Nothing wrong with a bleeding-heart.

Friend [frend]

noun

1.

a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

2.

a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony.

3.

a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile:Who goes there? Friend or foe?

Still March 18th, Sunday

Paul left Swan in Forks, and books it back to La Push. He could feel where the boarder lays. It slid over his skin like a blanket, heavy with words like safe and home. He'd be more bitter about losing the chance to leave the Rez if it didn't feel so right to be there. Part of him knew without a doubt that at least some of that just-right feeling came with the curse -ahem- blessing. But then, the Rez had felt like home before, too. If Paul had ever entertained the idea of leaving, it was half-baked. Sure, he'd wanted out, but it wasn't so much out of the Rez, as it was out of the piss poor, single-parent life-style so many had fallen too.

'Ah Paul,' Jared cooed, chasing after Paul's thoughts. 'You're all heart. I always knew you'd be a family man.'

'Shut it bitch,' Paul snapped back, but there was no heat in it. There never was, with Jared. The mental invasion wasn't exactly pleasant on a good day, but Jared knew him well enough that he didn't need a spiritual connection to see what Paul was thinking. The guy could read him like a book.

'What were you doing at the Swan place?' Jared asked, falling in line beside Paul as they did a patrol run. There was no Alpha order, but the drive to see there Rez safe was strong enough that most the wolves found themselves pacing it's boarders anyway. It wasn't exactly a short trip, but it was hardly a hardship when you had some one to run with. 'It got anything to do with the way Jacob was flipping his shit earlier? Sam had to call Leah back to calm his ass down.'

Paul chuckled. 'He thinks I fucked Swan. Swan let him too. Girl is not happy.'

'No,' Jared thought with a long-suffering sigh. Images of Leah and her brooding fluttered through her mind. 'I suppose she isn't.' Jared had drawn the same conclusion as Paul had; Swan was going to be another Leah.

It made Paul bristle, though he'd thought the same thing only hours ago. He shifted back to two legs, and let the cool breeze wash over his naked skin. "I don't think she's like Leah," he said, watching as Jared phased human. "But she is kind of fucked in the head."

Jared nodded, as together they picked apart a barely-there path. No scent in the air, but the memory of a foot print still lingered. The trail was cold, but worth noting. "So you...what? You took her home? You were there for a while. I saw you leave with her early this morning."

Paul rolled his eyes; no where on the Rez was safe from someones prying eyes. Jared probably saw Paul as he was sneaking out of Kim's bedroom window. "Yeah, she was pretty messed up so I drove her home. Embry dumped her drunk ass in my bed last night." He left out the part where he had to hold her hair while she puked in his kitchen sink, in the nude. Every girl deserved a little dignity, after all, and Swan had very little to spare.

Laughing outright, Jared shook his head. "Which would explain why Jacob thought you two slept together. Wonder why Swan went with it?"

"Probably feeling a little petty." Paul was sure of it, having found himself the bad end of a few vindictive girls. "She's just got a lot of shit going on. Having your best friend decide to check out on you would suck.

"You're being oddly sympathetic for the, and I'm quoting you verbatim here, the filthy leech lover," Jared commented, side-eying Paul with a speculation gaze. "I'm just saying."

Paul shrugged. Maybe he sounded sympathetic because he was sympathetic. Jared had phased a full two months before Paul. Those were the worst two months of Paul's life. From what Paul could tell, Jacob was Swan's Jared. Her go-to man. The friend she'd poured way to much into. It wasn't emotionally healthy (Paul learned that in those two months). And maybe it was just because he didn't want to see his Pack get fucked over because one little girl couldn't keep her shit together. Yeah, he was going to go with that.

"We're not all imprinted, you know?" Of course Jared knew. "So maybe I don't want Sam laying down some bullshit Alpha law about how no one can date until they're done phasing. Because who the fuck knows when that will be? A man has needs, you know? And so what if I don't have relationship-needs. I wouldn't put it past Sam to ban sticking your dick in anything other then your God-given bitch." Jared made a noise, mildly insulted and not a little threatening. "Er...imprint. So yeah, I'd rather not see Swan fall to shit, just when Jacob got her head halfway out of them' leeches ass."

Jared's searching look only deepened, but he shrugged it off. "So what? You're gonna play best friend until you can be sure she ain't gonna go all...all Glen Close in Fatal Attraction on someone? 'Cause for one, I don't think it's a good idea to mess with her head more if she's as close to losing it as you say, and for two, you kind of suck at being a friend to any one that isn't me. I don't think you could pretend. Watching you try to play nice is like watching a squirrel try to shit an acorn whole. It's painful to watch."

