Arrested By You
by SparklingFae
A/N: All Characters are property of SM, I just like to play with them. A huge Thanks to my Beta NCChris, she makes everything I do all better.
Bella POV
With a startled gasp, I rose and spun around, not recognizing his voice right away. He spoke in an acidic abrasive tone, making it more than clear that he was anything but pleased to see that I had returned.
"Leech lover. Haven't destroyed enough lives yet? Came back for more, did you?"
I couldn’t really see him in the almost pitch black night, but I could tell from his tone that he was smirking as he threw out his abusive barbs; my blood boiled at his prejudiced and unfair perception of me.
“I am not that person anymore, Paul," I hissed angrily and took a step off of the porch toward him.
He stepped out of the shadows, the faint moonlight illuminating him, making his bronze skin have a slightly otherworldly quality. I could tell he had not aged much, but his eyes showed a more than simply anger or irritation, there was suffering and barely healed pain in the coal black depths. His eyes showed his age and the hardships of the life he’d been thrust into by his supernatural birthright. Angry though I was, I felt a flash of pity for the man in front of me, quickly extinguished by his abrasive barking tone, however.
"Why are you here, Isabella?"
I took a steadying breath and reminded myself that I had stood up to him in the past and I was an even stronger woman now than I had been then. I let my anger at his treatment of me both past and present fuel my response.
“Sam asked me to stay with him! I came home because of Charlie, not that it’s any of your fucking concern, Paul Lahote. Why are you here? Did you just come to insult me? Surely you have better things to do with your time!”
He glared and ran his fingers through his hair while staring at me with open hostility.
"Leave. Go back to Forks; we don't want you here, Swan."
His words were like knives, tearing at my fragile emotional state after the difficult week. I had worked so hard to get over everything that happened, but all it took was Paul Lahote and I could feel that pitiful broken girl rising up inside me again. I refused to become that weak person because of a bully who knew nothing of what I had been through. My voice was hard with a strength that I wasn’t feeling and I prayed that he wouldn’t be able to tell.
"I am not leaving until my business here is finished. I need to be here and I don’t give a Goddamn about whether you want me here or not! You’ve always been a bully, Lahote, but I’m not the same weak little girl I used to be. I won’t be bullied out of doing what I need to do, not by you or anyone else!"
He made a sound somewhere between a growl and a snort and took a step closer, causing me to take a step back instinctively. He was most definitely intimidating in appearance no matter how brave a front I wanted to put on.
He smirked when he saw my apprehension, the asshole. This time when he spoke it was in a low almost conversational tone, deadly calm, but icy.
"You have no idea what kind of hell he’s been through, what we all went through. You turn everything you touch to shit. All you do is use people and then you run. He doesn’t need that shit."
His voice rose toward the end, belaying his anger. Taking a deep breath, I saw as he visibly calmed himself. When he spoke again, his voice changed to something more like regret or maybe old and barely healed pain.
"We lost the glue that held us together and there wasn't a fucking thing we could do about it. Sam was shattered; every one of us felt her loss. It took us two years to begin even healing. Did you know that he was so bad off that he could barely talk to any of us? I doubt you fucking did. He just shut down. We thought he was going to just follow her…" He trailed off and turned his gaze on me as he continued, "I won't have you come and destroy what little is left of Sam Uley."
My voice caught in my throat as it closed with emotion, tears threatened to fill my eyes and it was then that I knew I was going to do as he asked; I was going to go back to Charlie's. I started down the steps of the porch, whispering. "Please, take me to my dad's. I can't hurt anyone else."
My voice trembled and I could feel tears threatening to escape my eyes. I hated that I was showing weakness in front of the one man who had always hated me without reason, but I couldn’t help it.
He looked at me, obviously annoyed, before muttering, "Fine, just fucking leave Sam alone, got it?"
I nodded and followed him towards his house. I had to save what little sanity I had left. I did not want to hurt anyone any further than I had and I couldn’t handle another heartache of my own either. This seemed to be the best way to handle it.
We had barely gotten out of Sam's yard when I heard a snarl and felt Sam coming; the tears really started as I felt not only my pain at leaving but his panic and upset over what he was feeling from me. Paul whirled around, apprehension flitting across his face before he squared his shoulders and was plowed into by Sam. Snarls and growls were ricocheting through the forest as Sam let loose and slammed his fist into Paul's jaw. The force of the hit caused Paul to stumble backwards as an audible crack sounded.
