All characters from The Vampire Diaries belong to L.J. Smith as well as all characters from Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. I own nothing but my version of events.

Chapter 25 Changes

Being a witch, as it turned out, was absolutely amazing! I had so much power and an unlimited amount but knew I had barely tapped into a quarter of the amount I truly had. My grandmother was right, I just needed to practice. Everything she taught me as a child was slowly filtering into my mind and I was supremely thankful for that. Imagine if every memory that had been hidden from me suddenly appeared in one second, I would have gone insane. Almost every day a new memory appeared and I would immediately drop what I was doing and practice. Sometimes my memory would appear in a dream and I'd wake up in the middle of the night and run into my grandmother's workstation. The minute after I woke up from my transition I felt the room calling to me, I felt like a sailor being lured by a siren. It turned out that my grandmother's workstation was really her witch's lair, ok not a witch's lair but it was funny to call it that. What it really was, was a room filled with different herbs and stones with bookcases against the walls filled books. A place where I could practice my magic freely and use the knowledge written in these books to teach me the right way. The bookcases also contained diaries of my ancestors, who were also witches, much like the grimoire's Bonnie had from her ancestors. I was committed to reading every single one, though I know it would take me a very long time for me to accomplish that… there were just so many.

I was more than happy my powers were flourishing but I still worried about the warning my grandmother gave me. I was worried about the changes my body would be taking with James' venom but so far nothing appeared to be different. Well, I guess maybe not sleeping as much was one but I didn't know if that was due to my unbreakable will to develop my powers as soon as possible or because my biology really was changing. Either way, it wasn't something I didn't dislike. As long as I didn't turn green or grew some horns I think I would be ok with it.

Some days I still couldn't believe it. Everyone was completely shocked and to be honest I was shocked as well. I guess my shield should have been the first indicator to the fact. They all took it well, especially Paul, but that was to be expected. Paul would accept me in any shape or form, if I had told him I was a dragon he wouldn't have had a problem with it either and just like when I found my shield he was more than willing to help. I confided in Paul everything my grandmother had told me, including the coming war. I didn't want to tell anyone else about my grandmothers words, they were a heavy burden to carry and I knew not everyone would be able to take it as well as Paul. And just like I knew he would he reassured me that everything would be ok and told me my grandmother was right. He promised I would never be alone, he would be there every step of the way and knowing Paul would always fight in my corner brought me the strength I needed to accept my fate. I knew it was going to be hard but if it kept my friends and family safe it would all be worth it. I would do the impossible to give them the life they all deserved.

I felt slightly guilty that I was keeping this giant secret from my friends and family but I didn't want them to worry about it now. It would be something I would have to face later but today was not the day. I was just trying to cope with the new changes and reintroduce everyone to the new me, which turned out to be a lot easier than I expected. Everyone in my life was being super supportive. The gang in Mystic Falls accepted me as well, if anything they were excited to have a powerful supernatural being amongst their ranks. No doubt thankful that I was on their side and not against them. I'd be a lethal enemy to have, not that Elena was smart enough to acknowledge that fact. She became even more jealous of me, hating that the world no longer revolved around her. The only person's complete attention she had was that of Stefan's, a true and faithful boyfriend, not that she was smart enough to acknowledge his devotion either. That girl was a disaster waiting to happen. I hope she didn't expect me to come to her aid, she'll be so disappointed when I don't drop everything to come and solve her problems just like everyone around here loves to do.

I also had a meeting with my pack in La Push. This was important information I had to share, not that I was forced to share but I willingly gave. They were my family and I knew they'd accept me just as easily as Paul did. Initially they were shocked into silence, until Jake laughed and said he had expected me to be more than we had initially thought. Quil also muttered something about there being something witchy about me, if it were physically possible I would've slapped him in the back of the head, that boy was ridiculous. Sam and Emily were just happy that I was happy about this new development. I promised them I'd never use it to hurt innocents and they scoffed at me, saying they would never think that of me for a second. I was so thankful for the family I had created.

I had also asked them how my dad was doing and they said he was ok. He appeared to be lonely at times… he was missing me. I felt bad I had left him behind in Forks but I couldn't ask him to move across the country just for me. I knew how important his job was to him and it wouldn't be fair to ask him to leave his career for me, though I had thought about it many times. I was also tempted to tell my father about the supernatural but Sam said that it didn't seem right to do so if I was living so far away. He didn't want my dad to know about the wolves so I promised Sam I'd never tell him if he didn't give me permission. It was his tribe secret to keep, there was no way around it but I knew something life changing would happen that would be completely out of my control and would force me to divulge the truth. That by the way was another one of my powers, precognition. I also had really good intuition, this whole time I have always felt like certain things were good or bad or that something was going to happen. I never knew specifically what but I had a sense or feeling of what could happen in the future. I also learned that in time, I'd be able to develop that power more and more. I was excited, I didn't want to predict the future like stupid Alice did, but I did want to be aware of incoming danger.

