Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer; I do not own the Twilight series, just a fan having fun. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 2

Jacob's POV

Her smell came to me like water to a dying man in the dessert. This past week had been pure torture; she had just started school and for some reason was being kept busy for ridiculous reasons by her family. I knew where this was coming from… Edward had been listening closely to my thoughts and judging from his menacing stares and constant growling he knew a change had happened. I was in love… no, I had always been in love, since the moment she saw me and transformed my world… this was more, far more; desire, longing, need, lust, adoration, attraction. Every moment without her was agony, making it hard to breathe. I regretted ever making fun of Bella for the way she used to hold herself together when Edward was gone. These days it took all of my will power not to tell her about imprinting, which is probably why Edward was keeping her from me, allowing as little face time as possible.

I darted out of my window and hid behind the big tree facing my room, and then I saw her. She was wearing my favorite dress, her curls coming down her shoulders in wild ringlets, anticipation all over her face. I watched her as she crept up behind my house and almost felt sorry I had hid and would not let her surprise me. My feeling sorry quickly went away when I saw her face at the moment she noticed I was gone, priceless.

"Aren't you glad to see me?" – Her words stung me like a bee, after all our life together did she honestly not know how important she is to me? Had I failed in showing her?

"Ness, how can you ask me that? Don't you know?" – That I'm in love with you, that you're the center of my existence, that I need you and want you!!! I looked down and bit my tongue, the only thing I could do to restrain myself, because as much as I hungered for her, I loved her enough to give her a change to choose her own fate. Still, I needed to repair the damage. "Ness, I… I miss you like crazy when I can't see you. You're my… my…" – Imprint!!! My reason to live!!! But like a fool, I lied - "You're my kid sister, my best friend, my family". – My own words wounded me, but they were the only thing I could muster to say. Stupid dog.

I tried to change the subject and led her to our favorite spot. She didn't know this but I had been lying in my room the entire week like a vegetable, not even wanting to go on pack patrols, so I desperately needed to feel nature and let loose. We dove in the water and I held her close to me to keep her safe and warm, my mission in life. I quickly realized the intimacy of the moment was a mistake, especially when I've always been known for my impulsive nature.

I didn't care. She looked so beautiful and happy that I just let myself enjoy the moment. We floated in the water for what seemed like a decade before we decided it was time to face the music.

Nessie's POV

We walked slowly back to the cottage, not wanting to break apart. As I saw my beloved home, a huge lump formed in my throat. This was impossible, how could I willingly say goodbye to him when every fiber of my being wanted nothing but to be near him, forever.

He was the first one to break the silence, when he spoke; his voice sounded huskier than usual and was almost a whisper. – "Ness, I should come in with you… once your dad sees me, I'm sure I'll be the one to take the heat, ok?"

"No Jake, this is on me… besides, it was worth it"

"You mean, I was worth it?" – I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, but combined with his teasing half smile, it was the sexiest thing I've ever heard.

I giggled and playfully punched him in the shoulder. – "Get outta here Jake".

He took hold of my waist and leaned down, I felt dizzy instantly; he kissed my forehead and whispered in my ear, causing me to shiver. - "Try not to get killed ok? I can't afford to lose my play buddy".

When he leaned away his face was full of worry, like he actually thought death could be an alternative. I smiled at his overreaction and walked toward my house. I could hear him already running in the distance, his strides long and the sound of his paws heavy, he had phased.

When I walked into our cottage my momma was the first one to greet me. She had her worried look on but immediately relaxed when she saw me come in.

"Renesme, haven't we been through this before?!!! We need to know where you are to keep you safe, how else would we know if something has happened to you? Alice can't see you and you keep sneaking out just for the fun of it!!! – I'm pretty sure that any human would find my mother terrifying in this moment, because she looks incredibly menacing when angry. Her voice becomes a hiss and her eyes look set to kill.

Before I could say anything my father was next to her in a flash. He inhaled loudly and made a face, wrinkling his nose.

"I see you've been with Jacob… ah Ness, like mother like daughter" – My father said this while glancing teasingly at my mother, with his crooked smile. She rolled her eyes and turned around with a pirouette any ballet dancer would envy. She started walking back to the living room, turned her head and said to my father, with a teasing smile – "It's not the same". My father frowned at her before returning his attention to me. They obviously had some sort of internal joke going on.

I was surprised at how my father was so quick to take away my mother's anger, and even more surprised that he himself was calm and even looked happy about it, why else would he joke.

"Nessie honey, let's take a walk"

We walked for a few minutes in silence, there was a question burning in my insides but I was too afraid to ask, thinking that maybe he was angry after all and would punish me any minute.

"I won't darling" – he said responding to my silent question. –"Go on, ask me"

"Dad, what did you mean when you said 'like mother like daughter'?"

"Well, when your mom was human, she also had a tendency to want to sneak away to see Jacob" – My dad chuckled almost to himself. –"But of course, she was never really able to, considering she was a clumsy and noisy human, not at all stealthy, and I wouldn't let her".

"I don't get it… why?"

"I knew he was a werewolf and was afraid she might get hurt, they have a tendency to be temperamental you know."

"Well, then why couldn't you go with her, I mean, to protect her?" – This wasn't making any sense, why couldn't the tree of them hang out, why would my mother want to sneak away from her boyfriend to go be with her best friend? Didn't the three of them get along?

Again, answering my thoughts he said - "Let's just say we were "enemies" Jacob and I, archenemies" – he said this without a trace of bitterness, as if remembering a fond time. The idea shocked me in such a way that I stopped walking and put my hands on my forehead, as if to help my brain make sense of it.

Archenemies… but dad and Jake get along great. Outside of the family, Jacob is probably the person dad loves the most. He has never admitted to this of course, but I can tell. And Jake, he's always teasing my dad by thinking things, its super entertaining to watch them bicker without either one of them saying a word. Since forever I've had this romantic idea of my father asking Jake for advice or help in wooing my mom.

Then I had a horrible idea, I know my dad, maybe Jacob could have hated my dad because he was a vampire, this made sense; but my dad would never, and I mean never, hate someone for just being what they are. He is the most noble and just man I know; the only way he could ever hate someone, enough to be his "archenemy", would be if he had done something horrible, if he was a bad person.

I looked up at my dad with tears in my eyes. –"What did Jake do?"

My dad's expression quickly changed into one of worry and then suddenly became a mask, an unreadable and blank expression, the one I knew he put on when lying.

"I'm not lying" – he said in a calm voice. –"Jacob is a good person, he didn't do anything wrong, you think too much of me, darling; I too can be irrational sometimes."

"Ok, enough of this, I can see how desperately you wanted to see him… from now on you can go to La Push whenever you want and he can come here too, even during school days."

Relief washed over me but also a sense of unease, they were hiding something from me, and it concerned Jacob, which meant I needed to find out.