A/N: This is the third story that I'm transferring from my Mibba account. I originally wrote this about 5 years ago and in first person (big mistake). So now I'm rewriting it in third person and adding in some more details. Let me know what you think.
Billy waited on his front porch with mild anticipation; one of his daughters was finally coming back home. He watched a few birds fly around a tree together before his attention was brought back to the road. A beat up, old taxi rambled down the gravel road and came to a creaky stop in front of his small, red house. Billy had to stop himself from holding his breath as he watched her climb out of the yellow cab. She was the splitting image of his late wife.
"Melanie Shea!" The young brunette turned and saw her dad calling her over. A smile covered his thin lips. She ran over to him and hugged him. He reached up from his wheelchair and hugged her back. It was so good to see him again; Melanie felt like it had been forever since the last time she'd seen him.
"Jake, get out here. Mel is here!" Billy yelled into his small house. A tall, tan boy ran out the door and stood, towering over Melanie. A look of surprise covered his face when his brown eyes met Melanie's.
"Hey little bro," she said softly. Jacob grinned and picked her up in his arms and spun her around. Melanie laughed when he put her back down. Getting over a small case of vertigo, she took in the sight of her younger brother.
Melanie was only a year older than Jacob, but the last time she was with him was when he was eight. She left with her mom's sister shortly after her mom died. Since then she's been in Chicago, but she recently decided to move back to La Push and live with her dad and brother after she graduated from high school.
"Hey Mel, I missed you so much," Jacob voiced, not used to having to look down at his sister.
"You don't even look like the cute little boy that I used to know. Look at you! You're huge…and buff!" She laughed happily. It was so nice to see her family again. Jacob had finally cut his hair; she used to tease him about his pony tails when they were younger. He'd grown into a young man while she was gone; it made her a little sad that she missed it all.
Jacob helped her carry in her bags and showed her to her old room that didn't look like it had been touched much at all. All the old pictures of badly drawn dogs and cats still hung on the walls, and an old, battered butterfly comforter was still covering her bed.
"Dad was pretty sad when you left so we never came in here really. Rebecca left soon after you did, and now she's married and lives in Hawaii along with Rachel." Melanie hadn't seen her older sisters in a long time either. She got the invite to the wedding, but she had exams that she couldn't miss.
"Don't just stand there! Help me unpack." She smiled. Jacob shook his head playfully and the two started unpacking all Melanie's things. She set up an art easel and all her supplies. Melanie planned on going to college somewhere close by and majoring in art or some kind of design.
"Wow," Jake mumbled. Melanie looked over to see what he was looking at and saw one of her drawings of Chicago. It was a simple charcoal pencil sketch of the city.
"That's the view from my old room in Aunt Misty's apartment overlooking the city," she explained. Jacob looked at it for a few more moments before unpacking the rest of her art. They both took down all the old pictures and hung up the new ones that had been framed with black coated wood. Melanie unpacked her clothes while Jacob redid the bed for her. He took off the butterfly comforter and put on a white downy comforter.
"The guys have been wanting to see you," Jacob said once they were done with the room.
"The guys?"
"Embry and Quil and a few others you have yet to meet," he answered. Melanie's heart clenched at the thought of Embry. They were extremely close as kids, and he was always her partner in crime. She regretted leaving as abruptly as she did.
"Well, let's go see them then!" Melanie led Jacob back into the living room where Billy was waiting. He had some ball game on but gave them his full attention when they walked in.
"Hey, Dad, Jacob wanted to take me to see a few of the guys, okay?"
"Go on! Everyone has missed you. Don't stay out too late; I want us to have dinner together," Billy said, sternly. Melanie nodded and kissed his forehead goodbye.
The two walked outside together, but Melanie didn't know where to go from there. Jacob saw her uncertainty and laughed.
"Come on!" Jacob started running. Melanie wanted to call out for him to slow down, but she didn't want to seem like she couldn't keep up with him. But man, that boy had gotten faster. They came to a stop in front of another small, cozy looking house. Melanie couldn't quite pinpoint whose it was though.
"They're all inside," Jake said as he let Melanie go inside first. They walked into the living room, and Melanie looked around at all the old and new faces. She saw Embry and almost lost it.
"Embry!" She screamed and pounced on him. The taller male easily caught her and was able to hide most of his shock from the sudden embrace.
