Chapter 4

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Six hours later, she was pretty sure she didn't need to fret about her light hair anymore considering nearly all of it was coated in grease. She'd done everything to avoid it, including pinning it up in a messy bun, then creating a loose braid with it, and finally tying it back with a piece of ripped t-shirt Paul happily provided (when she asked what he meant by 'I'm pretty used to ripped shirts' he didn't seem keen on answering, which only made Raven's stomach want to hurl its imaginary lunch on his shoes).

Luke had come and gone throughout the day. He manned the phones and filed any orders for an oil change or new rims and tires. Simple things. He also ordered new parts for people and did his best to find used ones. In the afternoon, however, he would get his hands dirty with Jake.

Both Paul and Raven were coated in sweat by the time she finally called it quits. "I think that's it for now. We need a break."

"You think?" Paul heaved. "I'm fucking starving."

"Know anywhere to get food? I told my dad to bring over something, but his idea of something...is not enough for you," Raven admitted with a tired laugh. Paul undid his belt while staring at Raven intensely. "We could even go to forks if we need. I am the boss after all," she winked.

That was the wrong thing to say. Paul straightened, exposing his towering height to Raven. He had to be 6 foot. She could see maybe 5'11", but it didn't matter. She was a puny 5'5". Normally, she appreciated being more or less taller than girls while also short enough to date the shorter guys.

"Forks isn't safe," he tossed the tool belt on the metal table with a clang so loud it made her jump. "I'll order some pizza."

"What? How is Forks not safe? All I've been hearing is that the woods aren't safe. Kyle wouldn't shut up about it last night." Raven placed her hands on her hips, waiting to be told of another place she shouldn't go without a valid reason. Paul eyed her carefully as he dialed up the nearest pizza place. The call didn't take long, and when he was done, he sighed deeply. She couldn't help but watch his arms flex and feel the need to stand closer to him.

"Please, Raven. Can you just do me this favor and not go to Forks?"

She gasped at him. "You're not my dad! Even my dad can't tell me what to do anymore. No. I'll go wherever I want to, thanks."

Paul looked pained, like he response physically wounded him. "I know. I'm just asking as a friend."

"A friend? We're friends now, is that it?" Raven huffed indignantly. She walked back to the office and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Please. It'd mean a lot," Paul whispered in a soft voice that made her falter. She'd never heard him be so sincere. When she turned around, his brown orbs was staring at her with longing, longing to hear that she'd comply. "At least take one of us with you."

"One of who? Your giants?" She sighed. "Sure. I'll do that. Does my brother at least count?"

Paul's hands clenched. "Yes. But...be careful around him. He's pretty aggressive now."

Raven let out a frustrated scream. She ran her hands down her face and then fell to her butt. "Yes. He's pretty aggressive now. He didn't used to be! And nobody can tell me why he's this...foreign person in our house who throws tantrums over nothing!"

Paul followed her lead, walking beside the girl and then sitting with his back to the tool cabinet as well. He watched her calmly. "You're not from around here, Raven, so I'll let you in on a little secret."

Her breath suddenly stopped. She turned to him excitedly, fingers digging into his skin like her body was hanging over the Seattle Needle's railing right now. She didn't even comment about his burning skin. It honestly felt good. "Yes?"

He seemed more relaxed now. "On the Reservation, all the kids think we're part of some cult, with Sam being the leader. We can't blame them for thinking that, but it's just...more like a family. And when you come into this family the hard way, like Kyle, you sort of lose control of your anger. As a general rule, just be cautious when angering any of the pack."

Raven felt some of her questions that were screaming in her head fall not silent, but simply quiet. She stared into her lap. This wasn't some small secret, it seemed. If these people born and raised on the Rez didn't get to hear about it, why would she?

"It just sucks. I hate not knowing stuff," she huffed. Paul scooter closer and bumped her with his arm.

"Is that why you became an engineer?"

She looked at him with a faint smile. "That and it's always been something my dad and I like to do. To pay for my college, we spent three years fixing up a 1965 Dodge Corner 426-S and sold it. Ever since then, I've loved cars."

Paul smiled, bigger than she'd ever seen him smile before. "You know your shit."

She felt heat rush to her cheeks. She'd been complimented before, but it meant something coming from Paul, who knew his shit as well. "So do you, especially for never having went to school for it."

He shrugged. "Been working on cars since I can remember."

"With your Dad?"

Paul's head lazily slid towards hers with a loud snort. "Hell no. My mom. She could build anything, but cars were my favorite."

Raven felt like she'd stuck her foot in her mouth. She cursed under her breath. "You really were trying to help earlier then, weren't you?"

Paul nodded. "I'll always try to help you, Raven. There's something you can do on your own, but you don't have to."

With that, he got up and started walking to the door. She felt his words settle on her shoulder as a knock sounded. He opened the door, payed the man, and then grabbed the pizzas.

