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Hope you like this chapter.
Part IV- Imprint
Chapter 17- You and Me
"Where is he?" I muttered aloud, as I shifted at my place, glancing at the watch for possibly the fifth time in the past ten minutes, only to realize that it hardly been three minutes since I had last checked the time. I guess the saying is true, if you keep staring at the clock it will go much slower than you want it to.
I sighed, as I once again tried calling his phone number, only to get the same message for voicemail. Why he was not picking up his phone was beyond my understanding. He knew that he was supposed to be here fifteen minutes back. The movie was about to begin, and he very well knew how I liked to be settled in my seat before the previews ended.
"Damn it!" I cursed aloud, in annoyance and irritation. I glared at the tickets in my hand, as if there was any fault of theirs in this delay. He was going to have it from me if he turned up after the movie began. This was his idea in the first place.
"Whoa!" I heard a surprised voice call, as I turned in the direction of the voice "Who pissed you off?"
I shrugged at him, a bit of my anger disappearing at his sight "What are you doing here, Paul?"
He gave me a small cheeky smile in return "Assuming we are outside a movie theatre, the options are pretty narrowed down, don't you think?"
I rolled my eyes, mumbling an 'ass' at his sarcasm.
"I didn't know you were coming to Port Angeles today." I said, a bit surprised to see him here. "Are you here alone?"
I looked around him to see if he was with anyone, or if anyone was following, but could not see anyone I recognized in the lot of crowd that was standing outside the theatre on a busy Saturday. I crossed my fingers hoping that he would not say that he was here on a date. I really didn't know how I would react to that, if he would indeed say so.
He shrugged "My company seems to have disappeared."
"Tell me about it." I said with a nod of the head.
"So, who were you supposed to be here with?" he asked, as he glanced at the two tickets that were still tightly held in my hand. His voice was tenser than normal, something that caused me a bit of worry, but I decided against bringing it up at the moment.
"Embry" I said with a sigh "I was guilt tripped by him, something about how I don't have enough time for my brother anymore, and how we used to spend time together as kids. He looked so heartbroken that I just couldn't ignore his puppy dog eyes." I said with a brief laugh "So, who are you supposed to be here with?"
"Cherry" he said, with a shake of the head "I too was guilt tripped. She was saying how she is here only for a few more weeks now, and we should go see a movie together, create new memories….." he trailed off, waving his hand in air in his version of saying 'Blah Blah Blah'.
"Oh" I whispered, something about him spending time with Cherry just didn't sit well with me. I know I know it was the green eyed monster rearing its ugly head, but hadn't we done so well with it these past few days? I had almost forgotten of her presence, key word here being almost.
"So, where is she now?" I questioned, a part of me was rejoicing that she had ditched him, however mean that sounded, but another part of me was also upset that Paul was here waiting for someone who was a no-show. He did not deserve to be bailed on, ever.
"She was supposed to meet me here. She had some shopping to be done, so had left La Push early."
I nodded my head in answer "Did you think of calling her?"
He gave me a look of absolute disbelief, almost as if he was calling out on the ridiculousness of my question "Of course. I don't live in the stone ages, you know. I generally, like normal people, tend to call if someone tells me that they will meet me somewhere, but is late to the meeting."
"You are a smart-ass you know that?" I smirked at him, as he laughed back.
"Yeah, I have been told so." "To answer your question though, her phone is constantly coming busy since the past forty minutes. Damn, the woman can surely talk."
I laughed at the expression of mock wonder on his face, before suddenly stopping and blushing when I realized that he had been staring at me, the expression on his face one of awe.
"What" I whispered, looking at the ground in a futile attempt to hide the ridiculous blush that was covering my face.
He shook his head "It is just that you look beautiful when you laugh."
The blush on my face intensified as involuntarily a small smile made its place on my face as I listened to him speak.
He shook his head once again, smiling at me "And, you are doing it again."
"What" I questioned, slightly confused by his words.
"Making my heart melt with your blush" He said with a wink.
My mouth dropped open as my eyes widened. Did Paul Lahote just flirt with me? Or was that just my wishful thinking?
"Umm, I" I started, not really knowing where I was going with this. What do you reply to something like that? You possibly can't just say 'thank you' and be done with it. Sure, I had been on the receiving end of a few flirty lines over the years, but they were never by those who I wanted to be flirted by.
You get my dilemma?
