Aeipathy • Paul Lahote

Calm

It felt like just the next day when Estrella got the message from Rosalie. They had to get prepared. She had been informed that Edward was taking Bella off to hide while the battle went on and she would be staying the night before with him. This way, Ella was free to spend the night with the Cullens. 

"Are you nervous?" Rosalie asked, sitting next to the ginger on the couch. 

"No," Estrella responded with a gentle laugh. "I know you guys rely on Alice's visions to give you certainty in things, but that's not something I do. I have certainty in this because I have certainty in all of us. I can beat any of you in a battle and all of you are smart and strong. I have no doubts that we'll win easily."

Rosalie nodded with a small grin and went to respond before Estrella's phone begun to ring. She looked down in confusion to see Paul's name pop up. "I'll leave you to it," Rosalie whispered before standing and moving away. 

"Hello?"

She heard Paul let out a sigh on the other end. "Hey, Elles," he greeted.

"Hey, are you okay? You sound stressed."

He let out a snort which made her grin. "Just miss you, is all." She smiled softly at his response and went to respond, but he spoke up again. "I was wondering if you wanted to spend a day down here with me soon? Maybe the day after tomorrow?"

Estrella had no idea why he wanted to meet, but was content to see him again. "Of course! I'll head over and we can start with breakfast?" She could almost feel the boy become relaxed at her words and it only served to worry her more. "Seriously, are you okay? You know you can talk to me about anything."

He let out a light chuckle and she could feel herself become less tense at the sound. "I'm having a bit of a rough time right now, honestly," he said with a sigh, though his voice sounded calm. "But just talking to you makes it better. We can talk about what's stressing me out when we hang out, if that's okay?"

"Absolutely. Do you want me to just talk about something random?"

He laughed again and it sent another wave of calm through her. "Yea."

Estrella then started in on rambling about her schoolwork, how her school was bombarding her with too many assignments that she couldn't keep up with even though she was miles away and could barely reach her teachers. After that, she went on to talk about how much she loved to walk through the forest and how calming it was. Paul would respond occasionally, letting her know that he was listening and wanted her to continue. 

She didn't realize they had been on the phone for hours until Rosalie walked into her vision again. "Estrella, you need to get some sleep," Rose whispered softly, not wanting Paul to hear her voice. 

"And with that, I think it's time that I let you go," she said into the phone, letting out a soft laugh. "I didn't realize I've kept you for so long."

"It's okay," Paul said in a whisper. He sounded sleepy, but content. "I could listen to you speak for days on end and never get tired of it." Estrella ignored the heat that fanned across her cheeks. 

"Unfortunately, both of us need sleep." She let out a yawn unintentionally, not being able to mask it which caused Paul to laugh. "Tomorrow is a busy day for me!"

She could almost feel Paul's energy become slightly more alert. "Oh?" he questioned, trying to sound nonchalant but she could tell that something was wrong. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Rosalie and I are going shopping!" she said instantly before cringing at the ridiculous excuse. She could just barely see Rosalie smack herself in the forehead. Neither of them cared much for shopping. "We decided to have a girl day."

Paul let out a snort. "Well, have fun with that," he chuckled. "I have a feeling it wasn't your suggestion?"

"Nah, you know how much I hate crowds and stuff like that," she responded with a light laugh. "I'd rather do it online but Rose insisted."

"I'll let you get rested up in preparation then," he said. She could almost see the smile on his face. "Night, Elles."

"Goodnight, Paul."

With that, they hung up, and she immediately smacked herself in the forehead. "Neither of us would ever go shopping," Rosalie hissed. She couldn't vocalize her actual reasoning for being upset at the lie without exposing the pack's secrets and it was starting to infuriate her. 

"I know," Estrella groaned, not picking up on Rosalie's genuine irritation. "But he doesn't know you at all, so he might just think that you wanted to do it and convinced me. It'll have to be good enough."

Paul had definitely picked up on her poor excuse, but for a different reason. 

"The blonde isn't going to the fight," he announced to the room, making heads shift towards him in confusion. "The Cullen girl."

"And they didn't tell us?" Sam questioned, his face twisting in annoyance. 

"Estrella just told me. She's taking her out of town for the day."

Jared snorted from where he sat on the couch. "Not like it'll effect much," he said, nudging Embry beside him. "We could probably handle the leeches by ourselves."

The boys all broke into jokes as Sam sat down next to Paul at the dining table. "When are you going to tell your girl?" he questioned quietly.

"Soon. After the battle." Paul ran his hands through his hair as he felt himself getting stressed again. "I don't want to pull her into this when it's so dangerous."

"You think she doesn't already know?" Sam questioned. "Being Bella's sister and hanging out with the Cullens like she does?"

Paul sighed. "I don't know. I don't think she knows."

"Well make sure she finds out from you. I wouldn't put it passed one of the Cullens to tell her before you're ready."

"I will."