The events of this story take place about 6 months after the events of Breaking Dawn.
I'm pretty new to this whole fanfiction thing, so please read and review. I'd love to know what you think!
"This is the place Quil recommended?" Paul asked incredulously.
"Apparently," Jared raised an eyebrow at the interior of the restaurant. The floor of the 50's-style diner was checkered in black and white and the seats were covered in a tacky red vinyl. A Buddy Holly song that Jared remembered his mom liked listening to was playing over the radio.
"Hello," a cheery voice greeted Paul and Jared. The two Quileutes did a double take when they spotted the small girl standing in front of them. She wore a pink poodle-skirt with a matching pink top. Her hair was curled and she her lips were coated in a bright red lipstick. It was clear that she worked at the diner.
"Table for two?" She asked, looking down at the clipboard in her hands.
"Four, actually," Sam spoke as he walked through the door behind Paul and Jared, with an arm wrapped around Emily's waist.
"Of course," the hostess smiled at them, "right this way." She led them to a booth at the back of the restaurant. Sam let Emily slide into the booth first before sitting beside her, while Jared and Paul sat across from them. The hostess handed them their menus.
"You bunch have good timing. Got here just before the dinner rush," she commented before she walked away to deal with a new group of customers entering the restaurant.
Sure enough, the place filled up quickly. Paul groaned and rubbed his temple as the noise in the place grew steadily louder. He could tell Jared was annoyed too. The two of them had just gotten off patrol, and were tired and hungry.
"This place is terrible," Jared mumbled as a particularly loud group of teenagers were seated at a booth near them.
Emily shook her head at him, "I think this place is cute. I like how all the waitresses are wearing that same skirt and lipstick. It reminds me of the 50's."
Paul laughed, "You weren't even alive in the 50's."
Emily glared at him and he held up his hands as a sign of defeat. No one dared to argue with Emily.
"Plus, Quil said this place has the best milkshakes," Emily continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "And I need a milkshake."
Sam smiled and kissed the side of Emily's head while resting a hand on her stomach. She wasn't really showing yet, but Emily was definitely pregnant. Her weird cravings were enough proof of that. That's why they came here in the first place – Emily wanted a milkshake and a bunch of other food, but she wasn't able to cook it herself. The smell of raw foods made her sick. It was so bad that she was hardly able to cook for the pack at all anymore. None of them complained though, the instinct to protect the imprints was ingrained in all of them, and the pack members would rather go to their own houses to eat than to cause Emily to become sick.
Jared and Paul didn't necessarily have to accompany them to the restaurant, but they wanted to. They had both been around since the beginning of Sam and Emily – they had helped them through everything, including when Sam accidently phased and almost killed Emily. So, Jared and Paul felt particularly protective of this imprint. Though, they may also have come just because they were hungry and didn't want to cook for themselves.
Emily blushed as her stomach lowly growled. Normal ears probably wouldn't have even picked up the sound, but she was surrounded by three wolves. Paul was annoyed that a waitress hadn't even been to their table yet. He brought up two fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle, catching the attention of one waitress that was wearing the same poodle skirt and lipstick as all of the other girls. Her head whipped up at the noise and she glared in his direction for a moment before forcing a smile and heading over to their table.
"Paul," Emily chastised when suddenly Jared jumped in his seat.
"Hey," Jared looked wide-eyed at Emily, "what was that for?"
"Sorry, I was aiming for Paul." Emily nudged Sam until he kicked Paul under the table for her.
Paul was going to kick him back when they were interrupted.
"Sorry about the wait" the waitress paused as she dug her hands into the pockets of her apron, looking for her notepad and pen. As soon as she found them, she looked up again and turned towards Paul. "What can I get for ya?"
Paul opened his mouth to order, but the words escaped him as soon as he looked into her eyes. Nothing else mattered then, not the loud patrons in the diner, not the emptiness in his stomach – all that mattered was her. He got lost in her eyes – eyes that were the color of whiskey, but not the cheap stuff he used to drink at parties. No, her eyes were made of the most expensive whiskey money could buy and he thought then that she might just make him an alcoholic.
The moment was ruined however, when she broke their contact by rolling her eyes. Paul remembered then that she had asked him a question and he stuttered as he tried to come up with an answer.
The waitress looked over to the others then, "Well, do you three – "
She was at least going to ask for their orders, but abruptly stopped when she saw that the three of them were completely focused on the other Quileute sitting with them. She was sufficiently annoyed now, "Great. Well next time, don't call me over unless you actually need something. I'm pretty busy, in case you hadn't noticed."
