Blame It On Me [Paul Lahote x OC]

Chapter 10: Reflections.

Your mom being your mom kept you at an important dinner with a neighbour and police officer named Charlie longer than you wanted to be, so you're running late to the La Push bonfire. 

Charlie's okay though. He's a little quiet and doesn't understand your quirky humour, but Susan seems to like him. Dinner was fine and you even enjoyed the food you were served, but the two adults were mostly talking about Charlie's police work and Susan's interior design work on the movie theater in Port Angeles. When the waiter was bringing the food and mostly everything was quiet, you asked him about the La Push boys. He didn't have much to say, he doesn't know them that well. He only knows Jacob and his daughter Bella are quite close.

During your walk in the forest with Paul he told you a few things that struck you odd and you don't feel like you're any closer to the truth than you were before. 

»Seth and you are pretty close.« Paul breaks the silence apart.
»Well, I've known him since he's been a baby. I was with Leah in the hospital when Sue went into labour. I still remember how he made her scream that day.« You chuckle and kick a pebble, »we were asking Harry if Sue was dying.«
Paul laughs and shakes his head at the thought of your 5 year old being silly in the hospital.

»And after that, I spent most of my time here, watching over Seth like he was my own.«
The two of you come upon a pond in a clearing and you sit down at the edge, Paul does the same.
»I remember you from before, you know.«
»Oh? I thought you were too busy flirting with girls to notice little ole me.«
»I did do a lot of that, it was fun.«
»What was? Seeing how many you could get into the sack on the first day?«
»Not my proudest moment.«

You look at him with raised eyebrows and he laughs after a few moments of trying to keep a straight face, »okay, I admit. Was pretty proud. Girls are gullible.«
»Oh, psh. That's only cause they wanna be swooned by a handsome, muscle type knight with no shirt.«
»Oh really?« His face dons a cheeky grin.

Nudging his shoulder with yours, you smile, staring down at the flat surface, »I wish I hadn't stopped coming over. I missed a lot in the past... 6 years? Wow.«
»Why did you stop?«
You shrug, »Leah stopped responding, so did Seth. I gave up. And I had loads to do in school. Especially avoiding death.«
»What?« He looks at you as if he didn't hear you correctly. But all he sees is a sad smile on your perfect face.

»My friends – well, my ex was one of the three people I was with, and I were searching for items that would save a lot of lives. And bad people were after us. People who wanted to kill us. But we lost so many friends along the way.«
»Why didn't I hear anything on the news?«
Hugging your legs and leaning on your knees, you smile in his direction, »you wouldn't have. It was quite the sensation, yes. But not in the Muggle world.« You whisper the last sentence, but being so close to him, he heard you.
»Muggle?« You can see Paul's trying to wrap his mind around what you're saying, but he's not quite sure where to begin.

Flicking his nose, you snap him out of confusion, »don't worry, it's over now. Bad people are gone. Life's like it should be.«
»Will I ever get the full story from you?«
You wink and stand up, pushing him into the pond and laughing. When he resurfaces, you grin and crouch to his level, »if you try hard enough, I might tell you my secrets.«
He grabs you suddenly and pulls you in, making you scream bloody murder.

»What's your secret, Paul?«
»My secret?« He moves some of the wet locks away from your eyes. Good thing the water is warm and so is the atmosphere.
»What makes you tick? I know the legends, I've done my research. I just can't put it together entirely. There's something odd about you, about all of you.«
»Come to the bonfire tonight. I promise to tell you everything.«
»Promise?« He nods and you hold out your pinky, »pinky swear?«

He laughs and entwines his pinky with yours, electricity from his touch just warming you up.