O_O I have no solitary idea how this is going to go, but I figured why not. I've literally had scenes of this rolling through my head for about two months now, and it finally kicked me into gear. Let's see where this goes...
PaulxOC- Imprint Story about love, angst, romance, beauty, and loss.
Hope you enjoy!
Paul's POV
I tackled Jared into the ground with a low growl and a laugh, the football flying from his hand and rolling through the sand. He pushed me off roughly, shaking his head as he stood. He held a hand out, and I took it, standing. I bent down, popping the ball up into my grip as we walked back to the starting area, getting down, low to the sand. I was face to face with Sam, smirking at him.
"You seriously think you're gonna be beat me this time, Sam?" I mocked, lifting an eyebrow.
He smirked, glancing down at the ball. "I could beat you with my eyes closed."
At that time, the countdown was completed, and I pushed the ball through my legs and back to Seth who ran with it. I went long, lifting my hand to catch the ball as it came towards me. Sam managed to intercept the pass at the last second, taking off towards the rock that we had decided was his team's touchdown marker. I ran after him, the teams following as sand flew out behind us. A great cloud of dust bellowed up, moving with the wind. The sand overtook me for a moment, and I lost Sam at the last second, growling as I stopped running. When the area cleared, Sam was leaning against the rock, tossing the football and catching it again. He walked towards us, passing the ball to me. It hit me in the stomach, dropping into my open palm. Sam smiled arrogantly.
"28- 20," he stated, walking past me to the circle of women nearby, the imprintees, as I called them. "We win."
I shook my head, tossing the football at the rock. It busted on contact as I followed the others, walking into that forbidden circle. I willingly aspired to stay friends with these guys, forcing myself through the disgusting times such as right now in which the guys and their imprints shared a kiss, some words of romance. In turn, I often made the notion of vomiting, only to get shoved by Jared as he held Kim in his arms, chuckling at my attitude.
After a few moments of horrible references to things between the couples that I definitely did not want to think about, I stood, jogging down the beach a little ways, hopping up onto a rock and overlooking the horizon. It was clouded with that common dark gray sheen, the waves rolling with steam from the temperature difference. We were going into winter, and the water had not yet cooled completely. Of course, I was unaffected by the change. To me, everything was just hot or warm, and I could not truly tell the difference from my body and the outside temperature. My body rebelled against it at 108 degrees of pure heat, and believe me, that's hard to combat, no matter how cold it gets. Given that fact, there were few days in which one of the guys was not invariably snuggled up to their imprint, wholly focused on there well being. I mean, good Lord, can they not stand a little ice? It never killed anybody. Well, maybe that's not entirely true, but one can understand. As such, I was completely reluctant of the whole imprinting thing.
I mean, it was like a chain that held you, forced the weight of gravity down on your shoulders, all revolving around one single person that had turned your world upside down, making it teeter on the edge of caring and not caring, what used to be important pale in comparison, and I despised this affliction. I could care less about the whole ordeal. I would rather gouge my eyes out than be occupied all the time by one single person. I glanced back at the couples, disgusted at one part of our nature.
I scowled at them, shaking my head just as a scream broke through my thoughts. I saw the other whip there heads around, backs rod straight as we all looked around. I stood, jumping down to the sand as my body went on high alert.
"No!" a voice screamed, and I traced it, slowly walking towards the treeline.
As I began walking, a girl ran out, terror in her eyes as she glanced back behind her, her breathing bouncing through the trees, coming back to me. I went to run towards her just as an older, sketchy looking man ran out of the trees. The girl gasped outright, picking up her speed until she reached the shore. She glanced at the water, her head revolving as she looked for a way to escape. She turned, coming face to face with the man as we all rushed over to them. The man managed to grab the girl, slapping her hard across the face. She cried out, dropping to the sand.
I roared as he planted a harsh kick to her ribs, and she rolled over, gripping her side. He reached down, fingering her hair into his fist, pulling her to her feet. She screamed, pleading with him.
