Loca

I rolled over in my sleep, groaning. I was tangled up and in the covers, and struggled to free myself, opening my eyes groggily and throwing the blanket out of my way where it bound me to the bed.

When I was finally free, my eyes focused, not on the room, but on the panting dog on the far side of the bed next to me, eyes bright and tongue lolled to the side.

"Cupcake?" I asked, and he stared at me with golden brown eyes. I slowly sat up and he rested his head on my leg, panting.

I tried not to move that leg so his head stayed where it was as I fished through the covers and found my phone.

I had no missed calls, but my clock alerted me that it was two o'clock. I should really have gotten up and unpacked, but I just didn't have the energy it required to do that at the moment.

I was still brutally exhausted, and since I had no one to answer to for at least a few more hours, I flopped back down on the bed and slowly drifted to sleep once again, a giant dog snuggling up with me on the bed.

Jacob's POV

Embry threw the remote at my head for the second time since I'd gotten here.

The first time he'd done it, it had been because I wouldn't shut up, and now he was throwing stuff at me because I wasn't talking at all. I didn't know what he wanted from me, or what he expected.

"Ow," I grumbled, not looking up. My head was in my hands as I tried to get all the thoughts out of my head that didn't belong there.

"Dude, I'm not gonna invite you over anymore if your just gonna sulk for the next two weeks," Embry threatened.

I sighed and sat up straighter, rubbing the matching lumps on my head. "Sorry," I muttered, leaning back on the couch. Embry's look was sympathetic.

"I know you miss her, but torturing yourself isn't going to help anything." Embry said, and I groaned. "I know...I know..." I mumbled, sighing. "Sorry," I repeated again.

Embry relaxed on the couch shaking his head and muttering at me.

I wished he would be separated from his girlfriend for just a little while so he could see how hard that this was. And that I was trying my best to cope.

Danni was actually on her way over, because Embry's mom wanted her over for dinner, and Embry invited me cause he knew I shouldn't be left alone.

Or maybe he just wanted someone else here to keep the awkwardness and tension to a minimum tonight.

I had seen Embry's mom feed him to the sharks quite a few times before...not so often with girls since he'd only had about three serious girlfriends since the fifth grade. Topping mine and Quil's records of zero.

Reservation girls liked quiet guys, and Forks girls liked them popular. When your in between, it doesn't really make you a prize.

Things had changed though, since I'd undergone my transformation, but now of course I didn't even care. The only girl I wanted, didn't want me.

"Embry!" Ms. Call yelled, and I winced away from my thoughts as I was for the millionth time today. I couldn't keep my focus today for the life of me.

Embry sighed deeply. "I'll be back," he muttered, and heaved himself up. He and his mom started talking for about five minutes before I heard Danni pull up in her rosy Convertible. Since they were both occupied, I went to let her in.

"Hey Jacob," she said happily, jumping up and hugging me. I laughed at her and hugged her back.

She radiated happiness in her face, but a slight nervousness registered in her stance and in the way she shifted from foot to foot and picked at her clothes and hair.

Embry came out of the kitchen, and his mom, wearing a strawberry apron, blue shirt and jeans, with her hair up in a bun, followed him.

"Take your shoes off." Embry whispered to her in the middle of a hug. She pulled away and he greeted her as she did as he told her, making it look casual and believable, easily slipping out of her sneakers and greeting Embry's mom shyly at the same time.

I had to be amused as Embry's mom swarmed her, talking up a storm while ordering Embry to watch the food when he interrupted them.

Only after a few minutes did it cross my mind that I should save her, warning Embry's mom that he was probably destroying dinner as we spoke. She flashed into the other room and starting bossing him around, but I knew Embry would prefer that.

"Thanks," Danni muttered under her breath. I smiled at her, one of my first few genuine ones all day and winked. "Any time."

"Did you get to say goodbye to Troy?" she asked, suddenly saddening. And I had been doing so well at forgetting.

"Yeah," I muttered, and tried very very hard not to think about it.

"I haven't seen her since the lake, I wish she'd had the time to stop by and see me." Danni said quietly. Troy hadn't gone to see her because she was too busy with me.

"Sorry," i muttered a little and Danni perked up quickly, probably trying to cheer me up. "Its okay. Shes your friend too" Danni said the word friend like it was a lie and I stared at her.

She moved past me to flop onto the couch and patted the space beside her.

"You really miss her a lot don't you? Already." She said after I sat down. I smiled just barely and nodded my head at her.

"She means everything to me," I whispered, not thinking it through. I cursed mentally when I did. Danni was Troy's best friend, how could I expect her not to tell Troy that I'd said that.

