CHAPTER FIVE
KINDNESS

A week later, Montana was on her weekend shift at the diner. The evening was drawing closer, made evident by the sudden surge in people entering the diner at around 6 o'clock. She stood quietly, painted fingernails tapping against the kitchen windowsill whilst she waited to receive the food for her tables.

"I'm just saying," Diane spoke from beside her. She had launched into one of her many conspiracy theories about the friendship of Diane's sister, and Dakota. "They've been hanging out a lot recently."

"Well, Kotes doesn't really have that many friends so." Montana shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe it's a good thing."

"Yeah but–" Diane released a breath, sparing a glance over her shoulder at the crowded diner behind them.

Dakota was sat in the most hidden corner of the diner, working hard on an essay for her history class. She had a half-empty mug beside her, which Montana had been continuously refilling with coffee over the past few hours. Montana couldn't even begin to imagine the level of caffeine in her cousin's body.

Jacob sat in the seat opposite Dakota, going through a maths worksheet as quietly as possible, so not to disturb her – though he was now chomping away at his food, loud enough for almost the entire diner to hear.

"Look, it makes sense," Diane continued on "They've both been sketchy recently."

"Perhaps they've joined a cult," Montana suggested with a deadpan expression.

Diane's eyes widened at the suggestion, whirling around to face Montana properly again. "You think they've joined a cult?!"

Montana chuckled at her reaction, shaking her head dismissively. "I was just kidding, Di. I highly doubt that's the case."

"So, the only reasonable explanation is that they're..." Diane trailed off, raising her eyebrows. "You know."

"I'm not speculating anything," Montana told her pointedly, though Diane had been making a pretty good case all day. It couldn't be denied that Dakota and Ivy had been spending an awfully large amount of time together over the past month.

Dakota was a terrible liar, Montana knew that very well, so whenever Dakota averted her gaze from her younger cousin's questioning eyes, or the corner of her mouth twitched when she gave her a deliberately vague answer, Montana could only assume her older cousin was hiding something. Turns out, Diane had been going through a similar thing with her own sister, and after hearing Montana's side of the story, and putting both sides together, even going to the extent of matching up times and locations, she'd come up with one very viable theory.

"I mean, Ivy's never said anything specifically, but she's had a lot of 'friends'," Diane said, making a point to use air quotes. "That have been, you know, girls, come and go."

"I'm sure they'd tell us when they're ready," Montana told her, casting a look in the direction of her cousin. A small smile twitched on her lips at the sight of Dakota's concentration frown. All Montana would ever want was for her to be happy.

"Maybe we should act more supportive of, like, gay rights," Diane suggested.

Montana responded with a gentle laugh, turning her head to meet the entirely serious expression on Diane's face. Her amused smirk dropped. "Look, if that's what's going on then they'll tell us when they're ready. Don't make it obvious, we don't want to force them into it."

A sigh left Diane's lips. "I just want her to feel comfortable enough to tell me."

"She will," Montana assured her. "Just give her some time."

Diane's bottom lip stuck out as she responded with a pout, eventually nodding her head in acceptance. Montana gave her friend an encouraging smile, watching as the blonde turned to look over her shoulder again. "So how's things with you and Jake?"

"Um, fine," Montana responded, moving her hair out of her face. "Normal."

"You two are so useless," Diane commented, rolling her eyes as she faced Montana again. Fortunately, the dishes were served up, giving Montana a quick exit. She smiled innocently at Diane, taking her trays and heading towards her first tables.

From the corner of the room, Jacob caught sight of Montana crossing the room. He lifted his head as she passed him, lips curving into a gentle smile as he watched her hard at work.

"You should ask her, you know," Dakota spoke up, for the first time in almost an hour, her unexpected voice making him flinch. Her head remained low as she poured over the books in front of her, but after receiving no response, she glanced up, meeting Jake's eyes.

"What?" He asked, drawing his attention away from Montana to her cousin instead.

"To prom," Dakota replied as if it were obvious. "I know she says all that stuff doesn't matter to her, but she's a romantic at heart, she secretly wants the whole prom experience."

