The next two weeks were uneventful.
Carlisle, Jasper, Edward, and Bella had returned back to Forks. Edward was still feeling a bit guilty but Bella and Ashley helped him get over it. Most of Bella's injuries were now healed, only leaving her leg in a cast.
The Cullens went to school as usual. Whenever Edward had the chance he pulled Ashley aside to talk about the situation he found out before James happened.
Ashley kept telling him that she didn't want him to tell her parents about the imprinting. God knew how they react, especially her mom, and she wanted a little peace and quiet at least for a little longer.
The Prom was nearing and although it did take a lot of convincing Ashley was going with Paul. Rosalie was not happy, she had been suspecting Ashley involving with 'them' but now that she was going as one of their dates she knew it was becoming something serious with the two.
Alice and Rosalie had taken Ashley out shopping. Alice was always up for dressing up Ashley, given she had a literate degree in fashion, and they at least wanted to pick out her dress because Ashley was going to get ready at Emily's with Kim, who was Jared's girlfriend.
Paul couldn't exactly come to their house to pick her up for several reasons and it'd be easier to go to school from Emily's.
It took the whole day, they skipped school, for Alice to find the perfect dress for her niece. They were at Port Angeles. Ashley liked spending time with her mom and aunt but even she knew how her aunt got when it was shopping and Ashley was hoping Alice didn't drag them across the whole place, making her dress every single outfit.
"You look stunning honey!" Alice exclaimed after several hours when she saw Ashley coming out of the dressing room. Rosalie smiled to herself as she took out her phone and took a photo of her daughter.
After getting Ashley some food they were soon on their way back. "So," Alice said, "Tell us a bit of your date, we ought to know," she continued.
Ashley blushed at the back seat. "Uhm, okay, what do you want to know?"
"Don't be silly Ashley, everything!" Alice responded.
Ashley chuckled. "Oh, okay, uhm, his name is Paul, and we get along really well. He's always so nice to me and treats me like I am some kind of princess, sometimes it really becomes like we're in a romantic movie," Ashley said earning a giggle from her aunt.
"He's not...persuasive, right?" Rosalie asked her daughter, joining the conversation.
Ashley quickly shook her head. "No!" she exclaimed, "He is anything but that, Mom,"
Rosalie could see how happy Ashley became upon talking about him.
It was the first serious boy Ashley was with and even though he was a dog it seemed like he was making her happy. Plus, Ashley didn't know. Didn't know about their kind, the treaty they had with them. As long as Ashley didn't tell them she was a Cullen, she should be fine.
So, for the sake of her daughter's happiness at the time being Rosalie decided not to be strict and supported her daughter.
Ashley pulled in front of Emily's straight after school ended. Her mom and aunt made her promise to send a bunch of photos through the night.
When she exited the car with her stuff Kim and Emily were outside. After hugging Emily and Kim they quickly ate some food. When they were done eating the girls immediately went on to hair and makeup.
Given her aunt, Ashley was pretty good at make-up. So she did Kim's first. When Emily moved on to Kim's hair Ashley did her own.
She didn't want to curl her hair like Kim did, her hair was already naturally curled a bit. So she had Emily's help on making her hair a bun and leaving a bit on the front of her hair loose. Then Kim and Ashley went to the rooms to get dressed.
When they were done and came downstairs Emily was watching them with awe. "You girls look so pretty!" she exclaimed.
The girls chuckled and of course, moved on to taking photos. Emily was gladly taking a bunch of their photos and they didn't even realize their time had passed when there was a knock at the door.
Until then Ashley didn't realize the door was closed. It was usually open. "Oh, I am so looking forward to their faces!" Emily said as she hurried to the door.
First Sam came in, kissing Emily and then turning to the two teenage girls. After him, Paul and Jared came dressed in tuxedos. Both of the wolves' mouths were slammed open upon seeing their dates. Kim and Ashley chuckled at their reaction.
"Huh, I didn't know you guys owned other pairs of clothing than a pair of shorts," Ashley said turning to Kim. All of the girls in the room burst into laughter.
