Fey was ready to drop kick this 14-year-old.

After spending the better part of two hours arranging the store displays before opening, a posse of preteens ruined it in less than 5 minutes.

Don't get her wrong, she's incredibly grateful that Paul was able to get her a job. Telling people what to wear, what to buy and even creating colorful displays was something that she surprisingly good at. If she could only find a way to keep customers away. Then she wouldn't feel the need to burn the store to the ground whenever a soccer mom tried to argue over the return policy with her.

She's even found a new best friend in the form of Kim Trader, a friend of Paul's, and the niece of the shop's owner.

"Kimmy, if I tried to kill that girl, could I count on you to testify on my behalf?" said Fey as she reorganized a rack of T-Shirts for the THIRD time.

"You mean lie?"

"Of course"

"Absolutely, but you wouldn't try to get yourself fired, especially after Paul worked so hard to get you this job," Kim said as she tried to keep the smile off her face. She's never seen Paul so worked up over a girl before. Paul may be the pack's hothead but when it comes to girls, he's always seemed so level-headed and cocky. To have seen him dropped a couple pegs was something that she would forever cherish.

•••••

"Kim, please? Please. I'm saying please Kim, that means you have to help me."

Kim could hardly believe her ears. Despite being Jared's imprint for almost a year now, Kim has rarely spoken two words to Paul, at least one-on-one. Part of the reason being that he intimidated her to no end, but mostly because Jared was entirely too paranoid to leave her alone with the guy who shifts at the drop of a hat. For Paul to have caught her when Jared was away, speaks volumes about how much he must really want to talk to her.

"What?! No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does!"

"Paul I want to help you, I really do but my uncle just isn't hiring people right now." As much as Kim wanted to help Paul with his imprint, her hands were tied.

"Oh come on. You're like his favorite niece. You could be running a drug ring from his storeroom and he would be all for it. All you have to do is get her an interview. She's amazing, your uncle wouldn't say no to hiring her."

"Paul-" By this point, Paul's hands were shaking and his nostrils were flaring. Kim meanwhile was planning out escape routes that would put her out of the line of fire. But right when Paul's shaking began to travel to his other extremities, he released a deep breath and stopped altogether.

"Kim, think about how happy you are with Jared. I just want that kind of happiness for me and Fey. Don't you want me to be happy Kim?" His voice had even adopted a softer tone. His soft eyes were staring at her with such an intensity that she almost forgot what they were talking about. This softer side of Paul was something that she could never have expected. But, she sympathized with him.

Though Fey may not get as many hours at the shop, perhaps Kim could pull some strings and at least get her uncle to meet with Fey. As she opened her mouth to say so, Paul seemed to have lost his patience and reverted back to his typical irritated attitude.

"Kim, you will never be alone with Jared again. I'll just keep bothering you until you do this. When you guys wanna go out, 'oh there's Paul', when you guys wanna make out, 'Nope can't do it Paul's here, when you and Jared wanna have se-"

"OKAY! I get it! Just give me some time to run it by my uncle. Goodness."

Of course, leave it to Paul to make turn his humbling moment into a threat.

•••••

Hours later, after the final customer was ushered out the door, Jared was waiting outside to pick them up. Yet, this time he had a tagalong. Sitting on the hood of Jared's car, clad in a deliciously form-fitting T-shirt and cut-offs was Paul. Fey couldn't help but stare at the outline of muscles on his arms and chest.

Shit, all those beautiful lines. Doesn't he paint a pretty picture… Too bad he's such a weirdo.

"What are you doing here Paul?" asked Kim. Although she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"I was told there was gonna be food," Paul replied with a shrug.

If Kim wasn't confused before she was now. She gave Jared a hug and kiss before she looked to him for clarification. Jared just shook his head. Disbelief on his face and a laugh hidden somewhere behind his smile.

"I was gonna to take you to the diner and Paul invited himself," Jared said.

"Do you want to come with us?" Paul looked expectantly at Fey. Somewhere behind him Jared snorted and muttered something about him being pathetic. Thankfully Fey didn't hear him. Paul would kill him once the witnesses were gone.

"Sure, I wouldn't miss a chance to cockblock Jared." Jared's smile was prompt wiped away and his hold on Kim's waist tightened.

On second thought, Paul's imprint seemed more than ready to put Jared in his place.

•••••

The awkward silence that settled over the table was uncomfortable to say the least. Once arriving at a quaint little diner somewhere in downtown Forks, all conversation seemed to stop. At least in the car, the sounds of the radio were enough to keep everyone preoccupied with their own thoughts. But now, at 8:37 on a Sunday night, the diner was almost dead silent and no one had anything to talk about. If you focused hard enough you could even hear the late-shift waitresses gossiping to one another by the register at the counter. The fact that they were whispering about the mismatched group squeezing into the small booth on the other end of the restaurant, only made it more uncomfortable.

