I'm just going to say, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Some of you may be switching sides for whose side you're currently on. Leave me a review, let me know the verdict! All credit goes to good old Stephanie Meyer.

"I just want you to be able to look at me and see me like any other parent would. Not give me that sideways glance like you feel as though I'll disappear at any moment. Or like I'm going to run away and never come back. I'm here. I'm your daughter. I'll always be your baby." My father and I sat on the back porch of the main house, overlooking the lake that resided there. It was one of our favorite summer pastimes. We'd sit underneath the stars and I'd drink in the humid summertime air, one of my favorite scents. It was another one of those nights where the conversation had turned to me and college.

He reached his hand across the space between our lounge chairs and linked his fingers with mine. "I don't think you get it, dear. Every parent feels this way when their child is headed to college. You're taking on the world without me. And although we cherished every single day we had with you as a child- those days are gone. Far too soon, I might add."

"I do understand, though. You and mommy need to know that I will always come home and I will always need you. No matter how 'old' I get." I threw air quotes around the word old. I mean, I was done aging, just like everyone else in my family. But unlike everyone else, I had come to terms with the reality of my condition long ago. "I was never like the other kids, you know?" I continued after a moment. "Going to school for my senior year, I realized that. Everyone would reminisce on those years they spent listening to alternative music in their basements with their best friend while watching some crappy teen soap opera, and I had nothing like that. 'Oh yeah, I used to listen to Vivaldi with my father, while reviewing his orchestral style in fluent Latin at the age of four'."

My dad offered me a sad yet sincere smile. "And you want to be like them? The other kids, I mean. Their upbringing sounds so pedestrian."

I laughed lightly. My dad was so well-intentioned, however misguided. I thought back to my senior year briefly. It was a strange time, being with my peers. I'd gotten involved with a lot of student organizations, made some friends, but it just didn't feel right. Something about me didn't fit. Just like something about me didn't fit among my own family. I was born- not turned, not phased. "Something like that, Daddy."

"You're really going to do this college thing, Renesmee? You're just like your mother- so defiant. I guess I can't implore you to stay at home even if I wanted to." I looked up at the sky, suddenly feeling whimsical.

I was getting out of Forks on my own for the first time in my life, and it made me feel free. I could be whoever I wanted out there. Not Ness, the vampire/human hybrid. Not Renesmee, daddy's little angel and perfect daughter. Not Nessie, Jake's imprint and soul mate. I was going to reinvent myself and really see the world.

"Yeah dad… I guess you couldn't."

I woke up to the sound of beeping. I forced my eyes to open, despite their natural inclination to fight the urge. My entire body was stiff, and the fabric on my skin was driving me wild with its rough texture. The fluorescent lights flooded my eye sockets, absolutely burning, and causing me to release a deep groan of dissatisfaction. At that, Jacob crossed the room quickly, rubbing his own eyes and taking my hand.

"Ness, how're you feeling?" I had so many questions. Like why there was an IV in my arm and why was I in a hospital room instead of in my dorm studying for my Kinesiology 100 exam next week? And why in the world was Jacob in Seattle?

"Like Hell." I croaked out slowly. He dropped my hand momentarily, leaving the room to bring back a nurse. She checked my vitals and smiled sadly down at me. Without a word, she turned and left the room, leaving a glass of ice water and a stony-faced Jake behind. "What's going on, anyway?"

I struggled to sit up, but Jake gently pushed my shoulders back down to the pillow. "Just relax, kid. You're not going anywhere anytime soon. You had a pretty thrilling night, apparently." He ran his hands through his jet-black hair quickly. His stride carried him back to the other side of the room, near the window.

"Well maybe you could enlighten me. Since you seem to know so much about what I've been up to lately." I huffed. I was irrationally angry at him. It was me in the hospital, after all. And he was the only familiar face here, even after everything I'd put him through lately. For some reason though, his attitude was frustrating me.

He whipped his head in my direction, shooting daggers with his eyes. "You want to know why I know what you've been up to lately, Renesmee. Or maybe I should call you Carlie, since apparently that's who you are now." Jake stuffed his hands into his pockets and started pacing again. "Your little friend, Ariana left you at that little party you two decided to go to for a little too long and you couldn't handle yourself. Drank too much, got a little too caught up grinding on some asshole frat boy- I don't know- but somewhere along the line, somebody slipped you a roofie. And I got there just in time to keep you from…" He trailed off, fighting back some emotion.

"From what?" I prodded, impatiently.

"I kept you from getting raped, Ness! Someone was going to rape. you. And none of your so called 'friends' were anywhere to be found to help you!" He pointed at the door angrily. As if one of my friends would actually be in this hospital right now.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Jacob! My friends would never do that to me." I could feel my anger bubbling up again and the sting of tears behind my eyes. "They care about me!"

"Do they? Do they care about you? Because you've been drifting in and out of consciousness for about 48 hours now and your cell hasn't gone off ONCE. Your little buddies haven't stopped by this hospital ONCE. You're all alone, and guess why? Go ahead- guess. Because they ran off the second the police broke up that hellhole of a party and didn't give your safety a second thought. When I caught that bastard with his pants around his ankles and his friends cheering him on, guess who was there to save you- you think it was Ariana? I hate to break it to you, but I had to practically rip her tongue out of some guy's mouth just to get a solid answer from her about where to find you. So PLEASE, I beg you, don't tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about." He simply stared at me, his furious glare burning a hole through my skull. I couldn't restrain the sobs that ripped through my chest.

