Maybe he thought she was asleep. She had, afterall, been laying down with her body tilted away from the door.

But he walked around the corner of the bed and they made eye contact. He jumped as if he had seen a ghost. "Er… hi," he said awkwardly.

"Hey," Bella greeted. Paul. He stood there, until she lifted herself onto her elbow. "Are you going to stand there or sit down?"

He seemed to flush a bit in embarrassment, and sat down. It had been three days since she had woken up. Three days since he had proven that he had read the book every night. "I keep forgetting you don't remember me. Paul."

"I know," Bella smiled in what she hoped was encouraging. "Bella."

He snorted. "Yeah, I know."

She stared at him a moment. "So… did you really… read to me? I mean, Sam called to prove it. But..." Paul clenched his jaw, but shrugged. "You could have easily just memorized it yourself and then just sat here staring at me like a creep."

He shrugged. "Maybe I did both." It was funny, and she giggled.

"Well, how do I know you're actually a good guy and Jake wasn't just lying to me?" Bella threw to him with a grin.

"What do you want?" Paul snorted. "A list of references?" Bella couldn't help but laugh and she saw a small smile peak out on his face. It was nice, she decided. Probably underused but she hadn't seen it in… well, since senior year of high school. He smiled all the time then. "I've got a long list of girls..." He cleared his throat, glancing away from her, his smile falling. "I guarantee they won't tell you anything special about me."

He sound so… dejected. Bella gave him a smile. "Well, I'll give you a good reference if you need it. Sweetheart to people they hate, apparently." Paul snorted again, and she saw the smile poke through again. She pushed herself up so that she was sitting, and Paul shifted in his seat, and though she could see him trying to hide it, he couldn't hide the way his lips curved up slightly. She could see the imprint. Maybe she always could, that was why she let herself feel how she did. Maybe… maybe he never needed to tell her. Maybe she just needed to figure it out herself.

Though she hadn't, but it was still a start.

"I don't hate you," Paul admitted after a minute of silence. "Never did, really. Just… you made me so angry."

"Why?" Bella asked carefully. She didn't want to push him, but she wanted to get it out there. "You'll probably have to spell it out for me, but … they say I'll remember soon enough." She would have to. Because she didn't want to ruin this. She didn't even know why.

Paul had broken her heart more than she cared to admit. Paul had hurt her more than she ever wanted to. Paul had made her feel alive – made her feel something. After so many months – and years of feeling numb – just being near him made her feel something again. Feel human again.

And the brief smile that filled his face, a big one that was never shown, well… it made her feel breathless, and it felt like all of her nasty scars from his words had healed. He looked… so broken. Had she done this to him? Had she broken him?

"You know about the wolves?" he asked.

She nodded. "All of the legends."

Paul swallowed, but his eyes closed, as if steeling himself for something – for a backlash he didn't want. "What about imprinting?"

"Like… what Sam and Emily have," Bella said carefully. He couldn't have been… he was telling her about the imprint? He released a haggard breath and opened his eyes, nodding. "Yeah… I know about it."

It wasn't a lie. She knew all about it.

"We haven't had the best start," Paul admitted. "We… barely knew each other, really. Just… One day, you got really mad because Jake couldn't see you anymore." She remembered. She nodded to tell him as much. "Yeah, well… Sam and I showed up with Jared, we heard yelling… Jake had slept in for patrols anyway, so we were going to wake his lazy ass up." He cleared his throat. "You got really angry. I mean, I sort of provoked but… you slapped me." Bella raised an eyebrow. "I was … I was a goner." Bella swallowed at the pain in his voice – the raw ache in his throat. "I was so angry that I phased… I almost killed you."

"But you didn't," she pointed out.

