Okay, so this is absolutely a short, filler kind of chapter, but it is what it is. I know it's been a while since my last update, a couple of days longer than I'd have liked, but I'll do my best to update again over the weekend at the least.

As ever, thank you so damn much to those of you who read this story, especially those of you who leave comments or PM me, it really means so much to me!

Chapter Nine

Watching her older sister lying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling, Brooke shook her head and scoffed, leaning in the other girl's doorway. "You boned Paul Lahote." She said, feeling the words in her mouth, sounding even then as if she couldn't believe it.

River, shocked out of the daydream that had her grinning, shot bolt upright and threw the nearest thing in her sister's general direction. The can of deodorant landed a few feet away, evidence in itself of how thoughts of Paul worsened River's throw. She was blushing beet red as she hissed at her sister to shut the hell up. "No I didn't." She then growled, grabbing another item, threatening to launch it with a much better arm.

Cackling, Brooke, unbothered, sauntered into River's room and jumped onto her bed. "Right, just like how I'm totally certain that half the school also didn't bone him." She rolled her eyes, pulling her cell out and quickly snapping a picture of them both, sticking her tongue out in a way that made River cringe immediately.

"What are you doing?" The eldest sister snapped, making to grab the cell only to see that whatever Brooke was doing was already sent.

The younger sister pondered her own mortality for a moment. Having a fighter for a sister used to be scary, but hey, a Jeep had broken a few of her bones, so she wasn't such a threat anymore, right? "Telling Krystal that you're an uber tramp." She replied with a shrug.

River rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, forgive me if I don't give a rat's ass about whatever Krystal's single brain cell thinks of me." She grumbled, settling back down on her bed. "Not that it matters what you think either, but I didn't sleep with him." She then added, which was technically true. Well, he'd gone down on her and proceeded to cum on her leg in the process. She'd offered to reciprocate, of course, but he'd seemed genuinely like he wanted more than anything to just hold her. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want for a single second to let anyone have the wrong impression. Perhaps, she realised, she simply didn't want to be one of the many girls lying about having slept with Paul. After all, she hadn't. Granted, he'd gone down on her, but that was about all that had happened between them.

It was Sunday, the day that she was meant to meet him and his friends down on the beach for a bonfire, and she hadn't seen him once since that last time. They hadn't really texted too much either. Oh god, was she still supposed to go? All too late, she realised that Brooke had been speaking. She quickly asked for a repeat, instead getting an eye roll and the wave of a hand. "Krystal says he's got a little dick and that's why he's so mad all the time."

For a second, white fury flashed across River's mind. "Right, because she'd know." She scoffed, trying to act as if it didn't, for some reason, hurt her on some kind of emotional level. She wanted to defend him, say that he was absolutely above average, but that also felt wrong. She didn't feel as though she had any right to talk about that kind of thing, after all, she still didn't know what the hell kind of game they were playing.

"Well, has he?" Brooke demanded. River, thankfully, noticed that the camera was angled her way. She knew a setup when she saw one.

Sighing, she gave the camera a middle finger. As much as she wanted to defend Paul's honour, she certainly didn't want it on video. "Get fucked, Krystal." She chimed cheerily, smiling into the camera before rolling back onto her back.

"So you don't know how big his dick is?" Brooke asked, clearly dead set on being annoying. That was fine though, River could either ignore her or she could lie. "And you're not boning?" She didn't know why, but that was the one that did it. That was the one that got to her. Why the hell was everyone in that stupid little town so obsessed with who was sleeping with who?

Sighing, she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Why would I know how big Paul Lahote's dick is? I barely even know the guy." She grumbled out, hoping that it was convincing enough. If it wasn't, she could always choose violence.

"Right, but he was in your room and you're going-"

Fuck, she knew that would come up eventually. Why did it have to be while she was recording? Oh well, at least she knew that Brooke wouldn't send it to anyone but Krystal. "We have a history paper together, that's literally it." She answered, mostly honestly, feeling something inside her snap a little. She needed to tell more truth. More of the truth that was eating her up. "What do you want me to say? What's the joke, Brooke? Look at me, then look at him. Do you really see that happening? Hell, we probably have the same taste in women." She scoffed and closed her eyes, wanting for the whole thing to just be over.

Brooke, not taking any kind of hint, laughed loudly, clearly amused. She also clearly believed River's version of events now. After all, there was no way that Paul would have realistically come on to her, was there? Not according to River. "Oh my god, I bet you fucking do-"

"Can you just get out of my room." River snapped back, reaching out and shoving, making Brooke drop her phone with a yelp.

