Sorry for the long wait again! i've actually had the majority of this written for a while but haven't had a chance to add the finishing touches to it! not long left in this story and then i think i'll attempt an Embry/ Alicia one if your all still interested. The song at the end belongs to Thin Lizzy.
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I smirked to myself as Paul unconsciously raised his hand to pull at the collar of the shirt he had insisted on wearing. His hair had been tied back and he had even put a tie on for the occasion, making him look stuffy and formal, a look not suited to werewolves who were over six foot and extremely muscular and broad shouldered. Once inside the restaurant I nodded to the hostess and pulled Paul by the hand towards the large table in the corner of the upscale restaurant.
"I told you not to wear the tie." I reminded him as we sat down and he continued to tug at his collar.
"I want to make a good impression." He insisted for the fourth time in as many hours.
"I don't see why, it's not like they're going to leave you with a good impression of them." I muttered as I looked around.
My step mother had called the night before and informed me that Charlotte, my eldest step sister, had just gotten engaged and that the family was going out to celebrate in their favourite restaurant. With his stupid sensitive hearing, Paul had listened in on the entire conversation from the kitchen and insisted we join them. He wanted to meet my family, to see if they really were as bad as I made them out to be while I wanted to protect him from their snobbishness and condescending attitude. Although having a werewolf with me was comforting; if any of them pissed me off, I could always get Paul to eat them.
I smiled humourlessly at the thought and turned to Paul with a soft smile. He looked so uncomfortable in his suit, looking around the restaurant with a slightly vulnerable look on his face and I couldn't resist entwining our fingers on top of the table.
"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" He murmured, lifting my hand to his lips and kissing the back of it softly.
"You have but I could do with hearing it once more before the wicked step mother shows up and begins shredding my self confidence."
Paul shook his head and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, pulling my face up to his. "You're stunning. The most amazing, beautiful woman I have ever met. You funny and clever and you have the voice of an angel. If they can't see that then it's their loss and my gain because it means I have more time with you all for myself."
I could feel my insides melt as he kissed me slowly and intensely, his lips warm and soft against mine.
"Public displays of affection are so juvenile Abigail, please refrain."
I badly wanted to deepen the kiss, to wrap my fingers in Paul's hair and give them a floor show that would leave them reeling but I could feel him slowly pulling away.
Susan and my father stood behind me, a smirk on her face and a painful grimace on his. Charlotte and her new fiancé, Peter, were sitting at the table opposite us, lost in one another as they conversed quietly. Adrienne and her boyfriend of six years stood behind my dad and Susan, waiting to pass to get to their seats.
"I do apologise, Susan, but I couldn't resist. Paul's just such a damn good kisser that it's hard not to jump him." I told her with as sickly a sweet smile as I could manage. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and sat down next to my father, leaving Adrienne and Damien to sit on the other side of Paul.
"You're looking a little dishevelled." Susan sniffed down her nose at me before casting a critical eye over Paul. "Couldn't you have worn a nicer dress?"
"You must be Paul," Adrienne slid a hand out for him to shake, her eyes blatantly trailing over his body. "What did you do in a previous life that was so bad you got stuck with Abby in this one?"
"Oh Adrienne dear," Susan chuckled. "Don't tease your sister."
"I don't think she was teasing and she isn't my sister." I snapped before I could stop myself. What was it about these people that brought out the very worst in me? This was the first time I had faced them sober since I was about sixteen and I was beginning to regret letting Paul talk me out of the pre dinner drinks I had wanted to stop for.
"Abigail, is there any need for the hostility? Really?" Adrienne smirked at me, her dark eyes narrowing.
"When you're looking my boyfriend up and down like you want to devour him? Yeah, there is a real need for hostility." I smirked in triumph as she flushed in embarrassment and turned to Damien to whisper furiously, no doubt about how much of a liar I was.
"So, Paul, what is it you do?" Susan asked once the waitress had taken our orders and left again.
"I'm between jobs at the minute. I had a big… family emergency recently that didn't leave me with very much time to work so I had to quit." I slid my hand onto his leg and smiled up at him when he turned his gaze to me.
"Isn't that typical? She always attracts the no good scroungers." I heard Susan mutter to my father and I raised my head to glare at her. I saw Paul's face flush but couldn't tell if it was from anger or humiliation. Not that I cared because either way, I was not going to let her embarrass him like that. Not Paul.
