Okay, so I know everyone who was reading this story has like freaking gray hair by now with how long it's been since I've updated. I just was forgetting to write, and then I just didn't feel like doing it at all. I was reading like crazy and couldn't stop!! But anyway...I was still getting reviews for this story, and I realized that I couldn't leave this story unfinished!

So I guess you could say this is my Christmas present for all of you who read this story!!

I hope everyone is still following--even though I'm a bad updater--and I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Please forgive me again and enjoy!!!

Oh, I forgot to say.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Payton's POV

"Wake up Payton," I heard someone whisper in my ear. I was too tired to guess who it was, but I had a hunch it was Paul. Who else was going to whisper in my ear and then kiss my jaw?

Well, I sure as hell hoped it wasn't Vicky…if so, then we needed a serious talk.

I smiled and turned around. Sure enough, Paul was lying next to me with a big smile on his face.

"Hey there sexy," I said, then kissed his nose.

"Sexy?" He lifted a brow.

"Yeah, don't think yourself sexy, Paul?"

"Oh, I think I'm so sexy," he teased while tickling me. "I was the one who invented the word."

"Paul."

"What," he said while still trying to get me to laugh.

"Do you think the elders will want to kill me?" He stopped tickling and looked me in the eye.

"I wouldn't let anyone live who tried to lay a finger on you. I don't care if it's the damned elders, I won't let anything happen to you."

I looked down at his shirt and picked at a loose string. "I don't want you to get hurt while trying to protect me from them if they decide I'm dangerous." I looked him in the eyes. "I don't want to lose you. I'm not afraid to die." I looked back down. "Only of losing you."

He put his finger under my chin and brought my face up to meet his. "You're not going to lose me. Payton, I love you and I don't give a shit about what anyone thinks is right or not. I will fight with everything in me to keep you safe, and I know Sam and the pack won't let anything happen to you. And I know a certain vampire that would tear down trees for you."

I smiled. "Yeah, but," my brows furrowed, "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"We wouldn't be doing anything we didn't want to do, Payton. We all love you, me more than others, but we won't let anything happen to you."

I smiled. "I love you too." I tried to push all those resent negative thoughts out of my head and think about the here and now. Paul looked relived when I smiled at him and hugged me to his chest.

"Don't worry so much. Nothing is going to happen. Sam will talk to the elders before I let you step foot in front of them. It will go just fine, you'll see." I nodded then nuzzled my face in his neck. He sighed and stroked my hair.

"I was so scared I wasn't going to be able to phase. I-I…just thinking about losing my other self was hard, it's something we share together."

He kissed my closed eyelids. "It's not going to happen. Sam can help you whenever you need it."

"Where's Vicky," I decided to change the subject.

"She's making breakfast. I think Sam, Emily, Jake, and Quil are here."

I nodded. "I can smell them."

He looked at me. "What do I smell like to you?"

"Mmm," I took a whiff, "woodsy. I can smell the detergent you used for your clothes. I can smell myself on you too. I could find you in a crowd with the intoxicating way you smell. The way I am now makes you even more irresistible."

"Well, I've always loved the way you smell, and it hasn't changed my mind yet."

"I hope not." I laughed. "I need to take a shower."

"D-do you want some company?"

I looked at him, a little shocked at his question. "I don't know…everyone is downstairs."

"We won't do anything, Payton. I don't want to let go of you. I almost lost you."

I looked into his eyes and saw raw emotion shining through. I didn't want to be by myself either. And what if the elders decided to kill me? This could be the last moments of our time together and I didn't want to shorten it. I nodded. "Okay, but we can't do anything."

"Okay." We both got up and walked to the bathroom. Paul turned the shower on and put two towels on the table next to the shower. He turned towards me.

I couldn't deny that I was nervous. I was scared shitless. Paul had seen me naked before—in the forest—but I was crouched down and some of me was hidden. I swallowed. I was sure Paul could hear my heart hammering in my chest, but his was beating just as fast as mine. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or anticipation.

He came closer and pressed his lips to mine. "I love you," he whispered against my jaw.

I kissed his chin. "I love you too."

He grabbed the hem of my shirt and tugged. I lofted my arms to allow it to go over my head. I knew he was a little impatient when he scrunched up his shirt and tugged it over his own head, throwing next to mine on the floor. My fingers were shaking when I unbuckled his jeans. I chanced a look up at him.

