Thank you brankel1, catgrl, .7334, MammaNita4, Blakey2103, Taffy Marie and Marion Ravenwood for your reviews.

A/N: We take a small jump from where we had last left Paul and Bella after their date… just know that nothing extremely important has taken place. They have just spent time together, getting to know one another better. Now on with the story, hope you like it and please review if you do. Thank you and Stay Safe!

Part V- Togetherness

Chapter 3- The calm before the storm

Serenity….

This was the only word that came in my mind when I tried to describe my feelings at the moment. I was blissful and complete, witnessing such a feeling of completeness that I had never felt in my life before, as I lay on the soft mattress with my head on Paul's naked chest. He was snoring lightly; completely oblivious to the happiness I felt at the moment as I giddily blushed, cocooning myself closer in the blanket that was covering my naked satiated body.

I was not a virgin anymore….. I could not believe it. I had often wondered in the past few months of how my first time would be, whether it would be as terribly painful and even gross with all those bodily fluids, like the girls at school often spoke of, or whether it would be over in just a few odd minutes like that Jessica Stanley of Forks High had cribbed off, the optimistic part of me though had hoped that it would be as beautiful as Kim and Leah had made it to be, uncomfortable yes, somewhat painful yes, but still perfect and satisfying in its own way.

It is all about the person you do it with, Leah had once mentioned to me a few years back. With the correct person it can be perfect and pleasing beyond words, but with the wrong one, it could also be full of guilt and sometimes shame. It is all about what you want and how comfortable and ready for it you are, she had assured me, and now I knew the honesty in her words.

It was overwhelming to say the least, yes obviously the connection we shared now was much more intense than before, but even otherwise, I felt like I had given a part of me to him, and in return a part of him was now mine, forever. I knew that I was not his first, but I guess I had made my acceptance with it. I was happy to be his only and last, till he lived.

Cheesy, I know, but I could not help myself at this moment. I was just so…. happy, just so….. much in love.

I lightly ran a hand over the bite mark that proudly stood near his collarbone on his shoulder. It was a proof of our mating, a proof of the acceptance of our imprint, and also a proof that the alpha had found her mate, for life. I had been nervous of taking this step, as I had not been sure of how Paul would react to this. This bite screamed permanency. It bonded us together like no other, and now there was no going back. I knew that I wanted to take this step once the elders had told me of the existence and importance of it a few weeks back, but what about Paul? What if he would have been reluctant to take such an important step, one you could never go back from? I had offered to not bite him, to not bond us together in this way until he was ready, no matter how much my wolf forced me to, but he had assured and convinced me that this was what he wanted. Yes, he was scared, like a normal human would be, and also he had never seen relationships in a high respect and so would take some time to get used to this newness, but he had assured me of how he had given into to his instincts and feelings long ago, and now knew and accepted the bond that we shared. He was ready for this he had said kissing me slowly as I had smiled and turned red from the blush that was creeping onto my face, as he had slowly undressed me, caressing every inch of mine and whispering words of love to me.

We were yet to say the formal 'I love you' though. I knew it was there from his side too, his actions told me so, but knew that it would come out when he was ready to say so, and I was ready to wait for it too.

"Hey" he spoke, getting my attention back to him, making me blush at my line of thoughts, his voice raspy from sleep. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me impossibly close to him, a sigh of happiness escaping the both of our mouths.

"Hey, you" I mumbled, shyly.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" he raised an eyebrow in question, lightly brushing my lips with his, making me smile in response.

"Could not," I whispered; the blush on my face clearly visible "Had butterflies in my stomach."

He gave me a teasing look "You should have woken me up. I am sure I could have thought of something for the both of us to do."

I ignored the suggestive wink that accompanied his words as I thought of a comeback for myself "well from what I remember, you were completely exhausted and satiated, and could not even keep your eyes open after all of our lovemaking."

"Yeah," he playfully raised an eyebrow, as he overturned the both of us, using such strength I didn't even know he possessed, so that he was now lying over me.

"Well, how about we continue from where we stopped?" he asked, kissing my neck and trailing kisses down my shoulder and between my breasts, his hands on their own journey of caressing my body.

"You definitely won't hear me complaining." I managed to speak out through all the moans that were leaving my mouth.

