I was absolutely mortified. I couldn't believe she did that! And then she sent it while we were in the same room so he knew that it wasn't me. He definitely had to think that I was some kind of pathetic loser now. What are the chances that the ground would open up right now and just swallow me whole? Not good? Ugh. I rolled over so that I was laying face down on the ground so that Paul wouldn't be able to see the embarrassment all over my face. With any luck he would just ignore me and go away.
But instead of hearing him laugh or make fun of me, I only heard his footsteps coming closer to me. Now would be a good time, ground.
"Teagan?" Maybe if I stay still and don't make a sound he'll forget I'm here. Instead, I felt a hot hand place itself on my back. He started to rub his thumb soothingly, and I had to admit that with the warmth coming off of him it felt really nice. He tried to coax me out of it, "Teagan."
I begrudgingly rolled over and mumbled out, "sorry"
"What are you sorry for?" He inquired. I shrugged. "Listen, Teag, I know you probably won't believe me, and this is probably really shit timing, but I uh, I really do like you."
I sat up and looked directly at him. Part of me wanted to believe him but the other part of me knew better, "You don't have to say that just cause you like, feel bad or whatever."
Before he could say respond, Sam appeared in the doorway telling us it was time for dinner. I quickly stood up and made my way into the kitchen to sit at the small table where lots of food was set out. Did Emily really make all of this food just for the four of us? I think she saw my confused expression.
"The boys eat a lot, so make sure you take a lot. They're still bad at sharing when it comes to food," she explained but I still found it hard to believe that all of this food would be gone. But nevertheless, I piled a bunch of food on plate just in case.
Paul and Sam came in shortly after Emily and I had started eating. I felt rude beginning dinner without them, but Em insisted it was okay. It was her house and I was starving so I wasn't about to argue. Paul sat down next to me which made my heart start to beat faster. He leaned in towards me and placed his hand on my thigh as he whispered quietly to me, "I'm sorry if I freaked you out but I meant what I said. And I will prove it to you."
I gulped as he pulled away and started piling his plate. I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks, and knew there was nothing I could do about it. My heart was still beating fast and I could feel butterflies in my stomach. All I could feel was his hand still on my leg. I looked up at him and he just gave me a beaming smile before continuing to eat. What is happening?
"Teagan?" Could he actually like me?
"Teagan!?" But I think the real question isn't if he likes me, it's what he wants from me. He has to know that I have zero experience. With anything. So he'd have to know that he's not going to get from me what he gets from every other girl he goes out with. Maybe he just likes a challenge? Or does he actually want a relationship with me?
"TEAGAN!" Emily's vioce snapped and I whipped my head around to face her with a blank expression. She laughed a little, "Do you not like the food?"
"What?" I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't been paying attention to anyone around me.
"You've barely touched your food," Sam pointed out.
"Oh," I looked down at my still full plate. "Yeah, sorry, no it's great." I tried to focus on eating but I kept glancing down at the warm hand still on me. I couldn't say that I didn't like it, but I just wasn't used to this sort of thing. Is this normal? Do guys do this sort of thing to all girls or is it supposed to be a 'sign'? When I dared to look up from my plate I made eye contact with Sam, who just gave me an amused smile before turning back to Emily. They're so lucky, they have the kind of relationship that I want. Its so obvious how much they care about each other, even after all that they've been through.
After dinner, Emily and I sent the boys off into the living room while we cleaned up. She didn't want me to help, insisting that I was guest but I refused. It was the least I could do. Plus, I wasn't sure that I wanted to be alone with the boys. Its not that I was afraid of them, I was just afraid of my feelings for Paul and whatever it was that was currently happening between us.
I was sitting on the counter next to the sink drying dishes after Emily washed them, when she nudged my leg. I had a feeling of what she was going to say so I didn't bother to look up. Apparently she didn't like me ignoring her though, because next thing I know she was splashing water at me. I let out a little screech as water drip down my body and onto the floor.
"Emily!" I turned to see her laughing hysterically. "That was so not necessary!"
"Well, that'll teach you to ignore me you little brat," she teased. I stuck my tongue out at her but accepted the dry towel she handed me. "So, now that you're actually listening to me, are you going to admit your love for Paul yet?"
