Chapter Three

Double Date with a Side of Third Wheel

Lilah's POV

I had eaten in front of him countless times since we met, so why was this night so different? Why did I feel so self-conscious, worrying about things like how I looked while I chewed my food, and whether or not I would dribble my clothes with my dinner, or even worse, what if I spent the meal talking to him, only to discover later on that I'd had food stuck in my teeth? Argh...this was absolute insanity! I could recall our third meal together when I had snorted with laughter over something he'd said and caused the iced tea that I'd been drinking to blow out of my nose, but here I sat, a bundle of nerves, as though we'd just met.

The festive atmosphere in the tiny bar and grill did little to calm me, even with the twinkling Christmas lights that were apparently a year-round feature and the group whooping and singing delightfully off-key to a Beatles tune in classic karaoke style. It was one of those places where everyone knew one another, where you felt welcomed and well cared for, but I just couldn't relax, I was too busy trying to remember my manners and not say anything stupid, while still remembering to enjoy myself.

Paul seemed to sense my uneasiness, his eyes kept darting to mine, and I was taken aback by the kindness, the concern, evident in their depths. I'd originally thought that he was a jerk, one in a line of many who had way too high of an opinion of themselves, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover who he really was. Of course, there were traces of a volatile temper present, something I recognized having the ability to blow my top as well, but the thing that made me feel as though I'd known him forever was his sense of humor, especially evident as he sat with his "brothers", teasing and laughing, reminding me of those I'd grown up with.

I'd been taken aback when he'd showed up at Mary's house with a party of three in tow, surprised and just the teensiest bit offended for a split-second, but as the night went on I found that I didn't mind that he'd arranged for us to double date with Sam and Emily, though Jacob's presence was still somewhat of a mystery to me. I knew from past experience that being the third wheel in a party was an awkward way to spend an evening, so I had to wonder why Jacob had consented to come along, especially when he looked so damned miserable.

There was a compatible spirit between them, a real feeling of fraternal bonding between Paul and Sam that wasn't present between him and Jacob. In fact, there seemed to be a hostile undercurrent with them and again I wondered why Jacob was there. It wasn't that I disliked him, when I looked beyond his general gloomy disposition, and the antagonism radiating from him toward my date, I found him to be very polite and likeable...but sad.

"You're kind of quiet tonight," Paul whispered, choosing to speak to me as I was sinking my teeth into my venison bacon cheeseburger, which I found delicious, despite my nerves. "You aren't regretting saying yes, are you?"

He kept his tone light, but I could tell that he was honestly worried. I would have reassured him immediately, had my mouth not been filled with partially masticated burger, so I made do with shaking my head vigorously, praying that none of my food slipped down and lodged in my throat in the process.

"Of course not," I answered, once I was capable of intelligible speech. "I'm having a wonderful time Paul...I'm just a little nervous is all."

His relief was instantaneous, lighting his eyes and curling the edges of his lips into a smile that I was quickly becoming very fond of, a boyish grin that seemed to take hold of me in several places, a couple which came as a complete surprise to me.

"Is it Jake?" he asked, turning to grace Jacob with a completely different smile, one that earned him an answering snarl. "His gloom and doom outlook on life lately is enough to make anyone uneasy...I think that it makes people afraid that it might be contagious."

I noticed Jacob tense in his chair and for one moment I worried that a fight was going to break out, but Sam quickly took charge of the situation, saving us from an unpleasant scene.

"Both of you need to calm down right now," he said, his voice radiating calm authority. "And quit being so damned touchy, alright?"

I could see how that applied to Jacob, the admonition to not be so touchy, but I couldn't imagine what it was that Sam thought Paul was being prickly about, teasing and confrontational perhaps, but not moody. I got the feeling that there was something being said between them, a conversation that required no words to be spoken, but that was silly, wasn't it? It wasn't as though they were psychic after all.

"It's none of you that made me nervous," I said, feeling the need to speak up, to explain myself. "You guys are all great and I'm having a wonderful time. I can't explain why it is that I feel nervous...I just do."

