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crazyk-imagine · 5 months ago

Text

Flickering Lights and Bonding

Pairing: Paul Lahote x Enhanced!reader

Characters: Enhanced!reader, Paul Lahote, Sam Uley, Emily Young, Jacob Black, Seth Clearwater, Embry Call, Quil Atera V, Jared Cameron, Brady Fuller, Collin Littlesea, Reader's sister (briefly mentioned), Unnamed Aunt (briefly mentioned)

Warnings: Angst, fluff, this is cute, Paul will submit to his queen, he is absolutely infatuated with the reader, the reader still loves him but doesn't want to admit it, two idiots in love, reader tries to push him away but he ain't budging, there's an ending to the ending, this was cute, I love him, I'm fine, paul be acting like paul, he's lowkey a whiney boy, hehe get it, paul is soo protective, the boys are idiots, the pack is literally a mosh of crackheads, literally these boys i swear, our not so dicky boss is hilarious

Word Count: 4,060

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They glance down and find you've passed out against her.

He smiles, watching as you lay there relaxed and not upset with him.

"You've always loved her, haven't you?"

He nods, "yeah."

She smiles. "I'm happy you found your future in her, you're the only one worthy of her time."

He scoffs. "That's not how I see it."

"She's been through a lot."

He grunts, she doesn't know if he agrees with her or not.

"It's not my place to tell you but you need background information in order to fix your bond with her." She sighs, "her sister hasn't called in a few weeks because of their aunt, and she's been... losing herself."

"Losing herself."

Emily nods, "she's been depressed because of it, not to mention the fact that it’s their anniversary."

"Who's?"

She furrows her brows, "what do you mean?"

"Who's anniversary?"

"Were you not there for the funeral?"

He straightens his posture, shocked at the tid bit of information she shared. "There was a funeral?"

She sighs, realizing she's shared too much. "You do know her parents are gone, right? That's why she's been hanging out with Sam and I more."

His jaw drops, "she- when- what happened?"

She shrugs, "the only thing I could find out was that they were in an accident and didn't come home for the girls."

"When?"

She hums, thinking back to a different time. "A few years ago, you two were in sixth grade, I think."

"Why didn't she tell me?" He glances at you.

"It happened just a few months after you gave her a new nickname."

"I said that was an accident."

"Yeah, just like you always having feelings for her was fate planning on making her to be your imprint."

"I- how has she been here?"

She understands he's referring to the house and likes the fact that he's trying to look out for you and rekindle your relationship.

She's been worried since her world changed with the whole imprint and shifter situation came into play but now, she can ease up just a smidge since he's imprinted on you.

“She’s been in the house for a few years now and it’s been hard. Since you guys shifted, our relationship became a little strained and since you imprinted on her, I can imagine she won’t be too happy with what I tell you.”

He wants to ask but can see with the way she’s talking; he should just shut up.

“Has it ever seemed strange that the lights go out when she’s upset?”

He furrows his brows, “I mean, sure but I’ve never really-”

“She’s different.”

He pauses.

“The only reason I’m telling you is because I want you to understand why we’re here and not at mine and Sam’s. Since her parents passed and their aunt took her sister to California, she’s been upset.”

He nods.

“Which makes sense because it was a hard thing for her to go through, but it’s amplified some things.”

“Things? What kind of things?”

“Her parents were waiting to tell her when she got older,” she sighs.

“Emily.”

She turns to look at the lost shifter.

“What did they want to tell her?”

She takes a deep breath, “she has abilities.”

His brows rise causing his forehead to crease. “Like our abilities?”

She shakes her head, “no but they are tied to her emotions, kind of like how your guys are.”

She hums, “it is starting to sound like she’s a shifter but she’s not. She has energetic abilities that cause me to have a stock of light bulbs in the house.”

“She blows up the lights?”

Emily nods, “yeah, and now that you’ve imprinted, her emotions are more out of control.”

“How does this help me?”

“You’re going to apologize and make amends before trying to make a bond because I know you can help her.”

“How do I do that when she won’t even talk to me?”

“You say you’re sorry, leave a note saying the same thing. Slowly build to it until she talks to you.”

“Isn’t that considered harassment?”

She scoffs through her nose. “Paul, you want her to in your life, right?”

He nods.

“Listen to me.” She glances down at your calm, sleeping figure. “I’m speaking from experience.”

He smiles watching over you.

