Brave This Storm

It had been just over a week since Paul had asked Mariana to be his girlfriend, and everything was working out perfectly for the young couple. Paul was eagerly faithful, Mariana smiled a lot more, and Donovan was ecstatic with all the free piggy backs he got. Amelia was happy too, not only for Paul for finally settling with a girl, but for Mariana too. She knew how hard the young woman’s life had been over the past few years, so for her to have something secure would only do good.

There was one problem though. Girls. Just random girls, who Mariana saw in either La Push or Forks, would stare at Mariana whenever she walked past them. She knew exactly why they were staring at her, and she didn’t know whether to feel intimidated or smug about it. They wanted Paul, but she now had him all to herself. What she didn’t like was overhearing snide comments, but that had only happened once, so Mariana wasn’t too bothered. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell Paul. That wouldn’t work out well.

Today, Paul had decided that Mariana was coming was him over to Sam and Emily’s house to hang out. Mariana hadn’t minded really, because she didn’t have anything else planned other than to read another book in her Grandma’s house, so after Paul and Mariana had dropped Donovan off at pre-K, Paul drove them over to Sam and Emily’s.

“The sexiest couple on the Rez has now arrived! Try not to have orgasms!” Paul yelled through the front door, letting Mariana walk in before shutting the door behind him.

“Paul!” Mariana squeaked, blushing slightly.

“Don’t you know what knocking is, Walker?” Sam chuckled, walking out of the kitchen.

“I should do, seeing how many times I’ve walked in on you and Em going at it like rabbits,” Paul shot back.

“As charming as always,” Emily giggled, appearing at Sam’s side.

“Hey Mariana. It’s great to see you,” Sam smiled, giving her a hug.

“Likewise,” Mariana smiled back, hugging Emily too.

The four of them stood talking for a while, before Emily tugged Mariana towards the kitchen, leaving Sam and Paul to talked by themselves.

“What’s on your mind, doll? I can tell there’s something eating at you,” Emily said warmly, sitting down the stool next to Mariana.

The younger woman glanced over her shoulder to where Paul was sitting with Sam, the two of them talking animatedly, and she smiled softly, shaking her head.

“Just some shit,” Mariana shrugged.

Emily raised an eyebrow, staring Mariana down until she sighed.

“Ever since I’ve been officially dating Paul, people have been giving me strange looks. And a few days ago, I overheard some girls who I assume are from Forks saying how I have no right to tame Paul Walker. It just got to me a little bit, that’s all,” Mariana explained quietly.

Emily chewed her bottom lip for a few seconds, before looking up at Mariana.

“Have you talked to Paul about it?” she finally asked.

“Fuck no, he’d probably go and confront those girls and make them cry,” Mariana scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“You know he’d want to know,” Emily pointed out.

“I know he would, but…I can fight my own battles, y’know? I had to learn how to survive in a city district that, quite frankly, you Reservation guys wouldn’t even understand. And I don’t want this to turn into an argument that would make him leave me. I…care too much about him for that,” Mariana said shyly.

“You really like him, huh?” Emily said.

All Mariana could do was nod her head, too embarrassed to speak. She never spoke about emotions in front of people she didn’t know very well, so this felt strange for her – but she knew the older woman was only trying to help.

“Good. He needs a girl like you to keep his ass grounded,” Emily giggled.

“What are you saying about my ass?” Paul asked.

Mariana jumped slightly, not realising Paul was by her side, but she smiled and leant into his body, not noticing how Emily and Sam smiled at each other because of this.

“We were just talking about how lucky you are to have Mariana,” Emily teased.

“Babe, we weren’t,” Mariana said quickly, trying to reassure him.

“Em’s right though. I am lucky. You’re perfect and I’m not, so I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Paul chuckled, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

Mariana blushed slightly, making her three companions laugh.

“Alright, who wants a muffin?” Emily asked cheerfully, breaking out of Sam’s arms to walk over to the oven.

“Fuck yeah!” Paul and Sam chorused, making the two women laugh.

“How you deal with their appetites, I don’t know,” Mariana mused.

“They’re special boys. I like knowing they get at least some good food,” Emily said warmly, pressing a kiss to Sam’s cheek.

Mariana found her tone odd, but didn’t say anything, too distracted by Paul running his hand up and down her thigh. She narrowed her eyes at him in warning, but Paul just smiled innocently, carrying on his journey. Paul knew if he pushed her limits that Mariana wouldn’t hesitate to slap his hand away, so he wasn’t worried about doing anything she didn’t want. All Mariana knew was that she wanted to get Paul alone in a room as soon as possible, and that Paul was an asshole for making her feel this way.

If only she knew why she was being distracted.