A Rock and a Hard Place


The next day was peculiar. I did go back to school, but under very strict conditions.

"-and whatever you do, just don't interact with one of them. Avoid them at all costs-" Jared was prattling on by my side, and I couldn't help but mentally sigh, questioning if a high school education was really worth all this trouble.

After finding out the day before that there were vampires at the school, I've been under what seemed to be some sort of whiteness protection program. It came as a mighty shock to me that the Cullens were the ones I should be fearing, but the more I had thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense.

Last year I had the flu, and while usually it would go away within a couple of days, this one seemed to stay for over two weeks; I only got more and more miserable by the second. The doctor on the rez was completely out of ideas, and suggested that we pay a visit to the hospital in Forks. My father almost threw a tantrum. It took a lot of convincing, but eventually my parents did bring me there – along with Sam of all people – he was still with my sister then.

I couldn't ever fathom why my father had made it into such a big deal, and even insisted that Sam came along with us, but now it finally made sense.

Dr. Cullen was a vampire, and my father was afraid he would have killed me. Sam was a werewolf, so he came along to protect me. It all seems completely reasonable at first, but there was still something I couldn't get.

Apparently, the Cullens aren't like the 'typical' vampires you hear about in fiction who drink human blood. They claim they are different, and instead drink only animal blood. They have said that they don't mean any harm to the town of Forks nor anyone in La Push, and only wish to live a life of peace, and they have been proving that for the past sixty years.

Back in the 1940's, the Cullens apparently showed up in Forks, and that's where they met the Quileute werewolves, and their leader, Ephraim Black – Jacob's great grandfather. They made a treaty – one where the Cullens were forbidden to cross over into Quileute territory, and even more so, to never drink another human's blood.

Ever since then, the Cullens have obeyed that treaty, but somehow, I felt more confused than before.

If the Cullens really weren't any harm like they so obviously proved, why did I need a personal bodyguard during school hours, and why in the hell did it have to be Jared of all people?

After telling Sam about the whole situation, both him and my mother (and Paul might I add) seemed to be on the same boat in which I was to never return to Forks high school again, but I wasn't having that. After a hefty amount of arguing and convincing, Sam concluded that it would be 'acceptable' for me to go to school, but only with a member of the pack to act as a bodyguard. Paul was the first one to volunteer, and honestly, if it had been Paul with me, I would've actually liked the whole idea. But, Sam said that Paul's temper was still less than adequate, so he instead chose someone who would be able to keep themselves under control.

And that person was Jared.

Jared had apparently been the one to watch most of the Quileute students last year when everyone was relocated to Forks high school for the time being, but when the Cullens had left back in the Fall, his job shifted into keeping an eye only on Paul, as he seemed to be showing signs to phasing – and now me.

Jared's been pretty okay with the whole thing so far, though I still didn't really know how to feel about it. Sure, I thought Jared was an alright guy. I didn't really know him that well, though. Maybe I could use this time to make a new friend, cause god knows I definitely don't have many of those.

It was when we reached the front steps of the school that Jared finally got my attention again.

"Seth, are you even listening?"

I glanced at him shrugging.

With a hefty sigh, he merely turned to walk through the doors, mumbling what I could swear was 'What does Paul see in you'. There was a brief moment of shock, as the thoughts from yesterday made a return. Jared caught a glance at my frozen figure and turned around with an annoyed look.

"Well? Come on!"

I scurried in after him.

In Photography class, we were paired up in groups to work on a project, and I couldn't've thanked Angela enough when she asked to be partners. We had pull a name out of a bowl that was passed around, and on it would be the name of a famous photographer that we would have to do a research paper on. Me and Angela got Dorothea Lange, who was best known on her photography from the depression era. Most of the class was spent researching through worn-out textbooks, but a bit was spent with Angela trying to make conversation.

"So, how've you been doing, Seth?" She asked me. Even though I'd been asked that questions many times in the past month, no one had asked it like she did. There wasn't any pity in her voice, and there wasn't any head-tilting. It was casual, friendly even.

It felt refreshing.

"I've been good." I smiled back.

Angela had always been easy to talk to, and easy to understand. She told me about what she'd been up to since we last spoke, and I listened intently, truly interested in what she had to say. It was also surprising, as I'd never heard her talk so much before. Since my absence, it's like she'd cracked open the shell she had around her, making her shyness all but disappear. I envied that.

Pre-calculus was horrible, but not because of the subject. I had completely forgot Jared was in this class, and he took a seat next to me – the one Paul had always sat in. People greeted him, saying things like 'Welcome back'. Others asked him where he had been; he told swift and believable lies. All through that class I suffered as Jared let out a constant string of complaints, obviously showing how much he hated being there. It took one period for the boy to all but give up on the little assignment Sam had assigned him to. I couldn't concentrate on my work for even a second, and by the end of it, I contemplated punching the boy in the crotch.

