A/N: Hola, amigos! Here's the next chapter! Should be fun :) Thanks for all the reviews coming in so fast last time, it makes me feel all squishy knowing people read what I write! And to anyone who asked, the point of last chapter was to make Paul seem like a horndog, not a date rapist :P She's his imprint, after all. He would never hurt her intentionally. Right? Right. So let's up the ante, 15 (shockgasphorror) reviews before an update. Let's hit 88 total, kay? Without further ado, chapter nine!!!

Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize.

Chapter 9: Good Intentions and Proclamations

I was woken up by warm fingers running up and down my back. I gave an involuntary shiver. I heard a deep, throaty laugh and stiffened. What was that? I took account of where I was. I was lying on a hard, warm pillow…oh. Paul's chest. I mentally squealed and happy danced before looking up to face what I knew would be way-too-perfect-for-morningness. A.k.a. Paul's face. I loved his face…

Focus, Kate, focus.

I tilted my head up to look at him, scooting up the bed so I wouldn't have to crane my neck so much. He was grinning hugely and still trailing his hands gently up and down my nicely healing back. It wasn't as sensitive anymore, but obviously still not perfect. I couldn't help but feel a bit bitter about the scars that I would have for the rest of my life. I wondered what I'd tell people… Oh, my scars? Yeah, no big deal, my boyfriend's werewolf friend got jealous that I was randomly imprinted on so she turned into a her stupid wolf-self and attacked me. Happens all the time. I snorted out loud and Paul looked at me curiously. I just shook my head, not caring to fill him in. I didn't feel like dealing with angry self-hating Paul just yet. I was shaken out of my thoughts when my alarm went off behind my head.

"HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT!" I yelled in surprise, jumping about a zillion feet and clutching onto Paul's (gulp) bare chest. He just laughed at my messed up cussing and smacked the snooze button behind me. I was breathing hard from the shock and he laughed harder. "Why didn't you just turn it off when you woke up?" I asked quietly, not sure where Aunt Julie was. I mean, she was supportive of me and Paul, but I was pretty sure no parental figure is cool with seeing their kid in bed with a guy.

"I forgot. You're cute when you sleep," he said with a sweet smile. If he was trying to distract me, it worked. I entirely forgot to be mad at him and grinned back.

"You were watching me sleep?"

"Well…No, I mean, you were…I was…yeah pretty much." He stuttered, running a hand through his hair and regarding me nervously. I just laughed lightly and shook my head. He smiled again and put his hand around the back of my neck, pulling my face to his. Like last night, I slid my hand between our lips, covering my mouth. He groaned. "Why do you do this to me?"

"Do what?" It came out slightly muffled because of my hand.

"The whole…hand thing!" He motioned vaguely to my covered lips. "It's really not fair. I can't do much with a hand." I laughed at his frustration and grinned again, even though he couldn't see it. I rolled off the bed and walked over to the dresser, needing to get ready for school before I got carried away.

"It's not just to annoy you, I promise," I said as I walked, shooting a sly glance over my shoulder. "You just get too into it, and we both really need to get to school." He groaned.

"I don't care about school. Let's just hang out here today!" He suggested enthusiastically.

"No way," I laughed. "I'm going, but you're welcome to make yourself at home." He beamed.

"Does that mean I can like…go through your drawers? And read your diary? And eat your food?" I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous ideas.

"You've already seen my bra, for one. I don't have a diary. And you eat my food anyways, nothing I could say would change that," I told him.

"Why do you want to go so bad!?" He whined, dropping his face in his hands.

