The Boys of Summer
Paul quickly walked into Sam and Emily's, knowing he was the last one to arrive and was pretty late. They were probably waiting on him, which he knew would put Jacob in a pissy mood. Sam would be mildly put out, but wouldn't make a big deal about it in front of the others. No, he'd wait until they were on their own before launching into another lecture/pep talk on responsibility.
Paul had had enough of them, to be honest.
And it wasn't as though he had meant to be late. He would have been on time - actually, early - if the damn Newton kid hadn't wanted to go over the inventory one more time, not trusting that Paul had done it right. Every shift with him was an exercise in maintaining control and calm as Paul wanted nothing more than to punch him. When Marshmallow wasn't criticizing his work (which there was usually nothing wrong with in the first place), he was gossiping (Bella and the Cullens were unfortunately still a popular topic) or hitting on any and every young woman that happened to come into the store (which unfortunately wasn't a lot but still enough that Newton was annoying). Or talking about some sort of scholarship he gave up to the University of Washington to help his family in the store (which Paul seriously doubted).
As Paul entered the living room, he met Sam's eyes, seeing the alpha giving him an understanding yet stern look while Jacob was frowning at him from Sam's side. In Paul's opinion, Jacob was letting the whole alpha thing get to his head. He wasn't even his alpha, but yet the younger man always seemed to try and boss him around.
But now wasn't the time to rehash old wounds, Paul thought as he quickly made his way over to the couch and sat down next to Jared, who had thankfully saved him a spot. The room was crowded with oversized teens as both packs were present. They had started out meeting separately, but Sam had the bright idea of doing joint meetings in the name of unity. They started up while they were dealing with the leech army problem and both alphas seemed content to continue on with it for the time being.
Paul could do with a little less unity when it came to Jacob.
"Now that we're all here, let's get started," Sam said, his voice booming through the room and quickly cutting off all conversation.
Paul listened as he went through a few housekeeping items, namely reminding the younger pack members that the school year was about to start up. Paul glanced over and caught Quil and Embry grinning, the two of them excited to start their senior year.
His eyes then moved around the room, seeing that all the younger members looked eager to get back to school. Paul supposed that if it had been him, he probably would be eager for a school year where he finally didn't have rogue vampires and constant patrols getting in the way of sleep, homework and studying, too.
Now that he thought about it, he was shocked he had even graduated.
Long before he became Paul Lahote, the Uley Pack's third-in-command, he had been Paul Lahote, slacker and trouble-maker. When he wasn't skipping with other delinquents, he was usually getting into fights or making wise-ass comments in class that got him sent to the principal's office every other day or so. His GPA was almost non-existent. Paul was about as far from responsible and honorable as you could get.
So, you could imagine Sam's shock (and well… everyone on the tribal council, really) when Paul phased the first time, officially making him the third member of a pack of spirit warriors that was now tasked with protecting everyone in the La Push from vampires. Then imagine Paul's shock when Sam asked him to take on a position of responsibility within the pack.
"How was patrol last night?" Sam asked, turning his attention to Paul and pulling him out of his musings.
"All quiet," he said with a sigh, repeating the same thing he had said about every patrol he had done over the last several months since the leech army had tried to wipe out the Cullens.
Sam seemed happy with this, though Jacob looked as though he was about to ask a question, but was cut off by Sam. Giving the other alpha a disgruntled look, Jacob then returned to standing with a serious look on his young face.
Paul glanced around the room again and noticed someone from Jacob's pack missing. Hmm, so that's why there was a bit less antagonism in the air, though truthfully it had never bothered Paul. He and Leah were kindred spirits in a way, which was probably why he was the only one that hadn't complained or been bothered by her less-than-sunny disposition.
"Where's Leah?" he asked softly, leaning towards Jared. His now best friend glanced at him with a small smile.
"Dude, she left a week and a half ago. Don't you remember? Wanted to get settled before the fall semester started," he whispered back. Paul nodded, wondering how he had forgotten about that.
Though he was of the mind it had more to do with getting away from Sam, Emily and wolf politics rather than getting settled. But still, a small part of him was jealous. He wished he could leave La Push and strike out on his own. Maybe finally get a fresh start where no one knew about his past and looked at him with a general look of disgust. Okay, so maybe it wasn't everyone on the reservation. Or full-on disgust. But there were still a lot of people who didn't quite believe that he had made a change for the better. That he was no longer the loser he used to be. Or well, at the very least that he didn't want to cause trouble like he had before.
But the truth was, even without all of the disruptions the last year had caused, he would have had a snowflake's chance in Hell to get into a four-year school anywhere. It wasn't as though he wasn't smart - he actually only made bad grades because he failed to turn in most of his assignments. But still, with his track record, he was lucky enough that he could enroll in online classes through Port Angeles Community College. His father told him it was a good move - this way he could work and save up money so by the time he finally decided what he wanted to do with his life, he could afford college and hopefully have the grades to transfer.
