I woke up to my dad talking to Sam and Paul in the kitchen. I could smell eggs and bacon. I got ready for the day and went downstairs. "I'm gonna go help Sam with some stuff today but Paul's gonna hangout with you. I feel bad leaving you alone already" Dad said as he handed me a plate. "Plus you two seem to get along and he offered to show you around". I looked over at him to see him stuffing his face with eggs and he smiled at me. Egg oozing out of his mouth. I made a disgusted look and laughed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw dad and Sam share a look. I told myself to remember to ask Paul if he knew what it was about later. As Sam and dad left, Paul and I put our dishes in the sink and cleaned up breakfast. "I figured I'd show you where the pack works when were not doing stuff for Sam, what we do in our free time, where we go" he said as we headed out the door. "That sounds great" I said getting into his truck.
"Seth and Leah's mom, Sue owns the hardware store on the Rez. She hires all of us to do stuff for people who need projects done when they buy things there. Jake and Seth are mechanics, me an Jared do construction, and Quil and Embry are painters. The rest of the pack works inside the store or goes to school."
"You and Jared build things?"
"Yea, why do you sound so shocked? Why is that so unbelievable?"
"You guys just don't seem like the building type...you seem like the destroying type" I smiled at him.
"Yea ok whatever. It's harder than it looks ok. You actually need skills. Unlike running around a field kicking a ball." He smirked at me.
"Hey! Soccer takes a lot of skill! You have to anticipate every move every person on the other team is going to make. It's strategy. Just. Like. Fighting. Vampires." I said. On the last four words I got closer and closer to his face until our noses were almost touching. We Were in a stare down. It seemed like minutes we were staring at each other. His eyes went down to my lips and back up to my eyes. Our trance was broken when a car honked in the parking lot. He whipped his head around and got out of the car. I did the same.
"So here it is. We'll go inside and you can meet Leah and Sue." The store was small. But stocked to the brim. There were isles and isles dedicated to paint, wood, car parts, and miscellaneous things. There were two women at the register. They were the same height but the younger looking one had chin length hair. They older one had hair almost all the way down her back. "Hey Paul I didn't think I'd be seeing you today" the older one said. "I'm showing Dakota's daughter around, Vic this is Seth and Leah's mom, Sue and this Leah." He pointed to the younger girl. They both smiled at me. "It's nice to meet you both" I said.
"It's nice to finally meet you. It's nice to put a face to the name, Paul never stops talking about you" Sue said. Paul have her a look and started rushing me out the door "well it's time for us to go. Places to go, people to see. I'll be in tomorrow afternoon." Paul yelled. I was laughing at his actions as I got in the truck. He turned the radio on and we continued down the road. We had the windows down because it was a relatively warm day for Washington. As we got farther down the road I started to smell salt and water. "Are we going to the beach?" I said with a confused look on my face. "Yea, we hangout there all the time."
"But I've already been there. Remember? We had breakfast? Played games?"
"Ok smart ass I know that I remember. Thanks" he said as he used his right hand to shove my head towards the window. "Were going to another spot at the beach we hangout at. Where recreational activities occur"
"Recreational activities?" I said with a smile on my face. He looked at me and stuck his tongue out "not THAT kind of recreational activity". He parked the truck and we got out of the car. We started walking towards the cliffs that lined the far end of the beach. We got to a trail that lead into the woods. He stopped in front of me and squatted "hop on. It's really bumpy, I don't want you twisting your ankle or anything"
"Ok" I said as I climbed onto his back. Warmth radiated from his back and arms. We trekked up the trail and came out to a little clearing on the end of a cliff. He put me down and pulled me in front of him. He had his hands on my elbows an walked us up to the very edge "it's called cliff diving. We run up to edge and jump off."
"Isn't that dangerous?" I asked.
"Only if you jump from a higher one. It takes a lot to hurt us, so we jump from the higher ones. When Kim and Emily come with we jump from here."
"Kim and Emily do this?!"
"Haha yea they only jump with Jared and Sam holding on to them but they do it"
"This is crazy"
"You wanna jump?"