"Because the rest of the world deserves to see your cute face," I teased. He chuckled a bit. What I didn't tell him was that I was fully intending to escape him to find Alice after school. That plan wouldn't work so well with his lips permanently latched onto mine. I grabbed my clothes and walked over to him, running a hand through his hair. He looked up at me and I tucked my clothes under my arm, leaning close to his ear. "I swear to god, if you touch my drawers or anything that I wouldn't let you if I was here, you'll never be able to have children. I'll see to it," I whispered in a sickly sweet voice. I marched out to the bathroom, leaving him sitting on the bed with a shocked yet amused expression. I locked the door behind me, just in case. He was such a pig, I didn't really trust him. I wasn't sure if that comment was a joke or not…

I showered quickly and brushed my teeth, doing my hair and makeup and getting dressed faster than I'd ever thought possible. I booked it back to my room and went to attack Paul. I tackled him onto the bed, laughing at myself and my overexcitement. And then I realized he'd gotten dressed. It kind of depressed me to see his amazing, drool-worthy body covered.

"How'd you get dressed so fast?" I asked, pouting. "I was pretty proud of myself for getting done in the time it took me, and you completely owned me!" He laughed.

"I'm just a little bit faster than you, Kate," he said. "I was home, changed, and back before you got out of the shower." I gaped.

"That's insane."

"I'm just cool like that," he said with a smile, mussing my hair. I giggled and hoisted myself off him. He caught my thigh and pouted.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He looked heartbroken, but I couldn't imagine why.

"You're not wearing those holey jeans," he told me. I laughed.

"Obviously not! You had a field day with those, never happening again." He frowned and crossed his arms, looking like a stubborn child.

"Not fair, Kate. Can you at least wear them around me still?"

"Do you promise to not attack me?"

"No, not really."

"Then no."

"Fiiiiiine, I'll leave you alone. But you have to wear them often."

"No."

"Why are you so stubborn!?" I giggled and gave him a peck on the lip that was jutting out. He smiled under the kiss and leaned forward to continue it when I pulled back.

"Don't make me do the hand thing Paul," I warned jokingly. "And I'm only stubborn because I can be." I smiled at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking entirely confused.

"I mean," I said with a laugh. "You can never say no to me, so I can be as stubborn as I want. I'll get my way anyways."

"I'm not that whipped!" He looked offended.

"You're not whipped. You're just suffering from what I like to call 'imprinting'." I grinned when he frowned.

"I can say no to you," he stated. But it sounded like he was more concerned with convincing himself rather than me.

"Sure," I said, rolling my eyes. He just kept frowning. "Paul, can I have a piggyback ride downstairs?"

"Yeah, okay," he said with a grin.

"HA!"

"What?"

"You just said yes. You so can't say no."

"Yes I can!" He slung me onto his back and tossed me in the air a bit, catching me as I squealed.

"Sure, whatever. Hey Paul, can you grab my bag for me? I can't reach from up here." I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

"Okay, no problem." I laughed as he bent down to get it. "What now?"

"You still can't say no."

"Damn, you're right. Oh well, if I can keep you I don't mind being whipped."

"Awww…" I teased and he pinched my leg. I could see the side of his face lift in a smile. He carried me down the stairs and into the kitchen, wehre I realized we'd forgotten something.

Aunt Julie.

He carried me in, still blissfully unaware of our impending doom. She was standing there, at the stove, apparently making breakfast. Paul was still out of it until I made a weird, strangled "guaahhh" kind of sound and pointed at her. He froze and his eyes widened.

"Morning, Kate, morning Paul," Aunt Julie said without turning.

"Erm…Hi, Julie…" I said awkwardly. Oh god oh god oh god…

"Yeah, um, morning…" Paul said, just as uncomfortable as me.

"I took the liberty of cooking breakfast for you two. I know how much you can eat Paul." I gaped. Why wasn't she freaking?! "And Kate, try to remember that this house is tiny and the walls are paper thin." I gulped.

"No, it's not like that! We…we didn't do anything! It was innocent!" Paul chuckled, so I smacked him upside the head. I turned to face Julie who was holding in her own laughter.

"Trust me, I'd know if it wasn't." I groaned. "And I'm happy for you two, but try to keep the hormones to a minimum while I'm near, okay?" We both nodded. "That goes for you, Paul. Don't think I couldn't hear you too last night." He smirked and I cringed.

"Alright! Enough awkwardness, let's go Paul." He had already scarfed down two whole plates of food, so I figured it was enough. His mouth was still full when I dragged him off though.

