tongue twister • paul lahote

iv

S H E  T O O K  H I S breath away. It was like someone punched him in the stomach when he looked at her. It was so blatant what she was to him, and it made him sick. She didn't even know who he was, or what he was, for that matter. She looked so small next to Embry. So fragile, and so beautiful. Her pale pink lips stood so prominent against her pale skin, and her brown, almost blonde hair blew about in the wind.

"Paul," his head snapped towards Jared as he spoke. "You look like a creep, stop staring at her." He grinned and let out a giggle. "Go say hi." He edged on the shirtless boy, giddily. They never thought Paul would imprint. It had been months, and nothing. Not even a vague sense of her coming. Sam always said he felt Emily coming to him before he imprinted, and nobody believed him until Jared felt the same way with Kim.

"I can't just go talk to her, she has no idea who I am." Paul swore under his breath, and his pack mate rolled his eyes.

"Sam and I had no problem. Don't be scared, she's a really nice girl." Paul's stomach warmed at his words. From what he saw of her, he agreed with that statement wholly.

Paul watched her over the dancing flames in adoration. He took everything into account. Her laugh, her smile, her eyes, and just about everything else drove him crazy. He had never been faced with these kinds of feelings before, and he didn't know what to do about them. He wasn't really prepared to meet his soulmate on the beach at some random get together Sam had.

"He's staring at you," Embry said across the fire to his best friend. "I think Paul likes you." Santana looked up at the speaker and furrowed her dark eyebrows.

"No he doesn't, don't be ridiculous. He probably just doesn't know who I am." She snapped, looking over the fire through stray hair that had fallen in front of her face. His eyes were burning into her, and she shifted on the log, not knowing how to react. She just stared back, holding back a smile. She broke the gaze, and looked over to Jacob, who was in conversation with Quil. Her heart broke at the sight of him.

It seemed like an eternity had passed since the two last spoke. It was almost awkward now, and it was weird for her. Things always came easy for her and Jake. His eyes left Quil, and turned to her. He took a visible breath and cut his friend off, asking her if she'd come for a walk down the beach with him. She hesitated before Embry hit her leg gently, silently telling her to go. She nodded, and the two stood. Santana balanced herself and stepped through a crowd of people to reach her long time best friend.

They walked away from the group of boys and girls in silence. Neither knew what to say, and they didn't want to be the first to speak. After minutes passed, Santana finally got fed up. "Why?" She pressed.

"Why what?" Jake played the oblivious card and it nearly made her sick.

"You know exactly what. Why did you ditch me for Bella Swan? And then proceed to ignore me even after you apparently stopped hanging around her? O-or why not just explain to me that you didn't want to be friends anymore? I waited and waited for some kind of answer and I never got it. Instead, you abandoned me and dumped me with Embry. Did I not deserve it, or what? Please tell me, Jacob, because I've spent hours wondering exactly what happened between us, and it's killing me." She finally got everything she was waiting to say off her chest, and it almost pained him to watch her in such a state.

"I didn't mean to abandon you, I swear. Tana I love you. You're like my sister, and I know what I did was unfair, but Bella needed a friend." He tried to justify himself, poorly and her heart ached at his words.

"I needed a friend, too. I needed my friend." She emphasized the fact that he had been her friend first. Her objective wasn't to make him feel guilty, but if that's what it took to get a solid explanation then so be it.

"You had Embry," he said, painfully. She stopped walking, betrayal harnessing her heart and head.

"Since when were you and Em the same person?" She hissed. "Embry wasn't who I needed. Just because you fell in love with a girl you barely even know doesn't mean that somebody else can pick up the mess you left." She said, her voice wavering. She turned to walk back towards the group, done with the conversation. He obviously didn't regret what had happened.

"Don't talk about her like that. I didn't want to drop you like I did. I regret it, with everything I have. I'll scream it from a thousand rooftops. I'm sorry, Tana. But I'm not sorry I helped Bella. I care about her, and I wasn't going to turn her away." He said, a tone of finality evident in his voice. She laughed dryly, knowing she wasn't done after that.

"She used you to forget about her precious Cullen's. That's it, Jacob. She doesn't love you. You surrendered yourself entirely to someone who wouldn't even cross a puddle for you. That's sick, and I feel sorry for you. You're not the Jacob Black I became best friends with, and I'm not going to win you back as a friend to watch you endlessly pine after someone who doesn't give a shit. Besides, I shouldn't have to win over someone who was supposed to be my best friend, anyway." She ended, stoically. Her feet continued to carry her back to the fire. She was so close, and she willed herself not to turn back to him.

She had no idea he was following her until he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, a little rougher than intended. She stumbled and winced at his grip as he spoke. "She loves me. I know it. You have no idea what you're saying. Just because you got jealous doesn't mean you get to take out everything you're feeling on other people."

"Jacob, let go of me." Santana ignored his words, and was worrying more on the ever tightening hold he had on her small wrist. A crushing pain fell over her arm when he didn't heed her warning.

"I wanted to make amends, but if this is how you want to act,-"

"Let. Go." She said, cutting him off firmly. She tried pulling her arm away, but it didn't work.

"Get off her, Black." An unfamiliar, angry voice spoke from behind her. Jake looked past her and clenched his jaw at the sight of the other boy. He looked back at Santana and finally released his grip.

"You're wrong. And I'll prove it if I have to." He pointed at her. "I thought I knew you better than that."

"Get out of here and calm yourself down." The same voice spoke from before. Jacob let out a huff of anger before turning and walking away. Santana watched as her best friend turned his back on her once again, and swallowed hard. "Are you alright?" She turned her head to look around as she felt someone's hand on her lower back. A feeling of warmth spread through her as she caught sight of Paul standing behind her.

She nodded, mumbling an apology before he assured her it was okay. Paul led her back to the fire, but not before checking her arm to see if she was really okay. He walked behind her, making sure she got back to the group fine, even though the boy knew she was alright and that she most likely could have handled herself. She made a move to sit back beside Embry and Quil, but he stopped her. Gently placing a hand on her arm, he asked if she wanted to sit with him. How could she refuse? His eyes sparkled with sincerity and she felt safe with him. He brought her back to sit with him, and they got to know each other for the rest of the night, uninterrupted.