Chapter 4 - Remembering
"Daniella Marie, you have to keep this secret sacred. You have to promise me you didn't see anything tonight." Daniella nodded quietly, "Yes grandmother." As she watched Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil and Sam carefully carrying out Jake. They'd been in a huge battle against the vampires when they'd agreed to make an alliance with the Cullen's. Jake had the misfortune of being crushed on the right side of his body. Carlisle Cullen and her grandmother had carefully re-broken his bones so they could re-heal properly. They were going to do it at Jake's house, but decided against it, not wanting to put his father Billy through the task of listening to Jake scream in pain. Daniella noticed it was getting dark outside and knew she had to be home soon. She hugged her grandmother and left quietly. Half way home a deep voice resonated behind her, "You shouldn't be out here alone...You know what can happen." Daniella turned around and saw Paul staring back at her. He'd practically tormented her since birth, "What now suddenly you want to show concern? Screw you Paul." Daniella turned and continued on, when a hot hand on her upper arm stopped her from continuing. Dani stopped and looked up at him, "What do you want from me Paul? What you haven't tormented and tortured me enough to last you a life time? You want to continue it?" Paul shook his head, "No I'm sorry Daniella...Okay...I don't know what to say to you anymore." Dani squinted her eyes at him, "You're sorry? That's what you have to say? And what exactly are you sorry for?" Paul sighed heavily, "I'm sorry for everything I've done to you...I know I was an ass. I never meant anything I said or did to you. I'm a stupid seventeen year old idiot." Dani scoffed, "You got that right...Only it's not from just the seventeen year old in front of me. You're the same bully who used to put gum in my hair in grade school, and dead spiders in my food in Jr. high, tripping me and slapping my books out of my hands and shoving me into the mud in high school and the same rotten jack ass whose made a game out of making my life miserable for the last ten years of my life. I'm an easy target for you. I'll just continue to be an easy target for you until the day I leave La Push...Which is going to be soon and I hope with everything I have in me that I never have to see your face again." Daniella turned to leave, when suddenly she was jerked back in front of Paul, his almost blackened eyes staring intensely into her pale blue eyes, "I don't want you to leave Dani. I love you...I don't want to live my life without you in it." Dani blinked as the tears streamed down her face suddenly, "You don't want to live your life without me? La Push has plenty of cliffs, find one and jump off of it. You don't love me; you're not capable of loving anyone but yourself Paul. How could you even possibly say you love me...You don't even know me enough to even think it let alone say it." Paul growled, "Because I imprinted on you Daniella. You're my fuckin soul mate." Paul gripped her upper arms tighter as he jerked her against his body and his lips crashed into hers. Daniella's head was clouded, pain brings misery, she'd been in love with Paul her whole life, it was just a terrible crush she had on him. One she couldn't escape even if she wanted to. Daniella pulled away and then did something she never thought she could do...She punched him in the nose. HARD. The following week she left La Push.
Since Leah had been phasing she was able to explain what imprinting was and everything else. Leah took flack from Sam for telling her, but since she was an imprint it wasn't too much of a tongue lashing.
Leah chuckled, "I can't believe he just came out and told you like that...He had to of seriously seen the error of his ways that night. Though I can't blame you for being bitter towards him. It's not every day a guy is a dick to you for ten years and suddenly he wants to lay out all the talk of love and imprinting...did he really expect you to fall at his feet?"
Daniella shrugged, "I'm sure I don't know. Sometimes I think my life would've just been better had I not been born or I don't know, I should've stayed away from La Push. All my feelings for Paul are starting to come back and I know it's from the damn imprinting. But I refuse to give into a creep who bullied me my whole life. I don't care if he did say he was sorry."
Leah smiled, "Yea, he can stick his sorry up his..."
"Two women on the verge, what are ya'll conversing about?" Seth's cheerful voice cut Leah off.
Daniella looked at her younger cousin she couldn't believe how much he'd grown in five years. Leah smirked, "We were talking about how you shouldn't eavesdrop." Suddenly Leah grabbed his wrist and yanked him down to the sand as Dani jumped on his back and they shoved his face into the sand as Leah grabbed his head and shoved a handful of sand into his open mouth.
Daniella shrieked as Seth bucked her off his back, she had her eyes closed waiting to hit the sand with a hard thud, but it never came. Instead she felt herself pressed against hot skin. She opened her eyes and looked up and saw it was Jake who had caught her. He carefully set her on her feet as he watched Dani turned around and jumped into his arms as he hugged her tightly. He'd be lying if he said no one had missed her. She'd been gone for five years and Seth had just barely told him this morning she'd been back for a week. Jake placed her back on her feet, "So you've decided to return to us." After she nodded, Jake continued, "Don't leave again please." Dani smiled softly, "I won't...At least not for a while."
Daniella smiled softly as she could hear Seth over by the water retching trying to get the sand out of his mouth and then heard him starting to gargle the ocean water to remove the rest of it out of his mouth. Leah was sitting in the sand holding her stomach laughing...Well until Seth turned his glare towards her, Leah jumped up, "You know since my little brother has gotten older, he's really adapted my attitude for pranks."
Daniella and Jake couldn't help laughing as they watched Leah phase and run off into the woods, as Seth ran by stopping and kissed Dani on the head and then continued as he phased and ran off after her.
