Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or anything you recognize.
Summary: Aviana (Ava) Davidson's been dating Jacob Black for two years. He's been pulling away from her for over a month but won't tell her why when she asks. He finally tells her, he's imprinted and he can't see her anymore. Ava runs off crying and finds comfort in the last person she ever expected, the guy that always acted like he hated her, Paul Lahote.
Her name is pronounced A-vee-ahna
The quotes come from
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CHAPTER 1
I don't know why they call it heartbreak. It feels like every other part of my body is broken too. ~Missy Altijd
Aviana, Ava, Davidson couldn't believe what happened. The love of her life had just dumped her and she swore she felt her heart crumble into dust as he said the words. They couldn't be together anymore, he had found someone else, he was in love with someone else. She knew this could happen when they started dating but she had a crush on him and thought it was worth the risk of getting her heart broken. She never imagined it would hurt this much, like someone just reached inside her chest and grabbed her heart and squeezed it until it crumbled. Ava ran into the woods and finally collapsed under a tree dissolving into more sobs as what happened ran through her mind again.
Ava ran her fingers through her dark hair as she sat on the porch and waited for her boyfriend, Jacob to get home and pick her up. They were going to the movies together tonight. Her and Jacob had been dating for two years and had been living together for about six months. She had never felt the way she felt about Jacob about anyone. She was so in love with him and he always told her he loved her to. They had talked about getting married and having a family. He had even given her a ring as a promise of that, not exactly an engagement ring but close to it. For a little over a month, she felt like he was pulling away from her and she had asked him about it but he always told her it was nothing to worry about. She knew it was definitely something because they hadn't had sex in over a month so her first thought was he was cheating on her. Ava looked up and saw Jacob walking towards her. She smiled and stood up and walked towards him
"Jake," she smiled.
"Hey," he smiled and Ava went to wrap her arms around him but he stopped her and took a step back from her. Jacob saw the hurt flash through her eyes and hated what he was about to do but it had to be done, he should have done it sooner but he didn't want to let her go but he knew now he had to he couldn't keep things going the way they were.
"Jake what's going on?" she asked quietly. "And don't tell me nothing."
"We need to talk," Jacob told her and she took a deep breath and nodded. "Ava you know I love you," he began.
"I know Jake and I love you to"
"I know which is why this is so difficult but I can't keep it from you any longer," he told her and stepped forward and took her hands in his "And I should have told you a lot sooner and I'm sorry I didn't," he said. "I never wanted to hurt you." He told her and laid his palm against her cheek.
"Jake," she whispered and she felt her eyes fill with tears and he dropped his hand from her cheek.
"We can't be together anymore Ava," he told her.
"Why not Jake?" she asked and she felt tears slide down her cheeks.
"I imprinted," he told her and Ava pulled her hands away from his.
"Oh its why you've been pulling away from me, you've found your soul mate," she said.
"Ava I…I'm sorry," he said softly and reached out to touch her and she jerked away. "I…."
"No Jake," she cried. "Don't touch me!" she yelled and turned and ran off from him.
"AVA!" Jacob yelled after her.
When she was dating Jacob, Ava knew there was a chance he could imprint but she loved him so much she just didn't care. She thought it was worth it.,that he was worth it. Jacob was worth the risk of getting her heart broken because she loved him so much. The two of them had been dating two years and he hadn't imprinted yet so everyone just thought he wasn't going to imprint. Most of the other guys had found their imprints, even Leah had imprinted, her and Embry had imprinted on each other. The only ones who hadn't imprinted besides Jake were Paul and Seth, now Jake had imprinted and she had no idea what she was going to do. Ava finally stopped running and collapsed under a tree in the woods hugging her legs to her chest with her head buried in her lap as she continued to sob. She had no idea how long she had been there and probably would have stayed there the rest of the afternoon and night if she hadn't felt something bump her leg. Ava looked up startled and found herself staring at a grey…no he was silver, never grey, a silver wolf. She had forgotten how beautiful he was when he was phased. Not that he was ugly or anything like that as a person. As a person he was very sexy but when he was phased he was beautiful.
