Chapter Three

Monday morning brought with it a storm. Crammed inside the hallways of the Quileute Tribal School, Paul glared at anyone who walked too close. Wisely most students gave him a wide birth. Fortunately those students included Embry who was being occupied by Jake and Quil at the other end of the hall. After this past weekend, Paul was ready to kill the kid.

Saturday night Paul had left Logan screaming and throwing shoes at him. He knew if he stayed he would have exposed the pack's secret. So he left her at Sam's and went running through the forest on all fours. That turned out to be the biggest mistake.

The second he phased, Paul was bombarded by images of Logan. Quick flashes of the Makah girl laughing at a flirting Embry flashed through Paul's mind. Memories quickly faded into fantasies. Nude images of Logan dissolved into a dark red haze as Paul lunged at the smaller wolf. Before the two hit the ground realization dawned on the phased members of the pack. Logan Wylie was now family.

Sunday hadn't been much better. Sam had chewed Paul out for attacking one of his brothers. By the time the alpha had intervened, Embry had been a bloody mess. While Paul stood in Uley's backyard, fuming and shaking, Sam turned the conversation toward Logan.

Apparently Sam had tried to offer the girl a ride home. She had declined has she had with the invitation into the house. Sam being Sam had continued to insist. The more he pressed the less polite Logan got, coming up just short of telling the large man to fuck off. Paul had smirked at the story, telling Sam that was just Logan. She was as independent as they came.

Unfortunately independence wasn't the best quality within a pack. Instead of lifting the ban of not telling a stranger the pack's secret, Sam extended it. He told Paul that Logan couldn't know until she lost the attitude. Several trees were torn down after that. Fighting the alpha was asking for death.

Sunday afternoon Paul had shown up to the Wylie house. The front door was abruptly slammed in his face by the youngest Wylie. Trevor had opened the door on Paul's second attempt, informing the older boy that his sister was in the garage.

Walking around back, Paul followed the sound of The Offspring as it played from a stereo. He entered the garage to the sight of Logan and Xavier sharing a joint as they discussed how to get rid of the dent in Munster.

"What do you want, Lahote?" The emptiness of the words hit Paul like a freight train. Despite everything, Xavier had always been friendly toward Paul. Now he sounded like he was talking to the gum stuck on his shoe.

Logan had kicked her younger brother out of the garage after that. It was the first time the two had been left alone at her home in almost a year. By Logan's crossed arms and set jaw, Paul knew she wasn't going to be the first one to talk.

"I'm sorry Log," Paul started. "For the truck and taking off on you. I shouldn't have left you at Sam's." A single nod was the only answer Paul got. He held up a pair of tall boots. "I brought your shoes back."

With swift steps and a hard tug Logan took her shoes from his hands. "Thanks. Now go home Paul." The hot headed boy opened his mouth to say more but Logan shook her head. "Go home."

The whole weekend had left Paul feeling as sour as the weather. All the others had been celebrated on their imprints and got to slack on pack duties. Paul had been yelled at and given extra patrols. The only person who seemed to be happy for him was Kim. And even she only had small smiles and wishes for the best to offer.

"Kim, you got attacked when you went out with her. Why would you want to do that again?"

Paul grinded his teeth as the conversation taking place beside him reached his ears. Jared had been thankful that Logan had helped his girlfriend. That thankfulness that only lasted a few hours and by the time he rejoined the pack he had been back to bad mouthing the Wylie girl. The only thing that kept Paul from knocking Jared's lights out was Sam's alpha order not to touch any of his brothers.

"Jared," Kim sighed, "Logan is a good person. It's not her fault some creep put his hands on me. She actually saved me."

Huffing Jared shifted his feet. The movement brought him closer to Paul, causing the hot headed teen to jerk backwards.

"Well where do you think she learned to fight like that?" Jared asked, waving an arm dramatically.

Both Kim and Paul rolled their eyes. Each of them had been subjected to listening to Jared's rather outlandish theory of Logan knowing how to fight due to drug deals gone wrong. Where exactly Jared had heard that Logan was drug dealer, Paul didn't know. It was clear that the Cameron boy wasn't going to be letting the theory go anytime soon.

"Um, maybe from taking self defense classes with her mom."

