The doorbell rang as Kitty was half-way dressed, and she felt – bizarrely – her heart skip a beat.
"Could someone get that?!" she yelled, hoping one of her family members could hear her. Hurriedly, she pulled on her boots – grabbing her phone and almost tripping on her way out of the room. She practically skipped down the hall, anticipation simmering low in her stomach and speeding her feet. Although it had only been a few hours since she'd seen Paul – she couldn't ignore the way she had missed him. Rounding the corner, she stopped.
Alex and Paul were staring at each other. Alex's face set in a scowl, her grey-green eyes looking particularly dark and cold. Her mouth was set in a hard line, and Paul – well, Paul looked uncertain. Nervous even. "What's going on?" Kitty asked hesitantly.
Paul turned to look at her at once, face smoothing over. He opened his mouth to respond, but Alex got there first, eyes still locked on Paul's face. "Nothing. Have fun on your date, Kitty." With that, the thirteen-year-old turned and strode upstairs.
Paul smiled at her, and opened the door – but Kitty couldn't help but focus on the forced curl of his lips, and what she had been sure was… suspicion in her sister's eyes. It was only after they pulled out of her driveway, leaving her house behind, she turned to Paul. His eyes were fixed determinedly out the windshield, but Kitty saw his hand tighten around the steering wheel as her eyes landed on him. "What was that?" he didn't respond. "Paul?"
It was the worried note to her voice that made him look at her. His face was that same smooth mask. "It was nothing. Your sister just… gave me a warning not to hurt you."
Kitty's lip twitched. "Oh. I didn't think she cared." She hadn't realised that Alex had cared so much about her to give her… to give Paul a warning. She and Alex hadn't spoken properly in years now – and Kitty couldn't help but blame herself for the distance. For all her well-meaning, all her good intent, it had been her that had instigated the divide between her and her sister. It felt nice to know that Alex still cared about her.
Paul watched the small smile creep across Kitty's face, trying to ignore the creeping chill of fear. He knew Kitty would chalk it down to Alexandra being protective – and maybe part of it was, but he couldn't get the intense look in the young girl's eyes out of his head.
"I don't know what you're hiding – but you've jerked my sister around too much for me not notice. There's something wrong with you and your friend – keep her out of it."
Paul hid his shiver. Alexandra was a little too on the nose for comfort. Sam had been insistent on meeting Kitty – but Paul didn't know how he felt about the two halves of his life meeting. There was nothing he wanted more than to have Kitty know everything about him – but he couldn't get her terrified face out of his head, the first time he had seen her. And she was still afraid of the forest, still afraid of the dark a little, and now, that Justin incident. Paul still felt the urge to rip the boy apart. Kitty was timid to begin with – and he had contributed to that – and although he could try his hardest to make up for his stupidity, the fact remained, he was a monster.
He couldn't even talk to her without fucking up, overwhelmed by her smile and her scent and her sweetness. He knew he had no chance with her, but it didn't stop him from becoming more infatuated with her every day. He had to wonder how much of it was the Imprint, and how much was his own hopeless attraction.
He watched her as she talked, face animated – nothing like the shy girl he had first encountered. It was something silly – a complaint about Mr. Jameson, interjected with her thoughts about some TV show he honestly couldn't remember the name of – and he was very aware of how his heart was pounding.
"You're beautiful." He surprised himself with the words – but Kitty reacted like someone had slapped her, mouth dropping open and eyes comically wide as she jumped in place.
"I-wh- me?" she stuttered. Paul cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks heat, and uncharacteristic bashfulness making him look away.
"Yeah." He said roughly. Thank god, they were pulling up to Sam's house.
"R-really?" she asked, and her voice was so unsure, that he had to look at her again, turning off the engine. She was still looking at him with that stunned expression, and there was something so confused about the surprise on her face – as if she'd never heard the words before – that he felt his heart pang.
"Really." He said, barely louder than a whisper. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to supress a little happy smile, and the lovely blush spreading across her cheeks. If this was the reaction he got then… well, he'd just have to tell her more often.