Paul scoffed, reeling back a little. "For one," he said mockingly. "I am an awesome friend. And for two, I don't intend to play nice with Swan. I was exactly as I always am today and she was fine. In fact, I think the little shit likes it."

"Bella Swan doesn't strike me as a masochist. She kind of looks like a light wind could knock her over. Maybe not even a light wind. Maybe a ceiling fan. Or heavy breathing."

Paul gave him a flat look. "She dated vampires and we've both seen the way she jumps into danger at every freaking turn. " Paul meant it too; the girl clearly had an issue. "And hey, if she can handle getting all up on a leech lover, she can handle me."

"So you're really going to befriend Bella?" Jared didn't have to sound so incredulous. Paul was totally capable of making friends. "Paul, you haven't gone out of your way to make a friend ever. I'm pretty sure the only reason we're friends, is because your mom stuck you in my playpen and you were too little to escape on your own and refuse any type of social interaction."

And okay, maybe all that was true. Paul didn't feel the desire to over-populate himself with friends. In his unofficial capacity of Best Bro, Jared easily filled in for any of Paul's frienship needs. Why ruin that? It worked.

"I didn't say I was going to be her friend anyway. Don't put words in my mouth. I said I was going to make sure she didn't lose her shit and fuck up life even more for the pack." Paul made a face, the same face he always made when Jared was annoying him. "Look, I just think she could use a little guidance."

Blinking at him, Jared's face was completely blank. "You're going to guide Bella Swan? Into what? A wall? There's little love between you two. And it's not like you've got your shit together, much. I'm not trying to pick at you dude, I'm just curious."

Nosy. And probably curious. And knowing Jared, he was undoubtedly worried, because worried was his default emotion. "Fuck you and the high horse you rode in on, dickmunch. Fuck it, you'll see it in Sam's head after I tell him anyway. I think Swan going through withdrawal."

"Withdrawal." Again with the blank face. If he were any one but Jared, Paul would have punched him by now.

"Leech withdrawal. She's got all the signs. Can't sleep, can't eat, gets the shakes. Spaces out. Kind of unstable." He kept the hallucinations silent, and the nightmares. Those seemed too personal. "Not to mention she looks like a fucking addict. And you know what those blood suckers do to humans. Get all up on them, get em' fucking high on the freaking scent of them. Swan practically fucking lived in that house. Can you imagine what that could do to a human's head? She thinks they loved her." If that wasn't a sign of mental instability, Paul didn't know what was.

Expression pinched, Jared turned away with a thoughtful look. "God, we really fucked up on that one."

"We should have steered her clear or warned the Cullen's off," Paul agreed. It weighed on them heavily, he, Jared and Sam. They'd been the first to phase, had seen the Swan girl fall hopelessly for the Cullen's act. But they hadn't done a thing about it. They hadn't realized that killing humans wasn't the worst thing a leech could do. "I don't know, Jay. I feel like Swan's our responsibility or some shit."

He hadn't realized the truth behind the words until he'd said them. Swan was their responsibility. They were protectors, but they hadn't protected her. She might have lined herself up with the Cullen's, but what did they expect? She was one human against an entire coven. Yeah, saying they dropped the ball was a bit of a fucking understatement.

Heaving a deep sigh, Jared nodded. "And it's got to be you. I mean, I'd have suggested Emily if it was just teenage girl crap, or even Leah if it wasn't well...Leah." Every one found Leah disagreeable (even Imprinted, she was still sort of a surly bitch). It didn't seem fair to force her on anyone let alone emotionally ill-equipped girls with crippling vampire-based abandonment issues.

"Yeah." Honestly, Paul had briefly entertained the idea of foisting Swan off on Emily or something, someone more apt at dealing with emotional bullshit. But in the end, it had to be Paul. No one else knew a single thing about addiction and with drawl. "Plus, I think she might need someone to kick her ass in shape. Emily's to soft, you know? Girl's got enough people walking on eggshells around her. And I'm guessing Leah is the last person Swan wants to see." The first time Leah had seen Emily after the imprint, she'd thrown a dinner plate at Sam's face. Considering Swan was far more...unstable... than Leah, well...yeah, best to just keep them apart. "I have no idea how you even go about detoxing a vampire addict."

