I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I hope that you all like it. Please give me any feedback that you have! Sorry it's pretty short, I'm trying :) Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Let me know what you think, please. Enjoy!

-Storm Clouds

Aria decided to start from the beginning, for some reason, going to the root of everything. "I'm sixteen, almost seventeen." She started. "I had an older sister, she was three years older. After she had my sister, my mom was really depressed. She was on different medications and stuff and was handling it, and then she got pregnant with me. The medications weren't safe for her to be on pregnant, so she came off them and she was fine. She wanted to breastfeed, so she still stayed off of them once I was born. But she was hiding horrible depression." Aria said quietly. "She hung herself when I was two months old."

"Oh my Gosh," Paul murmured, humbled and quiet as opposed to his normal boisterous self.

"Yea," She said. "Shay remembered her, it's always been harder on her...and my dad. My father's never forgiven me."

"But it's not your fault," Paul said, not understanding, hearing the hurt in her voice and needing to take it away.

"He saw differently," She shrugged. "My whole life has been him trying to shut me out, and my sister trying her hardest to bring me in. I never had him, but I always had her for everything. She was the only family I had, and...she's gone." Aria whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, waiting for the onslaught of memories to come...but they never did. "This is the part that'll make you think I'm crazy." She said, looking up at him. "I watched my sister and closest friend get murdered, mutilated, in front of my eyes by some vampire human hybrid things." She spoke the words outloud for the first time in a long time. She looked at him, waiting for him to lough, look at her with that look, get up and leave.

But, he nodded. "Ok. I don't think you're crazy, Aria. I think it's awful that you had to witness that, and it's amazing you are sane." He said. He wanted to tell her that what had murdered her sister and friend hadn't been vampire human hybrids, just vampires. He wanted to tell her that he knew a vampire human hybrid - Nessie. He wanted to tell her that when she imagined vampire, she shouldn't imagine dracula, but the things that she saw, and he wanted to tell her Bella and Edward weren't harmful, because five years later, he had to admit the Cullens were good. But most of all, he wanted to hold her and tell her not to be afraid, that it would be ok. But he couldn't. Not yet.

"My father thought I was crazy," She said after a moment, "He put me in the psych ward for a month. That was when I finally realized if I wanted to get out, I had to lie. So I said I was making it up. Shay and Melissa's bodies were never found, there was no evidence, so they were listed as missing persons. I can't even bury my sister, because there's nothing to bury. Everyone has this fantasy that she and Mel will show up, perfectly ok, but I live with the truth, the awful truth."

"How did you get away?" Paul asked softly, hesitantly taking her hand. She looked up at him, surprised at the outreach, and his hot temperature, but she didn't pull away. The comfort felt good, however unexpected it was, and she was freezing.

"They said they weren't thirsty," She said, sounding scared, "That they'd come back for me sometime."

"Nothing will hurt you here," He said before he could stop himself. "I promise." So she wouldn't ask questions, he went on, asking, "Why did you come to Forks?"

Aria had been dreading that question, knowing any interest he had in her would fly out the window when she told him. But, she couldn't bring herself to lie, and she knew nothing would come of it.

"About a month ago I was with a girl I know, we hang out sometimes, and we went to this party. I was scared and lost, and I just...I wasn't acting like what I normally do and I drank a little and I...this guy I've known for a long time used that to his advantage." She said. Paul was taking measured, deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. He couldn't phase in front of her, he couldn't hurt her, he had to calm down. He couldn't make this guy pay. "I just recently...I found out I was...I'm pregnant," She struggled to say it, never having actually said it outloud. She showed her dad the test, and he'd blown up because she didn't know how to say it. Now that she did, it felt so real.

Deep down, Paul knew that if this was any other girl, he'd back off, his interest would disappear. Even if it wasn't her fault, even if he had nothing against teen moms, he never would want to be in a relationship with one. But with her, the thought of leaving her wasn't even an option. He needed Aria in his life, he needed to help her and do anything for her, and the fact that she was pregnant didn't phase him at all.

"That must be hard to deal with," He sympathised, gently. "I'm sorry you've had to go through so much."

She was looking up at him now, a weird look on her face as she searched him. "Why do you look at me like that?" She asked after a moment, not looking away, unable to.

"Like what?" He asked, confused.

"Like you're seeing the light or something," She said, "Like I'm your reason to live and I'm holding you here. Like you love me. Why aren't you running? Why are you still here after my life story, after I told you I'm barely seventeen and pregnant? And why, after months of being plagued by awful memories and feeling lost, am I suddenly horror memory free and feel like I belong?"

He looked back at her for a long moment. She was observant, and best of all, she felt it too, their connection. She felt at ease and safe around him, like with him was where she belonged. He wanted to tell her everything, explain everything, but he knew he couldn't, not then or there. "I want to tell you why," He said after a moment, "Because there is an explanation. But I can't this second, not here. But the explanation won't seem real, when I first tell you. It'll seem weird and insane but...it's the truth."

She looked at him, and found herself unable to not trust him. "Ok," She nodded. "I can be open minded. I'm used to weird." She said, echoing what he'd said.

"Will you come with me?" Paul requested, "I can give you answers, if you do."

The terrified part of Aria, always deep down after what she'd witnessed was screaming at her to not go, but her heart and mind were both telling her she couldn't say no, that she had to, and so she nodded. "Sure."

She wasn't sure where this would lead, or why she trusted him so much without reason to, why she felt safe and real around him...but she was determined to find out.