I came in the house dancing after my day with Paul. The day of the meadow in Twilight now had new meaning to me as the day in La Push with Paul. Life couldn't be better than it was when I walked through my front door and shut it behind me. I sighed dreamily and stared blankly at the opposite wall.
"You look pleased," a voice accused from across the room. I jumped, startled that there was someone else in the room from me. You'd think I'd learn that the house was very rarely unoccupied when I returned home.
This time it was Edward leaning handsomely on the edge of the armrest to my aunt's faded blue couch. I staggered a moment at his breath taking beauty. Seeing Edward was like seeing Jasper for the first time, when dazzling had its full effect of making a girl speechless. He had a full smile like he was posing for a picture and his bronze hair was in a wonderful disarray, like someone who had just come off of a roller coaster and was still high from the exhilaration.
"So do you," I said breathlessly. Edward chuckled beautifully and looked at his feet thoughtfully. Then I remembered that it was late and he had just returned from the meadow. He shouldn't be here. "Shouldn't you be with Bella?" I asked. Edward's smile refused to dim at all. He truly was a different person.
"I should," he said. "But she's asleep and I was going to go home to change clothes. Jasper asked me to stop by and make sure you eventually returned. He was very worried." My smile grew even more if that was possible.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"Hunting with Alice," he said casually. "You mean a lot to him you know. Whenever he's having a hard time with humans he thinks about you." I pressed my lips closed before I could combust with joy. I was friends with Jasper. How many fans could say they that? "You're becoming a great friend to him. I could almost compare your bond to Alice and mine. He's doing incredibly better with his restraint. I think a relationship with a human was good for him after all."
"Are you, Edward Cullen, admitting to be wrong?" I teased. Edward took the ribbing light heartedly. He sighed as he looked at the ground.
"It seems that I can't ever be right anymore. Bella is alive, she is in love with me, I am in love with her, and I think Jasper and Emmett will accept her completely tomorrow," Edward said with a strange unbound joy. He grinned.
"And I am happier than I have ever been in any life I've had." This warmed my heart immensely. At last Edward seemed to have come full circle. His transformation complete.
"I'm glad," I said with sincerity. Edward became serious suddenly.
"I don't know how I could live like I had before," he said looking far off. His stare was directed somewhere behind me, almost sad. "...without her." I crossed the room and set my purse down on the table. This action brought Edward out of his trance. He looked at it for a moment and then back at me.
"And how are you and the dog?" he asked politely. I blushed furiously.
"Paul is in love with me," I reported happily. Edward didn't seem the least bit surprised. I truly was the last person to know I'd been imprinted on.
"I was sure Jasper told you," Edward chuckled. I exhaled.
"Well, I guess we're both guilty of being in denial," I said.
"You? The all-seeing Cammy?" he teased right back at me. We both laughed. His smile fell as he gradually became content.
His golden eyes were light, reflecting on the day. I felt like I was looking into a mirror feeling the exact feeling he was. Both of us were fresh in love with our respected mates. It was strange to see someone else who looked just as stupidly in love as you did. I could see the drastic change from the brooding person he was before who scoffed at the very idea of being in love with a human.
Now it was his turn to break my reverie. He stood from the spot he was leaning and crossed the room toward me. He stopped about five feet away from, his nose wrinkling.
"I would ask to shake your hand out of appreciation, but you smell worse than usual. Would it be alright if I simply thanked you again for seeing my family through this?" Edward said, possibly seeing the same thing I was in our odd similarities.
"Yes," I said. He nodded at me.
"Then thank you. I will tell Jasper and Alice that you came home in one piece," he said. His eyes flashed a brief scolding as he gave me a pointed look. "And I'll remind you we don't like the wolves crossing over here whenever they feel like it." I suppressed a smile.
"It won't happen again," I said.
"I doubt that," he murmured. He gave me a final smile. "Good night."
He walked past me, sauntering with a step that had a similarity to Alice's dance-like steps. Edward left leaving me smiling and shaking my head. This was so strange and wonderful at the same time. Maybe I could have my love story simultaneously with Edward and Bella's. I went to bed and fell asleep easily, completely comforted with the fact I was going to see Paul in the morning.
