Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Twilight. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer. I do own the original characters for the storyline. Please support the official release.
Writer's Notes: Welcome to Dear Soulmate Chapter 8! :I Don't Wanna Lose. Wow! Such a great response to the story! I'm still mobile at the moment but I remember seeing Munzke's name, Veldan, Asia, Hufflepuff and I believe Mtyler as well. Thank you guys for your reviews! I absolutely love Bella and Paul and am glad you all love it too. Don't forget to follow, favorite and leave more reviews! I love hearing what everyone thinks. *smiles*
~~ I Don't Wanna Lose by Kate Bollinger~~
Bella was warm, lying there against Paul. It was the best she had slept since she can remember. It was just a peaceful moment. That was until she heard someone clear their throat. Bella shifted a little. The blanket was over her and Paul still, so you could just see her shoulders up. She blinked a couple times and glanced over, seeing her dad.
"What?"
"Well, this isn't what I expected to see when I got home." Charlie said, crossing his arms.
Paul groaned, hearing voices. He stirred, waking up and seeing Charlie. It startled him oddly and it was hard to startle him.
"Uh huh." Charlie said and raised a brow at Bella. "I'll be downstairs." He said and left the room.
Bella groaned and leaned up then looked down at Paul. Her hair fell like a dark curtain, but she brushed it behind her ear. "I'm sorry."
Paul rubbed a hand over his face. "What time is it?"
Bella looked at the clock on her nightstand. "Seven."
"He's home early. I thought he wasn't coming back until later."
"Me too." Bella said and then sighed. "Alright. Have to face the music." She said and got out of bed. She was still in her panties and bra. She went to her closet quickly and pulled on some clothes. She returned to see Paul getting out of the bed and pulling his shirt on. "I'm sorry." She apologized again.
Paul smiled a little. "Not my first rodeo. Won't be that last time a girls dad scolds me for being in bed with their daughter." He muttered.
Bella stopped and frowned. She looked back at him. "Wait…"
Paul sighed. "That sounded worse than I meant. What I meant to say is that this won't be the last time. I'm sure I'll get yelled at a lot by your dad."
Bella shook her head. "I need caffeine to even process what you said."
"I need caffeine to process what I just said." Paul said then grabbed her hand, pulled her to him and he kissed her. It was just a small kiss or that was the intention, but their tongues meshed together. He groaned and pulled away. "Okay, let's go." He said, she opened the door and they trotted down the stairs.
Colin was awake and at the bar in the kitchen. He was eating an orange. He glanced up at Paul and Bella when they walked in. He smiled at them both, but didn't say anything.
Charlie poured coffee and slid it to Paul and then one for Bella. "So, my conference was okay. Decided to come back early instead of staying for a stupid golf game. It's too cold for that." He said and took a drink of his coffee.
Bella opened the fridge, poured creamer into her coffee and then poured some in Paul's coffee before she put it back in the fridge. "Okay. Golf is a crappy game anyways." She said and then sipped her coffee.
Paul nodded his agreement. "Mini golf can be fun. We have a course in La Push. Something we did when we were younger. Of course no one goes by the rules."
"Yeah, golf was never my kind of game." Charlie said. "Golfing aside. How was your night?" He queried.
Colin smiled. "We watched Robocop. I didn't know they made movies that cool back then."
Bella chuckled a little. "You fell asleep the last twenty minutes of the movie."
"Well. What I saw was cool." Colin said while grinning.
Bella shook her head and then moved while drinking her coffee, which was a bad idea because she tripped over her own feet.
Paul reached out and caught her from falling over. He had set his coffee down quickly then managed to grab her around her waist to steady her and keep her coffee from spilling. "You are the clumsiest person I have ever met." He teased her as he took her coffee and set it on the counter.
Charlie studied their interaction. Paul was so in tune with Bella and he reacted faster than he would have. He was impressed to say the least. It was as if Paul anticipated Bella tripping over her own feet. "Hey Colin, why don't you go grab my bag out of the cruiser." He said and Colin nodded and left to go get Charlie's bag for him. "Well, I'm just going to say it. Safe sex."
