Double update because I've been so crap this week! Enjoy and remember to review :D x
Brad hadn't stopped talking to me for the remainder of the week; he wasn't annoying me as such it was more that he was making me feel bad for him. He was obviously a popular guy, he had a lot of friends and the girls swooned over him much like they swooned over Embry or Jacob but he had no idea how to talk to girls or use chat up lines, it just made me feel bad for him. I felt like I wanted to scoop him up into a cuddle and tell him it would all be ok. Embry, Quil and Jake had found it highly funny and Kim had even started joining in on their jokes whereas Sam wasn't happy, each time someone mentioned it even if it was a joke, he would get wound up and make a weird growling noise. Then there was Paul, the ever confusing Paul who had begun making an appearance at Sam's again but it was only for a few minutes every now and then and in those few minutes he barely spoke a word except to insult someone or growl as he exited. I didn't have a clue what his issue was but it seemed to revolve around me, his insults were often aimed at Embry. I wasn't sure why though.
That was what my week had consisted of, awkward chat up lines, annoying jokes, animalistic growls and various arguments between overgrown boys who happen to sprout fur. My weekend was sure to be far less entertaining, my weekends used to be fun, where I actually took advantage of my freedom from school by going out with my friends or going to dance competitions but now, on a Friday night, I was sat home alone painting my nails and watching old re-runs of Friends. I was officially bummed out, everyone had plans except me. Sam and Emily had gone for a 'date night' to the theatre; Jared had whisked Kim off for a romantic weekend camping although that was far from my idea of romantic. Embry, Quil and Jake were on patrol, Brady and Collin are having a games night on their play stations and Seth, well Seth just outright refused to hang out with me.
It had got so lonely in this small house that at one stage I text Kim to ask her for Brad's number but she outright refused to give it to me and so I simply rang Kyle, he talked to me for ten minutes before getting bored of my rambling of people he didn't know and told me some crap excuse about having to go wash his hair. So, I was a loner. I was all alone eating junk food, painting my nails and watching TV. I was my mom, this is how my mom spent her weekends and now I was doing the same at 17 years old.
I wiggled my toes as I finished the last coat of burgundy polish and sat myself back against the sofa, both of my feet were outstretched on the coffee table and my hands were above my head as I shook the paint dry, I wasn't very good at painting my nails. I always smudged it. My eyes glided over the sofa beside me, the bowl of chips calling out to me as my stomach growled for food. I couldn't grab them with my hands, I would ruin my painfully careful painted nails, I wanted the chips.
I did a quick sweep of the room behind me checking that no wolf had snuck in whilst I focused on my nails before turning my torso around and lowering myself until my face was hovering over the bowl. I was such a pig, but right now I didn't care, I simply kept going until my mouth made contact with the salted chips and I clenched my teeth around them. I was such a pig. I could hear something behind me, a door but my reactions were too slow and before I registered the sound of the key turning in the lock footsteps entered and halted.
"What the hell are you doing?" The voice that spoke made me jump first from surprise but then from recognition, it was Paul. His low rumbling voice sent shock waves through me and my curled over body went flying off the sofa and onto the floor, my nails making contact with Emily's rug as I went. Shit. I spent so long doing those. I crawled to my hands and knees taking extra long to assess the damage done to both my nails and the rug as I chewed the last few chips and swallowed them. I knew I was in shorts and my ass was probably hanging out, but right now I only cared that my nails were now completely smudged and Emily's cream rug had specks of dark red. "Uhh Savannah?"
Paul's hesitant question made shivers run through me, the way he said my name was unlike any other. It was stupid to think because he was simply saying my name but sometimes, on the rare occasion he actually said my name or spoke to me it was more than simply saying it. His deep voice seemed to grow lighter yet at the same it held deepness to it, I felt stupid even trying to explain it to myself but there was something he held that other people didn't and it had the power to send my body into shivers.
I snapped my head around to look at him, his eyes weren't on my face but on the only body part of me that he could see in my knelt down pose, my ass. His eyes changed course as he saw me look at him and my body flushed a hot red, he could definitely see my ass cheeks. I became suddenly conscious of what I was wearing and sat myself down, twisting so that I could face him without showing my body off and his eyes finally found mine again. His cheeks pink with a flush that I couldn't decipher if it was embarrassment or if he had just been running.
"I was just, well, you, what the hell were you doing?" He finally found his words after what felt like a year long silence, he didn't sound annoyed or snappy like he sometimes did, he seemed sort of confused and he gave a look of utter confusion as he settled on his question. My own mouth turned up into a guilty smile as I watched him lingering by the door, I had been busted being a complete pig.
