Sorry this latest update took so long. I really struggled with how to break the news to Jacob. I have the next few chapters almost finished, but just couldn't make myself happy with this one. I hope you don't hate it too much.

Quite a few people were worried with where I am taking this story. I'm not going to give away anything, but I will say that this IS a Jacob and Nessie story, not Nessie and Seth. Have a little faith!

Chapter 12 – Breaking

JPOV

Waiting around to speak to Nessie was driving Edward and me insane. After sneaking close to the house to see if he could read her thoughts undetected, we realised that Bella knew us far too well and had wrapped Nessie up in her shield. We could here Nessie in her room, changing. Hearing the front door open, we started towards the house, only to see a stern looking Bella shaking her head at us and pointing toward the main house. After that there was nothing we could do but stomp back to the main house and wait. I almost felt sorry for everyone else as we silently paced back and forth across the living room floor, but no one dared to say a word about it.

"Bella's on her way back now," Alice said suddenly. "Nessie's gone to bed. You both need to stay here and hear what she has to say. Oooh... This ought to be good!" How could the pixie be happy at a time like this? She skipped over to sit by Seth and started asking him all about the dance and how Nessie's night had seemed prior to the incident. She seemed determined to get him to admit how beautiful Ness had looked in her outfit, like we all didn't know that already. Edward was watching her with what I can only describe as a baffled expression. He can read her mind and even he can't understand her! Maybe she was just trying to take his mind off his troubles.

Poor Seth. I really was at a loss to work out what I was meant to do about all this. On the one hand, he had really messed up and endangered a human life and the secrecy of the pack, but on the other he had been trying to protect my Nessie and I couldn't think badly of him for that. I knew that Seth had feelings for Nessie. He'd always had a soft spot for her but since the dancing debacle the other night, it was clear that it was more than just a soft spot. He was trying so hard to guard his thoughts from me but in some ways he was trying too hard and making his feelings more obvious.

The first time I phased with him after their dance class, I'd had to phase back almost immediately. He hadn't been aware of my presence in his mind and he was replaying how it had felt to have her ass rubbing into him, and how quickly his body had responded. I couldn't blame him for even that, just his memory of how it felt made me twitch. What shocked me the most was that she seemed to realise the effect she was having on him and was happy about it. My sweet girl loved that she could make Seth get hard so easily. It made me both sick and excited to realise that she was maturing so fast, and would soon be ready for me to explain the full extent of the imprinting bond.

I really couldn't wait to tell Nessie how much I loved her, and to show her how much I wanted to please her. I always knew I would have to wait for her and I wasn't upset about it, but it is pretty frustrating to be a 24 year old virgin! It's not like I couldn't go out with the other guys and meet girls at a bar, get drunk and take them home, but I was never interested. I don't think I could even get it up for anyone else. I had been virtually sexless, with no sexual desire at all in my body until Bella made me look at Nessie in this new way. Now it was like I had just started going through puberty again and was having wet dreams almost every night, waking up to an aching hard on most days.

Realising that I'm thinking all of this when Edward is right next me, I have a little moment of panic and Edward tears himself away from staring at Seth, raising an eyebrow as if to question what had upset me. Thank god he was so tuned into Seth's mind that he missed what was going through mine. Shit, he heard that. Nothing man, just thinking about Nessie. Sorry. He just looked sad for a moment and went back to watching Seth.

Finally Bella arrived, breaking the tension in the room. "She's fine," she started, and then laughed. "She did expose herself to the school as a vampire though!" That definitely got a reaction. "Calm down, she did it as a joke to cover for Seth. Nobody took her seriously, although I think if Lukas was looking to be the most popular boy in school, his failed attempt may have made Nessie the star!"

Edward was reading Seth's mind again, and started to laugh at Seth's memory of how it had happened. "How typical of our Nessie to use the truth to cover up the truth! She's going to be the talk of the school, but in a good way. Everyone thought she was hilarious." Edward was beaming with pride.

"So does that mean no one thinks anything about Seth?" I asked, hoping that I was right and it would be one less thing to deal with.

Edward laughed, "I actually think Seth's street cred increased tenfold."

"Nice!" Emmett laughed. "Who knew that telling the world you're a mythical creature could make you popular? But then, it worked for Edward. He told Bella what he was and got laid for the first time in a century!"

"Let's hope it doesn't have that effect for Renesmee and Seth." Edward said, looking visibly sick at the thought.

"Yes Edward, let's hope," Bella interrupted. "Now back to our discussion about Renesmee. She is fine. She is just upset with herself for letting it go as far as it did. She feels responsible for Seth's outburst, and is anxious that he not be punished in anyway.

"Jake, we will leave that up to your judgement of course, as his Alpha." She continued, turning to me. "Perhaps you and Seth should head off to deal with this sooner rather than later."

"Bells, I was hoping to say goodnight to Nessie." I asked pleadingly, needing to see that she was ok with my own eyes.

