A Fire to Keep Me Warm
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Oh my goodness! I am so happy for the warm welcome this story has received. I must say that I am very happy that some of you find it pleasing. I love this story a lot. I was also content when many of you guessed that Cheskie was in love with Seth and was tricking him into a date. I swear that this story won't be like the others. There won't be any angst (just a tiny bit, though), sadness or crying (just a little bit, though, but of happiness). This is my fluffiest story of all. So, I won't ramble so much anymore, enjoy and leave your reviews. I love them and I so want to have a 100 reviews before the story is over.
Sweet-Cakes
When I walked home, after my improvised conversation with Seth, Paul stopped me by the door and literally sniffed me. I was awed at his behavior, but managed to move past him and continue walking down the hall. I swear that there were times that I thought that my brothers weren't really my brothers... or maybe I was adopted. Yes, definitely! They were too feral, uncivilized, grotesque and ate like, well, animals.
"You've been with Seth, haven't you?" Paul asked annoyed, as he followed after me.
How the hell did he know?
"Yes," I said aggravated, when he placed his freakishly large hand on my elbow and forced me to spin around. "I was with Seth! What is your problem with him?!"
"I don't have a problem with him." Paul shrugged. "I just... what were you doing with him?"
He got closer to me and took a whiff at me again. Seriously, my older brother was going crazy. He'd moved out of the house a year ago, but he was always in the house instead of the apartment that he shared with Jared. I leaned back against the wall and started to scoot away from my psycho brother.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked exasperated. "Did you just sniffed me, Paul?"
Paul folded his arms across his chest and stared down at me. "Are you going to answer my question?"
"No!" I said defiantly. "Not if you don't answer my question first!"
"I asked you first!" Paul growled.
"No, I did!"
"Guys," my mother said, as she appeared out of the kitchen. "I don't want to hear your childish conversation now. Help me get dinner ready. Leah, Billy and his children are coming for dinner tonight."
"Children?" I asked confused.
"Yes, he's bringing Rachel and Jacob." my mother answered, ambling down the hall. "She graduated last May from college, but your father got her a job at the elementary school. So, she's staying for a while with Billy, until she can settle down on her own."
"Great," Paul whined. "Now we have to see that bucktooth, four eye witch and Leah!"
I tried to shove my brother for the sneering way he spoke of my future sister-in-law (if only dreams became true), but he didn't budge. He stood stoically and flashed me an angry look.
"Paul," my mother laughed. "You are like ten times taller than her. Are you still afraid of Rachel Black?"
My brother straightened his back and looked down at our mother. "Pff, hell no! She's just annoying and... Nope, I ain't afraid of her. But I bet, that those two witches together..."
"Then, what seems to be the problem, Sweet-cakes?" Mom scoffed.
OK, I've noticed that only Mom could control Paul, the Sweet-cakes, psycho-bro... Paul shifted uncomfortably on his heels and leaned against the wall, and then gave me an annoyed look.
"I don't have any problems. I just don't like her, she's kinda," he trailed off angrily. "A witch! And Leah Clearwater is the same... they'll make my life a living hell. "
"Sweet-cakes, Leah is happier now that she's with Jake. And Rachel, she is twenty three and a professional! I bet you that the old Rachel that used to annoy you is long gone. Plus, sweetie, you are almost twenty-one years old... and tall and strong. I think you can take pretty good care of yourself! You shouldn't be afraid of her."
"I'm not afraid of her!" he gritted.
I rolled my eyes and moved to where Mom was standing. She smiled at me and I returned her smile with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Look, as much as I like to humiliate Sweet-cakes, I gotta get dressed for a date." I said happily.
Paul growled and the stood in front of me, sulking.
"A date?" Mom and Paul said in unison.
"Yes," I paused, smiling at my mother. "A date with my dream guy!"
My mother shook her head and placed a caring hand on my arm. "Oh, sweetie, I am so glad that Seth finally asked you on a date!" she said excitedly.
Um, well, he didn't exactly asked me, MOM, but heck... it's still a date, right?
"Sure, Mom," I paused, and stared at my brother. Paul was fuming and I knew that I should've kept my mouth shut. I only hoped that Paul didn't start any problems with my favorite Clearwater.
My mother grinned and turned and ambled back to the kitchen. "Oh and sweetie," she said over her shoulder. "Tell Seth that I want you home by midnight."
