If there was one thing that I learned about tonight, it's to never mix moonshine, werewolves, and two hot heads together. You'll end up with on big ass fight on your hands.
All of us stood still after Paul finally told everyone who he actually imprinted on. My eyes were still locked on Paul, who was on the verge of losing it. His nostrils were flared, breathing in and out loudly. I knew what the meant. He did the same thing after I hit him across his face years ago. I went to break up their argument, but Leah beat me to it.
Everything was in slow motion. Jared and Quil were still restraining Jacob. He wasn't even fighting back anymore. He just stood there, gaping at Paul.
"Say that again." Jacob broke the silence.
Leah stood next to Paul, keeping a watchful eye on him. "I imprinted on Rachel four years ago."
"That's not true, my dad would have told me!" Jacob said, defensively.
"He didn't tell you because he knew this is how you would react!" Paul half-shouted. "Listen, there's nothing going on between Rachel and I. We're just close friends, that's all."
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Like I'm going to believe that. We all know who you are!"
"Oh, shut up, Black! I haven't been that way for a while, but of course you wouldn't notice that. You don't notice anything because your head's to far up your ass!" Paul stepped forward, and Leah couldn't do anything to hold him back. She knew she was no match for Paul. Quil and Jared were still restraining Jacob. "Look around, Jake! You're in love with a girl who will never love you back! You're so caught up with what you want that you don't even notice anything else. And everyone can see it, except for you."
Jacob looked at me. I didn't know what to say. It was so true, but I couldn't tell him in front of everyone. I looked away, but I felt his eyes continue to burn into my skull.
"Paul, just back away." Jared warned, but Paul was too far gone at this point. We could tell by the way he was carrying himself that he had a point to make. A little part of had a feeling that his inner wolf was pissed because Jacob wasn't handling Paul imprinting on Rachel well. I stared at Paul, kept staring at him until he was the only thing I could see. I felt Leah walk over to me. You can basically feel the uncertainty in the air.
"No, Jared, I'm not backing down. Jake should know what's going on, I mean, he is going to be Alpha one day, right?" Paul snorted.
"Paul, come on, stop it." I pleaded. I could feel Jacob stare at me again.
"Leah, take Bella back to your place and get Sam!" Jared ordered.
I didn't even have time to protest before Leah was pulling me away. I kept my stare on Paul, feeling guilty for causing so much trouble. I ripped my arm from Leah's hold, running to Paul's side, touching his arm.
"Paul, please calm down, come with me. You don't want to do anything stupid." I pleaded, hoping I was quiet enough for only Paul to hear.
"Bella, get away from him!" Jake struggled against Jared and Quil's hold. "He's crazy!"
As the words left Jacob's lips, I felt Paul pry my hand from his shoulder, intertwining our fingers. "I'd never hurt her!"
"Seriously, just drop it." I pleaded again. I looked back to signal Leah to help me out, but she was already running towards the woods, probably to go get Sam. As I watched Leah run off, I could feel the others stare at me. I looked back at Paul, who was gazing down at me. He sighed.
"Black, look," Paul strayed his eyes away from me. "Rachel and I will always be just friend. She has her own life and I have my own. Your sister is my best friend, and so is Jared, and Quil, and you know what I mean. I will continue to pursue a strictly platonic relationship with her. She's happy and in love with Ben. I would never stand between two people in love." He let go of my hand. Jacob seemed a lot calmer. Jared and Quil let him go, and he walked away without saying another word on the subject.
"Just let him go. I have a feeling that he and Billy will be having a long talk." Paul said, pulling me into his arms.
"So what is this? You guys together?" Quil inquired.
"Yeah..." I answered, hesitantly.
Quil crossed his arms. "I really don't know how I feel about this, but as long as you're happy."
Jared grinned. "If you thought that Jake's reaction to Paul imprinting on Rachel was bad, wait until he finds out about Paul and you." He said to me.
Paul drew out another long sigh, letting me go again. "I really don't want to think about that at the moment. But when it does happen, I know there'll definitely be a fight."
I looked down. "Maybe we should have told him then."