I couldn't remember anything. The last thing I remember was getting ready to go over to Tippy's house before the party, and according to Jake, plenty had happened after that. The worst part was, I didn't doubt any of it. Jake would never lie to me, and I knew that party was going to be sketchy, from the first moment I'd heard about it. I went anyway. I drank anyway.

I lost myself anyway.

Finally I worked up the nerve to speak again. "Did you tell my parents yet? If Alice hasn't seen it, she's bound to soon." His eyes softened a bit.

"No. Against my better judgement, I haven't spoken to them. I know the moment they find out, they're going to force you to come home, and I thought you should be able to make that decision on your own. I shouldn't have to force your hand again." He turned his back to me, looking between the door and the window, as though he couldn't decide whether to run away or jump.

"What do you mean, 'again?" I asked, barely audible.

"I mean just what I said. This is, in a way, my fault. I dragged you into a relationship with me before you were ready. That had always been your parents biggest fear, that you would choose me without knowing what else there was. And now here you are, in a hospital because you were trying to run away from the boundaries that my imprinting on you has set. And for that I am truly sorry. I though all along that I was doing the right thing. That me letting you go was giving you the space you needed to grow. Instead, you being connected to me have done nothing but drive you into the arms of the devil himself."

I opened my mouth to argue, but he continued solemnly. "I just want you to have everything you've ever wanted, Ness." He turned towards the door, grabbing the handle and cracking it slightly. "Just know, in your heart of hearts, that it will ALWAYS be me to scoop you up when you fall. Always."

And with that, he disappeared, leaving me with a mouth full of excuses and no one to deliver them to.

I just back in La Push by that afternoon.

Knowing that Nessie was safe gave me enough power to push myself back home. Instead of running the entire way like last time, I allowed myself a train ticket, the trip providing me with the time to think. I was done feeling sorry for myself, and for that matter, Nessie. If she wanted to venture out on her own, then she should be free to do that. I was no longer going to be the string tethering her to Forks. Although she was my force of gravity, I could no longer expect to be the center of her universe as well. And while that would take some getting used to, I was going to do it. I would get the shop off the ground, and finally lead the pack like an alpha is supposed to. Instead of the way I was currently leading, with my mind always in two places at once.

I pushed through the front door of my father's house, looking to speak to him. I hadn't been able to open up to him much lately, what with all of the chaos going on. He would understand, though, what my next course of action needed to be.

"Hey Black, where are you? I have something that we need to talk abou-" I stopped dead in my tracks, shocked by the scene in front of me. I had expected to see my father's wheelchair parked in front of the tv set with a beer in his hand. Instead, Renesmee was on the couch, in one of my old hoodies that I had long since passed onto her, with her hair piled atop her head in a messy bun, and her face flushed with exhaustion and emotion.

I couldn't keep the bite out of my voice. "What are you doing here?" I hoped that she felt it a little bit. I wanted her to know that this house, while it once belonged to her as well, didn't hold the same warmth. It killed me inside, but I knew that the only way to sever our ties would be to really quit cold turkey. "You should still be in the hospital."

She looked wounded. "I came to talk to you… About everything."

"Well here I am. Start talking." I stuffed my hands in pockets and leaned against the kitchen counter, providing a safe distance between the two of us.

"Jake please don't be like this. There's a lot between us that needs to be cleared up tonight. Really cleared up- not like at Christmas where we threw some apologies at each other and then made out." She crossed the room, careful not to come too close. "It never used to be like this. We were always able to talk about everything and ever since… Ever since we became boyfriend and girlfriend or whatever it is we are now, we've been keeping things from each other. We haven't been able to talk like we used to."

I wanted to laugh, but I kept it to myself. "I wonder why. If I recall, you decided not to tell me about the college thing wayyyyyy before we became a couple. You were lying to me back then, Renesmee. I've never lied to you." She crossed her arms.

"Okay, so I'm the one who's been having trouble with the truth. I get it."

"No, actually I don't believe you do."

"Then help me understand, Jacob! Help me understand. Because the way I see it, everything was fine at Christmas. I had said what I needed to say, and you were ready to make love to me right then and there- like we'd never had problems a day in our life. And then you walked away, like you've been doing since this summer." She was fighting her own emotion, I could tell. But I wasn't going to play the villain role again- not today.

"I wasn't the only one in that room feeling the pull and you know it. I wanted to take you because that's what mates do, Ness. That's what soul mates do. Because for the ten minutes we had together in that bedroom, I wanted to believe that everything could go back to normal, that everything could be fine again. But it can't, can it?" Ness threw her hands into the air in frustration.

"But they can! Can't you see? They can go back to normal! I'm sorry, Jacob Black." A sob ripped through the room. "I am sorrier than I have ever been before. I'm quitting school and coming back home." She wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. "You were right about everything. You guys –here at home- are the people that really care about me…. Jake, Jake please listen to me."

I was listening. But the message wasn't one that I knew I could hear right then. "I am listening, Ness! I hear you, but that doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the fact that I love you, have always loved you, and will always love you. And it sure doesn't change all of the pain I've had to go through the past couple of months. I can't keep having you, just to see you get ripped away from me on a whim."

She blinked quickly, trying to regain her composure. "So that's it then? We're done, just like that?"

I didn't know what I wanted. I knew that we needed to be together, but I was done playing these cat and mouse games. "I just don't know what this is anymore, you know?" Renesmee stared at me then, the only time she had truly met my gaze all evening.

"No, I don't know. Because last time I checked, we were soul mates. And this isn't what soul mates do, Jacob."

FIN... for now.