A/N: This came out much quicker then I would have thought! I'm stoked I managed to write anything at all. In other words: enjoy ;D
I nodded slowly, not knowing where he was going with this. Soul mates... "That's the same as true love, isn't it? That he or she is the other half of your soul. So are Sam and Emily, Seth and Sara, and Jared and Kim all imprint couples?" "Yeah," He said and looked over my shoulder. I turned too and saw Jake staring at us. I turned back to Paul and smiled, and then went back to the television. As I passed Jake I hit him on the back of his head; stupid idiot. Minutes later I got an urgent phone call from my parents. I if I could I should get home. They had something to tell me.
Paul offered to drive me home the moment I got off the phone; superior wolf hearing at its best. I said yes, and thank you. I ran out of the house at full speed and almost crashed into Jared. Paul was right behind me and we were on the road in no time. My heart was racing. Paul was relaxed and coaxed me into a conversation. He talked about everything, even the weather. I felt myself relax slowly, his easy going nature helped a lot. I asked him about his bad-boy image and he laughed loudly.
"Nah... That's just a gimmick. You know, to scare the new ones, get some respect. It's also great for getting me out of babysitting jobs." I laughed too, enjoying myself. Paul looked over to me and smiled warmly. My legs turned to jelly. "You freak out a lot. Did you know that? So your parents called... big deal. Maybe they're adopting some kid from Africa." He was right about me freaking out. I did do that a lot. However, the adopting thing... No way. All too soon for my liking - which I found rather surprising - we reached my house. Paul looked like he was struggling for words and settled for a cocky grin instead. "Good luck in there. Be prepared to share your room." I laughed again and punched his arm, and got out of the car. I watched him drive away and found myself missing him. He seemed so different around me then with the others; happier yet more careful. Shaking my head at my wandering thoughts I went inside.
My parents were sitting at the kitchen table with the phone between them. My good mood disappeared quickly. I grabbed the remaining chair and sat down. The room was quiet. "What's the matter?" I asked. Dad cleared his throat. He seemed upset. "It's my dad, Ted, your grandfather." He spoke like I didn't know him. Of course I knew Grandpa Ted. He smoked like crazy. "Phoebe... We don't know if it's spread or not but he has cancer; lung cancer to be exact. He found out last week." Mum took dad's hands in hers. "It'll be ok, hun." She said and stroked his cheek. Shocked into silence I stared at their entwined hands. Sadness flooded me and the emotional onslaught gave me a headache. Grandpa had cancer? I just couldn't make sense of it or connect those two words. I noticed my parents looking at me and all of a sudden I felt extremely tired."Dad... I..." I had problems formulating words not to mention coherent sentences. "Dad, I'm sorry." I paused for a moment. "How is he?" My mum answered because dad looked slightly out of it. "He's fine for the time being. It's just a big shock to us all. He was a rather healthy guy besides the smoking." The way she said smoking made it clear what she thought was the problem behind the cancer. "If it's ok I'll go and lie down. I'm feeling a little tired." I got up and went to my room, heading directly to my bed. Well under my thick blanket my mind started going ballistic as usual. I mulled over today's events. Not much but more than nothing. More than once Paul's smiling face popped up; his wonderful white smile. I sighed and rolled over onto my stomach.
Suddenly something sank in. Suddenly I felt wide awake and got out of bed. I walked around my room in circles, my mind going faster than ever. The weird tugging feeling I got when around Paul, the reason Embry and Jake were brotherly overprotective, and the way my heart sped up; I was Paul's imprint. Paul had imprinted on ME! The look that I couldn't place, yet seemed familiar was adoration; love. It hadn't clicked before because nobody had looked at me that way. My parents loved me but not in that way, thank God. My alarm clock rang and got me somewhat back to earth. It was eight pm, three hours to bedtime.
In my hurry to get out of the house I put on different colour shoes, – same type though – my hair was a disaster zone and that was putting it mildly. Luckily I had a vague idea where Paul lived from the small stops the guys had made there. It wasn't far so I didn't have to take the car which would have given me away anyway. I hoped my parents wouldn't check on me tonight or I would be pretty screwed. I wasn't in the mood for another round of house arrest. I jumped out the window – first floor – and ran for a while but in the end I had to stop for a breather. After all, I wasn't as in good shape as the boys. Come to think about it I probably never would be... how unfair.
I stood outside Paul's door waiting for my breath to catch up. Besides I wasn't sure if he was home or not. For all I knew he could be at Sam's or out patrolling the borders of the reservation. For extra luck I crossed my fingers before I rang the doorbell. I counted silently inside my head; 1, 2, 3, 4- The door was flung open and behind it stood Paul. His face lit up in one of his perfect smiles before he spoke. "Phoebe? What are you doing here? Not that I don't think it's great you are here, because this is a nice surprise. Do you want to come inside?" Paul seemed flustered and I couldn't help but smile. When he took my coat for me I grinned broadly. "No one ever told me you were a gentleman, Paul." Paul answered with one of his cocky grins. "I am a man of many talents; a jack of all trades, master of none." He ushered me to the living room and pointed to a sofa. He himself disappeared into, what I guessed was, the kitchen. "Except turning into a vampire killing wolf, I would think. You've got that one pretty much nailed down." I yelled too him through the door. Why on earth did he close the damn door? I heard cupboard doors being slammed.
Taking advantage of being left alone I took a look around. Paul's living room was clean and sparsely furnished. I guessed he didn't stay here much. I felt oddly at home and spread myself all over the couch. It was soft and smelt outdoors-y. Almost like Paul who, I thought, had a wonderful scent. Like fresh pine forests in the summer. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep. A low humming sound stirred me awake again. Paul was humming! I opened my eyes and found myself staring into Paul's dark brown ones. "Are you alive there Phoebe?" He asked and smiled. In his hands he held a tray laden with snacks and drinks. "I wasn't sure what you liked or not so I took a bit of all." He put the tray on the table and sat down next to me. My legs turned to jelly again and my heart raced. As usual, I thought. "You're very tall" I said randomly. It was true. He was very tall. "Have you tried being a little shorter?" Paul laughed and the sofa shook. The water in the cup he held sloshed. I eyed it warily. Contained water and me didn't mix. It usually ended with me drenched in it.
We sat in silence for a while. I didn't know what he was thinking but I was struggling to find the right words to ask him my question. "Phoebe" I jumped at the sudden break of silence. "I want to tell you someth-" "Did you imprint on me?" I blurted out. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands. That wasn't a good move and it wasn't on purpose either. Shit, shit, shit! Paul looked shocked and I didn't blame him. I couldn't bring myself to think about what he would say or what would happen if my guess was wrong. However Paul never ceased to amaze me.