"One step at a time," Jared mused. He gave Paul another searching, thurough look. "It's good that your doing this. Even if it is for mildly selfish reasons."

They finished there impromptu patrol, and ran into Sam along the way. Jared headed home with one parting cuff upside Paul's head. Explaining the situation, and Paul's theory on Swan was as easy as phasing. Sam was...quiet, for the lack of a better word. Not that the man was ever anything but. But a heavy weight settled in around them, and Sam sighed.

"You have to take this seriously," he told Paul gravely. "This isn't a game. Swan is in a delicate position right now. Bella needs friends, she needs people she can trust. Unlike with Leah, we have the opportunity to be there for her. We can avoid...another unnecessary situation. If you're going to be there for her-"

"Woah," Paul put his hand up. "You're getting this all wrong, Sam. I'm not playing Jacob, okay? Hell no. I'm not signing up to be snotty, tear-covered shoulder. Call in another wolf, buddy, because I'm putting my foot down. Will I help detox her? Absolutely. Will I paint her nails and talk about the cutest boy in math class? Fuck no." Paul shook out his hands, shook out the anger building up in him. Not now. "Swan doesn't need me to be her friend," he said adamantly, and without hesitance. It was the truth. "She needs some one to toss her twenty feet up a tree and make her climb down all by herself."

Sam's hard look was unwavering. "You put Bella Swan in a tree?"

"Yes I did," Paul replied shamelessly. "And she got down all by herself. That's what she needs. She is mind-fucked Sam." More than Paul could possibly explain. "Those vampires...they got all up in her shit, and left her inside out." Dead, hallow, rotting. " How have none of you dumb-fucks noticed? Seriously." Clearly he was surrounded by a pack of fucking idiots, Paul swore it.

"Most of the pack -Jacob excluded- has had very little dealings with Swan," Sam admitted, with a tilt of his head. "Fine. However, I want you to do your best to reforge the bond broken between Jacob and Bella. I think that would be good for...every one involved."

Paul blinked at him. "Yeah, no. I mean, do I look like the kind of guy to go around kissing boo-boos?"

Sam gave him another amused glance. "Consider it your punishment for lying to my Second. You know very well that while we may imprint, a wolf does not forget those he chose himself. Jacob still loves Bella, even if that love is a candle compared to the Leah's fire. But you hurt him, and intentionally, and you lead Bella to hurt him too. You know better. You will do what you can to repair the friendship between Jacob Black and Bella Swan."

Paul waited for it, that little frisson of fire shooting down is spine that cemented an alpha order into him. But it didn't come. "What? No smack-down?"

Chuffing out a soft laugh, Sam smiled. "I'd like to think your a good enough person that you wouldn't require an Alpha order to do something nice."

"Well," Paul kicked the dirt beneath his toes and huffed. "What the fuck do you know?"

The thing with Swan was...Paul wasn't really sure how to approach this shit. He considered asking his mom how she dealt with his dad, but tossed the idea. Whatever situation he was rocking with the Swan girl, it was confidential. Plus, knowing his mother, she'd assume the Sheriff's kid was addicted to meth and take it upon herself to save her. His mother was nothing if not a bleeding heart, and Paul didn't need her all up in his business.

So, Paul did what Paul did best. He ignored it. Anyway, he couldn't help Swan until she wanted help. The ball was in her court. She'd call him out when she was ready. In theory.

That theory came to fruition two days later and not in anyway like Paul had expected.

March 20th, Tuesday

Having steadfastly avoided any confrontation for two days, Paul should have seen the fist come flying. But he didn't. Jared was on him before he could retaliate, and Sam was on Jacob, Alpha ordering him to stand down much to Paul's delight. Blood ran freely from his nose, over his mouth and down his chin. His smile was probably a gruesome thing to see.

"Bee in your bonnet, baby Alpha?" He asked nastily, licking blood from his teeth. His nose was broken, and it sent adrenalin rushing through his veins, lighting every single never on fire along the way. "Thought I smelled tuna. Only pussy's sucker punch, kiddo."

Jacob snarled, snapping forward against Sam's arms. "I should have known you were lying. Bella would never-"

"Lie to you too?" He licked is lips and spat the blood spit at Jacob's feet. "Your precious baby B was all for it, Jake. Remember that."

"She's hurt!" A vein throbbed in Jacob's temple. "Stay away from her. She doesn't need you—-"

"That's enough," Sam barked. "Stand down, the both of you."