"I was hungry and I couldn't use my hands" I held my hands up and wiggled my nails but his frown became deeper and more serious, he didn't understand. "I was painting my nails, for which are now ruined, and so I couldn't use my hands to grab the freaking chips" I sounded like a child as I wriggled my nails at him showing him the damage, he was sure to make a little girl or tantrum comment.
"So you ate them like a dog?" One of his perfectly thick eyebrows rose at me and a slight smirk appeared across his thin lips. I nodded at him and he nodded back slowly assessing what he had just seen. "You couldn't have waited the two minutes they take to dry?" I shook my head this time and his smile grew wider before he shrugged as if accepting it.
He flicked the open door behind him shut and walked to the kitchen, his hands reaching out for a package on the side that Sam had put there before he left, I had been so close to opening it but Sam told me not to.
"Why are you here?" Paul didn't look at me as he grabbed the package and began opening it.
His question caught me for a minute, my head jerked back as I assessed the damage to my toe nails which was thankfully none.
"I live here, why are you here?"
Paul's head looked up at me, his serious expression assessing me before nodding and looking back down. I had no idea what this guy was thinking, he had to be the most guarded and impossible person I had ever met.
"I had to pick this up" He finally unwrapped the parcel and held up a snow globe, I couldn't see what was in it though. "I meant why are you here as in shouldn't you be out?"
"Everyone abandoned me"
I actually sounded like a child as I pushed myself up to sit on the edge of the sofa. I was such a looser. I watched as Paul's straight face turned to the tiniest frown, his hands wrapping the snow globe back up.
"Isn't it supposed to be the big date night or something?" His frown turned harsher as he spoke, it was as if he was trying to act hard and uncaring but his voice faltered him and I heard the annoyance he held.
"Sam and Emily have gone to Port Angeles; Kim is away with Jared so yeah I guess it is the big date night" I stood up still holding my hands outstretched to avoid them smudging anymore, I needed tissue so I could remove the red stains on my nails and skin. I clocked the kitchen towel beside the sink and walked stiffly toward it, my feet going rigid to make sure no more carpet hit my still wet nails.
"No I meant you; you were supposed to be with Embry"
I halted on my way toward the kitchen, not because of his words but the way he said it. He sounded sort of upset, his usually level voice quivered and as I looked over him he was gripping the counter tightly while nibbling on the inside of his cheek. It was like he was nervous of what he had said, not that he should be. He had acted like this when Embry joked about us going out; maybe he had an issue with Embry. Sam got uptight about it too. Maybe Embry was some sort of man whore who they thought was going to hurt me, but Embry wasn't like that so it couldn't be that. I didn't say anything back, I had nothing to say and so I simply continued to walk past him to the sink. Washing my hands off first I then grabbed the roll of paper towels and turned back to the guy behind me. He was still gripping the counter, his teeth working overtime on the inside of his mouth as he stared at the work top.
"I was never going out with Embry" It slipped out as I hesitated to move. Paul's head shot up to look at me, his creased eyebrows deepening before smoothing out. "It was a joke; I used it as an excuse to get this kid off my back at school. Not that it worked, he still bugs me but as far as me and Embry go he is just my friend who was teasing me" I explained feeling the need to tell him everything, as I did his face relaxed as did his rigid posture. His hands slowly let go of the counter and he stepped away from it, his body swinging as he took my words in. He was acting so strange. It was like he was relieved.
"A joke" He copied and I nodded back at him. I had no idea what his issue with Embry was. "Uhh that's umm good, I mean you wouldn't want it to be awkward with you and Embry and everyone if it umm went wrong or whatever" His hands waved around in front of his stomach, I just stared at him. He was acting crazy. He didn't like me enough to care if it became awkward with Embry.
I nodded at him before walking back to my space on the big sofa and taking the nail polish remover from Emily's nail polish kit that was currently spread out over the coffee table, it looked like a salon in here.
"So umm the kid is still bothering you then? That Brody"
"Brad" I corrected as Paul began speaking again from his place hovering by the kitchen counter. He was stiff in his voice, too fake, not fake as in making a conversation he didn't want to have but fake as in he was trying to sound conversational and it wasn't working. There was an interest to his voice, a pitch that was making it shake.
"Brad" He copied but I had a sneaky feeling he knew it was Brad. "So he's still bothering you?"
I looked up again as I wiped the sticky polish from my nails, Paul was swinging himself back and forth on the balls of his feet, his big body hitting into the counter as he went.
