Chapter Three

I enjoyed painting, no matter how tedious it got sometimes. It was something about the repetitive motions that got me in the zone, that, or the music I was blaring through my earphones. I was halfway done of the second coat of the bone white paint, singing along to one of my favourite songs of the year.

"No, no, no, no, don't phunk with my heart," I sung into my paintbrush, dancing in a circle. As I twirled for the second time, I opened my eyes and noticed Jacob standing in the doorway with an amused grin on his face. I froze for a moment but then tried to play off my surprise, turning my music off to greet him.

"Jake! Been wondering when you'd show!", I exclaimed.

"Well I would've told Dad to get here sooner if I'd known we'd get dinner and a show," he teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled and tried to reach for my hair to ruffle it. I was able to anticipate him, so was able to escape his attentions. As I skirted around Jacob, I picked up the spare paint roller and threw it at him.

"Hey, watch it!", he yelped, catching the roller with surprisingly good reflexes.

"Chop, chop", I clapped, "These walls won't paint themselves."

"I'm not your slave, you know", he grumbled good heartedly.

"I am paying you with food, so I guess you could say you're my employee", I replied cheekily.

"You always have to have the last word, don't you."

"Yep!", I replied popping the P.

We got to work, making good time now that there was two of us. It was always comfortable being around Jacob. He gave me a sense of security, allowing me to be open around him, without holding back. I wonder if that was because of growing up together or something more. My secret hope was that it was the latter. I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. He had grown again. It was only about a year ago, that we were of similar heights but now he stood at 5'8" to my 5'4". Jacob was starting to fill out, though he was still quite lanky, growing into his limbs. I looked down at myself then. I was still willowy, at fourteen, my curves having hardly come in. I glanced back up, catching Jacob's eye in the process.

"So…", he started, "someone messing with your heart, do I need to beat them up?" He looked up at me with a cocked eyebrow.

"What?" I asked confused, until I realised, he was talking about the song I was singing as he walked in. "Oh no, ha ha. No one like that for me," I awkwardly dismissed. If only he knew that it was him that I liked, not that I was willing to tell him and potentially ruin our friendship.

"Well good, don't want no jerks going after my little sis," he chuckled, throwing me a grin.

And I knew that was the reason I kept silent about my feelings; Jacob saw me in a completely different light compared to how I saw him. My heart dropped into my stomach hearing Jake say that I was his little sister; I tried to distract him from my reaction by throwing my paint brush at him.

"You're only a couple of months older than me, you jerk!"

"Woah, you're violent today!" he said amused, dodging the paint that splattered from my paint brush.

It was lucky that we were nearly finished so I didn't need my paintbrush anymore. I picked it up and organised all the painting supplies to be put away whilst Jacob finished off the last of the wall. I got Jacob to help me carry everything to the shed in the back yard, after cleaning off all the tools of paint.

"Dad's left Bella's furniture in the trunk of the cruiser, you wanna help bring it up?" I asked as we entered the kitchen from the back door.

"Sure."

Getting the furniture up the stairs and into Bella's room was cumbersome but not as hard as I thought it would be, Jacob having put on a little muscle in the last couple of months. We set off putting the desk back together, sitting on the floor opposite each other. At first, we both tried to take charge, but we kept getting in each other's way, so we ended up with Jacob doing the manual work whilst I read the directions.

"So Dad was wondering if you could come over tomorrow as well? We're getting a bookshelf delivered in the morning and he doesn't want me to be by myself with random men in the house," I asked, watching Jacob put together two sides of the desk.

He looked up, from what he was doing and said, "Yeah sure, how early do I need to be here?"

"Probably around eight-thirty to eight-forty-five. They said they'd be getting here around nine, it shouldn't take them more than fifteen minutes to get it into here," I gestured to the room.

Jacob nodded in understanding. "Do you want to hang out after then? Embry and Quil were talking about coming to hang in the garage tomorrow afternoon."

"Yeah, I'm sure Dad won't mind that."

"Cool." Jake was silent for little bit after that until he asked, "So are you looking forward to have Bella here for a while?"

I looked down at my hands as I twisted the directions. I thought about how I would respond and decided to be truthful because it was Jake I was talking to.

"I'm a little nervous," I said in a quiet voice.

"Lu…" he looked concerned.

"Don't get me wrong I'm excited to have my sister back on a more permanent basis but I can't help but feel a little anxious about things changing," I rushed out, "I'm worried that things will change and not in a good way, that Dad and everyone else will just forget about me and fawn all over Bella," I finished, muttering at the end.

"Oh Lu, you know we'd never do that," he tried comforting, forgetting about putting the desk together in exchange for paying attention to me.

