𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐄 , 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦

𝘌𝘓𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘕

┏━━━━ . * ✧ * • ━━━━┓
╰┈➤ 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦 ▏𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯

IT HAD BEEN TWO DAYS SINCE ANNABEL SAW JACOB SHIFT AND DECIDED TO STEP BACK FROM THE GROUP.

She had used those days to catch up with her sister and her other friends but to also adjust to the new element in her life. Wolves were fairytale creatures that she read about. They weren't real.

Until they were.

With an adrenaline rush from her morning run and a bit too much coffee running in her system, Annabel took a quick shower, slipped on some casual clothes, and made her way to La Push.

She wasn't sure what she was going to say or how she would say it but she had a feeling the words would find their way to her when the time came. And when the time came, she hoped she wouldn't lose her nerve.

Bel drove silently to the small town. She would normally blast the playlist her and Emily made on her way there but she couldn't find in herself to do so.

As her car pulled into the Uley driveway, Annabel's eyebrows furrowed when she realized that the home appeared empty. The small bungalow was never empty.

The car door shut with a little more force than she meant for it to as she trekked into Sam and Emily's home. She felt almost sheepish going in without someone being there but Bel knew they wouldn't mind had they walked in on the sight.

After almost ten minutes of waiting on someone to show up had passed, the blonde grew inpatient. There was always someone there. Whether that be little Seth or brooding Sam, the home was never left unoccupied.

A sigh escaped her lips as she stood. Wasting away her day as her nerves ate at her wasn't a good way to spend it and so she started back to the car, a small frown on her lips as she opened the door.

"Annabel?"

Bel practically jumped to the moon at the sound of her name being called behind her. The teenager turned on her heels, anticipation creeping up on her once more as she saw Paul in all his shirtless glory behind her.

A smile that had the man swooning fell to her lips. "Hey, Paul."

He smiled. "What's got you here so early? You're usually still sleeping at this time."

Annabel couldn't help but widen her smile at the fact that the Lahote boy had picked up on that small detail in her few weeks of living there. "I decided to go on a run today. I haven't since I got here and since Bella was busy with wedding planning and Caroline had to work, I didn't have much else to do. It also gave me some time to think about what I wanted to do next about all this."

"What'd you decide?" He asked almost immediately.

There was a glint in his eyes that Annabel couldn't quite place at his instantaneous question. "I decided that there's nothing you guys can do about what you are. If I held a grudge against you over something you can't change, what kind of person does that make me? Especially when you've all shown me nothing but kindness."

There was his incomparable smile, again. "We appreciate that — I appreciate that," he told her and after a moment of silence between the two, he continued, "Wanna come inside? Nobody will be back for a while and if you truly have no one to hang out with if you leave, I'd rather know you're not completely bored out of your mind."

She grinned. "What makes you think I won't be bored out of my mind with you?"

"Nobody could ever be bored with me," Grinned Paul.

The laugh that was elicited from her almost had Paul on his knees. Her voice was sweet like honey; a perfect mix between soft and pitched. But her laugh? It was a gentle touch to his heart. "Oh, aren't you just a cocky thing, Mr. Labote."

"Isn't the first time I've been told that, Miss. Summers."

As he made it into the kitchen, Bel straggling behind, the blonde found herself comfortable in one of the stool. She watched the man work, his mind set on getting her a cup of the tea Emily had made earlier that morning.

She smiled at his concentration, finding it adorning how determined he was to get her something to drink when they both knew she could just do it herself with how many times she had been over.

"Emily made it this morning so it should still be warm," He told her as he handed off the blue mug.

She took it with a grateful smile, "Thank you."

A comfortable silence fell between the two until Paul couldn't take it anymore. "What made you and your sister move to Forks?"

The question took Annabel by surprise but she didn't mind it. "We've been moving our entire lives," she told him mindlessly until she sighed, "We lived in Cherokee, North Carolina until I was eleven-years-old. That's the year mine and Care's parents died. It was really nasty accident and, according to the doctors, they had no chance of survival." The blonde looked down at her hands which still held the mug that rested on the counter.

Paul frowned, "I'm so sorry, Annabel."

She smiled sadly at the boy, "Caroline and I were in and out of foster home until she had grown eighteen. I was fifteen when she became my guardian. From that point on, it's been us against the world; moving from town-to-town and state-to-state. But she says this is the place. Not sure why but I don't mind," Bel bit her lip in trepidation, "I've never had this many friends before. Because I always move, nobodies ever really wanted to know me."

Paul looked at the woman before him with pure frustration. He couldn't understand why people would be uninterested in Annabel Summers. She was nothing short of fascinating to him and the others around her.

"I want to know you, Annie." He told her with a smile.

She looked up at him, a smile ticked on her lips with furrowed brows, "Annie?"

Paul's eyes widened in slight embarrassment at the slip, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

Her smile turned into a giggle. "I like it."

. * ✧ * •

[ 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 ! ]

AHHH PERSONAL NICKNAMES!!!

also, i wanna be yours started playing while i was writing this chap and it was motivating me so much