"I can't believe you almost made us late," I huffed at my brother as we pulled into the school parking lot.

"Calm down," Jacob chuckled. "We made it on time."

"Barely," I said, putting my notebook into my backpack and zipping it up. I had a big test today; all my teachers had realized that winter break was starting in a few days and decided to throw a bunch of tests at us last minute.

"Oh look," Jacob muttered as we got out of the car. "Paul's back… and what a surprise, he's joined Sam's cult."

I glanced over to where he was looking and sure enough, Paul Lahote was getting out of his truck with Jared Cameron. They both hadn't been in school for at least a 3 weeks. This was the second time that Jared had disappeared.

"So what?" I asked him, shouldering my backpack. "What'd they ever do to you?"

That pissed him off. There was nothing Jacob hated more than Sam and his 'cult.' I rolled my eyes at him before glancing back over at Paul. I had always had a slight crush on him and damn it was like he had gone through puberty again in the past 3 weeks. His biceps had grown twice in size since I had last seen him.

It was at this moment that Paul looked over at me. Normally, if someone caught me staring at them I would look away immediately, but this time I couldn't. It was the most intense eye contact I'd ever had with someone.

Paul's face looked like he had seen a ghost. His jaw had literally dropped and my face must've looked like a tomato from how hard I was blushing.

"Oh for god's sake," Jacob grunted, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the school. "I don't want you near them, Sadie."

I stumbled a bit as he jerked my arm again as I had turned around again for a second. I don't know why I did, something was pulling me towards Paul. It kinda freaked me out a bit.

Jake stopped right outside the school and turned towards me.

"I mean it Sadie," he said, placing his hands on my shoulders. "They're bad news."

My breath was still caught in my throat from whatever had just happened back there so I couldn't exactly answer him. I just nodded instead and Jacob, satisfied with my answer, walked into school.

Before I followed him inside though, an arm reached out and grabbed the door for me, pulling it open. I looked up.

Damn he was tall.

"Hey Sadie," he greeted breathlessly.

"Hi Paul," I replied softly, smiling. "Where've you been?"

"Oh… umm," he stuttered. "I was sick."

"Really?" I questioned, eyeing his large biceps. "You don't look like you were sick."

"Are you flirting with me, Black?"

"I… uhh, what?" I was the one stuttering now. "I'll… uhh, see you around, Paul."

I tried to bolt at that point, but he grabbed my arm, making me turn around and stumble into him.

"Do you want to go out with me tomorrow night?" he asked me after I had put both my hands on his chest to brace myself.

"Uhh."

Damn it, Sadie. Get it together.

"Sure," I answered.

"Great!" he exclaimed with a huge grin on his face before kissing me on the cheek and jogging to his locker.

What the hell just happened?

I shook it off and walked quickly to my first class. Jacob was not going to be happy with me. But I couldn't find it in me to care.

After school the next day, my friend Kim came over to help me get ready for my date with Paul. Kim and I had been best friends since kindergarten. Because she was an only child and she lived right down the street, we were always at each other's houses.

"So what time is he picking you up?" she asked me as she rummaged through my closet.

"6 o'clock. And don't bother, Kim," I sighed. "There's nothing in there to wear. I checked last night."

"How about that black shirt that that Rachel left?"

"Eh. Maybe."

She left the room to go across the hall to my sister's room, coming back with the black long-sleeved shirt that tied at the bust and flowed out. She had left it when she went to college.

"Wear this with a pair of skinny jeans and your boots," she said, feeling accomplished. "I still can't believe you're going on a date with Paul Lahote."

"Me neither," I sighed. "Jake is gonna kill me."

"How is Paul picking you up without him seeing?" she questioned me.

"I'm just making a run for it. He can't stop me."

"I'll tackle him," Kim laughed.

"Yeah I'm sure that you can take down my brother, Kim," I answered sarcastically. "It's not like he's a giant or anything."

"Honestly though! How is it that your twin brother is so tall and you're literally so sma-"

"I'm average height for a girl!"

"Whatever," she giggled.

"5'4 is average!" I groaned. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Fine, fine," she said. "You've got two hours until he's picking you up, so let's get started."

An hour and a half later, Kim finished putting my hair into two french braids as I touched up the makeup I had put on. I had already changed into what we had picked out earlier.

"Hey, Sadie?" I heard my brother coming down the hall before he opened the door. "What do you want to do for dinner toni…? Why're you all dressed up?"

"Umm…" I stuttered, not being able to think of an excuse on the spot.

"We're going out!" Kim replied for me.

"Really?" I could understand why Jacob was confused. Whenever Kim and I hung out we always just stayed in and watched movies.

"Yeah, we're going to… uh," she trailed off.

"We're going to dinner," I finished for her.

"Yes. Dinner."

"Okay, then," Jake muttered before leaving the room.

"That was a close one," Kim giggled before wandering over to the window.

"Yeah well now he's onto me," I sighed. "There's no way he believes what we just told him."

"Well you better get downstairs."

"Why?"

"Because I think Paul's here early."

"What!?" I rushed over to the window. Sure enough, Paul was stepping out of his truck as my brother burst through the door of my bedroom once again.

