Paul's POV

I woke up in the living room with a kink in my neck. It happened every fucking time I fell asleep on the couch; the damn thing just wasn't long enough for me to stretch out on anymore.

I stood up and stretched trying to un-cramp my neck, and slowly made my way down the hall. I'd have to wake Bella up and get her to move to the couch.

When I rounded the corner into the bedroom, the sight of her curled up on the bed made me stop dead in my tracks; it was so strange to see someone lying in my bed. She was on her side on the far side of the bed facing into the room. The sheet was pulled up over her, but it was still too warm in the house for blankets, even for her. I could see the outline of her body under the sheet; her knees were bent slightly, with one foot poking out of the sheet and hanging over the edge of the mattress. Her left hand was next to her head on the pillow with her fingers lightly curled in her hair. Her right arm was on top of the sheet, her hand resting in front of her on the bed. She had on a dark tank top that I could see above the sheets, and presumably a pair of shorts. Her head was tucked into her chest a little bit, and her lips were parted; I watched as her chest rose and fell with her deep breaths. She looked so peaceful, and so fucking tiny.

I thought about turning around and going back out to the couch to sleep, but the kink in my neck reminded me that wasn't a great idea.

I sat on the bed and leaned on my elbow reaching my hand out to her shoulder to gently wake her up. As soon as I bent close to her I was hit with a full assault of her scent, halting my hand in mid-air. The warm sweetness wafting off her was dizzying.

Fuck...

I had to sit back for a moment to clear my head. I wanted to lie down next to her and breathe her in. I indulged myself for just a moment; lying down on my back on the opposite side of the bed.

Before I realized it, I was drifting into a deep, calm sleep.

Bella's POV

I woke up completely overheated and disoriented, the bed sheet clinging to me because my body was coated in a layer of sweat. It took me a minute to remember that I was at Paul's house in La Push. The heat was stifling. I had thought the heat wave was breaking after the cool breeze the night before, but now it felt like it was hotter than it had been all week.

As the fog of sleep started to lift from my brain I felt a heated, heavy band across my waist as I lay on my back on the bed in the now familiar small bedroom. A moment later I realized it was an arm...Paul's arm. He was lying on his stomach with his head turned to the side facing me; his eyes were closed and his lips parted allowing soft snores to escape. His arm was tossed haphazardly across my midsection, his hand resting on the bare skin exposed below my ribs where my tank top had ridden up in my sleep.

What the hell?

Why was Paul lying in bed with me? Why was his arm wrapped around me?

I panicked, and bolted upright, tossing his arm off me in the process.

"Paul! What are you doing?" I shrieked as I stood up from the bed and yanked the hem of my tank top back down to meet my shorts.

He gasped sleepily lifting his head a little from the mattress and cracked an eye at me.

"Hey," he croaked, his voice raspy and groggy. "Sleeping?" He raised his hand to his face and rubbed his long fingers over his eyes and down to his mouth.

He rolled over on to his back into the space I had just vacated on the bed as his jaw cracked open in an gaping, loud yawn and he stretched his arms into the air, his hands fisting together. He drew his arms over his head, and grabbed the headboard and arched his back. I could see the muscles throughout his chest and arms all stretch in turn; a ripple running from his forearms all the way to the ridges of his abdomen. It was a completely mesmerizing sight and distracted me for a brief moment from my indignation at having him in bed with me in the first place.

Remembering, I snapped at him, "Why are you sleeping here?"

Letting go of the cross bar of the headboard, he brought both hands to his face and rubbed vigorously over his eyes again. It was pretty clear morning wasn't his best time of day, although the mirthful laugh that spilled from his smiling mouth said otherwise.

"It's my bed," he scoffed jokingly.

I just stared at him with my eyebrows raised.

He sat up and shook his head, then finally looked up at me where I stood against the far wall of the bedroom, my arms crossed over my chest. "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep on the couch. I was going to wake you up, but you were sleeping on the edge, so there was lots of room for me. I just crashed," he explained.

