PREVIOUSLY-
"So I was right? You imprinted on Rachel?" I asked him quietly as his eyes returned back to mine with an unreadable expression.
"No." He muttered. I looked at him with wide eyes. So he hadn't imprinted on Rachel? Who had he imprinted on then?
"If it wasn't Rachel…" I began. My curiosity was overwhelming me. "Then who was it?"
"It wasn't Rachel I imprinted on…" He whispered, trying to fight it but unable to. He took a deep breath before looking me directly in the eyes. "It was you."
My eyes widened in complete shock. What? Me? How? Why? Why now and not before? Had his feelings for me been changing?
I felt my breathing get faster and I got lightheaded. I could feel myself swaying a little bit before the darkness took me, but not before a pair of strong arms grabbed me to prevent my fall.
When I woke, I was laying in my bed as I remembered what had happened.
"I fucking told you she didn't need to hear this shit right now! Look at what it did to her already! I need to get out of here." I hear Paul whisper-shouting.
Both Sam and Jared were by my sides and I blinked a few times, sitting up. I saw Paul sitting in the chair in the corner of our room with his head now in his hands, pulling at his hair, and his leg bouncing anxiously.
"Stay…" I whispered to Paul, causing him to look up at me. His eyes were red and he looked angry. I didn't want him to leave, fearing he would run like Jared had.
"Bella, are you alright, honey?" Sam asked me immediately.
"I'm okay. I was just a bit overwhelmed." I mumbled as I leaned up against Jared.
"See?" Paul said to the other two. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You," I pointed at Paul. "shut up." He let out an angry huff before putting his head back into his hands. I turned to look between Sam and Jared. "Is it true?" knowing for sure they couldn't lie to me.
"Yeah, babe. We both felt it. Trust me, we were just as surprised as you." Jared explained.
"When?" I questioned.
"When he came inside earlier after coming back from the Black's house." Sam told me.
Three imprints? I thought. How was that possible? How on earth had that happened when in the other timeline, they'd each imprinted on separate people? Why had Paul not imprinted when Jared had before after I'd let go of my past? Or when Sam had in the beginning?
I thought about all the things Paul had said about it thus far and came to a conclusion. Paul didn't want the imprint. He was trying to reject it, wishing it had never happened. I felt a pain in my chest at the realization.
I would lose my close relationship with him over this. If he didn't want the imprint then he surely didn't want to be around me, reminding himself of it every time he saw me.
"If you don't want the fucking imprint so much, then leave." I stated with anger, pointing at the door.
"Bella—" he tried, but I stopped him.
"Just go, Paul." I commanded with tears falling from my eyes.
He started shaking before taking off out the door. I knew he'd phased right out of his clothes when I heard a pained howl from outside only moments later.
I cried into Jared's chest as Sam held me from the other side.
"I don't understand…" I cried.
Was I not good enough to be his imprint? Had he wanted to imprint on Rachel then been disappointed that he'd imprinted on me instead. Things had been fine with us before he'd gone. I wished he never had.
The pain in my chest didn't dissipate as I stood up, despite both Jared and Sam's pleas for me to rest for a little while since I'd just fainted.
"No. I need to think." I told them before walking out the back door towards the path to the cliff.
I sat on the boulder alone, thinking about all of the reasons it could have happened and why he could've possibly wanted to reject it.
After about 15 minutes of sitting there, I heard the leaves on the forest floor rustling. I already knew who it was, compliments of the new unwanted imprint. I didn't even bother turning around.
I could see Paul still phased as a wolf, walking up to me.
"Too much pain to stay away, isn't it?" I muttered unhappily, still looking out at the ocean. "Sorry about the inconvenience."
The wolf moved forward and rubbed his muzzle all around my belly and up to sniff my neck and hair before laying down at my feet.
I snorted a breath in disbelief. "So your wolf wants the imprint but the man doesn't. Sounds like that must be a hell of a fight in your head."
He whined, turning his head to the side and baring his neck to me.
I knew that was a wolf's sign of submission. Both Sam's and Jared's wolves had done it to me when they'd first imprinted as well.
"Your wolf can't submit to me when the man inside doesn't want it. I don't accept." I said, looking back up as I felt the tears welling in my eyes again.
I heard the wolf whine again before it turned back into the man.
"Goddammit Bella!" He yelled angrily, still completely naked. "I want the imprint! I fucking want it so much that it hurts like hell!"
He kneeled down in front of me with tears in his eyes. "I didn't know just how much I did until it happened. Spirits, Bella, I didn't want to tell you because three fucking imprints? Seriously? Wasn't two enough? You don't need another one to complicate shit even more. It's not because I don't want it!"
I didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent as the tears flowed down my cheeks.