Jared and Kim sat on one side of the booth, limbs entangled to the point where it was just enough for passersby to know that they were a couple, but not enough make others feel they have to look away to protect innocent eyes. On the other side of the booth, Fey felt like she was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Sitting next to a forgotten poster of a pin-up girl,-whose breasts were right in Fey's face- Fey tried to divert her attention elsewhere. Unfortunately, elsewhere was the veins running up Paul's muscular forearms.

Jesus, take the wheel.

Paul sitting in the aisle seat next to Fey couldn't be happier with the cramped seating arrangement. His large frame allowed him to be a little closer to Fey without seeming like a lurker. His behavior for the last month and a half has already embarrassed him far beyond belief. If he didn't know that Fey was the one waiting for him at the end of all the jokes the guys were making, he would honestly quit. Seeing her check out him out when he and Jared picked them up was helping him rebuild his confidence. Even now as she sat next to him, he could feel her eyes on his arms, like a soft caress. He could barely keep the smirk off his face.

"So Fey was telling me that her mom was gonna start teaching at the high school on the Res." Kim tried to diffuse the tension. The gossiping waitresses were beginning to talk about Jared and she didn't want to say something that would get them to spit in her food.

"Really, what's she teach?" Jared rubbed Kim's arm in an effort to comfort her.

"She teaches English and Creative Writing," Fey distantly remembered that she should probably call her mother. As relaxed as her Mami was about most things, school nights, boys and going out were some of the things that could set her off in an instant. The fact that she was engaging in all three made her hands start to sweat with anxiety. She needed to find a phone and quick. Fey may be seventeen, but she would never be old enough to outgrow the chancla. "Does this place have a phone I can use?"

"Yeah, there's one by the bathrooms in the back." Paul got up to let Fey slide out up the booth, but he made sure to keep remain close to the table so Fey would have to brush up against him. Her soft curves brushed against him and he had to hold back a sigh.

As he sat down with a shit-eating grin on his face, Jared and Kim gave one another a look.

"Dude, you're acting like a predator," Jared stated. He pulled his arm away from Kim so he could lean in closer to Paul.

"Technically, I am a predator," Paul replied with a shrug.

"Yes, but this is crazy. You gotta see how crazy this is. Kim, tell him he's acting crazy."

"Yeah, maybe ease out of her, ah, personal space a bit. You're coming on, uh, a little strong." Kim may have sounded unsure but she was 100% behind Jared. Her shyness and Paul's stature were the only things stopping her from bluntly scolding him for his behavior.

"No, I'm not." Paul's nostrils flared.

"Paul, you've been following her around since the day you met, you watch her sleep, and you showed up to her house unannounced. Dude, you're a stalker."

"Everything you just said, are things that Jared does with you all the time."

"You stole her hairbrush, and you're not even dating."

Paul was trying his hardest to stifle his growing frustration. His hands gripped the edge of the table and his eyes were shut tight. "You know what, I'm done being accused of being something I'm not. I'm gonna go take a leak before I flip this table into the freaking kitchen."

"Paul, don't freak her out anymore. Don't corner her Paul. Don't-" Jared's voice trailed away as Paul's anger rose. His blood was surging through his ears and he was trying to curve his growing need to shift.

Yet, as soon as he saw Fey leaning against the wall by an old pay phone, the dull ringing in his ears stopped. Her delicate fingers played with the cord of the phone, and her eyes shifted around the old stickers and photos lining the wall in front of her. As she made eye contact with him, she gave him a small smile and his tensed muscles relaxed and his need to pee was completely forgotten.

As she got off the phone, she said, " Hey I'm gonna have to head out."

"But we just got here we haven't even eaten yet."

"Yea, but it's Sunday night and my Ma's just not havin' it. Do you have the number of a taxi that I could call?"

Paul was panicking. She couldn't leave now. How was he supposed to convince her to be the future mother of his children? "I could take you. I'll take you home and then I'll come back for Jared and Kim."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I'll get the keys and we'll get out of here."

"Okay. Thanks, Paul. I'll meet you at the car."

"Okay."

Paul, you shit head, don't ruin this.

As soon as Fey passed him he rushed back to the booth. He barreled into the table so suddenly that Kim jumped in her seat.

"Jared give me your keys."

"What, why?"

Paul was halfway on the table. He held his hand out, and had a crazed look in his eyes."I gotta take Fey home. Now give me your keys."

"Dude, what? No."

"What?! Come on, I'll come back for you guys!"

"No."

Paul lunged over the table, knocking over several drinks and condiment bottles as he took the keys from Jared's pocket. Kim leaned back in her seat to try to get away from the arms flailing in front of her. Jared struggled against Paul but ultimately lost. As Paul ran out the door, he dodged the waitress and he yelled over his shoulder, "I'll come back."

Jared and Kim sat in relative silence staring at the door. Jared was clutching his hand, which Paul may or may not have broken. Kim's shirt and hair were drenched in soda. The Paul that they know and reluctantly like-or at least put up with-has literally left the building. The stranger who just stole Jared's keys was off to convince the girl of his dreams to marry him.

"Oh, poor Fey."