Chapter 9 - Return of the Ex
With a frustrated growl, Paul paced at the front door of the Swan's house. God! She had only been gone for six hours maximum and he could not wait to see her again. The Quileute froze at the thought, now that Bella was at College this would be a regular occurrence.
Even since the night he had gone to see her, the stubborn brunette still refused to tell him everything about Riley, which only added to his worry. He could see it. The fear, the anxiety building up inside her. Heck, he had caught a glimpse of her room and in that short moment, he could tell Bella had set up her own handmade security system. This, of course, cause his worry to increase tenfold and unnecessary pride to bloom in his chest. She was smart and resourceful, he'd give her that.
Although, it made him question what Riley did to her to make her go to such extremes. How bad did he hurt her?
Paul's thought was suddenly interrupted when a black Honda drove towards him. It was Bella's new car. Despite having saved up quite a lot of money, the girl refused to spend it and only dipped into it to take out a small fraction in order to get a more reliable car that wouldn't give up on her in the dark. He grinned as his mind jumped to how good Bella would be at managing their finances when they were living together, maybe his dream of owning a nice house with Bella and a couple of kids would come true?
As Bella pulled up in the Honda, Paul jumped off of the porch and quickly wrapped her into a hug. "I missed you," he breathed into her ear and smiled as she shuddered. He loved that she reacted to him in such a way.
"I know!" Bella exclaimed teasingly, trying to distract herself from the sudden rush of heat that swept through her body. "it's been six hours since you saw me. That is nearly a year."
"Oh, haha!" the dark-skinned man laughed sarcastically, although he was secretly enjoying the playful banter between them. However, he could still see that her body was slightly tense, her eyes shone with a little less emotion and her smile... Her sweet, spirited smile, was stiff. It was then that Paul realised that he would have to confront her sooner or later, preferably before she drove herself into insanity - since Paul doubted both he and his wolf could take losing her.
Taking a deep breath, Paul asked, "Do you want to come around my house? I figured since you have been cooking for me, that I should at least return the favour sometime, even though the only thing I can make half-decently is pasta."
There was a short silence between them, in which Bella stared into Paul's eyes and then, for the first time since the 'incident' she smiled a genuine smile and said, "Half decent pasta sounds great."
The drive to Paul's home was spent mostly with the male wolf listening to Bella talk about her classes at College. At the moment she appeared to enjoy English literature the most. It was not surprising to him though, Bella loved to read, especially the old novels that would probably make Paul fall asleep before he could finish the first page. But he was nineteen and a guy, so no one can fault him for that.
Everything was great until Paul saw 'her' 1995 Red Ford in his driveway. He was seriously considering speeding in the opposite direction before 'she' could see him, but it was too late...
"PAUL!" shouted a horrible screeching voice that made the wolf-shifter cringe internally. He would never forget that voice, that used to draw him in and enchant him. The voice of Rachel Black. Her glossy black hair fell loosely just below her shoulder blades with dark brown eyes and russet skin. She hasn't changed a bit.
Paul was confused about whether he should frown in anger that Rachel had the nerve to come back to his place without calling, or to smile in happiness over the fact that desire no longer wrapped itself around his mind whenever she called his name. The Quileute felt nothing for her now, except maybe pity. After all, he was supposed to be her soul mate and she blew the chance.
Quickly Paul glanced at the passenger seat, where Bella sat staring at Rachel with unknown emotions flashing across her face. "I am sorry, I didn't know she would be here," he apologised, not wanting the beauty beside him to jump to the wrong conclusion.
"It is okay," she said uneasily. "Do you want me to wait in the car... Or I can go-"
"No!"
Bella jumped suddenly at Paul's raised voice but he didn't feel guilty about that. He knows the brunette better than most and knew that she would try to run in a situation like this. The woman was on edge enough as it was.
"Please stay. We will see what she wants and then make her leave."
With that Paul opened his door and stepped out of the car, jogging around the driver's side to open Bella's and help her out.
After Bella was on her feet, he notices that she had stepped slightly away from him, still trying to give him and Rachel some space. However, Paul was not going to let her distance herself. Instead, he wrapped an arm around him jean-clad waist and pulled her to him so that she was pressed into his side, which gave him and his wolf the reassurance that she would not be running anytime soon. With a glance to Rachel, the Quileute then slipped his hand partly up her silk top and rubbed his thumb against the top of her hip. It was not long before he felt Bella relax into him and with a sigh, they walked over to the mans Ex.
The first thing Paul and Bella noticed was that Rachel was staring heatedly at the hand that was under Bella's top, which caused Paul to smirk.
"Paul, where were you? I have been waiting for an hour," the assumption in Rachel's voice pissed the wolf off. As if she was assuming that they would let her come back to him after what she did to them.
So, glaring at her, Paul said through clenched teeth, "Why? It is not like we are together anymore."
Rachel stared at the anger in Paul's eyes and felt an uncomfortable feeling churn deep within her. This had all gone wrong. The man that she believed she loved was nothing like she had expected him to be, he was worse. No, he never hit her nor verbally abused her... or anything like that. However, he was never there for her like Paul had been. It was then when Rachel had realised that she had started comparing him with Paul. Sure, he was handsome, but not in a bad boy way, more of the boy-next-door type.
She was stupid... More than stupid...
