AN: Can I just say, I hate working. It bites the big one. Classes start soon too and I'll have even less time. I'll probably start focusing on the stories I can finish just to get them out of the way, but I promise, I'm not abandoning anything. Love you all and thanks for all of your support and the shout out on Phase Fics!

Chapter Twenty Five

Unwanted Guests

Mom demanded to have the party. And she demanded to have the treaty waived for a night to let the Cullen's to our house. Mom wanted the party to be a combination of her party, which was already a combination of her going away and our house warming, and Thanksgiving. She made the decision without telling anyone and when Sam tried to point out how dangerous that was, he almost lost his head. Not a pretty sight. So my mother's wishes won. Again. There wasn't a force on the earth that could stop her evil plans.

The house was practically empty because all of the things she wanted to keep were packed up and already at her apartment, and all of the things me and Anna didn't want were donated. Anna was already planning another trip to Seattle to get more furniture for the place. She wanted the party anyway because it was supposed to be a going away/house warming party. It was supposed to be for her as well as me and Anna, but for some reason my mother was the only one who had any say over the whole damn party.

Before the Cullen's even showed up, everyone was on edge, except for my mother. We were all waiting for the ton of bricks to drop and for the 'friendly' vampires to show up. It was mid afternoon on a cold, dark, damp day and my mother was buzzing.

"They're almost here!" She cried happily, bouncing between the rooms.

"Wonderful." I grumbled, pulling Anna as close as possible. She had lost the little bit of color she had on her face and had even started to shake.

I was not going to do well.

She looked beautiful though. She was wearing another dress. A brown one, that covered her knees and exposed her collar bone in a very sexy way. If it was any other day, my eyes wouldn't have left her body, but at this point, I was waiting for the root of all evil to walk into my house.

And it was going to be my house, in a few weeks.

"Paul, stop growling." Anna murmured, nudging my side.

I hadn't even noticed that I was until she pointed it out. I made a face and tried not to sound too animalistic. Until I hear the cars pull up. Everyone else was outside, waiting. They were excited for someone in that party, may it be Bella, Jake, Nessie or anyone else, while I didn't want to see any of them. I heard Jake on enough occasions to not care if I ever saw him again. Everyone already knows how I feel about Nessie and her bitch-tastic mother. The only one I'd probably have anything decent to say to would be Dr. Cullen. Only because he made sure I didn't die and managed not to hurt Anna.

Not long after all of the cars arrived, my mother rushed to the door and flung it open. "Esme!" She cried like a teenager seeing her 'BFF' for the first time in a month. It sickened me.

"Dana, you look great." Esme cooed.

"And so do you, as always." My mother sighed, forlornly.

I resisted the urge to gag. Esme turned toward me and smiled a little. "Paul," She said sweetly.

I grunted. They didn't expect more than that from me.

Esme's golden eyes turned to my imprint and I resisted grabbing her and bolting through the back door. I'd be able to keep her warm in the snow. "This must be Anna," She said happily. "I've heard a lot about you from Carlisle." Esme complimented.

"Nice to meet you." Anna chirped, clearly uncomfortable.

My grip on her shoulder tightened.

A few seconds later, Emmett barreled in with his blonde mate, with nothing but a scowl on her face. "Another imprint! Nice!" He cheered.

"This is Emmett and Rosalie." Esme introduced, smiling at her pseudo son.

Anna was as stiff as a board now and could only manage a wave.

"I thought you only imprinted on your own kind?" Rosalie asked snidely after giving Anna the one-over.

"Then explain the mutant about to walk in." I snapped back.

"Paul, I don't want World War III in my living room while it's still my house so knock it off." My mother warned me.

I grumbled under my breath and didn't say anything else, but I surely wasn't apologizing. If the tooth-pick bitch wanted to pick on my imprint, I was going to pick on her 'niece'.

Carlisle walked in with Sam and Emily, all of them looking pleased, and he was still the only one I didn't hate so much. Anna even relaxed when she saw him walk in. He walked over to his wife and smiled down at Anna. "How are you Anna?"

"Alright," She muttered, lying through her perfect teeth.

The rest of the pack and the Cullen's filed in until it was Quil, Claire and Nessie bringing up the back of the trail. Nessie had gotten taller, she was probably a head shorter than Anna and more than likely around ten in mutant years.

"Hi," She sang, bouncing up to Anna. "I'm Nessie," She said with her high pitched voice that made me want to claw my ears out. I'd never hurt her, and I wouldn't let anyone touch her, but she annoyed the hell out of me.

"Anna," She croaked.

"Why are you nervous?" Nessie asked confused, tilting her head to the side.

"She doesn't understand us." Edward answered from the corner. From the look on his face, he had been looking into her head.

I would have launched at Edward if Anna hadn't flinched at his answer and gripped my shirt. "She almost got her head taken off her shoulders by one of your kind, she's allowed to be nervous." I snarled at him.

"Daddy, is that true?" Nessie asked horrified.

I gave him a pointed look and waited. If he saw into Anna's head then he saw exactly what happened to her and he'd have to tell the truth to his precious daughter. "Yes," He answered tightly.