"But ever since, everything has been … well, sort of like that. I either explode or get you so angry that you can't even think straight. And we've always been like that. It's sort of been… our thing, you know?" Bella nodded carefully. "I imprinted on you..." The words were light a weight off his chest and he sagged into the chair, his arms crossing. "Fuck, and I screwed it all up. It was easy at first, to forget about it. I was such a dick to you, but you would always laugh it off. And fuck, I liked making you laugh about it. But by the time you left for Florida, we changed… I stopped making you laugh when I realized you weren't …" Paul swallowed. "You know Cullen?" She nodded almost immediately. She didn't want to talk about him. She really, really didn't. Not after how long she was out. "Well… I thought you two had…" He didn't need to finish. "Anyway, I … I didn't want the sloppy seconds. It was such a … a dick thing to think, but… fuck, I couldn't stand the thought of you loving him like you couldn't me-"

"Paul," she said carefully. She was about to tell him right there that she was faking it, but Paul shook his head.

"I'm sorry." She blinked in surprise at the words. "I'm sorry I was such a dick. I'm sorry I treated you like shit. I'm sorry that I wasn't … I wasn't there for you… like I should have been."

Bella leaned forward, grabbing his hand and unwinding it from his crossed arms. "Paul… You don't… It's okay. I know… I know you didn't mean it. Because…" But she couldn't tell him. Not when he looked so hopeful… "How about a fresh start? Remember? We'll start fresh. And… and everything we should have done then, we'll do now." Paul swallowed. "Yeah?"

Paul exhaled. "Why would you do that? Why would you do that, when you know you'll just remember and it'll all go to shit again-"

"It won't," Bella cut him off. "I won't let it. Not unless you promise me… that we can try. Imprints are a big deal… That was four years ago, Paul… why did you let yourself…?" She didn't know what to say. She knew the answer. "I don't think you're a piece of shit. You probably smell like one after patrols or something, but…" It elected a small smile, not as bright as before, but something. "I don't know how long it'll take for me to remember." God, the words felt like metal in her mouth. But she continued. "But we can prove that we can be better than that. Yeah?" Paul swallowed.

"Yeah."

"So let's start over." He nodded sagely and she gave him a warm smile. "I'm all yours."

He swallowed. "I don't… fuck, just because we're imprints doesn't mean I own you or anything… shit-"

"No," Bella insisted quickly. "No, that's not..." Suddenly she understood when he stopped immediately at her speaking. She needed to talk to Sam. She needed to as quickly as possible. Because this behavior was so different that she knew it stemmed from something deeper – something that she didn't know about. "I'm my own person, I know you're not going to own me." Paul cleared his throat again, but Bella gripped his hand tighter. It wasn't as strong as it should have been, but they were working on it. She spent hours and hours during the days working on it. And on walking as best she could. It was just the strength of getting to her feet that caused problems. She could barely do it, and only with using her arms to help her up. "A fresh start."

"I just… I want to warn you that I always can do shit, and it's normal, and then I fuck it up somehow-"

"Then we'll deal with it when it gets to that point," Bella said, not worried in the slightest. Because she could see it. She could see when he knew he had messed up. It meant he was sorry. That he knew he was doing something was wrong.

It was more than she could say for someone else she knew. "I just… I'm sorry… Because usually when I fuck up it gets me angry and I phase and so… if it happens, and you don't see me for a while, that's probably why… and fuck, just… I'm sorry in advance-"

Bella gave him a smile. "I'm glad you told me… Did I know before?"

He shook his head. "Fucked up before I could tell you."

Bella hated this. She hated who he had become. It was… it was heartbreaking to watch. "Well, now I know. And I think… I think we'll be happy." Paul met her eyes in surprise. "You can never hurt me, Paul. I know you won't. If you could hold yourself back enough for me not to get hurt when we first really met, then… then we'll be fine." She gave him a warm smile. "Though, Charlie's got to be pissed if he ever finds out about this."

"Sam… Sam told him everything," Paul admitted. "He knows." Bella chewed on her lip, worried. "Fuck, I don't know how that man does it, but he takes weird shit well too…. He's fine as long as we …" Paul shrugged, stopping himself. "As long as I don't do anything to really fuck this all up."

Bella released him, sitting back on the bed. "I can't believe Charlie knew before me." Paul snorted. "He hasn't… threatened you with a gun, has he?"

