AN: Hello! Here is the next chapter of my Paul story. The next chapter is going to have a lot of Anna and Paul, so yay! :D I dunno when, or if, Anna is going to meet the vampires because Paul really doesn't like them, but I'm thinking about it. Thank you for all the reviews and thanks for reading! :D Enjoy.
Chapter Four
Finally
The rest of Friday and Saturday were hard for me. I was still on overprotective mode and trying to function away from Anna surpassed difficult and teetered on impossible. During patrols I would run to where ever she was without thinking. I could sense her better than anyone else, even my brothers. Before her I could smell them for miles without trying but now they kind of blended into the background and the only scent that stood out was Anna. Even when I was just driving I would find myself drifting toward her location.
Emily kept me as busy as she could and I was thankful for that. It didn't help all that much, but it was something. I was going crazy all of Saturday so as soon as the sun was down and my patrol was done I was right at Anna's shed.
As soon as I saw her pensive face buried in a book I was instantly relieved. It was late, really late, so I was a little surprised that she was still awake but it is the weekend. I appreciated it though, I couldn't bear to watch her have another nightmare. I only allowed myself to watch her until she started yawning, then I forced myself to run in the opposite direction. Even if it made me feel like I was going against every thing in my nature. Leaving her is a lot like trying to stop my heart from beating and trust me, its more difficult then it sounds.
I made it back to my house but I only made it to the table in the kitchen before I dropped down and started bashing my head on the wooden surface, gripping the sides as I did.
"Paul Robert Woodburn, if you break that table, you will be putting it back together." I heard my mother chide me harshly. I let my head fall once more and left it on the table. Mom walked right up to me and picked my face up and examined me. "You look horrible." She said bluntly and set my head back on the table.
"I feel horrible." I grumbled, knowing I would have to elaborate what I meant.
Mom brushed her fingers through my hair like I was a kid again. "Just remember, you can pick her up tomorrow at nine and have her to yourself for a few hours." She said knowingly.
"Where are you gonna be?" I asked confused. She already told me she wanted to meet him.
"Out, I'm not going to cramp my son's style." She said with a wink.
I rolled my eyes tiringly. "I thought you wanted to meet her." I asked with a raised brow.
"I am, I'm just not staying." She answered, still looking a little too devious for my tastes.
I smiled weakly anyway. "Thanks Mom," I mumbled.
"You're welcome," She said as she bowed down and kissed the top of my head. "There's a meatloaf in the fridge for you and please try to get some sleep, I don't mind where." She said firmly.
I knew she was hinting about where I've been sleeping as of late. "Night," I breathed. She gave me a pointed look before disappearing down the hallway to her room. When I heard her door shut I stood and got the meatloaf out of the fridge.
It was still in the baking pan and hadn't been touched at all. I didn't bother heating it up and just started taking chunks out of it. I was only halfway through it when I felt grogginess take over my brain. I felt like I was going to slip into a coma I was so tired. I shoveled down the rest of the meatloaf and staggered to my room.
I had barely spent any time in my room since I imprinted on Anna and truthfully I didn't want to be here, but my sudden tiredness already won out as I dropped onto my bed and closed my eyes. It wasn't even five seconds later and I was fast asleep.
Next thing I know I'm opening my eyes and the sun is up. I jumped out of my bed, freaking out and scrambling for my clock. Eight fifteen. FUCK! I wanted to be there early! Okay, so I wanted to stalk the area out three hours before she even showed up and be there when she got there so she wasn't waiting.
I tore off the clothes I had on and threw on a plain black shirt and jeans. I barely grabbed my shoes in time while I ran out of my room. Bolting down the hallway my mother's voice stopped me mid-stride.
"What's the rush?" She asked confused, taking in my disheveled state.
"I'm meeting her at nine!" I yelled at her while I took the time I had to actually get my shoes on. She made a guilty face and became extremely interested with her cereal. I know that look. My mother only gets that look when she's done something bad. "What did you do?" I demanded.
"I may have put half a bottle of sleeping pills in the meatloaf." She muttered under her breath which really didn't help her since I could hear her from outside the house.
"What?!" I bellowed angrily. Not to the point where I was shaking, oddly that hasn't happened outside of situations involving Anna since I imprinted.
"You weren't sleeping! I wanted you to be rested for this, so I drugged you a little." She said trying to justify drugging her only child.
"A little?" I asked bluntly. Half a bottle isn't a little! Truthfully I'm a little surprised it worked…
"You barely slept anyway." She scoffed rolling her eyes.
"I'll deal with you later." I told her with a pointed finger before I swiped up my keys and stalked out, forcing myself not to slam the door.
