Okay, shortest chapter yet BUT I'm immediately posting a longer one after, so hopefully that makes up for it! I'll be super honest, my means of writing is still super fucked and isn't getting better any time soon, but I love this story and really want to carry it on. Writing on my phone just isn't happening so I'm afraid things will stay slow for a while, bit I'm not giving up!

Chapter Fifteen

It had been two days since River had told Paul that she needed time. That she needed space. That she needed to process.

For some reason, she was shocked the have not seen him. After all, she knew his big secret, so why wasn't he there? Why wasn't he, in light of everything, making sure she wasn't telling people? Granted, she had stayed holed up in the cave the whole time, not knowing if she could face her parents, but still, she couldn't feel him lurking nearby.

It was odd, knowing. Knowing why she could feel him when he was near, knowing now why it was that she managed to find his eyes across any room. She wasn't sure that it was any better, but as the truth began to sink in, it at least stopped feeling worse.

The cave, by nature if nothing else, was damp. It smelled damp, like a slowly rotting couch. Of course, that was probably down to the slowly rotting couch, but there wasn't much to be done about that.

Since her talk with Skylar, River hadn't so much as poked her head out of the cave's great mouth, not wanting to see anyone or anything that the outside had to offer. She'd told Paul that she needed to think, so have time apart, to wrap her head around the impossible situation that had made a home in her life, so she did. She thought. She probably would have lasted longer had she had food and a way to charge her cell.

Alas, she was only human, and a teenage girl at that. She needed the distraction that her cell offered. Plus, she was used to eating her own bodyweight on top of protein shakes, so starving herself in a stinky cave with no cell? Well, it simply wasn't ideal.

So yes, on the second day, she crawled out of it and climbed her way back up to the safety that the knotted roots of the trees above offered, not stopping until her feet were back on solid land. She needed to go home, even if it was just to eat, shower and charge her cell.

Walking back home, through the woods and along the roads, she was glad to not feel Paul's presence. Of course, there was also that part of her just waiting for him to saunter out from behind a tree, cocky smirk on his face, maybe even shove her up against a tree. Alas, the other part, the one that was still scared of what she now knew, that part was larger. She didn't want to see him and be reminded of what he was. She didn't want to be reminded of what exactly she'd slept with. It didn't help that, during her alone time in the cave, she had realised that she was in fact falling for Paul Lahote. Hell, if she was being honest, she was pretty far in the fall, dangerously close to just plain old being in love.

As soon as she arrived home, she braced for impact. She knew that her parents wouldn't be happy. Hell, she'd left to go to a bonfire a few days ago and hadn't had her cell, hadn't had someone call to say that she was safe. As she pushed the front door open warily, she realised that she'd be lucky to ever leave the house again. Fuck.

Alas, she was greeted by the smell of bacon and toast, the sound of light, jovial music, and the sight of her parents, wrapped up in one another, dancing in the living room. What the fuck?

For a moment, she simply stood with the door open, mouth agape, but her mother caught sight of her. "Oh, honey, you're home!" Her mother yelped, wrestling free of her grinning husband and launching herself at her eldest daughter.

"Mom, hey." River returned her mother's hug quickly, confused more than ever when he dad came over, clapped her lovingly on the shoulder and ruffled her hair. "Hey." She muttered, knowing that the confusion must have been clear on her features. "I'm sorry, guys. My cell died." Was all she offered up at first.

What the hell was this act? Were they trying to get her to slip up and tell on herself? She figured there wasn't any telling to be done given that she hadn't been home since the weekend. "Oh, don't worry, sweetie!" Her mom pulled them apart, grinning up at her with enough love that it stumped the teen for a moment.

"It is?" She asked sceptically.

Alma, seemingly remembering the bacon, all but ran off to the stove, not that it was far. "Of course!" She yelled over her shoulder. "We would have loved to hear it from you though." She added pointedly. Hear it from her? Hear what from her? Before she had chance to question it though, her mom was speaking again. "You know, when Sue called, I was worried. I'll admit it." Alma flipped the bacon, plating up the toast. "I thought she was going to say that you'd run off or you'd had a fight. Oh, honey, I'm just so glad that you have a friend! I always knew that they and Leah would get on-"

River near enough tuned the rest out, thinking back. Of course, Sue had been there when Seth had looked a little less like Seth and a little more like a giant fucking dog. Leah, Seth and Sue. Of course. They were all part of whatever it was. So wait, Sue had called and said what exactly, that she was having some kind of half a week long sleepover with... Leah?

.

.

.

.

.

Moping.

That's what Paul was doing. He was moping.

Poor Seth Clearwater had apologised a million and one times for scaring River. Paul had simply given the younger boy a one-armed hug, assuring him that things were okay.

The only issue was that, in the short history of the pack, no one had had to deal with a moping Paul. Sure, they'd all had their share of him being a volatile asshole. They'd dealt with his rage, being cussed out, having chairs thrown at them, but this? None of them knew how to comfort a Paul who constantly looked three seconds away from violent, unrelenting tears.

They'd all been waiting for some outburst, for him to break something or yell at someone, but it didn't come. Wait as they might, Paul seemed to be on some kind of emotional lockdown.

Since River had sped away, so it seemed had his feelings. Well, not his feelings for her, but his feelings for just about everything else. All he wanted was her, back in his arms. He didn't care about anything else, be it Seth's worrying, Emily's cooking, none of it. He didn't need anything, he could survive for the longest time with nothing, nothing more than River. Alas, she needed time, so he would give her that. He would back off, he would give her all the time and space that she could possibly want or need. Then, at the end of it all, he would have her again. He would have the taste of her lips on his own, he would have her scent on his sheets, he would have her in every way she would offer herself to him.

She was all he needed, truly.

It was hard, of course, when Embry told him that he'd seen her. Even harder when he told her who she'd been walking through the woods with. Her ex. Of course, all he wanted was for her to be happy, so if that was Skylar Monroe, the paleface girl, then so be it. Only, he knew he wouldn't still be wanting her the way he did if they weren't meant to be, would he? Ultimately, the choice would always be hers, he would take what he could get, but gods hope he hoped.

The memory, shared by Embry, was almost enough to have Paul falling to his knees. It wasn't seeing her with the blonde, it wasn't smelling her scent on the air or seeing her smile at someone who wasn't him. No. What truly got him was her eyes. She looked so very tired, like in the days that they'd been apart she hadn't once stopped and rested.

By that point, it had been a week. Each day was a little easier than the last, especially with all the guys letting him know when they'd caught sight of her, but it still wasn't easy. He knew that being away from her wouldn't ever be easy, but he'd give her what she'd asked for.

By the time it had been two weeks, he'd managed to put up a front. He knew he wasn't convincing the guys that he was okay without her, but he could at least act as though things were fine, even if it was just for a few hours. Sure, he knew they all understood, they didn't hold his moods against him, but he also knew that he was being a bummer. So yeah, he put on a show and saved his sorrow for his own four walls.

He didn't see her again with his own two eyes for another two weeks, but when he did? Fuck, she looked incredible. He wished it had been literally anywhere else, but hey, if a Cullen wedding was the only place he could find her then he'd bite his tongue and tolerate the stench. For her.

Again, apologies that it's super short (like 1,500 words before edits) but I'll post the next chapter literally in a few minutes, so enjoy! And yes, there are definitely some filler chapters going on while I get a few things sorted, so apologies for that.

I would ask for thoughts and reviews etc but honestly I know this one may not really be worth any thoughts, so I'll see you next chapter!