taciturn / paul lahote

"she doesn't talk"

"Daze, hand me the wrench," Jake says, he hand ducked under the hood of his car with his hand sticking out, waiting for the tool.

Daisy scrunches her nose, sifting through Jake's tool box. She finds the wrench, quickly placing it into her cousin's awaiting hand before sitting back down by the radio. She bobs her head to the music as Jake works on the engine of his car, the Rabbit.

"How are you liking the Reservation so far?" Jake asks, pulling his head out from under the hood to look at Daisy's response.

I've been here for three days but good so far. I like the rain. Daisy flips her board around, holding it steady so Jake can read it.

He nods once he's done, turning back to his car. "The rain is nice at first but eventually you get used to it."

Daisy nods, her head looking up as she hears a car pull into the gravel driveway. Jake slams the hood of his car down, his face bright with excitement as he runs out of the garage. Daisy makes her way to the door, peaking her head out to see a brunette girl standing next to an old orange truck.

By the smile on Jacob's face, Daisy could tell that this was Bella. As she watched the two talk, she noticed how sad the girl seemed. Her smiles didn't meet the corners of her eyes while she constantly ran her hand through her limp and lifeless hair. From what Daisy could hear, she could detect the painful time of Bella's voice - something Daisy could detect in her own voice.

After Daisy finished analyzing Bella, she flicked her eyes to the large pieces of what looked like scrap medal in the bed of the old truck. Daisy furrowed her brows, leaning forward to get a closer look at what was in the back of Bella's truck.

From what Daisy could see, the pieces of scrap medal looked like motorcycles. Dangerous and deadly.

"Daisy? Come here!" She hears Jacob call and she knows she's been caught staring. With a sheepish smile, Daisy makes her way up towards her cousin and his crush.

"Daisy, this is Bella." Jake says, motioning his hand from Daisy to Bella. "Bella, this is Daisy."

As much as Jacob hated to admit it, he was nervous. He was nervous that Bella wouldn't like Daisy or Daisy wouldn't like Bella. They were some of the best people in his life and he didn't want them hating each other.

"Hey," Bella said shyly, causing Jake to smile. Daisy notices this and waves, a large smile on her face.

"So, you're the cousin Jake has been gushing about," Bella says. Her tone is awkward and uncomfortable.

Daisy picks up on this, being uber observant, and mentally curses. She forgot her whiteboard back in the garage. Tapping Jake's arm to gain his attention, Daisy points to her throat.

"Oh, Bella." Jake says, understanding Daisy's dilemma. "Daisy is a mute, she doesn't talk."

"I'm sorry," Bella says instantly. A sense of relief fills her eyes - Daisy didn't hate her.

Daisy waves her hand, dismissing Bella's apology before pointing to Bella's truck. She wanted to know what the pale girl had brought to the reservation.

Bella nods, pulling off the tarp to reveal two old, rusted motorcycles. Daisy does a little victory dance, her predictions were correct.

"Wow, scrap metal." Jacob deadpans, sarcasm laced in every word. "How thoughtful."

Bella forces out a stiff laugh, her hand running through her limp hair. "They'd cost more to fix than they're worth but then I figured if I had a mechanic friend to help me out . . ."

"Me being the mechanic friend." Jacob says, a small smile on his face.

"I get if you think it's completely stupid and reckless." Bella says, causing Daisy to nod her head with a devilish smile. It was stupid. It was reckless. But who doesn't want a little excitement in their lives?

"It is stupid and reckless . . . when do we start?" Jacob says, his pausing to scare Bella. The girls both laugh - Daisy's in amusement and Bella's in relief.

"Now," Bella says, quickly pulling the tarp off of the bikes completely. They're both huge, probably weighing a couple hundred pounds.

Jacob moves forward, grabbing the wheel to one of the bikes. Bella gapes, telling the teenager to be careful - the bikes were heavy.

Both Daisy and Bella were shocked when Jacob lifted the bike out of the truck, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Jacob smirks at Bella's shocked face.

In his absence to look at Daisy, he didn't notice the slightly concerned look on the girl's face. Daisy knew what his growing strength meant - Jake was going to phase soon.

"Jake, you're sixteen. Lay off the steroids." Bella says, following the Quileute cousin's towards the garage.

"Age is just a number, baby. What are you, like forty, now?" Jake jokes, winking at Bella.

Daisy's eyes watch Bella as she flinches, pain flashing on her face for a split second before she regains her blank stare.

"It feels like that sometimes," she says.

"Well, I have mad skill and you're a shrimp. So that should drop you down a bit." Jake laughs, Daisy smiles. "Say like, uh, thirty."

Bella chuckles. "I would say thirty-five at least."

Daisy falls behind the pair, tuning out their conversation as she feels eyes on her back. She stops, her eyes scanning the tree line until they land on a group of four men.

Daisy could be blind and still know who they were - it was Issac, Sam Uley, and Jared Cameron - and their eyes were on Bella and Jake.

The mute felt fury ignite in her stomach as she saw the way they looked at her cousin - like they were pulling him closer to his transformation. Daisy knew it was inevitable but that didn't mean she wanted more time for Jacob. More time to be a kid.

Once Bella and Jake are out of sight, Daisy begins making her way towards the shirtless men. She won't lie when she realizes that all three of the men are attractive - their short cropped hair, tribal tattoo, and their muscle copper skinned bodies.

Issac's eyes are the first to meet his sister's and he instantly knew that she wasn't happy. He involuntary takes a step back.

Daisy pulls out her phone, quickly typing a message as Sam and Jared peer at each other curiously. They knew what had happened to Daisy - they saw it in Issac's mind - but they were shocked at how well she presented herself.

Leave Jake alone. Let him spend his last days of normalcy in peace. Daisy types, flipping her phone around to show Sam.

"We can't have him phasing in front of Bella, especially if she's close with the Cullens." Sam says, his tone leaking with authority.

"It's a liability, D." Issac says, nodding his head along with Jared.

Daisy rolls her eyes, shoving her phone into her back pocket before abruptly turning and storming back to the house. She couldn't believe how easily Issac went along with Sam's word - regardless of who alpha was.