The One

Chapter Five: Paul

Miley had been taken to Sam and Emily's. Dr. Cullen was brought over. As much as I hated him, he was the only one who could tend to Miley without asking questions.

"Emily..." Miley said quietly once the doc finished cleaning her wounds. "Is this what happened to your face? Did one of the boys attack you, too?"

Don't ask her that, I wanted to say. Don't talk about it. It bothers Sam.

Emily nodded sadly. "It was my fault. I-"

"Don't say it was your fault, Emily!" I cut her off. "It's not anyone's fault. It's because of the gene. Sam didn't mean it. You didn't mean to piss him off. End of story."

"You'll have to take it easy, Miley. If Seth has the gene, it most likely means you and Leah have it too. If you ever burn up out of nowhere, isolate yourself. It won't be good for your wounds if you phase in the process of healing." Dr. Cullen told her. "I've given Sam the directions for your medication, I've told Harry that you won't be home because of a biking accident. I'll come check on you in two days."

"What does he mean, most likely?" She asked Emily. "I don't want to be like them, Em. I don't...I don't want to hurt anyone or anything."

"Miles, if I had a sister, she would've shifted by now. And I changed just three weeks before you came home. If Seth has changed already, it means you and Leah are next on the gene's wonderful list." Jared said. "Sam can attest to that."

"Sam? What he's talking about, is it true?" She asked.

Sam nodded. "About two weeks after I phased for the first time... my brother Anthony phased too. He started his own pack in Emily's old reserve."

"They have the gene there too?"

"A lot of reservations have it, Miley. It's just more common in La Push." I told her softly.

"Miley, I'm sorry." Seth appeared in the doorway. "I-I didn't mean to."

"Seth, come here." Miley motioned her brother over. He did so. "It's okay, Seth. You didn't do any lasting damage. It was your first phase. It won't happen again. I know you, Seth. You have a kind heart. We'll both be careful of what we say."

"Thank you, Miley." Seth wiped a tear away.

Miley suddenly slapped him. "That's for being an ass to Paul." She smirked slightly as Seth held the red spot on his cheek. "Go see Mom and Dad. They'll worry."

Seth nodded and left the room, still holding the red spot.

"You didn't have to do that for me, Miley." I told her.

"And you didn't have to apologize to Sam, either. You did it because you wanted to keep me happy." She replied.

"Yeah, I want to keep you happy. But, Miley, you scare the living shit out of me. You're strong enough to hurt a werewolf even though you're not one of us...yet." I chuckled and blushed. "You made me and Embry wince when you slapped us, and that was in one day. Now you slapped your own brother, who's supposed to be stronger than you now."

"It's in the blood," she mumbled. "As long as you stay out of trouble whilst at my house or Emily's you're fine, Paul."

"She's strong, Paul. Don't worry," Sam told me as Emily and Miley got into a deep conversation about some TV show about singers. "I was in your position once too, I know what it feels like."