Diamonds and Gold {Paul Lahote}

10

The car ride to Jake's house was quiet. A song played on the truck's radio, Paul's fingers drummed on the steering wheel. Li Na glanced around at the outside as the trees flew by. A gasp came out of Li Na's mouth as she realized she didn't have a gift for Jake's father for his birthday. Paul's head snapped to the side, to see what was wrong with Li Na.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Paul asked as his eyes moved from the girl next to him, and back to the road. "I don't have a gift," Li Na said with wide eyes, Paul chuckled at the girl. "It's fine, Billy really doesn't care about that" Paul smiled as Li Na stared at him, "I could have at least gotten a watch or a tie or something," Li Na said feeling guilty she was going to a birthday party, without a gift.

Paul chuckled again at the girl, moving a hand to rest on top of Li Na's hand. As Paul's hand rested on top of her hand, Li Na looked up to him. A soft smile spread across Paul's lips, "I'll still get him a gift later" Li Na stated as she continued to look out the window.

Paul had finally pulled up in front of a small red house. A wooden ramp was hand made that led to the front door. There were already several cars parked around the dirt road of the Black's driveway. The two exited the truck together, Li Na pulled the red sweater closer to herself. A strong gust of wind blew through the woods, the temperatures dropping as winter was coming.

"How are you not freezing?" Li Na asked as she looked over to Paul, who was just wearing a thin shirt and cut off shorts. Paul shrugged as he looked down at the girl, "Baby girl, I'm hotter than a heater" he joked. Li Na rolled her eyes, a soft smile on her lips, "sure, darling". Paul stuck an arm out for her take, Li Na hesitantly inched closer to him. As she got closer, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side. Li Na could feel the heat coming off of Paul's body through her clothes.

Paul smiled down at Li Na as she looked up into those brown eyes. The two went around the house, between the garage and the main house. Li Na could already hear the sounds of people talking and laughing, lights were strung up around the patio. There were a lot of people from the reserve, and even a few people from Forks.

"Finally, you made it" Jared came up to the two as they entered the back yard. Middle-aged men were sitting around talking and drinking beer. The small amount of space was filled with people as they, hung around and talked. "Ah, I see why you took forever," Jared said as he saw Li Na tucked into Paul's side. "Fuck off," Paul said as he pushed past Jared and entered the small house. Paul had to push by people as they made it inside the house, a game of football was playing on the television.

"Happy birthday Billy," Paul said as he patted a man with long hair, sitting in a wheelchair. "Thanks, Paul. And who is this?" Billy asked as he saw the girl on Paul's side. "Hello, I'm Li Na Chu," Li Na said as she stuck a hand out for Billy to shake, Billy's wrinkled hand took the girls hand. "Ah the new family in town" Billy joked as he laughed, Li Na smiled as she nodded her head. "Well, happy birthday" Li Na said as Paul began to pull the two away.

As they entered the small kitchen cramped with people, the girl named Emily was cooking food. "Emily, I have brought an expert," Paul said the girl with scar marks spun around and smiled. "Oh, good. I can use the help" Emily said as she smiled at Li Na, she wiped her hands on the apron. "So, what can I do?" Li Na asked as she stepped away from Paul's side. "Paul, your brothers are outside," Emily said to Paul, as he stood by the entrance of the kitchen.

"Bye, Paul" Emily said as Paul didn't move. "I'll find you later" Li Na smiled as she nodded her head for Paul to go. "Alright" Paul nodded his head as he backed out of the kitchen. "So expert, what do we need to do?" Emily asked as she turned to Li Na, who had rolled her sweater sleeves up. "Potato wedges are always the best, and light beer is the key".

It was an hour into cooking, Li Na was on fish duty and Emily was on potato duty. "You know, Paul is a different person when he's with you," Emily said to break the silence between the two. Li Na hummed as she heard what Emily said, continuing to cook the fish. "He has never been into a girl like this until you" Emily continued to speak about Paul, "Did you date anyone?". Li Na looks back at the counter where Emily was. "I've only dated one guy before, and it didn't last long. My brothers make sure of it" Li Na said as she remembered the boy she had dated when she was fifteen years old, the one who destroyed her. "What do you mean by that?" Emily asked as she stopped cutting the potatoes. "His name was Oliver, and he was a piece of shit. So my brothers paid him a few millions and he moved out of the country. I never saw him again" Li Na stated calmly, as she looked back to Emily.

"Hey, supper is ready" Li Na stated to the boys playing soccer in the back yard. The dimly lit backyard, barley made the boys visible in Li Na's eyes. "Supper?" they all stopped and questioned Li Na's choice of words. "Dinner," Li Na said as she rolled her eyes, as the boys made fun of her way of speaking. "Hey," Paul said as he jogged up to Li Na, the shadows outlined his chiseled jaw. "I probably, smell like cooking oil" Li Na stepped back as Paul came closer. Paul still pulled her close to him, "I don't mind".

Li Na sat on a plastic folding chair, she sat around the table with the boys. "So how does a real Brit do it?" Quil asked as they all the boys had food pilled on their plates. "Vinegar on the fish and salt on the chips" Li Na did so as the boys watched her, "vola". Li Na smiled as she dug into her food, "tastes like home".

"So what do people actually do in England," Embry asked as he took a breather from shoveling food into his face. "Uh, we like to Futbol, rugby, polo. We like beer and the Beatles" Li Na joked as she bit into a chip. "I forgot you guys can drink at eighteen" Jared stated as he looked up from his food, Kim sitting next to him. Li Na looked at Paul who was eating like he was starving. Paul tried to steal a chip off of Li Na's plate, making her slap his hand away. "Do you guys like not to eat?" Li Na asked she watched all the boys eat. 

"So that was fun," Paul said as the two left the Black residency. Li Na nodded her head as she had a hand wrapped around his bicep. Li Na smiled up at Paul as he opened the passenger side door to the truck. "Thanks," Li Na said as she slid into the seat. Paul drove the two of them to his house. "Thanks, for letting me stay with you" Li Na whispered as they pulled up to a small house. "Anytime," Paul said as he turned the truck off.