I screamed involuntarily only to have it fall on deaf ears as these two men traded jabs and punches. Both of them were rolling in the dirt, trying to get the upper hand. I was obviously useless to break it up and I didn't know what the hell to do. Punch after punch was thrown, the snarls became more and more vicious as they tore at one another. I could see the blood flying through the air, a fact which was causing my stomach to churn.
I heard Paul swear loudly after hearing another loud crack that was no doubt another bone breaking. I knew that Sam was pissed because Paul had meddled in what was between us but this had to stop!
"ENOUGH!" a voice thundered into the stillness of the night, heavy with authority. It caused both Paul and Sam to stop immediately, but they still snarled occasionally at one another. Two hot arms encircled my body and I gasped as a very familiar voice murmured in my ear, causing Sam to growl and shrug his shoulders when I looked at him warily.
"Bells, damn I missed you."
His words were followed up by a Jake-sized hug that included him swinging me around energetically before I managed to squeak out, "Jesus, Jake! You’re going to make me sick!"
He just laughed before turning serious as he glared at Paul and Sam who were eyeing each other with angrily still.
"Fuck you, Baby Alpha! She shouldn't be here," Paul sneered while ignoring the irritated snarl and growl from Sam.
"Shut the fuck up, Paul. You don't know the fucking situation," Sam shouted, his body trembling.
I’d had enough and marched over to Sam, placing a comforting hand on his chest, effectively stopping his shaking. I ignored Paul altogether for the moment.
"Sam, I think we need to talk." Turning to look at Jake, I spoke again, “Jake, I’ll talk to you soon, okay? Tell Leah thanks again for today at the hospital.”
Sam looked down at me, sadness and worry filling his expressive gaze. I could tell he was afraid of what I wanted to talk to him about; I tried to reassure him.
"Come on, let's go inside, please?" My voice shook slightly, close to my breaking point after the emotional day and the late hour.
Together we walked silently back to his house; he was the first one to speak as we entered the little home.
"I could feel you, your pain and resolve. It terrified me."
I was stunned by his admission and wrapped my arms around his waist, tilting my head up to look at him.
"Sam, I can feel you, too. When you came into the hospital and when you came after Paul, I could feel you. What is that? What does it mean?"
He seemed to be at a loss for words as we walked into the living room, settling down together on the couch.
"I don't know Bella. I really don't. I asked Billy if he knew anything and he said he would look into it. The only thing I do know is that this is not an imprint, but it feels just as strong as one, maybe stronger."
His arms found their way around me as he spoke. It was comforting to know that he was at a loss just as much as I was, that he was as confused about this as I was.
There was more that we had to talk about though and I wasn't sure how to approach the subject or if I even wanted to after everything that had happened today.
With a deep inhaled breath, I took his hand in mine and spoke so quietly, if he was not of the supernatural sorts, he would not have heard me. "Tell me about what happened…after Emily died."
He stilled the gentle soothing circles that his thumb was making against my stomach and got a faraway look in his eyes. I thought he wasn’t going to open up to me, but after a few minutes he finally spoke.
"It was really bad; I won't lie to you. I was devastated and the whole pack was having a hard time. I started drinking and didn't stop. It didn't matter what time of day it was or anything. I drank to try and dull the pain. Paul took it the worst out of the rest of the Pack. Emily had been like a mother and sister to him. He had let her in, something he rarely does for anyone. If he hadn’t had Rachel, I don't think Paul would be alive today."
I waited for him to elaborate, my hands clasped in his as I listened quietly, giving him time to gather his thoughts, to tell the story in his own time.
"Paul lost it nearly as bad as I did when Emily died. He went after some red-headed leech that was lurking around on the Rez in those days by himself. He became obsessed with taking her out. She damn near killed him before the rest of the Pack got there and took her out."
My blood ran cold as I heard this and I whispered, "Victoria? The Cullens killed her mate. I think, well, she was probably after me, Sam. A mate for a mate, she wouldn’t have known that Edward was through with me by then."
He squeezed my fingers gently, hearing the pain in my voice as I admitted my involvement and I felt the gratitude that he now felt toward Paul begin to erase some of his lingering ire. I vowed to make amends somehow with Paul. I had to; he had nearly given his life to save mine, even if he didn’t know it and probably wouldn’t be happy about it if he ever found out.
He paused and turned to me, meeting my eyes. Whatever he was about to say it wasn’t good.
