Hello, lovely friends! I apologize for the delay with this chapter. Once the semester ended, instead of going on a writing binge...well, I went on a reading binge. But my writing inspiration is coming back (kind of full force - I've already written chapter 5 & started chapter 6) so I'm baaaaack! Sorry for disappearing for any span of time ever. But I really hate forcing these stories out. I'd rather wait until I'm into it so I can enjoy writing as much as y'all (hopefully) enjoy reading.

But anyway! Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed. It's so appreciated.

Okay, I'll leave you to read the chapter now. I hope you like it!

Chapter Four

Paul

Though the Cullens had disappeared, they'd left their fucking problems behind—evidenced by the fact that the redhead was back. We'd suspected for the past couple of days, but last night Quil saw her while we were patrolling. She disappeared before I could get over there, but the scent was strong, fresh. Now Sam was back to being overcautious with patrols. Three at a time for maximum coverage, since we had to expand a bit into Forks for Felicity.

Normally I'd be all for it. Felicity's safety was important. The safety of everyone on the rez was important.

But shit, I'd had to run an extra shift and I was bone tired.

Finally entering our apartment building, I rounded a corner to find Felicity chattering away. No one was responding, but she was standing in front of an open door so I assumed someone had to be there. I headed that way, catching a whiff of a scent…a very pleasing scent, honestly. If I weren't so tired maybe I would have taken a second to consider why. But I'd gotten zero sleep since waking up yesterday morning and it was well into the afternoon and all I wanted was to check up on Felicity and get to my bed to take a nap before dinner so I didn't take a single second to consider a single thing.

I said, "What are you up to, doll?"

Felicity halted her chattering, turning to smile at me. "Paul! Come meet my new friend—" she paused. "Are you okay?"

Waving my hand, I scoffed. "Nothing a little sleep can't handle. What's that about a new friend? I thought we discussed this. I'm friend enough. Not gonna find better. Especially not in some bitchy girl who's going to be all drama and not even talk to you."

I'd meant it to be a joke. Like, ha-ha your first interaction didn't go well so I'm going to pick some fun at it while everyone gets comfortable with each other. But my tired ass had lost its filter—and with it, any ability to make a proper joke. Which of course I did not realize until after the words came out of my mouth and whoever Felicity was talking to, that new girl, gasped.

"Paul!" Felicity yelled just as I got close enough to see who she'd been talking to.

Wide, honey brown eyes met mine.

And I felt my entire world shift.

Was I breathing? I wasn't moving, I was frozen, I couldn't stop staring. But was I breathing? Yes. I pulled in a deep breath. I had to breathe, I had to keep breathing for her.

For her.

As I stood there, eyes on her, trying to catch my bearings, she blinked. Went pale. Then she looked away—at someone else? Was someone else here?—and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'll see you later." Her gaze moved to the floor, to her feet, and she shut the door in my face.

Shocked to my core at what was happening right now, I just stood there watching her door. I heard her on the other side, breathing fast. But it didn't last for long. A few seconds later, she moved away. But her breathing hadn't slowed, it'd gone faster. She was upset.

I didn't want her to be upset. I needed to help her. Needed to make sure she was okay, and if she wasn't I needed to fix it.

My hand stretched out, aiming for the doorknob.

A small, pale hand slapped my wrist. It didn't hurt, but it startled me enough to glance over at…Felicity. Oh yeah. Felicity was here. That must have been who the girl was talking to.

"What are you doing, you asshole?" Felicity asked, her tone so, so angry.

And just like that the whole situation flooded back into my mind. What I'd said. What had happened when our eyes met. "Shit," I hissed.

"Yeah, Paul, shit. What is wrong with you?" Felicity was mad, and she had every right to be, but I was…I was floored. My shoulders slumped and I leaned over against the wall. "Wait, really, what's wrong?" She sounded concerned now.