"Please, let me go! Ah! Let me go!" she begged as we surrounded them.
The man turned around as we stood there, all of us fuming, our eyes dark with anger. He looked us over with wide eyes, still holding the girl. It was then that I noticed the blood that dripped from her nose, the red sheen that fell over her teeth as she gasped, her full bottom lip cut along the side. She looked around us with pain filtering through her eyes, grimacing every few seconds. The man stood straight, squaring his shoulders at us as if he stood a chance.
"Can I help you gentleman with something?' he asked. Did he seriously think he had the audacity to do so?
Jared brought a hand forward, slapping it down onto the man's shoulder. The man, groaned as the bone of his shoulder protested loudly, cracking back at us. The girl gasped, watching the scene, her chest convulsing with heavy breaths.
"Well, you see, we were raised as gentlemen, as you said, and gentlemen don't hurt ladies. So, I think you'd better let the lady go before we force you to let her go," he growled, getting close in the man's face, frightening him with the proximity.
"Please," the girl gasped in a quiet voice like pure silk. "Please, let me go." I glanced down at her, noticing the change immediately. A sound of defeat echoed through her voice. She sounded tired. On that note, I could only assume that this had happened before, and I hated the man more than I could say. I did not even need to know him to know what kind of low life he was. Disgraceful.
The man's head whipped around to her, their eyes meeting. His hand clenched, and she released her side to place her hands on her head. I stepped up at this point, gripping his wrist in my hand.
"I strongly suggest you let her go," I snarled quietly, menacingly. "You never know what can happen if you don't follow certain orders."
He released her, pushing the girl into my chest roughly. I caught her, mindful of her injuries. "Fine, you want her, have the bitch. I'll be better off without her anyway." He looked down at the girl with hatred and disgust, spitting in her direction. She shifted away from the stuff, burrowing even closer to me. "You are a complete disgrace to your mother."
He began to leave pushing his way through our shoulder to shoulder circle. "Yeah, well you're a disgrace to the human race," she whispered, gasping lightly.
We watched him leave, immediately turning to the girl as he left our sight. Sam stepped forward as she clung to me briefly before pulling away slightly, a hand holding her side. She was still close enough for me to feel the heat of her body, smell the scent of her blueberry hair. She looked up at him, a light shining within her eyes.
"Thank you," she breathed. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate what all of you have done for me." She looked around our circle, glancing back at me for a short second, but it was in that second that my whole world shifted and gravity left my body, transforming into the build of this one girl. My jaw dropped, but I quickly composed myself, looking over her head and out to the ocean to keep myself distracted.
"It was our pleasure," Sam replied, glancing my way shortly. I shook my head at him, making him ignore my change in demeanor. "Do you have anywhere else to go?"
She paused before shaking her head, tilting it down to the ground in dismay. I longed to reach out, brush my fingers through her hair and tell her that everything would be fine, but I did not want this to begin with, and I was not about to give in to the feelings that were suddenly coursing through me.
"No, I don't." A few tears slipped down her rosy cheeks, her face still beautiful even with the sheen of blood under her nose and on her lusciously kissable lips. I squeezed my eyes. God, help me! "I'm homeless now." She gasped, crying lightly.
At that point, I had to say something, ignoring the love but speaking with kindness. I could only hope that Sam agreed with the plan that was forming within my head. I laid a light hand on her lower back, feeling her tense before relaxing beneath the heat of my hand. "Hey, don't cry," I breathed lightly, moving so I was speaking into her hear but still where the others could hear me. "You can stay with a friend of mine, if Sam doesn't mind." I glanced up at him, gaining a nod from him. "She'll love to have your company." I looked past the guys to Emily who was standing around the area the girls occupied earlier. They watched us in shock and interest, trying to figure out what was happening.
The girl looked up at me with shockingly deep blue eyes, her black hair rolling down her back in tousled waves. I got lost in them, her voice crawling across my now sensitive nerves like poisonous spiders. "Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother."
