Hola! Sorry it took so long, but I don't think I would've finished it at all, except I was checking my email the other day, and saw that someone had put it on story alert. I was just like, "Dude, that's awesome!" And it inspired me to finish. So all you people who have been waiting, give a big thanks to Little Toaster!

So here is the next chapter, entitled:

Meetings

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"Thank god!" I yelled, falling out of the car and kissing the pavement, aware that I looked stupid, but not really caring. If you had just spent 4 hours in a small car, with your two year old son squirming on your lap because there weren't enough seats, and your little brother, who wanted to argue about everything, sitting next to you, while your dad wanted to sing car songs, and your mom was snoring, then you'd be grateful to be out as well. My family shook their heads, and followed me out of the car with less dramatics. Well all except Topi, who did as I did, in a fit of giggles. I scooped him up into my arms, as he assumed superman pose, and I juggled him so that I could grab my bag from the trunk. All it had was a couple changes of clothes and other things I would need, since the moving truck wouldn't be here till tomorrow.

Upon entering the house, Topi started to squirm around in my arms from restlessness, so I let him down to run around. The moment his feet touched the ground, I felt an arm around my waist, a hand over my mouth, and I was being dragged away silently. My darling son simply stood there, giggling and waving. I struggled to see my captor, but the hand over my mouth kept my head from turning. Panic started to well inside of me, and I started to struggle, trying to escape. But it was pointless. Whoever had me was big, strong, and could probably have held me down with one hand.

Which wasn't exactly hard, seeing how I was so tiny, height and weight wise. I quit trying to fight, and went for noncooperation, hoping he'd have to practically drag me, but he just swung me up into his arms and kept walking, headed towards the forest. If my parents noticed us, they said nothing, even ignoring Topi, who had started to follow, still giggling. Whom ever was carrying me stopped and knelt, allowing my son to clamber onto his back. We ran for a good ten minutes after that, and soon it was so boring I could feel myself drifting off to sleep. I mean, if I'm gonna be kidnapped, it should at least be scary, shouldn't it? The passing trees and greenery offered no change in scenery, instead lulling me into a restless sleep.

I could tell, the moment we came to a stop, and my eyes flew open. I prepared to scream, managing to get out a decent one before the hand, which had relaxed, tightened once more over my mouth. The panic flared in my mind once more, and I struggled, tears coming to my eyes. My sons protests, as he climbed off my captors back, calmed me enough to look around dazedly around. I realized I was no longer in the forest, instead just outside a house, which I vaguely recognized in my panicked state.

"Quil, look, you scared her senseless." The voice proceeded a grinning face, as the hand was removed from my mouth, and my feet were planted firmly on the ground. "How ya doin' cuz?"

I glared up at Jacob, my heartbeat slowly settling. "You jerk! You had me kidnapped! You stupid stupid jerk! I can't believe it! I just move into town and my first experience is being grabbed by some man and dragged through the forest for hours! Then, just when I'm finally calmed down, you go and show your stupid face and act like we were just going for a stroll through the woods!" The words finally stopped and I stood there panting. The anger was depleted through my speech, and Jacob knew it. He didn't even have the decency to look ashamed!

"Love ya too McCay. Now on to more important things." I rolled my eyes at him, while taking a hurried step away from the man grinning behind me.

"Long time no see Quil. I'm ashamed that my cousin has-"

"Yo, McCay, I didn't know your parents had another kid." Jacob interrupted me, looking at Topi, who stared up at him, grinning. "He's cute though." Topi giggled.

"My name is Topi. You're weally big." My darling son said, holding out his arms to be picked up. Laughing, Jacob swung him up into his arms, and then onto his shoulders. As they enjoyed meeting each other, however, my face grew stony. It had been almost three years since I'd seen Jacob. He didn't know about the incident. Nor did he know that Topi was my son. Nobody had bothered to call him, or Billy, seeing as it was hard enough on us without including them in it. It was just a matter of time until it had to be explained.

"Momma, who's this? He's nice." Topi said, smiling at me with the innocence of a small child. The group, which had been slowly but steadily growing, froze collectively.

"McCay, what did he mean by 'Momma'?" Jacob asked, his face darkening. He swung the child from his shoulders, passing him on to a woman with scars on her face. "What has been going on in these last three years, that you haven't told me?"

