"Do you smile every time someone texts you or is that just when Paul does?" Serena rolled her eyes at Leah's less-than-subtle teasing and stuffed her phone back into her pocket, kicking the oven door shut and setting the tray of roast chicken on the table, automatically snapping Embry's hand away from it.

"You're mean," Embry scowled. "Just one-"

"Don't. Emily will kill you."

"She never kills any of us," sulked Embry. "She would let me have some."

"She is too busy panicking since the bonfire got cancelled because of the rain, so now all the Elders are coming here," Serena glared at the younger boy. "Don't make it harder for her. Paws off."

Embry pouted, but folded his arms across his chest and sat back obediently. Leah rolled her eyes and picked up a cookie from the plate Serena had just filled. "You're just going crazy because Paul is coming over too."

"I am not. I saw him yesterday."

"You mean he came over to get you yesterday for a date."

"I needed to go to the grocery store and he offered to drive me!"

Embry snorted. "He didn't just drive you, he went inside with you and helped you carry all your stuff."

"He was being polite, which is more than I can say for any of you," retorted Serena. "Mind your own business."

"Admit it," Embry waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You like him."

"I'd admit that to him before I'd tell any of you about it," Serena stuck out her tongue at her friends and untied her apron from around her waist. "Now, I'm going to help Emily do her hair. Don't finish all the food or I swear I won't save either of you from her!"

She ducked as Leah threw a cookie at her and ran out of the kitchen, making a beeline for Emily's bedroom. She cursed as a sharp knock sounded behind her and stopped, groaning when she realized Embry and Leah wouldn't open the door. She stomped towards the door and jerked it open, but lost her balance when the person on the other side opened the door without waiting for someone to answer it.

"Woah!" warm hands grasped her upper arm and waist, helping her to stand straight. Serena looked up and locked eyes with Paul, who grinned down at her slyly. "Either you really like falling into my arms or you're just dead clumsy."

"This just isn't my day," Serena sighed and half-heartedly smacked his chest. "Thanks for the save. Again. We really do need to stop meeting like this."

"Didn't you say you usually save this stunt for the third date?" his eyes were twinkling.

"I did. You really need to ask me out soon or this will just get embarrassing," Serena couldn't bring herself to be annoyed by his teasing. Every time Paul smiled at her, she felt like spinning, like those girls in the fairy-tales Emily had made her watch when she had been her baby-sitter.

"I'll consider it," Paul stepped inside the house and casually flung an arm around her shoulders. Serena hoped he didn't see her blush. "Where's the food?"

"Don't even think about it. In fact," she turned to face him and put her hands on her hips. "You need to keep Embry and all the other boys away from the food until everyone else show up."

"I do?" Paul looked confused.

"He does?!" Embry's shout came from the kitchen.

"Yes, you do," Serena folded her arms across her chest. "I don't trust any of them."

"And you trust him?' Embry was almost shrieking now.

"Shut it," called back Paul, rolling his eyes.

"You're doing it," said Serena bluntly. "You have to."

"You want me to keep all of those guys away from Emily's cooking?"

"Yes."

"Impossible."

"If you do it, I'll go out with you."

Paul smirked. "You don't need excuses or hints, I can ask you out anyway."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Obviously the subtlety isn't enough for you to get the hint."

Paul chuckled. "Tomorrow night?"

"If even one cookie is missing, never."

"It's a date," Paul winked and almost skipped towards the kitchen. Serena blinked in confusion, debated with herself for about ten seconds, and then heard a satisfying smack echo from the kitchen followed by Embry's yelp of pain. Giggling, she ran back to Emily's room.

!

"Do you want some dessert, Mr. Lahote?" asked Serena politely. She had been passing around the large dish of chocolate mousse, but once she noticed that the boys took about half an hour to pass it to the next person, she had grabbed the extra dish that had been chilling in the fridge and was offering it to the adults who were sitting on the patio.

Paul's father smiled at her and shook his head. "No, thank you, Serena. And please, call me Dave. I don't need to feel older than I already am."

Next to him, Billy snorted. "The youngest of us feels old, great. How do you think the rest of us feel?"

"You're a spring chicken, Billy," assured Serena as she spooned out some of the chocolatey mess for Old Quil, whose eyes were constantly twinkling. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Billy grinned. "Always nice talking to you, kid. You have a gift for making us feel like teenagers."

Serena winked and went back to the kitchen, depositing the half-empty dish in the freezer. She turned around to pick up a cloth to begin wiping the kitchen counter, but instead rammed into someone's chest and stifled a scream.

"Hey!" it was Paul. He gripped her shoulders and helped steady her, his eyes concerned. "Did I scare you?"

Serena shook her head vehemently, though she still felt jumpy. Paul's unexpected habit of turning up whenever she wasn't looking unnerved her, but not in a bad way. She wasn't used to constantly being on edge, and the fact that he forced her to be both thrilled and annoyed her. Still, she forced a smile and punched his shoulder playfully. "You'll have some explaining to do if I die of a heart-attack."

"Don't even joke about that," he sounded so serious that Serena gave him a bemused glance. He was frowning.

"Stop being so serious," she said, nudging his softly. "Lighten up. Did you have fun today?"

"I'm having fun now," Serena rolled her eyes at the obvious flirtatious comment and sidestepped him so she could grab the cloth. Paul raised his eyebrows. "You're cleaning up already? Alone?"

"Yes," Serena shrugged and expertly piled the scattered dishes into the sink, slightly surprised when Paul swiped the rag from her hand and began wiping the counter she had just cleared. "Hey, you don't have to do that."

"I want to," he gave her a quick smile. "Beats sitting outside anyway. It still smells like rain."

"I love rain," Serena felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. "Don't you?"