"Paul," she whispered and he sat down in front of her and looked at her confused. Ava wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked at him "Jake broke up with me," she sniffled answering his unasked question and the wolf stood up and walked away. Ava wiped her eyes again as she watched him walk away, she should have known Paul wouldn't care if Jacob broke her heart. He made his disapproval of her relationship with Jacob very clear, even more so once she found out the secret about how they phase into wolves. He was the one always telling her she shouldn't be with Jacob because they weren't right for each other. That he could imprint and he would leave her when he did because you can't fight the imprint. Ava looked up and saw Paul walking back towards her wearing nothing but blue jean cut-offs.
"Aviana," Paul said and knelt down in front of her, she lifted her head and looked at him.
"I thought you left," she said softly
"No I just went to phase back and get clothes on," he told her. "Jake broke up with you"
"Yeah he imprinted and I don't know what I'm going to do," she confessed and started crying again.
"Please don't do that," Paul said and wiped her tears away. "You knew this could happen when you and Jake started dating and moved in together," he told her and she nodded.
"I didn't care because I loved him," she told Paul. "Haven't you ever felt that way about anyone?" she asked him. "Haven't you ever been in love with someone so much it didn't matter to you if you could get hurt?" she asked and Paul let out a sigh and shook his head. "Of course you haven't, I forgot who I was talking to," sighed. "You don't have serious girlfriends."
"You don't get hurt if you don't get to attached to someone," he told her.
"I never thought Jake would imprint," she admitted and started to sob again.
"Ava," he said. "You know I'm horrible when it comes to the whole women crying thing."
"I'm sorry," she sniffled as she wiped her eyes.
"Its not your fault you fell in love with Jake and he's broken your heart," Paul told her. "Come on," he said and scooped her up in his arms. "You can't stay here all afternoon and night."
"I can if you put me down," she told him.
"No Aviana," he said firmly and he carried her out of the woods.
A few minutes later he walked in his house and placed her on the couch.
"Why did you bring me to your house?" she asked.
"Last place anyone would look for you," he told her and she nodded.
"Thanks," she whispered and sat up and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. When she looked at the screen there were three missed calls from Jacob.
"I never heard it ring," she said and sat it on the table.
"Not going to call him back?"
No he has an imprint to worry about now and I don't really want to see him which sucks because I have to go home eventually and he'll be there," she told him. "Since we live together."
"I know," Paul said and sat beside her. "Do you know where you're going to go?"
"No Paul I have no idea," she told him and he let out a sigh and looked over at her. Her eyes were all red from where she had been crying and her cheeks had tear stains on them. He didn't like seeing her so upset and he could kick Jacob's ass for not telling her sooner, for stringing her along as long as he did.
"You can stay here," he heard the words tumble out of his mouth before he could stop them. Ava looked over at him shocked.
"Why would you want me to stay here?" she asked confused. "You hate me."
"I don't hate you Ava," Paul told her. "Why would you think that?"
"Well you've always acted like it and you were mean to me most of the time," She said as her phone rang and she glanced at it and saw it was Jacob calling again.
"He's going to keep calling until you talk to him," Paul told her and she let out a sigh.
"I don't really want to talk to him or see him right now." She said and her phone chimed signaling a message. She picked up her phone and called the voicemail to listen to the message. She actually had three messages all from Jacob, saying he was worried about her and wanting to make sure she was ok and to please call him and let him know if she as ok.
"Messages from Jake wanting to know if I'm ok," she told Paul. "He's probably with his imprint while he's calling me."
"Ava…."
"Have you seen her?" she asked curiously. "Is she pretty?"
"Ava, you don't really want to talk about that do you?"
"Just answer me Paul," she pleaded. "I know you won't lie to me."
"Yes I've seen her. She's pretty," Paul admitted. "Not as pretty as you though." He told her and brushed her hair away from her face.
"You don't have to say that Paul," she told him and he shrugged
"Its true," he said and she smiled slightly. "You know I wouldn't lie to you."
"I know," she nodded. "What's her name?"
"Darci," Paul said and she nodded and they fell silent. Ava's phone ringing a few minutes later broke the silence.
"Just answer it," he said. "So he'll leave you alone."
"Fine," she huffed and picked her phone up.
"Hello."
"Ava!" Jacob exclaimed. "You're ok," he said relieved.
"Jake," was all she said.
"'I've been worried about you," he told her. "So worried."
"'Of course you have," she replied, her eyes filling with tears.
"All that matters is you're ok," he told her. "When are you coming home?"
