"Looks like everything has healed up nicely," Carlisle commented as he lowered Melanie's t shirt back down. "The scars will fade in color over time and may even blend in more with your natural skin tone. There are several over the counter scar creams I can recommend for you."

Melanie frowned; she wasn't upset about the scarring, but she knew that Paul would be upset with himself again when he saw them. When they were intimate, she still had a few bandages covering them, but neither of them had said anything about them.

"Is there anything I can't do now?" Melanie asked as she lightly touched one of the four scars across her abdomen covered by her shirt. Carlisle shook his head and rolled his stool a little ways away from her.

"No, you can resume all your daily activities. They may feel tight for a while so just try not to overstretch them at first. Where's Paul? I thought for sure he would have come with you today; it's last time you'll have to come see me for a while after all."

"Sam is monopolizing him today. Pack stuff, male bonding, etc." Melanie mumbled, waving her hand to dismiss the statement. She was hoping Paul would come with her in case she ran into unpleasant people in Forks, but he couldn't get out of his pack duties.

"Well you'll be able to give him to good news when you get back home. Just be careful from now on; I don't want you showing up here again covered in blood." Melanie laughed softly and agreed to stay away from temperamental pack members.

Carlisle helped her off the exam table and walked with her to the door. "Here are some of those creams I told you about. See you around, Melanie," He called after handing her a sheet of paper with different scar creams. Melanie waved goodbye and walked outside to her brother's Rabbit; he let her use it to drive into Forks.

She didn't need a car in Chicago because public transportation was so big in the city, but now that she was in a more rural area, she needed to look into something to get her around town. The Rabbit still rattled and made her worry it would break down at any minute, but she was thankful Jacob let her use it.

Stopping at the one Walgreen's in town, she grabbed a few of the creams on the list and made her way back to La Push. As she was pulling up to her house, she noticed Emily running up her front porch.

"Emily, what's wrong?" Melanie asked, getting out of the car.

"Oh thank goodness you're home! Jacob and Paul are fighting about something again. They're down at first beach, and they aren't listening to anyone. Sam is out on a run or else he would have been able to order them to calm down as alpha, but I didn't know what else to do," Emily explained, out of breath and on the verge of tears.

"Let's go see what's wrong with them." Melanie dropped her bag on the porch and followed Emily to the beach. When they broke the treeline, they saw Paul sitting on Jacob's chest throwing punches towards his face. Jacob was blocking most of them and trying to buck Paul off. He managed to unseat Paul and hook him in the jaw with his fist.

Melanie looked over and saw Embry and Quil on the sidelines watching, neither of them trying to get involved.

"What are you two doing?!" Melanie screamed at her brother and boyfriend. They briefly glanced her way before Paul flipped them in the sand and put Jacob in a hold to keep him from moving. She was surprised to see that neither of them had phased yet, but the last time they fought and phased, she ended up in the hospital so she wasn't complaining about the lack of fur.

"You need to learn to stay out of my fucking business," Paul snarled in Jacob's ear, tightening his arm wrapped around Jacob's throat.

"Like hell I will; I'm going to break your arms for putting your damn hands on her," Jacob growled, tucking a leg under Paul's to shift his weight and turn the table. Melanie caught bits and pieces of what they were saying and felt her stomach drop.

"Do you guys know why they're fighting?" Melanie asked the other two pack members that were still in their right state of mind. Quil blushed a bright red and looked down at his feet. Embry sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, letting her lean against him as they watched the fight.

"While we were patrolling, Paul let his mind wander. When we're phased, we can see what every one is thinking, it's how we communicate. Paul remembered what you two did after Sam's get together, and when Jacob saw, he lost it and attacked Paul. They've been like this for almost ten minutes now."

"Idiots," Melanie grumbled, wanting to bang her head against a wall. Emily snickered behind one of her hands, calmer now that she realized they weren't going to kill each other.

"If you two want to keep beating the shit out of each other, be my guest! When you're ready to act like adults, you can come find me!" Melanie yelled and turned on her heel to walk back home. As she was walking away, there were a few thuds and padding feet on the sand behind her.

"Mel wait!" She paused and turned to face both men. The others saw that all the action was over and decided to leave to give the trio the privacy they needed. "What were you thinking?" Jacob hissed, eyes still furious.

"I was thinking that I love my boyfriend and that it's none of your business what I do with him," She said just as snappy. Jacob's fists curled and he went to say something back, but Paul cut him off before he could.

"She's right, Jake. You need to stay out of it. This is between your sister and me." Jacob shook his head and stalked off, mumbling under his breath. Melanie sighed and rubbed her temples. Paul brought his hands up to rub her shoulders, but she shoved him away.

"Don't touch me right now, Paul. I'm sick of this. You two need to stop acting this way," She glared at him.

"Mel, I'm not trying to fight with him. It was an accident, and I was just trying to get him to back off. Can you say something to him? I don't want to fight with him every time I try to move us further. At this rate I'll be fighting him just so I can kiss you at our wedding."

Hearing Paul talk about their future made Melanie's heart race and her cheeks flush. Paul smirked and leaned forward to kiss her temple, testing the waters to make sure she didn't lash out at him again.