Emily rose from her seat beside Sam and came to sit next to me, placing her arm around my shoulder. It was a gesture that took me completely by surprise, and even more startling was that I almost instantly felt better. It was odd that I didn't really notice the gouges on her face anymore. She was such a lovely person, both inside and out, that it made her scars virtually invisible.

"There's no need for you to feel nervous, sweetie," she said, rubbing her hand up and down on my shoulder. "You're amongst friends, you're one of us and we all love you...isn't that right Paul?"

That was a question that would have terrified most guys, but Paul didn't look scared at all. He looked across the table at me, his eyes taking on that look that said that once more he was looking in me rather than at me. The first time it had happened the feeling had been disconcerting, unsettling to me, but as time had gone on I found that particular gaze mesmerizing, flattering, and it drew me like a moth to a flame.

"I guess that you could say that," he answered, his hand making its way across the table, his fingers twining with mine. "Though saying so might make Lilah even more jumpy than she already was."

His eyes held mine and I found myself breathing faster. I didn't understand why I was acting the way I was. Everyone else in the room...every single thing seemed to disappear and all that mattered was me looking at him and him looking at me. It was absolutely ridiculous for me to be acting this way, and somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that the other members of our group were watching us, and it should have mattered to me what they might have been thinking, but for some reason I could have cared less.

I was going to answer that no, it didn't make me nervous to know that I was thought of in that way by them...by him...but my intentions were interrupted by Sam announcing that we had better leave then, or run the risk of missing the movie. I reluctantly pulled my gaze...and my hand...away from Paul's and grabbed my purse, searching for the cash to cover my bill. It would have been easier if I had bought myself a wallet at some point, but I always just threw everything in all helter-skelter.

"What are you looking for in there?" Paul asked, chuckling as I tossed out Kleenex and gum, my brush and lipstick, obviously finding my predicament amusing. "It looks like you unloaded your whole room into that purse."

I ignored him as my hand closed around the ten that I'd been searching for with a triumphant "Aha!" I then went to grab my check, which had been placed next to my plate when Paul grabbed my hand again, not roughly per se, but definitely more commanding than he'd been before.

"Are you suggesting that I'm some kind of cheapskate?" he asked softly, with a hint of humor in his voice that eased the spark of temper that had flared in me when he'd grabbed hold of my hand. "What kind of jerk would I be if I let you pay for anything? After all I asked you out, not the other way around, sweetheart."

My daddy had always warned me about going out with men who refused to pay for everything on a date, and not just the first date, but all of them. So Paul would have certainly earned brownie points with him for his insistence that he would pay, though he would have earned a warning growl from my dad for his use of "sweetheart". I suppose that I should have taken offense as well, for him being so familiar with me, but I couldn't help but feel a warm little glow inside...I guess I wasn't much of a feminist.

"I wasn't trying to suggest anything," I answered, halfheartedly making the effort to pull my hand away from his, an attempt that he thwarted by linking his fingers between mine. "I just didn't want to make the assumption that you intended to pick up the tab...honey."

Paul's POV

I still wasn't completely sold on the idea of having my soul mate picked for me, leaving my opinion completely out of the equation, but all things considered, the more that I thought about it, the more I realized that my Lilah was a perfect match for me, the other side of my heart, the one I hadn't even realized was missing, as corny and cliché as that sounded.

There was no doubt that she was beautiful. It was true that my eyes were prejudiced, but I saw how guys looked at her. As a matter of fact I felt downright hostile most of the time because of the appreciative glances thrown her way. Her shy nature would have never caught my eye if she had been any other woman. Those bashful types were always too much trouble, too much work. You had to woo them with pretty words, taking your time, and I had never found that the frustration was worth it, once I got what I wanted, so I tended to stick to the brash chicks, the ones whose intentions to get laid were evident in their eyes...or at least I had before I met my Lilah...now just the thought of those girls made me kind of sick to my stomach.

