Hi!

Thank you to those who favored and followed. I truly appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed the prologue. To be honest, I'm very nervous about posting my new chapters but I want to try my take on what a healthy relationship looks like. Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 1!

Forever and Always,

Ari.

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety and stress. Nothing that I would deem to graphic or triggering.

Disclaimer: I only own my OC's and the parts of the plot you do not recognize from the Twilight Saga.

Chapter 1: Let's Work This Out. You and I.

"You have bewitched me, body and soul." - Pride & Prejudice

Continued: "I called you an ass."

"I called you an ass." I held his gaze, my sudden pride preventing me from looking away and cowering in the corner like; I wanted too. My eyebrows furrowed when he stared at me as if I had captured him in a trance. I tilted my head wondering; if he was going to do the same. "Granted, I shouldn't have c-called you an ass, and I'm sorry for that, but you ruined my project. I w-would at least like an a-apology."

He blinked rapidly, opening his mouth and closing it abruptly. Before he turned away and practically bulldozing his way through the hallway. It was as if I had suddenly contracted a fatal disease, and he had to get away from me as fast as humanly possible. I scoffed in disbelief, staring after him open-mouthed, the sheer nerve of some people.

"Why are you frozen like that? Never mind that... we have a few minutes to get to class." A cold hand roughly grabbed my shoulder, trying to get me to move. I couldn't stop staring after him. That wasn't the reaction I expected. A tiny bit of relief was making its way into my body since it wasn't an angry response that I got from him. I had called the most vicious person an ass, and I didn't get a reaction. Maybe my luck wasn't so bad.

I closed my mouth, failing to get the words out to convey my shock. I eyed Alex, shaking my head at the situation I encountered. "I.."

My binder was roughly shoved in my arms. "Let's go." The dark-haired male placed his hands on my shoulders again. Forcefully guiding me towards our first class. I wanted to shove him off, I couldn't find it in myself to do so. Instead, I let him treat me like a ragdoll. "You can tell me about it later."

I walked through the door, heading towards the back of the class. I slammed my things down as I replayed the one-sided conversation. It couldn't have been anything I said. "Paul didn't even try to apologize."

"What are you going on about," Alex calmly set his bag down, gesturing for me to sit. "People are staring."

I looked around the room, and sure enough, I saw multiple of my classmates staring at me in shock. I felt my cheeks heat up as I sat down, avoiding their curious gazes. "God… I keep calling attention to myself today." I buried my face in my hands, trying to ignore the embarrassment I was feeling.

Alex laughed, setting his hand on my back-patting it gently. "You act as if that's a bad thing… Now tell me, what are you so upset about?"

I peeked between my fingers, "Don't go acting crazy." I breathed in deeply, trying to figure out the best way to tell him I pissed off a volatile man. "I may or may not have pissed off Paul."

"The man whore?" Alex scoffed, pulling my hands away from my face holding them tightly in his grasp. "It's not worth getting a panic attack about. Don't concern yourself with the feelings of sleazy men. Jeez, I thought you finally snapped and killed Jay or something."

I rolled my eyes at him, pulling my hands from his tight grip. "Easier said than done. I don't know what came over me, Alex. I mean, he stepped on the portrait of my dad that I was the proudest of, and he didn't even apologize. Then I go and call him an ass, which I don't even know how he heard me. I swore I mentioned it under my breath. I get confronted by him. Instead of cowering and hiding. I stared at him head-on and demand an apology." I rushed out, pulling my hair from my bun, trying to hide my overheated cheeks. "I swear my alter ego Isabella took the reigns for a second."

He smiled at me, taking my face in both hands, squishing my cheeks together. "You, my darling are growing up. I feel like a proud dad right now."

I batted his hands away, sending him a nasty glare. "I have a headache…" I rubbed my eyes, resting my head on the cold desk. "I'm tired."

"From what?" Alex brushed away the hair that was covering my face. "Too much drama?" He teased, lightly stroking my cheek.

