midnight | paul lahote

chapter 4 | meeting Emily

Margery swam to the surface, laughter releasing once she'd caught her breath. She and Paul made their way to shore, where Margery began wringing out her hair. She glanced up to see that the rest of the boys were partially dried off and Embry was holding out her clothes for her. She took the clothes, pulling her hair up into a bun before putting them on since her hair would only drip water all over her clothes.

"We're heading over to Sam and Emily's, you coming?" Quil asked his cousin once she'd redressed herself.

"Uh, yeah, I think I'll head home first, get a change of clothes." She responded, gesturing loosely to the shirt sticking to her sides from the water.

"Take Paul with you, he'll give you directions to my house," Sam said, and it seemed more like an order towards Paul, rather than a suggestion to Margery.

"Okay, I won't take too long. Paul?" she turned to the boy, who looked to be irritated with his friends as if there was some inside joke they were all thinking about that made Paul angry. 

Paul followed Margery back up to her truck, while the rest of the guys walked off into the forest. Margery started the vehicle up, cranking the heat since she'd been cold after getting out of the water.

As she drove, she noticed that the warmth coming from the heater was nothing in comparison to the heat radiating off of Paul. She tried to ignore it, but the more time spent in the vehicle, she felt herself wanting to pull him closer, as much as she attempted to curb those feelings. She imagined an invisible string between them, it was pulling them together. Eventually, Paul put his hand down on the truck's seat, right beside her thigh, and his pinky touching her jeans was enough to soothe the thoughts of wanting him beside her.

She pulled into her Gran's long driveway, coming to a stop near the flowerbed in front of the house. Gran was in her rocking chair on the front step and she gave her granddaughter a look as Margery got out of the truck, damp in her clothes, and with a tanned boy. 

Gran wasn't an idiot, she knew what this boy would soon mean to Margery; she had been the one to prophetize their connection. She also knew that Margery would have seen a vision when they made eye contact, so she was anticipating plenty of questions. "Margery, dear, have you fallen into a puddle?"

Margery laughed as she approached her grandmother, knowing that this was a jest, "no, actually, I went cliff diving. Or is it called cliff jumping?" She then turned to Paul, realizing she should introduce the two. 

"Oh, right, Gran, this is Paul. He's a friend of Quil's. We actually just came here for me to change my clothes, then we're off to Sam and Emily's," she gestured to the boy who now stood beside her, in front of Gran's rocking chair.

"I know of Paul, dear. I treated his father a year ago when he was ill." Gran said, reaching out her hand to shake Paul's.

"I'll just be a second," Margery dipped into the house, going up to her room to change. 

She returned to the front step, now wearing a loose white tank top, another pair of jeans, and had a sweater in her hands. She pulled the sweater around her as she leaned down to kiss Gran on the cheek. "I'll be back before curfew," she promised, smiling.

"Of course, we have a lot to talk about tonight," her Gran responded, shocking Margery for a second before she remembered who she was speaking to. 

"Right, yeah. Well, I love you, and I'll see you soon." With that, Margery flounced down the steps and into the truck, which Paul was leaning against. 

The two got into the truck and Margery began driving again, this time with directions from Paul when needed. His arm leaning across the back of the seat and his fingers grazed her shoulder every time they'd hit a bump. Not that she would admit it, but Margery wasn't avoiding the bumps in the road when she saw them.

They pulled up to a beautiful two-storey house in the middle of the forest. It was secluded, surrounded by nothing but trees and plants. There was one truck parked nearby, an older model almost similar to Margery's.

Margery stared in awe as she parked the truck and got out, and nearly walked into Paul because she was so focused on the scenery around her. Flustered, she apologized to him, but he smirked and said nothing, leading her into the house. 

Inside, they found the group of boys lounging about, either in the kitchen or the living room, which were both visible from the porch due to the open concept of the house. 

A woman came to greet Margery as Paul easily walked into the living room, being met with a chorus of banter from the boys. 

The woman nearly started Margery when she turned as there was a large scar running across the side of her face, looking very much like that of a wolf's claws. Knowing it would be rude to acknowledge the scar, Margery raised a hand to wave, "Hi, I'm Margery. You must be Emily."

"Well, Margery, I like you already. You're much more well-mannered than this lot." Emily graced Margery with a smile as she gestured over her shoulder to the group of boys, who had taken to roughhousing Paul. "Do you like to bake?"

When Margery nods, Emily leads her into the kitchen, where she had ingredients for muffins laid out. The two began conversing easily as they worked together, measuring and mixing the batter. Once the first batch of muffins was in the oven, the two seated themselves on the kitchen counter, talking quietly.

Emily chuckled as Margery licked the spoon they had been using to mix the batter since they were done with it. Margery went to hand over the spoon, and as Emily's fingers brushed against hers, she felt as if she was falling. 

Margery froze, her eyes entirely white and her mouth open, as a vision played in her mind. She could see Emily and Sam, angry and yelling, Emily, with tears in her eyes. She could see Sam coiling back, trying to put distance between them, and then she could see him unable to pull back any further, and he launched forward, his body morphing into a wolf as he brought one of his paws down on Emily, his claws catching on her face. 

Margery came back to reality to see Emily looking concerned, and Paul beside her. "Maybe I should head home." The girl said, looking sheepish.

Emily looked to Paul, who nodded as if she said something to him, but neither of them had spoken. 

Paul pulled her off the counter, helping her out to her truck since she was now weak. She tried not to glance back at the group of boys in the living room, all of them were dead silent as she was guided out the door. Paul insisted on driving, so she climbed into the passenger side and handed him the keys. 

After he had pulled away from Sam and Emily's house, Margery decided to speak. 

"I saw her scar," she said quietly as if she couldn't wrap her head around what she'd seen, "I watched Sam turn into a wolf and hurt her." 

Paul was stunned, he knew his imprint was special, but to touch Emily and see how her scar came to be was something else completely. He wanted to comfort her, console her, but she barely knew him, and it would be too much all at once, so he said instead, "the transformation is painful, and the first few weeks it feels like pins and needles most of the time, and our emotions are hard to control. Our bodies have to get used to change and it's hard. Sam will never be able to forgive himself for what he did, but Emily already had."

"So, you're all dogs? Every one of you?" Margery asked bluntly, pulling a chuckle from Paul.

"Yeah, you could say that. Emily's human, if that helps." He said, noticing the look of pure shock on her face. 

The two were silent the rest of the drive, settling into a comfortable silence as Maggie tried to make sense of what she'd been 

When they got to Gran's house, she was out front, watering a few of the flowers in the flower bed. Margery got out of the truck as soon as it stopped and ran to her grandmother, hugging her around the middle and feeling a few tears roll down her cheeks. Paul stood by the truck, watching the scene in front of him awkwardly.

"Come inside, both of you, we have a long night ahead of us. Paul, help her in, she can barely stand." Gran spoke, and the boy jumped into action, pulling Margery into his side and helping her into the house behind Gran.

He sat her down on the couch in the living room, taking the spot beside her.

Gran came into the room a few minutes later, carrying a tray with a teapot and some teacups. She poured the tea and offered it to both of the teens, saying with a smile, "I have so much to tell you."