A/N: Long time no see! Here's the latest chapter. Please excuse any errors, I reread it, but I'm only human and don't have anyone else looking over it. Please let me know what you think about it!
Kaelyn grimaced as she stepped out of the shower and stretched the skin around the bruise on her shin. She bumped into her nightstand the night before and was left with a nasty looking welp. The cancer sure wasn't helping her body fight back against something as insignificant as a bruise.
Grunting, Kaelyn dried off so she could keep getting ready. She left her hair wet so it could dry into its naturally wavy form. Less to deal with. Tugging on her converse, Kaelyn headed into the kitchen to eat something before she left. Lila was sitting at the table, drinking her morning coffee. She glanced up when her daughter walked in and kept eyes on her the entire time.
Kaelyn grabbed an orange from the fridge and started to peel the rind away. She felt her mother's questioning eyes on her so she looked up to meet them.
"How're you feeling today?" Lila asked softly, taking another sip from her mug. Kaelyn popped a slice in her mouth and chewed for a minute before replying.
"I'm feeling pretty good. A little achy but good," She told her mom, truthfully. Lila relaxed a little bit and cracked a smile. "Good," She whispered, "That's good."
Kaelyn finished off her orange and went to grab a water bottle.
"Paul came by last night; said he was in town with a friend. But you'd already gone to bed pretty early. He said he would text you today about the plans you have after school," Lila told her. Kaelyn smiled thinking about seeing Paul after school. She wondered if she should tell him about the new revelation that happened with Emmett yesterday. Butterflies tingled in her stomach just thinking abut it.
"Uh yeah, I'm supposed to go see him for a few hours after school. I'll be home after that though." Lila nodded and helped grab her daughter's school bag so she could leave.
"I'll see you when you get home," Lila kissed Kaelyn's cheek and waved goodbye as she got into her car. Kaelyn sat in her car for a minute, and let her body catch up. She was feeling better, but she was still pretty lethargic and felt more out of breath than usual. Her body didn't want to move as much as she was making it. Finally, she pulled out of the driveway and headed in the direction of the school.
A couple of minutes after she parked, Alice was already at her window, tapping lightly on the glass. Kaelyn smiled at her and got out to let the short girl link arms with her.
"Good morning, Beautiful!" Alice chirped as she dragged her through the parking lot, her bubbly attitude infectious to those around her. Kaelyn's spirits were already rising just being close to Alice.
"Good morning to you too. What's gotten into you so early?" Kaelyn laughed but let herself get pulled along through all the parked cars and milling teenagers.
"I just wanted to get to you first."
"Me first?"
"Rosalie is in an extra vindictive mood today. I know about her and Emmett. I also know Emmett told you a few things yesterday," Alice whispered, with a hint of a smile.
"He told you?"
"No, I just know things," Alice laughed and tugged her along again, trying to get her face to look less horrified. "I just wanted to warn you that she's not the happiest camper right now."
"Thanks for the heads up," Kaelyn mumbled and walked with her into the building as the first warning bell rang.
Kaelyn was lucky enough not to encounter the pissy blonde until lunch finally rolled around. Walking down the hall, she was about to enter the cafeteria when an icy hand grabbed her by the bicep and pulled her down the hall a few paces.
"What? Rosalie, let go of me," She hissed, trying to yank herself free, but Rosalie's grip was like stone. Her nails bit into her arm when she tightened her fingers as Kaelyn struggled. Rosalie stopped and faced a nervous Kaelyn.
"Listen to me closely. I don't know what game you're trying to play with Emmett, but you're going to stop. He's mine. I don't care what he says right now; he'll get tired of you and coming running back to me. So save us both the time and leave him alone." Rosalie finally let go of Kaelyn's arm, and she could only assume a massive bruise would take its place later today.
"Look, I don't know what Emmett said to you, but if you want to talk to anyone about your relationship, talk to him." Rosalie narrowed her eyes down at the shorter blonde, her lip almost curling back in anger. She wanted nothing more than to claw Kaelyn's eyes out for even looking at her husband.
"What? You don't want to face the person whose life you're ruining?" She hissed. Kaelyn flinched back but held her ground.
"I'm not ruining anything, and I'm not the person who can change Emmett's mind. If you don't want to end things, go talk to him," Kaelyn repeated, turning to walked away, but Rosalie's hand shot out again to grab the same arm. Kaelyn cringed and went to snap at her, but someone else beat her to it.
"Rose, what're you doing?" Emmett growled, seeing his ex's hand tighten on Kaelyn's arm before releasing it.
"Just talking to the home wrecker," She replied sweetly. Emmett glared at her and quickly gave Kaelyn a once over to see what damage has been done.
"I'm not a home wrecker, Rosalie. Figure your shit out and leave me out of it," Kaelyn told the two of them and walked away. She didn't walk into the cafeteria like she previously planned. She walked out of the school building and into the student parking lot. She wasn't going back to class, not after what Rosalie said and did to her. Her arm was throbbing and she winced every time she touched it.