"What?" She barked at her older sister, scrambling for her cell. "Oh, come on, don't be such a baby!" She then prodded, hitting River's sore ribs and getting a pained punch in the thigh that, even though it hurt, she knew was only half-hearted.

"Out, asswipe!" Thankfully, with a roll of her eyes, Brooke left after that, muttering into her cell, probably to Krystal, about something or other.

Praying for a distraction, River stood and shoved her door shut, letting her eyes scan her room. What the hell was she meant to do to pass the time?

Luckily, the spirits blessed her and her cell buzzed. As long as it wasn't a text from Brooke, she'd be fine. After a quick text, she found herself grinning. It was Paul.

Hey, still on for later?

Okay, it was simple and to the point. Why was she so stumped? Still, she replied, trying to remain upbeat.

Sure! Can't wait!

"Fuck." Too upbeat?

She groaned and threw herself back onto her bed, wishing that her room would spontaneously combust or simply swallow her whole. Alas, no such luck.

.

.

.

.

.

All the way to the beach, sat beside her mom in the car, River stressed. She stressed about what she was wearing, about arriving on time, about her cast. Anything that she could have stressed about, she did. She really was an overachiever in that aspect.

Still, when the car stopped, she thanked her mom and got out, promising to text her when she needed picking up again.

She tried desperately to push down the panic that she felt, more so when she could hear her mom pulling away, but it stayed all the same. As soon as her feet hit the sand, she tried to focus on the ache in her still healing ankle. She thought about that for as long as she could, but those thoughts soon turned sour. Before long, she was wondering what the fractured eye socket had done to her already lacking looks. She thought about the weird proportions of her arms now that only one of them was being used. Really, when she thought about it, she had no idea at all what Paul could have seen in her.

As she walked further, nearing the giant bonfire that she saw a mere hundred feet away, she realised that there were way more people than she'd expected. He's only said "the guys", right? As eyes turned and caught her though, she knew that this was more than just "the guys".

"Hi!" An excited, giant figure stepped into her path, stopping her dead.

"Jesus!" She muttered, almost falling over. She hadn't even seen him pop up out of nowhere. "Oh, uh, Seth, right?" She asked, knowing damn well who Seth Clearwater was.

Grinning, he nodded. "Yeah!" He confirmed. "You know, Paul said you'd be coming by. Gotta be honest, I wasn't too sure you'd show."

"Oh?" She wasn't sure why, but Seth's presence eased her mind a little. It wasn't so much that she thought she'd been in danger before, more just the fact that it was known among everyone that Seth wouldn't hurt a fly, nor would he allow a fly, or a person, to be hurt around him. Kid may have been young, but his morals were absolute.

He shrugged, turning toward the party, walking with her. "He kinda sprung it on you, you know? I told him he should'a asked you sooner." River decided that she was going to stay with Seth as long as she could, or at least until she found Paul. Sadly, Seth wasn't in on this plan. "Oh, it's Jake! I'll see you!" And with that yell, he was gone as quickly as he'd arrived, springing around like a giant, gangly antelope.

She couldn't help but laugh a little. His happiness was infectious. She would have understood Brooke crushing on that human sunshine of a kid, but Jacob Black? Well, she didn't get that. Not that she, crushing on Paul, had any room to speak.

That, however, was when she saw him. Well, felt him. Her eyes scanned as she moved closer to the bonfire, weaving through small groups of people. Just where she knew he'd be, she saw him. His bare back made her smile a little. Seriously, did he ever wear a shirt outside of school? It wasn't exactly cold, but it sure wasn't the weather for only shorts.

With a quick glance, she saw that he was standing Jared Cameron, Embry Call, a girl she recognised as Kim, a quiet, sweet girl, and another girl. Leah, perhaps? She wasn't too sure, but she began to head their way, that was, until she make eye contact with Kim. As soon as their eyes met, she knew that something was wrong, but what was it? Was the huge joke that she had been so afraid of finally coming to a close? Was Paul going to turn, having just told them that she was terrible in bed? Perhaps he'd laugh at her as she limped? No, she couldn't believe that, but something was definitely not right.

Still, she couldn't seem to stop her feet no matter how hard she tried. Her heart beat a mile a minute in her chest, threatening to break her ribs all over again.

She was barely five feet away when Paul turned, following Kim's gaze, and she heard it. Her own voice.

"I barely even know the guy."

"We have a history paper together, that's literally it. What do you want me to say? What's the joke, Brooke? Look at me, then look at him. Do you really see that happening? Hell, we probably have the same taste in women."

No. No, no, he wasn't meant to hear that! "Paul, I can-"

"I think it's time for you to leave." The mystery girl, now clearly Leah Clearwater, was quick to step forward. Something about her, something in her stance, scared River. There was something predatory about her. Still, River wasn't one to back down.

