As promised, the next chapter. It goes together with the thirteenth but I didn't want to have them together on the same chapter.

I hope it's to your liking.

A little bit of gentle teasing, but no lemons here. I'll let you know when another one is coming.

Btw, this chapter reminded me of one of the Enchanted movie's (which I can't believe it's from 2007) songs. When the protagonist (I think her name is Elle?) is singing to the male protagonist about his girlfriend and how does she know he loves her. Look for it, it's worth it.

In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy!

SILVER

Chapter 14: How do you know?

After that intense session of lovemaking, Bella and Paul stood up to clean themselves up before going back to bed. While Bella cleaned herself, Paul changed the sheets that were covered in fluids and some of Bella's blood. He put them on the washing machine and then closed the bedroom door so the noise wouldn't disturb their sleep.

Bella came out of the bathroom wearing one of Paul's shirts. In her nervous state, she had forgotten to pack any sleeping clothes. She had forgone her underwear, no point in wearing them to bed if they might repeat the events. She wasn't so sure if she'd be up for it because her lady parts were aching from overstimulation. Honestly, she was beaten from a day at work, their emotional talk before going to bed, and the nighttime activities.

She came out just as Paul was putting the pillows and duvet back on the bed. She walked towards him and hugged him from behind. She still had the question of whether he knew from her actions that she loved him.

"Time to sleep." He palmed her hands, and she released him.

Once they were on the bed, Bella snuggled underneath the new sheets, feeling comfortable and warm. She laid on her side, looking at Paul, who was lying on his back, his eyes were closed, and he looked relaxed, but she knew he wasn't asleep.

"I love you." She whispered.

He opened one eye and rolled on his side to face her evenly. "I know." He passed one of his arms around her waist and drew her closer to him.

"How do you know?" She took this opportunity to ask.

He was always considerate of her feelings, trying to please her with everything. Making sure she was happy, comfortable. She knew he would be whatever she wanted him to be, and he'd do it gladly, but honestly, the only thing she needed him to be, was himself. And she wanted him to be happy, to feel loved, cherished, heard. She wanted him to come to her if she had any troubles or if he was happy or sad. She wanted to be his home.

"I see it in the way you speak to me, how you look at me when you think I'm not looking." She did that a lot. "I also notice it in the way you relax when I enter a room. It's not as if you're tense or uncomfortable. It's a different kind of relaxing; I don't know how to explain it." She knew what he meant. It was difficult to explain. She was perfectly content when they were apart, but it was a different kind of energy when he entered the room. "You look out for me as well."

She smiled softly at him, glad that her love for him was tangible in her actions. She was a little concerned about it. When she dated Edward, it was all about her. Everything revolved around her, her safety, her wishes, her curfew, her dad. She never really had much freedom in their relationship. And after coming back from Italy, it was how she couldn't go out with the wolves, how they're dangerous, vicious, and worse than Victoria. She doubted Edward had any bad intentions with any of his actions, but he knew how much Jake meant to her, and to forcibly stop her from going to see him was abusive and controlling. Lately, every time Edward appeared at her house, instead of the excitement she had felt at the beginning of their relationship (including after the attack from James), she felt annoyed and suffocated. She didn't have a way to show him she cared because he didn't let her. There were no gestures she could make to surprise him. She had tried to make things easier for him by not speaking with Jake after she brought Edward back, but that wasn't showing love to a person that was succumbing to a psychological abuse she hadn't been aware of at the time.

Paul kissed her forehead sweetly. "Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to make sure you knew I love you, not because I told you but because my actions show it. Does it make sense?"

"Do you really worry about things like that all the time in your head?" His intonation was not mocking but slightly concerned.

"Kind of." She shrugged.

He eyed her for a few seconds. She wasn't telling him everything. "What else is going through your mind?"

She sighed and sat up. He looked startled and confused but quickly recovered and sat up as well.

She took his hands on hers, nervously playing with his fingers. "I just think it's not fair that the imprint asks you to be whatever I need you to be."

"But that's how it is, mostly. I never questioned it. Why are you thinking about that right now?" He knew it wasn't because she was backing out. She wouldn't have made love with him to break up the next moment. Nor would she have asked him how he knew she loved him if she was going to break up with him.

"Because I want to be clear about this from the start." She said, looking up at his face. He nodded, urging her to continue. "The only thing I need you to be is yourself. I don't need you to be just my friend; because I want more from you." He knew that; they had covered that already. "I only need you."

Was this all? Was she so worked up because she thought he didn't know that? "Bella, contrary to what you may think, I don't need to be told every little thing to know you or know what you want." That was a side effect of dating a mind-reading leech who couldn't read her mind. How many times did he ask her to speak out loud her thoughts? "Baby, I feel it in the way you hug me or speak to me or by your body language. Not every communication needs to be verbal. How do you think we know so much about the other?" He winked at her.

"Yeah, you're right. You are a wise man." She rolled her eyes mockingly at him.

"Hey!" he tickled her sides, making her squirm and laugh. "I don't appreciate you rolling your eyes at me."

"Oh, now you need verbal communication." She mocked again. He tickled her further, making her gasp out for air. When he stopped, she was crying with laughter. It had felt good to laugh like this.

"You're gorgeous when you relax and laugh like that. You get too serious sometimes."

"My dad says the same." She whipped her eyes but didn't lose her smile. "I promise this is the last serious question I have for the time being."

He eyed her suspiciously. Even if he was very good at reading her, she could also be very unpredictable.

"When we were making love, I swear there was a moment your eyes had like a gold iris to it, which is crazy, I know. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds insane. Your eyes cannot change colors from gray to gold. That'd be creepy…" Paul put a hand on Bella's mouth to shut her up.

She frowned. She didn't like to be shut up like that. She bit his palm, to which he yelled and laughed. "Are you going to let me speak?"

"Ok."

"We are part wolves, so the wolf is there at the back of our minds most of the time. Making love or having sex, in general, is a very instinctive activity, and as such, the wolf kind of comes out. His way of saying he's also there is by the gold in our eyes." He explained as simply as he could. "Are you freaked out?" He hoped not.

She thought about it. "No, not really. It kind of makes sense that he's also there. I liked it." It turned her on as well, but she didn't share that with him…yet. That was for her to know, and for him to find out at another opportunity.