HALF AN HOUR PASSED SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER:

I didn't want to move, I hadn't actually slept in so long. My eyelids were too heavy to lift, so I kept them closed, focusing in my ears on the voices.

"We just got back from meeting with Sam. Looks like I'll be able to join barring any – what's he doing here?" Barring any what?

Lake waited for Emma's response.

"He came to the house when I was heading out to Emily's and -"

"And you let him in? By himself? Emma..." Lake sounded irritated. Joel interrupted her.

"When did he get here?"

"About 45 minutes ago? I don't know..."

Lake continued,

"Emma why would you let a werewolf who isn't my imprint who you've met like twice into your house when nobody's home?" I've never heard Lake lose her calm. She must not be feeling good to lash out at Emma.

"Why would you do that, Emma?"

"Look at him! Look at what you're doing to him! He has dark circles under his eyes, he's lost about 20 pounds and looks like he hasn't shaved since probably the last time he saw you. You're killing him! He calls all the time, asking for you, and he comes here every day that he can, just to hear your voice or to see your face. Em says he hasn't been able to run because first of all, running makes his head throb and he can't see the ground in front of him, and second because he's in so much pain it literally knocks the other wolves off their feet when he phases."

Joel intervened.

"That's enough, Emma. Lake, you need to seriously consider your priorities. You haven't been eating well and you've been very irritable since Monday. That's not like you. You were much happier before you pushed Paul out of your life." I heard Lake sob. The sound felt like a knife thrust through my heart and instantly my eyes flew open and I sat up, even though my head pounded mercilessly and I got black spots in my vision. When I could again see clearly, I noticed Joel and Emma melting away into the kitchen and Lake sitting on the floor, face in hands. I got up and sat right beside her, enveloping her in my arms and holding her tight to my chest. I sighed, finally feeling better.

Lake and I just sat there, silent. No words were needed. I saw Emma watching from the other room, and I smiled at her. She smiled back as she withdrew.

Lake started to pull away, but I kept her in place. She relaxed into my embrace and our heartbeats slowly synced into a steady, natural rhythm.

"Paul?"

"Shh, baby, s'okay."

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Nobody's perfect, sweetheart. I've got you now, and we can figure out the next part when it comes." She sighed.

"If only it was that easy." She nuzzled into me, getting comfortable. My eyes closed and the zaps of electricity pulsated through me. It had been so long, I'd forgotten how intense the feeling was. Lake was content and still for all of 30 seconds before blipping away from my onto the couch. I whimpered.

"No, I don't deserve to be happy. I deserve to suffer after what I did to you." She still wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Well then punish yourself, not me!" I pouted, getting up to sit on the couch with her. She patted the seat beside her. I sat down and gathered her up in my arms, holding her to my chest and sitting her on my lap.

"I have a lot of make-up hugging." I explained to her confused look.

"Here's a great punishment, you have to be with me 24/7 so I don't lose you again." She laughed, her chest vibrating against my arms, zaps flowing freely through me.

"That's not a punishment." I pulled her even closer to me, the heartburn I'd felt all week slowly subsiding.

Joel came in then, followed by Emma with food. I felt weird being so affectionate with their little sister in front of them, but since Lake didn't move, I figured they mustn't have a problem with it.

"You two need to fatten up, you look awful." Emma offered us lemonade, cheese, crackers and fruit salad.

"Thanks, Emma. I get it now." Lake leaned her head on my chest, making me drown a loud sigh in my lemonade.

"And for the food too..." I added.

I owe a lot to Emma don't I...

"Glad it worked out." Emma handed Joel his glass of lemonade.

"I'm okay with you here for now, Paul, and I'll deal with... this..." He gestured to us sitting together. "But I'm in charge here, and once I say out, you've got one minute before I kick your butt off the premises. Got it?" I nodded. Joel got up and left, Emma set the tray of food down on the coffee table and followed him out. I looked down at Lake, into her big beautiful grey eyes.

She froze.

"Something wrong?"

She blinked a few times before shaking her head as if that would clear it.

"Lake?"

"I've looked at your eyes before, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, we saw each other's eyes before we spoke, remember? Why?"

"That's... that's what I thought." We looked at each other a little too long to just be friends. "But I think... I think I'm going crazy, never mind."

"What? You aren't making sense."

"Sorry, super tired. I'm gonna get out of my jeans really quick, be right back." She blipped out. I grunted, surprised. This whole transporting thing was something I had yet to get used to.

I got up to figure out where the bathroom was, and on my way back Lake was standing in her doorway. Behind her on the floor where the drawings of me were, she'd dropped her jeans, and the pictures were gone. She now stood in a pair of soft grey sweatpants.

"You were in my room?"

"...Yeah? I went in to see if you were there."

"You sat on my bed and looked at me dra-stuff."

Oh. She's embarrassed because I know she missed me and drew me, not once, but several times. Well I can understand that...

"Sweetheart, this is about your drawings?" She looked rather mad...

"My room is my room, if I'd wanted you to see those, I would have showed them to you." Valid argument.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin, I didn't think that one through. They were just there so I looked at them. When did you draw them all?"

"Different times..." She blushed.

"How about you show me all your sketches and the stories behind them? I planted a kiss on her temple and her blush deepened.

"I guess I deserve it. Okay." She turned to pull the folder of drawings out from her desk draw, and we sat on the top of her bed, squeezed together on the twin bed.

Lake started going through her pictures, one by one, and told me the story behind it. She didn't get to the ones of me until much later, probably stalling in hopes that I would get bored or have to leave. But with a sigh, she finally pulled those out too.

"I think you know this is your face.. I drew it right after we met, I couldn't get you out of my mind. So I drew you." She moved to the next one. "This is my dad, I try to draw him frequently so I don't forget. I throw away the sketch after, so I don't go off of it when I draw him again. That way his image stays fresh in my memory, and it doesn't get warped over time." She took the page, crumpling it up into a ball and throwing it into her garbage can across the room. I frowned, how often does she throw away her artwork? "Then these are your eyes, I did these yesterday. I was tired and I missed you." I might have imagined her move ever so slightly closer to me. She pulled the next one out. "You looked really cute on Sunday when you were laying in my lap. I kept thinking of that this week." I wrapped my arm around her, reminding myself that she's here with me again. "Remember when we sparred in the forest?" She held up another.

"I enjoyed that." I say quietly, smiling. It was really hot to watch her fight.

"I know you did." She giggled. She moved on to the last picture, and I was quiet, waiting for her to talk about it. "Sue's Diner." Was all she said.

"Our first kiss." I whisper, wanting to know just what she was thinking in that moment.

"Yeah." She tilted her head back to rest on my shoulder. I leaned my head down on hers, inhaling the smell of her hair. "I'm glad Emma let you in. I was an idiot."

"Yeah, you were..." I smirked when she poked me in the ribs.

"Shut up, Paul." I smiled and pulled her closer.

What POV do you want me to write from next? It could be a main plot chapter, a bonus scene of Laul or a bonus chapter from some other wolf/imprint/character/rock/whatever...

Should I write from Lake's mom and dad's POV when they found out they were pregnant and how they chose Lake's name, just as a random thing to add? Might be interesting...