Paul
By some kind of miracle Paul had found his soul mate. Now, looking up at his ceiling, he couldn't feel more empty. What if she rejected him? Would this really work out? He had seen the doubt and fear clouding her eyes while they'd been at Emily's. Her reaction to his phasing wasn't great, she hadn't brought it up once and he had seen the hesitation in her eyes when she had taken his hand, as if she was afraid claws might suddenly spring out of them. Well, claws did spring out of them, but he would never direct them towards her. Never.
He distantly heard his home phone ringing but he ignored it. Whoever it was could leave a damn message if he didn't feel like picking up. He stared at the celling for a few more seconds as he heard the distant buzz of a message being left. Suddenly he sat up, the voice of who was leaving the message registering to him. Leaping off the bed he raced to the phone, hoping it wouldn't be too late.
Damn, she had finished before he had reached the phone. Ignoring the red blinking light telling him there was a message on the answering machine, he clicked redial.
The phone rang twice before she picked up. She sounded breathless.
"Paul?" she asked, he smiled as he heard the uncertainty in her voice. Good, nervousness meant she hadn't made up her mind yet.
"I'm here sweetness," he said, a stupid grin on his face.
"Hi, umm, so my dad just left to meet up with Old Quil and Sue, and I haven't had dinner yet and I wasn't sure you were back from your… patrol, so…" she was rambling and he decided to just ask her to dinner to save her the pain.
"Would you me to come and take you to dinner?" he asked, euphoria spreading through him. He heard her small yes before she hung up quickly. He grinned and looked around. Where would he take her? What should they do?
Ten minutes later Paul was speeding through the tiny roads of La Push to Rachel's house. He had thrown on a nicer pair of sweatpants, as well as his cleanest and nicest t-shirt. He hadn't been able to find a good pair of shoes so he had settles for flip-flops from his dad's closet. He didn't think his dad would mind. After pondering over what to eat he had decided a picnic meal would be best. He figured taking her out by the cliffs would be the most romantic place he could think of, plus it was secluded in case she had any more questions about werewolves.
"I saw your car." She said, opening the door as he got out of the car. She had changed into jeans and a pretty blouse that showed a hint of cleavage. She wrapped a grey sweater around her shoulders and he grinned.
"A fun fact about wolves, our average body temperature is around 108˚ Fahrenheit, so if you ever get cold, just come find me." He wiggled his eyebrows to hint something more and she laughed. He grinned, just the reaction he wanted to get out of her. She stepped down from her porch and he opened the door for her.
"Thanks," she murmured, getting in. He grinned and grove her to the cliffs.
"I hope you don't mind a short walk, it's just up the hill." He said, glancing down at her footwear. She was wearing closed-toed sandals that, as comfortable looking as the probably were, was not entirely appropriate for a walk up a rocky pathway.
"Oops," she said, blushing. "Sorry, I didn't know where you would be taking me and — EEK! What are you doing?" she asked as Paul scooped her up.
"Carrying you of course." He said with a smirk. He began walking.
"Put me down! You can't carry the meal and me. You could trip, it looks like a steep trail and I don't want you to fall and—"
"Sweetheart, I'm a werewolf. I'm not going to fall. Trust me." He said, still walking.
"But," she seemed to be struggling to find a suitable retort.
"Besides, we're almost there." He said, and her eyes widened. She hadn't realized how fast he had been walking and how short the pathway really was. They reached the top and he set her down lightly on one of the rocks. Laying out a thick blanket he set the basket next to it and sat down, leaning against another rock. Patting the space beside him he stared at her coyly.
"Won't you join me?" he asked, his voice low as his eyes burned into hers. She took a deep breath before sitting next to him. He slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer. She did have to admit, being snuggled up next to him was much warmer and she did feel really safe in his arms. Reaching over he unpacked the contents of the picnic with one hand.
"I was in a rush so I just grabbed a few ham sandwiches and some fruit." He said, his cheeks turning red as he turned away from her. She smiled, he was so sweet. Ohmygod I think I'm falling in love with him. Her mind seemed to be on overdrive. She wasn't thinking clearly.
"It sounds great." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, surprising the both of them. "Thank you."
