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The Moving of Time
BPOV
The next few weeks passed in a blur, Christmas was a quiet occasion. Dad and I spent it mostly alone, Paul came up on the evening and we all sat down for a meal. But he had to patrol, as he had offered so that the others could spend time with their imprints.
I didn't think it was fair, but once Paul admitted that he hated Christmas because of the memories, he preferred to be on his own. Protecting the land and remembering his memories of Christmas's spent when his family were all together.
For the first time in years, I looked healthy. I had colour in my cheeks; I no longer had bags under my eyes. I was sleeping so deeply most nights that I didn't even dream, and on the nights when I would dream, it was always Paul's wolf protecting me and making me feel safe.
My appetite had grown, so I had put on weight. For a while I felt fat, and thought I looked fat until my dad and Paul made me realise that my weight was actually the ideal weight for my height. I was no longer having the iron injections, and I only had to take one iron tablet a day. I was also only taking Old Quil's concoction three times a week.
My dad's health has also improved dramatically, Old Quil finally found a recipe that seemed to work for him. This meant that he could return to work without being in pain; he had his life back again.
However some changes were harder and that was my relationship with my mom, I would email her a couple of times a week and call her once a week. But now she rarely answered her phone and when she did, she would have an excuse for not staying on the line long, and she never replied to my emails.
It hurts, that she is pushing me away, but Paul has been there after every phone call. For somebody who struggles to cope with somebody crying, he is learning that a hug and joke works for him. He has become such a good friend, he will tell me how it is. I'm pretty sure that Paul has no idea how to sugar coat anything, sometimes it can hurt when he is being far too honest but I would rather have that than secrets and private conversations.
My relationship with the rest of the pack was slow progress; I will always remember coming home from school one day to find Emily, Sam's imprint in the kitchen cooking. The house was spotless and aired; I could hear the washing machine and dryer going. She was smiling at me, before handing me a muffin and a glass of milk.
I wanted to shout at her to get out, but before I could get a word out, Emily was chatting away happily about everything she had done for me so I could take a rest after school rather than doing chores. I swallowed my words and pride before sitting down with her, I soon found out that Old Quil had arranged for some help. After an hour, I realised that maybe I did need female friends.
So twice a week, Emily would come up to Forks and help clean the house and do the cooking. We would go grocery shopping once a week, and because she couldn't drive I would take her home and we would spend a couple of hours just talking. Every other weekend Paul and I would go down to Sam's for dinner, Emily would cook the main meal, as she preferred cooking savoury food and I would make dessert. The only sweet thing she could make was muffins, and after a while they could get boring and tastless.
I did struggle to become friendly with Kim, we seemed so different and she would not leave Jared's side unless he encouraged her to. She did seem so shy and reserved, while Emily would keep me occupied. I could see that spending time with the imprints was making Paul happy, and I tried to dig my heels in. I didn't want to do something for somebody else just to make them happy, I had made that mistake before.
Paul got so angry and refused to speak to me for three days, he couldn't understand how I was feeling. It wasn't until I had decided to visit the beach and think, that Paul came to my rescue. In normal Bella style, I managed to trip over my own feet, and Paul who unknown to me was watching me just out of sight managed to catch me before I face planted into the sand. It broke the ice, so that we could talk.
It was then that I told him my fears, doing things just to make him happy and not to make me happy. But when he asked if I was happy making new friends, I admitted I was but I was still scared and thought they were only my friends because of Paul.
We left it at that, because I was right, there was only a small chance that I would have met Emily and Kim if he didn't imprint on me. I didn't want to put myself in the same position again, if something was to happen to me and Paul, or none of this worked out I didn't want to suddenly have no friends again.
But Paul was so sure that he would always be there for me that it didn't matter, I knew that I had to move on from my fears. When school started again, I put more effort into making friends, I got close to Angela again and Jessica began talking to me again. Jessica and Mike were now in a relationship, so he would hang out with us along with Tyler and Eric.
When Mike told us that there was an opening for a part time sales assistant in his family's shop, I applied for the position and got the job. Dad and Paul were not happy; dad didn't want me worrying about earning money. But I knew that I wanted to go to college one day and that would cost money. Also the constant trips to the Reservation meant that I was constantly putting gas in the truck, and I didn't want to be asking my dad for extra money.
