Chapter 7

Paul POV

It had been a week since she had been left in the woods and Paul arranged his patrol routes so that he was with her during school hours. She certainly needed someone keeping an eye on her and Paul had plenty of time on his hands. He and Jared had already graduated high school but college wasn't an option for either of them, yet.

In that week, Paul noticed that Bella had gotten pretty sick, he really thought she should have stayed home but that girl seemed to be a glutton for punishment. He made sure he was always within screaming distance, especially when she was driving to and from school.

Staaaalker, Jared's sing songy taunt echoed across the pack link from La Push.

As if you're not this bad with Kim. Came Paul's growled response. Jared was unbothered.

Touchy touchy!

Paul rolled his eyes.

So how is your vict... imprint?

Choosing to ignore Jared's cheeky comment, Paul snuffled, he was concerned for Bella. She seemed to be suffering with this chest infection and he had noticed one of her classmates was harassing her. Jared read his memories and snarled.

What a bitch. She's obviously so jealous of Bella... she should dye her stupid face green.

Paul agreed vehemently with Jared. How dare anyone target his imprint. He wanted to step in and give that girl a piece of his mind, but until Bella was ready for that talk with him, he needed to remain a silent presence in the shadows. Jared heard Paul's last thought and burst out laughing.

In the shadows?! Who do you think you are, batman?!

You're lucky you're in La Push or I'd shove a muffin so far up your ass you'll be sneezing blueberries! Paul snarled.

And with that, I bid you adieu! I'll need some comfort food after your abuse!

Paul snorted while he felt the familiar shimmer as Jared phased out.

He was left alone with his thoughts again. He wanted to speak more to Bella, the taste he had gotten before wasn't enough. He missed her witty responses. He was never going to pressure her to come down for that chat but now the Cullens were gone he was always going to be close.

The woods next to the school were thick enough that he could rest as the wolf without drawing unwanted attention. He glanced up towards the school, it was still fairly early in the morning, he could easily nap while he waited for Bella to finish classes. Paul yawned and rested his giant grey head on his paws.

It felt like as soon as he dozed off, a sharp jolt to his heart woke him up. Paul leapt into a defensive stance, tasting the air around him for threats. He could only smell the decreasing odour of the Cullens. That meant his imprint was hurt or in danger, Paul snarled, enraged as he stalked towards the building. He couldn't detect a supernatural threat so he quickly phased and reached for the bag of clothes he had carried up to the school in his mouth.

Luckily the rain was holding off, he could feel that it was set to get colder but thanks to his lupine abilities, the cold wouldn't bother him too much.

Once he was dressed in a grey long sleeved t-shirt and his black cargo shorts, Paul continued to creep towards the school, he was following the pull of the imprint. He looked in the window of the cafeteria and like a magnet his eyes were drawn to Bella. She was delicately pouring something from a flask into a mug at the table with her friends. The jolt he felt must have been from her coughing again. Paul made a mental note to ask Emily for tea recommendations, something to ease that horrible sounding cough. He took comfort knowing that it was getting a bit better.

He was fairly obscured at the window so Paul allowed himself to spend a few moments watching her. Her cheeks were slightly pink but she still looked as beautiful as she always did. With a warm flush, he noticed she had started wearing clothes that were a similar colour to his fur. Today it was a grey woollen sweater, a few days ago it was a silver scarf. He held in a laugh as he watched her pour the liquid, she was focussing on it like she was doing open heart surgery. Her eyes were narrowed at the flask and she bit down on her chapped looking lips.

All the colour and movement in the cafeteria leeched away to nothing while he watched Bella. Watching her carry out the simple task of pouring her lunch from a battered, blue flask gave Paul as much peace as if he were in Emily's kitchen while warmth and the smells of coffee and baking muffins swirled around him.

Thanks to his supernatural hearing, he heard the blonde bitch start on Bella, again. Bella looked up at her briefly before returning to her lunch. She looked damn bored with the other girl. Someone at the table told the girl to back off, Bella winked at her friend.

Paul was filled with a sudden, astonishing longing to see her wink like that at him, it was such a natural and cheeky gesture.

He heard the dumb girl make another nasty comment at Bella before he could see Bella's patience finally run out.

"Actually, I've got that chest infection that's going around school. But hey, when I was at the pharmacy picking up my antibiotics, the lady at the counter asked me to tell you your genital wart cream is ready."

Paul couldn't help it, he ducked down and burst out laughing. He loved that fire in Bella, her quick wit and sharp tongue would keep him in check when he got too full of himself. When she was ready to become involved with the pack, she would be a great ally for Emily.

Remaining crouched under the window, he continued to eavesdrop on their conversation until he heard the bully grunt and Bella's shocked and irritated gasp. Paul dared to stand and peek in the window again. It looked like the other girl knocked Bella's lunch over her. He felt the ghost of a sting on his hands, it must have burnt Bella.

