"Dream the same thing every night/I see our freedom in my sight/No locked doors, no windows barred/No things to make my brain seem scarred."
—Welcome Home, Metallica
Chapter 3
Beachside Babysitting and Finding Old Friends
Giana's POV
A repetitive knocking on the door wakes me from my deep slumber. I grudgingly walk to the door, wiping the sleep from my eyes. Another, louder knock makes me scowl.
"Who is it?" I ask.
No answer.
"Who is it?" I ask again.
Still, no answer. I think on it for a while before opening the door. My parents stand in the doorway. My father has his arm around my mother's waist and a smile on his face. Something looks wrong, though. Still, I let them inside, and we enter the living room.
"So…Mom, Dad…What time is it?" I ask.
They don't answer. My father looks as if he wants to, but he can't will his mouth to form the words.
"Okay, um, why are you here?" I ask.
"What—do you not want us to visit?"
"No, I—"
"You ungrateful child! Just like your father! You can never just appreciate what you have!"
Suddenly, she grips my father by his throat, and he starts gasping for hair. The color drains from his flesh, and he falls to the floor, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He's dead.
"And you!" my mother turns her glare to me. "You'll end up just like him!"
Her hand darts out to grab my throat—
And I wake up.I was covered in a cold sheen of sweat, and my body was trembling terribly. Tears ran down my face, and a few drops fell into my mouth when I gasped upon awakening. I was used to all of this now, though. I had the same dream, night after night; nothing could make it go away.
The bright red dialogue numbers next to me read 3:56AM. I let out a groan, for I knew there was no way I'd be able to fall back asleep. Instead of sleeping, I decided on taking a shower to relax my muscles a bit. I let the hot water run down my back, easing my tension and stress. I had to end up sitting down on the tub's bottom because of the pain in my leg. I stayed sitting in the shower until the once hot water ran down my body.
That morning ran in a blur. After my shower, I got dressed and curled up in my bed, draped in half a dozen blankets. At around five in the morning, I drove over to a diner that I remembered from my childhood, and after that, I started unpacking at home. By noon, I was an epitome of the walking dead, my eyes half closed from sleep. I spent the remainder of the day curled in a ball, with my left leg stuck out, lying in the soft heap of blankets on my bed.
I didn't normally spend my days like this when I was in New York. The nightmare was nothing new to me; it happened every night. I guess it was the fact that I was back in La Push that made that nightmare seem so surreal. It was as if that by being there, my father would be at my side when I awoke in tears, and he would assure me that it was all just a dream. But I couldn't hope for that anymore, and being at home didn't atone for my far-fetched hopes. My father was dead, and my mother hated me. There was nothing more to it.
That night, I drove to Bella's and Charlie's house to pick Bella up. It was pretty windy out, so I dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans, and long-sleeved thermal, and a black bomber jacket. I pulled on my Chucks and strapped on my brace before hobbling out to the truck. Of course, I had to pull the brace off to get my leg to fit between the seat and the pedals. The forty-five minute drive seemed like pure agony to me, though.
Once I got to Bella's house, I strapped my brace back on and limped to the front door.
"Giana!" Charlie exclaimed, embracing me in a hug.
I chuckled. "Hey, Charlie. Long time no see."
"What happened to your leg?"
"Oh, I fractured my tibia."
"You should've told me that! I wouldn't have made you drive over here if you were hurt."
"It's fine, Charlie. Um, where's Bella?"
"She's just finishing getting ready. Thanks for doing this, by the way. I'm glad I have someone to watch Bella, make sure she's alright."
"Yes, sir, I can do that."
He smiled. "We missed you around here, Giana. I'm really glad you're back. Maybe now you'll remember your family a bit more?"
"Yes, I will."
"Good. Remember me, too."
I chuckled. Charlie wasn't my real uncle, but he'd known my father, and the two of them had been really close. He and Bella were like family to me.
"You know I consider you family, Charlie," I said.
"I know, but I just wanted to make sure."
Bella walked down the stairs then, looking kind of nervous. She smiled when she saw me.
We exchanged pleasantries before telling Charlie goodbye and going back to my truck.
"I'm sorry about your leg," she apologized after we'd been driving for a few minutes in silence."
