Anna Begins [Paul Lahote]

Chapter Twelve

Paul

The last week had been a rollercoaster, but the past few days in particular had consisted of varying degrees of suckage. I'd thought when Anna knew the secret, I'd get to see her more. I didn't think the very day we shared it with her we'd be pulled into dangerous vampire drama with the Cullens, thus sucking up all my time and ruining my chances of spending some quality time with my imprint.

The highlights of those days were watching Anna from afar while I guarded the school. Even though Jacob tagged along more often than not, those were the times that kept me breathing. The worst of those days were the frequent meetings with the vampires. We had to strategize. Train. Whatever the fuck. It all meant the same thing—copious amounts of time with the Cullens, especially the one with all the scars who was apparently an expert.

My days were spent eating, sleeping, watching over the school, training, and patrolling. Not in that order.

Luckily I'd talked Sam into making the bonfire happen sooner rather than later, mostly because I enlisted the help of Emily. She liked Anna and felt sympathy for my current inability to see her at a time where she could see me too.

Finally on Friday I got to go talk to her. It ended up being more of a heart to heart and I cherished the shit out of it.

Now it was Saturday, steadily getting closer to the time I'd told Anna we were going to head to La Push, and I was a mix of excited and terrified I was going to fuck it up.

"She's nice, man," Jacob said as he lounged on the sofa. "She's not going to bite your head off or anything. Calm down."

I rolled my eyes because he was so clueless it was astounding. "That's not the problem, asshole, so it'd be great if you shut up."

He laughed and Felicity looked at me with a raised brow. "He has a point, though. She might get nervous, but she'll be okay. She's not going to get mad at you for it. She's actually really understanding."

It took a great effort to not scowl. "I know. She's my imprint."

"He's about to get territorial," Jacob murmured.

"Damn right!" I yelled. "It's not like I don't know her. It's not all about whether or not she'll be mad at me. I want her to be comfortable. I don't want her to be miserable. Other than that, she can feel however the fuck she wants to feel. I'll take her however."

"Paul..." Felicity started, her expression perplexed. "Are you being sweet right now?"

Now I let my scowl free. "As my best friend, shouldn't you be on my side right now? Why are you so surprised? She's my imprint. She's funny. She's beautiful. She's shy. Obviously I'm going to be whatever she needs me to be. If she needs me to be sweet, I'm all over that shit."

Felicity smiled. "There's the Paulie we know and love."

Running a hand through my hair, I sighed. "Now isn't the time to tease, doll. Tonight is important."

"And I'm telling you it'll go fine. Stop stressing."

"Easy for you to say."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Not really. She's my friend too. If this all goes badly, she might not want to be my friend anymore. It's not like I can take her side now."

Tipping my head back, I felt my shoulders tense. "Not the same thing. Not even close."

"But—"

"He's right," Jacob interrupted. "I know you like her a lot and she's been a good friend, but an imprint is...everything. That said, I think Felicity is right too—it'll be fine. When did you say she was coming over, anyway?"