"Relax!" he said shaking his head, this time in admonishment rather than grogginess. "It's not like you were naked or anything, Swan. See, both fully clothed, everything's cool," he said gesturing between us with a pointed finger.

"You should have woken me up!" I huffed, storming around the bed and out of the bedroom.

"Christ, Swan! Relax, would you? Nothing happened," he called after me as I slammed the bathroom door shut. "Believe me, you'd remember it if it had," he said with a rich laugh.

I fell back against the bathroom door as soon as it was closed. My heart was racing, and the face looking back at me in the medicine cabinet mirror was wide eyed and wild with...anger? No, anger wasn't quite right. More like an edgy excitement. I hardly recognized myself.

I couldn't believe I had woken up with Paul's arm around me. It was such an intimate situation—waking up in someone's arms—and one I had only experienced with Edward. I shuddered remembering his cold embrace, so unlike Paul's warm arm circling my waist. I much preferred waking up this morning to my memories of waking up in cold stone arms; even if this morning had been an innocent mistake.

The cheeks of my reflection flushed as I remembered the weight, and heat, of Paul's arm around my waist; of his rough hand on my skin. My hand drifted unconsciously to my ribs where his hand had been, my hand covering only a fraction that his had. I could feel the warmth spread from my cheeks down my chest until I had a warm glow enveloping me. I sighed and leaned further into the door.

My memory stretched to the moment I woke up and how comfortable I had felt at first, and then the memory stretched further, into my sleep-filled dreaming mind.

I knew I had been having a dream, a pleasant one, which the shock of my waking had chased from my mind, but slivers of it were coming back to me slowly.

I was standing at the stove in Paul's kitchen, stirring ingredients into a pot. I couldn't tell what I was making, but I had spent enough time in the kitchen of this house, that it was familiar and comfortable. The warmth from the heating element spread over the front of my body.

And then I was enveloped in warmth from behind as well; the comforting heat circling me on all sides. It was comfortable like a hug...it was a hug. Paul's arms were wrapped around my waist in my dream as well.

I gasped aloud when the connection between my dream world and my real world hit me. I remembered that Paul was just a short distance down the hall, and clamped my hand over my mouth. I'm sure he would have heard me anyway with his super hearing.

I could feel Paul's broad chest behind meand I leaned back into him. He bent his head to nuzzle his face into my hair; the sound of his deep inhale sending a shiver down my spine.

A shiver slipped down my spine as I remembered how my dream-self had responded.

I tilted my head as he continued to move his nose down the side of my neck. I felt him lightly press his lips to the curve where my neck joined my shoulder. He inhaled deeply again, and the release of his breath made goose bumps crawl over my skin.

My skin bumped up at the memory.

He dragged his lips lightly back up my neck to my ear; he tenderly kissed the sensitive spot behind it. I felt the smooth, wet, hot tip of his tongue run over the shell of my ear before he drew the lobe into his mouth and between his teeth. He bit down gently.

I had to stifle the moan that nearly fell from my mouth as it had in the dream.

His hand snaked up my ribcage, dragging my tank top with it, and I could feel his hand against my skin. His fingers closed more firmly around my ribs, and he spun me to face him.

His dark, almost black eyes were hooded and intense as he looked down at me.

"Bella," he whispered my name.

That's when I had woken with a start; with Paul's arm actually around my waist, his hand on my ribs.

Oh God.

Was my subconscious trying to tell me something, or had it been a simple transference of Paul's arm around my waist that had spurred the dream on?

If I thought rationally about it, it sort of made sense that I had dreamed about his arms around me; they had been after all, at least one of them had. But I wasn't thinking rationally; I was freaking out.

I had to get up and move. I couldn't sit there and think about my dream or Paul in bed with me anymore. I pushed off the door and turned the water on in the shower. I brushed my teeth while the water warmed up. I showered quickly, trying hard not to let my mind drift back to the previous topics.

