I own nothing apart from Lorelai and the plot

Chapter Eight

Lorelai P.O.V

I stared at the space Paul had previously filled; I had never felt so confused and scared at any point in my life and the sudden emotions triggered tears. I dropped down on my bed, burying my face in my hands and crying almost hysterically.

I hated fighting with anyone but fighting with Paul felt like I was being squashed with bricks. It was a horrible feeling to say the least.

Exhausted I changed into some pyjamas and fell asleep within moments. When I woke I felt better, although still tired but I was used to feeling permanently tired. I dressed after a long hot shower, thinking of ways to apologise to Paul for being so careless; he had every right to keep things to himself.

I left my room, heading straight for the benches that I was so accustomed to going to. I couldn't see Paul but I didn't dwell on the thought knowing that he usually slept in when he didn't have work. I smiled at Lee, trying to hide my worry and guilt at the fight that I had had with Paul. Lee didn't return the smile, looking down at me seriously with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Where's Paul?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed at me, "What happened last night?" He asked, ignoring my question.

"That's none of your business Lee." I said firmly.

"Yes it is. Paul's my best mate and you did something to piss him off big time Lorry." Lee said angrily, "Paul never gets angry like he did last night. What..."

I sighed in frustration, cutting off what he was saying, "What happens between me and Paul is between us. We're the ones in the relationship; it's not you, me and Paul in one." I snapped.

Lee didn't say anything else and when I realised that he wasn't going to tell me where Paul was I turned and left, running a hand through my hair anxiously. We had never gotten into a serious fight; we'd fought over little things like what show to watch or what we're having for dinner but never anything this big. Usually one of us apologised and at the moment all I wanted to do was apologise and let him know that I hadn't meant to be a complete bitch.

I called his phone continually for the next few hours but he never answered. I soon gave up; focusing my attention on the material I needed to go over for my final exam. I spent the rest of the day studying, ignoring my hunger and tiredness as I took notes and did practice tests for the exam I realised was tomorrow.

I didn't go to sleep until two thirty in the morning when my eyes and brain refused to work. I collapsed on my bed making sure that I had sent my alarm so that it went off loud so I couldn't sleep through it. I tossed and turned through the whole night, dreams haunting me of Paul and failing my exam.

I woke feeling exhausted and continually went over the information that I knew in my head as I made my way to my exam. I didn't see Paul and I felt like collapsing. Everything was so emotionally draining and I couldn't wait for the chance to sleep for the next three days with no worries. I had enough time before my exam to fully wake up with a cup of coffee and a decent breakfast.

But even as I entered the exam I could feel the black rings under my eyes, my exhaustion evident. I had spent what time I could before the exam revising over the things I had difficulty with. I hadn't heard from Paul but I pushed his existence from my mind along with my guilt and worry. I could deal with that after I was finished stressing over my exam.

As it turns out my concentration stayed on the exam for the whole time and I left feeling surprisingly more relaxed then I had thought possible. I could hear some other people practically sobbing to their friends and I wondered how many would need to repeat the course in order to graduate.

Now that I had everything that was stress related over and done with I began thinking of Paul. I tried calling him and when he didn't answer I sighed angrily. How could I make things right if he didn't let me? I love him, more than anything and anyone and fighting with him felt like knives were digging in to my chest. I decided that I had had enough of waiting around for him to come to me.

I was going to him and he will bloody listen to me.

I swerved through the crowd of students, ignoring the worried looks I was receiving from some of the guys and noticed Lee following me. I ignored him too, and his attempts at getting me to stop, letting nothing deter me from my path. When I finally got to Paul's room I knocked normally, taking a deep breath to calm down before I confronted him. I could hear Lee jogging down the hallway to me but Paul opened the door just as he arrived.

He froze, staring down at me blankly, "What are you doing here?" He asked, not rudely.

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm not allowed to come see my boyfriend?"

I saw a faint trace of relief go through him before it disappeared, "I thought you had an exam." He said, ignoring my question.

"Yeah, at nine o'clock this morning I did." I said pointedly.

"I'm sorry; I thought it was this afternoon." Paul said softly, looking concerned, "How did it go? You look tired." He murmured, gently cupping my cheek.

I closed my eyes, leaning in to his touch, "It went fine; I only needed one cup of coffee to keep me awake for the entire time." I said, smiling slightly as I opened my eyes. Lee was no longer present, leaving us to talk alone, "Can we talk?" I asked softly, looking down, "I hate fighting with you."

He ushered me in and before I had the chance to apologise he spoke, "I'm so sorry for what I said..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I insisted, "I'm the one who should be sorry and I am. I didn't even know what I was saying, it just came out. I don't care about whatever you're keeping to yourself..."

"Yes you do." Paul interrupted quietly, "You do care and you do want to know."

I shrugged helplessly, "Only because I know how much something bothers you." I said earnestly, "I love you so much Paul..."

"You know I love you." He said quietly, and moved so that I was now sitting on his bed and he was kneeling in front of me, my hand in his large boiling one. "And that's why I want to tell you." He said quietly.

"You don't have to Paul. I mean, I'd like to know, yeah but I don't want you to feel like you have to tell me." I said firmly, squeezing his hand.

He rubbed a hand across his jaw, "I was always going to tell you. You need to know everything before you decide whether you want to be with me..."

"I will always want to be with you Paul." I said firmly, interrupting him. "No matter what."

"Don't say that until you know everything." He muttered darkly, standing and began pacing, "There are some things you need to know. By blood I'm Quileute from the Indian Reservation La Push. We have legends that we believe in that tell us of one of our old Chief's."

I listened as he explained the legends of the tribe he's from, fascinated by the detail. I frowned as he discussed 'the cold ones', thinking that it was a little too make-believe to have vampires despite Paul telling me that they basically believed they were werewolves.

"What's this got to do with you?" I asked when he paused with the legends.

"Everything." He said quietly, "That's not all. The gene of the werewolves is passed down through the males, and it would normally skip a generation or two and would kick in when the cold ones had returned."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's so that we can protect the town. The men would get taller, their temperature increasing and they appear to be about twenty five and stop aging." He said quietly, watching me closely.

My eyes widened when I realised what he was hinting at, "You're not serious. Paul, you think you're a werewolf?" I asked incredulously, unable to keep the doubt from my voice. "It's not possible."

"Unfortunately it is." He said darkly, "I know you'll want proof and I'll give it to you. That's the secret; well its part of the secret. It's why I left."

"Paul this is ridiculous." I said, thinking of ways to convince him to go see a therapist or something.

He stood, pulling his shirt over his head as he moved to the doorway. I sat still as he stripped down to his boxers not looking remotely embarrassed by his nakedness. I opened my mouth but no sound could escape, too busy staring at his muscled body to think clearly.

"Paul, what are you doing?" I asked finally, managing to get the words out as I stood and moved towards him, stopping when he backed away.

"Just stay there and watch." Paul said calmly, though I could see the despair in his eyes.

I opened my mouth to say something, to protest, anything as his body began to convulse. Before my mind had registered what was happening before me a horse-sized wolf stood staring at me. I was dimly aware that I was now sitting down, my legs buckling under the shock of what I had seen, of what I was seeing. Paul was a werewolf; my boyfriend was a werewolf. There was only one thing that seemed appropriate to do at this point in time.

I fainted.

A/N I'm sorry that the description of the Quileute legend was so short. Hope you all like the chapter; keep the reviews going please! Send the word around!!!!! Read and Review.