"Glad for that" I heard him mumble as his actions showed me the love that he felt for me, leaving me completely satisfied and simultaneously begging for more.

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Hungry?" I questioned, a while later, once again wrapped in the safety of his strong arms as he played with a strand of my hair and I ran a finger down his toned biceps. We had been in a comfortable silence for the past few minutes, but that had been broken by the growling of our stomach, reminding me that neither of us had eaten in the past fifteen hours or so. Our last meal had been a light dinner that Paul had cooked as a part of our third date at his house, and I had reached the conclusion mid-date that Paul was a terrible cook from the half burnt potatoes and the undercooked pasta that lay in front of me. He too had realized this fact, calling for Pizza instead, but taking in the sight of me moaning at the heaven that was that pizza slice, his words not mine; he had been unable to control himself. Instead he had just decided to show me of what I was missing and all what he wished to do to me, again his words not mine. Though in my defense, one look at what he was hiding under his shirt, and I was a goner.

"Yeah" he said, embarrassed "I could eat a horse. Sex makes me hungry."

I giggled, a new for me as I rarely ever giggled, before getting out of bed, reluctantly. I wish that we could have stayed in bed all day, but unfortunately that was not really a possibility.

"How about Omelet" I asked, wearing Paul's shirt that had roughly fallen on the floor in our haste last night. I did not bother with wearing anything other than that, as I ran a hand through my tangled mess of a hair.

He growled, his eyes raking down my body "You look sexy in my clothes."

I blushed "Yeah?" "I am thinking of keeping it. It suits me, don't you think?"

I twirled around for him, pouting my lips and running my hands down my body, trying to hide the fact that I knew how aroused he was from my act of teasing.

He growled once again, the sound directly going to my nether regions, as he got out of bed, his look promising to punish the bad girl in me, something I definitely could not wait for... as his stomach growled loudly.

I sighed "Come on, we need to eat too."

"Don't forget that you are going to get punished for teasing me like that, little minx." he whispered seductively in my ear, making me shiver in delight and anticipation, as he took my hand and led me towards his kitchen.

We worked in his not as clean as I would like it to be kitchen, him pouring the milk in the glasses as I made us a plate of omelet and toast. I buttered the toast as he helped in setting the table and taking the glasses out for us.

It felt normal working together like this, almost homely in our comfort. A tinge of happiness and want spread through my pores, making me giddy at my feet.

I wanted this in life, this normalcy in living and doing basic chores together, but I also knew that we still had a while to reach there.

We sat opposite one another, eating from our plates, as we talked about everything and anything. In the past few weeks we had taken to getting to know everything about the other, no matter how ridiculous or mundane it sounded. He would tell me important stories of his time in Pittsburgh, the baseless funny rumors that he heard in school from our classmates, while I would tell him tales of my talks with the other girls in school. We would talk about movies, books, studies, our future careers, our likes, our dislikes….. the big things and the small things, like I said anything and everything.

I had thought that I knew almost everything there was to know about Paul, but these past few days had made me realize that there were so many layers under the man that was Paul Lahote- he had the funny side, the cocky side, the overconfident side and even the somewhat angry side, but he also had the serious side- the side of his which spoke of his parents and how much their leaving him affected him, then there was his shy, not as confident side, when he would tell me of how sometimes he too doubted his decisions in life, fearing that he was not good enough or independent enough in life. We would share our fears, our wishes and wants, our worries about life and the path we had chosen or which had been chosen for us, and those talks had just made me realize that there was so much more to Paul Lahote than I had known of, making me fall in love with him even more than I had thought possible. It was as if he was baring his soul to me.

"Hey," he brought my attention back to him "Earth to Bella, where are you lost?"

I smiled, shaking my head "Nothing important"

He nodded his head in answer, taking a bite of his toast, completely immersed in eating his food once again.

I rolled my eyes at his bottomless pit like behavior as an important question crossed my mind "Does it pain?"

Seeing the confused look on his face I quickly pointed towards the bite mark and saw how understanding shone in his eyes.

"Nah," he said nonchalantly "On the contrary, it has a completely different effect on me."

I gave him a confused look as he chuckled and added "Whenever you touch it I get the urge to jump your bones."

