Okay so this story is going an expansion on Self Conclusion, where that is a song fic, this story will give you everything that happens inbetween the snapshots that I give you in Self conclusion. So if you haven't read Self Conclusion go over and read it first and review! It's a song fic so I add to it whenever I get inspiration and reviews definitely give me inspiration. It'll also help explain Paul's frame of mind for this first chapter.
Oh and I don't own any characters from Twilight, as much as it kills me
Cassandra had sat in the Seattle Police Department perfectly still, and perfectly silent as the detective before her informed her of what had happened, they were gone, the only people who had ever cared for her were gone. Her parents had gone to Seattle in an effort to have a little romantic one on one time, and Cass didn't blame them, with her brother and sister finally out of the house and with her at seventeen able to fend for herself they had gone. And on their way back to the hotel from dinner they had been mugged, the thief had stolen their wallets and phones and shot them both. The only personal effect that the officers had been able to recover was her mother's wedding ring, it had puzzled the officers that the mugger hadn't taken it, it was after all clearly expensive but the officers had passed it off as the mugger getting spooked. They had handed her the ring and asked if she would be up to indentifying the bodies, and she had of course agreed.
Now at the funeral that she had had to arrange on her own, thanks to her good for nothing siblings, it had yet to sink in, she still kept expecting them to walk through the door at home, she still expected to wake up from the nightmare that she'd been trapped in. The funeral was quick, and not many people had turned up, her siblings were nowhere to be found and her mother's sister was also noticeably absent, in fact the only people who had turned up were her parent's business partners to pay their respects and her best friend Taylor who was there to support Cass. Once her parents were buried the two girls headed back to the empty house Cassandra called home and proceeded to get drunk. Cassandra raided her father's liquor cabinet and pulled out two bottles of his finest scotch and sighed, while she was fully aware that her father would never approve of her getting drunk but given the circumstances she figured he'd forgive her.
Paul sighed as his alarm clock screamed at him to get up, last night he was lucky, his father had stayed out all night and when he'd come home he'd crashed on the couch downstairs, it was 6.30am, not a good time to wake a sleeping wolf, but it was his turn to patrol today, and he'd agreed to take Jared's shift tonight as well. It was Kim's birthday and no matter how much Paul made fun of Jared for being pussy whipped, he wasn't going to make his friend miss his imprint's 21st birthday. Heaving himself out of bed, he pulled on a pair of shorts and brushed his hair, he wouldn't bother with a shower today because it was already pissing it down outside and the first thing he was going to do when he got outside was phase.
He spent the morning deep in the woods with only Embry for occasional company, the cheerfulness that the younger boy radiated usually got to be too much for Paul, who usually snarled at him until Embry had finally had enough and phased back into human form. Paul however didn't really care all that much, he preferred patrolling on his own, it meant that he could let his thoughts run rampant without fear that anyone would see what his home life was really like. Occasionally he would catch a the sweet smell of bloodsuckers but it was just the Cullens, and unfortunately he couldn't attack them.
By the time the afternoon came around the pouring rain had given way to a thunder storm and the rain pelted his body even harder, he slowly slunk his way through the woods back to his house and headed to his room, he grabbed a small box that had been gift wrapped and put it into the bag that carried his shorts that was tied around his leg, he phased back into his wolf form and headed straight for Sam's place. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stay for long given the fact that he was on patrol duty for the day but he did want to give Kim her birthday present, Jared would be all over his ass if he didn't give her one and she was the only imprint to look at him without the fear that he could snap being apparent. He knew she was scared of him, all the imprints were and he could smell it on them, but she was the only one who tried her hardest not to let it show, so he'd bought her a silver charm bracelet with a couple of charms on it. He'd been out with both Kim and Jared on a trip up to Port Angeles one day and he'd caught her looking at it through the shop window and so, because she was the closest he would have to a human friend, he'd purchased it before anyone else could.
Phasing back into his human form, Paul pulled on his shorts and walked around the house towards that front door when an image caught his eye, he could see everyone else was already at the house for Kim's birthday lunch, they were gathered around the dining table that Emily had managed to find at yard sale over in Forks, the food was already laid out on the table and everyone was eating and laughing, they looked like a real family. Frowning, Paul watched as Emily brought in the birthday cake that she made for Kim and everyone around the birthday girl was singing to her, everything looked perfect without him there. And what got to him the most was the fact that he couldn't smell even the barest hint of fear in the house, of course he wouldn't he thought to himself immediately, they didn't know that he was there, and as long as he wasn't around the imprints didn't need to be scared. Closing his eyes he tried to stamp down the anger within him that was threatening to burst forth, they were happier in there without him and it made him angry. No it hurt him, it made something in his gut twist almost painfully at the thought that he couldn't contribute to his Pack's happiness even a little. Quickly he headed towards the kitchen entrance and slid the door open silently, he could feel his brothers instinctively tense at his presence and it only made him angrier, it only hurt him just that little bit more. So instead of giving his gift to Kim, he placed it on the kitchen counter and made his way back out into the storm, he slid off his shorts and phased back into his wolf form, running away from the house that was filled with happiness, happiness that he knew he would never be able to have.