"I'm not coming home tonight," she told him. "I can't be in the same house as you."
"Ava where are you going to stay?" he asked worried.
"That's not for you to worry about, I'll be by tomorrow to pack up my stuff," she told him. "While you're at work."
"Ava I…."
"I'll leave the key on the kitchen counter for you." She told him.
"You don't have to move out," He said sadly.
"Yes I do Jake, you dumped me," she reminded him. "You can't have an imprint and me live with you to and I really can't see you right now, so please let me pack up my stuff in peace and I'll be out of your way."
"We can still be friends…."
"Not right now Jake," she told him and ended the call and looked over at Paul and he saw more tears fall down her cheeks.
"Ava," Paul said and let out a sigh. "If you tell anyone I did this I'll deny it," he warned her and he scooted right next to her on the couch and wrapped his arms around her. Ava laid her head on his chest and cried.
As she sat wrapped in Paul's arms she couldn't believe how nice it felt and how safe she felt in his arms. She never imagined being in Paul's arms could feel that way, that of all people Paul could make her feel safe and like everything was going to be ok. She had just broken up with her boyfriend, she shouldn't be feeling this way about another guy, but Paul wasn't just any guy for her, he was the guy she had always had a crush on.
Paul would never admit it to Ava but having her wrapped in his arms was one of the things he always wanted, he never hated her, he actually really liked her and she was one of the two girls he wanted a real relationship with but she never knew that and he could never tell her because he knew she would never think of him that way.
A few minutes later Ava pulled away and wiped her eyes.
"Thanks," she said softly.
"You hungry?" Paul asked.
"A little I guess."
"I can go get us something if you want?"
"No I can cook," she said and stood up.
"You don't have to, I'm sure cooking is the last thing you want to do."
"But it will take my mind off things." She told him. "Just let me go wash my hands and get cleaned up a little."
"Ok," Paul smiled and she stood up. "Bathroom is down that hallway," he said pointing to a hallway by the kitchen.
"Ok be right back," she said and walked away.
When she was gone Paul let out a groan and covered his face with his hands. He couldn't believe he invited her to stay with him. He didn't mean to the words just came out of his mouth before he could stop them. Not only was Jacob going to want to kill him but he didn't know how he was going to take being around her. She thought he hated her when that was the far from true. He had always had a…kind of a crush on her. He thought she was beautiful, her long brown hair looked silky and shined when the light hit it. Her skin was perfect and smooth and looked incredibly soft. She had really pretty brown eyes, not that he ever looked into them but he just knew they were beautiful. She smelled really good to like Honeysuckle and jasmine. There wasn't anything about Ava that wasn't beautiful, to him anyway. He thought she was perfect. He had considered asking her out but Jacob asked her first and she of course agreed and he never told her how he felt because he knew she would never pick him over Jacob. So he resorted to always voicing how wrong they were for each other and after she found out about the pack he voiced it more. It was his luck he would be the one to find her after Jacob hurt her. That he would be the one that was kind of taking care of her after Jacob left her, he never took care of anyone but himself, he wasn't the type of guy that took care of girls or even cared if they had gotten their heart broken but something about her was different. He was brought out of his thoughts when Ava walked in the room.
"Paul," she said and he glanced over at her. "I'm going to start dinner," she told him. "What do you want?"
"I'm not that picky," he told her. "You can look through everything and fix whatever you want."
"Ok," she replied and went into the kitchen
Ava walked in the kitchen and began looking through everything only to find Paul didn't have much. She let out a frustrated sigh and walked back in the living room and crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Paul. Paul felt her gaze on him and turned around and looked at her.
"Something wrong?" he asked innocently.
"You do realize you need to go grocery shopping right?" she asked.
"I know Ava I wasn't planning on having dinner here tonight I was going to go to Sam's," he told her.
"Oh," she whispered. "I'm sorry I ruined your plans," she apologized.
"Its ok."
"You can go to Sam and Emily's if you want but I don't feel like going," she said and walked over and sat by him. "Jake will be there."
"I'll go get us something for dinner and tomorrow I don't have to work so I'll go buy groceries while you're packing your things."
"Ok Paul," she said softly. "I'm going to take the day off work tomorrow."
"Now what would you like for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow?" he asked. "I'll run in the store and grab a few things for breakfast.
