Chapter Info

Title: The world keeps spinning.

Number: 2/?

Warnings: Language, angst, mentions of violence and death. Minor character death included.

Author's Note: remember - takes place 5 years after Breaking Dawn.

- ʚɞ -

- Karina -

THERE'S A SENSE OF COMFORT ; found in the way that the rain lashes against the windows of the car. ( echoing inside her soul like a drum. ) growing up in this part of the olympic peninsula ; it meant that rain became a constant you got used too when childhood innocence still clung to your very soul. Karina herself could remember many memories that featured the specific weather, it's constant and frequent visitations cutting days short as bodies scrambled for sanctuary wherever they could find it. laughter echoing beneath the wet solace as childish feet jumped into deep puddles watching the way it splashed against their legs, soaking deep into their skin and leaving a chill that trickled to the bone. The memories played unbridled behind her eyes as her car devoured the miles like a caged animal, bringing her even closer to her final destination. Home.

As she crosses the territory line — from Port Angeles to Forks, she resigns herself to the fact that there were only a few more miles to go in her journey. She was closer to home than she had been in the last seven years [ . . . ] even her shows in Port Angeles gave her the benefit of space from her future and her past. But now as she slowly drove past Forks high school, Karina could feel the two sides of herself crashing together and becoming a whole new visage she wasn't even sure she recognised. The familiar streets she drove across now had been blanketed in darkness the last time she'd been upon them. Tears had been clouding her eyes and vision as she pressed her foot heavily to the gas pedal - the car being the same one she drove now - in a bid to get out of the suffocating town as fast as possible.

And she knew, with swift remembrance, that she'd vowed to never return. There was nothing for her here, her family had made that quite clear with angry words and even harsher truths. Yet here she was. Driving ever closer because of a promise she'd made to the one person, who knew her like the back of his own hand. Jared knew the words needed to bring Karina back to her own version of hell. Whilst they weren't identical and had more differences than the sky had stars, that love was one that burned with the purest of flames. That despite how much Karina wanted to distance herself from her past, was the one thing she couldn't outrun. And if the brunette was honest with herself, she didn't want to. Jared was her anchor, he always had been, and since she'd been separated from him she had found herself lost at sea, fighting against the waves that threatened to crash over her and drag her down into the icy depths.

So seeing him again was a welcome reprieve.

But it seemed fate - the cruel and wily bitch - had one more plan for her. A loud bang almost like a firework resonates within the warm interior of the car before Karina's dark eyes watch as thick billows of smoke escape from the front of her car. A clunking sound resonating around the engine has her pulling over. The sound of gravel crunching under the tires barely heard through the thick torrents of rain. Shutting the car off with a sigh, lest it decide to catch fire on her, she looks out across the road before her, the long winding road that was the last obstacle she'd need to undertake. A bitter laugh cascades across her lips as she rests her head back against the soft headrest. Of course, the car had gotten her out of the town and after seven years of heavy use, it didn't have the life left to take her home. It was a bittersweet representation of her own war, and as her eyes fell open once more to stare heavily at the road, she began to weigh her options with her critical mind.

Option one, she could get out and walk the rest of the way to the reservation, and wait till she was inside the warmth of a building to call someone to get the hunk of junk she called a car. Or option two, was she could simply sit here and pray someone found her soon and offered her a lift or a tow. Both options had their credits but the second meant she'd have to at least scamper up a shred of civility to talk to someone. And right now her reserves were running low, the previous night having drained them more than she'd predicted. So with a resigned sigh, she leans over grabbing her purse. Deciding that walking was her better option, after all the rain could help to bring her some of the clarity she so desperately craved in that moment. Checking she had her phone and keys she steps out into the Washington weather, hissing slightly as the chill of the rain lashes against her toffee skin and begins to soak up the warmth of the car.

