"Autumn... wake up, sleeping beauty."

I let out a grumble as my body pulled me out of slumber, causing the voice to chuckle lowly. Blinking, I had no idea where I was until my brain registered I was in the Cullens' living room. Jacob was kneeling on the floor beside me, a smile spreading as I reached out to touch his face.

"Hello beautiful." He kissed the palm of my hand before pressing his cheek against my skin.

"Hi." I said shyly. "I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"You and Chloe, both." He nodded to the other end of the couch. Chloe was curled up into a ball, a fuzzy pink blanket covering her body. "Esme brought the blankets, to make sure you were warm."

"That was sweet of her." I yawned, stretching. "What time is it?"

"A little before midnight. I already called your mom to let her know you two were crashing here for the night, and I'll make sure to bring you home in the morning."

"Thank you. Hey," I looked down at his clothes, "you're still dressed up."

"So are you." Jacob chuckled, eyeing my dress. I caught his gaze lingering where the top had been tugged down slightly in my sleep and a warm shiver washed over my skin.

"Where is everybody?" I changed the subject as I glanced around the living room.

"Edward and Bella are still out. Esme is in the kitchen, Carlisle had to go to the hospital. Rosalie and Emmett went hunting, and Alice and Jasper are... somewhere." Jacob chuckled under his breath. "I don't know what they're doing."

"You said Esme's in the kitchen?" I asked curiously, my eyes darting toward the doorway.

"Let's go get some food." Jacob helped me off the couch and led me to the kitchen where Esme was rummaging through old cookbooks.

"Are you kids hungry?" Esme asked with a smile as she noticed us walk in. "I can whip you up something if you want."

"Yes, please." I sat at the counter, returning her smile. "I'm a little hungry."

"Chicken salad sandwich okay?"

"That sounds amazing, to be honest. Thanks, Esme."

"You're welcome, Autumn. Jacob, do you want anything?"

"No, ma'am. I'm fine, but thank you."

Esme smiled at him before making herself busy with the chicken salad. I picked up one of the cookbooks and began flipping through the pages, pointing out the ones that caught my eye to Esme. Every recipe I found with her handwriting and asked about, Esme offered her own advice for making the dish.

"You can borrow these cookbooks any time you want," Esme told me as she stirred the chicken salad. "Or you can even make them here. Our kitchen is always open for you to use."

"Thank you. That's very kind of you."

"Autumn, why don't you go see if Chloe is awake yet?" Jacob asked, glancing at Esme.

"Um, sure." Raising an eyebrow, I headed back to the living room.

Chloe was still asleep on the couch, her body stretched out under the blanket. Her face had relaxed peacefully compared to how tense she looked sitting in my kitchen earlier. As I stood at the end of the couch taking in the sight of my old friend, a twinge of guilt and sadness rippled through my chest. It's my fault she's in this mess, I should've listened...

Shaking my head, I turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Esme and Jacob both turned toward me as I sat back down at the counter.

"She's still asleep." I told them, resting my head on my folded arms.

"How are you feeling?" Esme asked, reaching over to squeeze my shoulder comfortingly.

"I feel relieved that she's here, but guilty because she wouldn't be in this mess if I had just listened to her all those months ago. I'm scared that we're right and Reed is my anonymous stalker, which makes me angry because he's the one who left me before I moved here. And the fact that all of you, the wolves, Charlie, my mom, Chloe, are in a potentially dangerous situation because of me? That just pushes me over the edge."

"It's not your fault," Esme reassured me. "And you don't have to worry about us. We can handle the danger. We just want to make sure you are okay, and that now includes Chloe."

"We'll do everything we can to protect you," Jacob added. "I've been telling you that for days."

"I know." I sighed sadly. "I just want this to end."

"It will. We'll figure it out. But for right now, you're coming with me." Jacob held out his hand, patiently waiting for me to take it.

"Uh, okay?" I let him help me up from the chair. "What are you planning?"

"Can you not be suspicious for once and just go with the flow?" Jacob laughed before turning to Esme and giving her a wink. "Thanks for the help. We'll see you later."

"Have fun!" Esme waved as Jacob tugged me out of the kitchen towards the front door.

