Chapter Info

Title: The aftermath of crazy.

Number: 16/?

Warnings: Language, angst.

Author's Note: So small thing, remember this is unbeta'd meaning that yeah i make a lot of spelling mistakes. Mostly as I tend to type faster than my brain can keep up and not all of them are caught by spell checkers. So please, if you see a 'really' bad typo, do let me know and i'll edit accordingly. *i noticed my spelling mishaps whilst writing my new Paul story so thought i'd mention it*

- ʚɞ - ʚɞ - ʚɞ -

- Forks, Washington -

- Noelle -

Noelle once thought she knew heartbreak, that she had felt the true sting of it settling deep inside of her heart. And yet as she watched Paul walk out of her mother's house, the knowledge of what was truly burning between them weighed down her mind. She realised that she was far from knowing the true sting, what she had felt before was nothing more than a prelude to the pain she was feeling now. And if she was honest, she'd rather feel the pain of six years ago then what she felt now.

The rest of her day had been spent learning every last detail, meeting with Kim and Emily and learning what an imprint was, as well as officially meeting the rest of the pack. Her mother's house acted like some revolving door policy as people walked in and out. Yet she barely heard them all, their sympathy was something she couldn't stomach. As though they knew that her and Paul were fraying at the edges, that she was an unwanted imprint. Yeah that was something she was still fighting to not acknowledge.

But more than that, there was still one thing weighing heavy on her mind. Daryl. As much as she managed to completely blank it during the whole conversation, she was still an engaged woman and that didn't just change in an instant. There was still a man in Forks who she had promised her heart too. Who she had agreed to marry before she learnt that the things of nightmares were real. Before she learnt that the man she worked with - was a bloodsucker.

Now she knew why he freaked her out.

She honestly didn't know what the hell she was supposed to do, was she supposed to carry on her life knowing that as far as some magical bond was concerned - Paul was her perfect other half. Or was she supposed to go back to Daryl and spend her life always keeping secrets, never able to truly let him inside her walls. Never truly let him inside of her heart.

" Sammy. "

She whispers the words to the wind as she sits on her mother's back porch, yet she knew her brother would listen. He had informed her about the perks of being a wolf - the pack mind thing was a little creepy - so she knew the words she whispered would be like a shout in his ear. A point proving as he soon appears at her side. His lupine gait having carried him so silently through the house and across the creaky boards of the porch. And she finds herself thankful that Jared had at least pretended to be human in the few times they'd hung out.

" Ellie bear. " two words, wrapped around questions he wished to ask and ones she didn't have the answers too.

" I need you … I need you to promise you'll keep Paul away from me. " God she wished those words didn't hurt as much as they did to speak. " I need time to come to terms with everything. With the … thing. "

She couldn't even speak the word Imprint out loud, she hadn't been able too even as Emily and Kim explained it to her. As it hurt too much, knowing that he had decided to push her away instead of accepting her into his life. She understood his choice, she had wanted to go to Boston and be a nurse, but she had also been accepted into the University of Washington for nursing, so there had always been the option of staying on the reservation.

But Paul had taken her choice away from her, so she was going to stick to what she said. She had chosen him in the past, but now she chose herself. She made the choices that she wanted to make. And one of them, was she needed space from the man who had literally tipped her whole world on its axis. She couldn't spend time with him knowing what they were. Knowing the connection that burned between them and that he had all but turned away from it. She also couldn't be around knowing he loved her, as that was just something she didn't know if she was mentally strong enough to handle.

Her plight must be written on her face as her brother nods his agreement without arguing. Her hazel eyes flicker between his dark orbs looking for any sign of a rebuttal but when she doesn't find any she stands walking back into the house. Bending down, a slight hiss escaping her at the forming bruise on her spine, she picks up her bag and heads towards the front door.

" Where are you going 'Elle ? " One of the wolves asks, and she wasn't even bothered to wonder who.

" Home ! "

One word - clipped but filled with an intensity she didn't want to name. She was running on auto-pilot, worn out to the point of exhaustion by the weight of the day and all she wanted was to be somewhere, anywhere, that didn't carry the weight of it. So instead she concentrates on putting one foot in front of the other as she heads out the door, across the porch of doom and down to where her car is parked.

" I'll drive you – " Her brother's voice rings out in his soft bass behind her and she shakes her head.

" I need to be alone Sammy. I need to think without any of you around. "

It's only as she's halfway back to Forks does the weight of her words settle on her, and does she truly realise that she had probably just come off as denying the pack, denying her place within it. She knew the weight of her place, Emily had explained it to her after all. She was the Alpha's sister and she was the second in command's imprint - apparently Paul had taken the place after Jared and Kim had their first child last year. But that just added more stress to her than she wanted to think about, it was a hierarchy that right now she wasn't strong enough to think on.

