So I'm so sorry for taking over a month to update. This past month has been crazy with school and work and some other stuff. So again, I'm super sorry. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 13

I remain pretending to sleep for the rest of the drive to Port Angeles, where we're dropping Margaret off at her house. Part of me wants to ask my mom to drop me off at Ricki's house. That way I can sleep over at her house, spend the entire night bitching about Paul, get some advice on how to approach the argument that is bound to ensue, and then get her to drive me home tomorrow.

However, telling her everything now would break Paul and I's deal, and I can't exactly yell at him for telling people if I also told people. Plus, knowing Ricki she wouldn't just drop me off; she would want to give Paul a piece of her mind.

So I don't ask.

When we've arrived in Port Angeles and dropped off Margaret, my mom turns around and asks, "Are you girls hungry? We can stop somewhere for supper before heading home."

The last thing I want to do is prolong yelling at Paul any further. I'm still furious, but I'm worried that the longer I wait, the more likely I'll end up losing my nerve and chicken out from confronting him about this.

"Um, I think Emily is cooking a big supper tonight," Leah replies when I don't. "But I don't mind stopping if you guys are hungry," she adds after her mother shoots her a look I don't really catch.

"I'm not hungry." It's a lie. I'm starving; we didn't just snack on movie theater popcorn. But like I said, I want to get home. And I can yell at Paul on an empty stomach. "Actually," I add, "I'm supposed to go with Leah to Emily's. Would it be okay if you dropped us off there?"

Leah looks like she's about to object, but I send her a silencing glare. Obviously, I hadn't been planning to go to Emily's – although if this hadn't happened I'm sure I would've ended up there anyway – but I know Paul will be there.

Mom looks surprised, but she's evidently pleased that I have plans with friends. "That's not a problem." As she heads back onto the highway, she continues talking to Sue.

"We should go grab supper at the diner in Forks after we drop off the girls," Sue suggests.

My mom nods enthusiastically in agreement. "That's a great idea. There's literally no food at our house. I don't know how it disappears so fast!"

Sue snorts, and out of the corner of my eye I notice Leah looks amused. "I feel you there. Food rarely lasts at my house either."

"Oh well," my mom sighs. "Peter and I will just have to go get groceries later tonight."

I begin to tune out their chatter, and focus on what the hell I'm going to say to Paul. I can't yell at him in front of all of our friends. I'd probably just end up embarrassing myself. I'm going to have to get him away from Emily's. Which won't be too hard – except that Leah warned him so he probably won't be too willing to leave the safe haven of Emily's cottage.

I pull out my phone, for the first time in a while. There's three text messages.

One is from Ricki, complaining that all the guys in Port Angeles are assholes – followed by an explanation of what happened to make her come to that conclusion. It's a long text message, and I just don't have the energy to answer her properly right now.

The other two are from Paul, which is odd because he's not much of a double texter. He always waits for a reply before he texts again – barring emergencies. One was from around noon. Probably when he woke up.

Good morning beautiful, wanna start the new season of Once tonight when you get back from your trip?

I check the time on the next message. It was definitely sent after Leah warned him.

Hope the shopping is going well! When will you be home?

Sliding my phone back into my jacket pocket, I don't reply. Unless Leah texts him again, it's going to be a surprise.

…

There's enough cars in Emily's driveway to make turning around impossible when we finally arrive, so my mom drops us off at the end of it. I instantly notice Paul's truck is one of the vehicles. We thank my mom and say good-bye to her and Sue before heading up Emily's longish driveway.

We're not even halfway up the driveway when Leah pauses. I look at her in confusion.

"Look," she says quietly, as if trying not to be heard. Even though literally no one is outside. "I know you're angry at Paul – "

"And I have every right to be," I interrupt indignantly.

She rolls her eyes. "Cassie, I get that. But just, be careful okay? Paul's got quite the temper…."