"Worse," Paul admitted. "He told me that if I ever screw up like Cullen did, he'd be really disappointed." Oh, wow… And that… that was worse than if Charlie shot him? "And that I better not push you away again."

"Again?"

He shrugged. "I push people away. It's easier."

Bella frowned slightly. "Well, you won't push me away this time, right?"

He nodded. "Right."

Bella nodded back. "Then let's see where it takes us." Paul took a deep breath. "We'll just… Try."

He nodded. "Yeah… Try will be good." She gave him a warm smile, which he returned.

"So, what do you do?" Bella asked. "Work at the res or-"

"Jake has a mechanic shop," Paul shrugged. "I work there during the day. And in the evening, I have patrol."

"And then you come here at night? Do you sleep?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Haven't slept well anyway for… months."

Since she was in here didn't need to be said. She got it from his words clearly enough. "Well..." She scooted over and patted the empty bed space. "I don't know if you'll fit, but come on."

"Huh?" he grunted blankly.

"Come on, James Dean. Hop in before I change my mind."

"Don't you have a billion wires and-"

Bella shot him a look. "I'm asking you to sleep in the same bed as me. And I know we can both fit if we get creative. So, either hop in or stay in the uncomfortable chair. But if you usually stay the whole night, you are getting some sleep. And I am, too."

Paul eyed the space for a minute, before he stood. "Fine, but if the Chief sees, this is all your fault."

Bella shot him a cheeky grin. "Gladly." If they didn't jump into things, if they didn't jump into this new change, then they would be hesitant about it for a while. So this had to happen… They had to start somewhere. "Besides, we're young and we're reckless… what do they expect when they get two kids in their twenties in a room together?" Paul raised an eyebrow. "We have to break some rules. So, either get in or the nurse is going to think we're going through a rough patch. She asked me today if we were married."

Paul snorted. "Yeah, apparently they all think we are." But he stood from his seat and eyed the spot. "I don't think I'll fit."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Now, that's not thinking very creatively."

"Why are we doing this? You don't even know who I am?"

"No, but I know enough for me to trust you. So… I don't think this needs to be said, but don't fuck it up." He snorted as his own words were tossed back to him, and he climbed into the bed carefully. It was a little cramped, but Bella hummed in satisfaction before she turned on her side, facing away from him. "Thank you, Paul… for coming here every night."

"They said that you might have been able to hear..."

"I did have the 1994 version of Wuthering Heights in my head the whole time I was out. Like a movie on repeat," Bella admitted. Paul finally settled and she closed her eyes as she felt the heat of his werewolf blood radiating on the bed. At least she was able to convince the doctor to put her in normal clothing – a t-shirt and shorts. It made this all the less embarrassing. But she kept her eyes closed. "So… thank you."

"Yeah… yeah, anytime." And for some reason, the words were probably as sincere as he had ever spoken. She fell asleep when she felt his arm wrap around her, and his warm breath fell onto her neck.

It was a peaceful sleep. One that she would have gladly repeated. Because it was really…. Well, relaxing. She could dream of something other than the movie or the Cullens. She could dream of them.

Of a future that they could have had.

It was nice.

The night repeated for the next week, Bella getting stronger with each therapy session, until she was able to move herself out of bed on her own. From what she understood, from the six months she had been in a coma, four and a half had been working on helping her keep her muscle mass and keeping some of her strength. The constant time spent with the nurses in the day time had kept her in good enough shape for her to stand and hug her friends when she first woke up. But walking was a struggle. She could took it, but it was grueling, and it took forever just to make it across a room.

When she was discharged nearly a week and a half later, she still didn't have enough strength to walk upright on her own, but that was why she had been given a walker… A freaking walker just like her grandmother had.

While Dr. Gerandy insisted it wasn't permanent, she had still glared at him, but accepted it. It was better than laying on the couch all day until someone was there to help her get to the bathroom or bedroom.

