Dusk till Dawn | Paul Lahote ✔️

Chapter 4

"So you're moving out?" Bella asks me with a raised eyebrow look.

Scoffing, I turned to look at her, placing a hand on my left hip and cocking it out. "Jacob told you?" I assumed, rolling my eyes. "What I do with Paul is, quite frankly, none of your business. But no, I am not moving in with him yet. He said there needs to be some work done on the house before we can even think about moving in." Not that Bella needed to know that. Jacob had a big mouth, and I'd need to talk to him about over sharing with Bella, here.

Bella was quiet for a moment. "When it gets fixed?" She asked meekly and I raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was asking so many questions.

"Possibly," I concluded. "I'm finishing up college. I graduate early January, so nothing is set in stone. I'll have to find a job local. There's a lot of factors to take in. And... I'll have to talk to dad first." Which, I was sure he'd understand. He liked Paul an infinite amount more than he liked Edward, and I knew Bella wouldn't be as considerate as I am when they choose to go that route.

She never was when Edward was involved.

"Besides," I continued, "I'm not moving very far. Dad can come visit whenever he wants to, as can you. Unlike you and Edward, who I am sure is going to be moving far away, if we even know you move at all." At that accusation she flinched, but didn't deny it. Scoffing I rolled my eyes. "You really don't care about anyone but yourselves, do you?" I raised an eyebrow and she gave me an offended look.

"I care about you guys!" She insisted and I just chuckle lowly, not believing her.

"So you're just going to up and leave dad when that time comes?" I sniped, not even caring she was leaving me. I could deal with it, since I knew where she was going. I knew she was going to be living for eternity with her vampire husband. Dad, however, will think she just up and ran away again or worse... died. "I've given up trying, Bella. I've tried talking to you. I've given up my college experience for you. Though I will thank you for leading me to Paul," I huffed, standing up from where I was sitting at the table and placing my empty plate in the sink. "Until we can have an adult conversation, I am going to my room to work on homework. Leave me alone." I snapped, walking away from her.

What she did, and is doing hurt. It hurt everyone around her, and she didn't even seem to care that she was hurting those who cared about her. She wasn't even listening, or taking our words to heart - which was the part that sucked the most.

Taking my frustrations out on the homework I was doing, I breathed in a deep breath. I loved Bella, I really did, but I was finding it hard to sympathize with her. Finding it hard to even want a relationship with her, knowing what she was doing to our family.

I knew she knew. Deep down inside of her, she knew what this was doing to us. What it was doing for dad. Dad took her in, gave her a house and her old room back when he didn't have to. He could have just sent her away, considering she did stop visiting him for years on her own violation. While she did give up being with mom on her own, everything else she seemed to be doing was for her own self gain.

That was not the Bella that I knew.

Granted, we grew apart for a few years. College could do that to a relationship, and I tried to maintain my relationships while away. Hell, I called dad every day - asked for checkups. Even if it was just short conversations, I still called to make sure he was okay. I tried calling Bella, though those conversations were shorter than the ones I had with dad - or she never picked up at all. Always busy with her new vampire family, even if that wasn't what I knew they were at the time.

With a bedraggled sigh, I glanced out of my window - my eyes widening at who I saw. Scrambling to my feet, I rushed over to the window and opened it up. Riley Biers was standing right outside the window, smirking at me. Pale skin, deep red eyes, and his hands in his pockets as he watched me. "Riley?" I called out nervously, frowning.

Raising a hand in a wave, he vanished in a blink of an eye. Blinking, I stared at the spot he was at, unsure if I had just seen him or not.

Though one thing was for sure - if that had been Riley, he was no longer human.