Thank you to all my reviewers, I can't stop saying how much I appreciate it. Please continue reviewing and letting me know what you think. Well, here's chapter twenty two, I decided to expose a variety of POVs in this one, so bear with me; I know most of you want to hear mainly Nessie/ Jacob but don't worry, they will appear more so than others. Thanks.

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's genius, solely the plot and some new characters to this story.

***************************Oliver***********************************

I hated having to hide my feelings for Renesmee in public. Though Tom and I were the only shape-shifters in our class, I made sure not to give too much away; there was no risking Jacob finding out. Renesmee seemed to understand without my even explaining; it only made me more captivated with her. After class, I forced the thoughts of Renesmee's glory out of mind; we would see Jacob in a bit and I couldn't afford a single slip.

He came practically bounding towards us, shirtless and glistening like the sun; I forced down the lump in my throat. He was obviously in a good mood and I didn't want to be the one who ruined it. As he approached us, a sudden look of shock came over his face.

Uh oh…I pictured my funeral, my mom would be crying over my mangled body, and Tom would be looking at me like 'I told you so'…

But then I realized his surprise was aimed at our appearance; he still hadn't seen us, and given that we were a good head taller, it was bound to get his attention.

Wow, I got to stop being such a paranoid wuss…

"Well, well, well," he said, after picking up Renesmee in greeting—I held back a growl—"look who's finally filling out." His grin never left his face, and I found myself curious with his sudden cheerfulness; last I checked, Tom and I—well mostly me—weren't exactly in his good books, he had been suspicious of us for no reason… now he'd be perfectly in his right to be suspicious, though I didn't fancy updating him.

"Yeah," Tom grinned back, "it happened like overnight."

Jacob looked pensive for a second. "Hmm, that's weird," he said, "I guess you guys are just late bloomers, it's cool though, now you're almost as good-looking as the rest of us."

Did he just call us good-looking? What did he have for breakfast…?

Renesmee simply stood there, indifferent to our announced 'good-lookingness,' smiling and agreeing in all the right places; her perfect behavior was impressive. I, on the other hand, was having trouble just not looking at her, but luckily Jacob was in too enthusiastic a mood to notice…I would have to take a note or two from her.

"I might seriously consider letting you guys hunt—" Jacob was saying. Tom looked hopeful.

Uh oh, so much for being in wolf form as little as possible…

"—but we'll see. I think another head taller would suffice," he finished. If Tom had been in wolf form I'm sure his tail would've gone in between his legs.

Good, hopefully we don't grow anymore for a long while…

"Alright, we'll see you guys later, come on, Ness," he said, scooping Renesmee up onto his back and turning away from us. Renesmee laughed with an 'Oh Jake' and latched herself securely onto his naked, broad shoulders.

My eyes could've shot out fire; my hands balled up into fists and I could feel my body shaking. I would've phased right there, in front of the seventy or so departing students, in front of the imprinted werewolf that carried the golden fleece on his stupid, muscular back, in front of the girl that had just carried out an encore worthy performance in order to keep what was ours safe. I felt Tom's heavy hand on my shoulder, telling me without words to calm the hell down…but then Renesmee shot me a lightning quick glance that said 'I'll miss you,'…and that made all the difference in the world.

My shoulders relaxed and I watched sadly as my more than worthy adversary took off with the amazing girl that was rightfully his.

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

It hurt to see Oliver so pained, but for some reason I didn't find it in me to make up some excuse to stay with him. It would've been simple: 'Jake, I'll meet you at home later. The twins and I have to work on a project that's due tomorrow,' or 'I'll catch up with you later Jake, Tom and Oliver invited me over to meet their folks,"—with the way Jake was acting, heck I could've told him just about anything and he would've let me…but I didn't. I found that, although I wanted dearly to spend some quality time with Oliver, I also wanted to be with Jake…I don't know, perhaps his over excited frame of mind was just that much more invigorating. I could feel my heart rise with his mere laughter.

It baffled me; I mean, I usually always had a great time with Jake, but I also knew that he was someone I could always go home to, someone that would always be waiting for me in the wing; surely he would've waited for me had I decided to postpone going home right away.

We rode swiftly through the woods. I could feel the heat emanating from his bare back, more so than usual. How strange, I thought, it's winter and he's practically burning…it's a good thing I'm immune to it…though I was perspiring a bit nonetheless.

"Jake," I asked in his ear, "why are you so hot?"

He whipped his head around while still managing to avoid running into any trees. "You think I'm hot, eh?" he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I don't know why, but for the first time ever, I blushed at what my best friend had said, my heart taking off with it.

*******************************Jasper******************************

I let out a small 'oh' of surprise when the two figures neared the house. Since the morning I'd sensed Jacob's exceedingly joyous emotions. Nessie's had been somewhat scattered, confusion being the strongest, but now…

She was feeling—I hope Edward isn't paying attention—somewhat aroused?

I focused more intently, hoping I had misinterpreted the emotion, but no, it was unmistakably there, along with a great deal of confusion, and a little bit of humiliation. I shuddered to think what Edward would do if he realized his daughter was feeling—I frowned—'stirred;' it seemed like a safer adjective.

As they came within twenty yards of the house, I focused on Nessie's emotions, willing her to relax and be content—though making her sad seemed like it might do the trick also, anything to get that insalubrious feeling out of her head—; it worked. Her flustered face returned to its normal color, paling white, and her downturned eyebrows smoothened out. She slid off of Jacob's back easily, running inside with a quick 'Hi, Jasper, hi, Alice' come our way. I smiled at her and continued doing what I'd come out to do, massage Alice's temple.

