вυмp ιn тнe nιgнт

TWENTY THREE

paul hadn't been able to stop thinking about the voicemail jasmine had left him since he first heard it. it almost physically felt as if his heart was breaking while listening to her talk, but he didn't know what to do. he had been avoiding her for so long, and he'd just found out they were pretty much soulmates. how was he gonna be able to talk to her face to face after so long, after everything that had happened, and not just blurt out how he felt about her?

his first patrol with hailey after listening to the voicemail had her lunging at him, all teeth and fury.

"you asshole! go talk to her, already, or else you'll continue to put both yourself and her in pain! you don't know if she isn't already feeling it or not, but she might be, so hurry up and go talk to her before i drag you and hold you there to make you talk!" she had shouted at him while tearing into him. sam had come across them when it was time for him to take over patrolling, and he'd had to pull his cousin off paul while pulling her off the boy.

paul was then ordered to stay home and think of something to say to his imprint while sam took hailey back to his and emily's place, wanting to deal with his cousin privately. the lahote boy didn't stick around long after that, retreating back home and holing himself in his room. thankfully, his father wasn't home, so he didn't have to worry about the man.

and that's how things stayed for the majority of the week. paul avoided everyone, only interacting with others when he had to go and patrol. he would visit that clearing in the woods on occasion, hoping to spot jasmine back, but it was like the universe was telling him he wouldn't see her again until he owned up to the shit he'd caused.

resigning himself to the knowledge that he would just have to actually go and talk to her, paul asked sam if he could take the day off patrolling on saturday. the alpha easily figured out the reason why, seeing the look on paul's face, and agreed.

"you can do this, paul. everything will turn out fine. remember, you don't have to tell her everything just yet, just try to reestablish your friendship and apologize for what you put her through," he assures, earning a nod from the teen before he goes on his way. he noticed hailey watching him with stern eyes, but he didn't bother confronting her or telling her to stop. he didn't want to get angry before he worked up the courage to actually go confront his imprint.

paul actually bothered to put a shirt on before slowly heading on his way to jasmine's house. the closer he got, the more frantic his mind became, especially when he remembered the fact that there had been traces of vampire smell on jasmine when he'd last seen her. the thought caused him to let out a low growl, but he managed to calm himself down before he could fly into a rampage over the thought.

if there were any other vampires in either la push or forks, he would handle them. nothing, not even an "indestructible" bloodsucker would get in the way of him protecting jasmine and her family.

when he finally reached the graves family home, his breath stalled for a few moments. just staring at the familiar home that he used to visit so often felt like a fever dream or something of the like. it felt like a lifetime ago that he'd last been there, laughing with jasmine and soaking up the familial attention her family gave him, all the while denying his feelings for the girl he had easily become such good friends with.

'well,' he thinks, mustering up what little he had left of his courage as he approached the front door, 'at least i finally know why i felt so drawn to her. and why it was so easy to like her and not be angry.'

the imprint explained everything about how easy it had been for him to want to become friends with the girl. his anger issues made it hard for him to make friends with anyone that wasn't particularly a douchebag, even though he wasn't really friends with the people he'd hung around with before shifting. jasmine had been his first true friend in a long time, and he'd clung to the friendship she offered him like a lifeline. even dormant and unknown to him, the imprint bond had made him comfortable and easygoing around jasmine, warming him up to her unconsciously.