In the morning I drove to Sam's house because I still had no idea where Paul lived. I could only hope that he'd be there, or Sam would at least know where Paul was. I slammed the Celica door shut behind me and looked at the small house that felt much more homey than it should have. There was no trace of the crowds that had been there yesterday.
I stopped on the steps, clutching my purse to me and looked at the time. It was early. Maybe I should have waited at home a little bit longer. Shrugging, I made my way up the steps and started to knock on the door when it opened by itself and I was attacked by a very large Quileute boy.
We lost our balance and started to teeter as we both fell over backward. I landed roughly on my butt, Paul had caught himself over me. He had the widest of grins that immediately made me forget him knocking me over. Then he gave me the fiercest of kisses that lasted longer that had my blood pounding much faster than it already was. I let myself melt into it, savoring him.
He released me abruptly to start accusations.
"There you are! What took you so long?" Paul scolded.
"I came here early. I didn't even eat breakfast," I said defensively propping myself up on my elbow. Paul didn't know exactly how out of character that was for me. Paul narrowed his eyes playfully at me.
"Ten in the morning isn't early," he said. Someone grumbled a muffled disagreement from behind the screen door. I craned my neck to see over Paul's shoulder. There was a very tired Sam was watching through the mesh with a coffee cup in hand. His eyes were still squinting, obviously having just woken up.
"Hi Sam," I said cheerfully.
"Hello," he grumbled and moved away from the door. Paul stood up and offered me his hand to help me up.
His smile stayed as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He kissed the top of my head as immediately went to the kitchen. Emily was already at the stove, energized but it was almost as though she hadn't left from the night before. She turned to smile at me.
"There's my wolf girl," Emily said, her brilliant half face giving a beaming smile despite her bandages. "Would you like pancakes?"
"No thanks," I said politely. Paul slipped his arm around my waist.
"She'd love some," Paul interrupted.
"Really, I'm fine," I said.
"You said you didn't eat breakfast," Paul argued.
"I don't need to eat nearly as much as you. I think I'll survive," I said to him. The minute the statement had left my mouth there was a plate of pancakes in my hand and I had no idea how it got there. Emily turned back around with her frying pan in hand and started the next batch of pancakes. I smiled shyly.
"Thanks," I said accepting the fact that I was going to have to eat whether I wanted to or not. Paul led me over to the table as though I couldn't find it myself.
"You're welcome," Emily said, her motherly tone making her voice sing. Sam entered the kitchen and kissed Emily. She turned her head away from her cooking only a moment to accept the kiss, then continued pouring the batter. Paul pulled a chair out for me in chivalrously. I smiled at him, then out of the corner of my eye noticed that Sam was watching us.
He quickly switched his attention back to Emily. She handed him the next batch of pancakes.
"What are you two going to do today?" he asked conversationally. "The weather isn't supposed to be very good." Paul and I simultaneously looked out the window at the usual fog and drizzle that was almost daily in the Pacific Northwest.
"What are you talking about? Look at the potential the day has," Paul said gazing out at the weather only Paul and I seemed to have appreciation. Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes, obviously not a morning person or in the mood for our overly cheerful spirits. "I was thinking about taking her down to the caves when the tide is low." I perked.
"Caves?" I asked immediately interested. "What caves?"
"You'll see," Paul said with a wink. I looked at Sam's coffee and debated on asking for some, but I didn't want my breath to be too bad. Not with all the super good looking supernatural creatures of the Twilight universe with extraordinary senses. Paul pushed my plate towards me enthusiastically. He seemed to be just as excited to see me as I was to see him. "Hurry up and eat."
"Are you going to eat?" I asked motioning to the empty place in front of him.
"Yes, and I'll eat much faster than you if you don't take advantage of your head start. Eat," Paul commanded. I grudgingly picked up my fork and knife and obeyed. Sam's brow furrowed a little bit as this happened. I gave him an odd look.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just that I've never seen you actually do what someone tells you to do before," Sam observed. I frowned at him, but Paul chuckled. Emily walked over and placed a plate in front of Paul.
