drawn to the fire ;; [PAUL]

[leah grace clearwater]

SOMETIMES I FIND IT HARD
• to believe there's someone else who could be •
JUST AS MESSED UP AS ME

It was late at night, so late that most of the inhabitants of Washington were tucked away in their beds sleeping soundly; everyone that was, except for the Quileute wolf pack. Leah had luckily gotten a few hours of sleep before having to report for patrol so it was a bit more bearable but she was still not happy about it. In fact, she found being out there right now completely pointless since they hadn’t seen any vampire action in weeks, but she knew better than to try an defy Sam. As the Alpha, his orders were non-negotiable and had to be followed exactly how he said. It really was a pain in the ass for Leah to have to do everything her ex boyfriend told her to do when it came to pack duties, and she didn’t hesitate to let him know that through her thoughts. But, unfortunately, it didn’t do much of anything since she had no choice but to listen. Still, it was sometimes amusing to bother him like that. Most of the time, however, she kept those thoughts to herself to avoid any conflict within the pack. If they started fighting amongst themselves, then there would certainly be trouble and they wouldn’t be able to perform their duty to protect the humans. The last thing that Leah wanted to do was be the cause of any conflict, but sometimes it was hard to repent her thoughts. Tonight, however, she had done a fairly good job of it in her opinion.

After patrolling around for most of the night, Leah was really beginning to feel exhausted. Those few hours of sleep she’d had before weren’t really enough to sustain her through such a long patrol. She still didn’t understand why such a long one was necessary, but if Sam said it was needed than it was. Leah had been hoping to catch at least one vampire, but so far that hadn’t happened and she was finding herself gravely disappointed. The only good thing about having the stupid wolf gene was that she got to rid the world of wreaking bloodsuckers and take her frustrations with life out on them in the process, and when she didn’t get the chance too it was always disappointing. It was how she felt when she had been attacked by a newborn during last month’s battle and was starting to handle it before Jacob butt in and got himself hurt. She still felt bad about that, but didn’t dwell on it because she was just told to “give it a rest” every time she tried to bring it up. She hadn’t actually really gotten a chance to thank Jacob for helping her, or at least not outside of their thought communication, and made a mental note to do that next time she saw him outside patrol. Knowing him he’d probably wave it off, but at least she was going to attempt to be grateful.

Now that patrol was over, Leah was grateful to be going home and looking forward to collapsing into her bed and not moving for most of the day. Her mother had grown accustomed to her and Seth’s messed up sleep patterns which was good, so she never disturbed them. It was nice that their mother knew about the secret so they didn’t have to feel guilty sneaking around behind her back like some of the other pack members, because Leah knew that if her mother was in that situation she’d be worrying more than she needed too. But of course, she did still worry that one of them wouldn’t come home even though they always did. It was typical though, considering how unexpected Harry’s death had been. She would be in bed by now, but Leah was already planning to make her mother and Seth a nice breakfast in the morning and as she ran through the forest, she thought about the smile that would be on the older woman’s face when she saw the food. As she neared home, Leah quickly phased, then pulled on her clothes and continued on foot.

TAGGED ! PAUL
WORDS ! 684
OUTFIT ! CLICK
LYRICS ! sometimes by skillet
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! N/A

[paul anthony richards]

Paul had just finished patrol. He was running through the woods, easily dodging any trees that seemed to pop up. The muddy earth squished beneath his paws, but Paul grew accustomed to the feeling. In some weird way, he may even consider it to be comforting. The smell of the musky woods and wet earth was familiar and made him feel more at home than he had most of his life. Paul still couldn't believe that it had been almost three years ago that he first phased into a wolf. It was just a regular morning and he got pissed because his breakfast was cold, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground and staring at a broken table. Paul felt the panic sinking into him through every piece of his now wolf body. He didn't know what the hell happened; he felt like a trapped animal. He was a trapped animal. Paul was just about to lose it, so ready to tear apart his own house, when he heard a slightly familiar voice. Sam, and then Jared. They calmed him down and explained what was going on. It didn't make things better, but it made it a hell of a lot less worse.

