Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added me to their alerts and favorites.

Please review.


CHAPTER 8

Paul found Sam and Emily together in the kitchen after he left Gabi's room.

"So did you convince Gabi to stay here today?" Emily asked.

"Not exactly," Paul said and let out a sigh. "She had another nightmare, she woke up before I left the room." he told them. "How do you expect her to rest when she sees Justin every time she closes her eyes. She was determined to go to school today but I told her I wouldn't take her."

"Paul," Emily said softly. "I know you didn't want to do that."

"She needs rest," Paul sighed and looked over at Sam.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I should stay with her today," Paul told them

"No Paul," Sam said. "She's not your imprint or even your girlfriend," he told him. "What exactly is going on with you and Gabi."

"There isn't anything going on except she needs me right now," Paul said. "Your guess is as good as mine as to why its me," he sighed. "But you should let me do this today Sam, especially if it will help," he told him. "It can't hurt things." he added. "Please Sam." he said and Sam looked shocked, Paul never said please.

"I'll call Jake and tell him to talk to her friend Cassi and have them bring the work you're going to miss by for you and Gabi," Sam told him. "Don't make me regret this Paul."

"I won't," he said and turned and walked back to Gabi's room.


Jacob was talking with Cassi by his locker before school. The two of them were waiting for Gabi to show up with Paul.

"Do you think she's ok?" Cassi asked worried.

"As ok as she can be, I know she's safe with Sam and Emily," Jacob told her.

"Do you think she decided to stay home?" Cassi asked.

"She might have," Jacob sighed as Embry walked over.

"You seen Gabi this morning?" Embry asked.

"No," Jacob answered. "If she doesn't show up soon I'm calling Sam," he added just as his phone rang. Jacob dug it out of his pocket and saw it was Sam calling.

"Its Sam," he said and he answered. "Sam what is it?" Jacob asked quickly.

"Gabi isn't going to school today will you and Cassi get any assignments for her and bring them by this afternoon?" Sam told him.

"Is she ok?"

"She didn't sleep well last night, she had nightmares all night."

"That's horrible Sam," Jacob said. "No problem Sam, Cassi and I will get Gabi's assignments and bring them over." Jacob said.

"Oh and one more thing." Sam said. "Could you possibly get Paul's to?"

"Why would I need to do that?" Jacob asked.

"Paul is staying with Gabi today," Sam told him.

"Really?" Jacob asked shocked. "And you're letting him stay with her?"

"Yes Jake," Sam sighed. "Since he is the only one of us having any luck getting her to listen and do things."

"Ok Sam but you know…."

"Embry is going to have a fit," he said. "Oh I know."

"So what's going on?" Embry asked.

"Gabi had nightmares last night so she's staying out today," Jacob told him.

"And where is Paul?" Embry asked upset.

"He's with Gabi," Jacob told him.

"And why is Paul the one staying out with Gabi, she's my cousin." Embry said angrily.

"Because Paul is the one Gabi seems to be connecting with," Jacob told him.

"Yeah for now," Embry said. "how long do you think this nice guy act of his will last?" Embry asked. "Because we all know what a nice guy Paul is," Embry said sarcastically.

"Embry, I know how frustrated you must be right now and I know Paul is the last guy you want around Gabi," Jacob said. "But what Gabi seems to need right now is Paul and no matter how much we don't like that trying to take Paul away right now could do more harm than good."

"He's right Embry, Gabi's my best friend and while I don't think Paul is the guy she should be trusting I can't do anything about it." she sighed. "If Paul is what Gabi needs right now we shouldn't interfere," she told him. "We just need to be there for her when she needs us and who knows maybe Paul will surprise you," she told him. "There could be a nice guy under all those muscles and attitude,"

"We should get to class," Jacob said and the three of them went their separate ways.


Paul knocked on the door before opening it and walking inside.

"So what did Sam say?" Gabi asked quietly.

"He agreed for today," he told her and she smiled. "I'm going to drag a chair in here and we'll turn the TV on and find something to watch and you can tell me all about what I've gotten myself into by volunteering to be the life size mummy for you and Jake."

"Ok," she agreed and he left the room and came back a few minutes later with a chair and sat it by her bed. He then turned the TV on and found something for them to watch and the two of them fell into silence.

"Gabriella," Paul said breaking the silence. "So tell me all about what you have to do to tape me for the mummy."

"Well you do the first layer sticky side up so tape doesn't stick to your skin," she told him and he nodded. "Then several layers sticky side down because you don't want it to be flimsy. You're taped in sections, like wrist to elbow. Then you cut it off and tape maybe elbow to shoulder the same way and then you piece it together and its like an arm."