She glances over at him and can't help but wonder- “Don’t you have patrol?”

He lifts his head, his fondness for you falls. “Sam made me come here.”

She smirks, “you wouldn’t stop thinking about her?”

“I don’t want to get into this right now.” He pushes himself off the couch, searching through your pantries for food, finding a few items to call snacks.

He makes a mental note to buy you some groceries.

By the time he returns to the couch, Emily’s fallen asleep.

He lifts the blanket over you, not wanting you to be cold since he knows you wouldn’t appreciate him being close to you.

He sighs, closing his eyes, wondering how everything went wrong between the two of you and how long you’ve been struggling.

His mind becomes more silent; head feeling heavy, unable to support it anymore as he falls asleep.

You awake the next day and find him curled up with an inch of space between you two.

You gulp, staring at him, wondering how it would be if you two were still friends.

You reach out to move his hair the way he like(d) it and stop yourself. You push yourself off the couch and search for the bathroom.

Paul opens his eyes, watching as your body disappears around the corner of the couch.

He pushes himself up, sighing as he rubs his hands across his face.

“I’m leaving, fix this before it hurts the both of you.”

He rolls his eyes at Emily’s words.

“I’m leaving so breakfast will be ready for the boys before they get too hungry,” she shouts.

You lean over the bathroom sink, keeping your eyes closed. “Okay!”

You pray he left with her, you don’t know how you’d be able to face him.

Why did you have to stay?

You knew you should have left earlier but you couldn’t bear to leave after seeing her puppy dog eyes, which you thought was ironic for her being a shifter’s imprint.

She suckered you into staying with one of her infamous home cooked meals, something you could never get over.

“How’s work?”

You stir the mix with a little more vigor than you should have. “Fine, work is work.”

“Care to explain more about that?”

You shake your head, “nope. Everyone is still an idiot, my manager is still a dick, and I am still struggling to pay bills. Need I go on?”

She sighs, “okay, I get it. But remember if you ever-”

“Need anything just ask. Sam and I can take care of you.” She smiles, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “And it’s true.”

After putting the treats in the oven, you run out to Emily’s truck realizing you left the new baking pans you bought earlier.

You search the bed of the truck and find nothing, realizing that you left them in the back seat.

You close the door and walk back towards their place, pausing when you see the group of boys making their way out of the edge of the woods.

A few of the younger ones were playfully pushing the others back and forth.

Your heart stops when you notice him.

He’s laughing and shoving a couple of his buddies away from himself.

Brady looks away when he almost trips over his feet and looks up, catching your gaze.

He starts waving like a mad man, calling out your name.

You suck your bottom lip in, biting the skin where your lip and inner mouth meet.

His head snaps up, finding your gaze and that’s when it happens. Brady and Quil run towards you.

They always love having you around, not to mention the fact that you’re the nicest person they ever met.

“Hey, we didn’t know you’d be here today,” Brady starts.

“We’re happy you’re here,” Quil adds.

You blink and remove your gaze from Paul’s.

“Are you and Emily cooking?” The shorter of the two asks.

“We are.”

They glance at one another and smile, they always love coming over when you’re there; now you may love Emily’s food but the boys love when you two cook together, nothing can top it (sometimes not even their own mother’s food).

Brady takes the bag out of your hands as he and Quil head back into the place.

Emily smiles at the sight of them, happy to know the boys and her cousins are back safe and sound.

“What happened?” She asks, noticing the paleness in your face.

The door opens and the others walk in.

“I need to go outside.”

She furrows her brows, knowing you only go out there when you need a break and don’t want to blow up any of her light bulbs.

You brush past the others, not even looking to see if he’s with them.

“What happened?” You faintly heard her ask, too into your thoughts to hear Jared answer her.

He knocks on the door when your heartbeat quickens. “Hey.”

You flinch, not expecting him to still be here.

The light flickers.

“You okay?”

“Go away.”

"You know I won't leave."

"You're worse than a dog."

"I’m not and I’m not leaving till I know you’re okay.”

“Paul,” you sigh, opening the door. “Don’t you have wolf things to do.”

“I can do them later. I want to talk.”

You enter the kitchen, rifling through the fridge and pantry, finding no items that could go together for a meal. “Yeah, well. I don’t, sound familiar?”

“How many times do I need to tell you I’m sorry?”

“Not anymore because I’m over it. I just can’t wrap my mind around why you want to talk so badly.”