He came back and sat right next to her, like right next to her. Her entire body melted into his side, but she blamed it on he eagerness to eat, or at least, that's what she hoped Paul thought.

"Pizza?"

. . .

Ryker had done a good job at destroying Emily's house. It was small to begin with, but between Claire and him, they managed to knock over more things and papers than she could count.

When Emily opened the door, she placed a finger over her mouth. "They're sleeping," she mouthed and waved Raven inside. They passed the two children with their heads in the lap of an also sleeping Sam, which was such an odd sight Raven had trouble not laughing.

When they reached the kitchen, Emily closed the shutters and let out a hushed giggle. "Isn't that the cutest thing ever?"

Raven snorted. "Definitely unexpected."

"Oh the boys are never going to let that down. Did Paul come with you? Someone's got to see this!" Emily spoke as she retied the apron around her waist. Raven began to lean against the counter before remembering that she was probably covered in grease.

"Uh, no. Jake said he'd give my dad a ride home, so I took the car. Ryker was a lot to handle, wasn't he?"

She smiled warmly and shook her head. "I love kids. It's no problem. Besides, Claire normally gets sad when Quil leaves. Ryker gave her a good distraction."

"Good. He'll be fine at the shop, though," Raven said.

Emily had taken out numerous amounts of bread-coated chicken breasts from the oven and was making quick work at piling them on top of plates of spaghetti. She looked over her shoulder. "He'll be asleep for a while. Feel free to hang out in the meantime. I've missed female contact, believe it or not."

Raven smirked. "Really? I don't know if I would. Surrounded by all these hot guys coming in and out of your house every day, shirtless..."

Emily sent her an embarrassed look. "They're like my little brothers, my kids even." Raven shrugged. "Doesn't it feel like once you've seen the hottest one, the rest are all...invisible?"

Instantly, Paul's dark, shirtless form popped into her mind from the night she'd spotted him staring at her. It was from such a distance, but even then she'd never forget what she saw. And all the times she'd watched him smirk at her, like he knew something he shouldn't. It created a whirlwind of excitement rushing through her.

"Yeah..." she whispered. Emily raised an eyebrow at her, and Raven realized her mistake. "Uh, I mean, no. I just can see what you mean. Must be nice."

Emily nodded with just a trace of a smile. "It is. It really is."

Suddenly, a tsunami of raucous laughter chorused from the living room. Emily and Raven both cursed simultaneously and ran into a room of shirtless men. From the heat alone, Raven's face turned red. Every single giant she'd met was bent over clutching their stomachs as they pointed at Sam. As he woke up, he started yelling back at them to shut up, which only further woke Ryker and Claire.

Raven laughed a little, having already seen the hard man turn soft earlier, and looked around. She saw all foreign faces aside from Quil and Embry.

"He's not here." The voice came from right beside her. She jumped and met the face of a younger looking giant. "Seth Clearwater. Hi, nice to meet you Raven, but Paul's not here."

She gritted her teeth, "I'm not looking for him. I'm wondering where my brother is. I thought he was getting a ride home from you."

Seth puffed out his chest. "We ran. He couldn't keep up with me." Raven gave him a sour look, and Seth laughed a little more nervously than usual. He brushed by her and grabbed a plate. "Nah, he's out with Paul."

Raven took a moment to digest that and decided she didn't like it. She didn't know why, but she didn't like it. Quil scooped up the bleary-eyed Claire, and she grew the biggest smile of her life. Raven decided there were simply too many giants in one room for Ryker (or her) to be out of danger of being squished. She walked towards the couch and bumped into Quil. About to apologize, she was cut off by Claire.

"Hey! No touchy Quwil!" She shouted, placing two hands against Raven's chest and shoving back. Raven stepped away incredulously.

"Did I just get shoved by a two-year-old?" Raven muttered under her breath, and the entire room burst into laughter.

"Claire, be nice," Quil insisted, but there was a smug smile on his face when she turned around.

Ryker was slipping back to sleep by the time she bent down and got him in her arms. He was still tired, so he rested his head on her shoulder. "Quare is quazy," he sighed, one hand pushing back his sweaty hair.

Raven held back a laugh as she patted his back sympathetically. "Good. We found somebody to put you in your place."

Claire beamed proudly on top of Quil's shoulders. His hair was standing in all different directions. "Are you headed home already?" Quil asked.

"Yeah..." she wanted to explain why, but she really didn't have a reason.

"No!" Emily came into the living room and pulled her into a hug that she was utterly unprepared for. "At least finish meeting the rest of the boys. Come on," she ushered her into the kitchen. "When they're eating is when they're the most still," she whispered.

"We can hear you, you know," giggled Seth. "Besides, she's met everyone except Collin, Brady, and Jared."

"But Jared is picking up Kim," said either Collin or Brady with a face full of spaghetti. "That's his girl."

