A/N: If you don't like the characters or plot, then don't read. This is slightly AU as fair as Lana and their ancestry and stuff like that. But the main premise will not change.

DISCLAIMER: I only own my OC, nothing else.

WORD COUNT: 2, 735

Chapter 18

A Familiar Face

Walking barefoot along the wet sand of La Push's beach, Lana pushed back the locks of hair that were slipping in front of her face due to the heavy winds, her brown leather satchel bag that Seth had gotten her for Christmas last year bumped against her hips gently.

Lifting her head toward the overcast sky, the dark circles under her eyes showed prominently against the dull palette of her skin. She hadn't had a proper's night sleep since Edward and his family disappeared and she had tried to contact Rosalie and Jasper with nothing to show for her efforts. The Cullen family had completely wiped their existence from Forks and Lana wanted to know why, but there was no social media presence to learn from or any kind of correspondence she could utilize to contact them.

It was hopeless to cling to some kind of belief that they would come back and all would be forgiven like Bella seemed to believe.

According to Jessica at school last week, her and Bella went to Port Angeles for a 'girl's night' and as they were going to get in Jess' car to leave, Bella ended up taking a joyride with some stranger on his bike to get some kind of adrenaline high. Suffice to say, Lana was livid and tried to talk Bella out of her newest scheme to see 'Edward' again.

It didn't work.

Lana sighed heavily, stifling a yawn in the palm of her hand.

"Hey, Lana!" Lana squeaked, ripped from her thoughts and turned to see a nearly unrecognizable Paul Lahote jogging up to her, cropped hair falling into his eyes and in nothing but a pair of shorts and his usual distressed sneakers.

They'd met at one of the Res bonfires where Billy would share old stories of the tribe and along with Paul, Lana also met Jared and caught up with Jake's sisters, Rebecca and Rachel who were in town visiting their father and brother.

Back then, Paul was sporting hair that was reaching his hips and his tummy pushed out from his graphical Spider-Man tee. She'd spent quite a lot of time with Paul and Jared when Jake, Quil and Embry would bring her along to hang out with the other kids on the Res, mostly more with Paul as their shared love of the Marvel Universe had been the projectile that catapulted their acquaintance into a strong friendship. All six of them had formed a close bond with each other but lately Jared hadn't been around as much and now, as she thought about it, she hadn't seen Paul either.

'How could I not realize that?' Lana mused silently, guilt lancing through her chest. She was so caught up in her own family drama that she didn't even realize that she hadn't caught up with Paul or Jared since the Cullen's disappeared and yet managed to see Jake, Quil and Embry on the regular.

She'd only seen him a few times around the land since then and obviously hadn't taken notice of the many developments Paul had undergone whilst she was visiting Jacob.

"Paul? Is that you?" Lana once-again, pushed her hair away from her face to see Paul stopping right in front of her with a big smile on his face, "wow! Have you been going to the gym all summer?"

Paul laughed openly, pearly-white teeth shining in the overcast daylight, "something like that."

Lana shook her head in amusement, eyes roaming over his appearance before noticing the tattoo. It was the same design as Sam and Jared had and the placement was identical. She thought best not to comment on it just yet as it seemed a kind of ceremonial thing among their tribal beliefs and Sam had been quite close-lipped as of late. Her brain finally noticed his lack of clothing as her mind switched tracks from her morbid thoughts to Paul, "aren't you cold? I heard you were pretty sick." Her eyebrows furrowed with worry, unsure of why he wasn't wearing a shirt considering the chilled winds, but considering how healthy he looked, it didn't seem to pose a problem for him.

'He certainly doesn't look sick.' Lana observed to herself, mentally shaking herself from ogling her friend.

Paul looked down at his naked torso and shrugged, "nah, I'm okay." His answer was nonchalant, unmoved by the glacial breeze that bit at Lana's cheeks and numbed her fingers and toes. Unable to stop herself, she shivered violently, "but you are." Paul commented, ignoring Lana's weak protests and enveloped her in his heated embrace.

Lana's fight melted away and she burrowed into his warmth almost immediately, resting her cheek on his hard pectoral, "you're like a portable space heater!" Paul chuckled before lifting her up, holding her close as his arms wrapped tight around her fleshy hips. Lana relaxed in the furnace-like heat that emitted from Paul, resting her arms leisurely around his broadened shoulders and he lightly twirled her around.

