WARNING: GRAPHIC MENTIONS OF PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND SEXUAL ABUSE, MANIPULATION, TEEN PREGNANCY, CRUDE LANGUAGE, SEXUAL SITUATIONS, AND TRIGGERING IMAGERY. IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THIS OR DO NOT ENJOY IT, DO NOT READ.


Chapter Seven.


Breanna's POV:

It had grown dark as I ventured through the forest, and rain poured heavily. My clothes stuck to me like a second skin and my tears had finally ceased. All I felt was numb and empty.

A wolf howled in the distance and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

My father was probably worried sick, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Maybe I'd just do everyone a favor and die out here. My child, the spawn of an abuser and a nutcase, would be better off going straight to heaven than having to deal with this horrible world.

"Breanna!"

Dammit! He's found me again.

I rushed faster through the trees, looking down to make sure I didn't trip. What I wasn't expecting was a large tree to come right into my walking path.

I hit it head on, and then all I saw was darkness.


Hours later I woke up, and a blinding light entered my vision.

"Breanna, can you hear me?"

"Y-yes. Where am I?"

"You hit your head on a tree. Do you remember?" A short-haired red-headed doctor asked. I slowly nodded. Everything felt hazy. "What is your full name?"

"Breanna Margret Ulrey."

"What city do you live in?"

"La Push, Washington."

"What is the capitol of Washington?"

"I don't know…"

"I don't think she actually knows that," Dad exclaimed shyly. The light left my vision and I sighed in relief. The doctor gave me a sad look.

"It seems to me that you don't have a concussion, but you'll need to be more careful next time. This stress isn't good on the baby at all."

I nodded again, starting to feel guilty. What kind of mother am I? I'm not better than my mother.

"Please refrain from running around at night, Ms. Ulrey. I'd also like you to make an appointment for your first ultrasound and checkup before you leave."

She talked to us for a bit longer before letting us go and dad helped me make my appointments. On the way home I felt the guilt and disgust for myself start to fill me again.

I can't believe I had acted that way. What was wrong with me? Didn't I ever learn?

"Everything will be okay, baby. I promise," Dad said without looking from the road.

I hoped he was right. I really did.


Paul's POV:

All I felt was rage. My finger nails had turned into sharp talons, and I pressed my claws deep in my palms as I tried to hold in my anger How could I be so stupid? Cuddling with Rachel like old times? We weren't even in a relationship, but I was still acting like the same old Paul. Fuck em and leave em. That's who I was. Feeling my control waver, I left the house and sat on the porch, head in my furry hands.

I most likely ruined any chance at a relationship or even a friendship with Breanna, and it was all my fault.

Fucking idiot, I thought to myself as I stared at the expanse of stars, feeling helpless like I did when I was a kid. Why do you ruin everything you touch?

"Paul, I'm sorry." Rachel cooed, sitting down next to me and patting my knee affectionately. I pulled away from her and shook my head.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. It was my fault."

"I was the one who threw myself at you."

"Who could blame you? I'm gorgeous."

"Even if you are going through hell, you still can't help but be an asshole." I grinned, but the tightening of anxiety in my chest. This whole night was fucked. How had it gone from such a good morning to this shit? As I remembered the feeling of holding her on the beach, I felt like I was being punched in the gut. "Don't stress yourself out too much, she's going to forgive you."

"And how are you so sure about that?"

"Rachel's intuition, I suppose."

"Didn't you say that about us working out?"

"What do you mean?"

"We're both currently single, if you hadn't noticed."

"But we worked out together! In a friendship way, at least." I snorted and looked from her face to the sky, watching how it glittered. If only Birdie was here to see it.

"I guess you're right, kid."

"Who you calling kid? I'm your elder, chump."

"Okay, you keep telling yourself that, Rachel." As the stars twinkled, I felt a sudden calmness. All my anger evaporated, and it was just Rachel and I as we always were. With her by my side, I knew that I could gain back Breanna's forgiveness.

A sudden scream belted out of the open window and then crying ensued. As I shot up to go inside, Jean's low murmurs of comfort stopped me in my tracks. She needed her family right now, not me.

Part of me felt at a loss, but I ignored it and returned to my spot next to Rachel, who had been joined by Embry. The three of us sat in silence as Breanna's cries turned a calm breathing, just feeling each other's presence and taking comfort in that.


