AN: I know, I know, it's not Sunday. I had every intention of posting yesterday, but then RL decided to throw friends and surprise parties and shopping and meals out at me...it's a hard life, isn't it?

Anyway, thank you so incredibly much for the awesome response to last chapter! I was amazed and so grateful *wipes away tears* so...yeah. It made me feel all snuggly and warm. And I grinned so much every time I got one.

I'm glad you seemed to enjoy the outtake too! I love hearing from you...again, that's still available to anybody who reviews chapter 7. And I'm going to be writing one for this chapter too! Let me know if you want to hear from anyone in particular, and I'll see if I can work it in.

Hope you like chapter 8! xxx :)


He didn't reply for a long time. Their eyes met, and held, but neither spoke. Really, what was there to say? Finally, Rachel rose and did them both a favour by crawling right into Paul's lap to close the aching distance between them. His arms came up around to cradle her against his chest, head leaning against his shoulder close enough that he could breathe in the pretty scent of her hair, feel her words on his skin as she spoke.

"I don't quite know what to say. But I know this: I like you, Paul. And even if I don't understand completely yet, I will. I'll try. Because...I don't want you to go."

"I'll always be here," he promised.


Chapter 8

The rain continued to fall as the sky darkened outside. It beat hollowly on the roof of Jacob's shed, seeped through the crack in the corner to fall into the bucket placed underneath the leak. The drip...drip seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet of the little shack as Paul and Rachel sat side by side with their backs against the furthest wall.

The woman was snuggled tightly into Paul's side, her head resting against his chest and both his arms wrapped around her; Rachel's fingers were tracing sleepy circles on his chest over his heart. Neither spoke, caught up instead in the simple sensation of the other's closeness, in the drowsy peace which held them both in quiet happiness. Paul was perfectly content, for once, in the stillness – the warm, soft body cradled against his own made him smile, an expression which hadn't left his lips since Rachel had first crawled into his arms.

He could feel her heart beating, and that flutter of movement had become his world.

The wince sprung to his face unbidden. Wow, he was turning into a sap. Paul wondered absently how long he'd be able to go without phasing; it was easier to avoid the guys in human form. There was also the additional problem of Jacob's presence in the pack mind, because it was inevitable that as soon as he phased some little thought about Rachel – who was he kidding, everything he was thinking revolved around her right now – would slip through and Jacob would find out. He probably already knew, Paul realized with a jolt, and his face paled. Crap.

"What's the matter?" Rachel twisted in his arms so that she could look up into his face, and Paul shuffled guiltily as her chest brushed against his. This was Jacob's sister! He was going to kill Paul.

"Uh...nothing," he hedged.

"I don't believe you." The girl pouted – god, that only brought his attention to her mouth, and he glanced away, swallowing. "Tell me what's wrong, Paul," Rachel commanded more seriously.

How could he refuse to tell her anything? She was his mate. "Well...I was just thinking..." His voice trailed off.

"About...?"

"Jake." The word left his mouth in a rush, as if saying it quickly would make it less painful – a bit like ripping off a band-aid. The thought of bandages, and the possibility of needing them at some point very near in the future, made Paul gulp.

"Jake." The corners of Rachel's mouth turned down as she repeated her brother's name. "Crap."

"Pretty much what I was thinking," he admitted, lowering his head to brush a kiss into her sweet-smelling hair.

"Hmm. I think I can imagine why."

The silence stood between them for a long moment. Paul didn't move, if anything held Rachel even closer; if Jake was going to pick a fight with him over this, and there was no way he wasn't going to pick out the memory from Paul's mind, he might as well enjoy the moment while it lasted.

Rachel broke the quiet first, her fingers tracing absent-minded circles on his chest in a way that tortured him even as he hoped that she'd never stop. "So this...imprinting. Is it just you and me, or has...?"

"It's not just you and me." The grin leapt to his lips unbidden at the implication of the pair of them as a couple, but Paul refrained from commenting. "Sam was the first, but Jared and Quil have too. Jake hasn't," he added, knowing that it would be the next question she would ask. Rachel nodded slowly.

"Sam...his fiancée, Emily? She's the one..."

"Yes." A shadow darkened the boy's face for a moment. "That was complicated, because of Leah. He couldn't help it though, and she understands now...but it's still difficult."

A minute frown wrinkled Rachel's brow, and Paul had to fight the peculiar urge to kiss it away. "So who imprinted on Leah?"

