Chapter Twelve

Paul sat uncomfortably perched on a leather backed stool, russet fingers anxiously tapping the marble counter top of the island while the twinkling lights from the crystal chandelier shone prettily above him which illuminated the cool plains of the vampire king's face. Even when Edward looked downright murderous Paul couldn't help but loudly note in his mind just how ridiculously handsome the man is.

The vampire scowled. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

Paul impishly smiled, shrugging his broad and bare muscular shoulders – his shirt long forgotten on the dining room floor. "Worth a shot."

"So are you going to explain to me exactly what I walked in on," Edward impatiently queried, although Paul thought it was fairly obvious what with him and the pretty prince being attached by their mouths, but he also wasn't dunce enough to believe he wasn't just given a kingly demand. Nevertheless, the wolf shrugged his shoulders, his look a challenging one.

"Depends who's asking." Edward lifted a questioning eyebrow at Paul's words. "Are you asking as my best friend or my boyfriend's father?" Because only one of those answers gave Paul bragging rights, and he really had the strong urge to high five someone as he boasted about sucking face with royalty. Immature, definitely. Petty, most likely. Thrilling, hell yes! He'd made out with his imprint and the world needed to know... excluding a few small details of course. Nobody ever needed to know that Paul had been bawling like a baby at the time and begging for Ryan's affections. That's just not cool.

Edward reaction was an immediate scowl. "So it's official then, you pursued my son despite my request that you not?"

Paul winced at the pure unadulterated anger in Edwards tone. He was definitely talking to Ryan's dad, not his friend. "Technically, yes," Paul hesitantly answered. "But everything is only unofficially official. I mean, we didn't exactly have to time to talk about labels. Although I do believe I made it fairly clear he's mine now, and as you saw he hardly looked disagreeable."

Disgruntled, Edward shook his head. "He is not yours, Paul. You don't know what the fuck you want. You're so beyond confused..." Pausing to sigh, exasperated, Edward ran his pallid hands through his wild auburn locks, roughly tugging on the roots as his shoulders hunched. "This is going to end in disaster. You've no idea what you've done."

"On the contrary, your grace. I know exactly what I'm doing and the prince is most assuredly mine." Edward's eyes snapped from his own lap to Paul's face to see the man smiling fondly at him. "He's still just as much your son, Ed. Always will be. I have no intention of whisking him away. I don't want to take him from you. I can share."

Edward shook his head. "It's hardly even about that. You'll break Ryan's heart."

"If the worst thing that ever happens to your son is a bit of heartbreak, you should consider him lucky. There are worse fates."

"So you don't deny what will inevitably happen?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Paul let out a huff of breath. "How can I deny what I do not know? I'm not a seer, Edward, I can't see the future. All I can tell you is how I feel now."

"And how is that?"

For a moment Paul opened his mouth and all that was about to come out were lies. Telling the king he was in love with his son wouldn't be the truth. Paul definitely loved Ryan, but he wasn't in love with him – not yet at least. Time would get him there, of that Paul was certain. In the meantime however, lies and half-truths would not do. He wasn't about to lull Edward into a false sense of security since the vampire had every right to doubt him. Edward should doubt him, that's what fathers were for. Edward shouldn't throw around his trust and acceptance willy-nilly; Paul needed to earn it, the wolf respected that.

"I'm infatuated." Judging by the frown on Edward's face that was not what the vampire wanted to hear. "But I do love him; he's my imprint, how can I not? My love for him is chaste, but my desires are not. I know my feelings will grow given enough time. If you give me enough time."

Once again Edward found himself shaking his head. "It's not my place to take you away from your imprint."

Smiling sincerely, Paul placed a hand over Edward's that was resting on the cool counter top. "You're king, Edward. It's exactly your place."

Edward's eyes fell as he nervously bit his bottom lip. "Even kings can't rival fate."

"But they can try."

"They'll only fail and wound all those involved."

"I can't promise I won't hurt him," Paul confided.

"I know."

Squeezing the back of Edward's wintry hand, Paul sucked in a deep breath. "Does the name Aro mean anything to you?"

Edward's vision shot towards Paul's, eyes wildly searching the wolf's for any hint of emotion. "Why do you ask?"

"I remember him," Paul confessed.

Stunned into silence by those three simple words, the seconds ticked by at an alarmingly slow rate for Edward. A part of him had never wanted the wolf to remember, had hoped that maybe the doctors were wrong that Paul would one day recall the entirety of his past and perchance fate had finally done Paul a kindness. After all, it was still etched in the king's memory how the morning before the incident Paul had begged to forget everything, had wished and prayed for it

"I'm okay," Paul tried to reassure him, though like a moth to a flame Edward's attention was drawn to the trembling hand atop his own.

"You're shaking," Edward softly remarked.