I was scheduled to work tomorrow morning at Newton's. Mike was heading off on a hiking trip with Ben and Tyler for the week, he and I had switched days, which was why I had had the last few off; I hadn't planned on babysitting a wolf on my free weekend.

Paul had been getting around fairly well yesterday on his own, although slowly. If I made sure that he had plenty of easily prepared food for the next couple of days, he should be okay on his own. I would have to get one of the guys to go to the store for me. I could make up some lasagna and a casserole for him so he could just re-heat them, paired with bread and salad; it should last him a couple of days at least. I could still get home in time to make dinner for Charlie and get some laundry done for the coming week.

Satisfied with my plan for the day, I finished my shower, dressed quickly, towel dried my hair, and pulled it into a ponytail. I gathered the towels I had used, and the others from the bathroom, planning to get them washed for Paul while I worked in the kitchen today.

I walked down the hall and through the kitchen to the laundry area near the back door. Paul was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of Cheerios.

"You still mad at me?" he asked as I passed by him, his eyebrows raised and an amused smirk on his mouth.

"I don't want to talk about it," I huffed. I didn't even want to think about it, knowing I would be sure to blush like crazy if my brain landed back on either the dream or waking up next to—surrounded by—Paul.

I put the towels in the washer and turned it on, adding the tea towels and dishcloth to the load as well. I grabbed a bowl and a spoon for myself and sat directly across from him at the table, pouring my own bowl of cereal. Paul pushed the milk across the table toward me.

"Thanks," I said quietly, getting only a grunted acknowledgement in return.

We sat and ate quietly. I looked up from my cereal bowl to find Paul watching me. I shifted my eyes away again almost instantly, and could feel my cheeks warm.

He sighed and seemed like he was going to say something, when my cell phone rang in my purse hanging from the back of the chair at the end of the table between us. I looked at the caller ID as I fished it out of my bag; it was Emily. She only usually called me to invite me to a function in La Push, but she knew I was already here and there wasn't anything planned that I'd heard of; plus it was early on a Sunday morning. Curious, I flipped the phone open and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella, it's Emily," she started. I found it strange when people told me who was calling even though they knew I had a cell phone that told me that. "Sam and I are heading into town to the grocery store, and we thought we'd see if you need anything picked up?"

"That's perfect. I was going to get someone to go to the store for some things today anyway. Do you want to stop by here on your way out and I'll give you a list?"

"Sure. We'll see you in a little while then," she said in her light happy tone. It was hard not to feel relaxed talking to Emily; she just had that effect on people.

I hung up the phone, putting it back in my purse. I got a pen and a piece of paper from the pad on the counter next to the fridge where it looked like there used to be a phone on the wall, and sat back down to finish my cereal.

"Do you like lasagna?" I asked Paul, thinking about the items I would need before starting a list.

"Sure, yeah," he said with a nod and a shrug of his shoulders. I hadn't really gotten much input from him on what I had cooked over the last few days. Most of it had already been in his fridge, and he hadn't complained about the rest, but I didn't want to leave him with something that he actually didn't like.

I wrote down what I would need to make a large dish of lasagna, thinking I could use the dish Kim had sent the chicken over in yesterday if Paul didn't have a pan. I added bread, salad fixings, cold cuts, milk and cereal to the list. I could tell Paul was watching me make the list, so I asked if he wanted anything else added, while I wrote. I looked up when he hadn't responded after a minute; his face was blank as he stared back at me.

"Paul?" I prompted him.

"You're leaving today?" He asked quietly. He was so still it didn't even look like he was breathing, he looked nervous, or upset somehow despite his face remaining emotionless.

"Uh...yeah," I said with a small nod, putting the pen down and folding my hands on the table in front of me.

Paul's POV

"I have to work tomorrow," she explained as she started twisting her fingers together; always fucking fidgeting.