"Why don't you try saying that a little louder, Susan? I don't think the people on the other side of the room heard you." I snapped at her. She turned to look at me, one perfectly plucked blonde eyebrow raised in a challenge.
"Really, Abigail, there is no need to be so rude." My father told me sternly.
"My name is Abby. It's not Abigail." I reminded him.
"Must you always be so dramatic?" Adrienne sighed with a roll of her eyes. "And what has you sober tonight? Aren't you usually tanked at this time of the night?"
It was only six thirty. I could see Charlotte and Peter beginning to pay attention to the table and bit my lip to stop my retort. This wasn't about me, it was about them. Charlotte had always gotten along with me, much better than her mother and sister had, and I respected her a hell of a lot more than either of them. I wanted to be happy for her and Peter; I didn't want to embarrass them in front of the people they spent their time with.
"No response? This is a first." Adrienne chuckled lightly. "I wish I'd brought a video camera."
"Are you always this much of a bitch or is this a special show because I'm here and you want to show off your not so razor sharp wit?"
I turned to gape at Paul as he glared at a speechless Adrienne. Damien glared at him, cracking his knuckles lightly and making my laugh.
"Yeah, sure Damien, as if you could take Paul. He could stand on you like the little bug that you are."
"That's enough." My father bit out. "Can't we have a nice family meal without all of this bickering. And, Paul was it? I would appreciate it if you didn't speak to my daughter like that."
That was it. I had had enough of this crap. Ten minutes into the meal and we were already at each other's throats. I turned to Paul, slipping my hand on to his now shaking arm and rubbing soothingly.
"She's not your daughter. I am… or I was at one point." I kept my eyes on Paul's as I stood up, pulling strength from his warmth and the feel of his arm as it slid around my waist. "But from now on, why don't we just pretend that we have nothing to do with each other? You're obviously ashamed of me and right now, I'm ashamed of you. You don't even know my damn name, dad. You never once bothered to call and ask why I showed up to all those dinners drunk. You have never defended me in a fight between me and Susan and you know what, I get that now. Obviously her and her perfect little twin girls are better for you and your reputation so why don't you consider yourselves a nice four-piece family now."
I gave them all one last disgusted look before following Paul towards the door. They were silently watching as I stopped behind Charlotte's chair.
"I'm happy for you two. Make sure you tell me where you've registered."
"I want you at the wedding, Abs." Charlotte murmured. I smiled sadly and shook my head.
"Even my ego can only take so many insults and snide remarks." I told her. "And tonight I've reached my limit." I glanced back up at my dad and shook my head.
"The reason my boyfriend is unemployed is because I nearly died. He gave up his job to look after me. He was the one who made sure I stayed alive. Where the hell where you?"
I walked away without a look back, slipping my arm through Paul's as we walked into the hot air. We were parked a few blocks away and we walked towards the car in silence.
"I'm sorry I made you go tonight." He murmured softly.
"I needed to do it." I told him. "I guess part of my always thought that at some point my dad would come to his senses and see how much of a bitch she is but I don't think he's ever going to. And I have my own family now. Who accept me for who I am and what I do." I smiled softly as he held open the car door for me and I climbed inside.
"The guys are at a barbecue at the beach, you want to head there?" I nodded and we drove in silence until we had left the city.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." I whispered, keeping my eyes on the road in front of us. "I should never have put you through it."
"Hey, I want to know everything about you and that includes wicked step mothers and ugly step sisters."
I chuckled at his words as he swung the car out of the restaurant's car park. We drove for a while with only the radio filling the silence; Paul kept his eyes on the road and his hand on my knee and I looked out the side window, wondering how it had all gone wrong. I hadn't wanted to go out tonight but once Paul had persuaded me to go I had convinced myself that it would be… bearable. Paul would be with me and I was sure that Susan and Adrienne would have backed off a little in the company of a stranger but of course not. Evil can't hide. And to think Paul considers himself a monster.
I snorted and shook my head, pulling my thoughts away from such a depressing topic. As far as I was concerned, me and that family were finished. I would change my number tomorrow on my lunch break and that would be the end of it. Of course my brain didn't listen to my rational side and I continued to pick at everything Susan and Adrienne had said that night, so much so that by the time we reached the beach in La Push I as thoroughly pissed off again.