"Your crazy"
"I promise I won't let you go" I silently stared at the ocean below, weighing my options. I could say no and we could leave and go somewhere else. Or I could be brave and say yes and have his warmth against me for longer.
"Ok" I exhaled. His arms moved from my elbows and wrapped around my waist. "Count of three" he said. "One, two, three". I screamed until I hit the water. It felt like I would never stop falling. My head went under and we kept going down from force. He unwrapped his arms from my waist and grabbed one of my hands and pulled us up to the surface. "Oh my god I'm freezing" I yelled. He laughed and pulled me to the shore. When we got out he pulled me into a hug. "Come on let's get you in the truck. We'll get you some dry clothes." We climbed into his truck an he pulled me against his side.
We pulled up to a small house not far from Sam and Emily's. It was a yellowish color with a wooden porch. "Who's house is this?"
"My grandma's. Shes home so you'll have to meet her but I figured you wouldn't mind" he said. We got out of the car and headed up the sidewalk. He opened the door and we walked into the living room. "Nona? Where are you?"
"Nona?"
"Hey I was four ok it stuck"
"In here Paul" came a shout from the kitchen. A short old woman was standing at the stove making something that smelled good in a pot. She turned around and faced us when we walked through the arch. "Oh hello" the woman said with a smile. "I didn't know you were bringing someone over Paul."
"Nona, this is Vic. Dakota's daughter." When he finished introducing me his grandma's face had an expression of understanding or recognition on it and she looked at him and her eyes darted from him to me twice before she looked at me full on. "It's nice to meet you Vic. Will you be staying for lunch?" I smiled at her "no Paul says a lot about you?" She made a confused look "that's what everyone else I've met so far said" they both laughed. "Why are you two all wet?" She asked. "Uh we went cliff diving" Paul said "we came to get dry clothes"
"Do you want lunch? I made soup" Paul looked at me for an answer and I turned to his grandma and nodded my head. She smiled and grabbed bowels from a cabinet. Paul grabbed my hand and gestured with his head down the hall. There were three rooms and a small closet down the hallway that lead to a back door. The closet was the first door we went past. The second was his grandmas room, the bathroom third, and Paul's room last. He opened the door and I immediately saw his bed up against the wall and a night stand in front of a window. I walked into the room a little and On the other side of his room was a closet an dresser. He was looking at me to see what I thought of his room. "It's not very personalized"
"Wull I'm not a ten year old girl"
"I know. I just imagined some video game posters, pictures or something"
"It just looks like a place for you to sleep. It doesn't look like YOUR room ya know"
"Yea well it is. If I did what I wanted to do with it my Nona would loose her head so" we laughed as he walked over to his dresser. He looked through the drawers and started pulling things out. "Here's some sweatpants. They're kinda small on me now so they shouldn't be too small on you. Here's a beater. It's from before I phased, can't be that big on you. If it falls off your smaller than I thought." I smiled at him and headed to the bathroom to change.
When I was done and had put my hair up into a bun, I opened the door and I heard them talking. "She seems like a very nice girl"
"Nona you only talked to her for five minutes"
"She's special to you, she has to be nice. She's definitely not like the other girls you've dated"
"Yea well were not dating yet so"
"Well don't take too long. The longer you take the harder it is"
"I'm gonna tell her tonight when I drop her off. She's the only one who doesn't know I don't want someone else spilling it". At that and my curiosity at full peak I opened the door the whole way and started down the hallway. Their conversation immediately stopped. "The shirt fits but I had to pull the string on the pants. I can turn the legs into full grown shoes. See?" I said as I lifted my foot. The cuff that was supposed to be around my ankle was underneath my foot. Paul and his grandma laughed. "Sit down and eat lunch with us, goof" he said. "Aren't you supposed to be in school? It is a school day right?" His grandma said. "Holiday. We have today and Friday off" I smiled. "I'm sure you are enjoying that"
"Yea I am. Today's been fun so far" I said as I smiled at Paul. We chatted over lunch for awhile and after we were all done Paul and I helped clean up an headed to his room. "So what's next on my the list of cool things to show Vic?" I asked as I jumped onto his bed.
