sorry for the wait and thank you so much for all the lovely reviews and follows etc. I will try to start responding as much as I can ?ￂﾠ

"Good morning, Gorgeous." Paul whispered deep into Bella's ear, his eyes still closed but so attuned to the young woman's stirring body and heavier breathing.

Her eyelids fluttering open tentatively, Bella groaned at the stinging sensation as her eyes adjusted to the light and the frame of the man next to her came into focus. She was hot. Sweltering in fact. Yet, she did not move away from Paul. It was such a strange moment that had become almost tradition between them as the school week had progressed. Each morning began with Paul and each night ended with him.

It was the final school day of the week and as she lifted herself up, her muscles screaming out for more rest, Bella was unbelievably glad that she would be spending the weekend doing absolutely nothing.

"What time is it?" She heard her bed partner ask.

"Almost seven."

"Urgh. Make it stop."

"We have to get up, Paul."

Finally opening his eyes, he stared at Bella with a simple smile on his lips before answering her. "I can think of much better things to do today than go to school."

"Yeah, I'm sure you can." She replied with a dry laugh and a raised eyebrow.

Every night they had slept together in Bella's bed and during every one of those nights Paul had never strayed into inappropriate territory. It had killed him to keep his hands to himself. The urge to run his fingers over the smooth, unblemished, milky white skin of Bella's waist and thighs had been dominating; almost painful. What he hadn't been able to resist was her lips. The kisses had started off cautious and innocent; a peck on the cheek, a soft graze of his mouth on hers. But with each night he spent with her they had become more urgent. More wild. As if he couldn't get enough of the delicious, forbidden treat of kissing a girl he wasn't supposed to want.

Turning onto his back with a groan, the young wolf grinned and stretched; his feet dangling off the bed. There were indeed a number of much more interesting things he could imagine doing with Bella Swan but nearly every one of them included them being in a position he would not like to be caught in by her father. So, against his own desires, he shuffled out of bed and threw on the shirt he had dropped on the floor the night before. He flattened down the rogue tufts of black hair and looked up to see her staring at him.

"What?" He enquired.

"Nothing." She answered, a blush creeping into her cheeks and colouring them; an act which did not go unnoticed.

"You're blushing." Teased Paul, advancing on the young beauty who sat still as he approached.

"What are you doing, Paul?"

"I love seeing you blush. I forget how innocent you are sometimes."

Suddenly shy, she turned her head so he could not see how her cheeks reddened even further. She felt his weight as the mattress dipped and squeaked and even when she cleared her throat, her voice still came out a whisper.

"I need to get ready for school."

"I know." He replied, a shit eating grin spreading across his youthful face.

"Paul…" Bella mumbled, her sentence cut off by his lips; soft and tender but yearning for more.

It took every ounce of his self control and willpower not to take things further. Pulling away from the girl in his arms with immediate regret, the young wolf frowned as she stared at him; eyes hooded and mouth hanging open. His hand went to her hair and he caressed it gently as he knelt before her.

"You're ruining me, Bella."

"What?" She mumbled, still dazed and now confused by the whispered comment.

"Nothing." He replied with a shake of his head. "I want to spend the whole weekend with you."

He was now nuzzled against her, rubbing his cheek against hers and inhaling the fresh scent of her skin; masking it with the scent of his own. If any other creature smelled her they would instinctively know she belonged to him. Bella couldn't smell it but he could and it pleased him to no end.

"Let's go to the movies tonight."

"Aren't you on patrols tonight?"

"I'll swap with one of the guys. They won't mind. I just want to spend time with you."

"We spend almost every night together, Paul." The young woman argued, throwing back the bedcovers and avoiding his gaze as she rooted through her drawers for a suitable school outfit.

She could practically sense him pouting before he even answered. "That's different. I want us to go on a date."

His sudden confession left Bella momentarily stunned and it came at the moment she lost concentration and caught her fingers in the drawer as she closed it. Cursing, she sucked gently on her stinging and red fingers and hoped they wouldn't bruise. In seconds, Paul was on her; his hand tenderly holding her injured digits.