I was currently practicing moving objects from one place to another, hoping once I gained more experience I would be able to teleport myself. Imagine all the time I could save if I did that? From everything I have learned in the past couple of weeks, this turned out to be the hardest by far. For some reason, every time I tried to teleport something, I'd confuse it with levitation. It was getting really tricky to distinguish one from the other.

Currently I was staring down this ugly side table near the bookcase. It was gold and gaudy and totally not my style. I was thankful it wasn't anything expensive or meaningful to my grandmother… or at least I don't remember it being important. Either way, if it broke I wouldn't be upset about it. Earlier I was trying to work with a pencil but it was even harder to try and focus on a small item. There just wasn't enough to work with, so I moved onto bigger items… hence the side table. If only I could…

"Bella!"

Before I could stop myself I threw the side table towards the noise, hitting Paul in the face.

"Fuck!" he yelled, managing to block most of the impact with his forearms. The table still hit him and exploded with the force, splintering into little pieces and covering him from head to toe.

I hid my expression with my hands, preventing him from seeing the smile that was clear on my face. It just looked so funny. "I'm so sorry Paulie." I apologized, hoping I'd sound apologetic enough.

"Just laugh already." He huffed. "You know you're a terrible actress."

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I laughed so hard. I tried to stop, I swear I did but as I saw Paul take his shirt off to take off the splinters in his hair my laugh got even louder. I was lucky he was a strong shapeshifter with fast reflexes and not easily hurt.

"You're a dick Swan." He grumbled.

"Whatever, now we're even."

He looked at me in shock. "Even for what? I don't remember throwing an ugly ass table at your face before."

I smirked at him. "Not a table but I do remember almost being killed by a wolf shapeshifting so close to my face."

He rubbed the back of his head with his hand "I'm never going to live that down will I?" He asked sheepishly.

"How we met?" I asked as I walked up to him and placed my hands on his sides. "Nope, never. You will owe me for the rest of your life."

"I thought you just said we were even." He threw back at me, placing his arms around me.

"Just for today." I cheekily replied, pulling him into me for a hug. He let me pull him in, wrapping his arms around me and placing his chin at the top of my head. I pressed my face into his chest, breathing him in and committing it to memory. "I can't believe you're leaving today."

He sighed, squeezing me tighter into him "Me either."

I suddenly felt really guilty. I've been so caught up with my newfound magic that I haven't spent as much time with him during his visit as I should have and now my time was up. "I'm sorry I've been busy." I apologized.

He chuckled, sticking his face in my neck. "Don't worry about it, I get it. Your stubbornness and dedication are two of the many things I love about you."

I giggled as his breath tickled my hair and neck as he spoke, I wiggled away from him and he chuckled. He was always so understanding of who I was, of how much learning that I was a witch impacted who I was as a person. That's why I've been working on teleportation so much, I was hoping once I teleported objects I could move up to teleporting myself. I'd be able to visit him anytime I wanted. I couldn't tell him this though, I had to keep it a secret for now. I felt bad keeping it from him, there were never any secrets between us but I feared that if it didn't work I'd be completely crushed and if Paul knew I had failed him… I'd be devastated. I wouldn't be able to handle the disappointment in his beautiful face, it would be too painful.

"Dinner before you go? Just you and me?" I asked him as I pulled away from him.

He scratched his temple. "Actually, Damon planned this going away dinner for me. Of course he invited you and everyone that lives here… you don't mind do you?" He asked sheepishly.

I pouted at him. "What? Dinner or that Damon is trying to steal my best friend from right under my nose?... Of course not." I said, as I crossed my arms over my chest.

He let out one of the loudest laughs I've heard from him in a while. I pouted even more, though I was only kidding… for the most part. That fucker took Paul clubbing and bar hopping almost every night, not that I minded much. I'd join them sometimes but focusing on learning my craft was more important than dancing with hot sweaty men. Watching Damon and Paul's blooming bromance was a sight to see though, the ladies pantie's dropped faster than I could blink. It was fascinating to witness. My playboy best friends were a match made in heaven, well any hot blooded female's heaven. They both hooked up with plenty of women and once I told Jeremy how the women flocked to them he joined in on the playboy parade. He was my honorary brother but I still had eyes, my brother was a hot piece of ass too.

Paul leaned down to rub his face into my neck again, tickling me and making me squirm away from him but he didn't let me get away this time. He squeezed me into him as I tried my hardest to get away. "I give! I give!" I begged, as I laughed so hard my stomach was starting to cramp but he didn't stop. "Stop you asshole! I'm gonna pee my pants!" I yelled, finally pushing him away with my shield.

