A/N: I want to thank everyone so much for all of the encouraging comments. I've had a really difficult time writing, lately. In fact, this chapter has sat in my word processor for quite some time because I am not particularly proud of it. However, I realize that to keep the story moving I will need to publish the occasional chapter that I am not in love with to get to the next one that maybe I will be in love with.

That being said, if you don't like this chapter... You're not alone. Hah. But here it is, anyhow, and I hope the next one is better.

Sorry for the wait.

Paul

You better believe that I got my ass handed to me when I walked through the door at 1:00 AM, smelling of pot. My father yelled as he usually does. Called me every name in the book. Said I was just like my mother. He's been saying it more and more, lately. I'm just like Mom. He's not wrong. I don't look like Dad. I look just like Mom. And that's why he hates me so much. Every time he looks at his son he sees the woman he despises and abandoned. I don't know how to feel about Mom. I know she has her demons but sometimes I hate her too. Because she left me with him.

I took the extended tongue-lashing and then retired to my room where I lay in bed and replayed every second of that kiss over and over in my head.

She kissed me back. My doubts and fears that Sam was wrong — and that imprints don't feel it too — have disappeared. She felt it. I know she did. The way her body clung to mine and how her kisses felt needy. As if her lips have been waiting for mine all their life.

I just have to keep up the momentum. I don't want her to backtrack into the rigid posture that I'm too young. I get it. She's 19 and I'm 16… well, not for long. I'll be 17 next week. That's got to count for something. Until she turns 20 in October.

We talked for hours before she felt sober enough to drive me home. She told me about her plans to find a job in Seattle. How she's considering getting her Master's if it doesn't work out. Then Bird lectured me on retaking the SATs and going to college. She made me promise to retake them. So I will. Hah. Funny. After all my dad's yelling. After all of the guys urging me on and on to take them again. Bird says, 'promise me you'll take them one more time?' and that's it. I'm done for. 1:00 AM in the morning and I dig out all of the SAT study crap I had tossed behind my dresser and start flipping through the material.

I was not surprised at all by the pouring rain this morning. Good weather in La Push is a rare one-day occurrence. So when I woke up to the sound of rain pounding against my window and dark clouds as far as the eye could see, I knew my shift would be canceled. It was.

I made my way to First Beach to see Rachel at 3:00 PM when I knew her shift would be over and she'd be free for the evening. The food truck never closes up due to bad weather. But when I arrived she wasn't there. Sick. That's what the guy working there said.

So here I am, hot soup in one hand, pounding on the door with the knuckles of my other hand. It's probably my fault. I had her out all night, swimming in the ocean. She probably caught a chill or something. Billy Black is not happy to see me but he lets me in any way and calls up the stairs to inform his daughter of my arrival.

"I brought you soup," I explain when her head pokes around the corner of the stairs with a perplexed expression. I am instantly filled with warmth to see her again even though it has been less than 24hrs.

"Why?" Rachel frowns.

"You're sick?" I offer. I didn't think I'd have to explain soup but she doesn't appear to be in poor health. Her hair is up in a high ponytail and she looks cozy in an oversized grey WSU sweatshirt and cut-off jean shorts. She pushes up a pair of tortoiseshell glasses that have slid down the bridge of her nose. My heart pounds in my chest as my mind recalls the thrill of last night's kiss in the ocean.

"Oh… Right," Rachel nods, understanding my assumption. "I called in. But as you can see..." she shrugs.

Billy is watching the interaction from behind a cup of steaming coffee.

"Can I uh?" I motion to the stairs. I'm uncomfortable under Billy's gaze.

"Oh… Um, yeah. Sure," Rachel nods.

"Leave your door open, Girly," Billy mutters as I ascend the stairs.

"Dad!" Rachel scolds him for the comment and rolls her eyes.

I follow her into Jacob's room.

She's cleaned it up. The clothing that her brother had left crumpled on the floor has since been washed, dried, and neatly folded in a basket in the corner. It looks as though Rachel has made herself at home by the small clutter of items on the desk… Unless Jacob has a stack of brightly colored books titled Confessions of a Shopaholic balanced atop a collection of DVDs; 10 Things I Hate About You, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and Dirty Dancing. It's definitely her's.

I put the container of soup down on the desk next to the trashy novels and movies.

"So you're not sick then?" I ask.

"Not really," Rachel replies, taking her glasses off and hangs them from the collar of her sweatshirt. "Yesterday was kind of a rough day for me," she mutters.

"Oh. Right," I nod, "the long shift."