Not only do I have to deal with being a werewolf, imprinting on a girl that lives miles away but also my bat-shit crazy mother drugging me randomly. Fucking wonderful. When I was in my truck I revved the engine and peeled out of my driveway. Sure the drive to Forks is supposed to twenty to twenty-five minutes and the fact that I made it in nine minutes and fifty-five seconds is probably more than a little insane.
The little convenience store at the corner of Anna's street was filled with teenagers. They all looked at me like I was an alien from Mars or something when I pulled up and parked near the street. I didn't have to wait long before Anna came walking out of the store with a cup of coffee in her hands and her head down.
My heart leaped just seeing her while my stomach dropped seeing she got here before me. I really wanted her for as long as I could and dammit if I was here sooner I would have had a little more time. I easily jumped out of my truck and walked around to the passenger side door to wait for her.
While she walked to my truck the idiot teenagers looked like they were thinking about trying something but stopped when they looked at me. That's right shit-heads, do anything to my imprint and I will skin you.
Anna got to the truck and looked up at me through her hair, which was down and smelling too intoxicating, a little confused. "You're early." She noted, her hazel eyes looking so much more alive now. Sure, over half an hour but if I had my way it would have been hours. But she doesn't need to know that.
"So are you." I countered, smirking a little. She dropped eye contact then and I almost pouted.
The teenagers yelled something I didn't pay attention too but it made Anna flinch. Sadly I did not have the time to kill them without her noticing. "We should go." She said tensely. I looked over my shoulder to the fuck-faces and glared at them, making one squeal and two look away so fast they crashed into someone else. And that's a job well done.
I opened the door for her and she flung herself in before I could offer my hand. I closed the door behind her and walked to the driver's side. When I got in my seat, looking over to make sure Anna was comfortable, which she didn't at all, the teenagers had disappeared into the store.
"Can I ask why you agreed to help me?" I asked suddenly while I looked over to her. She was looking at the teenagers cars nervously and I had a strong feeling this whole thing had something to do with a combination of her parents and the teenagers.
"I need help with my car." She answered simply. Still not looking me in the eye. She is a really bad liar.
"That it?" I asked, prodding slightly. I didn't want to push her, but I was curious.
She sighed and finally looked at me, her blue-brown eyes looking a little guilty. Like there's anything she can do that would make me want her less. "And maybe I wanted the people in the area to see me with a huge Quileute and then they would possibly leave me alone." She added, wincing a little.
Her logic was pretty dead on. People tended to stay away from anyone that had huge friends that were more violent than not. "I could run them over, they can't bug you if they can't walk." I offered grinning.
She laughed and it seemed to be something that surprised her because she stopped quickly and looked a little bewildered. It was my new mission to make her laugh again because I haven't felt that good in a long time. If ever. I wasn't angry that I didn't show up sooner and I wasn't even pissed at my mother for drugging me. Her cute little laugh took everything away.
"They'd still manage in a wheelchair." She told me with a bemused half-smile.
I wouldn't put it passed those assholes. "Well, can't say I didn't try." I sighed before speeding out of the parking lot.
The drive was quiet and I didn't mind at all. Would I have liked to hear my imprints voice? Yes. But I was thankful to have her next to me, I wasn't going to get picky. She stared out at the window, just like last time, but she seemed more curious than nervous and that let me relax a little. Of course I still felt bad that I had to expose her to my mother. And I just got over being late. She's going to have to laugh constantly in order for me to get some of this guilt off my shoulders.
When I pulled into my driveway, in front of my small but clean and orderly house, Anna examined it with the tiniest smile on her perfect lips. "Its small, but its home." I told her smiling to myself as I watched her.
She looked to me and tried to smile a little more, but it wasn't genuine. It pulled all my heart strings. Ironically all were dedicated to her anyway. She hopped out of the car and I had to scramble to follow. She was tiny, but fast. We got to the door and I let her in and of course, my mother was waiting, with a tray of hotdogs.
"Hello, you must be Anna." Mom said shaking Anna's hand before she even got into the house. She was smiling so big I thought her face was going to crack in half.
"Anna, this is my mom Dana." I introduced quickly, glaring at my mother.
"Hopefully you'll have better luck with math than I did with him." She laughed awkwardly. Anna and I both stared at my mom with a loss for words and she got the hint rather quickly and rushed the tray to the dining room table, grabbing her purse that was hanging on the chair. "I'll leave these for you, eat up all you like, there is more in the oven you'll need to take out in a few, I've got some errands to run and I'll be back in a few hours." She said rushing back up to me and kissing my cheek soundly. "Love you," She rushed before dashing out the door, shutting it behind her.