"You didn't fracture it; don't apologize," I said simply. "So, I have to keep an eye on you all night, so don't do anything dangerous. Got it?"
She nodded. "Don't worry, danger isn't really my thing."
The rest of the ride was taken in silence. When we finally got to First Beach, Bella reluctantly got out the car to join her friends. A guy with spiky blonde hair was showing her how to make a driftwood fire when I limped to them.
"Oh, you must be Bella's cousin," the kid said, smiling up at me.
I nodded as I sat down. "Yup," I answered simply.
"I'm Mike Newton."
"I'm four years older than you."
An Asian guy started laughed. "Oh, burn," he laughed.
I sighed and lay back, resting my head on one of the logs sitting around the fire.
This is going to be loads of fun, I thought sarcastically, Babysitting teenagers is exactly what I wanted to do on my first day back home.
Not long after we got there, a group of natives joined us. Among them, were three guys who looked about my age, give or take a year or two. I was thankful that I wasn't the only one who was legally of age there.
"Hey, Giana, I'm going to go on a walk with Jacob," Bella told me.
I looked up at her. Standing by her side was a tallish boy with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Hi, I'm Jacob Black," he said.
Jacob Black? I used to babysit Jacob before I moved.
"Is your dad Billy?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, he talks about your dad all the time."
I sighed. "Alright, just don't let her fall or anything. Charlie will freak."
He laughed. "Sure, sure."
The two walked away, talking amongst one another. One of the three older guys walked up to me then.
"Hey, Giana Meraz, right?" he asked.
"That's me," I answered. "You are?"
"Sam Uley. I—"
"Sam? Like, the same Sam Uley I grew up with—sort of grew up with?"
"That's me." He chuckled.
I stood up, holding my arms out to balance myself. Sam wrapped an arm around my waist and helped me steady myself. I wrapped him in a hug.
"Why didn't I think of calling you?" I thought aloud as I stood back and looked up at him.
He was tall, a lot taller than me. He couldn't be under six-feet tall. His deep brown—almost black—eyes accented his russet tanned skin, and his black hair was cropped just above his ears. He wore only a pair of jean cut-offs, which hung low on his hips. His chest was sculpted perfectly, six pack, Pecs, the works. I tore my eyes away from ogling his fantastic body to gaze into the deep pools of his eyes.
"You just moved in last night, right?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah. Did you see what Lydia did to my father's house? She's insane!"
"Yeah, yeah, I saw that. We tried to talk her out of it, even."
"Crazy bitch never listens. She just doesn't know that she'll be paying for it to be redone again."
"And how does that work?"
"Well, she's probably at bar down in Hawaii, so if she's drunk enough, she'll agree to anything."
He laughed, a sound that rang musical in my ears.
"So, what brings you out here? I'd think you would be unpacking," he asked, "Or, at least lying down. What happened to your leg?"
"Oh, I fractured my tibia," I said, shrugging.
"And she's watching Bella tonight," one of Bella's so-called friends drawled.
"What's that supposed to mean, kid?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just, everyone loves Bella. She's the shiny new toy in Forks."
She turned and looked at Sam. After undressing him with her eyes, she walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. For some reason, this made me extremely jealous. I glared at her.
"I'm sorry, who are you again?" I snapped, grabbing her hood and pulling her off of Sam. Sam seemed pretty happy about that, by the way.
"Who are you again?" she sneered, "Because to me, you just look like some annoying little New Yorker who has a horrible tan and shouldn't be here."
Sam glared down at the girl, as did I look.
"Look, kid—" I began.
"Don't talk to her like that," Sam growled, "And get out of here, kid. You don't know what you're doing."
"Kíka."
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. His skin was burning hot, and he was shaking slightly. The girl walked away quickly.
"I hate kids," I groaned. "Horrible tan? The dumbass doesn't know what Native skin looks like, does she?"
Sam just nodded. He was rigid, still slightly shaking.
"Hey, you alright?" I asked, looking up at him.
"I'm fine," he lied.
I didn't push it, though. He took his arm from around me as his two friends walked up.
"Hi, I'm Paul," one said as the other one introduced himself as Jared.
"Giana," I answered, smiling.