Sniffing a laugh — she locks up the car and turns , her head tipped lightly letting the rain wash over her face. A soothing blanket for her raging thoughts. Soon her feet carry her down the familiar road before she'd even allowed the thought to settle firmly in her brain that she should move. She guessed it was muscle memory. As, oh how many times had she walked this specific route to meet up with her friends in Forks, or ran back down it with a speed that only meant one thing. She was late for curfew and was hoping to beat her parents home and trick them into thinking she'd been home the whole time. It was more than a road to her, it had been the bridge between her life, both figuratively and literally. It's gravel spelling out her story with each pebble that crunched under her booted feet and she wanted to weep. God she was ridiculous.

Spying a puddle up ahead, lips hitch wryly in one corner before she takes off running, fingers gripping her pure tightly as she jumps into its watery depths, the water splashing up and over her black leggings and the leather of her boots leaving mud spots that she knew would be a bitch to get out. Yet the exhilarating rush of doing something so innocent has her laughing. And with one more jump for the sheer fun of it, she continues on her journey. The vast greeness that was La Push spilling out on either side of her, the trees parting with each bend of the road, as though welcoming her. As eyes light on the first clapboard house nestled deep into the trees, she can feel her breath catch. The stark familiarity staring back at her quite literally stealing the breath from her lungs in one fell swoop that left her heart hammering inside her chest, clambering to keep hold of the last tendrils of precious air and keep it pumping around her body.

Karina wasn't sure what she expected upon her return. Maybe a part of her, however small, had expected things to be different. As though she had been blindly craving a visceral representation to be present in the small reservation of how things had changed for her. How she was no longer the girl that had left. But standing there, with rain lashing against her small frame and soaking through her clothes, dark eyes stare heavily at the house that had belonged to the 'Aterea' family for around eight generations. It's with an artist's eye that she can see each stroke of familiarity that matched with those of her childhood memories. Starting with the dream catcher that had been painstakingly made by Molly Swan and now hung just above the door as it had done since the day it was put up. To the faded red paint of the wooden frame, the paint flecks peeling and swaying almost violently in the harsh wind. right down to the broken step that she'd fallen off when she was three, resulting in a large gash that needed stitches and Jared and Quil laughing at her clumsiness for three days. Karina felt herself be quite literally slapped back to reality. And with that slap came the knowledge that nothing had changed. The town of La push had simply continued on without her.

Before the thoughts can rattle around in her mind anymore, the bright illusion of lights dances across the house, causing her head to turn to look at the truck that was slowly inching its way towards her. Rain water dances across her vision blurring the visage of the driver but she didn't need her sight to know it was a Quileute. Given it was rare that anyone else drove on this road, an almost unwritten law between the reservation and the residents of Forks that the two towns didn't mingle. She wasn't sure if it was still in place, the only one to previously break it being Chief Charlie Swan. but if nothing else had changed, Karina had faith in that still being in place.

Stepping out the way of the truck, she watched as it slinked to a stop beside her, the window of the passenger lowers slowly and with it a wash of warm escape wooshes over her face. The feeling like pin pricks as it settles on her now icy face, and soon she feels blood rush to her face in a blush as it works to accommodate the contrasting heats. Yet her dark eyes burn like lasers into the driver, whose face was leant heavily against the frame, his own molasses gaze weighing heavy as it burns into her. Each swirl of his eyes like liquid and with ease she can see the amusement dancing within that vast depth. Amusement that she knew was directed at the idiot standing in the rain staring at a house, ergo it was aimed at her.

" Where are you going ?. "

If a voice could have a taste then Karina was almost positive that the males before her, would be the most decadent chocolate. The type that you just knew you shouldn't eat because it gave you a stomach ache, and yet you couldn't help but devour another piece. And for a moment Karina is struck stupid, her brain becoming stuffed with cotton as it takes her a moment to comprehend the easy question he'd asked. Growling at her own stupidity she works to blink away the rather childish schoolgirl reaction her body was having. From just his voice.