"You know, you said something about me back there," Paul murmured, changing the subject. "I said a lot of things, babe. I need you to elaborate."

"You said you loved me," He said, barely above a whisper, pulling her into his warm arms. Melanie stilled and looked into Paul's dark eyes.

"I thought you already knew that I loved you," She mumbled, closing her eyes when Paul shifted to leave soft kisses along her neck.

"Nope, you said you fell for me. Loving me is completely different." Melanie moved back from him so that she could see his face clearly when she cupped his cheeks in her smaller hands.

"I love you, Paul." She brought their lips together and kissed him sweetly.

"Good because I've loved you since the day I met you," He breathed against her lips. Melanie beamed up at him before pulling away.

"I need to go talk to Jake and get this settled."

"If he upsets you, come to my place. Or come over when you're done; you're still okay to have lunch with my mom, right?" Paul asked, reaching for her hand. She squeezed his and nodded, turning to walk back to her house to face the music. This needed to be the last time the two of them fought like that, and Jacob needed to understand that Melanie could do whatever she wanted with Paul. It wasn't like he was a random guy trying to get into her pants; she was his imprint for Heaven's sake.

Their small, red house came into view, and Melanie took a calming breath. She grabbed her discarded bag off the front porch and walked inside. Billy was in the living room watching a rerun of some ball game, but there was no sign of her livid brother.

"Welcome home," Billy called, looking over his shoulder at his youngest daughter. Melanie greeted him and kissed his cheek.

"You seen Jake?"

"Saw him storm into the garage. Seemed pretty upset about something but brushed me off when I asked," Billy told her with a shrug. Melanie nodded and told him she would go check on him and see. Leaving her bag in her room, she made her way to the garage.

Jacob had pulled the Rabbit into the garage and had the hood up while he fiddled with something.

"Hey," Melanie said softly. Jacob peeked around the hood and shook his head angrily at her. Grabbing the rag nearby, he wiped his hands off and tossed it back towards the toolbox. He stepped up to Melanie so he was towering over her. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Melanie leveled him with a glare of her own. "Yeah, Jakey, we have a lot we need to talk about."

"Don't talk to me like that," Jacob snapped. Melanie rolled her eyes and moved to sit down in one of the plastic chairs he had set up in there. Jacob turned to face her and crossed his arms. "Start talking."

"Jake, I'm tired of this. You need to back off and stop fighting with Paul." Jacob shook his head and took a step closer to her.

"You're my sister, Mel. I don't want him all over you like that; I can't believe you two..."

"But we did Jacob! And I don't plan on stopping that part of my relationship. You would have never known about it if it weren't for your pack's form of communication. Paul and I weren't blasting it to the reservation, and he clearly wasn't bragging to the guys about it. You have to understand that we are imprints, and that's not changing any time soon. I love him."

"What do you know about love? You're eighteen!" Jacob snapped. Melanie felt her control slipping, the desire to hit her brother increasing every second.

"Imprints." Melanie reiterated, "I know you haven't found yours yet so it might be hard for you to understand this, but Paul is it for me. I don't even find other guys attractive now. It's only Paul; there was a hole in my heart that I didn't even know I had until Paul filled it. If I suddenly didn't have him, I don't know what I would do."

"You're right, I don't have one, but I still want to protect you," Jacob nearly yelled. Melanie flinched at his rough tone, but she didn't back down. Jacob needed to hear this; he needed to get this through his thick skull.

"You don't have to protect me! I did just fine on my own in Chicago, and it hasn't changed just because I moved back here." Jacob fell silent and stared at his sister with sad eyes. Melanie didn't want to hurt him, but he was beyond reasoning with. They spent most of their lives separated, and she didn't need him trying to play the overprotective, little brother role now.

"So you don't need me, huh?" Melanie pursed her lips and shook her head. "Of course I need you, Jake. But I don't need your protection, especially not from Paul." Jacob let out a humorless chuckle and threw the closest thing to him which happened to be a smaller toolbox. It crashed into a wall and spilled its contents all over the concrete.

"Get out," He mumbled, trying to take deep breaths to calm down. Melanie didn't want to leave, they needed to come to an understanding. She didn't know what would happen to their relationship if she walked out right now, but they also needed to talk to each other without yelling.

When Jacob saw that Melanie hadn't moved, he yelled again.

"I said get the hell out!" Melanie felt the tears filling behind her eyes and finally moved to leave him alone in the garage, closing the door behind her. Once it was firmly closed, she winced when she heard more things being thrown around.

Forcing herself to move, Melanie walked down the street instead of going back inside. Billy was sure to have questions, and she didn't feel like answering them right now. Instead, she made her way to Paul's house and knocked on the door. By the time she'd gotten there, she had a handle on her emotions and didn't look like she was about to cry.

The door opened and Melanie saw an older woman, Paul's mother. She gave Melanie a warm smile, wrinkles creasing near her laugh lines.

"You must be Melanie! Come in!" She ushered the brunette inside and introduced herself. "I'm Nancy, Paul's mother."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Nancy," Melanie told her, her mood already lifting around such a bubbly person.