"So, I…" I tried once again. Why can't my brain just work when I want or rather need it to?
'How difficult is it to form a sentence, stupid brain?' I chided myself, internally, before looking at the ground in hope that it would open up and swallow me whole.
Paul chuckled, before changing the topic and saving me from my embarrassment "So, did you try calling Embry?"
I nodded my head, still a bit flushed "It is going to voicemail. He can't drive still, well obviously, so once we reached here, he told me to get the tickets, while he went to meet his 'future girlfriend'." I said with a roll of the eyes, repeating his spoken words with an emphasis on future girlfriend, "Apparently, one of his classmates is here in Port Angeles, out for some shopping in the mall next door, and he just had to see her, the reason for which is beyond my comprehension though. I mean they see each other almost every day in La Push, why does he just 'have' to see her here too?" I raised my eyebrow at the ludicrousness of the situation.
Paul chuckled "We see each other in La Push too, and still we are meeting here out of everywhere."
"Yeah, but this was a coincidence." I whispered, feeling shy all of a sudden as Paul kept staring at me, with something akin adoration in his eyes.
"Freaky coincidence" He said with a nod.
"Yeah" I agreed with him "I mean what is the probability that the both of us end up coming to the same theatre in the same place at the same time, and both of us get bailed on? It is a freaky coincidence."
He nodded his head in agreement, before going quiet for a few minutes, as if thinking of something.
"So" I started, the idea of seeing a movie with Paul budding in my mind. Come on, this had to be fate, right? Why else would we both end up standing in front of a theatre with two movie tickets in my hand?
"So" he said, almost as hesitant as me. It was strange in a way, we had been friends for so long, but add in the revelation of an imprint, and boom we were just two confused people who did not know how to act around one another anymore "So, you have two tickets in hand." He stated, nervously, giving me the idea that he too was thinking of the same thing as me.
I nodded my head, hastily "Yeah, and I really want to see the movie. It is this sci-fi movie I have been waiting for since months."
Well, the last part was a big fat lie. Before today I had never even heard the name of this movie, forget waiting months for it, but I guess for the good of a person, a few lies are acceptable.
"Me too" he said, excitedly, almost giving me the impression that he would have said the same lines even if I would have told him that the movie I was seeing was a classic chick-flick.
In that case, at least we were on the same page, even if neither of us was brave enough to take the first step. I gave out a sigh of relief at that thought.
"So, I have two tickets, and you want to see the same movie as me. So it just doesn't make sense to let one go in waste." I said, crossing my fingers, trying to convince him to say yes through my foolish blabbering attempts.
"I know right" he said, enthusiastically "I totally think we should see this movie together."
"Yeah" I said with a shrug of nonchalance "It is not like this is the first movie we are going to see together." I said, ignoring the small little detail wherein though we had seen movies before together, they had been in a group, never alone, and never in this way which seemed like a date. "And it not like it is a date?" I left my question hanging in mid air.
Please say that it is a date! Please say that it is a date! Please say that it is a date!
A girl can hope, can't she?
"Yeah" he huffed, in a tone that was clearly meant to state the exact opposite of his words "Let's do this."
I nodded my head instantly "Yeah, the movie is just about to begin. We better hurry."
He nodded his head too and followed me inside before either of us could over think on this, both of us unaware that two set of eyes had just seen us go inside, with broad smiles on their faces.
"So, I'll get the popcorn?" he asked, as soon as we had reached the line that led to the counter "It is only fair, you bought the tickets."
I gave him a nod of the head, as he made his way to get popcorn for the both of us, standing in the line that had three people ahead of him. I stood back at the side, waiting for him to come back with the popcorn, and admired the view in front of me. And by admired the view in front of me, I definitely meant that strong arched back of his.
How had I not noticed this before, the way his tight fitting shirt hugged his muscled body, showing his toned back, or the way his perfectly fit jeans were leaving nothing much to imagination, as they covered his perfect ass in a way that made me wish for its disappearance, or the way he ran a hand through his short cropped hair, arching his upper body, and making me sigh out in desperation.
Had he always been this sexy? Or, had I recently become this horny?
"Here you go" said Paul, surprising me as I had not even noticed him leave the counter "Let's go in?"
"Uh huh" I mumbled aimlessly, still too lost in my musings, as he smirked at me in a knowing way before walking towards our theatre number. His face holding the same amused smirk, while mine was beet red from my line of thoughts.