"Well he's not bothering me as such, I feel bad for him actually. He is trying so hard and I keep shooting him down"
"You don't want to go out with him?" The pitch in his voice was back, it went high and shook as he took a big gulp of air and steadied himself mid swing.
"No, he's not my type"
"What is your type?" Paul's words cut across me before I finished my sentence, his sudden words made me jump a little and he gave a nervous chuckle before turning and burying his head in the fridge whilst mumbling about being thirsty. I had never seen him lose his composure but he was losing it now, his angry stance faded and he looked like a nervous little boy.
I thought over his question, it wasn't something I had ever had much thought over. I had dated guys in Chicago but they had been high school things that never lasted longer than a month and had only happened because my friends forced me. I had never thought of a guy as my type of guy but as I watched Paul bring himself back out of the fridge clutching a carton of juice his muscles flexed and he gave me another smile that made the beating in my chest pick up. He was a beautiful guy, he had the perfect body and most amazing smile, in terms of looks he would be it. He was perfect in his looks but I knew his personality, I knew he could snap and become this guy that scared me. But I knew he had a nice side too, I had seen it more recently and I liked it. If he stayed that nice person then maybe he would be my type. How did I answer that? I couldn't tell him it would be a nice version of him; I was blushing just for thinking it.
"Never mind, I should get going"
Paul grabbed the snow globe, the carton of juice went untouched by the fridge and he walked quickly for the door. His body oozing with discomfort but as I watched him go I became panicked, the small house seemed to grow around me and the thought of being alone made my stomach flutter.
"No wait" I called out not really meaning to and he stopped, his head turning only slightly so that I could see he was listening. "Could you maybe stay?" My voice fell quiet, I sounded like a scared child and I felt like it too. I didn't want to be alone; I didn't want him to leave. I liked him when he was being nice.
"Stay?" He asked and turned his whole body to face me as I nodded.
"I don't like being here alone, I can be such a wimp and the stories of vampires that Seth's been telling me are beginning to get to me" I was squeezing the tissue in my hand so tightly that the liquid from it began dripping down my bare arm, the coldness giving me goose bumps.
Paul's lips turned into a smirk and he jerked his head toward the door behind him.
"You're covered, someone patrols this area. No leech will get near this place"
His words didn't fill me with safety, if anything I felt even more desperate. I wanted to talk to him more, to know the person I had been told he was. "Embry, Jake and Quil are on patrol, my bet would be they are currently tormenting Quil rather than patrolling"
"You're really that scared?" He relaxed again dropping his shoulders as he watched me, I didn't think I sounded scared. "You're heart beat" He commented and his fingers flickered in a fast back and forth motion, my heart was racing.
I wasn't sure whether it was because Seth's stories were worrying me or because Paul was so close to me but I nodded anyway and he let out a sigh before walking toward the living room.
"So what stories has Seth been telling?" He asked as he sat himself down in the armchair that lay beside the sofa, my hands began moving again rubbing the polish off as I watched him.
Seth had gone scary story crazy and had spent most lunch times telling me about somebody called Victoria and an army of newborns coming to kill everyone.
"He said there was a vampire called Victoria who was after Bella, not that I know who she is, but he said this Victoria and someone called Laurent came with newborn vampires to kill everyone including this Bella girl. He said that they snuck past the wolves and nearly killed her, hence why the patrolling wolves don't fill me with confidence. Did that really happen?"
Paul's eyebrows rose and he pursed his lips a little as in repressing a smile. "Kind of but not quite like that, Bella is Renesmee's mom but they came for her before she was turned into a leech. No leech would get near this place now, or near you, you're pretty well protected"
Bella was Nessie's mom, so the girl Jake loved before Nessie. That was strange. "Protected by who? Quil and Embry?" I couldn't hide the lack of confidence in my voice as I spoke. Embry and Quil got distracted easily. I expected Paul to laugh but he didn't, he just stared at me, his eyes were stuck on mine to the point it burned me. He had such a deep stare as he watched me and I had to look away.
"No but nothing would get near you, trust me" He was being truthful, I could hear the same deepness in his voice that his eyes had held and my heart hammered. I wasn't sure what he meant, maybe there was always someone watching the house because it was the alpha's house or maybe he meant Sam wouldn't let me get hurt.
I wanted to speak but I felt like I couldn't, he looked away from me as I glanced at him and I felt my body hammer all over again. My skin was throbbing as I tried understanding his words. I needed to change the subject.
"What about the Voltiri?" It was the only thing that sprung to mind, another story Seth had told me. Paul gave a brief laugh so brief it was more of a snort.