My eyes widened minutely at her selfless nature, especially in her situation. Any normal person would accept gladly, go and get cleaned up immediately, yet, even after the events that had occurred, she still argued. Pulling from my stupor, I nodded as Sam called Emily over.
"She won't mind at all." I glanced over her head as Emily came into the circle. "Ah, here she is."
The girl turned around, seeing Emily. She gave no inclination of surprise to the scars that littered her face, for which I was grateful. Emily smiled her famous crooked smile, her eyes sparkling as they always did as she looked down on the girl. I waved my hand out to Emily as I introduced her. The girl stepped forward, shaking Emily's hand gently.
"Hello," she murmured quietly, giving a small smile.
Emily stepped forward, wrapping her arm around the girl's waist softly. "Come on. We can get you cleaned up, and then I will find you a place to rest."
"Thank you," she breathed.
Emily smiled, laughing lightly as she led the girl out of our circle, the other girls from the circle following behind them. "Don't worry about it."
The girl glanced back at us, she and the rest disappearing to Sam's truck, hopping in as Emily drove off, going to her house. I watched them go, feeling this pull rise within me. I looked down as I clenched a fist, ignoring the incessant drive that made me long to be next to the girl. I did not even know her name! I should not be feeling like this. I sighed roughly, shaking my head as the guy's crowded around me. Same spoke first, the words that left his mouth making me want to punch him straight across the face.
"You've imprinted," he stated knowingly, the others immediately coming at me with their little comments.
"Ah, no way!" Jared yelled.
Jacob chuckled. He knew my hatred for this whole thing.
"Well, you're already protecting her, what's difference is the rest of your life gonna make?" Quil questioned rhetorically, elbowing me in the ribs.
I roared, leaning my head back. They quieted, low laughter echoing back at me. "You know how I feel about this," I growled. "There's gotta be a way out of it!" My eyes flashed to Sam's hopefully, praying he could tell me something, anything to make this stop. He exhaled, shaking his head before turning and beginning the run to the treeline. We followed, my holding back as we transformed within the trees, their thoughts bombarding me all the way to the house.
I think it's pretty cool. I mean, imprinting isn't much different from falling in love. Not to mention, what if she loves him back? That came from Seth, ever the hopeful one.
Big deal. I've imprinted, and I'm not complaining about it. Hopefully Paul will finally grow a pair become a man with a woman. I know I have since my imprint... Jared went on to a more graphic thought, and the others groaned loudly, begging him to stop where the thought was trailing off to. He soon stopped, bowing his head. I was grateful for the distraction, but then I was not. For, as soon as thought was no longer occupying my mind, a picture of the girl was.
In that moment, I began to wonder where on earth she had come from, and what her whole story was behind the abuse and no telling what else that bastard had done to her? I felt such hatred and anger soar through me that I bit my cheek to keep from acting on it. I was already hooked so deep, and I had to admit that I absolutely loved having her face appear in my head. Her rosy her cheeks, bloodstained yet still kissable lips, her adorable button nose, and her endlessly stunning eyes. She was overwhelmingly attractive, and while the blood on her face did not stall her beauty, I wondered what she would look like without it, without the stains of red that covered her lips, the cut that rested there not at all deterring my want to to kiss her.
I shook my head, shaking her picture away.
Aw, Quil entered, he's already going to soft.
The laughter echoed through my head at different volumes, the only one nonexistent being Sam's. I growled at them all, speeding up. I made it to Emily's house in no time, transforming right at the treeline. I could hear the girl's inside, all talking about today's events and what they were going to do about the girl. I tried to listen for a name, but one was never given. I jogged up the steps, going through the sliding door and into the kitchen. The girl's kept talking as the others filed, each one going to their perspective woman. The sound of rushing water echoed through the house, alerting me that the girl was in the shower. I began to get images, a petite body, luscious curves... I blinked, grabbing a huge muffin off the counter and stuffing my face to distract myself. I leaned against the counter, overlooking the scene before me as I finished my food and the shower cut off. I made to move through the doorway into the living room but Emily stopped me.