"Dad!" Bella scoffed.
"What. I know you're an adult and you… and you are growing up. I don't want to think about it, but I have to. If you two are going to-"
Paul held up a hand. "Charlie. It didn't happen. I know what it looked like this morning. That is not what happened last night." He said. "I would never-"
"Never?" Bella asked, frowning.
Charlie choked on his coffee when he took a drink. "Jesus Bella."
Paul couldn't help but smile. "Charlie, what I mean is… I know. Always have condoms." He gave a thumbs up.
Bella felt the heat rise to her face and she had to look away. She was uncomfortable with this kind of talk with her dad.
"Good. Now. Is this a normal regular thing? Are you dating? I know you said after the hospital-"
"Dad!" Bella scoffed again. "This isn't an interrogation."
Charlie held up a hand. "Sorry. I just like to know where you two stand. You spend a lot of time together."
Paul rubbed a hand over Bella's arm and looked at Charlie. "We're involved Charlie. It's… not…."
"Official. Got it. Back in my day you were either dating or not dating. There wasn't all these weird complicated Facebook statuses." He said and then nodded to Colin. "Thanks Colin."
"No problem Chief." Colin said with a big smile.
Charlie nodded. "Well, while you're all in one spot." He said. "I petitioned to have guardianship transferred to me for Colin."
Paul looked at little surprised. "What did the court say?"
"Well, there's a full investigation. Terrance is being picked up today and he's coming down to the jail. He'll be interrogated for his actions. A social worker will be by to check on you Colin. She's going to ask questions. Remember you're still fifteen. Don't answer questions to any of the other officers. It's illegal for a cop to question you without your advocate, which is that social worker." Charlie explained.
Paul crossed his arms. "So, what's next after that?"
"Well, I'm an emergency foster parent in the state of Washington. I have petitioned for the guardianship, but the judge has to sign off on it. Sam has agreed to go before the judge to tell them that the Rez approves of the placement." Charlie said. "But Terrance has a right to petition the court as well. Guardianship automatically fell on Terrance because he was the next of kin. Things get a little weird with guardian laws on the Rez. I don't have a lot of authority honestly when it comes to these sorts of thing. I'm just the chief. Since La Push doesn't have it's own police force I'm called out on the Rez to handle things, but there is talk of the Rez establishing it's own police."
Bella frowned. "Okay, but will that interfere with Colin?"
"Not with Sam's support. Sam is supporting Colin staying here. He's been largely homeschooled there on the Rez. Which, he can continue or choose to enroll at Forks High if the guardianship is approved." Charlie explained.
Paul nodded and looked at Colin. "How are you feeling? This is opening doors. You'll have to talk about what all dad did to you." He said.
Colin swallowed and nodded. "I know. I trust the process. They'll… they'll take pictures of my back… won't they?"
Charlie nodded. "They will." He had felt sick to his stomach seeing the burns on Colin's back. It disgusted him that someone could ever do that to a person and even more disgusted that Terrance had done that to a child. He never pressed Paul on if Terrance had done the same thing.
Paul reached out and squeezed Colin's shoulder. "Hey bud, we're right here with you all the way." He reassured. And then his phone rang. He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled his phone out and looked at it. It was Sam calling. "Hold on." He said and then answered. "Hey."
"Your patrol is coming up. You haven't shifted yet. Is something wrong?" Sam's voice was calm as he spoke.
"Yeah, just talking to Charlie about Colin. I'll be there in a bit. If that's okay?"
"Of course." Sam said and hung up.
Paul sighed and returned his phone to his pocket. He looked at Bella. "Sam needs me."
Bella nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later then. I'll stay here with Colin when the social worker comes by."
Paul nodded and then kissed the top of her head. "Thank you." He said and then patted Colin's back before he looked at Charlie. "Thank you too."
Charlie nodded. "Not a problem." He said and watched Paul leave out the front door.
Bella sighed and looked at Colin. "It's going to be okay." She said and rubbed her hand over his arm.