"You planning on giving Jake a heart attack?" Paul snorted.
"Paul has a point. Doesn't matter what you just told him. When he finds out about you two, Paul's life will be in serious danger." Quil interjected.
I stared at him. "Well we can't hide this forever just because he can't handle bad news."
Paul wrapped an arm around me. "Don't worry about it that, babe. We're just saying that if he does find out, you might lose a friend."
"Yeah, Bells, you heard Jake." Quil began. "You're his Bella. There's no way he'd let you go without a fight."
"Do you think he imprinted on me?" I asked, hoping that wasn't the case.
Quil rolled his eyes. "No, if he did, the whole town would know by now."
"Let me go talk to him, maybe I can talk some sense into him. It always works." I suggested.
They all exchanged worried glances, and I knew then that they didn't like the idea.
"I don't know, he's not in his right mind." Jared shrugged.
"Come on, what if he needs a friend right now? If it gets out of hand, I'll call for help. I know one of you are bound to hear me." I persuaded.
Paul threw his head back, sighing loudly, again. "Fine! But Jared and Quil will have to be within forty five feet of the house. I don't give a fuck if Jake can sense them. Jake can easily lose his temper with the mood he's in right now. I would be there, too, but I need to call Rachel and tell her what happened." Paul arranged, kissing my forehead. "I'll come as soon as I'm done talking to Rachel and Sam."
He gave me a proper kiss before running into the woods. When I couldn't see him anymore, I looked back at Tweedledee and Tweedledum. "I guess you guys are my bodyguards tonight."
Jared walked over to my side, slinging and arm around my shoulder. "Don't you worry, dear Bella. We'll protect you! We're the best of the best!"
I raised an eyebrow, staring at him doubtfully. "Okay...I'm not sure how I feel about that."
"Any idea what you're going to say to Jake?" Quil queried, flanking my other side.
"I have no idea. I guess I'll just be a friend. I have a feeling that he's upset about more than just Rachel and Paul. When Paul blurted that I didn't love Jake the way he loved me, I could tell that it hurt him. I really should have talked to him about that before, because I always knew he had strong feelings for me. God, I'm stupid." I breathed out, running a hand through my hair.
"Don't beat yourself up over it." Quil said, nonchalantly.
"How? I put this on myself. If I did put him in the friend zone, maybe it wouldn't be so hard for me and Paul."
"I still think it would be hard if you told Jake about your true feelings. He always had a thing for you, even when you were just kids. Jake has a hard time letting things go, especially if it has anything to do with you." Quil provided.
I looked up at him. If anyone knew Jacob better than me, it would be Quil. They grew up together. Jacob was only two months older than him.
"After his mom died and his sisters left, it kind of fucked him up. Plus, after losing you when you started dating that bloodsucker didn't help either. I think he's just afraid of losing anymore people. You're the only one who keeps coming back even after leaving. No one else has done that." Quil explained, sympathetically.
"Rachel visits." I added.
"Yeah, but there's more than just that. And it's not my place to tell."
We kept on walking until we entered La Push.
"Are you sure you want to talk to him tonight?" Jared asked.
"Yeah, if I wait any longer, I'm afraid someone will get hurt."
As soon as we reached Sam's house, we could hear Sam yelling. We stopped in front of his house, watching as someone stumbled out the door - Paul.
"We didn't mean for it to happen, it just fucking did!" Paul was shouting.
Jacob was running after Paul, but was held back by Sam. "She would never be with a lowlife like you!"
Paul looked over his shoulder and at me, then looked back at Jacob. "Have you ever asked yourself why she's so different?" Why she's doing the things she's doing? Paul taunted, a menacing smile on his face. "She's changed, Jake. Or, I don't know, maybe she's looking for a real man. We all know you turned down the Alpha position because you're not man enough!"
That was the last nail on the coffin. The last thing I saw was Jacob pulling away from Sam, running after Paul. He jumped in the air, shredded clothes covering the lawn as he transformed into a werewolf. Paul was already in his werewolf form. The fight started.
Well, someone's definitely getting hurt tonight.
Beta/Editor: Moriarty's Diary