It felt like a dream.

Meeting Jacob, learning about the wolves, and being imprinted on was such a whirlwind I hardly believed any of it was real by the time I touched down in Chicago. The only evidence that it hadn't been a total fever dream was the never-ending chime on my phone signaling a new message from Jake.

There was no way to explain it. Jacob was… incredible. Everything about him felt too good to be true.

Whenever I spoke, he listened. He always payed attention to what I had to say and how I felt. To him, I was the most important person in the world. He was thoughtful and kind, always treating me with respect. And when I was with him, I felt protected and safe. Like nothing could touch me. And God, the way he looked at me, it made my knees weak. I've never been looked at like that before. I'd only known the man for a little over a week and I was already hooked.

He was perfect.

We spent all weekend learning absolutely everything we could about one another. I met his family, friends, and pack, getting to know them all. He even gave me a proper tour of his garage shop, showing me the very first car he ever built, a little Volkswagen rabbit. He was so proud of it, and I was so proud of him, seeing the smile that it brought him. I've never been very good at building or making things, and here he was making cars and beautiful carvings like it was nothing. He's amazing.

I wanted nothing more than to stay in Forks, or for him to come back with me, but I knew that made no sense. We both had responsibilities that we couldn't abandon just because we couldn't bear to be away from each other. Of course, that was much easier said than done. Leaving Jake at the airport was much harder than I ever thought it would be. My whole body was screaming for me to stay, to run back to him and never let go. It felt painful and wrong, but I had to.

It had almost been a week since we'd last seen each other and it was actually getting harder to be away from him. We spoke every day, every hour, almost every minute. And every night he called me, our conversations lasting way into the early hours of the morning.

I was currently laying on my bed after getting out of the shower, a towel still wrapped on my head and my robe falling off my shoulders. I was so distracted with my conversation with Jake that I barely had the capacity to do anything else, like getting dressed. I chuckled, reading his latest message about being so hungry he was about to pass out, what a drama queen.

There was a knock on my bedroom door before my roommate, Charlotte, poked her head in. "Hey, I'm going to order some Indian food for dinner, do you want some?"

"No, I'm good, thanks." I said, not taking my eyes off my phone as I typed out a response.

"Are you texting lover boy again?" She grinned leaning against the doorframe. "I can tell from that smile on your face. You've had the same one all week."

My entire face turned hot with embarrassment. "Don't call him that, he's my friend."

"Sure," she turned around, leaving my door open. "Whatever you say, Renesmee."

"Hey close my door!" She completely ignored me, walking back to her room. I hmphed, looking back at my phone just as a new message appeared: You have no idea what it takes to keep this perfect body fueled Nessie ;) I'm like a well-oiled machine.

Well-oiled, my ass. I watched you eat like eighteen hot dogs at once.

What can I say? Man's gotta eat. So, what are you up to right now?

Nothing, just lying in bed, preparing for finals. I'm hoping to be done with school soon. I want to see you already.

I heard a knock on the front door. I ignored it, figuring Charlotte would answer it since it's her food delivery.

Trust me, me too. But I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other sooner rather than later.

Oh yeah? What makes you say that?

There was another knock. "Charlotte, your food is here!" I called out.

Just a feeling, I can't be away from you for too long Nessie.

I feel the same. So, what are you eating, Mr. Machine?

Another knock. "Char, your food!" She always does this, her and her boyfriend will order food and then forget to answer the door.

I haven't decided yet. What's good to eat in Chicago?

I quickly sat up. There's no way. What? Are you here?

I don't know, why don't you check outside?

I hopped off the bed and ran to the front door barefoot, ripping it open. Jacob stood on the other side, a huge grin splitting his face. "Hey."

"Jacob!" I squealed, jumping into his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you I couldn't stay away for long." He laughed, pulling me close. "I wanted to surprise you. I hope that's ok."

"It's more than ok. It's amazing." I whispered into his chest, breathing deeply. His scent overwhelmed me. Suddenly everything was right in the world. I was in Jacob's arms, exactly where I belonged. We held each other for a long moment, Jacob tucking his face into my neck and sighed, "Missed you, Ness." It gave me goosebumps.

Then I remembered what I was wearing.

"Oh my god." I disentangled myself from him, dropping to the floor, my face burning red. "Sorry, I- uh just got out of the shower." I pulled my robe closed tighter. Of course, it's the first time Jake sees me and I'm in a towel.

He chuckled. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in on you like this. You look cute though."

