Memories

Paul looked at me expectantly, I didn't know where to start. I fiddled with my beer until I felt his hand on my arm.

"Start small ok, tell me about your family," he offered and I nodded.

"I guess I can do that," I smiled. "Well, my mom is married to my step dad Phil. He's a minor-league baseball player. He travelled a lot when I was younger, and my mom stayed with me. I knew she missed him and wanted to travel with him, so to make it easier on her I decided to go live with my dad. They split up when I was little, and I hadn't seen him in years. Dad is someone you might know, actually," I chuckled and he looked at me confused.

"His name is Charlie Swan, he is a police chief," I clarified.

Paul's brow creased as he looked thoughtful for a second before a light bulb seem to click. He looked at me with wide eyes.

"You mean Chief Swan from Forks?" he asked.

"Yep, that's my dad" I confirmed with a laugh.

"You mean you lived in Forks for a time? Did we meet? Please say no, it will be mortifying if I knew you then and can't remember meeting you now," he pleaded.

My laughter continued, his face was a picture.

"No, we never met. I went to school in Forks and when I wasn't at school I stayed at home. Dad tried to get me to go out, but I didn't really have any friends. Well, until ...…" I stopped when I realised where I was headed.

Paul saw my hesitation and tried to probe, "Until … what?"

My heart rate increased so I closed my eyes. I could feel myself starting to panic. Paul must have sensed it as he grabbed my hands and told me to breathe and focus on the feeling of my hands in his. I tried to do exactly that. It took some time, but, eventually, I managed to get my breathing under control. When I opened my eyes, I expected to see him looking at me like I was a freak or crazy. Instead, he looked concerned.

"Is that better?" he asked.

I nodded and quickly removed my hands from his and stood up.

"I'm sorry, I've to go!" I rushed out as I made a beeline for the door, but Paul stopped me.

"Hey, hey, hey wait a minute! It's ok, please don't leave," he said.

I was only a few steps away from the door. My back was to him, and his hold on my arm wasn't so strong that I couldn't get away.

"I should go," I whispered again.

Pauk let go of my arm and I instantly missed the contact.

"I understand if you want to go..." he moved in front of me.

Paul started to walk backwards, back into the kitchen with a smirk on his face.

"… But if you stay you will get to taste the best thing in the world," he said cryptically.

I smiled at his attempt to keep me here and I will admit I was tempted. Slowly, I followed him into his kitchen. Paul stood smiling at me in front of his fridge. Curiously, I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Ok, I'll bite, what's the best thing in the world?" I asked.

Paul laughed, as he turned, opened the fridge and picked something up. He turned back around holding a small chocolate cake. I couldn't help my laughter as he held it up like it was made of gold. His mouth set in a smug line and my laughter increased.

"Impressive!"

He placed it down on the table and collected two forks and placed them down on either side of the cake. With a hand, he gestured for me to sit down.

"You want us to eat the full thing?" I asked as I sat down.

Enthusiastically, he nodded with a big smile on his face. In that moment, Paul looked like a huge child. Soon, he picked up his fork and scooped a large bit of cake and happily shovelled it into his mouth. I laughed and picked up my own fork.

"Mmm this is good, did you make it yourself?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, I wish I could say yes. I wanted to impress you with my cooking skills since you made those buns, which were amazing by the way. However, I attempted to bake a cake and it was honestly a complete disaster. I had no idea how I managed to burn it whilst the middle was still uncooked. Luckily, one of the women from my village made me a cake as a leaving present. When I was younger, I was always popping into her house in hopes she had done some baking. She started making something every day since I was there every day. She is one of THE best bakers I know, her cakes are amazing."

I laughed as he took another bite and groaned appreciatively. I took a bite and he looked at me expectantly. I will admit it was good, great even, but I know I can do better.

"Well?" he asked eagerly.

After a brief pause, I nodded, "it's good."

"Just good?" he asked me sounding a little deflated.

With a smile, I nodded as I took another bite. Paul stared at my smiling face as I ate before a smirk started forming on his face.

"Don't tell me you can make one better?" he asked laughing.

I smiled at him knowingly which only made him laugh harder.

"Well, I guess you will have to bake me a cake to prove it."

I shrugged my shoulders at him as he continued to laugh. After we finished the cake, we sat talking about everything and anything from our jobs to things we liked to do and more. It's been a long time since I've just chatted with someone. I thought I would be too awkward and it would be filled with a lot of silences, but he made it so easy. After a while, I looked at the clock and sighed.

"I should really get going," I said as I stood up.

"Why?" he asked as he followed me back towards the front door.

"Well, it's almost midnight," I chuckled.

Paul looked at his watch and laughed, "Oh! Yeah, it is."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he must have changed his mind.

"I had a good night," I said, "thanks for inviting me."

I was sure I was red as my cheeks heated up as I stood awkwardly, I didn't know what else to say. Paul must have noticed as he took a step closer.

"Thanks for coming," he said.

His face was inches from mine, and images of his sweat-covered body from earlier filled my mind. I looked down at his lips for a moment and that's all the encouragement he needed. Paul crashed his lips onto mine and pushed up against the wall. Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. I felt his tongue asking for entrance, and I opened my mouth eagerly and succumb to the intensity of his kiss.

Paul's hands roamed over my body and I lost myself to the feeling. This boy knew how to kiss, and I didn't want it to end. Eventually, he pulled back and rested his forehead on mine. I groaned at the loss of contact and he smirked. We both struggled to catch our breath.

"As much as I want this to continue, I promised you we were just gonna talk," he chuckled.

My head tilted back as I laughed.

"Yeah, you did," I said as he stepped back releasing me.

A cold rush of air swept past me which helped to clear my head. Paul looked as if he was having a hard time catching his breath, I was no better. Then, I looked down and noticed a large bulge in his pants. A part of me was very pleased with his reaction but another was feeling nervous.

"You should go," he said, and my face fell a little.

"Oh ok," I said deflated.

Slowly, I turned to open the door and he stopped me.

"I only said that, because if you stay for one more minute I will pick you up and carry you up upstairs, and not let you leave until morning!" he explained and my cheeks heated up even more.

Paul turned me around and kissed me one more time before I stepped outside.

"Goodnight Bella, I'll see you in the morning, yeah?" he asked before he watched me walk back home.

When I got to my door I turned and smiled at him, "Goodnight Paul."

Once inside, I leaned against my door and groaned. 'What did I just do?' I thought to myself. After sighing one more time, I rushed upstairs before I changed my mind. A more significant part of me wanted me to run back to his house and let him carry me upstairs. Even though I really wanted to sleep with him another part of me started to panic. I tried not to think about why as I got into bed and tried to sleep.

That night, I dreamed of a tall tanned man writhing above me covered in sweat, moaning as he sends shockwaves of pleasure through me. I moaned and gripped him tight as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down. His face, previously in darkness, came into view. Instead of seeing Paul's face, as I had assumed, Edward's face came down with a smirk.

With a scream, I woke up with a racing heart. My eyes scanned my room expecting to see him. Slowly, my heart started to calm down. With a sigh, I rubbed my hands over my face. My body and mind shook from the image of my ex. I got up and decided to go downstairs. I was making myself a cup of warm milk when there was a sudden knock on my door. My heart went into overdrive once again as I stood frozen to the spot.

Who was knocking on my door at this time of night?

The knock came again, and I almost forgot to breathe.

'Who could it be?' I thought to myself.