Chapter 14 Beware of the Kathleen

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing

Meanwhile back at the shop

Kathleen had thought long and hard after she finally sent Bella home. She was confident she would not run off the road now she was calmer and had some food in her stomach. She thought about everything Bella had told her and a lot that she hadn't.

She reached for the phone book and started with the A's.

The next day, armed with an address, she drove out to the reservation; fourteen miles from Forks and a thousand miles from care. The scenery was beautiful, the forest dense and so green. It was spectacular.

She arrived at the rez to some odd looks from the inhabitants. She supposed they didn't take kindly to strangers. She couldn't seem to see any street signs and had no idea how to find the address she had. Then she noticed a little shop and she thought she may as well ask somebody. She had come all this way and she was inspired to do something. She pulled up out the front and made her way into the shop.

The last person she expected to see was perched on a stool behind the counter reading the paper.

"Quil?"

"Kathleen?" he looked at her. "What are you doing here?" a look crossed his face like he was hoping she might have come to visit him. She suddenly thought that his visits to her shop had a deeper motive, one she had not ever really thought about. Goodness.

"Quil, I was looking for an address." She waved the piece of paper vaguely at him. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah my mum owns the shop, so I help out occasionally." He hopped off the stool and approached her. "How may I be of service ma'am?" he bowed. She laughed.

He plucked the paper out of her hand and looked at the address and froze. He looked at her.

"I …" she stopped. "Oh God Quil, I can't watch that girl cut herself up any more. I found the address of her man and I was going to go and give him a piece of my mind."

Quil raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?" he asked. "And you think that will help…how?"

"I have to DO something."

"Kathleen the whole reservation is on his back, I am not sure you will make a difference," he shrugged, "but then again, you might be the final straw."

"I hope so. He needs a slap upside the head."

"He's not himself lately. Paul used to be the biggest player, he just used women and dumped them; forgot their names when he took the condom off, that kind of thing."

"You said used to be?"

"Yeah, he's different now. Since he found out Bella is pregnant," Quil explained. "But she wouldn't know that. She hasn't come out here at all and she and Jake were avoiding each other too, so she doesn't know any of the rez gossip. Not that she knew him before that night, but Jake is unlikely to talk to her about him anyway."

"Look Kathleen, this is a lot more complicated than I am even allowed to tell you. I think he was different with her right from the start. He said something about trying to take her to somewhere that felt 'right' to have sex. That didn't sound like the Paul I knew, you know? He didn't want to do it in alley behind the club. He even found out her address and drove her home afterwards; he never does that."

"Loves them and leaves them huh?" snorted Kathleen.

"Loves them? No, just fucks them. Pardon the French. And rarely the same girl twice," elaborated Quil.

"Those two need to be together; they are having a child." Kathleen was emphatic. "Quil, she can't sleep without something that smells like him. That tells me she is much more involved than she will admit to herself. And you tell me his whole personality and behaviour has changed? And regardless of how angry he pretends to be with her, she asked, and he literally gave her the shirt off his back. I've never seen anything like it before."

"What, Paul with his shirt off?" Quil joked.

She patted his arm, "oh no Honey, you have that one all sewn up, in my eyes." Was she flirting with him again?

"I mean it sounds really out there and a bit I don't know what to call it… crystally ... but if they are that linked to each other after having sex once; I really feel that there is something much more powerful at work here, even if I don't know what it is."

He beamed at her and pressed her hand onto his arm.

"You're pretty special you know," he told her. "Look Kathleen, I know you mean well, but I don't think you should speak to him; he won't take it well and he can be really aggressive."

"A tough guy huh?" She flexed a bicep, "I can take care of myself."

He laughed. "Do you want me to come with you? I could drive your car there for you if you liked?"

He looked so earnest; she thought she might take him up on the offer.

"That would be good. Can you leave the shop unattended?"

"I can call mum, she lives upstairs. I'll meet you at your car in five minutes, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

As she left the shop he was dashing up a set of stairs behind the counter. She stood next to her car and looked around. The reservation was not very well to do; most of the houses looked neat and tidy but there was an obvious lack of money in the community.

Quil jogged out the door and called to her, "I'm covered. Let's go!"

She threw him the keys and then he looked at her. "Actually you drive. I'll give you directions. I will have to adjust every single thing for my driving position. Nothing worse than trying to put it all back."

She laughed. "Okay."

So he sat in the passenger seat and gave her directions. They pulled up at a house that looked slightly less homey than some of the others. No flowers or well tended garden. The shed behind looked like it might fall over if you blew on it too hard. The paint was a faded green colour.

Quil walked her to the door and rapped on it.

Someone started talking, "Quil you never…." The door opened to reveal Paul, "…knock," he finished.

He looked at Kathleen, folded his arms and deliberately leaned against the door frame. Very slowly he looked her up and down; it was almost offensive.

"You work with Bella," he said.

"Actually Bella works for me," she corrected. It was clear he wasn't going to invite her in. She was angry with herself for letting him get her offside so easily. It wasn't important that she employed Bella, that wasn't why she was here. She was here as her friend, not as her employer.

"What do you want?" he sounded belligerent.

"I wanted to speak to you about Bella."

"What's it to you?"

"I wanted to ask why… God I don't know what I wanted. I actually thought you might be someone I could speak to; a reasonable man… but I think I made a mistake."

He just snorted.

"She's pregnant with your child and you care more about her than you want anyone to know. Why that is, I don't understand." She shook her head. "I meant that you try to hide it; that's the part I don't understand."

Paul just looked at her and said nothing. Not a muscle on his face moved.

She continued. She had come out to say something and she was going to do it. "You and she have some link; it's more than the baby…I can see it…I don't understand it…but it's there…and if you want to ignore that, it's up to you but …" and she finished in a rush, as if she had run out of courage, "But I think you ought to think more about her."

He still hadn't reacted.

"Are you finished?" he asked.

"Yes," she admitted.

"Good," he said and slammed the door in her face.

She stood there with her jaw hanging open. Quil gave her the I-told-you-so look.

Quil escorted her back to the car. She didn't say a word; she was seething. By the time they got back to the shop her hands were shaking. Quil noticed and put his arm around her shoulder and walked her around the back of the store.

"Come on and I will make you a drink." He unlocked a door at the back of the shop. It opened into a neat little apartment.

She sat at a kitchen counter and seethed. "What a complete ass…oh my God…" she shook her head.

"He has never been a very nice guy," Quil explained.

"Wait, is this your place?" she asked him.

He looked proud, "Yeah it is. What do you think?"

"It looks nice, really neat. Do I get a tour?"

He grinned, "Well there is really only this room, the bathroom and the bedroom. Do you want a tour of the bedroom?" he raised an eyebrow.

She looked at him. She was in shock. Did he mean what she thought he meant? "Quil I am 32."

"So? I look 25 and I care about you, not how old you are."

"I'm old enough to be your mother."

"Actually you're not," he told her as he kissed her.

Some hours later she lay with her face on his chest; he was playing with her hair.

"I came out here to fix Bella's love life, not my own," she laughed.

FF_2154210_ - - 3/10/2010 02:04:00 PM