"Well, they clean up nice, when they want to," Emily said, putting her hands on both of the boys' shoulders and giving them a gentle nudge towards their dates. They were still a bit shocked but when the flash exploded to their faces they put on grins and posed for the camera.
"Behave yourselves, boys!" Sam shouted behind them as the two couples went to their cars.
After they got in Paul turned to Ashley. "Wow, oh my god, you look so hot, I, wow," he said and she chuckled.
"You look hot in a tuxedo," she said and Paul grinned. After that, she quickly sent the photos Emily took to her mom and aunt just as she promised she would.
When Ashley parked the car Paul stopped her from going out. "Before we go in, I need to tell you something," Paul said.
She nodded. "Um, before I joined the pack and I met you I was a bit different from who I am now," he said.
Ashley furrowed her brows. "I know you were a hot-head, Emily told me," she said.
Paul softly chuckled. "Yeah, but apart from that, I was kind of a jerk to most girls at my school, and there will be a few of them here. I just don't want you to listen to them if they say something to you. I was stupid back then and I hadn't met you,"
They sat in the car a while without talking. "Okay," Ashley finally said.
Ashley knew that transforming into a wolf and having the instinct to protect his lands couldn't have affected Paul. He had changed and grown up.
And she cared about Paul too much that she didn't care about his past. It was before they met and she knew Paul never hurt her. She leaned forward to lightly kiss Paul on his lips to assure him that she was okay with it.
After they went in Ashley dragged Paul to the line for the photo booth. Luckily the line wasn't long and it was their turn shortly. Paul wrapped his arms around Ashley as the classic pose for these kinds of photos and both smiled at the camera.
After the photo was taken Ashley realized the three girls glaring at her from the line. The girl in the middle was looking at Ashley like she wanted to kill her. She turned to Paul. "That's one of them, right?"
Paul looked at where she was looking and spotted the girl. He bit his lip. "Uh, yeah," he finally said. Ashley nodded and grabbed Paul's hand, dragging him towards Jared and Kim.
The boys left to get some drink and the girls were alone. They chatted for a while until the boys came back. "You girls want some alcohol?" Jared asked them with a chuckle.
"Uhm, not for me, I still need to drive," Ashley said. Kim nodded and Jared took a flask out of his jacket and put some to other three's drinks. It didn't take them long to finish their drinks and when they did a big smile formed on Ashley's face as she heard the song that was being played.
It was a song by Queen. Paul knew Ashley loved the band. He cocked a smile to his date. "I might know the DJ," he said and grabbed Ashley's hand, pulling her to the dance floor.
The song was Love of My Life. Paul put one of his hands on Ashley's waist and the other was holding her hand. Ashley's free hand was on Paul's shoulder and she leaned on his chest.
"This is really nice," she murmured and Paul softly kissed her head.
"Anything for you," he said.
During the night they sang and danced. When the fast songs came on Jared and Kim joined the two of them, they jumped around and screamed the lyrics of the songs at the top of their lungs.
It was pretty fun yet exhausting.
Ashley spotted a few girls glaring at her and Paul through the night but she shrugged it off. She was there to have fun and nothing could stop it.
When it was time to leave Ashley had driven Paul to his house. Normally, it had to be the other way around but none of them cared, almost nothing was how it was supposed to be anyway.
"I had fun," Ashley said. She knew Paul knew that but she still felt like she had to say it out loud.
Paul nodded. "I'm glad you did, despite a few minor incidents," he murmured, talking about the other girls.
Ashley shrugged. "They don't bother me in the slightest,"
Paul looked at her eyes. He was looking so intensely and Ashley couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "What?" she softly asked her boyfriend.
Paul shook his head. "Nothing, it's just, I realized something," he said.
Ashley tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "What?" Ashley asked again as she reached forward and grabbed one of Paul's hands.
"I love you," Paul said slowly.
Ashley froze and reluctantly looked up at Paul. She was shocked. She didn't expect to hear those words from him. " What?" Ashley managed to say. Paul chuckled.
