Hello! I swear I haven't forgotten about this fic, but the unthinkable happened. My laptop, the love of my life, is broken. It started as a battery issue, then a screen issue, then an everything issue, so here I am, writing to you all from my phone. I'm planning to order a new laptop when I can afford it or fix my old one when I can, but it won't be an immediate thing. I'll try to write more on my phone but, honestly, I hate it.

That aside, please enjoy! And, as always, thank you so much for the thoughts and feelings about my last chapter, I truly appreciate it! This one isn't super long, it's also a little all over the place, but I'm doing what I can, hopefully it's all still good.

Chapter Fourteen

She watched him through cautious eyes, keeping him firmly in her sights as he poured cocoa into a mug from the pan on the stove. Any other time, she would have smiled and thought back to her first time in his home. Perhaps cocoa was their thing? She would have liked that thought. She may have denied it, but she would have liked the thought of them having a thing. Instead though, all she could think about was the wolf.

Seth. It couldn't have been Seth. That didn't make any damn sense, yet, it kind of did? She was confused to say the least, but deep down she knew he wasn't lying to her. Still, the idea of Seth being inside that thing? Wait, no, that wasn't it. She had to remember, he wasn't inside it, he hadn't been consumed. He simply was it. Apparently. Definitely. Maybe?

By the time she had clenched her jaw in frustration, Paul had moved toward her with a mug in each hand.

From her spot on the edge of his couch, she realised that she couldn't have tucked herself further from him if she'd tried. Though, she absolutely had tried. It was such a strange sensation, being something akin to afraid of him while also wanting to hide in his comforting embrace.

Aware of her feelings, Paul simply perched on the opposite arm of the couch and placed both of their mugs gently on the floor, pushing one closer to her.

With her knees pulled up to her chest, legs crossed at the shins, arms wrapped around to hold them in, she wondered if she was finally going mad. What made it worse though was the look on his face. She could tell, now that she knew, that he really could tell what she was feeling. Was he feeling it, too? All of her fear and uncertainty? Part of her hoped so, just a little.

She was trying to wrap her head around what she'd seen and around what he'd told her with soft words when she'd woken in his bed. She was trying. It was ridiculous. First of all, imprints? That whole thing made no sense to her. What, they bumped into one another and everything changed? There was no logic. There was no science. Nothing. The spirits decided that, of all the girls in town, she was the one for Paul Lahote? She didn't buy that.

The worst of it all was that, as wacky as it all seemed, she could tell that it was true. She knew, when she really thought about it, that every word out of his mouth had been the truth. She'd felt it that day in the hall, she couldn't ever deny that. Hell, half the damn school had witnessed it.

"How did the others take it?" She finally croaked out after an eternity. One thing that, this entire time, had puzzled her, was Emily and Kim. They knew, so how the hell did they act so calmly? "Emily. Kim." She clarified when, after a moment, Paul simply cocked his head gently. Like a dog. She almost laughed.

He took a deep breath before answering, scooting along the arm of the couch a little. "They... they both just kinda, I don't know, were fine?" He sighed and rubbed his nose a little. "I mean, Em was furious at first. You know? She was mad because of the whole Leah situation, but they worked it all out. Kim was... Kim. She was always a little hot for Jared, so I guess she just rolled with it."

Shaking her head, she barked out a laugh. "Rolled with it." She repeated incredulously. Paul opened his mouth, possibly to try to comfort her more, but she stopped him quickly. "How exactly do you roll with this? How do you find out that the guy who fucked you in your truck turns into a giant dog? Oh, I mean, of course there's always the super helpful bonfire. Right, who doesn't want to hear something like that in front of half the town? I mean-"

"River-"

"-it's not rocket science-"

"I'm sorry! I hate seeing you like-"

"No, look. I just- I don't get how I'm supposed to-"

"-this. It fucking pulls me apart. I can feel all of it. I can feel how terrified you are of me and it's killing me."

They both stopped, looking at one another, so worked up that they were almost panting.

Sighing, River raked a hand over her hair, scratching painfully. She looked up at Paul, looking deep into those eyes again. She could feel it, feel the intensity of what was between them. In another moment, it would have been enough. It would have drawn her in like a lamb to the slaughter. She would have let him eat her whole. In another moment. Not this one.

"Tell me what to do." He begged.

Her heart broke. She shook her head. "I think..." She trailed off with a sigh, closing her eyes tight before opening them again, this time staring off into the fireplace that clearly didn't get used. "I think I want to go home. I want time." She heard his defeated sigh, breaking her heart more. "I need time to process. I need time to just think and breathe, to be alone." Alone. Without him. That sounded like the worst thing, but it was what she needed. She knew that.

She saw him nod dutifully out of the corner of her eye. "Your keys are in your truck. In the ignition." He told her, his voice sound so very not-Paul.

"You left them in the ignition?" She asked, bemused and slightly amused.

He stood with a breath. "I'm faster than your truck. No one could have taken it." Oh. He was faster than her truck? Jesus.

For some reason, that sent a cool chill down her spine, reminding her once again of the strange new reality that she had found herself in. "I need time." She choked out again, this time standing quickly and all but bolting for the door. "I'm sorry." She muttered, feeling him follow her as she left his house. He, however, stayed in his doorway, watching her as she stumbled into the cab and, with shaking hands, turned the key.

She wasn't entirely sure that driving was a good idea, but she shot off all the same, feeling the tears on her cheeks just as the sobs came and shook her body. She knew that crying and driving was a perfect recipe for a crash, but to be frank, she didn't care. She sped along the roads, taking turns far too harshly, not even recognising where she was going until she found herself skidding to a stop.