I sighed in relief; at least he couldn't read my mind. Thank God for small mercies!
We quickly entered the theatre, before looking for two empty seats, which wasn't as difficult considering that not many people had opted for the same movie as ours, and another popular romcom had too released recently. We were about to make our way towards the second to last back row when Paul suddenly stopped in his tracks, making me wonder the reason why, and take a look from behind him.
Talk about awkward, as a couple merely a few years older than us was on a full out make out session in the last row seats, with their tongues down one another's throats and their hands trying to pull the other as close as possible, while they also roamed around freely on the other's body.
I mean the theatre was dark, but it wasn't even that dark that nobody would pay attention to them.
"Umm" I flushed red from embarrassment. Seeing a couple make out in a dark theatre was really not that new, but when I was around Paul, and the tension between us was already so high, the sight in front of us was pretty awkward. "Let's sit somewhere else." I pleaded with my eyes.
"Yeah" he readily agreed, as he led me to another row, far away from the making out couple.
We had just sat in our seats when the lights finally dimmed out and the opening credits of the movie started playing, and I tried hard to concentrate on it, which wasn't as easy as it looked with Paul's arm coming to rest at the back of my seat, not directly touching me, but making me simultaneously frown and hope that he would just wrap his arm around my shoulder, and get this tension in the air done with.
He lightly coughed before offering me the popcorn that he held in his hands, and I smiled before taking a lunge full and popping it in my mouth.
The next two hours and five minutes were the longest 125 minutes or 7500 seconds of my life, as I tried watching the movie, while my attention was completely elsewhere, or more appropriately on the person who sat beside me, looking as distracted as me. A few times over the course of the past 125 minutes our hands had bumped into one another when both of us had tried to get a lunge of the popcorn at the same time, with our fingers bumping in the small space of the popcorn tub, but we had just awkwardly smiled at one another before either of us withdrew our hands to let the other take the popcorn out, but I did have a brief suspicion by the fifth time that Paul was doing this purposely, as no two people try to take popcorn out of a tub at the same time, every time.
As the end credits rolled out on the screen, I stretched myself, getting up from my seat, noticing that my shirt had lifted up a bit when I had stretched, and Paul was now staring at my showing waist with something akin lust and want in his eyes, which made me take a breath in as I blushed hard when he looked up and his eyes met mine.
"I didn't know that you had a belly button piercing." He said finally giving me a shocked look, as we walked out of the theatre, our arms swinging close to the other.
I shrugged "I can't wear my piercing rings that often you know, with the shape shifter thing." I lowered my voice to a whisper "It is a miracle that they have not pierced themselves together by now." I said with a slight laugh "But to answer your question, I got them last year on a trip to Seattle with Leah and Kim. Leah wanted a tattoo of Sam's name on her waist and so we had entered this Tattoo and body piercing parlor and feeling slightly rebellious both Kim and I had ended up with belly button and ear piercings." I said with a shy laugh "I have not been phasing as much these days, and found my rings when I was cleaning my closet."
"It makes you look like a sexy rebel." He said lowering his voice to give it a sexy edge as he brought his mouth close to my ear, making my breath hitch in response.
"So, did you like the movie?" he pulled back and changed the topic, giving me the same amused smirk, almost as if he knew how his words were affecting me.
"Umm" I had to think about it for a minute, as I had no idea of what I had just seen on the screen, I was hardly paying any attention to it "It was good."
He nodded his head, as we walked to the main street "It is not that late. Do you want to grab a bite?"
"Sure" I said with a shrug, glad to be spending more time with him.
"So, there is this quaint café nearby, small place, but is known for its burgers and sandwiches. We can go there is you want, or we can go anywhere you want." He said, giving me a hesitant look, almost as if he was scared that I would say no.
I smiled at him "No that would be okay."
He smiled back as he led me to the road that was leading to the café. It was walking distance from the theatre, as Paul had said, and so we walked the short distance to the café, our hands once again craving to just touch the other.
The café that he had chosen was small but homely and had a lively feel to it. Paul led us to one of the square tables in the corner before pulling out the chair for me, letting me sit on it.
"Thank you" I blushed at his gentlemanly gesture as he took the chair opposite mine.
"So, how did you find this place?" I asked, looking at the menu.
He straightened a bit in his seat, his throat tightening in anger "Heard about it from Jared."
"Oh" I whispered
"I heard you spoke with him." he stated, looking at me.
