Author's Note:

Heh. ;)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Twilight, only this plot and my OCs. Even Tommy. Yeah, you heard me.

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Payback and a Movie

I snuck into the house, peering around each corner to make sure Al wasn't there to pounce on me at first sign of weakness. All of the lights were off, hinting that the house was vacant, but I wouldn't put it past her to do something as devious as that when she wants revenge.

I flipped the light switch with a sharp flick of the wrist, my eyes darting to every dark corner to make sure that there wasn't some hired assassin waiting to get me within clutch. It was quiet except for the pitter-patter of the soft rain hitting the rooftop. After fifteen minutes of very thorough inspection—my room was left untouched, so I know she must be waiting for the perfect revenge—I was satisfied and convinced that I was safe.

With a confident bounce in my step, I walked into the living room and plopped down onto the couch with remote in hand and surfed the channels. Spongebob? Seen all of the episodes. The Cosby Show? Eh. Not in the mood. House? Hell yeah. Give me a good dose of Hugh Laurie any day, and I would be a happy girl.

Two hours past, and Al still wasn't home. I looked lazily over to the digital clock and was dismayed that it was only seven o'clock. I had plenty of time to kill, but how?

The guys worked today, and that meant I couldn't harass them over Emily's, which wasn't any fun. I couldn't risk getting caught in the tides of Emily and her hormones, because hormonal Emily with a spoon firmly attached—and I suspected super glued—to her hand didn't exactly appeal to me, either.

I groaned loudly, the sound reverberating off of the walls. What was I supposed to do when my friend was patching up her love life and the guys were off doing who wants to know what with car parts?

There was a loud noise, and I jumped. It came again, and this time I felt it…in my stomach. My stomach howled again, and I blushed. It wasn't everyday I was taken unaware by my own body.

I pulled myself off of the couch, all but dragging myself towards the kitchen. I mumbled nonsensical words to myself, taking the advantage that no one was around to be able to witness and testify my psychosis. Sweet.

I shook my hips slightly, humming a boppy tune. What to eat, what to eat?

I made my way to the refrigerator, licking my lips in anticipation. I knew for a fact that there was chocolate cake in here that was still good, and I was intent on devouring every last crumb of it. My hand was right on the handle of the door when the phone started to ring.

I grumbled every step I made towards the phone. Why, oh why must the fates think it would be funny to have someone call me right when I was about to satiate my hunger? How cruel. I grabbed the phone and placed it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered, examining my nails.

"Hey, Cass," Paul greeted. "What's up?" I immediately perked up, and I lifted myself onto the kitchen counter.

"Nothing much. Today has been…eventful up until a few hours ago, but then it just got boring." I grumbled, not entirely keeping the whine out of my voice. Paul chuckled huskily.

"What was so eventful?"

"Oh, Al just needed some encouraging to call Embry." I said, crossing my legs and leaning back to stare at the ceiling.

"She called Embry?" he asked, sounding relieved. "How on earth did you manage something like that?"

"Oh, you know, just the usual charm, grace, intellect," I gloated jokingly, and Paul laughed. "Just joking. I actually ransacked Al's closet and put on her old high school cheerleading uniform and pompoms and cheered her on."

"I wish I could've saw that," he said. "And what happened after that?" I bit my lip, a little reluctant.

"Um, I was very nearly attacked by Al when she saw that I destroyed her closet." There was a quiet pause on the other line as Paul registered what I had just said.

"How did you manage to do that?"

"Well, see, I needed pompoms and they were very high up on a shelf in her closet, and I needed to get them down somehow, so I threw her geography book at it and it broke the shelf in half. Shut up, Paul. It's not funny." I snarled when all I could hear over the phone was Paul laughing.

I waited patiently for five minutes as his laughter slowly subsided into chuckles.

"Cassie, sometimes I worry about you." He teased, and I rolled my eyes. "But, there is something I wanted to ask you when I called."

"Sure, Paul. What did you want?" I picked myself off of the counter, heading over to fridge. I could talk and eat at the same time, so what was the point in starving myself?

"Well, I was just thinking…" Paul's voice was strangled, and he trailed off.

"Yeah?" I asked, opening the refrigerator door, and then my world came crashing down. All conversation was drowned out, and I nearly dropped the phone in shock.

"Oh my God." I whispered.

"Wait, what?" Paul asked, confused.

"Oh my God!" I shrieked.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked, and I could hear worry laced into his tone.

"She took it, Paul! She took it!" I was so close to crying that it was pathetic, but Al planned her revenge well.

"Who took what?"

"Al took…she took…"

"What? What did she take?"

"The cake!" I howled. There was a pause on the end of the line, and when Paul finally spoke, he kind of sounded angry. "That's it? That's what all of this is about?"

"Of course not, Paul! Not only did she take the cake, she took everything that contains sugar, the only thing that sustains me!" It was true; there wasn't any coke, kool-aid, sweet tea, or anything. Just water. Blech.