“You know exactly why.”

You whirl around, staring into his eyes. “You’ve never once wanted to talk about your feelings or anything important for that matter or even bow down to someone since- ever since I met you and now all of a sudden you’re mister therapist, I don’t think so.”

You spin around and head towards the sink, cleaning the dishes you didn’t do yesterday.

Bone cracking comes from behind you, and you spin around to see him on his knees, staring up at you like he’s losing a battle and can’t win.

You turn off the water and wipe your hands on the dish towel near the sink. “Get up.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “You’re right. I don’t talk about… emotions or stuff like that and I’ve never once given anyone the opportunity to talk about something serious with me. I’ve never come down to their level so I’m doing it now.”

You gulp, stepping closer. “Get up.”

He doesn’t move.

You sigh and shake his shoulders, “get off the ground and go home.”

He reaches for you, wanting to hold whatever part of you he can; holding you close by the back of your thighs.

Your hands move, cupping his face, giving you the unfortunate opportunity to stare into his eyes; the same ones you always knew you could count on because he’d never let anything happen to you.

You grit your teeth, muttering under your breath. “Stupid imprint bond.”

The corners of his lips twitch.

“Don’t smile you, butthead.”

“I’m your, butthead.”

You thin your lips, trying to figure out how this is going to work. “I’m not letting you in right away. You got lucky coming over last night.”

He nods, grip slightly tightening. “I won’t push you.”

“Yeah, or else Emily will be on your ass.”

He pulls you closer, bury his face into your stomach; hugging you before letting go.

“You need to go before Sam comes looking for you.”

“I know.”

You can see hesitation in his body posture. “What?”

“Can I come by later?”

You blink once. “Why?”

“I want us to start over where we should have grown up.”

You raise a brow. “How do you expect that to happen?”

“Leave it up to me.” He smirks at you before groaning due to the pack link. “I have to go before Jared barges in. I’ll see you later,” he pecks your cheek before running out the door.

You stand there for a few seconds before raising your hand to touch your cheek, tracing along where he kissed you, swearing you feel a tingling sensation.

You avoid talking to Emily and Paul for the rest of the day, barely able to avoid the other pack members as Jared, Brady, Seth, and Embry walk into the diner.

You take a deep breath before heading over to their table. “What are we having today boys?”

They glance around at one another.

“The usual,” Embry answers.

“With a side of stupid imprint bond,” Seth jokes before pausing when he realizes it wasn’t the time to joke like that. “I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?”

Brady smacks the back of his head. “No, you dufus.”

He whines and smacks the boy.

Jared pulls them apart before you could kick them out. “We were hungry and wanted to stop by.”

“Emily’s been trying to call you,” Embry tells you.

“I’ll call later.” You head towards the back, taking deep breaths to stop the lights from flickering.

The boys’ glance at one another, sensing they should tell Emily… maybe even Paul.

“Should we-” Seth starts.

Embry and Jared shake their heads.

“I mean, it’s not like we can hide this any longer,” Brady adds.

“What do you mean?” The youngest asks.

The older three boys' glance at one another.

“Paul already knows and is on his way now,” Jared tells him.

“Oh, right the bond.” Seth’s cheeks flush, “does that mean, you guys can see everything?”

They send him teasing smirks.

“You mean, can we see if you play with-”

Jared shoves Brady. “Shut up, man. No, Seth. We haven’t seen anything like that.”

“But remember, we always can,” Embry adds.

You hold their plates, “you four need to calm down or make these to go orders.”

“We’re calm,” Jared and Brady told you at the same time.

You narrow your eyes to them. “I’m holding you boys to it; I don’t want to have to work another double because of you.”

“You worked more because of these idiots?”

Your shoulders tense at the voice of the one person you didn’t want to talk to yet.

“We didn’t mean for it to happen,” Embry starts.

“But it just-”

Paul stops Jared from saying anymore. “If you say it just happened, I’m making you take over my shift tonight.”

“But it did.”

“Yeah, you’re taking tonight’s shift.”

You place their plates and aim to head towards the counter when a warm hand on your wrist stops you.

“When do you get off work?”

You glance back towards the kitchen, finding your boss staring at you. “I have a couple more hours until I’m done.”

You turn towards the other members, “you boys enjoy your meal.”

You walk away, expecting Paul to sit down and not follow you.

“Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“I’ll figure something out when I get home.”