He knew it was a bad idea, that he was getting in too deep, that it wouldn't come to anything, but he couldn't help himself – couldn't stop thinking about that golden, warm Sunday. In the sunshine, in his kitchen, he was so sure she would kiss him. He waited for her to open the truck door herself, but reached out to take her down himself, fingers around her waist. He could hear the hitch in her breathing, and hid his smile by looking into the surrounding forest. "Come on, Emily can't wait to meet you."
"Emily?" Kitty asked, falling into step with him, and he slowed his pace to accommodate her short legs.
"Sam's girlfriend." He supplied, before remembering with a wince, "She's great – but don't… stare." They walked up the porch steps together, and he knocked on the door once – though he knew Sam would have heard them the second they turned onto the driveway.
"Stare?" Kitty asked nervously – but then the door opened, and Emily was revealed, smiling widely. Paul watched Kitty's face, the confusion turn to realization, and then to surprise as Emily reached out and tugged her into a tight hug.
"Oh, it's so great to meet you, Kitty!" Emily said enthusiastically, releasing Kitty to steer her into the house. "I've heard so much about you – I've been wanting to meet you for ages." Paul followed with no small amusement, sending Kitty a small smile as she shot him a look that screamed 'what?!'
Sam was standing behind the counter, busy mixing something, with a look of intense concentration on his face. Paul was impressed Emily had trusted him alone in the kitchen for so long. He looked up, and nodded to Paul, smiling at Kitty. "Good to see you again, Kitty. Paul." He winked at Paul when Emily started gushing to Kitty again. Paul rolled his eyes. There was something smug in Sam's eyes, especially after Kitty stammered her way through an offer to help cook – which Emily jumped on immediately, with a cry of how lovely she was.
Paul kept half an eye on Kitty from where he sat at the table. Emily was nattering away to her, as per usual – and he was happy to see Kitty slowly opening up, even laughing freely. "She's sweet, Paul." Sam said quietly, approvingly – though Paul knew he didn't have much of a choice of giving his approval. An Imprint was irreversible. Kitty could be an awful, ugly harpy, and Sam would still have to smile and say she was welcome.
But Paul knew that if Kitty was anything – she certainly was sweet. So, he smirked, feeling stupidly proud for no good reason. "That she is." He watched her giggle again. "Too sweet for me." He said, with a faint smile.
Sam just shook his head, looking knowing. "No. The gods gave her to you for a reason. Everything she is, and everything you are – it goes together. She'll dull your edges and you'll strengthen her. It's happening already." Paul rolled his eyes. "Seriously. You're… calmer."
"Sure, man. Whatever you say." Paul snorted. Sam watched as his face softened as Kitty turned to smile at him.
He grinned to himself. "One day you'll get it, Paul."
Dinner was… nice. Not what she had expected, especially not from Paul's 'boss.' If anything, it felt more like she was having dinner with his family – but it didn't weird her out as much as it should have.
After dessert was when things started to get a little heavy. Kitty nursed a mug of tea to her chest, as Sam sat down next to Emily on the loveseat, and looked at her seriously. "Kitty – I don't suppose you're familiar with the Quileute legends?"
Kitty shook her head. Paul sat forwards, his expression uncomfortable. "We're not doing this now, are we, Sam?" he asked, voice more a hiss than anything. Kitty looked between them, as the air thickened, both of them staring unblinkingly at each other. It was Emily who broke the tense silence.
"We're just going to tell Kitty a little about the tribe background, right Sam?" she said, putting a hand on his arm. He twitched, breaking the stare to look at her with such intense love in his eyes that Kitty blushed slightly, feeling like she was intruding.
"Right." Sam said lowly, before turning to look at Paul. "Right, Paul?" Paul just nodded wordlessly, sinking back into his seat. "Kitty?" she was surprised to feel the eyes of the room on her – like somehow she had a say, like she needed a say.