Paul felt himself stumble back, spine snapping straight.

"Jacob," Sam addressed his second with sharp eyes. "Paul has already received his punishment for his offense. Just like you'll receive yours for this one. Why do you guys have to do this to me?" He dropped his prim and proper Alpha act with a sigh. "Why do you have to put me in these bullshit positions? Christ. Look Jake, you're going to have to get over your snit with Paul because he's going to be spending a little more time with Bella-"

"What?" Jacob squawked like the little priss he was.

Stepping up, Paul lifted his chin, eyes pinned on Jacob. "You heard him. I don't know how you missed it Jake, all those times you had your nose up Swan's ass-"

"Paul, enough." Sam stepped between them. "It's come to our attention, through Paul, that Bella is displaying signs of withdrawl-"

"Bella does not do drugs," Jacob spat vehemently. "Paul's lying-"

"Jake," Sam sighed. "Just listen, okay? Paul's got...he's got a point. We're not talking drugs. Paul thinks Bella's addicted to whatever those leeches put out. Think about it Jake. She doesn't sleep, she's lost so much weight, she shuts down on herself, can barely-"

"I get it," Jake huffed. "What the hell does it have to do with Paul?"

Sam's mouth pulled into a tight line. "Paul's the best choice. Don't question me on this."

"Seriously?" Jacob twitched, but Paul knew there was no Alpha order in Sam's demand. "Fine, whatever. But he can't turn Bella against me any more. Tell him-"

"He already has." Paul rolled his eyes. "And I never did in the first place. You're the one who assumed we fucked. Did I go with it? Fuck yeah I did. You should have seen your face. But I didn't expect Swan to go with it too. That was all on her. So get over yourself, Black. Don't play victim, it's not pretty."

"Paul," Sam warned. "We, as a pack, should have did better to protect Bella Swan. We make up for that now. We let her be be misguided, let herself believe she was loved and accepted by a family of Vampires, and we let her be hurt and abandoned by them too. I want her to know she's safe here, that on the Rez, she will never be abandoned. I want her to know that here she will find friends." He shot Jake a look, and then turned his eyes back to the rest of the pack. "The Sheriff is considered family here, honorary Brother of Billy Black himself. That makes Bella Swan family too."

Bleeding hearts; Paul was surrounded by bleeding hearts. He knew Sam was haunted by that image of Swan in the forest, because those nightmares bled into Paul's own. But this wasn't even just about that; this was about Leah too. Sam saw another girl bastardized by Imprinting, and he refused to let her be abandoned like Leah had. Sam would make it right though, even if that meant taking Swan in as their own personal stray.

"If that's it?" Paul asked, scratching at the flaking blood on his face. "I have better places to be."

Sam frowned at him, and Jake sneered, but they both let him go without another word.

He didn't have a destination in mind, anywhere that wasn't there was fine by him. He wandered, barefoot through the snowy March mush coating the forest floor, until the trees began to thin, and the road was visible.

As was Bella Swan, frowning down at the open hood of her truck.

"Need a hand, birdie?" He called out, smirking when she jumped. He cut through the trees a little faster, aware of the weight of her eyes on him as he made his he rounded her truck. He still felt a little feral, jittery from the fight that didn't happen, and the smell of his own blood on his face. He should have phased as soon as he hit the woods."Jake didn't say you were dropping by the Rez today."

She was staring down at the ticking engine, breath making clouds before her."I wasn't coming to see Jake."

Stepping up to the front fender, Paul sidled up beside her. He knew absolute shit-all about cars. "That so?"

"I..." She swallowed, and turned her head to look up at him. "I just...I need to talk."

Taking the first step already; Paul was very nearly proud. And a proud Paul was a cocky one. He could feel himself smirking even as he looked down at her, I-Told-You-So words already dancing on his tongue.

But they fell flat as he saw her, and it wasn't that hallow-dead-decaying image that seemed to haunt him. It was broken though, those wide eyes revealing such bitter depths Paul was sure he was in danger of drowning. It was like a window breaking, revealing a clearer picture of something he'd already seen. She looked...like nothing he'd ever seen before. But there was hope there too, the nervous kind of hope you're not sure you should believe in. She needed to talk, and she'd come to him, and that was just fucking dandy, because... He swallowed, heart hammering in his chest.

Paul had imprinted.

On Bella Swan.

A/N Any one catching the pattern? It's not much of a pattern yet, but it's there.