disregard // paul lahote

03

MARLEY ALWAYS BELIEVED wedding dress shopping was bound to be a hassle, her beliefs rooting from the time she spent watching Say Yes To The Dress with her mom. But Emily Young was a simple girl, and that brought Marley copious amounts of relief.

Emily and Kim had surprised Marley during her shift at Carver Cafe, and begged Caesar to let her off early- who happily obliged, claiming Marley deserved time off. They drove down to Port Angeles in Sam's truck they had "borrowed" and found the sweetest bridal boutique to search.

Kim and Marley both picked out options for Emily to try while she relaxed and drank champagne- courtesy of the boutique. It took two hours for Emily to try seven dresses on. "I can't wait til Jared proposes," Kim sighs as she poses with a wedding dress held up to her body. "I want to bury myself in cake options and flowers."

Marley helps Emily clip a veil into her low bun, allowing it to drape down her back. Marley steps back and watches her in awe, not able to keep the smile off her face when Emily twirls around.

She stops and brushes the loose hairs behind her ears before a tear falls down her cheek. "I think this is the one," She laughs as tears pour from her eyes. Kim claps her hands in excitement as Marley reaches for a tissue for Emily.

"Congratulations Miss. Young, you're going to be a beautiful bride." The boutique owner states as she leads Emily to the dressing room to change out of the dress. "Marley did you want to come back to my place for dinner? Sam offered to cook tonight." Emily questioned, leaning out past the curtains in her bra.

"Sure," Marley nodded as she cleaned up the mess they had made with the dresses. Kim was reluctant to hang her favorite dress back up, babbling on about her and Jared's future wedding.

----

The girls were careful when removing the garment bag from the truck, sneaking it into the closet of their guest room where Sam wouldn't see it. "What are you guys giggling about?" Embry raised an eyebrow as the girls walked downstairs looking suspicious. Marley shrugged, "We weren't giggling." She lied, causing Kim and Emily to burst out laughing again.

Both Jared and Sam walked up to greet their significant other, Marley unable to keep her eyes off of them. "Gross," Jacob gagged as he pulled Marley into a one-armed hug. "Do you like soccer?"

The answer was no, but Kim begged her and Emily to join in, so the teams would be even. "I'm not much of a soccer player," Marley stated as she kicked her shoes off to join the others on the damp sand.

"Leah, this is Marley." Seth spoke, revealing a tall girl standing behind him. Her face was wide and square, but she was beautiful despite the grimace painted on her face. "Paul's girl," Leah nodded towards Marley. Paul's girl? As in angry looking Paul who she hadn't spoken to?

"I'm sorry?" Marley tilted her head in confusion.

"No Leah," Seth spoke through clenched teeth, pinching his sister's arm. "This is Marley Owens." Leah got the hint and rolled her eyes, before huffing. "Yeah, nice to meet you." She spoke before walking past her.

Seth apologized for his sister's behavior, but Marley already understood- Kim had mentioned Leah while Emily was trying dresses on. Marley felt sorry for Leah, and tried not to take offense to Leah's snippy attitude- which reminded her of Paul.

Jake and Sam were named team captains and were allowed to pick four players each. The first round consisted of Sam picking Emily and everyone rolling their eyes allowing Jacob picked Quil. Sam picked Paul, Seth and Jared while Jake got Kim, Marley and Embry. Kim practically ran the team, with her competitive spark and Jared always let her steal the ball off of him.

Marley rarely touched the ball until Embry passed it to her, she nearly panicked and lost the ball to Seth but she dodged him and aimed to take a shot on Sam who stood in net, but Jared lifted her off the floor and allowed Paul to take the ball from beneath her. "Such cheaters!" She cried out, tossing her head back in laughter as Jared placed her back on her feet.

Paul scored on Embry and ran back to his team cheering as they trampled each other, yelling about their victory. "Better luck next time," Paul murmured in Marley's ear as he knocked shoulders with her. Her heartbeat quickened at the contact but she ignored it and walked over to Kim who punched Jared in the shoulder for sabotaging her team.

Kim grabbed Marley's hand and tugged her away, both girls sticking their tongues out at Jared who threw his hands up and chuckled. "Round two," Embry called out as everyone calmed down and decided to play the same teams again.

Marley decided to put extra effort in this round, but it was hard to play against much taller and much stronger men when she didn't have much expertise in soccer. She saw the opportunity when Jared had the ball, and was momentarily distracted by Kim which gave Marley the chance to steal the ball off of him and run away giggling. Despite being on the same team, Emily blocked Sam so Marley could run by and shoot the ball in between his legs.

Her team erupted in cheers, causing her to grin. She purposely bumped Paul with her shoulder on her way back to her team, catching his gaze. "Better luck next time, I guess." She offered slyly. Peering over her shoulder, she could see a glimpse of a grin tug at his lips.

----

The boys started up another bonfire as the girls walked along the shore, ankle-deep in the water.

"It's such a calm night," Marley murmurs as she watches the still water sparkling with the the moon's light. Emily hummed in agreement, wiggling sand between her toes. "I think they've gotten the fire started up, c'mon." Kim grabbed the girl's hands and pulled them towards the bonfire that radiated both heat and light.

Marley could feel her skin beginning to warm as she finds a seat next to Jacob, who grins and wraps an arm around her. Jacob opens his mouth to say something, but his body is knocked into hers when Paul walks past them and bumps into Jake.

Jake holds his hands up as if to ask 'what the hell?' but Paul just takes a seat on the log across the fire. Jacob keeps quiet and places his arm back around Marley where it was seconds before, and pulled her closer.

Paul never took his eyes off them for the next hour as everyone chattered around the fire, Marley and Jacob quietly discussing childhood stories. "How's Bella, Jake?" Paul spoke abruptly, causing a silence to fall among the group- the only sound being the crackling of the fire.

"I don't know, Paul. Why?" Jake furrowed his brows, confused as to what point Paul was trying to make. "Oh no reason, I forgot she was on her honeymoon with Cullen." He shrugged, sipping from his beer.

Jake tensed up, retracting his arm that was around Marley's torso. "Clearly there's a reason, Paul." Jake sneered. "You never voluntarily bring Bella or the Cullen's up. So what's up? Got something you want to say to me?"

Paul chuckled dryly. "I was just wondering if you were still y'know, in-love with her? Or if you've moved on?" Jacob was now standing, visibly irritated with Paul. "Fuck off, Paul. Don't bring Bella into this, when it's about your inability to admit the imprint is affecting you. Is it bothering you, Paul?" Jacob spat. "Knowing she's not yours?"

"Jake, Paul." Sam warned an authoritative tone, but neither of them listened. "Shut up, Jacob." Paul advised, ready to pounce at any second.

"No, Paul. Why don't you just realize you can't ignore an imprint. You'll just keep pushing her away, and have to watch her with other guys-" Embry was quick to pull Marley to his chest and get her out of the way when Paul leaped over the fire and within seconds, two wolves fought before her eyes.

Marley cried out in fear, and confusion- and about thirty other emotions that passed through her when she realized both Paul and Jake transformed into very large wolves, and no one else seemed to be reacting the same way she was.

"C'mon Marley, I'll take you home." Embry murmured in her ear, gently leading her to his car as her body was taken over by pure shock.