Lunch was about the same. More complaining from Jared, more of me wishing that the next period would come sooner, and more resisting the urge to punch the boy.

The end of the day rolled around, and I strode back out into the parking lot, looking around to see if I could spot Jared. I couldn't find him anywhere, so I waited by my truck for a good fifteen minutes before I noticed a slip of paper in the passenger side window.

Seth,

Had stuff to do.

- Jared

"Oh for goodness sake." I groaned, ripping the paper off the window and scurrying over to the driver's side.

When I was about to open the door, movement caught my eye. I glanced up, before freezing when I was met with the face of a Cullen.

It was the one from yesterday, and just like yesterday, he gazed at me with an expression so… strange. Though, it's not like I was a werewolf (yet), so I found it quite odd that he had been singling me out. Did he just assume all natives from the rez were werewolves unless proven otherwise? That would seem very irrational. More so, now that I knew he was a vampire, I knew I should've felt fear in some way, but oddly enough, I didn't.

The boys eyes narrowed at me, probably wondering why I was staring.

I didn't feel any fear because I knew that there wasn't really anything to fear. After all, if they claim that they truly don't hurt people, and they had been proving it for years now, why should I have any reason to doubt it. I smiled at the boy and gave a friendly wave before turning and hopping into the truck.

As I drove off, I could swear that his face looked shocked.

I made it home later than usual, and Paul was waiting restlessly in the driveway. I didn't even have time to get my bag when Paul opened the door.

"Where have you been!" he demanded to know. I raised a brow at him.

"Okay, let's try that again, but a little nicer this time."

He sighed, looking a bit guilty. "Sorry, sorry. Where have you been? I've been worried sick."

This made me laugh. "Paul I was at school, where else?"

"Yes, but it takes only thirty minutes to get home, and school is out by 2:30, and right now it's 3:18."

"Since when did you learn how to do math?"

"Seth…" he warned.

"I was just waiting for Jared! He didn't tell me he was leaving and he left me a note that I found after wait forever on him."

I watched as he turned around to clench onto his face, letting out a low growl.

"That asshole."

I hopped out of the truck. "Paul, it's not that big of a deal…"

"Yes it is, Seth!" he shouted, making me flinch slightly. "What if you had gotten attacked by one of those filthy leeches? You'd be defenseless because he left!"

I was becoming irritated, and as he was about to shout more, I pointed a finger at him.

"Stop it." I warned. "I refuse to be treated like some sort of fragile object, and I refuse to have some god damn baby sitter watching my every move."

"Okay, so what happens when one of those bloodsuckers approaches you?"

"Nothing!"

"And how would you know that!"

"Because it already happened-" I cut myself off.

Shit.

Paul's eyes grew wide. "What…?"

"I-I… He just…"

"He…?"

I wanted to explain myself – explain little interaction that had happened – but I was too caught up in Paul expression. He was processing what I had said, and he looked scary. He looked violent. I couldn't understand what was happening, as one moment he was looking at me with such a murderous look, and then he was crouched over, letting out loud huffs, his whole body shaking as if an earthquake was happening inside him.

My first instinct was that he was having a seizure. I was quickly by his side, one hand on his back and asking what was wrong. He tried talking, but the shaking only got worse, and any sort of sounds that left his mouth were growls.

"Seth!" A voice called out to me, but when I looked up, I was already being pulled away from the boy I was crouched next to.

"Let me go!" I barked at Leah, but she had a iron-tight grip around my waist.

"Stop." She commanded. I did as I was told, but I couldn't help but stare at Paul, who was still in the same state.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Just wait a moment!" She told me.

I did, and as a moment passed, Paul's shaking calmed, and slowly, his breathing became rhythmic, and he laid still. That's when Leah's grip released, and I ran back over to the boy.

"Paul?" I asked, my voice sounding as if I were on the verge of tears.

"Get you're shit together, Lahote!" Leah shouted, turning around and strutting back into the house. I stared daggers into her back the whole way, though quickly turned back to Paul when he let out a groan. I helped him as he tried standing back up.

"What the hell was that?" I asked him, the tears finally breaking as I realised just how scared I had been.

He didn't answer though, and after a few seconds, he leaned his head down on my shoulder, before pulling me into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry." He whimpered.

I let out a choked-back laugh. "What are you apologizing for."

"Seth…" He said, lifting his head back up to stare down at me. "When you see me like that again, get as far away from me as you can, okay?"

"B-but why…?"

"Accidents can happen." He smiled weakly.

I assumed it was some wolf thing, so I merely nodded, pulling away from his hug and dragging him inside the house by one hand.

