Chapter 14

A/N Sorry for the delay in updating, unfortunately exams have stretched my brain and left it mushy and bleh.

Holy crow, thank you for the responses to my last few chapters! Your amazing comments keep me motivated to battle through the old writer's block. I know where I want the story to go, but after exams it's hard putting it into words.

This chapter was difficult to write, but I hope you enjoy it!

The digital clock next to Bella's bed said it was about 3am, Paul instinctively woke up to start his patrol when he remembered that Sam was giving him the next few days off to adjust into the imprint. Now that Bella knew everything, they would have to work out their rhythm.

Using his augmented eyesight, Paul watched Bella sleep in the faint glow from the clock. He held her close to his chest, marvelling at how easily she accepted him. She didn't know the real depth of his pain, but she opened the door, giving him time and space to open up to her when he was ready.

He smiled softly and traced a finger over her lips, remembering the fire in her eyes and passion in her words as she vowed that no one could hurt him on her watch. He didn't think he deserved such compassion or care, but he felt the strength of her emotions as they spoke. Their kiss still replayed in his mind, it felt like the transformation into the wolf, with the fire of adrenaline in his blood and shaking but it was also different, it was so beautifully human. He knew how blessed he was to have her, he had known that from the start. Paul had watched her for so long, he had fallen for her before their first conversation.

Bella shifted in her sleep, her hand finding its new favourite position over his heart. A shudder passed through Paul as the chilled skin from her bite scar pressed against his bare chest. He had failed her once, he couldn't let that happen to her again. He recoiled internally as he remembered Bella's screams in that ballet studio, she tried to fight the leech but she wasn't equipped. Paul's insecurities wound around his heart like black smoke as he wondered if he could have saved her from that ordeal. What would it be like if he told her of the imprint as soon as it happened? He gnawed his lip, self-loathing draped over him like a familiar blanket. Before it could take hold, he felt a gentle smack on his chest.

"Stop thinking like that." Bella's groggy voice drifted up to him. "I can feel what you're feeling. You're not allowed to be mean to my imprint."

Just like that, warmth pulsed around him. It made the smoky self-loathing dissipate. "Thank you."

"It's ok, now sleep." Bella's tone did not allow any argument. Paul laughed and kissed her head before they both fell asleep again.

They didn't stir again until the morning, luckily for them Charlie had been so exhausted when he came in he didn't check on her. When Paul could hear that the man was stirring in the next room, he whispered in Bella's ear that he was going to hide. Bella grudgingly sat up in her bed, missing the heat and comfort of the man next to her. She looked expectantly at the door as she heard Charlie leave his room. He knocked softly on Bella's door, she made sure that there was no sign of Paul before she plastered a bright grin on her face and invited him in.

"Morning dad! How are you?" She smiled at him. Charlie yawned and sat in her rocking chair. He picked at some lint on his work shirt as he answered.

"Not bad kid, not bad. How's Jake?" Bella blushed as she remembered why she went to La Push yesterday.

"He's getting better! How are things with your Seattle case?" Bella hoped he was too tired to notice the slight jump in octave in her voice. Paul rolled his eyes at her affectionately from his cramped hiding place.

"I'm glad he's doing better. I was worried about him, kid never gets sick. the Seattle thing is crazy. I have to go in again today to finish going over some details."

Bella's brow furrowed, he looked like he had barely slept. "God dad, why is it so bad? Surely, you've earned a day off."

"I can't tell you, sweetie. There's all sorts of confidentiality stuff and red tape but I have all day off tomorrow."

"Oh dad, don't overdo it." Bella frowned at him. "Would you like me to do anything around here to make life a bit easier?"

"Thanks kid, but you already clean like Cinderella. How about we have a nice dinner tomorrow, we can go to the Lodge? I hear they do great steaks." Charlie knew Bella wanted to try the restaurant. It was on their short list of places to try around town.

"That sounds fantastic Dad." She was beaming at her father, trying to crush the feelings of anxiety as she took in the bags under his eyes and his paler than usual skin.

"I gotta go, but look after yourself, ok? No mischief." His tired eyes glittered warmly.

"Same to you, pops. Love ya." She got out of the bed to hug him. He raised his eyebrows when he noticed she still wore jeans from yesterday. "I got home pretty late." She grinned sheepishly.