Breanna's POV:

It had been almost twenty-four hours since I'd talked to Paul, to anyone. All I felt was shame for how I acted. How inconsiderate I had been to my father, my step-mother, and my step-siblings; to my own child. I needed to take better care of myself, for everyone's sake.

And I needed to talk to Paul, to find out what really is going on. That girl that was with him, the beautiful model-like girl; who was she? He said that was his best friend, but could he have been lying? So many people have lied to me, I had no idea what was real and what was fake.

I really liked Paul and how he made me feel but was he really what was best for me? I was falling too hard too fast; it was almost like when I had met William, and how he had made me feel before things turned ugly. It was too fast, too soon. I needed to get a grip on reality.

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. Sitting there frozen, my heart starting to thump wildly in my chest. Who was calling me?

When the ringing stopped, I slowly grabbed the flip phone and opened it, clicking to hear the messages from an unknown number. The voice made my blood run cold.

"Where are you? I need to hear your voice, baby." William sobbed over the caller ID and I felt myself start to grow nauseous, tears already filling my eyes. "You're all I have left in here. Emily and Maverick said I'm dead to them, and my parents refuse to take my calls. I'm staying at a friend's right now. Please, just come back to me, baby. I'll be better to you, to us. I love you, Breanna." A female voice echoed and giggled, and I could tell it was Sarah just by the sound. The girl that Will dumped just to be with me, the girl that verbally and physically assaulted me after I left the hospital. And now he was at her house, probably sleeping with her and treating her with kindness that he never gave to me.

It won't last, though. She'll find out what kind of a person he really is soon enough.

The message ended and another one soon started.

"Please, please, baby. Answer me! I'm out of my mind with worry over you, yet you don't give a shit about how I'm feeling! You want me to do something crazy, don't you? You don't care about anyone but yourself!" My heart was pounding and I sweating bullets, but I continued to listen to message after message. "You fucking bitch, you better answer me right now or you'll regret it! Just wait till I get my hands on you. I'll make you regret ever calling the cops, you cunt!" I covered my ears and started to sob. He was out, and he was going to find me. I wouldn't be safe anywhere.

My crying was cut off when there was a knock at the door.

"Honey, I heard crying. Are you alright?" Jean questioned from outside the door. I wiped my eyes and took in a deep breath before answering.

"I-I'm fine, just had a bad dream. Don't worry about me."

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, sweetheart. If you need to talk or anything, I'm right here, okay?"

"Okay, thank you, Jean." I let out a breath when I heard her go down the stairs.

Dammit, what was I going to do? I had caused everyone unneeded stress already over the whole running into a tree fiasco and now this green-eyed demon rears his ugly head and threatens my stability again. Well, no. I'm not going to let him intimidate or bother me. I'll just ignore the calls.

My phone continued to ring for the rest of the night, but I stopped myself from listening to the messages. It would just mess with my head more, and I needed to have a healthier body and mind if I wanted my child to be healthy.

When Sandy came to bed I shut off my phone and fell asleep with the ringing still in my head.


Paul's POV:

I woke up Thursday morning to the sound of pounding feet and people arguing. With an angry grunt, I made my way to the kitchen to see what the hell was going on and my jaw dropped to the floor.

Rachel stood with her hands on her hips facing and mirror image of herself, only this one had noticeably tired eyes, messy hair, and two toddlers on both of her hips.

Rebecca, the prodigal daughter, has returned to La Push. But why now?

"You barely speak to me for months and you have the audacity to ask if you can stay at Paul's place? Oh no, nuh uh. You made your bed, go lie in it." She raised her nose high and scrunched it in disgust. "But I guess that's how you got in this mess, right?"

"Oh look, I'm Rachel, better than everyone else and I can do no wrong! Well, I'm sorry we can't all be perfect like you!"

"No, I'm not perfect, you're just below average! What would mom say if she saw you like this, whoring around with some surfer? You have two kids, for Christ sake!"

"Don't you say shit about my kids or what mom would have thought! We'll never know what she thought of all this because she's dead, Rachel! Stop using her to guilt trip me into doing what you want! You think she'd really be proud of how you treat your family, your friends? How you treat your boyfriends? At least I have a heart and I'm actually nice to people."

"Yeah, nice enough to let them fuck you and then leave you for someone else!" Rebecca's eyes were like fire and without a second thought, I took the two munchkins out of her arms and quickly retreated outside as an all-out brawl ensued. I may be Rachel's soulmate, but I am not getting in the middle of her and her twin. Especially, when she's being a total bitch.