My mouth formed an 'oh' as I took in his answer. Well, that could definitely work for us. One night with him and my mind had turned to the gutters, capable of thinking in only one direction.

He gave me a sigh "Well, as much as I would love to take you up on that offer," wait, had I said that out loud "You know that I have to drop you back home and go search for work. I need money to survive too."

I sighed "Yeah, let's not push our luck."

Sam and Leah had left for a weekend getaway to Seattle and I had convinced Allison that I was having a sleepover at Kim's this same weekend, knowing that Sam, my protective older brother, would not be out patrolling in La Push, though I had a doubt that Allison had not believed my lie. The way she had stared suspiciously at me before I had left the house had been proof enough.

He coughed, almost as if he had something important to talk of, before opening his mouth to speak "So, I was thinking that we should force my phase."

"What" I stared open mouthed at him.

"Hear me out" he said hesitantly "It is inevitable, isn't it? Why wait, then?"

I shook my head in haste, trying to convince him of the turmoil going on in my head "It is painful. It is fucking painful. Your bones break and rejoin, and nothing good will come from trying to phase before your wolf and human body are ready for it. Why would you want to bear all of that?"

I was seriously confused at the moment. Why would anyone want that?

He sighed, looking into my eyes "Because you are out there- facing danger, and there is nothing I can do to protect you. What if some other bloodsucker tries to hurt you"

I could see the anger in his eyes, and took his hand in mine, in a way to calm him down "Hey" "I am okay. You know there have been no nomads in a while, right, and I can look after myself. You bearing innumerable amount of pain is not really a solution to anything. I hate the fact that you will have to bear any amount of pain and trust me, if I could take it I would take it all."

I lightly kissed his lips, showing to him just how much he mattered to me, and heard him sigh and take me in his lap, wrapping his arms around me.

"Okay," he finally nodded his head "But I would still wish that I phase soon."

I nodded my head in agreement and he opened his mouth to add something, when my phone rang putting a stop to our conversation. I quickly left the comfort of his lap and walked towards the centre table in the living room where we had left my phone last night after watching The Godfather for possibly the hundredth time.

"Jasper" I looked at the screen in question. It was odd that he ever called. Our meetings were more on the line of during patrols instead.

Paul scowled from beside me, making me give him a look. He knew that Jasper was my relative. I had told him of this and so there was no need for him to be jealous or have any sort of animosity towards him, vampire or not.

"Yeah Jasper" I picked up the ringing phone, answering his call.

"Bella," his tone sounded urgent and desperate "Can you meet me right now?"

"All okay?" I questioned.

"Not really," he said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. I could hear someone talking in the background "Can you just meet me?"

"Yeah okay," I said, hoping that it wasn't anything serious "I can meet you in say ten minutes."

"Great, at the border" He said before cutting the call.

I sighed. There was something definitely wrong.

"So, what was that?" Paul asked.

"Umm," I shook my head in answer, not knowing how to phrase it "Jasper needs to talk to me about something. I am meeting him at the treaty line between La Push and Forks."

"I am coming with you." he said instantly.

"What, no" I stated, annoyed that he would decide to come with me.

"He is a vampire." He said, pointing at the obvious.

"And I am a wolf." I glared at him. Yeah, I loved him, but I was definitely not ready to be babied.

"But," he started, as I cut him off.

"Look, I can take care of myself. He is my friend, and more than that I am the Alpha of my pack. I need to be there for my people and my pack. It can be serious of why he wants to meet me." I said softly but making sure that he knew that this was not up for debate. I could take decisions for myself, like I had done so for the last sixteen years of my life.

He sighed, but nodded his head accepting defeat.

"Great," I smiled at him "I just need to take a quick shower. Can I use your shower?"

"Yeah" he said.

"He knows that I have imprinted but I would rather not flaunt it." I said with a nervous laugh.

He gave me a confused look as I clarified "Your scent is all over me and all supernatural creatures out there can smell it."

"Oh" he looked pleased at that, making me roll my eyes at the possessive man in front of me.

I hid my laugh at his still pleased expression as I walked towards the bathroom in his house to shower before leaving for my meeting with Jasper.

X-X-X-X-X-X

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked Jasper as soon as I reached the treaty line. I nodded my head in acknowledgement at Carlisle Cullen who was standing beside Jasper on the other side of the invisible line, marked by our scents. Why he was here I had no idea, but nonetheless it confirmed it in my mind that something was indeed wrong.