She was a nice girl, such a weak word, I know, but it fit her and she had a good sense of humor. I guess that she had to have one in order to put up with Sonny's presence in her everyday life, didn't she? She didn't hesitate to stand up to anyone, not even me, and she could cook anybody under the table. Long story short, she was a girl who possessed the face of an angel on a body made for sin, a woman who would fill my life with happiness, who didn't know it yet, but she would one day be my mate and I would love seeing her round with my babies.

We were sitting in the front seat of my '72 Dodge Challenger, me behind the wheel, my Lilah in the passenger seat and Sam, Emily and Jacob in the back. The drive-in wasn't the classiest place in town, but I enjoyed the freedom of sitting in the car while we watched a flick, with no people milling around us. We got a good place up front and parked, then sent Jacob, pissing and moaning like an old woman as he walked away, to get us some popcorn and sodas.

They were playing Dracula, the '92 version with Gary Oldman, and there had been a good deal of internal ribbing between Sam and me about the irony of it all. We'd tried our best to include Jacob in the joking, but he was having none of it, the pouty little baby. He was too damn busy being lovelorn for that leech lover Bella Swan, and he especially didn't appreciate any teasing that had to do with bloodsuckers.

The movie was in its opening reels; the screen filled with Vlad Dracula laying the spank down on the Turks, but not before his wife got the false report that he had been killed in battle, and pitched her body off of a parapet, wishing to reunite herself with her lost love. Then Dracula went on a tear, desecrating a chapel and renouncing God, the dumbass, all because they told him that his wife was damned for committing suicide. I was fairly certain that there was little to no truth to the tale, but I couldn't help but think of that Swan chick and her relentless need for her leech, and I scoffed at Jacob's need for this girl, who would never want him the way that he wanted her to.

Why don't you just mind your own business Paul? It's none of your damn concern, and besides which, it's not like Lilah belongs to you either, but all of our heads have been filled with her name, and her face, and her body for the past week.

I bit back a snarl, not wanting to call attention to myself, and gritted my teeth. It was true that it wasn't my business, even though every member of the pack had been hearing about it for what seemed like forever. The worst part of what he said was the bit about her not belonging to me. That had to be the hardest thing about this whole imprinting business. I felt as though she belonged to me, she was in every thought I had, hell; I was consumed by her, but that fact didn't guarantee that she'd ever want me, let alone love me.

At least when I think of my imprint everyone's not forced to endure images of a leech loving dimwit. My imprint Jacob...tell me something...is she your imprint, or is Bella Swan just some chick that you're hot for, but who won't give you any? I have a pretty good idea that you wouldn't know what something like what Sam feels for Emily, or what I feel for Lilah is like, even if it was to take a bite out of your ass, so spare us the whole "down in the dumps" bullshit, ok? It's getting really freakin' old, you know?

The grumble that had been growing in his chest intensified 'til he was snarling, lunging at me from the backseat, only to be stopped mid-lunge by Sam, who threw him back against the seat. Jacob wanted to fight back against him, and if I hadn't known better I would have sworn that Sam wanted him to defy him, maybe to put Jacob into his place once and for all.

I've already had to tell you both to calm down once this evening, and now I have to tell you again. Was there mud in your ears the first time, or were you just wanting to test your limits a little bit? Paul, you need to leave off with the whole "leech lover" bit, ok? Jacob's feelings are his own, even if we don't like them or understand them, or agree with them. And as for you Jake, you need to bring yourself down a notch or two and quit being so damned sensitive all the time. You know what the pack's feelings toward Bella and her relationship with the Cullen's is and you have to know why it is that we feel that and stop getting upset if we can't wrap our heads around your situation, alright?

We both got the picture and settled back against our seats, my attention turning to Lilah, who was pretending to watch the movie as opposed to the tension that had been playing out between me and Jacob. As for Jake, he turned to stare out his window, still pouting, but not as obviously as he had before. Sam directed his attention back to Emily, capturing her lips with his own, and aw, crap...was that his hands taking hold of her boobs? I verified that it was and feeling slightly nauseated I turned my gaze back to something more pleasing, namely, my Lilah.