We walked the small ways to Emily and Sam's and I walked straight in, almost melting when the two tots in my arms nuzzled nervously into my neck. On vacations with Rachel to Hawaii, I had met the bouncing baby boys, respectively named Joseph II and Solomon II after their father and ancestor. Sully was more nervous and cautious, and very picky, while Joey was very curious and loved to get into things he wasn't supposed to. Especially the toilet.

"It's okay, guys. We're just at Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam's house." The living room was abuzz with activity, Claire and Sammy bouncing on Quil's legs as he a one hand game of Call of Duty, while Jared, Kim, and Emily went over the plans for the Pack vacation trip.

Due to everyone turning into huge assholes when they were overworked, Sam and Jacob both agreed to a pack family vacation. This year was only the second year and we would be going to Seth's pick, California. Good thing too, I loved the heat. And I'd be able to visit my baby sister while she was on break.

As I sat down on the loveseat, Quil raised an eyebrow before asking, "What's with the tater tots? Rob a daycare or something?"

"Nope, worse. Becca's back and I had to save these guys from the twin terrors."

"No shit?" I shook my head. "Wow does Jake know?"

"He will soon enough if he doesn't already." As Emily walked past to grab her son she whacked Quil on the back of the head lightly, earning a grunt in annoyance from him. Claire just giggled happily from her spot on his lap before attempting to grab the controller from him.

Settling into the couch, I moved the tots so that they were in a more comfortable position and looked down at them. You could tell that they were Becca's kids just by looking at them; same nose, eyes, and smile. Their hair and ears, though; that was all Solomon.

Now, why had she come home? Was something going on with Solomon? There were a million possibilities.

"How's Breanna doing? I heard from Sam that she hit her head pretty bad." At the sound of her name, I sucked in a breath and tensed.

"She's okay, I guess." Not like I'd know.

Quil sighed and gave me a sad look, "Is she still not talking to you?"

"She isn't talking to anyone. And all because I was cuddling with my best friend."

"Oh, please. Paul Lahote just cuddling? Bullshit."

Emily's voice rang from the kitchen in warning, "I swear if you curse one more time Ateara, I'm going to rip both your lips off and bury them in the backyard!"

"Okay, so it was more than cuddling. But I wasn't going to go through with it." Quil gawked at me and shook his head before he smirked.

"You're so whipped, bro. It's only been a few days and you're smitten."

"Don't remind me," Joey said some indecipherable words and patted my cheek with his hand before giggling to himself. Sully looked on with wide eyes and a nervous look on his face. Thankfully, though, the rest of his body was relaxed. "Guess it's just us three until your mama gets back."

"Mama." He said softly, and I nodded.

"Yeah, mama. Do you know any other words?"

"Dada!"

"Good job! Can you say, Paul?"

"Dada!"

"No, Paul."

"Mama."

"Okay, we'll have to work on that one." The rest of the morning was spent in the Uley's living room, romping around with the kids and stuffing our faces with sweets that Emily baked.


Around twelve-thirty, Becca Black stalked to the Uley home, Rachel trailing behind her, in search of her darling baby boys.

"Mama, mama!" Joey squawked, and both boys held their hands out to be picked up. She gratefully brought them both in her arms with ease and kissed their chubby cheeks.

"Thank you for taking care of them, Paul. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

"Maybe if you hadn't attacked me, he wouldn't have had to take care of them." Rachel spits out, folding her arms over her chest in defiance.

Oh no, not again.

All this stress was going to affect the boys sooner or later, but later if I could help it. Seeing how the situation would escalate, I quickly grabbed Rachel by the wrist and pulled her outside. We stood in silence for a while, her eyes looking everywhere but mine.

With a deep breath, I inquired. "What's your problem, Rach?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Her face flushed, and it looked like she was about to explode.

"She can't just come in here demanding a place to stay when she was the one that whored around in the first place!"

"Whoring around? That sounds a little hypocritical coming from you of all people."

"Me of all people? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You sleep around with guys all the time."

"I never got knocked up!"

"So that makes her a whore?"

"Yes- no-" She pushed me back and I stumbled, caught off guard. "I don't know!"

"Rachel, calm down."

"Why you are taking her side? You think she'll fuck you if you give her a place to stay? I wouldn't put it past her."

"Of course, not-"

"Same old Casanova Paul, slutting around Washington as always. Do you not have self-respect for yourself?"

"Wow, says the same girl that tried to fuck me yesterday, but I guess you forgot about that since you're the reason Breanna's not talking to me."