Paul followed her to the kitchen and sighed heavily. ""Midnight? Mom, she's only fifteen years old." he complained.
He looked back at me and I stuck out my tongue. "Looser!" I mouthed and rolled my eyes at him.
Mom stopped in the middle of the hall and sighed. "Paul, Sweet-cakes, you don't live in this house anymore, so don't tell me how to raise my daughter. I know that I can trust my daughter and Seth! You lived your life and dated many girls in high school and I never complained. But please, Sweet-cakes, don't ruin your sister's future love life."
"But," he paused, and scooted closer to her. "Mom, it's dangerous." he whispered, low enough for me to hear.
My mother placed her hand on her forehead and said something in Spanish. "Paulie, I know why you are so worried! But Seth is not like Sam or volatile like you. He won't hurt her. He has control of his temper. He doesn't..." she turned to face me and smile at me. I smiled back and tried to listen to what they were talking about, but they lowered their voices.
"Mom" Paul sniveled.
Mom sighed and shook her head. "What can Seth do to her? Tickle her and tousle her hair? The worst thing that he can do is treat her like a queen? Then I would be complaining, because then my baby would really be a spoiled brat!" she laughed.
Paul stood in the hall, watching as Mom walked into the kitchen.
"Point taken," he said annoyed. "But still, he's Seth and his sister is Leah..."
He walked to the kitchen and continued to rant about different reasons of why I should stay home and not go on a date with my Seth.
"And because he is Seth and not Collin or Brady, I am letting your sister go on a date, understand, Sweet-cakes." I heard my mother shout from the kitchen.
"Fine, but I am going on their date!" Paul said with finality.
I ran to the kitchen. I couldn't let Paul ruin my only chance of making Seth fall in love with me.
"Hell, no!" I shouted, as I trudge towards Mom.
"You heard her, Paul." Mom said annoyed, placing her hand on her hip and pointing at Paul with the spatula that was on her other hand. "You stay away from her, Paulie! She is not a little girl anymore. You can't just be hovering over her all the time. Shit, not even your father smothers her. I know that you love her and you feel that it's your need to protect her, but sweetie-cakes, you can't jeopardizing your sister's first date. Plus, I need you here to help me cook. You are the only one that can make Strawberry-Pretzel dessert."
Paul walked to the counter and hopped on it. "Fine," he hissed, crossing his arms over his chest and staring out the window.
"Thanks, Mom." I said relieved, as I gave my Mom a hugged. "Later, looser!"
I exited the kitchen, but turned to see my big oaf of a brother brooding. I walked back in to the kitchen to thank my brother for not ruining my date-life.
"I liked her better when she was little!" I heard Paul growled. "If he holds your hand, he's dead!" he said, without looking back at me.
It always surprised me how my older brother could tell that I was around him! It's like he had a sensor that beeped whenever I was close to him. I rolled my eyes at my brother and ran to my room. I couldn't believe how tactless Paulie was. I sighed and walked to the dresser and started to get my clothes ready. I took a bath and washed my hair and sauntered back to the room. I couldn't believe how excited I was. In less than a couple of hours, I was going on a date with my dream guy. I know that he was clueless to the real reasons of why I wanted to go on a date with him, but I didn't care. I just needed to concoct a plan that was fool-proof. Yes, today was date was going to be the beginning of my plan to make Seth fall in love with me.
I grinned as I opened my closet and frowned when I found nothing to wear. OMG! This was really a dilemma. It was two thirty and I still didn't have anything to wear. I immediately dialed Claire's cell phone number, but she didn't answer. All I got was her voicemail! Damn! She was probably with Quil somewhere making out. How I envied her! I dialed all my other friends' number and none of them were available. This was a major tragedy. I sighed and ran downstairs to the kitchen to ask my mother for help. I needed her fashion expertise.
"Mom," I said loudly, as I entered the kitchen. "I need your help..."
My mother wasn't alone in the kitchen, Dad, Billy Black, Jacob, Leah and Billy's younger daughter, Rachel, were sitting on the table talking merrily with my mother.
"Oops," I said embarrassed. "Sorry!"
I stood there, looking like an idiot, staring at them. Billy laughed and my mother just flashed me an annoyed look.
