Brave This Storm

It took Sam two weeks to snap at Paul for moping about. The already-volatile shapeshifter had been a mixture of angry, sulking, bitter and miserable for the two weeks that had passed since Mariana rejected him, and everyone in the Pack was sick of it. Especially Sam. Paul was currently around Sam and Emily’s house, and Sam had reached his breaking point after Paul had spat a sarcastic comment at him.

“Don’t make me go Alpha on your ass,” Sam warned.

“Go on then, I dare you,” Paul retorted.

Sam narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders as he stood in front of Paul.

“Snap out of this funk and grow a pair,” Sam growled, staring Paul down.

Paul whined as Sam’s voice resonated through him, ordering his very core to obey. Shit. Emily came in at this point, smiling at her fiancé as she sat down next to Paul.

“Now that you can’t mope any more, what are you going to do about your imprint?” Emily asked cheerfully.

“Who says I want to do anything?” Paul muttered.

“You could try to woo Mariana, you know,” Emily pointed out.

“She’s got a kid! I don’t want that kind of responsibility!” Paul exasperated.

“Can you imagine yourself with anyone else?” Emily countered.

Paul closed his eyes and tried to picture the numerous beautiful women he’d fraternised with, but he couldn’t. All he could think of was Mariana’s beautiful face. Paul cried out in frustration, slamming his hands down on the kitchen counter surface.

“Hey, don’t break anything,” Sam warned.

“I can’t take this,” Paul said through gritted teeth.

“Why can’t you just roll with it? Why can’t you just be the person your imprint wants?” Emily sighed.

“Because I don’t know how else to be!” Paul whimpered.

Sam and Emily shared a worried look, before focussing their attention back on their desperate friend.

“Do you want me to help you?” Emily asked, resting a hand on Paul’s shoulder.

“Help with what?” Paul grumbled.

“Help you learn how to be a gentleman. I don’t know much about Mariana’s past, but I do know she left a man behind in Los Angeles, and that man was a sweet, kind-hearted gentleman,” Emily told him.

“Then I’m screwed,” Paul said miserably.

“Not if you want to change. If you want to be with Mariana, and if you want her to love you like you already love her, then you’re going to have to change your way of living. You don’t have to change everything, because obviously then you wouldn’t be you, but you’ve got to tone it down a lot. Hold open doors, be charming but not sleazy, be polite and not crude, and don’t hit on her,” Emily said.

“You’ve got to show her that you’re serious, and that you don’t just want her for sex,” Sam added.

Paul bit his lips, considering his friend’s words. He knew that being a gentleman would meaning changing a lot, but would he really be able to do it? And would it all pay off? He didn’t know what he’d do if he put in all this effort and Mariana still wanted nothing to do with him.

“Do you really think I can do it?” Paul asked quietly.

“If you want to do it, then yes, I think you can,” Emily replied, Sam nodding.

“And we’ll help you out in any way we can,” Sam said warmly.

Paul smiled, a plan starting to form in his head. Operation: Gentleman was underway.

*

“So that’s the eggs, the sugar, the bread, the milk and the butter. Is there anything else?” Mariana asked, looking in the basket her grandma was holding.

“No, I picked up fruit and vegetables yesterday. We’re all set!” Amelia replied, shaking her head.

“I don’t like you paying for all this. Donovan is my responsibility,” Mariana grumbled.

“And as my granddaughter, you are my responsibility. You’ve been through enough in the last few years – enjoy the break,” Amelia said cheerfully.

Mariana rolled her eyes but smiled as her grandma bustled past her to the checkout. There was no winning with that woman, that much was obvious. Mariana followed the older woman to the counter, taking the bags as Amelia paid. If this was all she was allowed to do then she was going to do it! But as they walked to the exit doors, Paul walked through, almost walking straight into Mariana.

“Shit! Sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Paul asked worriedly.

Mariana shook her head slowly, a bit confused at the intense concern. He didn’t bump into her that hard.

“No, I’m fine,” Mariana said politely.

“Paul! How are you?” Amelia asked fondly.

“I’m good thanks. Just helping my mom out with the groceries,” Paul shrugged with a smile, hugging Amelia.

“Ah, the woman is the luckiest mother around! Ana, Paul here has been the man of his house ever since his dad walked out,” Amelia said proudly.

“I was 10,” Paul said, sounding a little embarrassed.

“That’s good of you to look after her,” Mariana nodded, smiling a little.

“She’s my mom, y’know? I would never leave her alone,” Paul replied, smiling down at Mariana.

Mariana was pleasantly surprised by Paul’s honesty. Paul was just happy he hadn’t messed up yet.

“Any girl would be lucky to have a gentleman like you,” Amelia gushed.

Paul blushed a little, especially at Mariana’s raised eyebrow.

“How about I take the bags to the car while you kids chat?” Amelia suggested.

Before Mariana could protest, Amelia had scuttled off, leaving Mariana and Paul alone. Forcing a smile onto her face, Mariana turned to look at Paul. If her grandma liked him, there must be something good in Paul, however deep down. Mariana knew Amelia wasn’t the type to hide her dislike of people.

“So…did you pay her to leave us alone?” Mariana asked with a small smile.

“Does Amy look like the type that would accept a bribe?” Paul replied playfully, raising an eyebrow.

“Good point,” Mariana chuckled.

Mariana bit her lip as a silence fell over them, the seriousness in Paul’s eyes confusing her a little.

“Look, I want to apologise for my behaviour a couple of weeks back,” Paul started.

“You don’t have to,” Mariana interrupted, shaking her head.

“But I want to. I didn’t show you the respect you deserve, and I’m sorry. I just…mature women aren’t a thing I come across often. I shouldn’t have reacted to the news of you having a son like I did. It’s obvious you’re an amazing mom to him,”

“Thank you,” Mariana said softly, a small blush fluttering across her cheeks.

Those were not the words she expected to fall from Paul’s lips. Not that she was complaining. He was surprising her already. And she liked it.

“If you’ll let me, I’d like it if we could start over and be friends,” Paul said.

Mariana found herself nodding before she’d even thought of a reply.

“I’d like that,” Mariana said.

“Great. That’s…great! Well, I’d better let you get back to Amy, but um, I’ll see you around, yeah?” Paul smiled.

“Yeah, I’ll see you around,” Mariana smiled back.

She blushed again as Paul lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed it, before walking into the shop. It took her a second to snap out of her trance

“So…you and Paul talked for a while,” Amelia smirked.

“He apologised for being a jerk the first time we met,” Mariana shrugged.

“He’s a good boy, Paul is. Doesn’t get into trouble, helps out all his neighbours, treats his mom like a princess…he’s a good kid,” Amelia said warmly.

“Are you going cougar on me?” Mariana teased, trying to steer the conversation away from where she knew it was going.

Amelia burst into laughter, playfully bumping her shoulder with Mariana’s before starting the car. Mariana relaxed back in her seat, glancing one last time at the shop Paul was in as they drove away. The side of Paul that she had seen today had really surprised her, and she couldn’t deny that she was curious to see if this side was the true Paul or if it was just an act in front of her grandma. She was very curious indeed.