LOTTA LOVE ━━ paul lahote¹

xxviii. lotta love

After, when the fight had ended, Carlisle was given permission to cross the border to tend to both her and Jacob. Paul didn't say much about Jacob, just that he'd broken half the bones in his body when pulling a stray newborn away from Quil; he was too focused on the terror of watching Carlisle suck the venom out of Maggie's wrist. There was no guarantee it would work, that in Emily performing CPR to restart Maggie's heart, she hadn't accidentally sent the venom too far into her bloodstream.

The fact she was sitting there now, broken but with a beating heart, was proof enough to Paul that a miracle had occurred. He kissed Maggie again, his breath quickening as he mustered up the nerve to say, "I love you, so much."

"Paul--"

"I should've said it earlier," he continued before she could get a word in. "I'm never making that mistake again. I love you, Maggie. I'll tell you everyday."

Maggie smiled. She pecked his lips and let her body sink into the safety of his arms. She wanted to rest again, and she would soon, but the joy of the moment was so pure, she couldn't bear the thought of ruining it. "I love you, too. I'm glad you came to your senses."

At that, Paul scoffed and rolled his eyes. Maggie laughed, her head leaning against his shoulder, eyes slipping shut. She slept fitfully, but knew she was alive with every warm press of Paul's lips to her temple and whispered I love you. Now that he'd said it, he knew he could never tell her enough.

And when Maggie woke again, the whole house had filled up. It was morning, the sun high and bright. Paul was no longer at her side, though he wasn't far as he fought Jared for one of the last muffins Emily had made. It was the Young woman's living room that Maggie was in. In her tired state the night before, she hadn't noticed. Now, she sat up slowly and observed the routine movements of a morning with the pack. The house had a few extra people than normal -- Billy and Uncle Everett, Sue and old Quil -- but the air was alive with familiarity.

Mae was sitting next to her, foot anxiously tapping against the ground. She smiled tightly when she noticed Maggie watching her.

"Good to see you're awake," she said, and even her voice sounded forced. "I made Paul promise he'd message me when you woke up, but the shithead forgot. He had me up half the night with worry."

"You sure it wasn't your bruised rib keeping you up?" Maggie quirked an eyebrow at her. Mae smiled sheepishly. She still seemed... off, but some of the colour had returned to her cheeks. There was the Maeve Cooper that Maggie knew and loved. "Yeah, I heard about that. Mae..."

"I know," Mae bit out. "It was stupid."

"I was going to say thank you, but that works too."

Mae just shrugged, unusually bashful. "I couldn't just watch you die."

Before Maggie could get the chance to respond, Zeke realised she was awake and threw himself onto her. Maggie pushed against his shoulders, only somewhat amused as her lungs started to ache from the lack of oxygen. She was relieved when he released her, ruffling her hair but letting the air back in. "I did what you asked, I promise. But this idiot--" he gestured to Mae with a fond grin. "--ran back inside before I could stop her."

Maggie nodded and patted his hand. "I believe you."

"I'm just glad you're okay," he murmured then.

Sensing the sudden tension, Mae mumbled an excuse and, with a confusing amount of reluctance, joined Embry and Quil at the table. From what Maggie could hear of their conversation, they were working on a card for Jacob. Written across the top of the paper in crude hand-writing that could only be Paul's were the words GET WELL SOON, ASSHOLE. How charming.

"I get it now," Zeke said, catching Maggie's attention once more. "What you must have felt seeing it happen to mum. I get it."

"Oh, Zeke."

"It's okay," he cut in, not wanting Maggie's sympathy.

He ruffled her hair again, but Maggie saw right through him. There was something heavier in his stare now, a kind of innocence he could never get back. She saw that look every single day, in the mirror; the only difference was that Maggie had defied the odds and come back. Delilah was still stuck in the shadows somewhere, as she always would be, and Maggie feared the moment they'd see each other again. The afterlife was not what Wren had believed, and Delilah and Carson were certainly not together, but maybe that was how it had to be.

Hopefully, Maggie would be old and grey by the time Death came knocking again.

"So," Zeke forcefully cleared his throat. "Has anyone caught you up on the latest gossip, sister of mine?"

"Depends on what you see as gossip," Maggie chuckled at him.

"Well, a certain cousin of ours has imprinted." Maggie let out a gasp. She hadn't been expecting that. Looking at Quil again, she couldn't even tell anything had changed. "We won't get to meet her anytime soon, though. She's over at the Cullens."

Oh. Oh.

Well, that certainly complicated things.

Maggie tried not to think of it, though. Quil with a vampire. Carlisle might've saved her life, but she shuddered at just the thought of being within a ten mile radius of a vampire let alone pursuing a relationship with one. Maybe Quil and this vampire would just stay friends.

"Do I know them?" she asked Zeke.

"Not sure, she was in my grade at school before she moved," he replied. "Does Jia Littlesea ring a bell to you?"

Maggie grimaced. She knew all about Jia Littlesea, Quil's so-called enemy since the sandbox. Right. There was no chance of just a friendship, then.

"Oh, and Seth has a girlfriend now," Zeke said, a cheeky smirk tugging at his lips when the boy in question, who was chatting to Leah on the other couch, overheard and threw a pillow at Zeke's head. Zeke narrowly dodged it, though Maggie wasn't so lucky. Instinctively, Paul turned at just the wrong time and glared at Seth. The younger boy ducked behind Leah with a guilty grin.

"Who is it?" Maggie asked, wriggling her eyebrows at Seth.

"Sadie Swan," Zeke answered before Seth could stop him. Maggie frowned at the familiar surname. Zeke waved a hand at her. "Another long story. She's Bella's cousin, and Seth looooves her--"

"Stop it," Seth scowled, his whole face turning red. He reached for another pillow again but seemed to think better of it. "I don't, she doesn't even like me."

"So enemies to lovers," Maggie teased. "That's how Paul and I started out, Seth. It's only a matter of time--"

"Oh, please," Jared rolled his eyes. He flopped down on the end of the couch, momentarily crushing Maggie's feet before she managed to wrestle them out and kick them over his lap. "You and Paul were not enemies to lovers. He already had a major crush on you--"

"Dude," Paul scowled and smacked the back of his head.

The rest of the pack laughed, and Maggie sunk into the moment, feeling... normal. 

If the moments before death were peace, the times after was pure joy. Surrounded by her friends and family, there was no other place she'd want to be. There would be things to worry over later. Jia and Sadie, and how they would fit into her life, her family -- if they did. How she was going to explain the bite-shaped scar on her wrist to Wren, Vera and Dakota. What would happen when Mae skipped town the next day, telling no one but her parents, not even Embry.

But for that instant of time, with hope for the future, and a whole lotta love in her heart, Maggie Sullivan was more than okay. 

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A/N: I can't believe I'm saying this, but that's a wrap on Lotta Love! Two years of my life, I've dedicated to Maggie's story. I'm both happy and sad that it's finally over. Sure, we have four more books to go in this series, and you'll be seeing plenty of Maggie and Paul living their best lives in their background, but Maggie's story has finally come to a close. Please let me know what you guys thought; I struggled with these final two chapters for a while before posting. For one last time, thank you for reading <3