"I'm-" the wolf attempted to speak, but his voice was broken, stilted, and all Edward could do is watch in morbid fascination as Paul's previously calm exterior morphed into one of distress, tears brimming in the friendly warmth of the wolf's brown eyes.

"Paul," Edward breathed, sliding off his own stool and pressing himself against the larger man, arms comfortingly wrapping their way around Paul's shoulders – an all too familiar action. "I'm so sorry," Edward murmured, unsure of what else there was to say.

Paul buried his face away in the chill comfort of his friend's neck, clinging to the crisp dress shirt on vampire king's back. "Why did he do that to me, Edward? How could someone do that?" The heartache in Paul's voice was dismaying to say the least, but it was heated tears Edward could feel against his skin that truly discouraged him. He wanted to help. He wanted to fix, but he didn't even have an answer for the wolf, nor did he have the strength to say as much.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Edward questioned, because Paul had to know, he needed to know that despite his past he was still loveable. Still precious and desirable. Yet, the wolf didn't respond, so Edward pulled away and grabbed a firm hold of Paul's chin forcing their eyes to meet. "You know that, right?" Edward repeated, voice gruff with purpose.

Wet eyes gazed at the vampire, yet the emotions behind them were unreadable as well as the thoughts. "You're so much more than just a friend to me, Paul. You're family, and I don't want you thinking for a second that what Aro did to you is a reflection of your inadequacies. You are not to feel shame or disgust, you are to feel pride because you survived hell, a feat most would not overcome. I beg your mind not to go back there. Stay with me, Paul. Stay with your imprint."

Paul nodded in Edward's grasp, smiling delicately through his sadness. "I love you too, Ed."

The vampire gave the wolf a watery smile in return. "Good, that's good," he said, moving his hands to reverently cup Paul's face, thumbs tracing over the slight curves of rosy lips. "You're so utterly beautiful when you smile. Don't ever forget how."

A punched out laugh that sounded an awful lot like a masked sob escaped Paul as he eyed Edward with playful suspicion. "Is this is the part where we kiss, 'cause I gotta tell ya Ed, if you put those cold dead lips of yours on mine, I swear to God, king or not, I'll punch you right in the face." A satisfied smirk overrode Paul's previous smile and he gave the vampire a quick once over with tearful eyes, desperately trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, you're cute and all, but I'm spoken for."

Forcing a chuckle from himself, Edward dropped his hands to his sides and took a step back. "You think I'm cute?"

Paul wiped the tears from his eyes and the dampness from his cheeks before quirking a dark brow. "Fishing for compliments, your grace? That's hardly the behaviour I'd expect from a king."

Edward was about to say he sees what the wolf is doing, knows that Paul is trying to deflect the conversation away from himself, but the door swung open from the dining room and in strode Ryan, dressed now in purple sleep pants and a black tank top, while Paul's cotton t-shirt hung loosely in one hand.

"Your father is already done speaking to you?" Edward queried, skeptical that Jacob actually gave the boy any sort of lecture. Nevertheless, he finds himself ignored as Ryan goes straight for Paul, placing the t-shirt on the marble counter top before reaching the wolf's face.

"You've been crying again. Why were you crying? What did he say to you?" Ryan shot a glare over his shoulder at his dad, stunning the vampire – if looks could kill. "What did you do to him?" the little alpha all but snarled.

Edward put his hands up in mock surrender. "We spoke of his memories."

Seeming contented by that answer, Ryan turned his attention back to his wolf, although the quiet disapproving growl in the back of Ryan's throat as he did so did not go unnoticed by Edward.

"Did he upset you?" Ryan asked Paul, tone brusk and eyes searching for any hint of deceit. Paul merely smiled back in reply before saying. "As adorable as you are all petulant and protective, Edward has been nothing other than a perfect gentleman... except for when he tried to kiss me." Ryan's eyes widened in horror.

"I did no such thing!" Edward sharply proclaimed, and Ryan's vision flicked rapidly between his dad and his imprint.

"He totally thought about it," Paul said, nodding with surety.

"Not even for a second! I'm a married man for God's sake!"

"Which makes your actions all the more abhorrent," Paul teased, reaching past Ryan and nudging the king's shoulder. "I don't blame you, dude. I know just how indecently handsome I am. I mean, even I can't keep my hands off myself. How can I ever expect anybody else to?" And that was a rape joke if there ever was one. Paul never joked about his past. Never kidded. Never made light of what happened to him, and now, here he was grinning after his implication which had both prince and king cringing.

Paul looked between the two, both faces doing an incredibly piss poor job of hiding their discomfort. "What? Too soon?" Paul joked, though all the wolf was met with was silence and four disbelieving eyes staring at him incredulously. "Okay, definitely too soon. Duly noted."

Ryan placed a warm palm on Paul's shoulder. "Why don't I take you to your room?"

Paul furrowed a questioning brow. "Why?"

"You should probably rest," Edward put in.