He stops in front of the cash register, “let me come over.”

“Why should I?”

“I want to make sure you eat something and the only way I know you would is if I come over.”

“You gonna cook for me?” You ask with slight amusement in your tone.

He nods, “I am.”

Your expression falls, you weren’t expecting to want to take care of you. “I- uh- don’t you have patrol tonight?”

“Jared’s covering me.” He smirks when his packmates grumbles come through the pack’s mental link.

“I-”

“I’m going to sit on your porch, watching over your house whether you want me there or not.”

You roll your eyes, “fine, you can come over once I’m done.”

He offers a genuine smile, “great. I’ll take you home.”

You nod before your brain processes what he said and turns back to him only to find him pushing Seth and Jared further into the booth so he can squeeze in.

“You finally got a boyfriend?” Your boss, Leonard (who happens to be Brody’s older cousin) asks.

You purse your lips, “nope, just got another annoying pain in the neck to deal with.”

“He’s cute.”

“Not into you.”

“I know, he’d rather have you.”

You elbow him in his ribs.

“You’re not denying it,” he wheezes.

You walk out of the back room and find Paul still in the booth even though the others had left a couple hours ago. “You didn’t need to wait for me.”

He lifts his head, staring at you with an expression you’ve only ever seen in movies. “I didn’t have to, I wanted to though.” He slips out of the booth and stands before you, placing a hand on your back.

You don't want to admit that you've missed him the last few days, if not the last few years but something about this feels domestic; almost like it's something you've been missing.

He opens the door to his truck, waiting until you're situated before closing the door and makes his way around to the other side.

You didn't know what to say and kept quiet, staring out the window, watching at the trees slip past you.

Paul didn't want to say the wrong thing and cause a fight.

He steps out of the car to open the door for you, when he turns the corner, the doors already open. "I was coming to open it for you."

"I got it."

"I wanted to treat you."

"I'm fine, Paul."

He sighs, keeping his mouth shut.

"You brought me home and now you can go." You don’t know if you can handle him being here with you now.

He shakes his head, "I'm staying." He makes himself at home by laying on your couch.

"There's no threat, I'm obviously fine, so you can go?"

"I'm not leaving until we talk."

"Talk about what?"

"You're my imprint and we haven't talked in years; I don't want us to be awkward or make this feel- I don't want it to be forced."

"I-" You sigh. "I have nothing to say."

He pushes himself off the couch, stepping closer towards you. "That's bullshit and you know it."

"I'm not the person you should have imprinted on," you set your bag down.

"That's not for me to decide-"

"Yeah, I know it's the universe but maybe it was wrong."

"It's never wrong."

"It is now."

He follows after you, standing outside of your bedroom door. "You know I-" He huffs, listening to the way your heartbeat quickens. "I used to have a crush on you."

"What?" You whisper to yourself, not sure why he's admitting this but also about the fact that he had a crush on you.

"I like you that's why I- I didn't know what happened but then I couldn't stop it."

You furrow your brows at the sight of his shoulders shaking, knowing the story behind Emily’s scars, you shouldn't take a step closer, but the caring voice inside tells you otherwise.

You step closer, slowly reaching out for him.

Your scent engulfs the room, calming him a bit until your hand touches his arm.

The red slowly leaves his vision and it's almost like he can see clearly when he turns his head towards you.

The lights stop flickering when you make eye contact with him.

"Better?" Is all you can ask, barely able to form any other words.

He owlishly blinks, "what?" He asks with a gruff tone.

"I- you seemed like you were going to lose it and I didn't want you to break my living room," you add, joking with him to calm him a bit.

The corner of his lips curve as he tries not to smile. "It doesn't seem like there's much worth breaking," he teases.

You scoff, "you ass."

"I am sorry though," he tells you with an honest tone as he bows his head in shame.

You gulp, "I appreciate that. I'm just sorry it happened now."

"I'm not."

You furrow your brows, partially offended.

"I wasn't ready for this, what we're making now. I- you wouldn't have liked me then. I didn't but," he reaches for your hand, hovering to give you the opportunity to accept or decline. "I hope now we can work on that... on us?"

You stare at his hand, remembering how many times you wanted this with him and how you pushed him away, leaving him alone.

You wrap your arms around his neck, tucking your head in the space between his neck and shoulder. "I've missed you, you idiot."

