Hello, my lovies! Welcome to Hearts Ever Right, the sequel to Hearts In Sync! There's one thing I need to point out before you begin reading this installment. I have changed what happened between Edward and Bella in HIS. So, before you begin reading, I would suggest you go read Chapter Eleven: Keeping Bella again. Or, at least the part that deals with what happened before Bella got lost in the woods.
Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Twilight.
Chapter One
Paul's POV
"Shoot! Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!"
I looked up from the patrol schedule Sam had sent over last night to see Bella gripping her hand over the sink, red oozing from a slice across her palm.
"Jesus, Swan! What the hell are you doing?" I snapped, jumping to my feet.
I walked over and turned on the water, holding her hand under the spray as she hissed in pain. My wolf growled softly at her, trying to both sooth and scold her.
"I was trying to help Emily with the dinner tonight. I wasn't expecting the ham to be so freaking difficult," Bella grumbled, wincing as I pressed around her wound.
"Fool," I accused softly, pressing a kiss to her head.
I grabbed hold of a towel off the stove wrack and gently dried her hand, satisfied when I saw the bleeding had slowed. Examining it carefully, I noticed it wasn't deep enough to need stitches.
"Hold this on it," I instructed, giving her the towel.
"You know, this whole klutz thing is really starting to get old," Bella sighed as I dug under the sink for the first aid kit.
We had one in every room of the house, something I'd quickly learned from Charlie was a good idea when tasked with the job of taking care of Bella. Since she'd moved in over a month ago, not a week had gone by where she didn't end up hurting herself with some household chore. Last week she'd sewn one of my few remaining shirts to her finger, not realizing she'd pierced skin until she went to put the shirt down. Only then did she realize her finger was still numb from burning her hand while cooking dinner the day before.
The girl definitely kept me on my toes.
"Here," I murmured, taking out the Ace bandages and grabbing her hand.
She watched as I wrapped her hand like Charlie had shown me, used to dealing with his daughter's accidents. Charlie hadn't been too thrilled when Bella and I went to tell him she was moving in with me, but he hadn't voiced any objections, which surprised us both.
"Just make sure to stock up on bandages and ice, son."
That had been his best piece of advice and, so far, it hadn't proven me wrong.
"Alright, how's that?" I asked, tucking in the end of the bandage.
"Good. Thanks," Bella smiled, leaning over to kiss me sweetly.
"Just be careful next time, Swan," I mock growled, nipping at her jaw.
"Hmm. Maybe you should finish cutting the ham, then. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to finish it. Though, we should probably wash off the blood," Bella suggested, glancing at the slab of meat sitting innocently on the counter, the bloody knife beside it.
"You just keep that hot little ass of yours in that seat and watch your man teach this ham a lesson," I teased, striding confidently towards the counter.
Her soft laughter filled the kitchen and I smiled as I chopped the ham easily, after washing it off, of course.
A low beep echoed from the hall and Bella jumped up.
"Laundry's done," she called as she raced down the short hallway.
The house my parents had abandoned me in had been completely transformed, all thanks to the woman currently pulling my clothing from the dryer.
Where once stood a dilapidated shack, filled with dust and faded walls, was now a homey little house with flower beds out front, new paint on the walls, and completely dust free. With the help of the pack, Bella and I had turned this run down piece of shit into a home.
Sure the A/C and heating didn't always work, but Bella loved the heat and I generated enough for both of us when it got to be too cold for my little mate.
And, yeah, it was kind of on the small side of the houses on the rez, but Bella didn't seem to mind the one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, and living room hut. And she had convinced me to build a large deck around back, complete with fire pit.
So, the floors were uneven and the water took forever to heat up. Whenever she tripped, it just gave me a reason to hold her. And I always found us something to do while we waited for the shower to start steaming.
All in all, we had it pretty good. The house was completely paid for thanks to my dead-beat parents. The small stipend I got between the pack fund from the rez and working the occasional construction job with Sam was enough to keep the lights on and food on the table. We didn't need anything else, as Bella constantly told me.
"Paul?" Bella's voice called from the bedroom.
"Yeah?" I answered, almost finished with the ham.
"Did you buy boxers and not tell me?" Bella asked, thoroughly confusing me.
"No. You know I don't wear any underwear. It just gets in the way while phasing," I frowned, moving to look down the hallway into the bedroom.
She stood in the doorway, a pair of dark blue boxers with the work "Sexy" written in red across the front. She looked from them to me and back, a little furrow appearing between her brows.
"Then… where did these come from?" Bella asked, stretching them out.
"Were any of the pack over here this week?" I asked, already having a pretty good idea of whose they were.
"Well, yeah, Embry and Quil stopped by while you were patrolling and Quil… OH MY GOD!" Bella screamed, throwing the boxers away from her.
I was caught between wanting to growl at those idiots leaving their clothing for my mate to wash and howling in laughter at the horrified look on her face. When her faced turned red and her fists started shaking, I decided laughter was the best bet.
"Don't you dare laugh at me, Paul Lahote! Your pack brothers are disgusting, vile, little mutts and I refuse to put up with doing their laundry!" Bella shrieked, glaring furiously.
"Swan, calm down before you bust a blood vessel or something," I chuckled, walking forward to pull her into my arms.
She huffed, mumbling something about stupid wolves, but didn't fight me as I drew her close.
"Don't worry. I'll kick his tail for you," I promised, hiding my smile in her hair.
"You better. Otherwise, I'm taking a metal bat to that idiot's head," Bella grumbled, though it lacked the heat of moments before.
"If I don't beat him to your satisfaction, I'll hold him down while you swing at him, alright?" I offered.
"Deal. But I want a really heavy bat," Bella insisted, leaning back to give me her "serious" face.
"I'll get you the heaviest bat there is," I vowed, kissing the tip of her nose.
From there I kissed my way down until I was nibbling on the curve of her neck. She sighed softly, her breath fanning across my skin as I pulled her closer.
"How much time do we have before they expect us?" I asked, nipping at her ear.
"Enough," Bella gasped, her nails digging into my shoulder.
With a triumphant growl, I lifted her into my arms and strode into the bedroom. Tossing her onto the mattress, I picked up the laundry basket and chucked it from the room.
It and the ham would have to wait.
I had a mate to see to.
Alright, just some fun little fluff for our first chapter back in. Now, this hasn't been pre-read because I'm tired and I really didn't want to bother Augustmoon99 just yet with another story. Besides, I feel a little bad it took me this long to get it to you and I didn't want to make you wait any longer for it.
I know you guys have some questions, so feel free to ask away, though let me answer one I'm sure you will all have. Yes, Quil and Embry did phase. I will go into more detail about that next chapter.
Speaking of the next chapter, not sure when it will be posted. Possibly in a day or two. I don't really have much to do during the day since it's Winter Break… You guys might get a lot of updates or I might get really lazy and only update occasionally. Let's hope for the former!
Alright, well, it's late, so I'm off to bed. See you guys next chapter!