"I don't care I can make breakfast in the morning," she told him. "So get whatever you want."
"Ok. Did you want to go with me?" he asked.
"I don't know Paul," she said nervously.
"We can drive into Forks if you want," Paul told her. "We don't have to go anywhere close by."
"Why would you do that for me?" she asked.
"Why not?" he shrugged.
"Because you're not normally nice, you're usually mean to me, but you're being really nice to me now," she pointed out.
"You don't want me to be nice to you?" he asked confused.
"Yeah I would rather you be nice to me but I also want you to tell me the truth."
"Ok I can do that," Paul told her. "So do you want to go with me?" he asked. "I really don't want to leave you by yourself."
"I'm not going to do anything Paul, I'll be ok." She assured him.
"You sure?" Paul asked. "If you want me to stay we can order pizza," he told her.
"You won't be gone long Paul, I'll be ok by myself." She assured him.
"Ok let me grab a shirt and I'll leave."
When Paul left to go get dinner Ava turned the TV on and kicked her shoes off and laid down on the couch and found a TV show to watch. A few minutes later her eyes drifted shut.
After Ava hung up on him Jacob covered his face with his hands. He knew he should have told her right when he imprinted but there was a part of him that hoped he could fight the imprint and stay with Ava. When he realized that fighting the imprint wasn't going to work he knew breaking up with her was the right thing to do but instead he continued to come home to her every night but began pulling away more than he had already. She had constantly asked him what was wrong and he told her it was nothing but he knew she suspected something. Now she didn't even want to talk to him and he had no idea where she was and she was moving out and he had no idea where she was going. He wondered if she knew where she was going. Jacob stood up from where he was sitting and decided to head to Sam's, maybe she would be there.
Paul went through a drive thru and bought some chicken and sides for dinner. Then he stopped at the grocery store and went in and bought some eggs, sausage and a can of biscuits for breakfast in the morning. As he was walking to the cashier to buy everything he passed the ice cream and though of Ava, she might want some ice cream. He walked down the aisle and stared at the flavors. He knew she had a favorite flavor but he couldn't remember what it was. It wasn't chocolate or vanilla…
"chocolate chip cookie dough," he said and he grabbed a few cartons of it, most girls seemed to like that, and went to pay for everything so he could get back.
Jacob arrived at Sam's and he saw all the guys but Paul but Paul was known for his lateness. He also didn't see Ava anywhere. When Quil and Embry saw Jacob they ran over to talk to him.
"Hey Jake," Embry said.
"Where's Ava?" Quil asked.
"I told her today and she ran off crying," Jacob told them. "I never meant to hurt her." He said sadly.
"We know that Jake," Embry said. "Have you tried to call her?"
"Yeah I tried several times, left her several messages and she finally answered," Jacob told them. "She says she's ok and that she won't be home tonight and that she'll be by tomorrow to pack her stuff." Jacob added sadly. "She's moving out."
"Did you expect her to continue living with you Jake?" Quil asked. "Because you knew she wasn't."
"I know but she won't tell me where she's going to stay."
"Jake let it go for now, you'll find out soon enough," Embry told him.
"She doesn't even want me home tomorrow while she's packing, she's going to pack while I'm at work."
"Do what she asks Jake," Quil told him. "If you can't do something as simple as staying away while she packs her things then she'll never want to talk to you again. You need to give her the space she asks for."
"Quil's right Jake, you hurt her and you should have told her a lot sooner than you did, you can't expect this to just be ok, for her to just be your friend because you want it that way."
"I still care about Ava, I still love her, my imprint with Darci doesn't change that," Jacob told them.
"We know that Jake but Ava needs her space right now and you're going to have to realize she may not want to see you but that will change eventually after she's had time to move on."
"I hope so," he sighed.
"Has Paul heard about what happened with you and Ava?" Quil asked.
"If he had he'd probably be here rubbing it in my face how the two of us were never right for each other," Jacob told him.
"Jake you know why he acted the way he did towards you and Ava," Embry told him.
"Yeah I know he liked her," Jacob sighed. "Is he here?"
"No and you know he's probably with some girl if he's not here."
"I don't care where Paul is unless Ava is with him and that's the last place she is since she hates Paul for always being so mean to her," Jacob said and walked off.
"I've got something I need to take care of, I'll be right back it won't take long," Embry told Quil.