Charlie shook his head and hugged Bella tightly, the awful reports he had to help consult on from Seattle made him feel more protective of his little girl. He would have stayed home, but the work he was doing would hopefully prevent anything like that to Forks. Charlie was grateful that Bella seemed to have a mostly sensible head on her shoulders, Cullen incidents aside. Little things like noticing her diligence with locking the door made him happier.

"Love you too, kid." With that Charlie left, clomping downstairs, he paused to look at Bella's school photos. He made his way out of the house, still thinking about his daughter and that the four hour, hundred and forty-mile distance between them and Seattle, sometimes it felt like that wasn't far enough. He shook off those thoughts, starting the ignition of the cruiser and made his way back to the nightmarish photos and reports at the station.

As Bella heard the cruiser leave, she turned to witness Paul clamber out from under her bed. He stretched, enjoying the feeling of his muscles popping. Bella blushed as she enjoyed the show, Paul noticed her observation and made a display of stretching his biceps. Bella snorted as he continued with his muscle-man act.

"Very nice, now, what do you want for breakfast?"

Paul grinned wolfishly, the light atmosphere was helping to restore his previous cocky attitude. Bella raised her eyebrow in response, deciding to play along.

"How about some muesli? I hear it's full of healthy proteins, nutrients and stuff?" Bella watched him scrunch up his nose. He looked horrified at having a breakfast without meat, his facial expression caused a laugh to bubble past her lips.

Paul narrowed his eyes, "I have to use the bathroom before you give me damn bunny food."

Bella raised her hand to point to the bathroom she shared with Charlie before heading downstairs. She filled a bowl with muesli, before starting to fry all the bacon and sausages she had in the fridge. By the time Paul came downstairs the luxurious scent of the bacon had drifted throughout the house. Bella looked up from the stove and gestured for him to sit. Bella remarked internally how handsome he looked, even first thing in the morning and after being squished under her bed. Seemingly oblivious to Bella's examination of him, Paul wordlessly sat down, staring at her.

He watched hopefully as she loaded a serving dish with bacon, sausage and pancakes. She balanced it delicately in one hand while picking up a small bowl, and slowly walked over to the table, intent on not spilling anything. The coffee mugs were already filled and on the table as she placed the bowl in front of Paul while she sat down with the platter.

It was hard, but she maintained her nonchalant expression as Paul gazed in horror between his bowl and her meaty mountain. She picked up a crispy slice of bacon and nibbled it daintily.

"You didn't object to the bunny food. If you had, I would have made some of this for you." She tried to infuse as much innocence into her statement. Paul pouted, drawing attention to his full lips. Bella had an urge to gnaw on them instead. Snorting Bella pushed those thoughts out of her mind and slid the platter over to Paul before retrieving her 'bunny food'.

Paul grabbed her hand as it reached for the bowl and kissed her fingers delicately. He looked up to her bemused expression and blushing cheeks.

"I wanted to make up for the bacon you stole." He mirrored her earlier innocence. They both burst out laughing and ate their breakfast in an easy silence that was only interrupted by Paul's moans of pleasure and frequent compliments for Bella's cooking. Bella finished her muesli as Paul looked like he wanted to lick the platter.

They sat quietly, Paul was savouring the luxury of a cooked breakfast and a settled imprint bond. He hadn't felt so relaxed in years. It was almost frightening how easily the crushing weight around his neck fell away with Bella's presence. He saw her gnaw her lip, sensing something was troubling her.

"I'm worried about my dad," she said after a few minutes. Paul nodded, waiting for her to continue. He already knew, he could feel the undercurrents of worry under the happiness they both felt.

"Would you help me get this place tidy and finish some DIY chores before we go to Emily's?"

Paul reached across to take Bella's hand, "Of course. I'll start by doing the dishes."

"Thank you, I'll go get changed quickly and I can help."

Paul nodded, knowing that he would at least get the kitchen looking pristine before she came back down. Using his supernatural speed, he had washed, dried and put away all the dishes from breakfast. He found some antibacterial cleaning spray and got to work on the counters and table, in no time the kitchen was gleaming and smelling clean.

Paul heard Bella's gentle footsteps approaching him as he put the cleaning spray back in the cupboard.

"Holy crow. I don't think I've ever seen the kitchen this clean!" Paul basked happily in her praise. Bella made her way over to Paul and wrapped her arms around his waist in a tender hug. "Thank you."

Paul was surprised that the affection from last night had lasted, he was delighted it had but he was lost for words. Moving away from him Bella looked into his eyes with a cheeky grin.

