AN: Hi! Fist thing you guys are going to notice is this chapter is in Anna's POV!! I know I said I wasn't going to do it for a while but I think Anna's thoughts of all of this were needed. I'll probably be doing this every ten chapters. Also, I'm participating in two fic challenges so I probably won't be updating until I've finished the fics. Oh and the biggest news of all, Save Her was nominated for a Howling Wolf Award!!! http://thehowlingwolfawards(dot)webs(dot)com/voting(dot)htm Go there to vote!!!! Its nominated for two categories so vote in both. :) Enjoy as always!

Chapter Eleven

Different Situation

(Anna's POV)

I had never woken up in anyone else's house. I was always in my shed, on my small cot, usually shaking from a nightmare. But this time was completely different. I'm normally wide awake when I do get woken up but the only thing that would move was my eyes.

I had sunken so deep into the plush couch I was sure one of my legs had been eaten by the cushions and I probably wasn't even visible to others. The house was quiet and I couldn't see Paul in my line of sight and I was thankful for that. Lately he has been catching me in a lot vulnerable moments and it would be nice to keep one to myself.

I pulled myself out of couch, sitting up and stretching out my back. My shoulder cracked and my neck popped but it felt good. I took the blanket I had been given, folded it and placed on the pillow before I stood up.

"Morning," A happy voice said from the kitchen behind me.

Even though the voice was friendly, I still jumped out of my skin and spun to look at them.

Dana looked at me apologetically from the kitchen. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She said with a frown. "Coffee?" She offered, pointing to the pot with still brewing coffee.

I swallowed my heart back down to where it belonged and nodded. "Sure," I tried not to sound as uncomfortable as I was. I'm not at all used to waking up in places that are not my shed.

I walked into the kitchen slowly and sat at the small kitchen table. "How do you like it?" She asked smiling brightly. I wonder how much coffee she's had this morning…

"A little sugar and a lot of cream." I answered, lowering my hands to my lap so she couldn't see me pick at my cuticles out of nervousness.

Dana nodded and took another mug out of the cabinet and started making my coffee.

The rest of the house was eerily quiet and I wondered if Paul was even home. I couldn't stop glancing over my shoulder, almost waiting for him to come out of no where. They were both very good at surprising people.

"Paul's still asleep, if you were wondering." Dana told me as she sat down in front of me, pushing my mug into my hands.

I took a gulp of the hot liquid just to calm my nerves, as backwards as it sounds. "Oh," I said trying to play it off a casually as possible. The grin that split her face didn't go unnoticed to me when she raised her mug to her lips.

"When you're done with that you can take a shower, I put a towel and some clothes in the bathroom." She said after a long sip.

"You didn't have to do that." I said shaking my head. I've never met anyone as nice and accommodating as Paul and his mother and it's a little uncomfortable for me.

"Sweetie, its fine really, I've been meaning to do something with those clothes anyway, they make me look like one of those ridiculous women that try to imitate their teenage daughters." She said rolling her eyes. I wonder if she knew that she could pass for a woman in her mid-twenties…

I sighed. "Thanks," I murmured before gulping the rest of my coffee then put it in the sink and walked for the bathroom.

"Watch out, the tub is a little slippery." She called out as I reached the door of the bathroom.

There were two towels and a pile of clothes on the laundry hamper of the room, like Dana had said, and to my good fortune they were dark jeans and a black shirt. The clothes were a lot like what I normally wore, only they were closer to my actually sizes than what I would wear. I set the clothes on the counter next to the door and took off the clothes I was wearing, folding them and setting them behind my new clothes.

I took a quick shower because that's what I'm used to doing and used the tooth brush in the medicine cabinet that was sealed in plastic to brush my teeth and the comb on the counter to brush out my hair and put it in a ponytail. I dried off quickly and changed into the clean clothes.

It felt very awkward to wear clothes that fit properly and I didn't exactly like it. I preferred my baggy clothes, they were easier to layer. I tried to stretch out the shirt more but to no avail. I was stuck with them the way they were. I gave up and put my towel in the hamper and took my clothes back to the living room where my backpack was. I had to stuff them in, but I could at least zip up my backpack.

I was trying to move things around in my bag when I felt familiar eyes on my back and I was acutely aware of the fact that the small of my back was showing because the shirt rode up while I was crouched down. I swallowed and stood slowly, turning on my heels just as slow.

Leaning against the wall between the living room and kitchen was Paul by himself, looking down at me with smiling black eyes. He was fully clothed, in jeans and a plain white tee that looked a little too tight. If he didn't look so cheerful I'd be scared, because he's so muscled he could rip me to bits and not even break a sweat. But he also looked ridiculously inviting and warm.