"Emily! No!" I just prayed the boys couldn't hear us from the other room.
"Oh come one Teagsey! Just admit it! You think he's gorgeous! You want to hug him! You want to kiss him! You want t-" I quickly clamped my hand over her mouth.
"Are you insane?" I whisper-yelled. All she did in response was lick my hand. I let out a disgusted noise and hopped off the counter with a huff, "I don't like you anymore."
With those final parting words I left the kitchen and headed into the living room. I knew my face was flushed, because I got embarrassed easily, but I was just hoping no one would notice. Or call me out on it. When I entered the living room Sam and Paul both had smiles on their faces and silly me had just assumed it had to do with whatever they were watching on the television. I sat down on the couch next to Paul, but with a fair amount of distance between us while Sam set on the recliner to next to the couch.
I had only been sitting for a moment when Paul turned to me, "Why so red, Teagsey?"
Oh my god. Holy shit. This wasn't happening. There's no way he could have actually over heard us in the kitchen. He voice was light and humorous but I still turned to look at him with wide terrified eyes. I started to say something, to defend myself but no sound came out. I quickly stood up and hurried out of the room. I had hurriedly slipped my feet into my shoes, and was struggling to get my jacket on when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw Paul rushing towards me so I hurried out the door with my jacket only half on.
"Teagan! Where are you going?" He shouted after me, thundering down the stairs behind me.
"Home!" Was my response. He caught up to me and pulled me to a stop. He straightened out the jacket sleeve I was having trouble with and helped ease my arm into it. I just stared down at the ground. I couldn't bare to bring myself to look at him or thank him for the help. "Look, I know that between everything that has happened today you probably think that I'm some pathetic little girl that's in love with you, and I wouldn't be surprised if it totally freaked you out either. Its okay, I get it. No hard feelings."
"Teagan, that's not-" He started but I didn't want to hear whatever excuse he was going to spit out. I didn't want to hear his attempt to try to make me feel better about myself.
"No really, it's fine. Everyone else in this town already hates me so its not problem that you do too. I mean, I already knew that you wouldn't go for a girl like me. I mean sure, I had a little hope but I'll get over it. You don't have try to make me feel better or-" I was abruptly cut off when Paul grabbed onto my waist and spun me around to face him. He pulled me in close to him and before I could even register what was happening, his lips were on mine. He was actually kissing me. He was kissing me. Holy fucking shit. It was gentle and warm and totally not what I would have expected from the angry giant. Tingles spread through my body and I felt alive, whole. All too soon though he was pulling away. My lips parted and let out a heavy breath as he pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. "What're you doing, Paul?"
"Tell me you didn't feel it," he took must have taken my lack of response as an answer. "See you can't deny it. How complete we feel together. Teagan, you're all I've been thinking about this past week. I was trying to wait, to build a friendship with you first because I didn't want you to freak out if I moved too fast but I just, I can't control it anymore." He cupped my face in his hands as he held eye contact, my heart was beating so erratically I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. I kept waiting for him to laugh in face and proclaim this all to some prank but as he spoke I could actually he the sincerity in his eyes and hear it in his voice. "I need you, only you."
"Please keep it in tact," I whispered quietly. All I could think of at this time was the conversation I had with my father earlier in the week. About how you have to trust that whoever you give your heart to will keep it safe.
"Keep what in tact?"
"My heart"
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It was now sunday afternoon and I was at my work shift. Mel kept giving me these knowing smiles so I assumed that she at least had an idea of what happened friday night, but she had yet to confront me about it.
It was slow at work there were only a few families in the diner right now, and none of them were in my section because I was assigned to the bar today. Which was fine with me. It was always slower here, and there was basically no walk to get any of the things people needed. It gave me time to think. I hadn't seen Paul since everything happened friday night, but we had been texting a lot. Like almost non-stop when both of us were free.
