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THIS IS ME, OWING YOU ONE
AUGUSTINE WASN'T UPSET WHEN BELLA HADN'T SHOWN UP TO THEIR AFTER SCHOOL STUDY SESSION.
Really, she couldn't be after the text message she received from the girl. Apparently, Bella was still hanging around the reservation with Jacob, but she promised she would help the younger girl when she could.
So, with her biology textbook and notebook in her clutches, she asked Edward to drop her off at the local diner in town. He'd looked at her with soft skepticism, oblivious to the amount of progress she'd made in his absence until he looked at the thoughts she was projecting in her mind.
He had no more questions then, simply dropping her off with a promise of collecting her when she called. Which is how Augustine found herself seated in a booth at the diner, notes sprawled on the table and a plate of fries to her right. The waitress was a nice woman who let her do her work in peace, failing to notice that the girl wasn't actually eating the food; rather, the ravenette was inconspicuously placing the fries into her bag to make it seem like she was eating.
Sure, it didn't help the the waitress just kept bringing more fries, her bag soon drowning in them. And ignoring the fact that she knew her bag would smell like fry grease for days, her strategy seemed to work flawlessly.
Biology was never her favourite subject, because she'd always been more of a chemistry girl when she was just a human in Alaska. Now, she was struggling to identify the parts of a frog and their functions from the dissection she was supposed to do, but didn't given the fact that she was abroad. Her teacher was making her really work for her grade, claiming "travelling is no excuse, Miss Cullen." Yeah, what a dick.
As she was busily scribbling in her notebook, practically memorizing the anatomy of the stupid frog in her textbook, a body slid into the seat across from her. Looking up, she guessed she was too absorbed in her own work to clock in the smell of evergreen that entered the diner.
"Hi."
Shit.
He looked nervous, and it made Augustine lean back in suspicion. "Come to bother me, Lahote?" she asked, watching as he dropped his own backpack into the space beside him.
He dug his hand into his bag, finishing out a few loose papers and slid them her way. "This is me, owing you one."
Taking a peak at the papers, her eyes widened as she grabbed them hastily. Based on the poorly drawn cartoon frog in the margin on the front page and the contents within, she was filled with sudden recognition. "Is this—"
"Bella said you were working on a frog dissection assignment," he responded with a shrug. "Figured it wouldn't be too different from the one I did last year."
Her mouth opened and closed comically, not sure what to say. Paul had just handed over his old assignment, and the questions on the front page alone mimicked the questions she was assigned to complete. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts before she asked, "you know Bella?"
Paul's mouth was pulled into a grin. "Loosely. We talk sometimes."
"Since when do you and Bella talk?" her nose shrivelled up, and although she hated it, she recognized the feeling that bubbled in her chest as jealousy. Gross.
"Since you all left for who-knows-where," he stated, digging through his backpack to pull out a calculator and a notebook of his own. "She's buddies with Jacob, you know."
"Oh, I know," she mumbled, remembering the intense interaction they all had outside of the school earlier. When she saw him grab his pencil and begin punching numbers into his calculator, she lowered the pages in her hand. "What're you doing now?"
Paul paused, tilting his head as a smirk rested on his face. "Working. Bella said you needed a study buddy after she ditched you... practically insisted I come," he replied. "You ask a lot of questions, huh?"
Her lip was curled back. "Yeah, but it's not a leech thing— it's a me thing."
His smirk dropped instantly, and Augustine placed his assignment notes onto the table. "About that," he started, a hand going to scratch the back of his head nervously. Her eyes tracked his every movement. "I'm really sorry, Augustine. And I don't say that a lot, but I am. I just— I don't know," his words were scrambled, and the next part of his sentence sounded like it was being punched out of him, "I missed you— sorta, but don't get a big head over it."
A laugh bubbled out of Augustine, her hands going to cover her mouth as her shoulders shook. He gave her the most deadpan stare ever, throwing his own hands in the air in frustration. "Okay, that was shit, I know— but I'm really trying here!"
Augustine knew Paul was never the type of admit his wrongs, nor apologize for said wrongs, so despite her fit of laughter she couldn't help but see the sincerity in his brown eyes. Her laughing faded, her posture still stiff as a board as she observed him.
"Okay."
She turned her attention back to the assignment in front of her, slyly bringing Paul's work closer to hers so she could copy it. His hands dropped onto the table. "Okay? That's it?"
She groaned. "What do you want me to say, Paul? I don't forgive you, but okay. Take it or leave it."
He watched as she started scribbling in her notebook, eyes darting between her own textbook and the sheets he provided. He watched as her shoulders slumped relaxedly, and to him, that was a major win.
"Okay."
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The silence that overcame the two was short lived when Augustine caught Paul stealing fries from the plate in front of her. She rolled her eyes, her hand slapping his when she caught him for the third time. "Will you stop that!"
His eyes were narrowed, scrutinizing. "Can you even eat them?" he asked, instantly making Augustine roll her eyes.
"No, but it's rude to steal someone else's things," she chided, watching as Paul huffed and returned back to his work. Only, when two minutes rolled by and she heard the tell-tale grumble of his stomach, she pushed the plate closer to him before whispering, "there's more in my bag if you want."
Before Paul could even get the chance to be overjoyed that she was basically offering him food, a clear love language in his eyes, he played back what she said in his mind.
His face scrunched up, evidently confused. "In your bag?"Augustine wordlessly lifted up her pack pack and gave it to Paul. The older boy took it and peered inside; and sure enough, the entire bottom looked like a bottomless pit of french fries. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
The Lahote boy shrugged, taking a fry from her bag and munching on it happily. "Does this mean we have a truce now? An I give you my notes, you give me your food sort of deal?"
Augustine's chin rested on her palm, staring at the boy. "Will you stop calling me a leech if I agree to this truce?" she questioned, lips pursed as she awaited his response.
He put a hand over his chest, where his steadily beating heart resided. "Cross my heart," he declared, tone as serious as ever. "No more leech, bloodsucker, or pale face comments from this guy, swear."
And rather than call him out on the nickname, she let it slide— but just this once. She held out her pinky, looking at him expectantly. "Pinky promise, wolfy?"
His pinky easily intertwined with hers, and both teens couldn't shake the spark of static that flowed through them at the touch. "Pinky promise, Auggie."
Because a truce didn't mean they had to be friends, right?
Right?
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[ wyn's note ]
progress, baby, progress!! when paul takes initiative <3 though, we can't blame august for being apprehensive cause he doesn't have the best track record— but he's definitely gotten his head out of his ass LOL
hope y'all enjoyed the pure fluff. more to come (hopefully)!
all love xx