"So, that's your name," Jared snickered.
Sam smacked him upside the head, causing him to mumble an apology. I laughed.
The four of us started talking about how things had changed on the rez, but Bella interrupted us after a few minutes.
"Um, Giana?" she murmured.
I looked at her. She looked confused. "What happened?" I asked.
"Nothing. I just, um, can we go home?"
I sighed. "Yeah, go get in the truck. I'll be there in a minute."
Bella slowly walked back to my truck. I turned back to Sam.
"It was great seeing you again, but I have to drive Bella home," I explained.
"With your leg like that? I'll drive her," he offered.
"Oh, you don't have to do that, Sam. I just drove across country, I can—Scratch that, I just drove across the fucking country; I don't need to drive forty-five minutes to Forks. Would you mind?"
He smiled. "Not at all. Let's go."
We started walking to my truck. Halfway there, Sam lifted my arm up around his shoulders and wrapped his around my waist.
"You shouldn't walk on that leg," he said as we started walking again.
"Well, I can't just sit at home all day," I stated simply.
"How much longer do you need to wear that?"
"I have to schedule a doctor's appointment for two weeks from now, and they'll tell me if it's better. So, I'm not sure."
I had to pause for a minute because of the pain that shot through my leg. Sam sighed and picked me up bridal style, cradling me in his arms, causing me to laugh.
"Sam!" I exclaimed, still laughing.
"You can't walk like that, so I'm carrying you," he stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
I just laughed again, and he carried me the rest of the way to my truck. Bella quickly crawled over to the backseat so Sam could set me down in the passenger's seat.
"Why thank you, Mr. Uley," I teased.
"My pleasure, Miss Meraz," he played along.
I laughed. "Oh, do you want to help when I redo the house?"
"Yeah, sure thing. No problem."
"Thanks. I want to at least honor my father, you know? Lydia never should've done that to his house."
"Chaske was a good man, Giana. You should take pride in being his daughter."
I hadn't been spoken to of my father's death in years; hell, I hadn't spoken of him in general since God knows when.
"I do every day, Sam, every day. … Not a day goes by that I don't think about what would have happened if hadn't died."
Sam just nodded and left me to my thoughts. The drive to Bella's place remained in silence; all the while I was contemplating my life. Things would have been so much different if Father hadn't died. My mother never would've become a drunk, nor would she have moved me away from my home on the rez. I would have had the life of the typical girl on the rez: I would've grown up listening to my tribe's legends every night; I would have gotten into fixing cars, like every guy on the rez does; Father would have taught me how to make a drum, and I wouldn't have had to learn how to on my own. My life would have been better. I would have learned so much about my heritage. My father's house wouldn't have been turned into the monstrosity that my mother managed to turn it into. I wouldn't be constantly shaken by gruesome nightmares every night.
"Giana?" Sam's deep, gentle voice yanked me out of my reverie.
My head snapped up, and my eyes met his. We stayed like that for a moment, for I couldn't seem to be able to tear my eyes away from his.
"Aɫilàchid?" he murmured.
I shook my head. "Tsaɫili."
I shivered from the cold wind that blew in from the rolled down window. I then realized that we were parked in front of Bella's house, and Bella was just closing the front door. I groaned.
"Fuck," I sighed.
"What's wrong, honey?" he asked.
"I completely just fucked that up."
"You didn't, Gi. She was off in her own little world, too."
He pulled out the driveway and started driving back towards La Push. He'd rolled the window up, but I was still freezing.
"You know, I'm pretty warm over here," Sam offered with a chuckle.
I scooted over to him and allowed him to wrap his arm around me. He was beyond warm; this man was hot (both figuratively and literally). I didn't ask about his temperature, though, because he seemed unfazed by it.
"So, are you alright?" Sam asked quietly after we'd been driving in silence for a while.
I shrugged. "I'm fine. I was just…thinking," I murmured.
"You sure?"
"No, not really, but I'll be fine."
His arm tightened around me, causing me to snuggle closer to him. In that moment, I knew there was a reason that I'd come home, a real reason why I dragged myself back to the rez. And I was determined to figure it out.
a/n- so i know that no one is reading this, but i like to post. thanks, gillie! _Jess