Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the thing you don't recognize! Song credit to Sum 41

Thanks for all of the responses already! I will be continuing this, but as of right now I have no idea how it is going to turn out. Who knows? I might surprise you all; especially with the thoughts I have been having about this story. I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out :D

"Seems like each time

I'm with you I lose my mind

because I'm bending over backwards to relate"

In Too Deep

"You."

"You!" I yelled in reply.

"Whoa, what's going on here? You guys know each other?" Embry asked obviously amused at the little face off we were having.

"You're Cady's sister?" He asked in a way that made me wonder whether I should be offended or not.

"You know Seth?"

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Cady asked with a forced smile. She knew how agitated I was already and she hadn't even seen my face.

"This guy," I began as I angrily pointed in Paul's direction, "and I had a little confrontation in the grocery store when he left his infant daughter alone in a carrier in a shopping cart!"

"Daughter?" Embry and Cady interrupted with amused looks on their faces.

"You are the busy body that put her nose in where it doesn't belong." Paul countered.

"Just because this is a small town does not mean that there aren't the type of people around that would take your baby. What does her mother think about that huh?"

If it was possible, Paul's face grew even darker as both Cady and Embry's giggles abruptly stopped and suddenly I was wondering if yelling at this guy I hardly knew was a good idea.

"She's dead." And with that he stormed away, his hands shaking.

Yeah, I had definitely crossed a line. I usually wasn't like that, but there was just something about him and this situation that seemed to bring out the worst in me.

"Sadie." Cady sighed. "Let me tell you something."

I nodded as she grabbed my hand and led me away from the group. The laughter was distant now and the heat of the fire no longer touched my skin, causing me to shiver in the cool night air.

"I can't believe I did that." I groaned.

"The baby you saw Paul with…she's his niece. Paul's older sister and her husband were killed last month in an accident and left Paul with the baby. So for right now he's alone in raising her until her other guardian finishes up his graduate work. Paul's had a hard time adjusting, but he really does love her, Sadie. I know that what you saw probably looked pretty bad, but I know he would never let anything happen to her; he's just that kind of guy."

Wow… I felt like a total douche.

"I need to apologize to him."

"Right now may not be the best time to do that. But for now let's go get some food and have fun."

I really did try to have fun and for a while I did, laughing with Seth's friends and enjoying some pretty good food. But then Paul returned to the fire and Emily immediately handed him what I knew now to be his niece, Grace. Grace had to be the cutest baby I had ever seen, given my limited contact with babies. She was chubby all over and with her big dark brown eyes it was easy to see why most of the guys around the fire fawned over her. Especially Paul.

Once she was in his arms she smiled up at him and slapped a hand against his chest happily. I watched as he smiled in return before planting a kiss on her forehead; yet again cementing the fact that I was a total douche bag.

With that in mind I stood up and made my way over to where he sat with Grace in his arms. He looked up as I approached, his eyes a mixture of emotions. He didn't look angry, but that may have been because he had a baby in his arms.

"I know you probably don't want to be anywhere near me right now, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I honestly don't know what came over me…well that's a lie. I do know what came over me, but it wasn't about you. That situation just brought up some old issues and I had no right to take them out on you. So yet again I'm sorry."

Paul didn't say anything at all, instead he just looked into my eyes and I found that I couldn't look away. Maybe if he looked enough he would realize just how bad I felt about what happened. Just when his penetrating gaze was starting to get to me, he finally spoke.

"You're definitely not like Cady."

I almost asked why, but in the next second he was already answering my unspoken question.

"She would never stand up to someone she doesn't know about something she obviously feels passionately about."

* * *

We hadn't heard from him in over ten years. My sister and I liked to pretend that we had reached the point where we didn't care anymore, but we both know that wasn't true. But it was easy to pretend when we didn't need him, so when the time came along that we did…it was like we were transported back in time to that day.

So when I found Cady curled up on the couch crying, clutching a picture of Dad holding the two of us as toddlers, I knew she was having one of those moments. Seth had already left for work and I was pretty sure Mom was in the shower, leaving the two of us alone in the living room.

"Hey." I said softly.

Cady looked up and wiped the stray tears off her face, "Who's going to walk me down the aisle?"

I sat down next to her and slung my arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry about that, I'll find you someone much worthier to walk you down the aisle to Seth."

"Thanks, Sadie."

"No problem. Now go clean up before Mom walks in and demands to know what's going on."

