AN: For the purposes of this story, Paul will be 19 (a year older than Bella) when he phases. All recognizable plots are credited to S. Meyer.

Chapter 1:

The history

The little five year old girl was woken up by the house phone ringing. She looked outside and saw that it was still dark, and wondered who would be calling at this time of night. She threw back her covers, and ran into the kitchen looking for her daddy. She found him hanging up the phone, and got scared because he was crying.

She had never seen her daddy cry before. Her father, hearing her little sniffle, he looked up at her and tried to smile.

"Aunt Sara has gone to mommy and angels."

She didn't know where the angels were; just that she hadn't seen her mommy since she joined them.

"Go pack a bag Bella; we're going to stay with Uncle Billy for a while"

Two years later (Bella is 7)

It was unusually warm in La Push as Bella ate her ice cream on the porch of the house her dad had bought last year. She heard her cousin Jacob come outside to sit beside her, licking an ice cream cone of his own. With Jacob being a year older than her, she asked the question she hoped he knew.

"Where do the angels live Jakey?"

Her cousin looked at her surprised before answering, "Way up there Bells," he said pointing to the sky, "You can't see them, but they're always there."

Bella nodded, and wondered just how far away they were. She was broken out of her thoughts by her ice cream cone being hit to the dirt. She looked up into the eyes of Paul Aaron. He was the same age as Jake, and ever since she moved here, always teasing her. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, and slightly scared.

"What's the matter pale face? Scared of the big bad wolf?" Paul said grinning before he turned and ran back to his house right up the street.

Jacob offered her a lick of his cone before speaking,

"Dad says that when boys pick on girls, they like them."

Bella thought about this before answering,

"That's gross Jakey, boys have cooties," she said, scrunching up her nose.

The two cousin's dads just chuckled from the open window above.

Seven years later (Bella is 14)

Bella huffed as she lay back down on her bed. Tomorrow was her first day of high school, and she had NOTHING to wear! She sighed again as she lifted herself off her bed, and put on her shoes to go outside. She yelled out to her dad that she would be back by dark, and set off on the path in the woods behind her house.

She grinned as she came upon the tree house her and Jacob had built a few years ago, it was a place not even their dads knew about.

She grabbed the ladder rung and hoisted herself up. Her grin faded when she saw who else was in there.

"Paul Aaron. What in the hell are you doing in MY tree house?"

He barely gave her a glance before going back to looking out the side, swinging his legs over the edge. Bella may not have liked him, but she didn't like to see anyone hurting. She sat down beside him, and tried not to leave when she saw him lean away from her.

"You may hate me for whatever reason, but I want you to know that you can talk to me; and what you say won't be repeated to anyone."

Paul sighed before turning to her and saying, "My dad isn't the nicest person in the world. He doesn't know when to put the bottle down, and he loves a punching bag when he's drunk. Just so happened that I was the punching bag this time."

Bella didn't know what to say or do. So she just laid her head on his shoulder and whispered, "I'm sorry"

Paul just laughed humorlessly and looked away. He finally turned his head to ask her just why the hell she cared when he realized that she was a lot closer than he thought.

He leaned forward and just when their lips were about to meet he whispered, "Thank you" before smashing his mouth to hers. He opened his eyes in shock and found hers were the same. They were both thinking the same thing 'Why does this feel so right?'

Paul suddenly jerked away and glanced at her before jumping down and running away to his house. Bella touched her lips and sighed. She could handle being Paul's girlfriend, and couldn't wait for school tomorrow.

Six months later

Bella was one pissed bitch. Paul hadn't looked her way once since school had started, and continued to tease her with newly acquired gusto. She didn't understand. Why would Paul kiss her if he didn't want to be her boyfriend? She was stomping her way to her tree house, hoping that the forest would calm her down, when she noticed a pair of legs swinging.

Just who she wanted to see. Paul. She yanked herself up into the tree house, and started yelling at him, "What exactly is your problem that you can't even acknowledge the girl that you were making out with, unless you're teas-"

Bella was cut off by Paul's mouth against hers. She sighed into the kiss and began to relax her body, but then she remembered why she was mad in the first place. She automatically yanked away from him.

"You don't have the right to kiss me whenever you desire. It's not like we're together. You care to much what people think for that to happen anyways." She sneered

"To hell with what people think Bella, I don't want to not be with you anymore. And I sure as hell want to kiss you whenever I want," was all Paul said before he caught her hands in his and pulled her into his arms. Bella sighed hoping he would live up to it.

The next day, Paul Aaron and Bella Swan walked down the halls of La Push High holding hands.

Two years later (Bella is 16)

Bella knew Paul loved her. She sighed in contentment as she pulled the sheets around her and laughed when she heard Paul cursing in the shower. He didn't have to say the words yet. His love was in the way her touched her so gently, and how he cried with her when he hurt her not an hour ago.

She loved Paul enough to give him the gift of being her first everything: kiss, boyfriend, and lover.

Bella smiled at that got off the bed, and walked into the bathroom. She tore back the shower curtain and smirked as she asked Paul when he would be ready to do it again.

The whole reservation heard his laugh.

Two years later (Bella is 18)

Bella was ecstatic as she pulled into Paul's drive and hopped out of the cab of her truck. She had just graduated, and she and Paul were moving together to Seattle next month so they could be together while she got her degree. They had talked about this, but didn't expect it for a while. Bella was praying to whoever was in the sky that Paul would love her surprise.

She rounded the house when there was no answer at the door, and saw Paul coming out of the woods. She began to run to him, but stopped when she noticed that he wasn't even looking at her.

"Paul… Babe, what's wrong."

"Just go Bella. Go get your degree and live your life, but do so without me. I've realized that I'm not ready to settle down."

Bella looked at him in shock. "You're not ready? You were pushing this damn thing the second you graduated and I had a year left. You can't even look me in the eye as you tell me that you want nothing to do with me?"

Bella wasn't angry at this point, she was numb. This was not how things were supposed to go. What the hell had happened in the past 24 hours that Paul no longer wanted to be with her?

"Well you have a bit of a problem with that Paul-"

"Fuck it. You deal with it. I'm done. Go Bella, now; and don't look back."

Bella stumbled back to her truck and started to drive. Halfway to Seattle she had to pull off on the side of the road because she was crying too hard to see the road.

She put her hand to her stomach and whispered to the growing life inside it, "Fuck him lil guy. We don't need him anyway."

With her resolve set, Bella once again set off for Seattle. She was doing what Paul asked, she wasn't looking back.