"Did you check the cabinets?" he asked, and I could've kissed him. I ran over to the cabinets, praying for a miracle. I swung open the doors, and was met with a depressing sight. It was vacant of cookies, cupcakes, potato chips, and anything that was delicious. There was a note, though, and I picked it up.

Payback is a bitch, Cass.

Love, Al

"Is there anything left in the cabinets, Cassie?" Paul asked, and I groaned.

"Nothing that can be deemed edible, just a note from Al."

"What does it say?"

"'Payback is a bitch, Cass. Love, Al'. But, I already learned that lesson from Quil, Paul! This just isn't fair!" I whined, and Paul laughed.

"I think I can solve this problem. I'll be over in a few minutes."

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There was a knock at the door, and I all but ran to open the door. Of course it was Paul, but he was carrying several heavy-looking plastic bags that were filled with junk food. "Paul!" I greeted, placing my feet on top of his and latching my arms gratefully around his waist. He chuckled, and walked us to the living room.

Paul set the bags onto the floor, and hugged me back. "You're an Angel of Mercy, Paul." I sat, stepping off of him and peered at the bags. There were cans of coke and soda, potato chips, and all forms of sugar. Paul bent down to one of the bags and grabbed three DVD cases out.

"I thought we could watch a few movies, I mean, if you want." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Of course I want to. What do you have?" I prayed to God that it wasn't anything scary. But, as he held them up for me to look at, I was relieved to see that there wasn't anything horrific on the covers.

"Which one do you want to watch?" He asked, and I surveyed the titles.

"'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.' Is that okay with you?" I looked up at him. He smiled, and nodded. I took it from him and popped it into the DVD player. It whirred to life, and I grabbed the remote off of the television set.

Paul was already on the couch, and I sat down beside him. He dragged the bags to us, and I grabbed a soda out of one while he grabbed a large bag of Doritos out. As the movie started, I turned off the lamplight and settled in beside Paul.

The electricity crackled between us, and I shifted just a little away from him, not enough for him to notice. And, no matter how hard I tried to push away the thought, I couldn't help but wonder: was this sexual frustration? I blushed a tomato red, and I was immediately glad that the lights were off. Stupid Tommy for putting that into my mind! He was most certainly not getting the cheerleading outfit now.

"Hey, are you okay?" Paul asked, and I couldn't help but to blush brighter. There was that intense look in his eyes again, and I couldn't frame a coherent thought around him when he did that. I nodded my head mutely, forcing myself to stare at the screen.

No matter how hard I tried to watch the movie, I couldn't help but be aware of how close me and Paul were, and that if I moved just the tiniest bit…

I forced the thought out of my head, and focused on Brad Pitt's face. It was rather sad, especially how their love was damned from the beginning. It made me think about Embry and Al, and how they were coping. How would Al act when she came home?

"Damn, Cass. How much of my chips are you going to eat?" Paul teased, and I became aware that I had absent-mindedly eaten about half the chips in the bag. I withdrew my hand, blushing madly, and mumbled my apologies. Paul laughed.

"I was just joking, Cass. You can have it, if you want." He said, looking abashed. I smiled at him, and took more chips. I turned back to the movie, and Paul placed his long arm around the back of the couch, his hand barely a few centimeters away from my shoulder.

After a minute, I finally got caught up in the movie, and by the end of the movie, I was moved so closely to tears. Oh, God. Don't cry, please, God, I'm begging you. Don't cry…

"Are you crying?" Paul asked softly. Damn! I rubbed my eyes and I could feel the traitorous tears that had slipped out. "No," I said stubbornly. "I have something in my eyes, is all." My voice cracked, and I cursed quietly. Paul wrapped my in his arms, and I laid my head on his chest. His hot hands rubbed up and down on my back gently, then moved in smooth circles.

"If you don't won't me to collapse into a pool of tears, I suggest you distract me." I advised quietly. It took a minute before he replied.

"Did Allison tell you what time she was coming back?" Paul asked, and I felt thankful for the topic change.

"She said late, maybe some time in the early morning. Paul? You don't think they're going to, you know, do it, do you?" I asked, and Paul laughed underneath me.

"I highly doubt it, Cass."

"That sounds good. Hey, Paul?" I asked as my mind flashed to earlier.

"Yeah?"

"Earlier on the phone, you said you called to ask me something. What did you want to ask, exactly?" Paul tensed under me, and his arms tightened their hold.

"Can we talk about something else?" he asked, his voice sounding choked. I looked up at his guarded expression suspiciously.

"Come on, Paul. You can tell me." I coaxed, and he relaxed a little, but not much. I could tell he was definitely nervous, and my mind flashed back to what Tommy had said earlier. Dammit! Get out of my head!
"I called," he said, clearing his throat uneasily. "To…"

"To…?" I asked, waiting for him to answer.

"To…ask you to the bonfire Saturday night." He was tense again, and at first I didn't understand why. It was just a bonfire, right? What was so upsetting about…it… Then it clicked. He was asking me to go with him.