"Among other things," she replies, playing with the drawstrings on her hoodie but doesn't look at me.

"Like what?" I ask. I assumed it was a harmless question. Her lips slightly part but then she shakes her head, not answering. Her eyes which have been cast down at her bare feet finally meet mine and I am taken aback by the pain in them. I wish I knew what was going on behind those big brown eyes. Something is troubling her and I think that it's more than the problems with the roof.

"Not important," she whispers with a forced smile. A clear lie.

"Okay," I reply, not believing her but also not wanting to push her. One day I hope she will confide in me. Until then, I give her space. "So… what are you up to then, Bird? If you're not working…"

"Nothing," she shrugs.

"Oh good. So then you're available," I grin.

"Oh uh…" Rachel swallows when she realizes she walked into that one, "about last night… I uh-"

"I was thinking maybe we could rent some movies," I cut her off before she can start backtracking what last night was. I know she felt what I felt. "...since you clearly have nothing to watch," I mutter and pick up the three DVDs from the desk and fan them out.

"Hey!" Rachel frowns, grabbing the movies from my hands, "these are classics!"

"Really?" I cock my brow, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?"

"Two-thirds of these are classics!" she corrects herself and puts the DVDs back on the desk. "So what then? Are you going to blow my mind with your superb film selection skills at the local movie rental?" she glares.

"If you want me to blow your mind we don't have to go anywhere," I reply, flirtatiously. I kind of just blurted that one out. I am prepared to apologize for my crassness but then Rachel's lips curl up and I am rewarded with a smile.

"You're so full of yourself," she grins.

You can be full of me too.

Fortunately, I have the foresight not to blurt that out as well.

"Get your coat," I grin.

"... alright," Rachel replies, putting her glasses back on.

I back Rachel's red Mazda into the muddy parking lot behind the local movie rental, Jerry's. It's outlived every attempt that a chain has ever made to set up shop in the area. Even Blockbuster was no match for Jerry's. We may have to drive to Fork to shop for groceries at the Thriftway but we're not about to put good ol' Jerry's out of business.

Rachel cleans the lenses of her glasses with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and then pushes them back onto the bridge of her nose.

"I didn't realize you wore glasses," I mention to her, once parked.

"I usually wear contacts but I lost one in the ocean last night," she replies, "I'm waiting for my new ones to arrive in Forks."

"You look cute with glasses," I compliment her. She does; like a sexy librarian or something.

"Pffft, whatever," she rolls her eyes but her cheeks pinken, nonetheless.

I restrain myself from leaning over and kissing one of her rosy cheeks. Instead, I open the door to Rachel's red Mazda and we both make a dash for the back entrance of Jerry's before we can get too soaked.

Jerry's Movie Emporium, despite its name, is a small shop and certainly not an emporium by any measure. It smells of stale popcorn and cigarettes from the tenants that live above. The grey wooden floors creak and whine no matter where you step. Sunbleached movie posters have proudly hung from the walls since the '90s; Speed, Mission Impossible, Happy Gilmore, and — for some reason — Encino Man. Adjoined to the movie rental shop is a liquor store that sells cheap bottles of wine for $3 more than any other liquor store in town for no other reason than it's convenient to buy alcohol while grabbing a movie rather than making two trips.

I wander to the rack of new releases while Rachel seems to be drawn to the Romantic Comedy section. I glance over at her and smile to myself. I guess her taste in movies is sappy comedies. A little surprising considering she seems so… I dunno… serious? I have so much to learn about her. In the past 24hrs, I've learned that she enjoys trashy books and movies, smokes marijuana, and has bad eyesight.

It's a little bit scary yet thrilling to know so little about her. Scary because I am in love with someone who I have barely scratched the surface on. Thrilling because she is a mystery who continues to surprise me in the most delightful ways. Yet, as thrilling as it is to get to know her, guilt gnaws at me. Because I know that I will stop at nothing to make her mine and she deserves so much better than me.

I scan the new releases, trying to tuck these feelings of inadequacy away. I pick up a DVD that I vaguely recall seeing a trailer for at a movie I went to last year.

"Alright, I found one," Rachel says, joining me at the new releases.

I glance down at the box she holds in her hand. Elizabethtown. I take the DVD from her to read the back, "Drew Bayer a hot-shot designer — blah, blah, blah — Claire unstoppable, positive and just the gal to guide — blah, blah, blah — teach him what it means to live and love along the way. No," I grimace and hand her back the DVD.

Rachel frowns, tucking the DVD under her arm, "what do you mean 'no'?"