The new voice brought with it a strong smell of ocean air. Not real ocean air but the synthetic kind that lacked a salty burn. Paul couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he turned toward the person beside him.

Logan Today-I'll-Say-My-Middle-Name-Is-Natalia Wylie stood looking like literal sin. Paul had to chew at the inside of his cheek to keep his jaw from dropping. Logan had adorned all his favorites; a pair of ripped up jeans that hugged her ass, a low cut red sweater that showed just the right amount of cleavage, and a thin, black ribbon choker. She had even skipped putting her hair in its usual braid in favor of half style that Paul had once let slip drove him crazy.

"Still shit talking me?" Logan asked. "I thought we were cool Cameron." Jared merely shrugged before busying himself with picking imaginary lint off his shirt. "Anyway, Kim I was wondering if you'd want to come to my house after school? I figured we could do homework or watch This Means War since we never made it to our Chris Pine special."

Kim smiled brightly at the girl. She had confided in Paul this morning that she was worried that Logan wouldn't want to talk to her after what happened in Port Angeles. Paul had assured her that Logan wasn't the type to let that kind of stuff bother her. Considering what Kim knew about Logan un-friend-ing Paul, the Connweller girl hadn't been so sure about that.

"That sounds great," Kim said. Before Logan could confirm the details the bell echoed through the halls. Kim took a hold of Jared's hand and started pulling him toward class. "We can talk details in Stats."

Students pushed their way through the narrow hallways of the small school. Paul pushed off the lockers, giving Logan a nod as he made to move past her. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to stay with his imprint, or at least say something to her. The Lahote boy didn't trust his suddenly dry tongue.

"Paul wait," Logan's voice would have lost in the hustle of the halls to anyone once. With his improved hearing Paul had heard her. He also felt the burning touch of her fingers as they wrapped around his forearm.

Paul turned back slowly, being careful not slip out of her grasp. He wasn't about to the one to break their contact. "What's up Log?"

Logan bit her lip. Automatically Paul lifted his hand to free the bottom half of her mouth from her teeth. Making it halfway towards her face, Paul noticed the wide gaze in her eyes and the sudden coldness replacing her touch. So he kept his hand moving to run it through his hair.

"Well," Logan started, swallowing thickly, "you see Camilla is out with the stomach flu. And this week is lab week in bio…" Paul had a feeling he knew where the conversation was heading as Logan trailed off. He didn't want to get his hopes up. "So, I was wondering if you'd want to work with me."

That's my girl. The thought raced through Paul's mind before he realized it. There was no hiding the smile that it brought to his lips. Only Logan, after everything that happened between the two, could ask him to be bio partners so confidently.

"Sounds great Log," Paul answered.

Logan nodded sharply. "Good. I'll see you second period."

~Wasting Time~

Time had never passed by so slowly. Paul was sure of it. There morning was dragging on and on. With every tick of the clock he only grew edgier. Every little thing was beginning to irritate him. He had even snapped at some poor, little freshman for breathing too loudly. When the bell finally rang to signal the end of first period his mood flipped like a switch.

Paul Lahote was suddenly grinning instead of scowling. He moved swiftly through the halls instead of dragging his feet. Arriving in class he pulled out his supplies and set himself up before the warning bell even sounded. As the tardy bell rang out with no Logan in sight Paul felt this mood darkening again.

Mr. Lightfoot was just about to assign lap partners to those who were still lacking when the classroom door was shoved open. Logan hurried into the class, mumbling an excuse about having to pick something up from the office. She slid into the seat beside Paul with a sorry smile.

"I was starting to think you bailed on me Wylie," Paul joked as they started setting up their slides. He was hoping she didn't notice the hurt undertone.

Logan shook her head, opening up her notebook. "I'm not that heartless." She leaned over in her stool to whisper in Paul's ear. "The twins snuck in fireworks. I was hiding them before Jenkins found out."

Paul chuckled. Rodney Jenkins was the younger brother of Corey Jenkins, one of the guys Paul had played lacrosse with. Rodney was a stickler for the rules thus making him a natural enemy of Xavier and Trevor Wylie. He was constantly sniffing around the twins hoping to catch them in the act.

"So what are we doing anyway?" Logan asked as she started adjusting the microscope.