"It got to the point that I wouldn't even leave the bedroom Emily and I had shared. Leah and Jake finally literally dragged me from that room and forced me to begin healing. I have them to thank for being where I am now. They wouldn't put up with my bullshit excuses. I tried every trick I could think of, but Leah knew me far too well. They just kept pushing me until I gave in and listened to what they had to say. It took a few months, but eventually their stubbornness began to pay off. I began dealing with everything that had happened. I got some help. It wasn’t a pretty sight at first. I had DTs so bad I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep because of nightmares, but they stuck beside me every step of the way. Eventually, it got a little easier and I got stable enough to be productive again. Your dad took me under his wing and helped me get on the force as a Forks police officer."
I had not known that, but I couldn't say I was shocked; Charlie always strived to help the underdog, it seemed and Dad had a long relationship with the Council and he and Billy had been best friends since grade school. Sam continued to speak, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Charlie saw how devastated I was after losing Emily and after Jake and Leah stepped in and got me sober, he pushed me harder than anyone had ever done before to make something of myself. He essentially became the father that my own had never been. He gave me the confidence to try again and showed me that I could get past losing a loved one and live again. I suppose he sort of compared my experience to the one he had with Renee on a smaller scale, of course."
I had known loss, but what I had with Edward was nothing compared to what he’d been through with Emily. I was rocked by his admissions and all I wanted to do now was to give him as much comfort as I could. I moved my arms and wrapped them around his neck, murmuring quietly, "You are a strong man to have gone through that and come out standing, Sam. I’m so proud of you."
He rested his face in the crook of my neck and breathed in deeply. I could tell that it had been hard for him to talk about that time in his life. There was more that we needed to talk about, but I wasn’t going anywhere. To hell with Paul Lahote or anyone else who thought I was going to hurt Sam. I had never willingly hurt anyone and I wouldn’t let anyone make me second guess myself now. Sam and Dad needed me here and I needed to be here. For whatever reason, Sam and I both were being given a second chance together and we might not yet understand it or the reason for it, but if we faced it together, with honesty and compassion, then we were going to be okay.
After a few moments, he stood, not saying anything, and took my hand, leading me back down the dark hallway to the guest room. It was still dark outside, the moon casting a soft glow on the room as he tucked us both back into the bed. I fell asleep with his arms around me and knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be for the first time in a very long time.
Bella POV
With a startled gasp, I rose and spun around, not recognizing his voice right away. He spoke in an acidic abrasive tone, making it more than clear that he was anything but pleased to see that I had returned.
"Leech lover. Haven't destroyed enough lives yet? Came back for more, did you?"
I couldn’t really see him in the almost pitch black night, but I could tell from his tone that he was smirking as he threw out his abusive barbs; my blood boiled at his prejudiced and unfair perception of me.
“I am not that person anymore, Paul," I hissed angrily and took a step off of the porch toward him.
He stepped out of the shadows, the faint moonlight illuminating him, making his bronze skin have a slightly otherworldly quality. I could tell he had not aged much, but his eyes showed a more than simply anger or irritation, there was suffering and barely healed pain in the coal black depths. His eyes showed his age and the hardships of the life he’d been thrust into by his supernatural birthright. Angry though I was, I felt a flash of pity for the man in front of me, quickly extinguished by his abrasive barking tone, however.
"Why are you here, Isabella?"
I took a steadying breath and reminded myself that I had stood up to him in the past and I was an even stronger woman now than I had been then. I let my anger at his treatment of me both past and present fuel my response.
“Sam asked me to stay with him! I came home because of Charlie, not that it’s any of your fucking concern, Paul Lahote. Why are you here? Did you just come to insult me? Surely you have better things to do with your time!”
He glared and ran his fingers through his hair while staring at me with open hostility.
"Leave. Go back to Forks; we don't want you here, Swan."
His words were like knives, tearing at my fragile emotional state after the difficult week. I had worked so hard to get over everything that happened, but all it took was Paul Lahote and I could feel that pitiful broken girl rising up inside me again. I refused to become that weak person because of a bully who knew nothing of what I had been through. My voice was hard with a strength that I wasn’t feeling and I prayed that he wouldn’t be able to tell.
"I am not leaving until my business here is finished. I need to be here and I don’t give a Goddamn about whether you want me here or not! You’ve always been a bully, Lahote, but I’m not the same weak little girl I used to be. I won’t be bullied out of doing what I need to do, not by you or anyone else!"