Paul grinned bashfully. "Happy to be of service." He handed her a ham sandwich. She noticed that, aside from the four he had pulled out, there was another three still sitting in the basket.
"Are we expecting company?" she asked in confusion. Paul snorted.
"I hope not. And I doubt it. No, those other sandwiches are for me. I assumed that you would probably eat no more than two and as a werewolf I eat a lot. Just ask anyone." He grinned.
"Wow, and what do you mean by that you doubt it? Did you tell them to stay away or something?"
"Yes, well, no, not strictly. But the rest of them are at Bella Swan's wedding. Jake and Seth were invited, and Sue and Billy are there for the beginning of the reception. Sam and some of the other wolves are out in the woods around the Cullen's property, making sure Seth and the rest of them are safe. Also," Paul cleared his throat, "Jake's back and he's decided to make an appearance there."
"Oh no! He's not going to do anything stupid is he?" she asked, terrified that her brother was going to get himself killed.
"No no, nothing like that. I think he only wants to talk to Bella. Show his support for her."
"Oh."
"Yeah, but since he doesn't own a tux, he's just gonna have her like, come outside or something so they can talk."
"Why aren't you there?"
"Well," Paul suddenly looked uncomfortable, "I may have asked Sam if I could take the evening off. In case you called early or something. Also, umm, Jake and I aren't exactly the best of friends."
"Meaning?" she narrowed her eyes and Paul shifted uncomfortably.
"Meaning even though we don't hate each other, when we're on patrol together we try to stay as far away from each other as possible."
"Oh." Rachel frowned, unsure of how Paul's imprinting on her would affect their situation.
"It's alright though, I mean, it's not as if you can choose who to imprint on and Jake can't do anything about it. I mean, it's perfectly natural for a wolf to imprint so even though it's rare he can't really object to it." Paul said hastily. Rachel felt a sharp pang attack her heart. Did that mean that he wouldn't have chosen her if he'd had the choice?
"Apple?" Paul offered her an apple slice, seemingly unaware of how his words had affected her.
"No thanks," she said, her voice hoarse. She blinked away the sudden tears threatening to overflow. Paul turned to her and frowned.
"Hey, are you alright? Did I say something?" he suddenly looked really worried.
"No," a sob started to tear through her voice and she felt Paul's arm tighten around her shoulder. "You can't control it? So, does that mean you wouldn't… wouldn't have chosen me if you couldn't help it?" it was no use, her tears started flowing down her cheeks. Paul seemed to realize the impact of his words on her and he stared at her horrified.
"No! That's not what I meant. I wouldn't have chosen anyone but you—"
"But if you hadn't imprinted on me, then how would you have known me?" Rachel asked, her voice coming out thick through her tears.
"Oh baby, I may not have seen you before my first shift but that doesn't mean I didn't not care about you. Whatever led me to imprint on you, whether it was fate, destiny, or the fact that I'm a werewolf, I'm damn glad I saw you, because from the moment I did, I knew I loved you. Damn, just because I didn't choose to imprint on you doesn't mean that I don't care about you or that I resent you because of the fact that I imprinted on you. I wasn't even looking to have a girlfriend let alone imprint on someone before you came along! Just because I didn't choose to imprint on you, doesn't mean I didn't like you before. Hell, you were Jake's older, gorgeous sister. Of course I liked you! I'm pretty sure every guy in my grade had a crush on either you, your sister, or Leah!"
"Wait, go back, say it again." She sobbed.
"Say what baby?" Paul asked, turning so he could wipe away some of her tears with his thumbs. He cupped her face.
"The— the part about you loving me." She said, her tears slowing. Paul grinned, he couldn't help himself.
"I." he leaned in closer to her so he could whisper it in her ear. "Love." His breath tickled her ear. "You." He felt her sag into his arms.
"Oh Paul," she breathed, her arms wrapping around him. He leaned back a little so he could stare into her eyes.
"I love you, Rachel Black, and I will say it as many times as I can until you believe me. As many times as you want. I love you, I love you, I love you—"
"I love you too!" she cried, new tears forming in her eyes, happy ones. "Oh god I'm a mess." She said, letting out a shaky laugh. She didn't know how she could love him, she barely knew if for a start, but somehow she did. Her heart told her that she loved him, and she trusted herself enough to follow it.
