Take Me Home
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE TWILIGHT SERIES. ALL THE RIGHTS BELONG TO STEPHANIE MEYER. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND OC'S IN THIS STORY.
CHAPTER NINE
Sky was fast asleep by the time Paul arrived at her hospital room.
"I didn't think you wanted to see her?" Jared said from his seat in the corner of the room. Kim had gone home a few hours ago but Jared stayed so Sky wouldn't be alone.
"Addison talked me around," Paul said looking over at Sky.
"Addison? Quil's sister? Why were you with her?" Jared asked raising an eyebrow.
"Ran into her at the bar. She gave me a lift home and then here." Paul explained.
"Ok..." Jared said not sure what else to say. "What did she say that was so eye opening?"
"Kids are hard work, being a parent isn't a job for everyone."
"So… reverse psychology?" Jared asked.
"I guess so. How is she doing?" Paul asked.
"She'll be fine, she is right to leave in the morning," Jared said looking at the girl as well.
"Tyler?" Paul asked.
"He's fine too, they took him home a couple of hours ago. One arm is fractured, and he needed stitches and will probably have a scar on his arm, but things could have been a lot worse... So, are you going to call Charlie and tell him you changed your mind? Again." Jared asked.
"No."
"Paul," Jared warned.
"Let me finish. No, I'm not going to call him now, it's late. I'll call him in the morning," Paul said walking over to the bed and taking a seat in the chair next to it. The chair made a loud squeak and both men cringed at the noise. Sky shuffled in the bed and her eyes fluttered open to look at Paul.
"Paul?" She asked.
"Yeah sweetheart, just me, you can go back to sleep," Paul smiled and the small girl's eyes fluttered shut.
One Month Later
"Hey Em, sorry I'm late. I hope she wasn't too much trouble," Paul said walking into the Uley household. Emily was in the kitchen finishing cooking dinner.
"Anytime, she's never any trouble. Sam's outback with the kids. Did you want to stay for dinner?" Emily asked as Paul walked to the back door.
"Nah we're all good, thanks though." Paul found Sam sitting on the back steps of the house holding Ben and watching Tyler and Sky kick around a soccer ball on the wet grass.
"How was work?" Sam asked Paul as he sat down on the steps next to him.
"Don't even ask," Paul says running a hand through his short hair.
"That good?" Sam laughed.
"It couldn't have been any worse if the house had fallen on top of me. That remodel is over though so at least now I don't have to drive back to Forks every day," Paul mused.
"Got any more jobs lined up?" Sam asked.
"No, but something will turn up. I dropped some cards off at the real estate agency in Forks on my way home. They said a few people have been moving to town recently, maybe they will want a new kitchen or need something fixing."
"Good idea." There were a few moments of silence before Emily called out that dinner was ready.
"Come on Sky, time to go home," Paul said standing up.
...
Sky picked at her slice of pizza in silence. Paul watched her as he finished his third slice, bothered that she hadn't even taken a bight yet.
"You feel, okay?" He asked, a little worried.
She nodded, not looking up from her food. Paul didn't know what to do to help her open up, she was like it with everyone. Emily said she would grow out of it, that Sky was a bright girl and he had nothing to worry about. But Paul couldn't help but worry.
"Anything bothering you?" He asked, trying to get a few more words out of her. She shook her head and offered a small shrug.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" Sky looked up at Paul for a moment with a pondering look in her eyes. He knew she wanted to say something but after a moment she just shook her head. "Hey, I was thinking, we should paint your room. It's plain in there. What do you think? We could go to the hardware store in Forks, and you can pick out any colour paint you want." Paul tried to sound excited. Even though he hated painting he hoped it would get some kind of reaction out of her. Sky nodded her head slowly seeming to like the idea. She lifted the pizza up and took a small bight. Paul smiled. "Great. We can go first thing in the morning. We could even stop by the diner in Forks and get breakfast. They make amazing pancakes. Would you like that?"
Sky nodded her head once more and took another small bite of food. What Paul wouldn't give to know what the girl was thinking, he hated the silence. But he didn't want to push her. Time, he just needed to give her some more time.
...
The next morning Paul was shocked to find Sky dressed and ready to go when he stumbled, still half asleep from his bedroom. She normally stayed in her room until he called her out for breakfast. She wore a light blue shirt, pink jacket, red pants, and green shoes. Nothing matched but if she liked it Paul wasn't going to complain. He got ready quickly, putting on a white shirt and the cleanest pair of jeans he could fine in his room. He was starting to fall behind on the washing again and was running out of clean smelling clothes. He would worry about that later though, he wanted to get moving before Sky changed her mind.
