Dusk till Dawn | Paul Lahote ✔️

Chapter 14

Bella and I sat silently at the table. Dad had gone to work, and I had planned on going over to La Push to hang out with Paul.

I just needed to talk to Bella before anything else happened.

"Remember that talk about you leading Jacob on?" I asked her, and she snapped her head up at me in surprise. "Bells... you have to stop leading the poor boy on. He cares about you, more than a friend." I told her pointedly, disappointment in my tone. Bella winced at that, biting her lip. "I don't want to see him get hurt because you'll never completely get over Edward." I fought the urge to roll my eyes when she flinched at that name. "He's going to imprint on someone one day. And, judging by the lack of evidence, it hasn't been you." I told her flatly. I cared for Jacob, he was like my younger brother, and it would devastate me if something were to happen to him.

"I... I know..." She admits sheepishly, and I narrowed my eyes at that. "It's just, I'm afraid if I tell him I don't have romantic feelings for him... he'll cut me off completely." That was a valid fear, and could potentially happen. The only reason why Bella was allowed to hang out at Emily's in the first place was because she was in danger of Victoria, who I had recently learned was after her since Edward killed her mate...

And the fact that Jacob was hopelessly devoted to her, even though she wasn't the same for him.

"That's a risk you'll have to take, Bells." I tell her gently, earning a whine in return. I wasn't going to tell her that Edward would likely come back. There was no need to give her false hope, and she was getting better... albeit slowly. "Jacob needs to move on. Letting him down gently is the best way for him to move on, and maybe find someone that will care for him like he cares for you." I told her pointedly, deciding to be blunt.

That was the only way she was going to see reason.

Sighing, she glances over at the phone. "No. You're going to tell him in person," I stop her, narrowing my eyes. She was not going to reject the boy over a phone call. That was petty, and quite frankly, cowardice.

"Okay..." Bella visibly deflates, scared. "Are you going to La Push later?" She asks me and I raised an eyebrow, nodding my head. "Can I... maybe come with?" She gives me a timid smile and I sigh. Why couldn't Bella want to be friends with normal kids? Instead she bugs the pack, who only tolerate her.

"As long as you promise me you're going to talk to Jacob," I tell her sternly and she nods her head, biting her lip in anticipation.

The ride to Emily and Sam's was quiet. Bella would look over at me every now and then, but not really say anything. I wasn't surprised, after the confrontation in the kitchen she was probably feeling a little bit awkward.

Once we make it to La Push, the boys weren't at the house. With a frown I walk inside, Bella trailing behind me. "Em?!" I call inside, hearing clattering in the kitchen and a new feminine voice.

"Elaine! I wasn't expecting you today!" Emily smiles at me softly, and I pause when I see a relatively young girl standing with her shyly. She looked to be about Bella's age, and I had a hunch she was Jared's imprint. "This is Kim Conwell, she's Jared's imprint and girlfriend." Emily introduced kindly.

"Well it's nice to meet you! Jared talks about you a lot," I comment with a smirk, giving Emily an amused look. "I'm Elaine Swan, Paul's girlfriend." Imprint was left unsaid, but everyone already knew that - and I was sure Emily told Kim about me.

Kim's eyes light up at my name. "Oh! Paul talks about you!" I raised an eyebrow at that, he talks about me huh? "All good things." She promises me and I laugh lightly.

"I would hope so," I grinned when she giggled. "This is my younger sister, Isabella Swan, but she likes to be called Bella." I introduced, Bella giving Kim a small nod of acknowledgment, who nods back. "She's a little awkward, so don't mind her." I ignored the glare Bella sent my way.

Laughing, Kim gives Bella a kind smile. "Don't worry, I'm awkward too." She assures her before turning back to me. "We were just baking. The boys found something and said they won't be back for a few hours..." She sighs and I frowned. That didn't sound too promising. Everything had been fine when I talked to Paul on the phone earlier.

"Hopefully it's just nothing..." I trail off, cringing. Emily and Kim both nod their head. Bella stays silent as she walks over to the couch, sitting down on the cushions.

Kim, Emily and I busied ourselves in the kitchen. Bella was busy reading a book she had found lying in the living room when she abruptly sat up straight. "Laney, I'm going for a walk!" She calls out to me and I wave my hand at her in dismissal as she walks out of the house.

Emily frowned as she watches my sister walk away. "She's not very social, is she?" She wonders, looking over at me as I finish putting the final icing on the cupcakes.

"Never has been," I supplied with a shrug. "When dad told me she had been dating a boy, I thought he'd been joking. Then he calls me a few months later to tell me they broke up, and I needed to come down and help fix her. I didn't realize how serious it was until I got to the house." I sighed, rolling my shoulders back and wincing when they popped.

Kim furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Than why come down?" She asks, not understanding the situation.

With a sigh, I turned to look at her. "I told her the only reason I'd let her come down is if she talks to Jacob about not being into him like he wants her to. Though I have a feeling that won't happen." I scowled at that, mad at my sister for using him for her own gain. I get it, she was sad, and Jacob was helping her.

However, Jacob also deserved to be happy, and it wasn't going to be with her.

"Jacob will learn the hard way that she doesn't like him like he loves her. It's going to be hard, and we'll have to be there for him." Emily nods her head with a sigh. "It's hard to watch him pinning after a girl who clearly has no feelings for him."

"I overheard the boys talking about it one night. They've been trying to coax Jacob into forgetting about her, but he adamantly denies them. Thinks because they've been childhood friends he has the right to like her or something," Kim shrugs, and I pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"Which means he probably thinks she likes him too..." I trailed off with a groan. I was going to have to do some damage control, and I was not looking forward to that.

Another hour goes by, and Bella is still out of the house. Part of me was worried, but the other part knew she was a big girl. If she wanted to stay out of the house and take time for herself she was more than happy to. I wasn't going to take away her freedom of doing that.

After we finished with the cake, the phone rings. We all look at each other as Emily walks over to answer it. "Hello?" She listens a few moments, getting ghostly white as she gasps. "Oh no! Is he okay? Yes... yes, of course. I have Kim and Elaine with me, we'll be there in no time at all. Thank you." She hangs the phone up, whirling around to face us who were giving her worried looks. "It was Harry. He had a heart attack and they're not sure if he's going to make it." She explains quickly and my face lifts into one of shock.

"I'll drive. Which hospital?" I asked as we all made our way out of the house. Emily turned the oven off, following Kim and I as we grabbed our jackets.

"Forks," she replies, "they're hoping the more advanced doctors can save him." Nodding my head, I unlocked my car. Grabbing a sticky note from the glove department, I wrote a quick note to Bella telling her where we went. We didn't have time to wait on her to come back, and I stuck the note onto the door. Emily and Kim were already settled in the car as I walked back, getting into the drivers seat as we drove off to the hospital.

Not knowing what I was going to be greeted to by the time we got back.

AN: Okay, so one or two more chapters until New Moon is done! I'm going to write Eclipse AND Breaking Dawn in this same book, to keep things easier to read (and easier for me to update w/o having to make a new cover).

Thank you all for reading! I wasn't expecting all the love when I started posting this book, as it was a for fun project to work on. I am very grateful to have all of you wonderful readers!