S/O to xWinterstormx for all of the sweet reviews! If it wasn't for her I'd start being more stingy with these chapters, Hell, I might even disappear again... you little readers better start speaking up!

XOX-Haley

"And she awakes!"Adam cheered as I nearly toppled down the steps in a pair of black leggings and gray boots. I adjusted my oversized royal blue sweater, grinning at him from the bottom step.

"Yeah," I smiled. "Where's Paul?" I couldn't help myself. I'd been thinking about him for days.

"Why would he be here? Didn't he build you your own car?" Yaya smirked, tossing me my new keys. I stood and fiddled with them awkwardly.

"Oh...yeah." I murmured disappointment seeping into my tone. Yaya raised an eyebrow.

"I guess he figured you might want to drive yourself."

"No, no, it's cool. Really, it's fine." I nodded, a little too excitedly. I repeated Yaya's words. "He thought I'd like to drive myself.

"However..."

My face lit up, Paul's ve echoing off of the walls as he strode out of the dining room, twirling his class ring on his middle finger sheepishly.

"I was sort of hoping, there'd be a small chance you wanted to keep coming with me anyways." he finished, staring at me. Yaya crossed her arms and smirked. Adam tried not to laugh at my expression. I tried to fight a smile, my cheeks glowing as I crossed my arms loosely.

"Well," I choked, biting my lip. "It does save gas and everything, you know."

"Yeah," Paul bit his lip before grinning. "A mile is a really long drive."

I couldn't stop my heart from hammering as he held his hand out for me, Yaya and Adam exchanging looks as I stood there stupidly, my bag slung over one shoulder. God I had missed him. I had missed him so much it was almost unreal. Two days. I'd seen him exactly two days ago and yet the second he'd walked me to my front door that night we'd talked in the garage, I'd felt a gap opening up in the center of my chest. Paul Lahote was a part of me. That unrational, hateful, loving, heart-hammering part that I never wanted to lose. He gave me life.

Paul raised an eyebrow at me as he waited, ever so patiently. God I hated how patient he was. I laid my hand in his gently, a shaky breath escaping my lips as electricity shot through my fingertips.

"Tay' 'are of my giwl!" Aldin ordered sternly as we brushed past him. Paul let my hand drop for a moment to kiss him on the head.

"Cross my heart Little Man!" he promised. Aldin beamed before waddling over to Yaya, who scooped him up and kissed him firmly on the cheek, earning a fit of giggles in return.

"Paul?" I asked quietly, kicking my feet up on the dashboard once we were in the car. He raised his eyebrows at me. "So I was thinking about everything that happened the other day. I was thinking about what the Cullens had been telling me, about the vampires and stuff..."

"Aaaaand?" he asked, a smile playing at his lips. I wiggled my toes awkwardly.

"I was just thinking...that, uhm...well I thought that there's a balance to everything, at least that's what Yaya always says..."

"Aaaaand?" Paul asked again, laughing. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I was just thinking that if there's a balance to everything then there's got to be a balance to the vampires. And the only way to settle that out...was werewolves. If there's vampires, there's got to be werewolves."

"Alright, so there's werewolves. What then?"

"That just lead me to thinking about how the vampires are all beautiful and smooth and fast, to draw in their prey and what not. So I started wondering about how a werwolf would look in human form."

"And how is that?" he asked, turning a corner.

"Strong...muscles literally everywhere...extremely tall...warm..." The list kept going, and the more I rattled on, the harder Paul would smile. "And they travel in Packs, which is funny, seeing as how it's Adam, Sam, and Embry and Jared, you're always with them. And the Clearwaters and Collin and Brady are always with Jacob. And I suppose, that if someone was a werewolf, they'd have trouble finding clothes every time they shift, which only reminded me about how all of you like to walk around the house half naked."

"So you were looking at me." Paul chided. I rolled my eyes and swatted at him.

"That is not the point. The point is that you, and half of my family and friends, are werewolves."

Paul did not deny it, but simply bit his lip and kept his eyes on the road as La Push Highschool came into view.

"Are you scared?" he asked quietly, raising an eyebrow at me.

"If I was afraid I would've been gone by now." I answered honestly.

"How long do you plan on staying then?"

"As long as you'll let me."

"You'll be here for a pretty long time then." Paul whispered. I watched him steadily, wondering what he meant as he shifted in his seat. It was all happening without me meaning it to, him leaning forward, me leaning forward, his hand trailing up my arm before brushing the side of my cheek as he kept his dark eyes on mine...

We jumped a part as Embry banged on the passenger side window, his eyes frantic. He motioned wildly for us to get out of the car, half of his books spilling out onto the pavement as he did.

"Come on!" He screamed, through the door, practically dragging me onto the concrete. Paul snatched up my hand was we ran, shoving through the crowd of shouting people surrounding a shiny black Mercedes. We wriggled our way to the front, Paul snarling at the scene before us.

Collin was on the ground, blood spurting from his nose as a bright blue Converse sneaker landed on his shoulder. I'd seen them before. I'd seen all of them before, striding down the hallway in a pack of five, including Jackson, each of them bathed in flawless porcelain skin, the light reflecting off of their dazzling, perfect teeth. I'd seen all of them strolling behind Jackson before, Annette hovering in the background quietly as they marched. They'd been here since August. Almost a month, and it was just now dawning on me what they really were. The word echoed in my mind. Vampire.

And unlike Collin and Brady, who were new and untrained, vampires didn't have to change into anything to fight for their lives. They were already living in the skin of a predator. Brady grunted as his fist landed into a tall boy's stomach, his knuckles cracking loudly in the process. It wasn't long before Paul was shoving me aside, literally tackling Jackson. The pavement split beneath them, and in seconds the air was full of nothing but fists and teeth and grunting and blood and then there was Katie, towing me away from the scene, a searing pain in my shoulder as she was grabbing at the back of my shirt to get me to a safe distance.

It took seven teachers to break apart the fight, and as I scanned the crowd for Paul's face, I found Jackson's instead. His eyes glittered with mischief and he smiled broadly at me, the sight of blood smeared across his lower lip sending a chill down my spine. There was ringing in my ear. Someone was screaming. The edges of my vision were turning white as Katie dragged me to class.

Wading through the halls was like walking with ten pound weights attached to your ankle, and Katie seemed to pour me into my seat as everyone filtered into the class. Everything hurt to hear. I squinted against the light as the intercom came on, the principles voice rambling on as students began filtering through the room and rambling on about our strict policy against fighting. There was buzzing. And humming. Katie pressed her fingertips against my shoulder and drew them back to her face, eying the dark red matter that covered them, her face growing concerned as she watched me. She was yelling something that I couldn't hear. It felt like I was in Heaven and Hell at the same time, euphoria rushing through me as adrenaline rushed through my veins. I'd never felt worse. Or more horny. What the Hell was wrong with me? I think I'd asked that aloud, but I hadn't been sure. My vision went blurry. The walls shifted. I was on the floor. I'd been bitten.