"I know but you don't see Dad when he's around Bella. It's like the sun shines out of her ass," I said trying to lighten the mood, "His whole focus is on her when she's with us and it's only gotten worse since she decided to stop coming here when she was fourteen."

Jacob smirked at my quip but then became serious again quickly after.

"Well, you know Charlie loves you the most, Lu, and it's only because he doesn't see Bella for long periods of time that he's like that. He'll quickly go back to being normal once she's here all the time," he reassured.

"I hope so," I replied.

"And if I'm wrong then you'll always have me," he said, giving me a big dorky grin pointing to himself with both thumbs. I laughed. It was this that finally got me out of my gloomy spiral, I truly believe Jacob would always be there for me.

"Compliments to the Chef, I always enjoy whenever you cook Lucy," Billy grinned at me over the dinner table, "She'll make a fine wife one day won't she Charlie?" Billy teased.

Dad gave him a dirty look and Billy laughed, Jacob and I joining in a moment after.

"You better not be thinking about marriage until you're at least thirty," Dad lectured.

"It's okay Dad, you don't have to worry, I wouldn't leave you alone so soon. You'd either wither away or get heart disease with all the junk you'd eat if I wasn't here," I smiled prettily at him knowing he couldn't refute what I was saying.

This earned another laugh from Billy. "Well if you two ever end up together," he pointed between Jacob and I, "I will happily annoy your father to speed up the wedding plans, so I can have a homecooked meal every day."

Both Jacob and I blushed. I was of course embarrassed but also secretly pleased to know Billy would want me as a Daughter-in-Law.

"Oh Dad, shut up! You know we're not like that!" Jacob cried in mortification. My face fell, before I could control it.

"Never say never, you don't know what the future holds for you two," Billy said winking at me. He must've noticed my reaction, to my complete distress. I looked over to Dad hurriedly and covertly indicated for him to change the subject. To my relief he understood.

"Billy, I heard you were thinking about selling your truck? Think I could buy it off you for Bella to use while she's in Forks?" Dad inquired after clearing his voice.

"Of course, happy for it to be going to someone I know. It'll need some work done to it before it's ready for you to drive though," Billy said.

"No problem, Jake, you think you could handle the repairs? I'll pay for the parts and your labour of course," Dad asked.

"Yeah, for sure," Jacob looked excited as he answered, "I can get started on it tomorrow, you wanna help Lu?"

"Okie dokie, sounds like fun. Embry and Quil will be able to help too," I replied. All three of those boys loved cars and anything automotive, I'm sure that they'll open up their own garage one day.

"Will you need me to pick you up tomorrow after my shift then, Lu?" Dad offered.

"That will be nice, thanks Dad."

"I guess it's time to start heading home. Jacob, why don't you help Lucy with the dishes and then we'll be off," suggested Billy.

Jacob nodded and helped me grab all the plates of the table and bring them into the kitchen. We messed around a bit but before I knew it, I was waving goodbye to the both of them as they pulled out into the night.

"So what needs fixing for the truck?" I asked watching Jacob mess with something from under the truck. I was laying on the couch munching on some chips. We had just gotten back from my house, and I was having snack before Embry and Quil came over, they were going to bring us some pizza. The delivery for Bella's bookcase having gone well, all that was left to do was decorate, which I could do by myself.

"Not too much," Jacob replied, "Just needs a service and a few new parts like some new brake pads and your Dad will probably have to get new tires, these ones are nearly bald."

"Do you think you'll be done by the time Bella gets here?" I questioned rolling onto my stomach, kicking my legs behind me, "It'll be nice not to have Dad drive me in the cruiser anymore, though it's annoying I still have to rely on Bella."

"I should be able to get it done. Though don't hold me to that, it will depend on if I can get all the parts in before." Jake said coming up from under the truck, his hands were covered with motor oil. He walked over to his tool desk, wiping his hands on an old rag and fumbled around for some tool. "Are you excited to get your license?"

I nodded my head, making a hum of affirmation as I twisted my neck to follow him, "I know it's still a while away, but I'd just love to have the freedom to go out without needing anyone. You're lucky you live on the Rez, you get to drive Billy around and he lets you use his car when he's at home. If Dad caught me driving before I'm sixteen I'd be grounded for a century," I sighed dramatically.

"It does have its benefits," Jacob grinned at me, his white teeth flashing, "have you thought of what type of car you'd get?"

"I'm not you, Jake," I teased, "I'll probably let Dad choose for me, though I'd personally like something that wasn't a truck. You?"