"It's fluff. It's Legolas and Spiderman's girlfriend with a script that probably sounds like those kids on Dawson's Creek."

"... I like Dawson's Creek," Rachel mumbles, deflating. Her glasses slide down the bridge of her nose slightly.

Damn. I feel like an asshole but her chagrin doesn't last long.

She pushes her glasses back up and aggressively grabs the DVD from my hand and starts reading the back. "Oh yeah. What did you pick? Revolver. Populated with Guy Richie's classic breed of fast-talking, sharp-suited gangsters but with a psychological twist — no. Absolutely not."

I take the DVD back from her, "okay. Fine. We obviously have different tastes in movies. Let's try to find a compromise," I reply, putting Revolver back on the shelf.

"Paul and Rachel!" a familiar squeaky voice rings out from behind me. I turn around. It's Kim and Jared. Kim bounces over and throws her arms around Rachel which completely catches her off guard.

"Um, hi," Rachel shimmies out of the unexpected embrace.

"Hey, man… getting movies?" Jared asks, pulling Kim back to him as if she were an unruly chihuahua. She kind of is.

"Us too!" Kim shouts before I can even reply, "oh my god! We should hang out and watch movies together! Come with us to my place!" Kim squeaks. "The guys are all coming over later — my parents are out of town — Jared's making pizza and there'll be a keg. It would give us a chance to get to know each other," Kim grins.

My jaw tightens and I shoot Jared a hard glare with a very subtle shake of my head.

"Oh. Um, sweetie. I'm sure Paul and Rachel want to spend some time alone," Jared replies.

"What? No we don't!" Rachel quickly replies, her face turning red.

Fuck. Come on, man.

"Great!" Kim loops her arm with Rachel's, "what kind of movies do you like?"

"Jared," I grumble.

"I um," Jared sucks in a breath, "I mean… I kind of wanted to spend time alone with you, Kim," he says in a low voice that sounds absolutely ridiculous. He then cocks a brow which looks absolutely ridiculous.

Rachel snorts out a laugh that she tries to stifle at Jared's attempt at being smooth.

Nonetheless, Kim grins ear to ear at her mate's flirtatious display, "you've had me alone plenty, today," she replies suggestively and then turns to Rachel, "come over. It'll be fun! Say yes!"

"Um… I… I guess," Rachel says and then glances over at me.

My lips tighten into a thin line, "yeah… that's fine…" I glare at Jared.

Not long after we arrived at Kim's the girls headed up to Kim's room. Rather, Rachel was kidnapped up to Kim's room with an apprehensive expression and her arm tightly grasped by Jared's short bubbly girlfriend.

"Rough, man," Jared mutters after I finish explaining to him that I am now being charged a hefty rent by the old man. Jared is stretching the dough, making his famous homemade pizza. I'm just watching with a beer in my hand.

"I was going to buy a car but those plans have been fucked up," I grumble.

"Yeah. But, you don't really need a car," Jared shrugs.

"I don't?" I raise my brow.

"I mean, you're faster on foot. All of us are," he smirks, spreading pizza sauce onto the dough, once it was rolled out on the round metal tray.

"Great. I guess you don't mind if I just take your Jeep then?" I cross my arms.

Jared stops to think about it. Jared and Kim frequently use his Jeep as a means to have sex when both of their houses are full of parents and/or siblings, "fair," he nods. "I don't know, man. Rachel's got a car, right?"

I sip my beer and chuckle to myself trying to picture how well that would go if we both tried to squeeze into Bird's little red Mazda.

"What?" he asks with a smile.

"That'd be a tight fit," I shake my head.

Jared chuckles, "yeah… Don't know what to tell you. Get creative?"

"We're not even there yet. You know… I just… Want to be able to go to her house and pick her up. Take her out on dates. You know?" I exhale and glance down for a moment. I don't know if we're even there yet. Rachel was embarrassed at the movie rental when Jared suggested to Kim that maybe we'd want to spend time alone.

"A car is handy..." Jared nods.

A silence falls between us and I am compelled to share an intimate detail from last night.

"... last night we made out," I confess.

"Holy shit. Really?" Jared stops spreading sauce and looks up at me, "and?"

"And It was amazing. Then I fucked it up by getting hard," I mutter. No use trying to conceal the truth on that one. The second I phase they'll all know, anyways.

"Oh… Yeah. Well, it happens, bro," Jared shrugs. "Did it scare her off or something?" Jared asks.

"I don't know. I don't think so?" I reply. "I apologized and she said we should stop. Kinda ruined the moment," I sigh.