Paul shuffled through the lab papers, handing Logan her half. "We're labeling the stages of mitosis and meiosis."

Logan frowned as she mumbled about it being a lame lab. Paul nodded in agreement, reminding her that they had to get through the boring stuff first. Otherwise the year would go downhill after dissecting frogs.

The pair worked in relative silence. Paul wouldn't say it was exactly awkward. He was relaxed being with Logan. By the easy smile on her face he could tell she was too. There was still a bubble that needed to be popped. When she passed him the microscope, Paul took his chance. He curled his fingers until her stool and pulled her in close until their thighs were flush.

Open mouthed and wide eyed Logan turned her head toward Paul slowly. She knew not talking to him had hurt him. Hell, it had hurt her too. She never thought he would be so bold.

Paul pulled his hand away, placing both elbows on the table. He wrapped his right hand over the shaking first of his left. Why would he do something so stupid? Logan had actually been talking to him. Now she looked ready to bolt.

With a sigh, Logan placed a light hand on Paul's knee. His eyes slipped to the side but he made no move to look at her.

"I'm gonna be real honest with you for a second Lahote," Logan said. "I don't want this to be awkward. I want you and me to be easy. Like it was before everything got messy. But I also don't want this lab to give you the wrong idea. Because I really don't want to be friends."

The thud of Paul's arms hitting the table made Logan jump. She snapped her hand back into her lap. She watched the tremors as they raced down Paul's back. He occupied himself with looking at the slide, making marks on his paper. After pushing the microscope away he finally turned toward Logan, his face set in hard lines.

"What did one cell say to his sister cell when she stepped on his toe?" Paul asked. At a complete loss Logan shook her head. Paul's face broke out into her favorite grin, all lopsided and goofy looking. "Mitosis!"

Logan covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the fact that she was laughing. She was sure that Paul could see her shoulders bouncing. It was a stupid joke. If anyone else had made it Logan probably would have called them idiot. Paul had always been so proud of his puns, good or bad, that they always left Logan in tears.

Slyly rubbing at her eyes, Logan dropped her hands and tried to keep a straight face. "That was a terrible joke."

"Fuck you that was funny," Paul defended, flicking a small piece of scrap paper at the girl.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Logan said.

"Typically masturbation," Paul answered with a shrug and head tilt.

Shaking her head furiously, Logan put her hand up for him to stop. "Oh no, please don't go there. I don't want to know about your porn habits." Logan looked Paul over quickly. "Knowing you and your affinity for older woman it's probably something weird and disturbing."

"Oh yeah, you know me Log," Paul deadpanned. "I'm all about that Granny on Granny action."

"You're so gross," Logan teased, turning back to their forgotten lab work.

That was how the rest of the class period passed. With Paul making ridiculous jokes and Logan trying to convince him that he wasn't funny through her laughter. For the first time in a long time Paul felt light. There was no residual anger nagging at the back of his mind. For an hour he got Logan and it was as thought he had never turned into a four legged monster.

But every hour has to come to an end. Unfortunately so did this one. With the scribble of a final answer, Logan sauntered off to turn in their lab work. Paul watched her swaying hips as she went. Because I really don't want to be friends, echoed in his ears with every step. As Logan returned to pack up her things, Paul realized he wasn't guaranteed another chance like this. He figured he might was as well get everything he could.

"Thanks for today Paul," Logan said, placing her stool back on the other side of the table. "I really appreciate it. Especially considering I don't exactly deserver your courtesy at the moment."

Ignoring her last comment, Paul leaned in toward Logan. He smirked at her sharp intake of breath. "How could I say no when you got all dolled up for me?" Before Logan could protest he continued. "The ripped jeans, red sweater, and sexy hair-do? You knew exactly what you were doing Logan." Straightening up, Paul slung his backpack over his shoulder. "And I'm not complaining."

Alone in the biology room Logan Wylie was left remembering why she had never wanted to be friends with Paul Lahote in the first place.

~ Wasting Time ~

Kim Conweller stood in the room of one Ms. Logan Wylie. While the taller girl had disappeared to get some study snacks, Kim tried to take in every detail that lied before her.

The majority of Logan's room was taken up by the girl's queen sized bed. The bedspread of which was a girly shade of purple Kim never would have expected. There was no actual closet, just a shelf that hung a pole. The dresser was small, something Kim would expect for a small child all covered in various stickers. While Kim would kill to have her own bathroom, her absolute favorite part of Logan's room was the ceiling.