"Well Kim works at this diner near the border if you wanna go there. We can get dessert"
"Yea! My apparel doesn't scare me" I laughed. I got up off of his and brushed up against him as I walked out to the hallway. He rolled off of the doorway and followed me down the hall. "We're leaving now" Paul yelled. "It was nice to meet you! Thank you for lunch, I hope we'll see each other again"
"Oh I'm sure we will" his grandma said with a smile on her face. "Your grandma's really nice" I said as we got to his truck." Yea she raised me after my mom got tired of dealing with my "shitty attitude". She dropped me off when I was 15 and never came back." He had a guarded look on his face so I decided to change the subject. "How old are you anyway?"a small smile crept onto his face. "Birth certificate says twenty four. I phased when I was eighteen."
"Wow. Your old" I said. He let out a puff of air and shook his head and looked at me while I stuck my tongue out at him.
"We're here dork". The diner was small. Like every other building here. We walked in and I was hit with lots of sounds and good smells. Kim spotted us from her spot behind the bar. We walked up and sat on stools in front of her. "Hey, what are you guys up too?"
"I'm showing Vic all our hot spots"
"Oh so you showed her your bed?"
"Ha ha Kim. And yea I did" Paul said as he reached behind the bar and grabbed a cherry from a jar in her hand. "Paul that's disgusting!" She yelled. He smirked at her as he plopped it in his mouth. "I want pie" I said looking at the treats in the display case. Paul and Kim both looked at me for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "What?" I asked, confused. Kim shook her head with a smile and grabbed me a piece an handed us two forks. "Three dollars"
"I got it" Paul said as he pulled out his wallet. "You know that makes this a date right" I said. He started at me for a few seconds and gave Kim a five all without looking away from me. I smirked at him and we started eating.
After saying by to Kim we started walking to his truck and his phone went off. After a short conversation he turned to me, "we're gonna have to cut this trip short. Sue needs me and Jared for some emergency work. I gotta take you home" I had to admit I was disappointed. I was starting to like Paul a little more than I was prepared for. The ride to my house was long but filled with chatter. We talked about our favorite shows and movies. Our favorite types of music and sports teams. It was the most we had talked all day. The most since we first met. We got to my house and he walked me to the door. "Thanks for taking me out today Paul, I had a lot of fun" I said. "Yea me too, hey before I go I gotta tell you something". He sat down on the side of the porch and looked down at his hands.
"Is gonna be one of those Sophie's choice conversations?" I asked. He gave me a weird look and stared at me for a few seconds. "A what?"
"Sophie's choice. Ya know where someone tells somebody they have to choose between something"
"Why would you think that I would do that? What would I even tell you to choose from?"
"I don't know but it stopped you from worrying about whatever it is that you do wanna tell me" I said with a smile as I sat down facing him. He shook his head at me and spoke to himself, "your so crazy". He sat for a few moments like he was trying to decide how to say whatever he wanted to say. "Just say it. If you think about it for too long you'll chicken out"
"I do not chicken out"
"There has to have been one time where you-" before I could finish my sentence he cut me off. "You know about imprinting right?"
"Yeaaa why? Do you need advice or something"
"No, I um, I imprinted on you, actually. Oh god that was not the way I wanted to say that" I stared at him for a few minutes while he had his freak-out. What could I say? I was drawn to him, falling even but I had only known him for a few days. But isn't that what imprinting does, ensures that you could never live without the other person by making you feel so connected. I knew how it worked. I could tell him what I wanted and he would accept it no questions asked. But then why was I so nervous to answer him? Why was I afraid to tell him that all I really wanted was a friendship? A protector? Because I knew that I wanted more, soon I would want more and wouldn't it make more sense to just have it all now?
"Well?" His question jolted me out of my thoughts. "Well I'm not gonna freak out if that's what your assuming"
"Before you really answer I just want you to know that I don't expect you to just want to up and accept everything right away and like date or anything"
"Haha well thank you" I said. "I think friends would be an awesome start though" I finished. It seemed as though he made a sigh of relief and gave a smile. "I would be honored" he said. "I'd stay and hang but I gotta go so"
"Yea yea emergency and all. So I'll see you tomorrow I guess?"