"That's good, because I'm pretty sure the feelings mutual." she rolled her eyes, smiling brightly. "Troy absolutely crazy about you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up a little straighter and staring at her. I tried to stomp out the hope starting to grow in my chest but it refused to be put out.

"I mean, the chick has no boundaries whatsoever when it comes to you. Haven't you noticed how hard she tries to pretend she doesn't like you more than as a friend?" Danni exclaimed, practically bouncing in her seat with impatience at my obliviousness.

"Um, no." I muttered, utterly confused, but that bit of hope had started to grow, roaring up and spreading like wildfire. Uncontainable.

"I don't see how its not obvious. Everyone else can see it. Embry, Quil, Paul, Lafe, even Hector. That's why he hates you so much. You have Troy's attention and its only a matter of time before the two of them stop playing games -" Danni cut off as if she'd said to much and shook her head.

"Ugh, why am I even telling you this," she muttered, and I smiled sheepishly "Because you feel the need to help me out with this since were both the reason you and Embry got together?" I suggested.

She laughed, the multiple colors in her eyes sparkling as she shook her head. "I guess so," she murmured, and with what good timing because it was at that moment Ms. Call came out and said dinner was ready in a cheerful tone.

XxX

Embry owes me big time for that. His mom had never been quite that bad before, getting so personal with Danni that even I was embarrassed.

I guess because she realized just like everyone else how much Embry cared for her. More so than anyone else he'd ever taken an interest in...

My thought process was right back to being a scrambled mess when I finally got to go home at the end of the night.

I'd had my phone on silent, so it was only when I checked it in the midst of dinner that I'd seen the miss call earlier in the day.

When I listened to Troy's voice message she'd left only a few minutes later, I went immediately on edge. I was forced to wait for the call, since she hadn't really left me another option, saying she'd call me back.

Since then, the volume on my phone had been all the way up. I refused to not get her call this time. I would probably die before I missed out on hearing her voice.

Despite all the nice things Danni had said, I couldn't really rap my head around Troy's affection for me being any more than friendly.

Troy's POV

The next time I was conscious, it was just a few minutes past four o'clock.

Cupcake was still on my leg, and I was surprised it hadn't fallen asleep with the weight of his head.

I crawled out of bed, still drowsy and Cupcake barked at me before rolling onto his back. I smiled at him and rubbed his stomach while he was panting.

I shut the door to my room so I could get changed and only then did it occur to me to look around and see where I was going to be living for the next week or so.

The walls were painted a creamy blue color with white trim all around. A huge window led to views of a giant lush backyard, with a curvy pool.

The bed had similar blue and white colors, and there was a nightstand right next to it with a lamp and digital clock that matched the room.

I walked over and opened up the one of the three doors, and there was a closet about twice the size of mine and Bella's back home, stretching across the whole back wall.

There was a single bureau with random items strewn about it where someone didn't have time to finish cleaning the room.

A cardboard box was on it, but I didn't bother looking in it. There wasn't really anything in there of interest to me, I could tell already.

The second door I walked over to, led to a bathroom with a huge tub, and a separate shower with four surrounding walls that you couldn't see through completely.

There was a double sink made of granite, with a cup to hold my toothbrush and a bar built into the wall to hold my toothpaste.

"Wow," I muttered to myself, shaking my head at how big and expensive everything looked as I walked out and flopped onto the bed, reaching out and rubbing Cupcake's stomach.

"He likes you," Shawn's voice reached me from the door. I wasn't that surprised that he was here, as I'd heard his footsteps coming up the hall. Werewolf ears.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said and continued to pet him. "So, you wanna take a tour, or did you want to call Jacob first?" Shawn asked, smirking. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I heard you earlier, leaving a message," he said simply. I rolled my eyes and hopped up off the bed, causing Cupcake to whine at me, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

"Aw c'mon, I'll rub you later." I told him and Shawn laughed, not at all bothered by the fact that I was talking to a dog.

Cupcake barked and ran out of the room. Shawn stopped laughing and I kicked him out so that I could call Jake. He answered on the third ring.

"Troy," he said happily, sounding out of breath.

"Hey Jake," I smiled wide, ignoring the dull throbbing ache in my chest. "Tell me you didn't run to the phone." I told him seriously, flopping on the bed.

"The one time tonight I let it out of my sight and you call," he mumbled, sounding embarrassed and I smiled wider, chuckling quietly.

"Don't laugh," he moaned, and I knew he'd rub his hand over his face when he said that.

"I'm not," I lied, badly, and he snorted. "Right," he muttered sarcastically, before changing the subject. "So...whats it like there?" he asked, kind of quietly.