I sat him down on the couch, before retreating into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water.

"Here," I passed it to him. "bottoms up."

In one long chug, he emptied the whole glass.

"Another?"

"Naw, I'm good now, thanks."

I wanted to talk about what had just happened, but my mother came strolling into the room.

"Oh, Seth! How'd school go?"

For a second, I contemplated telling her what had happened, but with Paul in the room, it probably wasn't the best idea.

"It went fine. No troubles what so ever." I lied, giving her a convincing smile.

"Good, good," she caught sight of the figure behind me. "Oh, Paul, you look a little pale. Are you feeling okay, sweetie?"

"I'm fine." He gave half a smiled.

She seemed weary of that answer, but she let it go.

"Seth, are you going in for work today?" She turned back to me.

My eyes widened. "Oh god, I completely forgot! Let me go get ready-"

"Oh no, it's fine dear. I didn't have to attend any council meetings today, so I don't mind doing it."

"Are you sure?" I asked, feeling slightly guilty for not wanting to turn down her offer.

"Of course. You two have fun, and I'll see you later." She said before excusing herself.

It would've only been my second time working, and I was basically already taking a sick day.


An hour had passed, and I whipped up a plate of fried fish and brought it up to my room where Paul was resided. He had been on patrol all day and was exhausted, so he took a nap in my bed. When I reached my room door, I opened it very quietly, before closing it again. I tiptoed over to the bed, reaching a hand down to his arm and giving it a slight shake.

"Hey." I whispered.

His one of his eyes peaked open, and I couldn't help but smile at how adorable the gesture was. A slight smile spread on his face, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"I cooked some fish. You hungry?"

It was as if a switch went off in his head, as his eyes shot open and he sat up quicker than I thought possible.

"Yes please." He looked eager.

I passed the plate to him, which he then put into his lap and began devouring it in seconds. He then handed me it back empty with a pleased look.

"I'm not your maid." I teased.

"Oh, sorry." He mumbled with embarrassment, before beginning to stand up. I rolled my eyes, pushing him back down onto the bed.

"I'm only joking." I took the plate out of his hands and placed it onto my desk. Silence then followed.

"So you are my maid then?" He asked with a teasing voice, which only made me stick my tongue out at him.

When I glanced back, his face was no longer playful.

"Look, I um… I'm sorry about how I reacted about the whole leech thing." He stared back at me with an expression that made me queasy. "I just worry about you – more than you'll ever know, really."

"I think I do know." I smiled, taking a seat next to him. "I'm sorry too. You were trusting me not to go near them and I betrayed that trust. But Paul…" I trailed off. "I really don't think I was in any sort of danger. I was just by my truck when he came walking along. I guess he knew who I was for a second, because he stared at me for a second. All I did really was give him a smile before getting into my truck and driving away. That's it."

Paul's lips pursed. "What did he look like?"

"Um, about your height, with reddish-brown hair and pale skin."

"Edward." Paul sighed.

"You know him?" I lifted a brow.

"No, but Jacob does. He never stops thinking about the guy."

I made an 'O' with my mouth, understanding what he meant. "Oh yeah…? So kind of like some Romeo and Juliet thing?"

He gazed over at me, questioning what I meant, thought after a moment, he seemed to understand; going wide eyed. He then had burst into tear-filled laugher.

"Oh god," He said in between laughs. "No, no, nothing like that at all!"

I couldn't help but be lost as to how my question seemed funny in any way.

"No, you see, Jacob likes this girl named Bella-"

"Bella Swan?"

"Yeah, her. Anyways, Jacob is like practically in love with her, but she's dating that leech named Edward."

I was taken back by his words.

"She's dating a vampire?" I was utterly shocked. I mean sure, I didn't dislike the Cullens as I hadn't reason to, but a regular girl dating a vampire seems… strange.

But then again, I was in love with a werewolf, so I guess it's not that strange.

"Yep. Twisted if you ask me." He grumbled.

"You're a werewolf." I reminded.

"Yeah, but that's different, he's able to eat her! With me and you it's more-"

I cut him off. "You and me?"

His eyes went wide. "Uh… I-I mean um…"

"What…?" I asked again, now processing the words he'd just said.

Did… did Paul just confirm it? Was that a slipup, and did it just confirm everything I've been questioning?

"With me and you it's different, because well-… well my natural food source isn't… you – my friend!" He added at the end.

"Your friend?" I asked, probably seeming a lot more cautious.

What ever expression I had on seemed to worry him… he looked sad almost.

"Yes. My friend."

"…Okay."

Silence relapsed.

He denied it. He said we were friends, that's it.