"Yea definitely, I got something planned" he yelled as he headed to his truck. I spent the rest of the night chilling in the house and watching tv. Around seven dad got home from helping Sam. "How was your day with Paul?" He asked. "It was fun. He showed me where he works, where him and the rest of the pack hangout."
"Well that's nice" he said as he sat down on the couch. "I met his grandma" he sat still for a while and stared at the tv. "Well that was a nice thing to do" he finally responded. "And you know what else?" I asked. He turned to me and made a face to signify that he was listening. "He told me that he imprinted on me"
"And what did you say?"
"I told him that I was flattered but I just kinda wanted to be friends right now" He nodded his head head at my response. "Your not gonna say anything?" I asked. "No. What can I say? I know what it is. I know what it means. Plus your almost an adult now. You can make your own decisions, and if you do ever need help I know you'll come ask. I trust you." I gave him a loving smile and a hug. For the rest of the night we watched tv.
A week had gone by since Paul told me about the imprint. The day after we went mini golfing in Forks. It was supposed to be just us but when the rest of the boys found out it turned into a group outing. The day after that I found out that I had made the soccer team. And earlier this week, dad had confessed to me that he was gay, in the same sentence that he told me Billy and his family would be coming over for dinner. We had a long conversation about mom and how they had both wanted a child and had decided to have me. My dad was my dad and that was all that mattered to me.
"I can't believe you lost the ball" said Jake. We were all at Emily and Sam's playing soccer. Jared and Paul had been put on different teams to prevent what had ultimately happened. They had conspired together and somehow kicked the ball together sending it deep into the woods. "Now what are we supposed to do?" He continued. "Well you could get off of your butt and stop crying and go find it" Jared said. Jake started to go at him and they scuffled playfully for a few seconds. "Guys calm down I have another one in my car" I said. After playing for a few more hours I decided to head home. "Hey can I hitch a ride from you?" Jake asked. "Sure get in" I said. Once we started down the road Jake seemed to get more and more anxious. "Spit it out" I finally said. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on you could get home faster if you ran but you chose to ride home so there's obviously something you wanna talk about"
"Ok I'm Gonna tell you something but you have to promise that you won't tell anyone else. I mean it not even Paul."
"Jacob I promise. What is it?"
"My dad told me something yesterday. I don't know how to handle it."
"Ok what did he tell you?"
"He told me that he was, well, like your dad" I paused for a second and took in what he had said. "You mean he's gay?" I asked. "Yea that"
"And what did you say?"
"Nothing really. I just kinda stared at him and went to my room"
"You didn't say anything?! Jake he could think you hate him!"
"I don't know how I feel about it yet! What am I supposed to say to him!?"
"That! You tell him you don't know how to feel about it and you need time to think." I said as we pulled up to his house. "Do you hate him for it?" I asked. "Do you hate yours?"
"No. My dads my dad. It doesn't make him not my dad. When I decide to date Paul he's not gonna hate me. Your dad doesn't hate you for imprinting on Renesmee. You don't have to like the situation you just have to accept it." He nodded his head at what I had said. "You don't think that, ya know, your dad and my dad..do you?" I hadn't even thought about it. The chance that they might be together and they might be telling us to prepare us. "I don't know Jake. Well worry about it if it happens ok?" I said. He nodded his head, thanked me for listening, and headed into his house.
When I got home dad was sitting at the kitchen nook working on papers for work. "Hey guess what?" I said "what?"
"Jacob told me something today about Billy" I was testing the waters. I didn't want Jake to be blindsided. I knew that it was something I could handle. But Jake, I wasn't so sure. "Oh yea what's that?" He paused before he answered but didn't look up. "Jake's trying to convince him to get rims for his wheelchair. He thinks he's starting to crack" he shook his head and continued on with his work. I headed up stairs and got ready for bed and texted Jake, "it's time to worry"