tongue twister • paul lahote

vi

S L E E P C A M E E A S I L Y to the run down teens. Santana had passed out easily atop of Embry in some seemingly impossible position on his single bed. The morning came too soon, and neither had the will to want to get up. Santana tried so desperately to get sleep to return to her, but to no avail. Embry was just too boney, and his bed was too small to lull her back into a slumber. Instead, she rolled off him, causing him to stretch and groan out in frustration.

"Morning, sunshine." Santana muttered as Embry finally opened his eyes. He squinted at her in the sunlight flooding through his window, and laughed at her appearance. Her hair was knotted and messy, and her eye makeup was discarded over her face messily from her nights rest. "What?" She snapped, irritably. She went to bed too late to be putting up with him laughing at her right now.

"You look silly." He stated, and she couldn't help but break out into a smile at his charming stupidity. He threw the thin comforter off of him, and swung his bare legs over the side of the bed. He stood proudly, clad in only his boxers and Santana giggled.

"Put some clothes on, please. You don't have to give the entire reservation a show." She stated, and he gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Ha, ha. You're so funny, Tana." He joked but strode to his dresser in compliance anyway. "I was thinking we could go to Em and Sam's for breakfast. I know they'd love to see you again." He said, and Santana's cheeks turned red. "And yeah, Paul will be there too." He cut her off as she opened her mouth to speak. She stared, bewildered at his comment.

"I was not going to ask that!" She explained, shrilly. He raised an eyebrow in accusation, and after a moment of tension, she conceded. "Okay, fine. Maybe I was, but not for the reason you're thinking." She spat, frustrated. The twos squabbles were endearing, showing a true friendship, but still annoying to her.

"Here," he tossed one of his shirts at her. "Change. Shower, if you want. You kinda smell like salt and smoke." He told her honestly, and she laughed.

"I began to forget that you owned shirts." He rolled his eyes at her comment. "I'll be back." She stepped out of his bedroom, searching for the bathroom. Embry peeked his head out of his door and snickered.

"First door on your left. Also, I could help you out showering if-"

"Thank you, Embry!" She cut him off, and closed the bathroom door firmly. She clicked the lock, and she heard him laugh from his bedroom. What a tool, she thought to herself as she rid herself from yesterday's clothing, and started the shower.

She climbed in, the water warm and soothing on her skin. She sighed, letting her head loll under the stream of water and closed her eyes. Her shoulders relaxed, and everything from the night before washed away. She cleaned herself up, and shut off the shower head. She stepped out, and searched for a towel in the closet. After she was dry, Santana squeezed back into yesterday's jeans, and slipped on her best friends shirt. Tying her hair up in the towel, she opened the bathroom door and came face to face with her waiting friend.

"Took you long enough." He rolled his eyes.

"Shove off," He laughed at her irritableness and she made her way to his bedroom again. Relaxing on his bed, her body almost drifted back off to sleep, but Embry stormed in the room, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Get up, lets go. The food will be gone if we don't get there in time." He announced and she narrowed her gaze at him.

"I'm sure they'd save some,"

"You obviously don't know the boys, then." He grinned and grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

*

Paul felt an indescribable anger wash over him when Santana showed up at Emily's in his clothes. She was his imprint. His soulmate. She should be wearing his clothes, not his. Sam noticed, and gave him a look that tried to tell him it was okay, but every time he looked at her it killed him. Knowing they slept in the same bed last night killed him. And he couldn't even forget about it, because Embry wouldn't stop thinking about it. It was at the point where everyone thought he was doing it to make Paul mad.

He was so worked up he was shaking, but everything seemed to altar when she came and sat next to him. Just her presence calmed him. Her whole aura, or her being, whatever it may, made him so beside his anger that he couldn't even focus on it. "Hi." She said shortly, a smile crossing her lips. His eyes danced with love at her, and he couldn't help but grin back.

"Hi." He replied just as shortly.

"Whatcha doing over here by yourself?" She asked. He never really noticed he had sort of secluded himself to the living room couch while everyone was laughing and talking in the kitchen. He gave her an honest shrug which made her bite back another smile, making it so seemingly obvious she felt some way about the boy before her. "I just wanted to say I had a lot of fun last night, and I wanted to say thank you." She said, humbly, and his stomach fluttered.

"You don't have to thank me for anything." He brushed her still semi-damp hair from her eyes. "It was my pleasure." His hands were almost vibrating at the close contact he had with her, and he cursed himself for his emotions being so obvious. His heart rate was accelerated and his palms were almost sweaty when he was around her. He felt like a schoolgirl with a huge crush, but it was so much more than that to him. "And I'd love to do it again sometime." He held down his stutter, and managed the words confidently. She but her lip and looked at her hands, her reddening face giving her away.

"I mean, I definitely wouldn't say no to that." This caused him to laugh. Being content around her was so simple, and his whole body ached. Is this really what he'd been missing out on for so long? She was like a drug to him. Everything she did left him craving more. He just hated to admit it.

"Paul, I just have to say something first." His breath caught in his throat at her words, and he dreaded her next words. That didn't sound too good. "I just... I adore you, okay? From the short time I've known you, I've come to care for you a lot. It's just that, well, I don't want to give you the wrong idea. I'm not ready to get close to someone yet. After Jacob-"

"Tana, you don't have to worry." He smiled softly at her worried expression. "I'm fine with that." A weight felt like it fell off her shoulders, and she relaxed. "I'll be anything you want me to be, whenever you want me to be it. As long as I get to be around you, it doesn't matter." Her heart warmed, and she was about to reply when Sam walked in the room.

"Paul, we have to go." He said, sternly. Paul gave his imprint an apologetic look, but she waved him off. She assured him she would be there waiting for him to get back. With a nod, Paul followed Sam out of the room, leaving Santana's head spinning.