"Melanie? Mel!" he shouted just as loud and hugged her back.
"Well, glad to know that you're more excited to see an old friend than to see your brother..." Jacob joked as he walked into the room.
"Oh hush, I was happy to see you too," Melanie chided and finally let Embry go. She took a seat right next to him on the couch and finally took in the other guys in the room. They all looked like Jacob, tall, buff and tan.
"Hey, everyone," she offered to the room. Quil cracked up laughing at the awkwardness. Melanie just rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips.
"Good to see you too, Quil," she remarked.
"Mel, these are my friends, Sam, Embry, Quil, Leah, Seth, Jared, and Paul." Melanie smiled at all of them. She looked at each of them, but when her eyes met Paul's, he looked pissed. His knuckles had turned white from gripping the sofa so hard. Melanie didn't know what she'd said to make him so angry, and she wanted to ask him what crawled up his ass.
"Paul," Sam said in a warning tone. Melanie broke their staring contest and looked over at Sam. He seemed to be a leader of sorts for Jacob's group of friends. Paul stood up and stormed out of the house.
"What's his problem?" Melanie asked Embry. He shook his head.
"That's just Paul. He's normally like that." Jared ran outside after Paul, and Melanie watched Sam pull Jacob aside and whisper something in his ear. Jacob's face went from relaxed to murderous in a few seconds. He was out the door right after Jared.
"Embry, what's going on?" Melanie asked, feeling pretty confused at that point. She didn't know if Paul was just bipolar or if something bad was actually happening.
"Nothing, he's just a kid trapped in an adult's body."
"Adult? How old is he?" she asked. He looked like he was fresh out of high school like she was. He couldn't be that old and still be Jake's friend...
"He just turned 22; the oldest besides Sam who is 23."
"I never would have guessed," Melanie mumbled and got off the couch. She walked towards the door to go find Jake, but Embry grabbed her arm and stopped her from going outside with the guys. That only made Melanie more confused.
"Let the guys sort everything out. We still need to catch up," he grinned, "How was Chicago?" he asked. Melanie completely forgot about the guys yelling outside. She told Embry all about her artistic skills and how she was applying to go to University of Washington once summer was over.
"So you want to go to U Dub for college, huh? I don't think I'm going to go. I'll probably just end up opening a car garage with the guys."
"No! Come to college with me! I don't want to be alone." Embry laughed at Melanie and ruffled her long brown hair.
She and Embry talked for a long time before a younger boy named Seth, and Quil joined in. Sam was still outside with Paul, Jared, and Jacob, which Melanie still didn't know what for. Seth's sister, Leah, ignored them and continued to watch TV. Melanie learned that Seth was the youngest of the big group of friends, at the age of 16. Then Jared, Jacob, and Quil were 17, Embry was 18, Leah was 20, Paul was 22, and Sam was 23.
"So why did you decide to move back to Forks?" Seth asked. There were a lot of reasons why Melanie wanted to move back. She just graduated high school and was missing her family, she broke up with her long time boyfriend, Chicago was a dangerous place to live, and she really just wanted a fresh start.
"I missed my family." She only gave one reason. Soon, Jake came back in the house with a scowl on his face.
"Come on, Mel. We need to get home before it gets too late," he said not looking at his sister but out the window instead. Melanie could tell whatever was going was really bothering him so she said her goodbyes to everyone so she could leave with him. When she walked back outside, she saw the other guys a few yards away.
"Bye guys! It was nice meeting you!" She called to them and waved. Sam and Jared waved back, but Paul still looked like someone killed his puppy. Melanie stopped walking and stared at him. She noticed how his body was slightly trembling; she couldn't take her eyes off him. It almost felt like she had some kind of pull in her chest that was drawing her to him.
"Melanie." Jacob took her by the arm and led her back to their house. Melanie kept glancing back over her shoulder to catch a glance of Paul. His face softened as she left, and she watched him bite his lip and look at the ground.
"So what's his story?" Melanie asked as they walked down the road. Jacob still had her arm locked with his.
"Nothing. I don't want you to go near him for a while. He's being moody right now, and he might take it out on you." He warned her.
"Okay, Jake." But Melanie had a feeling that she'd be seeing Paul soon enough.
A/N: Sorry if there are any grammatical errors. I proofread this pretty late... Leave reviews and let me know what you think!