Paul wrapped an arm around me as we headed towards the large bonfire on the cliff that the boys used to cliff dive. It was just beginning to get dark and I looked up at the clear sky, smiling at the sight of hundreds of twinkling stars.
"They don't hold a candle to you." Paul told me when he caught me staring. I grinned at him and leapt onto his back, laughing when he caught me easily and carried me up the steep climb that way. He sat me down when we got to the top with no sign of exertion or sweat and I reached up to kiss him softly before heading towards the scattering of logs and people. Paul headed towards Jacob and Sam, who were manning the barbecue.
I sat on a log by myself, ignoring the conversations that were going on around me as I stared into the bright flames, lost in thought. It wasn't until she cleared her throat that I even realised that Leah had sat down beside me and was giving me one of her sarcastic, 'I'm about to make fun of you', smiles.
"Penny for them?"
"Isn't it a cent?"
"What?" She looked confused and I chuckled.
"Well, we always say a penny for your thoughts but we don't deal in pennies, so shouldn't it be a cent for your thoughts?"
"Okay…" She drew the word out for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Anyway, a cent for them?"
I laughed and she grinned at me. Leah's joking, playful side was usually kept well under wraps when she was surrounded by the rest of the pack and I was grateful that she was willing to come out of her shell to cheer me up.
"Dinner with the folks didn't go so well."
"Yeah?"
"Yep. She called Paul a scrounger… as if I have anything to scrounge. I told my dad that I almost died and that Paul was the one who saved me and that we should just pretend we don't exist to each other from now on."
Repeating it now, outside of the restaurant and without the protection of my angry haze, it felt so much more final. Could I really spend the rest of my life without seeing my dad? As flawed as he was, he was still my father.
"Dude, that's… kinda intense." She muttered. I nodded in agreement and we sat in silence for awhile.
"You know what we should do?"
"What?" I asked, looking at Leah in confusion. She had this huge smile on her face and her eyes were lit up. "Dude, what is up with you tonight?"
"I imprinted!" She blurted out. "On a guy that started working with me yesterday. He's amazing!"
"Wow! Leah that's amazing. Congratulations!" I hugged her as she giggled into my shoulder. "When can I meet him?"
"Well that's the thing, I want to ease him into this. I don't want to overwhelm him suddenly with all this wolf talk. He's taking me out tomorrow night and then I was thinking of inviting him to Sam and Emily's anniversary party next week to meet everyone."
"Yay, I can't wait to meet him." She beamed at me and I smiled.
"It's put everything into perspective, you know? I don't think I can ever fully forgive Sam and Emily for what they did but at least now I knew he couldn't resist. I have never felt anything as powerful as what I feel for him."
"I'm happy for you Leah. Hey, how's Alicia taking the whole imprinting thing?"
Leah groaned and shook her head.
"Yeah, turns out she has a serious boyfriend. Embry is not best pleased. I've never heard of the guy until Alicia asked me if I could tell Embry to stop stalking her."
I giggled and shook my head as Leah chuckled. "Maybe she's making him up as an excuse?"
"Maybe. We should find out before Embry drives us all insane with his whining."
Paul approached us then, taking my hand and pulling me up. I waved goodbye to a still smiling Leah and followed him down the cliff.
"You're gonna marry me, right?"
I stared up at him in shock, a smile slowly spreading across my face. He had led us onto the beach and the setting was so absolutely perfect for a proposal that I half thought I was dreaming. The moonlight lit up the sand until it was almost silver and it light a path across the water. There was a slight cool breeze that lifted my hair away from my skin and I shivered from both it and the intensity in Paul's eyes.
"Is that some sort of proposal?" I asked with a soft grin. He shrugged, his eyes fathomless as he watched my face.
"It's a proposal to propose. I want to do it right, with a ring and all. I just need to know for sure that you're going to be mine forever."
The possessive intent in his voice should have bothered me but it didn't. It made me shudder with acute pleasure and reach up and wrap my arms around his neck.
"Sorry to say you're stuck with me." I told him. He wrapped his hands around my waist and swayed me to invisible music. I grinned at him and twirled under his arm, singing softly as he dipped me until my hair touched the sand. This was exactly how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. Paul had turned a completely forgetful, horrible night into something sweet and romantic and utterly perfect. What else could I ask for?
But I'm dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
It's alright, alright
Dancing in the moonlight
On this long hot summer night