"Mademoiselle," Jacob gave a little bow as he held the car door open for me, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Why thank you," I giggled, shaking my head as I climbed into the passenger seat.

"Before we go, there are a few rules." Jacob glanced at me as he shut the driver's door. "One, no questions about where we're going or what we're doing. Two, you have to keep an open mind and completely trust me. And three, you have to put this blindfold on."

Jacob held up a pink sleeping eye mask with a small amused smile. I raised an eyebrow as I slowly took it from him, my eyes scanning over the pink rhinestones embedded on the silk.

"'Princess?'" I rolled my eyes, humor evident in my laughter.

"It was the only one I could find," Jacob shrugged, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Just put it on."

"Okay," I drew out the word as I secured the sleep mask over my eyes. "Ready."

"No peeking." Jacob warned.

"I won't peek!"

The car engine started with a roar, the vibrations of the motor pulsing through the floorboard under my heels. I heard a click and the soft sounds of a piano filled the space between us.

"Very romantic," I smiled as I recognized the theme from Titanic.

"Only for you." Jacob grasped my hand and brought it to his lips. The sudden contact caught me off guard and I sucked in a breath at the heat of his skin.

What seemed like forever later, the car slowed to a stop and Jacob turned off the ignition. Tilting my head to the side, I shifted my body toward him.

"Can I take this off yet?"

"Not yet. We're almost there. Stay there, I'll come around to help you."

A gust of cool wind blew over me as Jacob opened my door and carefully helped me out of the passenger seat. His hands moved to my shoulders as he guided me away from the car.

"You're going to have to walk slowly in the direction I tell you to, okay? Especially with those shoes on." Jacob murmured in my ear. "I don't want you to twist your ankle or anything."

"'Slow and steady wins the race,'" I joked, grinning at the sound of Jacob's chuckle.

"Has anyone told you that you have a simple sense of humor?"

"I just enjoy the little things in life. What's wrong with that?"

"Absolutely nothing. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Okay. We're going to walk forward, about ten steps or so. Take your time."

After a series of directions from Jacob, a few turns and a stumble or two, he finally had me stop walking.

"Don't take your blindfold off yet." He instructed, removing his hands from my shoulders. I felt the air shift as he moved in front of me, the warmth of him being near disappearing as he walked away.

I could hear his footsteps ahead of me, shuffling against the melting snow and frozen leaves. A few moments passed before Jacob came back and stood next to me.

"On the count of three, you can take the blindfold off, okay?"

I nodded in acknowledgment, my throat suddenly closing as anxiety settled into my bones.

"Okay. 1... 2... 3..."

Jacob pulled the blindfold off of me and my eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light. Blinking a few times, I realized where the light was coming from and gasped.

In a small clearing between trees sat a table set for two. White twinkling lights hung among the branches, casting a soft glow onto the bouquet of pink carnations sitting in the center of the table. Piano music softly played from a hidden source, weaving through the air as if a magic spell had been cast.

"You did all this?" I turned to Jacob, my jaw dropping in awe.

"I had a little help," he smiled back. "I messed up our first date, and I figured I'd make it up to you."

"This is beautiful," I gushed. "Is this what you had planned earlier?"

"Yeah." Jacob rubbed the back of his neck as he sheepishly grinned at my reaction.

"A picnic at midnight. Very romantic and definitely makes up for our first date." I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," he winked as he pulled out a chair, gesturing for me to sit down. "I have a few more surprises up my sleeve."

"I don't doubt that," I giggled, taking a seat before looking up at the sky. "Whoa. You can see the stars tonight."

"Maybe the clouds decided to take the night off."

"That's a rare thing in Forks."

Jacob grinned as he pulled food out of a picnic basket sitting next to him. He passed me a wrapped chicken salad sandwich before pouring sparkling white grape juice into a flute.

"Esme's idea," he explained as he handed me the flute. "She asked your mom what your favorite drink was besides hot chocolate."

"So. You had help from Esme and my mom. Let me guess..." I glanced around. "The decorations were Alice, and the piano music was Edward."

"How did you know?"

"Alice is a sucker for romance, that's why we're friends." I laughed. "And the piano music is actually Edward playing. He's played that song a few times while Bella and I were over. And I remember Esme recording some of the songs he was playing for a CD he gave Bella."

