Chapter Seven - Weekend

I awoke from a dreamless sleep. I kept my eyes closed and felt around beside me until Jacob wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close beside him. He kissed the top of my head lazily.

"Good morning," he said, "How did you sleep?"

I giggled softly. "You know I always sleep well when you stay with me."

He chuckled back,"You must be pretty well rested by now, then."

It was Saturday today and I was completely amped up. I finally understood why everyone got so excited about the weekends, and I was going to make the best of mine.

I jumped out of my bed and plugged in my mp3 player, scrolling down my list until I found Acid Bath. My parents didn't much like my taste in music, but Jacob was starting to like it - not so much any of the screaming though, so I turned to a soft song. Dax Riggs voice sang out his beautiful words to an easy melody.

"I like this one," Jacob said as he pulled himself upright slowly. "What's it called again?"

"New Death Sensation."

"That makes it so morbid - it doesn't fit."

"It's not morbid. It's beautiful. Just close your eyes and listen....."

I stood there until it was finished and then picked out something easy to wear. I dressed myself in the bathroom while Jacob did the same in my bedroom. The house was empty like it usually was in the mornings - the nights had never been quite long enough for my parents. I finished my morning routine and went back to my room where Jake was waiting.

"You look, um, very nice today," he commented as his eyes ran appraisingly up and down my body. I looked down at my short black dress - I didn't see anything particularly special about it.

"Haven't I ever worn this around you before?"

He barked out a laugh. "Yeah, you have, I just couldn't say anything about it at the time."

I laughed with him. "You could have - just to see what my reaction would have been," I taunted lightly. It was funny to think of him looking at me in that way, before I realized I was looking at him in that way. I had no idea - and apparently, I was alone in my cluelessness. My dad certainly would have picked out any thought Jacob had of me, but he kept the secret flawlessly. From me at least.

I had been worried at first about how my family would react to our new kind of relationship, but no one was upset or even the slightest bit surprised. They all said that they always knew we would end up together. I guessed that they had all been tipped off.

"Let's go do something," I suggested. "It's not raining today."

We walked slowly hand - in - hand through the trees. I picked one amongst them - a towering fir - and started jumping straight up from branch to branch. I leaped quickly all the way to the top, and Jacob followed the old fashioned way. I stopped on a long sturdy branch, and Jacob came to sit beside me.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" My eyes swept over the treetops and into the bright morning sun.

"I can think of something that's much better to look at," Jake said softly as he wrapped his big arm around my shoulders and pulled me tightly to him.

"So can I," I laughed. I held my hand to his face and showed him a memory I had of him - it was from the day that I told him I loved him, and he was standing there with his shirt off and beaming rays of sunshine at me.

"Mmmm," he sighed. "I wish I could show you the way I see you. You are much better looking."

I laughed at him. "Am not," I said. "You are the most beautiful thing in the world."

"I'm not the one who practically has to beat people with a stick to get them to leave me alone," he said as he raised an eyebrow. "I am not looking forward to tomorrow evening."

Last week, Jacob had agreed to coming with me to First Beach with my new acquaintances. He didn't really want to, but there was no way he was going to let me go alone after seeing how the boys at school treated me. I didn't mind if he really felt like he needed to be there. I secretly liked the way he got jealous over little things, even though I would never say it. He actually worried himself at the thought of someone else trying to be with me, even if they would never succeed.

"Do you want to go hunt?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure," I answered him dully. On the one hand, I loved to hunt when I had the chance to. The thrill of chasing down an animal that should have been able to kill me instead of the other way around, and being able to rely on nothing but the weapons I was born equipped with was incredible. But on the other hand, I hated the thought of taking something else's life from it. I didn't feel like I was allowed to judge something like that, to be the one deciding that it was time for it to die.

I stayed on the same branch for a moment, only changing my position to a crouch. I inhaled deeply.... I sifted through the millions of smells to find the type that I was looking for. There were some deer close by, and a few elk about a mile away, along with an endless amount of smaller creatures that were not appealing at all. I breathed in again and found what I was looking for.

I darted across the trees like lightning, my landing so light that I didn't sway them even an inch. I slowed as I was coming up on my prey - the stealth tactic was always the neatest. I landed on the highest branch of a tree and watched the mountain lion below me playing with a small mouse. I stayed silent, not even taking a breath, until the moment was just right.

I leaped onto the wild cat's back as it squeeled in surprise and terror, attempting to roll over so that it knew what it's attacker was. I held it there without letting it move though, and pulled my face down to it's throat. I sucked the life away from the cougar, and stood to wipe my face off. Jacob had caught an elk and was a few yards away eating it raw, still in his wolf form. I Iayed back in the grass beside the empty shell that was all that was left of my meal, hoping that the cougar had been a menace and that the forest would never miss it.