Sam looked over at Jared and excused himself from the table for a moment and walked into the kitchen with the intention of talking to Paul, but by the time he got there Paul was already gone, sighing in disappointment he spied the present on the kitchen counter and placed it in the sitting room with the rest of Kim's presents. He was really hoping to talk to Paul today, he knew the younger boy was going through a hard time and having the members of his Pack act like they didn't trust him around their imprints wasn't helping the situation. Paul never spoke much about his home life and he never let on to much through the Pack mind but he knew for a fact that whatever Paul was hiding was contributing to the fact that he couldn't get control of his animal like the rest of them could. Sam hoped that if Paul would talk about his life, really talk about it then maybe he could gain more control over his anger and in turn feel more a part of the Pack than he had before. The Alpha could feel Paul was more and more on edge these past few months and hoped that he could help him before Paul did something drastic, sighing he walked back into the dining room and sat down next to Emily, giving Jared an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
As the sky darkened the wind blew harder and the rain fall increased considerably, Cassandra knew that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep alone in the house alone. Her friend Taylor had left hours ago, her flight back to Vegas was at 6pm so she couldn't have stayed for long anyway, but it was disappointing, it hurt. And it wasn't just the fact that her best friend couldn't stay to take care of her, her parents were gone and her brother and sister just didn't care, the people that had raised them, gave them everything that they ever wanted in life were gone and neither of them could even bother to give her a quick call, they hadn't bothered to contact her after they had received the news of their parent's death, in fact it coincided with the fact that it was the same day that they found out that Cassandra was the only one to get anything in the will. They had left her their whole estate, the house in Forks, the beach house in Miami, the Island in the Pacific, their company, and all their life savings. The fact of the matter was her parents were wealthy, but they didn't flaunt it like most, her father had bought her mother the Island a few years ago to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary and the place in Miami was a place for the whole family to go on holiday together. Brushing the tears from her face she headed outside into the storm, towards the beach, no one in her family cared for her, her brother and sister would much prefer it if she was dead so that they could get what they so desperately wanted, money, so she figured, 'Hey why not? Why not give the only family she had left exactly what they wanted?'
Pushing through the trees in the woods, uncaring if the branches were tearing at her clothes or at her skin, she headed directly for the highest point in La Push, the cliffs. She looked down at the waves below crashing against the cliff side, knowing without a doubt that she wouldn't survive if she jumped tonight. Closing her eyes she heard a twig snap and then a voice, "What are you doing here?" Cassandra flinched away from the deep voice, she didn't know why but it reverberated within her, she wanted to turn around face this new comer but instead held steadfast.
"Just taking in the view..." she replied quietly, even she could hear the anguish in her voice and she doubted the mystery man behind her was fooled.
"You know it's pretty dangerous out here at this time of night, especially in this rain..." Paul trailed off, staring at her back, god how he wanted her to turn and face him, he needed to see her face, he didn't know why but he knew he just had to see her.
Scoffing she replied, "What does it matter to you? It's not like we know each other!"
"Well maybe we could!" he shot back, he couldn't let her fall. "You can't just do this," Paul said edging closer to her, "Isn't there somebody who would miss you, somebody who'd hurt if you did this?" she didn't respond. "You're hurting, I get it, but this isn't the right choice, there'll always be something better than this," this time she gave him a hollow laugh.
"There's no one left who cares for me anymore," she finally replied. Paul wanted to envelop her in his arms then and there, he could practically feel her pain.
"Okay, then I'll care for you."
"You don't even know my name!" her disbelief was evident, why would this guy, a guy who was out in the dark, at night in the middle of a storm mind you, want to know her? What was in it for him?
"So tell me, let me know you." He moved slightly closer to the girl, he could feel an ache in his chest now, he couldn't let her take that extra step and end it all, "Look I'm not going to tell you that if you come down from there, life's gonna get easy, because it'd be a lie. Life sucks, you get hurt more times than you can count, I can't promise you that you'll always be happy, but I can tell you I'll do my damndest to make you feel better than you do right now."
And for some reason she believed him, she believed the crazy guy who could in all seriousness could be a serial killer or something, "A day," Cassandra whispered so softly that he almost didn't hear it, "I'll give you a day to show me that living is worth it. If you can't give me that then I'm through."
"I get it," Paul replied, "I've tried ending it more times than I could count, but I can't, not yet." he was just behind her, if he wanted to he could grab onto her and make her leave in that instant, "Come on let me try."
"Cassandra," she spoke slowly still staring out into the vast blackness before her, "my name's Cassandra."
"Hi Cassandra," he whispered, "I'm Paul." He put his hand on top of hers and turned her to face him and when their eyes locked, gravity shifted. He couldn't see anything else but her, and her mesmerising green eyes. He shook himself out of his stupor and took in the tear tracks on her face, "Let's get you home."
When she turned around she didn't understand what she was feeling, the moment she had looked into his eyes it was as if she was drowning in him, and instinctively she knew that she could trust him, she knew that he'd never hurt her.
Hand in hand they walked to her empty house and she led him upstairs, giving him a pair of her father's sweatpants and a black wife beater, and went to change herself. "I'm tired," she finally said looking up at him from her seat on her bed.
"I'll go sleep on the couch." He turned to leave and she grabbed his arm.
"No, can- can you just hold me?" he nodded in answer and curled his arms around her, once she had fallen asleep he buried his face in her hair, she smelt like green apples and chocolate, he couldn't think of anything that smelt better.
That night when the wolves howled, for the first time in his life as a wolf, he ignored it, and merely tightened his grip on his imprint. His Cassandra.
So there was the first chapter of my brand new story, reviews are love and you can also suggest songs for me to use in the companion piece to this, right now I need something to go with babies!