A/N: I'm British so I truly have no idea how learning to drive works in the USA. I've googled and found a 16 year old can get a learner's permit in the state of Washington and then after 6 months can get a full license with restrictions. I'm sorry if I've got it wrong or misunderstood what I've found online.
I don't own anything you recognise, only Olivia and my own story lines.
~°*°~
6th September, 2002
Today is my 16th Birthday. The last few weeks have been great. I spent a lot of time on the reservation with the twins, and I've seen Paul at the beach a few times too. We've exchanged smiles, but still haven't actually spoken to each other.
I sigh and climb out of bed before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day before heading downstairs. Dad is in the kitchen reading the paper and drinking coffee - His usual morning routine.
"Happy Birthday Livvy!" He says, looking up as I walk in.
"Thanks Dad." I say with a snile before grabbing a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice and joining him at the table to eat.
He hands me a card and a small box. I open the card and then the box, finding a car key inside.
"Dad?"
"I thought since you said you wanted to get your learner's permit we could go down to get it. The key is for your birthday gift. It's parked in the driveway." He tells me.
I squeal a little and run outside, finding a used ford focus in black out there.
"Dad, this is amazing, thank you!" I say, giving him a hug.
"You're welcome." He replies gruffly, patting my back.
~°*°~
Later that afternoon I'm back at First Beach with Becca and Rachel. We're sat talking and having fun. It isn't long before Paul and his friends put in an appearance, taking their place a little way from us. It is a little while later when the twins hand me a small wrapped gift.
"Happy Birthday!" Rachel says, smiling.
"Sweet 16!" Rebecca exclaims.
"Thanks!" I say, hugging them both. "You didn't need to get me anything."
"Of course we did." Rachel replies, nudging me to open the small parcel.
I unwrap it to finding a gorgeous braided leather necklace with beads intertwined.
"I love it!" I say, putting the necklace on and hugging the twins.
We spend more time enjoying the sun and eating the food we brought with us. I glance over and catch Paul looking at me. I give him a smile and he gives me a small smile in return.
A return my attention back to the twins and they pull out a small birthday cake. We cut pieces for ourselves and a few minutes later I hear someone clearing their throat to get our attention. We all look up and see Paul standing there.
"Errr... hi." I stutter.
"Hi." He replies with a smirk. "I just wanted to say Happy Birthday." He says.
"Thanks." I reply, smiling wide. "Want some cake?"
"Sure." He replies. We cut him a slice and he eats it quickly.
"That was great." He says. "I better get back."
"See you soon." I say.
"Hope so." He replies cockily with a wink before walking off.
I turn to the twins with wide eyes.
"Did that really happen?" I ask. They nod.
"That really happened." Rebecca says. Rachel nods in agreement.
"Just be careful if you go there. He can be a hot head, though it's not surprising given all he's been through." Rachel says.
"I will. I'm just drawn to him. It's hard to explain." I say. "What happened to him?"
"It's not really our place to say." Rebecca says to me.
I hum my acceptance, hoping that one day I will get closer to the enigma that is Paul Lahote.
~°*°~
6th March 2003
My sophomore year is passing by fast. It's been nearly 7 months since I moved to Forks to live with my Dad, and I can honestly say it's the best decision I ever made.
I've made two close friends at school - Brooke and Faye. We have become a close knit trio and often hang out outside of school, going to the movies or the diner, or just simply hanging around at each others houses.
I still spend time with the twins, especially since their dad is best friends with my dad. We haven't been able to go to the beach much over the winter because of the weather, so I haven't seen Paul much. The couple of times I did see him, he had a black eye or bruises on his face. Rachel and Becca told me that he starts fights a lot, which is why he regularly has bruises on him. I'm not so sure. I get the feeling there is more to it, but since we're not exactly friends I know there isn't much that I can do.
I've not heard anything from Renee or Bella. I have tried to contact them several times, but they have never answered or returned any of my calls. Not even on my birthday or at Christmas. Bella speaks to Dad regularly, but never asks about me. I can tell it upsets Dad that she doesn't ask about me, or speak to me. I tell Dad it doesn't matter, but I am hurt by it. I'm not surprised in the slightest, but it hurts nonetheless.
Today Dad is taking me to get my driver's license since I've met the requirements now. I'm looking forward to being able to drive myself to school and not have to rely on Dad to take me places to meet my friends. It also means I can go to the beach whenever I want to. Along with it being the place I usually see Paul, I find the beach calming. It is soothing to sit and watch the waves crash in the shore.