"I have another job for a super strong wolf."

"I live to serve!" He bowed quickly, adopting a butler accent.

"Can you lift up furniture while I vacuum?"

"Lead the way boss!"

Bella laughed as she went to retrieve Charlie's battered old vacuum cleaner from the cupboard under the stairs. Between Paul's strength and speed and Bella's cleaning skills the house was spotlessly clean within an hour.

"Your dad is going to appreciate coming home to such a clean place. You've done really well." Paul wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Thank you for helping me, Paul. Can you see anything I've missed? Loose shelves or anything?" Bella turned to look up at him. Paul shook his head with a reassuring smile.

"Awesome, lets head down to see Emily then!" Bella reached for a hoody before they left the house.

Bella and Paul ran to her truck as the rain made its almost scheduled appearance. Luckily, they managed to avoid getting too soaked, Bella let Paul drive to La Push. They chattered happily the whole way. Bella learned about the foods that Paul liked, the TV shows he watched and books he read when he wasn't patrolling. He had no time for low fat alternatives and loved pancakes with almost a whole jar of Nutella. Bella thought about how expensive feeding him would be, she may need to get a Costco card. Bella was surprised at how vehemently Paul disliked fantasy in films and books.

"Why do you hate it so much?" She really enjoyed fantasy, she was in awe of the creativity and imagination of those authors. Paul shifted uncomfortably.

"I used to like it until my life became a real-life fantasy story… I still struggle to get to grips with the changes in my life. Maybe I'll like it again one day. For now, political thrillers are my thang!" He snorted, signalling a change in subject. Bella eyed him curiously, she was fascinated with him. Half of her wanted to cancel on Emily and spend more time with Paul. Bella reflected that the whole wolf imprint magic meant they had all the time in the world to talk. She patted his leg and told him about a recipe she saw for pancakes with a Nutella core. They arrived at Sam and Emily's not long after that.

Bella gazed adoringly at the small house, she could see the garden filled with vividly coloured flowers and plant pots. It was beautiful in the moonlight but even lovelier in the day. Paul took her hand as they walked up to the front porch.

Bella was greeted at the door with a tight hug from Emily.

"It's so good to see you! Can I get you something to drink?" Emily was pulling Bella into the lounge chatting happily.

"I'd like a drink, Em!" Paul hollered, watching them walk into the house, leaving him on the porch.

"Bring some tea for us while you're at it then!"

Paul rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen where the rest of the pack, minus Jared had gathered around the table. There was a mound of baked goods and all the guys had mugs of coffee, it smelled amazing. Paul was suddenly ravenous as he reached into the cupboards.

"Hey Paul," Sam called, from the table.

"Hey, just going to bring the girls some tea."

"HA. Paul's whipped!" Quil and Embry were snickering at the end of the table while Jake and Sam smiled. Paul saw this coming, Sam's smile turned sympathetic. Jake maintained his easy smile, enjoying being with his friends again.

"I thought you'd be more pissed, Baby-Alpha." Paul raised his eyebrow, choosing to ignore Quil's comment.

Jake shrugged, "I respect the imprint, but, obviously, if you hurt her I will cheerfully beat the crap out of you." Paul rolled his eyes and filled one of Emily's teapots with hot water and teabags. Sam had risen from his chair to put some cups onto a tray with a plate of muffins.

"Seriously, you guys are whipped. Did Emily invest in shock collars?" Quil persisted.

"Guess who has extra patrol?" Sam responded in a sing-song voice. "Oh and, totally unrelated, Paul and I have a few days off." Sam winked. Quil let out a lupine whine of irritation.

Paul was still laughing as he brought the tray into the living room to Emily and Bella. They were chatting excitedly on the sofa, the puffy red fabric almost swallowed the girls whole. Paul marvelled as Emily easily welcomed Bella into their family.

"What's so funny?" Emily eyed the tray suspiciously.

"Quil."

Emily sighed and shook her head, Bella smiled. "Did I hear Jake in there?"

Paul nodded. "Yeah. We've got a pack meeting now, but you'll be able to catch up after."

Bella smiled up at Paul as he placed the tray in front of the girls on the small coffee table.

"Ok, thank you Paul! Away with you now! We have a top-secret imprint meeting!" Emily flapped her hand at Paul. He held up his hands in defeat and winked at Bella. He returned to the Pack meeting with a wide grin.