A/N Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews, every single one of them makes my day happier! :)
Sorry, about the cliff-hanger, I usually hate them myself, but this time I didn't have a choice! :D I hope that this chapter will make it up to you! Enjoy! :)

Chapter Ten

„Paul?" I knew it was useless trying to make him stop or let me go, so I just followed and tried to see his features in the dark.

„Yes."

„This is not funny, you know."

„Well, it's not a joke." He said as he dragged me into a little clearing in the woods. The trees formed some kind of a circle, the moonlight illuminated the little flat area. It felt magical and somehow reminded me of the meadow. Our meadow. I flinched, but my mind was too alarmed to think about him right now.

Paul let me go and started pacing in front of me. I didn't know what to do, I was scared, I wanted to leave but my legs seemed to disagree. At this moment I was too confused to move. We stood there in silence for a while, I stared at him while he was avoiding to look at me. Finally I broke the silence.

„Paul?" My voice came out softer than I expected, it surprised me. He looked up at me, I could see surprise in his eyes as well.

„Paul, what is it?" As I stared in his eyes I realized how much I liked to say his name. It felt really nice on my lips. I took a step back, not knowing why I had this pull towards him. His stare was too intoxicating for me to look away, and at the same time it scared me. I had no idea why he dragged me here, there was nothing in his look that could tell me why he did that. He was still being quiet and it scared the hell out of me.

He must have noticed my fear.

„You don't have to be afraid. I just had to do this."

I nodded.

„Why?" No answer. „You have to take me back, Jake's gonna be looking for me."

„No, he won't. Sam has got that covered." What? Sam knew about this? Why on earth would Sam let Paul drag me into the woods?

„What's going on?"

„Jacob was about to kiss you, you know. Right before Sam called him."

„What? How do you even..."

„That's simple. He's been thinking about it all the time. You should hear his obsessive thoughts about you."

„How would you even know, he said you're avoiding him." I didn't know what I was doing at the moment. Paul was the hot-head, and yet instead of nodding along and trying not to anger him, I was getting into an argument.

„Of course, I am. He is the last person I need to be in my head." That confused me completely. What could it possibly be that Paul was hiding from Jacob? Not being able to stand the staring anymore, I looked away and saw a log a few feet away. I went over there and sat, looking at my shoes. Paul didn't move from where he was standing, he just turned to face me. But I wasn't looking him in the eye, I knew better than that.

„And how do I fit into this whole story?"

„Well, you're actually the main characher." What? I was startled, not knowing what to say. Then slowly it came to me. I jumped up.

„Is this about what happened in my kitchen? Paul, I'm so sorry about that, I really didn't mean to insult you, or make you mad or anything. I just.." I was cut off by his sudden move towards me.

„You're apologizing? I scared the crap out of you and still you are apologizing to me?" I saw a glimpse of amusement on his face, but it was fastly replaced by annoyance.

„Do you tend to blame yourself for everything that happens around you?"

„When I feel that it's my fault, I do."

„Fuck, this is gonna be harder than I thought." He muttered something else under his breath, too quiet for me to hear. I didn't know what to do as I watched him pace in front of me. I was scared, confused and annoyed. It seemed like he didn't even notice me, and at one point I just couldn't stand the tension.

„Paul, what's going on? I have no frickin idea why you dragged me here in the first place! Then you tell me that Sam is distracting Jacob and that you have something in your head that Jake can't see! Now you're saying something about something being harder and I still have no damn idea what you're talking about! I'm freaking out here and you either can't or don't want to make this easier on me, I mean, why can't you just..."

„I imprinted. On you."

„What?" I gasped as I felt my knees weaken and I sat back on the log. „You what?"

„You heard me." He snarled at me. His voice was full of sadness, anger, disgust and so many other emotions I couldn't distinguish.

„But how? That's impossible. I mean, why would you do that?"

„It's not like I wanted this! Do you think I wished I would imprint on a leech lover?" He growled as he said the word. "But in spite of everything, it did happen and I have no fucking idea how to deal with this! Imprinting should be a happy event, but for me this has been a pain in the ass so far."

„Why are you telling me this?"

„Do you think I would swallow it alone? No way, this includes you too, whether you like it or not. And I'm not gonna be the only one dealing with this crap. If I can't find my peace, you won't either."

„But I don't want to be a part of this! This doesn't concern me, I'm not a Quileute, there must be some kind of mistake!" My mind was panicking. I couldn't think rationally, my mouth said the words, but I didn't get the meaning. The shock didn't allow me to understand anything.

„Yeah, right, because I've always loved to stare in those chocolate eyes of yours, and I've always enjoyed looking after your leech-loving ass." He was being so sarcastic about everything, that it made me flinch. Even if I knew he hated me and I had made my peace with that, those words hurt.

„See, and now I'm hurting you." His voice held anger and a sharp edge of pain.

„Why would you even care that you're hurting me? You obviously hate me, so just keep on with that and you should be fine!" I didn't know where that came from. Paul was hurting me, his words cut deeper wounds than I expected. I felt my eyes fill with tears, and I was doing my best to keep them from falling down my cheeks.