Being a wolf wasn't all so bad. Sure the fleas sucked sometimes, and he didn't like having to get up so early for patrol, but it was all worth it in the end as long as he got to take down some bloodsuckers. Truthfully, the worse part about being in the pack was the connection they shared when in their wolf form. They could search through each other's minds; nothing was private, their were no secrets kept. Paul didn't have really any dark secrets, but there certainly was stuff he didn't want to be shared with the guys. Of course, that wasn't an option. But it went both ways with the mind reading. The others heard his thoughts, sure, but he heard all of their thoughts. The most annoying thoughts he had to listen to were of the guys that imprinted, and Jacob. Sam had his Emily, Jared had his Kim, and Quil had his Claire. And Jacob was constantly fussing over Bella. Still, it was the same old drama with all of them. Sam felt tremendous guilt about what he did to Emily, how he left that ugly red scar on her pretty face. And Quil was constantly worrying about how Claire was, whether or not she was safe and happy. And Jared, God, Jared didn't know how to keep his thoughts PG. It annoyed Paul to have to deal with all of their thoughts, but mainly because he might just be jealous. He wanted to find his imprintee, to know what that love felt like. It sounded way to mushy and gushy for Paul, but it wasn't like he was saying it out loud...

Trying to shake off all of the thoughts of love and imprinting, Paul quickly phased from his gray and furry self back into his human body. He untied the string that held his grey gym shorts around his calf and pulled them on. More than anything else, Paul just wanted to get back to bed. He was tired and could use the extra hours of sleep because currently, he was just running on a case of mountain dew. His sugar rush was dying out, and he was ready to crash. Going home to an empty house never sounded more inviting. As he continued to walk leisurely towards his home, he noticed Leah walking in the other direction. She looked surprisingly pleasant, for Leah, and he wondered why. There were two options standing before him. The first would let him forget Leah and just hurry home to go to sleep, but the other option was to take up this miracle and maybe strike up a conversation with the seemingly happy Leah. He didn't see her looking so friendly most days. With Leah in the pack, things got a little awkward. The whole phasing thing was never a problem until Leah joined and well, Paul couldn't help but look which really pissed her off. He wondered if she would bring that up if he tried and talked to her. Maybe. Still, he felt pretty curious about her pleasant look on her face, so he decided she couldn't kill him if he did talk to her. "Hey Leah," He said after catching up to her. "What's the rush?"

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

TAGGING TAG* !
WORDS 754 !
NOTES EPICNESS xD !
LYRICS BAD REPUTATION BY JOAN JETT !
CREDIT R A W R IT’S E M M A ! OF CAUTION ![/COLOR][/FONT]

[leah grace clearwater]

SOMETIMES I FIND IT HARD
• to believe there's someone else who could be •
JUST AS MESSED UP AS ME

The forest was always so silent and peaceful when it wasn’t full of wild vampires running around, and it made the walk home more enjoyable for Leah. Most people were afraid to walk through forests at night because it was always so dark inside the trees, but she was used to it thanks to all the patrolling. She wasn’t even afraid of anything happening, because she could always just phase and immediately be ready to defend herself if it became necessary. She doubted that it would be since it never was, but the point was that she was still ready for whatever could happen on her way home. Patrolling had left her exhausted which was why she had ran most of the way in wolf form, and as she walked the short distance now remaining in human form, she could feel her eyelids fighting to stay open. One of the worst things about being a shape shifter was the screwed up sleep cycles and the lack of energy the job left you because of those messed up sleep patterns. Luckily, Leah had build herself up to be able to run at high speeds for an extended period of time, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t get tired after an entire night of it. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she would make it up the stairs and to her bed before she lost the battle with her eyelids, which was why she was rushing a bit more than usual. The couch was comfortable, but she preferred her bed.

