Author's Note: Hey again guys! Dude it's like 2:42 AM and I am dead tired. I tried to make this one a little longer than usual to (hopefully) tide you over until Saturday or whenever my next update will be. Work sucks. DX Anyway, enough of my complaining. Thanks for the reviews guys! Am I moving things between Ina and Jake too slow or is it okay? Not boring anyone am I? I sure hope not. -gulp- let me know if I am though! Goodnight!...or should I say good morning? Anyway. Please enjoy, review, rant, whatever you feel like doing! Thanks so much!

Chapter 4

The rest of the week seemed to drag by at an impossibly slow rate. Not only was I stuck at home because Nilly wouldn't let me go to work, but I was afraid to leave the house. Ever since the day Jake left, the giant dog shadow had sat outside my window between the hours of whenever my light went off until at least two am. Once it settled down it rarely moved, except when I made a noise or got out of bed, then it tried to hide until it thought I was asleep again I supposed. I sat watching it, wide eyed with fear and wonder until it finally went away, but even then it was hard to sleep. I was afraid to talk to Mom or Jathan about it because they would probably think I was crazy. So I decided to call someone who already thought I was crazy Thursday night as the shadow sat itself in its usual spot. I pulled my phone off of the nightstand and slid it open as quiet as possible and dialed Paul's number, keeping my eyes on the shadow. Its ear twitched slightly as Paul's phone rang, but it didn't move. It took a while for Paul to finally answer, and he sounded a little breathless.

"Ina? What are doing calling this late? You okay baby?" he asked hurriedly.

"Yeah Paul I'm okay but I need you to come check my house. I promise I'm not crazy, but for the past few nights there's been a shadow cast on my window of a huge dog or wolf maybe, I'm not sure. But it really scares me."

He was silent for a few moments, and I whispered his name a few times before he answered.

"Well, there have been rumors of wolves around the area lately. How big is it?"

I quickly gaged the size of the creature's head.

"Huge. I can only see its head right now but it's at least as big as a horse."

"Mhmm. Right."

"Paul, I'm not crazy!" I whisper shouted. The creature's head swiveled to the side and I 'eep!'-ed.

"Well, let me, uh, get my gun and I'll come check okay?" he said. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Wait you have a gun?"

"In my pants, and it's always loaded."

"Paul you pervert! I don't know why I even called you, you're the stupidest, most perverted, idiotic—" click. I stared at my phone for a few moments before rolling my eyes and went back to watching the dog…thing…

After a few minutes its head swivelled to the other side and its ears perked up. It stood up suddenly and I heard its paws thumping against the ground as it ran away. Holy crap, it was real after all, unless my ears were deceived too. I jumped as another, more human shadow appeared at my window and I heard I knock. I got up and peeked through the blinds before throwing my window open.

"Wow you really came," I gasped in disbelief. There stood Paul with a shotgun in his left hand in all his shirtless glory. He scowled in the direction the wolf had run off to, then remembered I was there and smiled. "I didn't see anything," he smirked.

"Because it ran away! Look I bet there's paw…prints…" I looked down and saw the ground as smooth as ever, no trace of hair or paw prints or anything. "It was here I swear!" He rolled his eyes and threw the shotgun at me (isn't that a little dangerous? Thanks Paul) and climbed in my window. He took the gun from me and sat down at the end of my bed, gun across his lap, and looked up at me expectantly.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He grinned.

"Why protecting my fair lady of course, what else? Just get in bed, I promise I won't try anything. I'll stay here until dawn, okay?"

Wait, what, Paul Meraz was offering protection from big, possibly imaginary wolf things to me, his worst enemy? Hell must be frozen over.

"You don't have to do that I'm a big girl," I replied, crossing my arms and standing straight. He snorted.

"A big girl that calls her friends in the middle of the night to come see if there are boogeymen outside her window?"

I scowled.

"Just get in bed, Ina. You look like hell, have you not been sleeping because of this?" he asked. Was that concern in his face? Be still my beating heart!

I looked at the ground and blushed, scratching my head nervously. Why was it any of his business anyway? Oh right, I'm the dummy that called him into it. He patted the bed behind him and I sat down.

"I'm not crazy," I mumbled. He nodded his head.

"I know. I believe you. Is there anything else that has been bothering you?"

"What, are you my therapist or something?" I snapped. He winced.