I knew she would have to go at some point, but I was just getting used to having someone around here again; getting used to her. She had said she would be here as long as I needed someone to be, and I didn't physically need anyone here anymore. I could get around on my own, although slowly, and I knew that the guys would still be checking in on me, but I didn't want her to leave; I wanted her to stay.

I couldn't make my mouth form words to tell her that though, all I could do was just stare at her. I felt like she had left already; empty. She didn't look much happier at the prospect of leaving than I felt. Sam's truck pulling up outside lifted us out of our impending misery.

"I think the eggs are almost gone," I muttered. "And maybe some fruit—apples?" I clenched my teeth and tore my eyes away from her. She picked the pen back up as Sam walked in the front door followed by Emily, and finished the list.

Sam talked to me for a bit, but I couldn't really tell you what the fuck we said. Bella gave the list to Emily when he said they should get going, and reached for her purse.

"There's money in the cupboard over the fridge," I said quickly; there was no way I was letting her pay for my groceries.

She looked at me with a scowl on her face, but the look on mine must have made her realize I meant business. She looked to the cupboard I indicated and then to Sam when she clued in that she wouldn't be able to reach it. He opened it and took down the can—it was the only thing in there—and passed it to Emily with a totally clueless look on his face. She made a show of looking at the list Bella had given her and took out forty bucks. I knew damn well that wouldn't cover it, but I also knew better than to argue with Sam or Emily about it. Sam put the can back and they were on their way.

Bella crossed the kitchen and opened the cupboard next to the stove. "Do you want some?" she asked pulling out the jar of instant coffee.

"Don't drink that shit. There's real coffee in the freezer," I said with a snort. The only time I drank that foul swill was when I had to be on patrol at an ungodly hour and didn't have time to make a decent cup.

When the coffee was done she poured two cups, stirring a spoonful of sugar into her own and bringing mine to me black after asking if I took milk or sugar. She sat back down holding her cup between both of her small pale hands with her elbows resting on the table edge. Neither of us said anything, we just sat quietly together and drank coffee.

Unlike the quiet that fell over the kitchen, my mind chased its own tail in a constant stream of panicked chatter.

Maybe she'd stay if I asked her to...
if I told her I wanted her to...
told her I needed her to...

I knew she wouldn't, or maybe couldn't.

Why the fuck would she?
She's done more than anyone else ever has, and she doesn't owe you anything.

But she might...maybe.

Shut the fuck up and grow a pair, Lahote, you fucking pussy!

I stood up and walked out of the kitchen and out to the front porch with my coffee. I had to get out of there before I opened my mouth and made a fucking fool out of myself.

I sat and thought over the time Bella had been there with me. It had only been a couple of days, but it felt like longer; in a good way. I had been fucking pissed when I first woke up and found her there right after the fight with the leeches. I didn't want her there, and a couple of days later I was trying to justify asking her to stay. I was comfortable with her; maybe too fucking comfortable.

I really hadn't meant to fall asleep when I lay down on the bed next to her last night, and I sure hadn't meant to wake up with her yelling at me. I couldn't regret doing it though. I only wished that I could have been conscious a bit longer before she had woken up and freaked out so I could enjoy touching her—holding her—just a little more. I was really only half awake, but I hadn't woken up so comfortable, and so fucking uncomfortable at the same time, ever. I was thankful that I had managed to tame the raging morning wood I was sporting before I rolled over; I'm sure she would have spontaneously combusted from the embarrassment that would have caused her if she had noticed.

Sitting on the porch thinking about it wasn't helping anything, except to prove that my dick did in fact have a fucking mind of its own; and healthy blood flow.

I went in the house to take a shower to set my mind straight; a cold shower.

What a fucking mess.

I turned on the water and striped off my shorts, the cool air helped to calm the half-mast salute that had risen thinking about Bella. I was on a hair trigger though, and it only took the warm water running down my body for the fucking thing to spring up for attention again.

