Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of it's characters, no copying is intended.

Chapter 9

My breath came out in pants. I couldn't believe that I spilled my heart out to Paul, Paul of all people. He'll most likely use what I said against me, maybe even try to blackmail me, who knows. I tried my hardest to keep my emotions at bay, but of course my mouth disagreed with my mind and blurted out just about everything, well, except my method of release, but that's unnecessary right know.

Suddenly I felt fingers under my chin, tilting my face up so that my eyes met his.

They were a beautiful, captivating emerald green, nothing like I remembered, and I noticed that they were gazing into my eyes with awe, possessiveness, lust, and maybe even...love. I felt like I was alive for the first time in months, and that lingering look he was giving me made me feel breathless and wanted. Then reality started setting in, this was Paul, the tormentor, the same Paul that stole all my friends, the same Paul that ruined my life, and...the same Paul that started those tumors, those nicknames, those insults, the same Paul that is sending the notes.

I gasped as the realisation hit me and tore my eyes away from him.

"Bella! Bella are you okay?"

His words were worried and frantic, his eyes were wide and fearful and he was flicking them over my body as if he was scanning my body for injuries. Afterwards, he moved his face so they cupped my cheeks, his eyes were now confused as he didn't spot any.

"Bella, please talk to me!"

"Get away from me!"

I screamed this and tried to move away from his grasp and I grabbed his hands, attempting to pry them off my face, but he didn't let me go. The more I struggled the tighter he pulled me to him, the closer i was to the mouth that those generous, hateful words come out of. And the hands that were cinching my arms now, I also realize were the ones that solidifies and clarified the truthfulness of the words that he composed about me.

"Please Bella, stop! Please, I'm not going to hurt you, but I can't just let you leave all alone in this state." When I didn't stop fighting him, he said in an unbelievably upset voice, "I know that you probably hate me, and you have every right to, but, believe me, I just want to help you."

It wasn't his words that made me stop fighting him, it was the haunted, desperate and vulnerable expression on his face, it was unnerving, I'd never even seen him look remotely vulnerable before, this was the most openly and visibly disturbed I'd ever seen him.

"Why would you want to help me? All you ever wanted to do was hurt me, so why break the habit now?"

My voice wasn't as steady and strong as I'd wanted it to be, actually, it sounded meek and tinged with a deep sadness that even I could hear, I think my voice even faltered at the end.

I peeked a look at Paul's face, and what I found there surprised me. He appeared anguished, and he was refusing to look in my direction. The next words he spoke without looking at me.

"I never hated you, I know that you believe differently, but it's true, I didn't, not at all even." He took a large pause before he spoke again, like he was working up the courage to speak. "I love you Bella, I have been in love with you since I first saw you outside that airport."

He looked at me then and took my face into his hands, but I was too stunned to mention anything, then he started to run his fingers overs my cheeks, caressing me in a gentle manner, a look of reverence in his eyes.

"Baby, I want to be with you." I was evidently shocked beyond words. Paul wanted to be with me, he loved me—he'd been in love with me since our first meeting, and yet here we are.

Then suddenly It was all too much, too many feeling I had felt today, too many sights I had seen and too many revelations revealed. I was exhausted, I couldn't think straight and I had a massive headache. I pushed myself away from Paul, he let me.

"No, I–I can't do this right now." I could see that Paul was about to protest, but he kept his mouth shut after my simple plea. "Please."

And I left, leaving his distressed expression behind me.

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