The gym.

Fuck. This place had more or less been her second home for so many years. No matter what, she'd always felt welcomed, but now? Well, now she figured she'd be chased away. Eager not to find out, she decided to leave, to go literally anywhere else. That was, of course, until she stalled. "Fuck." She growled.

A muffled voice, however, snapped her head up. Oh no. "River?"

Looking up, she confirmed her worst nightmare. It was Skylar. Fuck. Fuck! "Oh, fuck!" She ducked as quickly as she could, immediately cringing as she knew her door wouldn't hide her.

"Are- River, are you hiding? You know windows are glass, right? See-through." When Skylar spoke next, she sounded much closer. She was almost by the truck, having only been stood by her own car before.

River silently cursed herself, slowly sitting upright to see the blonde standing just outside her truck with a somewhat worried expression painted on her features. "I... I'm not hiding. I was just-"

A smile crept from the corner of her mouth. "Hiding?" She supplied.

She considered denying it again, but the evidence against her was pretty damning. "Yeah." She admitted, embarrassed.

"Why?" The blonde asked, sceptical.

"I didn't mean to come here. I was just driving and I ended up here. I'm sorry, I'm gonna go-"

Skylar was quick to interrupt her, knowing her well enough to know what she was spiralling into some kind of rant. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Taken aback, River blinked for a second. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Skylar repeated simply.

"Yeah." River answered quickly. Too quickly. "Of course. I mean, why wouldn't I be?"

The blonde shook her head softly. "I know that look." She answered.

"Oh?"

"I see it all the time." She nodded with a shrug and a light, gentle smile. "Boy troubles."

River's eyes went wide. This wasn't at all a conversation that she wanted to be having, especially not with her ex. Her ex who, in spite of being perfect, she'd cheated on with the boy now giving her a stomach ache. "Oh my- Okay, we're not talking about this."

"You're a mess."

"Fuck you, too." River choked, no idea what to do or say.

"River." The blonde, with sympathetic, maybe even loving eyes, smiled so very kindly.

"Skylar." The brunette, so very uncertain, smiled back through her pain.

"I'm coming in."

.

.

.

.

.

"I can't believe you remembered this place." River chuckled as they, one after the other, entered the small mouth of the cave. It wasn't far from the beach, just about half way up a cliff face, with a single, ratty old couch inside it that had no possible way of having gotten in there. River had, during her worse years, spent a lot of time in there. "I brought you here twice when we were, what, fifteen?"

Raising a brow, Skylar spun and gently smacked River's arm. "You took my virginity here, asshole." She laughed. She really hoped that she hadn't unknowingly taken anyone else's virginity; it was seeming to be becoming a bit of a thing.

"I did?" River asked, having the good grace to look mortified. Their first time together, while a great experience, hadn't been River's first time. She hadn't realised that it had been Skylar's. Gods, she'd taken her virginity in this dingy old place? She wished she'd known. She'd have found the time to at least find them a bed or a room.

Skylar, however, seemed only amused. "You did." She confirmed.

River shook her head with a light, wary smile. "God, I'm sorry." She said truthfully. She meant it, but not just for that.

"Oh please, I was into it. Not all girls want the honeymoon suite. Some of us are content with, say, a storage closet."

"No, Sky. I'm sorry-"

"No." Skylar cut her off with a pent up, annoyed huff. She fell down onto the couch with a grumble, head in her hands.

Confused, River took a seat beside her, unable to hide the concern from her face. "No?" She asked warily.

"No." Skylar repeated, revealing her face and looking at River for a long moment. Had the situation with Paul never happened, it would have been one of those looks that would have melted the other girl. She would have been weak at the knees, but now? Well, now she just felt slightly uncomfortable. She had wrong the blonde so badly, so to see some remnants of gooey feelings in her eyes was odd. "Look, I don't want an apology, okay?"

"You don't?" River was astounded to say the least. Sure, she knew that sitting through an apology was awkward sometimes, but how could she not want to hear that River at least knew she'd fucked up? "But what I did-"

Skylar shook her head a short, humourless laugh. Her smile, however, stayed genuine. Sad, but genuine. "You broke my heart. You cheated on me. You were an asshole. I don't care. It sucked, but I'm over it. I don't want an apology."

"I- Okay." River sighed, looking away from the other girl, fixing her eyes awkwardly on the ceiling of the cave.

"Okay." Skylar muttered, adjusting herself to sit a little deeper.

River nodded, feeling the air hang a little heavier as the silence began to grow. "Okay."

"Now you made it awkward." Skylar chuckled.

"Right, because it wasn't awkward at all when I literally hid in my car from you?" River scoffed in return, laughing with the other girl as she, seemingly catching herself off guard, snorted out a laugh.

River wasn't too sure how long they stayed in there, sitting, talking, laughing, but it was nice. It was so damn nice to just have someone to talk to about anything and everything. More than anything though? Well, it was nice to speak specifically to Skylar. She'd missed her. She'd missed the bond that they'd had before they dated. She hoped, though she figured it would be too large an ask, that they'd get back to a comfortable friendship one day. All she had to really worry about was the entire supernatural world that seemed to be closing in on her, starting with the spirit warrior telling her that they were soulmates.

So, yeah. As I said, not much happening, a bit all over the place, but maybe okay? Honestly, I'm deciding if I want this to become a mushy-feelings fic or an intense, driven, story-based fic, or even a combo, so it might be a bit choppy until I've figured that out.

I'll try to update again soon, but who knows if my laptop will ever wake up again. Either way, please let me know your thoughts! I'm always interested, always wanting to know and to learn, so whatever they are, feel free to tell me. Other than that, have a good day!