"Oh, Paul?" she called, and I turned back to her, lifting my eyebrows. "She wanted to speak with you. Go to the back bedroom, that's where she's staying."
I nodded, moving through the living room. I reached the hallway and practically scuffed my feet across the carpet to the bedroom door. I stood outside for a few seconds, listening to the rustle of clothing. I raised my hand, patting my knuckles along the wood of the door. A second later, it opened to reveal the girl in all her glory. She wore much too long jeans that were rolled at her ankles and a band shirt with a stretched neck that revealed the soft looking skin of her right shoulder. Her hair framed her face, reaching her waist as it fell perfectly straight due to the water. Her face was clean except for the cut on her lip, and the light bruise on her cheek. To be honest, if it weren't for my perfect vision, I probably would not have even noticed the slight discoloration there, but I could, and that almost made my anger rise up again, but I would not allow myself to lose it around her.
She smiled up at me, opening the door wider so I could slide through. The room was bland, a queen bed in the corner with a dresser and another door to the closet and a small tv on the wall. I turned back to her, and she waved a hand to the bed, offering me a seat. I took it, watching her as she sat beside me.
"I'm sorry if you think this is weird, my calling you in here, but I just wanted to say thank you for what you did today." She looked up at me. "You saved me, and I really appreciate what you did."
I shook my head. "It was nothing. Besides, it wasn't just me." I was trying to get her attention off of me before I just leaned down and kissed her, and I sure wanted to. She smiled in return, my eyes flashing to her lips before I could stop them.
"I know," she breathed. "But you were the one that really made him let me go. I needed that. I needed it long ago, I just never knew how to make it happen, and I feared running away."
I glanced her way to see that she had dropped her head, eyes watching her hands as they twisted together in her lap. I reached over without thinking, resting my hand on hers. Her eyes caught mine, and I was caught in her gaze, once again glancing down at her lips.
"Will you tell me what happened? When it started?" I wondered quietly, eyes moving back to hers.
Her lips parted, catching my attention again as she paused. "I will someday," she whispered, her warm breath hitting right above where my heart rested. It bounced in response, pumping harshly for a second, completely entranced with the new sensations that were stirring within me.
I released her hands as I stood, her arms raising in response as if they never wanted to be let go. I began to move towards the door, knowing that I needed to get away or else I would end up pulling into this ordeal much earlier than I was prepared to. I made my way to the door, stopping when I felt her presence come up behind me. I turned, looking down to find her almost right at my back. She smiled up at me, coming closer. Her chest and stomach brushed my arm and side as she leaned up, her hand resting on the opposite side of my neck to pull my face down to hers. I leaned down, silently begging for her to slip, her lips touching mine. They landed on my cheek, her soft lips feeling like pure satin on my skin. She pulled away, dropping her hands as she froze beside me, her eyes widened with shock as mine were. There was electricity between us, our hearts beating at rushing tempos. The sound of her heart enveloped me in its sound, the beauty of it displaying life and wonder.
Without waiting for her reaction, I escaped the room. I was so close to grabbing her and planting a good one on her, but I did not know if she would appreciate that, and I was not about to wait around to make the mistake that would let me find out. I left, my thoughts screaming at me to turn around. Only, I knew that I could not. It would not help at all.
I did decide, however, during my escape, that I would become her friend. After that, I was more than eager to make the journey into, hopefully, my loving her and her loving me back.
I sighed roughly. I was turning soft, and for some reason, that did not bother me one bit.
Okaaaaayyy. So, I have no idea where this is gonna go or how this is gonna work or if I'm even going to continue it. -shrugs-
Want this to turn into a whole story? Leave a review letting me know!
Hope you liked it! R&R!
~Much Love,
Zoe