I arrive at Paul's house in a breathless mess. My feet are bleeding. Running across rubble and stones without shoes probably wasn't the best idea. My brain is so jumbled. "I need to get out of here." I whisper to myself, throwing the door open.

Of course Paul is waiting for me in the living room. He looks almost haggard and he's still wearing his tux. "Where have you been?" He rushes up to meet me when I come in the door. "One second you and Jared were fighting and then you just disappeared. I came here to check first and then I was going to stop at Jared's but I- Oh no." He catches a glimpse of my face.

"I can't do this." I tell him. "I can't."

He grasps my shoulders and then, without asking, yanks down the top of my dress to reveal the big red mark across my chest. On cue, his hands start trembling. "You didn't- He didn't…"

I'm almost at the point of hyperventilating. "Why did you bring me here!?" I sob. "I was fine! I was going be fine and then you brought me here and you screwed everything up!" I yank myself out of his grasp and run up the stairs into the room where all of my stuff is and start throwing everything into my suitcase. I don't bother to fold, I just want to get my stuff and get out. Finally, I pick up my phone and send a text to Ellie.

I'm coming home.

Her response is almost instant. ? what?

I just ignore her and I head downstairs with my suitcase. Paul has his hands up. "Kim, wait for just a minute please. We need to talk."

I shake my head. "I'm not talking anymore. I'm not letting anyone else tell me what I need to do. I want to go home. So you can either get in your truck and drive me or I'm going to take the keys and drive myself. Your choice."

He stares at me for a long time. I don't say a word and stare back. Finally, he sighs. "Just let me tell Rachel. Get in the truck."

I throw my stuff in the back and jump in. Not even five minutes later, he gets into the driver's seat. He looks tired and I find myself feeling bad, but I swallow the feeling. I have to get out of there. We start to drive. As we pull across the La Push and Forks line, I see a wolf skid out from the forest. Finally, a long howl pierces the air. Paul glances at me from the side of his eyes as I flinch.

Finally, I curl up against the side of the truck. "Do you want to talk?" Paul asks me a good while later. I look at him sadly. It aches deep in my heart that I feel like I can't talk to him anymore. The one person I thought that I could go to about anything. This whole place is like a poison to me.

"No." I say, and then I turn to face out the window and close my eyes.

We don't talk for the next seven hours.

The drive was long and excruciating and it's daylight when we finally pull up to my house. I get out without a word and grab my bag from the back. Paul follows me silently. He looks sad. "I'm sorry." He says as we reach my front porch. I know Ellie is inside waiting for me because I just got her text a little while ago letting me know.

"I don't think we should see each other anymore." I blurt out before I can stop myself.

Paul looks like I just shot him. "What?"

"It's for the best. I just feel like nothing good is coming of this and our friendship is probably just making it harder on Jared and I don't want to hurt him. I don't plan on ever coming back to La Push and having you come down here all the time is just a hassle. I need to wash myself clean of everything and that includes you." I'm lying through my teeth. My heart is begging me to stop hurting him and hurting myself. I can see the tears forming in his eyes and I want to throw up. But I have to set him free. I can't have him choosing between his family and me anymore. It's not fair.

"You're joking right? Tell me you're fucking kidding." He spits out.

I flinch, but try to keep my composure. "I'm not kidding. I really am sorry, but I think you should go."

He barks out a laugh. "You're sorry. Sure. Whatever, fuck this." And then he spins around, trembling body and all and gets into his truck. I watch him punch the steering wheel and the horn honks loudly. Finally, he drives away and I pull my suitcase into the house and shut the door behind me.

Ellie rushes down from upstairs and comes over to me. "Kim what was that noise? Where's Paul? And are you going to tell me why you're home so early now?" She pauses as she sees me. I've already lost it. The tears and probably snot are running down my face and mixing together and falling into my mouth and I can't breathe anymore. "Kim?"

I just shake my head and she reaches out to hug me and we fall to the floor and she holds me close.