Paul's reasoning for me not working was down to my health, even though he had come to every doctor's appointment with me and knew that I was almost as healthy as any other eighteen year old, he still worried that I could get ill again by over doing it. Old Quil helped to eventually change Paul's mind, telling Paul that I needed my independence and that times have changed and women don't liked to be molly cuddled and kept and at home doing mundane tasks.
My relationship with my great uncle as I now called him had developed into a strong bond. He was helping me come to terms with my past, even my childhood. He and young Quil had become more than just my extended family. Young Quil was fine if I was there alone, but if Paul was to turn up, he would walk out the room or leave the house. He would never say anything, or talk bad about Paul when we were alone, but he wouldn't stay anywhere near him.
"Hello, Bella, earth to Bella." I shake my head, getting my thoughts out of it and smile at mike.
The day I put my application in for the job in Newton's Outfitters, I got a phone call from Mr Newton an hour later. As I was the Chief of Police's daughter, I had the job. No interview or anything, just the day I had to come for training and my weekly hours.
"Sorry mike, I was day dreaming."
"I was just saying, that I'm going to lock up the safe, can you empty the garbage bins please." Mike asked, before walking into the back office.
Most of my shifts at the shop always seem to be with Mike, his parents run the shop during the day but Mike and his older brother trade off on the evenings. I didn't mind, Mikes brother was creepy. The few times he was still at the shop when I would arrive for my shift he would stare at me, and the shirts he always seemed to wear would come undone. Revealing more and more of his chest, Matthew was odd. Even Angela had the same opinion of him, always staring at women and slowly getting undressed.
We never said anything to Mike, but he would never leave me alone if his brother was at the shop. I would stick close to Mike, and follow him around the shop until Matthew left.
Once the garbage was collected into a black sac, and left behind the counter, I kept myself busy tidying up the shelves. The evening had been quiet with only a few customers coming in over the last three hours, so the time had dragged.
"Bella, take the garbage out to the dumpster and then you can go, Jess is meeting me here so I can lock up on my own tonight.
"Thanks Mike, see you tomorrow at school." I called out, walking back behind the counter and picking up the bag of garbage.
Walking out of the back door and into the alley with the bag, I couldn't stop looking over my shoulder into the forest. The hairs on the back of my neck went up and I shuddered, before I quickly walked to the dumpster and chucked the bag in. I looked over my shoulder again, taking longer to look into the forest. I jumped when a wolf howl suddenly filled the silent alley, without another look back I rushed out of the alley and walked towards my truck.
Leaning up against my truck was Paul, with a worried frown on face.
"What were you doing in the alley way?" Paul asked, walking to meet me halfway across from the car park.
"Putting the trash out, what was the howling about?"
"Bloodsucker trail, it was Jared who howled and I was by your house when he smelt it." Paul explained, before putting his arm across my shoulders and ushering me to my truck.
"Do you have to phase back?" I asked when Paul opened the passenger door and helped me into the truck.
"Nope, Sam is out there now. He will howl if I'm needed, so I thought we could hang out if you're not too tired."
"I guess so, I need a shower. Dad is on a late shift tonight, so we can watch a movie if you want."
"Sure, have you eaten?" Paul asked.
"Not since lunch, you can order pizza while I'm in the shower."
We fell into a comfortable silence on the short ride home, Paul walked ahead of me when he parked the truck on my drive. I watched from his side, as he sniffed the air and looked quickly from side to side.
"Was the scent near where I was?" I asked, as he unlocked the front door and took another sniff.
"No, it was in the forest. But the Cullen's scent is still in the forest and some of their scent trails lead straight to your house, so I'm just being sure."
"Ok" I followed Paul into the house, staying close to his side as he checked the house over from top to bottom.
"All clear, get in the shower and I will order pizza."
I nodded and walked into my room to grab a change of clothes, by the time I got out of the shower and redressed. The door went and I could hear Paul getting it and talking to somebody.
I walked down the stairs, expecting Paul with the pizza in his hands but instead stood in the door way was Sam.
"Hi Bella" Sam waved, before he nodded to Paul and left.
"What was that about?" I asked, walking into the kitchen and getting us some drinks ready.