"Sounds really cool," he said and she smiled.

"I hope so," she sighed. "But the difficult thing is if your arm is going to be straight for the mummy you have to hold it straight, if its going to be bent you have to have your arm bent. It has to be taped in the position its going to be in when I'm finished."

"So its going to take a while to do?" Paul asked.

"Yeah." she smiled. "But it will be fun," she added.

"If you say so," Paul smiled and looked over at her and saw her yawn. "If you want to go to sleep go ahead," he told her.

"How can I sleep when I keep having nightmares?"

"Gabriella, I'll be here the whole time, I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he told her. "Emily is here to, we're both looking out for you today." he told her. "You're safe with us." he assured her and she looked away and shook her head. "Gabriella," he said and she turned to look at him. "I know it may take a while for you to feel safe again, but you can trust me and Emily and Sam and Embry and the rest of the guys, we'll do everything we can to keep you safe." he told her and he laid his hand over hers. "Try to get some rest, I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll try Paul." she said softly and laid down in the bed. Paul pulled the blanket over her and smiled down at her.

"Get some rest Gabriella," he whispered. "You need it." he told her and he turned back to the TV and when he looked over a few minutes later she was asleep. Paul smiled as he looked at her, he had no idea what it was about her that made him want to protect her and keep her safe and never let anything hurt her. What was it about her that seemed to be bringing out the nice guy in him? He was usually selfish, inconsiderate and didn't care about anything but himself or the next girl he was going fuck. After only a couple of days of meeting Gabriella he found himself actually caring about her and especially after the way her mom acted last night he knew she needed someone to care about her and look out for her and keep her safe because her mom obviously wasn't going to do it and didn't seem to care about her. Of course Paul was no stranger to parents that didn't care about you but that's something he didn't want think about right now. Right now Gabriella needed him and the rest of the pack to look after her and the sooner they could get her out of her house and moved in with Embry and his mom the better at least there he knew she'd be taken care of and looked after, like she was here with Sam and Emily. Paul glanced down at her she seemed to be sleeping peacefully for the moment and he let out a sigh of relief and turned back to the TV. The door opened and Emily peeked in a few minutes later.

"Hey," Paul smiled. "She's sleeping."

"Good," Emily said. "She really needs to sleep," she sighed. "You need anything?" she asked Paul.

"No Emily I'm good," he smiled.

"Alright," Emily and turned to walk out.

"No," Gabi mumbled and Emily turned around.

"Uh-oh," Paul said and turned to Gabi.

"I told you I came back to see you," he said and ran his finger over her cheek.

"Leave me alone," Gabi told him but she felt his lips touch hers and his hands running over her ass as she tried to pull away from him. "Let me go!" she demanded as she struggled against him. "My mom could come out of her room any minute."

"No," Gabi mumbled again.

"Gabriella," Paul said.

"Your mom left for work babe and she won't be back until this afternoon, its just you and me," he said and Gabi felt his hands on her bare flesh as they ran under her shirt.

"No," she whispered and she felt Justins lips on her neck and she stomped on his foot hard and his grip loosened and she tried to get away but he quickly tightened his hold on her again.

"Stop playing hard to get," he told her. "I've actually never had sex with a virgin before," he added and he tried to pull her shirt off but she was fighting him and it ripped.

"Please don't," she pleaded. Paul heard the pleading tone in her voice and while he knew she was dreaming about what happened with Justin, he couldn't even begin to imagine how scared she was, how afraid she must have been.

"Gabriella," Paul said getting out of his chair. Emily walked further into the room. "Gabriella, wake up," Paul said and sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at her.

Justin's lips were on hers again and then her neck as his hands were touching her ass and on the button of her jeans he undid the button and unzipped them and she felt his hand go inside her jeans and dip inside her panties and he slid a finger inside her.

"STOP!" she yelled and tears slid down her cheek.

"Damn baby I can already tell how tight your going to be, you're going to feel so good around me," he said in her ear as he slid another finger inside her. "As I'm pumping in and out of you, you're going to love it."

"No, No no," Gabi cried and he removed his fingers and kissed her again to silence her.

"No, No, stop," Gabi said again.

"Gabriella please," Paul said and laid a hand on her shoulder.

Gabi kept trying to push Justin away. Hitting him as hard as she could against his chest and he finally pulled away and she kicked his leg.

"Stop hitting me," he told her and pushed her down and she fell to the floor and hit her cheek hard against the floor.

"Please, no," Gabi pleaded.

"Gabriella wake up," Paul said loudly giving shoulder a shake. "Gabriella," he said.

"NO!" Gabi yelled and sat up in the bed flying right into Paul and he wrapped his arms around her without even thinking.

