This chapter is a bit longer for you. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, it really means a lot.

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Chapter 6 – Did you Kiss My Mum?

NPOV

'Don't be stupid' I thought, giving myself a good hard mental slap for being so ridiculous. Why on earth to I jump from a weird look from Jacob to Jacob's in love with me? He has been my best friend since before I was born. I remember hearing his voice while I was still in my mother's womb. I know that he didn't want her to have me, but that wasn't his fault, he just thought he was doing the right thing and trying to protect her.

He changed his mind as soon as he saw me, apparently. He explained it to me once, 'Imprinting' he called it. It means that you find the other half to your whole, your best friend. I was so excited to realise that no matter what, Jake would be my best friend forever. I know a lot of people talk about being best friends forever, but in our case it was true. As long as he never stops phasing, we're both immortal. I know it might be weird when we grow up and get married, but we can all just live together in the same house just like my family does now. It'll be perfect. I couldn't imagine who Jacob would end up marrying because he'd never introduced me to any of his girlfriends before. He wont even speak to me about them. I'm sure when he finds the right one, he'll tell me. It must be hard to explain to somebody not only are you a warewolf, but you your best friend is half vampire and you hang out with her family of vegetarian vampires all the time!

As for me... hmmm, I've never really liked any of the boys I've met. When I started high school last year there were a lot of boys that talked to me and asked me out but none of them interested me in the slightest. I just found it really hard not to compare them to Jake. He is so good and kind to me, always considering my needs and really listening to anything I have to say. The boys at school pretended to listen, but a lot of the time they were just trying to look at my chest or "accidentally" touch by butt. Maybe when I'm older and get to meet some men rather than boys. I'm not even 6 yet really, so there's no rush for me.

When we arrived back at the camp site Jacob told me to close my eyes quickly so that he could pull on some sweats, and then sent me into the tent to change out of my wet clothes while he built up the fire again. I couldn't help but remind him about the lighter. I almost panicked when his response was a deep rumbling growl, but it was soon followed with a cheeky grin, so I relaxed and went in to change.

By the time I got my dry clothes on and combed out my hair, Jacob had the fire going and was preparing breakfast. "Why are you making breakfast Jake? I thought we were going hunting" I asked, a little disappointed.

"Listen short-stuff, you may be happy to live on animal blood, but I still prefer real food," he replied, looking through our supplies for something.

"Jacob, do you really think you can manage to cook on an open fire? You can't cook at the best of times and you struggled just to get the thing lit, I shudder to think what will go wrong with this experiment." I hoped we really were back to being us and that my teasing wouldn't set him off again, but I relaxed as soon as I saw the playful glint in his eye.

"Renesmee... Are you trying to imply that I am not capable of making toast?" He asked, stepping slowly towards me.

"Not at all Jacob. Of course you can make toast. You go over to Sam's house and say 'Emily, will you make me some toast' and... BANG, your toast is made!" I goaded him, gently lowering myself into a defensive position for the attack that was about to happen.

"How dare you?" he faked being hurt. "I am deeply offended that you think so little of me!" He tilted his face downward, but looked up at me through his think eyelashes, bottom lip out and pretended to wipe away a tear.

"I'm not falling for it Jacob!" I laughed. "I know what you are trying to do and it's not going to work." Well, I hoped not anyway.

"Fine then, I won't bother then" he sighed, and turned to go back to making his breakfast and I made the stupid mistake of falling for it and relaxing. In a flash he jumped in the air, phased and landed on top of me, pushing me to the ground and licking me all over.

"Ew! Gross Jake. Dog breath!" I complained, half giggling and half trying to get him off me. Then quick as a flash he was off me and darted into the trees. He disappeared from sight for about 10 seconds before reappearing and giving me a quick yelp which I took to mean "Lets hunt" and chased after him as fast as I could move.

We ran for about 10 minutes, playing cat and mouse and generally trying to piss each other off for fun. Then I stopped short as I caught the scent of some elk about a mile away. Jacob looked back at me in understanding, and we both shot off in their direction.

"I bet I can get a bigger one than you!" I taunted, to which he responded by veering across my path to try to put me off. "Oh, fighting dirty are we Jake? I think that means you're scared! You don't think you can beat me!" I laughed.

Usually when I hunt I would slow down and stalk my prey for a moment and decide how to attack, but that would have given him an advantage and I couldn't let that happen. I just ran straight into the clearing where a herd of about 8 elk were grazing and went straight for the biggest antlers I could see. Just as I was about to reach him I was knocked to the side by Jacob, who laughed his wolfish laugh and took off after it.