He had tried to coax me into going back to Sam and Emily's with him but I politely declined. I told him my mind was running a million miles a minute and I just wanted to try to make sense of everything that was going on. I did allow him to walk me home, though I don't think he would have taken no for an answer. He had walked me up to the front door and gave me a long, warm hug before I vanished inside with the promise to talk to him soon. I avoided my family in the living room and beelined for the safety of my bedroom. Once inside I closed the door, flung myself onto the bed and giggled like a little school girl.
I was refilling ketchup bottles when I heard the door bell ring signaling that a customer had entered. When I looked up and saw Paul I couldn't help but smile. He and Jared made their way over to the bar and sat on stools right in front of me.
"Fancy seeing you here Ms. Black," was Paul's greeting to me and I let out a small laugh.
"Please you were whining all morning that we had to come here so you could your girl," Jared threw him an annoyed look. "Hey Teagan."
My face flushed at Jared's accusation but butterflies filled my stomach when he said 'your girl' implying that Paul and I were a thing. We hadn't really had that conversation so I wasn't sure exactly where we stood. I knew we both had feelings for each other but I wasn't just going to assume that meant we were exclusive. Paul threw a punch into his friend's shoulder, but that didn't even seem to phase him and I smiled at their antics.
"What can I get you guys?" I asked, remembering that I was still at work and still had a job to do. After I scribbled down their order I turned around to head into the kitchen. I came back out with their drinks and noticed that a new group had taken up one of the tables not too far away. My mood immediately went sour, as I looked at them nervous and scared of what could happen. I hadn't been this close to any of them since this situation started. A hand placed itself on mine, redirecting my attention to Paul.
"Hey, don't worry about them. They're just a bunch of little shit heads with nothing better to do than make other people feel bad about themselves. They're not worth your time or emotions," He tried to assure me. I gave him a small smile in thanks. I didn't really feel any better but I was just glad that I had him on my side. I figured with him here the chances of them doing anything were slim. They didn't stand a chance against one of them, let alone Paul and Jared together.
The two kept talking to me to keep me distracted from Embry, Quil, Riss, and some other girl whose face I couldn't see. I leaned my elbows onto the counter in front of Paul and he continued to play with my hands. It was oddly soothing. As he brought my hand hand up to kiss my knuckles there was a loud squeal followed by a crash. Startled, I jumped back and searched for the source of the noise. Mel was standing just outside the kitchen doors with her hands covering her mouth. There were two plates of food that were now all over the floor by her feet. Her eyes were welling with tears as she looked at me.
"Mom?" Paul questioned.
She quickly made her way to me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I was confused and looked to Paul with pleading eyes. He made his way behind the counter and over to us.
"Mom? What're you doing?" He tried again. This just caused her to squeeze me tighter and I was bordering not being able to breather. For a small woman, she sure was strong.
"I'm just so happy to see you two together!" She exclaimed finally letting me out of the hug, but she placed her hands on my shoulders and kept me at arms length. From somewhere in the restaurant there was a snort.
"Why're you happy your son is with a good for nothing heartbreaker? You should be keeping her away. Though, I guess they really are a good fit for each other aren't they?" Embry Call never did know when to keep his mouth shut. I felt tears welling up in my eyes now, and a few slid down my cheeks. I looked to Paul who was literally shaking with anger. He started to make his way over to Embry but Jared held him back.
Mel got to them first though, "You all need to leave right now. I won't tolerate this kind of behavior in my diner. I understand that you're upset but that is no excuse. I won't have you harassing my employees or my family. Since you can't seem to control yourself, you'll have to leave." She said it with a stern voice that immediately had the group of four heading towards the door.
Paul was still shaking, and Jared still had a grip on him, preventing him from taking off after Embry. I don't know what possessed me to do it, I should have been scared because I could literally feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. But I walked right over to him and wedged myself in between the two guys.
"Teagan, it's not a good idea to be this close to him when he's like this," Jared tried to gently push me behind him, but I forced my way back around. All I knew was that I had to do this, I wasn't afraid of Paul. I wrapped my arms around his torso, being too short to reach his shoulders and buried my face into his chest. It was only a moment before I felt his arms come around me and his head bury into my hair. His body had stopped shaking and I could feel him calming down.
"Holy shit," Jared and Mel said in disbelief at the same time. I ignored them though, cause they weren't my concern at the moment.