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Krelyjane: Yep, that's because of the two-part chapter :) Thanks for your review.

& Holly Shaw: Thank you, I hope you'd like this one, too.

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So, here's Ch25... Read and REVIEWWW!!!!!


Chapter Twenty-Five

I was pretty determined by then; I wasn't going to put my family, my friends or Jake in danger because of me. Enough troubles. I'd caused misery enough.

All I had to think about then was how to get to at least get on the plane without Alice seeing me, and how to get them to not follow me.

But, most importantly...

How to say Goodbye.

I sat there on the grass, barely hearing what Jake, Quil and Embry were explaining for Mary about the Quiluete legends. I really concentrated when they got to the part about vampires though. I sighed; knowing that Mary would have to know about 'us' sooner or later. I just wished she wouldn't hate me before I leave for good. And that didn't appear to be very far away.

"V-Vampires?" she stuttered, apparently surprised and scared. Though I'd guess she'd go past the surprise after she had seen her 'crush' turn into a giant wolf right before her eyes.

"Yes," Embry replied simply, shortly, leaving the details for us to explain later. It wasn't their secret to tell anyways; they'd break the treaty. Though we are allies now, and maybe even friends, but the treaty is still there.

"Would you like to go home now? It's 10:30 already...I bet your parents would be worried," Jake said, "Nessie?" he called afterward, as if suddenly realizing I wasn't standing with them.

I still had the phone in my hand, I quickly put it in my bag; I don't know why, but I didn't want anyone to even have the chance to get suspicious.

"Are you okay?" he asked, noticing my position; sitting there on the grass, wrapping my arms around my knees and leaning on them.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Physically, I was more than perfect.

"Umm...Okay, then. Do you want me to drive you home then drive Mary and get you the car or do you want to come with me first then we return to your house?" he asked, not totally convinced by my answer.

"I'll come." Some time to plan and think freely without my father reading my mind? Definitely!

"'Kay, come on," he said, stretching his hand for me to take it and smiling kindly. I smiled back at him and took his hand.

It was only when I stood up when I realized the blood had not returned back to my head after it drained when I hung up on him. I, the half-vampire, lost my balance there for a moment.

"Whoa. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked as he caught me before I fell on my face, I just flashed him a smile.

"Definitely. I think I just stood up too fast." He looked at me, a strange mixture of feelings in his eyes; doubt, worry and confusion.

"Aha." was all he said.

Mary, Embry, Jake and I went directly to my Ferrari. Mary was on my side on the way there...

"How long have you known about that?" she asked curiously.

"Six years." That are my whole life.

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know."

"Aren't you afraid of those vampires? I never thought that world even existed," she asked. I heard Jake and Embry cough, hiding their laughs.

"Ummm...Look, Mary, this is something I think we'd have to talk to you about later," I said. Or maybe just my family. I don't know yet when I'm leaving.

"We?"

"Later, Mary," I said with finality, she just nodded. But she wasn't afraid, which made me know that she hadn't guessed the truth. Not yet anyways.

On our way, I thought about how to get through Alice and Daddy, the people with the powers that might expose my little plan.

All what Alice needed is to be blinded from my plan until at least I'm on the plane to Italy. All she needed is a wolf around her...

Or around me!

But I couldn't convince anyone of the wolves to accompany me to the airport without Jake knowing. And he was, literally, the last person I wanted to know; he's too loyal and too rash to keep himself away from danger.

Got it!

I got out the phone from my bag again and dialed Rachel's number...remembering what she told me she still needed help with.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Rachel, it's Nessie." Jacob looked at me from the corner of his eye in a way that said 'Okay, there's definitely something wrong.'

"Hey! How are you?"

"I'm great. Now, you said you needed help with the flowers for the reception, right?" I asked.

"Yeah? Do you know someone that can help me? You know if we even started any talking about it with the girls here we'll end up with no flowers at all," she explained again.

"Sure. Alice can help you!" I said.

"Really?"

"Definitely! I'll call her and tell you when she's coming, okay?"

"Great! Thanks, Ness! You're the best sister-in-law-to-be ever!" I laughed at that. Then I grimaced, knowing that there was a great chance that I wasn't getting married in the first place.

"Yeah," I whispered, "I'll call you back in a few." I clicked on the little red button then, ending the call. Then, I got out the number that had called me twice today and began to text him...

Date?

I waited patiently for one whole minute, then my phone vibrated.

Friday, November 20th.

I sighed; I had only two more days to spend with everyone.

I called Alice then.

