Like a Skyscraper

Paul held it together, but the minute he was out of sight he shifted. He took off running into the trees and immediately felt the presence of the pack in his mind.

”Paul, what’s going on?” Sam’s voice was the most prominent. He thought about smelling Kaelyn while in town and howled loudly as he ran. He could hear a few of the others shouting in his head.

”Kaelyn turned?!”

”The leeches killed her!”

All the voices were giving Paul a headache. Sam silenced them all.

”Enough! Everyone meet at my house now. Jared, call the others and let them know.”

One by one, Paul felt the guys disappearing as they shifted back to their human forms. He sped up and made it to the back side of Sam’s place. He shifted pretty quickly from work and ripped through all his clothes. Covering himself with his hands, he walked into the kitchen.

“Em, can I borrow some of Sam’s shorts? I destroyed mine.” Emily, used to all the naked men, didn’t bat an eyelash and went to grab him a pair. She tossed them at his face.

“Make sure to bring them back,” She said with a raised eyebrow. Paul nodded, slipped them on, and want into the living room. Everyone was already there and waiting.

“Paul, tell us what happened.” It wasn’t a question. Sam didn’t use his alpha voice, but it was pretty close. The entire room was on edge. They all loved Kaelyn, and they watched Paul deal with the heart break of finding out she was dying.

“I was at work and thought I smelled Kaelyn, but she’s up in Seattle now. But when I took a deeper breath… It had to be Kaelyn, but she smelled sweeter like the Cullens. Those bastards turned her,” He seethed, his fists tightening and turning his knuckles white.

“If they did, they’ve broken the treaty… And that means war.” The room was dead silent.

~*~

Kaelyn walked up to the Cullens’ front door, but Alice opened it before she was able to knock. Alice pulled her in for a hug and all but squealed in delight.

“Welcome home! We’ve been waiting for you!” Alice released her only to grab her hand and pull her into the living room. She wasn’t lying. The entire family was there minus Rosalie. Esme was the next to hug her.

“Alice wanted to throw you a party, but I was able to stop it at this,” Emmett chuckled and hugged her.

“This is great,” She said softly. After that, everyone took their turns greeting her before Emmett decided to steal her away. Kaelyn was happy that everyone was so welcoming, but she was also ready for some peace and quiet. She heard Edward chuckle and mumble a good luck as she went upstairs with Emmett.

“Where are we going?” Kaelyn asked as she looked around to take everything in. She liked their graduation cap picture.

“I’m showing you my room,” He laughed. Emmett opened the door and let Kaelyn walk in first. While he and Rosalie were fighting, he moved into one of the spare guest rooms and made it his own. Kaelyn walked in and let her hand graze the footboard of his bed while she looked around.

“Did you and Rosalie live here together?” She asked softly. Emmett shut the door.

“No, Rosalie never came in here.” Kaelyn nodded and turned around to face him. She scanned his face and took in his features again. Her new senses were overwhelming sometimes. She could see every individual eyelash… She noticed a small birth mark on the side of his neck; something she hadn’t seen before.

“You have a birth mark,” She commented and gently touched it. Emmett brought his hand up to hold hers.

“Kaelyn, I know you want to stay with your mom, but our house is always open to you. We don’t sleep, so you’re more than welcome to come over any time,” He said. Kaelyn smiled at him and took a step closer so she could kiss him. Their lips barely brushed when Emmett pulled away abruptly and looked out the window with a hard expression on his face.

“What is it?” Kaelyn asked, worried.

“The wolves.” Emmett was out the door in a flash, but Kaelyn was hot on his heels. Wolves? Did he mean Paul and the pack?! They went into the living room and saw the rest of the family also there.

“The pack is here. Sam is saying we broke the treaty by turning Kaelyn,” Edward filled them in by reading the wolves’ minds. Emmett growled, but Kaelyn was able to calm him down by holding his hand.