" The rec centre. I've got some erm, family business. "

It wasn't much, but it seemed to be enough for the male. Regarding her for a moment she watches him congeal out of sight, his voice meeting her ears a second later as he tells her to move out the way. Doing as he asked, she watches as the truck door opens, giving her a much more up close look at her saviour. He was definitely Quileute, from the toffee coloured skin, to his dark eyes. He all but screamed that he was part of the reservation, his hair was also the typical raven black that they all seemed to carry, but from where she was stood Karina could see low blue highlights that dashed through the short hair, giving him a dangerous and feral aura that made a delicious shiver run up her spine.

Small tongue snakes out to wet her drying lips as she once again berates her thoughts, and gripping the door steadily she climbs up into the truck. Her purse slips from her shoulder to settle heavily at her feet as she grabs the door and slams it shut, his fingers already closing the window and once more trapping the heat inside of the cab and letting it soak into her skin. Time was fickle and Karina had no idea how long she'd been staring at the Atera house but it was long enough that a permanent chill had settled all over her skin, and her clothes hung heavy from all the rain they'd absorbed. Making her look, quite literally, like a drowned rat.

A small voice, that sounded suspiciously like Davey's, shouts in her mind about getting into the car with a stranger. But a larger part of her brain, the part that came as part and parcel with growing up on a small reservation reminded her that there was no such thing as strangers with them. Everyone knew everyone and whilst her mind couldn't come up with a name just yet, there was a very likely chance that she knew him. Thus she settles heavily into the leather of the seat as her hands rub aimlessly at her arms to quicken the heat to return to her skin.

" Thanks … sorry my ass is about to get your seats wet. "

A part of her flinches at the less than lady like way the words dripped from her skin. She honestly had spent far too much time with Davey that bluntness was almost her default. But as the sound of his rich laughter spreads like wildfire into the silence, she can at least take solace in the fact he didn't seem to mind. Looking at him out of the corner of her eye, she takes the time to really soak him in now that they were at least level.

And what she sees has her baulking for a moment, he was freaking huge. Lithe muscle clinging to nearly every inch of his frame, as he leans forward to fiddle with the settings on the dash. His t-shirt, built to be loose, clinches tightly across the large expanse of his back to the point she could see every ripple of his back muscles as they contracted and released in poetic symphony with his actions. The blue lowlights in his hair even more prominent in the waning sunlight peering into the truck and Karina honestly felt a slither of jealousy shroud through her system. Because seriously, it was as though he'd hit the Quileute jackpot in the gene department. And here she was, a plain jane and well, drowned.

Sighing harshly she lets her eyes close for a moment as she focuses on the heat that was now hitting her in a harsher gush. Her hands raise expectantly and without thought to soak in the jet of heat. And as he pulls the truck once more onto the road, she finds her eyes snapping open to watch him, her gaze settling heavy n the expert way to which he navigates the humongous truck. One hand gripping the wheel, whilst another settled on the frame of the door. The picture of relaxation, even with a stranger next to him. Then again, he could be of the same thought as her. In La Push there were no strangers.

Tearing her gaze of him lest it become annoying, she begins to look around the cab of the truck. The silence was begging to settle heavy and making her uncomfortable and fidgety as she craved for anything to break it. Whilst her social batteries might be depleted, right now she wouldn't even care if he chatted her ear off. Yet he stayed silent in a stoic but relaxed way, thus she let her gaze wander simply for something to do. A small picture hanging from the mirror catches her line of sight. The smiling face of a boy around four years old staring back at her, a toothy grin shining at her like sunshine. Settled at the edge of the picture, she can just make out the faint ink, worn with time and touch she can only make out two of the words.

Joey Lahote.

Cutting her eyes to the side, she can instantly recognise the paternal connections between the boy in the picture and the one beside her. They shared the same angular jaw, and the molasses eyes that swirled with both danger and secrets that the only connection it could be between the pair, was father and son. Yet it's the boy's surname that gave away the name of the male seated beside her. Paul Lahote.