At least he'd have Jared. Rather than go off to school, he said he was taking a year or so off to help his parents out with running their seaside resort (which was little more than a collection of small cabins near the beach) to learn the ropes and save up money. Jared planned to someday take over the family business. But Paul knew if he was stuck in La Push with only the younger pups in the pack, he'd lose it. Not to mention, Sam wasn't any better, always with Emily which reminded Paul - yet again - that he was the only older member in their pack who hadn't imprinted yet. At least Jared and his imprint Kim saved the gushy stuff for when they were alone.
"Well, that should be it," Sam said, glancing over to Jacob, who just nodded.
"Food!" Seth Clearwater shouted, already jumping to his feet and making towards the kitchen where Emily had been hard at work filling the table with enough to feed an army (which they kind of were). Everyone else started in that direction, with Paul and Jared falling towards the back.
"Paul, a word?" Sam called out. Paul stopped and huffed, while Jared offered an encouraging smile.
"I'll save you some," he said before continuing into the kitchen.
Paul turned and walked over to Sam, thankful that Jacob wasn't sticking around.
"Sorry. Newton kept me late. Again," Paul said quickly. "I tried to get here as fast as I could."
"Figured," Sam replied, his stern look softening a bit. "How's that going?" Paul snorted softly.
"It's going. At least it's work," he replied. "It was that or clean rooms at the resort, which I wasn't keen on." Sam nodded, glancing towards the kitchen and then settling his gaze back on Paul.
"If it's not working out, you can always work at the garage," he said. He had already offered Paul a job several times now, but each time he turned him down, not caring to work on cars.
He didn't know a wrench from a screwdriver. Or well, okay, so he did. But it didn't mean he knew anything about fixing up cars. That was more Jacob's thing. And well, Paul didn't like handouts.
"I'm good, but thanks," Paul said, hoping this conversation was over. While he appreciated his alpha's concern - and Sam took his pack very seriously, looking out for everyone - he really did want to get to the food before it was gone.
"Your dad says you're starting classes soon," Sam then said. Paul sighed and nodded. Great. He was still checking in on him with his dad. "He stopped by the shop to ask about a problem with his truck today and mentioned it. If you need any help with anything, let me know."
"Will do," Paul replied, rolling back on his heels, eager to be dismissed.
"Go get some food," Sam said, and he didn't have to say it twice.
Paul turned and walked into the kitchen, finding a chair next to Jared open even though there was more than one person standing around the table, reaching over heads for food. As he sat, Jared pushed a full plate towards him.
As he started eating, he tuned into the conversations going on around him.
"Did you hear? Someone moved into the old McLaren place outside of Forks. Apparently they fixed it up," someone said. Paul glanced at Jared, neither of them really caring for the area's gossip.
"How long has it been empty?"
"Dunno, few decades, I think. No, longer. Thought that place was haunted."
"Idiot. There's no such thing as ghosts," Seth loudly proclaimed, though he looked over at Sam for confirmation, who was now standing with his arm around Emily.
"Don't look at me. I don't know everything that's out there," Sam replied with a smile. Seth then looked over at Jacob.
"Why do you think I would know?" Jacob asked.
"You're always with the Cullens. They seem to know a lot about weird stuff," Seth replied. Paul chuckled and shook his head, waiting for Jacob's reaction.
"We don't sit around and talk about ghosts," Jacob said before shoving more food into his mouth.
"I don't know about you, but I could do without any more supernatural or paranormal events for a good decade at least," Embry said.
"Yea, pretty sure even that won't help you find an imprint or girlfriend," Jared said, grinning. Embry frowned at him as he stopped eating.
"I could find her," he stated. Paul chuckled again, but softly, not wanting to be pulled into that conversation.
"Patience, Em," Quil said with a grin.
"Says the man who imprinted on a toddler," Embry shot back.
"Yea, means I know a thing or two about patience. Do you know how long a toddler's tantrums can last?" Quil retorted, though he was still grinning.
Paul supposed having no imprint was better than that. Jacob wasn't that much better off. Even though Nessie grew and matured much faster than your average human, she still appeared and acted about elementary age. Yea, Paul didn't think he'd have the patience to be a big brother to anyone right now. He didn't even have his own shit figured out.
Granted it wasn't like any of them were aging at the moment. As long as there were vampires in the area, they would all keep phasing. And as long as they kept phasing, they'd remain at whatever age they were when they first phased. He supposed it wasn't all that bad to remain this way - he thought he looked pretty good. At least he hadn't been 15 like some of the others. Granted, they were all hulked-out 15 year olds. And that was sure to conjure up more than a few questions the longer they kept phasing.
