Chapter 23 - Burn

Paul's Point Of View

I needed a shower.

When Seth released me from my position, I wasted no time in going home.

There was a small gathering at Sam's tonight, celebrating the six month anniversary of being vampire free.

Emily had been cooking for the last two days preparing for this.

I couldn't wait.

I was starving.

Swinging the back door open, I walked into the kitchen and directly to the sink. Turning it on, I bent my head under the faucet and took a few long pulls of the cold water.

"Have a good day?" Mom asked, as she walked into the room.

I stood and wiped my face with the back of my arm.

"Boring." I turned around and leaned against the counter. "I'm going to Sam's tonight. I probably wont be home until late."

She smiled. "No problem."

"Well," I said as I pushed away from the counter and moved towards the living room, "I need to take a shower."

She moved out of the doorway, to let me pass.

Taking the stairs three at a time, I went directly into the bathroom.

It only took fifteen minutes for me to wash the grime from my body, and to get dressed.

Closing my door softly behind me, I made my way back downstairs and into the kitchen.

"I'm going to head out now." I said to my mother who was sitting in a chair gazing out the window.

"Have fun." She said, as she stood and walked to the sink, dumping her, almost full, cup of coffee down the drain.

She seemed nervous.

Antsy.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I moved a few steps closer to her.

"Hmm?" She asked as she watched the coffee swirl around the sink. "Yea. Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." She smiled up at me, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Okay." I backed up a few feet. "I'll see you later?"

"See you later."

I studied her for a few seconds and when it didn't appear that she would say any more, I turned and walked briskly to the front door.

Swinging it open, I hurried outside and walked over to where I parked my car.

It wasn't there.

Freaking out, I ran back into the house.

"Mom..." I panicked. "My car's gone."

"Oh dear." She said as she giggled.

Giggled!

"I forgot to tell you that Bella borrowed it."

"What?" I gasped, as I took a step back.

"Yes. I'm so sorry that I forgot to tell you." She wiped her hands down the front of her jeans and walked over to me. "She was here earlier. She got a phone call and was needed in Port Angeles. You were on patrol so we couldn't reach you."

"What?" I asked again. I couldn't wrap my head around my car being gone.

"I was going to let her use my car, but I might get called in tonight."

"What?"

"Oh stop it, Paul!" She said as she turned and walked over to the stove.

"Mom...my car."

"Is fine." She turned around and leveled her eyes at me. "She'll return it as soon as she get's back."

I sighed. "How am I supposed to get to Sam's?"

She laughed. Fully belly laughed. "We live three blocks from him. Walk!"

I growled and turned. "It's not fair!" I said quietly, as I made my way to the door.

Mom's laugh and her whispered "kids," echoed in my ear as I slammed the door and walked down the beaten path.

I was losing my mind.

What if she scratched it. Dented it.

Crashed.

My face heated and paled at the thought of Bella in an accident. I don't know what I'd do if that ever happened.

"Hey man, why the hell are you walking?" Jared said, walking up next to me as we made our way up the front steps.

I was so lost in my own head, that I didn't even realize that I had made it to Sam's already.

"Bella borrowed the car." I mumbled, opening the screen to let myself in.

The smell of pot roast permeated the air, and my stomach growled.

I haven't had anything to eat since my after lunch snack.

"Seriously?" He asked, as he eyes me skeptically.

"Yea." I walked to the table and sat heavily down into a chair."She'll be back in a little while."

"Wow." Jared replied, a little stunned that I let anyone take her.

Yea. Wow.

Emily moved from the stove and around the table. Bending slightly at the waste she lowered herself just enough to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Paul."

"Hey Em," I said as I rubbed my throbbing temple.

This girl, Bella, was going to kill me.

"Do you mind going and getting the guys out of the living room for me. Dinner's ready." She asked, as she pointed her wooden spoon towards the entry-way to the living room.

"GUYS, DINNER!" I yelled, not moving from my spot at the table. I wasn't an idiot. If I moved, I lost my spot.

Emily turned and glared at me. "I could have done that." She said as she pointed the mashed potato-ed covered spoon at me.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

All the guys pushed past each other and made their way to the table.

It always sounded like a stampede when food was being offered in Emily's house.

The food was tasteless, at least to me.

The conversation was tense.

I'm positive that it was because of me that the mood seemed, morose.

I was distracted. Worried.

Scared.

The sound of the television in the living room engulfed the quiet kitchen as everyone focused on eating.

It always happened like this. Everyone was so focused on getting a good spot at the table, that no one ever thought about turning off the television.

The opening chimes of the six o'clock news hurt my ears. Hell, the high pitched sound hurt all of our ears.

"Good evening!" The reported announced in a cheerful voice.

Too cheerful.

"This is Amy Whittier, reporting live from the Forks Fire and Rescue Department. Tonight is a very special night in our community, as we were invited to witness one of the fire department's live drills."

I pushed my plate to the center of the table and then dropped my head onto it's hard surface. "Can someone turn that off?" I groaned.

My head hurt.

No one moved.

"In a few moments, this car will be set a-blaze and the fire department will work together, to put it out."

Leah huffed from her place across from me. "Are you serious? It's sad when the only news that they have to report is about fire drills." A piece of carrot slipped from her lips and fell back onto her plate.

Classy.

"Thank you for speaking with us, Miss Swan." The reporter continued.

Forks clattered against against plates as everyone jumped up from the table and raced into the living room.

"No problem, Amy. It's nice to be here." She said, smiling brightly into the camera.

"Is that your car behind her?" Sam asked as he pointed to the car on the screen.

My knees went weak. I dropped into the chair before they gave out completely.

"Oh. My. God!" Emily gasped as she placed her hand over her mouth.

