Impasse
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
One Punch Bella
Paul thrust a glass of tepid water under Bella's nose.
"Drink this."
Bella pushed his hand away irritably, causing the water to slop messily over the sides of the glass.
"For fucks sake." Paul complained, his low voice imitating a growl. "Are you always this clumsy, princess?"
"Bite me." Bella snapped, rising to her feet, and taking a few paces away from him.
Paul had dumped her unceremoniously on the Black's couch after entering the house, before striding into the small kitchen to fetch her the unwanted glass of water.
"Why did you do that?" Bella demanded, still smarting from being treated so cruelly during her moment of distress. Jacob had told her that Paul acted like the typical bad boy, but she hadn't factored in ignorant asshole to his list of negative traits.
"What did you expect me to do?" Paul responded with an arrogant sneer. "You were a hysterical mess. Jacob ordered me to keep any eye on you, not provide a counselling service."
Bella was not usually one to swear but Paul's poor attitude was really beginning to piss her off. "You arrogant bastard!" She cussed.
Paul barked out a bitter laugh, seeming amused by her pathetic attempt to show some backbone. "I've been called worse." He revealed.
"I'm not surprised." Bella bit back angrily. "There is no need for you to be so nasty to me. You don't know me at all."
Paul's face went hard and flat. "I know enough, princess. Or would I be better off calling you vampire girl?"
Bella paled considerably as she stared at him in shock. So, he already knew about her previous association with the Cullens. He must have gotten that information from the pack mind.
In his haste to deal with his newest recruit, Jacob must have revealed a lot more than he intended to when their minds connected for the first time. Bella knew that Jacob would have been very distracted, especially as Laurent had unintentionally shown up at the same time he was trying to deal with a hostile new pack member.
Paul wasn't one to follow the rules and had already revealed to Bella he had little respect for Jacob in general, and being forced to take orders from him must feel like a kick in the teeth to someone with such a huge chip on his shoulder. No wonder Jacob had chosen to send him away while he and Sam took out Laurent. It was the safest option while they concentrated on defending the res from the latest threat. Bella just wished Jacob hadn't chosen to send Paul to guard her. Now she was stuck with the arrogant prick because she couldn't send him away because of the Alpha command.
Bella had always suffered with low self-esteem, a consequence of her peripatetic upbringing with Renee. She spent so much time validating Renee's fragile ego, that it often impinged on hers. She often viewed herself in a negative light, depicting herself as clumsy, having a weak constitution, and being undeserving of attention or praise. Always one to overthink things, she constantly questioned her decisions, with her confidence at an all time low after being attacked by James.
The whole traumatic experience of almost being killed by the vampire caused Bella to suppress the frightening memories by way of selective amnesia. She had fought hard to make it stay that way, despite her subconsciousness' determined effort to drip feed the memories little by little. Remembering Laurent was like dripping poison into an already sore wound. This, coupled with Paul's lack of empathy, and understanding just contributed to her anguish, causing Bella to lose her temper in a way she would never normally have done.
Without thinking of the consequences she acted in the moment for once as she pulled her arm back and then let it snap forward, punching Paul in the mouth with as much power as she could force out of her body.
There was a loud crunching sound.
"Ow! OW!" Bella screamed, frantically hopping up and down in agony while she clutched her hand to her chest. It was broken, she could feel it.
Paul stared at her in shock. He had not been expecting that.
"Fuck…. why did you do that, princess?" He demanded, rubbing his jaw idly. "Are you alright?"
"No, dammit! You broke my hand."
"You broke your own hand, vampire girl." Paul retorted irritably. "Now stop dancing around like a headless chicken and let me look at it."
"Don't you dare touch me! I'm going home right now!"
Paul rolled his eyes impatiently. "You can't drive like that, idiot. But if you insist on going home, I'll take the wheel. Its not like I can leave your side anyway." He tagged on bitterly.
"No thanks." Bella hissed. "I'd rather walk." She marched smartly out of the house and headed for the road.
Paul kept pace with her the whole time, just enraging her further. "Your little tantrum is just making you look like a fool. Just let me drive you home." He insisted. He tried to grab her arm, but Bella jerked away from him.
"Fine!" She scowled. "Do! I can't wait to see what Jacob does to you when he finds out. I hope he snaps your neck, you pushy, obnoxious, moronic asshole!"
Another sneer contorted Paul's features into something nasty. "I'm not afraid of him."
"You should be!" Bella warned him as she changed direction and marched over to her truck.
Paul fell silent as he matched her step for step. He opened the passenger side of the truck and manhandled her roughly inside. She cursed him, but he ignored her as he climbed into the driver's side.
"Didn't I hurt you at all?" She asked, furious and annoyed.
"Are you having a laugh? If you hadn't started screaming like a banshee, I wouldn't even have figured out you were trying to punch me."
"I hate you, Paul Lahote."
"The feeling is mutual, vampire girl."
"Stop calling me that!"
"No." Paul said through gritted teeth. "Stay mad all you want. What happened to you is your own fault." He hit the steering wheel impatiently as he pushed the old Chevy beyond its limits, causing the whole cab to shake in protest. "God, this vehicle is a piece of shit!"
"Don't you dare diss my truck!" Bella yelled at him. "And go easy before you damage the engine!"