As if on cue, one of the other patrons in the diner started yelling at the waitress, demanding a coffee refill, and she hurried away. Paul's eyes followed her every movement. When she disappeared into the kitchen, Paul stood up to follow her.
"Paul." Sam's rough voice cut through the silence that had overcome their table.
Paul realized what he had been about to do and quickly sat back down. It took everything in him to look away from the door she had disappeared behind and face his brothers and Emily.
Jared, Emily, and Sam all had completely different reactions to Paul's imprint. Jared and Emily were grinning from ear-to-ear; while Sam was wearily studying Paul's every movement. Everyone reacted differently to the imprint and Paul was undoubtedly the least predictable of the pack, even when they could read his mind. He rarely thought before he did anything, he just…reacted. Not this time though, Paul was too stunned to do much of anything. They all were.
"So…" Jared trailed off, an annoying smirk on his face. "You imprinted on a pale-face?"
Not liking how Jared was talking about his imprint, Paul let out a low growl and clenched his fists. There was the anger Sam had been waiting for. The anger was gone the moment it appeared though, as the kitchen door opened and she stepped out.
"I don't know her name," Paul whispered. He watched his imprint as she balanced a tray piled high with food and drinks while she made her way to a table full of high school kids.
"It's Macy."
Paul faced Sam again, "How – ?"
He was interrupted by Jared's laugh. "Maybe if you spent a little less time staring into her eyes and a little more time reading her nametag…" Jared shrugged.
Paul let out a warning growl and turned his attention back to his imprint, Macy. It was a sweet name, one that he was sure would roll easily off his tongue, but he didn't dare try and test that theory. Jared made that mistake when he first imprinted on Kim and the pack teased him about it for more than a month.
He focused on her movements instead. The tray she was carrying looked heavy, but each step she made was controlled and deliberate. He suddenly doubted that she had ever dropped a tray in her life. That confidence in his imprint quickly dissolved, however, when he saw the foot of one of the teenagers dart directly into her path. He gripped the end of the table as he readied himself to dart forward. If he was fast enough, he would be able to catch her. All too quickly, Sam grabbed Paul's wrist, causing him to hesitate, and Macy stepped right over the kid's foot. Paul let out a sigh when he realized she got lucky and missed.
All four of them watched closely as Macy handed out the food and drinks to the teenagers at the table. She served the boy who tried to trip her last and as she handed him his drink, the end of the glass nicked the table and fell into his lap. Paul felt oddly satisfied as the cold soda soaked into the boy's pants.
Macy's eyes went wide as she gasped, "I'm so so sorry." She used some napkins to wipe up the table. "Let me go get you another drink."
As Macy stood up and walked towards the kitchen, a wide smile broke out on her face and she brought a hand up to cover a laugh. Paul realized then that her spilling the soda hadn't been an accident and that she had in fact noticed the boy trying to trip her.
"Looks like your imprint can take care of herself," Sam commented, having noticed the same things that Paul did.
The next time Macy exited the kitchen, she was carrying one soda and four waters. After giving the boy at the other table a new soda, she headed right for their table. Paul immediately sat up straighter and gave her his full attention. Macy gave them a small smile and dropped the water glasses onto the table.
"Look, guys," Macy sighed and tucked some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. "If you don't order something soon I'm going to have to ask ya'll to leave. There are other people waiting to be seated."
"Well, what do you recommend?" Paul managed to ask smoothly. He found it was easy to talk to her, as long as he didn't let himself get lost in her eyes.
"I dunno," Macy pulled a face – Paul thought it was adorable. "I don't eat this crap."
"So…?" Macy trailed off, still looking for an answer.
Paul began to panic, he still hadn't looked at a menu and he had no idea what this place even offered.
"Hey, weren't you going to order the Swiss Burger?" Jared spoke up.
He sent Jared a thankful look before facing Macy again, "Yeah, I'll have the, uh, Swiss Burger."
Macy quirked an eyebrow and wrote down his order. Paul studied her as she took Jared's order next. He ordered some other type of burger, Paul thought. He wasn't really listening. Instead he was watching his imprint. Paul thought that she looked much better in that lipstick than all of the other girls did. She didn't look tacky like the hostess who greeted them, she looked, well – sexy.
"And what about you?" Macy turned her attention to Emily.
