Kiss Me by Moonlight - The Love Story of Renesmee and Jacob

Chapter IV: Unarticulated Problems of the Heart

"An unarticulated crush is very different from an unrequited one, because at least with an unrequited crush you know what the hell you're doing, even if the other person isn't doing it back.

An unarticulated crush is harder to grapple with, because it's a crush that you haven't even admitted to yourself. The romantic forces are all there - you want to see him, you always notice him, you treat every word from him as if it weighs more than anyone else's. But you don't know why. You don't know that you're doing it. You'd follow him to the end of the earth without ever admitting that your feet were moving."
—David Levithan

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Continued . . .

Jacob headed to the Cullen house that evening. Edward had said they would be at the main house, but he had barely entered the forest when he heard the most familiar sound in the world to him. Not a mile from where he stood, a half-human heart was beating frantically.

Naturally, without considering it, he was off in her direction. Past trees and stumps and animals. He found her almost instantly. She wasn't crying, like he had originally thought. She was pacing. And she was flustered.

So much so, that she hardly noticed him until he put a hand on her arm. She jumped a foot in the air for fright, placed a hand over her heart as she landed.

"Oh, Jake." She sighed, relieved. "It's you." She craned her head either side of her neck. Her bones were stiff, if animated they would have creaked. How long had she been here?

It's not that Nessie didn't hug him – she did. A lot. But she usually didn't hug him with such reckless abandon as she did right then. Without much forewarning, she wrapped her arms fiercely around his chest and pressed her cheek to his heart.

He had seen her yesterday – one day ago – but in that moment, she embraced him like she hadn't seen him in years, hadn't hugged him in centuries.

He, of course, hugged her back instantly. "It's good to see you, too," he huffed into her hair, trying to be cool. But however hard he tried, he was not immune to the scent in her hair, or the lilt in her voice, or the curve of her hips against his.

She relaxed into his arms, and some of the tension in her bones dissipated tangibly.

"Hey," he said, trying to realign himself. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbled to his t-shirt. "I had a miserable day."

A frown appeared between his brow. "Is that why you're outside?"

"Yeah," she mumbled again. "I had to get out of the house."

"What happened?" Jacob asked, and he started when he found his hand on her head, lacing in her hair.

Renesmee looked at him. She reached for his hand the same moment he reached for hers and they met somewhere in the middle. They slowly started back to the house and Jacob asked again. "What happened today?"

She looked uncomfortable. "Uncle Em – he, uh, tried to entertain me."

"Oh." That wasn't quite what he had expected. "How was that?"

"They – uh – well; we were talking about cars and stuff, so they tried to teach me to drive."

"Really?" He felt his face fall a little. "And how did that go?"

She groaned. "Terrible."

"Please. I'm sure you were formula one standard by lunch time."

"Oh, Jake. I really wasn't."