"Yeah but you're my mess." Paul said with a smirk. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He heard her sigh and he pressed his tongue against her lips, probing for a way in. She opened her mouth and their tongues met. He deepened the kiss, letting his hands roam free so one hand was on the base of her neck while the other one rested on her lower hip. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair.
"Paul," she breathed as he pulled away. Her lips were puffy from the kiss but he could see the joy in her eyes.
"I love you baby," he said softly, loving the way he eyes lit up when he said the words.
They kissed a few more times, and finished the rest of the food before heading back down to his car.
Rachel
"What if they hate me?" the question had been running through her head ever since they had climbed into Paul's car and driven back towards where the bonfire would be held.
Paul rolled his eyes and squeezed her hand.
"They're not going to hate you. Why would you ask that? You saw them this afternoon!"
"Yeah but that was before—"
"Before?"
"Before I knew exactly what imprinting meant and how much it controls you. You said it yourself, you asked Sam to give you the evening off to be with me. What if they hate me for taking you away from them!" Rachel's voice had started off at a soft whisper, and she had ended her thought with a panicked cry.
"Shhh, baby, they won't hate you." Paul's lips were tugged up and she saw that he was trying not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" she asked indignantly. She pulled her hand out of Paul's and he immediately shut up.
"It's nothing, well, you. You think that they'll hate you just because I asked to have the evening off. You didn't make me take the evening off, I just wanted to in case you changed your mind or had the sudden urge to talk to me." He glanced at Rachel who was sitting in his passenger seat, her arms crossed.
"Aren't you glad I asked to stay behind? If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have gotten to take you to dinner and had that lovely time with you."
"But—"
"Shhh, sweetheart, nothing will ever be more important to me than you. When are you going to start believing me? Am I going to have to get it tattooed across my chest before you believe me?" he said it humoursly but Rachel couldn't help but think about how often he seemed to go without a shirt on and how seriously he would take her if she said yes.
"No, but, what if something happens and they need you?" she bit her lip.
"Then they'll howl and I'll hopefully hear them. Plus, Sam never lets Collin or Brady leave the reserve so if something happens, I'm sure they'll be dying to get into the action."
"They're just kids."
"Weren't we all once?"
"But—"
"Stop worrying, you'll be fine." They pulled up to where the bonfire would be held. Paul jumped out and was at her door and opening it before she could even reach for the handle.
"If you're worried about me getting in trouble for spending time with you, I can tell you about how many times Jared or Quil have been late to a pack meeting because they were spending time with there girls." Paul smirked as he closed the door behind me.
"Who did they imprint on?" Rachel asked, interested to hear more about the other girls.
"Well Jared imprinted on this girl named Kim. She was in his class and had this huge crush on him. After he phased he just saw her and couldn't look away."
"That's sweet."
"Yeah, and Quil… well, Quil's a bit different."
"How so?"
"Remember the bit about how we can be a protector or a brother to whoever we imprint on? We just accommodate to their needs as they grow?"
"Umm, yeah?"
"Well… just keep that in mind. Quil imprinted on Claire."
"Who's Claire?"
"We'll meet her soon." Paul grabbed her hand and led her towards the bonfire.
"Hey Paul!" Seth came running up to them, a hotdog in has hand.
"Hey Seth," Paul greeted. "Aren't you supposed to be at a wedding right now?"
"It got cut short." Seth grimaced. Paul frowned.
"Something happen?"
"No, well, Jake showed up, and he and Bella were dancing and talking and then she brings up that she's going on a honeymoon with Edward."
"She's going on an actual honeymoon with that leech?" Paul looked shocked. He didn't have any personal affinity for Bella Swan, or Cullen, or whatever he name was now, but he didn't want to see her get hurt. She was Chief Swan's daughter and she got along well with most of the pack members.
"Yeah, well, Jake kinda blew up at that and he kind of grabbed her and from there things kind of fell apart."
"That sucks. Where's he now?" Paul looked around but he didn't see Jacob.