Without warning, memories begin playing behind her eyes like a twisted home movie. The memories of how many times she'd found him at her house waiting for her brother. The sound of his laughter ringing in her ears as she remembered the many many times he had pranked her, Jared beside him as his ever trusty companion and co-conspirator. The glee that had shone in his molasses eyes as he pinned her between his body and the wall, a spider hanging from his fingers as he ignored her screams and inched ever closer. Wanting to use her phobia against her in revenge for the way she'd sabotaged his flirting attempts a few hours earlier. Happier times.

There wasn't a part of her childhood that didn't include Paul. which given he hadn't even been her friend said a lot, but he had been Jared's best friend and as such he was a permanent staple in her memories. Shifting in her seat so she was facing him more, she compares the visage of teenage Paul with the now adult version sitting beside her. With a frown, she finds the similarities aren't as clear as she thought they'd be.

Gone were the curves of youth that had once clung to his skin, leaving nothing but harsh lines that indicated adulthood. Shoulders bowed under the weight of responsibilities she could only imagine he carried, and whilst Karina was one of the very few in the past, who had seen the side of Paul that was hidden behind his temper. right now she wasn't sure she recognized him. And she felt her heart breaking, that it was just another reminder that the world in La Push had kept on turning, and with it, changing those that she knew. Twisting them up into something she couldn't name.

" First day of school ?. " she questions, head tipping towards the picture, as she uses the rather shitty sentence as a way to break the silence. As well as a lifeboat to pull herself out of the darkness of her musings. She didn't need to carry anymore grief, she had buckets of her own.

" Yeah ... " a soft smile lifts up the edges of Paul's lips as eyes dart from the road to the picture in question. Fatherly love blooming over his face and shining deep in his eyes. " That picture was taken after i'd finally convinced him with ice cream to get dressed. Safe to say I had to have a large bowl waiting when he got home. "

Sniffing a laugh she lets a soft smile settle on her features. " When it comes to treats and blackmail, kids always remember !. "

His eyes snap to hers with an almost inhuman speed, flickering between them as though looking for the unspoken answers to the questions in his mind. Emotions cycling through his eyes faster than she can read them, but in her silent gaze he seemed to get what he was looking for as he looked back at the road.

" You got kids ?. "

It was an innocent question, yet it's enough to make her breathe hitch as she screws her eyes shut. Begging to every deity and ancestor that was listening, that she could get through this conversation without bawling her eyes out.

" Yeah ….. "

Once again she doesn't elaborate with details and her eyes cut over his shoulder as she feels him looking at her, she refused to let him look in her eyes, scared of what he'd find hidden in the depths. Humming deep in his throat, he idly turns the wheel to the left, heading down a bend that brought them even closer to her destination. His breathe of sound enough to bring the conversation to a stuttering halt and for that she was thankful.

Karina was almost positive she wouldn't have been able to stop the tears had he pried. Yet he focuses heavily on the road, giving her a semblance of privacy to gather herself back into her own version of a stoic facade. It was nowhere near as good as his, if anything she simply looked tired. A bone deep tired that wasn't cured with a good night's sleep, but it was all she had. The only thing she could grasp in the maelstrom that was now her life.

Glancing out the window she can see the rec centre just ahead, its large looming structure blurred by the rain that still battered heavily against the truck. Her fate was looming closer with every passing second and it was enough to snap her back to reality. Leaning forward to grasp her pure, she hears the metal clank of her keys and blindly remembers that her car was still stranded on the side of the road.

" Erm … who would you say is the best mechanic for a piece of shit car that should probably be scrapped. As you saw mines at the side of the road, and well, I kinda need it. " Once more proper decorum escapes her words, his laugh is another signature feature at the refreshing taint to the air as she allowed her bluntness to travel between them.