"Ok," Quil said confused. "You better hurry if you want food."
"I'll be back before time to eat," Embry said and ran off, what Jacob said was running through his head "I don't care where Paul is unless Ava is with him and that's the last place she is
Embry stopped running when he was in front of Paul's door.
"This is the last place anyone would look for Ava," he said to himself and knocked on the door.
When Paul got back to his house he went inside and saw Ava was asleep on the couch. He shook his head and smiled and went to put everything up in the kitchen before waking her up to eat. He sat their food containers for dinner on the counter and put the groceries away and then went to wake her up. Paul walked into the living room and knelt down in front of her beside the couch. He brushed her hair away from her face.
"Ava," Paul said. "Ava wake up I have dinner," he added. "Ava," he said and gave her a gentle shake. Her eyes opened and he saw her rub them and she looked at him.
"Paul," she said and sat up "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"You've had a rough day, its ok," he told her. "But I have dinner, I got chicken," he told her.
"Sounds good," she said.
"I also got ice cream," he told her.
"What kind?"
"Chocolate chip cookie dough," he said. "Do you like that kind?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes Paul, Its one of my favorites."
"I thought it was but I didn't know for sure."
"Thank you," she said and stood up from the couch and the two of them went into the kitchen.
Paul got them some plates and handed one to Ava.
"You get what you want first," he told her.
"Ok," she said and walked over and put chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans on her plate and then went to the table.
"You can get something to drink out of the refrigerator," he told her and she walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a soda.
"Did you want something?" she asked.
"Sure you can grab me a soda if you want," he said and Ava grabbed him a soda and took both of them to the table. She sat down and grabbed her fork and started eating. Paul sat down across from her, with his plate piled full of food and started to eat. Neither one of them talked during the meal and when they were done eating Ava took their plates to the sink and washed them.
Paul walked over and stood next to her.
"You staying tonight?" he asked softly.
"If you don't mind, I don't want to ruin any plans you might have though." She said softly. "Are any date or whatever you may have."
"I don't have any plans," Paul assured her. "Do you want a t-shirt of mine or something to wear to sleep in?" he asked her. He usually never let girls wear anything of his, not even his t-shirts but Ava wasn't just any girl to him, she was a girl he could be really happy with if there was even a slight chance she could feel the same way about him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Ok that would be great," she smiled.
"I'll be right back." Paul told her and walked out of the kitchen.
He returned a few minutes later with a t-shirt and pair of shorts and handed them to her.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll be right back."
When Ava got in the bathroom she closed the door and locked it behind her. She looked in the mirror and noticed her eyes were red from where she had been crying, her hair was a mess, she looked horrible, she didn't know how Paul was even able to look at her. Ava turned the sink on and grabbed a washcloth from Paul's cabinet and washed her face. Then she changed into the clothes Paul gave her which of course were too big on her. She had to roll the shorts several times and the shirt hung to her knees covering the shorts he had given her. She looked at her reflection in the mirror she looked ridiculous in Paul's clothes but they were really comfortable. They also smelled really good, like rain, like Paul. She ran her fingers through her hair and let out a sigh. She couldn't believe she was going to stay with Paul tonight and most likely move in with him but where else was she going to go and he offered. Jacob was going to loose it when he found out she was staying with Paul and after tomorrow everyone would know.
"Well it doesn't matter anymore because Jake imprinted and he doesn't want me," she said to herself and she saw tears fill her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom.
When she walked back into the living room Paul was lounging on the couch watching TV.
"Paul," she said and he turned to look at her and he felt his heart start to beat faster. She looked incredibly sexy in his clothes. "I know I look ridiculous Paul, you're clothes are really big on me," she told him as she walked over and he sat up on the couch. "But they're really comfortable."
"You don't look ridiculous Ava," he told her as she sat on the couch with him.
"I don't," she said surprised and he shook his head.
"No you don't," he told her and she smiled as they heard a knock on the door.
"Who could that be?" she asked.
"I don't know all the guys should be at Sam," he told her and the person knocked again.
"Paul its Embry open the door," he said.
"He'll tell Jake I'm here," Ava panicked. "I'll go to the extra bedroom." she added and quickly stood up.
"Its your bedroom now Ava," he said and she nodded and walked out of the room. When she was gone Paul walked over and opened the door.