He chuckles, resting his cheek on your head, breathing you in. "Not as much as I've missed you, sweetheart."

EXTRA

The boys make their ways up the path to your door with Sam and Emily in tow.

They're practically bouncing like none of them have stopped eating sugar.

"Do you think it finally happened?" Embry asks.

"Who knows? We're about to find out." Jared tells him before shoving Brady out of his way.

"Why'd we bring them again?" Asks Sam.

Emily smiles and shakes her head. "We had no choice."

"There's a body," Seth says. "I see an arm... and a face... it kind of looks-"

"That's your reflection," Quil smacks his arm.

"Hey, no hitting him. Only I can," Leah adds.

"Uh oh," Jared says.

"What?" Sams asks.

"Incoming," Seth, Jared, and Embry mumble in unison.

"You all need to leave," Paul hisses, slowly closing the door behind him.

"Looks like someone-"

"Finish that sentence and you're dead, Black."

Jacob backs away with his hands raised. “Someone’s grouchy.”

“We just had a decent talk last night and you all are not going to ruin this for me.”

Brady, Jared, and Embry turn around, nonchalantly whistling.

You place a hand on his shoulder, wanting him to stop blocking the door. “Paul, stop.”

He lowers his arm with an annoyed expression on his face.

“I know you all are excited but it’s not even seven yet. I still have to get ready for work and-”

“I brought food,” Emily interrupts as Sam lifts the basket.

You avoid Paul’s gaze as you snatch the basket from him. “You all may enter.”

His jaw drops. “I’ve been tossed aside for food.”

Jared pats his shoulder. “At least it wasn’t a blood sucker.”

Jacob glares at him.

“Too soon?” The man shrugs, “my bad man. Look I’m-” Jared takes off around your house before any of you realized what was happening.

“Is it always going to be like this?” You ask her.

She offers a sheepish shrug, “I mean, more at our place but close enough yeah.”

You shake your head, ripping another piece of muffin and shove it in Paul’s mouth before he could complain. You continue talking with Emily while simultaneously feeding him.

You glance down as another muffin makes its way to your hand. “Have you been giving me more just so I could feed you?”

He pauses, almost as if he’s bashful. “No?” He takes it from you and shushes, “don’t read into it.”

He shoves half the muffin in your mouth, and you take it like a baby does its pacifier.

Emily, Leah, and Embry stare at you with perplexed looks.

You pout. “You know I thought when Paul found his imprint he was going to calm down,” Brady interrupts. “But you made him weird.”

Neither of you respond to that.

Jared screaming in the background doesn’t disrupt the calmness in the air... even as he cries calls out for help.

Tag list

@kmc1989 @gilbertgirl13

Previously: Part I

Paul Lahote Master List

#twilight #twilight fanfiction #twilight wolfpack #twilight x reader #twilight fic #twilight fanfic #twilight imagines #twilight imagine #twilight x you #paul lahote #paul lahote fanfic #paul lahote fanfiction #paul lahote imagine #paul lahote imagines #paul lahote x enhanced reader #paul lahote x enhanced!reader #paul lahote x reader #paul lahote x you #crazyk-imagine

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crazyk-imagine · 5 months ago

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Flickering Lights and Butterflies

Pairing: Paul Lahote x Enhanced!reader

Warnings: Angst, fluff, Paul being a butt, pack loves reader, I'm making it canon (for myself) that Quil is the shortest one of all, the guys tease the youngest members a lot, Emily is my iconic queen, I love writing for them, the pack is a wholesome and chaotic crew, this would have been so long so I broke it into two parts, I like adding Brady and Collin because they're my fun extras, my babies are causing themselves issues, literally don't know how involved I got with this, Sam knows when to listen to his luna

Word Count: 2,040

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You close your eyes and throw an arm over your head, covering the upper half of your face.

You can feel the energy from the person sitting beside you but don't move.

The crunching of the grass raising the hairs on your arms causing you to inadvertently shiver from the goosebumps.

"Are you ever going to come back inside?"

"Why should I?"

"First off, I don't want you to get a cold."

You sigh, "Emily-"

"I'm not pressuring you to come back inside but I don't want you to be cold. I don't want to lose another girl to hang out with because she was stubborn."

You scoff through your nose, lips twitching as you fight to keep your emotions in control. You push yourself up and stare up into the sky, blowing out a breath, seeing it disappear into the wind.

God it's cold.

