sparks fly~ paul lahote

ⅹⅰ. sam's cult

Diana swallowed as she heard another painful howl in the distance. She hated herself for being so selfish as to allow him to ruin himself. She hated him for being so rude as to physically force her to make eye contact with him. She didn't want this, she didn't want him.

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to truly regret it. Looking into Paul's eyes was like being human again. It brought a fire to her heart, one that warmed her aching bones and limbs. One that made her smile and want to smile more.

Life wouldn't be lonely anymore, she had a family now, even if everyone else hated her, his love, or even just his friendship, would suffice. All she wanted now, all she needed, was a chance.

She sighed dreamily up at her bedroom ceiling and rolled over to her stomach to gaze out the window. The trees swayed hauntingly slowly, moaning and bowing. Which, as beautiful as it was, brought on the harsh reality of her situation.

Paul was human, and as much as she'd like to deny it, Diana craved for his blood. One wrong move and she could kill him. One wrong move and he could hate her if he didn't already.

The girl sighed, now upset. She couldn't remember feeling so scared about harming Christopher. She couldn't even remember the blood lust being an issue with him. So, why Paul? What about Paul made her mouth water and her heartache? What about him made her anger bubble up?

She didn't know. And she definitely couldn't stress over it. He wouldn't be gone long, at least, that's what she had hoped. She would see him and talk to him soon enough.

Hopefully.

⎿✶⏋

A few days later, Diana sat squished between Bella and Jacob as the trio drove along the La Push cliffs. They were headed back to Jacob's after their visit to the dump, where Jacob had acted like a 3-year-old would when visiting a toy store.

Now, Jacob studied a grease- blackened, motorcycle crankshaft, "We got lucky at the dump. You know how much a new crankshaft goes for?"

"Sure, I spend all my free time on crankshaft-dot-com," Bella joked.

"I think that's a porn site..." Jacob muttered, causing Diana to laugh out loud.

"These bikes are gonna be rolling soon. Where should we ride first?" Jacob asked, scrambling to change the topic.

"Someplace sunny," Bella said, causing Diana to smile. She loved the sun and, thanks to her gift, she was able to enjoy it, feel its warmth, see its light.

"Like there's any place sunny around here," Jacob laughed.

Bella was quiet for a moment, then she mumbled, "...yeah." Her mood had deflated.

Jacob, however, brings an easy smile to the rescue, "So, we'll find our sunny spot, right?"

Bella smiles, grateful. Then she looks out the window towards the cliffs, Diana had been watching for a while already.

There was a group of guys roughhousing on the ledge of the cliff. They were shirtless, with cut-off shorts. Bella asked the question, which Diana already knew the answer to.

"Isn't that... Sam Uley?"

Jacob's expression turned sour, "And his cult." Diana choked on a laugh and Jacob glared at her.

Suddenly, two of the guys threw, what looked like, a struggling Jared over the cliff. Bella slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the truck, Jacob and Diana followed behind.

"Oh my god! We have to stop them!" Bella shrieked. She clearly had no idea what cliff diving was. She started to run toward them, but Diana and Jacob's laughter stopped her.

"They're not really fighting, Bella. They're cliff diving." Jacob explains.

"What, on purpose?" Bella asked incredulously.

"Scary as hell, but a total rush."

Then, one of the guys took a running start, and Diana realized it was Paul. She growled lowly, as Paul flung himself into the air, twisting and somersaulting down. She was mesmerized by him... and she hated it.

"Most of us jump from lower down," Jacob added. Diana noticed how carefully he watched Bella like he was studying something so rare he might not see it again.

Bella's tone changed almost immediately, "Think I could?" She asked, still watching the divers.

"Man, first motorcycles, now cliff diving?" Jacob asked, shaking his head at her.

"You said it was a rush," She recalled. Diana shook her head at him and elbowed him hard in the ribs, "Ow! Diana!"

Bella looked back at Jacob, ignoring the elbowing. Jacob sighed, "Maybe on a warmer day. And not from the top, We'll leave the showing off to Sam and his disciples."

Diana looked at him from the corner of her sight, "You don't like them," she noted.

"They think they run this place, acting all badass, calling themselves 'protectors'," Jacob seethed, as he shook his head at the divers.

"What are they protecting?" Diana asked, she knew what they were, but what needed protecting? Bella seemed to have faded into her own thoughts, again.

"The tribe, the land, their right to be jerks. Embry used to call them hall monitors and steroids; now look at him." Jacob sighs, nodding toward the fourth guy. Diana could tell it hurt Jacob to see him.

"That's Embry?" Bella chimes in, "I didn't recognize him. What happened to him?"

"He missed some school- then, out of nowhere, he's following Sam around. Same thing happened with Paul," Diana perked up at the sound of his name, "-and Jared. They weren't even friends. And now? Sam owns them."

There was a beat of silence, the trio watched as Embry jumped and dove into the crashing waves.

"Sam keeps giving me this look like he's waiting for me or something; it's kinda freaking me out," Jacob sighed, shuddering.

"Maybe you should just avoid them," Bella said. Diana bit her tongue. She knew he couldn't avoid the transformation forever, it was strange that it was taking him so long already. Diana could understand why Sam had seemed to be impatiently waiting.

"I try, but..." the boy trailed off and Bella saw how unnerved he seemed.

She hugged him reassuringly, Diana had moved over a bit, to give them space. She didn't love that Bella seemed to be stringing Jacob along, she also didn't love that Jacob actually thought his foot was in the door, but she didn't want to stand in the way of whatever normalcy they needed from each other.

"Hey. If it gets worse, we'll go to my dad. Or, you can come stay with us." Bella said, pulling away from him.

"Thanks," Jacob sighed. He waited a beat, then noticed he still had an arm around Bella, "If this is how you're going to react, I'll freak out more often."

Bella noticed how close they still were and pulled away, playfully shoving the flirtatious young Quileute. The trio made their way back to the truck, Diana noticed Bella looking back towards the cliff. She turned and saw Sam staring at them, she nodded respectfully and got back in the truck with her friends.