I nodded my head, mumbling a 'yeah'.
His face stared into me, almost as if he was waiting for more details, and I took a sigh before complying.
"He wanted to apologize for fighting with me. Kim had brought him over, and he was quick to do exactly that, apologize for speaking rudely to me and for questioning me on being the alpha. I accepted his apology and his half hearted pleas on how he was running high on instincts on that day and did not mean any of it, but honestly I don't believe a word of what he said. He assured me that he was happy with my leadership and did not want to be the alpha though."
"Do you want me to talk to him?" Paul asked. His voice was heavy and his eyes were boring into mine in a way that meant business.
I quickly shook my head. I was happy that he cared about me, but I did not need to be looked after, or did not need anyone to fight on my behalf "No, that's okay. I will deal with him if he tries to do something in the future."
He nodded his head, not completely happy, but respecting my wishes. The waitress soon came to take our orders and while I ordered a Club Sandwich with a side of salad, Paul went for a hamburger and a glass of coke.
Our food soon arrived, and I took a bite of my sandwich moaning at the taste of it that flooded my mouth.
"This is amazing." I said through a mouthful. I was generally never this manner less to talk with an open mouth full of food, but considering the fact that this was pretty much a food lover's wet dream, I did not feel that bad to do so.
Paul grinned at me, his eyes shining with happiness "I am glad you like it. My burger's also real good. Do you want a bite?"
"Sure" I said, readily, as I opened my mouth and he picked up his burger to get it close to my lips, the action becoming much more intimate than I had expected it to. He brought his hand close to my lips and I quickly took a bite of it, calming my heartbeat that was going a mile a minute from the excitement I was feeling at the moment, as I resisted the urge to kiss and bite on his fingers and see how it would feel.
"So, how is it?" he asked, once I was done with my chewing of the bite.
"Really good" I said with a grin, trying to lighten the awkwardness that had once again risen between the both of us.
"I had a question for you." he said, drinking a sip of his drink.
I nodded my head, giving him the go ahead, as he opened his mouth to ask the question.
"I have heard that shape shifters have to eat more often and more than normal. Why but?"
I resisted the urge to laugh at the innocent curiosity on his face, as I ate a bite of my sandwich before answering "It is true. When we run in our wolf form we use up much more energy than our human body can generally provide, and so we have to eat frequently and more than normal to keep up with it."
He nodded his head, mumbling a 'makes sense'.
"I guess we have a lot to talk about." I started the conversation, after a few minutes of silence. It had been five days since Paul had told me that he knew about the imprint, but still we had not got around to talking about it. The first two days we had never been alone enough to have such an intense conversation, and once I was out of bed rest with the pain in my shoulder lessening to minimal, I was busy attending council meetings updating them of my condition , and talking to them of the fight with the nomadic vampires. There were long talks of strategizing and how we should aim to never be in such a situation again, and so needless to say, between all of that Paul and I had hardly seen each other, or got any quality time to spend with the other.
"Yeah" he said in a hesitant whisper.
"So, you know about the imprint." I said, using all of my courage, deciding to jump directly to the main topic instead of wasting time in going around it.
He nodded his head "Yes, Sam told me that you have imprinted on me, and even though I wish that you would have been the one to tell me, I understand why you did so."
I opened my mouth to interrupt him and give him my reasons for doing said thing, but he quickly stopped me from doing so "Like I said, I understand." "But, I have a question for you."
"Okay" I said, raising my eyebrow "Shoot" I managed to speak out, worried of what he was going to ask about.
He sighed "What does that literal leech Jasper think of this? His 'girlfriend'" he scowled at the word, shaking a bit "has imprinted on another. He would have something to say on this, I assume."
His face was twisted in a scowl as I looked at him in confusion.
"Come again?" I said finally, when I could not hold it in any longer "Why would Jasper have a say on whom I imprint on and…..what do you mean by girlfriend?" I spat the word out, completely confused and shocked by what he had just said.
"You are dating him, aren't you?" he raised an eyebrow at me, in accusation.
"What? No" I shrieked out, in disbelief, jumping slightly in my seat. Luckily for us the café was pretty empty, except a couple in the opposite corner and a waitress behind the counter, and so nobody had witnessed my outburst, or was listening in to our conversation. "Yuck" I cringed out "He is like an uncle to me, or at most a close cousin. I like him, as a person, but I am definitely not dating him." I spread out my words showing the finality in them. "What made you even think so?" I gave him a horrified appalled look.
