"Gah!"

Jacob wiped some sweat off his nose and gave me a confused look broken out of his concentration. "What are you doing?"

"My hair is... pbbbbt... my hair... my face!" We'd been sanding and painting for at least three hours. My complaint came after probably an hour of studious silence and about ten minutes after my hair tie had made its way down to the very tip of my ponytail.

Jake just looked at me quizzically.

I looked down at my hands, covered in black paint, at the maze of drying cabinet doors between me and the sink, then at him. I put on my best puppy eyes.

"Help?"

Jacob gave me a very uncertain raised eyebrow.

Then he shrugged, "Alright."

The sandpaper was tossed aside and I turned back to my painting as Jacob was wiping the dust onto his pants.

A second later giant hands were pulling the loose hair from my face and gathering it into bundles behind me. I'd expected another ponytail, honestly, and couldn't help but close my eyes as he began to slowly braid my eons of hair into a far more convenient hairdo.

With one more tug as he tied off the elastic and then the soft feeling of a braid landing back against my back. Jacob's face appeared beside mine as he leaned forward to talk over my shoulder.

"Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Good." With one quick motion, he dipped his finger in my paint and booped me on the nose.

"Noooooo!"

I meant to carry on yelling for as long as I could but broke down laughing instead. There was the temptation to splatter paint at Jacob but the sound of the front door interrupted.

"What in the world-?"

Billy's face did not seem comforted when he found the source of the laughter. He wheeled into the doorway of the kitchen, took one look at me, one look at Jacob, and then crossed his arms.

"Is this a bribe?" He asked sternly.

I shrugged.

"Sure," Jacob said. "Can I have-"

"Fish for dinner?" My dad interrupted loudly, appearing behind Billy with a cooler strapped over his shoulder. "Sorry but there doesn't seem to be a place to cook it."

I picked my way across the room to the sink, wetting a paper towel to wipe off my face. "We'll take it to the shed to finish. Should only take us a week."

Jake was already propping open the back door with a foot, two sanded cabinet doors in each arm. I saw him glance at my dad before doing a surreptitious sniff at the cold wind that was seeping in from the woods. He turned to give me a nod and then disappeared outside.

I bent down and used two fingers to life a very recently painted door, standing up only to be caught in a one-armed hug by my dad.

He was gone a second later and digging for a pan.

I made it out to the shed just as Jacob finished his third trip with the last of the doors. We settled our work across various benches and tables, standing in the shed's gaping doorway afterward to take it all in.

"Hey, Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go to prom with me? You have to ride your motorcycle."

Jacob laughed.

"You going to wear jeans and a leather jacket too? Or are you planning to burn half your dress off?"

"I mean... either one would be quite a look." I nudged him with my elbow.

Jacob smiled.

Then his nose wrinkled. "While we have a moment..."

I didn't like the uncertainty on his face. I glanced around for something to organize or mess with but he caught my hand and pulled me away. We walked toward the woods and picked our way over the roots and moss without dropping our grip on each other. To me, it seemed like a decent chance for a kiss but his face was still serious when we stopped and took a seat at the base of a tree.

"What's up?" I said after another minute of him frowning at me and then at the ground and then at me.

"I... I've been wondering."

"Uh, huh?" I had absolutely no clue where this was going.

"About your mom." He said carefully. I pursed my lips. "I know its different... " He added hurriedly. "Because I lost my mom and I had... I just wondered because... we've never talked about her."

"Are you asking to meet her?"

"No... " Jacob considered. "It doesn't seem like... Charlie... I asked about your dad because he's such a big part of your life."

"I think..." I interjected before he could continue analyzing what I didn't really want analyzed. "That sums it up. She's just never been part of anything big. More like... an aunt." I thought about Bella's relationship with Mom and felt a twinge of pity. "Or a niece. I think... I think Isabella was the main reason she kept track of me."

"Gen..."

"I don't mean... She's just a very distracted person." I dropped his hand and began playing with the fallen leaves in front of me. "When I threw a fit about leaving Forks, she listened and I was... what, two? Three. No, two." I shook my head. "Dad used to pester me to talk to her but I think it was more that he felt bad that I was stuck with him. She loves me when I'm in front of her. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sad now." I realized.

"I'm sorry."

I nodded. "I'm sorry about your mom too."

Jacob leaned back, sprawling across the ground and then pulling me down beside him. We watched the branches shift above us.

"Maybe Leah will adopt us," Jacob said suddenly.

I burst out laughing.

It only got worse when I rolled over to find a large wolf watching us with a scowl that could only be Leah Clearwater's.

"I'm... I'm... s-... sorry, Leah, I'm so sorry." I trailed off cackling, even as I heard her growl and felt leaves begin to crumble irretrievably into the braid Jacob had given me.

"She's gonna kill me," Jacob said cheerfully.

"And you'll deserve it." Leah stepped out from behind a tree in shorts and a loose tee. "A**."

I sat up and began brushing leaves out of the creases of my paint-stained clothes.

"Do you want to come over to Jacob's house for dinner?" I asked her. "Or are you stealing him?"

Leah shrugged. "I don't want to spend yet another meal talking about how rare-"

"Charlie's there," Jacob told her.

"Oh, then, sure." She wrinkled her nose. "There's been a new scent around the borders so I should hang out anyway." She waved a hand between the two of us, still sprawled next to each other beneath the tree. "So, do you two need to like finish making out or...?"

"A**," Jacob replied.

"I give what I get." Leah shrugged.

I struggled to my feet and shrugged back at her. I still didn't know her well enough to get into it but I did very much want to annoy her back.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Swan?" She asked as I approached her, rubbing my hands together in what could be considered a thoughtful-or sinister-way.

"You seem like you need a girls' night." I reached her and looped an arm around hers, holding out the other for Jacob. It was not a convenient way to walk through the forest but I didn't care. "And I haven't hung out with my basketball team in a while. How about Friday?"

Leah blinked at me.

"Do you have a favorite movie? Do you like Airplane? Have you ever seen Three Amigos? Princess Bride. Die Hard? I've never seen Jurassic Park. Is that good? Men in Black."

"Stop listing movies!" Leah grumbled.

"But, Leah, she hasn't even asked about Mulan or Lion King," Jacob said sweetly.

"Space Jam!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, nice one."

"Anastasia."

"The Mummy."

"The Mummy, holy s***. Have you seen the Mummy, Leah?"

Leah swore under her breath, just vehemently enough that we both immediately shut up and I dropped her arm. The remainder of the walk was a very awkward and timid silence on our part. She was fuming. Should I set her up with Tyler? No that was probably a bad idea. Should I get her to meet Tyler to see if she imprints? Probably a better idea. Was Tyler dating anyone already? Maybe I should talk to Tyler.

"I haven't seen the Mummy," Leah said suddenly.

Jacob and I both half froze, half stumbled, and then immediately both tried to play it off as nothing. Leah kept walking like she'd said nothing.

When we got to the house, I gave Jacob a little push. "You go ahead."

He looked at me doubtfully but a moment later he was inside and I heard his voice mixing with my dad and Billy's, the three of them laughing together at something or other. I turned to find Leah looking a little intimidated.

"I'm serious. Would Friday work?" I asked. She shrugged. "Because I just spent this afternoon not talking about anything weird and it was amazing."

"And what if I want to talk about those things?" Leah quipped defiantly. "The weird things."

"Sure." I glanced at the house. "Then you can yell at Isabella for me because I'm not allowed to anymore."

"Deal."

"Nice."

We looked at each other for a moment and then I held up a hand.

"High five?"

"No."

"Ok."

And that's how I became friends with Leah Clearwater.