"Jake, I know you're still anxious but she needs to sleep." She wasn't going to let me. "Why don't you come back for breakfast and we'll all have a chat." It sounded slightly ominous the way she said it, but I just put it down to the stress over what we'd all been through over the last few hours.

"Sure sure, I'll see you all tomorrow then." I said, and Seth and I headed out to his car.

"Jake, man. Can we just get this over with?" Seth pleaded as soon as we closed the door behind us. "I'm not going to be able to sleep unless we sort this out tonight."

"Seth, I just don't know." How was I supposed to pass judgement on him for something I would probably have done myself? "I need to speak to Sam, get an impartial opinion on what I should do. Pack business aside Seth, I just want to thank you. If it were me there I don't think I could have stopped myself from killing the bastard."

"Please don't thank me Jake." I'd never seen Seth looking so down. "I hate myself for this. You know why I did it; I know you know about my... feelings. I can't believe you've not killed me for it yet."

"Seth..." what the fuck was I supposed to say now. Yes I suspected he felt a bit more for Nessie than just friends, but I kept telling myself it was just a crush. I didn't know what to say now that he was telling me about this to my face.

"I don't want to feel like this!" The poor guy was obviously upset about it. "I've tried not to, you know I have Jacob. You are my Alpha and she is your imprint and I know that I am wrong and that you should hate me and kick me out of the pack but..." he trailed off, losing his steam as he realised that I could do just that and throw him out of my pack. He had Sam's pack to go to, but it was like asking him to go find another family. It would break his heart.

"Seth, I will never throw you out of the pack!" I insisted, using my Alpha voice so he knew I was serious, before returning to normal when relief flooded his face. "Shit! Look I know this whole situation is totally fucked up, but you're family. We'll get through this Seth."

Seth then tried to lighten the mood, but it seriously backfired... "You say that now Jacob. Just wait until you get into my head!"

"Fuck Seth!" I exploded. "Maybe we just shouldn't phase at the same time for a while. Just while we both calm down."

Seth nodded in understanding. "Right now I need to run off some steam" I told him. "You drive the car home and we'll talk tomorrow after I've had a chance to meet up with Sam. I could really use some advice right now."

Seth agreed and waited to take my clothes for me, since I had too much on to go around my ankle. Before I ran into the tree line I heard him shout out to thank me again for being so understanding. I let out a quiet bark to let him know I'd heard, and then charged forwards into the forest, pushing myself hard. I really needed to do some damage to something, anything. If only an unknown leech would stray into the area so I could really give myself a workout. Unfortunately I found no trace of a non-Cullen vamp. Damn!

After maybe an hour I became aware of Sam's presence as he started his shift on patrol. Sam man, you've got to tell me what to do! I pleaded, and then played him tonight's events in my head. You know I'm not going to kick Seth out, of course not. But how am I supposed to deal with this? I then played him some of the images that had been coming from Seth's mind over the last few days, and then his confession tonight about his feelings for Ness.

I honestly don't know what to advise you, Jake. I've never had to deal with this sort of thing, thank god. Sam replied. Seth is a good kid and we both know that he'd not feel these things if he could help it.

I know, Sam. I'm not mad at him for it. I know what it's like to feel things for someone that can't be mine remember, I thought to him, and replayed some of my own anguish over my feelings for Bella before my Nessie arrived in my life. And she at least belonged to someone I hated, so I felt right to fight for her. His feelings are for Nessie, my imprint, his Alpha's imprint. He is really tearing himself up about this.

If only he could find his imprint Sam thought.

If only... I replied. But aside from that, how should I deal with the whole phasing to attack Lukas thing?

If it were anyone else I would make an example of them Sam thought hesitantly. Given the circumstances though, I think that would be unnecessarily cruel. It's hard enough for him knowing that you and Leah know about his feelings, if everyone finds out it will humiliate him. That wouldn't be fair.

I know, I know. But what should we do? I don't want to punish him at all, but I know it's the right thing to do. I knew Sam would understand.

Maybe he is actually punishing himself enough Sam thought. We can't increase his pack duties; he already does more than most of the others with his full time job and patrols. Maybe we should give him the elders. They could assign him some non-pack duties, like community service maybe?

That would be ok I guess. That way at least I'll feel like less of a jerk for punishing something I would have done myself. Thank god for Sam! Thanks Sam. I'm going to head home and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

...

The next morning I spoke to Dad about the elders on the tribal council taking Seth in hand as his punishment, and he agreed that it would be for the best not to cause him any embarrassment, and think that one month's service would be sufficient. He promised to take the responsibility on himself to oversee the punishment. I decided to put Seth out of his misery by running over to tell him before breakfast with the Cullen's.

"Jacob, I'm sorry." Seth began as soon as he opened the door, his head hanging low. "I promise that whatever punishment you give me, I will accept and deal with the best I can."