Later that afternoon, after we have been to get my license, I drive my car down to First Beach. I find a driftwood log and sit down, watching the waves and thinking how much I love this place.
~°*°~
Paul's POV
I sigh as I wash my dishes from breakfast. I'm 16 years old and living by myself has been my life for the last year and a half.
I guess I should start at the beginning.
My name is Paul Lahote. I was 16 in January. My parents (and I use that word loosely) were Abby and David Lahote.
And they are both still alive. I just don't think of them as parents any more.
I was born in Tacoma, and things were reasonably normal until I was 8. David discovered Abby had been cheating on him for 3 years. All hell broke loose, and the next thing I know, I'm being uprooted to move to La Push with David, the Indian reservation he is from, and where Gran still lived.
We moved into a small house, about 10 minutes walk from where Gran lived. Gran is David's mom. I asked when Mom was coming to live with us, to be told that she was never going to come, and she didn't want anything to do with either of us. A piece of my soul shattered that day. My own mother wanted nothing more to do with me. Gran said it was nothing I had done wrong, that Abby was selfish in wanting to move on with the man she had been seeing behind David's back for 3 years without any memories.
Including her own son.
It didn't take long for David to start drinking, and when he did, he would take out his hurt on me. I soon came to believe that if I told anyone I would be taken away from Gran - the one person who I felt actually loved and wanted me around.
I couldn't give that up.
I was a young boy, craving love from a parental figure, and that's what Gran gave me.
David usually kept the beatings so the bruises wouldn't be seen, however one day he was so enraged when I accidentally spilled a drink that he gave me a black eye. In my desperation not to be taken away from Gran, I decided to pick a fight with anyone and everyone, so that everyone would assume the bruises were from fighting and not because David was beating me. Gran saw through it, of course. She pleaded with me so many times to move in with her and to stop picking fights, but the fights helped with the anger issues I had building. Anger at Abby for leaving and not wanting me. Anger at David for taking his hurt out on me. Anger at the world that would let this happen.
I was also scared. Scared that if I moved in with Gran that David that he would hurt the one person in the world who actually cared about me.
And I couldn't let that happen.
It wasn't long after my 14th birthday that Gran sat me down when I went to visit her. She told me that she had been diagnosed with cancer and there was nothing that could be done. She was dying.
That made the anger even worse. The world was a cruel place that would actually take away the one person I had left who cared, who loved me. I stormed out of her house and went to pick a fight.
It took me a few days to calm down and go back to Gran's house. Once I was there she explained that she didn't want to leave me but she had no choice. She did, however, have plans that would make sure I was taken care of.
She said that I should get emancipated from Abby and David. I could take care of myself. When David wasn't beating me he was getting drunk or sleeping it off, so I'd been looking after myself for years.
Gran had savings. And a life insurance policy that would pay a good sum when she died. She had made a will so that everything came to me when she died, including her house, so I would always have somewhere to live.
She helped me through the emancipation process and it was granted easily. Anyone could see I was better off without Abby and David and they didn't even care enough to object. Once it was granted David left La Push. I was relieved.
I moved in with Gran and a couple of months later she left me too. That made the anger worse. Yes I had my own house, and more than enough money to support myself for a long time, but it didn't detract from the fact she had left me too.
I carried on picking fights whenever I could. I needed an outlet, and that seemed as good as any.
Despite being emancipated the tribal council kept an eye on me. They tried to make it so I wasn't aware, but food would appear on my porch, a lasagne here, a casserole there. I wasn't a good cook so I was grateful not to have to eat another frozen pizza. I never knew who left the food though. It was as though they knew I wouldn't be happy at being watched over, but wanted to make sure I was okay.
The only light in my life was a girl. I had seen her at the beach many times over the years since I moved to La Push. She was beautiful. After some digging I had discovered she was Chief Swan's oldest daughter Olivia. Her and her sister lived in Phoenix with their Mom, but stayed with the Chief for the month of July every year.
I would catch her looking at me sometimes when we were both at the beach at the same time. And she would catch me looking at her. Smiles were exchanged. I felt drawn to her, but I didn't know why. Whenever I looked at her I would feel calmer than I ever had.
But I knew I would never be good enough for someone like her.