I raise an eyebrow at her. Of course I know he has a temper. I live with him for god's sake. But what exactly is she implying? Does she actually think lowly enough of Paul that she thinks he's going to hit me or something if I yell at him? I open my mouth, about to defend him, before quickly shutting it. This is not the time to be defending him. "I think I can handle myself. Thanks though."

"Fine," she huffs, annoyed as she continues walking to the house. "But I warned you."

From the porch, I can overhear the laughter and chatter going on inside. However, the second Leah and I enter, all sound ceases and it's suddenly deathly quiet. Leah walks right in anyway, grabbing a plate of food and taking a seat at the kitchen table.

I linger around the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against the frame.

Paul smiles hopefully at me. "You coming in, Cass?"

My hands clench at my sides as I do my best not to glare at him. Not here, I remind myself. Plastering a smile on my face, I say, "Actually, your dad needs your help with something at home. Asked me to come get you."

The smile disappears off of Paul's face, but I don't miss the smirks that take over many of the other guys' faces around the table.

"Is that so?" he asks, legitimate fear in his voice as he stands up from the table.

"Yeah. It is." My voice is so cold I almost don't recognize it. As he follows me towards the door, I say good-bye to the others with entirely fake enthusiasm and cheerfulness.

As the front door shuts behind us, I feel Paul reach for my hand.

Snatching it away from him, I exclaim angrily, "What the actual fuck Paul!"

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

I narrow my eyes at him. As if he didn't see that coming.

"C'mon, Cass, it's not like anyone can see us." He gestures around to the empty yard, darkening as we speak due to the sun setting.

My narrowed eyes turn into a glare. "Don't play dumb," I snap, stalking off the porch towards his truck. I don't get in when I reach it, instead leaning against the front bumper.

"Cassie, I… I'm sorry," he mumbles quietly.

"You're sorry?" I echo, my voice rising in pitch and volume. "You're sorry for what? For not keeping your mouth shut? For breaking our promise? For lying to my face about it?"

"I didn't – " he begins before cutting himself off. He opens his mouth to continue, but then closes it shortly after.

I cross my arms over my chest – partially in an attempted threatening manner, but mostly because the temperature has dropped significantly and I'm freezing.

When Paul continues opening and closing his mouth like a useless fish without uttering a word, I say, "It's literally only been a week and you've already blown the secret!"

He groans, his eyes flickering nervously to Emily and Sam's house. "Cass, let's not do this here. You're freezing!" He reaches towards me; I jerk away from his reach with a glare. "Let's go home and talk about this."

"Oh yes Paul, that's a brilliant idea! Let's go home and argue about how you told people our secret IN FRONT OF THE TWO PEOPLE WHO CAN ABSOLUTELY NOT FIND OUT ABOUT IT!" I'm legitimately screaming at him at this point. And I'm sure everyone at Emily's overheard at least some of it, but I'm too angry to be embarrassed.

"Please, I can explain," he begs. "Just not here."

"Well sure as hell not at home," I reply coldly. To be honest, I'm not even sure if Peter is home, and my mom would probably still be at the diner with Sue at this point. But that's not the point. It would probably be worse if we were arguing over this and they walked in.

"Alright," he whispers, walking towards the door of his truck. "Come on."

"No," I retort bluntly, standing firm with my arms still across my chest.

Sighing, he sends me a blank stare. "No?"

"I'm not getting into your truck with you and going god knows where until you explain why you told everybody and then why you lied to me about it."

"You just agreed we weren't going to do this here," he states dubiously.

"Well then we'll just walk somewhere else," I say simply.

"Yeah that's a great idea," he says dryly. "Let's walk through the streets of La Push with you yelling at me. I'm sure people won't start gossiping about that."

"I'll take my chances."

"You're being unreasonable."

"Well, you're being a liar."

Paul's fists clench as he takes another annoyed glance towards the house. "Well, I'm not doing this here, so get in, and we'll find a more appropriate spot." He doesn't wait for me to respond; he just gets into the truck and turns the key.

Stubbornly – and partially because I still don't know what I'm going to say to him – I wait a couple minutes before the cold is finally too much and I jump into his truck.