I scoffed at him, pulling away from his touch, "Funny… I couldn't sleep last night. Jay had a nightmare, and I didn't want to sleep; in case he had another one."

"He is; still having them? You need to take him in. That can't be healthy," Alex murmured, leaning back in his chair, flipping through my art binder. Part of me wanted to yank my; binder back from him, but I focused on massaging my temples.

"He won't go. I've tried, and mom is no help." I combed my fingers through my hair refraining; from tugging out some of the knotted strands. "The only thing I can do is be there for him." I looked around the room, seeing Paul enter the classroom. I looked away, slinking down in my seat, hoping that I would blend into it.

"What did I tell you, Rys… Sit up c'mon, no need to panic. Your knight is right here beside you." Alex placed his hand right on the back of my neck, trying to soothe me, but all it did was bring more anxiety. I knew how bad Alex's' anger could get, and if he went up against Paul, it would be a disaster.

I sent him a small smile, gripping his other hand, hoping that Paul would ignore what happened.

8:34 a.m. The parking lot of La Push High, La Push, Washington

Paul made his way outside, pushing his way frantically through the late students. He knew today was going to be a fucked-up day. From the moment Paul woke up, his father had decided to finally bring back his truck on empty. He didn't bother to fill it back up, which meant he had to skip breakfast at Emily's. Since Paul had to go all the way to Forks to get the quality gas. So to say he was fucking hungry was an understatement. Then the spirits decided that since today wasn't fucked up enough. They wanted him to cross paths with his fucking imprint in the most fucked up way. He marched to his truck, resting his head against the cold glass. He fucked up.

He thought back to her and how her breathtaking brown eyes held his gaze. The shift had been instantaneous. Paul felt like the world he once knew was gone, and she was holding: the door open to a brand new world. A world where he craved to be with her or to simply exist around her. Now that he met her, it was hard to imagine how he spent so long of his life without her.

Paul banged his head against the window, trying to remember what she said after he had met her gaze. Deep down, he knew it wasn't going to help him gain any favor with her. Paul looked back at the school, wondering where she was right now and if she was thinking about him.

But the one thing he did know was that he was an idiot. An idiot for not asking her name. An idiot for not listening to her. An idiot for trying to intimidate her, and an idiot for walking away.

He groaned, knocking his head against the window again. "It's a small school," he reassured himself.

It hadn't even been ten minutes since he imprinted, and he was already whipped for her. He knew the guys were gonna give him hell for it.

"LAHOTE! GET YOUR ASS TO CLASS," He looked up seeing the gym teacher, calling from the double doors.

He grimaced, heading back to his first class. Paul walked back through the hallway. He stopped beside the spot where he had tried to intimidate her. Paul bent down, grabbing the crumpled paper; that laid where she knelt at. He opened the paper noticing his big boot print over a beautiful sketch of an older man. Paul sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, "I fucked up."

He walked into his class, looking around the room for her in case she had the same; class. He froze when he noticed her in the back of the classroom, smiling and holding another guy's hand. Paul shoved the flash of anger down. He walked to the rear of the class stopping in front of her desk. She glanced up at him, pulling her hand back.

He noticed her shrink back further into herself when the boy beside her leaned forward. "Can we help you?"

Paul ignored the sarcastic tone from the boy beside her, choosing to focus solely on her. He unfolded the paper setting it on her desk. " I'm sorry about this."

He held his breath watching, as she ran her fingers across the crumpled paper. A small smile placed itself on her lips, and his heart almost stopped at how pretty she was. "Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry about calling you an ass. I shouldn't have said that." She mumbled out the last bit, keeping her eyes on the paper. He leaned down, hoping that she would at least look up at him.

"Awesome. Apology accepted; you can go now." The boy beside her piped up again, reaching over to take the drawing folding it and putting it in a purple folder. "I'll toss it out later," He assured her, setting the purple folder back on her desk. "It's ruined anyway."

Paul ignored him, continuing to stare at her. She glared at the boy beside her, tapping her nails against the wood. "I accept your apology…" He trailed off, waiting for her to introduce herself.