"For lack of a better word...different. My brothers house is huge...and they have this cute monster of a dog...its so sunny here." I said kind of in awe and he sighed loudly. "Must be nice."

"I wish you could be here Jake," I said sadly, abruptly realizing the exact direction his thoughts were headed in.

"Same here," he grumbled. I ran my hands through my hair as I suffered a little bit over this. Every conversation we'd had over the course of the past few days sounded exactly the same. And it was always sad.

"I saw Danni today," Jake said suddenly, and since I was desperate for a change of subject, I took it. I raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

"Yeah, Embry asked me over cause' his mom wanted to meet her. You should've been there Troy," he said, chuckling a little.

"Embry's mom embarrassed them?" I guessed, and Jacob snorted. "Embarrassed is an understatement, I think Danni wanted to bolt quite a few times."

"How is she?" I asked, curious. I hadn't seen her in a few days, which would've been fine except I just randomly left town with no real warning.

"Good, she misses you already. She's jealous you said goodbye to me." Jacob said, sounding a bit smug. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Does that make you happy?" I asked.

"Nah, it just feels nice to know you picked me first." he said, his voice taking on a new edge that I immediately disliked.

"Congrats," I mumbled, and Cupcake suddenly trotted into the room. As he did I glanced at the clock and sighed. I really didn't want to waste any more time today.

"You have to go," Jacob sensed. I pictured the way his face would fall. The same way it did whenever I had to leave for some reason.

"Sorry...Shawn wanted to give me a tour and I still need to shower and eat...I actually haven't done anything but sleep since i got here." I ranted.

Jacob breathed out in a gust, "Its fine, Troy. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" he asked hesitantly, and I smiled wide. "Sure, Jake."

"Bye Troy, miss you." he said sadly. I swallowed loudly, hating the way my stomach got all warm when he said miss you like he was saying 'love you.'

"Goodbye Jacob," I muttered, and hung up, immediately burying my face in my hands. I must've been mental. There was no other explanation for why I kept doing this to myself.

I was supposed to be here to take a break from Jacob drama, and he just kept using that abandoned puppy routine and making me miss him and think about him every second that I should've been forgetting how much I loved him.

I shoved my thoughts to the back of my mind and the top of my list of things to not think about.

"Welcome to the world of the living," Chris said, ruffling my hair as I came out of my room. I swatted his hand away and tried to fix my hair, which was already messed up from when I passed out earlier.

"Shut up," I said simply, and walked down the blind hallway into a huge kitchen. The back wall was a window, with a door built into the glass so you could walk out onto the deck that led to the pool.

AJ was flitting around the kitchen, grabbing various food items and throwing them in a stockpile. Shawn was lounging in one of the chairs at a six person table.

"Ready for that tour?" he asked, heaving himself up. I nodded and he gestured for me to follow him, walking so we could start at the door. Cupcake followed me loyally, running a bit and nipping at my ankles.

Shawn showed me each room, barely commenting except saying which room we were in, and of course taking the opportunity to insult his twin.

"Den...living room, theater, AJ's room, my room, Chris's room...ignore the mess, he doesn't have girls over that often." Shawn snickered and Chris threw a football at him from his floor.

"Get out," he said simply to him and Shawn laughed and shut the door behind Cupcake whilst shaking his head.

"This next room is our folks room...we haven't really mentioned much about our step mom but trust me, you don't really need to worry about her. "

"Shes really excited to meet you. Something about wanting another girl in the house..." Shawn shrugged and trailed off and I nodded at him, listening intently.

We ended our tour back in the kitchen, waiting for Armando and Chloe to both come home from work. She was an interior designer, and he was a lawyer, which someone told me before.

I wasn't really looking forward to meeting them, just because of my detest of meeting new people, so all I could do was hope it went well.

XxX

"How do you remember that recipe?" I asked as AJ sprinkled in another precious amount of some ingredient.

"Been making it for a while," he said, checking on the vegetables and stirring his 'Confetti Rice.'

"Mmhm..." I muttered, watching the food, and then directing towards Shawn "Your sure he's the one I don't have to worry about being in the kitchen?"

He laughed loudly and Alejandro hit me with a wooden spoon. "Some trust please baby sister," he scolded, and, like the baby sister, I stuck my tongue at him.

A few minutes later, the front door opened and Cupcake abandoned my side, for the first time, rushing to the door and yelping happily.

It wasn't Armando, but a strawberry blonde woman with electric hazel eyes that would've given Hector's a run for their money.

Her body seemed to be pulled in at the waist, extremely thin at her stomach while her upper body and hips and long legs fanned out much thicker than her middle.

