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

Chapter 3

Nessie's POV

The following week I got to see Jacob every day. I studied him and my father closely, but really couldn't distinguish a trace of bitterness or resentment or anything that gave away that they had once hated each other. My dad merely rolled his eyes at me every time he caught me analyzing them while Jacob looked at me expectantly hoping to get in on the joke.

"Mmmm Bells, something smells good." – We were at the big house. Jacob and I were sitting in the living room throwing a baseball back and forth between each other, my mom was in the kitchen cooking up a storm and dad was sitting on his piano composing what sounded like a new song.

"I know you missed me, but you didn't have to go to all this trouble to show me."

My dad rolled his eyes. – "You wish puppy; she just needed an excuse to try out the new stove."

"Hey… nobody calls me "puppy" except for my Nessie, ok Ed?" – The words "my Nessie" made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy, and it didn't help that as he said it he winked at me. I heard my dad growl from the piano. As if on cue, my mom came out of the kitchen, holding a huge plate of Jake's favorite meat loaf, the smell made me want to puke; I hate human food.

"Here you go Jake"- she leaned down, put the huge plate on his lap, ruffled his hair and whispered "I did miss you". She then went to go sit on my dad's lap. Jacob got up and came to sit down next to me; I'm not sure if he was just taking advantage of the fact that my dad was distracted or just wanting to not be sitting opposite of where my parents were making out, either way I was delighted.

He began to dig into the huge plate of meat loaf as I continued to throw the baseball into the air by myself. In the distance I heard leaves rustling, calm wind being disturbed; I recognized their scent before they entered the house, my favorite uncles, Rose and Emmet. Uncle Em probably also recognized our scent because the moment he walked through the door he started singing "who let the dogs out!!! Wuff, wuff wuff, wuff wuff…"

Jacob bared his teeth at him but all Em did was wink at him. When Aunt Rose entered she made an overly disgusted face at Jake. – "God Nessie, I thought you were over the whole pet fetish… at least make him sit on the floor, he'll get flees all over the sofa!!!"

"Isn't this getting old already?"- Both Jacob and Rose looked at me, then at each other and called out in unison: "no".

"Hey Blondie, how do you keep a blonde busy for hours?" – Aunt Rose was already halfway up the stairs so Jake had to yell the last part. – "Write "please turn over" on both sides of a piece of paper!!!"

I thought I heard Rose growl and say something like "damn imprinting…", but I wasn't sure because Uncle Em's laugh was echoing all through the room.

"Damn it Jacob!!! Now I'll be in trouble for weeks!!!"

"It's not my fault I'm funny or that you fell for a blonde" – said Jake with a shrug. Uncle Em came over and jokingly punched him on the shoulder, kissed me in the forehead saying "hey baby girl" and proceeded to go upstairs calling out "Rose baby!!! I'm sorry; I'll make it up to you!!! I already punched him!!!"

Both my parents laughed and momma said – "We better not be in the house when he "makes it up to her". – Jake and I made an "aww" sound. The image of Rose and Emmet together was not something we wanted in our heads. As much as I love my family, I can never get used to having horny teenagers for parents and uncles.

"Well Ness, I have patrol tonight, I gotta get going"

"I'll run with you to La Push, ok?" – He said goodbye to my parents and we ran off into the forest.

Once we reached the reservation our pace slowed up. Out from the shadows two huge wolves emerged, I quickly recognized Leah and Quill, who always run patrols with Jacob, leaving Embry and Seth on the other shift.

"Hey guys… (Leah growled at him) and lady". – Jake rolled his eyes at me and I giggled, making Leah give me the dirty eye, even in her wolf form.

"Give me a second, ok?" – Both wolves bowed their heads and walked deeper into the forest, leaving us alone. I don't know why I was so nervous, this was Jacob for crying out loud; I wasn't used to feeling this uncomfortable around him. It didn't help that he was looking at me with a wildly sexy smile, probably amused by my nervousness. I couldn't help but wonder again why my father would have despised him in the past, there really was no way anybody could dislike him, I don't even thing Aunt Rose hates him half as much as she claims.

"So, Ness… I have to go into work tomorrow, their bringing in a new car that I have to almost rebuild from scratch… I'm not sure at what time I'll get off, but…"

"Oh, that's ok Jake… I actually made plans with Tyler… a friend from school".

"Oh… is that the blonde kid?" – He said it with a certain hostility and I immediately felt guilty, I also didn't like the word "kid", is that how Jacob sees me, a kid with kid friends? I didn't really want to go out with Tyler, this wasn't even a date or anything, I'd made these plans because I'd overheard Jacob on the phone with his boss at the beginning of the week and knew how hard my afternoon would be without him. Tyler was fun and cool, easygoing, and would help keep me busy.

"Uhm… yeah, he's blonde."

"Is this a date or something?" – A glimmer of hope, was Jacob jealous? The thought made me smile. Big mistake, because he took my smile as a yes. Before I could clarify he spoke, his voice hard.

"Does Edward know about this? Do you have permission?"

"What? I'm not a child Jacob!!!" - His answer infuriated me; he was acting like a parent. I didn't need that, want that. If his answer angered me, his response to my outburst hurt my feelings even more.

"Fine Ness… it's not my business anyway, I'm just looking out for you."

"You're right, it's not!!!"

He slowly walked toward me, his face hard and expressionless, a face I'd never seen before; I didn't like it, not one bit. –"I have to go on patrol now… I can't go if you don't say goodbye to me."

I still had my arms folded in front of me when he leaned down, hugged me and nuzzled his face on the side of mine, but didn't kiss my cheek, just breathed in my scent. He then walked away without looking at me, leaving me feeling empty; my hurt pride not allowing me to chaise after him.