Anna looked more uncomfortable than ever and it wasn't because she was in a room half filled with vampires. Everyone was looking at her. I didn't care if anyone looked at me, but she was self-conscious about that kind of stuff. I needed to take the attention away from her.

"Can we drop it now?" I asked impatiently, looking around the room. All of my brothers and their imprints looked away. Jasper and Esme managed to find something to occupy themselves, but the rest of them didn't.

"You brought it up." Edward countered.

"And I'm finishing it, Eddie." I growled.

"Okay guys, no fighting in the living room." Jake tried to say calmly, putting himself between Edward and me, but standing in front of Anna, knowing she was why I was particularly touchy at that point.

I glared the sparkling fairy down. I'd launch myself across the room and finish the man in the blink of an eye if I had at least six of my brothers surrounding Anna, but they were with their own imprints. So I had to settle for glaring him down.

"Who wants to see pictures of my new apartment?" My mother asked quickly.

Slowly, everyone turned their attention to my mother as she played hostess. There were still a few side cast eyes toward us but I didn't give a shit. Anna had turned into my hold and her nose was pressed against my chest.

"Remember what I said about getting me out of here?" She whispered.

"I can get you to the other side of Washington in thirty minutes." I told her seriously.

She looked up at me with panicking eyes. "How about on the front porch?" She asked, starting to shake a little.

I just shrugged and started guiding her to the front door. A few people tried to stop us, mostly Leah and the other imprints and I moved them, save Leah, as carefully as I could and got Anna outside. She leaned against the outside of the house, not reacting to the cold weather at all and started taking deep breaths. I stood in front of her and brushed her hair out of her face and just watched her.

"You okay?" I asked stroking her face.

"I barely made it five minutes." She muttered, ashamed.

"Baby, you made it five minutes in a room full of things you're afraid of, don't rag on yourself." I pointed out, stepping closer so she was flush against the house and we were almost skin on skin.

She took in a deep breath and nodded, burying her fingers into my shirt. I could tell she was thinking about something, just by the way her lips pursed and her eyes moved.

"We should go back in." She said thoughtfully.

"You don't have to." I said wrapping my arms around her as I saw her skin break out in goose-bumps from the cold.

"I don't want to give them any more reason to stare at me." She said firmly.

She had a point. As always.

"Just let me know and we'll get out of here if you need to." I said, brushing her cheeks with my thumbs before I leaned down and kissed her softly.

She let me enjoy a moment to ourselves before she took her lips away from mine and pushed me back inch by inch. I walked back into the house ahead of her, with my arm blocking her from anyone else.

"So Paul, are you excited to have the house to yourself?" Esme tried to ask kindly.

"Tickled," I grumbled.

My mother rolled her eyes and leveled her hand with my head and thwacked the back of my skull. Sam swallowed a chuckle while everyone else in my pack had to hide their face to cover the laughter.

Esme was looking for something else to say when Anna glanced over my shoulder and gripped me a little tighter. "Oh crap." Anna muttered while she was looking out the window. I turned and instantly saw why.

Celia had just climbed out of her godfather's car and was walking toward the house.

Embry started twitching.

Anna detached herself from my side and touched Embry's arm. "Don't worry, give me a second." She said soothingly and walked through the crowd to the door.

I watched her walked out of the house and meet Celia. They talked for a little bit and it looked like Celia was about to go, but Anna said something and she walked with Anna back into the house. Embry was starting to panic a little too. I wasn't sure if it was because his imprint was walking in. Or because his imprint was walking into a house full of vampires.

"Everyone, this is Celia, my friend from school." Anna introduced, confidently.

There was a collection of greetings and Embry walked closer to her.

"Don't mind me, I'm just getting something." Celia said quickly, eying everyone.

Anna walked with Celia to our room and they came back out a minute later and Celia waved to everyone and Embry walked out with her while Anna took her spot back at my side, looking over my shoulder out the window to where Embry and Celia were outside talking.

"Embry can handle himself." I tried to tell Anna.

"Are you sure?" She asked worryingly.

"He's not going to fuck up in front of her godfather." I said about as convincingly as I could. Embry wasn't afraid of Adam, only her father, so it was a toss up at this point.

Anna still didn't stop watching. I had a sick curiosity about the situation too, and watched with her. I wondered what they were saying and almost used my sensitive hearing to listen when I saw Celia nod her head at Embry's impish smile and she went back to her godfather's car. Embry lingered outside until the car was gone and he walked back into the house with that goofy grin on his face and gave Anna an appreciative look.

The rest of the night wasn't so bad. Mostly because I stayed in the corner with Anna and whatever stray person wanted to talk to us. Bella and Edward avoided us and made Nessie do the same. They supposedly didn't want to expose her to Anna's 'attitude', according to Jake. That damn messenger almost lost his head, if Anna hadn't returned from the bathroom at that precise moment and sealed herself to my side.

When the party finally died down it was because Nessie was tired and half of the imprints were turning cranky. My mother bid everyone goodbye begrudgingly, but made Esme promise to visit when she moved into her place in Seattle. Everyone agreed willingly and within twenty minutes, everyone was gone. I was just happy to have them all gone.