She looked up at him, sending him an awkward grin. "Ms. Blu is giving you a death stare, you should take your seat." He turned, seeing the grey-haired woman glaring at him. He sighed, pulling out the chair in front of his imprint desk, plopping himself down heavily.

"Great now that everyone is finally seated. I have some exciting news. The exciting mystery project is coming up, and I know you all are waiting for me to announce it. But, I've decided to change it up some. Ms. Blu announced holding a black bag. She ignored the collective groans from some of the students. "Instead of you, getting to pick your partners, we are going to leave it up to chance. Today, we are going to pick. So let's get started." She mixed up the little pieces of paper passing; it to the first student.

"Take a sheet, tell me who you got and pass the bag." He watched the bag make its way towards him. Paul hoped his imprint wouldn't pair with someone else. Paul sighed, looking at the bag sitting in front of him. He hadn't heard her voice call out yet, and there were three slips in the paper bag. "Mr. Lahote… we do not have all day," Ms. Blu chided, gesturing urgently to the paper bag. He closed his eyes, reaching into the paper bag, pulling one of the pieces of paper out. He unfolded the paper, praying that it wouldn't be Lisa's name. "What's the name?"

"Laryssa," He mumbled, not recognizing the name.

"Tough luck toots," He listened to the boy behind him.

Paul perked up, turning around to face his imprint. "Laryssa?" He asked, staring at her. She sent him a nod, refusing to meet his gaze, focusing solely on her desk. He grinned, turning back around to face the front.

Laryssa.

"Alright, Alexander and Lisa are the last two. So our mystery writing project this semester is... Biographies! Here are the instructions. Not this class period, but in the next few class periods, you will be working with your partner. You and your partner have to write a biography about each other. Don't worry, this isn't presentation based. I will be the only one reading the biographies you make." She smiled, clapping her hands excitedly. Paul eyed the questions, thankful at the opportunity to get to know Laryssa.

10:05 a.m. Gym, La Push High, La Push, Washington

"Laryssa, Kim, Jenny, and Lisa, you all have five extra laps," Coach Mig yelled, blowing his whistle twice. "Get going! Hustle!"

I sighed, bending down to tie my shoe. "Alex, make you late again?"

I glanced up, taking Kim's outstretched hand. "Doesn't he always. Jared, make you late?"

"Of course. Jared can be such a needy puppy sometimes," she giggled, pulling her hood over her head. "Run together?"

I smiled, zipping my jacket up. "Always. Oh, and by the way, Ms. Blu's project is biographies. She is leaving our partners to chance," I mumbled the last part, wondering how I managed to have so much rotten luck.

"That's not too bad. I mean writing biographies are easy; it's the partner part I'm nervous about," Kim huffed, slowing down to a jog. "I don't talk to anyone in my class."

"It'll be okay, Kim," I tried to sound enthusiastic. "I'm sure you'll get a great partner!"

"I bet you got paired with Alex," Kim stated, tugging her hood off. "If Jared saw me without my hood, he'd worry about me getting sick, but it keeps sliding down."

I laughed, glancing over at the boy's gym class seeing, them flipping tires. "Good thing he doesn't have gym this period."

"I know. It's good to have some girl time though," She looped her arm through mine as we started to walk. "So do you and Alex even have to ask each other the biography questions, or are you guys just gonna write it."

"Alex and I aren't partners for the biography." I hesitated, biting my lip harshly. I wasn't sure if I should tell Kim about my concerns since Jared happened to be Paul's friend. "I got partnered with Paul." I started cautiously, watching the guys struggle with the pacer test.

"Don't believe what you hear, Laryssa. He's nice, and he won't bite your head off," Kim said, pulling me to a stop. "I mean, he can be a little rough around the edges, but your nice, so I don't see why he wouldn't be nice back. Unless it's something else and possibly you want to sleep with him. But you don't know how to tell me. I mean, that's totally your call, and you'd get no judgments from me."