Throwing her backpack into the back seat, she grabbed her phone and called the only person she wanted to talk to.
"Kaelyn, what's wrong? Why aren't you in class?" Paul asked, worried on the other side of the phone. Kaelyn put her car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot, not caring if any of the faculty saw her skipping out early.
"I can't go back in there. I'm coming over now if that's okay."
"Of course it's okay. What happened?" Kaelyn shook her head and told him she would explain when she got there. She tossed her phone into the passenger seat and wanted to scream but held herself back. Speeding up, she watched the trees fly by from the side of her eyes as she drove to La Push. The fact that Rosalie confronted her at school, in a crowded hallway, where anyone could have heard what they were saying rubbed her the wrong way. There's a way to approach someone and that wasn't it.
Her arm throbbed again, and she cursed that fact that the bruise would be visible unless she wore longer sleeves. No one wanted to do that with the increase in temperature as summer approached.
She was still confused about why Rosalie confronted her instead of talking to Emmett about their break up. If she didn't want him to leave her, she should be talking to him, not Kaelyn. Kaelyn wasn't anything to Emmett besides someone he admitted to have feelings for. She didn't know how strong those feelings were; she's only known him for a couple of months so probably not very strong.
When Kaelyn pulled up to Paul's house, he was waiting for her on the front porch. His eyes zeroed in on her arm right away, "What happened? Is that a handprint?" He asked, examining the now bright red mark on her bicep. Kaelyn joined him on the front porch and promptly fell back onto his bench swing. Paul sat down next to her and waited for her to say something.
"Rosalie decided to pick a fight with me in the middle of the hallway."
"Rosalie Hale?" Paul asked, holding back a growl. A vampire put their hands on Kaelyn and hurt her. It made his vision go red, but he calmed himself down before something happened that he would regret.
"The one and only," Kaelyn grumbled and leaned back, letting the bench swing them back and forth lightly.
"Why did she do that?" Paul wanted to know why the vampires were even getting close to Kaelyn to begin with, let alone put their hands on her and leave marks. Kaelyn flushed a little and looked away from him.
"Emmett told me he was ending things with Rosalie and that he has feelings for me. But it's not like I asked him to break up with her, and I wasn't flirting with him or trying to steal him away. For her to call me a home wrecker when she's the one putting holes in the wall," Kaelyn trailed off with a mumble. Paul was stunned; he had a feeling she felt something for the strong one, but he didn't think Emmett would end his marriage for her. He didn't like this at all.
"How do you feel about it?" Paul asked softly. Kaelyn finally looked back at him.
"There's something there," She whispered. Paul tsked and rubbed a hand over his mouth and jaw. "You need to be careful, Kaelyn. That family spells bad news, and I don't want you getting caught up in the middle of their trouble." Kaelyn frowned and looked out at the trees surrounding his small house.
"And how do you know that?"
"Our families go way back, nothing but trouble," He mumbled again.
"Can we talk about something else? I don't want to think about Emmett and Rosalie right now," Kaelyn said. Paul didn't want to just let it go, but the look on her face had him agreeing. Paul stood up and stretched his arms and back.
"C'mon, I'm guessing you didn't get to eat anything with the blonde witch attacking you. Let's go make something," Paul nodded to the front door. Kaelyn smiled and jumped up to follow him inside.
"What're you going to make me?"
"The only thing I can make, sandwiches," Paul grinned as they walked into his kitchen. Kaelyn huffed but couldn't keep the smile from her lips. "We always have sandwiches," She teased.
"At least I'm feeding you and not letting you starve." And just like that everything was back to normal and all the talk of Emmett was under the bridge.
A few hours later Kaelyn was standing back out on the porch saying goodbye. She wrapped her arms around Paul's middle and felt his warm arms close around her. "Thank you for being there for me even if you don't like it." Paul chuckled and moved to press his lips to her temple.
"I'll always be here for you. Even if he ends up being an asshole and you need me to come beat him up." He half hoped that happened so the pack would have some kind of reason to make a move even if it would stretching it.
Kaelyn laughed and let go, not aware that Paul wanted to hold onto her for a few moments longer. He watched her get into her car to leave and couldn't help but notice that she smelled a little differently than normal. He couldn't ask her about it without revealing his secret so he chalked it up to her being around too many vampires for his liking.
Paul headed back inside once Kaelyn's car was completely gone from view.
Kaelyn drove for a little while, but as she was coming up to the Forks-La Push border, she saw a familiar looking Jeep pulled over on her side of the road. Kaelyn slowed down and saw Emmett leaning against the door, waiting patiently. She pulled over behind his Jeep and sat for a minute, not knowing if she should get out or not. He never moved, but he watched her carefully, waiting to see what she did.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and got out.