Paul blanched, froze. "Nobody's imprinted on Leah, Rachel," he told her gently.

"But if she knows about the werewolves...how can she understand something like imprinting, unless it's happened to her?"

The thrill of Rachel's acceptance of herself as an imprintee (was that even the right word? Maybe not) was dampened by the necessity of explaining her friend's situation. It was always Leah, Paul decided glumly, who managed to ruin things – even, apparently, when she wasn't there. Having her in the pack was such a pain.

"Ah, Leah's situation is a little...different," Paul began. "She hasn't been imprinted on, or imprinted, but she knows what's going on..." His voice trailed off, but Rachel continued watching him expectantly. With a sigh, he finished in a rush. "Leah's a werewolf too."

"You're shitting me."

Paul burst out laughing at her wide-eyed disbelief. "I'm utterly serious."

"No freaking way..." Rachel breathed. "Well actually, I can see it. I really can. I can honestly see Leah as some sort of...well, like Catwoman. Wolfwoman, then," she decided.

Paul winced through his laughter. "It's not quite like that," he explained. "It's a lot...well, much less glamorous, for one thing."

"Pity." She eyed him slyly. "Leah would look amazing in leather."

That image flashed through his mind faster than lightning, but it was enough to make Paul wince again. "God, no," he shuddered.

"Not even the slightest desire to see that? No fantasies whatsoever?" Rachel elbowed him lightly in the stomach, but the boy barely felt it.

"No way in hell," he replied vehemently. "Not even a little. I've already seen way more of Leah than I ever, ever wanted to." Paul hadn't quite anticipated the dangerous narrowing of Rachel's eyes, the way she pushed herself away from him to create a solid space between them. He wondered whether many girls found it offensive that the boy whose lap they were currently sitting on didn't want to consider their friend in a leather catsuit. It had never been a problem with any of the girls he'd previously known – hell, it wasn't exactly a topic which had come up before.

"Explain that, please. The bit where you were telling me just exactly how much of Leah you've seen."

"What? Oh! Oh." Suddenly understanding, Paul flushed a violent shade of red. "Not like that, Rachel. Jeez. Jesus. What I meant was, is that this whole werewolf thing? Phasing isn't like...God, I don't know. But basically, when your whole body changes shape, the clothes you were wearing? Totally toasted. So, uh...at the other end, when you're going back the other way, you're sort of, uh, not wearing any clothes..."

Reaching out a hand, Rachel stopped the babble of his words with one finger resting over his lips. "I get it, Paul." She shot him a suddenly arch look, quirking one eyebrow. "Naked? Really?"

"Uh-huh." He shrugged helplessly, painfully aware that his cheeks were flaming as Rachel rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"God, you're such a teenage boy. It's not that big a thing."

It was Paul's turn to lift both eyebrows. "Oh, really? And how exactly do you know just how big a thing it is or not?"

The woman's answering smile was suddenly radiant. "I think I like you, little boy," she teased.

"Oh, you think so, do you?" His face grew suddenly sober. "Do I really seem that much of a child to you?" he asked quietly.

Rachel hesitated, and in that moment his heart sunk.

"I'm sorry," Paul interjected quickly. "You don't have to...I mean, I didn't –"

"No." Her eyes lifted to meet his, and he saw the sincerity and bewilderment in them as she leant a fraction closer to him. "No, you don't. And I think that's part of the problem."

His heart skipped a beat as he bent towards her a little too. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I don't think of you as a child. That's what's making this all so confusing." She was close enough, now, that he could feel the warm rush of her breath on his cheek, see every eyelash as her gaze darted nervously across his face – eyelashes? Jeez, what the hell was he looking at her eyelashes for? – close enough that if he leant forward just...like...this....

Their lips brushed softly together once, twice – Paul was too deliriously happy to even consider anything else – before Rachel's hands came up to his cheeks and her mouth attacked his with more force, filling all of his senses so that she was the only thing he could see, smell, taste, and she was everything –

Which was perhaps the reason why he didn't realize anybody else had entered the shed until a rough pair of hands seized him, flinging Paul angrily away from Rachel so that the boy flew across the shack and outside into the torrential rain. He landed against a tree with a crash that could probably have been heard all the way over in Forks, which was however nothing compared to the ear-splitting, blood-curdling scream that issued from the little garage Paul had been so rudely ejected from. Scrambling upright entirely uninjured – which was, unfortunately, far more than could be said for the poor tree which had broken his fall – he charged straight back forward, only to stop dead in the entrance at the peculiar sight within.