Jared nods but doesn't say anything. His eyes fall back down to the pizza as he starts sprinkling the shredded cheese around. I recognize that look. It's a look of hesitancy. The kind that all of my brothers get when they hold back in fear that I will lose control and explode.

"What? What are you thinking?" I ask.

Jared exhales and looks back up again, "just that… she's um… Rachel is a college girl and it's probably not the first time some guy has uh… gotten hard on her," he says.

My teeth snap together, "I know," I grumble through my clenched jaw. I recall the open box of condoms I had accidentally stumbled upon in Rachel's glovebox. She's had a whole life outside of the confines of this small town. There probably were other guys. There must have been. She's too beautiful not to get noticed.

"So don't worry about it," Jared shrugs. "Next time don't ruin the moment by apologizing for your dick."

"Hah," Embry laughs, kicking the door open with a keg under his arm, "whose apologizing for their dick?" he snickers.

"Nevermind, asshole," Jared glares, "you're fucking tracking mud in. Take off your shoes."

"I'm just going to get a big ol' tattoo on my dick that says 'sorry'," Quil smirks, kicking off his shoes.

Embry laughs at Quil's remark and then bends down to unlace his hiking boots, "you get into her pants already, stud?" Embry teases me. "What are you waiting for? Get in there!"

I glare at him, suppressing a pang of rage. I don't like him talking about Bird that way. Like she's just a thing to put my cock in. My nostrils flare and I close my hands into fists.

"You two think you're so funny. You just fucking wait until you imprint," Jared says to Embry and Quil.

"Fuck, I hope not," Embry laughs, "do you have any ideas how many bitches I'm hooking up with?"

Quil laughs, "fucking zero, dude. We're in your head, loser."

I laugh at Embry as he flips off Quil.

"Y'all are fucking pigs," Leah pushes past Quil and Embry and then throws three big grocery bags full of chips onto the table.

"But you love us," Jared grins at Leah who just stares straight through him with an icy glare.

"I tolerate you," Leah grumbles and opens a bag of Doritos, stuffing a few into her mouth, "you better clean up your mouths before the puppies arrive."

"Collin and Brady are just as bad as us," Quil rolls his eyes.

The stairs creak as Rachel and Kim come downstairs to greet the guys.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Buster," Leah says to Rachel with her mouth full of chips.

"Oh my god," Rachel chuckles, "no one's called me that in years."

"Buster?" I ask with a smile. This girl has all sorts of nicknames. Girly. Bird… Buster?

"That's what the other teams called her in Lacrosse. Get in Buster's way and she'd body check your ass so hard you'd be leaving the field with some busted ribs," Leah replied.

"How's it going?" Leah asks Rachel, offering her the bag of Doritos.

Rachel shrugs, plucking one from the bag, "tore my ACL. I think it's fair to say that my rib-busting days are behind me. At Least from a pro-level, anyhow."

"So I might actually have a shot at kicking your ass?" Leah grins.

Rachel's brow pops up, "I didn't say that," she returns her grin.

"I've got some equipment in the garage if you want to play?" Kim says, bouncing up and down on her heels.

"I'm down," Rachel says with a competitive glint in her eye that makes my heart skip a beat. Seeing her excited about something makes me excited. I want her to have fun here. It increases the likelihood of her coming back to see me when she eventually gets her job in Seattle. Wouldn't that be something? Bird working in the city and then rushing home on weekends to see me. My heart feels warm and light just at the thought. Maybe I would go visit her sometimes. I'm getting ahead of myself. We're not even officially dating. We kissed once.

"Uh," Jared looks up from the pizza he's making, "Kim… Maybe you should just watch."

"Why? I want to play!" Kim whines.

Jared scratches his head, "it's just that… well… Leah is Leah and Rachel is known for busting ribs. I just… I'd feel better if you just maybe sat this one out," Jared says while he arranges pepperonis on the pizza.

Kim deflates, her eyes focusing down on her pink sparkly socks.

"Let the girl play if she wants to play," Embry snorts, "you're not her dad."

"Fuck you, Embry," Jared scowls.

"Okay," Rachel put up her hands, "everyone just calm down. We don't even have enough people to play."

Leah sucks in her lip, "hmm, Emily's coming," she replies, "four on the field. Two of the guys can play goalie. That's enough for a small game."

Jared sighs loudly.

"Oh god! Unclench, Jared," Leah rolls her eyes, "Kim can be on my team. I won't let anything happen to her. None of the guys will be on the field. Rachel and Emily are not going to hurt Kim."