"Are you okay?"

Removing her hand from his and frowning when she saw an expression of hurt flit across his face, Bella nodded. Her brain was still preoccupied. How could she tell him that not only did she not know how they had become more than friends but less than lovers, but that any notion of a date would be unattainable. At least for that night.

"You have that look on your face."

"What look?"

"When you feel guilty you get this look on your face. What's wrong?"

He reached out for her and she stepped back; her brown eyes falling to the floor and her voice weak.

"I already have plans tonight. With Jake. I'm cooking."

If he had been punched in the stomach, Paul reckoned, it would have hurt much less than Bella's words had. The jealousy was all consuming and it raged inside his body like an inextinguishable fire.

"So you'd rather be with Jacob Black than me?"

"It's not like that. Billy is coming too…"

He barely heard her over the rushing in his ears and he stood back from her with clenched fists, tense shoulders, and his lips in a tight line.

"By all means, go be with him."

"Paul…" Bella began, tears threatening to spill from her eyes even though she struggled to understand why.

"You're going to be late for school."

The sound of her father's bedroom door opening, and his feet banging on the landing floor as he coughed and cleared his throat, caught Bella's attention and when she turned back to speak to Paul she found him gone; her bedroom curtains billowing in the early spring morning wind.

"Yo, Paul! Wait up, man." Quil shouted down the hallway, speed walking even as his fellow students gave him a wide berth when they saw him coming.

"What's up?" Paul half-heartedly asked, barely glancing at his friend and fellow pack brother as they made their way to the cafeteria for lunch.

The morning had gone agonisingly slow and Paul had found it hard to focus on anything his teachers had tried to teach him. His opinions on the school system were low; what good would trigonometry serve when his destiny was to protect his people's land from the vermin of the supernatural world - vampires. He had almost given up on attending school completely but he felt compelled to do so for Bella's sake. He could not bear the thought of her being disappointed in him.

"The usual. This place sucks."

"We could ditch. I don't know about you but I could really do with crashing before patrols tonight."

Paul considered it for a moment but then silently shook his head.

"Nah. My mom will kick my ass if I start ditching again."

"Suit yourself. At least you don't have to babysit Bella tonight."

"Yeah." He mumbled, his chest aching at mention of her name. "Who's on guard duty tonight?"

"Seth." Quil replied as they reached the cafeteria and plonked themselves down on the nearest available table they could find.

"Clearwater! That boy couldn't protect a dead fly! If anything happens to Bella-"

"Jesus, dude. Relax." He hissed, forcing a smile for those who had stopped to stare at Paul's outburst. "I know you think you're the best at playing guard dog but honestly, I thought you'd jump at the chance for a night off. I can't even remember the last time we hung out properly. Besides, Sam's on about scrapping the protection detail."

Panic gripped Paul. He had come to depend on those nights in order to get his fix of Bella Swan. If Sam was serious about ceasing the protection on the young woman then he would have no excuse to see her; his time would be taken up with a return to normal patrols and he would go back to seeing her only when she visited the reservation to spend time with her best friend, Jacob. He couldn't do it. He couldn't go back. He wouldn't.

"He can't do that. What if the leeches come back? She's not safe. Anything could happen to her!"

"Calm down. What the hell is wrong with you?" Quil eyed his friend as he swallowed the sandwich he had been chewing. "The last thing we need is you phasing in the middle of the damn cafeteria!"

It took Paul a moment to realise that he was in fact shaking violently; a tell tale sign that his well known anger problem was about to result in him phasing into a wolf against his will. Forcing himself to breath deeply, he took a series of slow breaths and let his mind fill up with Bella. Her pale skin, the blush that always stained her cheeks whenever they kissed, the feeling of the soft cheeks of her bottom in his hands when they had made out on his sofa. That was a good memory.

"Hey, Jared! Talk some sense into him will you? Dude's freaking out about Seth guarding Bella and Sam wanting to stop the guard duty."