"OMG," Rachel squealed, as she stood up from her seat. "Is that little Cheskie?" she asked, as she ran to me, with open arms.
"Ray!" I exclaimed and shrieked in excitement. I ran to her arms and hugged her tight. "Wow! You are beautiful!"
Billy smiled and shook his head. "I missed my girls screaming around the house when they got excited."
"I sure don't." my mom replied and returned to her conversation with Billy and my dad.
"Ray," I said quickly. "I need your help. I am in dire need of your female fashion expertise! Leah, you can help me, too!" I said, looking over at Leah.
Leah looked at Jake and he nodded approvingly. "Fine," she smiled and kissed Jake on the cheek. "How can I help?"
I took Leah's hand and dragged her up the stairs. Rachel followed us and laughed. It was good to be surrounded by girls from time to time. Living most of my life surrounded by boys was seriously causing me problems.
"I need to look, casual, yet pretty and flirty, yet ready for any kind of emergency and I need to feel comfortable and unique, but pretty!" I said, when I opened the door to my room.
"Um, sure, sure!" Rachel giggled. "First I need to see your wardrobe."
Leah sat on my bed and glared out the window. "Is something wrong, Lee?" I asked, catching her attention.
"No," she said, her gaze still on the window. "That idiot of your brother gets on my nerves when he starts getting mad."
"Paul?" Rachel asked, as she walked to the window.
"There," Leah pointed. "That big dork by the tree is mad about something. I hope he doesn't ruin Mercedes' dinner."
"If he ruins Mom's dinner, he'll never hear the end of it." I chuckled.
Rachel continued to stare out the window. She pressed her perfectly manicured hand on the glass and I saw my older brother staring back at her.
"What is wrong with Sweet-cakes, Leah?" I whispered, as I glanced back at Leah.
"I don't know," she paused and whipped her head back to look at us. Her eyes fell on a very dazed Rachel and sighed. "Oh, great!" Leah muttered, running her hand through her face. "Ches, I'll be back. I forgot to tell Jacob something."
I nodded and watched as she exited my room. Rachel was still in a trance, as she stared out the window. Paulie, the sweet cake lover, was gazing back at her like he wanted to devour her.
"So, Rachel," I said calmly, turning away from the window. "Are you still going to help me find something to wear for my date... or well, are you going to continue to stare at Sweet-cakes all day?"
"You guys still call Paul, Sweet-cakes?" she chortled.
"Yep," I said happily. "If you call him that, he'll blush with embarrassment and then he'll start cursing and loose his temper. It's amazing!"
"Fine, I'll help you, but you have to tell me more about Sweet-cakes!" she cackled. "Is he dating..."
"Um, OK!" I said confused. "And no, he's not dating. Interested?"
"No," Rachel hissed and walked back to the closet. "Let's get you prettified."
"Is that even a word?"
"I don't know." Rachel shrugged and giggled. "But it sounds nice."
"I guess."
After an hour and thirty eight minutes later. I was dressed in jeans that were tucked inside my beautiful black boots and a scarlet turtle neck and black and red hoop earrings. Rachel did my hair. It was loose with large curls at the tips. I applied a bit of mascara, lip gloss and my favorite perfume and I was ready to conquer Seth Clearwater's heart. When we walked down the stairs, we heard a commotion I knew the loud booming voice that was screaming angrily followed by Jake's cursing and shouting was Paulie's.
"Shoot," I said, as I took Rachel's hand and dragged her into the living room.
"What's going on here?" Rachel asked nervously. Her eyes were fixed on Paul.
"Nothing, Rach," Jake said, his nose flaring with anger. "We were just leaving."
Rachel scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Aunt Mercy invited us to eat at her house and you're going to leave because you got into a hissy-fit argument with Sweet-cakes!"
Jake rolled his eyes and growled. "We are going home, now!" he ordered.
Paul smiled tenderly at Rachel and took a step forward. "What did you call me?"
"Sweet-cakes, why?" Rachel said timidly, a slight blush on her flawless face.
"Um, nothing." he said shyly.
OK, seriously, Paul had the same spastic look that Jared, Sam and Quil had when they stared at their girlfriend.
"We are leaving, Rachel." Jacob ordered.
"Billy," she said defiantly. "I will stay and eat here. Are you staying?"
Billy looked from Jake to Rachel and shook his head. "I guess Rachel wins, son."