"Where do you want to go?" he asks, cranking the heat even further when he notices me shivering.

"We could go to the beach by the house," I answer, fiddling with the sleeve of my jacket to avoid looking at him. That way we're still in walking distance to the house if need be.

"First Beach? That is literally the number one hang out of people around here," he retorts, looking unsure.

I roll my eyes. "I doubt it is in January."

Frowning, he nods in agreement and pulls out of the driveway.

We don't say a word until we're parked in the parking lot of First Beach, which is probably a good ten minutes later.

"Look, I can explain."

"You keep saying that, but I still haven't heard an explanation."

His face twitches in annoyance as his fingers tremble slightly. Leah's warning triggers in my head, but I shake it off. We're parked; it's not like he can veer the car off the road. After another eerie silence, he quickly mumbles, "I didn't tell everybody about this."

"So you told a few of them, probably knowing that the rest would find out?" I accuse, unimpressed. It's not like I expected him to drop to his knees begging for my forgiveness. Hell, I'm not really sure what I was expecting. But I did think I'd get more than one 'I'm sorry'.

"No," he responds, looking out the windshield. "I didn't really say anything to them."

"So they just figured it out on their own?" I demand, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

"Well no, but I didn't say anything to them about it. Which is what I promised you. And I didn't break that promise."

I glare at him. "What does that even mean? Did you write it down? Act it out in charades? How the hell could they know if you didn't say anything to them?"

He goes back to impersonating a fish, completely stunned.

I continue staring him down with an expression that clearly reads give me an explanation.

"Cassie I'm so sorry that you feel betrayed, and I'm sorry if them knowing makes you uncomfortable. Believe me, I tried my bes – " he pauses – "well, I tried to keep it from them. But if you could just wait a couple weeks. The tribe is having a bonfire, and I swear I can explain everything then in a way that makes way more sense than anything I could possibly say right now."

I'm livid. "Weeks? You're fucking nuts if you think I'm going to wait weeks – until after the wedding at that! – to get an explanation. And what the hell does the tribe have to do with this? Do you even have an explanation or are you just trying to buy time to come up with a better excuse?"

He bangs the steering wheel in frustration, causing me to jump back. Instantly, panic takes over his face. He takes a few deep breaths. "I have an explanation. But it's complicated, and you would understand so much better if you waited until after that bonfire. Can't you just trust me?"

"I did trust you, Paul. Until you lied."

Biting his lip, he closes his eyes.

"I want the truth."

After a few more moments of silence, he glances over, looking me directly in the eyes. "I didn't say anything to them; however, Quileutes are descendants from wolves. And because of that, some of us can shape shift into wolves and while we're in wolf form we can read each other's minds. And that's how they all found out." He says it in such a matter-of-fact tone, while making intense eye-contact. Like it was a normal, truthful thing to say. It almost makes me believe him.

But it's not normal or possible, yet he somehow seems to believe it.

"You're fucking insane," I exclaim in rage, reaching for the latch to open the door.

"Cassie," he whispers, looking hurt although not entirely surprised. "I'm sorry, but I am being completely serious. And honest."

"Leave me alone. You're crazy."

"Cassie, I'm not…." He murmurs, looking completely lost.

"You're absolutely psychotic if you think that's remotely possible!"

He reaches for my arm as I rush out of the cab, but when I shake him off he immediately lets go. I hear him calling after me, then I hear him get out of his truck as he continues yelling after me.

But I don't even register what he's saying; I'm just focusing on running home and getting away from the lunatic that Paul apparently is. How am I supposed to tell Ricki that I didn't even tell her that I was dating someone? How am I supposed to tell my mom that she's marrying a man with a crazy son? How am I supposed to tell Peter that his son is crazy? How am I supposed to tell myself that the first person I let myself fall in love with is insane and clearly not the person I thought he was?

And suddenly, the tears are streaming down my face.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think. I'll try to do a better job at updating this time….