Like a Skyscraper

“Don’t you guys ever get tired of doing this?” Emmett asked as he watched Edward and Alice play chess. They were evenly matched so who knew when it was going to end.

“Don’t be jealous, Emmet,” Alice smirked and moved her rook, but she stopped in the middle of her move and zoned out. Edward stopped at well and frowned.

“Hey, what just happened?” Emmett asked feeling lost. Obviously Alice saw something and Edward didn’t like it.

“Shh!” Edward shushed him and focused on Alice.

“We might have a problem,” Alice whispered and turned to look at Emmett.

“Will one of you please explain already?!” Emmet snapped at his siblings. Edward and Alice shared a look before Alice decided to break the news.

“I can’t see Kaelyn’s future anymore. I saw her driving with Bella and then nothing… Now all I see are snippets and they aren’t very good either…” Alice trailed off.

“What are you talking about? Why can't you see anything?” Emmett asked feeling slightly panicked. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, Kaelyn was growing on him and he felt worried.

“She’s driving to La Push a lot,” Alice lied. Edward gave her a look.

”Don’t say anything, Edward. Emmett doesn’t need to know yet,” Alice said in her mind. Edward disagreed, but didn’t go against his sister. She knew best after all.

“She’s hanging around those mutts?” Emmett growled. His eyes grew darker and his lip curled back.

“Bella took her to a bonfire tonight. She probably befriended one of them,” Edward explained.

“You let Kaelyn go there?! Why would you do that?!” Emmett hissed.

“Back off, Emmett! She and Bella are becoming friends and it’s not like it’s your concern. You don’t even want to be with her. What she does is none of your business!” Edward retorted. Emmett opened his mouth to say something else, but he saw Rosalie standing in the doorway and stopped.

“Next time, don’t leave me out of the loop,” Emmett snapped and walked out of the room. He brushed past Rosalie who was fuming by now, but Emmett was pissed and hungry. He needed to take his anger out on a bear or lion if he could find one.

Rosalie glared at Alice and Edward before leaving to go find Emmett. Jasper walked in as Rosalie left and he looked to his siblings for answers.

“Kaelyn met the wolves and Emmett got mad,” Alice summarized. Jasper glided over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her. He calmed her anxious feelings and smiled down at her.

“Everything will come together sooner or later. We just need to let things play out by themselves,” He said softly.

~*~

Kaelyn woke up the next morning not feeling very well. She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower hoping it would wake her up more. She must have been in there longer than she thought because her mom came knocking on the door.

“Kaelyn? You’ve been in there for almost 45 minutes… Are you okay?” her mom asked from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, I'm just still sleepy. I’ll be out in a minute,” Kaelyn called back and began to turn the water off. She heard her mother walk away as she pulled her towel around her body. She had a feeling she knew why she wasn’t feeling good. Kaelyn pushed the thought aside and went to get dressed before meeting her mom downstairs.

Kaelyn sat down at the kitchen table and ran her fingers through her short, wet hair. Her mom was busy cooking eggs and bacon on the stove.

“Are you okay?” her mom asked softly. Kaelyn watched her mom as she avoided eye contact and focused on cooking instead. Kaelyn smiled sadly before getting up and wrapping her arms around her mom from behind.

“I love you, Mama. I’m fine,” she reassured her, but her mom still held back tears. She knew how much this was killing her mom and she hated it.

“I’m just worried. That’s what mothers do,” her mom whispered before turning around and hugging her daughter back.

“See, all good,” Kaelyn smiled once they pulled away. She didn’t want to let her mom know how lethargic she was feeling or that her joints were starting to hurt. It would only upset her mom even more and she didn’t want that.

“I guess so…” There was a knock on the front door and Kaelyn went to get it so that her mom could keep cooking their breakfast. Kaelyn opened the door and was surprised to see Paul standing on the other side.

“Paul, what are you doing here?” she asked with a smile.

“Uh, Jake came to see Bella and she told me you lived down the street so I came to see you. Am I intruding?” he asked awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

“No, of course not. My mom is cooking breakfast. Are you hungry?” Kaelyn asked letting him come inside.

“I’m always hungry,” he joked and followed the blonde into the kitchen.

“Mom, we have company. Mom, this is Paul. Paul, this is my mom, Lila. I met Paul last night at the bonfire with Bella. He made sure I wasn’t alone,” Kaelyn introduced them. Lila wiped her hands on a kitchen towel before shaking Paul’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for looking after my daughter,” She said sweetly.

“Nice to meet you too and it was no problem. We had fun.”

“Are you joining us for breakfast?” Lila asked heading back towards the stove.

“If that’s alright with you,” Paul said kindly.

“Of course it is,” Lila said adding a few more eggs to scramble. Paul and Kaelyn sat down at the kitchen table. Paul was happy and he felt comfortable in Kaelyn’s home. Both she and her mother were warm and welcoming. It was a nice feeling…

“So, does Jake like Bella or something? I know she’s with Edward, but last night, the way he looked at her…” Kaelyn trailed off.

“Yeah, Jake has always had a crush on Bells, but it’s gotten worse ever since Edward came into the picture. He’s pretty jealous,” Paul said trying to play it off with a laugh. Kaelyn laughed along and then her mom set plates down in front of them.

“There you go, eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and toast. Enjoy,” Lila said. Kaelyn looked down at the mountain of food with wide eyes. Paul on the other hand thanked Lila and dug in.

“Well, someone appreciates my cooking,” Lila commented before sitting down next to Kaelyn to eat as well.

“It’s really good,” Paul mumbled with his mouth full. Kaelyn and her mom laughed. After they ate, Paul spent the rest of the day hanging out with Kaelyn. They went into her room and sat on the bed watching cheesy movies. She only met him last night, but Paul was growing on her.

“Kaelyn, your friends are here!” Lila called up to them.

“I bet that’s Jake telling me it’s time to go,” Paul grumbled and stood up. Kaelyn followed him back into the living room and to the front door. Bella and Jacob stood by the front door and smiled at them.

“It’s time to go, man. Sam wants us back,” Jake said confirming Paul’s suspicions.

“I’ll see you later. I had fun,” Paul said before hugging Kaelyn goodbye and leaving with Jake. Bella stood next to her friend and smirked at her.

“Do you have a thing for Paul?” Bella asked as Jacob drove away with said man.

“What? No… No, Paul and I are just friends…”

“Right… Because you like Emmett,” Bella grinned.

“Bella! No I—“

“See you later, Kaelyn!” Bella laughed walking back to her house. Kaelyn sighed and shut the door. A smile spread across her face. Forks wasn’t so bad after all.