Running a hand through my hair, I let out a weak chuckle. It sounded tired and defeated. Exactly how I was feeling. "Doll…I fucked up."

Her brow furrowed. "Are we talking about the same thing right now? Or are you still upset over being tired? I'm confused."

Pushing away from the wall, I met her eyes. "I was a fucking dick to that girl, right?"

"I mean…yeah," she said hesitantly. "And she's really just super shy, Paul. She's not like you were trying to say—"

I held up my hand, cutting her off. "I was a dick. She's upset. She's probably going to hate me."

Her lips pursed. "I don't know if she'll hate you."

"This fucking sucks."

"What fucking sucks?" Jacob asked, sticking his head out of the door to mine and Felicity's apartment. Though at this rate we might as well call it his too since he was there all the damn time. He'd been added on shift last night for a bit and had probably slept most of the day away.

"Yeah, why does it suck? What's the big deal? Apologize and it'll be fine."

I didn't want to have this conversation out in the hallway. Heading toward Jake, I slipped around him into the apartment and stretched out on the couch, my arm over my eyes. I heard him and Felicity whispering away, getting him up to speed. As if it was any surprise to anyone that I'd acted like an asshole. These were my friends—they knew me.

But she didn't. And I hadn't worded it tactfully at all. It was a shitty joke even to the people who knew me. There was really no way to spin it into something that could have been nice and friendly.

"Okay…" Jake said slowly, now sitting in a chair. "So you said something stupid. Why are you freaking out? Say sorry. Be careful what you say from now on. What's the big deal."

I snarled, popping up in my seat and glaring. "The big deal," I bit out, "is that she's my imprint."

The admission made both of them pause. They shared a look. Then Felicity said, "It'll be fine. I'll talk to her. I talked with her a whole bunch today, and I think she's cool with me. Like I said, she's really shy, but she's not rude or anything. I'm sure she won't hold it against you."

While Felicity's words held merit, I knew they did, I also had a feeling that it wasn't going to be so easy. That our first interaction was going to stick. My mind played the sound of her quick breathing on repeat—she'd clearly been upset. What I'd said had not only been fucking mean, but I'd hit a soft spot. Just the thought made me itch to go over there and try to make it up to her.

"Paul," Jake said, voice calm and demanding. "Go take a nap. Then we'll go over to Sam and Emily's for dinner. Maybe they'll have some more advice to give."

Immediately I shook my head. "No. I'm not turning this into the newest pack gossip. Fuck no." I'd gained some ground when Felicity came into the fold, since we were so tight and I'd helped where Jake had been an idiot, but it would still be so easy for them to go back to labeling me the pack fuckup. Because of course Paul Asshole Lahote would be the one to kick off an imprint relationship with an insult that made the girl run into her house crying.

Shit.

I couldn't help but stand, walking to the door.

"Paul!" Felicity called, but I didn't stop. Jake followed me into the hallway before dropping a hand on my shoulder. He squeezed, his question silent: What are you doing?

"She was crying," I forced out.

His hand tightened as he understood. "Then maybe it's best to leave her for a bit to calm down."

I weighed his words. They didn't sound like a bad idea in general, but was it the right way to approach this situation with my imprint? My gut told me it wasn't. I needed to make an effort to fix it with her now.

Shaking my head, I headed toward her door again. "This can't wait. Don't know why, but I have to do something."

"Okay, okay," Felicity said, easing around Jake and toward where I stood about to knock on the door. "At least let me knock and talk—you're a total stranger. I've already met most of the family."

Sighing, I waved a hand toward the door in front of me. "Fine."

Anna

I'd just regathered myself after hyperventilating in the bathroom when a knock sounded on the front door. Freezing on my way toward my room, I stared in the direction the noise had come from. There was nothing I wanted less than to answer that.

A moment later, Alex slipped out of his room. "Did you hear that knock? Is someone at the door?" He moved around me, pausing to give me a quick glance. Then he stopped. "What's wrong?"

