Chapter 8

PPOV

It has been a week and I have heard nothing from Bella. The imprint bond was being stretched much farther than I thought possible. I was weak. I barely slept and didnt want to eat. If I was feeling that way I can only imagine how Bella was feeling. I needed to see her.

I understood why she was so mad at me. I was awful to her for so long. Even after I imprinted I went out of my way to be mean to her. If I was her I would never want anything to do with me. That thought brought me straight to my knees. I was about to go home and sulk and then I smelled her. She was on the reservation. I followed her scent and wound up on First beach near the cliffs.

"Bella?"

She turned around and what I saw broke my heart. She looked so weak. She was pale and way too skinny. Damn I was such a fucking idiot. I could have saved us both this pain if I had just told her from the beginning.

"Paul..."

"Oh Bella why didnt you come sooner? I am so sorry. All I do is keep causing you pain. I guess I didnt explain that when we are away from each other it physically takes a toll on us."

"I knew that Paul. Jake explained everything to me"

"WHAT? You knew what this would do to us and you still stayed away? Why would you do that?"

"At first I thought Jake was just trying to guilt me into seeing you so I decided that I was gonna fight it. Then as the week went by I started feeling sick. I couldnt sleep, eat, get warm. I finally figured out Jake was telling the truth and I decided to come find you"

"So why didnt you just call me? I would have come to you"

"Because I still dont want to see you. I am trying to forgive you Paul, but I am really mad. I finally couldnt take the pain anymore"

"Bells..."

"You dont get to call me that"

"Anyway I have an idea. I felt better as soon as I got to the reservation, even if I didn't see you I felt better here. So I will come down to the reservation every other day. However, I am not coming to see you. Let me make that clear."

"Bella you are being ridiculous. Why would you come down here and not see me? The pain would be so much better if we were together"

"I don't want to be with you."

"I meant at least to be near each other"

"I'll think about it"

BPOV

I had been coming down to the reservation every other day to feel some normalcy. I knew Paul was right, but I just wasn't ready. Eventually being on the reservation wasn't enough and I needed to be around Paul. I didnt want to give in, but I couldnt take the pain.

I went to Paul's to talk to him and he wasn't there. I sat on his porch and waited for hours. Eventually after what seemed like hours I could see him coming out of the woods.

"Paul..."

"Bella what are you doing here?"

"I can leave"

"Damn it that is not what I meant. I am glad you are here."

"I can't do it anymore. It hurts too much to be away from you. I am not ready to be your friend or more yet and I dont know if I ever will be. I just know I have to be around you to stop the pain."

"I know it was hard for you to come here. I understand that you aren't ready, but if I can get you to be my friend and that is all we ever are then I am fine with that. I would rather have you in my life in some capacity then not at all."

"We can try Paul. I will agree to almost anything to escape this pain"