Gabby's POV

I was sitting in my room at Sam and Emily's.

Mine and Embry's little test to see if we could communicate with each other had cause quite a stir. Sam and Jacob were off talking it over and they had ordered me and Embry to our respective houses. I didn't really have anywhere else to go so I was happy to crash in my room. That was almost six hours ago.

Emily – who wasn't aware of what happened – had invited me to Port Angeles, with her, Kim and Rachel, which I had quickly declined. Even if Rachel hadn't been going – and I wasn't looking at being in a fuck load of trouble - there was no way that I would join them on their shopping excursion, I had never liked shopping.

Despite being angry at me I was allowed to come back to town alone.

It was nice not having someone following me everywhere. So now I could lounge around my room, doing whatever I wanted without worrying what my babysitter thought about it. I found myself relaxing better because I didn't feel like I was taking up time from others, even though I was a little worried that Sam was going to lose it when he got back.

My bedroom door opened and a shadow darted in before the door closed softly. I was lying on my back on the dog bed with my feet pushed up into the corner of the walls. I rolled my head back, leaning most of my weight on the top of my skull, in order to see who had burst into my room.

I didn't know how to react to him, whether to be angry or happy to see him. I wanted to punch him, to yell at him to leave me alone, but another part, just big enough to fight my anger, wanted to let him stay, to listen to him talk.

Paul strolled over to the bed and sat down at the foot, taping the mattress beside me to call me over to him. I just stared at him, knowing that I shouldn't sit next to him. He shouldn't even be in here, he'd said that himself.

"I was worried about you."

"Oh, fuck off Paul." I snapped, he was confusing the crap out of me. First we weren't allowed to be alone together and now he thought I was avoiding him.

"There's no need to be mean." Paul pulled an over exaggerated frown.

I relaxed and slumped into the dog bed, rolling onto my hands and knees so I could look at him right way up. Sitting back on my calves I could feel the anger starting to heat the blood in my veins, "You can't do this. You can't tell me to leave you alone and then burst in here alone. It's not fair."

"You're trying to tell me what's not fair? What's not fair is that I would give anything to touch you but can't because it might hurt Rachel. I shouldn't really care but I do."

"So that's my fault? You're going to torture me because you're worried you might hurt the woman that's leaving you." My blood was getting hotter every moment that I spent with him.

"It's complicated." Paul sighed.

"Well, I don't like complicated. I don't need any more complicate in my life. So please, Paul, leave."

"I can't."

"You fucking can, you're just being an arse and don't want to." I stood up and glared at him.

"I love the way you say 'arse'." Paul smiled as he stood up and made to step towards me.

"Don't! Seriously Paul, I'm not going to be the other woman. You're either with me or you're with Rachel. You can't have both."

"I don't want both." Paul's voice was strong but gentle, and he ignored my request for him to stop so that he could stand before me, "I'm going to talk to Rachel tonight. I promise."

"Then come back tomorrow. I don't want you around while you're still her boyfriend."

"Why?" He asked simply as he ran the back of his fingers across my cheek, it angered me how much I loved the feel of his touch.

"You know damn well why." I pushed him away. It was either that or... I don't want to think of what I'd have done if I hadn't pushed him away.

"It's as good as over, why can't we make the most of chances when we get them?"

"Because she still thinks you're together."

"No she doesn't!" Paul yelled and his hands started to shake, "She's leaving me, remember? We are already over."

"Then why do you have to talk to her, huh?"

"Because it seems like the polite thing to do."

"Fucking hell, Paul." I pushed him in the chest, knowing full well that he was getting angry but not caring enough to restrain myself, "Either we can or can't be alone together. And at the moment I'm thinking it's a 'can't'. How am I supposed to understand you when you can't even follow your own requests?"

"Rachel is leaving me for another guy. It's not like she's innocent in this whole thing."

Paul wasn't the only one starting to tremble now and I thought of how it would feel to punch him in his overly attractive face, "Two wrongs don't make a right. Have you actually broken up with her? Does she still call you her boyfriend?"

"To other people she does but betw-" Paul started but I didn't care for his excuses.

