his head so that our cheeks would rub together. It took me a moment to realize what he was really doing. Jacob was nuzzling me. The way wolves had shown their deepest affections.

When I could hold onto myself no longer, I sunk even deeper into the embrace, the black spirals finally consuming me, and I drifted off into a deep slumber in the arms of my... my Jacob.

--

I woke up the next morning before the sun came up. The bed beside me was empty; the covers folded over top themselves. I frowned. Before I could miss him for too long, he came though the door, already dressed. He smiled when she saw me. "Oh good, you're awake. Everything's ready, kiddo. Let's get out of here."

I nodded once, then yawned. I was more awake after I remembered what he was talking about, and all I needed to do was slip my shoes on. I didn't bother getting dressed into something other than one of Jacob's long shirts that I often used for sleeping in, because I'd more than likely fall asleep during the drive anyway. Jake said that to drive, if it were possible though the road-less mountains of Brazil, would take six days if we didn't stop to eat or sleep, and always kept at least twenty miles over the speed limits. If we were running, it would only take us two and a half days. It would take us a full day just to get past the US border, where they'd check both of our passports and the car to ensure we weren't smuggling anything. Which reminded me. I grabbed my back bag off the nightstand and dug through it. I pulled out my passport and examined it. The little girl in the picture was young; five when she had this taken. Five years later... I think I could pass as a ten year old. I pulled out Jake's passport, and he hadn't changed. We were Americans, after all... they shouldn't give us too much trouble. I threw the little black bag over my shoulder and followed Jake down the stairs.

I did a house check; Jake would be the one to forget something (like the passports when he said everything was ready!). He had an index card he'd scribbled on and wedged between a candle and a picture. A note for the housekeeper. I didn't read it, I skipped over it to check out the rest of the house. Making sure Jake didn't leave the oven on accidentally was far more important.

Everything was perfect, and we were ready. My eyes darted to the note again, noticing only one targeted detail: The signature. Jacob. Just Jacob, no love Jacob or yours truly. I felt a little better.

We were going to the airport to buy a red-eye ticket out of here, hopefully with only a couple layovers. It took three layovers for us to get to Rio the first time, and each were over three hours long... but that was okay, because neither of us knew what we were going to do when we finally got here.

We were fortunate enough to not have to wait very long for the first flight out of Rio. We had three layovers, same as last time, and we weren't given a whole lot of hell about our passports. Salt Lake City was our final layover. I was already beginning to feel like we were close to home again.

"What are you going to do once we finally get to Forks?" Asked Jake, who had been silent nearly this whole time. I wondered if he was as nervous as I was... probably more.

My shoulders lifted, and then fell. I was staring out at the planes, taking off and landing on the runways. "I want to see the house."

"First?" His head tilted.

I nodded before actually turning to look at him. He was looking out the window, too. It must have been weird for him to be so close to home and still have to take a plane. I knew for a fact that Jacob on his four legs alone could have beaten the plane to Forks. Maybe not by much, but minus the boarding and the baggage claiming crap, a reasonable amount of time would have been saved.

He was silent through the remainder of our plane trips. When our third flight had landed in Port Angeles, Jacob had started to pep up a bit. I wasn't sure if it was for my benefit, or if he really had been happy to be home. My benefit, probably.

We had to rent a car. It was a 2012 Honda Prelude. Not my choice, and certainly not his, but... it was the lesser of the evils that the company had available. I did like the color. The windows were tinted beyond being able to view the inside from the outside, and the paint was white-silver, almost platinum. It made the car look sleek, kinda like every twenty-nine-year-old yuppie-wannabe's dream car. It was an hour drive to Forks. And of course... it rained the whole way.

Though the sky was gloomy, Jacob wasn't. He was singing, and believe me, his voice carrying a tune...well. He was lucky I loved him. After a while though, I wasn't so sure.

"Do you mind?" I hissed, earning only a grin that I couldn't help but smile at.

"Not at all! Come on, Nessie. Sing with me. Raaain, raaain.." I rolled my eyes, still unable to keep from smiling, though I sure as hell tried. The map that had been folded neatly in my lap was then rolled up in my tiny hands, and I smacked Jacob across the shoulder with it.

"No! Bad Jake!"

"Oh, that's a good idea. Mess with the person driving the car!" He grabbed a hold of the map I'd been wielding and tossed it out the window. "See that? Now if we get lost out here in all this green shit, it's all your fault."

"Yeah. My fault. It's MY fault you don't know the way around your own goddamn state. Okay." I crossed my arms, and failed again at trying not to smile. "I can't believe we're really almost there."

"Yep. Hope you brought ponchos." He chuckled.

"Poncho-less. Great. Nothing smells worse than wet dog."

"Oh, har har."

I recognized the street we'd turned onto this time. This was the one. My chest tightened. Jacob looked at me, and then back to the road. One hand came off the steering wheel and came to rest on my knee. He squeezed lightly.

"Um, you're getting close. Might want to slow down... the driveway is a little hard to see." Jacob scoffed at me. I knew he knew where he was going, but...people often drove right past the drive way. It really was hard to see, even in broad daylight. It's a breaking in the trees probably no bigger than a large car.

As we passed the last curve in the highway, I'd learned that I was dead wrong. This driveway was anything but hard to see. There was stripes of yellow interrupting the green of the trees. I swallowed, and Jacob reduced his speed. The expression on his face must have mirrored my own. We approached seconds later. Yellow tape barred the entrance to the driveway, but that wasn't all. The bright stripes had been webbing the entire yard, wrapped around every tree. There wasn't anyone there. It couldn't have been more obvious if the fact itself had come up and slapped me in the face.

Jake pulled over onto the grass on the side of the road. I turned my head to look forward. I didn't think my legs would work if I tried to use them. Jake opened my passenger door in no time, and offered me a hand. I just looked at him. I couldn't remember how to use my hands, or even move. I watched his eyes grow concerned. "Ness?"

I'm fine, I tried to say, but it came out as just a squeak. He lifted me out of the car, and I was dangling in his arms for a moment. "Ness? Ness... Are you sure this is-"

"I'm fine, Jake. I can walk. Really." I gave him the best smile I could right then. It must have really looked creepy, because he cocked an eyebrow in disbelief, but set me down. He grabbed my hand, and I let him. I clutched onto it, even. "I'm ready."

We were close enough now that the black words on the tape screamed out at us. POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS. "Charlie," we both whispered simultaneously. We'd ducked under the tape and started up the driveway at my pace, slow and almost immobile at times. Then... Then the house had came into view. The tape had been around the pillars of the house, blocking the door. The windows were boarded. The siding looked like it had been through hurricanes. The yard was a mess.

I really wasn't ready. I knew that there was a possibility that they wouldn't be here, but I didn't know it would hit me this hard. I turned around and buried my face in Jacob's chest and concentrated on by breathing. My stomach wrenched inside of me. Jacob just pet my hair and whispered, never once telling me he told me so. He wasn't like that. Before I knew it, I was on all fours, spilling my breakfast on the edge of the lawn. The voice behind me came from the same person who held my hair. I sat back up. "I'm sorry."

Jake's eyes were veiled with wetness. "No, I'm the sorry one. I never should have-"

"I'm okay." I snapped, standing up on my own shaky knees. This is what I came here for. I couldn't chicken out now. "Jacob, please... take me inside."

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