Regrets

A/N: Elaine -Chloe changed her pen-name to timydamonkey, now. What inconvenient timing…

Oh, and neither of us have read 'Twilight' yet (-grumbles- Stupid England.). So we know nothing about what happened there or anything about shifting powers that could have been mentioned. So… we're using our imaginations. Yeah, making them up. Be afraid… be very afraid…

Chapter Five

I did go over to April's to start the assignment. I wasn't really concentrating though. I'll give you three guesses what I was thinking about it…

Yeah, that would be Suze.

So confronting her hadn't worked, but that didn't mean I had to give up. I just had to come up with a new scheme.

Something I decided to get to work on straight away.

April was getting annoyed at my lack of concentration though.

"Hello? Paul? Are you even there?" I dimly heard her say.

I was awoken from my staring trance when she thwacked her hand across the back of my head.

"PAUL!"

"What the-" I preceded to swear violently at her. She looked shocked.

"Whoa, calm down, dude," she muttered. She seemed to be having second thoughts about my 'character'.

"I am calm," I snarled, faintly aware that I was completely contradicting my statement.

"Okay! No hitting, I get it!"

"Darn straight." I muttered, glaring at her for good measure.

"Okay, so were you actually planning on getting on with this damn assignment?"

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes, irritated.

"Right, so I reckon we should start off with…"

I guess I listened for about two minutes. Then my thoughts started drifting back to something else. Or, more accurately, somebody else.

I wasn't really bothered about the stupid assignment. This was, after all, more important. You know, the whole stopping-Suze-from-slipping-into-depression-due-to-the-lack-of-a-certain-cowboy-member-of-the-undead-by-getting-her-to-fall-desperately-in-love-with-me thing.

Yeah. That.

I didn't seem to be doing a very good job though. So far, it was Suze: 1 and Paul: 0.

Or something like that.

And you know how much I hate losing.

April continued to drone on about nothing. She didn't seem to know I wasn't listening, and hadn't really been listening for practically the whole two hours we'd been at her house.

Anyway, back to the scheming…

Insulting Suze's friends hadn't worked. What would…? No way am I dropping the attitude. Maybe I should blackmail her friends into telling her I was a nice guy… Yeah, like that would work. I don't have anything on her friends anyway.

Although, speaking of blackmail… I could get something on her. I mean, it worked before… sort of. It might give me time to think of a more permanent solution…

"Yo, Paul, I'm asking your opinion here!"

What can I blackmail her with?

"Paul!" April was really starting to get on my nerves.

"What?" I snapped, irritated.

"This assignment is due in on Friday! We haven't even got it started yet."

"We've got plenty of time. Can't we do this when I've got less things on my mind?"

"Things on your mind? Oh, let me guess. That'd be Suze, wouldn't it?"

That girl was good.

"Paul, you've got to stop think about Suze for five seconds." I could feel a lecture coming, and decided it would probably be better if I left.

"Why can't you get off my back?" I asked, angry. "I'm going now. Bye."

I turned to walk out of the room. April sighed. "Don't go now. Look, I'll stop talking about Suze, alright?"

"I was about to go anyway."

She seemed somewhat disappointed.

"We don't need to do work if you really don't want to."

What doesn't she get about the word 'no'? Does she think if she asks me enough times I'll change my mind?

I was just about to spell it out clearly for her, when the doorbell rang.

Great.

"Just wait a minute," April said and went to open the door.

I rolled my eyes and started to gather my belongings.

Then I heard something that made me freeze…

Suze's voice.

"Come on through," I heard April say.

Suze walked through to the room that I was in. Then she stopped in her tracks.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" She spluttered.

I could have asked her the same question.

April answered for me. "We were working on our Biology assignment." She stressed the word were.

"You're busy then? I'll come back another time," she looked kind of relieved.

"We've just finished," I chipped in, glaring at April so that she'd get the message.

"Yeah," said April. "Well, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

She looked uncomfortable. "Well, there was something I wanted to say but seeing as you've got company…" she trailed off, glaring daggers at me.

"If there's anything you really want to say, I'm sure you can say it in front of him."

Suze glared at me again. "It's none of his business," she muttered. Seeing that I wasn't about to go anywhere, she sighed and stopped protesting. "Fine, I'll tell you…"

I looked at her curiously.

"Have you ever heard of Eva McDonald?"

I glanced at her. Eva? Wasn't that the name of that charity case she was talking to the other day…?

April looked kind of shocked – a dead giveaway that she knew something she wasn't planning on letting out. She tried to redeem herself by saying, "Wasn't she that person on the news last night? They found her dead or something?"

I stared at Suze, wondering what she was going to say next. "Yeah. She was murdered. They arrested this guy who they thought had done it, but then they let him go." She seemed to realize that she knew more than she should, so she added, "Apparently."

April's face was blank now. "Yeah, so?" She asked, "What has that got to do with me?"

Yeah. What's it got to do with April? I really didn't get it.

"Only…" Suze's eye's flickered over to mine for a second then she was back looking at April seeming determined to get this over with. "Only he really was the murderer."

A look of fear appeared on April's face but quickly disappeared again. She definitely looked uncomfortable. "How do you know that?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Slowly it was all beginning to make sense.

Suze shook her head. "That's not important. The point is that someone gave him a false alibi. And now a murderer is walking the streets."

Now I was staring at April as well.

She cracked.

"He didn't mean to!"

Her eyes widened as she realised what she'd let slip.

"I mean…" she looked lost.

I really couldn't believe this. I mean, it was April! She really didn't seem the type to be in league with a murderer.

It's always the quiet ones, eh?

"You can't let someone get away with murder, April," Suze told her.

April shook her head. "You don't understand. I can't just turn my own brother in."

Whoa. Her brother. This was getting better by the minute!

"But-" She trailed off. We all looked around as we heard the door open and close and saw a young man drunkenly stumbled in.

He looked kind of like April. Same dark hair and eyes. Was this her brother then?

"Hey April," He said, grinning. "Who's the cutie?"

I wish the men would stop talking about me like that… Oh wait, he meant Suze.

That would be why he was leering at her…

April gave Suze a look that clearly said the conversation was over. Then Suze took the hint and with a sigh, left.

Well, I never expected this to happen.

A/N: Chloe – The drunken bit was my idea. I was actually joking, but we did it anyway –snickers- We were both quite hyper, you see. Blame Elaine :P Anyway…. Go review.

Oh, and I'm doing the review replies this time while Elaine is devoid of her internet access. –gasp- So here you go:

RidgelandHater – I actually like Paul… but yeah, he probably is misunderstood.

Mystique Angelique – Thanks a bunch. We're both flattered.

SharkFin – Heh, it's okay :P Yeah, it's a… different side to Adam, in a way. We don't think Paul can be fully nice, but he's trying, in his own way.

Sandra Rose – Thanks. I liked that bit too. Yeah, you're right about the whole friends-backing-each-other-up thing. You do have a good point with the advice thing, though…

SwEeT-sHoRtEy – Thanks very much.