She chuckled before she stood up with the picture and disappeared back into her room. I sat there for a minute before I realized I had no idea who could walk Cady down the aisle. Our Mom was an only child and we had had no contact with Dad's family in years, so Uncles were out. I would have to find someone on the reservation, someone besides Seth that she loved to be around.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of the phone. I sat there while it rang once, twice, and three times. When it seemed that Cady wasn't going to answer it, I reached out and picked it up myself.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cady, I need Seth to look over some numbers for me."

"Uh, this is Sadie and Seth is at work. Can I ask who's calling?"

"Paul. Can you give my message to Seth?"

"Wait, did you say numbers?"

"Yeah."

"If you need help right away I could help you; I'm an accountant."

There was a long pause on the other line as he obviously thought it over. Even though I had apologized to him I didn't expect us to be all hunky dory or anything like that.

"Alright, come to 215 Pine Lane as soon as you can."

After I quizzed him about how to get there we hung up which left me to think about why I had offered my help in the first place. I obviously was not going to get paid since I volunteered my services like that and who knew if the two of us would get into a scuffle again or not?

"Where are you going?" Cady asked as I slipped on my shoes.

"To help Paul with some numbers."

One of her eyebrows shot up and she asked curiously, "Really?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

The walk to Pine Lane was a short one, thankfully since it happened to be raining outside. Paul's house was a small little two story, painted a cheerful yellow; setting it apart from the blues and grays I'd seen all over the place.

When Paul opened the front door, Grace was resting on his shoulder dressed in a onsie, drool dripping out of her mouth and onto the little blanket he had thrown over his shoulder. After I noticed the baby in his arms I took in just how disheveled and harassed he looked. His short black hair was sticking up in every direction, and his shirt was covered in food and throw up stains.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm great."

"Liar." I said as I pushed past him into his house.

It was a mess of baby toys, shoes, and dirty dishes on the tables. He was definitely a mess and I felt like even more of a jerk for yelling at him last night.

"Listen before we start on those numbers you have for me, how about you go shower and I'll watch Grace and straighten things up around here?"

His face darkened, "That's not why I agreed to your help; I can take care of my house and niece."

"I'm not saying you can't, but I would feel much better knowing that I've done more than numbers for you."

When that didn't seem like it was going to crack him I pulled out the best puppy dog eyes I could muster and said simply: "Please?"

He huffed, "Fine."

Once he handed Grace over and headed up the stairs I set to work. I really didn't have much experience with babies, but Grace seemed to like me. After I changed her diaper, and put her in a little outfit I found folded in a laundry basket, I set her in the play pin in the corner of the living room and set to work cleaning up.

By the time Paul came down the stairs in a fresh pair of clothes and wet hair, Grace was sleeping soundly in the play pin and the whole downstairs looked completely different from when I had first stepped foot into the place.

"Thank you." Paul said quietly, so as to not wake the baby.

"No problem; now where are these numbers you have for me?"

He owned his own business, well more like he was his own boss. At first I was surprised, but once it became clear just what his business was it didn't surprise me too much. The picture of him in a tool belt renovating people's bathrooms and what not seemed completely natural for Paul Riverly.

"Everything seems to be in order; although if I were you I wouldn't be giving so many breaks to people."

"They're my friends."

"I understand that, but if you're not careful your kindness will be your financial loss." I pointed out gently. "I would also advice a better organization system."

"What's wrong with what I'm doing?" Paul asked defensively.

I rolled my eyes at him, "A shoebox is not organization."

"Well, I don't exactly have the time for organization."

The defensive tone in his voice was starting to hinge on anger, and that was not what I had intended at all. I was simply giving my professional opinion, just as I would to any other client.

"Look, I wasn't trying to insult you. In fact you don't have to do anything I suggested, but you'll be sorry."

"Then I'll be sorry!"

"Yeah I guess you will!" I yelled back before I stood up and stormed out of the house.

I seriously contemplated slamming the door, but I didn't want to wake up Grace. I was mad at the guy, but not that cruel. He was so defensive!

"You look like you ate something sour."

I looked up from where I had been muttering under my breath as I marched back to Cady and Seth's. Embry was at the end of the drive watching me with an amused smile on his face.

"What the hell is his problem?!"

"Paul's?"

"Yes, Paul's." I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

Embry chuckled, "You'll learn Paul's ways sooner or later."

"He had no right to get angry at me; I was just trying to offer him helpful suggestions."

Embry continued to laugh, "Oh Sadie, I have a feeling this summer is going to be pretty interesting for you, and entertaining for the rest of us."