"Just letting me know about the new scent and where it went. I'm going to crash here tonight, let Jared and Sam concentrate on patrolling the Reservation."
"Is it bad?" I asked, wringing my hands, suddenly feeling nervous.
"No, we are just being careful." Paul replied pulling me into the lounge. "We won't take any risks; it could just be one of them passing through."
I gasped and jumped when the door went again, grabbing Paul's arm in both of my hands and squeezing.
"Bella, pick a movie and sit down, it's just the pizza guy."
I sat on the sofa and turned the TV on flicking through the channels until Paul came in and placed the pizzas on the table.
"Are we watching a movie or the TV?" he asked, placing my pizza on my lap and grabbing his.
"You decide I'm not too bothered."
I watched as Paul stood up and went over to the meagre DVD collection we had, dad didn't have the patience to sit and watch a film unless it had something to do with police in it, and I never really had much interest in buying a movie just to watch it repeatedly.
"The Fugitive?" he asked, before putting the DVD in the player.
I nodded before opening up my pizza and taking my slice; Paul joined me and ate his pizza in wolf fashion. Not chewing and almost eating the whole slice in one go, half way through my pizza and I was full. Before I could put it on the table, Paul took the box and finished my left over's.
Once the pizzas had been finished and the pizza boxes put in the kitchen, I curled up next to Paul, using his heated bicep as a pillow and got comfy. We watched the film in silence, usually dad would watch the movie and constantly moan where the police messed up and should have been able to capture him by now.
It wasn't until I felt Paul pick me up that I realised that I must have fallen asleep during the movie, I rested my head on his chest as he slowly walked up the stairs to my room and placed me on my bed.
"I will be back, just going to lock up downstairs and turn the lights off." Paul whispered.
I nodded my head, before rolling over and getting comfortable, making sure there was enough room on the other side of the bed for Paul.
I jumped awake when howling suddenly woke me up; I looked over to Paul to see he was still asleep. I slipped out of bed and walked over to my window, I looked over towards the forest and suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck went up again.
I jumped when I suddenly felt a warm hand on my shoulder, before placing my hand over my heart to calm myself down.
"What is it?" Paul whispered.
"I heard a howl, so I had a look out the window. I feel like there is something out there, looking and staring at me. The hairs on the back of my neck keep going up, it happened earlier in the alley way by the Newton's store." I whispered back, unable to stop the shudder.
"Wait here and I will go and have a look. Stay in your room, by your window." Paul instructed.
"My dad?" I asked.
"In bed a sleep, he came home about an hour after we went to bed."
I nodded, before Paul left the room. I sat down in the chair next to the window, I watched as Paul walked across the back yard and into the forest. Seconds later, he walked back out of the trees now in his wolf form.
I watched, not moving as Paul slipped back into the forest. It seemed hours later when Paul, back in his human form walked back out of the forest. He ran across the yard before coming back inside.
Seconds later he was in my room, closing the door quietly before kneeling down in front of me.
"Bella other than today, have you ever had that feeling before of being watched?" Paul asked.
"No, why?"
"There was a fresh scent out in the forest, this was a new scent not the same as earlier today."
"And the howl?" I asked.
"It was supposed to have been a warning for me; Sam smelt it near the outskirts of the Reservation."
"What does this mean?" I asked, looking out the window before getting up and sitting on my bed.
"At the moment nothing, there are nobody missing. No bodies have been discovered, so it could just be a bloodsucker passing through. The patrol schedule will be changed, and we never forget the scent of each individual bloodsucker so if it comes back will recognise it straight away."
I nodded, before I climbed back under the blankets, shortly followed by Paul as he opened my bedroom door again. Remembering my dad's rules, even though we were only friends the door had to stay open.
"Now try to sleep, I'm here nothing and nobody will be able to get in here." Paul whispered, as he pulled me into his arms.
"Says the person who didn't hear his pack mate." I replied, rolling over so my back was to Paul's front.
"It wasn't the normal trouble is coming howl, so my wolf ignored it."
I closed my eyes, and with Paul's arms wrapped around me I soon fell asleep, feeling safe and protected. Putting any thoughts of vampires out of my mind for now, Paul had repeatedly told me not to worry about something unless it's worth worrying about, and unless it was a life or death situation it wasn't worth worrying about.