Later that evening, I laid back on my bed with Jacob beside me. I turned to my side and curled up against his chest. I quickly drifted off, my dreams flowing smoothly from good to horrible, one second I would be with Jacob, the next I was killing everything alive that I could find until there was nothing left but nothing.

I woke early like I usually did and pulled myself out from under Jake's huge arm. I picked out a light green tank top and some jeans from my closet and went to the bathroom to shower. There was a note on the mirror in the bathroom:

"Your mother and I decided to go see Esme's new house. Be safe and have fun today with your friends. Love, Dad and Mom"

I took my time in the shower, letting the hot water wash away my nightmares. I wanted to have fun today, and it was going to be difficult enough already. I got ready quickly and went to see if Jacob was awake yet. He was sitting up when I came in.

"You had some pretty crazy dreams last night, Ness," he yawned.

"Yeah sorry, I didn't know you could see all of it." I must have had one of my hands on him all night.

"I wish you could see my dreams sometime. I think you'd like it."

"What do you usually dream about?" I asked as I sat down beside him on the bed.

"You of course," he smiled hugely.

"What about me?" I smiled back mischeviously.

"Hmmmm.... I'd have to show you...." he taunted. He quickly pulled my chin up with his fingertips and kissed me softly.

He pulled the rest of my body up and settled me into his lap. His lips felt their way slowly down from my chin to the hollow of my throat, and then gently grazed across my left collar bone. I shivered in response and he kissed back up the length of my neck, across my jawline, stopping just below my ear. He held me tighter to his chest and didn't move an inch for five hundred and eighty nine of his pounding heartbeats. He sighed heavily as he released me.

"I guess we have to go soon," he said grumpily.

"Don't worry Jake - we won't stay too long."

"I'm not worried." He smiled devilishly. "I've got a plan."

I laughed at him. "Oh, do you, now? And what does this plan consist of?"

"I'm not going to leave your side for even a second," He answered more seriously. "If those idiots want to hit on you, they'll have to do it right in front of me."

"You know, it's pretty cute when you get all worked up like that over nothing," I giggled.

"It's not nothing," he answered. He furrowed his brows angrily. "Just yesterday that one clown tried to put his arm around you, even after you've told him a dozen times that you're not interested. He's heard about me - now let him get a good look at me." He stood up straight to demonstrate his massive height.

I could see what he meant about that one - any human would easily view Jacob as intimidating. He towered over almost anyone and his long frame was surrounded in thick bands of muscle. I only saw him as being absolutely gorgeous.

"Are we going to run??" I asked, my eyes brightening at the thought. Jacob smiled at my excitement.

"Sure, sweetie, whatever you want."

We arrived at First Beach about a half hour early, so we walked down along the sand and let the small waves lick at our bare feet. It was not raining at the moment, but dark threatening clouds hung overhead, thick with moisture. The sun was lying behind them already, so I could tell it was getting later.

"Renesmee?" someone asked quietly from behind us. We spun around and saw that everyone had just arrived and was beginning to congregate at the fire pit. Anthony was standing closer to us and had his mouth open as he gaped at Jacob, who seemed proud at the reaction he was receiving. He squeezed my hand firmly and led me towards everyone. He stopped in front of Anthony, waiting to be properly introduced.

"Jacob, this is Anthony. Anthony - Jake." They said nothing, but shook hands politely. Jacob smiled smugly as Anthony ripped his hand away and examined all of his fingers individually, making sure he had no broken bones.

"Let me introduce you to everyone else," I offered quickly before anything ugly could happen. I led Jake to the rest of the group and introduced him to all of them one by one. We took a seat on a log beside Brittany, who was the only person here that I actually considered as a friend. She was also the only girl I had met so far that didn't act like I was some type of competition to them.

Jacob kept his plan in action all evening, sticking to my side like glue just like he'd promised. I liked it, having him be so protective over me. It was cute how he could never see himself clearly.

A few of my classmates seemed to really like Jake. They would bust out laughing every time he glared at someone he had caught looking in my direction, patting him on the back and saying things like, "It's alright man," and "Just be glad you don't go to school with us."

I decided it was time to leave when the sun descended almost completely from sight. I sent the thought to Jacob who nodded once and rose from our driftwood tree, pulling me up with him. All of a sudden, he swept me up into his arms. The faces around us looked as confused as I felt.

"We're going home," he said lifting me higher to emphasize who exactly 'we' were. "It was nice meeting all of you," he said as a huge smile appeared across his face. He turned away from everyone and started walking with me still in his arms.

After the first two steps he stopped and lifted me up higher until our faces were pushed his lips to mine and my arms mechanically drew themselves around his neck as I grabbed big fistfuls of his hair. He pulled back after a few moments and started walking again, that same smug smile lighting up his perfect features.

I understood his dramatic exit soon enough; He was showing everyone there that I was his.

He placed me gently back on my feet as soon as we were in the cover of the forest.

"Now," I said excitedly, "Let's go for a real run."