"I can be," he said finally, looking at me pointedly, his coffee colored eyes gentle. I really just wanted to cry right then, and I did. Paul scooted up on the bed beside me and put my head on his shoulder, wrapping his right arm around me. I missed him, I really did. Even though he was a pervert and a jerk, he used to be my best friend, the one person I could talk to about absolutely anything, things I couldn't even talk to Jay about. I haven't had any friends like him since. I wrapped my arms around his waist and just bawled my eyes out, for my nose (which was still purple) and for Jake and for missing Paul and any other reason I could think of. He patted my shoulder and sat there while I drenched his shoulder in tears. When I finally felt like I couldn't cry another tear I sniffled and tried to wipe his shoulder off with my sleep, mumbling apologies. He chuckled and said, "better?" I nodded, then remembered when Jake had said the same thing to me after mouth raping me. Guess I lied about not being able to cry another tear.

"What now?" Paul asked, his voice alarmed. "You sure you're not on your period for real?"

"I'm sorry," I squeaked, rubbing my eyes vigorously. Wow, it has been a long time since I've cried like that. I can't even remember the last time that happened. Oh wait, yes I do, it was when Jathan moved out. He felt so bad he came and visited me every day for a month after that. Ah the powers of a tear filled girl over mankind. Paul squeezed me against him, bringing me out of my reverie. He brushed my hair out ofmy face and tucked it behind my ear before looking at me straight in the face.

"Spill," he ordered. I looked at him and shook my head, embarrassed at the thought of telling him my secrets. He thought for a moment before his fingers strayed over a particular spot in my back, and I sqawked before clamping my hand over my mouth. "Still ticklish, I see," he grinned, moving his hand to my back again. "Fine! Fine! I give up!" I hissed, pushing his arm away. He smirked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder again and giving it a gentle squeeze for reassurance. I took a deep breath and began.

"Okay, well this shadow thing has been freaking me out more than anything. I stay awake and watch it until it goes away, but even after that I can't sleep until the sun comes up because I'm, well, scared," I said, hiding the blush on my face. I mean this was PAUL I was telling this stuff to. It was weird, but I trusted him…I guess. He nodded for me to continue, his face serious.

"And that night at the diner when Jake drove me home, my mom was being a creeper and invited him to stay and have some tea. I accidentally burnt my lip and he straight up kissed me in front of my mom!"

"What? For real?" he guffawed. I nodded. "Hot damn," he whispered, "looks like Jakey has grown a pair after all." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"That's not even the worst of it," I continued, "the next day after you pulled that little stunt about my period, he rushed right over and asked me if I wanted him to get me some pads or something."

Paul looked, well, appalled.

"I told him I wasn't on my period, that you just played a prank on me and then he was all 'oh well I think you need a hug!' and I like…wanted him to…but didn't at the same time, you know what I mean?"

"Um, not exactly."

"Oh. Well anyway, he just pulled me to him into this giant hug and I didn't mind at first but then I remembered what he had done the night before and I got really mad. I tried to push him away but it was like trying to push an ox or something. So I bit him."

Paul had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud while rolling on the floor, tears pouring out of his eyes. I got worried as his face slowly changed from tan to purple, but finally he took a breath and sat up, chuckling as he rubbed his eyes.

"That was you that did that? I thought he got attacked by something!" he roared, falling into a laughing fit once more. Good thing my mom is a heavy sleeper. He settled down after a while, smirking every now and then as I told the rest of the story, ending with Jathan kicking Jake out of the house and telling him to never come back.

"Ouch, a bit harsh don't you think?" he winced.

"Not in the least," I disagreed. I chose to ignore the part of me that felt different.

Paul climbed back onto my bed and fell back against the covers, pulling me down beside him. He rested his arms behind his head and frowned at me when I remarked about the amount of armpit hair he had grown.

"You would look the same way if you didn't shave yours every day. Don't hate because I'm terribly manly," he smirked. I rolled my eyes.

"So," he began, "this thing with Jake…do you like hi—"

"No," I interrupted before he finished the rest of his statement. He raised an eyebrow at me. "What?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his knowing gaze. Dangit, that boy always could read my face like a book.

"So basically you're in denial?" he said, a smug little grin on his face.

"I am not!" I growled, crossing my arms. "Well, not completely." I blushed, staring at the ceiling above me.

