Undisclosed Desires

It had been a week since you’d moved in with the Cullens. Life had been pretty boring lately, seeing as Paul hadn’t shown up after he left the first night. You hadn’t given much thought to it the first few days, but after the fourth day, you began to worry, and to grow a little agitated. Actually, you hadn’t seen any of the pack, you realized, as you made your way down the stairs towards the living room.

Hadn’t he said he’d only be gone a little while? You frowned at the carpet as you shuffled over to the couch, still half asleep. You had woken up early in hopes of finding Paul.

Well, that was a wasted effort.

“Good morning, Alex!” Alice called cheerily, skipping in from the front yard and beaming at you. You stared at her with a blank face, and she frowned.

“Oh come on, smile!” She laughed, ruffling your hair. She noted your wardrobe and rolled her eyes. You were wearing your old ripped up jeans. These were a little nicer- they actually fit you, and were tighter than normal. They were still not silk or velvet, like Alice would like. Your tanktop was just a black and red spaghetti strap tank top that showed you didn’t care what you wore. The converse were on your feet again. “Seriously, it should be illegal for you and Bella to dress yourselves! How about I get you a nice cashmere skirt…ooh! And a silk top… and-“

“I’m fine, Alice,” you growled, letting yourself drop like a dead weight onto the couch. Alice sighed, skipping away from you and up the stairs. You stared blankly at the screen, listening to the sounds outside.

“Ouch, Nessie! That one hurt!”

The sound of Renesmee’s tinkling laughter filtered in, and you sat up. You stared at the door to make sure you heard right.

“Come here, you little monster!” Jacob teased. Renesmee let out a high pitched squeal, and you leapt up.

Jacob was here!

You ran a hand through your hair and practically flew out of the front door, nearly running into Bella and Edward, who were perched on the front steps. If Jacob was here, that must mean the rest of the pack would be too!

Bella looked up and smiled, but you were too busy looking around. There was Jacob, running after Renesmee as she danced around the yard. Quil and Embry were annoying Jacob, trying to trip him when he ran past. Jared was lying in the sun, and you were sure he was asleep. Seth spotted you, and came jogging over to say hi.

You scanned the faces again, but no Paul.

Seth was just opening his mouth to say hi, when you asked,

“Where’s Paul?”

“Hello to you too,” he teased, giving you a quick hug. “Anyways, he’s back in La Push with Sam doing some extra patrol or something. Oh, but he said to tell you hi!”

You sighed, and slumped against the porch rail. You slid down and thunked onto the ground next to Bella. She gave you a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sure you’ll see him soon,” she reassured, wrapping an icy arm around your shoulders. You sighed again, and returned the half-hug.

“What are you doing today?” Seth asked, dropping onto the ground in front of you.

“Dunno, probably sit around and watch tv.”

“Alright little miss pouty pout,” Seth teased. You stuck your tongue out.

“Hows about you come hang out with me, Quil and Embry? We’re going up to Port Angeles to see a movie.”

“Do you guys really want me to come along?”

“Well duh!” Seth laughed, standing up and dusting off his shorts. He held out a hand to you. You turned and looked at Bella and Edward.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to help out around the house?”

“I’m sure the couch will miss you, but we’ll be fine,” Edward joked, smiling at you. You grinned and then turned to Seth. You took his hand, and he pulled you to your feet easily.

Embry and Quil waved excitedly as Seth pulled you towards a beat-up car that didn’t look like it would be able to start.

“Alright, I think I’ll walk,” you said.

“Awe c’mon Alex! Have a little faith in your werewolves!”

Seth helped you into the car, and when you were situated, he crawled over your lap and settled himself on the seat next to you.

“There is another door, you know,” you pointed out, shoving his leg off of yours. He just grinned a lopsided grin and said,

“Yeah, but I would’ve had to walk around the car!”

“Jeeze, you’re right! That would have been so much harder than crawling over someone else and smashing them into the seat, right?”

Seth just laughed, which made you laugh.

“What do you think I’d be like with telekinetic powers?” Embry asked again, holding his hand out towards a mailbox. He frowned as he struggled to move it with his mind.

“Not gonna work,” Seth informed him. “See, you gotta have a working brain, and that’s something you’re lacking.”

Embry threw his water bottle at Seth.

“Who’s hungry?” Quil asked, dodging the water bottle as it flew over Seth.

“You really have to ask?” you said sarcastically, rolling your eyes.

“How about some Chinese food?” Quil suggested. Everyone ignored him

“How about some pizza?” Seth asked hopefully.

“No, I want Italian.” Embry complained.

“Pizza is Italian.”

“No! Real Italian. Like pepperoni or something.”

“So, just get a pepperoni pizza!”

“Shut up Seth!”