Anna didn't seem all that relaxed, even when it was just her, me and my mother. She started cleaning as soon as the door shut for the last time. The house wasn't all that dirty since my mother cleaned during the party and most of the imprints cleaned after their hungry wolves and the vampires didn't eat.

"What are you doing?" I asked, leaning against the wall as I watched her wash the four dishes in the sink.

"The dishes." She answered almost stiffly as she scrubbed a plate harder than she needed.

I walked over to her and stood behind her, wrapping my around her middle and holding her close. "Come on," I said quietly, putting my chin on her shoulder.

She was still tense, even in my arms, when she normally relaxed, and I'll admit, I was a little hurt by it. She didn't stop. She finished the dish she had in her hand, rinsed and put it on the drying rack. She followed the same procedure for the rest of the dishes until she had nothing left to do. Mom had gone to sleep and the rest of the house was spotless. There was nothing left to be done.

"What's wrong?" I asked after she had finished scrubbing the sink.

Anna turned in my arms and looked at me with a frown, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I don't know." She muttered, unsure.

It was another when of those times when I just didn't know what to do. So I just did what my instincts told me to. I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder, carrying her back to our room. I dropped her onto the bed. She started taking off her shoes and I stripped down to my boxers. She stood and tried to unzip her dress but couldn't reach, so I gladly took the zipper and pulled it from the nape of her neck to the small of her back and moved the straps off her shoulders and kissed the bare skin I exposed.

She took the dress off and walked to the closet hung the dress back up and threw on one of the tattered shirts hanging on the door knob. I sat on the edge of bed and watched as she shuffled over to me and sat on my lap, folding herself up so she was two sizes smaller than normal and hid her face in my neck.

I started rubbing her back and just waited for her to tell me what was really on her mind. I wasn't too worried about whatever it was because she didn't leave my sight the whole night, so no one hurt her physically or emotionally, other than being in a room full of creatures she was afraid of. She wasn't crying, or even afraid, just extremely conflicted.

"Are you going to sleep tonight?" I asked after a almost half an hour of just waiting. I was patient with her, but that really only lasted until my brain fell out of my ears, which was like twenty minutes.

"I just feel bad." She finally confessed, looking up at me from the shoulder.

"Why?" I asked completely lost.

She shifted in my lap so she was almost face to face with me and started spilling her guys. "I don't like them." She answered, half ashamed. "I mean, Esme was very nice and Carlisle was polite and I don't mind being around them, but the others…" She made a face and tried not to squirm. "Does that make a horrible person? I mean, Jacob imprinted on Nessie and she just made my skin crawl." She said shuddering.

"No, that makes you my girl." I said defiantly and firmly. She looked confused now. "I hate all of their guts." I said without a hint of remorse or guilt. There were gaps in my DNA where that stuff was supposed to be.

"Your mom likes them." She tried to argue.

"But my mother is completely insane." I argued right back. She sighed and tried to say something else but I put my thumb to her lip and didn't allow her to say anything else. "Those things don't come 'round much and when they do, I hate it. If you never want to see them again, then they'll never be within eyesight, and I mean mine, I see for two miles without anything in my way, I'll send them to Russia if I need to." I said firmly.

"Paul-" She said around my thumb.

"Woman, stop being so stubborn, and answer this damn question, do you want to be around them?" I asked slowly.

I moved my thumb away from her mouth and she shook her head smally. "Not really." She whispered.

"Alright, no more vampires." I said easily. And yeah, it is that easy. I can tell Sam and Jake that they freak her out and they'll honor it.

"But Carlisle will still help you if needed." She said with a firm voice, with nothing to argue about.

I just scowled at the thought. I hated thinking about accepting any of his help, but again, I could not deny my imprint.

"Paul, promise me you'll let him keep you alive, because if anything happens to you-" Her sentence was cut short by a sharp sob.

There was a punch to my chest as I watched her try to fight back the tears, and losing. The look in her eyes was desperate and filled with pain, I hadn't seen that look since before I took her out of her hellhole and I hated seeing her there again.

"P-please," She stammered, shaking her head while I was frozen in pain.

I forced myself to move and took her face with my hands and stopped her and kissed her face all over. I didn't stop until I felt her stop shaking and the tears had disappeared, I was almost afraid to look her in the eye because I couldn't see her in pain again but when I saw her beautiful hazel eyes, all I saw was desperate hope.

"I promise, baby, I promise." I swore, my own throat tight with tears, but I tried not to let it show. I wanted to be her rock right now.

I pulled her back and threw the covers over both of us, holding her close to my side as I laid on my back. She ran her fingers over my jaw line, with her red eyes looking up at me with more calm than panic. She was okay now. Everything was okay now.

"Sleep," I said nudging her while my own eyes started to flutter shut.

"I'm not tired." She said linking her legs with mine as she propped her chin on my chest.

"So you're going to watch me sleep?" I asked confused.

"Turning the tables." She said smiling.

I chuckled and closed my eyes and drifted into sleep while she continued to stroke my face until I was submerged into dreamland.

AN: Review!