"Thanks Emily," he said beaming.
"You're welcome. Sam, would you mind going to the grocery store for me?" Emily asked busying herself with other kitchen tasks. Sam's look was puzzled.
"We're out of food again?" he asked. Emily flicked her head in the direction of Paul.
"It was hard enough feeding one werewolf. Now there's two in the house," Emily said. I looked at Paul.
"You live here?" I asked.
"For the time being. Just to help with transitioning," he said. I nodded slowly, glad the mystery about Paul's residency had been solved.
When it was quiet in our chewing I found myself staring at Paul. He was hard not to stare at. He, like Sam, had the body of a model on the cover of my mom's paperback romance novel's and they wore clothes that were much out of season.
Paul's shaggy black hair was messily swept aside, swinging just above his shoulder where he wore a white undershirt and frayed jeans. He seemed to feel my eyes on him as he sat perfectly still, like he was allowing me to admire him. He was reluctant to stay like that for long. He caught me staring and I grinned guiltily, turning my attention back on my food.
As soon as I looked away he dug into his food in an appalling manner. He shoveled food into his mouth like he was afraid someone else was going to steal it from under him if he didn't eat it fast enough. The sight ruined the perfection of the classic beauty he had, but it added some werewolf charm. I deliberated for a moment and decided that I liked his display of a human vacuum. Even if it was disgusting.
I quickly finished my own meal. Luckily Emily didn't give me much, probably with Paul's speedy eating in mind. I wasn't that hungry anyway. I was just eager to be with alone with Paul. I ate faster than I should have to catch up with Paul and downed the glass of orange juice Emily had set down in front of me during my Paul ogling.
Paul pushed his chair back and took my empty plate with him.
"You ready?" he asked me.
"Yup," I said standing and shrugging my purse back on my shoulder. I smiled at Emily. "Thanks for breakfast."
"Any time," Emily said back at me as she ran the water in the sink. "You two have fun." Sam came back in the kitchen with his car keys in his hand.
"Be good. Both of you," Sam ordered. Paul's mood darkened a tad as Sam walked past with a pointed look. There was a hidden message in there that I could guess. I didn't want this day to be ruined by one little thing Sam said.
"Be good? Well now what are we supposed to do today?" I said to Paul with a mock pout. Sam exhaled and rolled his eyes, but I succeeded in making Paul smile.
"I'm sure we'll find some way to entertain ourselves," Paul said putting his hand on the small of my back and leading me through the door. Paul took me to his car and opened my car door first as he usually did. I smiled appreciatively and slid inside. He was immediately on the other side letting himself in.
He started the car and started to back out onto the empty road.
"I have a question," I said. Paul grinned at the road. "What were you talking about with Jared yesterday?" Paul pressed his lips together hiding a guilty smile.
"I don't know what you are talking about," he said too innocently.
"You said something at dinner that made him laugh," I said.
"I do not recall," he said, his smile breaking free into a full blown grin.
"Paul," I whined playfully.
"I just told him that you knew I imprinted," he said defensively. I sensed a half-truth.
"And he was laughing because it took me so long to figure it out," I said with frown. I looked out the window. Paul patted my hand and then clasped his large warm fingers around it. I looked at him as he half watched the road to gaze at me.
"Come on, Cam," he chided. "You have to admit it was pretty obvious. I bet you were the only person on the planet that didn't see it."
"That's no reason to laugh," I pouted. He sighed consentingly.
"Okay. I'll beat up Jared for laughing at you later," he said. "I will defend your honor."
"That's more like it. Good boy," I joked patting him on the head. He turned to glare at me, but the good humor was still there. I turned to face him suddenly inspired. "Are you ever going to show me your wolf form?" I asked.
"You've seen it," Paul said. We were both quiet for an instant as we both remembered exactly when I'd last seen it. I tried to push past the bad memory to keep the mood light.
"Yeah, but I want to hang out with a wolf. You can show me how fast you can run, and I can ride you..." Paul shot me a look as soon as I said that. I realized too late that I was daydreaming about a day with a werewolf out loud. Actually I'd thought this over, even before Twilight came to life. He didn't look very fond of my idea.
"Ride me? Like a horse?" I grinned prettily.
"Please?"
"I am not a pony, Cam," Paul said firmly.
"Oh come on!" I begged pulling on the arm that held my hand.
"No," Paul laughed.
"I'll give you a belly rub," I tempted playfully. Paul barked out a laugh.
"Enough with the dog comments," he said.
"But they're so fun," I said. Paul wasn't having it so I decided to lay off. I sighed and turned to watch the scenery pass by the windows. He pulled into a familiar parking lot. First Beach was quickly becoming a familiar place. It wasn't raining, but there was definitely potential for it with plenty of cloud cover.
Paul and I stepped out of the car.
"The caves are at the beach?" I asked him.
"Yup. Come on before we miss low tide," he said excitedly taking my hand and pulling me toward the bluffs. We walked down to water, along the edge of the shore. It was strange how quickly we'd become so natural, like we were a married couple and this was just like any other day. I felt like that should scare me that I had fallen so fast, but it didn't at all.
Paul began to ask me questions about my family and I told him about my parents and older and younger sister, the surfer and the video game addict. He asked me what my pet peeves were, what I hoped for in the future. That threw me off, because I hadn't thought about my long-term future since I moved to Forks. I'd been a little busy.
"I don't know," I said, my forehead creasing with the sudden realization as I watched my shoes kick up the sand with every step I took. Paul had a more graceful step than I did, similar to a vampire's though not quite so precise and dance-like. It was more animal like where he was instinctively careful not to make any sound with his steps.
"How can you not know what you want to do with your life?" Paul laughed. I looked at him.
"What do you want to do with your life?" I retorted. His smile faded a little.
"My future's already set. It is for all of us. We protect the Quileute land until we can't phase anymore," he said, his voice more solemn. I was suddenly regretting asking him. I decided to change the subject.
"What do you think I should do when I grow up?" I asked. Paul chuckled.
"You want me to decide your future?" he asked. I shrugged.
"Sure. Why not?" I said. His grin dimmed to a slightly more serious look. It was one of those intense stares that immediately made me self conscious. His gaze wasn't judging though. They never left my eyes, so I just blushed.
"I wouldn't care what you did as long as you were near me," Paul said. I smiled as I was flustered to silence. Paul let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders in a protective hold. Somehow he managed to kiss my hair and continue toward the bluffs never missing a step. "You're so cute when you do that."
"Do what?" I asked pretending like I didn't know what he was talking about.
"When you're at a loss for words just because someone said something nice," he said. I looked sideways at him. "You normally have a retort for everything."
"What can I say when you've found your own form of werewolf dazzling?" I said blushing the same way though I unintentionally added a ridiculously big smile.
"Werewolf dazzling?"
"As opposed to vampire dazzling," I said. The subject of vampires put a serious damper on the mood. Now Paul was frowning at his own feet. I waited for him to ask what I was talking about, but it was something that Paul didn't want to bring up. We reached the bluffs in silence. Rocky walls sprang from the sands edge up to clouds.
I stopped to gaze at them and their majestic size for a moment when Paul called me, his voice giving a tunnel's echo. I followed him down a small opening up a slice of wet sand. Paul ducked underneath the opening to the dark space. I couldn't see anything.
"What is this?" I asked hearing my own voice echo. I heard the sound of a click and a the glow of a flame came from a lighter than Paul had in his hand.
"You carry a lighter?" I asked him, confused since the only people I knew who carried lighters were smokers.
"Yup. I save it for special occasions," he said with a wolfish grin. That grin struck panic in me as I pieced together what "special occasions" a werewolf would need a lighter for. I swallowed the hollow feeling in my gut as Paul turned toward the walls. I followed him.
"You like legends?" he asked. I inwardly groaned.
"I know your legends," I said. I only had to read them once. It was a part in Twilight that I always skipped because of all the vampire bashing in them. Paul had a strange look as he realized where I knew his legends from.
"All of them?" he asked.
"Some," I said. "Probably not all." Paul turned his lighter toward the wall. I stood beside him. "What are these?"
"Finally, something you don't know about beforehand," he teased. The orange glow flickered and I saw something that stunned me. They were Native American drawings on the wall. Many of them were wolves. Some of them looked the classic Native American style of rough sketches of hunts and celebrations. But there were others, more recent ones where there were pictures of women and men. Wolves that could have been sketched by Leonardo di Vinci.
"Cool," I gasped. Cool didn't even cover it. I was in awe of the different styles, the different ages which each sketch came from.
"We have meetings in here sometimes. Packs have met in here for centuries, sometimes they camped in here when guarding the land from bloodsuckers in the water," Paul said, his voice dreamily lost in some memories. Some pictures were of vampires too. They were too beautiful, but always angry or menacing. Some of them were crouched over dead bodies. In other drawings they would have wolves tearing pieces of the vampires bodies as they screamed in pain.
I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to say something about that. But now Paul was showing me his history and the non-vegetarian vampires were a part of that. The wolves had made a lifestyle of saving people from them, and I understood their prejudice, but a part of me started to feel torn.
I turned my attention toward the more appealing pictures of men and women holding each other. I assumed the women were former imprints and wives.
"So..." he said. "I'm guessing from your surprise that Bella won't know about this."
I nodded as there was no point in denying it.
"The water comes in and floods the cave during high tide," he said. That made me uneasy. Paul seemed to sense it. "Don't worry. I'll protect you from the big scary ocean." I glowered at him playfully. I touched the smooth moist walls. When I turned to face Paul again he was right beside me.
I smiled at him.
"Thank you for showing me this. It's beautiful," I said. His dark eyes searched mine and he pulled me gently to kiss him. It was a quick kiss, but when we pulled away we were still lingering too close together. The tension thickened. It surprised me that I was the first to come impatient. I stood on my tip toes to take advantage of his leaning in and kissed him more passionately.
The lighter went out and clattered to the floor somewhere. In the dark, it was easier to lose ourselves and I felt Paul pull me closer to him and deepen the kiss.
That's about the time my cell phone rang out. Its sharp tone played an awful rendition of salsa music and obnoxiously shattered the peace of the cave. Paul growled against my lips as I tried to pull away. He was reluctant, holding me tighter so I couldn't escape.
"Paul," I said, muffled. Paul pulled away irritated and his hands fell off my hips. I wound my purse around me and pulled out the cell phone which lit a harsh glow around the cave. I looked at the caller ID and gasped. Slightly panicked I answered it.
"Edward?"
"Come to the border now," Edward growled dangerously into the phone. It scared me that it was so different from last night. I remembered Bella accusing Edward of having a multiple personality disorder, and I could see it very clearly now. "Bring the pack. We need to have a word."
His tone sent shivers through me. Paul was at my side instantly.
"Tell him to go play with his own human. You're busy," Paul said. I waved my hand in his direction to quiet him.
"What's wrong?" I asked Edward
"I don't have a lot of time. Just come to the border," he said.
"Tell me what is wrong," I demanded right back at him.
"I am sick of them overstepping their boundaries. They've crossed the line one too many times," Edward said. Then I remembered. Billy Black was at Bella's house, trying to warn her. Edward had been tolerant of them coming to my house, but when it came to Bella you could only push Edward so far.
I hurried to explain the situation before he could jump to conclusions.
"Billy was just going to-"
"I know what he's going to do. He has no right to. He's not supposed to be here," Edward said every word seething.
"Are you eavesdropping?" I asked him.
"No. I'm currently running home to get the Jeep," he said. I was momentarily surprised that he was running on the phone at the same time. He would have to have told me to know. I could hear no uneven breaths, no footsteps hitting the ground. Paul gave an irritated sigh in the dark. I turned to face him.
"I'll tell them to back off," I said to Edward.
"Back off?" Paul echoed.
"Is Sam there?" Edward said.
"No. Just Paul," I said.
"I want to talk to Sam. We need to discuss this. I will not tolerate them filling Bella's mind with their prejudices," Edward said agitatedly.
"Look," I said. I hurried to calculate the current events. Today was the day of the baseball game, which meant the hunt would begin tonight. Edward and Bella were going to be very busy the next few days and neither of them knew it. I took advantage of it. "You don't have time to talk to them. Just spend the day with Bella like you planned, I'll arrange for Sam to meet you tomorrow. You should wait to cool off anyway."
Edward groaned agitated. He sighed.
"Very well," he said through clenched teeth.
"Have fun tonight. Don't worry about Bella." I knew my well-wishing was futile, but I wasn't about to give Edward anything to be suspicious about what was in store for the night. He muttered a thank you and said good bye. I hung up. Paul looked at me.
"What did it want? It didn't sound like it was being very nice to you," Paul said looking annoyed.
"Edward was just annoyed because you guys crossed the border again. Billy showed up at Bella's to warn her and Edward wasn't very happy about it," I said. Paul snorted.
"She deserves to know," he said.
"She already knows everything. She figured it out on her own and Edward filled her in on the details," I said. Paul stiffened. It was safe to tell him, since Bella already told Billy that she was quite well informed. Paul looked at me and then sighed again. He rolled his eyes and pulled on my hand, leading me out of the cave.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"To tell Sam," Paul said annoyed that our romantic afternoon was now completely ruined. I felt a little guilty for dropping that bombshell now, but it was going to come up. Today was the sort of day where a couple things might come up.
We came outside and the sun was already dipping onto the ocean's horizon behind the thick clouds. The days felt much shorter in the Northwest. Or maybe it was just Forks. I struggled to keep up with his long strides as Paul towed me along.
"Tell me everything Bella knows now," Paul said looking over his shoulder. He led the way through the small tree line. I frowned, not liking his tone.
"She knows about the Cullens," I said deciding to not make a big deal over his bossiness.
"That's it?" Paul asked as we reached the parking lot.
"Well, and the general knowledge about vampires," I said.
"And now that she knows is she going to stay away from the bloodsucker?" Paul asked. I scoffed.
"Of course not!" Paul shook his head.
"What your fascination with the leeches is, I'll never know," Paul said under his breath, but still loud enough for me to hear. He went straight to the driver side, ignoring my now bad mood. My defensive behavior was returning. I scowled at him from across the car as I got in the passenger side.
"They didn't do anything wrong," I reminded. Paul flashed a dark look at me.
"It's not safe for you or her," Paul said. I rolled my eyes and reached for the seat belt.
"It's safer than you think. There's no one better protected than Bella which is a good thing because she has a knack for attracting trouble," I said half grumbling. Paul started the car.
"What kind of trouble?" Paul asked, his interest piqued. He was fishing for information I realized. That special feeling Paul gave me vanished instantly as the lines seemed to be drawn again. There were sides and according to both vampires and werewolves I had to choose whose tool I wanted to be.
I was starting to get to feel like an encyclopedia, only useful for information.
"Like vans," I said. "Edward saved her from getting hit by a van at school. How dangerous is someone who saves people's lives?"
"Very dangerous. Some predators like to toy with their prey," Paul said. My eyes narrowed at the analogy. I had a feeling he was thinking of the Cullens as cats, and Bella and I were the mice. Fury boiled under my skin.
"These predators were originally human just like you. They still have their conscience. They're not terrible monsters," I said. Paul's hands squeezed the steering wheel in irritation. He looked at me once as we peeled out of the parking lot.
"Let's not talk about this," he said in a low voice. I'll admit he was the bigger person for suggesting we drop the subject. I knew if he let me I would defend the Cullens to my last breath. That didn't stop me from pouting.
I folded my arms so he couldn't try to hold my hand as he drove like he'd been making a habit out of.
"Fine," I snapped looking away from him to face the window. It was a better choice not to go head to head with Paul in an argument. That fight would have no winners. We drove in a tense silence all the way back to Sam's. It began to rain heavily on the way there. The only sound between us was Paul clicking on the windshield wipers.
We pulled into Sam's driveway. I let myself out and Paul also slammed the door behind him. We walked in the front door and stepped inside. Sam was sitting on the couch watching the weather channel and Jared had come over sometime when we were gone.
"The bloodsucker called her," Paul reported dutifully. I was behind him, but I glared at his back. Sam looked at me.
"What did he say?" Sam asked.
"He was just upset that Billy and Jacob crossed the border," I said. "It was no big deal."
"Bella knows everything," Paul interrupted. Sam's eyes went wide as he exchanged a look with Jared. I had to step in before anyone started making assumptions about how much Bella knew.
"Not everything," I said interrupting him right back. Paul turned to look at me over his shoulder. His frown was set in place. I ignored it. "She knows about the Cullens. They told her about vampires. She doesn't know anything about you guys. The Cullens would never share that information."
"It didn't scare her off," Paul said. Sam sighed.
"Well, then there's nothing more we can do," he said regretfully.
"Are you sure?" Paul asked. I shot him a look.
"What do you suggest be done?" I asked him accusingly.
"I think we need to talk to them about boundaries between them and other humans," Paul confessed. I'd never been more infuriated. Sam didn't look like he agreed with him. However, the tension between Paul and I was getting the concern of the entire room. Jared looked to Sam, ready for orders.
"The Cullens are not dangerous," I said. Paul scoffed.
"Right," he said unbelieving as he rolled his eyes. "Man-eating monsters living in a town full of people. That's not dangerous." I was very, very tempted to bring up the topic of danger and werewolves. I could barely contain it, but this was hardly the company to target their weakness as Emily had just entered the room.
I narrowed my eyes at him wishing for one second that he had Edward's mind-reading ability. It was getting to be very difficult to keep myself well behaved in werewolf territory. When I exploded with everything I was bottling up, it was not going to be pretty.
For now I was just going to have to turn the other cheek.
"Alright. Quit it," Sam ordered thankfully. I heaved a heavy sigh, refusing to look at Paul as I turned my attention to one of the generic hotel-like paintings on the wall. Emily looked quickly to Sam for reassurance. He nodded once and she passed by us into the next room.
The room was still tense, and I found myself wishing that Jasper were here to calm us down. I unclenched all my muscles and sat into the remaining armchair in the room settling my purse in my lap. Paul went to the back of the house and I didn't bother to try to follow him. In the comfortable home I was getting a familiar unwelcome feeling. I stared at the television pretending to be interested in the fact that there was supposed to be thunderstorms in Forks today and that the Cullens were on their way to the baseball game.
Worry dropped to the bit of my stomach making me feel sick. Once again I had to worry if something was going to go terribly wrong.
What if the tiniest thing was out of place? What if James did try and kill Bella in the field? What if he succeeded? Was I to blame? Had I been paying close enough attention to make sure things was going according to story or was I being irresponsible by spending my time with a irritating gorgeous werewolf?
I wanted to go home to worry in private, but that didn't seem like the best idea with what was going to happen in Forks. Thunder clapped outside making me jump and I had to press my lips to suppress my surprised yelp. Sam and Jared both looked at me, then to each other, and back at the television.
"Something is going to happen, isn't it?" Sam asked suspiciously. The statement caught me off guard. I made my eyes wide and innocent.
"No," I lied. Sam looked at Jared, then he looked back at me.
"Please tell us," Sam said patiently as he leaned forward in his sitting position.
"If there was something you needed to know I would tell you," I assured them. Sam looked down at the coffee table in front of him deliberating. Paul suddenly appeared in the doorway of the room, his arms folded across his muscular chest as he leaned on the frame.
"What you think we need to know and what I think we need to know seem to be very different," Sam said calmly, but underlying tones of frustration were there. I met his dark eyes.
"The difference being that I know for certain what you need to know," I challenged. My patience only goes so far. Sam and I had a brief exchange. Though he was irritated, he didn't push any further. Maybe by now he knew that my information was well kept. Both Paul and Jared were tense, but relaxed the moment Sam leaned back against the couch and changed the channel to a basketball game which Charlie was probably also watching somewhere in Forks.
TBC... It's going to be an exciting night.