She'd returned most of her concentration to the screen, where Mina had just arrived at the home of her friend Lucy, but every now and then her eyes would dart my way. The first couple of times I pretended that I didn't notice, but the third time I met her gaze and smiled as she jumped a little in her seat, blushing prettily, then returning her eyes to the movie. I felt my smile grow as I reached across to take hold of her hand, twining our fingers together. Hers were slightly greasy from the butter of the popcorn and I was seized by an almost overwhelming desire to place the tips into my mouth and lick the buttery flavor away, but I resisted the urge, knowing that I'd probably scare her half to death if I did that.

I really wasn't paying all that much attention to the movie; I was too wrapped up in Lilah, when suddenly the sound of a woman moaning in an orgasmic fashion flooded the car. I instantly gripped Lilah's hand, hard, and didn't relax my hold until I heard her whimper painfully, which made me loosen my grip instantly. The first thing I thought was that Sam and Emily had gotten out of control with their touchy feely business, but then I realized that the sounds were coming from the car radio, from the movie and my eyes traveled to the screen, where a scene was playing out that couldn't have been worse, not from a first date, or from a shape shifter point of view.

Dracula, being the nasty perv that he was, had taken on a werewolf like appearance, which was a freakin' insult to all of us who had our own hairy moments and took down leeches in the process, and had made his way onto the grounds that belonged to the luscious Lucy's parents, beckoning her to him in the garden so that he could...er...have his wicked way with her.

It was bad enough that we could hear every single moan and gasp as he took her, but even worse was the fact that along with Mina we watched as he thrust and plunged between her thighs, taking her very thoroughly and marking her with his teeth. Though I was embarrassed I found myself responding, and suddenly Lucy's hair turned dark and her skin took on a golden glow and just like that she was Lilah, and the werewolf, the freakin' Dracula wolf, turned from black to silver and it was me who was between her thighs, between Lilah's thighs, and she was writhing beneath me, crying out in pleasure as I surged into her body again and again-

"You're hurting me."

Her voice was tiny in the car, the first words that she'd spoken since we'd arrived at the drive-in, and I looked down, cringing when I saw the whiteness of my knuckles, knowing how hard I was gripping her hand, hard enough to crack her bones, and I wondered how long I'd had a death grip on her. I slowly raised my eyes to her face, scared that I would see pain in her eyes, or even worse, tears, but thankfully they were clear, maybe just a tiny bit apprehensive, but also a tiny bit amused, and under it all, the smallest flare of heat, the kind that had nothing to do with anger and everything to do with arousal.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," I whispered, feeling a gamut of emotions coursing through me, anger and remorse for hurting her, residual embarrassment from the scene that we'd witnessed, and my reaction to it, and a surge of desire for her that was so strong that Jacob and Sam both scented it as well, rumbling deep in their throats, a growl of disgust from Jake and one of amusement from Sam. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

She smiled and rubbed her thumb over the back of my hand, a caress that felt so good that she may as well have kissed me there. "I know...honey," she answered, linking her fingers with mine, returning her attention to the screen.

The rest of the movie played out with me paying very little attention, even though there was a chase scene and several decapitations. I only had eyes for the girl sitting next to me, and I discovered that it was much more interesting to watch her, watching the movie than anything that played out on the screen and before I knew it the movie had ended and it was time to go home.

We all chatted about the film, making derogatory comments about Dracula, such as how sissified, how girly he was in the movie...well...at least Sam and I were. Emily didn't have much to say, she just had lots of smiles for Sam, Jacob didn't say anything and Lilah just looked back and forth from me to the backseat, grinning occasionally, but mostly looking as though she disagreed with our opinion of the bloodsucker.

"What did you think of the movie Lilah?" I asked, turning the key in the ignition, bringing the car to life. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Oh, I loved it," she said enthusiastically, fastening her seatbelt and straightening in her seat. "I just love watching Gary Oldman...he's so sexy."

I stared at her in disbelief, jealousy, which was an uncommon emotion for me, coursing through my body, attacking me from all angles. My girl, my Lilah, thought that a freakin' leech was sexy-

Well, shit...that was just great.