𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑. paul lahote ✓

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎

┏━━━━⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆☾ ﾟ｡⋆━━━━┓

THE QUILEUTE RESERVATION

"WANNA COME TO MY PLACE AND HANG OUT?"

Augustine's phone nearly slipped from her grasp at Paul's question. "Pardon me?"

The battle against the newborn army had happened almost two weeks ago, and rather than see each other at the creek like they used to, the pair settled on phone calls.

Really, it was usually Paul calling Augustine, the girl glued to her phone these days despite the fact that she always let it ring for ten seconds before answering— she didn't want to seem eager to respond, though anyone could tell she was.

Rosalie, ever the wolf-hating vampire herself, kept her comments to a surprising minimum whenever she saw the smile rise onto the girl's face at the steady ringing. On the bright side, the blonde was just glad that Augustine had since stopped responding to her pen pal (and yeah, she knew about it the entire time), evident from the way that pristine envelopes were piling up on her desk, unopened yet begging to be answered.

"I know you're not the brightest person, Paulie," she started, hoping that the boy could hear the grimace in her tone from the other end of the line, "but there's this thing called the treaty, so I can't."

Paul hummed, pressing on. "Sam says it's fine, and whatever Sam says goes, so..."

A part of Augustine's brain itched to know why she was being exempt from the strict rules of the treaty. Was it because of the nature of her relationship with Paul, or did Paul himself beg Sam to let her come to his home just for shits?

"Oh, uhm—" her words were failing her as she tried to scramble for an answer.

It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She couldn't draw, couldn't play any Mario Kart with Emmett, couldn't even open doors if her good hand was already holding something else. She did try painting with her left hand once, a few days ago, but it only made her hand shake in disuse. Paint had been splattered across the floor, sobs were heaved.

"If you're worried, I can come pick you up?" he offered, sensing her hesitation immediately.

She bit her lip, knowing that deep down she wanted to see him after the last time she had. Really, it was only fair that if he got to see her home, she got to see his. "Okay."

"Okay? You do?" There was a hopeful undertone in his voice before his throat cleared, feigning nonchalance. "No yeah, I'll be there in half an hour."

Paul knew he could make the trip in ten minutes if he really tried, but he didn't want to come off too strong— didn't want to scare her away again.

"Okay, see you then."

⋆☾ ﾟ｡⋆

Paul did make the trip in ten minutes, but opted to wait the extra twenty minutes parked down the street from the girl's home.

Augustine picked up on his scent when he finally drove up the driveway, stalling the truck a few feet away from the main doors. He did, however, stick his head out the window and smiled largely. "Let's get a move on, Auggie!"