"Aha, the truth reveals itself. So did you like the kiss and hug?" he inquired, rolling onto his side so he could gage my reaction. I just blushed harder and kept my eyes on the ceiling. He poked me in the cheek repeatedly until I turned to look at him. "So, did you?" he asked again. I nodded my head a thousandth of an inch and his face broke out into a massive grin. He pinched my cheeks and said a bunch of weird baby talk sounding things until I smacked his hand away. He just laughed.

"Why were you mad about it then? I think those teeth marks will be there for quite a while. It may even scar!" he said with a fake gasp. I rolled my eyes and turned onto my side, resting my head on my nonexistant bicep. Paul bit his lip to hold back a grin and I smacked his arm and told him to shutup. He pretended to zip his mouth shut and waited patiently for me to explain. I took another deep breath.

"It's…strange. Ever since I met him I've felt this weird, almost pull toward him, like I should like him but I don't want to. Like my body has a mind of its own, and my head is just along for the ride. I don't know how to explain it," I finished lamely. Surprisingly, he nodded his head like he understood, and didn't even give me one of his trademark smirks. "Why don't you want to like him? He's actually a really good guy. Pretty handy with cars too, might I add, you know with that piece of junk you have he'd be a miracle." Oh look, the smirk was back. I sighed and shook my head. "Well, um, he does hang out with you a lot," I stated simply. Paul's face fell and he whisper yelled, "What's that supposed to mean?" I gave him a look and he scowled at me.

"Just because he's my friend doesn't mean he acts like me," he frowned. "Although why you wouldn't want someone to be like this handsome, charming, loveable hunk of man beef is beyond me."

"Paul!" I snapped, and he grinned before becoming serious again.

"I wasn't lying when I said he's a good guy, Ina. The dude like, saves drowning puppies and kittens from trees and all that sensitive crap. He'd give you the shirt off his back if he had to, as you saw since he gave you his jacket when you were cold."

I nodded grimly.

"Jake is like," he paused, thinking for a moment before he continuted. "Someone once described him as sunshine, that's how much of a good person he is. He has this uncanny ability to tell when people are hurting, and does his best to help them even if they don't deserve one bit of his kindness." His voice changed into a bit of a snarl at the end.

"What do you mean?" I prodded, giving him puppy dog eyes. He sighed and ran his hand over his face.

"He's going to kill me for telling you this."

"He doesn't have to know," I reasoned.

"Oh he'll know the minute he sees me," Paul grumbled, but shook his head and continued anyway. "Before he and I were friends, he met this girl named Bella from Forks. She liked this other dude named Edward, but Jake fell head over heels for her for some reason. Her lee—I mean, boyfriend left her for like six months and moved off without a word, so of course Bella was pretty much a mess. Jake took care of her while Edward was gone—"

"You mean he came back?" I gasped in disbelief. The nerve of that guy, really. Jerk. Paul nodded.

"Yeah, he came back alright, and brought a whole bunch of trouble with him. Jake was so in love with that twit he would do anything for her, and saved her pathetic butt quite a few times. While Edward was gone she had spent a whole bunch of time with him and they got really close and stuff. But as soon as Edward came back, bam, she dropped Jake like a hot poker and went back to Edward—" he snarled that last part, "—and tried to hold onto Jake too. She told him that she loved him, but she loved Edward more."

"What? That's low!" I almost yelled. Something burned inside of me, but I couldn't tell what it was. Anger? Jealousy? I don't know.

"I know right? I hate that bitch. AND not only did she tell Jake that, she also made out with him before he went and got in this big fight to save her stupid tail. I can't stand manipulative girls like that more than anything." His shoulders were shaking slightly, showing how angry he really was. I frowned, the weird feelings still swirling around inside of me. I hate this Bella chick and I don't even know her.

"How dare she," I grumbled. He nodded but suddenly calmed down, a content expression blanketing his face.

"That's why he needs you, Ina. He's pretty broken over what that girl did to him. You're the only one that can heal the open wounds in his heart."

"Have you been reading romance novels again or what?" I smirked, trying to lighten the mood. Paul grabbed my shoulders and made me look at him, his face completely sober.

"I'm serious, Ina. I can't tell you why but you're really the only that can help him. He needs you," he said sternly, his eyes pleading. I was extremely confused. Why me of all people? Just because I walked in on him peeing does not mean I am his soul mate or something. I don't even think soul mates exist. If they did then everyone would find their's and hey look, rising divorce rate solved. Paul sighed, exasperated.

