I Always Will

You Only Know What I Want You To

Paul shut the cage after checking on a Labrador that was starting to come around from the anesthesia, happy with its progress. While becoming a vet had never really been a dream of his, he had to admit it was fitting. Most of the animals that came into the clinic, he had a sort of innate understanding of, and the more he had studied, the more he enjoyed it.

Rachel had been right to push him in that direction.

Not to mention, he was grateful for the job as a vet tech at the clinic. The vet that owned the clinic was desperate for help at the time and didn't mind that he hadn't actually completed vet school. The pay wasn't a lot, but it was enough.

It wasn't as though Paul had needed a lot at the time. He had a job, a roof over his head, and Rachel.

His heart seized slightly as his thoughts turned to her, but he wasn't allowed much time to dwell on it.

"Yo, Paul!"

He turned, looking towards the door that led to the front of the clinic, recognizing Jared's voice. Sighing heavily, he walked out, finding his best friend standing there smiling.

"You ready?" Jared asked.

And as much as Paul wanted to say 'no' and send Jared on his way, he knew there would be hell to pay later for it. So instead he nodded and walked to the small break room where he kept his things, pausing on the way at the vet's office to let him know he was going on his lunch break.

Once he had returned to the front, the two set off, walking down the street to a nearby diner. While at the time Paul had griped about taking a job in Forks rather than La Push, he was now grateful for it. At least here, eyes full of pity didn't follow him wherever he went.

"So... how's your day?" Jared asked as soon as the server walked away with their orders.

Paul scowled at him and then reached for his water glass.

"The same as it always is," he replied. Jared nodded slowly, leaning on the table.

"No rabid raccoons?" Jared asked, cracking a smile. Paul rolled his eyes.

"No," he said. "And it was only the one time..."

"Good thing the doc had you get the rabies shot," Jared replied with a chuckle.

Paul would have joined him - all in all the event had been pretty funny, especially when they figured out the raccoon wasn't actually rabid - but he had known Jared nearly his whole life, and knew this was just a set up. He'd always start with chatting about mundane or funny things before pushing Paul into territory he didn't want to venture into.

He would need to cut that off and fast.

"Ran into Briony McCall the other day," Paul said casually.

It had the desired effect as Jared's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Wait, what? Where? How?" he asked.

"First Beach. I was out running and she was too. Apparently she's back to clean out her grandparents' house," Paul said.

Even though he had brought her up as a diversion, he couldn't help but feel a strange feeling settling over him. He had thought of her a lot since that run-in, curious about her story. He still felt there was more that brought her back here than just her grandparents' house. But at the same time, he wasn't sure if that was something he wanted to wade into. It didn't help that guilt snuck in as well.

They had been close and promised to keep in touch after she left. And then he hadn't.

But it was better than talking about Rachel. Or well, better than Paul attempting to get Jared to not talk about Rachel.