The Pack

Making a House a Home

 I never realized how much furniture a house really had until I moved my stuff into my new home. My house looked pretty barren. All of my things from my apartment were in place and accounted for but my house still looked unfinished. I plopped down on my couch and stared at the emptiness within my den area. The couch was almost the only thing in that room. The house had so much extra space that I was making a list of things I needed to fill it. The house was so large that in seemed to magnify how lonely I was feeling at least that was my justification for being so lonely. I strolled into the one room I had that was completely empty. I was planning on turning it into a home office. I thought it would be cool to actually have a room to write my articles instead of chilling on my couch with my papers thrown all over the place.

"I guess I need to take trip to the hardware store," I mused. I figured that was the best place to start with looking for furniture. I used to know the guy the managed Harold's Hardware and Supply. I liked him because if he didn't have the merchandise he knew exactly where I could find it. I felt it was the best way to cut out the middle man. After looking over my funds I headed over to the little store and saw the old rocking chairs out front. I always loved those chairs. I envisioned myself on a porch rocking back and forth in one of those chairs while I watched my kids run around with their father. I took a deep breath and put the price tag I reviewing down. It seemed pointless to do anything to support that dream.

I strolled around and picked up a few emergency essentials and the headed toward the furniture section. The main thing I was looking for was the desks and wall units. I wanted a nice wall unit for my den even though I didn't have a television or anything to put in there yet I just thought that the wall unit would set the whole mood of the room. It didn't take me long to find both a desk and unit I liked. I was glad I had stopped at Harold's first. Just as I was about to head to the checkout I happened to pass by the paint department and boom there he was. We caught eye contact briefly as he looked back down at whatever was in his hands. I decided it would be rude not to at least go and say hello to the guy. I noticed in the past two times I'd seen Jacob it seemed that he was even more ripped than he was in the past, not only that but his clothing and his stature had seemed to change. It was like even though he couldn't age he'd become older and more mature I supposed.

"Hey Stranger," I stated and I almost kicked myself for how stupid I sounded. He made a weird face and smirked a little.

"Hey Leah, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to complete my empty house. I have more room than I know what to do with," I explained and he nodded. He looked back at the teenaged boy behind the counter and handed him what looked like an order slip.

"Yeah, I need to order 3 more cased of the eggshell white and two more cases of the ivory," he explained to the guy and then turned back to me.

"So you came to a hardware store to buy furniture, that's not a very common thing to do. Nance buys most of her furniture from show rooms, department stores, and antique shops," he said after he finished with his business he strolled with me to the front of the store so that I could check out.

"Yeah, I always check here first since they have better deals. I do need to go by an antique shop my mother suggested," I mused but my mind was more focused of this Nance person. "So who is Nance?"

"Nancy is the realtor I work with her and Mitchell." He shrugged and watched as I paid for everything. The cashier had asked me to move my car to the loading area so they could bring out my merchandise. Jacob walked me to the car something dawned on me and I was surprised I did catch on to it sooner.

"Jacob is all of your business in Forks?"

"Predominately yes, but I do some business in the surrounding areas. Why?"

"It's just you've gone through so much to build this business and it seems pretty successful. It just sucks that you're going to quit everything in a month," I stated and as I dug my key out of my pocket.

"What's happening in month?" He asked and I turned to him with a please don't be dumb look on my face. "Oh right the Cullens move. I'm still blown away about this wedding thing. How do you feel about it?" I couldn't believe he was asking me this question. How did he even want me to respond? I opened my mouth and started to say something but I was seriously at a loss for clarity. "I for one think it's too soon. Seth and Ness have been hanging out for years, but they've only been dating for a few months. I think they're rushing it." I went to sit down and my head jerked in Jacob's direction. He gave me a knowing little smirk.

"Wait what? My brother is dating … but you, and marriage? What the hell?" At least now I knew the reason my brother was leaving Forks, but it still didn't make any sense. "What about the imprint?" Jacob snorted and then looked in the back in my car and the back of my car.

"Leah, you do realize the stuff you purchased isn't going to fit in your car."

"I can put the seat down," I explained and Jacob shook his head.

"There's still not enough space. I can take the stuff to your place if you want. Come on." I got out of my car and we walked over to his truck. He pressed a button and let me into the other side of the car. He had such high tires on it that it made a little difficult to get in. He drove his truck around to the pickup site. We sat in silence while the employees loaded the back of his truck.

"So you're not going to tell me about the imprint? You have to be somewhat unnerved about everything with Renesmee." Jacob sighed and looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"I truly care about Renesmee I always have and always will. I never loved her though, not in that way. I was always focused on something else. I wanted to be a better version of myself and I didn't want my life to just stop because I'd imprinted on her. So when I did go over to visit Ness, Seth would come with me and as time went on she became more excited about seeing him than me. I didn't mind because I had other things on my mind mainly studying and forward movement. As she grew we grew apart. Ness is like a little sister to me. Are you satisfied?" I nodded but I was really more confused. I didn't know it was possible to fight an imprint.

"Are you riding with me to your place? I can bring you back to your car," Jacob asked and I really wasn't ready to get up. I had just taken in a lot of information and I was trying to process everything.

"Yeah okay." He started his car back up and we headed home … to my home.