"I think he's still cooling off. He was pretty pissed. Sam's going to be late to the meeting, same with Jared. Both of them are still with Jake trying to get him to calm down enough to phase and come back." Seth didn't look too worried but Rachel frowned.
"Is he alright? Where is he? Is he hurt?" she asked, the questions tumbling out of her mouth in a rush.
"Shh," Paul soothed, "Babe, Jacob's a strong wolf. He'll be fine. I highly doubt he's injured, that leech is too noble to do anything like that." Paul snorted, "And trust me, Jake hasn't been alright for a while now. I doubt that's gonna change any time soon." If Paul thought that those last words would sooth her he was sadly mistaken. She turned towards him, fire in her eyes.
"He hasn't been alright for a while? What do you mean by that?"
"Only that he's been hurting over the fact that Bella chose that bloodsucker for a while now and it's nothing new to him to have her choose him."
"That doesn't mean it will hurt him any less." Rachel retorted.
"Yes but still—"
"Where is he?" Rachel turned back to Seth. Seth shrugged.
"Dunno, in the woods somewhere with Jared and Sam probably. And don't worry Rachel, they'll take good care of him." Seth patted her arm and they went over to the bonfire. Rachel saw her dad raise an eyebrow at her but she ignored him. Rachel looked around. She saw Emily sitting next to Quil and a little toddler. Emily was speaking to Quil while he bounced the toddler on his lap. She pulled at his hair but he didn't wince or look the least bit annoyed. On a nearby log she saw a young girl with brown hair sitting on the log alone, her head tucked under a hoodie and buried in a book.
"That's Kim," Paul said quietly, "she's Jared's girlfriend."
"Oh," Rachel nodded, still taking in everything. The elders were huddled a little ways away at a wooden picnic table. A lamp sat on the table illuminating their figures as they spoke in quiet whispers.
"Hey guys," Jared greeted, suddenly appearing out of the darkness from the woods. Rachel saw Kim look up and smile as Jared walked over to her. He pressed a smoldering kiss to her lips that, to any outsider it would look inappropriate in public, but to the rest of the wolves it seemed like a regular thing.
"Hey guys," Sam's deep voice followed Jared's as he came out of the darkness as well. He glanced at Rachel and Paul but didn't say anything as he went over and kissed Emily.
"Where's Jake?" Rachel asked, suddenly scared. Sam looked up at her.
"He's still cooling off. He may join for the last bit of the bonfire but most likely you won't see him until tomorrow."
"Oh," Rachel felt disappointed. She hadn't seen her brother in nearly two years.
"Come on, let's go get a good seat. I roast a mean marshmallow." Paul grinned, keeping his voice light. Rachel smiled and nodded. They went and sat down as the council came over and joined them.
The next day there was a knock on the door. It was only nine A.M. so Rachel was surprised to hear it. She trudged to the door in her fluffy pink slippers and opened it without looking to see who it was.
"Hey," Paul stood in the doorway, shirtless but in shorts. He grinned and stepped inside.
"Am I too early?" he asked, looking her over. In her pink fluffy slippers, brown, multi-coloured polka doted bathrobe, and still slightly messy bed headed hair, she was sure she looked like a mess.
"Umm, it's nine A.M. You look like you'd be a late sleeper."
"I usually am, but I had something to look forwards to when I woke up so I woke up as early as I possibly could." Paul said with his trademark grin/smirk.
"And how early was that?" Rachel asked, having a guess. She wouldn't be surprised if he had just gotten up ten minutes ago and rushed over to her house.
"About eight forty-five." He said. She rolled her eyes, she knew him too well and it hadn't even been a day yet.
"Do you want some breakfast? My dad probably won't be up for a while so I could make us some pancakes and french toast."
"That sounds delicious." Paul said, leaning in for a kiss. Rachel let out a small moan as his tongue swept inside her mouth. He pulled away grinning. She smiled.
"Great!" she hurried to the kitchen, suddenly nervous. What if he hated her cooking? Sure, it was just french toast and pancakes, anyone could make those, but what if he hated what she made? Or the way she made them?
"Do you usually have french toast and pancakes for breakfast?" Paul asked, standing awkwardly in the kitchen. Rachel shook her head.