The three werewolves tensed, waiting for the usual reaction most people posed when confronted with Emily's scars for the first time. However, the girl showed no indication that she had even noticed the scars at all. Sam took the moment to study the girl further, noticing that there was a certain devil-may-care attitude about Macy, from her relaxed posture to the easy-going smile on her face. He doubted that anything would faze her, not even a giant werewolf in the room. He smirked, hoping it was true. It would provide a good balance to Paul's hot-headed and wound-up personality.
Emily cleared her throat and studied the menu she held open in front of her. "I'll have a large chocolate milkshake and – " she paused, thinking for a moment. "Do you serve breakfast all day here?"
Macy gave her a genuine smile then and Paul thought she looked beautiful. "Yes, we do."
"Great!" Emily perked up. "Then I'll have a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon and also some of your chili-cheese fries."
"Sure thing," Macy chuckled as she wrote down the order. "How far along are you?"
Emily's eyes widened as she looked down at her lap, for signs that she was showing.
"Don't worry; you haven't gained any weight that I can tell." Macy smiled again. "We just get a surprisingly large number of pregnant women in here looking for our milkshakes."
"Oh yeah, our friend Quil recommended them," Emily spoke again.
"Quil Senior or Junior? Because I told Quil Sr. he needs to lay off the shakes and fries." Macy joked, surprising them all. Not because she made a joke, but because she knew both Quil and his grandfather. Before they could say anything she spoke again. "Well, I'll go put these orders in and get your food out here as soon as possible." She shot Paul a look as she spoke her last words.
Paul watched her hips as she walked away. The skirt didn't reveal much, or really anything, much to Paul's dismay. But he could tell that she had long legs under there and the way her hips swayed as she walked…
"Well, now I know why Quil likes this place so much," Jared interrupted Paul's thoughts. "She's got a great – "
Paul punched Jared in the shoulder before he could even finish that sentence. Jared tried to turn and hit him back, but the booth was so small that there was hardly any room for them to get in a good hit.
"Hey," Sam cut in. "Knock it off."
Paul gave Jared one last shove before sitting correctly in his seat again. The moment Sam stopped paying attention, Jared quickly smacked Paul upside the head. Emily just shook her head and fondly placed a hand on her stomach. With the pack around, it was already like she was in charge of eight children; surely one more wouldn't be too hard.
Just as Macy promised, their food was brought out quickly. As soon as she set the plates on the table, she gave them a small smile and asked if they needed anything else before hurrying off again. Only Sam noticed how her eyes lingered on Paul for a moment.
Sam and Paul both kept their eyes on Macy, each for different reasons; Jared was preoccupied with his food, while Emily studied Paul. It was like at weddings, when everyone watched the bride walk down the aisle, Emily liked to watch the groom. To see the utter love and devotion in his eyes as he too watches his bride before him. Emily had always wanted that kind of love, and she had found it. On her own wedding day, not too long ago, she remembered the look she saw in Sam's eyes. She had never felt more beautiful or loved than she did in that moment. And she loved seeing that same look in the wolves and their imprints, to know that the most important people in her life were as happy as she was.
"You know it's weird," Jared mumbled with a mouthful of food. "She doesn't seem to feel the imprint at all" he gestured in Macy's direction where she was taking another table's order. He remembered when he first imprinted on Kim and she couldn't take her eyes off of him or stop blushing whenever he was within 10 feet of her. Of course, Kim also happened to already have a crush on him before he even knew her name, so maybe that had something to do with it.
"No, she feels it." Even though Sam spoke quietly, his voice commanded the same respect that it always had. "She keeps sneaking glances at Paul."
It was subtle, but Sam had noticed. He had been watching the girl ever since Jared had pointed out that she was a pale-face. That fact was obvious enough, but it got Sam thinking that they knew nothing about her. She was an outsider. But she was also an imprint, Paul's imprint, surely that made her trust-worthy. If anyone was more protective of the reservation, it was Paul, so it wouldn't make sense for his imprint to be a threat to their people. Still, the stand-off with the Volturi, even though it happened over six months ago, plagued Sam's thoughts. This weird, vampirey world was more dangerous than they all had originally thought, and he could never be too careful.
Jared shrugged and was going to return to his meal when he noticed that Paul hadn't taken a bite of his food yet. Nudging his friend, Jared momentarily drew Paul's attention away from his imprint and encouraged him to eat. While keeping an eye on Macy, Paul took a bite of his burger, but he quickly dropped it back onto his plate and began to cough when he tasted it. Jared laughed loudly beside him. Taking a large drink of water, Paul tried to wash the taste from his mouth. He removed the top bun and grimaced when he found mushrooms underneath. He hated mushrooms. Jared, who knew that, was laughing so hard that tears were falling down his cheeks. Once again, only Sam noticed the worried look Macy sent Paul's way when he began to cough or the curious look when he picked out the mushrooms.
