Still In Bloom ↠ Twilight ✓

34 ; tension below the surface

At twenty-seven, Shelby McAtee doesn't make a habit of associating herself with teenagers. Especially, not the kind of teenagers that cause trouble in Forks' crime department.

Dawson Schmidt hadn't seemed to get the message.

"No," Shelby states the moment she opens her door to reveal Dawson standing on her front porch. He's dressed in a pair of ripped blue jeans, a dark shirt that has the words 'FUCK YOUR CREW' over his breast pocket, and ungodly pair of bright yellow sneakers. He looks like a walking trainwreck, much like his disheveled black curls, and Shelby wants no part of it.

Dawson frowns, then clicks his tongue. "C'mon Shelbs, it's freezing out here,"

"You weren't invited," Shelby states but opens the door wider so that Dawson can come inside because she has always had a soft spot for her brother's troublesome friends. Even if she doesn't like to admit it to herself.

Because he was raised correctly, Dawson kicks off his shoes and steps into the McAtee home. His dark eyes scan the silent home, it no doubt being offputting since most of the time Dawson was in the home, Wallace was always shirtless and spread-out on the couch watching re-runs of Family Guy. Shelby tries to ignore the stiffness and clears her throat, walking past the male with bare feet as she makes her way towards the kitchen where a pot of water is boiling.

"Want anything to drink?" Shelby asks, turning towards the dark-haired male as he walks towards the island of their kitchen so he can be closer to her.

"Vodka," Dawson replies and at Shelby's unmoved expression, he concedes, "Coke, please."

Pouring the drink, Shelby feels Dawson's eyes on her back as she watches the carbonation of the soda fizz out. She knows what he's here for, or better yet, who he's here for. Shelby's just trying to figure out a way to explain why Wallace isn't home yet or why he hasn't been for the last couple of months.

Turning to hand the male his soda, Shelby instantly notices that Dawson is staring at her. His gaze is heavy and Shelby mentally curses because she knows Dawson is cataloging her every movement. As if he's storing it away for further dissection.

When Wallace had first brought Dawson home, the two of them smelling like cheap cigarettes and puberty sweat, Shelby had thought of Dawson no more than one would a fly. Wallace wasn't one to keep friends around for long, often getting bored of said person's personality before moving on to either being a loner or worming his way into another friend group.

It wasn't until two months later when Shelby couldn't really find her brother without Dawson at his side or vice versa that she really began to learn about Dawson. On the surface, Dawson seemed like a typical hipster burn-out who was trying so hard to be cool with his dirty jokes and Doc Marten boots. But deeper, and subtler, Dawson was smarter than many people gave him credit for. Dawson could read people well. So extremely well than most of the time, Dawson could guess what was wrong with you before you even could yourself.

Shelby had a theory that Dawson's emotional intelligence was the main reason he and Wallace were a perfect match. Where Wallace was introvertive, Dawson was extrovertive. The two of them balanced one another out, and in Dawson's ability to see past any bullshit facade, Wallace had never stood a chance to pretend to be anything different than who he was. Dawson staying by his side, even after Wallace had revealed himself, ugly traits and all, was one of the reasons Shelby knew Wallace considered Dawson like a brother instead of just a best friend.

And that had seemed to transfer over to Shelby over the years. Often Shelby had found herself worrying for Dawson as she would Wallace and since Dawson was without siblings, Shelby knew Dawson had always viewed her as an adoptive older sister. And that's why, knowing all this about the male before her, Shelby was so worried.