tongue twister • paul lahote

viii

H E W A N T E D T O P H A S E. He wanted nothing more than to run away, to forget what he had discovered. He knew he couldn't. His whole life was standing in front of him, and she was dead. Well, not literally, but in a greater sense. His love for her still burned strong. Those same feelings were still there when he saw her again. Those feelings brought him pain when he thought about them. Her sweet smile, replaced with fangs. Her gorgeous eyes, replaced with those fiery red rings. He was in agony as he watched her move. She was too graceful to be his Santana. Despite these feelings, he still saw her body. It was the same one as the girl he fell in love with. Her face was the same, too. She was as beautiful as ever.

He took a step towards her, and she mimicked his actions. "Do you remember me?" Paul asked, his voice cracking. This was extraordinarily hard for him. He, more so than all the other wolves, had such a deep burning hatred for vampires. No matter if they were Cullen's, or if they were just a regular old bloodsucker, he despised them. Even so, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. She was still the love of his life.

"Sort of." She said, gently, taking another step in his direction. "I know that I love you. I just don't know how." She explained.

"I know that I love you, Tana. I always have, from the minute I met you." He said, advancing again. She was off the doorstep and on the ground now. They were only a few feet apart. He reached his hand out to her, slowly. She stepped towards it, and grabbed it. When their skin made contact, she froze. Everything came back to her. Right before her eyes, she saw the rooftops, the nights they spent together, their first kiss in front of Emily's house. It flooded back like a river, and it almost brought her to her knees.

"Paul," She said, her voice wavering. "This is how you've felt this whole time?" She felt the love now, stronger than what it was when she was human. It was intense, and painful. "I-" She paused, and brought him into a hug. It was an embrace so strong that they could feel each others heartbeat. He buried his head in her hair, and inhaled. She still smelled the same as she did the last time he saw her. It was unbelievable. The usual smell the vampires gave off sickened him. Not hers, hers was intoxicating. He fell in love with her all over again, and he didn't even care that she was an immortal now.

"This is how I've felt the whole time." He admitted while he held her to his chest. It was such a good feeling to be holding her again. He didn't realize how much he actually missed her until he saw her again. "You can see now, you can see how madly in love I've been these last few months. You feel it now, too?"

"I do. I... I can't explain it." He kissed her head. It was cold against his lips. It made him cringe at first contact. He wasn't used to it yet.

"You don't have to. It's okay." He was crying again. Hearing her say it back to him was more than enough. She turned her head up to look at him, and wrapped her arm around his neck. She pulled him down far enough that their lips were touching. She waited for him to kiss back before doing anything. He replied enthusiastically, holding her like he was going to lose her again. She couldn't believe the feelings she had for this boy. They were completely overwhelming, and she felt it in every part of her body.

Sam, by this time had left. He trudged off in the woods to give the two some space. He felt like they would be caught up with each other for a while. The rest of the Cullen's had filed back into the house. Carlisle watched from one of the windows in the living room. He was there in case of an emergency, but he wanted them to reconcile on their own terms, in their own time. The two stood in the driveway, in the early morning, basking in each other presence. They couldn't get enough.

"I've missed you so much." He said as he grabbed onto her tighter. He wasn't worried about hurting her anymore. That was an upside to the whole situation. Their strengths may have been matched now. The complexity of their supernatural minds were not unlike. They didn't have the same mechanisms, but they understood each other.

Santana let the strands of his fair float through her fingertips. He smelled... strange. The others led her to believe his scent may have been repulsive, in the nature of a dog. She didn't see that. She liked it. It comforted her, almost. The two stood there for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was just a few minutes. They couldn't seem to make themselves let go of each other. In the distance of his mind, Paul heard a commotion. By now, the others knew that Santana was alive. They knew what had become of her. They were more angry than understanding. They didn't appreciate the fact she was alive. They could only focus on the fact she was now a vampire. Paul and Sam's thoughts were just enough to calm them down before they tried to do something irrational.

Edward was listening to both of their heads. It was almost involuntary to him, he didn't even notice sometimes. He was happy that the two were able to put aside their differences. He above everyone else understood what it was like. He fell in love with a human, and as much as he hated it, he couldn't stay away from her. His world wasn't complete without her in it. He knew the other two felt very similar, if not even more so than he felt it. They were in love, and nothing could come between it. Even if Paul was meant to destroy her, he was also built to love her. The whole situation was like a tongue twister.

"I need you to tell me what I missed." She said, breathing heavily against his face.

"I need you to tell me what happened to you, Tana." He paused, tucking a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. "I need to know. I felt so helpless sitting here, not being able to do anything. I need to know that you weren't hurting." He said, cupping her face in his hands.

"None of that matters anymore, Paul. The only thing that matters is that I'm here right now. We're together again." She said. He pressed his lips to hers once more. She had no idea how right she was. Paul was whole again. She was back in his arms.

A/N

Sorry this is so short guys. I've been working a lot on one of my other stories, but I promise I haven't forgotten about this one. You guys amaze me every day by sticking with this story, no matter how slow I update it. This book was bigger than I ever imagined it would be. You guys have my whole heart and I cannot thank you enough for the confidence you've given me.