"Or maybe she's not talking to you because she finally sees what sort of person you really are?"

"And what sort of person am I, Rachel?" She turned away from me, her body seething. I could hear Becca and Kim talking in the kitchen, and Claire munching happily on a grilled cheese sandwich and telling Jared her plans of going to the beach. Sully snoozed, finally relaxed in his mother's arms, and Joey had now crawled into Quil's arms and demanded attention.

I could be in there enjoying their company, but I'm out here dealing with my imprints bullshit. Fucking incredible, really.

"I'm gonna go and leave you to your pity party, but when you start acting like a big girl you can join us." I felt like I'd been slapped and my whole body ached, but I put on a fake smile as I stepped back into the house, heading straight to the kitchen to grab a grilled cheese from Emily.

"I added some ham in there for you," Emily said with a smile as she handed me a plate with four sandwiches on it, and I grinned back before sitting down at the table. Becca leaned over towards me in her seat, careful not to tousle the toddler in her arms, before speaking.

"I'm sorry, Paul."

"It's fine, Becca. I love having the boys around."

"It's my fault you guys fought. It'd be better if I went to the motel in Forks." I shook my head, my eyes trailing over Sully's relaxed face and cute button nose.

"No, you'll stay with me. You can take my bedroom."

"I couldn't possibly-"

"It's yours until you're on your feet." She opened her mouth again to argue, but I shook my head.

"If you're really sure…"

"Of course, I am."

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate this." There were tears in her eyes. "I can't go to my dad's, he'll just say, 'I told you so', and make me feel like shit. He and Rachel are so alike it's unreal." Upon hearing her name my stomach tightened, but I ignored it.

"I understand, don't worry. You and the boys will always have a place at mine." She placed Sully into Emily's arms before engulfing me into a hug and crying into my chest as I awkwardly patted her back. "Shh, it's going to be okay. I got you, shh." My words filled me with a calm feeling, and I tightened my hold on her.

It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay.


Breanna's POV:

Day in day out, the calls never stopped. If anything, they had gotten worse. Tears streamed down my face and panic filled my bones every time I heard the ringing.

I attempted to distract myself by doing other things, but the ringing always brought me back to reality. He was going to find me, and he was going to kill me. It was a constant thought in my head as I struggled to go on throughout the day like nothing was wrong.

Around noon when the family was gone to school and work, it became too much.

Maybe he's trying to tell me something and I'm just blowing him off. There has to be a reason why he keeps calling me.

Against my better judgment, I sat on my bed and opened the flip phone to listen to the messages, but then it started to ring again. In shock, I threw the phone across the room. It landed on a pile of dirty clothes, its shrill sound filling the room and making my stomach uneasy.

"Why do you keep calling? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Tears fell from my eyes and before I could stop it I was bawling, big ugly cries coming from my mouth. I covered my eyes with my hands and let myself cry for the first time in days.

It was so hard acting like everything is fine when my mind was a warzone. It was so fucking hard. How was I supposed to be someone's mom when I couldn't even deal with the stress of a simple phone call?

Out of nowhere, my phone was shut off, and I was wrapped in a pair of large, warm, and familiar arms. Arms I knew all too well.

Paul. But why was he here after everything that I had done?

"It's going to be okay, I'm here." He whispered into my ear. I couldn't stop crying as he pulled me into his lap and rocked me back and forth, rubbing my back soothingly. Part of me wanted to push him away, scream at him to let me go, but the other didn't want to leave his arms yet.

A voice in my head whispered, he's here now as a friend, so accept him as one. So that's what I did. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I cried into his chest and let him comfort me, soaking in the warmth and compassion that rolled off him. After what seemed like forever, I stopped crying and leaned up, wiping my face with the back of my hands. We stared into each other's eyes, the room now quiet except for our breathing, and without thinking I kissed him.

We had never kissed like this before, and I groaned as our tongues touched. I tugged at his shirt and ran my nails over his abs, causing him to moan involuntarily.

I just wanted to forget, I wanted to be normal. Let me be normal, please.

But my hope was shattered when he pulled away, lips puffy and breathless.

"We can't do this, at least not like this."

"Is it because of her?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"No, it isn't. It's about you."

"What about me?"

"You're just using me to forget your piece of shit ex-boyfriend."

"That's not it at all!"

"Then why all of the sudden do you want to fuck me? Is it because you caught me with my best friend or because he keeps calling you?" I looked down at my lap and bit my lip. "So, which is it?"