"I feel like I already know you though. Paul can never seem to stop talking about you; he's smitten," Nancy said, conspiratorially. Paul suddenly groaned, walking into the room behind his mom.

"Mom, you don't have to embarrass me as soon as you meet her," Paul grunted and moved to kiss Melanie's forehead in greeting. Nancy grinned at the two and moved them into the kitchen.

"I was thinking of things we could make for lunch. Melanie do you like seafood?" Nancy asked as she opened her fridge.

"Absolutely! I'll eat anything," Melanie told her.

"Paulie. Keep her. This is wonderful; I just got some shrimp from the market and there's this pasta dish I've been meaning to try out," Nancy said happily.

"It sounds great mom. I'm going to steal Melanie for a minute and then we'll come in and help you," He told her quickly, but Nancy was already shooing them out of the room. Paul took Melanie back into the living room and sat down with her.

"Are you okay?" He finally asked. Melanie shook her head, feeling her emotions coming back full force. A lump formed in her throat and made talking difficult. Paul pulled her into his arms and rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"I didn't want to be mean to him, but he just wasn't listening. He made me so mad, and I lost my temper; I said horrible things to him." Paul listened quietly while Melanie relayed everything that was said.

"It'll be okay, Mel. Siblings fight all the time, it comes with the territory. You two will have made up by tomorrow," He said, trying to cheer her back up. Melanie nodded and leaned into his hold. "Feeling better?" He asked after a few minutes.

Melanie cracked a smile and moved away. "Yes, thank you. Let's go help your mom," She said, pecking his lips and moving back to the kitchen where Nancy was boiling the water.

"Oh goodie, you're back. Paulie, start peeling and deveining the shrimp for me. Melanie can you help me chop these while I start on the sauce?" They quickly got to work and chatted while they cooked.

"The University of Washington? That's lovely. What will you be studying?"

"Graphic design, I want to help design ad campaigns and stuff like that," Melanie explained and moved to put the chopped mushrooms and tomatoes in with the sauce Nancy made.

"I wish I was artistic, but I lack the attention to small details. I also can't draw to save my life," Nancy shrugged and looked at Paul.

"Paul is wanting to open his own shop. I'm just waiting to hear when this is happening," Nancy said and raised an eyebrow at her son. Paul groaned and held his hands up.

"I'm getting there; I'm working extra hours to save up some more money. Max, my boss, is helping me look into different properties. He told me if I didn't find anything that I could take over his shop because he's ready to retire and move somewhere sunny," Paul explained.

"You didn't tell me that; that sounds like a great opportunity," Melanie said taking the now cooked shrimp off the stove and adding them to the mix.

"I think so too, but I don't know when he's planning on retiring. It could still be a few more years."

"Well it will be a good back up plan then," Nancy said and had them all sit down at the table with the food.

"So are you wanting kids, Melanie?" Nancy asked as they started eating. Paul nearly choked and Melanie patted his back while laughing. "Mom! It's way too soon to ask that-"

"It's okay, Paul. And yes I want kids. Lots of kids. The more the merrier," Melanie told her. Nancy smiled brightly, "Splendid. I'm ready to have little grandbabies running around my house." Paul groaned and let his head drop. When the doorbell rang, he was more than willing to get up and answer it.

"Jake," Paul was surprised to see his pack mate standing on his door step. He was even more surprised that he didn't look like he still wanted to strangle Paul.

"Is my sister here?" He asked softly.

"Yeah. Mel, it's Jake," Paul called into the house. Melanie excused herself from the table and joined Paul at the door.

"What are you doing here, Jake?" Melanie asked, grabbing Paul's hand for support. He squeezed it gently in reassurance while they waited for Jacob to explain himself. Her brother sighed and ruffled his short hair; he'd need a haircut soon because he left parts of it standing straight up.

"I came to apologize for how I acted. I was a dick to you and you're right; I need to give you two space."

"What?" Melanie asked in disbelief.

"I said you're right. You two are imprints, and I shouldn't be putting myself in between you two even if you are my sister and the thought of Paul touching you makes me cringe."

Melanie smiled and let go of Paul to throw her arms around Jacob's neck. Jacob returned the embrace tightly, holding onto his older sister.

"Thank you for coming here," She whispered and pulled away. Paul took her hand again and smiled at Jacob. If Melanie was happy then so was he; seeing her upset earlier nearly crushed him.

"I said she was right about being your imprint, but I swear, if you ever break her heart or make her cry, I won't hesitate to kick your ass," Jacob warned him. Paul just nodded and kissed Melanie's cheek, making Jacob groan.

"Just keep things PG around me, okay? I'm going to go home before I end up puking," He grumbled. Melanie hugged him one more time before he left.

"I think we just got his approval," Paul said quietly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You also have my approval if you want to start working on those grandbabies!"

"Mother!"

A/N: I'm trying to update faster so you guys don't wait too long in between chapters. I just lose track of time so easily with work! This was a longer chapter; let me know what you think in the review section. The next chapters will have more drama and action! Be ready (: