chapter 25

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 that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.

[AN: as you have already pretty much noted, it's Leah who is going to have the most issues with this. Poor conflicted Leah. Still not happy with her wolf.]

Leah woke as Paul tried to creep away. She hissed at him, "Get back to bed."

"You don't want me here," he argued.

She rolled her eyes. They could speak and hear at a volume that wouldn't wake Bella. "Doesn't matter. If she wakes up and you aren't here, I'll be the one in trouble."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't give a fuck. Get back into bed."

"Well, when you ask so nicely-"

"And don't give me any crap," she interrupted.

"Uh, huh."

He stood, looking at the bed and then deliberately walked around to Leah's side.

"Fucking asshole," she swore at him.

He smiled at her. He didn't move.

"Fine," she huffed. She shuffled back up against Bella pushing her over and leaving a space for him. Bella made some small sleepy noise of complaint. Leah folded her arms across her chest. She didn't want to show him her back and she wasn't sure why. Maybe she didn't want him behind her. He was usually behind her when they had sex.

She reached down and grabbed the top sheet, covering her body as she lay down again. She tucked it up under her armpits.

"Seen it," he snickered.

"Don't care."

He lay on his side facing her. He was right on the edge of the mattress.

They stared at each other. She deliberately didn't look lower. He wasn't under the sheet.

"You argued over me. Sorry," he said.

"Yeah, right."

"I - I didn't know where else to go."

She frowned at him. He could have mourned on his own, but she felt bad for even thinking like that. He had been so distraught the night before.

"How's your dad?"

"I dunno. Didn't wait to find out."

"You should call him today."

"Yeah. I will." He looked sad again.

She sighed.

He reached a hand out and brushed a finger down her arm where it lay outside of the covers.

She ignored him. "Is she right?" Leah asked him.

"Who?"

He got a look for that.

"Bella. Is she right?" she asked.

He just looked at her and didn't answer her.

"You heard; don't pretend you didn't. She had a theory."

He took a breath. "She's still here. You're still here."

Leah had threatened that they were done if Bella let him in. So he had heard them talking. "Yeah," she grunted it.

"And I'm here," he added.

"I know." Her eyes narrowed at him.

"And you're here." He managed to make the second 'here' sound different. It somehow implied that she was with him.

She frowned at him again. "Here?"

"With me."

"I'm not with you. I'm with her."

"Both," he argued.

"Pfft."

He shuffled a tiny bit closer to her. "Leah?"

She stared at a point on his chest. She wanted to close her eyes.

"What do you want?" she whined.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"Bella gets it."

"So she is right?"

"Would it be so bad?"

"Answer the question."

"You."

"What?"

"The second I phased, my wolf ran to you. He wants you. That's why I'm here. With you." He shuffled the last bit closer. Their bodies touched now, with the sheet the thinnest armor between them.

"What about Bella?"

"I want her, too."

"You can't want both."

"I think I can. Wolf and man. Isn't that what you want?"

"I-I don't think so."

"I disagree. Your wolf wants me, Leah and you want Bella."

She was silent.

"It was so obvious that Sam pointed it out to me. He saw me talking to Bella. He said that I had promised a girl I cared about, to stay away from another girl I cared about in a different way."

"I don't like you wanting her," she grizzled. "And I don't like you wanting me."

"Liar."

"Pfft."

"You know we are like lie detectors, Leah. You can't lie to me even if you can lie to yourself."

"I don't want you," she argued desperately.

"Lying," he whispered. His face was so close to hers now.

"I don't," she insisted.

"Lying." He leaned in.

She tried to put her hand on his chest to hold him away from her. But touching him was a mistake. She made a tiny groan. He pushed his face under hers and brushed her lips. She inhaled. All she could smell was him; him and Bella.

He kissed her. It was gentle and sweet. His lips pressed just at the edge of hers. He didn't push it any further. He shifted his head back on the pillow, until he could focus on her and then he watched her.

She wasn't sure what to do. Her head was full of memory flashes of them fucking but, he had just kissed her and then stopped. "I'm sorry about your mom," she blurted out.

He made a shrug movement. "Crack whore."

"Yeah, but still… she was your mother."

"Was." He blinked quickly.

She didn't want him to cry again. She touched his cheek carefully.

"I'm okay," he preempted.

"I know."

"Now, that I'm here with you two," he added.

She stared at him.

He kissed her again; just a brush of their lips. He always felt the right temperature to her. The same as her.

"I don't want to fuck," she said quickly.

"Me either. That would ruin it."

"Pfft. You turn down fucks these days?" Phew, she had re-found her snarky side.

"I do. All the time."

She blinked. "Since us?" she guessed

"Yeah. I turned down Gemma."

"That is hardly proof of-"

"And some others."

"And then you left. They missed you and bitched about that."

"Who did?"

"I don't know their names. Heard them complaining at the gas station."

He chuckled. He shifted his body against hers. Pushing her back a little.

She could feel him. It was almost worse to feel him through the sheet. "They said it was my fault."

"It was Bella's," he pointed out.

"She did ask you to go, but I am hardly going to tell them that."

"No."

"You are pushing into my…" she stopped. She was going to say nest. But it felt silly to say it to him. "World," she finished.

"That was not what you were going to say."

She squirmed. He was too damn perceptive.

"What were you going to say?" he pressed.

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

She rolled her eyes. "Nest."

"What?"

"I told Mom, you wanted into my nest."

He chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"That is such a cute image."

"Cute?"

"You and Bella. Clucking like little birds… in your nest." He poked her in the stomach with a finger.

"Fuck you."

He grinned at her. "Yeah." Confident Paul was back for a minute.

"We can push you out."

"Sure, you can."

"No, we can. Anytime we want."

"I know." He looked serious. "But I'll fly."

"Fly?"

"Shove me out and I'll fly right back to you both."

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say, and you've said some stupid shit before."

"Really? I thought it was kind of romantic."

"I thought it was adorable," piped up Bella.

"Shit. Sorry, did we wake you up?" Leah asked.

"I've been half awake for a while. But you got louder ages ago. Probably hearing my name, and being shoved over in my own bed," she added. She rolled over and slid up the bed to above Leah's head so that she could see them both.

Paul smiled at her. "Morning."

She reached past Leah to brush his hair with her hand. "How are you?" She looked concerned.

"I'm okay."

Her breasts pressed against Leah's back. She ruffled Leah's hair too. "And you?"

"Upset. There's a fucking cuckoo in my nest."

"Cock-who?" he asked.

Bella laughed.

"Don't encourage him," Leah whined.

"Leah. He's here now and from the way he is talking, he intends to stay."

"It's not up to him," Leah said. "We all have to want this."

"I think I want it," said Bella quietly. Leah's heart fell.

"Me, too," said Paul.

He glanced at Bella. "Leah wants it, too. She was kissing me."

"Oh, jeez. Do you have to tell her that?"

"I told you, you were lying to yourself, don't lie to her, too."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Too close to reminding Bella that Leah had lied to her before.

"Stop it, both of you," Bella insisted. "Now I approve of you two kissing, anyway."

"So, how do I prove my epic awesomeness to you?" Paul asked. "Go on a quest? Kill something for you?"

"I can kill my own damn stuff, thank you very much," Leah grumbled.

"Give up something for you?" Bella suggested.

"I've done that," he said with a double eyebrow lift.

"Giving up fucking skanks is not much of a sacrifice," Leah argued.

"Oh, you have?" Bella asked.

"Yep. For you two."

"Thank you." She leaned forward for a kiss.

"Don't reward him! As if that was a sacrifice," Leah complained. "He wasn't even here."

"It was something. And you hated it. So it was the right thing to do." Bella leaned past Leah to kiss him.

He kissed her back, but put his hands on Leah to do it.

She sighed again, squished between them.

"Hated them, huh?" he teased Leah.

"He's staying," Bella insisted.

Paul winked at Leah and she growled at him.

"That's a point. No more skanks. No cheating," Leah insisted.

"Okay." He grinned. "Same rules for you two."

There was a short silence.

"So I can stay?" he asked, quietly.

"I thought you said you weren't moving in."

"I did and I'm not. I'll keep living at my place. Doubt the rez could cope with that. Seriously," he said, "I'll take whatever you want to give me." He sounded very serious.

"That doesn't sound like much of a deal," Bella said.

"Honestly, Bella. I've never dated anyone… ever. I am not going to leap into living together. I think that would be too much for us all. And Leah has some issues about it."

She growled at him again.

"That's pretty clear," he added.

"Seth told me that you'd never had a real girlfriend," Bella said.

"Cheeky pup," Paul said.

"Thank you for being honest," Bella said. "I worry about it, too. I worry that you are both wolves and I will be pushed out. That I won't be enough for you."

"No," protested Leah. "I don't want to lose you." She twisted around to try and see Bella's face. Their hands reached for her and pulled her over to them. They all shifted on the bed so that Bella lay between Leah and Paul.

"I had a nightmare," Bella whispered.

"The other night when you woke up crying?" Leah asked. She peered worriedly into Bella's face.

Bella nodded. "I thought I had lost you."

"Oh, Baby," Leah crooned. "Why didn't you tell me?" she hugged Bella.

"I didn't want to worry you. It was just a stupid nightmare."

They both hugged her. Paul plastered her back up against his chest. His arm around her waist, holding her snuggly.

"I'm glad you came back, Paul. I am sorry about your mother, but I missed you when you went away." Her fingers played with the veins on his arm. She remembered doing that before, the first time they had sex.

He kissed her hair. "Thanks, Munchkin."

"I want to try it, Leah," Bella appealed to her. "If it doesn't work out,… well, we can deal with that, if it happens."

"But you were so upset when Paul and I fucked."

"I was upset that you didn't keep your word. I told you that at the time. Paul asked me what I wanted, when we spoke at the building site. And I think that I want to try having you both in my life. If that's okay with you two. And because we are being honest, I think you should know that we know you initially played us, Paul. We worked it out."

She could feel his body stiffen behind her. Leah looked at him.

"But," Bella continued, "we also thought that was how it started, not how it finished."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, you're right," he confessed.

"When you went away, you showed us that you were trying the hardest," Bella said. "It's just ... circumstances… that have made you come back now."

He kissed her shoulder, and then rested his forehead on it. He looked as if he was trying to hide behind her body.

"Paul," Leah said, softly.

"Yes," he muttered.

"You need to call your father."

"I know. He had to drive to Tacoma."

Bella understood. "There will have to be a funeral."

He shook his head behind Bella's back. "I-I c-can't."

"We will go with you," she said.

"Of course we will," agreed Leah.