Jacob Black – stark naked and soaked from head to toe – was holding his sister at arm's length, face an absolute picture as various emotions flickered over it in quick succession; anger battled with bafflement and amusement as Rachel, practically vibrating with rage, railed at him furiously.

"Let go of me, Jake! Damn idiot, what the hell do you think you're doing? If you've killed him I'll –"

"You imbecile, Jake. What the hell, dude? Seriously?"

Brother and sister turned as one to face him, absolute opposites in appearance but so similar in expression as both pairs of dark eyes blazed with anger. "Paul! My God, I thought he'd killed you – let go of me, Jake!"

"Hell no, I'm not letting you anywhere near him."

Paul found himself momentarily forgotten as Rachel's eyes narrowed even further, rounding on her brother with a temper which the observing boy was surprised to note could potentially rival Haley's. "Won't let? Won't let? Are you freaking serious? Who the hell are you to tell me what I can or can't do? I'm your older sister, Jake, and you're the irresponsible, immature little boy who ran off because he couldn't deal with the big bad world! You have no right –"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Jacob roared over her. "You don't –"

"I think I know one hell of a lot more than you think. I know that you went missing for weeks, came back and tried to cause a fight at a wedding – a wedding, Jake? Really? – and then vanished again and left our father all alone when you know he –"

"It's none of your business what I do! Where have you been these last few years when I've been the one at home looking after Dad by himself? And yet I still come back when I hear about you and –"

"Cry me a fricking river, Jake. Don't try and pull out the martyr card on me, you knowvery well that –"

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Because if I remember right, I just walked in on you sucking face with a sixteen year-old who's –"

"Shut the hell up!"

"You know what, Rach? I'm not going to. You're – "

"She said shut up!" Paul's shout managed to at least create a lull as they both turned to stare at him, each breathing heavily as if they'd run a race and faces red with anger. He was sure that they could have gone on yelling a bit longer, but enough was enough. Paul had thought he and Haley were pretty bad arguing, but now he could see that they were nothing in comparison to the screaming skills of Rachel and Jake. No wonder their sister had moved to Hawaii, or wherever the hell it was she'd gone.

Having drawn the attention to himself, it was Paul's turn to feel the full brunt of Jake's wrath. "You stay the hell out of this, Paul! That's my sister you just had your filthy lips all over!"

"She's my imprint!" he roared in return.

There was a buzzing in his ears like a furious swarm of hornets, but the two boys stood squared up to one another, each refusing to back down with eyes as hard as rock. Rachel was saying something, but neither heard her; all of Paul's concentration was fixed on Jake, who was trembling violently.

"The hell she is," Jake growled.

"Screw you, Jake! It's not up to you. We're going to do whatever the hell we want." He saw it in the other's eyes even before Jake leapt at him, teeth bared in a snarl and outline blurring as he flew through the air, but didn't have time to so much as kick off his shoes before they landed together with a deafening crash against the workbench and the wall, both of which gave way under their bodies with as little resistance as paper. Rachel's scream rent the air, but the two wolves paid no heed.

Are the pair of you completely stupid? Sam's mind was livid. Stop!

The order cracked out so sharply that they both froze, Paul half underneath Jake and with their teeth at one another's throats. She's my sister, Jake growled.

Tough bloody luck. He's imprinted on her now, so you'll have to deal with it.

Congrats, Paul. Jared's grin came through even in his thoughts, and Paul was grateful to have even a modicum of support from someone within the pack. And good luck. You'll need it if she's anything like her brother. Maybe he didn't like Jared so much, after all. Jake didn't seem too pleased either, as they both growled at the same time.

God, you two are hilarious. Leah's tone was dry.

Stop it, Leah. Jake, get your ass over here and report. Paul, you're off duty, but if you take so much as one step through that door.... Sam's voice trailed off threateningly.

Sure, whatever. Aw hell, Jake, I haven't got any clothes now. Ass.

You stay the hell away from my sister, Paul, or I swear to God –

Isn't it lovely to have everyone together again? Leah commented wryly.

Be serious, Leah. You could almost hear Seth rolling his eyes. Welcome back, Jake.


AN: Thanks for reading! Please review xxx :)