"Deep breaths Lahote… deep breaths…" Paul desperately tried to avoid wolfing out, he didn't have any spare clothes, if Bella needed him, he couldn't be naked. As he focussed, he missed most of their conversation until he heard his favourite sound in the world. Bella's laugh. She was laughing at the other girl, it soothed him completely. The tremors halted and he felt the urge to phase dissipate.

That is until the other girl lunged at Bella, Paul moved to run into the cafeteria when he saw Bella fight back. She was clever, she managed to knock the bitch off her and even landed one hell of a punch to the other girl's gut.

That was pretty hot, he thought to himself. It excited him, knowing his imprint could move like that. She could kick ass and still look gorgeous. While he was musing this, the two girls were summoned to the Principal's office. Cautiously, he crept along the side of the building. He was following Bella to make sure she wasn't going to get punished for the other bitch's behaviour. Luckily, she wasn't and managed to convince the Principal she could drive home. Paul felt the burn on his hand, his head hurt and he knew that was through the imprint. He would not let her drive like this, he was leaving the shadows. He was annoyed that Bella's Principal was so easily convinced she could drive home, and he was enraged at the other girl's behaviour. He was also annoyed at Bella, she wasn't fit to drive, it would have been safer for her to wait for her dad.

Paul made his way to Bella's truck, taking deep and calming breaths. He was feeling less wolfie but still less than pleased with Bella. He closed his eyes and leaned on the truck until he heard Bella step into the parking lot, in particular, he could hear her heartbeat spike when she looked him up and down. Paul blinked at her, keeping an emotionless mask on his face. He watched her approach him, her movements were slow and careful. Paul could feel her pain from where he stood.

"Hey… Paul…" Bella started. He broke the mask and smirked at her, he waited for what she would say next.

"I almost didn't recognise you with clothes on. What are you doing here?" Paul sighed, like a coffee addict getting their first espresso of the day. He didn't realise how much he missed her voice speaking directly to him.

"I was in the area, thought I'd compare schools. Our one is cooler." He winked at her.

"Is that because it's by the sea?" Bella tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. She meant the bitterly cold winds that came from the ocean from Fall through Winter. Paul felt like he had won the lottery. This was exactly what he was longing for. He laughed heartily.

"Jeez, it wasn't that funny." Bella said, but her returning smile was dazzling. She seemed to remember herself and forced her face to become serious.

"Look, Paul, I'm sorry I haven't come down." She began saying.

"Don't apologise, you're still processing everything. You're not ready yet." Paul tried to reassure her. Bella frowned softly.

"Well how do you know that. Maybe I am ready, I might just be waiting for a gun license to clear before tracking down my half naked rescuer. You have to be a special kinda crazy to be out in the cold, like you were."

Paul couldn't help it, he was laughing again and Bella was joining in. At least until a hacking cough stopped her.

"Sounds nasty," Paul took the opportunity to change the subject and moved to stand in front of her, watching her intently.

"Yeah, but it is getting better. I'm heading home to take the rest of the week off. A rest will do me good." Bella shifted under the strength of his stare.

"You driving?" He asked simply. He didn't trust himself to say more. Bella looked up at him and nodded.

"Are you sure that's a wise idea? You look ready to pass out."

"Rude." Bella pursed her lips.

"Brawling takes it out of you," he smirked, feeling a gentle flare of pride at her from earlier.

"How did you know that?" She seemed shocked.

"Good news travels fast…"

"Is this one of those things you'll explain to me when I'm ready?" She asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

Paul blinked, she called him out straight away. He was impressed that his imprint was so damn intelligent. He nodded, unsure of what to say. They had unconsciously stepped closer together, the supernatural pull of the imprint bond was temporarily controlling their movements. Thankfully, the stink of chicken soup brought him out of the trance. He moved away, wrinkling his nose.

"Yeah, the girl I was fighting with knocked my soup on me." Bella laughed awkwardly.

"Did it burn you?" Paul already knew it had but he didn't want to give more away.

"A bit." Bella mumbled. Her chocolate eyes were examining his face, he felt himself start to come apart under her scrutiny.

"How about I drive you?" Paul ventured, hoping she would agree. Bella chewed her bottom lip as she searched his eyes.

"Well I do feel like crap, but how would you get home?"

"I can be a very charming hitchhiker," Paul winked. To his delight, she laughed again before handing him her keys. They slid into the cab of the truck and Paul reached to turn the ignition. He paused and turned to see Bella staring at him, like she couldn't look anywhere else. He could see scratches on her face from the other girl's hands and he could smell the burn over the chicken soup. He sighed.

"One question, Bella, before we leave. How well stocked is your first aid kit?"

A/N

Hello all! I hope this clears up any questions from the last chapter, Paul is staying true to not pushing her to come to La Push, he was just annoyed that she would take a risk in driving home when she felt so bad. Obviously, he's also angry at Lauren! ;)

Hope you enjoyed it!