"Hey, Nessie!" she answered after the first ring.

"Hi, Alice. Look, Rachel needs help with some stuff for her wedding and I knew you could help. Friday is okay?" I asked in one breath.

"Great!" she agreed immediately, "Tell her I'd be there by 9am sharp!" I giggled at her enthusiasm. I'd miss her so much.

Only now I know that a lot of things in my life weren't worth the sadness, the misery. Even Peterson looked like an angel from heaven now, compared to this.

"Sure. I'll tell her."

I texted Rachel with the details then.

One down. One to go.

"This is it?" Jake asked, I realized he was speaking to Mary, looking at the houses in that street.

"Yep; the Anderson residence," she answered, " I guess I'll see you later?" she spoke to Embry, hope filling her voice.

"Right after school. Promise," he replied. She chuckled, still not believing what had happened tonight.

"'Kay then, bye everyone!" she said, "See you, Embry."

After she stepped outside the car and was inside her house, Embry spoke.

"I'll go now, too. I have to patrol tonight," he said, "See you, guys."

"Bye," we replied in unison. Jake drove to the end of the street then came to a stop, not suddenly though.

"What's wrong, Ness? I know you better than that, I know something's going on." Oops, busted! Think, think, think...!

"A lot of events had happened today." He didn't seem to buy that so I continued, "I still don't know how to tell Mary, about my family being vampires and all."

"She'll accept it. I mean, she accepted the whole werewolf thing pretty well," he tried to reassure me. Oh, Jake, I wish it was only that. I smiled at him.

"Thanks." He stroked my hair with his hand.

"Anytime. That's kinda my job, you know." God, I can't even imagine how I'm going to survive without him! I just nodded.

The rest of the ride was pretty silent, until I noticed that my house was only a few miles away...

"Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to skip school tomorrow. The exams are next week so they're not giving us anything anyways. So, wanna go out with me?" I asked.

"Ain't gonna affect your schoolwork? Sure?" I nodded, "Okay, I guess. Where to, though?"

"Surprise!" I stated. I knew the perfect place for our, umm...well, yeah, I didn't want to think about it this way. He chuckled.

"Okay, then. Surprise it is." he said. Our house was getting closer and closer...

A song! Yes! And I knew Daddy wasn't the biggest fan of country...I'm not, too, but I knew this only song, I hoped it counted.

I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car

He's got one-hand feel on the steering wheel, the other on my heart

I look around, turn the radio down, He says 'Baby, is something wrong?'

I say 'Nothing, I was just thinking how we don't have a song,

And he says..

I kept replaying Taylor Swift's song in my head until I got out of the car, waved Jake goodbye and went inside.

"Hey, Ness!" Emmett and Jasper greeted me from the living room. Our song is the slamming screen door, sneakin' out late, tapping on your window...

"Hey!" I greeted them back, throwing the bag on the couch and throwing myself on it, too. "Where's everyone?" When we're on the phone and we talk real slow, 'cause it's late and your mama don't know...

"Edward and Bella are in the cottage, Alice, Rosalie and Esme are, umm, somewhere they told us not to tell you about because it's related to your wedding," Jasper answered, smiling.

"And Carlisle's at the hospital!" Emmett finished him, sounding triumphant. "You owe me a new DVD player!"

"Aw, man! It's not that important, I didn't forget! Carlisle's always at the hospital!" Jasper groaned. I giggled; and I'd miss those two, too. I had some time to spend with them now, right? Who needs sleep?!

"Guys," I called until I got their attention, "Wanna play?" I suggested.

"Sure! What?" Emmett answered immediately. Jasper shot me a worried glance though.

"Aren't you supposed to sleep for school?" he asked.

"I'm skipping tomorrow," I mumbled.

"Great! Who needs school, anyways?" Emmett said.

"Umm, Emmett, everyone does! Well, at least for once-" I cut him off.

"Monopoly?" I suggested; Chess would leave someone out and I had no energy to run or something.

"I'll go get it!" Emmett said, storming out of the door in full speed.

We spent the next three hours playing Monopoly, something I had never thought I'd be able to do.

"I won!" Jasper announced.

"Yeah, whatever! It's stupid anyways." Emmett definitely hated to lose. Even if it was just a stupid game. I yawned hugely then, it was 2am and I was pretty tired.

"'Kay, guys. I'll go sleep. See you in the morning!" Why did my human side have to bug me then? I wanted more time. I wanted to make the best out of those 48 hours I had left.

