Chapter 8

The next two weeks were hell for Bella. She had to go through rehab, which had to hurt like hell. It pained me that I couldn't stay with my Bells and help her through it. Surprisingly, though, she didn't say a single word during it. But not even Bella could disguise the fact that she was relieved to be home again. It was even better that Charlie wouldn't be home either, so we had the whole house to ourselves.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked her, pulling her towards the coach.

"Urm..." she trailed off, looking puzzled. It was obvious that she hadn't the foggiest idea.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" I suggested, holding back laughter and she nodded gratefully.

We ended up on watching a horror, zombie movie called 'The Plague'. Bella hadn't seen it before and ended up curling into my side, making me laugh, not that I complained. I wrapped my arm securely around her and tried to watch the movie, which was very hard. All I could think about was Bella's small frame cuddled up against me. Embry was right, I am whipped.

When the credits came rolling in, Bella said in a shaking voice "Paul, there is something that I have to tell you."

"Yes, Bella?" I said, looking down at her curiously. What could she possible want to talk about that had made her so nervous? Nothing too embarrassing, I hope.

"Urm, you know when I was in a coma, and then I woke up?" she murmured, looking down at the floor, hesitating.

"Bella, you know you can tell me anything" I murmured, lifting her face up with my finger so I could look into her eyes.

Bella closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, showing me with her eyes what she wanted to tell me. Shit! She loved me. I and my wolf were basically doing the happy dance as my eyes widened in shock. Slowly, testing her reaction, I brought my lips down to hers. Fireworks exploded inside me as I kissed her warm, soft lips and was very reluctant to pull away. Obviously, so was Bella, as she whimpered, pouting when I did making me burst out laughing. Inside, I was like the sun. Bella laughed along with me and curled up into his side.

Suddenly, my phone rang, making Bella jump about a foot in the air and I burst out laughing again.

"Yes, Sam?" I said cheerfully.

"We've got a situation" Sam said. "I'm calling a pack meeting. Meet me at my house in half an hour?"

"We're on our way" I said and snapped my phone shut.

"What was that all about?" Bella murmured happily, playing absentmindedly with my fingers.

"Sam wants us to meet at his house for a pack meeting. He said he had some news for us" I shrugged. Bella just nodded and followed me outside, clutching my hand so hard I swear it was about to go blue. Did she honestly think I was going to leave her?

"No way am I riding on that!" Bella exclaimed, stopping abruptly as she eyed my motorbike like it was going to grow teeth and bite her.

I laughed at her expression and said "Don't worry; you'll be riding with me. I'll keep you safe."

Bella merely nodded slowly and got gingerly onto the back, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist. Just the feel of her so close was driving me crazy.

"Fine, but if you go over 80, angry grizzle bears will took tamed after what will be waiting for you after I get off this bike" Bella, half-joking, half-serious.

"No problem" I replied calmly, trying to hold back my laughter.

"Took you long enough" Jared shouted from across the room once we'd got there. I rolled my eyes at him.

"We can hear you just fine, Jared, there's no need to shout" Bella shot back.

Bella turned around the face Emily and saw her staring at our locked hands, her mouth hanging open in shocked delight. Ah shit, here we go.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you guys!" she squealed and all but launched herself at us, pulling us both into a hug. Bella patted her back, looking a little awkward and confused on how to react.

"What on earth are you talking about, Em?" Sam asked, looking just as confused at the rest of the guys.

"Bella and Paul are together. As in, together, together" Emily clarified, as if they wouldn't understand.

Then the boys jumped up and hugged us both, congratulating us.

Okay, so why did you call us, Sam?" I demanded, struggling to break away from the crowd. I settled down on the sofa, pulling her into my lap.

"Seth is close to shifting" Sam answered me, seeming to pull himself together and go into Alpha mode again. "And, surprisingly, so is Leah."

"Leah?" we all shouted at once. That can't be right!

"Why is it such a shock that Leah's shifting?" Bella asked, obviously not getting it.

"Well, she's a girl!" Embry exclaimed. Yeah, like that's gonna explain anything.

"So?"

"Girls haven't shifted before, Bella" Sam explained. "Well, not that we know of anyway, There was only one legend about it."

"Are you really that surprised?" Bella sighed, rolling her eyes. "I mean, so many legends have just happened to become true. Surely it's not much of a shock anymore?"

You know, she does have a point, I mused.

"You know, Bella, I've been wondering the same thing" Kim commented and she, Emily and Bella laughed together.

Out of the blue, Sam's phone started ringing, making Bella jump about a foot in the air. We all laughed at her as Sam answered it and she pocked her tongue out, snuggling into my chest, leaving my imagination to run wild again. Damn!

"On our way" Sam finished his call. "Change of plan" he said to us. "Leah and Seth are shifting right now. We need to get over to the Clearwater's house as soon as possible."

"On it" we chorused together.

"I'm coming with you" Bella announced, standing up with us.

"No, Bella, it's too dangerous" I said sternly, pushing her gently back down onto the sofa. The thought of losing her again was unbelievably painful and I didn't want to go through that again, let alone let her go through it.

"Oh, come on, think about how Leah's feeling right now. You need a girl there" she argued back with me. She looked at Sam pleadingly. Why, all of a sudden, did she want to help Leah Clearwater? I mean, they barely knew each other.

"As much as I'd hate to admit it, she's right, Paul" Sam sighed, giving up too easily for my liking. "But don't worry, Paul, we'll keep her safe."

So here we were, at Sue, Leah and Seth Clearwater's house, trying to calm down not one, but two werewolves down enough so they can phase back human. To tell you the truth, I don't think we were doing a very good job calming Leah down. And I had a funny feeling Bella had the same idea as I did.

"Alright, let me deal with Leah. You guys sought out Seth" Bella finally snapped, stepping forwards.

"No, Bella, it's too dangerous" I repeated myself, stepping in front of her. I didn't want her getting on the wrong end of Leah's nasty temper.

"Oh, bite me wolf-boy" Bella snapped, stepping neatly around me and walking determinedly towards Leah. Did she seriously just do that? I think we're rubbing off too much on her.

Bella took Leah outside and talked to her. I don't know what that girl said to Leah, it sure as hell did the damn trick. The girls came back in, laughing their fucking heads off.

After Jake and Leah imprinted on each other, Bella went into some serious best friend mode and scaring the scrap out of us.

"Alright" she said "girly night, you and me, and I'll explain everything." The she rounded on us and said threatingly, giving us her no-nonsense stare "Boys, you are banned from my house. You're banned from setter a foot within a mile of my house, and if you ever dare break the rules, Ill unleash one hell of a fucking storm on you guys."

And, with that, she pulled Leah towards her car leaving the boys dumbstruck. What the hell?

AN: I just love Bella's attitude in this episode!

Reviews:

Delilah69: Yeah. I like it when a leader is hard and commanding, but soft and caring as well. It's what I look for in them.

Edger2deadly: Unfortunately, I'm not always on a roll. Sorry it's so late.

Brittyangel: I know! I've been waiting forever for the right moment for him to say those three sacred words.

143iloveyou143: I'll try: D

Daddys little crazy bitch: Goody: D

~Poison Ivey