Chapter 26

Jake's POV

It All Depends

Talk about eventful, Embry half complained. Bloodsuckers coming in all day.

Don't forget about the Dracula's hanging around. Seth tosses in.

Look guys, I'm not happy about it either, but the more help, the better.

How about that Fred guy? Embry asks. I can tell, from a purely offensive point that having Fred on our side in a fight would help immensely.

He's a huge asset, no doubt about it. But he's not emotionally invested in fighting for us. I try not to let my thoughts wander into the territory of Tanya and how Fred might just end up fighting for us anyway. Either way, he's convinced he wants to fight with us.

Sweet! Seth's mental tone is as cheerful as always. I swear the kid is never pessimistic.

I'm not. He thinks at me, and I can literally hear his cheeky smile.

Whatever. Freak. Now, who's supposed to be taking over for us? I know it must be close to ten and I don't want Nessie worrying. It's something she would do.

The guys, mercifully, ignore my thoughts about Nessie, which quickly spiral out of control, and answer my question.

Uh… Sam, Jack, and Brady, I think. Then Leah, Quil and Collin take over after that. And Paul, Max and Seth after that. And- I stop him.

Ok, got it. Thanks Embry.

What? You don't want to know when your next patrol is?

I know when mine is. I'm in charge of all that, remember?

He laughs, I bet it's just so much fun.

Shut up. Heaven knows Sam and I had taken long enough to divide up the patrols the way we did, working in everyone. There weren't any new wolves though, and Sam doubted that there would be, because everyone with the gene had probably phased already, or were too young to phase yet. Since the last time the Volturi had shown up the new wolves had settled in to the packs and were just another 'one of the wolves' as Ness liked to call us.

Thankfully, before Embry or Seth could comment further on the joys of being an alpha Sam and Jack (one of the newest-even after seven-ish years) phased, both in different spots on our patrol line.

Brady's on his way, Jacob. We'll take it from here. I couldn't hear Jack's thoughts, but I knew Sam was right.

Alright, Sam and his group just took over. You're free to go.

Freedom!

Seth, stop being a goofball. He was still a huge kid.

No, you just go find Renesmee for goodness sake's.

Don't have to tell me twice. Catch you two later. Probably when my girlfriend has to feed you two.

I could hear the laughter in their thoughts.

Then their thoughts drift into watching the forest as they run back to the reservation and I focus on my surroundings as well. By the time I get back to the Cullen's property and phase back it was closer to ten twenty and I'm worried Ness might be freaking out.

I shouldn't be. Because when I head toward the cottage, assuming Nessie is inside I catch an old trail of her scent-going away from the cottage's door.

For a second I'm concerned that she might have taken off-but I quickly silence my thoughts because Nessie isn't stupid enough to leave the patrol perimeter, especially without telling someone. And that 'someone' would have told me, or risked death via angry wolf.

Once my brief moment of insanity wears off I find Nessie. Her back is propped up against the side of the cottage, and she's sitting on a black blanket from her room. She's probably getting it dirty-but she obviously doesn't care, and I love that about her.

It only takes me a few seconds, with my heightened senses and better than average eyesight, to see that she's sleeping. Her breathing is completely even, and she doesn't make the faintest movement to acknowledge my presence.

I'm a little confused as to why she's out here, and why she's asleep with a laptop still open-the screensaver going-sitting on her legs. My confusion is quickly replaced with amusement. This is Renesmee Carlie Cullen. It really shouldn't surprise me that she'd do something silly and out of the ordinary.

I briefly consider being angry that she's alone, but decide against it. She can take care of herself, there are three wolves on patrol, and over ten vampires close enough to protect her if need be. She's not dumb, and she probably just needed air.

Besides, she stayed close to the house, and really, what's a wall going to do if there's a vampire after you? Not much. So there isn't really anything wrong with the situation, aside from her sleeping outside-in typically rainy Forks-all night.

That wasn't going to happen.

I quietly walk over to where she's set up on the ground, trying not to startle her. She's never been a heavy sleeper, but she's also never been really jumpy either.