Shifting his gaze, Paul caught the eyes of his best friend who was standing with his arm around his girlfriend, and Imprint, Kim; a small girl with mousey brown hair and a sweet smile. She was one of the few people in La Push who knew of their supernatural secret purely due to her status as Jared's destiny appointed soul mate. It was at this moment that he started to wonder whether his feelings for Bella were less important because he hadn't imprinted on her. Quickly, he dismissed it when he felt himself becoming angry again. He was young. No Gods were going to dictate who he would fall for.

"I got this, Quil."

Kissing his girlfriend on the cheek, he left her to sit next to Quil as he dragged Paul to his feet and pulled him by the arm out of the bustling dining room and through the throngs of their fellow students. When they reached a somewhat empty corridor that contained only a few mingling teenagers and a couple of teachers discussing grade scores, Jared rounded on his best friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm telling you this as your closest friend and a brother… you have got to let this thing with Bella go. It needs to end before you do something stupid."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid." Scoffed Paul.

"You damn near phased in front of the school! How do you think Sam would react to that, eh? You're going crazy over Seth being near her and you know how Jake feels about her. The boy worships Bella. This will only cause trouble we don't need. We have enough going on without a bloody love triangle in the mix!"

His fists clenching, Paul felt the blood rush to his head and he fought the urge to clock Jared in the jaw at the mere suggestion of abandoning Bella.

"She's not your Imprint. She's not even your bloody girlfriend!"

"You need to stop talking before I punch you."

"Listen, I like Bella. You know I do. She's a nice girl but just find someone else."

Glaring at Jared, Paul shook his head and did not miss the disappointed expression that took over the other young man's face nor the heavy sigh that left his lips.

"I can't do that, Jared."

Running his hands through his hair, knowing that it would earn him a hum of annoyance once Kim saw how it would be messed up and sticking out at odd angles, he mentally kicked himself for what he was about to do but reminded himself that it was for the best.

"Find someone else or I'll tell Sam everything.

"You wouldn't."

"I mean it. Stop whatever the hell it is you have going on with her or I'll make sure Sam Alpha orders you away. It's your choice."

White hot rage blinded Paul. "Walk away from me."

"It's for your own good."

"Walk away from me, Jared!" Yelled Paul, his fist connecting loudly with the metal locker next to him and catching the attention of the two teachers who had been minding their own business.

"LaHote, Cameron!" A middle aged man with greying brunette hair and golden brown skin shouted towards them. "Take it outside."

Still refusing to look at Jared, Paul barged past him and collected his rucksack from the table he'd left it at; completely ignoring Quil's questions before storming off to his next class of the day. Twenty minutes later, sat uncomfortably in a wooden chair with his head on the desk as he moped about his limited options, he heard a feminine voice address him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Cracking open one eye and lifting his head slightly, a mass of jet black curls caught his line of vision. They fell onto slender shoulders and framed a face he knew well. The bright pink lips of the girl were formed into a tight line and her brown eyes - eyes he had spent many times last summer staring into - were framed by furrowed brows. Her concern for him was genuine. She never had been good at hiding her feelings and it made Paul groan even more when he realised that he was now feeling how he had made her feel.

"Just peachy, Cassie."

"You're a terrible liar, Paul."

She was quiet for a minute and turned her back on him. When she faced him again, she held an item in her hand and offered it up to him; a grim smile of thanks tugging on Paul's lips as he accepted gratefully.

"It's okay. Chocolate always helps me when I'm in a bad mood." She shrugged. "I'm also a great listener, you should remember that."

Gulping down half the chocolate bar, the young man nodded and then held Cassie's gaze. She had always been good to him even when he hadn't been good to her.

"I'm sorry for being an ass to you last summer."

"It's okay." She dismissed with a wave of her hand and a smile.

"No. Really. I'm sorry. I never should have treated you that way. I knew how you felt and I took advantage of it. I was a total dick."

"It's been months. I'm over it. Honestly."

Finishing the bar of chocolate, Paul blinked and stared at the young teenaged woman who looked back at him quizzically.

"What?"

"I don't deserve your help…"

"Spit it out, Paul."

"Do you have any plans tomorrow night?"