Hands on Me (A Twilight Fanfiction written by IndependentIndividuality)

In Which Home is Where You Are

I DO NOT OWN THIS STORY SO DONT EVEN

In Which Home is Where You Are

the sky is fallin, and it's early in the mornin'
but it's okay, somehow

- ashlee simpson, better off

-

"Nessie?" I heard vaguely. "Nessie, honey, wake up."

I felt a warm hand brush my hair back from my face and my eyes fluttered slowly open to see Jacob leaning over the bed beside me.

"Good morning," I said, a little sleepily, but still managing a smile.

"Morning," Jacob returned quietly, but his smile was half-hearted. "You about ready to get up?"

My eyes slid over Jacob's body to see he was dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, not his clothes from last night.

"Sure," I said, pushing myself into a sitting position, my bones feeling weak but rested. "Why are you already dressed?"

"I, um . . . I was wanting to go see . . . Billy."

I felt as though an electric shock had been delivered directly to my spine. I was awake now, completely. Was Jacob waiting on me to wake up? For how long?

"When is it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he confessed. He opened his mouth to add on to that sentence, but I was already out of the bed and halfway to the bathroom, backpack in hand.

"You should have woken me up, Jake!" I called as I dressed hurriedly, pulling on the first bra, jeans and t-shirt I laid hands on and leaving my pajamas in a heap on the floor. "You can't miss it so I can get my beauty sleep!"

I was already striding back into the room, pulling my hair up into a messy bun as I went. I threw my shoes on without bothering with socks or tying them and quickly collected the black bag, holding my other hand out for Jacob.

"Come on, Jake, I'm ready – let's go," I urged, waggling my fingers at him.

My heart pounded nervously in my chest. It was already my fault Jacob wasn't there in person, that he didn't even get to tell his father goodbye, and he was not going to miss his last chance for closure because of me. Jacob looked at me with a mixture of endearment and concern, but he led me swiftly out the door anyway.

As soon as we were a few hundred yards into the wooded area, I gripped Jacob's hand even tighter and broke into a distinctly inhumanly fast run. Jacob kept up with me easily, of course, and a minute later we were several miles in.

"Is here okay?" I asked, breathless not from my run, but my nerves.

Jacob fell silent and I knew he was listening carefully for any signs of human life. Or vampire life, but I didn't want to think about that right now. After a few long moments he nodded and reached to pull his shirt over his head. He handed it to me and I slung it over my shoulder like always. Then Jacob kind of just stood there for a second and he looked . . . scared.

He opened his mouth and it looked for a moment as though he were going to say something, but then he turned on his heel and strode towards a thicket of bushes a few yards away. I couldn't let him go looking like that to face his dad's funeral, something I couldn't even attend with him, so I dashed after him and caught his hand.

Jacob turned around to look at me in surprise and I could see how he had begun to let his face fall once he had his back to me, could see the sadness and despair creeping into his features. I reached up quickly and wrapped both my hands around the back of his neck, pulling him down to me with every bit of my strength. I pressed my lips to his firmly, and while he seemed taken aback at first, his lips melted quickly into mine, kissing me back. After a few seconds though, I knew I had to pull away.