"I don't know!" I screamed, sobbing into my hands. "I just want to be normal! Let me be normal!"

"Being normal is over-rated. Just be you!" I wiped my eyes as I started to cry again.

"I'm not good enough."

"Bullshit."

"What?"

"Have you seen yourself? You're amazing!"

"You're just saying that-"

"Oh, cut it out with that shit and listen to me. Breanna, you are an amazing, funny, and beautiful girl that deserves better than some piece of shit that beats you." He got on his knees and stared at me with a look of determination. "You deserve someone who will always comfort you in your time of need, who will make you laugh, who will treat you with the respect you deserve."

With shaky hands, I cupped his face and gave him a small smile, "That sounds a lot like you."

"Well, I guess it may have some similarities, but I am far from the guy for you."

"And why is that?"

"I'm not a good guy. I've done a lot of shit I'm not proud of." Paul stood up and tried to step away from me, but I pulled him back to me and lay my head on his chest, relishing in his warmth.

"Same here." He stood rigid, almost as if poised for attack, but I continued to hug him. It was almost as if our roles were reversed, instead of him being the comfort I had always needed, I was that for him. Or at least I hope I was.

"You have no idea." A howl echoed through the open bedroom window and we both jumped. His eyes grew dark as they met mine.

"I have to go." He pressed a kiss to my forehead before walking out the door, leaving me awe-struck. As I stood in my spot unwavering, my stomach had finally had enough with my stress and I threw up in the trashcan, sobbing as my phone started to ring once again.


The sun set, and still, I sit in my room. Jean and Kenny came to sit with me, Jean cleaning up the trashcan and helping me brush my teeth and drink some water, but they left when it got too late. Sandy was staying over at her friends, so I was left alone for the time being. The comforter was wrapped tightly around me, cocooning me in its embrace.

Dad had taken the phone and was going to send it to my mother as evidence in our case, so all I had now was my MP3 player. Not that I was complaining in the slightest. Thinking of how desperate his voice sounded made me shiver.

One earbud sat in my ear, softly playing Bring Me The Horizon, and rain fell against the window in a comforting rhythm. It had taken me hours, but I finally felt okay again. Like the world wasn't falling apart around me. I finally felt relaxed and safe again.

There was a knock at the door, but I just burrowed further into the comforter, wanting to disappear. No more craziness, no more excitement. Please, just let me be. But my please weren't answered as the door slowly opened, and a hulking figure emerged from the low light of the hallway.

"Birdie? It's Paul." He paused, and I tried to make out his features in the dark light. "Can I come in?"

"Y-yeah."

"Okay." Paul stepped into the room, shutting the door softly, before sitting down in front of my bed and laying his head on the mattress. We sit there in silence for a while, only our breathing, the rain, and the song playing in my ears. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I should have told you about her." I pulled out the earbud and pulled my head out of the blanket. His face shone in the moonlight that entered through the window, and I couldn't help but marvel at his beauty. Good jaw-line, great lips. Sparkling, sad brown eyes.

"Who is she?"

"You know the chief of the tribe, Billy Black?" I nodded. Dad had told me about him and his son, they were visiting his sister, so they couldn't come to dinner. "Rachel's one of his daughter's and my best friend. We dated a while ago, but we could never see each other like that." I nodded. "This morning his other daughter, Rebecca, showed up on my doorstep with her kids because she caught her husband cheating."

"That's so sad."

"I'm not going to lie to you, I've slept around before. I used to fuck anything that walked just to feel anything other than anger and loneliness. But I haven't slept around in six months and I don't plan on it anytime soon."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I wanted to be honest with you because I care about you." He slowly leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my lips that had my head swimming. "I have feelings for you and I will wait until you are ready to return them."

"That could take forever," I whispered back, a small smile gracing my lips. He grinned back and shrugged.

"I have time." We sat in silence for a few minutes before my eyes started to feel heavy. I yawned, and he chuckled. "I should probably head home now. Mind if I come back tomorrow?"

"No, I don't mind."

"Good, okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." He started to lean in again but stopped himself. "Can I kiss you again?" I just nodded, starting to smile again. Paul kissed me again and my body felt warm all over. He stood up and started towards the door. "Goodnight, Birdie."

"Goodnight, Paul." I fell asleep as soon as the words left my mouth, drifting into dreamland. Thankfully, my nightmares stayed away, and I slept peacefully.