He stumbled back with a shit eating grin on his face. "Cheater." He accused as he flicked my shield with his finger.

I giggled. "Not cheating, just using my powers against yours or did you forget you're a shapeshifter with incredible strength?" I accused back.

He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder as I smacked him on his ass, he smacked mine back as he carried me into my bedroom going swiftly into my bathroom and dropping me in my shower and turning the water on.

I yelped in surprise as the cold water hit me. "Ah! You asshole!"

He backed away quickly shrugging his shoulders, "You've been practicing for five hours B, if I hadn't come to get you, you wouldn't have left. Now take a shower or we'll be late, you've got an hour."

"Fine but here!" I said as I threw my wet clothes at him, getting undressed in front of him. He scanned my body up and down, not even noticing the wet clothes hitting him in the chest.

"Need help?" He asked.

"Nope, now move it along will ya!" I said as I waved him away with my hand. Pushing him out of the bathroom with my powers and closing the door in front of him.

"Tease!" He yelled through the other side of the door. I just giggled in response and heard his footsteps walking away.

Since Paul's been here we hadn't had sex, that time in our relationship was officially over. We were both ok with it but we still teased each other at every opportunity, it was part of our friendship.

I took a quick shower and shaved. I was planning on wearing a dress tonight, part of Paul's farewell. He loved me in dresses since I rarely wore them. Once done I started on my makeup, keeping it simple for lack of time. I dried my hair quickly, straightening it in less than 15 minutes and putting it in a half up half down style. I slipped on my red dress with thin straps and I was slipping on my black heels when Paul came back in. He leaned back into the wall and appraised me, a slow smirk spreading across his face. I twirled in front of him and then lifted an eyebrow, waiting for a compliment.

He chuckled and sauntered over to me, lifting his hand up to tuck my hair behind my ear and kissing me on my temple. "You're breathtaking."

I smiled widely at this. "Awesome! Now come on or we'll be late." I said as I pulled him down the stairs by the hand, his chuckle trailing behind me.

We reached the bottom and Angie and Embry were waiting for us. "Where's Care and Jer?" I asked, wondering where those two were off too.

"They're meeting us there. Now come one! I'm hungry." Angie said as she got up and grabbed my keys and threw them to Paul so he would drive.

We trailed in her wake. Making our way to my Jeep noticing their luggage was already in the back.

"Are we leaving from Damon's?" I questioned. As we reached my car and Paul opened my door. He picked me up and placed me in my seat before closing my door and walking to the driver's side to get in. I chuckled at him and he smiled at me as he started the car. I was going to miss his playful nature, it always brought such joy to my day.

"Yeah," Embry replied. "We figured we wouldn't have time to come back here and leave. The airport is kind of far from Mystic Falls so it'll be easier to leave from Damon's." Embry responded. Since Paul and Embry came to drop off Angie's car, they wouldn't have the car to drive back to La Push so they were flying by plane instead.

"Good idea."

We filled the ride with casual banter and made it to Damon's right on time, though by the look on his face as he waited at the doorway of his home, he was not happy.

Paul picked me up out of the car and held my hand as we walked towards Damon. "All B's fault! I swear." He defended as I elbowed him in the side.

"Hey! We're on time!" I protested as I leaned up to kiss Damon on his cheek.

"You could have still arrived earlier." He pouted.

I rolled my eyes and brushed past him. "So what are you feeding us?" I promptly questioned as I made my way to the kitchen. I wasn't about to wait for him to greet everyone.

I was about to lift the lid of the pan on the stove when Damon appeared next to me and slapped my hand away before I could. "Go sit down, woman. You didn't even wait for a drink first."

I shrugged my shoulders at him and smiled. "But Ang and I are starving. We can drink and eat at the same time." I wasn't joking, once I smelled the food I became ravenous.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed onto my shoulders, guiding me to the dinner table where Angie was sitting with her arms on the table and fingers intertwined waiting like a child. Damon laughed at the sight and shook his head. "Remind me, who the shapeshifters are again?" He teased.

He sat me down in my seat and Paul and Embry appeared with drinks in their hands. Paul placing one in front of me and Embry placing another in front of Angie. "Well they are part of the pack… endless hunger is apparently contagious." Paul commented as he placed his drink next to mine. "Need help man?" He asked Damon as he came in and placed two plates on the table.

"Yes, do help him Sweet Cheeks," I answered for Damon as I tried not to drool over the pasta Damon had placed in front of me. "The faster everyone sits with their food, the faster I can eat."

Quicker than I could see, the other plates appeared on the table, along with the breadsticks. "Nah, sit down."

"Thank god he's a vampire." Angie commented as she grabbed her fork and dug into her pasta. Taking that as my que I joined in.

"Jesus!" Embry exclaimed. "I don't think they're human."

Angie and I both stopped eating as we zeroed in on Embry.