Pulling up in front of the house she shared with Daryl, she can see him, standing on the porch and looking so pure it broke her heart, knowing the truth that she could never give him all of her. Not when half of it belonged to someone else. Yet she still gets out of the car and walks over to him, and only once she's close enough does she allow herself to collapse. Tears carving deep crevices down her face, tears that only grow in intensity as she feels his arms wrap around her and his soothing words break through her pity party to weigh heavy on her soul.

She didn't deserve him.

'

'

She'd never truly noticed before how quick six weeks could pass without your knowledge. Yet for Noelle that was just what had happened. Each day passing before she could even blink, minutes bleeding into hours, hours into days and days into weeks till it had been a month and a half since her whole world crumbled to the floor. Six weeks since she'd seen 'him'.

She'd love to say that her world was still in one piece but it wasn't - her and Daryl were constantly circling each other in an awkward show of love and distance. They'd delayed the wedding with excuses that it wasn't the right time on top of their schedules but she knew deep down that Daryl was aware he was losing more of her with each passing day. And he was just trying to hold onto the remnants that still belonged to him, the nights that she'd curl into him and simply cry. Begging him for some sort of comfort, any at all.

Things with her brother were slowly getting better now that there weren't any secrets in the way and she could slowly see why he had put the distance there in the first place. And yeah she'd admit it still hurt that there were some things he'd shoved aside for his duty but with each day they were working through that. Sam had kept his word and they were fixing things, 'one day at a time'. Daryl was also aware that she had a brother but Sam had handled it like a pro, saying they were estranged and he didn't blame her for saying she didn't have one. Words that soothed the bitter sting of the lies and stopped Daryl from blowing out of proportion.

She really owed her brother for that one.

Jared and her were now even closer as friends - now the furry secret - was out in the open she had since realised he really did try and do the best for her with the options he had. And thus she forgave him easily and he was her way of staying in touch with the pack. He had told her how Sam had managed to alpha order Paul so that her wish was fulfilled which was something that was shocking to them all, apparently nothing got in the way of an imprint - especially an alpha order. And yet because she was the Alpha's sister, Sam had found a way to do it, either way she was glad.

As even six weeks later, she wasn't sure what the hell she was supposed to be doing about Paul. Some nights she wondered if she should just go back to Boston and life she had built there, return to being ignorant of the world she now found herself inside. And yet she knew that would just result in her being a coward, she had already ran away once and here she was threatening to do it again. It was absurd but it was a thought that had since settled in her stomach and was festering with every day that passed.

Her head shakes as she looks back down at the patient file in her hand, willing herself to concentrate and leave the thoughts alone till the end of her shift. She had blessedly been allowed to return to work the previous week and despite her first day back being filled with awkwardness regarding her 'leech' boss. She found that the mundane routine was just what she needed - it helped to distract her.

And yeah she would openly admit that Dr. Cullen still freaked her out, but she was glad to know just why he did. Something she'd made aware of to him one day and he'd simply laughed and promised her that she wouldn't come to any harm by him or his family. It wasn't exactly reassuring but she'd seen him with his patients, so she knew he wasn't that much of a cold blooded killer. Just kinda … dead.

Signing off her name at the end of the file she hands a copy of it into the nurses station before making her way towards Dr. Cullen's office with the original. Her current patient was a mystery and she figured if anyone could help her figure out why a small girl of three in a town of Forks - was somehow sporting bruises and abnormal blood work. It was the resident vampire. Or at least that was the excuse she was using, in reality she just didn't want to go home. As going home meant going back to the awkward dance her and Daryl were partaking in and it was draining her more and more each day.

So no, instead of doing that, she'd rather hang out with the vampire. Crazy, even for her but that was how it was. Knocking on his door softly, she waits to be allowed entry and heads inside once she hears the words. She meets his topaz eyes and smiles shyly as she notes he was putting his coat on.

" Sorry, are you heading home ? "

Stupid fucking question Uley, course he is. She growls to her own mental thoughts as she shoots an apologetic glance towards her boss.

" What is it Noelle, I know you wouldn't put yourself around me willingly unless it was something serious – "

How could someone portray so much with one sentence. It was baffling, then again he was old as dirt. Sighing she hands over the file in her hand and watches his face as he reads it through - a new hobby she had undertaken since learning he was a vampire - yet she found that just like before she didn't see anything pass over his face. She wondered if it was a vampire thing and yet didn't have the energy to ask either. She'd reached her limit on how much supernatural stuff she wanted to know.

" Does the young girl have any parents ? " His melodic voice worked to bring her from her musings once more.

" No. She's unclaimed. Apparently two hikers found her just off the trail on the outskirts of La Push – " she repeats, remembering the words of the ET's who had brought her in. " Why ? "

He doesn't answer and she huffs a little perpetually as she turns and follows his long gait back down the halls of the hospital and towards the room the little girl was inside of. Slipping into the room behind him she shuts the door, leaning her shoulders against it. Her hazel eyes watching the way he seemed to examine the child without waking her from the slumber she was lost in.

Fucking supernatural beings.

" You need to call your brother."

Her eyes widen as those words leave Dr. Cullen's lips and she openly stares at him. She was pretty sure she resembled a fish at this point.