"Seth man, relax," I was glad that I'd already arranged it with Billy or I would have changed my mind. "You've already apologized, and I've already forgiven you. You're my brother and I understand you better than anyone. I promise that once you have received your punishment, your slate will be wiped clean." He finally lifted his head to meet my eyes.

"Jacob, I don't want you going light on me because I'm your friend," he challenged me.

"Seth, I promise you I am not letting you off lightly. Your punishment is decided and I will expect you to fulfil it. But Sam and I discussed it and agreed on this as the fairest punishment considering how much work you do already." So I told him the arrangements we had made for him. He looked relieved, but serious as he listened.

"Thanks Jake," he sighed when I finished. "I know you could have been much harsher on me. Thank you."

"No problem, Seth. And like I said, this is done with, now we move on." He gave me another relieved smile and I knew that he'd be ok. "Now I'm off for breakfast with my Nessie."

We said a quick goodbye and I ran back to my car. I couldn't wait to see my girl. As I drove towards their house, I had one thought running on a loop in my mind... how long until I tell her. I knew that she was probably going to need time to get over the Lukas incident. I need to do this right so maybe speak to Bells and see if she can talk to Nessie and let me know her state of mind over this.

As I pulled up to the Cullen's main house, Nessie flew out the door and jumped me before I could even close my door. "Jacob! I'm so sorry I didn't speak to you last night. Let's go for a run and I can explain everything." She was talking a million miles a minute. I looked up to see Bella looking sad and waving us over to the house, but as I start to walk towards her Nessie pulls on my arm and shouts, "No Mum, we're going for a quick run."

"No Renesmee, I need to speak to Jacob quickly" Bella insisted, but Nessie just pulled me harder, shouting that we would be back soon. How could I resist her, really? So off we ran into the trees.

"Should I phase, Ness?" I asked, not sure what she had in mind.

"No Jake. I need to talk to you about last night, but further away so we have some privacy. Let's just run." And with that, she took off at full speed. I can't keep up with her in my human form, but I managed not to fall too far behind and soon we were at the cliffs overlooking first beach. Nessie looked more beautiful than normal, with a light flush to her cheeks and her hair a little wild from the run.

"Not planning on doing some cliff diving so early in the morning are we Ness?" I joked, knowing that Bella wouldn't be impressed if I allowed this, but not really caring if it was what Nessie wanted to do.

"No Jake, I'm not. Don't worry." she laughed. "I really just want to talk about the dance."

I really couldn't believe how excited she seemed to talk about what I assumed would be an upsetting night. Leah and Seth must have overreacted about the situation. "I'm glad you seem so ok about it Nessie. It must have been a nightmare for a first date."

"What? Oh yeah, Lukas," she said, with a little frown that made me want to laugh it was so cute. "Don't worry about that Jake, I've forgotten it already. He was an idiot. Now I'm just looking forward to my next date so that I can do it properly!"

Oh my goodness! My heart just about jumped out of my chest with excitement. Her next date? She's already moving on and looking forward to dating? Does this mean that it's time? Is she ready for me? That must be why Bella wanted to talk to me. Nessie has told her and Bella wants to let me know that it's time? I can't even speak because my thoughts are running a million miles a minute about my excitement and trying to figure out how to say this. Then I realise that my Nessie is talking again and try to focus.

"So I know that this might be weird for you Jake, but you're my best friend and the only person who can help me here. I've told my mum and she is ok with it. I think she's a bit shocked actually, but she'll just have to accept I'm growing up now." What is she talking about? What can I help her with?

"Sure Ness, you know I'll do anything for you." Please please please tell me you want to start dating!

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing, and you have to promise not to laugh at me. But promise to be honest, ok?" Of course I wouldn't laugh! "Ummm... has Seth ever said anything to you about me?" She asked, shyly. Oh my poor Nessie, she must be embarrassed that Seth witnessed her and Lukas last night.

"Of course Ness, you know Seth thinks the world of you." I tried to reassure her. I didn't want her feeling awkward around him.

"No, but Jake, has he said anything about me, like... as a girl?" What on earth is she talking about, "as a girl"?

"Nessie, what are you asking me?"

"Does Seth like me?" She whispered, blushing. Oh! Damn Seth and his hard ons! Now she was uncomfortable around him.

"Um, yeah kind of. But don't worry about it Nessie, I'll talk to him. I'm sorry if he has made you feel uncomfortable." I just didn't understand. Her face changed from embarrassed to glowing in seconds. What the hell?

"So he kind of likes me?" she beamed at me. "Do you think if I asked him he'd go out with me sometime? I really like him Jake!"

Suddenly I was free falling. What was Nessie saying to me? She wants to go out with Seth? She wants him, not me? I couldn't focus on anything else she was saying. I remember what I felt when Bella chose Edward over me, I have heard all the descriptions of how it feels to have your heart broken, but no words could ever describe the feeling in my heart at that moment.

Poor Jacob! I know this is horrible for him, but things can only get better, I promise!

Reviews please!

xx