"Oh my god." I repeated, spinning around and running to my room. "Give me a second." I shut the door and grabbed the first thing I could find; some pajama pants and a t shirt. I quickly ran a brush through my wet hair, making it look semi-presentable. I would have worried more about my appearance, but Jacob was right outside, and I couldn't keep myself from him anymore.

When I entered the living room, I found him and Charlotte chatting together. "So where are you staying Jacob?"

"I uh, haven't thought that far ahead. I'm going to find a hotel close by, I just wanted to say hi to Nessie first."

"Nonsense! You can stay here on our couch! Renesmee has been talking nonstop about you all week, and a friend of hers is a friend of mine." She winked at me. What the hell, Charlotte!

"Uh, only if that's ok with her. I don't want to impose." They both looked to me for a response. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Damn Charlotte for putting me on the spot like that.

But how could I say no? Having Jacob in my apartment 24/7 sounds like a dream.

"Of course! The couch isn't that big but you're always welcome here!" I gestured to our sofa. It was decent sized; Grandma Esme never skimps on interior decorating. For a couple of Sophomores, we had a nice, spacious two-bedroom apartment. If it was up to my dad, I'd be living in the penthouse, but I put my foot down. I wanted to have a somewhat normal college experience.

"Then it's decided, you're staying. You can put your luggage down over there, and I'm sure Renesmee will get you cozied in." Charlotte smirked at me, grabbed her food and went back into her room. She gave me a thumbs up behind Jacob's back as he set his stuff down. I mouthed for her to stay in her room, the last thing I needed was her interrupting my time with Jake.

"Honestly Ness, if this makes you uncomfortable, I can stay somewhere else." He turned to me, "I just really needed to see you."

"No, I want you to stay." I walked over to him, grabbing his hand. "That way I can get more time with you."

"Sounds good to me." He grinned, pulling me in for another hug. I was content to be in his embrace, relishing his heat before he jerked back. "Woah, who's this?" He looked down where an orange cat was weaving in between his legs, meowing.

"Oh, that's Mango." I giggled, reaching down to scratch his head. "I adopted him my first month in Chicago." I had always wanted a pet growing up but living with eight vampires made that impossible. Once I was on my own, I ran to the nearest animal shelter and fell in love with Mango, bringing him home with me. "I never mentioned him?"

"No, I think I would have remembered." He reached down too, cautiously letting Mango sniff his hand.

"What's the matter? Not a cat person?"

"Nah, they're alright. I'm just more of a dog person is all." Mango rubbed his face against Jacob's hand, his purrs a clear indication that he accepted him.

"Aw, see he likes you."

"Course he does." We sat together playing with Mango and catching up for a few minutes when I heard a loud rumble. Surprised, I looked up to Jacob who shrugged sheepishly. It was coming from his stomach. I guess he wasn't kidding when he said he was starving.

"How about we order some food?" I giggled, pulling out my phone.

We spent the rest of the night sitting on the couch together, eating everything off the Chinese menu from down the street. Well, Jacob devoured everything, I just sat and watched in amazement while I ate my food. I swear the man must have three stomachs. While we ate Jacob offered to school me on all the Batman movies. Since I told him I hadn't seen them all he insisted we watch them in order. He kept interrupting with trivia while I proceeded to call him a giant dork.

"Oh my god, you are so annoying." I laughed launching one of my throw pillows at him after he interjected another fact about the Joker during The Dark Knight.

"I'm just trying to explain it so you have the whole picture!" He easily dodged the pillow, laughing with me.

"I'm going to make you watch every single Harry Potter movie after this, just so we're even."

"And you're calling me a dork?"

We were interrupted by my phone ringing. My mom's name posted across the screen. Once Jacob saw her name his face sobered up, and the carefree, fun atmosphere was immediately gone.

Oh no.

"I'm going to take this, just give me a second." He nodded his head as I quickly got up and walked into my bedroom, closing the door for extra privacy.

"Hi Momma."

"Hey Renesmee! How are you?" Hearing her voice always made my heart ache. I missed my family very deeply. No matter how long I'd lived away from home, I'd always be homesick for them.

"I'm good, how's everything with Grandma Renee?"

"Oh, she's much better. Your dad says hi too." I could hear my father in the background telling me how much he loved and missed me. "Sorry I never called to check in, Dad surprised me with another trip after Florida and we kind of lost track of time."