“I need to talk to them. Paul must be so upset…”

“No, you’re still a new vampire. It could be dangerous; we still don’t know how you’ll react in these kinds of situations—“

“Emmett, I didn’t kill my mom or those campers when I first woke up. I think I can talk to my best friend,” Kaelyn said and made her way to the door. The Cullens backed her up.

“We aren’t letting you go out there alone,” Alice piped up. Kaelyn nodded and they all walked outside together. Sam stood in his human form in their yard. The pack was behind him all in their wolf forms.

“It’s true then. Kaelyn is no longer human,” Sam snapped. Carlisle stepped forward to speak to him.

“Yes, we made the decision to transform her—“

“You know what this means, Cullen. You’ve broken our treaty; the peace has been disrupted,” Sam supplied.

“Stop! Please just listen!” Kaelyn exclaimed. Emmett tried to grab her hand, but she easily evaded it. Paul couldn’t just sit there anymore. He went behind a tree and shifted back and went to face them.

“Kaelyn, why would you do this?” He asked, the betrayal clear on his face. Kaelyn’s dead heart throbbed in her chest. She walked over to him and stood directly in front of him.

“I was dying, Paul. You know that. We cried together because of it. But there was a way to save me, and I took it.”

“They killed you!” Paul sneered; his eyes traveling to glare at Emmett. Kaelyn slowly reached up and touched his face. All the wolves stepped closer, tense that a vampire was touching a pack mate. Kaelyn looked at all of them sadly.

“Paul, I would have died either way. Emmett came to me and gave me the option. He didn’t force this on me; he gave me multiple chances to change my mind. I chose this. I’m still me; I haven’t changed. I’m just colder and won’t age,” She tried to joke. Paul snorted and met her eyes again.

“I can’t hear your heart anymore, and your fingers are freezing.” Paul’s voice was barely a whisper. Kaelyn dropped her hands from his face.

“I wanted to call you when I was in Seattle,” Kaelyn started again.

“I did too…”

“But I couldn’t because I would have cried the entire time. I didn’t want to leave Emmett, but I hated the thought of leaving you too, Paul. You’re my best friend and one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. When Emmett told me there was a way for me to stay, I thought about you. About seeing you again,” Her voice caught in her throat. She couldn’t cry, but she sure felt like she was about to.

“Dammit, Kaelyn,” Paul ground out and pulled her into a tight hug. He held his emotions at bay and just tried to enjoy being in her presence again. She was cold and smelled sickly sweet, but… it was still her. Paul buried his face in her blonde hair.

“Alright, you can let go of her any day now,” Emmett growled. He trusted Kaelyn, but he didn’t like watching some other guy paw all over her. Paul pulled back and smiled down at her. She returned it with one of her own.

“Sam, maybe we could sit down together and talk things through. A lot of the details could make things get a little complicated with the treaty. Kaelyn wasn’t turned in Forks so this is a gray area. You’re welcome to come into our home so we can figure it all out; all of you are welcome,” Carlisle said, extending the invitation.

Sam had watched the scene between Kaelyn and Paul with critical eyes, but he was open to talking with the Cullens. He didn’t want to send his boys into a pointless battle. Sam looked back at the pack and nodded to them. One by one they all left and began to shift back.

“This is wonderful! I’ll start cooking you boys some lunch. I’m sure you’re hungry,” Esme said as she disappeared back into the house. Emmett on the other hand, walked over to Paul and Kaelyn. Kaelyn smiled at him when he reached them.

“Now I can formally introduce you two. Paul, please meet my boyfriend, Emmett. Emmett, this is my best friend, Paul.” The men were tense, but they would be civil for Kaelyn’s sake.

“‘Bout damn time, Cullen. I was getting tired of hearing her complain about you.”

“Paul!” Kaelyn smacked his arm. Paul winced, and Kaelyn immediately apologized.

“I’m so sorry! I’m still getting used to all this,” Kaelyn was horrified that it was that easy for her to hurt him. Paul laughed it off.

“I guess I better be careful with what I say around you,” He joked. Emmett chuckled, and Kaelyn knew in that moment that things were going to be okay.