Renesmee [JACOB BLACK]

10. Pain

Renesmee Cullen

I couldn't believe it had happened. My Jacob, the one I thought I was going to end up with for the rest of my life, had imprinted.

The moment he spoke the cursed words in the meadow, I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

Unbelievable. Impossible.

How? How had it happened? Why?

But I remembered - he had to be hurting incredibly badly.  Imagine imprinting on someone who had already built their own life with a family. To end up with his possible future boss because of the imprinting would be considered an equivalent of home-wrecking.

With the permission of my parents, Jacob was going to be our guest for the night - he was sleeping over. I had promised him that we would find a solution to the problem together and I couldn't let him down in such an important moment not only for our relationship but for the rest of his life as well.

We had sat comfortably in my bed in our pajamas as if we were younger and planning on staying up all night to watch scary movies secretly from the adults in the house. The biggest difference was that we were not-so-young anymore and we were stuck in a situation where we had to act like responsible adults.

"What if she needs you to be someone she can count on at work if you get the job?", in my mind that scenario made sense. Besides, imprinting wasn't always supposed to end in a romantic relationship, was it?

Jake shook his head sadly, "Even if it's only that, you've seen Sam and Emily, Paul and my sister, Jared and Kim. What has happened to them will probably happen to Quil and Claire too. And," he sniffed. I clearly saw how tears clouded his eyes. Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his much larger body. He was crying in my arms, unable to finish his sentence, but I knew exactly what he meant - he was terrified that he was going to end up developing romantic feelings for her.

I  couldn't say anything, all I could do was just hold him while he cried uncontrollably in my arms.

"So there's no way to avoid her? At all?", I asked when he calmed down.

He shook his head, more tears spilling down his face. He was bent, not broken yet. I wasn't going to let him break. I knew he was strong enough to not let some moronic wolfy claim control his life. And I knew he was aware of it too, though not so much at this particular moment.

"You can do this, you're the bravest person I know, believe it or not!", I was attempting to encourage and to inspire him. I had never been in a situation where I had to help a person, believe it or not. I was hoping I was doing a good enough job to make Jake feel better. He meant everything to me.

On the next day when we woke up, my mother made us a grand breakfast that was supposed to distract Jacob. Alas, he barely ate. He never looked anyone in the eye for the remainder of the day.

He was in pain. 

I wondered whether his imprintee felt the same. If so, how was she coping? Was she going to have an appointment with her GP? Or would she go to a therapist instead? And what help was she going to get?