"See, it's cold enough for you to see your breath which means it's time to come inside."

You smile at her concern, something you haven't heard in a while. "I'll be right behind you."

The knot in your shoulder tightens and the burning, tingling sensation is back. "I don't want to talk to him."

He huffs, "I'm not the bad guy here."

"You don't sound like the good guy either."

"Says you."

You push yourself off the ground and rush past him.

He grabs your arm, pulling you back.

You gasp in fear, grabbing at his hand; worried for his safety. "Get off me."

"Not until we talk."

"I don't want to talk. Let go of me." You avoid staring into his eyes.

"Give me five minutes. It's not going to hurt you."

"Let go of me."

"Look me in the eye and I will."

You shove him away and run inside. You lock yourself in the guest bathroom.

Emily runs in, glancing around in search of you. "Bathroom," she mutters.

The others enter, seeing their luna knocking on the door.

They turn to Paul who glares at the door with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" Embry asks.

"Little miss stains ran off into the bathroom."

They can see the play back in their minds and wonder what happened.

You hold your head in your hands, pleading to freak out. "No, no, no."

You raise your head, staring at the ceiling. "Please don't."

You can hear her pleading and assume the others are talking about you in a bad way.

You hyperventilate, unsure of how to calm down.

You hold your breath and rub your chest, mentally telling yourself you're okay and need to calm down.

The lights pop.

You don't want to go out.

"Sweetie. I need you to open the door. I need to see that you're okay."

Sam steps towards his fiancée. "What's happening?"

She places a hand on his arm. "Sam as much as I love you, I need you and the boys to stay in the kitchen."

He wants to ask more but can see by the look on her face, he won't get any. He nods and steps away.

She sits beside the door, "they're in the kitchen. I told them to go away."

"Emily," you whine, embarrassed.

"It's okay. If you come out, then we can take care of this."

You unlock the door after a few moments. "I am so sorry."

"I know," she opens her arms to hug you.

You immediately throw yourself into her grasp.

Paul catches slight movement from the corner of his eyes and smells the saltiness of your tears, furrowing his brows.

You two make your way back into the kitchen.

You glance at them from the corner of your eye, sensing the concern of Sam about his fiancé.

You lower your head.

Emily breaks away from Sam, mouthing that she's got this.

She places a gentle hand on your shoulders. "Do you want to go home?"

You raise your head and stare at her with a wobbly lip, tears trailing past your waterline.

She offers a gentle smile. "I'll stay with you tonight. I won't leave you alone."

"You promise?" Your voice cracks, breaking everyone's heart, namely Paul's.

She gives you an affirmative nod. "I promise. Have you ever known me to break a promise?"

You can't hold back the choking sob that escapes when you laugh.

She wraps an arm around you and pulls you out with her, heading into her old truck.

He follows behind.

As soon as you settle into the passenger seat, he tries to make his way to you. "Can I-"

She shakes her head. "Not now, Paul. She's- today's not good, okay?"

"What's wrong with her?"

She shakes her head, "I know that's not what you mean but I can't answer that because we need to go."

His eyes follow the truck as she backs out.

You look up and catch his gaze, his shoulders sag at the sight of your broken-down face.

You wake up and stare at the ceiling with the moonlight lighting the living room.

Emily lays asleep on the longer end of the couch, curled into the blanket since tonight's colder than it has been all week.

You push yourself up and think about everything that happened earlier in the day. You don't know whether you wish it didn't happen or if it happened sooner.

You wander into the kitchen and get yourself a glass of water.

After drinking as much as you can, you glance out the window and stare into the forest, always finding it peaceful since you were a kid... back when you two were friends.

You sigh, remembering how embarrassed you were, it was stupid but then your parents got into an accident and your sister was taken to live with your aunt in California while you were left in the care of Emily because she was your godmother and wanted nothing more than to keep you in Folks.

She tried all she could to keep you two together, but your mom's sister fought harder for your sister.

You know Paul probably doesn't even know why you were so upset or what happened since a proper funeral didn't take place, you don't even know if he knows.

You blink and you’re back to reality, no longer stuck in memory lane and find a wolf near your house.

It's him, you know it.

There's no other reason a wolf would be nearby at this time of night, intensely staring at your house or you.

You turn away, unsure of what to do about everything that's happened.

You step back into the living room, checking on Emily, smiling when you see she's still asleep.