But I didn't believe him one bit. For the first time, I didn't doubt that he actually liked me. It was a strange feeling. Though the unsettling thing was, I didn't feel relieved. If anything, I felt even more worried, because if he did in fact like me, and he did in fact imprint on me, why was he keeping it from me. It couldn't've possibly been something I've done, right? It's not like I had ever rejected him in anyway. I told him I was more than fine with him being gay. I'd been more than fine with all of the intimate moments we had with each other, like when he held my hand, or hugged me, or even when we laid in my bed together. If anything, I felt as if I were making it very obvious I liked him, so why wouldn't he tell me? Was it something to do with him? Was it that he liked me, but he didn't want to like me in that way? That couldn't possibly be the case.

It's not like I can tell him I like him either. After all, even if there was the tiniest chance I was wrong about this, and I told him that I liked him, it could possibly destroy our whole friendship, and I knew I couldn't let that happen. I cared for him too much for him to be out of my life.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I maneuvered one way, Charybdis would swallow me whole, and if I tired the other way, Scylla would do the exact same.

I definitely had read way to much mythology back in March.

I felt like I was trapped. I was suffocating.

I decided to move on from that horridly awkward moment, though there was always some tension in the air.

"So, the um… Edward, Jacob, Bella thing…"

"Oh right," he seemed more than happy to move on. "Bella is dating Edward, but Jacob is in love with Bella, and Jacob thinks that he still has a shot with her. In my opinion, Jacob is too oblivious to see that Bella only loves that leech."

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about this subject," I gave a teasing smile "since when did you pick up an interest in gossip?"

"Mmm, more like I'm forced to hear it. You see, when were in wolf form, the whole pack can read each other's minds. It's so annoying sometimes."

"Mind reading, huh. That seems pretty dang cool."

"Annoying, though."

"Always knowing each other's thoughts…"

"Super annoying."

"Not ever having secrets…"

"So annoying."

"Hmm," I hummed, putting a hand on my chin to think. "I have a question though."

"Shoot."

"Does it get annoying?" I gave him a devilish grin.

"Eh, it's not too bad." He grinned back, giving me a friendly push on the arm before letting out a yawn.

"Still tired?"

"kinda."

"I'd be up for a nap."

"We can be nap buddies."

I laughed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Paul fell back onto the pillow, his arm stretched out on one side. I lid next to him, my head resting on his arm and my body close to his. We stayed like that for a while, and when I figured he was finally asleep, I made my move, cuddling in closer to him.

That's when I felt his head move to look down at me, and I froze. What I didn't expect was for Paul to turn onto his side, wrapping one arm around my waist, and pulling me in close to his broad chest, and burying his face into my hair.

And at that moment, I knew for sure that somehow, Paul Lahote liked me, imprint or not.

What that meant; I sure as hell didn't have a clue.

I awoke to the sound of a door closing, and I glanced around my room, seeing only darkness. The body that laid next to me was no longer there, but the spot was still warm. That's when I heard footsteps on the stairs, and soon after came the opening of my bedroom door. By the silhouette alone I could tell it was Paul. I reached over to turn on my lamp.

"Hey." I murmured, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

"Hi – did I wake 'ya?"

"Yeah, but it's no biggie. What were you doing up?"

"Jared dropped by."

"Ah?"

"He told Sam he wasn't up for being your… bodyguard anymore." He sighed.

I don't blame him. Maybe it would've been different if we were friends, and had remotely anything in common, but I was a dull person.

"Sorry." I mumbled, not meeting his gaze. This made him sigh again.

"When are you going to stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault?"

I shrugged with a half-hearted smile.

He laid back down on the bed, though this time he didn't wear a shirt. Almost instinctively I cuddled up next to him. This made him laugh.

"You sure do like cuddling, don't cha?"

"Only with you."

He went silent.

"You know, you really shouldn't be saying stuff like that, or else you might give me the wrong idea."

"Oh well." I hummed, not letting his darkened mood dampen mine.

He chuckled, though it didn't seem humorous.

"What are we gonna do about school?" He asked, peaking down at me. I looked up, resting my chin on his chest.

"You're just going to have to trust me. I'll be safe, I promise."

"I completely trust you." He said truthfully. "It's them I don't trust."

"You don't have to. Just put your trust in me because that's all I need."

"Okay…" he seemed defeated.

And in one swift movement, he leaned his head down and kissed me on the forehead.

"Goodnight." He whispered. It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep, but I was now wide awake.

Okay, I thought to myself. He definitely likes me.

The smile that spread across my face next was probably the brightest I had ever smiled.


AN: Sorry for the shortest chapter yet, but I felt like ending on that note seemed like the logical thing to do,,

We're finally getting somewhere, holy cow. The next chapter should be out pretty soon, as I actually already have most of it written (it was originally apart of this chapter, but like I said, ending right there seemed best).