Uh oh, am I losing you guys? I hope not…well, here's chapter twenty. Please review and let me know what you think, whether you like it/hate it, suggestions, comments, concerns, anything. Ok enjoy. Thanks.

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's wonderful work, solely the plot and some new faces.

*************************Nessie***********************************

Considering the day's events—with the exception of my embarrassing encounter with my parents—I expected to have the best dream upon touching my pillow…but I was wrong. It was the dream, the nightmare that'd haunted me until recently. I'd been so involved with my new friends and the whole Jake situation that I hadn't even noticed the sudden disappearance of that awful presence.

It began like it always did, Jake and I running through an open field under the stars, with nothing but freedom and happiness waiting for us along the horizon. I was ahead, and I could hear Jake's musical voice behind me, laughing. When I looked at him, I saw the sun, the moon, my best friend, and the only one in the world that mattered; he smiled at me, my favorite grin, I almost slowed down to run alongside him, but then they appeared. I gasped, my feet glued to the ground, and watched in horror as Jake seemed to ignore the fact that the Volturri were straight ahead. I called out in anguish, pleading that he stop, that he come back to me, but he only turned and smiled at me, running full speed to his demise…I realized, just as I always did, that he was doing it for me, sacrificing himself so that I might have the chance to get away, to live and be happy… it tore me apart, how could I live in a life without my Jake? He phased within feet of them, getting ready to fight single handedly; my body finally snapped and I ran forward, vaguely aware that I'd been here before, and that the blackness would swallow me any second now. I pushed harder, willing my legs—which were surprisingly much stronger than before—and I closed the gap between myself and the survival of my other half. I was, in the back of my mind somewhere, surprised; I had never gotten this far, this close, but just as I was about to leap onto the small girl that led the attack, it closed in on me, the imprisoning blackness, the ultimate cage that would mean the absolute death of my everything…

My eyes flashed open, and I resisted with difficulty to scream. I was sweating, and my breaths were coming in uneven intervals. I forced myself to calm down. It was just a dream, I said to myself, just a really, really, really, REALLY bad dream.

I peered over at the alarm clock…it was three twenty seven in the morning. I flopped myself back onto my bed, still shaken up, considering whether or not to call my mom, she and daddy would be at the cottage right now…but at the same time, I longed to see Jake, to make sure my nightmare had been only that, a nightmare…

I knew my family would have a fit if I disappeared during this hour; then again, they wouldn't let me go if they knew where I was going anyway…

But I hadn't had that dream in such a long time, what if it meant Jake really was in trouble?!

That decided it for me. I crept out of bed slowly, and over to the window. Luckily, I usually slept with it slightly ajar so it didn't make any noise when I pushed it up a bit more. The jump was soundless, thank goodness, and I raked my eyes over the darkness, looking for the giant russet wolf that usually slept out here…I didn't see him.

I could feel a lump forming in my throat as the nightmare came to mind, but then something wet and gooey bombarded my face.

"Ugh," I whispered, as Jake nuzzled his head against my arm. My shoulders sagged with relief and I forced the lump down, which still threatened to expose my sudden surge of emotion towards the fact that Jake really was ok. He looked at me questioningly, and I motioned for him to follow me; it would be safer to talk elsewhere, away from the super sensitive ears of my family.

We raced into the forest, making sure to steer relatively clear of my parents' cottage. When I knew we were in safe territory, I stopped, looking behind me for Jake, but he wasn't there. For a moment I panicked again, then I saw him; he'd stayed back a ways to phase and change into some shorts. He came towards me, and suddenly I couldn't help it.

I ran to him and cried my heart out.

*****************************Jake*************************************

I could hear her tossing and turning in her bed, even moaning slightly. I remained fixed under her window, concerned with what nightmare could possibly be aggravating her like that. Then suddenly it stopped, and she took in a huge breath, as if convincing herself it'd only been a dream. I waited for a few more seconds; it'd been awhile since she'd had nightmares. I never brought it up to her, figuring it wasn't something she liked to talk about since she never brought it up herself, but tonight, it seemed like it was one of the worst.