I still couldn't understand why he looked at me like that, why he was kind to me. I know how he normally treats people. He used to come into the diner and always looked angry but one day he wasn't angry when I looked at him. I don't know what changed and it is strange but I don't want to question it, I've never had this much good fortune in my life and I won't ruin it by complaining.

"Hey," He said grinning.

I felt my knees wobble a little, it was something that happened a lot around him. "Hi," I chirped trying not to look down at my feet.

Paul kept smiling at me, looking straight at me. It was almost like he knew that I was nervous about the clothes I was wearing because he didn't once look down. It made me feel a little more confident that they weren't that noticeable. And once I the spare jacket I kept in my locker no one would notice anything.

Still smiling, Paul opened his mouth to say something but Dana came striding out of her room and right between us. "Ready?" She asked over her shoulder as she went to the front door and grabbed her keys.

Paul started growl lowly as he looked at his mother. "Um, yeah." I answered nervously, grabbing my bag and rushing to the door.

"You're leaving, now?" Paul asked with tightly knitted brows and a frown pulling at his lips.

"To beat traffic, yes." Dana answered knowingly.

A staring contest started between the mother and son and I was sure it would end in bloodshed until Paul let out a low breath. "Fine," He ground out. It startled me a little, hearing him sound so angry but when he looked at me there was nothing but sadness in his eyes. "I'll pick you up later?" He asked depressingly.

I nodded almost uncontrollably. "Yeah," I answered quietly, slightly stunned that our leaving was making him so sad. "Bye," I said, waving smally.

Paul only waved sadly.

Dana rushed me out of the house and into her sedan. The drive with her was a lot different than Paul. I didn't feel the sureness that I'd be safe with her that I had with Paul and the sedan drove much differently than the pick-up. Nothing against Dana, but I prefer Paul and his truck.

We had only been in the car two minutes top when Dana started talking. "Sleep well?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes, actually." I answered smiling a little.

"I told you it's a comfy couch." She said knowingly.

It was true, that couch ate me up and I never wanted to be spat out.

"I had an ulterior motive for driving you to school." Dana said suddenly as she turned a sharp corner.

"Oh?" I asked worryingly, gripping my seat.

She took in a deep breath and looked at me honestly. "Paul is turning eighteen in two weeks and we're having a party for him the weekend of his birthday." She told me excitedly. "He's not expecting anything, which is just how we want it, and I'm sure he'd love for you to come." She added with the mischievous glint in her eye that I had seen in Paul's. I knew there was something else to worry about but I was too surprised because I was invited to a party. That has never happened to me.

"Really?" I asked shocked.

She nodded. "Truly." She said honestly.

I thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of going and not. The only pro it needed was that I would be away from my house for any amount of time… "Well, I did buy him a tool chest." I murmured, smiling to myself.

Dana wavered a little. "Chest?" She asked confused.

I nodded. "For helping me with my car." I explained. She continued to look at me strangely. "It doesn't really seem fair that I'm just tutoring him for rebuilding my clunker." I finished, shrugging. I'd probably always feel like Paul was getting short changed because of all the work he's doing on my car.

"You'd be surprised." She said grinning. Her smile was unnerving me because she knew something I didn't and I never liked not knowing things, especially when they involved me. "I'm sure he will love it, and I might get some of my garage back." She laughed happily.

I managed a quick and small smile through the uncomfortable feeling in my gut. I was thankful that the rest of the drive with Dana was quiet because I didn't want to seem ungrateful with my edgy mood. As much as I enjoyed spending time with Dana, I was almost glad to be at school. We were there half an hour later than I normally was and there were a lot more students now. Nervousness quickly followed as Dana stopped in the drop off line.

When we got to the head of the line, Dana looked over to me and smiled widely. "Have a good day." She said completely oblivious to all that I would have to endure for the day.

I forced another smile and nodded. "You too." I said quietly then left with the sedan, clutching my bag and rushing through the crowd of other students, wishing I had Paul's warm hoodie with me instead of the old winter coat waiting for me in my locker.

The rest of my school day consisted of strange looks from everyone, including the teachers and being treated like a leper. I was seriously considering faking some illness just to get out of the rest of my classes, but they would just call my parents. I suffered through the day, trying my hardest to slip around unnoticed like I normally did, but it was futile.

However, the whole day wasn't completely horrible. While I was walking out to the parking lot, where Paul was already leaning against the passenger door of his truck, the three boys I had injured when they tried to pull me off my bike crossed between me and Paul. They looked like trapped rats as they looked frantically between the both of us before running off in a less than graceful manner.

I tried my hardest not to laugh as I walked up to Paul who was now standing erect and stern. His abyss-like eyes were watching the injured boys flee with a lot more anger than I expected from him. I walked up to him slowly and carefully. Paul hasn't hurt me in any way, but he is still really big and I'm sure if he was provoked enough he could.

