The story of us // EmmettxOcxRosalie

Chapter 23 - Wolf

I woke up with a heavy headache. It was hard to open my eyes, and as soon as I did I regretted it. The sun was shining into the room and basically burned my eyes. I closed them immediately.

A few minutes later, I tried it again. This time I was prepared for the sunlight. Staring at the ceiling, I realized I was in my room. Suddenly I felt a weight on my right hand.

When I looked down, I saw a black haired guy sleeping with his head on my hand, still holding mine with his own. My sight was a little blurred, but I knew it was Paul.

I tried to move a little without waking him, but no chance. His head shoot up immediately. In his eyes I could see worry. And that he was relieved. His hair was extremely messy, and he had a print of my hand on his cheek. I couldn't help but smile at this picture.

"Hey, you're awake", he realized. "Hey, you too", I replied dry. He grinned. Another time I tried sitting up properly. Now that he wasn't claiming my hand anymore it was way easier. Just the pounding in my head was killing me. I groaned.

"Careful, Em. How are you?", he asked. "My head is trying to murder me and I feel like a truck just ran over me but besides that I'm good.", I replied. With a smile, he gave me meds for my pain and a glass of water from my nightstand. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver.", I said and took the pills. "What happened? Can't remember I was an alcoholic, so that can't be it."

He looked at me and I could see that he was hesitant. Then he sighed. "Sam got a call from Vince yesterday. He was worried sick and hectic. He asked for help since he and Reah couldn't find you. They thought you ran away.", he started. "What? No!", I called out. "That's what I told them as well. You love them. I could convince them about that. I said that you probably just needed to get out and then got lost in the forest."

"You're definitely not wrong about that", I mumbled. "There is something else you should know.", Paul said. He was hesitant again. "What?". "Sam send me to Emmett and Rosalie. He thought they should know and maybe even help search. I don't know if they did. After that, I drove to your house and helped searching. It was me who found you. I brought you back here.", he said, but didn't really look at me.

Memories came back in my mind. I remembered the panic attack and the rain, my thoughts and the loneliness. And that I wished for nothing more than a hug from Paul. I remembered when he found me. At the first moment, I thought I might imagine him. He cared for me.

I looked at him, sitting next to my bed on a chair that looked really uncomfortable to sleep on. He spent the whole night next to me. He waited for me to wake up.

I hugged him. He was obviously surprised about that but hugged back immediately. "Thanks", I whispered. "No problem. But please don't do that again. I was worried.", he answered. I nodded and hugged him a little closer. It felt good to be in his arms. He was warm.

About half an hour later, I was finally able to move without a pounding in my head. We went downstairs, where I saw Vince and Reah in the kitchen. He had an espresso and she her daily cup of tea. They looked tired.

When they noticed us, they immediately came up to me. "Hey Honey, how are you?", Reah asked and cupped my cheeks. She was frowning. "I'm good. Just a little headache". I shrugged.

"Let's go and sit down in the living room. I'll make you a tea. Paul, you want anything?", Vince said with his calm and deep voice. Paul declined, but made his way with us to the living room. Vince came a few minutes later.

"Guess you wanna know what I did in the forest, huh?", I started. It was the unspoken question they didn't want to ask. I could see that they were relieved that I started talking about it. They nodded. "Paul told me that you thought I ran away. First, I want you to know that this is a stupid thought. I might have done it in the past but I really like it here. And I like you both. I just had to clear my mind and went outside for a walk. You know, with my head up in the clouds I forgot pretty much everything, key included. So I thought I could walk a bigger round until one of you get back. And then I got hopelessly lost in the forest. I'm sorry. I didn't want anyone to worry about me."

This wasn't exactly true. But it's not completely wrong either. I just didn't want them to worry any more than they already did. Besides, I'm just learning to trust again. That takes time. I knew that Paul didn't believe me at all but he was smart enough not to say anything in front of Reah and Vince. They both looked relieved and happy that the reason was that simple and they just overthought things.

We sat there for another hour just talking about things. Vince thanked Paul again for finding me and help search. They told me the whole thing from their view. I was impressed how good Paul talked with Reah and Vince. He easily joined in the conversation.

At one point it was hard for me to keep my eyes open. I had no idea why I was this tired. I woke up around two hours ago. It was 1pm. Reah noticed it and sent me back to bed. Before that I brought Paul to the door.

"Thank you. Without you I'd probably still be in the forest", I said and smiled at him. "I'd do it a hundred times again. But I also know that you lied in the living room back then. And I respect that. You have your reasons. But if you want to talk to someone and say the truth, I'll be there for you", he answered. "I will tell you everything. But not now. You should get a little sleep too. Guess it wasn't really comfortable on that chair, huh?", I asked. "Not really. ", he chuckled, "Take care of yourself".

I nodded and hugged him goodbye. Patiently I waited until he got into his car and drove away. After that, I turned around and got back to bed. I fell asleep shortly after I laid down.

This time I dreamed about a big beautiful wolf in the woods.