"Guhbuh Jooieee!" He called, a garbled version of "Goodbye, Julie." I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag, fleeing out the door and hopping in the passenger seat of his SUV and bounced in place, urging him to pick up the pace. I wanted nothing more than to escape.

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The day passed quickly. I was mostly spaced out and daydreaming, aside from the snide comments from the guys. There were a lot of Embry and Quil tag-team insults, but other than that it was fine. Paul was still all over me, but he toned it down a bit after I threatened his manhood again. He knew I was serious; I'd done it twice before, after all. I was pretty happy to be wearing my solid, hole-less capri's like I was. Much less opportunity for him to feel me up. He he.

Right now, I was driving home with Paul who had one hand on the wheel and the other on my thigh. I'd long since stopped trying to deter him. It never worked, so I just let it go. He dropped me off and got out too, walking around the car to meet me.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You've just seemed really…distant today," I shrugged.

"No, everything's fine. I'm sorry about that," I replied. I got up onto my toes and pulled his face down to kiss him. He let me, but eventually picked me up and put me on the hood of the car. We were nearly eye level now. He leaned forward, pushing me back onto the windshield. His hands were planted on either side of my head while he hovered over me. He attacked my neck as I stayed pinned, making no move to pull myself out of his hold. After what must have been ten minutes of pure making out, I pushed his face away, breathing hard. He was too, and I could see how swollen his lips were. Mine probably weren't much better. His face was flushed, but he was beaming. He finally released me and I hopped off the car, grabbing his hand and towing him inside. To my surprise, he stopped at the door. I tugged again, but he didn't budge. I turned to him frowning.

"I've got patrol today," he told me sadly. I sighed, but internally I was happy. All that much easier to escape to Forks.

"Oh, okay. When till when?" He pouted.

"Now till one A.M., then it switches over."

"You're going to be exhausted!" I felt bad for him; it had to be hard staying up so late, night after night.

"Yeah, probably. But someone has to do it." He smiled half-heartedly and leaned down, kissing me on the forehead, cheek, nose, and finally the lips. He lingered there a bit longer before he pulled away, grimacing. "I'll see you later, Kate. I miss you already." I sighed again.

"Bye, Paul. I'll miss you too." He slowly backed away and then got into his car and left. As soon as he was officially down the street and out of sight, I started to run. I followed the same path I had before, only this time sprinting the entire way. I broke through the tree line finally, rushing out onto the sidewalk and slowing to a jog. I finally made it to Newton's, spotting the familiar silver Volvo in the parking lot. Great, she was already here!

I skipped into the store, still a bit paranoid that a random wolf would show up and drag me home. The moment I stepped inside, the pixie attacked me.

"EEEEEEEEEE! I'm so glad you came back! We can go shopping now! Does Paul know? Is he mad?"

"Hi Alice," I said, laughing. "I do need to go shopping. Paul doesn't know, and I'm sure he will be mad once he finds out." I grimaced, but she kept beaming.

"Don't worry, Katie-poo. He can't be mad for too long." She winked.

"Katie-poo?" I questioned. She giggled.

"I thought it sounded cute. So, did you take what I told you to heart?" She asked. I smiled shyly and she squealed again.

"We're kind of…together now. It's not official but it's something." She clapped her hands and jumped a bit.

"That's great! Well, we need to get going now if we're going to have enough time." She told me seriously. I grinned.

"Are Bella and Edward coming?"

"Yes. They don't have to if you don't want, though," she looked at me worriedly.

"No, it's fine. I'd like to get to know some people outside of La Push, to be honest." She beamed.

"Okay!" And just like that, Bella and Edward came over. Nice timing.

"Are we all going then?" Edward asked. Alice nodded, and Bella groaned loudly. I laughed. Poor girl, someone who hates shopping must be in pain around Alice. Edward grinned. Creeper…

We all hopped in the Volvo, Edward in Bella in the front and me and Alice in the back. Only we were excited, bouncing and squealing and just generally freaking out. The other two were grimacing and just exchanging looks of sympathy. Suddenly, Alice pulled out a huge bottle of Febreze and some body spray, spritzing it all over my body.