"Oh, oh..." Damon trailed off as Paul quickly threw a piece of bread at Embry's face, whisper-shouting "Take it back you idiot!"

"Uh, I mean… they're obviously goddesses fallen from Olympus, such beautiful graceful creatures that one cannot stop from admiring." Embry said quickly, trying to amend his previous comment. He coughed nervously, taking a giant gulp from his wine glass.

Angie and I looked at each other and then silently agreed to let it go this time, they were leaving after all. We heard a sigh of relief coming from the men in the group as we began eating again. A second later though we heard the front door open and saw Jeremy and Caroline walking towards us.

"How rude, you didn't wait?" Jeremy asked, looking put out. Both Angie and I looked at him next and Caroline hit him in the stomach with the back of her hand, then placing her finger over her mouth telling him to shut the fuck up. She knew how angry we got when Angie and I were starving and people commented on our eating. She quietly redirected him towards the kitchen whispering something into his ear as they walked away.

Finally Paul couldn't take it anymore and let out a quiet chuckle. Trying to be as quiet as possible but we still heard him, so I stepped on his foot under the table. He exclaimed "Fuck." as quietly as he could. I bet it hurt too, I was wearing heels after all. I smiled into my pasta as I twirled it around my fork, it's the little things in life that really matter.

Caroline and Jeremy quietly joined us at the dinner table but no one said a word.

"This pasta is absolutely delicious Damon." Angie finally complimented his food once we were halfway done with our meal. He didn't utter a word but I felt his gaze on my face. Angie lightly kicked me under the table and I nodded looking up to Damon and agreeing with Angie. He smiled at me and thanked us for the compliment, we heard everyone audibly release a sigh as they realized we were ok now. I looked to Angie and she gave me the tiniest of smiles, we loved torturing them sometimes, it was one of our hobbies.

"So what time are you guys leaving?" Caroline asked.

Embry, realizing the coast was clear, responded. "At 11, so we have to leave in a couple of hours to make it in time to the airport."

"Why didn't you leave tomorrow man?" Damon asked, "We could have hit another club tonight before you left. Saturdays are the best night to go out."

Paul shook his head. "Nah, I wanna rest up Sunday after all the partying we've been doing, I start work again on Monday. Plus, B and everyone else start school on Monday too and I didn't want to disrupt their last day to get ready for it."

Damon nodded his head in understanding, though he didn't really understand. Damon was a pretty selfish guy, he didn't understand what it was to take other people's lives into consideration. I mean he tried with me, he honestly did but sometimes he just couldn't help it, it was in his nature to be selfish. I accepted it as a part of him and I still loved him for it, just like Paul loved all of my faults as well. It was just part of being friends with someone important to you, you accepted them as they came without question.

The rest of the night went great, at one point though, Paul, Embry, Damon and Caroline grimaced and I asked what the problem was. Apparently Elena and Stefan were going at it upstairs, it must have sounded awful if they seemed to be so put out by it. Honestly, how could you do sex wrong? It had to be an Elena kind of thing. I thought it was funny, of course I couldn't hear them so I found the humor in it unlike the other guys with supernatural hearing.

We said our goodbyes and I smiled to myself as I saw Damon almost crying at having to say goodbye to Paul. It was both the sweetest and funniest thing I have ever seen. We made our way to the airport enjoying the long ride talking and made it right on time for check-in. We walked them to the departures and I was sad to see them go. I hugged Embry and told him to take care of himself and to say hi to everyone in the pack.

I turned to Paul and he immediately pulled me into his arms, nuzzling my neck with his face and breathing me in. I did the same to him, I wanted his scent to stay with me for as long as possible.

"I'll miss you B." He said.

I smiled as I felt him lift me up for a tight hug and then place me back on my feet. I pinched him on his butt to get him to release me, reminding me of the last time I said goodbye to him. He chuckled as he pulled away, remembering as well.

"I'll miss you more, though I'm only a phone call away." I smiled up at him as a tear fell from one of my eyes.

He wiped it away with his thumb and lightly kissed me on my lips, "I'm always with you Bella, no matter the distance."

I nodded and smiled at him. We always had our tender moments and I loved that he reserved them just for me.

"Oh and don't you dare eat those cookies and pies on the plane. I made them for the pack." I warned him, I'd be calling Sam tomorrow to make sure they arrived intact. He was the only one unafraid of Paul's retaliation for snitching on him, he is alpha after all.

He smiled at me cheekily, "I wouldn't dare." He promised.

We waved goodbye to them as I held Angie's hand as she cried. "Come on girlie, let's get a move on before it gets later."

She nodded her head and we walked together hand in hand to the car, not knowing when we'd see them again. Hopefully not for very long if I figured out how to teleport but I was determined to accomplish that more and more with every step I took.