"Look, let me put it this way. I need you to answer me truthfully, not any of that tough girl crap, okay?"

I nodded. This was getting kind of creepy. You know things are bad when Paul Meraz is serious.

"I know you've only known him for a few days, but have you ever felt a pull toward him? That feeling you described earlier, where your body wanted to but you fought against it, did it make you want to go to Jacob and be with him? Did it feel like some incredible force had just hit you in the chest when you looked at him for the first time, I mean really looked at him. Did it ever feel like nothing but him mattered?"

Well that hit the nail on the head.

"M-maybe," I stammered uncomfortably. Paul rested his palm against my cheek, and looked at me with a strange expression in his eyes. He looked almost pained.

"That's destiny calling," he breathed.

"Well Destiny needs to stop messing with people and let them make their own decisions," I grumbled. He growled and let go of my face, flipping himself off the bed to his previous spot on the floor.

"Just promise me you'll think about it," he mumbled over his shoulder. "I promise," I sighed. He nodded once and turned to face the wall. I made a split second decision and crawled over to wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you, Paul," I whispered, "You know you really are a good guy under this douche bag front you've got going on."

He snorted. "I do try."

I smiled and crawled under the blankets, and for the first time in days I had a good nights sleep.

I woke up the morning, erm, afternoon feeling refreshed and well rested. Paul was no longer sitting at the foot of my bed, but I knew I had not been dreaming due to the dirty foot prints on my carpet and my unlocked window. I tried to dust the dirt away the best I could, but you could still sort of tell they were there. It felt kind of weird to talk to Paul so intimately after all that time, but good at the same time. I had my best friend back, I hoped. My phone beeped. It was a message from Paul saying that I could call him anytime I needed something or wanted to talk. My eyes watered a bit at this and I smiled. Good heavens my period must not be too far away with the way I've been acting.

Later that day I called Nilly at the diner and asked her if I could come to work the next day. After a bit of heavy persuading, she finally gave in and agreed. The best part was that I would also be getting paid the next day, since I had missed it on Thursday. I knew it wouldn't be as much as my normal pay check, but hey, money is money. Sadly, the end of this weekend also meant that fall break was over, at least until Thanksgiving. I prayed for the month to go by quickly so that I could devour turkey and dressing to my heart's content. So it was wasn't really "thanksgiving" to us natives, since it would be kind of weird to be thankful for taking our land away, but it was an excuse to skip school and pig out. The best kind of holiday, in my opinion.

The weekend passed without much excitement. Paul had noticed my broken door and had come over to fix it, ignoring my protests and relishing my mother's attention. Jeez, I think that woman is trying to get me pregnant so she can have some grandchildren already. She asks me at least three times a day when Jacob Black was going to visit again, to which I always reply with, "never, hopefully." I wasn't quite ready to carry out my promise to Paul yet. It was bad enough when my mother gushed over every single guy in La Push trying to marry me off, but when Destiny starts telling you to be with someone it gets a little overwhelming. I had managed to avoid it for the better part of the weekend, coming in to work through the back door instead of the front when Paul's group was there and shutting myself up in my room when I wasn't working. Unfortunately, school was beginning again, which meant I had to be even stealthier to avoid confrontation with the devious Jacob Black. I thought out several escape attempts just in case I did meet him in the hallway or something, which hopefully wouldn't be too hard considering that I had never seen the guy in school before the bathroom incident. The only fly in my soup was lunch. No doubt Paul would hunt me down and force me to sit at his table, probably right next to Jake, knowing him.

Sunday night as I was getting ready for bed he sent me a text reminding me of my promise and giving me good luck for the next day, complete with a smily face. I decided against replying with some sort of derrogatory term and instead opted with a 'thanks.' After all, he knew my deadly, deep, dark secret.

That I actually like Jake but was too proud to admit defeat.

I settled into bed and drew the covers up around my chin, glancing at the window. The dog thing hadn't shown up since Thursday night when Paul came over, or if it had it at least had enough sense to keep away from my window. I closed my eyes and tried to relax and not think about the day to come.

I pulled into the school parking lot, looking around warily before creeping out of my car, keeping my eyes open for any sign of Paul or Jake. I grabbed my bag out of the passenger seat and nearly jumped out of my skin when I resurfaced from my car. There was Jacob Black leaning on the side of my car, beefy arms crossed and an irresistable grin on his face. My eyes widened and I could do nothing but stare at his imposing figure dressed in tight navy blue T-shirt and dark wash jeans.