I stammered out a couple of things then, none of them really an answer, while backing up slowly, until I had run into someone. A moment later two hands clamped on my shoulders from behind and I looked up into Jacob's stormy face. "I think we have some things to talk about." He turned on his heel and marched towards the house, myself only following because of the persistence of whoever was behind me. The door slammed behind us with a final sounding click, and I looked up at Jacob imploringly, begging him with my eyes not to make me tell about it. He simply crossed his arms over his chest, waiting. My eyes darted up to the man behind me, looking for any excuse not to talk about it.

"That's Sam. He's here so I don't lose my temper. Talk." I sighed, jerking my shoulders away from the man and making my way towards the living room. I plopped down on the couch, waiting till I heard Jacob enter the room before looking up.

"It was three years ago." My voice broke half way through the sentence, forcing me to start over. "I was on my way home with groceries, for thanksgiving, and I wasn't paying attention, so I got lost." My heart started to race as memories of that night resurfaced.

Flashback

The bags in my hands were heavier than they should have been, a product from carrying them longer than was supposed to happen. I looked around tiredly, finally realizing that I was no where near home, lost somewhere in the slums. "Great." I muttered. Setting down a handful of bags to retie back my overly curly hair. "This totally sucks." I picked the bags back up, even more angry now at myself for leaving my cellphone at home. Everyone knew it wasn't safe for a 14 year old to be alone this late. After a couple minutes of walking, I heard footsteps behind me. At first, I thought that it was simply my footsteps, echoing, but the tempo didn't match.

I sped up, wishing I wasn't encumbered by the heavy bags, and the footsteps sped up as well, sinking in the fear that I was indeed being followed. The footsteps sounded as if they were getting closer, and so I sped up, until I was near running. The person was so close now that I could almost hear their breathing, heavy and drunken. With a strangled cry, I swung a handful of bags at him, releasing all of them, and ran as fast as I could down a side alley. My tactic slowed him for only a moment, because before I could turn down another alley and lose him, he was on me.

Arms wrapped haphazardly around my waist, just loose enough that I was able to break away once and start running, before I was slammed against a wall. "Now come on, baby, don't be like that," He muttered against my neck as I struggled, sending a whiff of his stale breath into my face.

Jacob waited patiently as I recovered from the memory. "I was attacked. I tried to get away. I fought, but he was so much bigger than me. And drunk." My voice shook, and my eyes dropped to my hands, gripped so hard on the coffee table that the knuckles were going white. "It was horrible. He said so many things, and he stunk. I just wanted to throw up. And when he touched me-" I put my head between my knees, overcome with nausea. "He raped me." It was a whisper, the kind that would be killed on a slightly windy day, but I know my cousin heard it. From the way his already tense form tightened. From the way his dark face grew murderous, but I went on. Now that the words had started, they wouldn't stop.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I almost jumped out of the window of the hospital then and there. I was only fourteen! The nightmare could have been over. It would have been so perfect, but I don't have the courage to kill myself. I like life to much." My words verged on rambling, but I couldn't help it with the way my thoughts were beginning to scramble.

"Why didn't you get an abortion?" Jacob's rough voice was right in front of me. He absently pried my hands from the table and took them into his own, much larger ones. For a moment I could only stare at his dark hands, before looking up at him.

"I couldn't do that Jacob. You know that. It wasn't the baby's fault I was raped. Why should it die because of that? He may be the product of it, but that doesn't make him evil." Jacob nodded, understanding my logic, though clearly still angry.

"What happened to the man? Was he caught?" My cousin demanded to know, shaking my hands to keep my attention.

"Oh Jacob. Oh Jacob." It was this question that brought me to tears, as none of the rest had. I sobbed, surprising my cousin, though he drew me into his arms, waiting out the tears patiently.

"Jacob, he's dead! I don't know how! He'd just- just- the cops were coming. I guess somebody had seen him chasing me. He took out a knife." I sobbed loudly, burying my face in his chest. "He was gonna kill me, to save himself! I don't know what happened next. It's all black. The next moment the cops were there and I was splattered with blood. His blood. He'd killed himself. Stabbed himself with his own knife. That he was going to kill me with." My words collapsed in on themselves as they were dissolved with sobs. Jacob held me tightly, as if he was scared that if he let me go, something bad would happen again.

"Jacob, we have another problem." The voice came from the man, Sam I think his name was, somewhere near the door. Jacob looked up. I could feel the motion, being pressed up against him, and whatever he saw doubled his anger, till he was faintly shaking.

