Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

Would you look at her

She looks at me

She's got thinking about her constantly

But she don't know how I feel

Evan and Jaron, 'Crazy For this Girl'

"Wow!" The half-breed exclaimed, mouth wide open in amazement. "Thank you so much, Aunt Rosalie! I love it!"

Rosalie smiled, content with her impressive handy work. Her niece's reddish-brown circles of hair was considerable shorter—the length no longer reaching passed Nessie's slender waist, but now it cascaded two inches below her shoulders—and if possible for the youngest Cullen, she appeared much more beautiful, physically more mature. Not able to resist the urge, the fair-haired strigoi stroked her cold digits through the girl's silken, copper strands, forever fascinated with the soft texture.

"I gotta say, Goldie Locks, you did good for the first time in your life," Jacob said, managing to compliment and insult Rosalie simultaneously. Nessie scoffed under her breath and nudged him in the stomach. "I mean, um, thanks."

"I would say, 'Anytime,' but that would imply I'm perfectly capable of handling your putrid body odor, and that's simply not the case. So the next time when your sister dyes your hair the color of a cupcake, just shave your head," she replied ruefully.

Turning away from the mirror, Renesmee smiled fondly at her godmother and stifled a laugh at the image of seeing Jacob with a bald scalp. "Thanks again for coming through, Rosie."

Rosalie planted a quick peck on Nessie's cheek. "For you, kiddo, I'd do anything. Now, I must go take a long shower and get rid of your pet's awful stench."

"Okay."

"Believe me, Blondie, no amount of showers will help you," Jacob remarked.

"Mongrel, your scent is the least appealing of all creatures," save the men who smelt of sweat, cigars, and booze, "I don't know how my brother and sister tolerate your constant presence in their home. You're like a smelly, dusty, tick-filled, old rug. I might as well beat you with a stick."

"Filthy bloodsucker," Jacob coughed into a balled hand.

"You're immature," the blonde vampire coughed back before disappearing within a human nanosecond, out of the cottage and returning to the main house.

With an amused, inaudible giggle, Nessie reached into Jacob's pocket for his cellphone, and started playing with its buttons.

"What do you think you're doing?" the shape-shifter questioned, his eyebrows arched in curiosity and chuckled softly.

"Oh, nothing really. I'm just plugging Aunt Rosalie's number into your cell just in case there's anymore sibling hijinks to be had," Nessie told him, walking out of the washroom with Jacob following her into the living room.

"Yeah, right. Weren't you paying attention to us just now? We hate each other." Jacob replied, groaning in feigned irritation. "I always thought that much was obvious to you."

Nessie shook her head at her best friend, patting his shoulder in mockery. "Oh, whatever, Jake. You two totally love each other. That's why you bicker every chance you get, just like a brother and sister. Honestly, I don't believe you and Rosalie could go on without your daily squabbles."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Nessie."

It was rare when Nessie exercised flaw in her careful observations, and of course she would also be correct in the assumption that Jacob and Rosalie shared a sibling-like friendship. Yeah, he loved the blonde nuissance.

And if Jacob was brutally honest with himself, he began to love Rosalie the day Nessie was born. After all, Rosalie was the one to stand faithfully by a feeble Bella to make an innocent baby lived to see the light of day, while he and Edward formed a strange alliance in their multiple attempts to persuade Bella to abort Renesmee. In a way, Jacob felt indebted to Rosalie for stoking the flames of a new mother's courage. For without her—who knows?—Bella may not have been strong enough to resist Edward and Jacob's reasoning.

He was also certain that if he chose to attack Nessie that fateful day, before giving the half-human half-vampire baby girl a glance, Rosalie would have not been merciful in her defensive combat. There was no way she would have allowed an enraged wolf to lay a single finger on the child. Calmly, Jacob assured himself that Rosalie might have snapped his body in two, a maternal power that possessed coursed through her veins where blood should be.

All in all, Jacob was otherwise Rosalie was around to support Bella.

"I guess nothing gets by you, Nessie."

Renesmee laughed, a bit smugly, and slipped the phone back in Jacob's pocket. "I know. I am a genius," she stated, and perched herself on the armrest of the sofa.

