LPOV

"So…. You imprinted," I say, watching Paul's face.

He was watching Rachel from a distance laughing jovially with Jacob in the living room.

"Yeah…."

"How do you feel?" I ask, taking a seat next to him.

"I don't know, Leah," he sighed, tearing his eyes away from the siblings to face me. "It's like, on one hand, I hate imprinting with a goddamn passion, and I can't stand that it just happened to me….Then on the other hand I can't find anything remotely wrong with Rachel. Fuck! I talked to her and tried to find a flaw that I would make me hate her, but I can't and it's complete bullshit!"

I didn't say anything. I knew Paul despised imprinting. I knew he wanted to choose who he wanted to be with. At first I thought once he looked into Rachel's eyes, he'd turn into a lovesick puppy just like Sam, Quil, and Jared had, but he didn't. The fact that he tried to find something about Rachel that would be enough to get him to despise her was almost incredible. I can feel how strong the bond of an imprint is from Jared, Sam, and Quil's head, so this coming from Paul is really surprising. Then again, I suppose it's because Paul has always resented imprinting.

"I don't want this, Leah, but I feel so good when I'm with her. It's only been 3 hours and I'm already fucking attached. I hate it but I want more. Then she tells me she's gonna go back to school soon. Fuck my life."

Oh yeah. I had already forgotten Rachel was still in school. Damn. I never thought I'd ever feel bad for an imprinter, let alone, Paul, but I do. Maybe the situation is different because Rachel is my best friend.

"When are you gonna tell her?" I asked. Jacob's head snapped up and turned to face us.

"I'm not."

"What?!" I shrieked a little too loudly. All eyes were on us now.

"Nothing to see here, go back to whatever you were doing," I said in a dismissive tone. I grabbed Paul's arm and dragged him out the door.

"Where the hell are you taking me? What the hell are you doing?" Paul asked heatedly, ripping his arm away.

"I'm gonna talk some sense into that hard goddamn head of yours," I snapped. "What the hell do you mean you're not gonna tell Rachel? You have to!"

"Why? What's the point? She's just gonna go back to school anyway!" He sounded angry, but I could hear the hurt in his voice.

"You can't keep something like this from her, Paul. She deserves to know."

"It'll be better for her if she didn't know about any of this," he said angrily.

I couldn't argue with that. Of course it would be better if Rachel wasn't sucked into all of this. She could go happily back to her life and not have to worry about vampires and werewolves, er, shape-shifters. But Rachel is smart, she already knows something weird is going on in La Push. She's noticed how the pack takes orders from Sam. Hell, she basically called us his bitches. She's going to do whatever it takes to find out just what the hell she missed while she was gone.

"I know, Paul. But she's already taken notice to a couple of things while she's been back. She's gonna keep asking us all questions until one of us finally cracks and tells her."

"So what?" he laughed bitterly. "You expect me to just walk in there and tell her I turn into a wolf? That we all do? And that she's my soul mate? She's not gonna buy any of that and you know it."

"Hell yeah I know it! But that's why you have to get to know her, you moron. Be her friend, get her to trust you, then you can tell her."

"No."

"Fine," I hissed, glaring at him. "Then I will."

"No, Leah! Wait -!" he growled, grabbing my arm. He exhaled sharply before saying, "I'll tell her, but on my own time. She'll find out before she leaves."

" Deal," I said quietly. I didn't like hearing the pain in Paul's voice, it just wasn't like him to sound so vulnerable. He cleared his throat loudly and walked past me and into the house.

I stayed outside and sat on the front steps. What was I doing? Am I doing the right thing by pressuring Paul into telling Rachel?

"Mind if I join you?" Sam asked, taking a seat next to me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. "Why bother asking if you're going to anyway?"

"Touché," he laughed nervously.

A moment of awkward silence passed before I stood up abruptly, not being able to take the awkwardness any longer.

"This is getting a little too awkward for me, see ya," I say, trying to make a getaway.

He slipped in front of me, blocking the door from me. He looked at me with sad eyes and sighed. "Can we just talk for a minute?"

"Say what you need to say, Sam," I said, looking away from him.

"Leah…" He sounded so sad, so hurt, that I turned to look him in the eyes. "I know it's past due, but I'm really sorry. I know sorry is probably the last thing you want to hear right now or ever, but actually seeing Paul imprint made me realize it's now or never. I just need you to know that I'm so so so fucking sorry."

"I don't want your sympathy, Sam," I growled. I was fighting back the hot, angry tears that were threatening to fall. Sam and I had never had this conversation before because I never wanted to hear of it or from him for that matter, and he just didn't know how to approach the topic with me.

"I'm not giving you sympathy, Leah. I'm just trying to get you to understand."

"Okay, I got it. I understand. Can I go now?"