"Its ok Gabriella," he whispered. "You're safe," he said softly as he gently rubbed a hand over her back. Paul could feel her shaking slightly and heard her sniffles as she started to cry. Gabi pulled away and looked at Paul.

"Justin…"

"He isn't here," Paul told her, "Its just me, you and Emily," he added. "No one's going to hurt you again, not if I have anything to say about it." he told her and she wiped away tears that ran down her cheek and laid her head back against Paul's chest.

"Please don't leave," she said softly.

"I'm not going anywhere Gabriella," he assured her and Paul looked over at Emily and saw the tears falling down her cheeks.

"Emily," he said.

"I'm fine Paul, I'll bring you two something to drink," she told him and turned around to walk away.

"Thanks Emily." he said.

Gabi pulled away a few seconds later and looked at Paul.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"No need to apologize," Paul told her and she moved away from him and sat on the bed with her back against the headboard. Paul got off the bed and sat back in the chair as Emily walked in with two glasses of tea.

"Thanks Emily," Paul said as she handed him the glass.

"Gabi, you want something to drink?"

"Oh thanks," she said softly and took the glass.

"You ok?" Emily asked her.

"I'm ok Emily," she whispered. "Thank you," she added quietly.

"Its almost lunch time, are you hungry Gabi?" Emily asked. "I know you are Paul," she added and Paul smiled. "I'll fix you two some lunch."

"Thanks," Paul said and Emily glanced over at Gabi and smiled before walking out of the room.


"So why don't you tell me about you Gabriella," he said. "What kind of things do you like to do? What interests you?"

"Are you really interested?" she asked shocked. "I've never seen you be interested in anyone but yourself or what you want."

"I'm interested Gabriella?" he told her. "You're going to be around a lot and we are going to be spending a lot of time together, since you'll be taping me as the mummy."

"Oh yeah," she said.

"So are you good at art stuff, do you draw or paint or anything like that?"

"No," she sighed. "I wish I could draw and it actually look what I was drawing."

"Doesn't work out that way then," he said and she shook her head.

"No, the one art class I took we had to draw an animal, any animal we wanted," she told him. "I decided to draw a frog, sitting on a lily pad in the middle of a pond, sounds easy enough right?"

"Yeah I guess," he said.

"Well apparently not," she sighed. "Everyone thought it was a dog." she added. "Even though it was green, sitting on a lily pad in the middle of a pond." she sighed frustrated. "I never drew anything else."

"Why didn't you try again?" Paul asked.

"Why should I have tried again, I was obviously untalented at drawing," she told him and ran her fingers through her hair. "Can't draw a straight line with a ruler." she added and he smiled.

"Well that doesn't mean you're not good at something else like photography or sculpture or something like that."

"I do like to take pictures and I have a binder of stuff I've done, you things I touched up in photoshop," she told him. "Nothing really good," she sighed.

"Well if they're not that good you wouldn't mind me seeing them then," he said.

"I don't think so Paul, I don't need someone else telling me they're not any good."

"Who told you they weren't any good Gabriella?" he asked and she looked over at him.

"It wasn't like I didn't know how bad they were," she whispered.

"Who?" he asked.

"My mom," she whispered.

"Are you serious?" he asked shocked. "Your own mom told you that you're photos were bad."

"Yeah, she was right, but I still took photos because I loved it, I just never let her see anything again."

"I can't believe your own mom would tell you that," he said shocked.

"You can't?" Gabi asked surprised. "You've met her."

"Yeah I guess if she would hit on me and Sam with you and Emily right in the house, nothing she does should surprise me."

"I'm not surprised my mom hit on you or Sam," she told him. "I kind of didn't believe she actually did it but it didn't surprise me."

"Why?"

"You're an attractive guy Paul," she told him. "You know that," she said and he nodded. "And my mom knew it might upset me."

"So she hit on me in front of you twice."

"Yeah."

"Some mom you have." Paul said. "We're definitely getting you out of there," he added. "You deserve better."

"You think so?" she asked quietly.

"Yes Gabriella I do," he said. "I know we don't know each other that well but I know you deserve better than a mom who doesn't care about care you." he told her and she smiled and turned towards the TV. "So do you still have that drawing you did of a frog?"

"No, why would I keep it? It was a failure."

"Because your failure's make you stronger Gabriella," he told her. "Sometimes you have to figure out what you're bad at before you find what you're good at."

"Guess so," she sighed.

"Want to go eat lunch?" he asked.

"I guess so," she said and Paul stood up then waited for Gabi to get off the bed and the two of them walked to the kitchen together.


When the two of them walked into the kitchen Emily was busy doing something. She turned around when she heard them walk in.