Regretting it almost instantly, she, instead, stepped closer. "I wasn't done." She stated firmly. "Look, what the hell was I supposed to say?" She asked, looking past Leah and straight at Paul. Something in his eyes, as he looked back, looked truly wrong. She couldn't put her finger on it, but that wasn't the same loving eyes that she'd looked into mere days before.

Looking down at her with cold, calculating eyes, Paul simply sneered and turned away. "Whatever." He grumbled, keeping his back to her.

Her blood ran cold. "Whatever?" She scoffed, stepping around Leah, getting awfully pissed off when the older girl stepped in her way again. She turned her attention. "Take a hike." She growled, feeling her good hand ball into a fist. She could feel a few pairs of eyes on them, though she prayed that the general volume of the whole event would keep others from noticing.

Leah, clearly a good friend, shook her head a little with a cocky smile. "Look, I'm not afraid to break your ribs all over again-"

"Leah!" The voice came from Sam Uley as he too came over to spectate, Emily Young in tow, giving River a sad look. Leah, for one reason or another, shocked River by actually shutting up.

River wasted little time, looking up at the other girl. "Good dog." She bit out, seeing the fury pouring down back at her. Still, Leah didn't budge. Then, she turned back to Paul. "If you won't even hear me out, then fuck you." She tried not to let her voice tremble, but she was sure that it did. He didn't turn to face her, didn't make any indication that he'd even heard her, but she wasn't done. "Seriously, you tell me." She demanded. "What should I have said? You spent years making high school a living hell for me, you asshole. You shoved me into lockers, you called me every fucking word you knew, you spent an entire grade harassing me for liking girls, so come on, big guy. Tell me exactly what I should have said,

"Go ahead and tell me how I should have told my sister the truth. How the fuck would I have done that, Paul? Huh? How would I have done that and still pretended to have even a shred of fucking dignity left? Fucking tell me."

She definitely felt her voice break on that. She felt tears as they threatened to spill, but she refused to give him even an ounce more than he'd taken.

His head turned slightly, but he still didn't face her. "If I'm such an asshole, what does that make you?" He growled out, biting each word.

She laughed, actually laughed. "That makes me the idiot who believed you bullshit spiel of wanting to change, but don't worry. I won't make the same mistake twice."

She turned, storming off as quickly as her ankle would allow, feeling more and more eyes on her.

Truly, she wasn't sure how long she'd been walking for, but eventually, with the swing of her front door, she found herself home. She found her mother, sweeping her in for a hug, telling her that Emily had called and told her that she and Paul had fallen out. She heard it all, but when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brooke, she was living. "I'll fucking kill you." She croaked, wrestling free of her now shocked mother.

Brooke, at least having the decency to look wide eyed, jumped up from the couch that she had been lounging on, heading into the kitchen area, grabbing a table chair, as if it would protect her. She held it out like some kind of lion tamer, though that would do her little good. "Girls!" Alma barked, but it was no good.

Even injured, River was a force of nature. She advanced on Brooke, using her good leg to literally kick the chair from her hands eliciting a squeal. "You've ruined everything!" She yelled, lurching forward and grabbing her sister by the shirt, slamming her into the refrigerator just as she, panicked, began to cry.

Brooke, tears dripping down her cheeks, tried in vain to get away, even going as far as to try and hit River's still injured ribs, but the fighter in the older sister was strong. She blocked with ease, slamming her into the counter, this time just as their mother reached them and began to yank her back, yelling for her husband. "Dick! Quickly!"

"What the fuck have I ever done to you?" River demanded, suddenly sobbing.

As quickly as she'd been throwing Brooke around, she found herself slumping into her sister who, understandably, shoved her away. She fell quickly as her ankle throbbed, letting herself end up sitting on the floor, crying into her hands as their father ran in, ready to break up the no-longer-fight.

She tried desperately to control her breaths, but as she cried, feeling as though she was being torn in two, her breathing sped up. Everything felt like it was crashing down. She was too hot, too cold, heartbroken and fine all at once. She wasn't sure if she stayed conscious or if she blacked out, but she knew, at whatever time it was when she woke in her bed, that nothing would be the same again.

Okay... I'm sorry? Also, before anything else, I'd like to just say that Leah obviously wouldn't have drop kicked an imprint, hence Paul's lack of reaction. I do hope to show a little more of the relationship (or lack of, I guess) from Paul's side as I know I'm just asking you all to trust me as far as his behaviour without much to back it up, but I'm just deciding where to slot those chapters in.

As always, thank you for reading, I hope you plan to come back for the next one and that you let me know all of your thoughts and feelings on this one!