A feeling washed over Valentina, one she could only compare to the memories of fictional books. Scenes of running through fields of flowers, skin kissed by rays of sunshine, eyes bright with joy. Wherever these thoughts had sprung from, she had no idea. Though, she believed they had something to do with the dark eyed boy in front of her, whose knees seemed to buckle in her presence.

Valentina, of course, had heard of "love at first sight", her parents had sworn it occurred with them. Still, she wasn't quite sure what it was, or if it even existed. Even Bella had sworn that she had fallen for Edward the first time his eyes met hers, but, then, look at how that played out. Val had every reason to believe that love at first sight was a sham, at the least. Maybe love had nothing to do with sight, but instead went deeper, playing with the atoms in your body, convincing them to pull towards another. Looking into the eyes of Paul Lahote, though, Valentina was sure this was love at first sight.

"What the fuck Paul?!" The moment had been ruined by none other than Jacob Black.

"I can't help it, you know that!" A crowd began to form, hoping that a fight would arise from the altercation.

"You can't-"

Paul quickly cut Jacob off, "And you can't tell me what to do, bitch boy!" Valentina strangely found herself enjoying how assertive Paul was.

"Stop it, both of you." Sam's voice was low and authoritative. "Show's over guys," he spoke to the circle of people who had surrounded the two boys.

Valentina was confused, what had Paul done? He had been with her for the past few minutes, and Jake hadn't seemed upset before then. It sort of angered her that Jacob seemed to think he had control of everyone, and could pick up and disregard people like toys.

Once it seemed like Sam had resolved the situation between the two, Val approached a tense Paul.

"Hey," she started timidly, "I'm sorry about...whatever just happened with Jake. He can be a real dick sometimes." Paul let out a boisterous laugh and Val decided that it was her favorite sound.

With a smile, Paul said, "Yeah, sometimes he just doesn't know when to shut up."

A grin broke across Val's face and she found herself longing for Paul's eyes to never leave hers. Then, as if a higher power was rewarding her, he offered to drive her home. She accepted his proposal and he walked her to an older black truck. Graciously, he opened the door for her, which made her blush.

Initially, the ride home was very awkward. Paul noticed she was shivering and made sure to turn up the heat, as well as offer up his jacket. She put the large black jacket over her dress, and the smell that permeated her senses was almost euphoric.

"So, um," Paul started, "how far, uh, along are you?"

It had actually seemed that Val had forgotten that she was pregnant. The question actually made her insecure. There was no way girls on the rez weren't all over Paul, and Val was willing to be most of them, at least, were not pregnant.

"Oh, uh, 17 weeks today, actually."

"For real? What's it like?" Shock overcame Val at the idea that Paul would be legitimately interested in her pregnancy.

"Really?" She asked, to which he nodded enthusiastically. "It's weird, to be honest. I mean, before, I was just a normal sixteen year old and, now, I'm a mom. To twins."

She was looking at her shoes but could still feel his dark eyes on her. Then, his abnormally warm hand found hers.

"I think you'll be a great mom. Fuck whatever the Swan girl said."

Bella. Val hadn't thought about her fight with Bella since she last saw her at the bakery. If she was being honest, she missed her. It hurt to think they might never talk again. Paul bit his lip when he noticed he struck a chord. Luckily, though, they had reached Val's house.

"Well, we're here." Paul looked at the almost completely renovated house, admiring it.

Val wasn't quite ready to leave his presence, she enjoyed the way her body hummed next to his, a low melody.

"Y'know...there's gonna be a, um, a sort of celebration on the rez on Saturday. You should come."

A confidence Valentina had not felt the entire two months she had been in Forks appeared. She smirked at the tanned boy, taunting him, "Like with you?"

Paul's ears became hot and he stuttered, "U-uh, only if y-you wanted to."

"So a date? Are you asking me on a date, Paul?"

His eyes averted hers, he was sure she was trying to kill him. "I-I mean-"

"Sure, I'll go on a date with you. My sister will be in town, can she come?" He could only nod, his throat was much too dry for words. "Cool, see you Saturday?" She pecked his cheek, a bold move, even for her. His skin was left burning, in a way that he loved.

Valentina was still smiling as she made her way up to her room. Her parents were likely asleep, and it was then she remembered that her father's car was still near Emily's bakery. She cursed herself and ran to her window, hoping Paul was still out there. He was not. In fact, Paul rushed home as soon as he saw that Val had made it safely inside.

She stared at the screen of her phone, debating with herself if this was the right decision. It was late and Bella was surely asleep. Alas, it was her only choice and she hit 'call', hoping for the best.

"Hello?" A groggy voice spoke on the line.

"Hey Bella, I know you probably never wanna talk to me again and as much as that really hurts, I mean really hurts, I really need you to take me back to Emily's bakery to get my dad's car because I left it there," Val spoke much quicker than she intended. She really did not want Bella to hang up on her.

"Ok, I know this is Val, and I know you said words. Unfortunately, I just woke up so I need you to say them much slower."

Val smiled, repeating her words much slower for Bella to comprehend. Once Bella agreed to take Val to her dad's car, Val became excited to see her friend again.

When Bella pulled into the Thurston driveway, sprinkles began to sporadically cascade onto the windshield. Valentina walked quickly to avoid the soon-to-follow rain.

"Hey Bells." The green-eyed girl was desperately hoping that Bella wasn't mad, or whatever she had been, anymore.

"Why would you think I would never want to talk to you again?" The older girl blurted, as if that's all that was on her mind.

Tears welled in Valentina's eyes, a side effect of pregnancy hormones.

"Well, you just kinda...left me. Left me and stayed with Jake so I just thought that, maybe, I was the problem and you two were sick of me."

It was that moment. That was the moment that caused Bella to cringe with guilt. She knew the secret and Val didn't. Jake figured it was best that it stay that way and Bella agreed, it was safer that she didn't know. Neither of them, however, thought out exactly how much it would hurt her if they avoided her for a while. It wasn't supposed to be permanent, or even as long as it had been. Bella and Jake had simply become wrapped up in themselves, like no one else mattered. They were selfish, and it was Valentina who reaped the consequences.

Bella pulled Val into a tight hug, apologizing profusely for her actions and attitude. She promised to spend more time with her and less time with Jacob and, due to Alpha's orders, that would be true.

"I have big news," Valentina said in between sniffles.

"Hm?"

"I'm having twins." Bella gasped and hugged the younger girl once more.

"That's amazing Vals!"

"When Addy comes down this weekend we're gonna do a photoshoot if you want to come."

With a warm smile, Bella agreed to come. It was a nice start to rebuilding their broken friendship. On the drive over to the rez, Bella and Val talked about possible names for the twins, nursery themes, and baby shower ideas. Bella had never really been interested in having children, but the thought of being a cool aunt - given that Val was okay with that - truly excited her. A thought occurred about how she could have never experienced that with the Cullens, considering they would have had to fake Bella's death and move far away. For the first time since she discovered immortality existed, Bella smiled at the idea of living an almost normal life.

It was almost 11:30 when they finally reached the spot where Valentina had parked her father's car. Bella bid a goodnight to her friend and before she got into her own vehicle, Val said one last thing.

"Paul Lahote drove me home and asked me on a date. Night Bells!"