Polaroid pictures covered every inch of visible space. The ranged from scenery to family photos to snapshots of memories with friends. There more than a few pictures of Logan with a woman Kim didn't know. Judging by how similar the two looked, Kim guessed they were cousins. Passing over a picture of Logan and Tommy dressed as Jedi, Kim gasped.

Smack dab in the middle of the moral was picture of Logan and Paul. The Quileute boy had his arm thrown over the shoulders the Makah girl as he smiled brightly. Logan didn't look nearly as happy as half her face was covered by a blurry moving arm. The other half of her face wasn't even visible as it had been shoved into Paul's armpit.

"I hope you like potato chips and apple juice Kim," Logan's voice sounded as she trudged up the stairs. "My brothers are animals and ate all the good snacks. Even the Oreos I had hidden in the laundry room."

Logan tossed the food and drinks on her bed before flopping down herself. She looked up to find Kim still staring up at the pictures. Following the Conweller girl's line of sight, Logan found the photo that had her so mesmerized.

"Paul had promised to take a nice picture," Logan explained. "At the last second he changed his mind and I got a face full of BO."

Kim sank down onto the bed giggling. That did sound something like Paul would do.

"You ready to get your math on Conweller?"

~ Wasting Time ~

"Ugh, this is so stupid," Logan whined, tossing her statistics book onto the floor.

When Kim didn't agree, Logan looked over at the girl beside her. Once again she Kim not even paying attention to their homework. Instead the slightly shorter girl was staring up at the pictures above their heads. Logan knew which ones Kim was captivated by. They were the same ones that captivated everyone the first time they saw them. Logan also wasn't going to be the one to bring them up.

Looking back at Logan, Kim smiled sheepishly. The Wylie girl had an eyebrow cocked. Kim could feel the curiosity pushing on the tip of her tongue. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out the question she had been dying to ask.

"Who's the woman in the pictures?"

Logan smiled, wiggling a finger at Kim. "That is a third date secret my dear Kimmy."

Kim nodded slowly. Placing a chip in her mouth, Kim had a sudden thought.

"And what 'date'," Kim used air quotes around the word date, "do I have to make it to before I get to know about you and Paul?"

Logan scribbled on the paper in the front of her thinking it over. Without looking up she answered. "I'll tell you now but you have to promise me that you won't say anything to anyone. Not even Jared." Kim hesitated. Keeping secrets from an imprint wasn't exactly an easy thing to do. But she nodded anyway. "Good. Because something weird happened with him today and I'd like to talk about it. But I don't think it will make sense unless you know everything."

~ Wasting Time ~

Halloween-The Year Before

The Littlesea house was vibrating with music as it overflowed with drunken teenagers. Every year Lana talks her parents into letting her throw a massive Halloween party. Logan suspected that the approval had to do with the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Littlesea often watched over the party from the neighboring Fuller house. No one ever seemed to care. The cops never got called and there was always liquor to be found.

Pushing her way into the kitchen Logan sighed in relief at the sight in front of her. After having consumed a few too many red solo cups, Logan had made it her mission to seek out a certain Quileute boy. Normally Camilla would have tried to stop such an uninhibited Logan from doing so. The blonde haired girl was currently preoccupied with getting to know a Forks boy that had somehow managed to crash the party.

"Paul," Logan called out.

The boy looked up from the freshman trying to rope him into conversation. He grinned brightly at the sight approaching him. Logan wore a pair of barely ass covering overalls over a bright orange sports bra with thigh high rainbow socks covering her legs. Two long braids rested over her shoulders.

"What are you supposed to be?" Paul greeted.

Logan pulled a face at him and gestured toward her body. "I'm sexy Pippi Longstocking."

Paul laughed at the seriousness of her voice. When she poked him in the chest he captured her hand and pulled her close. As she stumbled into him he wrapped one arm around her waist while shooing the freshman girl off with the other.

"You, by the way, loose Halloween," Logan informed Paul as she reached around him to put her empty cup down.

"And why is that Log?" Paul asked. It wasn't unusual for him to hold her against him. There had been a few nights where she had snuck in his window just to lie in his bed. He never quite got used to the feeling of her.

