So. First fanfic I've ever written. Hope it turned out okay.

This fanfic is gonna be Paul/OFC (in this case, a girl I've named Emma) centric, which obviously means it's AU, seeing as Paul's pairing is not Rachel.

Another thing you should know is that my first language is not English. If you see some grammar issues, well... it's hard to write in a language that is not really your own. So I guess that gives me some sort of a justification.

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own Twilight.

Chapter 1

"You can't give him that!"

I frowned at Peyton in response. "Why not? It's cute."

"Right, Emma, 'cause that's what guys want; cute presents."

I bit my lower lip and looked down at the Christmas-themed sweater in my hands. "Alright, so no sweaters," I said, and put the sweater back in its place on the shelf.

"You can buy him a sweater, just please, avoid anything… Christmassy," Peyton advised, looking over at a stuffed teddy bear holding a big red heart.

I looked around me in desperation. "I suck at buying gifts," I announced.

"Oh, come on, it's not that hard," Peyton said absentmindedly, "Just buy him some porn. That'll definitely make him happy."

I smiled slightly at that. "I'll keep that in mind."

Peyton grabbed a bottle of perfume and sprayed it on herself, sniffing the air in concentration. "Why won't you just buy him another tool? He likes repairing things, he actually uses them."

I shook my head. "I already bought him a saw, a hammer and a wrench for his past birthdays."

Peyton snorted. "How romantic."

"It's our fourth year together as a couple. I need something a bit more personal than tools, you know?" I said, scanning the cheap merchandise on the shelves.

"Like I said – just buy the poor man some porn."

Peyton and I searched through 3 more shops before we called it a day and started heading back home. Peyton bought mostly cups with different Christmas-themed sentences on them to her friends and family, and I ended up with the same sweater I checked out in the first store we visited, and a few 'Microwave Cooking for One' kits.

Christmas, in my opinion, was the most stressful time of the year. As a teenage girl with almost no money, I found the whole 'buy presents to everyone you know' part of the holiday very annoying.

"At least you know that Jared is just as broke as you are," Peyton said simply from her place at the passenger seat in my awful, about-to-break-any-minute car.

She was right. Not only did Jared have absolutely no money, he was even worse than me in buying presents.

I never thought that knowing that my boyfriend couldn't pick a nice present to save his life would make me feel so good.

I tucked some of my hair, a shade or so darker than my skin, behind my right ear. "You're so lucky that you don't have to deal with it because you have no one," I said teasingly.

She laughed. "Yeah, I feel very fortunate about that."

"Is that why you broke up with Tony? So that you won't have to buy him anything?"

"No, I broke up with Tony because he preferred to check out Lucas Mitchell's ass and not mine," Peyton said matter-of-factly.

I smiled. "You really know how to pick them."

"Yeah…" She sighed. "It's a shame, really. Tony has such a nice body."

"So does Lucas Mitchell," I pointed out.

Peyton nodded her head solemnly. "Yes he does."

The drive from the mall to La Push was a bit over an hour, because La Push is practically in the middle of nowhere and so there's nothing in it except for two diners and a grocery store. As much as I loved driving, I tried to minimize the time I spent on the road, for the fear of spending all of my money on gas. Driving over an hour to the mall was a luxury I couldn't really afford, but I had no gift for Jared and I was absolutely desperate.

I got home after dropping Peyton at her house and checked out my phone. I had five missed calls, all of them from the same person. I quickly clicked on his phone number and waited for him to answer his phone.

It didn't take long for Jared to answer his phone. "Hey babe."

I smiled slightly. "Hi."

"I've tried calling you for the past hour," Jared stated simply.

I put the gifts I bought on my bed. "I've noticed. Desperate much?"

I heard him chuckle. "Just a tad. But please, tell me, what could you have possibly done that was more important than talking to me?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Having sex with random guys in vacant lots, stripping in front of old people…"

"You give so much to the community. I applaud you."

I laughed, then decided to actually answer his initial question. "I was driving, so I couldn't talk to you."

Jared made an exaggerated gasping sound. "Driving for more than half an hour? What for?"

No reason to keep the 'gift buying thing' a secret. "I was on a quest to buy you the perfect gift."

"Oh reeeaaaaally?" Jared said, stretching out the word, then said in a more nervous tone, "It's not another tool, is it?"

"I knew it. You didn't like the tools that I bought you," I said accusingly.

"Can you blame me?"

I scowled. "Well, I'd prefer to get a hammer than that cheap deodorant that you bought me."

"What? I thought you needed that!" Jared said in a surprised tone.

I stayed silent for a few long seconds. "Did you just imply that I smell bad?"

Now it was Jared's turn to be silent. "…no…"

"You think that I smell bad!" I said loudly, faking irritation and shock.

Jared was panicked now. "I don't! I just – you said that you needed a new deodorant, so –"

"Say that I smell like roses," I said suddenly.

"…What?" Jared asked, confused.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm guiding you on what to say to your disgruntled girlfriend after implying to her that she smells bad. Now tell me that I smell like roses!"

"Alright, alright. You… smell like roses."

I let him wait a while for my response. "I don't think you really meant that."

"Oh, jeez…"

~oOo~

Walking out of my house the next morning, I shivered and held my coat closer to my body, trying to get warmer. It wasn't extremely cold, but it was still a lot for me to handle. I was skin and bones with not a lot of fat on me, and I had less protection than most people.