To make up for it, Charlie and Renee offered to take her anyplace she wanted for food. Real food. Food that wasn't pudding or yogurt or too salty mashed potatoes. "Taco Bell," Bella said immediately.

And though it probably wasn't what they had in mind, they got the food and then sat in the parking lot in Charlie's cruiser, munching on tacos and burritos and eating everything from the menu that they could fit into the order. "You sure you'll eat all this, Bells?" Charlie asked as he looked over the two bags of leftovers.

Bella just shot him a grin. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure." Besides, if she didn't eat it, then the werewolf that had been visiting her every night could. Wolves always loved food.

"I just..." And Renee began to cry, again. It was more annoying than it was heartwarming, Bella felt. Renee hadn't stopped crying. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Renee… I'm fine. I just want to go home and sleep," Bella insisted. "And then work on getting rid of that stupid walker before I take out a window."

Charlie snorted. "Sue would kill you."

Bella laughed. "Probably." It took them ten minutes to get to the bend in the road Bella had crashed in. And when they did, she told Charlie to pull over.

"Bells..."

"No, show me?" Bella requested. She needed to see where the car had gone. And though it was snowing, and absolutely freezing out, Bella crawled out of the car and leaned against it as she looked over the road. She could see the skid marks in the wet pavement. And the trees that were still broken in the distance from where her car had hit.

Suddenly the memory came back vividly. The grinding sound, the sound of the glass. The squealing of tires. Screaming. And then black.

Bella swallowed as she saw the distance. "Wow… I didn't think we went that far… but I guess we did."

"You flipped into the ditch," Charlie said. It was the fiftieth time she had heard the story – it usually accompanied Renee's crying fests. But it was different when she was standing where it all happened. "And rolled down the hill into the woods. They had to-"

"Yeah," Bella said quietly when Charlie couldn't finish.

They stood there a moment, Renee still in the car. And when Charlie looked at her, she saw the moistness in his eyes. "Dad..."

"I've never seen Paul so focused than he was when he got here," Charlie admitted. "He just grabbed my keys and drove me to the hospital." Bella chewed on her lip. "He's a good kid."

"Yeah," Bella said quietly. "He is."

Bella stared at the snow covered ditch for a while, until the chill began to work past her flushed cheeks and clogged throat. She nodded. "It's cold." And she slid back into the cruiser, Charlie shutting the door once she was safely tucked inside. And when the car started again, and they headed further towards La Push, Bella felt the safety of La Push engulf her. It was always safe on La Push. It was always a place that she could go to be protected. It was always a place that she could go if she needed someplace.

La Push was always home.

And the Beach House… Well, it was most welcome of all. A bed to call her own.

"Now, this is only temporary," Renee was saying as Bella got out of the cruiser. Charlie offered an arm for her to lean on, and they made eye contact, both rolling their eyes at the exact same time. "Once you're able to, you'll be all warmed up in Florida."

Bella didn't have the heart to tell the woman that she was going to be staying in Florida. The doctor's expected six months of physical therapy until she was able to walk normally. And use her hand that had been shattered. She still couldn't use her fingers right. But they promised it would take time.

A shit load of time.

And it was all time that spent in Florida would just delay. It was best to stay in Forks, where her doctors knew everything about her injuries.

While her school had already put her on academic leave, she would have to transfer if she was ever going to finish her studies. And she needed to call Hayley and Stephanie. She needed to do a lot of things. She already knew her apartment had been moved out of and all of her stuff was at Renee's.

Her room was the same as the one she had claimed the summer before. Only instead of a view of the ocean, she had a view of the snowy beach and the frozen waves.

"I'll tell her tonight," Charlie said quietly. "Why don't you get some sleep? It's been a long day."

"Thanks, dad," she said quietly. He gave her a smile, and then left, shutting her door behind him.

And Bella slipped off to sleep as soon as her head touched her pillow. For the first time without a wolf by her side. Bella hadn't even seen Sue when they arrived. Maybe she was doing something for the Pack? She'd have to find her tomorrow. And then find Sam.

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