Sam put his plate in the dishwasher (how he finish so quickly she didn't know) and wrapped an arm around Emily's waist, freeing Raven as he pulled her into his side with a wet kiss on the cheek. "I'm Brady," said the other. "That's Collin."

"Jared has a girlfriend?" Raven asked. "But-,"

"Nah, that was Seth who saw you shirtless. Stole his innocence right out from under him, you did," said Embry. Raven paled, turning quickly to Seth with an open mouth and guilty conscience. He couldn't have been older than fifteen!

Seth stood with hands up in surrender. "I didn't see anything!" All the boys ruined his case as they room filled with snickers. He pouted earnestly. "Seriously! Guys, tell her she shouldn't be upset!"

That's when a girl walked into the house like the world was on fire and she'd just lit the match. "Paul'll kill him if he heard you upset her," she growled at the whole lot with their mouths stuck decided whether to eat or laugh first. "He's seen shit before. He is fifteen."

While she was somewhat relieved, she was also extremely weighed down by the half-awake child on her hip. "Great. Now that everyone knows that you shouldn't go wandering around people's yards...I'm gonna go."

Emily stood with sadness. "Okay, but let one of the boys take him out to the car. He's getting so big!"

"I've really got him, thanks," Raven said, shifting his weight upward once again.

"Seriously, it's cold and rainy. We don't want you falling," she said, pulling up the nearest boy - Seth - and shoving him toward Raven.

"Thanks," she growled and spun with her back to Seth. "But I've got him." She left no room for argument and noticed the silence among the table.

"Wow, she could give Leah a run for her money in the bitch department when she wants," muttered Collin.

"Watch it, Collin," Sam barked.

"Collin's gonna get it from Paul," whispered Brady with excitement.

Raven decided she didn't want to figure out what all that was about. "Thanks for watching him, Emily."

She walked her timidly to the door. "A-anytime, Raven. Seriously, don't be a stranger."

That sparked a question in her mind. "Hey, yeah, you said you're the only girl here really, but..."

Emily paled if her skin could even do that. She glanced behind her like she was expecting the whole kitchen to explode. "Um, yeah, that was Leah Clearwater," she mouthed her name. "We don't - well, it's a long story. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Raven wanted to ask what that story was, but then the door shut and she figured Emily really didn't want to talk about it. Odd, considering she always wanted to talk.

. . .

The house was empty when she got back, so she called up her dad. "Hey kiddo, everything okay?"

"Yeah, but Kyle isn't home, and he wasn't at Emily's. Do you know where he'd be?"

There was silence on the line for a while. Ryker, now slightly more awake, waddled off into the living room. He had a play pen piled full of toys, so she helped him inside.

"Dad?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I'm here. Listen, he's doing stuff for Sam. He'll be in and out of the house a lot. Don't worry about it."

"Don't – don't worry about it? Dad! I've been lectured by Paul all day about how unsafe this town is! I'm not supposed to worry about where Kyle is? Are you joking?"

There was a shuffle and then somebody else came on. "Hey, it's Jake."

"Hello, Jake. What did you do with my father?" she said in falsely sweet voice.

"Kyle's out with Paul. We all do stuff to help out La Push, okay? It varies, but right now, we're building a new house for a family who was foreclosed on."

Raven felt like that answer was oddly dissatisfactory. "Why didn't you all tell me this earlier?"

"Because it's sort of a secret, what we do. Not entirely legal all the time. This family lost their home because the dad was too busy drinking to work and take care of the house. It's not something they want the whole Rez knowing about, okay?"

Raven pursed her lips. It sounded realistic, she supposed, but it didn't make sense. She knew nobody here. There was no reason not to tell her sooner. And Paul hadn't even mentioned that he had to go and do even more heavy lifting after work.

"Well, does he at least get paid?" Jake didn't answer, and that was good enough for her. "Crap deal you guys have. What the hell even is bullshit?"

Jacob heaved a sigh. "Why do you think we're angry all the time? Does that satisfy your incessant need for information?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whate – he hung up," she whispered with shock. "He hung up on me, Ryker."

Ryker giggled mischievously. "Maybe becwause you stink!"

Raven set down the phone. "Oh. Oh, I stink? Is that right?" she made a show of running up to him and exposing her fingers. "I think you and your diapers stink, mister! And stinkers get tickeled!"

"Noooo!"

She spent the rest of the night feeding Ryker and preparing him for bed. He fell asleep in her bed downstairs (because the tickle monster accidentally chased him down there where he nearly split open his head on the stairs). Raven had him cradled against her side and stared down at him.

He was so little for nearly being two. It felt unreal, how big and mature he looked. No longer were the days of white skin and blue eyes. Now, he began to develop color in his skin and eyes, representing both their Quileute heritage and the rare beauty of violet eyes.

