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"You're beautiful, Bella"
It was the first time he'd ever said that to a girl, but any of the other adjectives would not do Bella Swan justice.
The only daughter of Chief Swan was taken by his self-serving wife when Bella was just a baby. And yet, she managed to capture the hearts of the townsfolk when she visited every summer — which is why he had dubbed her Princess.
And the Princess had finally returned home.
She was as close as he was ever going to get to a princess, and things were different with her. It had to be different. He had to be different.
When she had first approached him on the beach — lost little white girl, just strolling through the empty beach at night like she didn't have a fear in the world — he thought she had to be drunk, or maybe he was even hallucinating her. He knew who she was, everyone did. But she came to him. She wasn't afraid of him, not the sneer on his face or the tattoos or anything that usually kept all the girls crossing the street just to avoid him.
He was convinced that all she wanted from him was a walk on the wild side, just once, just to taste that little bit of danger and desperation that had no place in Forks. But she kept coming back for more. And she made him start to think...
And there was his problem, as Sam told him so many times. "You make it all too complicated, Paul. Just keep it simple." But there was nothing simple about Bella Swan, none of the boys would ever get it.
Jared figured it out eventually, what was going on, why he was never around any more. Jared could be the world's biggest moron, but he picked up on everything with his family and friends. "It's never gonna end good, man," was all he'd said, no other explanation needed.
Paul nodded. He knew that.
That didn't mean that it wasn't worth it.
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