"She's a little strange, but she'd be boring if she wasn't." I tried to explain. Anna chuckled a little and while it wasn't the laugh she had before, it was at least something and I felt a little lighter on my feet. We walked to the dining room and I pointed to the hotdogs. "Want one?" I asked.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry." She said shaking her head, looking a little sick.
"You're not a vegetarian are you?" I asked suspiciously. What cruel world would it be if I imprinted on a vegetarian?
She snorted at that. "No, I just already ate."
"Ah," I said a little relieved before I grabbed a hotdog and ate three-quarters of it in one bite.
"These your books?" I asking pointing to the stack next to the bowl of cheetos I'm sure my mother put there before I got back. I nodded since my mouth was full and she sat next to them and started flipping through the pages.
Normally in school my teachers couldn't get me to pay attention long enough to learn anything, but three hours with Anna and I was a math genius. Well, probably not, but I passed the practice quiz from the book on my first try, only missing three which is a lot better than I normally did. I was pretty damn amazed I was able to concentrate too with Anna sitting so close, but apparently she helps my concentration as much as she hinders it. This imprinting thing is strange.
After I answered the hardest question in the chapter Anna deemed I was ready for the make-up test on Monday. She was smiling proudly as she starting collecting her papers and that beautiful smile she had slowly faded away. I really didn't want to give her up just yet, so I brought up her car.
"You want me to look at your car today?" I asked trying not to let too much hope fill my voice.
"Do you want to?" She asked looking up at me from the papers.
I had to bite my tongue to make sure I didn't let slip the little fact that I would do anything with her and for her. "Yeah, I've got nothing to do." I said somewhat casually.
That gorgeous smile she had started to lose came right back. "Alright, it's at a garage in Forks." She said a little lighter.
"We can tow it back here, if that's okay with you?" I offered.
She nodded. "That's fine, it'll make it easier." She said with a small shrug.
This drive to Forks took me the twenty minutes it was supposed to. We didn't talk again and I still didn't mind. She had relaxed to such a point where she was leaning against the door and even looked in my general direction a few times. It might not seem like a lot of progress, but to me it is. She directed me to the garage close to the high school, which was once again frequented by teenagers.
When they saw her in my truck I could tell they were going to start picking on her as soon as something came to mind, but when I got of my truck and walked around to let her out, they all blanched and watched in shock. Anna didn't notice, or at least didn't care, because she glided right passed them and walked to the one garage door that was closed. She pulled her keys from her bag and unlocked the door and I pushed it up before she could and I was met with a wonder.
A tattered and beaten dark blue 1970 Dodge Challenger looked back and me and watching my imprint walk up to her car and lay her hands lovingly on it almost made me cry. It was just so beautiful. "Wow," I breathed, walking deeper into the garage. "Where did you get it?" I asked in shock as I started to examine of the body.
"It's a long story." She said biting her lip. I didn't push the subject but I wasn't going to forget it. She popped the hood and I quickly peeked under it.
Under the hood was a mess. Half the parts were missing and the parts that were there looked like they were shit. "Oh man, this thing is in need of some serious TLC." I winced. Who would do such a thing to this beauty?
"Is it fixable?" She asked hopefully.
"Yeah, but its gonna take a while." I said putting my head under the hood so Anna couldn't see the huge smile that took over my face. To get this thing running with only three days a week would take months. All that time with my imprint. I'm going to be a happy werewolf.
"Are you sure you want to take it on?" She asked quietly, her eyes filled with pleading.
Again, I had to stop myself from screaming, and bouncing like a kid on Christmas. "Yeah, I love a challenge." I answered with a smirk.
"Thanks," She smiled shyly.
"Hey, you're putting up with my lack of intelligence when it comes to Algebra, I'm glad to help." I laughed. I was actually able to say that without biting my tongue about something.
"Do you need help hooking it up?" She asked quickly.
"Sure," I said still smiling.
Getting the car attached to my truck didn't take much but the teenagers decided to gather around and watch, making Anna so nervous she almost tripped and fell while walking to her seat. Luckily I was on the same side of the car so when I reached out with slightly inhuman speed and caught her, it wasn't too suspicious.
I didn't care about any of that though, because I had my imprint in my arms. Her face was beet red and her eyes looked a little panicked but she was still there. I never wanted her to leave my arms but she started to squirm in my hold and I knew I had to let her stand on her own two feet.
"You okay?" I asked swallowing the strong urge to take her back into my arms.
She nodded fervently and tucked her hair behind her ear before bolting to her seat.
I took in a deep breath and finished hitching the car before climbing back into my truck. Anna had lost the relaxing stance she had and I was still resisting the strong urge to just pull her into my lap and drive to a secluded corner of nowhere. God it's going to be a long day…
AN: Review!