"Alice! What are you doing!?" I spluttered, trying to shield myself from her. Everyone was laughing hysterically.

"I can't take it anymore! You smell like dog!" I stopped moving entirely. What? I didn't even have a dog! Edward laughed harder.

"The werewolves smell like wet dog to us, and apparently we smell terrible to them too. But either way, you sort of do have a dog, if you count Paul…" he trailed off, chuckling.

"I resent that," I told him and everyone laughed. "And besides, I think everyone smells good."

"Thank you!" Bella said, laughing. "I've been saying that all along!" Right then, we arrived at the mall. Alice hauled me out and dragged me from shop to shop, never letting me pay. She moved to quickly for me to try anyways. She bought me more clothes than I could ever need, including some jeans that were solid material throughout. Thank god. Eventually we all took a break from change rooms and me and Bella grabbed some food. After that, we all went into a sketchy looking shop, curious as to what they even sold. We came across a huge display of candles. We all grabbed a few off the shelf and smelled them, shoving them into each other's faces. Edward sat back and looked mildly amused, his eyes on Bella the entire time. We were all giggling by the time a sales lady came over. Her name tag proclaimed her to be Tonya B. (New Tonya, everyone. Not Tanya, entirely new character!) She looked at us, smiling. She was very tall, but not abnormally so. She had lightly tanned skin with big brown eyes. Her hair was cropped short and nearly black. Overall, she was really pretty. The kind of girl I would have been jealous of, had I not known just how committed Paul was to me. We stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say after being caught acting like children, when Tonya reached over our heads and plucked one off the shelf. She held it out to us.

"This one is my favourite, it smells like chocolate chip cookies. It's pretty intense, guys," she told us with a smile. All four of us girls dissolved into giggles. Just then, the door to the shop slammed open.

"KATE!" Paul bellowed from the door. Oh no. I froze, as did everyone else. Tonya just looked confused.

"Hi, Paul," I said quietly. He was now standing in front of me, shaking like crazy. Edward and Alice backed away. Embry and Jacob followed in behind him, looking just as livid.

"What are you doing?! Don't you understand what could've happened? Do you not get how worried I was? What were you thinking?" He yelled, tugging at his hair.

"Paul, calm down," I ordered, my voice shaking.

"Don't tell me to calm down right now." He said, looking like he could phase at any second. I ignored him.

"Not here, Paul. I've got enough scars, calm down. I don't want any more," I said quietly, making sure Tonya couldn't hear. The mention of him hurting me sobered him up. He stopped shaking, but still looked angry.

"Uh, dude?" I heard Jake ask. Everyone looked over. Embry was standing there, looking dazed. His gaze was focused on a very confused and mildly frightened looking Tonya. I knew that look.

Embry had just imprinted. On Tonya.

That brought everyone out of their anger for a second as Embry shyly introduced himself, as did Tonya. He gently tugged her away into a corner of the shop for privacy. I reached out to Paul, who had his face in his hands.

"Paul, we would have never –" Edward started. But Paul cut him off.

"I don't care about your intentions, leech," he spat. "I only care about what you can do. I'm not the mind reader; I don't know what could happen. And Kate's my imprint; I wouldn't live through losing her." I tucked myself into him, when a fact hit me.

"You can read minds?" I asked Edward sheepishly. He nodded, not really paying attention. "That's so cool!" Bella and Alice giggled, but no one else looked amused. I ignored his attitude and continued. "Quick! What am I thinking?" Your hair is the colour of a penny, and that's sort of awesome.

He sighed, "You think my hair is the colour of a penny, and you think that it's 'awesome'." he said quickly, rushing through the words.

"It is sort of penny coloured!" Bella said. Edward looked at her and grinned.

"That is so cool!" I said again. Paul squeezed his eyes shut.

"Not the point, right now, Kate," he said in a strained voice. "Come on, we're leaving." I sighed, but nodded. There was no sense in pushing him now.

"It was fun, guys. Maybe I'll see you soon," I said hopefully. Paul groaned.