"No, you don't understand!" he said, sounding angry. "Goddamn it, Leah! This wasn't a choice for me! For any of us! But none of us can fight it! Do you know how much it fucking hurts to try to fight it? You don't think I tried to fight it to go back to you? I love you so goddamn much, Leah, but I can't….Emily….I belong with her."

I said nothing, because if I did, I would start crying. Sam tried to fight the imprint? I had no idea. His thoughts were always so preoccupied with Emily that I never knew….

"You hate me," his voice cracked, and the sound of it made me want to wrap my arms around him like I used to back in the day. "You hate me and it kills me. I tried everything to get back in your good graces, but the closest I get is when I push you away. And now….now you've found comfort in Jacob."

My eyes narrowed at him and watched his face go from pained to angry. I tensed when I saw his hands flex and the visible tremors run through his body. Of course I wanted to be as far away as possible from him. What the fuck was he expecting?

"So let me get this straight," I snarled. "You expect me to run back to you and listen to you endlessly fantasize about Emily? Is that what you want? Get the hell out of my way, Sam, this conversation is over."

"That's not what I meant," he said, side-stepping to block my path. "You're misunderstanding."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I spat. "Please, Sam, enlighten me."

He took a deep breath. "I was furious when Old Quil explained to me what imprinting was. I wanted to imprint on you, not Emily. But every time I tried to fight it, to tell myself that I want you, that I love you, that I want to spend the rest of my life growing old with you, it's like I was suffocating. My heart literally hurt, Leah. I wanted so badly to fight for you, but it was hard. And Emily, I know you and her aren't on the best terms right now, but she tried to fight it too. It works both way, Leah. I couldn't do it anymore because I literally felt like I was dying. I was constantly being pulled to her, no matter where I went, I felt this pull that was pushing me in her direction. She's my soul-mate and I love her so much. But you need to realize that I love you and I always will, you were always my choice, but with Emily is where I belong. I thought I had the imprint process figured out. I thought it was to carry on the line, but now I'm not so sure."

"Why?" I whispered.

"Because if imprinting was about guarantee a strong line, then I would have imprinted on you."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" It's like I had lost my voice. It sounded so quiet, so scared.

"Because you deserve to know," he said. He hesitated to continue but took a deep breath and did so anyway. "And because I want you to not let this hold you back from being happy. I want you to be happy, Leah. You deserve so much more than this and I'm sorry you were put in the middle of all of this."

"What if Jacob makes me happy?" I knew it was a risky question because of how much I knew Sam despised my 'relationship' with Jacob, but I had to see if he would actually accept it if Jacob made me happy.

His face hardened and his fist tightened.

Just then Paul burst through the door and grabbed my hand, dragging me away. "We're going home."

"She's not going anywhere with you," Jacob growled.

"She's coming home with me," Paul said furiously, he turned to face me and said, "Leah, we need to talk."

"You have 5 seconds to take your hands off her," Jacob warned.

"Paul, let her go," Sam said stiffly.

"5!" Jacob yelled, starting the count down.

"I'm not afraid of you, Black!" Paul snarled, getting into the driver seat. He looked to me with pleading eyes, begging me to get into the car.

God, why was this night filled with so much drama!?

"4!"

I rolled my eyes. "Relax, Jake. I'm just gonna talk to him. I'll see you tomorrow."

"3!" Jacob growled, staring me dead in the eyes. I scowled.

"Keep counting down and you won't see me for a while. Take it or leave it."

"Fine!" he yelled, furiously. "I'm coming over first thing in the morning and taking you back home."

"You mean my house?"

"Yes!"

"Deal. See you tomorrow, Jake."

"You're just going to leave with Paul?" Sam asked, disbelievingly. "Just like that?"

"Bye, Sam."

Once I was in the car, Paul was speeding down the gravel road.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked.

"Rachel."

"We've already discussed this, moron! Get to know her, be her friend, gain her trust, and tell her!"

"I'm gonna be friend-zoned for the rest of my life," he growled.

"What? What do you mean?"

"She has a goddamn boyfriend who she's completely in love with!" he said, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend," I said. Why didn't she tell me?

"Neither did I!"

"What's the problem, then? It doesn't change anything."

"Yes it fucking does! I don't want to just be her friend, Leah. What the fuck!"

"Well what's stopping you from gaming her up then, huh? It's never stopped you before, you prick!" I say, heatedly. It's true. Paul had a huuuuuge list of girls he's slept with, both single and taken. He was the resident bad boy and for some reason all of the girls on the Rez loved him.

"Because I don't want to destroy two people the same way Sam destroyed you!"

a/n: Sorry I'm a little later than usual, it was finals week and I had a lot of studying to do. I've also had a busy week at work. I work at Bath & Body Works and the customers lately have been a humongous pain in the ass! But hey, I'm getting paid so whatever lol. Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter =)