A/N: Hiya…I'm back! I'm so sorry…I know it's taken forever to get this update, but things have been crazy. Between work, school, and planning my wedding – my writing was seriously suffering. Everything sounded crappy and I just couldn't focus on Jake and Ness like they deserved. So I decided to hold off on updating until after the wedding – so yes, I am now a married woman! And I love it! So now that the wedding is done and I'm back from gorgeous Hawaii (honeymoon) I will have plenty of time to write and I should be updating weekly.

I know this chapter isn't as long as some of you may like – but there are two reasons for that. One, I thought this is where it needed to end. I want to start the next chapter at the beginning of Ness and Jakes new stage in their relationship. Two, my creative energy was divided these past few days between this story and another idea Jake kept shouting about in my head. What does that mean you ask? Well, it's a new story of course. It's called flash and it's a Jake/Nessie story. So far the first two chapters are written and I will be updating it bi-weekly. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Now – on to the good stuff!

As Ness floated down from her high, she realized a few things. One, Jake had just taken control of her body and made her lose all of her inhibitions in the foyer of her living room. Two, Jake was still trapped between her thighs.

She raised her eyes to stare into his and saw the hunger in them. And that's when she realized item number three; only she had climaxed and Jake was very much still in need.

Ness had a brief internal battle with herself. It was clear that Jake was still consumed by his desire, and she wanted to help him as he'd helped her. But the rational side of herself urged her to get the situation under control; even if that meant Jake wouldn't get the release that she'd had.

After another moment of contemplation, the rational side won out and Ness slowly unwrapped her legs from his waist and lowered them to the floor.

Jakes body was still rigid with need. But as he felt Ness disengage herself, clarity started to take hold of his mind.

He knew he'd gotten carried away and should have had more control over his actions. But he couldn't bring himself to regret what had happened.

Nonetheless, he knew he needed to get a grip on the situation and as soon as Ness' feet touched the floor, he took a small step back to put some distance between them. Being so close to her wasn't going to help his body calm down any faster.

Ness' legs were shaky, but she leaned back against the wall for additional support when Jake stepped away. Her body immediately yearned for his warmth and strength but she knew it was the only way they'd manage to calm down.

She watched him through hooded eyes as he ran his hands through his hair and took a few deep breaths. His body seemed tense and she knew it was her fault.

The past few weeks hadn't been easy on either of them, but they'd been making progress recently which had renewed Ness' faith…until she showed up that is.

To make matters worse, she and Jake hadn't even had the chance to talk about what it meant or who she was to him. Ness had contemplated asking Rachel at the hospital, but she ultimately decided against it when she realized that Jake probably wouldn't like that. She'd done enough snooping and plotting behind Jake's back over the past few months. It was time for them to work through issues together and learn how to trust each other if they had any chance of making a relationship work; if that's what he even wanted.

But her confrontation with Leah had been too much, and she'd run from the hospital, embarrassed and ashamed.

Leah was beautiful, on the outside at least. And she'd managed to make Ness painfully aware of her shortcomings in comparison.

Instead of defending herself and her "relationship" with Jake, she'd rushed home, self-doubt chipping away at her psyche the entire way.

She'd ignored Jake when he'd called and had almost convinced herself to pack up and move back to Seattle by the time he'd shown up at her door.

And now they stood across from each other, neither speaking as they digested what had transpired.

Once he managed to get his body under control, Jake looked at Ness and noticed she'd been watching him, waiting for him to calm down.

He gave her a halfhearted smile and waited for some sort of response, but she just continued to stare.

He could only imagine what she must be thinking. They hadn't had a chance to talk anything out and he realized that a large portion of the blame for that fell on his shoulders.

He hadn't given her the chance to explain when she'd returned to Forks, and since then they'd just hit one roadblock after another.

But tonight and everything that had happened had strengthened his resolve and he was determined to make things right with Ness.

He wanted her, not just physically, and he was tired of getting in his own way. It was time to make things right.

The tension in the foyer was so thick you could cut it with a knife and Jake knew he had to come up with something to break the ice.

"Claire had the baby, it's a girl." He kept his eyes on Ness and he saw her smile at the news. "They named her Lennon."

"Lennon, that's different" she spoke softly.

Jake scratched the back of his head as he continued, "yeah, they kind of have this obsession with the Beatles. One of their songs was always playing in the background on their first couple of dates and when Quil proposed. So now it's like their thing. If it was a boy they were gonna name him John."

"It's pretty," Ness started, "I like unique names."

"Yeah, Renesmee's about as unique as you can get."

Ness shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much."

They were both quite again after that, neither knowing what to say or do.

Ness brought her hands together in front of her and starred down at her interlocked fingers, mentally willing herself to say something that would make everything okay, but nothing came to mind.

And after another minute, Jake decided enough was enough. "So, this is kinda awkward, huh?"

Ness let out a short, breathy laugh, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm not really good at this sort of thing." She dragged her eyes away from her hands to look at him and she found him starring right back at her.

Jake sighed and took a step away from the wall. "Hell Ness, I don't even know what "this sort of thing" is…so it's not like I'm any better."

Ness followed his lead and took a step away from the wall herself. "So, if neither of us knows what we're doing, how do we move forward?"

Jake took another step. "There's no road map for us to follow. We're gonna have to make up our own rules."

Ness took the final step, bringing her within arm's reach of Jake. "Who makes the first rule?"

Jake slowly reached out and touched her cheek. "I don't think that matters Ness."

She nodded. "Okay, then I have one."

Jake gave her a chance to finish but she didn't say anything else. "What is it?" He prodded.

Ness swallowed past the lump that had developed in her throat to get out what she wanted to say, "I want us to be honest."

Her voice was low, but Jake was still able to hear. A few weeks ago, this statement from Ness would have made him laugh. Actually, it probably would have pissed him off. But he was past that now, so instead he nodded. "I agree."

Ness looked down at her feet and rushed on, "It's just, I know I'm the last one who should bring this up but I just feel that we've been through so much and the last thing I want is for one of us to feel like – "

"Ness, take a breath," Jake cut her off. She was rambling and he could tell she was letting her nerves get the better of her.

He moved his hand to her chin and tilted her head back to catch her eyes. "We've both done wrong in the past. Like I said, I agree with your rule and I promise to follow it. I also have a rule of my own, okay?"

Jake moved his hand down her neck, stopping at her shoulder, and Ness was able to nod in response.

"My rule is that we leave our mistakes in the past. Whatever you did, whatever I did, it doesn't matter. I don't want that shit weighing on our shoulders anymore. I just want us to move forward."

Ness smiled, this was definitely a rule she liked. "I can agree to that."

He returned her smile and continued, "I'm tired of being angry and bitter and I'm tired of trying to live without you. I want us to work, and I'll do whatever I have to do to make that happen."

Jakes last words had really affected her. They were everything she'd been waiting to hear for seven months and now that he'd said them it was almost impossible to keep herself from crying. Her emotions were so strong that all she could do was nod in response.

"So we've got some ground rules…I think that's a pretty good place to start." Jacob moved slightly closer as he spoke and Ness had to tilt her head up further to meet his eyes. "There's really only one thing left I think we need to agree on."

"And what would that be?" Jakes eyes were so intent, so serious; Ness could feel herself begin to get nervous.

But just before a good panic could set in, he smiled. And not just any smile, it was the cocky and sexy half smile that Ness had gone too long without seeing. The smile that made her heart beat a little faster and her knees grow a little weaker.

"You and me…we're going on a real date."