Paul set Lana down tenderly and took a step back to look down at her, his wide smile dimming when he noticed the puffy skin under her eyes and the circles that ringed them and stood out against unusually pale demeanor, "are you okay?" His tone coloured with concern, his hands reaching to wrap around her upper arms as if to steady her from falling.

"I'm fine!" Lana reassured, albeit too hastily to seem nonchalant, "just haven't been sleeping very well, lately."

Paul sighed, expression nervous. His dark eyes stared into Lana's glazed over hazel and his silent question over if he should speak his mind was answered, "listen, I can kinda piece together what's been going on with you and your sister," Lana inhaled, mouth opening to cut Paul off and defend her sister but he caught on and plowed through, "and I know you've heard this over a thousand times, but your sister is a big girl and she can take care of herself. You need to be looking out for the one person that matters right now and that's you."

Lana's mouth slowly closed and her eyes flicked down to her wet, sandy feet, "I'm the only one that understands what she's going through, Paul. I'm the only person she can turn to."

"No, you're not. You're not her mother, Lana!" Paul growled, his breath deepening as if he was trying to stop himself from getting too worked up, "have you seen yourself in the mirror? You can barely walk in a straight line let alone see what's in front of you. I really hope you didn't ride your bike here."

Lana shook her head, "Dad won't let me, I have to ride with Bella. She's over at Jake's now with some 'projects' for them to do together and asked if I wanted to be dropped off anywhere."

"Wait, she didn't bring you with her?" Paul asked, jaw clenching, eyes flaring with fire as his anger started to rise.

Lana shook her head, "apparently she wanted to talk to Jacob alone. I know what that means: 'Lana, you'll only get in the way and be the sensible one here even though you know I'm only using your best friend for my own means and Jacob would rather spend time with me than with you when it come down to it.' Bella didn't actually say that but she knows I'd be against what she wants to do and I wouldn't be silent about it-" Lana cut herself off, eyes wide as her brain caught up with her mouth.

'How could I say that?' Lana panicked internally. How could just having someone to listen to, to care for her wellbeing for a change, cause her deepest emotions to come pouring through like a torrent of water?

Paul's teeth ground against each other.

Lana's words hurt and worried him.

She had nobody to talk to, nobody to turn to in her moment of need. Jacob was too caught up in his feelings for Bella to notice anything wrong with Lana despite the fact she was stressed and overtired, Quil and Embry would feel awkward trying to get anything out of her as its a family issue and would work to make her forget the problems at the end of the day. Charlie had his hands full with worrying about both of his daughters but considering how good of an actor Lana was, he would have been more inclined to care for Bella. Leah was too busy, Seth was too young, Billy wouldn't be able to say anything considering the tribe and the whole backstory and he and Jared had basically abandoned her for reasons he'd never be able to explain and God, did he want to.

'Time to make up for that.' Paul thought to himself resolutely as he took her hand and started up the beach, "come with me."

"Paul, I'm supposed to wait here!" Lana argued, stumbling behind him.

"I'm not going to leave you at a freezing cold beach by yourself." Lana's heart warmed with his words as his hand tightened around her smaller one. "You're coming with me. I'll show you this really beautiful trail I found in the woods yesterday!" Paul's eyes lit up, an excited smile tugging at his full lips and the youngest Swan couldn't help but reciprocate genuinely.

"Lead the way!" Lana grinned as they jogged away from the beach. "Oh, wait! I need shoes!"

(..)

After a quick stop at the local store to get a pair of shoes and a coat for Lana (to which she vehemently objected to as he paid for them just as she was trying to get her purse from her satchel and all he did was smile smugly at her as she begrudgingly thanked him), they were walking the beautiful trail Paul discovered.

The weather had nearly all but cleared as they started walking and they were able to enjoy the trail due to the turning weather.

'Still keeping the jacket on, y'know, for convenience and definitely not because I might want to indulge in that warmth again. What is it with Quileute men and their body heat?' Lana mused, cheeks turning a slight pink.