"You are not dating him?" he questioned, straightening in his seat, almost as if I now held his complete attention.
"Like I said, No" I repeated the words, pressing on it.
"But, she….." he trailed off, in a voice so low that I had trouble listening onto it.
"But what, who" I asked, confused and curious to know how he had got to that ridiculous conclusion that Jasper and I were together.
He shook his head, a newfound excitement and determination on his face "Does not matter. So, you are not with Jasper Cullen?"
I sighed in exasperation "Like I said before, No, and he is Jasper Hale, not Cullen. We are friends. He helped me out during a difficult period of my life, nothing more than that." I clarified for what felt like the hundredth time.
His face broke out in a huge unexpected grin "That's great."
I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged and kept smiling, like a child about to open his Christmas presents.
"Wait" I said, after a few minutes. I hated being the party pooper, but this was important "What about Cherry?"
Even though I had heard this enough before, I still needed to know if there were any buried deep feelings there. This was important to me, and I didn't think I would be able to live peacefully if I didn't know the answer to this.
Now it was his time to look confused, as he stared back at me "What about her?"
I took a deep breath in. This was it, my time to ask him the question that could and probably would change my life "Do you like her, or does she like you?"
He gave me a shocked glance, before his expression changed and a deep laugh left his throat, which soon turned into loud guffaws resounding through the room.
"Yeah, I am not at all offended." I stated, sarcastically.
He shook his head, calming down on his laughter "Sorry, but that was a funny picture in the head. To answer your question though, Cherry and I are just friends. Have never been anything more and never will be anything more. I like her, but nothing more than friendship."
"Oh good" I said, relieved, before I could stop myself and think of my next words "I have been so worried and jealous these past weeks….."
I put a hand on my mouth in embarrassment, as I left my sentence hanging. I had definitely not meant to say that out loud. Where was my mouth filter when I needed it?
"Really?" he smirked at me, as I stared at my lap, not daring to even look anywhere near to his face.
"Okay, now that you have confessed, it is only fair that I too confess on this. I have been crazy jealous of that bloodsucker, I mean Jasper" he corrected on seeing my glare, Feelings or not Jasper was still my friend "since I found out that you two were apparently dating."
"Really" I asked in a whisper, not willing to get my hopes high, only for them to crash and fall "Why?"
He shook his head, smiling "I think the answer is pretty clear to that" "It is strange you know," he continued "Before moving back to La Push, I never would have imagined feeling stuff like this, or wanting to spend time with another without any of the 'extra benefits'." He air quoted the words "But with you it is different."
"How" I once again questioned in a whisper, my heart beating much faster than normal.
He shook his head, once again smiling "I will give you the answer to that, if you give me the answer to this. What do you want from the imprint? Do you want me to be your friend, or your acquaintance you see once in a while, or you want me to be…"
"Hold on" I interrupted him, finding my voice once again "I should be asking this question. I have imprinted on you. You get the choice to choose."
"Humor me" he grinned at me "Assume that I have imprinted on you. What would have been your answer?"
I did not even have to think about it. I knew exactly what I wanted. I had known for a while now.
I grasped my hands together, trying to get the courage to speak this out "I" Love "Like you. I want to give this a chance. I want to give us this chance. I want to give myself this chance, if you are willing too."
The smile on his widened as he stared back at me, I was too afraid to ask him anything at the moment. What if this was all only a dream? What if he would say no, that he didn't want the same?
"In that case Ms. Uley, will you do me the honor of coming on a date with me?"
I just kept looking at him for a minute or two. Was this really happening? I could not believe my ears, or my eyes for that matter.
"So?" he gave out a nervous laugh.
I nodded my head in haste "I would like that" A lot.
He just smiled back, and I too nervously laughed with him, relieved but nervous.
Just then a message pinged on my phone. I quickly checked my phone, reading the message from Embry.
'Sorry Sis. Got late in mall. Met Cherry there. She drove me back home. Will see you later'
I rolled my eyes, feigning anger, but no matter what, I just couldn't be angry at the circumstances that led me here.
I looked up once again to meet Paul's eyes, and reciprocated the smile that was wide on his face. I had never seen him smile as much, but neither had I ever been this happy before.
So, I guess it was new beginning for the both of us.
A/N: This story is coming to an end. Only five or six more chapters to go….
