Blood Moon (Paul Lahote)

Twenty Three: Leeches

I kept my eyes closed even though I was awake, I'm hoping that I would fall back asleep. I don't usually wake back up after I smoke but the rain sounded loud. It was a couple seconds before I realized that it wasn't raining.

Tap. Tap.

It sounded like rain.

Tap. Tap.

There it was again.

Tap. Tap.

It was coming from the side of the house. I got up and snuck over to the window. I peaked through the side of the curtain, not moving the curtain to look.

"You know I could hear you as soon as you woke up, right?" Paul says, looking at me through the thick curtain. I moved the curtain away from my face and opened up the window.

"What do you want, Paul?" I asked tiredly as he stood shirtless on the lawn. His dark puppy eyes connected with mine and I felt a slight ping in my heart. He immediately smiled at me. He smiled even after I pushed him away from me.

"You might need to stand back." Is all he says before jumping onto the tree that's between mine and Bella's windows. He swings into the window and knocks against me, I feel myself lose my balance before Paul quickly catches me from falling. "I told you to stand back." He smirks.

"Yeah, I'm not really good with directions." I can't help but smile and he smiles back at me. "You can move your hands now."

"Right." He quickly says and puts his hands that once rested on my hips into his back pockets.

"So, what are you here for, Paul?" I ask tiredly as I take a seat on my bed.

"We still need to finish that conversation." Paul says as he takes a seat next to me. He's sitting close enough to me that I can feel the heat vibrating off of his body.

"Look, I know you have a crush on me. But I'm not really looking for a relationship right now." I say, trying not to look him in the eyes. I know if I look up I'll never be able to look away. Then he starts laughing. I look up at him in confusion.

"I wasn't either." He laughs. "But, it's not really up to either of us anymore." I furrow my brows at him.

"You imprinted on me?" I ask, befuddled. Em has explained imprinting to me before, almost like he was hinting at something but I ignored it. He said it was what Emily and Sam had and that it was unbreakable.

"I promise you that I have no control over it." Paul defends, his face hardening.

"So, that means..."

"That means we're stuck together." Paul says. I get off the bed and put my hands over my face, thinking. I don't like this, I don't like not having another choice. I hear Paul get up before feeling his strong hands turn me around. He gently takes my hands away from my face and holds them in his. "Just give me one chance." Then I realize that I find comfort in knowing that Paul will never leave me, or treat me wrong. I feel safe with Paul.

"Fine. But only because I know I can't get rid of you." I say. "But I don't appreciate you spreading rumors about us."

"That was Seth." Paul says. "The little rat." He whispers under his breath which makes me laugh. Then his expression gets hard and he lets go of my hands. His face scrunches up and I can see the anger building up in his body.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Leeches." Paul says. "Last time they were hear Jacob had to practically strangle me to stop me from getting you." He turns around to look out of the window and I hear a car pull up to the driveway. "If they're here, I can't be here."