A comfortable pass impregnated the air for a long moment, with Jacob and Nessie just smiling warm at one another.

"You know, Nessie, Blondie did a really good job. I'm impressed. You look at least six months older," Jacob told her. "I like it. You're beautiful."

"Oh," Renesmee sighed, blinking in confusion. She felt the heat of Jacob's compliment rush to her cheeks, painting them a cherry pink. "Thank you. You look extremely dapper yourself, Black, but then again, you always do to me—pink hair or not."

He gave her a short chortle in reply, criss-crossing his muscular arms over his chest. "You're flirting with me, Nessie."

Not that he minded much, honestly.

The hybrid nodded nonchalantly, coquettishly fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Yeah, just a little, but that might be the new haircut talking."

"Probably," Jacob agreed indulgently. "Nessie. . . I, uh. . . Thanks for not laughing in my face, or getting freaked out. That was cool of you."

The right corner of her mouth slanted in an upward direction, giving him a half-smile. Renesmee tugged on Jacob's wrist while she rested a free hand on the back of his neck, and brought him closer to lean her forehead against his.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Jacob Black."

"That's good to know. I wouldn't want to," he replied, smirking.

Butterflies—actually, they were more like bumble bees—flying around chaotically in his stomach. Tell her. No, no. It's too soon.

"Is that so? Who's flirting now?" Nessie queried rhetorically, releasing him, and knelt down on a singular knee in front of Jacob, a motion made in jest. She looked up at him beneath dark, thick-rimmed eyelashes. "Jacob Black, I love you with all my heart. I swear my soul would perish into the wild wind, ceasing to exist, if I ever lost you. With you, it's not hard to just be myself, and fit in. You're my second half, my sunlight, and my soul mate. Will you marry me?"

Jacob shrugged. "Heh, why not? How bad could being married to you be?"

Renesmee shot up then, standing up straight, and beamed at him. "Cool!"

"Just know that I wear the pants in this relationship."

She scowled playfully, planting a hand on either hip, and stamped a leg. "Well, what do I wear then? The apron?"

"Go make me a sandwich, woman!" Jacob mock-demanded, punctuating his sentence by pointing toward the kitchen. "Chop, chop!"

They laughed in harmony as Nessie slapped him lightly over the shoulder.

"I gotta go, Nessie. Job and all that," he stated, frowning apologetically.

She nodded, concealing any hint of disappointment the hybrid might have felt. "That's fine. I have to meet up with Uncle Jazz in about an hour, so I have to hop in the shower."

"Well. . ." Jacob trailed off in an exaggerated tone, letting his eyes roam up and down her figure for a second, "It's not like Seth can't cover for me. Maybe I could join you? Help you wash your back and all that."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind that. Then, we could whammy each other right on the tile floor," Nessie said sarcastically.

He rubbed his palms together. "Sounds like a plan! Let's get started!"

Jacob turned half-way before Renesmee wrapped her hand around his elbow, and pulled him back. "Hold it right there, buddy! You should turn off your phone first. I don't want our consummation to be interrupted."

Again, the two laughed, even if Nessie just stabbed their joke straight through its heart.

"See ya later, Nessie. Love you."

"Bye, Jake. Love you, too."

Jacob hugged Nessie gently to his chest, feeling that familiar rush of a serene warmth crashing throughout his body. He could feel her mouth curve into a soft smile against his clavicle, and was fairly positive that Nessie, too, yearned to stay like this forever, tied against his body, and never spoil the moment. Alas, the demanding world beckoned his name with a shrill cry—hearing the sound of the ringtone from his cellphone—and hesitantly released Nessie.

And as he left the Cullen cottage, Jacob knew that his hours away from Nessie made her all the more significant in his life. Meanwhile, Renesmee mused quietly to herself.

It was almost disturbingly sexy how the notion of offering her virginity to Jacob didn't seem horrible, more intriguing. Feeling his smooth, sun-kissed skin under her palms, gently caressing the pulse-point of his throat with her eager lips, and ignite their mutual fervor.

Mmm. . .

Renesmee's stomach flipped, and she snapped out of her deep trance.