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"Strong?" Jacob thought about what he'd said. "I might have mentioned forever."
Both his siblings groaned, and Bella sighed. "Jacob, you can't do that. It's too soon."
Lucas nodded. "Bella's right. You can see how skittish Phoebe is. You can't scare her like that."
"Scare her? By being nice? By making her feel safe?"
"No," Bella said gently. "By making her realize that she could have it all with you."
Jacob looked at his sister. "That's wrong?"
"It is when she's not ready." Bella smiled. "Women are skittish like that, Jacob. We'll run like hell if we start to fall for a guy and we're not ready. Especially if he's saying all the right things that break through our walls."
Jacob rubbed his forehead, suddenly tired. He'd started to feel normal around Phoebe. Not lost. Like he could feel the ground under his feet. And he'd been wrong? Doing everything wrong? "Whatever."
"No," Bella said. "Not whatever. If you like her, don't give up on her. You have time."
Lucas nodded. "Don't scare her, but just be yourself. Just be you. It'll be okay."
"Okay?" Jacob echoed. "What does that even mean? What the hell is 'okay?' I don't want okay."
Bella sighed. "Jacob, this is the way it is. You guys just met, and you're using words like 'forever' to a woman who had to run for her life. There is no way on earth she will believe that you actually mean forever, and if you do, she doesn't believe that you know her well enough to make that promise. So, she can't trust you, and she can't trust herself around you, because you make her yearn for something she gave up on."
Lucas raised his brows. "Or, she just isn't into him."
Bella snorted. "It's Jacob. What woman wouldn't fall for him?"
"Any woman who isn't right for him," Lucas shot back. "He's not a regular guy, and a lot of women won't get who he is or see how amazing he is."
Jacob smiled as he listened to his siblings argue about Phoebe. He felt their support and their love in a way he didn't usually experience. Usually, they were treading so carefully around him that he just interacted with them as he needed to. But tonight, some of the walls he kept up between them weren't there. "Thanks," he said.
They both looked over at him. "For what?" Lucas asked.
"For all of it. I don't think I ever thanked you. So thanks."
Lucas grinned and put his hand on Jacob's shoulder. "No thanks is ever necessary, bro. Family forever."
"Family forever!" Bella flung her arms around both of them and dragged her brothers in for a hug.
Jacob tensed, expecting to recoil when he felt their arms go around him, but for some reason, tonight it didn't bug him. Felt all right, in fact.
Bella pulled back, staring at Jacob. "You let me hug you."
"Yeah. Weird, right?"
Tears filled her eyes. "It's Annie and Phoebe. They're changing you."
He nodded. "I can feel that. Yeah."
Lucas swore. "Don't get too attached, bro. You don't know what'll happen."
"I know." Shit. He knew.
"Keep your walls up," Lucas said. "Remember the last time?"
Worry filled Bella's face. "Oh…please be careful. I mean, I love that you let me hug you, but not at the cost of—"
"I know." Jacob's familiar tension was back, when he'd had too much of people, too much in his space. "I'm good." He felt restless, like the walls were closing in on him.