Crap. I did not need Alex getting all protective right now. "Nothing."

His eyes narrowed. "Not nothing. Does it have to do with whoever is at the door? I can talk to them."

Right. Because him talking to people who upset me always went so well. There were multiple reasons why I sucked at making friends—a majority of those were all on me, but a very small one was Alex and his inability to stand by when I got upset. Even if my mind was a mess, making me misunderstand situations. Not everyone who hurt my feelings did so on purpose.

"Annie?" Alex waved his hand in front of my face. "I'm going to get the door."

"Wait!" I said. "Let me not be here when you open it."

He rolled his eyes, heading toward the door. "Hurry then."

I wasted no time going to my room, slipping inside but leaving the door open a crack so I could just barely hear what was happening.

"Oh, hi, Alex!" Felicity's voice said, a little too bright. She was overcompensating. So maybe it wasn't just me this time—I'd been insulted by her friend. "We were actually looking for your sister—"

He interrupted her. "Are you the one who made her cry?" His tone was full of suspicion, and I wondered if that was all for Felicity…or if there was someone at the door with her. There had to be if she'd said we, right? Was she trying to force her friend into apologizing? This whole thing just got more and more embarrassing.

"It was an accidental comment," Felicity began to explain, but then another voice broke in.

"I'm a fucking idiot and said something I thought would be funny. It wasn't. It was just me being an asshole. And now she deserves an apology."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then Alex said, "I'm not going to force her out here to talk to you right now."

The response was instant. "Can you at least ask her if she can listen to me apologize? She's getting it no matter what, it just depends on what she's comfortable with—now or later."

When Alex spoke next, there was…a smile in his voice? "Sure. I can ask. Just a sec." He appeared at my door less than a minute later, smirking as he saw me eavesdropping. "So what say you, Annie? Now or later?"

I frowned. "This is embarrassing."

He shrugged. "I don't know. He seems to genuinely feel bad. He knows he messed up—not that I want to know what he fuckin' said because it'll probably piss me off. But it's obviously not just you. Not that it'd matter if it was; people need to care about how they affect other people. Stop being so selfish all the damn time."

I ignored his mini-rant. I'd heard it before. "I'm a mess right now."

He looked at me skeptically. "You're fine."

"You knew I was crying," I accused.

"I've also known you since forever."

I huffed out a breath. My heart was racing. It meant something that Alex was convinced the guy—Paul, I vaguely remembered Felicity calling him before he'd called me a bitchy drama queen—honestly felt remorse. Alex had superb social skills. He could read people like a book. Unlike me, who was weird and awkward and better off alone most of the time.

Shaking my head, I leaned against the wall. "I can't do it. I know I'm a wimp, but I can't. Not right now."

"You sure?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Maybe I'll get lucky and this will all blow over." And Felicity would forget she ever wanted to be my friend, and I'd never have to see Paul again even though they both lived in my building. And maybe tonight would be the night pigs began to fly.

Alex smiled. "You'll be fine. Just calm down. Let him apologize next time you see him. Then let it go and move on. Be friends with Felicity and settle into tolerating him. Not like anyone is asking you to marry the guy."

A small snort escaped my mouth. Judging by the way Paul had called Felicity doll in the hallway earlier, something told me he was carrying a torch for her. She'd mentioned a boyfriend who was not Paul, so clearly it was unrequited, but that kind of struck out the idea of any sort of romance with Paul. As if I'd have had a chance with him anyway. I snorted again. "Right."

"I'll go tell them. You get to organizing your shit before mom gets home." He strode off toward the living room and instead of listening in this time, I did as he said—organizing and unpacking my new room. I tried to remain wholly focused on my task but it was no use.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the image of Paul's dark, sparkling eyes out of my head.

Thank you so much for reading! As I said in the beginning A/N, I've already written the next chapter so it'll be up soon. In the meantime, I'd LOVE if you left your thoughts in a review. :)