She looked up, staring into the mirror that lied against the wall. It wasn't often she took into account her looks. Normally, she didn't care. She was what she was, nothing more, nothing less. But it was times when things slowed down, when she had nothing else to think about that her mind searched for anything to think over.

She'd cut her hair herself in a choppy, uneven hairstyle that her Mom had taught her when she was small. Her nose was smaller than most, very button like. She hated it. Her mother had a nice, prominent nose that made her face strikingly beautiful. Her nose only drew attention to her large eyes. They were very hooded, though, like her mother's. And she had her mom's smile, very bright and perfect teeth.

Her figure was nothing like her mother's though, but that was okay. Jade had as thin a body as Emily. She wore chic, modern outfits, even in her forties. She could wear anything. In contrast, Raven couldn't be more different. While she wished for a thinner frame, she was given a curvy figure. Her style of clothing was limited to the 'tomboy' fashion, and her boobs and ass normally got in the way of it, but after working on heavy cars for a living, she found that thick thighs (and butt) were necessary to lift and move heavy metal.

Her eyes and ears were pulled from the mirror as her phone buzzed silently beside her. She idly ran her hands through Ryker's thin, wispy hair and gabbed the phone with the other. "Hello?"

"Raven? It's Ethan," said a male voice that was just like the Ethan she remembered, but so much smoother than she'd ever heard a voice over the phone. She felt sleep begin to tug at her eyes and forced herself to stay awake.

"Hey, Ethan," she spoke.

"How are you adjusting to the move?" he asked excitedly, like it wasn't ten at night. In the background, she heard the door open and her dad shouting that he was home.

She yawned into the phone, "It's really nice here. Huge house. My own condo in the basement, basically. A lot of…nice guys. We actually have a-,"

"Guys? What do you mean? You know what they say about Native Americans. They're all a bunch of drunks trying to complete the extinction of their race." Ethan sneered lazily into the phone. She could practically hear him lying on the couch, eating potato chips, probably watching porn… Her ears perked up, and she checked to make sure Ryker was asleep and couldn't hear.

"Okay, dick, did you forget why I moved? I'm half Native American, Ethan. My mom grew up here. These people are nicer than -,"

"God, not this again," Ethan groaned dramatically. He acted like she was the one to call – and annoy – him. "Look, I'm glad you're happy, brainwashed or not, but I called because I need a favor."

Raven pressed the phone so tightly against her face she was sure it'd leave red marks for the rest of the night. If it weren't for Ryker, she was sure she'd be kicking something. It'd only been four days since she'd seen Ethan, and he hadn't changed a bit. In fact, she'd only had her eyes opened to how horrible of a person he was, good friend of not.

"What?" she hissed, fully intending not to give in to whatever he wanted.

"My jeep broke down. I kind of need a few parts."

Raven stared with dead eyes at the wall. This was the classic Ethan she knew. "And you want me to magically conjure them out of thin air…for free, too, I'm guessing."

Ethan chuckled with satisfaction, and suddenly Raven regretted being so sarcastic with him. After being away from him for a few days, she found she didn't miss him. At all. In fact, she didn't really miss Seattle much in general. She never had anyone she was terribly close to there, and all it reminded her of was her mother and her childhood. Moving away from that made the pain a little easier to deal with.

"Yeah, basically. You have a knack for finding the goods."

She rolled her eyes. "What parts?" Raven had little intention of searching for them, but she figured this conversation would end faster if she pretended she would.

"Suspension ball joint, suspension stabilizer bar link, and a few others. They've got to be really specific, though. I just figured they probably have a few junkyards in that place you could look in."

Raven felt her hands clench, and she instantly released the tight grip on poor Ryker's hair. "Yeah, sure, whatever." There was no way in hell she was going searching for those impossibly rare parts. He'd never find them, but she was too annoyed to tell him that.

"Great! And when you get them can you put them on?"

She frowned. "I'd have to come to you. That's hours away."

"Yeah, but come on. You promised you'd visit anyways."

"Maybe." He began to speak again. "I have to go."

She ended the call and slammed the phone into the bed. Raven flung herself backwards and groaned as her head hit the wood. To make matters worse, her heart stopped when somebody knocked on her glass sliding door. She let out a slight squeal before gently lying Ryker's head down on the bed and sliding out of the covers. With two hands gripping her Taser (which she strategically kept underneath her bed), Raven inched towards the dark view outside.

There was a pounding on her door, and she let out a ear-splitting scream.

A/N: Cliffhanger? Kinda? It also low key sucks as a cliff hanger but...what can ya do? GOOD NEWS THO! I have phased out of my writer's block and I'M GETTING SO MUCH WRITTEN FOR THIS STORY! Expect lots of updates, as long as you all want them...

Let me know your thoughts! And fears! And what you love and hate! What are you confused about? What are you looking forward to?