"Be quiet." Jared yelled, as he waved his hand behind him to shut everyone up."I want to hear this."

The reporter smiled, "Miss Swan, I was notified that you've been working with the fire department here, for a few weeks, arranging this drill. It was incredibly nice of you to donate such a classic vehicle for this particular cause."

Bella shrugged her shoulders in nonchalance. "I wasn't using the vehicle anymore. Fixing it would be too pricey and time consuming." She lifted her eyebrow at the reporter and smirked. "Besides, who doesn't love to see a fire man hard at work? I'm just glad I could help out."

The reported smiled again and nodded in agreement. "Oh, they're counting down. Let's watch."

They turned the camera away from the two ladies and towards my car.

My baby.

A fireman walked up to it, balled a shirt up, and placed it into the car through the passenger side window.

When he stepped back, another one stepped forward and lit a match.

"Oh. Fuck. No." I growled, as I jumped up from the chair, ripped the screen off of the door, and ran.

Directly towards Forks.

Bella's Point Of View

The car went up like a garbage can dowsed in gasoline. Orange and red flames shot from the window's, and the smell of burnt leather permeated the air.

It was incredible.

It was beautiful.

The crew let the car burn for a solid ten minutes before they got to work.

They moved in slowly. They were all aware of each other, and they were all extremely cautious of their surroundings.

It looked real. I guess it was.

In a way.

And then all hell broke loose.

"What the fuck!"

"Oh hey Paul!" I said as I turned to look at his furious face.

Jake and Embry were standing beside him, holding onto his arms. They were preventing him from moving closer to me.

"Why?" He yelled. "Why would you do this?"

"It's pretty, isn't it?" I said as I smirked.

His vibrating increased at my mocking tone.

"Paul, relax" Jake said, as he squeezed his hand around Paul's arm tighter.

"I'm not going to phase" He growled. "I want answers…now!"

"What answer would you like?" I asked, thought clenched teeth.

"How about why in the hell you thought that this was an okay think to do?" He said, as he tried to take a step closer to me.

"I thought it'd be fun?" I answered in a question, as I took a small step back.

"Fun! Fun!" He yelled as he turned to Embry "She thought it would be fun! There's the answer of the fucking century!"

The sound of shattering glass, directed all of our attention to the scene playing in the old parking lot.

We watched as a fireman used the butt of his ax to smash out the windows. They needed to be able to get to the fire at a different angle.

Paul lost his balance when he saw what had become of his beloved car. He dropped to his knees and lowered his face to his hands.

My heart wrenched at the slight of him so... broken

Don't slip, Bella. I thought to myself as the overwhelming guilt seeped through my body. Don't lose it. Don't give in.

"I can't believe this." His painful whisper was the only thing that I could hear. "That was the only thing I had left. My dad gave me that car."

I inhaled sharply.

I broke.

Turning quickly, I rushed over to the truck that Angela had running and waiting.

Climbing in, I slammed the door. She didn't hesitate to throw the truck into drive, and we gunned it out of there.

Paul's Point Of View

"My car. My car. My car." I cried over and over again.

I couldn't shake the image of the flames from my head, as the smell of smoke and burning rubber assaulted my senses.

"This is fucked up." Sam said, not helping the situation. He quickly realized the state I was in and then changed his comment. "I mean, It's alright man, we'll figure something out."

I growled.

"How the fuck can this be alright, Sam? Look at it?" I said as I pointed towards the scraps that were still smoking.

"Where the fuck is she?" I growled as I stood back up and peered around for the person in question.

"Who?" Embry asked.

I reached my hand up and shoved him back a step. "Who the fuck do you think I'm talking about? Where. The. Fuck. Is. Bella?" I said slowly.

"She left." Jake said, pointing towards the road.

"Left?" I asked a bit confused.

"Yea. She jumped into Angela's truck and they took off. It looked like they were headed towards LaPush." He said.

Shoving my pack brothers out of my way, I ran to the woods, stripping my shirt as I went. I didn't have the energy to strip off anything else. With a roaring growl, I flew up into the air and landed on four paws. Strips of material landed heavily on the ground behind me.

I ran.

I pushed myself faster than I have had. I needed to get to LaPush. I needed to find that bitch. I needed answers.

"Paul, don't do anything stupid, that you're going to regret" Seth said in my head.

"She's going to regret ever fucking with my car." I growled.

"Paul!" Sam said as he phased into form.

"It's going to fucking stop!" I screamed as I pushed faster.

"Paul!" Sam tired again.

"Get the fuck out of my head" I yelled as I jumped over fallen trees and dodged boulders. "If you try to stop me …Sam, I swear just back off."

My adrenaline was pumping.

Just as we passed the border, into LaPush, I heard a familiar engine roaring.

I froze at the tree line at the side of the familiar highway. Confusion was my first emotion, then elation. I quickly phased back and Jake threw me a pair of gym shorts that he must have picked up from one of his stash points in the woods.

"How the hell..." I started as I snapped the elastic band of the shorts around my waste.

"It's finished." She said, cutting me off and shaking her head.

"Bella..."

"No!" She said, as she pushed away from the car and began to walk down the street.

"How?" I asked as I ran to catch up with her.

She wiped her eyes. I didn't realize she was crying.

"How did you pull this off?" I asked as I reached up and stopped her with my hand on her shoulder.

"Port Angles had a replica." She said as she turned to point at the car. "It didn't have an engine or anything. Just the body. I had it painted to look like yours."

My mouth opened and shut like a fish.

Brilliant.

I dropped my hand from her shoulder. "I think it's time we talked."

She lifted her hand and rubbed her eyebrow. "I'd say so."

"Can I give you a ride?" I asked, as I nodded towards the car.

"Can I drive?" She asked, smirking.

I through my head back and laughed.

"Hell no."