The wolf made a face, not at all amused and a little insulted. "What, do I need to go down for my afternoon nap or something?"

"You've had a rough day," Ryan told him.

Paul nodded in agreement as he stood from his stool. "Which you more than made up for," he murmured, pulling the prince close by his hips, although Paul's attention momentarily turned to the king. "Close your eyes, Ed. I wouldn't want to make you jealous."

Scoffing, Edward merely turned his back to the pair as Paul captured Ryan's lips with his own. Edward couldn't help but watch from the corner of his eye. Couldn't help but observe how the first press of Paul's lips stunned the little alpha before the prince was finally shocked into action by the tips of Paul's fingers greedily flitting beneath his plum purple shirt.

Edward had to admit it was kind of cute how Ryan had to rise on his toes to be able to properly kiss his imprint. Still, however cute it may be, it didn't take away his unease. He'd never seen Paul like this. Never could have even imagined the wolf in such an intimate embrace, especially not with his son. Somehow it felt wrong, like Edward needed to protect Paul from it, like at any moment the wolf would snap to his crazy senses and blame the vampire for allowing Ryan to touch him so. But Edward couldn't make himself intervene. He didn't want to intervene. Ryan deserved this. Heck, Paul deserved it even more.

Besides, Paul was kind of right. Even if this all ended disastrously like Edward certainly predicted, heartbreak isn't the worst thing the prince could experience. What was that saying anyway? It is better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all?

Edward knew it was more complicated than that what with imprinting involved, but he just couldn't take this away from them. Couldn't work up the nerve.

"God," Paul breathed, trailing chaste kisses up the length of Ryan's neck to the shell of his ear. "Do you have any idea how sexy you are?"

Ryan stumbled a step back, cheeks blazing pink while his dad's paled in a typical vampire blush. In the past, Edward had of course heard Paul say Ryan was beautiful, but now the wolf was clearly sexualizing the prince, looking at the young man through different and apparently gayer lenses. It was odd, yet also slightly upsetting by the way Ryan dubiously gazed up at his imprint, like he just couldn't believe anybody, let alone Paul, could ever think such a thing about him.

"Seriously?" Ryan queried.

Nodding fervently as he reached for his shirt laying on the marble counter top, Paul said, "Sweetheart, you've not a clue what you do to me." After that was spoken he halted his speech for a thoughtful moment as he fitted his cotton t-shirt over his head and his arms through the proper holes. "I wish you didn't have to ask that, though," he added.

"But for future reference," Paul continued, "I'll have you know that I have insanely high standards. I only kiss pretty alpha princes for one."

Peeking over his shoulder, Edward saw that Ryan's mossy green gaze sparkled with glee. "And how many pretty alpha princes have you kissed?"

Paul devilishly smirked as he shrugged his shoulders, straightening the fabric of his shirt over his muscular torso. "One or two, but really, who's counting?"

Ryan crossed his arms, feigning covetous anger. "Does this mean I have competition?"

Paul's smirk grew wicked in its intensity. "If I said yes, would you fight for me... in a kiddy pool full of jell-o absolutely one-hundred percent naked?"

Ryan's eyes dramatically widened, looking much like saucers. "Excuse me?"

"What about in plain ol' mud... clothing totally optional? Less, however, would be better and totally appreciated." The internet had shown Paul some truly wonderful things.

"Okay, that's enough," Edward cut in, placing himself between the two wolves. "Paul you're behaving beyond inappropriately. I don't want to think about my son like that."

Paul indignantly pouted, exaggerating a sigh. "I bet you wouldn't be complaining if it had been me we were talking about all sweaty and naked and dirty."

Edward opened his mouth to vehemently decline, but found himself silenced by Paul's index finger pressing to his lips. "Shush now," Paul razzed, blithe amusement brightening every handsome feature on his face. "Don't make things worse for yourself." He slowly took his finger from the vampire's lips and lowered his hand. "I know you want me, and I'm not judging. But you've simply got to let go. You're married and I'm taken, by your son no less! Have you no sense of propriety?"

"I'm-" Edward tried to speak, yet was once again hushed by a russet finger.

"Ah ah ah, none of that, your grace. Nothing you say will change my mind. The only man for me is my imprint – you're just going to have to accept that."

Edward roughly slapped Paul's hand away. "I'm seriously going to kill you."

Paul's eyes widened with excitement. "Sure, but you'll have to catch me first," he merrily declared before making a break for the dining room doors, slamming his way through.

Edward turned to his son, both of them sharing the same confused expression. "What the hell?"

"I think he wants to play," Ryan mused.

"Play..." Edward contemplated the word like he'd never heard it, and he certainly hadn't, at least not with Paul pertaining to its context.

"You should probably chase him."

"Chase him..."

"Dad!" Ryan exclaimed, laughing, practically shoving the vampire through the dining room doors. "Go!"

So Edward did. He chased.