He made a sound somewhere between a growl and a snort and took a step closer, causing me to take a step back instinctively. He was most definitely intimidating in appearance no matter how brave a front I wanted to put on.
He smirked when he saw my apprehension, the asshole. This time when he spoke it was in a low almost conversational tone, deadly calm, but icy.
"You have no idea what kind of hell he’s been through, what we all went through. You turn everything you touch to shit. All you do is use people and then you run. He doesn’t need that shit."
His voice rose toward the end, belaying his anger. Taking a deep breath, I saw as he visibly calmed himself. When he spoke again, his voice changed to something more like regret or maybe old and barely healed pain.
"We lost the glue that held us together and there wasn't a fucking thing we could do about it. Sam was shattered; every one of us felt her loss. It took us two years to begin even healing. Did you know that he was so bad off that he could barely talk to any of us? I doubt you fucking did. He just shut down. We thought he was going to just follow her…" He trailed off and turned his gaze on me as he continued, "I won't have you come and destroy what little is left of Sam Uley."
My voice caught in my throat as it closed with emotion, tears threatened to fill my eyes and it was then that I knew I was going to do as he asked; I was going to go back to Charlie's. I started down the steps of the porch, whispering. "Please, take me to my dad's. I can't hurt anyone else."
My voice trembled and I could feel tears threatening to escape my eyes. I hated that I was showing weakness in front of the one man who had always hated me without reason, but I couldn’t help it.
He looked at me, obviously annoyed, before muttering, "Fine, just fucking leave Sam alone, got it?"
I nodded and followed him towards his house. I had to save what little sanity I had left. I did not want to hurt anyone any further than I had and I couldn’t handle another heartache of my own either. This seemed to be the best way to handle it.
We had barely gotten out of Sam's yard when I heard a snarl and felt Sam coming; the tears really started as I felt not only my pain at leaving but his panic and upset over what he was feeling from me. Paul whirled around, apprehension flitting across his face before he squared his shoulders and was plowed into by Sam. Snarls and growls were ricocheting through the forest as Sam let loose and slammed his fist into Paul's jaw. The force of the hit caused Paul to stumble backwards as an audible crack sounded.
I screamed involuntarily only to have it fall on deaf ears as these two men traded jabs and punches. Both of them were rolling in the dirt, trying to get the upper hand. I was obviously useless to break it up and I didn't know what the hell to do. Punch after punch was thrown, the snarls became more and more vicious as they tore at one another. I could see the blood flying through the air, a fact which was causing my stomach to churn.
I heard Paul swear loudly after hearing another loud crack that was no doubt another bone breaking. I knew that Sam was pissed because Paul had meddled in what was between us but this had to stop!
"ENOUGH!" a voice thundered into the stillness of the night, heavy with authority. It caused both Paul and Sam to stop immediately, but they still snarled occasionally at one another. Two hot arms encircled my body and I gasped as a very familiar voice murmured in my ear, causing Sam to growl and shrug his shoulders when I looked at him warily.
"Bells, damn I missed you."
His words were followed up by a Jake-sized hug that included him swinging me around energetically before I managed to squeak out, "Jesus, Jake! You’re going to make me sick!"
He just laughed before turning serious as he glared at Paul and Sam who were eyeing each other with angrily still.
"Fuck you, Baby Alpha! She shouldn't be here," Paul sneered while ignoring the irritated snarl and growl from Sam.
"Shut the fuck up, Paul. You don't know the fucking situation," Sam shouted, his body trembling.
I’d had enough and marched over to Sam, placing a comforting hand on his chest, effectively stopping his shaking. I ignored Paul altogether for the moment.
"Sam, I think we need to talk." Turning to look at Jake, I spoke again, “Jake, I’ll talk to you soon, okay? Tell Leah thanks again for today at the hospital.”
Sam looked down at me, sadness and worry filling his expressive gaze. I could tell he was afraid of what I wanted to talk to him about; I tried to reassure him.
"Come on, let's go inside, please?" My voice shook slightly, close to my breaking point after the emotional day and the late hour.
Together we walked silently back to his house; he was the first one to speak as we entered the little home.
"I could feel you, your pain and resolve. It terrified me."
I was stunned by his admission and wrapped my arms around his waist, tilting my head up to look at him.
"Sam, I can feel you, too. When you came into the hospital and when you came after Paul, I could feel you. What is that? What does it mean?"
He seemed to be at a loss for words as we walked into the living room, settling down together on the couch.