"You, Ashley, I love you, that's what I realized," Paul said, "Lately I found that I'm more than okay doing the things I loathe when you're with me, I love going to sleep and waking up with you being the only thing in my mind, I love the way you blush when I kiss you, I love your cute little snores, I love the way the crunch up your nose when you're laughing too hard, I have deep feelings for you that I can't explain any other way, so, I love you,"
The biggest smile was formed on Ashley's face. Paul leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. It was a soft kiss.
Paul got out of the car and waved Ashley goodbye. She started driving, still in shock. As she thought about the moment she couldn't stop giggling.
Then, guilt took over her. She didn't say it back. She wasn't ready. She knew she cared for Paul and wanted him in her life. But, at least for her, it was still too soon to say those words.
She didn't feel ready. Ashley hoped that Paul could understand that. A little voice inside her head was telling her he could but she still was a little at unease.
The next morning Ashley woke up happily. Despite the aftermath, she had an amazing night with his boyfriend and he told her that he loved her. On top of that, the school was almost over, only a week was left.
After having her breakfast cooked by her grandma the two of them joined the other females in the house. Edward was with Bella like he had always been lately and the others went hunting.
Alice and Rosalie were watching TV, some reality show about a famous family. Ashley was very happy, it was seen. Her eyes were literally shining and she was beaming.
"Someone's in a good mood," Alice said as Esme and Ashley joined them.
Ashley giggled. "Yeah, I am," Ashley replied, not being able to keep her energy inside anymore.
Alice quickly grabbed the remote and decreased the volume. "Does it have anything to do with a certain boy?" Esme chimed in with a smile.
Ashley nodded. Her heart started beating faster as she pictured the moment between her and Paul yesterday night. "He told me he loved me," Ashley exclaimed.
Esme and Alice squealed. "And it was in the sweetest way possible, even though he told me I snored but said that he liked that too," Ashley continued with a huge smile.
Rosalie chuckled. "Well, the snoring part, that's actually true," she said to her daughter. Ashley rolled her eyes but laughed once again.
"You've really gotten him under your spell, haven't you?" Alice asked her niece.
Ashley shrugged. "But I didn't say it back, I kind of feel guilty about that, I felt like I wasn't ready, even though he was," Ashley said, with less energy than the previous moment.
"That's okay, honey," Esme said as she rubbed Ashley's shoulder. "If he loves you, and I believe he does, he won't mind waiting," she continued. Ashley nodded and laid back on the couch.
After a while of watching TV, Rosalie sighed loudly as she turned off the TV. "It's a beautiful day and I don't think we should spend it inside, let's have a girls' day," Rosalie said. All of the other females agreed immediately and they were shortly inside the car.
"And during the drive, Ashley can tell us all about the boy!" Alice squealed with joy as she started driving.
They went to Port Angeles, with Alice being like the rest of her family, they were there way shorter than they should have. But it didn't stop Alice from getting the details out of Ashley like she wanted. Her Aunt Alice knew how to be persuasive.
The group shopped, grabbed some drinks, only Ashley of course, and chatted. Ashley turned bright red at every question about Paul and the others enjoyed seeing Ashley like that. None of them were happy about the boy being one of them, but he made Ashley happy, that was seen crystal clear.
Plus, they were going to leave in a couple of years, and it was only fair that Ashley lived the teenage years like she was supposed to. With having a boyfriend usually, her family didn't approve of. The thought made Rosalie chuckle at her own.
Then she turned to her daughter. She was talking to Alice and Esme about the boy and she was smiling like an idiot. It was really nice to see her daughter like that and Rosalie didn't want to ruin it. It would crash Ashley and Rosalie couldn't do that to her daughter.
When they arrived home, all of the males were already home. They were in the living room. Except for Emmett's, their reactions were unreadable. Emmett's face was like he was about to kill somebody.
"What's going on?" Rosalie interjected.
Carlisle sighed and walked to Ashley. "Before we go into the matter at hand, Ashley, Esme and I have a graduation gift for you,"
Esme walked to his side and hugged him. "We know about your university plans, about what to major in, and we thought that getting to know the job before studying it would be nice for you,"
"I made some calls and we got you a summer internship in an architecture firm in Washington D.C.," Carlise continued.
