PREVIOUSLY-
Embry pulled in with Leah at about 6pm. I opened the door for them and Leah rushed inside to hug her mother with Embry trailing in behind her, looking nervous.
"Is Sam still here?" he asked quickly.
"He just ran back to the house to get something. Em, what's going on?" I asked him curiously. He pulled me outside and ran his hands down his face, pacing back and forth. "What is it?"
"I imprinted on her." He muttered, looking terrified.
"On Leah?" I asked, unbelieving. His eyes turned to me with an unreadable expression.
"Yep. What the crap do I do? Her dad just died. I can't just unload all the pack stuff on her right now! She's going to college in California, Bella. How the hell is that going to work?!" He whisper shouted to me, pulling at his hair.
I was in total shock. Complete and total shock.
"First of all, calm down Embry. We don't need you phasing right here. Remember that the imprint means you'll be whatever she needs you to be, okay? If she just needs someone to lean on right now, you be that person. Did the two of you at least talk on the way back?" I asked him.
"Yeah, we talked about all kinds of stuff, but she was so upset… It effing killed me to see her so upset. I didn't know how to make it better. What do I do?" He continued to pace.
"You can't make it better right now, Embry. As much as you want to, her dad just died. That's a pain you can't take away. You can only be there for her right now. Let her know that you're there if she needs to talk or get anything off her chest. She'll feel the connection too, she'll open up to you. When it's time, we'll introduce her to the pack. I'm just worried that she'll phase because of the new visitor. If she does, she'll really need your help then." I told him as I stopped his pacing.
Sam walked up behind us, putting his hand on my lower back and immediately knew something was wrong.
"What happened?" He asked quickly.
So I told him what had occurred and Sam asked me to go inside so that he could talk to Embry. I walked back inside and saw Jake talking to Charlie with Billy next to the both of them. Quil was talking to Seth, and I turned, just in time to see Emily Young walking in the front door.
I'd never seen her without the scars she'd had before, but she was truly beautiful. Breathtaking, eve. I felt the unsettling irrational fear deep in my heart as I began breathing hard.
"Bella?" Quil asked as he saw me leaning against the couch.
"Go get Paul for me?" I asked him. He nodded quickly, running out the back.
Paul was the only one who knew of my fear that something would happen when Sam saw Emily.
"Jake?" I asked quietly. Not loud enough for everyone else to hear, but I knew he would. He came into the living room immediately.
"What's wrong, Bells?" He asked, concerned.
"Can you keep Sam busy outside for a little bit?" I asked him, knowing I was just delaying the inevitable, but hoping that I'd give myself time to talk to Paul first. "Don't let him know, though."
"On it." He replied, not even questioning my odd request.
A few minutes later, Paul came in with a concerned look on his face.
"What's wrong, Bella? Is it the babies?" He asked quickly. I shook my head no and motioned to Emily, who was now talking to Sue. "I see now."
"I'm worried. Jake is keeping him busy outside, but that'll only last so long…" I muttered to him worriedly.
"B, he's going to see her. You can't stop that. You're just stressing yourself out by delaying it. The sooner he sees her, the sooner we'll all know if something will happen, which I highly doubt." Paul told me confidently. I knew he was right.
"What if it does?" I whispered.
"Then we'll deal with it. You still haven't told Jared or Sam about this?" He asked and I shook my head. Paul knowing was bad enough and I couldn't tell Sam. "Listen, I'm going to go get Sam. I won't tell him anything, I'll just have him come inside, okay?"
I gulped and nodded, knowing he was right about getting it done quicker.
"It'll be okay, princess, no matter what." He told me before walking out the back door to get Sam.
I waited, staring at the back door until Sam and Paul walked back in. Sam scanned the small crowd for me, but I watched as his eyes settled on Emily first.
I couldn't help but close my eyes and hold my breath, afraid of what I'd see.
A moment later, I felt a warm hand on my arm, and I opened my eyes to see Sam standing in front of me.
"Are you okay, honey?" Sam asked me with no indication that anything else had happened.
"You saw her." I mumbled to him. He looked at me questioningly. "Emily."
He pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me.
"Oh honey, is that what this is about?" He asked me and I nodded, knowing he could feel the movement. "Yes, I saw her. Nothing happened, Bella. Nothing. I looked right into her eyes. I told you that nothing would. I'm completely and totally yours. Have you been worried about this the whole time we've been together?"
I didn't trust myself to speak. I was relieved, but still tired and stressed.
"Yeah, Sam, she has. Why don't you take her home and let her rest for a little while. We've all been up since 3 and I love ya, princess, but you look dead on your feet." Paul said to the both of us.
He was right, I was dead tired, and my feet hurt from standing all day.
"Come on, honey." Sam said as he wrapped his arm around my waist, leading me into the kitchen where Sue and Charlie were.
We said our goodbyes and Sam told them he'd be back later but that I needed to rest. We walked down the pathway through the forest back to our house and I felt myself yawning about every five steps.
Maybe it was to get my mind away from the horrible news of the day, or the stress from seeing Emily, but I tried to think about something else. Anything else. Only my mind kept settling back on the one thing I'd been overthinking for the past week.
I loved Paul so much already, but I was worried that he wasn't as happy about the imprint as he'd implied.
He hadn't made any advances other than kissing since that first night and that concerned me, even though I rationally knew it shouldn't.
When we got inside, Sam helped take my shoes off and rubbed my halfway swollen feet.
I knew I should have my mind on other things, but the thing with Paul kept creeping up in the back of my mind. I assumed it was a stress overload mixed with over-tiredness and I was compensating by concentrating on something other than Harry's death. That something just ended up stressing me out even more.
"Something's on your mind, honey, and I know it's not about Emily or Harry." Sam told me, looking for me to answer.
"Do you think Paul is really okay with the imprint?" I blurted out to him with watery eyes. He kneeled in front of me and held either side of my face with both hands.
"Of course he is. He loves you, honey, the same as me and Jared. Why would you ever think he didn't?" Sam asked, wiping a stray tear from my cheek.
"It just seems like things have stalled. He's been holding back. Normally he tells me everything and isn't afraid to show it either. He hasn't even done or tried anything more than kiss me, Sam. He hasn't talked to me about it. I'm starting to worry that he's just not attracted to me or something, like he's not happy with the imprint. I mean he's been with who knows how many women before, and he doesn't want that from me? Is there something wrong with me? Is it because I'm pregnant?" I asked him as I felt the tears falling freely now. I cursed my damn hormones again. "Things with you or Jared weren't ever like this."
"Bella, that's not it at all. He's been worried that you aren't ready for that yet. There's nothing wrong with you, and it's definitely not because you're pregnant. He's extremely attracted to you, trust me, I've been in his head countless times. He's happy with the imprint, overjoyed even." Sam explained. "Honey, you don't need to worry about anything. Just rest for a while. All of the stress definitely isn't good for you or our children."
"I know, Sam." I told him, rubbing my eyes.
"I love you." He told me before leaning down and kissing me softly.
"I love you, too." I returned.
I sniffled and curled up in the bed, falling asleep within minutes.
A/N- Sam saw Emily! What do you guys think is going on with Paul? You all know by now that I enjoy putting a little Bella/imprint time in between the drama (or in this case, sadness). Something to balance it out, I guess.
I've posted my new tattoo as the cover photo for this story, so check it out if you'd like!
Review if you want to find out more about Paul's situation.
***evil cackling ensues***