"Ness," I whisper, sitting down beside her on the blanket. I would try to just pick her up and carry her in the house, but she'd wake up anyway, and I might give her a heart attack with all that's going on. She doesn't move, and I decide to close the laptop, for fear that if she does jerk awake it will fall off her lap.

I set it on the blanket gently and take her hand. "Nessie, wake up."

She sucks in a fast breath and her eyes flutter open revealing their chocolate brown depths to me.

"Jake?" She sounds confused, and that doesn't surprise me.

"Hey. Would you like to explain why you're sleeping outside?"

She grins lazily, before looking me in the eye. "The stars."

"The stars?"

She lies down on her back and pulls me down beside her. "Watch." It's a command, and I diligently scan the sky with my eyes.

After a few seconds I see the reason she's out here. It's a shooting stars-or meteor showers, really.

"Stargazing?" I'm a little skeptical.

"Well," She shrugs, "It's not like we always have access to cloud-free skies. Plus it's the Leonids meteor shower. Commonly visible along the west coast, around November 18th."

I raise my eyebrows at her. "How do you know so much about this?"

"Google." She tries to say it with a straight face, and fails. Miserable. Her laughter makes me smile. "I guess it could all be false information-but the timing seemed too perfect."

I nod. "How long have you been out here."

"I 'dunno. Couple of hours maybe."

"Hours?"

"It's a little… tense, back at the house. Lots of vampires. Very few things in common. No Jasper. I just needed a break."

I guess that makes sense. "Are you finished with your 'break'? It could start raining any minute now."

She groans. "Sometimes I love the rain. Really, I do. But sometimes… I hate it."

"You love rain?"

"Thunderstorms in particular."

"Then you live in the right place." I'm still shocked that I didn't know this about her. "I can't believe I didn't know that." I mumble softly. She hears.

"There are some things you have yet to learn about me Jake."

I smirk. "I know a lot about you though, you've got to give me that."

"That's true. But I know a lot about you too."

I know that. "What were you doing on the computer-you know, aside from researching meteor showers?"

She pulls the laptop onto her lap and opens it, closing out the windows and shutting the machine down. "I was just looking at colleges. I am done with high school now, you know."

'Done' was an understatement. She clearly had a vampire's knack for learning and of course retaining information, so she 'graduated' her home school regiment with a 4.0.

"So, did you find anywhere good?"

She shrugs. "I guess it depends. You know, on if we live. What colleges accept me…"

I laugh. "First, we're going to live. Second, any college would accept you-without blinking."

She looks confused. "Why do you say that?"

"Nessie, you graduated with a 4.0 GPA, that is enough for some schools, not to mention you're well traveled, and you are fluent in French, and Spanish. And you're taking Japanese as we speak!"

"Hey! I only know Spanish because of that vacation we all took when I was little!"

"That's the point. Colleges love people who pick up on languages after being somewhere for a month. It's a gift."

She rolls her eyes. "It's nothing special."

"Yes it is."

"I think you're biased."

"I know I'm biased." I give her a quick kiss on the forehead and say, "Come on, you should go to sleep in your bed."

She stands and gets the blanket, while I carry her laptop and follow her inside. She stops in the doorway suddenly, "You'd come with me, right?"

It's surprising that she has to ask, but I guess if we really do sort out everything with the Volturi… I nod. "Of course I would. If you want me there, there's no place else I'd be."

She smiles at me. "Yay. And yes, I would absolutely want you there. I always want you with me." She says it like it's a simple fact, and to her, it is. It's a fact for me too.

"You know I feel the same way about you Nessie."

Hey there my fabulous readers! Hope you like the chapter-thought you all needed an update on Nessie's schooling situation and her future plans, pending, of course, the actual existence of her future ;). Any ways! I hope you liked the look at the pack and Jake's POV, because I'm not the best at it.

Let me know what you think and keep looking out for more chapters-I have the next few days off, hint hint :).

Thanks,

R&R