Paul shifted when he got far enough away and ran towards La Push. He heard Sam in his head now.
There's been no sightings of the red leech. We've pushed the perimeter.
I discovered something last night. Bella said that the leeches have special powers we weren't aware of. Paul relayed.
Seems like you were getting rather cozy with Bella last night. Embry's voice cut into Paul's head.
Shut it Embry. Paul growled in his head.
Well you were. Did you forget Jake was sitting on the house last night? He had to listen to you and Bella and-
That's enough. Sam's voice was sharp, commanding.
Paul ran faster, getting to La Push to the meeting spot. He shifted, pulling his pants on. Sam, Embry, Jake and the others joined.
Jake didn't meet Paul's eyes. He was feeling jealous about him and Bella lately. He questioned why it had to be Paul that imprinted on Bella and why it couldn't be him. He actually cared about Bella. All Paul cared about was Paul.
"What kind of powers are we talking about?" Sam asked Paul directly.
"Each of the Cullen's had a power. Alice could see the future, Jasper could control mood and emotions. Edward could read minds. Emmett is the strong one… the others had powers too, but that's besides the point. The redheaded leech, I think she's teleporting. Or phasing. That's why we can't track her well." Paul explained.
"How did you figure this out?" Sam asked.
Paul swallowed. "Bella told me."
"She talked you about the Cullen's?" Sam was surprised.
Paul shook his head. "It wasn't by choice. I… when she touches my bare chest with her hand… it transmits I don't know… memories."
"Memories?" Sam asked, confused.
Paul nodded. "Yeah. She can't obviously control it. But I… I've seen her memories. And they're not just memories she remembers. They're memories she had no idea existed."
"That doesn't make any sense." Sam said. "The imprint doesn't allow this."
"I don't know what it is Sam. I just know that I have seen some terrible things. I almost wolfed out in the bathroom because I caught the memory of Edward fucking raping her." Paul growled, feeling himself tremble now.
Jake's mouth dropped. He felt the anger well in him too. How had he not known this? "He fucking what?"
"Calm down." Sam said to both Paul and Jake. "What other memories?"
Paul closed his eyes, reeling himself in. He had to take a few deep breaths before he could even speak. "Him just… hurting her in different ways. And then of Alice, her voice sounded strange, like she was hypnotizing her." He explained. "I don't know Sam. I just know that these leeches have abilities we didn't know about."
Sam seemed to be thinking hard about something. "Okay, so how do we trap a leech that can teleport?"
"You bait it." Embry said out loud. Everyone turned and looked at him. "What?"
"We are not using Bella as bait." Paul growled.
Sam stopped Paul from advancing on Embry. "Listen. We don't do that. We'll figure it out. Right now, patrols. Get to it. You have your assigned areas."
Paul growled a little towards Embry and looked back at Sam. "The social worker is coming to Bella's today for Colin. Charlie said he talked to you and you have before the judge."
"Don't worry. I will make sure Terrance doesn't get his hands on your brother again Paul. Charlie and I agree. Colin is safer off the Rez and at his house. We have most of our night patrols there at the Swan house." Sam said.
Paul nodded. "Thank you." He said and then looked over at Jake. He was still angry. He could tell by the way he clenched his fist. "I know you're pissed, but don't forget she's my imprint. Regardless of what you think is going on inside her house, it's none of your business."
Jake growled. "Not like you care. You didn't even want to be imprinted on her. How is it fair you get to steal everything?"
"Steal?" Paul said raising a brow. "She wasn't yours Jake. Or did you forget her turning you down in her truck? Hmm?"
"That was different."
"It wasn't different." Paul said. "She's, my imprint." He repeated himself and looked at Sam. "I decided that I'm not going to fight the imprint."
Sam nodded. He was glad that Paul came to his senses. He knew that it was a touchy area for Jake since Jake had feelings for Bella before he phased. It was hard to deal with so much raw emotion. Jake was still young and would understand with time. "Okay. Everyone get to their patrols. We'll change out tonight." He said and everyone didn't hesitate this time to do as they were told.