It was lightly raining outside, not enough to make either of them run to the truck. Sky climbed up into the truck without help and strapped herself in. They drove in silence to Forks. There was little traffic on the road, and Forks was noticeably quiet as well. The parking lot for the hardware store only had three other vehicles in it when Paul pulled up and turned off his truck. He made Sky hold his hand as the pair crossed the parking lot, even though there were no other cars driving about, she didn't protest. Paul led Sky to the back of the hardware store where they kept the paints. Sky stared at the wall of colours in wonder.
"Pick any one you want," Paul said letting go of her hand. Sky stepped closer to the wall, looking at all the bright colours with wide eyes. First her hand hesitated over a bright green, then a light pink, followed by a baby blue. Paul realised this was going to take a while. "I've got to get a few things for work, will you be okay here for a minute?" Sky nodded looking at a teal paint swatch. "Okay, just call out if you need me. I'll just be in the next aisle over. Okay?"
She nodded again not fazed about being left alone with the colourful wall.
"Okay," Paul said, giving the girl a quick pat on the shoulder before leaving her alone. Paul went to grab a few things he would need for painting Sky's room. He found the items he was looking for quickly, knowing this place better than the back of his hand. He turned down an aisle to go back to get a few things he knew he was running low on but stopped in his tracks as he saw her. Dressed in yet another long brightly coloured floor length skirt, unlike anything he'd seen the local girl's wear. It was bright yellow, with little white clouds all over it, she wore a black jacket, and her hair was hanging freely down her back. Addison, Quil's older sister. She was with one of the stores employees looking at the wall of tarps.
"Well, what's the difference?" Addison asked looking between two tarp packets in her hands. "They are both the same size?"
"I'm not sure," the male employee said scratching his head.
"The grey one is three times as strong as the blue one. If you're trying to keep all weather off what you're covering, the grey one is what you need. The blue one won't hold off more than a light rain." Paul said. Addison looked over her shoulder in surprise and smiled.
"Thanks," she smiled putting the blue tarp back and grabbing a armful of grey tarps, pushing them into the employee's arms. "I'll take those please."
"Sure thing," the employee said turning towards the cash register, trying not to drop anything.
"What are you covering, half of Forks?" Paul smiled.
"Something like that," she said with a shrug.
"I didn't think you would be back in town so soon."
"Well, I had such a warm welcome last time I couldn't wait to get back," Addison said with sarcasm as she went to pay for the tarps.
"Does Quil know you're back in town?" Paul asked moving in that direction as well.
"I dropped by his house, and he pretended not to be home. So yeah, he knows," Addison shrugged, as she paid for her items.
"Sounds like my family, but usually I'm the one hiding," Paul smiled cheekily.
"Speaking of family, where's that girl of yours?" Addison asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Paint section, trying to pick a colour for her room."
"Really? Paints are a lot funner then tarps," Addison said walking towards the back of the shop, Paul followed. "Would you like to know my favourite thing about paints?" Addison asked kneeling next to the small girl. Sky was shocked to see the older woman; she remembered her and her brightly coloured clothes from a few weeks earlier. Sky nodded weakly.
"The names... pick one," Addison said waving to the wall of paint samples. Sky slowly reached out and pointed to one of the pink cards. Addison picked the card up and read the fine print at the bottom. "Icing, yum." Sky pointed to another card, a bright yellow. "Twining Every day, that's a strange one. I don't know who names all these colours, but I think most of them are hungry when they name them." Addison picked out three different shades of green and read the names. "Grape, seaweed, apple tree. See what I mean..." Sky nodded. "So, what are you painting miss Sky?"
Sky was hesitant, she looked at her shoes for a few seconds before responding. "My... New room."
"Really, that's exciting. Have you picked a colour?" Sky shook her head no. "To many choices?" Sky shrugged. "How about you try this," Addison said leaning closer to Sky and whispering in the small girl's ear. "Close your eyes, count to three and a half, then point at the colour that first comes to mind." Sky looked sceptical but closed her eyes. Addison stood back up with a small smile.
"Three and a half?" Paul asked.
"Just something my dad use to say. Three seconds isn't long enough, but four is too long." Addison shrugged and watched as Sky opened her eyes and her arm shot out at the coloured wall. Addison smiled pulling the card that Sky was pointing at off the wall. She held the card against her skirt and smiled wider. "I like it," Addison smiled as she handed the bright yellow card back to Sky. "Well, I best be off. It was nice seeing you two again."
"Hey Addison, I don't know what's going on between you and Quil, but I'm glad you're sticking around town," Paul said.
"It takes a lot more than a few bad words to get rid of me," Addison smiled. "Bye Sky," she offered the girl a small wave before leaving.
"Happiness." Paul looked down at Sky to see she was reading the name of the paint colour.