You wipe the stray tear that trickles down your cheek, thinking back to when you and your sister would stay in the living room for your sister hangouts.

A shadow moving near the door alarms you, causing you to turn and investigate.

You jump, placing a hand over your heart, wanting to curse him out.

You carefully unlock the door and step outside, making sure to grab your key beforehand, in case you get locked out.

The last thing you need is Paul to try and get you back inside and/or scare the daylight out of Emily because of him.

You sigh, crossing your arms. "What do you want?"

His eyes are drawn down towards your chest at your movements before trailing back to your annoyed expression, something he finds himself falling more and more for.

"If you’re just going to oogle me like a piece of meat, I'm going back inside."

His hands grab your wrist, stopping you before you can step closer to the door. "No- I- I didn't come here for that."

"What did you come for?" You snatch your wrist back from him.

The porch light buzzes, you pray this doesn't take long.

"I wanted to talk."

"Then talk."

"Could we skip the attitude?"

"The only one here with the attitude is you."

"Says the one who keeps running when I open my mouth."

"It was a bad idea coming out here to talk to you, just go, Paul."

He sighs.

The light pops, breaking above you.

You flinch, raising your arm to cover your face and slowly dropping it so the pieces of light don't cut your skin.

He wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you away from the mess. "Hey, hey," he cups your cheeks. "Are you okay?"

You avoid making eye contact with him.

"Stop fighting me and look at me."

You turn your head and find his concerned expression to be the most breathtaking thing you've ever seen.

His eyes are drawn the red line across your cheek. "Your-"

Emily opens the door, staring at the two of you and looks to the side, finding the mess. "You two get inside so I-"

Paul shakes his head, "I'll do it. You take care of her."

"You need to tell him."

"I don't have to tell him."

"He's your best friend."

"Was my friend but then he started growing up and became a butthead."

"Boys who like someone are mean to them because they have the emotional capacity of a stick."

You owlishly blink, listening to the phrase she said. "Yeah, I know. He's prime example number one."

"Not all relationships are perfect."

"That's true and we're not in one."

"Maybe he can help you?"

"With what?"

"Your issue."

You shake your head, "no. He's not helping me."

"He's the only one who doesn't know."

"The other guys don't know."

"I think out of all the boys, other than Sam, Quil might know what happened, other than that they don't."

"And I don't know them."

She sighs, "is this really the attitude you're going to have towards the one the universe decided was yours?"

You pretend to think about it for a second. "Yep."

You step out of the hall, watching him try and remember where to put the broom. "Give it." You put it back in its place. "Thanks."

"It was no big deal. I didn't want you to get hurt."

You roll your eyes. "That."

"What?"

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Why do you think?"

The question holds no attitude even though the phrase seems like it.

"I don't know because you won't talk about it."

"Do you- nevermind."

"No, tell me."

"I don't want to do this right now, Paul. Please, go home."

"No," he stands his ground, tired of you pushing him away. "What happened with us because one second we're friends and the next we're not."

"Did you ever think maybe you acting like a dick was reason enough?"

"You're blaming me?" His shoulders tense up.

Emily notices and eyes him from the couch.

"I didn't make fun of my friend and get the other kids to join in on the tormenting, you did that easily enough."

"I didn't mean to. I told you-"

"That was not joking around, and you blatantly made fun of me."

"I- I didn't know any better. I was a kid."

"Just because you were a kid, doesn't mean you didn't have a brain, you just had to use it. You know those kids are ruthless and mean then you joined in with them."

"I didn't think they were close to me."

"They hated me."

"Everyone hated everyone, girls were gross then."

You scoff, looking away to hide the fact that that day was the beginning of the end for you as you tear up. "I don't want to talk to you anymore," you tell him wiping your cheek.

"Why are you crying?"

"Do you even know how long that stupid nickname has stuck around, even now because you still use it?"

"It's cute."

"It's annoying. I don't like it and you still bully me."

"It's not bullying if it's endearing."

"Try the opposite."

"Okay," he sighs, "I'll stop using it."

"I'm happy the two of you are acting like your friends again but it's almost two in the morning and I'm tired."

"I'm off patrol and it's raining."

"Convenient," you mumble.

He smiles, staring at you as you plop beside Emily. "The lights are still working."

"I noticed." She places her hand on the back of your head and mindlessly pats your head.

You fight to keep your eyes open, listening to the two talking while you're becoming more and more relaxed.

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