"I'd like something small and sporty. It would have to have good fuel consumption and not too hard to find parts for. I was thinking of getting some sort of Volkswagen, but I'll have to see what's available at the time," Jacob rubbed his chin whilst saying this, getting a bit of grease smudged on his skin. I noticed and got up from the couch grabbing the rag from out of his hand. I went to reach for him, but he flinched out of my reach.

"Stay still," I demanded concentrating, grabbing Jacob by the chin. I managed to wipe the grease off him this time, but I didn't realise how close I had gotten as I looked up at him. It was strange having to do that; I still wasn't used to him being so much taller than me yet. His eyes were a warm brown colour, with long dark lashes framing them. A piece of his long black hair fell forward and touched the hand still holding his chin. It felt silky against my skin.

"PIZZA IS HERE!" We heard being yelled from outside the garage. We quickly sprang apart, the atmosphere awkward between us as Embry and Quil walked in. Jacob immediately left my side and approached them. As I went back to sit on the couch, Embry gave me a questioning look. He was always so dang observant, more mature for his age than other boys, so of course he'd notice the weirdness between Jake and myself, I cursed mentally. Quil on the other hand was as oblivious as always, already play fighting and joking with Jake as was the norm. Embry approached and sat with me on the couch.

"Chicken and mushroom, for the lady, as usual," Embry said whilst handing over my pizza. I thanked him, hoping he wouldn't bring up what I knew he noticed. My luck was not that good today, it seemed. "So, what was that?" He whispered, opening his box, he had gotten a meat lovers pizza it seemed.

"What was what?" I said, avoiding his gaze. My focus either on my pizza or where Jacob and Quil were still messing around.

"You know I'm not as blind as that buffoon over there. Something was happening before we entered, I could practically sense the awkwardness coming off of you two in waves," Embry retorted before taking a bite of his food, "You know you can tell me."

I sighed, "I grabbed his chin to wipe off some grease and then we kind of had a moment or something. I don't know but it was, like, different," I struggled putting it into words.

"Hmm, are you going to tell him how you feel?" He questioned, his tone casual if quite still.

I looked up at him fast, "What No!" I whisper shouted.

"Really? You know if you wait too long it will never happen," he murmured at me, giving me a look of dissatisfaction.

"I know, I know, but you'd didn't hear him yesterday. He thinks of me like a sister, he'd never like me the way I do. The thought of us together like that grosses him out," I looked down discouraged.

"Oh Lu. You know I'm rooting for you, yeah?" He gave me a big smile and an encouraging squeeze to my shoulders. I looked up at him a gave him back a smile.

"Yeah, thanks, Em," I said.

"Yo, what are you two talking about over here?" Quil plopped himself next to me putting one arm around my shoulders, the other holding onto his pizza.

"Just about how stupid your haircut is idiot," Embry replied impishly, saving me from replying.

"My hair is awesome, you prick, all the girls love it," Quil fluffed up his hair puffing up his chest.

"The only girl that loves your hair is your Mom," Embry laughingly countered. Jake and I laughed at that too, whilst Quil spluttered out a response trying to defend his manliness.

The rest of the day continued on like this. Us all joking around whilst the boys worked on Bella's truck. I was relaxed around these three boys; they were my best friends. I could honestly say if everything stayed the same as today, I would be happy for the rest of my life. It was to a beep of a car horn that my time in Jacob's garage was disturbed. I knew Dad had arrived to take me home.

"Time to go," I hopped up from the couch, "see you guys."

I gave everyone a hug and waved goodbye as I exited out the side door. I made my way around to the front of the house and saw that my Dad was on the porch talking to Billy who was inside the doorway. He looked like he was talking about something upsetting, his face contorting into annoyance. I didn't know whether I should stay where I was or go up and meet him. My choice was taken from me when Billy said something, and Dad turned around and stormed down the stairs. He saw me from his peripheral vision and motioned for me to get in the cruiser. I quickly turned around and gave Billy a slight wave of goodbye and got into the front seat of the car. I glanced over at Dad. His mouth was turned so far down it was lost underneath his moustache and his dark eyes were clouded with barely contained anger.

"What was that all about?" I asked. He glanced at me and tried to smooth out his face.

"Don't you worry about that, just a slight disagreement," Dad said trying to hide the frustration from his voice, but he failed. I knew well that I wouldn't get anything out of him, I got my stubbornness from him after all. We drove home in silence, and I hoped that whatever had happened would blow over quickly.

A/N

Hi everyone!

Longer chapter this time! Thank you to everyone that favourited and followed! It means a lot to me!

If you liked this chapter and the story so far, please feel free to leave a review. I would greatly appriciate any comments and constructive criticism.

Also check out the cover picture, I drew it just for this story.

-SereneReader