Leah was determined to get as much sleep as she could when she got home, and hoped that they wouldn’t be called for patrol for a while. Sam was tough and liked to be prepared, but she was sure that he wouldn’t over work the pack. It was plain to see that by the end of the late night they’d had that everyone was exhausted and needed some sleep, and she was sure that Sam would oblige. Despite the fact that he wasn’t supposed to be the Alpha, he was a good leader and Leah didn’t mind having to follow his orders most of the time. Of course, it was hard to be around him all the time when all she wanted to do was distance herself from him, but since that was no longer an option she was doing her best to deal with it. The way of dealing with it was usually to avoid the pack - and Sam- unless seeing them was absolutely necessary and getting away from them as soon as possible after patrol, a method that was so far working well for her. Nobody complained because most of the guys didn’t like her being present anyway, so it was a win-win situation as far as Leah was concerned. The day that one of them actually wanted her around for longer than necessary would be the day that she would start to question their sanity and her method.

As she moved, Leah couldn’t help but think about how things would have been for her and Sam if they lived in a normal world free of supernatural creatures. In all honesty, she figured that they would still be together now, even if he had met Emily, and that thought put a bit of pain in her heart. They had, after all, discussed marriage and then two days later, he was gone. What hurt the most was the fact that it was her cousin that he’d left her for, but she’d more or less gotten over it since imprinting was not something they could control. Thinking about imprinting now, Leah wondered if she would ever experience the feeling like some of the guys had. Some day she probably would, but she knew everyone in La Push and had seen them all more than once, so it obviously wasn’t going to happen while she was stuck there. This thought frustrated her because she had wanted to leave for so long and was almost at the point where she could to go away for school when her wolf gene kicked in and rooted her to the reservation. Now, she had an obligation that had been present since birth, and that killed any plans of leaving that she had. Sighing, she pushed the thought from her mind and continued to walk until she heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned to see Paul standing there, and immediately raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Just trying to get home so I can go to bed, “

[/color] she said, wondering why he cared. “Why? Did you need something?”[/color] she asked, thinking that was the only reason that he could possibly have for willingly talking to her outside patrol.
[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

TAGGED ! PAUL
WORDS ! 797
OUTFIT ! CLICK
LYRICS ! sometimes by skillet
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! N/A

[paul anthony richards]

Paul was still being cautious about Leah's mood. Since they were both werewolves, they were extremely sensitive to sudden mood changes. Leah could be all happy and cheerful to him, but the next minute, PMS could strike and he might be leaving with a shiner and bloodied up. Sure Paul healed easily, like any other shapeshifter, but he wasn't in the mood to have to explain to his parents about what was going on. Then again, he doubted they would even notice. Paul's parents did an excellent job pretending he wasn't there. Part of him couldn't blame him. They gave up so much becoming parents so young, they wanted a chance to live out their dreams, and it was their right. But at the same time, he hated them for abandoning him throughout almost all of his childhood. It was ridiculous how he spent long evenings alone watching TV and eating a bowl of cereal. His parents jobs were so important to him, and he was always second. Being second to a job is definitely not something a twelve year old wants to be. Paul, more than anything else, just craves attention. He wants it from his parents, or maybe even his peers. People called him vain, but he was just trying to make up for the emptiness that awaited him at home.

Maybe that was why he was still dragging out the conversation with Leah. It was certainly possible he risked his life talking to her because he just didn't want to go back home. His house was so big, but so empty. Sometimes it was eerie. It was ridiculous for him to be talking like he was…well, scared, because Paul was a beat, literally. He could tear anything to shreds whether they be hard as stone or just a fleshy human. Still, Paul continued his distraction and shrugged, "Nah, just wondering why you were rushing off so fast. Can't kill me for being curious." He hoped she knew he was being serious. After all, she couldn't be angry at him for just wondering…right? Paul flinched slightly, as if waiting for a bad reaction. "Anyways…" He stretched the word and scratched the back of his head. He never really tried to talk to Leah much before, besides the time they argued in their head while they were wolves. Mainly it was over the fact Paul was sneaking glances at her, and she didn't appreciate it very much. Paul couldn't blame her though. It was an invasion of privacy, but never really considered a problem until Leah joined the pack. It was just guys before her. Actually, Leah phasing was a shock to everyone. Paul wondered if that was what caused Harry Clearwater's heart attack, although he would never wonder that aloud if Leah was even a ten mile radius nearby.