Her bright eyes looked me over, just as I was doing to her, and she smiled an extremely wide smile, bright teeth flashing, before her eyes flitted to her sons and it became somehow bigger.

"Oh your back boys! I missed you!" she said, as Chris walked in she hugged all of them, leaving pale pink splashes of lipstick on each of their cheeks which they all furiously scrubbed when she was done.

"Oh hi...Trinity right?...Oh, no...Troy! I'm sorry, I forget things like that! I'm Chloe." she said happily before hugging me tightly. She pulled away to get a better look, with approval on her smiling face.

"Its so nice to meet you, I always wished that Armando had a daughter, no offense boys, you know how I love you." she rambled, still holding me. Cupcake was by our feet running around in excitement.

"None taken," Chris said, rolling his eyes.

"Well...I'm actually his wife's daughter." I said quietly, to Chloe. She was just so happy, I didn't even phase her when I said that.

She waved my comment away. "Your still family," she said as if that was true. I let it slide though, just happy that she was being nice like Shawn said, for all I knew she could be two faced.

All I really knew about step mothers though was what Katara was like to Hector, and then what you saw in movies and books portraying the evil kind of stepmothers.

"Is dinner ready?" Shawn suddenly asked, saving me. "Yeah...are we waiting for dad?" AJ asked Chloe and she nodded.

"Yes, he should be here in a half hour tops." she said cheerfully, taking off her thin green wrap to reveal the brown tunic and jeans underneath.

"Have you settled into your room alright dear?" Chloe asked, and I shrugged. "I haven't even unpacked yet." I admitted. Chloe smiled, clapping her hands.

"Well I'll help you," she said happily, heading towards my room while I followed, shooting my chuckling brothers the finger behind my back.

I had showered earlier, and so my suitcases were already pretty much all over the place, but Chloe didn't seem to mind as she stepped over my mess and inspected it.

"Don't you have anything....more...girly?" she asked, surprisingly not sounding rude, to me at least.

"I prefer my wardrobe how it is," I muttered, and flopped onto the big bed. Chloe, unbothered, by what I said, nodded and started to fold a few of my jeans while putting my shirts on a pile of hangers retrieved from the closet.

"If you have anything you don't want me touching just let me know and I'll let you handle it yourself," she said easily, collecting piles.

"Okay," I said, trying to relax. I didn't really have a problem with her going through my clothes, it was Jacob's clothes that I didn't really want her scent on, because, as pathetic as it was, I wanted his scent.

So, I took care of all of his clothes, hanging his jacket on a hook in my closet and putting Jacobs things in their own section of the closet.

After they were taken, I helped Chloe have the remainder of the clothes on hangers and my toiletries in the bathroom, my toothbrush in the cup on the sink, and my toothpaste on the bar in the wall.

"Looks like we're done. Oh, except for that," she gestured to the few photos I'd carefully packed away so I could glance back at them when I needed to.

"Um yeah, that can just go anywhere," I said and picked up the pile. She held out a hand to ask permission and I handed it to her. She sat on the bed and I sat next to her. "Who are they?" she asked, and I pointed everyone out. "Those two are Danni and Jason...that's Lafe...Mark and Antoine...Austin and Natalia...Chelsea...my sister Bella...Hector..."

"Your boyfriend?" she asked, having been informed already apparently. I nodded, smiling just a little at how simple it sounded. "Yeah,"

"He's cute," she said smiling, and wiggling her eyebrows at me suggestively. I laughed at her, while also shaking my head.

"How old are you?" I asked her seriously. She scoffed and shook her finger at me. "Never ask a proud woman that. I'm young enough."

She continued to flip through the pictures, stopping at one of Jake and me. "Now...I know this isn't your boyfriend." she said, eyes wide.

I bit my lip. I'd forgotten that one was in there. "Oh, no hes not my boyfriend," I said, intently studying the picture.

I could see why someone would assume it to be more than it was, what with Jake holding me the way he was and smiling like that.

"Why not?" she asked, sensing there was more to the story.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong but it seems that you feel something for him, by just your reaction alone. Your whole face lit up when you saw his picture, and now your squirming because I called you out on it." Chloe stated the facts, matter-of-factly.

"I have a boyfriend," I said stubbornly.

She clicked her tongue at me and smiled before getting up. She walked over to the stuff cluttered on the dresser and fished through the box on it, pulling out some tape.

"We should hand these," she said and put the first one of Jacob, directly above the headboard.

She hung up the pictures of Danni and Jason, then the one of Bella, making a sort of collage on the wall with the rest.

I smiled when she was finished, and it was then that the door opened again. "Oh good, lets go," Chloe said happily grabbing my wrist lightly and towing me towards the kitchen.

Armando was home.