"What?" Jared laughed; completely unfazed by the glare Paul was sending his way. "It's not my fault you didn't read the menu."
Paul just grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and returned to eating his now mushroom-free burger. After removing the mushrooms from his food, Paul made quick work of his burger. He tried to eat slowly, so he could be around her for just a little while longer, but he was hungry, very hungry, and could only eat so slow. All too soon, everyone had finished eating, and although Paul was happy when Macy came to their table again, he didn't like that she was there to take away their plates and give them the check.
"Don't worry," Emily placed a hand on Paul's shoulder as they walked through the parking lot towards Sam's car. "You'll see her again soon."
"Maybe sooner than you think," Jared gestured towards the side of the diner.
Macy had just ended her shift and was also walking towards her car at the back of the parking lot. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder and pulled towards the front of her body where she was digging in one of the pockets, looking for her keys.
Macy realized a little too late that looking down and not paying attention in the middle of the parking lot wasn't her best idea. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it wasn't a car that ran into her during her moment of distraction.
Paul let out a growl when he saw the boy that had tried to trip his imprint earlier leave his group of friends and run up to Macy.
"Connor," Macy greeted, trying to keep the look of annoyance off of her face when she almost ran into the boy in front of her. It had been a long day and she did not have the patience to deal with his advances right now.
Connor smiled and leaned casually on the car beside him. He had stopped in front of Macy while she had been walking in-between two cars, effectively trapping her and giving her no other option than to talk to him. "So, have you been thinking any more about my question?"
May sighed and fought the urge to roll her eyes, something she had been doing a lot recently. "I told you no, not – "
"Yeah," Connor interrupted, "but by 'no' I just assumed you meant 'I'm busy Friday night, but I'll think about it'."
"And you thought tripping me was the way to convince me?," Macy smirked and pushed past him, continuing towards her car.
Connor continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "C'mon its Friday night and," he held his arms out and gestured to her standing alone at her car, "you don't look very busy."
Just as she opened her mouth to retort, another voice called out her name. When she turned, Macy saw two of the Quileutes from the restaurant jogging up to her car. She just stared, confused, as one leaned on the hood of her jeep and the other stood there with his arms crossed in front of his chest, making his biceps appear even larger.
"Were still on for tonight, right?" One of the guys asked.
Macy's eyes widened as she realized what they were doing. "Yeah, yes. Definitely."
The two Quileutes and Macy awkwardly glanced at Connor then, hoping he caught the hint. The second Quileute, the cuter one, in Macy's opinion, spoke then. "So, uh, who's the dude?" He asked Macy.
She crossed her arms then, mimicking his position. "No one," she shrugged. "He was just leaving."
Finally he seemed to catch the hint. "Well," Connor forced a smile as he backed away, "Next time then."
"No, not next…" Macy trailed off as she realized he had turned away and was no longer listening to her. "Whatever," She sighed, unlocking her car, when she realized the two Quileutes where still standing at the front of her car.
"Uh, thanks…." She trailed off, realizing she didn't even know their names.
"Jared," The one leaning against her car smiled at her.
"Paul," The second uncrossed his arms.
"Thanks, Jared and Paul," She smiled at them. Paul was still looking at her and she shuffled her feet, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze and resisting the urge to stare back at him.
"Yeah," Jared stood suddenly, sensing the awkwardness in the air, "no problem." He put and hand on Paul's shoulder and forcefully guided him away from Macy's jeep.
Letting out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, Macy threw her backpack into the jeep before climbing in herself.
Paul dragged his feet as he walked away from his imprint for the second time that night and resisted the urge to turn around. He wasn't used to the pull that the wolves felt when they were away from their imprints, though he had heard it was always worse in the beginning. He turned slightly, Jared's hand on his shoulder keeping him moving forward, as he heard a car start up behind him. Macy's jeep was pulling out of the parking lot. He didn't know anything about her other than her name was Macy, she worked at a diner in Forks, and she drove a blue jeep; and yet he yearned to be near her. It was driving him mad.
"Paul," Sam caught his attention as they neared his car. A rare smile crossed Sam's face as he inclined his head towards the nearby forest.
Returning his grin, Paul took a quick look around for wandering eyes before he disappeared behind the trees and shed his clothes as he took off running in the direction Macy has just taken.