"No, my mom—" her voice caught for a moment but she shook it off. "My mom used to make it for us every Saturday morning. It was a special treat for us. I figured since it's Saturday and since you're here I might as well try making them…" her voice trailed off, memories of fun Saturday mornings suddenly filling her mind.
"Shh, it's alright, I'm here sweetheart." Paul's arms were engulfed around her suddenly, his voice whispering soothing words in her ear. She hadn't even realized that she had started crying. She had been too caught up in the memories to notice.
"I'm sorry, it's just really hard for me to be here, in this house especially."
"It's alright. I understand. When my mom and dad split it was really hard for my dad to talk about her for the longest time. Since I was still a kid, I didn't really understand why they split up, so I was always asking him these questions about her. Finally I realized that it was really hard for him to talk about her and that if he needed to talk about her, he would when he was ready."
"That's nice. Well, not the part about your parents divorcing, I'm sorry about that." Rachel's voice came out muffled from his chest. "But I mean the part about you and your dad."
"Yeah, well, when you're ready to talk about her, just know that I'm here."
"The reason I left La Push was because it was too hard for me to be here. This place, all I can think about is my mom. Or that's all I could think about until you showed up." She gave him a small smile. "This house, all the memories here, it's all a little too much for me. That's why I moved away as soon as I could. Same with my twin. She married right out of high school and is now happily living in Hawaii." Rachel sighed and whipped away more tears. Paul rubbed her back soothingly.
"Hey, it's alright. Did you know, I was born in Tacoma but I haven't really been back there since my parents divorced? It's been too hard for me and my dad to go back there since memories of my mom are all around us there."
"That's so sad." Rachel pulled away and cupped Paul's face. Paul smiled down at her sadly.
"It's not that my mom totally rejected the two of us, but she got remarried when I was thirteen to some guy and I was never quite comfortable around him and his kids, even though they always tried to make me feel welcome."
"That's too bad. Yeah, I don't know what I would do if my dad remarried and the woman he married had kids of her own. It would feel a little strange to me as well." Rachel pulled away and tried to wipe away the remaining tears.
"Whew, well, I'd better start the breakfast." She said, trying to sound cheerful. She must have done a horrible job at it because Paul raised his eyebrow at her skeptically.
"You're not fooling me darling. Now, is there anything I can do to help?"
"Umm, can you get the coffee started? I'm an addict." Rachel laughed. Paul smiled.
"Good to know." He murmured, going over to the coffee maker and starting two cups of coffee.
After a fabulous breakfast, and a fun morning walking down by the beach, Paul and Rachel ended up cuddling on the sofa at Billy's. She was sitting on the sofa, her feet curled up in Paul's lap as he gave her a foot rub. They had left their empty lunch plates sitting on the coffee table and there was a half eaten bag of chips next to Paul. There were two already empty bags of chips sitting next to the trashcan waiting to be stuffed in. Rachel was telling him about her degree in computer engineering and how she had her job interview in Ohio in a week.
"What the hell!" a loud voice cut her off suddenly as she began to talk about the job. They both turned and saw Jacob standing in the front doorway. He looked pissed off.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Jacob demanded, stomping over to his sister. He glared at Paul menacingly.
"He's here because I want him to be." Rachel replied simply. She was somewhat used to Jacobs temper tantrums from when he was a little boy.
"Get out of my house." Jacob snarled at Paul. Paul glanced at Rachel.
"If that's what Rach wants then I'll leave." He said, his words slow and carefully measured. Rachel reached out and placed a hand on Paul's arm.
"You don't have to leave, it's fine. And you," she turned to her brother, "Where the hell have you been? You can't just come barging in here and demand for Paul to leave. I've been here nearly two days and I haven't seen you around at all. Dad says you've been gone a few weeks now so you have no right to suddenly show up and come barging in here." Rachel looked angry and Jacob gaped at here.
"I— I have no right to come barging in here? This is my house! You're sitting in my living room and he's eating my food!" Jacob sputtered.
"You can share." Rachel said calmly. She didn't like the way Jake was talking about Paul.
"What are you doing here! With my sister! Get out!" Jacob practically shouted at Paul. Paul stood up slowly.
