Scars • Paul Lahote

one

Ava stared at the person in the mirror, she was irrecognisable. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, her cheeks looked too hollow and her collarbones stuck out in weird ways. It wasn't that she was trying to starve herself, the idea of food made her feel sick to her stomach.

Joy stood above her, dancing around with a curling wand in her hand. She was overly excited and Ava hoped some of that excitement would rub off on her. 

She still didn't understand why she was invited to Edward and Bella's wedding. Sure, they had been friends for a while but that didn't end well. Maybe Joy lied, maybe she was just a plus one.

It didn't matter, Joy would've dragged her there anyway. She sighed and smiled up to her crazy Aunt. She needed to start acting like she was okay. Maybe if she pretended, she would actually start forgetting about him. But it was hard to forget about him in La Push, that's why she had left in the first place.

"Now, what dress did you decide?" Joy asked as she curled the last piece of hair. Ava pointed towards where the red dress hung, Joy smiled widely, "Good choice, we leave in 20?" Ava nodded and thanked her Aunt as she left. 

She leaned forward to examine her face in the mirror then decided that she definitely needed some form of makeup. After applying what she thought was necessary, the small girl got dressed and headed towards the kitchen.

"Do I have to wear a tie?" Ava heard Quil say from in the kitchen. When she turned the corner, she laughed at the scene in front of her. Joy was basically choking Quil with his tie.

"You're impossible!" Joy playfully yelled at her son. Her eyes shone brightly at the sound of Ava's laughter, the first of the kind she had heard in months.

"My lady." Quil bowed before her and offered his hand. She high-fived it instead and headed towards the front door, "You were supposed to take it!" Quil yelled out to her.

"We're cousins Quil and you're gross!" She yelled back.

When they arrived at the Cullens house, quite a lot of cars were parked out the front. Ava's stomach flipped at the idea of Paul being inside. He doesn't like the Cullens though, she thought to herself and laughed at the idea of Paul trying to tolerate a Cullen.

The older vampire Carlisle greeted them at the front door and lead the way to where the reception was being held. It was a truly beautiful sight and Ava hurried behind Joy to her seat.

She felt a tap on her arm and flinched. As she turned she came face to face with a very excited Seth.

"Ava! I missed you so much!" He hugged her tightly. Ava could have cried in that moment, she had missed Seth too. She had missed all of them, one of them in particular. 

"What's been happening?" She asked. He paused to think about his answer, "You don't need to censor anything Seth, just tell me." He smiled sympathetically.

"If I'm being honest, it's been really bad. Paul won't talk to any of us. He won't even look at any of us. He doesn't do his shifts or anything, he just goes on runs and punches stuff." Ava frowned and looked up as the music started. They both stopped talking as they saw Bella walking down the aisle.

X

If Ava could say that she enjoyed the wedding, she would. The whole vibe of it was too much. They were so in love it physically hurt her.

As she stepped onto the front porch, Ava felt as though she could breathe again. She cleared her head and stared at the stars above her. The silent hum of music could be heard from the backyard but it was soothing.

She sat on the top step and kept looking up at the stars, trying to clear her head. A silent footstep broke her from her thoughts. Her heart sunk in her chest.

"Is that really you?" He asked from where he stood. Even across the driveway seemed too close to her, "I forgot how beautiful you were in person, you cut your hair? God, you look so perfect." He rambled on about nothing as he took silent steps closer to the porch.

"Stop." She finally said. She stood and turned to walk back into the house.

"Ava please, please let me explain myself." 

"You don't need to explain yourself, Paul! How dare you come and try to talk to me, how dare you even look at me! It makes me feel sick even being around you!" Small tears fell from her eyes but she willed herself to not turn around.

"Baby please!" He begged again. She felt her heart shatter just like it had, again and again.

As she turned to give him one final look, she saw Jared and Embry standing behind him. She nodded to them and slowly stepped up the last step.

"Please," She whispered, "Just, don't talk to me." And that was all she could say before she walked inside, away from the man who broke her heart.

"Ava! Ava no, don't do this! Ava please!" He yelled after her but it was no use, he had broken her heart for the final time.