𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐌, (paul lahote) ✓

𝑿 - 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆

ACT TEN

Eloise had been living with Paul for two nights, and even tho she'd never tell Penny, it had been the best two nights of her life. He'd stay with her when he wasn't patrolling, made her food - or at least he tried- and watched movies with her. It was going perfectly and for the first time since she met him, she admitted to herself that she was falling for him. She still felt weird, falling in love so soon after leaving William, but Paul made it so hard not to. He listenend to her, never raised his voice and he gave her time. Not once has he touched her in a place other than her hand or face (tho Eloise sometimes fantasized about it).

All in one, they were perfectly fine when Paul suddenly had to leave. He had woken her in the middle of the night, Eloise sleeping peacefully in his bed that he insisted on her to use. Eloise jumped but quickly smiled when she saw it was Paul who was softly stroking her cheek and smiling at her, tho she noted how his smile did not reach his eyes. She tried hard not to let her gaze wander when she noticed his bare chest and even in the dark she could make out the blush on his cheeks when she did peek at his body. He looked so beautiful to her. Eloise started to sit up, knowing he would not just wake her up if it wasn't something important, but he just shook his head, covering her with her blanket a little more and stroking her hair.

"I gotta leave, there's a bloodsucker in the area. I'll be back soon, I promise. Seth is going to stay in the area to protect you." He whispered and Eloise nodded, tho she felt her heart clench at the idea of Paul being gone. She had only been with him for two days but she already felt so attached to him, she thought it would be unhealthy under more usual circumstances. You know, without the soulmate thing.

"Be careful." Eloise whispered and Paul sent her a cheeky grin at her raspy voice and sad frown.
"Always am. Got something to come home to, now." He smiled, watching as she blushed and covered her face with her blanket, snuggling into his pillow a little more. It still smelt like him.

"Just scream really loudly if you need anything." He joked, slowly coming to a stand and stroking her hair one last time. Eloise wanted him to stay, she really did but she knew no matter what, he had to leave. Maybe he'd stay if she asked him to, but she couldn't ask him to leave his friends on their own. And she definitely couldn't ask him to stop trying to protect her.

"It won't be longer than a few hours."

It was longer than a few hours. Paul hadn't been home for four days and it was starting to take a toll on her. She didn't know if he was okay, where he slept, if he even slept. She knew Emily wouldn't let him starve and neither would Sam but not seeing him made her sick. And quite literally so. She couldn't sleep and it was no rarity that Seth would come barging into her room and wake her crying form up. The two of them got close over the past days. Sometimes when Eloise couldn't sleep, she'd go out onto Paul's porch and sit with Seth's wolf. She'd tell him what was on her mind and ask him if he could hear Paul, if he knew if he was okay. Seth would, in return, lay his head onto her lap for comfort. If he was human, he'd tell her that he was okay, the pack still looking for the cause of the current attacks. Eloise remembered him telling her about a bloodsucker.

After the fifth night and the third night with Penny staying over, Eloise tried to eat properly again. She made herself and Penny dinner and cleaned up to distract herself. She took a shower with a trembling bottom lip, trying to ignore the ache in her chest. She felt really lonely and it confused her how badly she desired Paul. She desired seeing him, smelling him and touching him. Hearing his voice and being able to talk to him again, spending hours on his couch laughing and feeling him carrying her to his room and tuckig her in when she fell asleep during a movie.

Her heart felt heavy without him and there was an emptiness in her heart that she knew only a certain shifter could fill.
Penny knew that, everyone that had been around her the past days knew and so Penny grinned extra widely when she heard keys outside the front door and an exhausted Paul came in, eyes instantly searching for Eloise. He took in a deep breath, feeling his shoulders lose some tenseness as he took in her smell that was all around the house.

"What, you sniffing her now?" Penny joked from the couch, looking at Paul over her shoulder. Paul's head whipped to her instantly, letting out an annoyed breath of air when he saw her bare feet laying on his coffee table.

"Just wanna see her." He grumbled and Penny would have laughed at him and called him a simp if it wasn't for her small amount of sympathy she felt for them. Penny smiled and stood up, stretching and walking towards the door.

"Well surprise, she missed you, too." She said, patting his shoulder, noticing him for once wearing a shirt, tho she didn't say anything. She wanted to joke about how Eloise would be even sadder seeing him clothed. But she decided against it for once.

"She's showering, probably washing her tears away." She sighed dramatically, making Paul roll his eyes.
"I'll leave you to it, don't want to be here when you guys fuck your frustration out." She joked and Paul glared at her, to which she just giggled and put on her shoes, leaving him.

Paul stood there for a few minutes, listening to the water running in the bathroom upstairs, not wanting to bother Eloise.
He only moved when he heard the tab close and her shuffling around the bathroom. He sat down onto the couch where Penny had been sat a few minutes ago and waited anxiously for her. Every second he had to wait was agony to him and he had to physically hold his leg for it to stop shaking. He held his breath, feeling physical pain as he waited and his heart only started beating again when he turned his head and saw her walk down the steps. He watched as her face lit up upon seeing him and how she pursed her lip as she quickly ran around the couch to hug him. He opened his arms and felt his stomach to flips as soon as she was in his arms, hands around his neck and face against his chest. Her whole body was on him and he wondered how she felt comfortable like this but he only held her closer to him, one hand in her hair and one on her back. He nuzzled his face into her hair and smelt it. It brang him an immense feeling of comfort and home. His heart did a skip when she started talking.

"I missed you."