"You still haven't slept? It's 2am, you know," Carlisle's professional voice said as he came into the house. I ran to him and hugged him, something I hadn't done for a while.

I'd miss him, too.

"What?" he said. Oops. Stupid gift!

"I'd miss you when I get married and move out," I explained quickly. I'd have to be more careful than that.

He smiled at me.

"You'd still come visit us, wouldn't you?" he asked rhetorically. I didn't think so.

"Sure." I flashed him my best smile.

"Now, up to your room and sleep. School is in a couple of hours."

"Skipping!" Jasper and Emmett announced from the living room. I just got up to my room before anyone made me go to school.

Before I slept, and taking the chance that Daddy wasn't there. I wrote a few letters to everyone in the family, put it in a box and sealed it, knowing that I would find a way for them to read them after I went.

I hid the box in my desk before I jumped on the bed and drifted to sleep, knowing that nobody would look in there then.

I woke up too early; 6am. Apparently, I was just too anxious to be able to get enough sleep.

First thing I did was run to my desk and get out my iPod, listening to every piece of music I had there and concentrating really hard on it; for all I knew, Daddy may had come back from the cottage while I was asleep.

Then, I quickly changed my clothes and ran downstairs, finding only Esme, Rose, Alice, Jasper and Emmett there. Yeah, right! Daddy and Momma come from the cottage at 6:30 at schooldays.

I still had 25 minutes to be able to think freely.

"Good morning!" I said, running down the stairs. They all shot me a warm 'Good morning', too.

I went to the kitchen to find Esme cooking some eggs.

"Hey, grandma,"

"Good morning, sweetie. Have you slept well?" I nodded.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked for the first time in my life. She smiled.

"Sure; would you get the salt for me, please?" I nodded and ran to get her the salt from the cupboard.

"Grandma?" I called.

"Yes, Nessie?"

"Can you help me make some hot dogs for Jake? I'm going out with him today,"

"Of course."

I spent the rest of the 25 minutes with her then remembered to turn on the iPod again.

I packed the sandwitches in a small picnic baskett and put some Soda for Jake, too.

"Good morning, sweetheart," I heard Momma say from behind. I turned around and hugged her.

"'Morning, Momma."

"Are you going out on a picnic today?" she asked, noticing the basket on the kitchen table. I nodded.

I ate my eggs then and went to the music room. I hadn't been there for a long while now.

I sat down in front of our huge piano and turned off the iPod, concentrating on the compositions I wanted to play.

I played Esme's favorite first.

As soon as I started playing, the whole house stopped talking, paying deep attention. I could feel Daddy standing right there with Momma and Esme.

Esme came to sit next to me, her expression suggesting that she would be crying tears of joy if she could; no one had played this in a while.

"Keep playing," she whispered in my ear. I kept playing until the soft composition was over.

Next on the 'play list' was Momma's lullaby. Daddy joined me then and played along with me.

I felt Momma kiss my forehead.

"Edward's daughter," she commented, smiling.

"Yours, too," Daddy and I said in unison. She giggled.

"Sure, sure," she said. She caught that from Jake, too.

Then, at last, I played my own lullaby. I still remember the day Daddy taught it to me.

Flashback

I was sitting with Momma while she combed my hair and was telling me about the day she met Daddy. I don't know why but I felt like there were a lot of details I hadn't known. Right then I heard Daddy play Momma's lullaby. We both smiled. She loved that composition a lot, and she said it held a lot of memories of her and my father.

After Daddy finished it, though, he began playing a new composition.

Its tunes were more than beautiful. It began a little bit rough, as if something was restraining the tunes, then, it got softer and softer until it got back to the high tunes again.

He kept playing it until I ranto his side and watched him, his fingers flowing gracefully on the black-and-white keys of our piano.

The composition ended soft, very soft indeed.

"Daddy? What was this composition?" I asked, curious.

"That was your lullaby, I think. It just flowed."

"Can you teach me how to play it?" I asked, smiling. He had taught me all the others before.

"Of course, sweetie."

He held my hand and began leading me until I caught it and completed playing it...till its end.

End Flashback

After I was done with it, I kissed both Momma and Daddy on their cheeks, grabbed the basket and ran outside to prepare Jake's surprise, turning my iPod on again.

Maybe tonight I'd try translating Romeo and Juliet into French.

As I ran deeper into the woods, my phone rang again. The same damn number.

"Yes?" I answered.

"You don't know how thrilled I am that you're coming! Just be at the airport tomorrow at 2pm. We took care of the papers and all." Ugh.

"Anything else?" I asked, annoyed.