Then last summer arrived, and despite knowing I'm not good enough for her, I felt myself getting excited that she would be in Forks and I would be able to see her. Every day last July I went to the beach with my friends. I would see the Black twins, but she wasn't with them. I was not happy. At all.
I started more fights, the ever present anger getting worse because the one person who brought me calm had also left me. I knew it was irrational. She didn't know how she calmed me. We had never spoken to each other.
I soon found out that her sister had decided she didn't want to stay with their dad this year, and he was made to take them on holiday for 2 weeks instead. With her dad being best friends with Billy Black and Harry Clearwater he had complained to them about how Olivia had not been happy about the decision, and word soon got around.
Mid August had soon come around and we were back at the beach. And there she was! Sat with the Black twins! I caught her eye and smiled a genuine smile, the turmoil inside me calmed.
I soon learned that she had been that unhappy at her Mom and sister for not considering what she wanted, she had asked the Chief if she could move in with him.
I was actually ecstatic for the first time in years. She would be around more, not just one month of the year.
Things carried on as usual. I would get into fights and I would smile when I saw her at the beach.
Only a few weeks after she moved to Forks I saw her at the beach with the Black twins. I saw them give her a gift - a necklace and they also had a small cake. I couldn't help myself - much to my friends surprise I walked over and wished her happy birthday. It was her 16th, so she's just a few months older than me. She gave me a piece of birthday cake which I ate quickly.
The calm from those few minutes of being in her presence actually lasted a week! I didn't pick any fights and felt almost content.
The weeks turned into months. Sophomore year started and the parties began again. One thing I couldn't do, was have sex with anyone. I was no virgin. I had slept with a couple of girls whilst drunk at parties before, but that didn't interest me any more.
When the most popular girl at school came onto me at a party and I turned her down it didn't take long for the rumours to start. Suddenly I was La Push's biggest man whore. I couldn't even bring myself to care. People can think what they want of me.
I've not seen Olivia much over the winter. I usually see her at the beach and obviously that hasn't happened much recently. I'm hoping now it's nearly spring I will start to see her more.
I finish washing my dishes and leave them on the sink to dry. I quickly tidy up my house and settle down to watch a movie.
I decide then and there that I need to do something. Olivia makes me feel calmer, and I'm honestly too much of a selfish bastard to not try and spend more time with her. Barely seeing her but knowing she's so close now has made ne realise that.
Whether she deserves better than me or not, I'm going to get to know her and spend more time with her. My mind is made up. I quickly put on my shoes and jacket, and head down to the beach. I don't know if she will be there but I have to try. I will keep going there until I see her and can ask her on a date or something.
I hit the beach and I see her. She's sitting on a driftwood log watching the waves. I can't help the jolt of happiness that goes through me at seeing her there.
I wander over until I'm a few feet away from her.
"Hey." I call out.
She turns and looks at me, smiling when she recognises me.
"Hey."
"Do you mind if I sit?" I ask, indicating the log.
"Go for it." She replies. I sit down next to her and we both watch the waves for a few minutes.
"You by yourself?" I ask.
"I am." She replies.
"I don't think I've ever seen you here alone." I say. She looks at me and smiles.
"Usually I come to La Push with my Dad when he comes to see Billy and I and up down here with Rach and Becca." She explains. "But I got my driver's license today, so I thought I would drive myself down now that I can and enjoy the calm."
"Congratulations on the license. I can go if you want to be alone." I say, disappointed.
"Don't be silly, you can stay. I didn't intend to make you think I wanted to be on my own. I just love the beach and the calm it brings me." She tells me with a smile.
'I love the beach when you're here because you bring me calm.' I think to myself.
"It is calming." I agree.
We talk for a little while longer, just small talk but it's not forced and we both feel comfortable with the other.
"I better get home. I need to start dinner - Dad is a hopeless cook." Olivia tells me with a small laugh. I can't help but smile in response.
"He's not the only one." I tell her. "I'm hopeless until it's reheating something or making a sandwich."
"Maybe I'll cook for you sometime." She says shyly.
"I'll hold you to that." I say, grinning.
We stand and I walk her to her car - a black Ford Focus. She turns to me as we reach it.
"Can I see you again? Maybe go on a date?" I blurt out. She gives me a wide smile.
"I would like that." She says.
We exchange cell phone numbers and say our goodbyes. She climbs in her car and drives away. I walk home with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face.