"Whoa, calm down man, I was just hanging out with Rachel. There's no need to get so angry—"
"You're telling me to calm down?" Jacob was visibly shaking now and Rachel realized what was happening. Paul seemed to know it was well.
"Jake you're getting really upset. Maybe we should step outside. I don't want you to get angry and hurt Rachel. We don't want another Sam/Emily incident now do we?" Paul tried to add a little humour into his voice but it was obvious that he was nervous. Jake froze.
"You think that I would intentionally hurt my sister?" he asked in a deathly calm voice. "I would never hurt anyone in my family."
"Yeah well it's not like Sam ever wanted to hurt Emily." Paul muttered. Rachel winced. Wrong thing to say. Jacob leaped onto Paul and they went smashing to the ground. Rachel screamed in surprise.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Jacob roared to Paul before punching him in the face. Paul seemed to struggle for a moment before giving up.
"Look man!" Paul cried through the punches, "If I had known you would be coming back here today I wouldn't have been here when you arrived! I'm only hanging out with Rachel cause Billy's out of the house right now! I knew she needed some company—" something in his voice must have gotten through to Jake because he suddenly froze. He looked at Paul for a long moment, then back at Rachel. He started to shake again and when he spoke his voice came out in a shaky rage.
"You. Imprinted. On. My. SISTER!" He bellowed the last word. Paul shoved Jake off himself roughly and jumped up. Already the bruises from Jake's punches were fading.
"Look man, it wasn't intentional. I didn't realize she was your sister until Jared introduced us." He said, his voice starting to show some anger. Jacob didn't seem to notice, he was shaking too much now. Paul turned to Rachel.
"Get back!" he commanded. Rachel stumbled a few steps back just as a giant russet coloured wolf erupted into the room. Paul stumbled back, a large scratch on his chest. Rachel screamed and Paul grimaced.
"I'm fine sweetheart, just get back." He started to unzip his pants and he turned to Jake, his pants half hanging off his waist.
"Maybe you'd better get outside Jake." He said, his voice holding no humour. The giant wolf let out a huff and went smashing through the front door. Paul gave Rachel an apologetic look before pulling down his pants and stepping outside. Through the cracked window, Rachel could see a large silver wolf racing after the large russet wolf. Both of them disappeared into the trees. She stared after them for a long moment and then let out a sob. What had she done? Now the pack was really going to hate her because she was causing two of them to fight! Shaking her head she closed the door and went to the kitchen. She sat on the bar stool, wondering how long it would take them to make amends and what she should do to help.
RIINNGG! The phone rang. Jumping up, Rachel hurried over and looked at the caller ID. Uley, Sam it read. Sam Uley… that was the guy from the beach! Paul had said he was like, their leader or something. She picked up the phone, expecting to hear Sam's deep voice. He was probably calling for Jacob, or maybe even Paul.
"Hello?" she asked, trying to sound like she had not just spent the last ten minutes crying.
"Hello? Is this Rachel?" a slightly familiar, feminine voice asked on the other end.
"Umm, yes, who is this?" Rachel asked, surprised.
"Oh, this is Emily! We met yesterday—"
"Right! I remember."
"Good, well, I was wondering if you and Paul would like to come over for dinner tonight. A few of the pack memebers are coming so it would be another good chance for you to get to know them."
"Umm…" should she tell them about Paul and Jacob's fight? "That sounds really wonderful, thank you for the invite, umm, you see, the only problem is that Paul isn't really available right now. Umm, Jacob came home and he got pretty angry when he saw Paul." Rachel heard a loud sigh.
"Oh Paul," she said, laughter in her voice. "He and Jacob are always fighting. Look, it's not your fault. Jacob's going through a rough time right now and seeing Paul probably caught him off guard. If they get back before dinner, let them know they are invited, otherwise, I'll see you at six!" Emily sounded cheerful as she hung up the phone without waiting for her response. Rachel had to smile, Emily's kindness and cheer seemed infectous. She glanced at the clock above the mantel. It was nearly 3:30 right now so she had a few hours until dinner. She wondered if their fight would really take three hours.
Hey! Sorry, this is the end for now. I'll keep working on this story and I'll hopefully finish it soon! Sorry about that!