"Just remember to come alone. Again, for your beloved ones' safety." I hate you!

I snapped my phone shut then and headed towards the one place that held so many precious memories.

Our tree.

Flashback

I hated it when Jacob or anyone else underestimated me. I wanted to cliff-dive with the wolves. So what? Nothing would happen. But, oh, no, Jacob has to object.

I left him on the beach and ran, full speed towards the woods, tears in my eyes, until I found one huge tree there. I had to stop and observe.

The shade of brown that covered the stem was close to that of Momma's hair. It was so tall that, I, the four-foot girl, had to take a lot of steps back to be able to see the whole tree.

I could hear Jacob's footsteps from behind, I ignored them and climbed the giant tree, sitting on one of its huge branches.

The scene from above was overwhelming. So that's what it's like to be tall.

"Nessie? Nessie? Come on! I know you're up there!" Jake called from the bottom of the tree. It took a lot of effort to hold back my giggle. "Okay, I'll let you cliff-dive."

"Really?" I asked, excited. I heard him laugh loudly and climb beside me.

"Nope." I frowned and pouted.

"I hate you, Jacob." He looked hurt at first then he decided to speak.

"Really?" he asked seriously.

His face was heart-breaking. God, can't I stay mad at him for longer than five minutes?

"Naw," I replied, smiling. His face lit up but he kept his frown. Rather playfully, if I may add. "What?" I sighed, knowing what he wanted to hear. "I love you, Jake. You know that already!" I said, my 11-year-old-looking body hugging him. He hugged me back immediately and kissed my hair.

"I love you, too, Ness. Look there," he said as he climbed down the tree, holding me with him. He got out the little knife he always had in his back pocket and began carving on the bottom of the tree.

Nessie+Jake

End Flashback

Tears were storming down my cheek as I remembered it perfectly. I put the basket down next to the tree and sensed the carving, that was about three feet away from the ground now. I wiped my tears away immediately and ran towards the Rez, leaving the basket on top of the tree.

Surely Alice wouldn't be able to see me as I was intending on seeing Jake; 'My future disappears with theirs'.

I went to the little red house of Billy and knocked on the door.

"Wow; someone actually knocks. Come in!" I heard Billy say from inside. I giggled and opened the door, going inside.

"'Morning, Billy! Is Jake awake?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Go see him upstairs, he's in his room."

I ran upstairs and opened his door to find him snoring on his bed, deeply asleep. On any other day, I would've waited for him to wake up, but I had too little time. I walked to his bed and shook him lightly.

"Jake? Jake? Come on! Wake up, sleepyhead!" I said.

"Patrol...Rachel...go..." he mumbled, I chuckled.

"It's Nessie, Jake! Time to go! And you haven't been patrolling last night," I said as I shook him harder. He jumped.

"What? Where-" I cut him off.

"'Morning!" He smiled and yawned.

"'Morning, Ness. Time to go already?" he asked.

"Yep!"

I waited for him as he took a shower and changed his clothes.

"Where to?" he asked as we got out of the house. I took off the scarf I had been wearing around my neck and blindfolded him.

"Surprise," I whispered in his ear. He chuckled.

"Okay."

I took his hand and led him, running. He ran along until we were finally there.

"Mmm...I smell food." I rolled my eyes.

"Are you always hungry, Jacob?" I asked as I removed the silk scarf from his eyes. As soon as he saw the tree, I could see in his eyes that he remembered. He walked forward towards it and sensed the carving, too.

"You still remember where it is?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah; I never forgot."

I climbed up the tree quickly and got the basket.

"And here's the food. I made it," I announced proudly, praying it would be good.

We both sat down on the grass and he started to eat. He finished all the sandwitches in a minute.

"Those were really good," he commented. I could feel my face light up.

"Really?"

"Really. I loved them." I sighed and stared at his face, studying it carefully, carving every detail in my own memory; that was probably the last time I'd see him.

He was getting self-conscious. "What?" he asked, making sure there wasn't anything on his face.

"Nothing. I love you, Jacob. Really. More than you know," I said truthfully, tears forming in my eyes.

"No way, Nessie. I love you more," he replied, smiling. I smiled back and rested on his shoulder for what seemed like a long time.

Tomorrow, I would be leaving for good.

Leaving to what seemed like Hell. No, it was Hell.

But it was better than making my beloved ones get hurt for my sake.

They'd survive, right? They would.

I sighed, knowing I was wrong. But they would find a way to cope; they had forever to live.

"More than my own life"