Only You Could Love Me This Way

"Careful." I laughed as one of the young girls I watched at the daycare ran to her father. He picked her up and tossed her in the air. When he caught her he kissed her cheek and she giggled happily. I smiled at the scene and he waved to me before putting his daughter in his car. They drove away and I waved goodbye as they went further into Forks.

"You're great with kids," Miranda said as she locked up the building. I turned around to face her. "Pretty, good with kids, and sweet. Lauren you're going to be the perfect American house wife." She smiled at me and I chuckled softly playing with the hem of my shirt.

"Perfect? Not really." I muttered the last part and Miranda scoffed.

"Can you cook?" she asked me.

"I guess." I shrugged and Miranda furrowed her brows and I giggled.

"You guess? Does it taste good when you eat your meals?" she asked me and I laughed again shrugged my shoulders. "Well bring something or yours to me and I'll tell you." She beamed and I nodded agreeing to her terms. Miranda rambled for a bit about her favorite dishes when a silver truck pulled up.

A smile came to my face as Paul looked over at me. Miranda laughed lightly at my expression and I turned to look at her. "What?" I asked with a smile and Miranda shook her head.

"Nothing, you're just really cute." Miranda told me and I bit my lip before shrugging my shoulders. "Go have fun." She said waving me off and I laughed waving to her and ran over to Paul's truck.

"Hey." Paul smiled at me as I got in on the passenger side.

"Hey yourself." I said putting on my seatbelt. He chuckled softly and started to drive down the road heading back towards my house. For the past week Paul and I have been growing closer and closer. He told me stories about being a wolf and about fighting vampires. He took me out to dinner once and we had a lot of laughs especially when I clumsily spilled soda all over him.

"How are you today?" he asked me and I shrugged my shoulder. "What kind of answer is that?" he asked with a small laugh.

"I don't know." I smiled and he smiled back nodding his head as we rolled down the road. The wind caused my hair to fly and I stuck my hand out the window pretending it was flying.

"Are you hungry?" he asked me and I nodded my head in response. "Good." Paul said as he pulled up in front of my house and put his truck in park. I gave him a confused look as he unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out. When he got to the other side of the truck he helped me out.

"What's going on?" I asked him as he put me in front of him and put a blindfold over my face. He laughed and tied it gently. Walking in front of me I could tell he waved his hand in front of my face to see if I could see. "Paul what are you doing?" I asked him as he took hold of my hand and we started walking.

"Step up," he said as we got to my porch. I did as I was told and listened carefully as I heard the door creak open. "Come on." He whispered leading me into the house still blindfolded.

"Should I be afraid?" I asked him with a light smile. He flicked on the lights and I heard him strike a match. "What's that smell?" I sniffed the air smelling Italian food. Did he cook for me? Paul walked behind me and placed his hands on my hips.

"Do you trust me?" he asked and I furrowed my brows.

"Well I guess I have to." I smirked and Paul laughed lightly kissing my cheek.

"You don't have to." He said. I lifted my hands towards the blindfold, but he grabbed them and pulled them back down. "You can't look until you say you trust me and mean it." Paul whispered into my ear and I giggled lightly.

"Okay," I said turning around in his hold. "I trust you." I smiled at him and he kissed the tip of my nose reaching for the knot. He slowly untied it and pulled it from my eyes. Blinking a few times I noticed the room was dimly lit.

"Turn around." He told me and I slowly turned around. Gasping I placed a hand over my mouth and shook my head.

"You did this for me?" I asked in shock. Paul had set up a table for two in the middle of my living room. On the table was a small candleholder and a small flower vase with an array of colorful flowers. Walking over to the table I stared at the porcelain plates and the breadbasket. "Wow." I smiled turning to look at him. That's when I noticed he was wearing jeans and not shorts and a button down white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Do you like it?" he asked me.

"I do, but in the truck you weren't wearing that shirt." I said pointing at it. He chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders.

"Blindfold." He shrugged and I smirked as he came over and pulled out the chair for me. Thanking him I sat down and he sat down across from me. Paul smirked and looked over to the door. "Waiter." He called out and I raised an eyebrow.

"Seth?" I laughed upon seeing the teenager grumble something under his breath as he walked over to the table holding a bottle of red wine. Paul smiled up at him and Seth rolled his eyes pouring the wine into our glasses. "Don't you look cute." I smiled seeing him all dressed up.

"Don't get used to it." Seth muttered as he walked back to the kitchen.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked and Paul waved it off.

"He lost a bet," Paul shrugged and I shook my head. Picking up a bread stick I took a bite and stared at Paul. "Is it good?" he asked and I nodded my head. A smile came to his face and he lifted up his wine glass. I grabbed mine and we clinked them together.

"So what's the occasion?" I asked him.

"Can't a boyfriend do something nice for his girlfriend?" he asked me and I chuckled softly leaning back in my seat. Brushing my hair back with my fingers I stared at him.

"Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?" I asked him and Paul raised an eyebrow taking another sip of the wine. He never took his eyes off of me though. Leaning forward I rested my chin in the palm of my hand and stared right back at him. Paul put his wine glass down still watching me.

"Well I would like to think we're close to that, if not already there." He explained to me and I smiled at him.

"So aside from protecting people Paul," I paused lacing my fingers together my elbows propped on the table. "What do you plan to do with your life?" I asked resting my head on my laced hands. He took in a deep breath and sat back tapping his chin with his fingers.

"Open up my own garage with the guys, maybe have a kid or two, find a good wife," he listed and I giggled at the last word he said. Paul smiled at me and looked around the room as if he was searching for an answer. "That's my plan." He said to me.

"Hm, sounds nice." I smiled.

"What's yours?" he asked. Pushing off of my elbows and clicked my tongue. He waited patiently for my answer as I held up three fingers.

"I've had my whole life planned out in steps," I explained and he raised an eyebrow. "It probably doesn't matter now, but get a good job, find a nice house, marry the perfect man." Paul smiled at the last part as I looked at him.

"The perfect man huh?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"But settle for you instead." I laughed and Paul acted hurt, but started laughing with me. He shook his head as I finally quieted down. "It all changed." I confessed and he nodded.

"For the better?" he asked with hope in his tone.

"At first no," I admitted and Paul frowned. "But now, yeah, it has." Paul smirked and nodded his head; maybe everything would look up for me now.