I chuckled at how fast Kim backtracked. Silently thankful for the cool breeze against my warm cheeks. Everyone knew how handsome some of the guys were. Paul was undoubtedly attractive, but I knew he wouldn't have even turned my way if I hadn't insulted him. Little miss nobody calling him an ass, put me on the map. Probably right where his shit list would be. Alex would've murdered me and brought me back to life. Just to kill me again if I even mentioned that I thought Paul was attractive.

I blinked; rapidly when Kim snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Sorry… No… it's just I called him an ass this morning. But it was out of anger, and I didn't mean for him to hear it. We both apologized, but I'm still nervous. Paul looked angry, Kim."

"Well, how did he look when he apologized," Kim asked, starting to walk again. "Was he still angry? I mean, he usually doesn't apologize, but wait… you called him an ass?" Kim tugged on my arm, stopping again. She slapped her cold hand against my forehead, "Are you sick?"

I shoved her lightly rolling my eyes, "I didn't look at him when he apologized. But he sounded genuine," I bit my lip. "I couldn't even look at him when he picked me as his partner. Alex mentioned that he grinned evilly, whatever that means."

"Alex is probably just upset because he didn't get partnered with you." Kim shrugged, locking arms with me again. "Don't be nervous about Paul. I'll make sure he's extra nice to you."

"Kim," I huffed. "Please don't. I don't want to start anything. Everything is going to be normal. It's as if you and I didn't talk about this. Please, Kim."

"Fine," She sighed dramatically, walking towards the gym doors.

"We have five extra laps, Kim," I whined, digging my heels into the track. "Coach is gonna get mad."

"It's raining. The coach wouldn't want us to get sick," She smirked, holding her hands out. I huffed, barely feeling the drizzle of rain. "C'mon Laryssa."

11:15 a.m. Room 14, La Push High, La Push, Washington

"So, I'm just going to ask you outright and do not lie to me. Did you mean your apology this morning," Paul glared at Kim's excessively high voice. "Because I will castrate you if you decide to be an ass to her."

There was only one person he apologized to, and the mention of her had him perking up and leaning closer to Kim's desk. "You know, Laryssa?"

Kim eyed him, pursing her lips. She leaned back against her chair, bringing her legs up to her chest. "Did you do what I think you did?" He crossed his arms, leaning away from her, trying his best to hide his grin. "Oh my god…" She giggled, sitting up straight. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!"

Paul kicked her seat silently telling, her to shut up. "And if I did," He murmured, setting his hand on top of his folder that held her drawing. "Would that be a bad thing?"

"No. I'm happy for you. Both of you," Kim smiled, shaking her head lightly. "She's a great person. I'm so excited for you. I can see you guys getting along. Now that I think about it. You and Laryssa are perfect for each other!"

Paul grinned, letting his fingers run circles over the folder. He could've met her sooner if he had paid attention to Kim's friends. "I didn't know you were friends. I've only seen you talk to Jared."

"We've had gym together for four years now. Since Laryssa and I are always late, we have to run extra laps. So three years ago, we started running together," Kim said, looking down at the worksheet. "I'm so excited for you guys."

"She won't even look at me," Paul sighed. He tried so hard to meet her gaze once their class had ended, but she only focused on Alex. "She's dating Alex, isn't she." He pushed down the anger building at the bottom of his stomach.

"No." She denied, tucking the worksheet into her folder. "They've been friends since middle school. She's like me before Jared, only ten times as shy and nervous."

He perked up slightly, but he had seen Alex's eyes on her. Paul knew that look; it was the look Jacob had for the paleface. "She didn't seem nervous when she called me an ass," He chuckled, admiring the way she was able to hold his gaze.

"That doesn't sound like her, but I bet you that all she wanted to do was curl in a corner," Kim grinned, shaking her head. Paul felt terrible when Kim mentioned that she probably wanted to curl in a corner. That was the last thing he wanted for her. "When she told me that she called you an ass, I had to make sure she wasn't sick."