When I was directly in front of him he finally looked down at me. "That them?" He asked shortly, nodding the direction they ran.

"Yep," I nodded, looking down at my feet.

"Any trouble?" He asked concerned.

I looked back up at him to see his dark eyes now void of hate and anger with tense eyebrows. His concern for me was still surprising, even though it seemed he was always worried about my well being. "None," I answered surely. Its not trouble if everyone is avoiding me like the plague.

"Good," He said relieved as he pushed himself off his truck and opened the door for me, like he always did. It still surprised me when he did because he just doesn't look like the kind of guy that would do something so polite or do it as often as he does.

I climbed into the truck and quickly buckled myself in. Paul was in with a few seconds later and we were off. I tried not to look in his general direction, as much as I wanted to, and focused on the road. He took the same way he did every other day, driving effortlessly. I was completely comfortable with him in the driver's seat, even when he started gripping the wheel for no apparent reason.

His knuckles would go white, paler than even myself, which stood out brilliantly against his copper skin and his eyes would be tense. At first I always thought it was my fault, but when he'd look at me there was little-to-no anger in his eyes and it was like nothing ever happened. It made me curious to see him in such a mood but I'd never have the courage to ask him what he was thinking. After all, if someone wanted you to know what they were thinking, they'd tell you freely.

"We should probably just work on homework today." I said when the silence reached a head.

"Yeah," Paul grumbled. He didn't look too excited about it, but I doubted he would give me any trouble.

The rest of the drive back to his house was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. The whole area was void of human existence as per usual. I always enjoyed it that way. Paul and I walked into the house and I hung my bag on the chair at the head of the table and sat. Paul disappeared down the hall to his room and I was alone in the dining room.

Even though the house I 'grew up' in was bigger, the modest house was still nicer, homier, and warmer. It was everything my shed couldn't be. I'd still miss it when I moved out though. That pile of woof has been my refuge for years. Maybe I could take it with me…

A large copper hand waved in front of my face and I was snapped from my thoughts. "Anna?" Paul asked amused.

"Oh, sorry, I zoned out for a minute." I said tucking my hair behind my ear self-consciously. I rarely ever do that and it's embarrassing when I get caught.

Paul smiled wider, enough to show off his sparkling teeth. "It's alright," He said casually.

I quickly pulled his algebra book from the stack he brought back with him and started flipping through the pages. "Okay, so let's find out where we left off." I mumbled to myself.

Paul's homework took a little longer than usual since we hadn't done it in a few days. He was still having some problems with algebra but he was doing a lot better than when we started out. I've been impressed with all the work he's been doing with his homework and my car. I've only known a few people who worked that hard.

We worked for three hours straight before he begged to eat. He was like a bottomless pit for all the food he could find. I could understand because of his since but it was still amazing to watch. There weren't any leftovers so Paul made hotdogs and grilled cheese. I only had a hotdog but Paul managed to eat ten hotdogs and seven grilled cheese sandwiches. Without stopping.

Once he had filled his stomach, or at least put food in it, we went back to his homework. It didn't take much longer to finish everything up and we were almost left with nothing to do until Dana came rushing into the house.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" She yelled out, running into the kitchen to unload and armful of groceries.

Dana made us a huge dinner which I ate very little of even though it was delicious. She set aside two containers especially for me and made Paul promise not to touch them. After dinner, since we had nothing else to do, Paul took me home very begrudgingly. I was just as hesitant. I hadn't been home in over a day and I was scared to see what might have happened in that time.

Everything seemed to be okay from the outside when we got there and regrettably my parents were actually home. Paul's hands started gripping the steering wheel so tightly and painfully I was sure it would snap at any second.

"Promise me you'll call if they start anything." Paul said tensely, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"We don't have a phone." I said lamely. We did have a phone, but it's in the house and I'm not.

Paul looked like his head was going to explode. He really was upset about my parents fighting and me possibly getting pulled into it which is understandable giving his past but it's still extremely strange to me.

"But if anything happens I'll get down to the gas station." I added as soon as I could.

He let out a long breath and dug his hand into one of his front pockets and handed a folded piece of paper to me. "That's my cell and house number, and I put Sam's number on there in case. Emily will always answer if anything happens." He told me with dead serious.

I held the paper tightly in my hand. "Okay," I said quietly.

His whole body slumped in what looked like complete devastation. "Night," He murmured sadly.

Just the look on his face made the air in lungs disappear. "Goodnight," I croaked.

I really didn't want to leave the truck, but I wasn't going to use up all of Paul's hospitality either. I hopped out of the truck, holding my backpack tightly to me and pulled my bike from the back without looking at Paul again because it would only make the pit of despair in my gut bigger.

AN: Review!!