First Blood | Ed. Cullen & B. Swan

Chapter 20

Simon felt beyond horrible. He was exhausted, emotionally drained, and in pain. Since the wedding plans started, he felt like everything was happening non-stop. His torso was slowly healing, and the cracks that ran over his skin had yet to stitch themselves back together. He knew he wasn't exactly 'taking it easy,' but he couldn't stay still for long. He felt restless, yet so tired at the same time.

"When was the last time you 'withdrew'?" Leah asked as she sat down next to him on the edge of the table. She reached forward, sweeping his brown locks away from his face.

He was slouched down over the table as his face remained buried against his arms. He was in the pack house, a place he was surprisingly welcome. With his unique diet and his absence in the treaty, Sam and Jacob had agreed after a heated discussion to let him on the Quileute's land.

He had wandered onto the reservation at some point earlier that day, and when he arrived at the homey cabin, he was greeted by Emily. She had been the only one there, as the others were all out running errands or going on their patrols. While not completely trusting the vampire, Emily had let him inside. It was obvious to her that something was off about him, but she tried her best not to get involved. She had called Sam, asking him to let Leah leave the patrol early.

"It's been a while," He murmured into his arms as he leaned against her brief touch. "It's been hard to do it lately. It's too bright and busy over there, and it's too quiet at my apartment. The fractures don't help much, either."

"Do you want to try it here?" She asked, her gaze briefly flickering toward the door. "The boys will be here in a few minutes, but they might even be able to help. They're actually starting to like you, from what I can tell. They should be able to stay relatively quiet."

Simon nodded his head after a few seconds, allowing Leah to pull him up and lead him into the large living room. She sat down on one of the couches, pulling him down with her.

"Bella mentioned something about you needing to focus on something, so you could try focusing on warmth. All of us wolves run hotter than pretty much everything else, so that shouldn't be too hard for you to hold on to."

Simon laid on his back between her legs, his head resting back against her abdomen. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply to mimic Leah's breaths. He focused on the warmth burning against his back, and he felt his body slowly start to relax.

His consciousness started to slip away, and he vaguely heard the pack come in as his consciousness fully disappeared.

***

As Simon's consciousness began to return, he found himself buried against a burning body. He was still lying against someone's torso. His arms were wrapped loosely around their waist, keeping them close to his body.

The scent was the next thing that registered in his mind. Leah's scent was clean, if not a little florally. This scent was muskier. It was stronger, and it had more of an earthy aroma to it. As his tired mind worked through that information, he suddenly came to the realization that it was no longer Leah that he was cuddling with.

Simon's eyes opened as he sat up. He rubbed at his eyes before his gaze traveled to the body that had sat up after him. His brows furrowed as he saw Paul sitting next to him.

"Where's Lee-lee?" Simon murmured as he stifled a yawn. Surprisingly, he wasn't alarmed by Paul's presence like he supposed he should be.

"She and Sam had a fight. He didn't like the fact that she was so close to you. Leah didn't want to wake you, but Sam wouldn't stop yelling, so she took him outside," Paul spoke up as he watched the brunet vampire take in their surroundings. "You were starting to wake up after she left, so I took her place. She mentioned something about warmth helping you, and my temperature runs the highest."

Simon slowly nodded his head as he took in Paul's words. He stood up, his gaze flickering into the kitchen and then the front door, before he turned back to face the brown-eyed male.

"Where is she now?"

"She's outside with Seth," Paul immediately answered. He rubbed at his neck, a small blush covering his face as he spoke. "She tried to take my place again after the fight, but you wouldn't let go of me, so they all decided to leave us alone until you woke up."

Simon shot him a sheepish smile, realizing that his clingy behavior seemed to have embarrassed the male.

"Sorry," He spoke with a grin, "That was nice, though. Thank you."

He left before Paul could say anything else, appearing on the front porch between Leah and Seth. Seth let out a shriek in surprise as he stumbled away, but Leah had long since grown used to Simon popping up out of seemingly nowhere.

"Thanks, Lee-lee," Simon softly smiled at his friend, "I should probably be heading back now –I didn't actually tell anyone I was leaving, so some of them are probably worried– but I'm just a call or text away. Even if you just need to rant," His eyes flickered back toward the rest of the pack, who were playing soccer in the front yard. The alpha caught his attention, and his gaze hardened as he remembered Paul's words. "Even if it's about a certain someone maybe named S-A-M."

With that, Simon completely disappeared from the reservation.