Suddenly, she was on the ground in front of me, her robe tucked securely around her thin pajamas. Her hair stuck up in funny ways and I almost barked out a laugh when I noticed the worried look on her face. She hadn't noticed me yet, and the need to comfort her was overwhelming…so I snuck up behind her and licked her face.

"Ugh," she whispered, though I could see the worry fade completely from her face. Had she been having a nightmare about me?

She motioned for me to follow so I did; she led me to a secluded area of the forest, a place I knew to be out of reach of her annoying mind reading father. I held back to transform and change; I had a feeling she wanted to talk to me about something. For a moment I dared believe that perhaps she'd finally realized what she felt for me, and the crazy fantasies followed such an epiphany…but as I walked out to meet her, I knew it was something different.

Her eyes glistened, and she looked at me with the most heartbreaking half-smile…concern etched itself across my face and I made to rush towards her…but she had already ran into my open arms, sobbing relentlessly.

I could feel her tears against my chest, her body shook up and down as she let it all out. If this had been a different scenario, I probably would've been forced to recite the preamble again, but given the circumstances, all I could think of was what had shaken her up so badly, and what I could do to make it all better.

"It's alright, Ness," I said soothingly, "I'm here, your Jake's here." I rubbed her back and caressed her hair. She continued to cry for the next five minutes or so until she finally pulled back, almost shyly, and looked up at me.

"You must think I'm the biggest cry baby, huh?" she said, her tear stained face causing me pain.

"No, Nessie," I smiled at her, "everyone cries, even big, strong, girls like you."

She smiled at me, the same smile that said I was her best friend, that she loved me, that I could always make her feel better, the same smile I saw myself hoping to stare at for the rest of my life.

"So," I asked her, "what's with the waterworks anyway?" She sighed, and let go of me. My hands didn't seem to realize this and they remained outstretched in front of me. She sat down on the floor and I sat down next to her; she snuggled closer to me.

"I had a nightmare," she said in a small voice, then looked up at me, "pretty stupid reason to get all dramatic, huh?"

I nodded my head no and motioned for her to go on. She did, telling me how it was the same nightmare from months ago, and how it had just crept up on her tonight out of nowhere. I could see her eyes threatening to release Niagara falls all over again as she told me about the contents of the dream, how it always ended with me running to fight the Volturri single handedly. She shivered when she said the name; I could understand, of course, the Volturri were not something to consider lightly.

"But," I said to her when she'd finished, "it was just a nightmare, Ness. The Volturri don't have any reason to come down here, you know that."

She looked at me through sad eyes, "I know, but," she sniffled, "if that were to ever happen," and now she looked at me with so much emotion I almost started crying myself, "I have the feeling that is something you'd do." She grabbed my hand, "And, Jake, I don't know if I could live with myself if—if," and the tears streamed down, "if anything were to happen to you. I need you Jake."

I looked at her in awe. She was seriously wounded at the mere thought of my perishing, and despite the unclenching pain it caused me, I could feel another part of me jumping into the air with joy: she needed me!

I let her crawl into my lap, she burrowed her head into the arch of my neck. "Don't worry, Nessie," I said to her, "I'm not going anywhere."

***

Ha! I bet you thought something else might've happened here, but no, sorry, not quite yet…I haven't received many reviews lately, so until I do, I'm going to have to refrain from updating (gives me time to study anyway). In the next chapters, we're going to see the relationship between Nessie and her 'boys' develop. It's going to be confusing, it's going to be sensual, and oh yea, Christmas will get here. Also, mystery guy will make several more appearances, though I'm not sure how much I will reveal about him yet so we'll see. Ok, well, I hope you're still enjoying, please review and let me know what you think; if I get ample enough reviews, who knows, I just might have to update sooner. Thanks.