I could have screamed at him, but then remembered that I was the one who set this challenge. I was back on my feet in a split second and gave chase. It didn't take me long to catch them with my vampire speed, so I veered off and came at the big one from the opposite side from Jacob. We locked eyes for a minute before we both lunged at it. I saw that Jacob was going for its throat so I leapt onto its back, grabbing the antlers and pulling its head back to give him easier access. As soon as his jaws closed on its throat it was like the poor beast fainted because it just dropped and skidded to a halt against a tree while the rest of its herd ran away. I gracefully (well I thoughts so anyway) leapt off it back just before it hit the tree, landing easily and coming back quickly to drain it. Once I was done, Jacob tore off a huge chunk of flesh from the hind leg and began to happily chomp it down.

"See Jake" I said, glowing from the thrill of the chase and all that fresh blood, "Much better than toast!"

JPOV

As I munched happily on the elk's leg, Nessie began to boast about how much better this was as breakfast. I had to admit, it was great fun. Much more exciting than toast to say the least.

She was absolutely glowing as she sat there watching me eat. I couldn't believe how beautiful she had become. She has always been gorgeous, and of course I think she is perfect because that is the nature of the imprint, but there was something new to her. I knew from Carlisle that she wouldn't be fully developed until she was 7, but it was like she had become a woman rather than a girl. And, I must say, it really suited her.

I still can't believe that I hadn't noticed and Bella, her own mother, had to give me the heads up that maybe I wasn't seeing her clearly. I had been so shocked, but now I realised that I should have been paying more attention. I know that she is still not ready for me yet, but I do need to be aware that very soon, with luck, she may start to change her feelings towards me.

I had already told her about the imprint, that I would always be there for her. She understood it as always being her best friend no matter what. Did I want to let her know that it could be so much more than that, that I hoped it would be? Or was it better to let her come to me? Surely she would put two and two together eventually. I mean, most of the other wolves and their imprints were married or in very publicly 'hands-on' relationships.

As we started making our way back to camp, I decided the best way to go about it was to talk about it casually, like it was no big deal. That way she was less likely to freak about it. Maybe talk about Embry thinking about marrying Georgie, or Seth being upset that he still hadn't found his imprint. Excited about my idea, I hurried back to camp.

When we got there we were both a bit exhausted, so we agreed to just hang out and relax for a while. Renesmee got out an old battered copy of Pride and Prejudice, while I went and pulled a branch of a tree to start working on a new carving. I hadn't decided what to carve yet, but thought I just see where my mood took me. I sat in some long grass and called Renesmee over. It took us some time to get comfortable, and we ended up sitting back to back, leaning on each other.

We passed a few hours like that in comfortable silence. As I was just starting to get tired, Nessie sighed loudly and turned around and snuggled herself under my arm. "Do you think we'll ever find it Jake?" she asked.

"Find what, Nes?" I asked, confused.

"True love" she replied, a little breathily. I couldn't believe that she actually brought this up after I had spent so long trying to work out how to raise the subject.

"Of course we will, Nessie. Why do you ask?" I started of cautiously, hoping that I could gently steer the conversation the way it needed to go without being obvious.

"Oh, you know" she seemed lost in thought for a few seconds, then continued "Elizabeth and Mr Darcy were from completely different worlds and the universe just seemed to keep bringing them back to one another until they finally realised that they were perfect for each other. Like fate. Do you believe it can happen?" She asked.

"Of course I do. If the universe can find that perfect someone for Embry, then I truly believe that anything is possible!" I joked, which made her jab me in the back with her elbow for some reason.

"Don't be mean about Embry, Jake" she said. "I think it's really nice that he has found Georgie. They are really sweet together. And how nice that he imprinted on her too!"

"Sure Nessie," Apparently the connection between him impinting on Georgie and them falling in love was lost on Nessie. "I believe that everyone in the world has their other half that they are destined to find. And that person will be their perfect match." I replied, happy that the conversation was going the way I hoped.

"But Jacob, how can we find anyone more perfect than each other? You are my best friend in the entire world and I can't imagine there could be anyone more perfect than you, but you're my best friend." She fell into deep thought for a few minutes, but I could tell that there was something she wanted to ask me. Eventually she continued "Jake, have you ever met any girls that you thought could be you're other half?"

"No," I answered simply. I suppose technically I had met Nessie, but I knew that she was talking about girlfriends so I just played along.

"But didn't you used to love my Mum?" Damn I wish she didn't know about that! But I guess it saved me from having to explain it later. But then it got more awkward, "Did you kiss my mum Jake?"