"But nothing. Sort all this out because if you do this," I gestured around the room to indicate that we were alone, "before she's stopped calling you 'her boyfriend' then I will make you regret it."

I opened the door and motioned for him to leave.

Once he was in the hall I slammed the door shut and my heart sunk.

It wasn't fair. I wanted to have been able to enjoy being with Paul. I'd wanted that encounter to end the same way the last two had. But at the moment the thought of seeing Paul annoyed me. I couldn't stand the thought of having to sneak around behind Rachel's back and I knew that was why he'd come over.

Rachel wasn't home, she was in Port Angeles; so whatever we did there was no risk of her walking in. The fact that that would even be a consideration against being with Paul only made me angrier with him.

Why couldn't it be simple? Why couldn't Paul have never imprinted or Rachel have already left? Why did I always want what I couldn't have?

Paul's POV

I stood staring at Gabby's bedroom door. That had not gone anywhere near how I had wanted it to.

The plan had been to walk in there and have her smile at me. To have her sit beside me so that we could just be together. I didn't want to do anything sleazy or inappropriate, I just wanted to be near her. I wanted to support her because what we'd just heard was beyond weird.

I turned towards the backdoor of Sam's house and started the short walk back to mine and Rachel's. Well, mine really; seeing how Rachel was leaving this coming weekend. She was so close to gone and it felt like I was the only one that knew. She still hadn't told Billy or Jacob, no doubt they would hold me responsible. But I wasn't concerned about that, Gabby was all that mattered to me at the moment. And now she was angry at me.

I didn't blame her for how she was thinking; I had probably been a little hasty in telling her we couldn't be alone together. Part of me thought it would be romantic for me to have said we shouldn't but then gone against it, like I was breaking a rule that shouldn't be broken.

Who was I kidding? Of course, Gabby wouldn't be the sort of girl who would like that sort of thing.

I just couldn't stand not knowing whether or not she was alright. She'd looked like she'd passed out when we'd come across her and Embry in the woods. And I was so worried that she was hurt. Several of the others had found my concern a little over the top but I had ignored them, Gabby was my only worry.

I just wanted her to be alright. I just want her to be happy.

I'd heard her thoughts the other day, as she'd patrolled with Collin. And she'd sounded happy although a little down trodden. I'd thought hearing her would have been enough but it wasn't. I needed to be around her, needed to see her face and her beautiful body.

At least it was Collin she was patrolling with. I don't think I could handle Brady being around her. He was a good guy and had taken her rejection well but the thought that she'd had to reject him made me angry. He'd done it to try and help me stop thinking about Gabby, like her being with him would change how I felt.

I didn't like how things were working out but there was no way that her being with someone else was going to make things any better. The thought of it made me sick. The thought of anyone, ever, touching her the way I wanted to...

And now I felt like an even bigger dick.

While I was fuming over Brady thinking about being with Gabby, I was still technically with Rachel. It wasn't like I was still sleeping with Rachel, we shared a bed but it was just habit. We slept on opposite edges and never touched anymore. Still, it couldn't be easy for Gabby, thinking that me and Rachel were still a true couple.

I reach my front door and walked in. I wasn't concerned with theft because not only was it insanely rare in La Push, but I was a shifter. I could easily phase and track down the perpetrator. I really wasn't worried about anything like that.

There were boxes lining the hall and the bedroom light was on. Rachel was home. I hadn't expected her home so early but I figured this was as good a time as any.

"Rachel?"

"In the bedroom." She called back.

I opened the door and found her standing by the closet, looking at herself in the mirror as she held a dress against her front. She smiled in the mirror as I walked in, she had a lovely smile. This was why I didn't want to talk to Rachel about it. When she wasn't around I wasn't concerned with her reaction, but when I saw that delicate face... I couldn't dream of hurting her.

"We need to talk." I said as I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Is it about Gabby?" Rachel asked softly as she put the dress down on the bed and looked up at me.

To say I was shocked was a little bit of an understatement, "Kind of."

"Okay, then maybe you should tell me more." She pulled her feet up onto the bed and sat with her legs crossed.