(AN) This is my birthday present to Beth Javensen, who has faithfully reviewed nearly every chapter since she started reading! Her birthday is technically on the seventeenth, but it's come to my attention that we have to visit Matteo's parents that night and I won't get to post it then. So, happy early birthday!

From the time she was four, I'd been wrapped around her tiny fingers. The first time I'd looked into her lavender eyes, my life had been irrevocably changed. From then on, I'd belonged to this beautiful, golden-haired girl. I was her Paul, her best friend, her protector, and someday I'd be her lover, the best one she could ever have. I think a part of me had always thought of her as mine as well, my imprint, my Eva, my sunshine, my love and my life.

Yet she still didn't realize it. She couldn't see herself clearly, she couldn't fathom why anyone would love her, despite the fact that everybody did.

I watched her now as she walked beside me, perched on the low stone wall outside her home. It made me nervous, she bruised so easily, but I was confident I could catch her before she hit the ground.

"Paul?" She asked softly, tapping my shoulder. I looked up at her, smiling as my eyes met her face. She was biting her lower lip, looking anxious.

"Yep?" I asked, taking her hand in mine.

"I…I wanted to ask you something." She responded, her eyes still downcast. Her heart usually didn't beat this fast. I began to spin through things that could be making her distressed.

"I got that much, Evie." I mumbled distracted. I saw her face fall and I instantly cursed myself. I squeezed her hand tighter.

"I'm sorry, never mind." She whispered, turning to look the other way. I felt my heart drop down to my stomach and I had to fight back the groan.

Beautiful, sensitive, Evie. I sighed and very gently wrapped my arms around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. With the extra height from the small wall, she was as tall as me, barely. I could look right into her sparkling eyes, if they weren't pointed at the ground.

"Evie…c'mon sweetheart, I'm sorry. Tell me what's wrong, I'll make it better. Don't I always?" I asked tipping her head up with my finger. A blush was forming at the apples of her cheeks, coloring her pale skin a rosy pink.

"I…I just…" She shifted on the wall and lost her balance, instantly she was secure in my arms, bridal style.

Don't think about that, Paul, she's only seventeen. I yelled at myself. She laughed nervously.

"I wish I wasn't so clumsy." She mumbled. "If it wasn't for you, I'd have broken all my bones by now."

"I'd never let that happen." I said, determined. She laughed again, used to my intensity when it came to her personal safety. "So, what did you want to ask me?"

She blushed again, instantly becoming quiet. Her small fingers grabbed my shirt and she lowered her eyes.

"Evie? Please…just tell me what's wrong…" I begged. She looked up suddenly, her eyes blazing.

"Do you love me?" She asked, so softly that if I didn't have super werewolf hearing, I might have missed it. Her cheeks flushed, but she didn't look away from me. I had to remind myself to breathe, in and out, in and out, as I struggled through the words.

"If you don't, I mean, I understand, I really don't blame you if you decide you want someone else, and I promise I'll still always be your friend, but I'm sorry, I'm in love with you." She rushed to explain, slowly lowering her eyes in shame. I grinned like a mad man.

"Evie." I whispered softly. "Evie, there will never be anyone else. Just you, always you. I love you." I slowly lowered my lips to hers as her head bounced back up. Our lips connected, and suddenly there was nothing else in the world.

It was so right, we were molded perfectly for each other. Her lips moved slowly, inexperienced, against mine and I took it slow as well. My first time kissing a girl since I'd met Eva thirteen years before. Fireworks were going off in my blood, she was pressing against me...

It was worth the wait.

"Paul?" The world began to fade as her voice wrapped around me. "Paul, you have to get up."

I opened my eyes, watching the sun stream through my bedroom window. Eva was perched lightly on the edge of the bed in jeans and one of her dad's sweatshirts, her blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun.

"I let myself in, I hope you don't mind?" She asked sweetly with one of her saint-like smiles.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Eva?" I asked with a yawn, trying to shake the dream from my head. I couldn't rush things. Eva had to set the pace.

"I had a nightmare." She said softly, her eyes dropping. I instantly felt my heart seize, scrambling into a sitting position.

"What'd you see? Is it bad?" I asked, alarmed.

"You slept in and missed your alarm, then you were late for work and Sam was mad at you. Then Isaac had to work a double and cancel his date with Echo, which would have led to Echo moping for the next week." She quipped, standing and stretching. The sweatshirt rose up and revealed an inch of creamy white skin.

I was a bad, bad person.

"Meh, it would have been worth it." I declared. That was, of course, until Jake caught me thinking about it later, but then… no it still would have been worth it. Eva laughed.

"You would have me suffer because you'd prefer your dreams to reality?" She pouted. I smiled playfully.

"Yes, because Echo would have never gotten over it." I said sarcastically. She giggled, poking my side.

"I made you breakfast too, c'mon!" She danced out of the room and down the steps. I sighed.

I was going straight to hell.

It was worth it. Anything for my Eva, my Evie.

Bonus Quotes (These quotes are from the upcoming end of the trilogy. Subject to change.)

"You told me you'd never leave me. I believed you. I still believe in you." – Delilah Black

"We're meant for each other. It's easy, simple. Someday you're going to realize that. I can afford to wait till then. I'm not decaying anytime soon." – Christian

"I'm going to protect you, Eva."
"I'm going to save you. If I have to kill myself to do it."
"That's not funny." Paul Roy and Eva Luwen

"What's wrong with me? I'm going crazy. I must be going crazy." – Echo Black

"It creeps and crawls, and then it consumes you." – Pandora

"Yeah. He'd look better as a pile of ashes." – Seth Clearwater

"I'm at least going to give you a head start. Jake wouldn't be that kind." – Edward Cullen

"Sure, blame me. Not the psychotic witch thing, blame me. Because I can't help loving you. Because I look at you and I see through that witty little cynical façade you have. You might not want me, but you've always got me." – Isaac Uley