"Why did you ask if I meant my apology?" He stared at Kim, wanting her to divulge everything she knew about Laryssa. "Did she not want to be my partner?"

"She just mentioned that you looked angry," Kim shrugged, holding in a yawn. "I just told her that you would be extra nice to her and not worry what everyone says about you. I don't think you have to worry about any of the rumors, Paul." she rested her head against the desk, closing her eyes. "She's just nervous by nature, I don't think it has anything to do with being your partner or not."

Paul nodded, deciding that he would talk to her one on one without her friend around. He flipped open the folder studying the drawing. His boot print had faded into the; drawing. He closed his eyes, thinking about the flash of hurt that crossed her face. Alex shouldn't have tossed the drawing into the trash. Paul opened his eyes, looking down at the older man. Whoever he was, he had to have been, important to her, and he couldn't wait to get to know her and to know who this man was to her.

11:55 a.m. Cafeteria, La Push High, La Push, Washington

"Enough, Alex," I hissed, pulling my art notebook away from him. He was criticizing all of my artwork, and it was beginning to stress me out. "What is with you today," I questioned shoving my lunch away no longer hungry.

He picked up the rest of my leftover turkey sandwich, biting into it. "I'm not the one that's acting weird toots. After your little altercation, you have been all over the place." I looked away from him, heaving myself up from the bench. "Where are you going?"

"I forgot my chocolate in my locker, I'm going to get it. I'll be back in a bit," I huffed, spinning away from Alex. I pushed past some of the other students, letting the doors slam behind me. I rubbed my hand across my face angrily, accidentally colliding with a warm body. I squealed, dropping my notebook, landing on my ass. "Shit sorry," I glanced up, meeting Paul's worried gaze.

He kneeled his worried eyes boring into mine before he scanned my body. I sent him an awkward smile feeling my cheeks start to heat up rapidly. I pulled my coat closer, "Are you normally this clumsy?" He questioned, smiling, leaning over to grab my notebook while offering me his other hand to help me up.

I put my hand in his, letting him pull me up. I grimaced, gently taking my notebook from him. "I just like attacking the floor sometimes," I mumbled internally, scolding myself for sounding so childish.

"Backwards," He teased. I looked at him, noticing the smile still on his face.

"I have to keep it on its toes," I laughed; at my embarrassment.

"I'm guessing every time you attack it, it still wins." Paul murmured, leaning down to pick up his bag that must have fallen when I bumped into him.

"Yup," I nodded, looking at my shoes. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." I hugged my notebook closer to me.

"I don't mind. Accidents happen. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something," Paul trailed off, glancing at someone behind me. "Hold on a sec," He looked down at me, sending me an apologetic glance. I nodded, looking behind me only to see Embry. He sent me a small grin, accompanied by a wave.

I smiled and waved back. Embry glanced between Paul and I. "It can wait," He waved Paul away heading into the cafeteria.

"Sorry about that." Paul sighed, staring down at me. "You know Embry," He asked, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, he's my partner in science," I stated, looking down the hall. "I was going to get my chocolate bar in my locker. Do you mind if-"

"I can walk you to your locker," He interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck. "If you don't mind the company," Paul trailed off, looking unsure.

"If you don't mind walking to the other side of the school." I smiled hesitantly, starting to walk in the direction of my locker. "Sorry, chocolate always helps me when I'm stressed," I mumbled, watching him in my peripheral vision. "What did you want to talk about?"

He breathed deeply, clenching, and unclenching his hands. "I know we got off on the wrong foot this morning, and I wanted to talk to you about it." I glanced at him, feeling my stomach drop slightly. "I am sorry about the intimidating thing I did. I didn't realize I messed up your art."

I stopped walking, sending him a small smile. "I'm sorry too. I was angry, and calling you an ass was unacceptable. Thank you for apologizing, I truly appreciate it."

"Do you mind if we start over," Paul asked, turning to face me. I nodded to him feeling the anxiety melt away. "I'm Paul."

"Laryssa."

Let me know what y'all think!

Edited on January 21, 2020.