" Jacob Black. The best the rez has to offer. He also has fair prices so if you need it, he should be able to fix it. "

" Thanks. Hopefully he doesn't tell me I have to get rid of it as then I might just have to punch him in the face. And well that's not good customer service. "

With a simple twist of his wrist, he pulls a piece of paper free from his visor and hands it over. The weight of it settling against her now warmed features. Her dark gaze lighting on the words to see it was Jacob's business card, his number nestled so innocently on the vast expanse of card that it makes her chuckle. She didn't know Jake that well, given he had been three years younger than her. But she can remember the interest with cars that had grabbed hold of him from a young age, and it had been an almost regular occurence to see him tinkering away with something, taking it apart and putting it back together again as good as new.

So him opening a garage, that bit wasn't a surprise. What is a surprise, is the way Karina clings to that knowledge, grasping it tightly with both hands and burying it just under her heart. As though she needed it, needed that little slither of normalcy, of predictability to keep her from drowning in the uncertainty she had waded into. But before she can think of it for too long, she feels the truck come to a slow stop. And with a shuddering breath she glances out over the rec centre and then back to the man seated beside her. His heavy gaze now nestled once more on her face, eyes digging for truths only he knew the questions too.

It was almost like she was a form of prey trapped beneath a hunter's gaze. A gaze she felt all the way to her bones, to her soul.

" Thanks … for the ride. " she says quickly as her head reaches for the handle. A deep breath echoing in the vast silence that had since spread over her and the male next to her, as she braces herself to once more enter the rain.

" Wait !. " a warm hand settles on her wrist like a chain, causing dark eyes to flicker down to it's steady weight, before travelling up its muscular frame to settle back on the face of the male. " you still didn't tell me your name …. "

If grown men could look innocently cute whilst confused, Karina would say that was exactly the look that currently danced across every harsh line of the male beside her. His brow crinkled in a way that caused lines to gather along his broad features, his lips turning down harshly into a frown as that molasses gaze burned heavily into her own. As though trying to pry all of her secrets out with his eyes alone. It made her feel naked and vulnerable, and also made her itch to get to her knees and pray to her ancestors to absolve her of every single sin she'd ever committed. Which in itself was fucking hilarious, given they'd long since turned their back on her. Opening the door, hissing as the warmth soon disappears outwards like a vacuum, pearly teeth sink into the flesh of her bottom lip as she debates whether to answer him or not. To do away with the anonymity that had settled between them.

After all she knew who he was without him saying, thus one half of the illusion had already been shattered. Sniffing deeply, the scent of his aftershave washes over her once more, mingling with the ever present scent of the forest and she hums softly. The sound is lost in the song of the rain as she begins to slowly extract herself out of the truck.

" Karina … Karina Cameron. "

Slipping from the truck, she lets her feet settle steadily onto the gravel road so she didn't fall on her ass due to the vast height difference, and only once she felt stable again, did she go about shifting free from the door and letting it slam heavily behind her. Throwing a curious look over her shoulder, and looking through the steam tinted windows she can't help but sniff a laugh as she sees the dumbstruck awe that was currently painted so openly on Paul's features. Reminding her of the teenager he'd been when she'd last seen him. After all, he had just found out he'd shared a ride with someone he probably never expected to see again.

Shaking her head, she hitches the strap of her purse back up her shoulder and starts forward, the looming lights of the rec centre calling her like beacons in the dark. From the open window just left of the large doors, her ears are graced with the raucous laughter that could only be found whenever the tribe gathered as one, and it's enough to make her stumble lightly as her teeth grit against the torrent of feelings that crash into her chest. Steeling herself, a hand braced against the door, she pushes heavily, stepping inside and resigning herself to her fate.

- ʚɞ -

A / N: Reviews are love and highly appreciated - chatty pair aren't they ?
Don't worry, more of them interacting will be coming up. Especially now Paul knows Karina is home and yep its moving at the right pace. I promise.

Also if you know me from my other stories :
Then you will know there is currently a poll active on my profile, for you guys to decide which of my old ones i should bring back / rewrite. So if that interests you and you want to go vote. Then please do !

Thank you loves. Till next time.