"Volturi, not Voltiri. Has Seth just been telling you tales all week or something?" Paul's body fell back against the chair, relaxing from his stiff pose and I nodded. "Kid has a big mouth, what did he tell you about the Volturi?"
I shrugged as I scrubbed my nails finally getting the last of the polish off. "He said they are a group of vampires who hate the wolves and wanted to kill you all, he said they came to kill Nessie's family but they left, he said they would come back though. Will they?"
I reached for the nail polish and saw Paul shaking his head at what I was saying.
"Seth tells half the story"
"But will they come to kill you all?" I questioned and he shook his head again. "Who are they?"
"Uhh they are sort of" He stopped as he struggled to find his words. "Vampire royalty, they control everything in the world of leeches. They came for the Cullens because of Nessie, they thought she was dangerous to their world and because Nessie is an imprint we stood by the Cullens to protect her, long story short it was all sorted and they left but I don't think they were happy about us wolves being around. They might come back if they decide they want the Cullens or us but we can handle them, they won't kill any of us or you girls, you shouldn't listen to Seth's stories"
I nodded as I listened to him and put it together with the little information Seth had given me during his scary story telling sessions, I think I understood. "Do you ever get worried that you could get hurt? Vampires are strong and fast right? They could kill you" I had read the books, listened to the stories, vampires were dangerous. I didn't want to meet one.
"We're stronger and faster, we are built to kill leeches. They won't hurt us, or like I said, our families. You don't like the vampires?" He sounded sure of himself as he spoke; his question had me shaking my head at him. "You're heart goes crazy when you mention them" He mumbled the last bit but I heard it and it made me blush, he could hear my heart beat. They all could because of their freakish super senses but Paul was the only one to mention it.
"I'm not into scary things, I cried like a baby when my friends back home tried making me watch '30 days of night' and I couldn't sleep alone for a month after watching it. My mom found it hilarious; she would switch the light off when I was taking a shower and make scratching noises on the door, why are you laughing?"
As I looked up at him I saw his smile growing and his shoulders shaking from his laughter. It wasn't funny.
"Claire could watch that film and not get scared"
"Yeah well I'm not Claire, I don't do scary stories and vampires I get scared. It's not funny Paul, I got five minutes in and I started crying, then I come here and I find out it could actually happen" I argued back and he stopped laughing, his smile didn't fade though he just nodded.
"True, vampires are out there and hunting but it wouldn't happen to you" He turned serious as he spoke, his smile was still present but he was being serious.
"How do you know it won't?"
"Because I wouldn't" He paused and my body fell stiff, waiting for him to finish the sentence. "Sam wouldn't let anything hurt you, none of the guys would, you're pretty covered" My chest deflated as he changed the course of his words, I was sure he was going to say he wouldn't let it. I guess he got mixed up; maybe he would let it happen to me.
I didn't say anything back; I had nothing to say back so I focused on my nails and getting them done perfectly while he simply sat and watched, his hands fumbling with the snow globe in his lap. The air between us had grown awkward; the only sound offered was from the TV which was now showing reruns of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I knew every word to the theme tune, it was something I was quite proud of but as if played I stayed silent.
"Must suck" Paul suddenly piped up after ten minutes of nothing, his voice sounded snappy again and I cowered back into the pillows at the sound of it. I wanted to ask what he meant but I couldn't, I simply looked at him as he stared with a hard set jaw at the table in front of us. "Having to do your own nails, bet you're used to someone doing it for you while you sip on a star bucks and talk about how much money mommy and daddy spent on your birthday"
He sounded horrible, his voice had taken a bark to it much like he had spoke to me following my first days here. He hadn't held that tone with me for a week now and I hadn't missed the sound of it. I could feel my throat tightening, my heart aching and I simply stared at him. I didn't know what he meant by that, I had never in my life had my nails done in a salon, I had never set foot in a salon and I rarely drank star bucks. It was like he thought I was some rich kid from a big penthouse in the city when I was the opposite. I didn't have anything to say back I simply stared at him, I couldn't register any words or actions and he flung himself up.
"I have to go, I have someone to meet. But like I said, you're pretty covered"
He stormed out; the sight of it was enough to tear through my chest. He turned to hateful so quickly, I hadn't done anything or said anything, and he just turned. I listened as the front door slammed shut and a rumbling engine flared up outside, I waited, not breathing or moving as the sound of it faded into the distance and when I could no longer hear it anymore the stinging began in my eyes. The tears I refused to spill shot up and I had to blink rapidly to shake them away. He turned in an instant and I had no idea what I did. I felt like shit, he made me feel like shit. I didn't understand what I did, I didn't do anything.