Jasper quickly mumbled something, which even my supernatural hearing could not comprehend. All I understood was 'mate' 'Italy' and 'help'.

"Whoa, slow down" I said exasperatedly "I did not understand a word of what you just said. Slowly tell me what happened."

He sighed, but nodded his head "You know of my sister Alice, that she can see the future through her visions."

I nodded my head, knowing of this detail "Has she seen something?"

"Yeah, she saw a vision yesterday of the Volturi kidnapping young girls and keeping them prisoners. They are going to be changed without their will if they are found having a power, and if not they will become food for the kings. My mate is over there. I need to save her…. I need to….." he said in one breath.

"Jasper stop," I said sharply, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. I could feel the agitation and terror in my bones and instantly knew that this was what Jasper was feeling. There was no other for me to feel so…. like shit.

"Son, you are projecting," said Carlisle placing his hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Dr. Cullen could you…." I left my question unsaid and he quickly nodded his head, understanding what I was asking from him.

"Bella, do you know of our leaders who form the rules for us?"

I nodded my head "Yeah, the Volturi."

He gave me a nod in return "My daughter Alice saw a vision concerning them. She saw that they have for lack of a better word kidnapped twelve young girls and locked them in the dungeons beneath their castle."

"For what reason" I asked immediately

"Aro, the leader of three kings has become power crazy. He wants to find valuable guards to keep in his guard and so is checking to see if these innocent girls have any power. If they do, they will be changed as soon as possible."

"How will he be checking this?"

He sighed "He has a power. He can read your mind from one touch, and it is believed that every vampire with a power holds some measure of the same power even as a human. Alice could see visions as a human, but more on the level of precognition. Jasper was always perceptive when it came to what others felt, and so was Edward. He could guess correctly what the other was thinking."

"Oh," I said at the lack of words to describe the shock I was experiencing "What will happen to the girls without this 'power' what he is searching for?"

He shook his head, a deep sigh escaping his mouth "They will be killed."

I stared at him with my eyes wide in shock. Of course that was what would happen to those poor innocent beings.

"What do you want from me?" I said after rubbing my hands over my eyes in frustration. I was not naïve enough to believe that their leaders would change their mind or listen to anybody who would attempt to stop them.

"Help," said Jasper, looking into my eyes, a pleading expression on his face.

"How" I said, keeping my expression as neutral as possible. I needed to know everything before I reacted and took my stand.

"My mate is one of those girls locked in there," said Jasper "I am… we are going to be going there to fight the Volturi. We are attacking them as we know that no other way to save those girls will work. It is extremely risky and can be considered a suicide attempt going just the seven of us, and so we are asking for help from you and your pack."

I nodded my head after a few minutes of tense silence "How many vampires would be there?"

Carlisle was the one to answer my question "The Elite guard consists of six- Alec, Jane, Demetri, Felix, Chelsea and Renata, who is also Aro's personal shield. Other than them there are the three leaders, their two wives and another ten guards or so. They prefer to use human guards for other purposes like laundry, cleaning the rooms or keeping the impression of humans inhabiting the castle."

"So say around twenty one- twenty two vampires." I confirmed.

Carlisle nodded his head in answer "Alice has a layout of the dungeons from her vision, and I remember the map and gates of the castle. I won't say it will be easy to defeat them, but it should be an equal fight, if you agree to help."

I nodded my head after a few minutes of silence "Can I take some time to talk to my pack? I need to talk to them and the elders before giving out my decision. This is not only my life that will be affected."

"Of course" said Carlisle instantly as Jasper too nodded his head "When can we expect your answer? Please know that we will understand even if you decide against helping us. It is not your problem."

Jasper agreed with him, but I could see the vulnerability and forlornness in his eyes. I had never seen Jasper look so disheartened. He had helped me when I had needed the help, and now maybe it was my time to give it back to him.

"I can tell you by tomorrow." I stated.

"We will be waiting" said Carlisle before the both of them turned to run in the opposite direction.

I sighed, starting to walk back towards La Push. I would have to talk to my pack and the elders as soon as possible, but why did I have a feeling that irrespective of what they said and who joined me, my decision was already made?