And now as Paul stood in front of her with his arm around some pale-faced, white girl her dark side reared its head. Of course, there was a small part of Rachel that reasoned that she had no right to be jealous. After all, she was the one who dumped him knowing full well what it would do to him. The other part of her sneered that she was his imprint and therefore belonged to her.
The Quileute woman critically assessed the girl. She had soft, brown hair that was gently curled down her back. Though Rachel's hair as better, the dark voice in her mind whispered with venom. Bella had hazel brown eyes whereas Rachel's were deep, rich chocolate, and her skin was pale. Maybe Paul was just using her? No one in the tribe had ever been in a relationship with a white girl before, and Paul did have a reputation as a player. Heck, he had probably slept with every woman unattached in La Push, he probably had to branch out to Fork for new women.
"I'm sorry about what I did to you Paul, but I want to come back now. We can be together again," Rachel reasoned smiling softly. It was a smile that usually made the wolf cave and caters to her every whim but this time Paul did not even blink.
"No," came his one word, husky reply.
"No?" Rachel asked in confusion. How could he say 'no'? She thought the imprint made both the wold and the man be whatever the imprintee wanted them to be.
"No, you are too late," with that Paul and the girl brushed past the dark-skinned woman and made their way to the door.
The female Black stood frozen in place but she heard the creak of the wooden boards as the two walked onto the porch. Then she snapped, "No! How can you say no? You are supposed to be mine, not some white tramps-"
Rachel broke off when Paul growled lowly at her, glaring at her as if he was willing to kill her in a second. "Don't you dare!" he spat, saliva flying from his lips as he bared his teeth like the animal was was. "Don't you ever dare call Bella that! She wasn't the one sleeping with other men behind my back."
The Quileute woman winced when he said that, it was true. However, he would forgive her, right? It hurt the werewolf to be at odds with the imprintee, at least that was what Sam and Emily had said. Paul should forgive her... Maybe he needed time?
"Fine. I will come back tomorrow to discuss this more," she told him and walked over to her car calmly, despite wanting to stomp over and slam the door behind her.
When inside her car, Rachel gripped onto the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles were white with the strain, and took a deep breath. Then she turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life and peeled out of the driveway.
The man and woman on the porch sighed in relief when they heard the sound of the car's engine turn on and then quickly disappear into the distance. When Bella had seen the woman her instincts immediately shouted 'ex-girlfriend', and the feeling of gut-wrenching fear pooled into her stomach. Would Paul take her back? Would he distance himself from her, more and more, until they became nothing more than strangers passing each other in the streets of this small town? Shdidn'tnt want that!
However, there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. Rachel was more beautiful than she was, so there was no possible competition. Also, it was obvious that the two had history, and Bella could swear on her life that she saw some sort of spark between the two people.
This thought ran through the brunettes head like a virus invading the immune system, but when Paul dragged her away after refusing Rachels offer to rekindle, it took all of Bella's strength not to let her jaw drop open in shock. Why would he have done that? Bella was not as beautiful as her - she did not have legs that were a mile long and a flat stomach... and she was keeping a secret. One that she could not tell him for fear that he would look at her with pity, horror or disgust. She would not be able to stand those looks. It would make her feel trapped as she had been in Arizona.
After Riley had attacked her, it was clear that the woman had been acting differently. It was like he had broken all the walls that she had put up to protect her self; ones that had allowed her to push the memories deep into her unconscious, deep enough so that they would never be able to appear even in her darkest nightmares. Bella's head screamed to tell him, to pour her secrets into his hands and allow him to defend her, but her heart cries that if she did, she would lose him. And she did not want to lose him, not when she had only just found him.
When the door closed behind Paul and Bella, the Quileute quickly pulled off his light jacket (that he would wear because Bella's dad disapproved of a half-naked teenager being in a house with his teenage daughter) and dumped it on the floor beside the door. The 'pale-faced' woman rolled her eyes, "Hey! You do know that there is a cupboard with hangers in it, specially designed to hang up jacket!"
"And..." Paul aid and she could almost picture the smirk on his face as he walked into the kitchen. She knew that this was his way of trying to break the tension that Rachel's visit had created, so she went with it.
"And I did not clean this house just so that you could ruin it with your outrageous 'guy habits'. I love this house and I won't have you destroying it," she stomped her foot to emphasise her point.
"Then maybe you should stay here all the time." he suddenly appeared in the doorway grinning.
Bella snorted," Yes right after you learn to keep the toilet seat down, stop shoving sweaty socks under the bed and use one cup instead of ten!" With that, she playfully pushed Paul, who was dramatically clutching at his chest, feigning hurt.
"Now where is that pasta," the brunette demanded.
"I am cooking it now, your highness," bowed Paul and sauntered into the kitchen.
As Paul prepared dinner, Bella kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes, feeling them crack gently at their newfound freedom. She then spread herself out on the couch and searched for the remote control with her deep brown eyes. After determining that it was nowhere in sight, she began sticking her hands between the cushions that she was currently relaxing on. Huffing her hands wrapped around the cold black plastic and pulled it out from the crack in the center of the couch. "Men!" She exclaimed.
"I heard that!" Paul shouted somewhere from inside the kitchen, causing a grin to spread across her face.
Updated:17/07/2019