"No, you won't." he muttered.

"Not up to you," I muttered back. Alice stifled a laugh. I said my goodbyes to everyone, Paul flinching when I hugged Alice. He silently took my bags and led me to his car, leaving Embry to find his own way. Jake was still there too, talking to Bella. It was just me and Paul. "Listen, I'm sorry if I upset you," I said timidly.

"Upset me? Upset me?! You had me terrified! You could have been killed!" He practically shouted. I flinched away from his cold, hard voice. But then I lost the fear and got a little pissed.

"Grow up Paul!" I shouted at him. I didn't know where I got my strength to yell at him like that, but I kept with it. "I'm not a child; you can't tell me what I can and cannot do! You know as well as I do that they wouldn't hurt me! They're my friends now, like it or not! And if you really need to stay away from them and can't be mature enough to handle it, then stay away from me too!" I yelled. I was mad. They were becoming my friends; he couldn't expect me to stay trapped in La Push forever, could he? I realized that Paul hadn't said a word since my little outburst. I waited for him to speak. Anything was better than the tense silence that had settled between us.

"I – I'm sorry, Kate," he said slowly. "I'm not sorry that I don't like the Cullens. Because I don't like them, not at all. I'm just sorry that you think I'm treating you like a child." I just stared at him. "But I still don't want you near them."

"Too bad," I said stiffly.

"For you. I can make sure you never go near them again, it's not too hard."

"You damn well better not." He laughed abruptly, but there was no real amusement in the sound.

"And what are you going to do?" he taunted. Was he seriously doing this? How old was he, five? And who did he think he was, trying to control me and tell me that he would make sure I stayed away from the Cullens. It was ridiculous.

"I'll leave," I told him simply. I heard his breath catch. I knew it was a low blow, but what else was I supposed to do? Let him do what he wanted and take over my life? I don't think so.

"I just want you safe," he mumbled sadly. I felt bad, but I wasn't going to take it back.

"I know you do," I said gently. "But you can't just take over my life to protect me from everything." We were home now. He pulled me out of the car and dragged me upstairs. Aunt Julie was softly snoring in the other room as he pulled me into my bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. Still silent, he sat me down on the bed and kneeled in front of me. He just stared at my face and looked like he was thinking hard.

"Kate," he breathed. "I don't want to run your life. I just want to make sure you keep it. If…if you…died, it would kill me too. I just don't want to take the chance. I can't live without you." I ran my hands through his hair and rested my palm on his cheek, smiling at him. He took a deep breath. "I won't live without you. I will always protect you, and I'll always be there for you. Even when you try to get rid of me, I'll always come back." I smiled wryly.

"Oh trust me, I know." I replied. He chuckled.

"But all of this isn't because I imprinted. Imprinting just pointed me in your direction; the way I feel now is just because of who you are. You make me whole. Kate, I…I love you." My breathing hitched and my heart beat double time. HE LOVED ME! I grinned hugely and kissed him with everything I had.

"I love you too Paul," I said happily. He laughed victoriously, pinning me on the bed and kissing from my forehead all the way to my collar bone, covering all the exposed skin in his kisses. I giggled until he pulled away, beaming.

"I'm sorry, but I have to keep patrolling. I skipped out to come get you when you weren't home." I pouted and he frowned. I leaned up for another kiss, and then pushed him away.

"Okay. Go patrol, I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled and opened the window, swinging his legs over.

"Love you," he said again. I smiled and blew him a kiss.

"Love you too," I replied. With that, he leaped to the ground. I went to the window to wave, and all I saw was Paul dancing on my lawn. It looked like a touchdown dance, or a happy dance. It was hysterical either way. I laughed and he finally looked up, smiling sheepishly. He ran off into the woods, and I walked back to bed.

As disgustingly gooey and cheesy as it was, I was ecstatic. I knew he loved me already, but to hear him say it and be able to say it back was different somehow. I was in love with Paul, and I'd never been happier.

A/N: There you have it folks! And no, this isn't the end. Not yet, anyways. Review! We need 88 to continue :)