Yup. Mind of its own.

I shampooed my hair and rinsed it out, trying to think about anything but Bella. It was no use; I was going to have to take matters into my own hands, literally. I lathered the soap in my hands and leaned my shoulders against the cool tile wall, and wrapped my left hand around my now fully hard cock. I know it's sleazy to whack one off thinking about the girl in the next room, but I did. I had to beat the fucker into submission so to speak. It didn't take long either. I pumped myself with a firm fist thinking about that gorgeous body of hers: her thin legs in those damn shorts she'd been wearing; her smooth white skin; her nipples poking hard against the wet t-shirt after the rain yesterday. Then I remembered the dizzying affect her smell had on me, and I was a fucking goner. I saved thinking about waking up with my arm wrapped around her to push me over the edge, and shot my load into the swirling water in the drain with a quiet grunt. I stroked myself harder, milking the last white ribbon down the drain, and collapsed against the wall under the shower head with a sigh. Hopefully now I'd be able to be in the same room with her without sprouting a third leg.

I heard Sam's truck coming down the road when I turned off the water. I grabbed a fresh towel out of the linen closet behind the door and wrapped it around my hips and went to my bedroom to get dressed. I threw on a pair of clean shorts and an old worn shirt that had the sleeves torn off. It was the most clothes I'd worn in a long time; I even put on a pair of boxers, wanting that extra layer to help control an unexpected hard-on.

I felt like I was going through puberty all over again. This girl had gotten under my radar unnoticed and was completely fucking with my mind suddenly. I had been ambushed by my own dick.

I walked out of the room as Sam came in with his arms loaded down with paper shopping bags, Emily following behind him with more.

Bella's POV

"Holy crow! What did you buy?" I asked, as Sam and Emily walked into the kitchen with their arms loaded down with bags. The list I had given them shouldn't have been more than two or three bags, even taking into consideration they were buying for a wolf's appetite.

"We picked up a few things that weren't on the list. Some extra sandwich stuff, and some more fruit; things that are easy to make," Emily explained. "Bella said she had to go home today, so we wanted you to have what you'd need." She said, turning to Paul who had followed them into the kitchen. He was showered and dressed and looked more relaxed than he had when he'd gone to sit outside earlier.

Sam gave Paul a pointed look and motioned with his head toward the front porch. Paul followed him out, leaving Emily and I alone in the kitchen. When the boys were gone, she reached into her pocket and pulled out $40 and, standing on her tiptoes, she returned the money to the can over the fridge.

"The council paid for it. We stopped and talked to Billy on our way out," she explained with a smile. "There should be enough here to last him a week or so and get him healthy again." She started unloading the groceries, and I helped her put things away, pulling aside what I would need.

"I got everything needed for a chicken and broccoli bake too. I can take it with me and bring the casserole over later if you want," she offered.

"I'll have time to do both," I said. "I'm not sure if he's got a dish for it though."

Emily opened the drawer at the bottom of the stove and pulled out a couple of baking dishes. It was clear that she wasn't a stranger to Paul's kitchen. Catching the look I'd given her, she shrugged her shoulders.

"I try to make him something a couple of times a month; usually when he's out on patrol so he can't complain about it," she said with a little laugh. I smiled back at her easily. It made me happy to realize he had someone looking out for him at least some of the time.

Emily was on her way out to meet Sam once we had finished putting everything away. She stopped suddenly in the doorway and turned to me.

"Thanks for staying here with him, Bella," she said and hugged me. Shocked, I hugged her back; Emily had never been affectionate with anyone but Sam that I had witnessed.

"Of course," I said, feeling the warmth start in my cheeks.

"You won't get a thank-you out of him; I know what he's like. It can't have been easy for you. I just wanted you to know that we all appreciate it," she said and went through the door to meet Sam.

I shook off the shock and went back to get started in the kitchen.