"I would miss it if I went to a place like Texas," shrugged Paul. "It rains too much here."

Serena snorted. "I've never been that far. My dad travelled all the time, but my mom wanted us to stay close to home. The first time I left our Rez was when I went to visit colleges, and I didn't apply anywhere outside Washington."

"Why?" Paul sounded surprised. "I thought you finished high school early."

Serena raised her eyebrows. "You actually remember me saying that?"

Paul shrugged and turned away from her slightly. Serena resisted the urge to swoon at his sheepish expression. "Yeah, well, anything you say is hard to forget."

"You're so sweet," Serena giggled, an incredibly girly sound that she was sure Paul hadn't been expecting from her, since he threw her an amused glance. She ducked her head and began piling dishes into the dishwasher, avoiding his eye. "I am smart though, if that's what you meant. I just liked being close to home, I guess. And my mom didn't want me to go too far, so I figured Seattle was a safe bet. Of course, now I want to be as far away as possible."

"Why?"

Serena grimaced. "Mama Wilder is a little… overwhelming."

To her surprise, Paul laughed loudly. She gave him a look. He smirked. "You say it like it's a bad thing. You're pretty overwhelming too."

Serena's mouth fell open. "I am not!"

"You are, but I like it," Serena's indignation melted away at his honesty. "You're always smiling, you're never upset, you're always trying to help, and you're usually all over the place," he shrugged, turning away from her when he saw her raised eyebrows. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's like everywhere someone turns there's a hint of you. Can't say I'm complaining though, I think you're pretty perfect."

Serena blinked. She knew she was a bright, happy person, but the fact that someone as serious and brooding as Paul liked that about her made her feel giddy. And he had called her perfect. She knew she was far from it, but he thought she was. Paul thought she was perfect. She felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, threatening to turn into a grin. Paul was smiling, a little embarrassed, wordlessly helping her clean a kitchen that he hadn't even made messy. Serena took the rag from his hands, shaking her head when he gave her a questioning look. She skipped to the freezer and took the dish back out, grabbing two clean spoons from the drawer next to it.

She sat down at the table and dug into the dessert she hadn't had a chance to taste yet. Wordlessly, Paul mimicked her. They ate in silence, until finally Serena looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He was staring at her. "What?" she ran a hand through her hair self-consciously. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No." He didn't stop staring.

Serena rolled her eyes. "You just said some really sweet things to me, so this is my way of saying thank you. Are you going to ruin it by being a creep now?"

He smiled a little, and reached out a hand, gently tugging on a lock of her hair. "You didn't tie your hair today."

Serena felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Of course he would notice. She had worn her hair in its customary bun the whole day, but when she had finally come out after all the guests had arrived she had reflexively tugged the hair-tie out of her hair. She told herself it was because she wanted to look nice, but in reality she knew she had been hoping Paul would notice, and he had. She bit her lip and tried to act casual. "Yeah, well, you keep pulling my hair-ties out so I thought I should just save you the trouble."

Paul smirked at that. Serena blushed harder and took another bite of mousse, an excuse to stop looking at him. However, her hands shook, and once she swallowed she felt his fingers graze the corner of her mouth, wiping the smudge of chocolate away. Her eyes shot to meet his. The smirk had turned into a gentle smile, and she knew she couldn't ignore the pure adoration that shone in his eyes anymore. He only looked that way at her: Emily was right, and she had been a fool not to see it. Paul liked her, a lot, and if the angle of his face was any indication, he was about to kiss her.

She did a small victory dance in her head and leaned forward, slowly, eagerly, the rational part of her brain that said a summer fling was a bad idea effectively ignored. He couldn't have been more than an inch away, his warm breath brushing her lips, when the kitchen door slammed open and everyone poured inside, talking loudly and ignoring them completely. Emily had sent everyone in to help Serena clean up.

!

As Sam shut the door on the last of the guests, Serena slumped in her chair and let out a sigh. It was almost three in the morning, and she was exhausted. Her anxiety to help Sam and Emily as much as possible to attempt to repay them for letting her live in their house had made her clean their whole kitchen single-handedly, despite the pack of Quilete boys that had been there to help her. But after they had interrupted her and Paul, she had simply wanted to keep her hands busy so she didn't have to think.

Paul. She felt a thrill go through her body at his name, and she bit her lip. He hadn't even kissed her yet, had shown zero interest in her except for flirtatious comments and the odd look, but Serena had never been surer of a boy's affection in her life. She knew Paul liked her and she wanted him to just tell her already.

Mechanically, she said good night to Sam and Emily and hurried to her room. Her camera lay neglected on her small desk. Emily had been using it to take pictures since Serena had taken over the kitchen, and she hadn't had a chance to see what she had captured. Unwilling to spend more time thinking about Paul, she grabbed the camera off her desk and sat down cross-legged on her bed, flipping open the screen.

Most were of the adults, and Serena smiled slightly to see one of Sam and Emily deep in conversation, probably taken by Jacob or Billy, the only two who had been willing to touch her camera on previous occasions. The look in Sam's eyes was unsettlingly familiar. She kept flipping, and finally came upon a few pictures taken of her when she hadn't been looking. There was one of her eating, and she grimaced at her slightly dazed expression. The next one made her bite her lip. Emily had obviously been spying on her.

It was a candid shot, taken with an inexperienced hand but Serena didn't need a professional to tell her what Emily had been trying to catch. Only a hint of Serena's face could be seen, her dark hair messily twisted over her shoulder. Paul was seated opposite her, his hand a blur as it spooned out the dessert from the dish between them. He was staring at her, and even through the camera Serena could see the same look in his eyes that she caught when he thought she hadn't noticed him staring. It was that look that Emily had been intent on capturing.

It was the same look that she had seen in Sam's eyes when he looked at Emily.