"Please tell me what to do. If it's you who doesn't want the imprint, then just tell me because I'd rather deal with the fucking pain then upset you anymore. Please." He begged, crying openly now.
I'd never seen Paul like that before and it broke my heart. How could he even possibly think that it was me who didn't want it? I already loved him, we knew it was a possibility from the start, even Sam had known before Jared imprinted on me.
I reached my hand over and pressed it against his cheek, wiping a tear from his eyes with the pad of my thumb. He leaned into it almost desperately.
"How could you think that I didn't want it?" I asked him quietly.
"First you fainted, then you yelled and cried, then you practically forced me to leave. None of that was how you reacted to Sam or Jared's imprints." He stated as he reached up and placed his hand over mine on his face.
"It took me by surprise, Paul. You promised me that you would tell me if anything had changed, and according to the conversation I overheard, you had no intentions of doing so. That hurt, Paul, a lot." I mentioned.
"How do I always manage to fuck things up?" He asked me with a pained expression.
"Get up here." I said to him.
"I don't have any clothes on." He muttered.
"I noticed, and I don't care. Don't you think I've seen it all plenty of times before?" I laughed.
He stood up and sat next to me on the boulder. I leaned my head against his shoulder and heard him take a deep breath.
"Do you know how excited I was when I didn't imprint on Rachel? I mean I looked right into her eyes about 10 times while I was there. She probably thought I was crazy or something, but I just had to know for sure. Then I came home and was completely blown away when I glanced into your eyes like I have so many times before, and the whole world just stopped spinning. Everything in my life shifted and I just knew. Why did it happen now and not before?" He asked.
"It's because you finally got your closure. You needed to know if Rachel was your imprint and you couldn't until you saw her." I told him as I remembered the same conversation that Jared had with me after he imprinted on me.
"It must've been. So you're not rejecting the imprint?" He asked hopefully as he looked over at me.
"No, Paul, I'd never do that." I told him honestly. I could feel a rush of hope run through him. It was strange that once I'd realized it was an imprint, I could clearly feel my three different bonds to each of them. They felt like steel cables attaching me permanently to each one, with emotions seeping through them all.
"What comes next?" He asked curiously.
"All four of us are going to have a talk. Together." I told him explicitly. "But before we go back, I need to know something."
He raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue.
"When you imprinted, did your feelings toward me change?" I questioned. I watched as he licked his lips then bit down on the bottom one, reaching up to run his hand through his hair.
"You sure you want to know, B?" He asked nervously, making me wonder where this was going.
"Especially now." I mentioned, motioning for him to continue.
"They, uh, might have been for a little while now." He swallowed, looking back out at the waves crashing below. I was shocked.
"Did Sam and Jare know?" I asked quickly.
"I don't know how I managed to get it past them, but I did. Or if they noticed, they didn't mention it." He smirked.
"How long is a little while, Paul?" I asked him curiously.
"Since around the time Jared imprinted on you." He told me, throwing me off guard.
"Over a month?" I questioned.
"It went a bit slower for me than it did for Jared. It wasn't like an overnight light switch type of situation. I started paying more attention, then I noticed that I enjoyed more things that you did. When you'd sit with me on the couch, I savored that shit. Hell, I fucking love seeing that baby bump of yours getting bigger. About a week ago, I knew I was gone. I've loved you for a long time, B, but never like this." Paul told me and I felt the tears in my eyes once again.
I wrapped my arms around his chest as he slung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer. He placed a kiss on the side of my head and leaned into me.
"Alright, B, no more tears, let's go talk to imprint #1 and imprint #2." He told me, now standing up and holding his hand out to help me up.
"And get you a pair of shorts." I laughed, realizing he was still naked.
"Want me to go wolf 'til we get there?" He asked with a wink.
"Nah I don't mind the view." I winked back at him. I could definitely tell he'd just mentally high-fived himself as I shook my head.
A/N- I am so sorry about the confusion with Chapter 50 and 51. If you haven't read the correct chapter 50 (which was replaced), the please do so. It has vital information to the story.
Was this how you thought Bella and Paul would react?
Guys, I toyed around with the ideas of either Paul remaining a best friend/confidant, or having him imprint on their baby girl, but I love Paul. I really do. Writing him and his personality makes me feel alive. I can't tell you all how many times I've started a Paul/Bella story but I haven't seen one through yet. Maybe after I finish this and Dive Deep. The point is, I love his character too much not to explore the imprint side of him. He's a player, and I don't think that would go over well with imprinting on a baby.
There are still difficulties ahead, as well as possibly more im****** coming into view ;)
Stay tuned to find out!
Please drop a review and favorite/follow if you haven't already! (Damn that makes me sound like one of those youtubers my kids watch, lol!)