He was staring intently at me.

I gave him a small smile to assure him I wanted to do this. But of course thing couldn't just go my way.

I couldn't get the second button undone.

He wasn't wearing his usual jeans. Noooo. He just had to put on the six button jeans.

Damn him.

Paul chuckled at my attempt to undo them. "Need some help there?"

I looked at him and scowled. "Real funny. Why do you have six-button jeans on anyway? Don't you have to phase? Must be a bitch. And what do you do when you have to pee?"

"Babe, you're stalling." It's true. I was. "Let me help you out here." He unbuckled the rest while I stood there awkwardly. Once he was done with the 'damned buttons'—as I call them—he let his hands hang at his side, which was my 'Q' to do my thing. I pulled his jeans down his sculpted thighs, getting a rather great view of the V that disappeared into his boxers. He stepped out of his pants and kicked them to the side.

He hooked his index fingers into the waist of my bottoms and pulled them over my hips and past my thighs. I stepped out of them and they joined his in the pile on the floor.

This was the part I was most scared about. What if he didn't like the way I looked? I was still human so I wasn't sure if my body would be perfect or not. I hoped I had the beauty of a vampire, but with the wild exotic look that werewolves have.

He unclasped my bra in the back and slid it off my shoulders and down my arms. He stared into my eyes while he tossed it to the ground. He got out of his boxers while I did the same with my underwear.

Once we were both as naked as we were when we came into the world we embraced. I felt nothing but skin on skin. His hands were on my back, strong and firmly holding me to him. If his desire was anything like mine he had to be fighting what he really wanted to do.

I could feel the muscles bunch under my hands while he picked me up and carried me into the shower.

This was a pretty big sized shower. Both Paul and I fit just fine, and had room to move. He put me down once we were under the spray of the water. That was when he backed up to get a look at me.

"Beautiful," he said.

I didn't know if I could blush, maybe it was the temperature of the water, but I felt hot. I looked at him then. I had never seen a man before, not like this. I had once walked in on my mother and father when I was little, but blankets covered them. Sure I had Health, but it was way different seeing it in person and on a page in a book.

Paul didn't look anywhere but at my face while I took him in.

My hair was already wet from standing under the showerhead so Paul grabbed the shampoo, poured it in his hands, and scrubbed my scalp. It felt really good. I smiled and moaned at the feeling of his fingers running through my hair.

I got the shampoo and gave him the same treatment. He had the same reaction and I liked that I had that effect on him. We didn't go any further since there were people downstairs. After scrubbing each other some more and washing off, we dried off and got dressed. Paul had some clothes in a bag but when I asked him he just shook his head.

So he had thought this through before he came. And here I thought it was a spur of the moment sort of thing.

When we walked downstairs hand-in-hand no one gave any funny looks that showed that they knew what we did upstairs, which was a load of worry off of my shoulders.

"What do we have," I asked Vicky. I sat down and Paul scooted his seat next to mine. She handed me a small plate, which consisted of: one pancake, a slice of bacon, a cup of eggs, and half a slice of toast. It was a hell of a lot smaller than what I used to consume.

"That's all," Quil asked shocked, pointing at my plate. Vicky handed me a cup full of red liquid and Quil looked from me to the cup, then back again.

"Don't ask," I said. He nodded and turned to his food, though he seemed less enthusiastic about eating than he was before.

I ate my food and sipped from the cup while holding Paul's hand. I felt kind of bad for ruining Quil's appetite. Was this how the pack was going to react every time I had to drink? Would it always be this awkward, or would it get better?

I was voting for the better.

"Are we going to the Cullen's today," I asked no one in particular.

"I thought you'd like to just have a day off from doing anything out of the norm. But if you want to go…" Sam replied.

"Naw, I think a day off of all the craziness is a good idea."

"We should go cliff diving," Quil offered.

"Yeah," Paul snorted. "And go visit that damned cave Payton was held in? Not likely."

"Let's go…running," I said. Everyone looked at me. "What? It's something to do and I wouldn't mind having a race or two. You scared I'll beat you with my extra vamp powers," I put my fingers in the air and wiggled them.

"Oh, you are so on," Quil yelled. "Wait till Embry finds out!" He took off out of the house and to the woods.

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