"You're good." Jacob laughed with me. "You should be a detective."

"I'm just really observant."

"Oh yeah? Let's test that theory out."

Jacob removed a dark blue velvet rectangular box from the picnic basket and placed it in front of me. His grin turned into a smug smile as he watched me stare at the box.

"It's not going to bite you, Autumn."

"I know."

"Okay, so open it and tell me. Who helped me with this?"

Carefully, I picked the box up and removed the lid. Nestled inside was a silver crescent moon necklace, etched with a swirl design. Dangling from the moon was a sapphire heart, attached to a string of stars that turned into the silver chain.

"You asked Rosalie for help," I said softly, tracing my finger along the moon, "but she didn't help with this. Emmett did."

"And this?" Jacob placed a smaller, matching box in front of me. I smiled set down the necklace to open the second box, revealing two rings. Sapphires and diamonds sparkled under the twinkling lights, encrusted with stars and crescent moons.

"Rosalie... and your dad."

"Why do you say, my dad?" Jacob's eyes sparkled with humor.

"Because the crescent moon and stars are my connection to Giuliana," I replied quietly. "Your dad knew that. Rosalie just helped match these to the necklace because she knew sapphire is one of my favorite colors."

"As I said, you should be a detective." Jacob reached over and squeezed my hand. "I wanted to give you something that represented you, as well as your heritage. The sapphires were Giuliana's personal gems she gave Carlisle to look after. The Cullens knew a jeweler, and they had the necklace made for me. The rings were re-gemmed with the remaining sapphires."

"They're beautiful," I whispered, tears swelling in my eyes. "Thank you, Jacob. This... this means everything to me."

"Here, let me help you." Jacob got up from his chair and walked around me, picking the necklace up from the table. He gently clasped it around my neck as I held my hair out of the way. Once he had it clasped, he moved back to his seat, a smile on his face.

"You can wear the rings on either hand. If you wanted." A blush crept into his cheeks as Jacob spoke.

"This is a promise ring, isn't it?"

"Yes, if that's okay with you. I don't want to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or that you're being rushed into something you're not ready for. They can just be rings, no intentions or declarations other than I love you."

The look on my face must've been shocked because he hurried on.

"You don't have to decide on that tonight, Autumn. Take all the time you need, okay? I've told you before, I may have imprinted on you, but you're the one who calls the shots. We do whatever you need, whatever you're comfortable with, at your speed."

"I know... I just, I wasn't expecting this." I shook my head. "I... I just need a couple of days to think. About the rings, I mean. I love you too, I know that without a doubt in my body."

"I know," Jacob said reassuringly. "Why don't we eat? I have one more surprise before we leave."

"You're just full of surprises." I teased, lightening the slight tension hanging between us. It worked because Jacob laughed and shook his head in feigned disapproval.

"Your humor is adorable."

"Thanks. I try."

After we finished eating and Jacob made sure everything was cleaned up, he led me down a trail to an open field. The sky appeared bigger as I stared at the stars, taking in the twinkling beauty. Jacob leaned against the hood of his car as I spun around.

"You keep looking at everything, you're going to miss it." He called out, chuckling.

"Miss what?"

"That."

Jacob pointed to the northern sky just as flashes of green and blue appeared, like waves crashing along the shore.

"Is that...?"

"The Northern Lights, yeah."

"Whoa." I gasped.

"Remember how you said it was rare for a clear sky in Forks?"

"Yeah?"

"It's also rare to see the Northern Lights here because of the clouds and mountains."

"Double whoa."

Jacob wrapped his arm around my shoulder and looked up to the sky, taking in the colors. A wave of awe and appreciation washed over me as a couple of shooting stars shot across the sky. Resting my head against his shoulder, I smiled to myself as Jacob kissed the top of my head.

Turning my head to look at him, I met Jacob's heated gaze. He didn't say anything as we stared at each other, the silence bringing with it an electric current. His gaze shifted to my lips and back, his eyes holding an unspoken question. Without a word, I tugged him towards me by grabbing his shirt, smiling as I kissed him first; my fingers weaved through his hair as he kissed me back, neither of us watching the sky above us explode into a shower of shooting stars.