"Uh… yeah I did. And she punched me in the face for it and nearly broke her hand!" I laughed. "You're dad wanted to kill me. Charlie thought it was hilarious!" I couldn't help but look back on it and laugh.

"Didn't she ever kiss you back?" Damn, she really wanted the details?

"She did. When I found out she had agreed to marry your dad, I got really upset and kind of blackmailed her into asking me to kiss her. I feel really bad about it now, but I didn't know back then that things would all work out for the best." That she and Edward would lead me to the true love of my life, I finished in my head.

"But didn't she really hurt you?" She was being very persistent.

"She did Nessie, but it wasn't her fault." I felt the need to explain my theory in full. "Here is what I think Nessie… We are even better than Elizabeth & Mr Darcy. So many things had to happen but the all fell perfectly into place for you and me to find each other. When I was little I used to go crazy for the holidays because I knew that meant that Bella was coming back. Even back then I felt the pull towards her." I worried for a moment that I had given it away, but she didn't notice thankfully.

"When she came back to stay with Charlie we kept bumping into each other. She'd only been back a week and we both happened to be at First Beach, and she was drawn to me too. She was there to spend time with her new friends, but spent most of the day with me. I even accidentally told her about your family being vampires! I didn't believe it back then; I thought it was just as unrealistic as the other legends about us becoming wolves!"

I couldn't help but laugh at how innocent I was back then. "Think about it though Nessie, everything in the universe worked to get Edward, Bella and I together so that you could come into the world for me! The pull I felt towards your mum ended the instant you were born. I felt like it just flew right out the door and believed that she was dead and I was then being pulled back to the pack, but when I followed it down the stairs, there you were! I imprinted on you the first time I saw you and I felt peace for the first time in as long as I could remember"

Nessie shook her head in disbelief. "I think you're making a bit much of it Jake."

"No Nessie!" she had to agree with me! "If Renee hadn't met Phil, she wouldn't have needed to leave Arizona, making Bella move back to Forks. If the Cullen's hadn't moved back to Forks, Edward wouldn't have met Bella, and we Quilutes wouldn't have started phasing to wolves again. The purpose of imprinting is to strengthen the tribe to ensure the protection of our people. I believe that you were destined to be born half vampire, so that you and I could bring our two families together." I was almost shouting in excitement.

"Think about it… Your family is the strongest coven in the world other than the Vultori. With you bringing them together with the pack, we are the most powerful family in the world. Together we can protect those vamps that choose to live as vegetarians, as well as the whole tribe and Forks."

She still looked a little sceptical about my theory, but I hoped she was coming around. "So what you're saying is that the reason for you and me is to bring our families together for protection?" Why was she saying it like that, like she was disappointed? How could that be a bad thing?

"Of course, Nessie. But with that in mind, you were made for me! You are my perfect person. You're my best friend in the world and all I want is to be with you and make you happy. And you make me so happy. What more could we want as best friends? Our happiness and the safety of everyone we love seems a pretty good deal to me!" She was beaming with joy now. Did she seriously think I was only hanging out with her for our family's safety?

"So, even if you didn't imprint on me, you would like me and still be my best friend?" she asked.

"Honestly, you already know that when I found out that Bella was pregnant I wanted you dead. But we didn't know what to expect from you. We thought you were some monster that was going to kill Bella and then go crazy and not be able to control your thirst. But then you were born and you were this beautiful baby with Bella's eyes and an adorable smile." I was gushing like a fool but I didn't care. "And you had this amazing gift of showing us all what you were thinking and feeling. Everyone fell in love with you within minutes, even Leah!" I laughed.

"Leah?" she asked, shocked. "But Leah hates me!"

"Nessie! Leah doesn't hate you!" I had to laugh, "She loves you so much; I see it whenever we are phased. She is just like that to everyone, especially the other imprints because she is jealous that she still hasn't found hers yet. She actually feels a special connection with you as well because you are both kind of in the middle on your own."

"What do you mean 'in the middle'?" she asked.

"Just that, you are the only half vampire in this country as far as we know and she is the only she-wolf!" I was glad to see that this brought the smile back to her face.

"Aw, Jake! That makes me so happy! I always thought she just put up with me being around because I was her Alpha's imprint." She really seemed to be overjoyed to know, which made me realize that Leah was going to kill me for telling Nessie. It was worth it to see her so happy though, and they should be closer anyway, my girl and my Beta.

Uh… My Girl? Damn, my feelings really did seem to be changing without me even trying. I'd always called her my baby, my princess, or my Nessie, but never my girl. My. Girl.

Hm, I do like how it sounds though.

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Next Chapter... A little bit of Bella & Edward

"Mrs Cullen... you're very, very naughty"

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