Ashley looked at her grandparents in shock. "Oh my god! Really? You guys are the best!" Ashley exclaimed and hugged them.
"That's amazing, oh my god, I can't believe this," she shouted and hugged her mom. Rosalie hugged her daughter back.
"Now, back to the matter at hand," Carlisle said and gestured everyone to sit. Ashley looked at her mom for an explanation but she shrugged, hinting that she didn't know either.
After everyone sat down, Edward got up. "I'm sorry Ashy, it's gone for far too long and I had to tell them," Edward said, using his nickname for Ashley. Her heartbeat started getting faster as Rosalie turned to her daughter asking what was Edward going to tell them.
"She knows," Emmett growled, "About the Quileute's,"
" What?" Rosalie exclaimed.
"Edward!" Ashley exclaimed at the same time. Edward shrugged in response.
"Ashley, you promised us to not dig into it!" Rosalie said. Ashley closed her eyes for a second before opening it again to gather it again.
"And I didn't, he told me himself, I didn't dig into it," Ashley said remembering the moment he transformed in front of her to show to Edward as proof.
"Unfortunately, that's not it," Edward said and he picked up a book from the stand. It was a blue book. It looked familiar. "This is a copy of the Quileute Legends I got from Bella, it tells us all about their kind," he said and gave it to Rosalie. "You might want to read on the 'imprinting' part Rosalie,"
Rosalie grabbed the book with her brows furrowed and started to read it fastly. She gasped loudly as she read about the part Edward told her to read. Then she looked at her daughter.
"Mom, I'm so sorry, please don't be mad," Ashley said.
Rosalie bit her lip. "Ashley, go to your room honey, please," Rosalie said, as calm as she could at the moment.
Ashley listened and quickly went to her room. As soon as she stepped inside her room the yellings had started. They were mainly Edward and her parents.
Emmett was furious about the imprinting, the claim the 'dog' thought he had a claim on her daughter. Rosalie was furious about her mate, not seeing the way their daughter was, happy. She didn't particularly like the idea either but as a mother, Ashley's happiness and safety were her first priority.
However, overall, both of them were furious about Edward not telling them as soon as he found out about it.
When the fighting was over Rosalie came into her daughter's room with a knock. "Hey sweety, can we talk?"
Ashley nodded but she was worried. Her mother had defended her but it didn't mean she would get a private scolding.
"I don't know if they told you about this but when we were here, before, and we came across them and we made a deal. We told them that we were different from the rest of our kind, that we fed on animals rather than humans. In exchange for us not harming any humans and staying off their land, they'd agree to a truce. That's why none of us, except for you, no Cullen could go over to their lands. La Push. That was the reason why we didn't want you going there, we couldn't protect you if you were in their lands, if something was to happen to you. That's why Edward told you not to tell your surname because they know who we are. We just wanted to protect you, they hate us and any excuse would be justifiable for them," Rosalie explained to her daughter. She answered the questions Ashley had on her mind.
"You don't seem mad about the imprinting?" Ashley reluctantly asked her mother.
Rosalie sighed. "I was, at first, I processed it now," she replied.
Ashley furrowed her eyebrows. "Why? You hate them, you were against me even making a project about them in the first place, how do you seem so calm about this, Mom?"
Rosalie softly chuckled. " Because I'm a mom, honey, believe me when I say I don't like them but one of them makes you happy, and seeing you like that makes me happy. I don't know much about imprinting but it's obvious he or none of the other dogs will hurt you based on what I read. Your safety and happiness are all that matters to me and it seems like that boy, Paul, does this for you. I love you so much to ruin that for you, you're my baby,"
Ashley was teared up at that point. "I love you too, Mom," she said as she hugged her mom. "You're really the best mom I could ever ask for,"
Rosalie smiled and started to play with her daughter's hair.
The next week went by fast. As it was the last week, most of the teachers let the classes pass by without doing any proper lessons.
Despite her mom's talks, Emmett was still furious about the whole thing and he wanted Ashley to leave for Washington as soon as possible. He even bought a ticket for the next Monday.