Ew. I understood what that meant. My parents had a bad habit of losing track of time whenever they were alone together. "It's alright Mom, I guess I lost track of time too, sorry I never checked in with you guys either."

"No problem, I just wanted to see how you were doing. How was your visit with Grandpa? Did you guys do anything fun?"

What do I say? Do I tell her about Jacob? My parents were my best friends, I told them everything.

But this was mine

I wasn't even sure what this was. We're we just friends? Something more? I know Jake explained the imprinting to me, but I was still confused. I had just learned that he's a werewolf last week. Things were already complicated I didn't want to complicate them any further. All I knew was that the two of us were content in our own perfect little bubble and I didn't want anything to disturb that.

And I saw the way Jacob looked at the sight of my mom's name. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. What if when I told my parents about Jacob's imprinting, they freak out. They were known to overreact about my safety and Jacob had told me about the intense rivalry between werewolves and vampires. They were natural enemies.

So, no, I can't tell her anything. Not now, not yet.

"Renesmee?" She sounded concerned.

"Sorry, Mom." I shook my head, trying to clear it. "No, it was fine. It was good. Grandpa Charlie was good."

"Is everything alright?" She still had concern in her voice.

"Yeah, everything's good."

"You sure? You sound different. Did anything happen over there?"

"No, nothing happened. I'm just tired. I've been busy with school and stuff; you know how it gets around the holidays."

"Yeah, I do. Please make sure you're getting enough sleep alright. Don't stay up too long. Nothing is worth risking your health."

"I will, Momma, I promise. I'm taking care of myself."

"Alright, I'll let you go. We'll see you on Christmas break. I love you, Renesmee."

"I love you too, Momma. And I miss you." And I meant it.

"Miss you too, Baby. Bye." The call ended.

I slowly walked back into the living room where Jacob sat on the couch, elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. I wasn't sure how much of the conversation he heard, but from what he told me about his hearing, I was assuming it was all of it. God, I was such a coward. Jacob stood up to his whole pack and family to defend me and I couldn't even tell my parents that I was seeing him.

He looked up once I entered the room, his eyes deep pools of conflict. "Hey." He stood up, giving me all his attention. There was a long stretch of silence as we stared at each other.

"Listen-"

"Look, I-"

We both spoke at the same time, interrupting one another. "Sorry, you go ahead." He gestured for me to continue.

"Jacob, I don't know how much of that you heard in there, but I didn't tell my mom about you or about us yet. And I don't want you to think that I'm ashamed or want to hide anything, I just- I love being with you." My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. "We're having so much fun and I'm still getting to know you. I don't want anything to ruin that, especially my parents. They can be so overdramatic when it comes to me and knowing all the history you guys have, I want to avoid any conflicts. I want to savor this a little longer before we tell them. Is that alright?"

Jacob nodded, closing his eyes in relief. "Of course it is, Renesmee. I know what you mean and honestly, I'm not looking forward to facing your parents again after all these years, but I would do it for you in a heartbeat. I would do anything for you. So, take your time and we can tell them when you're ready." He then smiled playfully. "And for the record, I love being with you too."

My face must have been as red as a tomato. "Ok, glad that's settled." I moved to sit back down on the couch again, moving Mango out of my spot. "Do you still want to finish the movie?"

"Actually," Jacob pulled something out of his luggage and sat down with a small, pull-string pouch in his hands. "There's something I want to give you, before I forget. This is for you." He took my hand and placed an intricately braided bracelet in my palm. "It's a promise. A promise to be with you forever. I will always be here for you, to protect you and make you happy. No matter where you go, I will follow. My life is yours, if you accept it."

I softly gasped. It was gorgeous. There were so many colors interweaved together, I couldn't stop turning it about to see them all. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah, I know it's not a diamond bracelet or anything fancy, which I can get you by the way. But I was going out of my mind without you this past week and decided to make something with my hands to help distract me. Do you like it?"

"I love it!" I grinned, throwing my arms around him. "Thank you, Jacob. No one has ever made me anything like this before. I'm never going to take it off."

"You're welcome." He hugged me back, pulling me onto his lap to begin wrapping it around my wrist. When he was done, he smiled at me, looking into my eyes. "I meant it, every word."

My life had been turned on its head the moment I looked into Jacob's eyes for the first time. I never believed in love at first sight. Even my parents didn't have an instant connection when they first met. But there was no denying that I belonged with him. He was my other half. My soulmate.

I smiled back, pressing my forehead against his. "Me too. I promise, forever."