"Hey you two," she smiled. "You're ready for lunch, I was going to bring it in there to you."

"Its fine Emily, we'll eat in here," Paul said. "Come on Gabriella, have a seat," Paul told her and she walked over and sat at the table, Paul joined her.

"I made some sandwiches," Emily said. "Is one enough Gabi?" she asked.

"Yes," she answered softly. "Thanks Emily." she added as Emily sat the sandwich in front of Gabi and then sat a plate with pile of five sandwiches on it in front of Paul. Gabi looked shocked.

"High metabolism," Paul said as he grabbed a sandwich and started eating it.

After they had lunch Paul still thought Gabi needed to try and get some sleep so he suggested it again.

"Paul, its obviously not going to happen," Gabi grumbled. "And I really don't understand why you care anyway," she snapped. "You sure didn't care about me when you grabbed my ass at school."

"Paul," Emily said shaking her head.

"Gabriella I know I can be a jerk, everyone knows I can be a jerk," he yelled. "I'm always a jerk!" he exclaimed.

"Not always Paul," Emily said softly and laid her hand on his shoulder.

"I think I might go lay down," she said and stood up and walked away from the table.


When she was gone Emily sat at the table with Paul.

"What's going on Paul?" Emily asked him.

"Nothing," he said.

"Its obviously something Paul," she said.

"At first Gabriella was just a beautiful girl like the rest of them, a beautiful girl I tried to charm into my bed except that unlike the others she turned me down every time I tried and you know I kept trying." he said and Emily nodded.

"So what changed?" she asked.

"I don't know, I guess one time at school when I was you know trying to get her to give in, I made her cry and I've never made any girl cry so she ran off and dropped her notebook and I grabbed it and tried to get her attention but she didn't care so I took it to her house and that's where I met her mom for the first time and actually saw a glimpse of what was going on." he sighed and propped his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. "I saw the guy that was coming by for her mom that night and the way he looked at Gabriella and she was obviously terrified of him, every time he said something or tried to touch her she moved closer to me," Paul told her and looked over at Emily and let out a sigh. "So I basically told him if he ever laid a hand on her I would kick his ass and the jerk actually said it would be worth it."

"Oh no," Emily whispered.

"So I convinced her to go on a walk with me where she actually confided how things were at home, how the guys treated her, how afraid she was of Justin and I should have done something so she wouldn't have to go back home because if she had never walked back in that house this wouldn't have happened."

"You can't blame yourself Paul," Emily told him and reached across the table and grabbed his hand.

"I don't know why she told me what she did either, it wasn't like I gave her a reason to trust me."

"But she does Paul," Emily told him. "You're obviously doing something right."

"For now," he sighed. "But you know me Emily, I'll mess up eventually." he added and looked away. "I always do." he added. "I'm not nice and I'm not just being nice in the hopes when all this is over she'll want to sleep with me because I know that's what the guys have to be thinking." he told her. "But its not like that."

"I know Paul," she said quietly. "So you know who did this to Gabi?"

"Yes, well I had my suspicion who it was but Gabi did tell me who it was and me and Embry are going to handle it."

"Paul don't get into any trouble," Emily told him.

"Emily, this guy can't just get away with what he did to her."

"I agree Paul," Emily said.

"Its just a matter of when Emily, we're going to do something." he told her. "I don't care what everyone else says."

"Paul," Emily said softly. "You can admit if you actually like Gabi," she said. "You know I won't tell anyone."

"I don't know how I feel about Gabriella, but I do know she deserves a lot better than that woman that calls herself her mom and she definitely deserves better than me Emily."

"You're not as bad as you won't to think you are Paul," Emily told him. "I mean yeah you have a temper, but you would never hurt anyone purposely we all know that."

"I wish I could believe you." he said and stood up. "I'm going to check on Gabriella." he added and walked away.


When Gabi walked into the bedroom she was staying in at Sam's. She laid down to the bed and let out a sigh. She didn't mean to snap at Paul, he had been nothing but nice to her since yesterday and she repaid him by snapping at him, sure he had been a jerk before and she really had no idea why she trusted him so much she just did for some unexplainable reason. She let out a sigh and tried to relax and a few seconds later her eyes drifted shut.

When Paul walked in the bedroom to check on Gabi he saw she was sleeping and smiled. He hoped she could actually get some sleep. He pulled the blanket over her so she wouldn't get cold. He saw her face scrunch up

"No," she mumbled. Paul sat down on the bed.

"Gabriella," he whispered and ran her finger over her cheek. "Shhh," he whispered and he saw her start to relax again. "Get some sleep," he said softly and stood up and walked out of the room.