Hello, darlings.

I am so happy that you're enjoying this story. It makes my heart happy.

I wanted to build something with them before shoving him into the newborn fight.

Besides, this was a conversation I thought they had to have before anything else happened.

Brace yourselves, because the next chapter is going to be FIRE! (sorry, spoiler, but I'm excited). I hope to update it tomorrow or on Friday.

I have an idea for new fic. Do you like the possible ship of Jasper/Bella in the vampire world? (It would be a new couple for me to try) Let me know on your review :)

In the meantime, stay safe, review, alert, and enjoy :)

SILVER

Chapter 12: Clearing up doubts

She nodded, glad they had cleared that topic. "On that note, if you don't mind sleeping and not having sex, I brought a night bag, but I left it in my car." He laughed and promised he'd look for it before going to bed.

They decided to eat the ice cream directly from the container and settled on the couch to watch a movie.

…

…

At some point, Paul paused the movie, noticing that Bella's mind was not on the plot of the movie but elsewhere in the universe. His point was supported when she didn't make a noise or move to acknowledge the fact that the movie was no longer playing.

He tapped her arms softly, trying not to startle her, seeing as she was deep in thought. She blinked fast a few times, coming back to earth slowly. "Did the movie end?" She had missed most of it, then, if it had ended. How long was she trapped in her head?

"No. You seemed spaced, so I paused it." He answered, concerned. "Are you ok?" Was she regretting being here? Did she want to leave and did not know how to say it? Had he done something to upset her?

Bella nodded immediately, but he was already panicking, thinking of what he might have done to upset or offend her. Was he too forward with her? She needed to speak and put him out of his misery. "I guess I'm worried." That did not help to clear his thoughts.

"Worried about what?" The red-headed leech? The newborn fight that might take place sooner rather than later? Worried about her neighbor's cat? Worried about what?!

"Us." She didn't meet his stare.

Them? Worried about them? "Why?"

"Why do you love me?" Where was this coming from?

"What?"

She nodded again. "Why do you love me? You know very little about me."

That upset him. He knew enough. "I know you're compassionate; you're brave; you think everyone is inherently good and unable to have a mean thought. You're stubborn, which means you'll take your time before deciding, which also means you'll be one hundred percent sure it's the right decision before taking it. You don't have a mean bone in your body, which has played against you before, but you still move on. You're smart, and you're mine."

She smiled softly. Before she had any time to answer, he continued.

"And that's on your personality. Because don't forget that I tried to push your buttons to get a reaction from you to get you out of that submissive state. I liked you very much before the imprint started. I loved you before the imprint was completed. I know you like sweets, you like baking but do not enjoy cooking. You like simple sweets, like different cookies. If someone's going to buy you supermarket cookies, it must be double cream Oreos. You like hanging out with the girls, Angela is your best friend, and you consider Jacob to be your brother."

Apparently, he did know a lot about her.

"I know I like who I am when I'm with you. You make me feel calm, grounded, and in control. Something I've never felt in my life. Aside from the pack, I've never felt comfortable being myself. With you, I don't even have to try."

She had tears in her eyes by now. Is that how she looked in his eyes? For her, he was all those things and more. But she was scared to be hurt. Because if this relationship were to fail, she would not recover from it. That might sound very dramatic for a nearly nineteen-year-old, seeing as she has her whole life ahead of her and many new people to meet, but if there was one thing she was sure of, it was him. Her sex situation was not based upon wanting to know them better as a couple because that would take years; as they grow and change, they'll do it together.

"So, it's not all because of the imprint?" She asked even though she knew the answer.

"No, baby. The imprint is just the icing on the cake. I would have found the way to get you to myself eventually." He winked at her, showing that the serious talk was over. But she had serious talk to do of her own.

"I don't doubt your feelings for me. I was…am scared of getting hurt again. I love you, and I want us, and I want whatever the future brings for us, and that might sound hurried, seeing as we've been together a few weeks, but I feel it. You're the most important person for me, and it would kill me if this went wrong." It felt silly to say it out loud. "You make me feel normal, like a teenager whose only worry is work and a possible crazy ex-boyfriend." Yes, she hadn't forgotten about Edward trying to pick up a fight with him. "I feel surprisingly comfortable with a guy I slapped the first time I saw him. It took me by surprise that I sought your company and that I would enjoy you making me mad. You made me want to fight for myself, which is something I never did. You're smart, independent, and whether you want to believe it or not, you're sweet, and there's not enough time in the world to tell you all the good things I think about you."

He took her hands in his. This was a conversation they should have had since the beginning. It was happening now, after a minor freak-out train of thoughts on both their parts.

"Why are you scared of being hurt? Do you think I'm going to hurt you?"

She widened her eyes, alarmed that he'd gotten that idea. "Absolutely not!" She exclaimed with more force than necessary. "I'm scared of getting hurt like I'm scared of you getting hurt if by a very disastrous turn of events, we don't work out. I've been hurt before, and it was a nightmare, both literally and figuratively. Losing you would be way worse." And she was not only talking about losing their relationship but losing him in a more permanent way, as in if he got hurt in the newborn fight.

"Bella, we're not going to lose this, I swear. Of that, I'm one hundred percent sure. I might drive you nuts, because admit it, I act first and think later. I'll get in trouble a lot, and you'll get mad at me, a lot. But we'll be very good together. I promise you that. We are good for each other. Trust me and trust us."

He was right. Everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. As long as they had each other at the end of the day, hell could freeze over, and she wouldn't care.

"I do trust you, and I trust us. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was questioning us because I'm not. This is the best thing I have right now and the only sure thing I trust completely." No offense to her best friends and her new friends from the pack.

"Good. If we trust us, we're ok." He kissed her forehead and pressed play on the movie while pulling Bella to his chest. She rested her head there and stretched her legs on the couch. She definitely felt lighter. She smiled happily.

Paul noticed her smiling and smiled to himself.

Yes, they were good together.