" What is it Carlisle, what's happening ? " His true name felt foreign on her tongue but she was trying to exercise the new thing between them by using first names. And she could see that whatever was happening now, was truly freaking the unflappable doctor out.

" Has your brother informed you of the attacks that have been happening. The true reason you were called to La Push ? "

She nods wistfully as she remembers the conversation, when she'd been called to La Push to cover at the tribal hospital before everything had happened. Hadn't been because they were understaffed, but because of a string of vampire attacks. Her brother wanted her safe and the only way he knew that was to get her onto tribal lands. Of course she'd then gone and broke her hand and all that had changed. But Carlisle had understood her brother's worry and hence allowed her to go. Especially given Noelle was Quileute which meant she fell under some treaty - or something like that. She'd stopped listening at her brother's over-protectiveness.

" Yeah, it's why I have a wolf escorting me home every night ! "

A wolf that normally came in the form of Jared or Embry. The only two wolves of the pack that she could stomach to be around for long periods of time as they didn't look at her with sympathy and worry. Embry was quiet and a little reserved but she found with some prompting that he had one hell of a sense of humour. And after a tough shift, it was well appreciated.

Carlisle waves her over and shows her a bite mark that had been missed on the back of the young girl's neck, Noelle's fingers reach out against her own violation and press against the mark. Hissing as she notes that it was cold, far colder than the child's skin.

" What the fuck is that ? " she hisses, keeping her voice quiet now she was standing next to the sleeping three year old.

Yet what Carlisle tells her is not what she's expecting and she can feel her stomach roll with unbridled nausea, her eyes flashing from his topaz ones to the sleeping child. A protective burn rushing through her veins at what sick animal would feed off a child, injecting venom into her veins only to pull it out later. It was sick and Noelle wanted nothing more than the monster in question to burn in fucking hell. She was starting to hate leeches with a passion.

It's only then that she truly realises the danger that vampires were, she understood Carlisle was different and yet she knew if he wished for it. He was capable of it too and it just added to the protective cocktail of emotions that were now swirling within her. She hisses softly and Carlisle takes note of her response and moves away from the bed. His hands raised as though he was warding off a feral animal and she guessed in this case - she was. And it was something she couldn't explain but all she knew was that she couldn't stomach the thought of Carlisle near the child.

Running her fingers through the child's brown curls she brings her phone from her pocket and calls her brother - huffing as she gets his answer machine - and instead dials Embry who answers with his usual cheer. A cheer that soon disappears as she explains what was happening. His promise rang out that he'd bring the pack to the hospital and wanted Carlisle to meet them outside. She didn't need to ask the vampire standing on the other end of the room, she knew he heard.

So instead she pockets her phone once more and stares heavily at the child.

" Her blood work was sent for testing. You're going to want to sort that – " she quips looking over at him. " If someone finds those abnormalities, they'll dig into it. And I won't let anything happen to my pack ? "

A shimmer of wind has her noting Carlisle was no longer there and she lets out a deep sigh, she didn't even care that she'd just said the words 'my pack' because at this moment they were - they always had been and it was time she stopped denying that. If a vampire was daring to harm children then they were a threat, not only to the vampires living on the outskirts of the town. But also to the people in La Push who were her family.

Making sure the child's vitals were secure she heads out the room, shutting the door silently as she heads to the front of the hospital - thankful it was a night shift and no one would question her. She can identify the tall frames of the Quileute wolves and smiles at them sadly as she walks over.

Her world had changed, this was who she was now. The bridge between vampires and wolves.

" I had to let him come ! " Her brother states softly as he pulls her into his arms and she knows he's speaking about Paul. Her eyes found him with ease.

A soft gasp falls off her lips as she notes that he looked as though he hadn't slept, dark circles weighing under his eyes and his face withdrawn and gaunt as though he hadn't eaten either. He quite frankly looked like a mess and it pulled at Noelle's heart and she wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull him into her arms, but she couldn't. That was something that was still a mess.

" Trust me, i don't care. All i care about is you guys killing the monster who dared to hurt a fucking child ! " her growl was evident in her voice - she was spending far too much time with wolves. " Hell I'd forgive Paul every infraction if he's the one to kill the bastard ! "

If her brother is shocked at the vehement way she spoke those words, he doesn't comment. Plus he knew how defensive she could be about children. She had always been that way, especially after finding out she was adopted and she had vowed that nothing should happen to a child. They were innocent in every war. She can feel Sam go taunt under her hug and she knows Carlisle was behind them. Extracting herself softly, she turns a sympathetic smile on her features as she knows the vampire must have heard what she said, but she wouldn't take them back. She couldn't.

" So what happens now ? "

- ʚɞ - ʚɞ - ʚɞ -

A / N : Reviews are love and highly appreciated. Please and thank you- Honestly reviews would mean the world right now - am i doing well with this?. Is Noelle's reactions believable? Also the thing with the child is from the original incarnation - the nomad who does it, is not a canon character, just a random vampire. But he isn't a major character. Promise.