"That was really nice of you, Jasper," she said quietly, "I saw you change someone's emotions of," she laughed softly, "arousal. I couldn't see who so I figured it was either Jacob or Nessie." She turned to face me. "Either way, you saved them from Edward and Bella's wrath…," she paused, fearing the worst, "who was it, just curious?"

I smiled down at my beautiful pixie, though when I spoke I knew I was justifying her suspicion. "Nessie."

Alice sighed. "Better start thinking of something else. Edward is on his way."

***************************Rosalie********************************

That sales guy sure does know what he was talking about; this hair product makes me look even more ravishing, if that's even possible…

A sudden voice made me look up. She looked at me with a question in her eyes. "Hello, sweetheart," I turned to my darling niece, "did you need something?"

Nessie came over to sit on my bed while I continued to brush my hair. "Yes," she paused, "but you have to promise not to say anything, please? Especially to Jacob," her eyes glanced nervously towards the door. For a moment, I feared she was about to reveal her necessity to be with the revolting dog, but then she added, "you see, it's about a boy, and the boy made me promise not to tell him. He seemed kind of scared actually," she giggled, continuing as an afterthought, "I can't see why Jacob would mind, though, I can tell him anything."

Oh I can see why he'd mind, I thought, but of course didn't say anything. "Sure thing, Nessie," I said, taking a seat next to her, "what about this boy?"

She blushed, looking down. "Well, we kind of um," her voice trailed off, but I heard her anyway, "kissed, and—"

"Oh Nessie!" I yelped, hugging her, more ecstatic of the fact that it hadn't been with Jacob. "How was it? Did you guys do anything else?" then, "Wait, you didn't do anything else, right?"

Nessie looked uncomfortable, going from light pink to crimson red. "No, no," she assured me, "it was just a kiss…but I really like him, and I was wondering if, with Christmas around the corner, you could help me figure out what I could get him?"

I grinned at her, smug of the fact that she'd come to me and not anyone else…though in the back of my mind I wondered if she'd affiliated her decision with the fact that I was a genius with cars…maybe the boy liked cars?

"I understand if you can't, I know you're busy with your," she paused, eyeing the assortment of products I'd purchased recently, "stuff, but mom and Alice are both currently," again the blush, "busy."

Well, so much for me being the first choice, but I nodded anyway, anything to please my adorable niece.

"I'd be more than glad to help," I told her, hugging her to me, "but you're going to have to tell me all about this boy of yours."

Nessie smiled, a far away look coming into her eye. She turned to me, "Of course, Rosalie, I think I came to just the right person."

I smirked. "Of course you did."

****************************Carlisle*************************************

Jacob came into the kitchen, sniffing the air graciously, at the same time Nessie came down from Rosalie and Emmet's room. He'd just got back from 'hanging' with Seth and Leah. I'd expected him to stay with Nessie, but he just seemed so happy today I didn't think anything of it. They both sat down and gulped down the food Esme had prepared for them. I watched with curiosity.

There was something different about Nessie. She didn't look any different from yesterday—yesterday being the beginning of another growth spurt—and yet I could see it in her eyes…she looked at Jacob with a mixture of seeing her best friend, and something she couldn't quite figure out. We all, of course, knew what this 'something' was, but it just seemed inappropriate that she be seeing it so soon; she was barely going to be thirteen, after all. I turned my gaze onto Jacob.

He was all laughs and barks, seeming even oblivious to Nessie's bewilderment. Anyone who didn't know her would've missed it completely, Nessie being quite the master of camouflage, but Jacob knew her probably more than anyone else, even myself…and yet…he just seemed to be happy with the fact that she needed him.

Edward had filled me in on their little late night rendezvous. How extraordinary, I wondered, then again there was Oliver to consider. Jacob suddenly looked at me.

"Hey, Carlisle," he said, "so I was thinking, for Christmas, maybe we can invite my younger brothers to join the celebration. They're such good friends of Nessie's, I think it'd be nice for her, what do you think Nessie?" Before he turned to her I noticed a flicker of panic pass through her eyes, but she quickly regained composure before Jacob noticed.

"Yeah," she swallowed the steak bit she'd been chewing on, "that would be awesome."

I smiled at her, "Well then it's settled. I'll make sure to let Alice know, we'll be accommodating two more guests."

Nessie suddenly got up, her façade fading. "I think I'm going to go to sleep," she yawned—though I could see it was part of the charade—"goodnight."

She kissed me and Esme on the cheek, saving her imprinted Jacob for last. "Night, Jake." She hugged him, he kissed her on the forehead.

Jacob finished the rest of the meal by himself, while I gaped in surprise at where Nessie'd disappeared.

I hadn't missed the blush that crept onto her face whilst she bade goodnight to Jacob…Oh dear, this could get complicated…

***

Ok, I know this chapter was a bit eh, but next is Christmas day and everyone's going to be in the same place finally! Also, a vision that will turn things around completely for a certain individual will finally take place—though this might happen within the next three chapters. Please review, I need something to feel obligated about updating sooner. I'm trying to type out two chapters at a time, but if I see that people are getting disinterested (i.e. no reviews), I might prolong submitting the chapters immediately. Just keep doing what you're doing, your reviews mean the world to me, thanks!