"Not her Paul. Tell me it's not her." Jacob growled, holding me even closer. "Tell me it's not my cousin. Not her." There must have been an affirmative answer, because my cousin growled menacingly. "If you take a step closer I'll kill you. I swear I will. Maybe later you can meet her, ass hole. Not now."

"Jacob." The new voice was rough with emotion, and it sent shivers down my spine. I dared a peek at the tall man who'd entered the room, to see that he was staring at me intently. "I'm sorry. You know I can't control it." Though he talked to Jacob, his eyes never left mine. "Can I-"

"Topi." It was my one word plea. This was all too much. I needed my son. My security blanket. Before anyone could respond, the man had rushed out of the room and towards the door. I buried my face in Jacob's chest, though only a moment later I could hear quick footsteps coming down the hall.

"Momma!" A small body was hurled against me and I pulled away from my cousin to hold Topi close. "Momma, are you wight? What's wong? Don't cwy momma." His words made me smile, if only slightly, to reassure him.

"I'm alright baby. Don't worry about me." I wiped away the tears that had started to form in his eyes, as Jacob examined him closely.

"He looks like you." Jacob said absently, his hand taking one of mine. "Almost exactly like you. And I can see bits of your dad in him." He ran his free hand through Topi's rusty red hair, the smallest smile growing.

Topi, in turn, glared up at my cousin, immediately pinning my distress on him. "Did you hurt my momma? If you hurt her, you'll be sowwy. Me and my uncle will come and beat you up." Jacob's face grew solemn.

"I promise I didn't hurt your mom. She's my cousin and very dear to me." Topi looked to me, and I nodded in agreement. The boy immediately brightened. "Tell you what Topi," Jacob started, and I knew by the glint in his eyes that he was planning something, most likely something I wouldn't like. "How would you like to come and help me with something. It'll make your mommy very happy." I eyed Jacob suspiciously as Topi heartily agreed, and followed him loyally towards the door. Jacob stopped in front of Paul, his eyes hardening into a glare.

"Five minutes. If you hurt her, I swear to god you die." With that, Jacob and Topi left, leaving me alone with the tall man, trying to figure out what in the world was going on. It was with a start that I noticed he was crouched in front of me, eyes roving over my face as if he was trying to burn it into his memory.

"I-" He stopped, seeming to be unsure of what he was trying to say. Taking pity on him, I extended my hand.

"I'm McCay." He watched me for a moment more, before grinning and taking my hand.

"I know." His hand was warm, as warm as my cousin's, and tight, but not uncomfortably so, and I knew immediately he could cause a lot of pain if he wished. "Jacob hasn't shut up about you since he learned that you were moving here. I also know that you're favorite color is green, you're a scorpio, you like watching the stars, and when you were ten the two of you pretended to be ghosts and ran around haunting people's houses. I'm Paul." My cheeks were crimson. I just knew it. My whole face was hot. It didn't help that Paul was laughing.

I muttered under my breath, many things about how Jacob would die in his sleep. Paul finally stopped laughing, and it wasn't till silence fell around us that I realized he still held my hand. My breath caught in my throat, my heart pounded faster, but I delicately pulled my hand out of his. "I-"

"Paul, times up!" Jacob stormed back into the room.

"That couldn't have been five minutes." He snapped, standing up.

"You're right. It wasn't. But she's my cousin." My cousin growled back.

I was getting angry, watching the two argue back and forth about me. "Hey." I snapped, standing up finally. "I'm right here, you know. You can't just argue about me like I'm a little kid who can't take care of myself. Jacob, I'm seventeen. I think I can decide who I want to hang out with." Jacob stared at me, eyes wide, mouth agape, as a smirk started on Paul's face. "And you." I turned on the other man, who started. "He's family. He's looking out for what's best for me. I don't know you. If he says that I shouldn't be around you, I'd probably take his advice." Paul too stared at me for a moment, before opening his mouth to speak.

"Hey, he can't keep me from you. Not now, because I've im-"

"McCay!" Paul never got to finish snapping at me, for at that moment Billy rolled into the room. From the look on his face, I could tell he'd heard the whole conversation. "You couldn't have found five minutes to call your uncle in all those three years?" I grinned sheepishly.

"I'm sorry Uncle Billy." I apologized as Topi appeared.

"Don't worry. I understand. Your dad's here. He says it's time for dinner." I nodded, taking Topi's hand and leading him out of the room without a single glance back at the occupants of the room.

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