I walked quickly to my school, wanting to be inside of a warm building and not outside. It was a ten minutes' walk, the school was not very far from my house, and so I mostly just walked and didn't take the car for it.

Though the car sounded very tempting right about now…

"Wait up, Stevens!"

I turned around, realizing who he was before I even saw him from his low voice.

"Lahote," I said as a greeting when Paul got to where I was. Paul lived near my house, and most days it just so happened that we made our way together to school.

Paul looked at the sky. "Nice day," He said simply.

I looked at him, incredulous. "Are you kidding? It's freezing."

"You're cold?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Aren't you?" I asked, then I shook my head at him. "Sorry. Forgot you were like a small orangutan."

"I see that you're full of compliments today," Paul said with a small smile, then took off his big jacket and handed it to me. "Here."

I looked at the jacket uncertainly. "Won't you be cold?"

"I'm like a small orangutan, remember?"

I smiled and gratefully took the jacket from him, feeling a wave of warmth washing me when I put it on me.

We walked silently for a few moments, and then Paul broke the silence. "Did you do the History assignment?"

I turned my head to look at him, knowing what was coming. "Yes."

"Can I –"

"No."

Paul frowned at me. "Why so negative already? You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"You were going to ask if you could copy it," I said.

"Ah. So you did know what I was going to ask."

I shook my head at him. "Why didn't you do it yourself?"

"Because I was bored," Paul said lamely.

I wasn't impressed by that. "Not an excuse."

Paul tried another answer. "Because I'm a busy man."

I laughed at that. "You don't even have a job or anything like that. Unless you're charging all the girls that you sleep with money for your services." I turned to give him a suspicious look. "You don't, do you?"

"Do I look like a man whore?"

"From this angle, a little bit, yes."

Paul gave me a scathing look. "Sarcastic midget."

"Steroids-taker," I retorted.

"Minesweeper-player!"

"Boobs-lover!"

Paul raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought we were trying to insult each other."

"'Cuz the 'Minesweeper-player' was an insult?" I asked.

"C'mon. Who would even want to play a game about finding mines?"

I looked back at the road ahead of me. I could see the school already. "It's a good game. It's a logical game."

Paul smirked. "And that's supposed to convince me that it's a good game?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're just like Jon Snow, Lahote. You know nothing."

Paul looked at me blankly. "Please tell me you didn't just say that."

"But I did."

Paul groaned loudly at that. "God, you're such a nerd."

We made our way through the tiny parking lot and into the school building, which was already filled with students rushing to get to their first classes. I sadly took Paul's jacket off me and handed it to him. "Thanks for the jacket."

He took the jacket and put it back on him. "No problem. Does this act of chivalry will help you reconsider –"

"I'm not giving you my History assignment, Paul," I said simply.

"Fuck," He said in annoyance and looked around him. "Now I need to find someone with a heart kind enough to help a man in trouble."

"Have fun," I said dryly as he walked down the hall, searching for a victim that will give him their assignment. I rolled my eyes at his back with a smile and entered the class to my right, where I had my first class of the day – Math.

Two hours and one big headache later, I walked to my next class, History, where I found Paul and Jared already sitting with a group of their friends.

"Hey babe," Jared said when I got to where he was sitting on the table. He wrapped one arm around me and kissed lightly the top of my head as a greeting.

"Hey," I replied with a smile, leaning into his embrace. "Found someone to give you their work, Lahote?"

"Yep, my new-best-bud over there," Paul smirked proudly and pointed at Arnie Miller, a quiet smart boy that was sitting in his usual place next to the wall. He looked back at Paul with scared, uncertain wide eyes, then decided that it was best for him to just turn away and forget that Paul Lahote even existed.

"See? Best buds," Paul said simply.

"Yeah, I've noticed the warmth and love passing between you two," Jared commented.

"As long as he keeps letting me copy his answers, I'm happy," Paul said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You're the worst, Paul," Dianna, a pretty girl from our class who was standing next to us, said.

"But you still like it," He said with a wink in her direction. She blushed a little, and the look in her eyes practically yelled 'now, after class the two of us are going to find an empty classroom and we're gonna have sex… without telling anyone afterwards, of course. I don't want to appear slutty or anything.'

Paul had this appeal on girls. There was almost no girl in school who could resist him. It was probably his big muscles and confidence that lured them in. But Paul was not a serious guy and only liked the chase, never liked the actual relationship part. So he could be completely into a girl for one moment, then they have sex and then it was his time to move on to his next prey.

Disgusting in my eyes, but that was just Paul. No way for him to change his ways now.

I felt a movement next to me, and saw that Jared was lightly massaging his upper arm with a discomfort look.

"You pulled a muscle?" I asked when he saw me looking.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe in my sleep. I don't know. I woke up today with a sore body."

"Maybe it's a way for your body to tell you to ease up on yourself in the gym?" I asked helpfully, helping Jared massaging an aching spot on his arm.

"Maybe it's your body's way of telling you that you're a complete sissy," Paul said loudly, evoking laughs and 'oohs' from the rest of the group.

Even with his sore muscles, Jared still beat Paul's ass and got them both in detention.

So that's the first chapter.

If you like it, please review. Takes less than a minute of your time, and I'll really appreciate it.