"I take back what I said the first time we met. I never could have been more wrong."
"Oh, and what would that be?"
"Every thing about you - every thing you do, or say, or even when you scrunch your nose when you don't really like something - just ma...
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"SHIT IT'S BRIGHT IN HERE," I grunt, struggling to open my eyes. Although, when I finally do, I wish that I could close them and go back to sleep. Paul sits on the chair to my right, and my father stands directly behind the chair. Both men share the exact same disapproving stare. "Hello," I note, clearing my throat awkwardly.
"Josephine!" A gruff voice comments. "You sure took your damn sweet time, didn't you?" Art stumbles through the door, holding a disposable cup in his hand.
"Welcome to the party, Art," I grumble, running a hand through my hand.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" My dad finally asks. "Going into the woods when all those bears are out there!" I don't bother meeting his eyes as I run through my hair.
"You know why, Dad," I retort, finally looking up at him challengingly.
"Yeah well you just better be grateful Paul was there," he retorts. He looks between the two of us, before letting out a small sigh. "We'll talk about this later, Josie." With that, my father lets out a heavy sigh and stands up. He brushes off the thighs of his pants and slowly saunters out the door.
"What the hell were you thinking, Swan?" Paul hisses.
"I was thinking he was about to shift in the house," I deadpan. "Art was in there and there's no way that I was gonna let Jake fuck up and put Art in the line of fire."
"You should've called as soon as you knew," Paul grunts, running a hand through his cropped hair.
"I did. As soon as I knew what was happening, Art called and I brought Jake outside."
"You know that's not what I meant," Paul mumbles.
"Lahote," I note, my voice as quiet and soft as his. "Whether you like it or not, this is part of my life too. I need you to let me help you; I need you to let me protect people when you're not around."
"Swan, I'm supposed to be protecting you. You're my fucking imprint."
"Yeah, well I'm not a normal one, now am I?" He chuckles softly.
"No," he muses with a sly smirk. "No, you're most definitely not." We fall into a few moments of silence, Paul running one of his rough fingers along my knuckles. Neither of us makes too much eye contact, both lost in our drowning thoughts.
"I'm shocked you haven't broken something yet," I tease. "I figured you would have flipped a table or two by now." Paul scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, making my soft smile turn into a humored grin. "Oh, you totally did."
"Yeah," he blushes. "Yeah, I totally did." We fall into a happy moment of laughter, in for that small sliver of time, we weren't in the hospital. I didn't have large gashes down my legs that would scar, and Paul hadn't had to watch as I nearly bled out.
"Jo!" A voice exclaims, busting through the door with a worried expression. Casey and Rose rush in, crushing me in hugs before I can even begin to greet them.
"These your friends?" Paul taunts.
"Yeah," I giggle breathlessly. "Hi, you two."
"HI?! You get attacked by a fucking bear, and all you can say is hi?" Casey exclaims exasperatedly.
"Uh... I'm okay?" I respond, my statement sounding more like a question. Paul snorts beside me. I can't help rolling my eyes and giving him a teasing slap.
"Oh," Rose notes mutedly, looking over to Paul for the first time. "Who are you?"
"This is Paul-"
"Hey boyfriend," he cuts me off. I just look at him, shocked and afraid that I seemed to be falling in love so quickly.
"Yeah," I blush.
"Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Paul," Rose teases. "But you know, I would rather have gotten this introduction in a different place."
"Jesus, Rose," I groan, running a free hand through my hair. "You'll be the death of me."
"And don't you forget it," Rose winks.
<>
A day and a half later, I was being discharged from the hospital. The marks were healing up quickly, though I knew with one look I would bare the gnarly scar forever. Sue Clearwater took out the stitches without a moment to waste, not wanting to add additional scars to my already mangled leg.
I was bungled up in one of Paul's sweatshirts that he never wore anymore, along with one of his thick flannels. Slipping into my car, I pulled up to Sam and Emily's quaint home. I could already hear the cheering that came from the hyperactive children inside, along with the sweet smell of Emily's cooking.
As soon as my car door clicked shut, four heads popped around the front door's frame, like in an old sit-com. "You know, it's rude to stare," I tease, hobbling over to the porch. Before I can try to step up with my slight limp, my feet are swept out from underneath me and I'm pressed up against a familiar hard chest.
"Hey there Swan," Paul winks.
"I can walk, you know."
"But you're just so damn cute. It's impossible not to help." Embry mocked vomiting, so as soon as Paul and I stepped past, I gave him a light shove.
"Jo! It's so good to see you," Emily grins, bringing me into a vice-like hug as Paul sets me down near the island.
"You too," I answer kindly. "Now, what can I do to help?"
"You can sit down and play fetch with the boys," she jokes. "They were like a kid in a candy store when you called and said you were on your way."
"Ask and you shall receive." We share a small laugh before Jared's happy voice calls out excitedly.
"Jo! Jo! Come here!"
"Jesus, you boys really are a group of six-year-olds," I grumble.
"You're telling me," A new voice laughs. I look up in shock to see another woman. She had the trademark russet-colored skin of the families who lived on the Reservation, and she had the most lovely smile. "I'm Kim Conweller."
"Josephine Swan," I reciprocate, allowing her to bring me into yet another warm hug; I'd been getting way too many of those recently. I turn to Jared and raise my eyebrow, the smirk on my lips growing as he nods excitedly. Oh, Paul better be having a field day with this one like he said he would. "It's so nice to have another girl around here."
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Hiya :) Currently writing this in my biostat class!
