His Country Girl

Chapter 9

"Nana, you and I need to have a very serious conversation!" I shouted upon walking into the house, Paul hot on my heels. "Specifically about your diet!"

"Sweet pea, what are you-" she stopped when she walked into the living room. "Daisy, who's this?"

"This is my friend, Paul. Not important. When were you going to tell me?" I glared at her.

"Sweetie, get away from him." She tried to grab my arm but I ripped away from her grasp, stepping closer to Paul.

"Don't touch me. I think I'm a lot safer with a wolf than a vampire." I felt Paul place his hand on my hip. Nana Rose's golden eyes widened.

"How did you..." she trailed off, glaring at the wolf behind me.

"I hugged her, smelled a leech, and I thought one had snuck into her house. Turns out, she's living with one. You." Paul pulled me closer to him. "And I don't want her to be in danger if you forget to feed yourself so she's gonna come stay with me."

"She will not be going with you. If she doesn't want to stay with me, she can stay with Charlie, where I can still keep an eye on her. I'm not allowed in La Push and you know that, you filthy mutt." Nana hissed at Paul. The boy tried to get passed me but I held my arm out in front of him.

"Paul, don't. Nana Rose, I'm going to La Push because I don't want to be anywhere near you right now. You lied to me the whole time I've known you!" I shouted at her. "I know Bella said you wouldn't hurt me and that you were keeping it from me for my safety, but I can't trust you now." I sighed. "I'm gonna stay with Paul for a while and figure things out. If you call me, I won't answer. If you text me, I won't answer. I don't want to talk to you while I'm away. I just..." I shook my head, breathing deeply. "I need some time." I grabbed Paul's hand and dragged him up the stairs and into my room.

"I'm sorry, Daisy," Paul said. "I didn't mean to drag you into all this." I grabbed my backpack and my bigger suitcase, haphazardly throwing clothes into it.

"It's fine, Paul. It's not your fault." I said, organizing my suitcase. "If it was your fault, I'd stay with Sam or someone else." I went to the bathroom and grabbed my toiletries, walking back into my room and shoving them into the front pocket. I paused, a faint blush spreading across my cheeks. "You don't happen to have any... feminine products at your house, do you?" Paul softly snorted at my hesitance and shook his head.

"No. No pads or tampons at my house because my mom lives in Tacoma and my little sister is there with her." He smirked. "But I can get you some from the store if you need them. I don't mind. It's not that big of a deal."

"Oh, there's no need for that. Just go grab them from the bathroom, please. They're under the sink by the toilet paper." I moved my clothes around and made room for the boxes. Paul walked out and back in with the boxes in his hands. I quickly took them from him and stuffed them in my suitcase, hiding them under a couple of shirts. Looking up, I saw the stuffed horse that my papa had gotten me for my 8th birthday sitting on the other nightstand along with my smaller stuffed cow that my nana had gotten for me that same day. I jumped over my bed and grabbed them, holding them to my chest, feeling Paul staring at me. "Don't judge me. My grandparent got me these when I was a kid."

"I'm not judging, just looking at a girl hugging her stuffed animals." Paul stood next to my suitcase. "Anything else going in here?"

"No. I'll carry these out myself. And my backpack. Could you get my suitcase?" I looked at him from the other side of my bed.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Grab a couple of other things, a pillow maybe, meet me downstairs. Ok?" He closed and zipped my suitcase, picking it up, along with my backpack, causing me to glare at him as he smiled cheekily. All I did was nod. I grabbed my pillow with the pillowcase Nana Chrissy had crocheted for me, and looked around my room, searching for anything else I might need, other than my phone charger. Seeing nothing of the utmost importance, I grabbed my charger and walked out of the room, shutting the door. I quickly made my way downstairs to meet Paul and get out of the house.

"Daisy, please don't go. I'm not allowed over there. I can't get to you if something happens." Nana Rose pleaded, begging me to stay. "You're one of the only family I have left." I stopped and turned to her.

"You should have thought about that before you lied to me." I shook my head and walked out the front door as Paul was walking up. I looked at the boy. "Get me outta here." He nodded and led me toward the driver's side of his single-cab pickup truck, letting me in.

"There's only so much room in here so you're sitting in the middle."

"I don't care, Paul. Just get me outta here, please." I situated myself in the middle seat while he got in, pulling out of the driveway without buckling up.

"Alright, we're going. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." The wolf pulled me closer to him. The drive back to La Push was quiet, the radio playing a soft indie-pop station. The reality of everything that happened today was slowly setting in and I began to silently cry. My heart was beating quickly in my chest. Paul just wrapped an arm around my shoulders, bringing wordless comfort. My head fell onto his shoulder and my tears slipped onto his bare shoulder as I hugged my pillow and stuffed animals to my chest. We sat in silence like that until we pulled into his driveway. We got out of the truck and he grabbed my suitcase, handing my backpack to me.

"You can sleep in my room. I'm fine sleeping on the couch." Paul said upon walking into his house. "My dad's not home right now so I'll just explain everything to him when he gets home." The front door led into the kitchen and the open wall of the kitchen showed a living room and a hallway, probably leading to the bedrooms and bathroom.

"A) I'm not taking your room. B) where's your dad and does he know about you and everything else?" I asked.

"He works over the road and is gone for weeks at a time but he should be back soon. Yes, he does know. Billy explained everything to him when I missed two weeks of school to get my temper under control... mostly. And yes you are taking my room." He walked down the hall and entered the door on the right.

"Paul, no. I can sleep on the couch. It's fine." I insisted, walking into the room with him.

"Daisy, you're sleeping in my room. Please, don't be stubborn." Paul begged.

"Why do I have to sleep in your room?" I asked. He sighed and set my suitcase at the foot of his bed, my backpack next to it.

"It'll make me feel better knowing that I can protect you if someone were to break in or something." He said sheepishly. "It- I dunno. Just- please-"

"Ok. Alright, I'll sleep in here." I gave in, a faint smile on my lips because of his awkwardness. He's such a dork.