"Well, uh," Jacob started, his eyes naturally finding Montana's figure in the distance, watching for a few seconds as she weaved in between tables. He loved watching her at work– in the least creepy way possible. It wasn't that he constantly studied her, but he noticed her different mannerisms, the way she acted so professionally at work; Montana was extremely kind to just about anybody, unless they gave her a clear reason not to be. It was amusing to watch her in the diner sometimes, because Jacob always knew whenever a customer was bothering her, or something had irritated her, but no matter what, she plastered on a fake smile and got on with it. He often wondered how somebody so gentle ended up best friends with people as boisterous as him and the boys.

"I'm sure somebody will ask her," Jacob eventually responded. Dakota lifted her head properly this time, giving him an exasperated look. "What?"

"Do you know why Montana has never had a proper relationship?"

"Because we scare them off," Jacob responded simply.

"Well, there is that," Dakota said, holding back laughter at Jacob's complete obliviousness. "But it's also because she can't find a guy that treats her better than you do."

Jacob's lips parted to speak, but the words seemed to have been stolen from him. All he could manage to do was shake his head, glancing over at Montana once more. "I– I'm sure that...that's not true."

Montana stood in front of a table where a group of teenagers adults sat together, laughter breaking out around the diner. He watched as her lips formed into a smile, her expression feeling as if it brightened up the whole diner.

Dakota followed Jacob's line of sight, biting back a smile. "Whatever you say, Jake." She arched her eyebrows, turning her attention back to her essay. "Whatever you say."

Montana was on her way back to the kitchen when she spotted Charlie Swan sat alone. An untouched plate of burger and fries rested in front of him, the man simply staring vacantly down at his food, completely lost in thought.

She began to slow, her chest tightening with pity for the man. Dakota had told her about how difficult Bella was finding things at the moment; the Swan girl was even doing her best to push Dakota away, so she couldn't imagine what she was doing to Charlie. Montana released a heavy breath, changing direction to head towards him instead.

"Charlie," Montana greeted warmly as she approached his table. "Charlie," she repeated again when he didn't look up to register her, his mind completely elsewhere.

"Oh." He lifted his head, blinking at Montana as she stopped in front of him. "Sorry, Montana."

"It's okay," she offered him a small smile back in response. "I just wanted to see how you were doing?"

Charlie's expression could not disguise the surprise he felt that somebody was checking up on him. "I'm...I'm doing ok, Montana. Thanks."

She nodded her head, completely unconvinced by his reply, but she wouldn't push him any further. "Uh, how's Bella? I've text her a few times but..."

"She's not too great, to be honest," Charlie responded, sighing heavily. "I'm thinking of sending her back to Jacksonville, to live with her mother."

The thought clearly pained him. Montana could clearly see his heartbroken, eyes weighted with so much sadness that Montana could feel an ache deepening in her chest in sympathy for the man. "You know, Dakota and I are always here for her. We could come round and try and talk to her sometime, if you want? Even Jake's been asking how she is. In fact, she could come to the Rez, maybe a change of scenery could help her."

"That would be great," Charlie replied genuinely, touched by the kindness of the young girl standing in front of him. "Thank you, Montana."

"No problem," she smiled, her eyes then flickering down to his food. "That must have gone cold by now. Do you want me to get it reheated for you?"

Charlie shook his head. "No bother, I'm not that hungry anyway."

Montana met his eyes in concern, holding her stare to show him she wouldn't be backing down. "Charlie, you need to eat." The man sighed heavily, deciding not to argue, since Montana was already picking up the plate. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Charlie watched after the girl, emotion almost overcoming him at her act of kindness and care for him, something he felt he hadn't had from someone in a long time. Montana took after her parents in that respect, who were two of the nicest and understanding people Charlie had ever met. There was no doubt in his mind that Montana was the exact type of person his daughter should be hanging around with. A change of scenery would be good for Bella.

Jacob's captivated eyes subtly followed Montana's movements as she left Charlie Swan's table. His mind began to wander to what Dakota had suggested to him about prom. Embry and Quil had been talking about finding dates for the past month, even making bets on who would find one first. Jacob hadn't given it much thought, until now.

A/N

Diane and Dakota are captains of the ship.

This was basically an entire chapter of Jacob staring longingly at Montana lmao