As Paul lay on the floor, my cheeks flushed red and I could feel a strained string of guilt forming. My hands were on my face and my head thoroughly buried in my pillows when Paul rose from the floor, an apologetic look taking shape on his disappointed face.
"I was wondering why you were moaning Quil..." he muttered, ridden with shame.

"That didn't give you a hint that you might not look like yourself to me at all? What is your problem, Paul?" I screamed into my hands.
"I'm sorry, Bella... I just want you so much, and I just... I thought I would just ignore the name thing," he explained slowly, only responding to my first question for obvious reasons.

"That's a stupid excuse to ruin any friendship we might have and completely shatter my view of you," I growled. Paul nodded in utter silence and turned around so I could put on some clothes.

"I'll tell Quil everything..." Paul stuttered, looking like he regretted taking full responsibility. I ignored his eyes asking me to please to it myself and nodded with fury.
"Damn right you-" I interrupted myself, remembering how Quil was nowhere to be seen.

"Quil's not far away, Bella, please don't worry about him." Paul's voice was loving and sincere, so I gathered he was actually telling me the truth. I jumped up, ignoring the fact that I was only wearing a bra.
"Where? Where is he?" I whispered loudly, emphasizing each and every word.

"I can't say." Paul shuttered, obviously not liking the thought of keeping it from me, keeping me unhappy, worried and frightened. I knew I would regret doing what I was about to do, and I knew I would have to pay for it... I got out of the hospital bed, slowly taking the two steps required to reach Paul.

As my hands entwined behind his neck, my lips a mere inch from his, his breathing started becoming uneven, a slight smile forming on his tempted lips.
"Please tell me where Quil is," I said, hopefully sounding seductive. I was in his lap now, resting my forehead to his.

"N-no..." he breathed, barely even managing to speak – I was surprised at what effect I had on him. Using people was not something I'd ever done before, nor had I ever tried to seduce someone I didn't want to get anywhere with.

Regardless of my lack of want for Paul, I leaned closer, carefully jerking my hips forward. I kissed his nose softly and moved my cheek to his to whisper:
"Please..." My voice was definitely seductive now, shivering with false lust.
"F-fine," was but all that escaped Paul's lips as he kissed my neck and I moved back to look at him to make sure I caught every word he was about to speak.
"He's north of town... in Clallam Bay," Paul said slowly, getting a grip around my waist. I liked this situation less and less as it progressed, but I needed to find Quil.

"You know, he checks in on you every night. He climbs up the tree near your window and he watches you sleep," Paul admitted. My eyes widened as I got gradually happier. When what Paul had just said sunk in, though, my anger rose to my cheeks.

"Why haven't you told me anything?" I screamed, jumping off him, releasing myself from his grip. He sighed, shaking his head.
"I'm getting tired of you always being so moody," he said before he rose from his chair, walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"I'll take you to him if that's what you really want... if that's what it'll take to make you happy." I nodded slowly in response, putting my arms around him gently. He put his chin on the top of my head and sighed with bliss.

"Let's go," he said after an awkward minute of a tight embrace, not even bothering to put on the piquet. He grabbed my t-shirt, threw it in my face and asked me to hurry up so we could catch Quil before nightfall.

--

Since Quil would most likely be in wolf form, Paul and I were driving. I was a bit annoyed at the fact that he'd insisted on me persuading Edward to borrow me his more than silent, silver Volvo. "You're truck's way too noisy," Paul had snorted when I had opened the door to my Chevy.

Paul woke me up from a rather comfortable nap with a slight nudge to the shoulder. Although the nudge was gentle, the cold glass my head fell to woke me instantly.
"What?" I said grudgingly. Paul kept both hands on the wheel as he pointed to the road.
"We're here?" The question was rhetorical, but I was just so excited to see Quil after all this time! The shooting pain would go away along with hospital visits decreasing...

Paul understood that my question wasn't in need of an answer and simply smiled.
"Look, I know this is fifty percent my fault, but I want you to forgive me," he admitted casually, his eyes glued to the serene setting ahead.
"You're forgiven," I mumbled, putting my body in a more comfortable position as I rubbed my eyes groggily.

"Allow me to say your hair is stunning." Paul let out a throaty laugh as he finished his sentence and handed me a handmade wooden hairbrush.
"That's so random, Paul," I muttered, but he didn't hear me. I grabbed the brush willingly and worked through my knots as we entered Clallam Bay.
"You really do look pretty, though." I snorted as he complimented me. "It's true," Paul said, obviously offended by my lack of thankfulness.

A large bear-like creature caught my attention abruptly and I screamed with joy.
"Stop the car!" My voice was infinitely high-pitched, almost just a squeak as I got ready to leave the Volvo Paul had rejected full-heartedly due to smell at first.
"Stop the damn car!" I hissed as Paul refused to pull over.
"There isn't just one shape-shifter here in Clallam Bay, Bells," he explained. I fell back in my seat and was nearly in tears. When the Hell would I get to see Quil again?

We passed two more wolves and my excitement rose in vain before Paul stopped four feet after we'd passed a third wolf.
"I'm sure Quil will be happy to see you again," Paul said, a frown appearing on his muscular chin as he clenched his teeth.
"Thank you so much for this, Paul, I owe you one," I announced full of joy. I pecked Paul's cheek before I got out of the car and started running toward my wolf man.

As each time Quil and I rejoined, we were ecstatic to see each other, falling into sweet embrace the minute he'd changed back into his human form. My hands played with the hair on the back of his head as our lips joined furiously.
"I love you so much," Quil told me, his eyes filled with only worry as he stared into mine.
"You can explain later," I whispered, out of breath. "Right now, I'm just overjoyed you're alive." I leaned in then, meeting in another one of our long awaited kisses.

--

"When Jacob ran away," – as he so often did – "I was furious with myself for going after him only to discover I'd been fooled." The drive home to Forks was all about Quil explaining himself, and I listened willingly, hoping to make sense of him not coming back immediately.
"Jacob noticed you and Paul seeming closer than usual, meaning he'd tried to hit on you or get you to leave me – just like Jacob always does." Quil chuckled deeply as he remembered Jake's proposal to me. I noticed by the way he rubbed his ring-finger.

"It took me three days alone to locate Jacob's exact location, and with no cell phone on me, I couldn't contact you, or anyone else for that matter. Jake wanted me to leave you; feed you some lie about how our relationship is a joke and other nonsense.
"When I refused angrily, he took the liberty of letting me chase him again." Quil stopped talking, sighed and shook his head. "When I'd located him again, he was in Clallam Bay, and eight days had passed."

"Why didn't you just come home?" I asked, eager to hear what Jake had gotten himself into this time.
"Well, Jacob is a part of our tribe, our pack and our brotherhood – I had to make sure he was fine before I could leave with a clean conscience.
I tracked him for quite a while as a human in Clallam Bay," Quil continued after he'd answered my question.

"It was nearly impossible, but I found him just four days ago, and he proposed the same, fake break-up between the two of us." Quil snorted at this part of the story, but a continuum was mandatory from the look of my overly interested eyes.
"He said he'd be better for you than I am, regardless of how alike he and I are. Although he never gives up, I have the selflessness he lacks at times.
"To wrap this up for you, Bella, Jacob's in love with you, and he refuses to let you go. Paul is in love with you – yes, I do know about that – and he just wants you to be happy, whether it is with him or me or even with Jacob." Quil's voice was shaky now.

"Kwop kilawtley," I whispered before I slipped into slumber.