"What the hell is Paul Lahote doing here?" he growled. Kim and I stayed quiet before we made eye contact. Kim nodded before running and jumping onto Jake, attempting to tackle him to the ground.

"Run, Sadie!" she yelled as her battle cry. I bolted around Jake before he could grab me. Kim wasn't exactly doing well holding him back. I rushed out the door just as Paul was stepping up onto the front porch.

I grabbed his hand as I ran pass and pulled him along to his truck.

"We gotta go," I laughed. "Now!"

"What?" he questioned me as I jumped into his truck, him following suit.

"Jake's not exactly happy about you taking me out," I muttered.

"Yeah, I figured that," he sighed in response. "But… you're happy right? I don't want to force you into anything that you don't want to do and I don't want you to fight with your brother."

"Jacob is not in charge of me. He may think that he is, but he's not," I said firmly. "And I want to be here with you."

"Okay, good," he responded, smiling widely.

"So where are we going?"

"I thought we could get dinner at the diner and then we could head down to the beach," he said nervously. "Does that sound alright?"

"Sounds perfect."

After getting dinner at practically the only restaurant in La Push, a small diner that has the best burgers and milkshakes I've ever had, Paul and I made our way down to First Beach.

We walked side by side, our fingertips brushing, neither one of us sure if the other wanted to hold hands or not.

After a few minutes of this slight awkwardness, I took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, interlacing my fingers with his. I blushed slightly, purposely not looking at him, but he squeezed my hand and as I turned towards him he grinned at me.

"So why does your brother hate me so much?" Paul inquired.

"Well, it's not just you that he hates," I laughed. "He doesn't like you, Sam, or Jared actually. He thinks you're apart of some drug cult."

"Drugs?"

"Yeah well you and Jared both disappeared from school for a few weeks and then you came back all big and uhh…"

"Big?" he laughed.

"Well yeah," I answered awkwardly. "You're like super tall now and umm… you're like buff now."

He barked out another laugh and pulled me closer to him, wrapping one of his abnormally warm arms around my shoulders.

"And you're also really warm," I shivered, cuddling into his side. In my rush to leave the house earlier, I had forgotten to grab a coat.

"If I had brought a coat, I would give it to you," he sighed. He stopped walking and sat down, pulling me with him so I sat between his legs. He wrapped both his arms around me and I instantly felt warmer.

"It's definitely not healthy how warm you are," I sighed in content. "But I'm not complaining."

"So… do you think my friends and I do drugs?"

"No I don't, but that won't stop my brother from hating you. But he would hate anyone that I went on a date with."

"Yeah, he seems like the protective type."

"Well ever since my sisters moved out and my dad was put in the wheelchair, Jake thinks he needs to take care of me," I whispered. I didn't mention my mother dying; everyone on the reservation already knew what happened seven years ago.

He didn't say anything more, which I appreciated. He tightened his arms around me and kissed my temple. I had never been so happy.

The rest of the night went by smoothly and by the time that Paul and I got back it was late. I had never had so much fun. He had made me laugh and we had gone for a walk on the beach after dinner at the local diner.

He pulled up in front of my house and we both could see the lights were still on.

"I had a really great time tonight," I said softly.

"Me too. Do you, umm, maybe wanna go out again sometime?"

"I'd love to!" I replied, trying not to sound too eager, but failing miserably.

"Great! I know it's kinda last minute, but there's a bonfire tomorrow night down on the beach," he said. "Would you maybe wanna go… with me?"

"Sure," I couldn't help but smile at how cute he was. "I better get inside."

I opened the door to the truck and stepped out, walking around it. But before I could get too far, I heard the door to the driver's side open. I turned around, confused, but before I could say anything, Paul's mouth was on mine.

He had one hand on my waist while the other rested on my cheek. I kissed him back fiercely, wrapping my arms around his neck and getting up on my tiptoes. His tongue pushed his way into my mouth and I tugged at the hair at the nape of his neck.

He groaned a bit before pulling away.

"You should probably get inside," he whispered. "I don't need your brother hating me more than he already does."

"Okay," I answered him, but I didn't move. I couldn't move. I didn't want to move.

"Sadie? You have to go inside now," he chuckled, but I tightened my arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him again instead. It was shorter than the first one, but still just as amazing.

"Goodnight," I told him as I broke away from him and started walking to my front porch. When I got to the door, I turned around and saw that Paul was waiting until I got into the house. I waved as I opened the door, stepping inside, and he grinned and waved as he drove away.

I stepped into the house, grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't stop smiling. I had never felt this way before.

"So you had a good time, then?" I heard my father ask as I stepped into the living room. He had a look on his face, almost like he knew something that I didn't.

"Yeah," I blushed. "I'm umm… I'm going out again tomorrow night. If that's okay?"

"That's fine with me," he smiled. "I don't know how your brother's going to feel about that though. He's been moping around in the garage since you left."

"Well he can deal with it," I muttered.

"That's what I told him," he chuckled.

"I'm gonna go to bed, Dad," I told him before kissing him on the forehead. "Goodnight."

"Night, Sadie."