Full of Laughter

Caroline took a deep sigh as she stared out the large kitchen window. Paul was staring right back at her, pleading with his eyes for her to come out and see him. Caroline couldn’t resist the strong pull that she felt towards Paul, but he royally screwed up, could she even trust him anymore? Caroline pushed herself off the small stool and walked towards the door.

“You don’t have to talk to him, you know?” Emily said softly as she watched the young girl stop at the front door. Emily knew that Caroline needed to be with Paul, but she also knew that Paul could make the situation worse.

“I know.” Caroline sighed softly. “But I don’t think I can keep feeling angry towards him anymore. We might as well try.”

Emily nodded her head in understanding: the first time she and Sam had a fight, she just wanted to make the pain go away and for everything to be normal again. Caroline wanted the same for her and Paul. Emily watched as Caroline stepped out of the house before returning to her work.

Caroline slowly stepped towards the large wolf, his head was dipped low and he was whimpering lightly. She carefully petted the animal’s large muzzle before placing her head against its own.

“I’d like to speak with human Paul now.” she whispered into it’s large ear. The gray wolf nuzzled his head into Caroline’s shoulder before stalking off towards the forest. It was only moments later that a half naked Paul walked out of the forest, doing up his pants as he did so.

Caroline couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes: she knew that his eyes would only show apology and sadness, and she didn’t want to cry in front of Paul. She concentrated so hard on not looking at him that she didn’t realize that he was standing in front of her until he placed his rough hands on her soft face, forcing her to look up at him. When their eyes met, Caroline couldn’t help but feel as if it were the first time they had ever looked at each other. Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, her breathing became shorter and shallower.

Paul placed his arms around the small girl, pulling her into his warm body. He smiled as he felt her soft skin rub up against his own, their connection feeling strengthened despite their recent fight. Paul needed to feel her close to him: he was so angry at himself that he needed her to calm him down. He placed his face close to her ears, feeling her skin tingle against his own as he breathed into her ear.

“I’m so sorry Caroline, I’ll never leave you again. I promise, I’ll never hurt you again.” He whispered softly into her ear. Caroline shuddered as his words hit her like a ton of bricks. There was sincerity in his voice, telling her she could trust his word. She pulled herself closer to Paul’s warm body, feeling her body fit into his like a perfect puzzle piece.
“It’s ok Paul.” she barely managed to whisper into his large shoulder. Paul pulled his head back from hers, looking his imprint in her deep green eyes.

“I love you Caroline.” His words were said with certainty and grace, flowing perfectly off of his tongue and into her ear. Caroline was taken back slightly by his words, she hadn’t expected him to confess his feelings so soon to him. Her heart was beating a million miles per hour now and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to admit her own feelings quite yet. Caroline looked down at the grass, hoping to escape Paul’s strong stare.

“You don’t have to say it back Caroline. I’d rather you waited until you were ready than say something you weren’t sure you meant. I do love you Caroline, so much, I can’t live without you.” Paul whispered dipping his head lower, hoping to catch Caroline’s beautiful eyes.

Caroline understood that Paul meant every word he said, nothing could change the way he felt about her, that was a part of the whole imprinting thing. Caroline knew that deep down, she felt it too, it just wasn’t surfacing as fast as it had with Paul.

“Can we go back to normal now?” Caroline asked, hoping that Paul would just take her inside of his home and sit with her.

“Of course.” He pulled her small dainty hand in his large hand and walked with Caroline back to the house he temporarily called home. While Paul had been wondering around the woods, he had found a small house that was up for sale near the center of the reservation. He planned on buying it as soon as possible, hoping that one day he and Caroline would, together, call it home.

“I see you’ve made everything all better, Paul.” Sam’s strong authoritarian voice called over to him. Paul simply nodded, pulling Caroline closer into his body. “Good, cause you’re on patrol tonight with Seth and Jared, and I doubt they would want to hear your complaining.” Paul and Caroline chuckled as they sat next to Sam at the large dinner table.

Caroline looked around the table at the other couple, knowing nothing could feel better than having these few people as a part of her life.