Immediate And Forever (A Paul Lahote Fanfiction)

Chapter Four

[March 6, 2005]

    Charlie sat in the living room, watching some random show while I stood in the kitchen working on random snack foods for us later. Billy and Jacob would be coming over to watch the first baseball game of the season. I heard a loud bang from outside where Bella was, working on her truck. I walk over to the front windows, peeking out into the driveway where I see Bella and Edward talking. Edward leans down, popping the dent out of the back of Bella's truck from when Tyler crashed into her. I shake my head as I return to the counter; there's no way I just saw that.

    A few days later, I was in my room working on my Spanish project when I heard voices downstairs. I put my ear next to my door, that's cracked open and listen to them talk about Edward taking Bella to play baseball with his family. Rolling my eyes at the idea, I return to working on my project. A few seconds later, the front door closes and I hear Edward and Bella drive away. I work on my project a little longer before calling it a night and retreating to my bed where I begin reading the new John Green book that had just come out. I was able to read through four chapters before my eyes grew heavy, so I marked my spot before setting it aside and drifting to sleep.

    Loud slams and shouting woke me from my slumber. I sat up, rubbing my eyes before getting out of bed. I open my door to Charlie pacing outside of Bella's bedroom door. "What's going on?"

"She wants to go back to Phoenix tonight," Charlie tells me, turning to look at me and I shake the sleep and confusion from my head as Bella opens her door and marches into the bathroom.

"Bella, it's too late to be driving that far," I try to explain, but she waves at me dismissively.

"It'll be fine," is her response before shoving past me and locking herself back inside her room.

"Come on, be reasonable," I call to her, only to be met with silence. Charlie looks at me and all I could do was raise my arms in a 'I don't know either' kind of way. Then, Bella throws open her door and rushes down the stairs. Charlie's quick to follow her, but I only walk halfway down the stairs, stopping in my tracks halfway down.

"Please, Bells, I just got you back," Charlie pleads, and my heart breaks for him.

"And if I don't get out now, I'll be stuck here like mom," she snaps, swinging the door open and slamming it behind her. I stood on the stairs in shock, my mouth half hung open. Charlie looked absolutely defeated. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Uncle C?" I ask, causing him to look at me with watery eyes. I walked down a few more steps as he sits down, leaning into me and resting his chin on my forearm, his head against my bicep. I wrapped my left arm around his shoulder and held him as we both cried. Him for losing Bella, and me for how he was being treated; he didn't deserve that. We stayed holding each other for a while before he clears his throat, pulling away from me.

"I need to call Renee," he mumbles, disappearing into the kitchen. I pulled my knees to my chest as I sat on the stairs, the low tones of Charlie's voice breaking through the silence every so often. A few moments later, Charlie reappeared and said that Renee was getting the first flight to Phoenix and would call when she knew more. I nodded before we both headed to our rooms for the remainder of the night.

~

    It was now Tuesday, and Charlie had been in Phoenix since yesterday after dropping me off at Billy's. I had just finished some English homework and decided now would be a good time to go explore the woods. I set off, excited since I hadn't explored the woods outside of Billy's in a few years. I'd walked a ways into the woods, stepping over roots and fallen tree branches, and trying to keep my balance. I look up, checking out my surroundings and when I take another step forward, a rock rolls under my foot, causing me to twist my ankle and fall to the ground. Pain radiated through my ankle and down into my foot as I let out a frustrated groan. I wait a second before standing and testing my foot by placing a small amount of my weight on it. I wince, another bout of pain shooting through my foot. There's no way I'm walking out of here on two feet. Clenching my jaw, I find the nearest stick, and use it as a cane and I try and find my way out of the woods. I was only able to take a few steps when I heard movement off behind me. My heart rate picked up and I began to panic.

"Kathy?" Sam's familiar voice asks, and I turn around to see him. Is he always in the woods?

"That would be me," I joke, completely humiliated by my situation.

"Are you okay?" another voice asks, and I look to Sam's left to see another boy about my age standing there. Time seemed to freeze as I locked eyes with him, and I blushed heavily under his gaze.

"I uh, I twisted my ankle and can't put any weight on it," I reply, looking down at the forest floor. They talk to each other for a moment before turning and walking towards me.

"My name's Paul," the boy my age says as they reach me, and I smile up at him.

"Nice to meet you Paul, I'm Katherine," I grin, hoping my face isn't too red from blushing.

"Mind if I carry you?" He asks, and my heart stops for a split second.

"As long as you don't drop me,"

"I promise to be careful, Kit Kat," is his response, before scooping me up into his arms.