September rolls around and Ellie heads off to New York into her studio apartment that is way too small and that she's paying way too much rent for and I promise to follow behind her.

October comes and I get my late acceptance into NYU for the spring semester in the Nursing program.

I spend the rest of October working as much as I can to save up for my expenses. Luckily, my dad had a college fund set up for me that will cover most of my tuition, but I still have to cover moving expenses and textbooks and rent. I'm unbelievably excited to finally get a fresh start.

I haven't heard from Paul, Emily or anyone since that day in July. Sometimes I miss them all. Sometimes I still get chest pains. Sometimes I'm curled up in my bed all day.

But other days I'm just fine. I wake up feeling good. I go to work in a good mood. I play with Lakota outside and I help around the house and I talk to Ellie on the phone every night before bed.

It's just hitting November now and I'm having another one of my off days. It started when I woke up throwing up in the morning and then I head downstairs to try and eat breakfast but I can't get anything down. I think about calling into work but I figure I'll try and tough it out, despite how dizzy I'm feeling.

I get in my car and try and blink away the fuzzy feeling around my eyes before I start driving. I pull up to the restaurant that I began waiting tables at back in August and greet everyone as enthusiastically as possible before grabbing my apron and getting ready to start my shift.

Halfway through my shift, I'm starting to feel even dizzier than I was earlier. I go back in the kitchen and get a glass of cold water. I'm starting to feel clammy. One of the cooks, Darryl, eyes me from across the expo. "Hey Kim are you alright? You don't look so good." He asks.

I close my eyes and take a breath. "Yeah I'm not feeling so great." I say, jumbling through the words. And that's when my legs give out from under me and I fall to the floor, losing consciousness at the same time.

When I wake up, my mom is sitting next to me in the hospital. She's holding my hand and smiling in relief. "Oh thank goodness you're awake! I was so worried about you. I'm going to run and get the doctor sweetie. I'll be right back." And then she disappears.

The person who enters the room is not my mom. It's a doctor holding a chart. Her long brown hair is blocking her name, but she introduces herself. "Kimberly, hi. I'm Doctor Pierce, it's nice to meet you. Are you feeling any better?"

"Still a bit woozy and a little queasy but I'm okay other than that." I answer.

She nods at me, kind of studying my face for a minute before she sits down at the end of my bed. "I sent your mom to get something to eat in the cafeteria so that we could talk if that's okay."

"Um… sure." She looks grave. "Is there something wrong with me?" I ask cautiously. Do I have anemia? Diabetes? Cancer?

"Well, I'm not sure. Kimberly, did you know that you were pregnant?" She asks me slowly.

What did she just say? I stare at her for a long time. "Excuse me?"

She lets out a breath. "I'm going to say that's a no."

"Did you just say that I'm pregnant?" I choke out the last word.

She nods. "I would say about fifteen weeks. I thought you might have known, considering how far along you are."

I unconsciously touch my belly. It had gotten rounder, but I thought that was just stress eating or post summer weight. "That's impossible." I breathe. "I've only done it once."

She gives me a kind smile. "Once is enough sweetheart, obviously." She looks down at the chart again. "I know you're still in a bit of shock but if you wanted to know the sex…"

"You can tell this early?" I blurt out.

"Sometimes. Depending on the position of the baby and gestation. But your baby was very cooperative for us. Would you like to know?" She asks again.

I find myself nodding without thinking. "Please."

"You're having a little boy. Congratulations."

I grab my stomach again. A boy. A little Jared. A part of him is inside of me right now. I hug myself a little tighter. "Do you think you could ask my mom to come back in? I guess I should probably tell her."

The doctor nods and heads out again. My mom comes back in and my heart nearly explodes out of my chest when I tell her. She's shocked of course and I think a little disappointed, but she hugs me to her chest and cries when I tell her it's a boy.

I'm going to have a baby.

What the hell am I going to do?

A/N: I know it's relatively short but we're getting into the juicy stuff now! Hold on tight!