The friend that Carlisle had said that Ashley could start her internship whenever she wanted so that was to Emmett's advantage. Rosalie tried her best to convince Emmett to let their daughter stay but he was adamant.
He thought if Ashley got away long enough, the stupid dog would let go of her daughter. His wife had tried to say that it didn't work that way but Emmett was willing to risk it.
Ashley wasn't too happy about leaving but she was excited about the chance. Since it was the last week and she was leaving soon, her aunt dragged Ashley and her mom on a shopping spree.
It was also an excuse to spend some time with Ashley before she left for two months. They were happy for her yet she was going to be missed terribly.
In the meantime, Ashley hadn't seen Paul since their prom. They had texted and talked on the phone. Ashley didn't tell him about the things that happened with her family and he was too focused anyway.
He admitted to Ashley that, he didn't tell him before but there were some sightings of new cold ones around and Sam had made them patrol even more. It was understandable, given their instinct.
Ashley pretended to be shocked but she knew of James and his coven. Sam was making them work more for a chance of them coming again. Ashley knew that at least one of them was never coming back but the wolves didn't know that.
She hated lying to him. But she couldn't tell him, not now at least. Yes, she was human and that wasn't against their deal but she still didn't know how Paul would take it. The way they talked about her family scared Ashley.
Then Paul offered to meet up on Sunday. He said that he didn't have much time because of the patrols but all he wanted to do was to see her anyway so as long as the short time wouldn't be a problem, he was okay with it. Ashley accepted, given it was the only time she could see him before she left.
Ashley was literally counting the minutes until it was finally the day and time of their meet-up. She had her mom stalling her dad so she could go. Her dad was still unhappy and probably wouldn't let her go see Paul.
As she neared Emily's house a funny feeling emerged in her stomach. She was excited, to see Paul and tell him about her big news. He was probably going to be happy at first but then upon learning that she had to leave he'd be sad.
When she was dived too deep into her thoughts, she had already arrived. As she was getting out Paul came near her like a blur and wrapped his arms around her. He started kissing Ashley's face and made her giggle.
"I missed you so much!" he said and Ashley chuckled.
"I missed you too," she said and planted a kiss on Paul's lips. After they were done greeting each other Ashley grabbed Paul's hands. "Will you walk with me for a bit?"
Of course, Paul didn't decline and they started to walk towards the forest. "Is something wrong?" Paul asked her.
Ashley shook her head. "No! The opposite, actually. I have some big news and I don't know how you'll react,"
"Hm," Paul murmured.
"As a graduation gift, my family got me an internship, in an architecture firm," she said.
"Oh my god, that's amazing Ashley!" Paul said with a grin. He knew her interest in the field and that was such a big opportunity for her.
"Thanks! I know! I'm not even in college, heck, I haven't even graduated from high school but they're letting me, intern, there,"
"Why were you worried about my reaction?" Paul asked his girlfriend.
"Oh," Ashley shrugged, "Uhm, as much great the opportunity is, the firm's in Washington D.C.," she continued.
"Oh," Paul mumbled. "How long will you be gone?"
"I'm leaving tomorrow and probably be back at the beginning of September,"
"Two months?" Paul exclaimed. "What will I do two months without you?"
Ashley tilted her head. "I'm sorry, but it's a huge opportunity and me," she got interrupted by Paul's lips.
He kissed her longingly and lovingly.
"You shouldn't miss that chance, I get it, plus, I'll be here two months later," he said.
Ashley smiled. "Thank you, Paul," she replied and wrapped his arms around his neck, bringing him closer and then kissing him.
Paul wasn't lying when he said what a wolf would do for his imprintee. Their happiness was all that mattered to them and this internship miles away would make Ashley happy. So Paul was happy. He was certainly not going to be an obstacle in her way.
After they said their goodbyes it was time for both of them to leave. The rest of the pack were at the patrol, Paul had asked Sam for a brief break to see her.
Ashley quickly said hi to Emily and informed her about the internship. Emily was happy for her as well. The three chatted for a little bit and then Ashley got into her car. They said goodbye for two months in the woods and she was happy at the turnout.
It wasn't as bad as she thought it would.