You laughed at all of them, enjoying the carefree day you were living. The past week had been nothing but you being anxious over your family and Paul. Your father had called the moment the plane landed, and demanded to know what the hell you were doing. Supposedly Trisha was upset and worried over your wellbeing, but you knew better than to buy into that. Nichole had been expecting your sudden leave, so she wasn’t upset. Your dad was going to be coming back down to take you back to California with him as soon as he could get away from his new job.

Until then, you’d be a bundle of grumpy, edgy nerves.

Yay…?

The four of you walked into a little Chinese restaurant and settled yourselves in the corner. Luckily, Edward had lent you plenty of money, or else you wouldn’t have been able to pay for Seth’s six entrées, Quil’s three deserts or Embry’s tenth appetizer.

As you pulled out the money to hand it to the waitress, Seth grabbed your hand. His touch was warm and gentle. He smiled at you; his soft, golden-brown eyes twinkling. He bent towards you and whispered,

“Give me the money, it makes me look better.”

You burst out laughing as you handed him the cash and he joined in, leaving confused and slightly bemused looks on Quil and Embry’s faces.

Finally, as you reached the old car and began to head home, a wave of exhaustion swept over you. You yawned and curled up on the seat; at the speed the car was going, there was no way you’d be home in an hour. You leaned up against the door, and sighed as you settled into a little ball.

“That doesn’t look very comfortable,” Seth noted a few minutes later.

“It’s not but I’m tired,” you mumbled.

“Oh just come over here,” he laughed, grabbing your arm. “Jeeze Alex! You’re freezing!”

“Yeah, if we ran the heater the car would probably explode,” you teased, laughing as Embry growled. You allowed Seth to pull you over to him; he wrapped his arm around your shoulder and tucked you into his side. You were immediately warmed, and the coziness of the situation made you drift off into a light sleep.

”Where the hell have you been?!?”

You jerked awake so fast you smacked your head on the roof of the car. You glanced around for the source of the screaming as you rubbed your head tenderly. You recognized the surroundings and realized you were in front of the Cullens house. As you sat up, you spotted Paul standing a few feet away from the car. For a moment, your heart surged at the sight of him. Paul was here! You began to smile, until you saw the look on his face. He was outraged. His whole body was shaking, and his hands were balled into tense fists at his side.

Bella, Edward and Emmett were standing on the porch, staring anxiously at the scene unfolding.

You shrunk back into Seth, who squeezed your shoulder.

“Paul, calm down,” Quil said carefully, stepping out of the car. This gave Paul a direct sight to Seth and you, and his eyes bulged. Okay, so the sight maybe wasn’t the best, what with Seth holding you like he was. The guilty looks on both your faces didn’t help either. Paul began to surge towards the car, but Jacob grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

“Paul, stop.”

“Get off, Jacob, or I swear to God I’ll kill you!” He locked his eyes on Seth and snarled, “Get your hands off her!”

Seth immediately yanked his arm back and you scooted away.

Seth and Embry stepped out of the car, and Seth helped you out. Paul immediately made a beeline for you, and you flinched away from his angry expression.

Seth stepped protectively in front of you, and Quil and Embry stepped in front of Seth.

“I’m counting to three,” Paul growled in a low, angry voice. He was shaking so violently you couldn’t even focus on him. “If you’re not out of the way, I’m ripping all of you to shreds.”

Paul’s sheer anger terrified you. He had never been this angry before… Okay, so maybe there hadn’t really been a before. You had just fallen too fast for the hunk that told you he was unconditionally in love with you… How could you resist?

But now, as you watched how violent and unstable he was, on top of how incredibly jealous he was turning out to be, you began to have second doubts.

“Look, I’m not letting you near Alex until-“ Seth began, but he was cut off by Paul’s outraged shriek.

“Get the fuck out of the way Seth! I swear to God if you don’t move-“

“Paul, knock it off!”

Your sudden outburst made everyone jump. Paul was still shaking, and now he was glaring at you. But, you really didn’t care. You weren’t gonna stand there and let your ‘soulmate’ freak out over nothing. You shoved between Quil and Embry and began to shout at Paul.

“I don’t get what entitles you to be so mad about me hanging out with some friends!”

“Gee, I dunno Alex!” He snarled, throwing his hands up. “Maybe it’s because I spent all day looking for you!”

“Maybe you should have just manned up and asked Edward or Bella where I was!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t need to if someone didn’t go running around Washington at all hours of the night!”

“Ex=cuse me Mr. “Werewolf that leaves for weeks on end without any contact to his supposed soulmate! Who the hell are you to tell me what I shouldn’t be doing?!”

“Alex, shut up! Just shut the fuck up!” He snarled taking a step towards you. It felt like you had been slapped in the face. Who the hell did Paul think he was, talking to you like that.

“Hey man, don’t be an ass to Alex just because you’re all pissed off!” Seth snapped, pushing past Quil and Embry to stand next to you.

“Seth, don’t-“ Jacob warned, but it was too late.

Paul was phasing, and you were standing too close.