Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

eight

"Of course you can, here" Paul responded handing me a large grey sweatshirt. I quickly put it on and hugged it around my body, basking in the warmth it brought, "Serena, theses idiots are Jared, Ja-"

"You're the idiot, Paul, Serena and I are best buds, right Serena?" Jared said cutting Paul off, walking up to me and putting an arm around my shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, sure" I stuttered, not used to attention

"What? Since when?" Paul asked, crossing his arms

"Since she snuck out and came to the beach the other day. Did your parents ever find out about that?" Jared replied, pulling me in closer to his body.

I leaned into him, because he was oddly warm and I was freezing, "uh, n-no, s-she didn't find out"

"Hey, Kim's been trying to get a hold since yesterday, is your phone dead?" Jared asked, letting me snuggle into his side. I was shivering, no doubt already sick from the freezing water being dumped on me.

"I don't have it with me, I left it there while I was rushing out" I responded, watching Paul as he seemingly got angry

Jared released me from his grasp and I started shivering like a madman. "What do you mean rushing out? What happened?" Jake asked, silencing his laugh

"I uh, I don't really want to talk about it, not until we know for sure, ok?" I asked, uncomfortable because of the question

"You're shivering, Serena, I'm going to go make you some tea, all we have is green tea, is that ok?" Paul gushed, frantically moving to grab me a blanket

"I'm actually allergic to it, like deathly allergic, that and kiwis" I replied, accepting the blanket and wrapping it tightly around my body

"Oh, um, I can get you" he paused, thinking for a second, "hot water?"

Jared, Jake, and Quil all bursted into laughter, "seriously man? Hot water? That's all you've got? No hot chocolate? Or coffee even? You're pathetic!" Quil exclaimed, hunching over in laughter

"Cut it out guys!" Paul snapped before looking over to me, "why don't you lay in bed to warm up some, and I'll have the guys go get you some hot chocolate or something"

"Ok, but it can't have dairy, I'm lactose intolerant and I don't have my pills with me" I replied, walking over to Paul's twin size bed that was way too small for his size

"Dang girl, there's a lot going on with you, what else, are you diabetic?" Jake asked, laughing at his question

"No, but it runs in my family, at least what I think is my family" I said, pulling the old quilt up to my chin after laying down.

"Alright, let's go, we'll be back in an hour tops, try and get some rest, ok? You had a long day yesterday and these idiots didn't help" Paul said, rushing the guys out of his room

Paul

I led the guys to my truck, Jake and Quil hopping in the bed and Jared rushing into the passenger seat. I drove us over to Emily's house, parking in the driveway behind Sams truck.

We all got out and the guys rushed inside once they smelled Emily's baking. I slowly walked inside, about what to say to Emily.

"Save some for everyone else you ravaging beasts!" I heard Emily yell, making me laugh and jog inside.

Everyone was here except for Embry, Collin, and Sam, who all had patrol. "Hey Emily, I need your help" o said, walking into her kitchen

"What's up Paul? Is it about a girl?" Seth teased, taking a huge bite of his muffin

"Uh, yeah, I need a hot chocolate, without any dairy in it, she's lactose intolerant" I said, looking at Emily.

"Who is she? May I ask? And why do you need hot chocolate? Didn't I give you tea bags 2 days ago?" Emily asked, pulling out a pot to boil water

"She's my imprint, and I need the hot chocolate  because three idiots dumped freezing lake water with ice cubes in it this morning and she's getting sick. And yeah, I still have it, but she's allergic to it, I have no clue what about it though" I replied, grabbing a muffin off the plate in the table.

"You imprinted? When? How? Is she nice? When can I meet her?" Seth asked excitedly, almost bouncing up and down in his seat

"Uh, yesterday, she came to my door asking for help, she's very nice, and Uh, I'm not sure, she's already met Jared, Jake, Quil, and apparently Kim" I responded

"Not just us, Emery's met her too" Quil added, snatching another muffin off the plate

"The hot chocolate will be done in a few minutes, but tell me about her, is she nice?" Emily asked, turning the temperature to the burner down

"Yeah Paul! Tell us!" Jared mocked Seth, who pouted because of it

I took a seat at the large table before starting to tell them about Serena. "I mean, I haven't know her long, less than 24 hours, but she's everything. I never thought that I wanted an imprint, but now that I have one it's like I'm finally complete. I just, I can't lose her, you know?" I said, thinking about Serena

"I know exactly how you feel, Paul, I feel the exact same way with Emily, and I'm sure that Jared feels the same with Kim" Sam said walking up to Emily and planting a kiss in the side of her head

"Yeah, I feel the same way man, she's perfect for you, but it's been almost an hour and you promised that you'd only be gone an hour" Jared said, taking a sip of his water

"Oh shit! Emily, is the hot chocolate ready?" I exclaimed, getting up quickly

"Yes, it's done Paul, now go to your imprint" Emily replied, handing me a thermos of hot chocolate

"Thanks Emily! And I promise I'll start patrolling again soon, I just have to make sure that my imprint is in safe hands before I do!" I called, running out to my truck.

I sped back to my house and ran inside, knocking on the door to my room before entering. I found Serena soundly asleep, sweating a little bit.

I felt her forehead and it was hot, even to me so I went and got our old thermometer to take her temperature. After taking her temperature I came to find out that she had a fever of 102.9°, she was disco, and I'm going to take care of her throughout all of it.