вυмp ιn тнe nιgнт

TWENTY

paul wasn't having the best of days.

ever since hailey had decided it was her personal mission to yell at him until he decided to man up and go find jasmine, she'd been on his ass about everything. he refused to start conversations with her anymore because she always ended up circling it back to jasmine, which ultimately resulted in one of them shifting out of anger. sam was fed up, and usually had them patrolling right after one another in an attempt to get them to not always argue.

it was a nice attempt, but didn't really help the situation much.

"i just don't see why you don't go talk to her, already. sam gave you permission to check if she was your imprint, so just man up and do it!" hailey exclaims through their mental connection, causing the boy to let out a frustrated sigh.

"look, i understand that you don't want to fall for her considering she's already in a relationship, but you guys don't have to be together! it's all up to her how your relationship is defined, anyways, right? maybe if she says she strictly wants to be friends, your connection will probably halt at that and won't make you feel anything else but friendly affection for her."

"hailey, that's not how it works! i liked jasmine before i turned into a giant ass wolf, do you really think that seeing a potential future with her the second we meet eyes will do anything but intensify my feelings for her?!"

the girl fell quiet, and paul chose to ignore her thoughts as she thought over his words. instead, he followed her scent to where she was currently patrolling, and met her soon enough. she stared at him for a few moments before huffing and beginning to walk off, her patrol over seeing as he'd come to take her place.

"i still say you should go see her. i haven't seen her since i phased, but i know she's been going out of her mind with worry for you since you left her."

paul winces at those final words, but begins to run the patrol route, not wanting to think about jasmine or else he'd probably run to her house instead of continuing his patrol. he didn't like how both his heart and mind wanted to go to her, the implications of his wants terrifying him.

he found himself thinking about her, anyways, against all his wishes.

she didn't want to be tied down to forks, he knew that. she'd mentioned multiple times how after high school was over, she'd be moving back to her hometown. it hurt his heart to think on those words, but it only reinforced him wanting to stay away from her. he didn't want to force her to stay in a place she only stayed in because of her family all because of some mystical bond he possibly shared with her that would try to hold her back just so that he could be happy.

paul wanted jasmine to be happy, and if she was happy without him, without the possibility of a future between them, then he could stay away.

the shifter didn't realize he had slowed down or that he was off the regular patrol trail until he snapped out of his thoughts. the wind was whistling in his ears, practically guiding him towards something unknown that should've made him tense up in fear.

but, he didn't. instead, he allowed himself to follow the wind, padding slowly through the dense trees that were beginning to thin out.

paul came upon a clearing, his eyes taking in the abundance of plant life and the vibrant green color that made the grass almost glow in the light that filtered through the tops of the trees. in the center of it all, though, a figure lay in the grass, fully bloomed flowers surrounding the figure as the air buzzed with anticipation. he stalled in his steps as the figure rose up into a sitting position, and he watched as they moved their head around as if looking for something.