If you wanna call me, call me, call me

You don't have to worry 'bout it baby.

You can wake me up in the dead of night;

Wreck my plans, baby that's alright.

This is a drop everything kind of thing.

Swing on by, I'll pour you a drink.

The door's unlocked. I'll leave on the lights.

Baby you can crash my party anytime.

Crash My Party, Luke Bryan

(~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~)

Paul groaned and blinked the sleep from his eyes. 7 AM on a Saturday morning. Whoever was trying to wake him up was in for a WORLD of misery. His phone had just gone off for the sixth time in the space of about ten minutes. It allowed him to wonder just how much force he'd need to throw the thing against the wall to its death and watch it shatter. He was just about to fall back to sleep when the thing rang again causing his eyes to narrow into slits of frustration.

It melted away when he saw Bella's face on the screen and hurried to answer it. "Hello?"

"Paul? Did I wake you up? I'm sorry… I didn't think to look at the time…"

"No… no I was getting up anyways." He lied easily.

"Oh… well, I'm glad for that."

"Bella? Are you ok? You sound like you've been crying! What's wrong?" Paul asked sitting up in bed.

"Have you seen the news at all since last night? They're running the story now…" She asked, completely evading his questions.

Ignoring Jared's protests, Paul flipped the TV over to the local news station and sighed when he heard the story was going to be coming up. He kept his voice calm. He hated watching the news as much as Jared, but even his best friend seemed to sense it was something important. "Can you tell me what's going on, Bella?"

"They're attacking Grandma Marie… saying the most horrible things!" She sniffed.

Paul closed his eyes and sighed. "Do you know who started it?" He asked flipping through a couple channels seeing if the story was on another station.

"Oh, I know." Bella huffed. "Renee said she'd get her back… even SHE went too far."

Paul got quiet as he caught the tail end of the story on one of the channels. Marie's face was plastered across the screen as the reporters continued to talk. If they were to be believed, according to an anonymous source, Marie had been supplying Renee with the antidepressants and antipsychotic medications that had kept Bella's dual personality disorder tamed.

Jared was speechless. He looked at Paul who looked about ready to hunt Renee down and string her up by her fingers and toes..

"Bella…" Paul sighed. "You know that's not true. She wouldn't do that. Everyone who knows her knows that."

"I do know that. She's always been on my side." She agreed easily.

Jared arched an eyebrow. Paul had long since put the phone on speaker. He'd gotten tired of Jared poking his side giving him 'what the hell' looks.

"You sure you're ok? You want me to come over?"

'He's been there too, you know.' Izzy chimed in.

Bella smiled. "You don't have to do that. I don't want to impose on your time."

Jared rolled his eyes. Ever the polite one. Sometimes he wished all they had to put up with was Izzy. Hellcat was better than prim and proper lady… it always made them feel like they had to hide who they really were from her. He wondered if that's how she had felt before finding out that she was two parts of the same person.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." Paul told her jarring Jared from his thoughts. He didn't give Bella much time to protest either before he'd said goodbye and rushed to get dressed.

"you're SO whipped." Jared teased before going back to his movie now that news had been turned off.

Bella sighed but couldn't help the smile that passed over her lips either. She passed by the mirror in the hallway and stopped to stare at herself. Her face was tearstained, her cheeks were red and blotchy, but even Izzy could see the happiness in her eyes at the thought of Paul coming to comfort her. She didn't say anything, but she could feel the confliction within her other self. Bella didn't know what to think of Paul… he was a friend. He was Izzy's… wasn't he? But Izzy was her too… so where did that leave Paul?

Her phone chirped to life, jarring her from her thoughts. Embry had sent her a text message simply stating to 'chin up.' Of all of Paul's friends, Embry was the easiest to get along with. He was quiet like she was and shared many things in common with her. She smiled and moved to the bathroom to clean her face. If only he were a few years older. She mused.

Izzy snorted. Embry was good looking. There was no doubt there. But he was young too. He may have an older brother who threw some amazing house parties.. He may work in one of the most popular clubs in the area.. But he was too quiet. There was no sense of danger and excitement like there was with Paul. No.. Embry was nice… but Paul won hands down.

The doorbell ringing brought her back to present time. She hurried down the hall and looked through the peephole on the front door. She grinned and stepped to the side to allow him entry once the door was opened.

"You ok?" He asked wrapping her up into a tight hug after she closed the door behind him.

She laughed. "I'll be alright." She promised. "You didn't have to come and see me."

"Hush. I told you I'd be here. Now… you wanna watch re runs of Chicago Fire or do I have to hand over more of my man card first?" He teased.

It had the desired effect. Bella let loose an involuntary giggle. "No… come on." She said leading him into the living room by the hand.

Even Izzy was amused.. More with her than with him. She'd long ago come to terms that physically they were the same person and it was silly to say over personality had sole ownership over Paul's feelings. Even he'd said it… they'd started to act the same and it was more and more confusing for all those involved. She'd have to find a way for her other half to admit that she did indeed care for Paul as much as Izzy herself did.

"Hey Paul?"

Bella huffed but didn't fight too hard to stay in control. Izzy wouldn't cross the line too much.

"Hm?" His eyes were drawn to hers and he frowned in confusion.

Izzy pulled the remote from his hands and climbed into his lap causing his eyebrow to arch. He was wondering how long it would take Bella to intervene. Ever the lady, things never got too out of hand between them- much to his frustrated libido.

"You wanna go out tonight?" She asked while trailing her finger tips over his muscled, tattooed arms.

"You think it's a good idea?" He asked, hating that he was turning down time with the more outgoing of his pseudo- girlfriends' personalities. He didn't even know if he could call her that. He didn't know if they were just friends or if they were dating.

"So lets go out with friends. I'm sure Angie would say yes. If she says yes, it wouldn't take Jared much to convince Jared." She reasoned.

He skimmed his nose over her jaw line allowing the barest of contact between his lips and the skin of her exposed neck. "And Sam and Embry?"

"Of course, Sam. And Embry works tonight." She muttered before rocking her hips into his slightly. She relished the hiss of pleasure that escaped from his lips.

"So how do you plan to get around the vultures?" He finally asked, his lips brushing lightly against hers.

Izzy swallowed when he moved his hands from her waist to her bottom to pull her closer. Her eyes widened slightly when she felt just how needy he was becoming. Her nails scraped across the skin at the back of his neck causing him to shudder a little bit.

"I think for tonight… it should be Bella to have the fun. She's definitely more reserved… and well… she's technically never experienced the night life."

Izzy's statement left both Paul and Bella shocked. "You sure?"

"Positive."

Paul grinned, leaned in and captured her lips with his again. She was most definitely the perfect woman for him. Now he just had to convince BOTH personalities of that.