"I don't know Bella. I really don't. I asked Billy if he knew anything and he said he would look into it. The only thing I do know is that this is not an imprint, but it feels just as strong as one, maybe stronger."
His arms found their way around me as he spoke. It was comforting to know that he was at a loss just as much as I was, that he was as confused about this as I was.
There was more that we had to talk about though and I wasn't sure how to approach the subject or if I even wanted to after everything that had happened today.
With a deep inhaled breath, I took his hand in mine and spoke so quietly, if he was not of the supernatural sorts, he would not have heard me. "Tell me about what happened…after Emily died."
He stilled the gentle soothing circles that his thumb was making against my stomach and got a faraway look in his eyes. I thought he wasn’t going to open up to me, but after a few minutes he finally spoke.
"It was really bad; I won't lie to you. I was devastated and the whole pack was having a hard time. I started drinking and didn't stop. It didn't matter what time of day it was or anything. I drank to try and dull the pain. Paul took it the worst out of the rest of the Pack. Emily had been like a mother and sister to him. He had let her in, something he rarely does for anyone. If he hadn’t had Rachel, I don't think Paul would be alive today."
I waited for him to elaborate, my hands clasped in his as I listened quietly, giving him time to gather his thoughts, to tell the story in his own time.
"Paul lost it nearly as bad as I did when Emily died. He went after some red-headed leech that was lurking around on the Rez in those days by himself. He became obsessed with taking her out. She damn near killed him before the rest of the Pack got there and took her out."
My blood ran cold as I heard this and I whispered, "Victoria? The Cullens killed her mate. I think, well, she was probably after me, Sam. A mate for a mate, she wouldn’t have known that Edward was through with me by then."
He squeezed my fingers gently, hearing the pain in my voice as I admitted my involvement and I felt the gratitude that he now felt toward Paul begin to erase some of his lingering ire. I vowed to make amends somehow with Paul. I had to; he had nearly given his life to save mine, even if he didn’t know it and probably wouldn’t be happy about it if he ever found out.
He paused and turned to me, meeting my eyes. Whatever he was about to say it wasn’t good.
"It got to the point that I wouldn't even leave the bedroom Emily and I had shared. Leah and Jake finally literally dragged me from that room and forced me to begin healing. I have them to thank for being where I am now. They wouldn't put up with my bullshit excuses. I tried every trick I could think of, but Leah knew me far too well. They just kept pushing me until I gave in and listened to what they had to say. It took a few months, but eventually their stubbornness began to pay off. I began dealing with everything that had happened. I got some help. It wasn’t a pretty sight at first. I had DTs so bad I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep because of nightmares, but they stuck beside me every step of the way. Eventually, it got a little easier and I got stable enough to be productive again. Your dad took me under his wing and helped me get on the force as a Forks police officer."
I had not known that, but I couldn't say I was shocked; Charlie always strived to help the underdog, it seemed and Dad had a long relationship with the Council and he and Billy had been best friends since grade school. Sam continued to speak, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Charlie saw how devastated I was after losing Emily and after Jake and Leah stepped in and got me sober, he pushed me harder than anyone had ever done before to make something of myself. He essentially became the father that my own had never been. He gave me the confidence to try again and showed me that I could get past losing a loved one and live again. I suppose he sort of compared my experience to the one he had with Renee on a smaller scale, of course."
I had known loss, but what I had with Edward was nothing compared to what he’d been through with Emily. I was rocked by his admissions and all I wanted to do now was to give him as much comfort as I could. I moved my arms and wrapped them around his neck, murmuring quietly, "You are a strong man to have gone through that and come out standing, Sam. I’m so proud of you."
He rested his face in the crook of my neck and breathed in deeply. I could tell that it had been hard for him to talk about that time in his life. There was more that we needed to talk about, but I wasn’t going anywhere. To hell with Paul Lahote or anyone else who thought I was going to hurt Sam. I had never willingly hurt anyone and I wouldn’t let anyone make me second guess myself now. Sam and Dad needed me here and I needed to be here. For whatever reason, Sam and I both were being given a second chance together and we might not yet understand it or the reason for it, but if we faced it together, with honesty and compassion, then we were going to be okay.
After a few moments, he stood, not saying anything, and took my hand, leading me back down the dark hallway to the guest room. It was still dark outside, the moon casting a soft glow on the room as he tucked us both back into the bed. I fell asleep with his arms around me and knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be for the first time in a very long time.