Chapter 36

The Balance

Paul

One of these days, I'm going to cause serious harm to Jacob Black. Probably murder. He's such a bitch.

Then again, so is the leech-lover, who he's deluded himself into thinking he's in love with. Apparently, she'd gotten past Billy, somehow, and drug Jacob through the mud again. And Jacob is not too happy about it. The only escape I have is Kelsey, so I spend all my time with her, trying to give her the normal dating experiences.

Today's plan is the skating rink. Kelsey once told me that when she was a kid, she always begged Charlie to take her to the rink for a couple of hours. I'm not much of a skater, but I'm more than happy to fall on my ass if I'm doing it with Kelsey.

I had a long patrol last night, so I only notice the text at about 11:00 in the morning. The text that has me rushing for my keys, ignoring Paige's call of "Where's the fire?"

Kelsey: Hi, Paul. I have a massive headache from high blood sugar. Can we raincheck?

I hit her contact to call her even before making it out the door. She picks up on the third ring.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, throwing my car into reverse to get out of my driveway.

"I'm okay." She's lying. The pain in her voice cuts through me like a knife.

"I'm coming over. Do you have a spare key somewhere?" I press the accelerator nearly to the floor, speeding through the twisty roads of La Push.

"No. I can let you in. But I won't be good company." Like I would care about that when she's obviously in pain.

"I don't care about that. I'm on my way. Do you want me to get you anything?"

"I'm okay."

"Okay. I'll be there in twenty."

I make it there in ten. The whole way, my mind is racing, trying to figure out if there's anything I can do to help her. A helpless rage burns through me; she's going through this, and I can't do anything to take it away. I'm a fucking werewolf, and I can't protect her from this.

She opens the door, her face pale and with bags under her eyes. Even sick, she's beautiful. I pull her against me, exhaling when I feel her safe in my arms.

"Hey baby." I murmur as I run my fingers through her hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone's driving a knife into my head." she groans. My heart hurts for her.

"Why don't we get you back to bed?" I scoop her up, adjusting my hold on her so that her head rests against my shoulder. She's warmer than usual, and I worry she has a fever as I carry her down the stairs toward her bedroom.

"Thank you." she whispers from where her face is pressed into my shoulder.

How could she say that? Doesn't she know my life wouldn't be the same without her in it? Doesn't she know that as her boyfriend, it's my job to worry about her and take care of her? Doesn't she know that even without the imprint, my heart is solely hers?

"Don't thank me." I press a kiss against her hair and pull her a little closer.

I gently lay her on her bed, stroke the hair off her forehead, then press my lips against it, checking for fever. Normal. I stand up, preparing to adjust the blankets around her and go upstairs to watch some shitty TV when she reaches out to me.

"Stay?"

"Of course, baby." I squeeze onto the bed next to her, and she immediately rolls into my arms. "Sleep. I'll be here when you wake."

I lay with her for about an hour, running my fingers through her hair, watching her breathe. I'm disturbed by the loud sound of her Dexcom beeping, alerting to a drop in her blood sugar. Her app says she's 63 with a single arrow headed down. I grab a juice box, and gently shake her shoulder.

"Kelsey, baby, you need to wake up for me. You're sugar's low. I've got you some juice." Her eyes don't focus on me right away, but she finally reaches out and accepts the juice box from me with trembling fingers. I make her drink all of it then head upstairs to make her a sandwich. Protein helps keep blood sugars stable, or so I've read. I must've done something right, because she accepts it from me with a grateful smile.

Charlie arrives back home around 6:30. I'm surprised when he doesn't immediately yell at me for being here, in Kelsey's bed, holding her close. Instead, he moves to her side.

"How are you feeling, Kels?"

"Better. What time is it?"

"Almost seven. Have you eaten today?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want some toast or something?" Charlie looks extremely awkward.

"Please." Kelsey shoots him a small smile.

"Okay. Paul, a word?" Charlie turns his attention on me for the first time, and I'm surprised by how intimidated I suddenly feel. I kiss Kelsey's forehead again before getting out of the bed and smoothing the covers over her body.

"First of all, thank you for being there for her today." Charlie moves around the kitchen, grabbing the bread and toaster.

"Of course. Any time."

"You're good for her. But I've seen one of my daughters have bad experiences with relationships. So I'm making this very clear to you right now. I'm a cop. I can make you disappear. Now bring this to her before she goes low." Charlie hands me a plate with two pieces of toast covered in peanut butter.

"Yes sir." I head back down to Kelsey's room.

I settle on the bed, and Kelsey leans against my shoulder. "You want me to dose you?" I press a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Yeah. 37 carbs."

I unlock her pump, then go through the necessary steps to dose her before turning it to her to check. When she nods, I hit the button to deliver the dose and watch it to make sure it's delivering before slipping the pump back into her shorts pocket.

"What did Dad want?"

"To warn me if I ever hurt you, he could make me disappear." I kiss her temple. "I told him he didn't have to worry."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." I pull her closer. "I could never hurt you. Now eat before you go low." I make her drink a big glass of water to help rehydrate her, then lay back down with her tucked into my side. She buries her face in my neck and sighs.

"Still not feeling well?"

"I'm better."

"Glad to hear it." I kiss the top of her head.

"Hey, Paul?"

"Yeah, Kelsey?"

"I love you." My heart picks up speed a little, just hearing her say that.

"I love you too." I run my fingers through her hair until she falls asleep.

I don't want to leave her, but I'm patrolling again tonight. I carefully detangle myself from her arms, and head upstairs as quietly as possible. "She's sleeping." I tell Charlie, giving him a small smile.

"Thank you for staying with her."

"Any time."

I text her as soon as I wake up the next morning. "Hey, baby. How are you feeling this morning?"

I get a response back about five agonizing minutes later. "Hey, Paul. I'm feeling good this morning. Wanna try to have a picnic before it rains?" Relief floods through me. She's alright. She's going to be alright.

A/n: Hey, y'all! I'm back. The normal excuses apply: college, finals, deaths in the family, health scares in the family, and being involved in a wedding. It's been a crazy eight months. That being said, I have chapter 37 and most of chapter 38 prewritten, so hopefully I can stay on track for awhile. On an unrelated note, I'm working on a new imprint story called From The Heart. I don't know when I'll post the first chapter, but that's in the works. Thanks for sticking by me throughout this. No review goal, since I don't know when I'll get the Chance to update again. Later!

Lauren.

Responses to Reviews:

Twilightfanjm: That's odd. I hope they fixed the glitch. Thanks for your compliment, and I hope this was worth the wait. Please review and let me know.

Jingerr: I'm going to reply to all your reviews in a long paragraph. Here we go! I made Paige the way I did for many reasons, one of which is showing Paul's soft side. Paige is one of those characters who seems to write herself, though. I'm not quite sure what she has in store. I'm glad you reread my story. I have several book recs if you want them. Feel free to PM me to talk books. I do have something in the works for the wheelchair fic. Maybe not what I originally set out to write, but it's coming along nicely. I hope I caught all your lovely reviews, but I may have missed one. Sorry about that. I hope you like this chapter. Please review and let me know.

Guest: This review almost made me cry, which is very hard to do. Diabetes is near and dear to my heart, as several family members live with it. Before I started writing this story, I did tons of research to make sure it was accurate. I'm so glad this story inspired you and helped you in some way on your journey. Thanks for your kind words.

: Thanks for this review. Unfortunately, writing for me is a hobby and I'm not looking to make money off of it right now. Right now, I'm working on improving my craft. Thanks again.