"Like a date?" I tried to ask in a casual manner, but failed miserably. He nodded his head, a desolate expression on his face, like he was afraid that I would reject him. Would I reject him? Should I? Could I?

"I'd love to go, Paul." I said, hiding my face in his shoulder. It was the truth, and that was putting it lightly. I couldn't help but feel overjoyed, and I didn't know where it was coming from. But, I was also feeling overwhelmingly shy, and I didn't want him to see the renewed tears in my eyes.

Paul hugged tighter, and he placed his face on top of my hair, breathing in deeply. He laughed slightly, and I knew he must have been really nervous about asking me.

"How long have you been waiting to ask me?" I asked quietly, and Paul chuckled again, this time sounding more on the sad side.

"A while," was all he said, and I smiled. A while. Right now, those were the two most beautiful words I had ever heard. Sexual frustration? No. I had a feeling that this was something much, much more powerful than that.

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It was past eleven now, and Paul said he had to go meet Sam and the guys down at the shop for some inventory or something. I was sad to see him go, but I knew I would see him again soon enough.

Paul headed towards the door, after having insisted that I kept the junk food, that he had too much of that at his house. I trailed after him, trying to force the put off of my face. I didn't want to come off as clingy already.

Paul stopped abruptly, and I almost bumped into him. I looked up at him, and he was looking at me strongly. He placed his hands on my shoulders, and before I could figure out what he was doing, his lips were on mine. My heartbeat spiked, and all the blood in my face rushed to my cheeks.

Unwittingly, I threw my arms around his neck enthusiastically and pressed myself against him. Paul chuckled, picking me up in his arms so that he wouldn't have to crane his neck downward to kiss me. After a minute, or ten, I pulled back for breath, and Paul did the same. Not wanting to come off porno, I disentangled myself from his arms, ignoring his pout. I was a bit shaky, and I had to grab onto the wall for support. Wow.

"That's what I was thinking." Paul teased, kissing me chastely once more on the lips. "I'll see you Saturday night, say, around seven?" I nodded my head, already feeling depressed. Paul cupped my cheek in a large hand, and I automatically leaned into it.

"It's only until Saturday," Paul reassured me softly.

"Yeah, three days away." I grumbled, and Paul laughed.

"Good night, Cassie." Paul said, and I stretched on tiptoes to kiss him again.

"Night." I mumbled against his lips.

Five minutes later, Paul and I untangled from each other, panting lightly. I laughed, grinning. "I hope we don't turn into one of those couples who have to tell each other goodbye for ten minutes."

Paul grinned, too. "I wouldn't mind it, though." He reached down to give me one more kiss before leaving. I walked up the stairs into my room, where I had a feeling that I would spend the whole night hyperventilating.

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Okay, SO, I finally got Paul and Cassie together ['bout freaking time], and hopefully their kissing didn't come out too porno. Cassie kind of went Bella on Paul, but no way was I having Paul do an Edward on her and pull away. Nun-uh, girlfriend.

Damn, Invisible Truths got first review AGAIN. You go, girlfriend. ;)

Pocket-93: I'm afraid I've got big plans for Tommy, and he's not exactly going to be single when I'm done with this story. Gah, I'm sorry!

alyse: I'm glad I can make you happy, but don't be surprised if I can't update over the weekends. I'm sorry! :(

iluvshim: Yeah, Tommy's kind of like a mixture of Cassie and the guys, in a way. I love Tommy, too. Hope to hear from you!

Yodes: I've got, like, six other stories forming in my head, and sadly not all of them will have a dippy main character like Cassie. So, please don't poke me with your spoon o' death! :o

taybaybay: Thank you very much. Hopefully you'll like this chapter, too. :D

ThexWorld'sxAxBrokenxBone: Nice to finally hear from you. Cassie will definitely be meeting at least one Cullen in this story. I don't think she'll meet the WHOLE family, because that would kind of be packing it in. And as for Tommy, he just has a crush on Cassie. Nothing major like how Jacob felt about Bella. I really don't want a whole 'Eclipse' war breaking out between Paul and Tommy.

Gryffindor Gurl2: Thank you very uber much. When do I not hear from you? ;D

VampireNinjaK14: Oh my gosh. I just love Emmett! He and Jasper were always my two favorites. -wink wink- Aren't happy dances the best kind of dances? I always do one when I see reviews. :)

Anonymous (x2): I think a cheerleading outfit on Tommy would be smexay. Just kidding. Thanks for reviewing so awesomely [twice!]

Starkissedtulip: You finally reviewed! YES! One down, a million more to go...But Tommy WILL get together with someone by the end of the story. And he will make that person hella lucky.

jjfad14: When I first made Tommy, I was thinking about turning him gay. I seriously did. And I'm still thinking about it, though I think I'll just keep him straight. Thanks for reviewing!

PS: You guys totally kicked ass this time. Thirteen reviews for ONE chapter! Woo!

Okay, so please press the pretty 'review' button, and make me happy! 8D