Paul couldn't help but glance over at Jacob. He knew the Cullens planned to stay until Nessie was fully matured, that way she could blend in more easily wherever they went. So they had at least another six years or so unless another leech moved into the area, which Paul seriously doubted would happen.
And then what?
Paul shook his head and returned to eating, finding it easier not to think about it. That was probably why Leah moved away too - in the hopes if she got far enough away from leeches, she'd stop phasing and live a normal life. Paul wasn't so sure just what a normal life was like anymore or if he even wanted that.
Gradually, the conversation turned to the school year and the food disappeared. Paul was still hungry, but knew there was food at home. His father had gone shopping yesterday.
"Up for some video games tonight?" Jared asked as they walked out of the house, shouting out their goodbyes and thanks to Emily.
"Sure," Paul said as they started out walking down the lane towards his house.
"You working tomorrow?" Jared then asked.
"No, thank God. Another day of working with Marshmallow and I'll end up ripping his head off," Paul replied, smiling slightly. "The guy's an idiot. Still doesn't understand the computer system and I picked it up my first day."
Jared chuckled, but gave Paul a curious look.
"You think about studying computer stuff. You always seemed pretty good at it," he suggested. Paul shrugged.
"Maybe? Honestly, this is the first time I ever really gave a shit about studying. Figured it would be good to get the general stuff out of the way and then figure it out," he replied.
"Something to keep in mind," Jared said lightly as he looked up at the night sky.
The two walked in silence a few moments, but Paul could tell that Jared wanted to say something more. Even though the two hadn't really spent much time around each other before they both phased and joined Sam's pack, Paul had learned a lot about him. And vice versa. Kind of impossible not to with pack telepathy. And the fact that they were the first ones to phase after Sam and couldn't tell anyone about what was going on at the time. They became quick friends under those circumstances and knew just about everything there was to know about each other.
And right now, Paul knew that Jared wanted to talk about something.
"What is it?" he said, breaking the silence. Jared looked over at him, his eyebrows raised. "Just spit it out."
"Just… hoping Embry is right. And, well, I don't think we'll have to deal with anymore rogue leeches with the Cullens here. But… what happens after they leave? And what if there's more out there we don't know about," he said.
Paul chuckled softly. Jared was always worried about the future. If it wasn't taking over the family business or when to marry Kim, it was something else. Paul chose to focus on the present, finding the future too murky to spend too much time dwelling on it. Because that terrified him more than anything, but he wasn't about to say it. Though he probably didn't need to - everyone had likely picked up on it when they phased.
Though were obviously too afraid that he would kick their ass if they so much as mentioned it.
"I'm pretty sure there's not a whole lot out there that we couldn't handle," Paul replied. "As for everything else, I guess we'll deal with it when it happens. We have about six more years or so before the Cullens leave."
"But still… have you ever thought about what comes after we stop phasing?" Jared asked.
"You've seen inside my head. I don't. Because it's not happening yet," Paul replied.
"But shouldn't we?" Jared pushed. Paul shrugged.
"We spent most of our lives thinking we were human. When you compare… that'll still be a lot more time than we've been phasing - if that happens. We don't know what other bloodsuckers could come around. But, if it does happen, suppose we'll just… settle into it again," Paul said.
Jared was silent a few moments.
"I wish I thought more like you. I can't help but wonder about the after," he finally said with a sign. Paul just laughed, looking over at his friend.
"Trust me, I'm just trying to get through community college without any more interruptions. I'll worry about everything else later," he replied.
"Right. Like imprinting," Jared replied, now grinning. Paul rolled his eyes.
"Definitely not worried about that," he said. Though he knew it was partially a lie. He did sometimes worry about it. But then he would call himself a dipshit and move on.
He definitely wasn't going to be like Embry and whine about it every chance he got.
Jared laughed loudly and swung his arm around Paul's shoulders.
"Right. Why do you need to worry about that when you've got me and the pack," he said.
"Exactly," Paul said, grinning. "And who said I had to have an imprint to have some fun?"
Jared laughed loudly.
"Fuck, Kim's going to kill me if you drag me to another club or party," he replied. Before Paul could offer a retort, he looked over at him. "Don't worry. I'm still your wingman."
"Good," Paul replied. "Now… do you want to do Call of Duty or Halo?"
"Both?"
Paul only shook his head as they kept walking, his house coming into view with two trucks in the driveway and the front porch light on.
"Nice. Dad's home. Means we should have food ready," Paul said.
"Lead the way."
OOOO
Okay, so the more I thought about it, the more I thought it might be cruel to just leave it at the prologue. So going to post the first two chapters as well so our main protagonists are introduced. And then no more until I get at least through Chapter 10 finished written. And I kinda like the idea of reformed bad boy Paul. Well... not completely as we'll see in a bit...
Thanks for reading and following!
