I had never been a restless sleeper. Drifting off into another world of dreams, silence, and sleep had always come naturally to me.

Tonight was different, though.

I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. I started out sprawled across Jacob's warm chest, but soon progressed to many different positions – from curled tightly into his side, to gently draped against his legs. No matter how I laid upon the bed, though, it was impossible to get comfortable enough, and lethargic enough, for sleep to overcome my senses and pull me off into unconsciousness. The sheets on our bed were long gone; it was too hot in the room, anyways. Nobody needed blankets when they slept with Jacob; he was like a personal heater. Usually, his heat was the main factor in my lassitude.

Not tonight.

It was as if his heat was too much to bear – too hot, and too overwhelming.

I rolled off of the top of his warm body. Pulling the long-disposed-of blankets off of the floor, I wrapped one around my body and made my way out of our bedroom. His snores lightly echoed off of the walls in the otherwise silent house. It was weird – living alone with Jacob. After our honeymoon, I had expected to move back in with the rest of our family, but Esme had surprised us with our own cottage, just as they had all provided one for my parents. Though I expected that the fact that Jacob and I actually slept had little to do with their reasoning in giving us privacy away from my mind-reading father and the rest of our family.

As I padded down the hallway and into our kitchen, I was instantly hit with a stream of cool air. However, instead of bringing the relief I thought it would, it just introduced more uncomfortable sensations into my body.

What was wrong with me?

I was finally married to the love of my life, living in a home that was as perfect as it was comfortable, and just a heartbeat away from the rest of the family that I loved so much. Shouldn't I be filled with euphoria and content, drifting away in the other room?

Yes, yes I should be. But I wasn't.

I pulled down a glass from the cupboard, and filled it with cold water. The refrigerator made a humming noise in the background, and I smiled to myself as I thought of Esme having to incorporate mundane human needs into the construction of a new home for Jacob and I. I shuffled to our couch, and let myself fall into the depths of its warm, suede cushions. My eyes traced the outlines of the river below the huge window in our living room as I sit on the couch, letting my mind run amok.

I wondered if my mom had ever felt as if she was making a mistake by marrying my dad. I wondered if Jasper was ever remorseful of giving up his old way of life. I knew that Rosalie regretted being a vampire, but I wondered if anyone else in our family had ever actually had second thoughts about immortality. Forever seemed like a long time, and I wondered how I was going to fill it.

I hadn't noticed, but the snoring in the master bedroom had finally ceased. I did notice, though, when his footsteps began to come closer to where I was sitting, and I defiantly noticed when he sat down next to me on the couch.

"What's wrong, love? The bed felt wrong without you in it," my Jacob murmured, as he gently took the glass of water out of my hands. He placed it on the coffee table, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his chest.

"I couldn't sleep," I mumbled into his neck. I could feel his lips press into my hair.

"I'm sorry, love," he tilted my head up so that he could trail light kisses along my jaw to my ear, "is there anything I can do?" he whispered.

"Mm," I mumbled incoherently as my heart began to flutter. My skin was on fire where he had kissed it, and the weariness I had felt earlier began to ebb away. As he placed his lips on mine, gently moving them in synchronization with my own, I felt every hint of fear or uncertainty disappear. It was that moment when I realized that it didn't matter if I lived long enough to see the world explode, or if I lived the life of three vampires – as long as I had my Jacob by my side, life would be perfect.

"So," he spoke softly into my ear, "what was it that I could do to make you feel better?"

I smiled as I ran my fingertips along the lines of his face.

"You just did it," I whispered.

As he ducked his head back down to kiss me, I felt as if my heart was going to overflow with happiness. The heat that his kiss left upon my lips was absolutely mesmerizing, and in that instant, I knew that it would never be his heat that overwhelmed me – but it would always be the perfect antidote.

"I love you, Renesmee," he stated in between kisses.

"I love you too, Jacob. Let's go back to bed," I replied.

"Okay," he agreed as he picked me up in his arms and carried us both back to the bedroom we shared. He laid me down, gently pressing kisses to my face as I curled into his chest. And there, with my warm Jacob surrounding me, I was finally able to slip away into the world of unconsciousness, perfectly content with my life.