The high trees shaded most of the trail but the slight patches of sunlight that filtered through the leaves added an ethereal aura to the scenery that Lana, just couldn't ignore. The wildflowers bloomed brightly, the moss on the trees was saturated in deep greens and teals and covered the monstrous trunks that held their cover above them. The trail itself was webbed with leaves and vines that cascaded from the trees themselves and the shrubbery surrounding.

It was breathtaking.

It was the feeling of something hot sliding against her palm that ripped her from her reverie and she looked down to see Paul's hand linking with her own. "let's sit over here." Paul gestured to a fallen tree and lead Lana to it and they sat in a patch of an unfiltered sunbeam, the dry log proving to be a suitable seat. "How are you feeling now?"

"Better." Lana nodded softly, "needed to get away from everything I think. I've been coming to the Res a lot more since Creeper left Bella and now that Bella's here. . .it's almost like she's invading my safe space." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I mean, I love her, I really do. But I need space to think- to process. And now that she's here at Jacob's, it's like I can't even see my own best-friend without needing to run it by her now."

"You realise that's not true, right? Bella's here because she knows Jacob is a mechanic and can help her with the bikes."

"Yeah I know that, but she's not doing it for a bonding experience like Jacob thinks. She's getting Jacob to help her because she's trying to become a thrill-seeker. Edward leaving really messed her up and I can't even say his name without her completely shutting me down." Lana looked up at Paul, "I wish I'd seen you sooner, Paul. It's all well and good seeing Jacob, Quil and Embry but I miss you and Jared too."

"We should have come to see you sooner." Paul admitted, wrapping his arm around Lana's shoulder, "it's been too long." Lana nodded, biting the corner of her lip gently as she looked up at Paul.

"Thank you for this, Paul." She gestured toward the lush forest around her and smiled gently as Paul squeezed her shoulders warmly and she leaned closer to him, enjoying his heat.

"You're welcome, Lana. You deserved a little get-away from the get-away." Paul murmured quietly, his deep eyes gazing into her own as if he were in a trance.

A loud ringtone broke the moment between them and Lana growled softly, "it's probably Bella." Lana slipped away from Paul to dig through her satchel to find her phone, missing the slight tremor in Paul's hands and the air shimmering gently before it slowly dissipated.

Flipping her phone open, she recognized Bella's number and the incessantly chirpy ringtone she'd selected which used to be cute, now it grated on her nerves every time it rang. Biting back her annoyance, she pressed the answer button and put the phone to her ear, "yeah, Bells?"

"Hey, be ready to go. I'm coming to the beach with Jake." Bella answered, hearing Jacob's cheerful greeting through the phone and it stung to hear just how excited he was with Bella. Lana knew that she'd only be in the way of their fun if they came down to pick her up and she didn't want to mope around more than she had been for weeks.

She wanted to have some fun of her own today!

"I'm not at the beach, Bells. I actually caught up with a friend from the Res. I think I'm going to be sticking around here," Lana looked to Paul and smiled warmly, her eyes meeting his sweetly and his lips curled into a crooked grin as he gazed right back at her.

"Do I know this friend?" Bella asked, her motherly tone starting to bleed through the line.

"No, you don't know him." Lana answered and flipped the phone shut before taking Paul's hand again, "so how did you even find this place? The trail isn't exactly public or probably even general knowledge around here!"

"It's actually a pretty funny story! So, Jared and I went for a run. . ."

(..)

"Isn't Lana coming?" Jacob asked as Bella flipped her own phone shut and stuffed it back into the pocket of her jeans.

"No, she's with some friend of hers. Apparently, I don't know him." Bella huffed, obviously annoyed.

Initially, Jacob was excited to be alone with Bella. But there was something niggling deep in his chest, with Lana's refusal- she never refused to come over. Especially with everything going on with Bella's personal life and there were only two people Lana hadn't seen since the Cullen's left.

Jared and Paul.

Lana was pretty close with Jared but she had something with Paul and it always rubbed Jacob the wrong way, and with everything going on with Sam, Jared and Paul, he felt it was his responsibility to at least let her know what was going on with the three of them.

But with one last lingering look at Bella, Jacob bit his lip, 'I'll tell Lana tomorrow.'