"We need to talk," he said, smiling, and I finally broke out of my daze. Using evasive procedure number one, I quickly turned around and ran up the hill to school.

I entered first period English panting like a loon. I stumbled over to my usual spot in the front left corner of the room and threw my bag down, collapsing in my seat with a big grin on my face. The people around me looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. I had just successfully evaded Jacob Black. I am awesome. The teacher finally came into the room and greeted us, an all too cheery look on his face for the first day back after a relaxing week at home. Of course, he had to give us an essay assignment at the end of class, which made the class utter a not so rare mutual groan. Other than that first period flew by without a hitch. When the bell rang I was the first person out of class, and I raced to my locker like it was nobody's business. Which it wasn't. I passed Embry in the hall and waved to my dear cousin before expertly spinning the combination to my locker. I tried to open it but it was stuck for some reason. I tugged the little hinge as hard as possible, but it just wouldn't budge. I banged my head against it and groaned, "Why me?" The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I whipped around to see, yet again, Jacob Black. His arm was resting on the top of my locker, holding it shut, and I of course had not noticed due to my vertically challenged self. He was only a few inches from my face as he smiled and said, "Paul told me that you liked my hug and kiss."

Curse that jerk to the deepest pits of Hades. The one in the Disney version of Hercules with all the swirling creepy souls.

I did my best to not blush and glare at him, which only made him smile more.

"So, I was thinking that if you weren't busy Friday night you and I could…"

I missed the rest of whatever I was saying when something caught my eye over his shoulder. Paul and Jared were across the hall, waving at me and holding an angry looking Quil, who was wearing a long brown wig. Jared pretended to leave and Paul grabbed Quil into his arms, pretending to make out with him, when suddenly Jared reappeared and snatched Quil away. Paul looked heartbroken and cried against the locker behind him. He turned around and gave me a thumbs up before walking away with the other two.

"Um, Ina? You there?"

A large hand waved in front of my face and I stuttered out, "Yeah, sure." What had he been talking about again? His smile grew even wider and I regret to say that he looked absolutely adorable at that moment.

"So Friday at seven, okay?" he asked.

"Okay for what?" I replied, confused. His shoulders slumped a little.

"Our date, silly. Did you forget in point five seconds?"

My eyes widened. Date? I had never agreed to that. I searched for an escape route and finally spotted one in the girls bathroom. "I g-gotta pee!" I shouted, ducking under Jake's massive bicep. I ran to the bathroom as hard as I could in a hallway crowded with people and immediately locked myself in a stall, sitting on the toilet (with my pants on of course) and pulling my legs up in front of me. The bell finally rang for second period and the last few stragglers walked out of the bathroom. I unlocked the door and crept out, going to the sink to splash some cold water in my face. I looked into the mirror. My face looked a little tight from stress but other than that I seemed okay. Medium length brown-black hair spilled around my shoulders, nearly blending in with the dark turtleneck I wore that day. My eyes were an odd mixture of green and brown (hazel maybe?), which looked kind of creepy but cool with my tanned skin. I shrugged at myself in the mirror and walked out of the bathroom, looking both ways before running to my locker and ripping it open. A note hung by a piece of tape from the top of it, and I ripped it down and read it quickly.

I'll pick you up on Friday at 7. Don't try to run away this time!

'Jacob' was scrawled at the bottom. I wadded it up and threw it in the trash, scowling at my rapidly beating heart.

As luck would have it, Jacob was waiting at my car at the end of the day, leaning against it as he had been this morning. "Hey," he said, smiling as I walked up. "Did you get my note?"

"No," I said quickly, fumbling to unlock my door. A warm hand surrounded mine and stuck the key in the door, successfully opening the lock.

"You cold?" Jacob asked, a bit of worry crossing his face.

"No."

Jeez did he not get the hint the first time? Half of me hoped he had not.

I jumped as his face came closer to mine, his warm breath tickling my cheek as he whispered, "Do I make you nervous?"

I squared my shoulders and glared at him. "No, Jacob Black, you do not and never will make me nervous."

He suddenly leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose before turning to walk away. I stood there in shock as he turned around, grinned, and said, "That's not what your heart is telling me."