"Because this," Logan said, plucking at the lacrosse jersey the boy wore, "is cheating. The whole point of Halloween is to dress up as something you're not."

Paul tightened his grip around Logan as she rested her head on his chest. There had been a few times where Logan has ended up passing out while leaning against him, both drunk and sober. Now anytime the girl used him for support he prepared himself.

Looking up Logan pressed her chin into the front of Paul's shirt. "I have something to tell you."

Paul looked down at her, tilting his head. "And what is that Log?"

Logan stood up to her full height, placing a hand on the side of his neck as she brought his ear to her lips. "I like you."

Shaking shoulders caused Logan's arms to fall away. Paul was laughing. Not just a soft chuckle either. It was a deep, stomach hurting laugh. Through wheezing breaths he told Logan that he sure hoped so.

Sipping on his beer Paul looked toward Logan, expecting to find her standing by his side laughing along. Instead he caught sight of the pigtailed girl making her way out of the kitchen. Realization hit Paul hard. Logan had been serious.

Slamming his beer can on the counter, Paul made to grab her. Logan flinched away from his touch. Something the girl had never done before.

"I need to go find Cam. I kind of left her with a stranger."

~ Wasting Time ~

Kim stared at Logan with furrowed brows. Logan was staring intensely at the worksheet in front of her as she braided her hair.

To Kim the whole story seemed a bit strange. She had never thought Logan would be the type of girl to so hung up on unrequited feelings. On the one hand it made the Wylie girl seem more approachable, knowing that she could be so soft. On the other, well, Kim couldn't help but think how petty it made Logan sound.

"I know it doesn't exactly paint me in the best light," Logan started. "Cutting Paul out over it for so long is kind of ridiculous, I know. Cam reminds me about it all the time." Logan paused to take a deep breath, dropping her hands from her hair and looking over at Kim. "I'm not exactly an open person Kim. It might seem like it cause I joke around a lot about serious stuff. But very rarely do I actually mean it."

Kim reached across the bed to squeeze Logan's hand. The other girl laughed lightly at the gesture. It was very Conweller.

"Well he's stupid for not liking you back," Kim offered. Taking her hand back Kim picked up her pencil. "Oh! What happened today?"

"Right, um," Logan moved to grab a chip. "I think he was flirting with me."

"Who was flirting with Wylie?"

The two girls looked up to the find the head of Jared Cameron popping up at the top of the stairs. He was immediately assaulted by the empty apple juice bottle Logan threw at him.

"Didn't you see the sock, Cameron?" she asked.

"Ha ha, Wylie," Jared deadpanned. "Like Kim would ever leave me for you."

Logan shook a pile of papers at him. "Then why have we been planning our Costa Rican wedding?"

"I'd prefer France," Kim cut in while packing up her homework.

"But in Costa Rica I can keep you in less clothing," Logan argued.

Kim didn't miss a beat in lightly smacking Logan on the arm. After spending an afternoon with the girl she was getting used to Logan's comments.

"Do you want to come to Sam's with us?" Kim asked. With her back to the stairs the Conweller girl missed the furious shaking of her boyfriend's head.

"Thanks for the offer Kim, but I don't think Sam and I are on the best of terms," Logan answered, standing up from her bed. "Besides my mom is pretty big on family dinners. If you guys don't leave soon you're gonna get roped into them and never be able to leave."

Logan followed the couple down the stairs and to the front door. Jared chuckled at Logan's wide eyed face when Kim threw her arms around her in a tight hug. Kim made Logan promise that she'd eat lunch with her tomorrow since she was skipping out on dinner.

Leaning against the doorframe, Logan watched the beat up truck drive off. Maybe she could have told Kim everything. The truth was, that wasn't all that had happened on Halloween. Paul had eventually found her later on. Things had gotten worse from there.

Honestly Logan had wanted to tell Kim. The only person who knew the whole truth was Ruff. And he hadn't exactly handled it every well. So Logan was hesitating in telling Kim. Mainly because she knew that Kim's loyalty lied with Jared. She was certain that every word of their conversation was being relayed to the boy now who would no doubt tell Paul.

Closing the front door Logan turned and made her way into the kitchen for dinner with her family.