Paul turned and glared at her. "It figures you would drive an old shit heap like this." He accused.
Bella gasped at the insult to her beloved truck, causing her to unthinkingly ball her hands into fists, hissing when her damaged hand reacted to the pain.
Paul's glare lessened a little when he realized how much she was really hurting. "Are you okay?" He asked reluctantly.
Bella took a deep breath. "Just drive." She muttered. She concentrated on her hand, trying to stretch out her fingers, to ascertain where the broken parts were. Sharp pains stabbed along her knuckles. She groaned.
"Don't expect me to say sorry about your hand." Paul continued in a low voice. "You only have yourself to blame, you know. Next time you want to hit me, use a baseball bat or a crowbar, okay?"
His attempt at grim humor did little to alleviate Bella's feelings of stupidity. He was right, she should have thought things through, instead of letting her anger override her good sense.
"Don't think I'll forget that." She answered, before giving him directions to her house once they reached the outskirts of Forks.
Paul swung the truck into the driveway, letting it idle behind Charlie's cruiser.
"You can go away now." Bella said as she climbed out of the truck awkwardly., heading for the house. She heard the engine cut off behind her, and turned in annoyance to find Paul beside her again. "Leave me alone." She hissed.
"I can't." Paul reminded her. "Your dumb boyfriend ordered me to protect your ass, remember."
"And what a good job you're doing of it!" Bella countered angrily.
"What are you going to do?" Paul asked.
"I am going to get some ice on my hand." Bella gave him a fixed stare. "Then, I am going to hunt up a crowbar and beat you over the head with it."
Paul snorted derisively as this weak threat. He opened the front door and held it open for her.
Bella walked in ahead of him silently past the front room where Charlie was lying on the sofa.
"Hey, Bells…." He stopped talking, and sat upright when he caught sight of Paul. He had been expecting Jacob. "What's going on?" He asked suspiciously.
"She thinks she broke her hand." Paul said casually. "I'm Paul by the way. I gave her lift home."
"I know who you are." Charlie said stonily, getting up from the sofa and giving Paul a death glare. "What I want to know is what you're doing with my daughter and where is Jake?"
Bella opened the freezer and pulled out a tray of ice cubes with her good hand.
"Bells, how did you do that?" Charlie demanded, coming up to help her.
Paul suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"I hit him." Bella revealed with a hostile stare in Paul's direction.
Charlie's face turned a dark shade of incandescent red. Completely forgetting his role in law enforcement, he acted as any father would and leapt to his daughter's defense. He got right in Paul's face, demanding answers.
Bella had never seen Charlie so enraged before. She gaped at him in surprise as she beat the tray of ice against the edge of the sink. The ice scattered around in the basin, and she grabbed a handful with her good hand and wrapped the cubes in a dishcloth on the counter.
"Answer me, boy!" Charlie yelled, shoving Paul a little. "Why did she hit you?"
Paul was so taken aback by the older man's red-faced fury that he was at a loss for words. He looked over in Bella's direction seeking help, but she was in no mood to give him any.
"I'll give you one minute to explain yourself, or so help me, I'll beat the truth out of you if I have to." Charlie threatened. He had Paul backed into a corner now, with his back pressed against the far wall, he poked Paul in the chest, his eyes like steel.
"I didn't do anything." Paul spluttered. "She's the one who attacked me without provocation."
"You expect me to believe that?" Charlie seethed. "My daughter is not the violent type unless provoked. So, I will ask you one last damn time, what did you do?"
There was a slight pause as Paul looked over at Bella again, his dark eyes pleading.
Bella finally decided to intervene, even though she was getting a kick out of seeing Paul's arrogance taken down a peg or two, by her own father no less. She couldn't have been prouder of Charlie if she tried.
"Dad." She admitted. "I punched him."
Charlie glanced over his shoulder at her. "I get that. But why?"
Bella paused for a second as she locked eyes with Paul. It was ironic really, watching him cower under Charlie's fury when he could easily take out her father if he really wanted to. But even though he was several inches taller than the older man and physically so much stronger, there was something about her father's authoritative voice and posture, his seniority, that made him so seem so much more imposing.
"He was being rude and arrogant." Bella finally explained. "It made me lose my cool and hit him. I should be sorry, but I'm not."
Charlie finally began to calm down now that he knew the truth of the situation. He gave Paul one last shove. "Let that be a lesson to you in how to treat girls with respect, boy." He warned. He then turned to face Bella. "Well done, kiddo. How's your hand?"
Bella lifted the ice pack to show it off. "Its swelling."
"Let me see." Charlie murmured. He examined her hand carefully so that it caused no pain at all. "I think you might be right about the break. I'm proud of you. You must have really put some force behind this."
"As much as I have." Bella sighed. "Not enough, apparently."
Just as Charlie was about to suggest he drive her to the hospital to get her hand checked out, the front door banged open again and Jacob charged inside, taking father and daughter by surprise. His dark eyes were burning with his barely restrained fury.
There was one person who wasn't surprised, though, and that was Paul. He didn't even raise his hands to defend himself as Jacob punched him hard on the right side of his jaw, sending him sprawling onto the kitchen floor.
A/N-thanks for reading!