Cliff Diver || Paul Lahote•Jacob Black/Twilight Fanfiction

Chapter 48

Back home, Renata went straight into the shower, she didnt find anyone, which meant they had gone home ornto sleep. She washed with boiling water until her skin was red. She didn't want the guys freaking out over her smelling like Jacob all over. After the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked to her room. To her surprise (not really), she found Paul sleeping on her bed. Renata rolled her eyes and grabbed her pyjamas that were lying on the floor. She walked out of her room and into the bathroom again.

Paul heard when Renata entered the house, she could smell her, but part of her scent was covered by Jacob's, which made him growl in his sleep. He heard the shower, and Jacob's smell slowly disappeared. Paul smelled when Renata entered her room, he knew he had to move and go to the couch, but before he got up, Renata left the room again. He wondered whether she had gone to sleep in the couch, but he hoped she didn't. He opened his eyes and started to get up when he heard the hair dryer turn on. Paul laid back again and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. After a couple minutes, Renata returned to her room, already wearing her pyjamas and with her hair dry.

"Scoot over, Paul" Renata pushed him lightly. Paul started to sit up, "you don't have to go, just let me lay down"

Paul furrowed his brows in confusion but moved over to his side and towards the end of the bed. Renata got under the covers and rested her head on his arm, as if it was a pillow.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked in a sleepy voice.

"Yeah, I'm okay," there was some silence, but then she spoke again, "Paul?"

"Huh?"

"Do you think I've gained weight?" Renata asked in a small voice.

"Not that I've noticed. Why do you ask?" He yawned after answering.

"Just wondering" Renata closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Paul's scent filled her nose. He smelled like rain and bark wood, a scent that was uniquely his, Renata noted.

"But for what it's worth, I think you look great," Paul said, putting his other arm over her, acting as some kind of human blanket.

"Thank you" Renata said softly.

In matter of minutes, Renata's breath became deeper and slower. She had fallen asleep. Paul shifted a bit to get comfortable but not enough as to wake her up. Her hair smelled like lavender and wood, a scent that was uniquely hers, Paul noted. Some minutes later, Paul was snoring softly.

The next morning, Renata woke up alone in her bed. She wondered if she had accidentally kicked Paul off the bed, after all, it was a single twin bed and had not enough room for two people, especially not if one was as big as Paul.

Renata stood up and quickly changed into her clothes for the day. Just a pair of black yoga pants and a light blue hoodie. She put on a pair of Nike sneakers and grabbed her phone and backpack before opening her door. She bumped into something right as she tried to take a step out of the room. Renata quickly noticed it was Paul's bare chest, so she found something remotely interesting about the hem of her hoodie to avoid looking at him.

"Sorry, I took a shower and left my clean shirt in my bag, it's inside" Paul commented, looking down at the top of her head. He noticed she was trying not to look at him, "Hey, it's not like you've never seen me shirtless before" he laughed.

"Yeah, uh, I guess. I gotta go, I told Andrea, Neza and Nina I'd meet them before school" Renata said and quickly walked around him.

Renata felt really dumb. Of course she had seen him shirtless before, why would she feel nervous about it? Paul looked at Renata as she quickly said hi to Emily and took a green apple from the fridge, before walking out. It was strange for her not to wait until breakfast, but she said she was meeting her friends, so she'd probably have breakfast with them, Paul thought.

He smiled at her walking form and walked inside her room to grab his shirt. He also took the Polaroid Emily had taken earlier when she entered the room. It showed them both sleeping peacefully, Renata was snuggled into his chest, and he was holding her, making a cocoon for her with his body. The flash of the camera had waken Paul up, and he had asked Emily if he could keep the photo. Paul smiled at the picture and put it inside his wallet. He was well aware that Renata was not his, but he wanted to keep that moment close to him. She only fell asleep next to people she trusted, so the fact that she had chosen to sleep next to him meant a lot.

The following weeks went by normally, Renata would spend her free time with Jacob or with Nina and Andrea, since she spent most of the day, every day with the pack. She would often tell Emily that she was having breakfast with her friends or with Jacob, and sometimes dinner too. Jared and Paul noted that Renata had started to spend some extra time training, but it didn't really worry them, she said it was necessary to have agility in body and mind to be a great warrior so she wanted to keep her body as sharp as her mind was.

Sam and Emily had added an air mattress on the floor of Renata's room while so Paul could sleep any time he didn't want to go home. They said it was a temporary solution, they were planning on making the house bigger, with more rooms and space for everyone, but they couldn't do it just yet. Renata didn't mind, Paul usually came to crash late at night and he would get up early to run, so he never woke her up.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" Renata asked Jacob as she dropped him off at his house on Friday the 13th of February. She had to go train shortly so she couldn't stay to dinner with him and Billy.

"I can't," Jacob said shortly as he got out of the truck.

"What do you mean you can't?" Renata asked as she followed him back into his house.

"I have plans. I know other people beside you, you realise that, right?" Jacob dismissed her question after he read Billy's note, saying he'd be back by dinner.

"Of course I know, I'm not dense," Renata said, with a hint of annoyance. Jacob chuckled and looked at her up and down, "but tomorrow is Valentine's day so I assumed-"

"What does it matter? It's just another day"

"Yeah, but couples usually celebrate together, you know? I thought maybe we could go watch a movie or-" Renata started but was cut short by Jacob.

"Just shut up, okay? I have plans, we can watch a stupid movie some other time if that's what you want" he yelled at her. Renata bit the inside of her cheek and took a shaky breath. She felt herself about to cry.

"You've cancelled on me three times this week, Jacob." Renata mentioned, looking at him in the eyes.

"What? Are you policing me now?" He answered in anger. He took a couple of big steps towards Renata, making her step back until she was pressed between his chest and the wall. He looked down at her, "is that what you're doing? Are you policing the time I can hang out with other people?" Renata was not one to feel threatened by other people, but the heat and the aura that emanated from his body made her feel terrified.

"No, I'm not policing you. I just wanted to spend some time with you!" Renata yelled back, she didn't know where she got the courage to do it. In a matter of seconds, Jacob's lips were on hers.

Renata stood up from Jacob's bed and headed to the bathroom, where she got herself clean and got dressed. Jacob was playing a videogame by the time she came out of the bathroom.

"I'm gonna go now" Renata told him.

"Okay, I'll text you later" Jacob answered, without looking away from the screen, "by the way, I noticed you dropped some weight. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it" Jacob told her. Renata pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

Renata left the house and drove to Emily's place. She had gotten there late for lunch but on time for training. Renata quickly went to her room to change for training and went to catch up with the others in the forest.

"Glad you could join us" Sam said as Renata approached.

"I'm sorry. I lost tack of time" Remata excused herself.

"Emily was disappointed you didn't join us for lunch" Sam said sternly.

"I'll apologise to Emily later. My phone died, I couldn't tell you Billy insisted I stayed for lunch" she lied.

"Okay, let's just focus on training now. We're gonna do some strength training through sparring"