„I can't hate you, you silly girl. I thought Jacob explained imprinting to you."

„He did. He also said that I would feel some kind of pull towards you, and I don't. So this is definitely a mistake."

„Oh really? Why did you call my name the other night then? Why did you stare at me whenever I caught your gaze? Why couldn't you stop looking at me at the bonfire? And why didn't you run away as soon as I let you go? Or, as a matter of fact, why aren't you running away right now?"

I stared at him blankly. He was right. I did look forward to see him, I wanted to see his eyes, I didn't want to leave now. It wasn't just Jacob who pulled me to La Push, it was also Paul. I shook my head, not knowing what to do, what to say. The emotions and thoughts were in a mess in my head, I couldn't even pick out one and analize. I felt my heartbeat fasten, I was nervous from the flood of emotions.

As I kept struggling with my thoughts, I saw Paul relax and sit on a log as well. He kept a distance and I was grateful for that. I couldn't look at him, so I closed my eyes, yet I could still feel him next to me. I had to admit, that even though I felt so anxious, his presence calmed me down, hell, I was comfortable.

This was too much, my mind was refusing to believe that I could be his soul mate. It's just wrong, I already have a soul mate. One that I would never be with, but that's not the point. Paul wasn't my soul mate, Edward was.

I gasped. This was the first time I've mentioned his name, even in my head. It hurt, but not as much as I expected. The feeling of pain was somehow blunt and I couldn't feel it through completely. Edward. This time it hurt. I had to embrace myself like I haven't done in a long time. The pain reminded me of him, reminded me that he was my soul mate, and no one else. Finally the tears broke, now they were slowly falling down my cheeks. If this imprinting thing was for real, then another life was ruined. Paul didn't deserve me, I would never love him, I would never love anyone else but him.

„I'm sorry." He looked at me surprised.

„For what?"

„For ruining your life like this. I mean, you could have imprinted on someone else, someone who's worth it. I'm a mess, and I have no idea why this happened."

He sighed.

„You know, you should stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault. I would apologize for this, but it's not my fault either."

We sat there in silence for a while. I was thinking about him. I didn't admit it to myself, but I was thinking about him to avoid thinking about Paul. I couldn't let myself think about Paul, I had no idea how I felt about him, my emotions were mixed up so badly, it would take days to sort them out.

„What do I do now?"

He let out a sad laugh.

„Well, you can do whatever you want. Ignore the pull, be with your leech friends, think about your bloodsucking boyfriend." I flinched again. He noticed that, but didn't say anything about it. „You can even hate me, but in that case I would have to ask your permission to hate you, too."

„Why?" I frowned. „You can't hate me on your own?" That came out somehow comical.

„No. See, I have the ultimate wish to do everything to make you happy. I'm fighting it, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to say all those things that hurt you, but still your happiness is what matters the most." He flinched, I guessed that this kind of talking was new for him and he didn't like it. „And if me hating you makes you feel better, I'll be more than happy to do that."

„Uhm, sure, you can hate my guts as much as you want. It's not like you don't know how to do that." Again I saw him flinch. „I'm sorry."

Paul growled.

„Stop apologizing!" He hissed and once more there was silence.

"So, does hating me feel good?"

„I can't actually hate you. I mean, I kind of can, but I can't at the same time.. Fuck, this is complicated." He sighed. „Does this mean you'll hate me, too?"

„No. I'll just be avoiding you for sure."

He didn't say anything and I was afraid to look at him.

„I think I should be going."

„Yeah."

He stood up, not offering me a hand to help and once more I was grateful for him keeping the distance. Silently he led me out to my car. I was surprised since I thought he would be taking me to the same place he found me. He must have read the surprise on my face.

„I thought you wouldn't be in a party mood anymore."

„Yeah." I went towards my car as he stood by the tree line. Then I remembered something. „What about Jacob?"

„I think Sam already told him." He sighed. „I'm going to phase now and let him beat the crap out of me." I nodded, while something inside me wanted to warn him to be careful. I ignored that.

"And now what?"

"I have no fucking idea." With those words he turned around and ran into the trees. For a moment I just stood there, trying to calm down the hurricane inside me. But that didn't seem to work. I guess I needed some time to relax, and then I would be able to see my feelings clearly. At least I hoped I would.

I got into the car and made my way back home. Hopefully Alice saw me deciding to go home. With the thought of Alice another realization hit me. Was Paul the reason why Alice couldn't see me? I shook my head. No, that would mean that my life is somehow connected to Paul's, and I was pretty sure that it's not.

I must have reached the treaty line since I saw the pixie waiting for me. I stopped and she motioned for me to move to the passenger's seat. As she got into the car, I heard a heartbreaking howl which left me wondering whether that was Jacob or Paul.

So, what do you think? I don't know why I did what I did, I just felt that telling her so simply would be the best way. Please, let me know how you did or didn't like it! :)