Between the Perennial Blooms || Paul Lahote

Four | Ranunculus

"Anytime you're gonna grow, you're gonna lose something. You're losing what you're hanging onto to keep safe. You're losing habits that you're comfortable with, you're losing familiarity."
—James Hillman

• • •

Over the course of the next few weeks, Bailey tagged alongside Bella on her near daily trips down to La Push. The pair of once-motorcycles-turned-scrap-metal-turned-motorcycles-once-again had steadily been restored back to their original use by way of Jacob's wise and Bailey's eager-to-learn hands. Embry and Quil frequented the garage as if it were a home away from home, and the more time the group of five spent in each other's presence, the closer they felt to have grown.

Bailey, for one, was ecstatic over her newfound companions. Having been homeschooled for the entirety of her life as well as sheltered by not only her Gran but everyone else in her small family, Bailey had never been granted the chance to branch out and make friends. In fact, she had never had a friend save for Jacob, however because she failed to remember him after their parting when they were mere three-year-olds, Bailey failed to consider him a friend until their long-awaited reunion nearly fourteen years later. These facts, paired with her shy and demure nature, only heightened her inability to form lasting friendships; however, in the arms of the Quileute boys, Bailey realized she had never felt more at ease. Much like Jacob's humble home, he, Quil, and Embry made her feel both welcomed and warm; cherished, and as if for the first time in as long as she could remember, she truly belonged. Because Bailey had never had that before, she realized, and as much as Sky City had felt like home, it had never felt like this.

Jacob and the two Swan sisters were driving along the La Push cliffside late one morning. As Bella drove them back to the Black household after having scrapped a much-needed part from the dump only minutes ago, Bailey sat huddled between the two in the middle seat of the rusted red Chevy. It was an unusually cold day in Washington with overcast skies and a threat of later rainfall from bruise-purple clouds, and despite the oversized black sweater of Jacob's said owner had pulled down over her own pale pink one after her upteenth shiver, Bailey still found herself freezing where she sat. The truck's heater had been cranked to full blast in a vain effort to dissipate the prickling of her skin into gooseflesh; however, not even that seemed to help. With a nose resembling that of Rudolph's and never-ending pitiful sniffles sounding from the shivering ball she had curled her body up into, Bailey felt as dismal as her appearance implied. All I need now is to run a fever and then it'll be the icing on top of the cake, she thought to herself woefully as she all but molded herself into Jacob's lap.

"Bay?" He questioned partly in worry and partly in amusement.

"'M so cold," she mumbled against his collarbone, burrowing her frozen nose into the fabric of his hoodie as she curled her body impossibly smaller into his stomach. "'N you're like a personal space heater, Jay."

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head so he could still see the scavenged part they had rescued as he fiddled with it in his hands. "We got lucky at the dump. You know how much a new crankshaft goes for?"

Bella cast Bailey a concerned glance before shaking her head and focusing back on the road. "Sure, I spend all my free time on crankshaft-dot-com."

"I think that's a porn site." He said, ridding himself of the wayward thought after an awkward pause ensued between them. "These bikes are gonna be rolling soon. Where should we ride first?"

"Someplace sunny," Bella replied while at the same time Bailey mumbled out, "someplace warm!"

Jacob scoffed bemusedly. "Like there's anyplace sunny around here." Then his gaze flickered down to the head of soft golden curls nuzzled into his chest. "Maybe if you had more meat on your bones you wouldn't be so cold, Bay." He nodded to himself and shuffled into a more relaxed position in his seat. "You know, like whales with blubber."