It was weird how Paul was acting, like a schoolboy talking to his first crush. Paul never got nervous around girls because Paul was, well, Paul. He did what he wanted and acted as he pleased. What anyone else thought wasn't a concern to him. But now, now he was worried that he was making a fool of himself in front of Leah. He wasn't sure why that this bothered him so much, but it did. After all, him and Leah together was just about as likely as him hooking up with the blonde bloodsucker. Leah and Paul just were not a good fit because they were so much alike. They were both a little thick-skulled and moody. They didn't take to criticism, and quickly stuck up for themselves. Another contributing factor to what made Leah off limits was that she was still in love with Sam--or so Paul thought. When their minds were all connected, he could find some pretty dark thoughts of Leah's, but that was only if he dug deep enough, and he never really did. Or he tried not to. Paul didn't have too many secrets, but the ones he kept were certainly ones he didn't want to get out. Leah knew his secrets, but he was sure she wouldn't spill them. After all, their weren't really many people who would be interested in the fact that Paul secretly liked chick flicks, or that he was still a virgin. Paul glanced at Leah and finished the rest of his thought, "Uh, what's up?" It felt odd asking her such a casual and friendly question, but he might as well give it a shot. Maybe they could team up and antagonize Jacob. She seemed to like giving him grief as well.

TAGGING TAG* !
WORDS 775 !
NOTES Animal by Neon Trees pretty much inspired me through this post, haha !
LYRICS BAD REPUTATION BY JOAN JETT !
CREDIT R A W R IT’S E M M A ! OF CAUTION ![/COLOR][/FONT][/size]

[leah grace clearwater]

SOMETIMES I FIND IT HARD
• to believe there's someone else who could be •
JUST AS MESSED UP AS ME

The fact that she was talking to Paul was still a bit surprising to Leah since the two of them never actually did that outside of patrol. In fact, to be completely honest, the only person that she really talked to outside of patrol was Seth and that’s because he’s her brother. She used to talk to Jacob all the time, but that was before their huge fight and the whole phasing into wolves thing. Now, she was more just the type to show up to patrol, communicate through thoughts about things that had to do with their duty to hunt and protect and that was all. She didn’t go out of her way to spend time with any of them outside of that job, and if she’d had her way she wouldn’t have even joined the pack at all. In fact, she would have probably worked alone to try and bring down the vampires, or at least worked to control it enough to stop phasing all together. The problem was that anyone born into the Quileute tribe bearing the gene always formed a pack and worked together, and it would take a long time for any of them to gain enough control to stop phasing. Leah had actually tried to stop, but every time she was called for patrol her progress was ruined and she would phase again. It was really quite irritating to have no control over the stupid gene, and she would be glad for the day when she’d be able to stop it.

Leah’s life was complicated enough without the addition of the whole wolf thing and the burden of having to keep it a secret from most people. It was difficult to keep up a normal façade when she could walk around in tank tops and cut-offs even in the coldest weather and be perfectly fine, so she usually tried to appear normal by wearing sweaters and jeans sometimes too. It made her even warmer, but it was a necessary thing in order to keep the werewolf thing a secret. People already complained about giant wolves in the woods, and the last thing anyone wanted was for the pack to be hunted and killed while out on patrol one night. ”Fair enough,”

[/color] she responded, still wondering why Paul cared why she was rushing home. Paul really didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself, and he had a bad temper so it was strange seeing him so calm. Leah’s personal opinion was that he must have been feeling off that particular day, but she knew better than to mention that to him. His temper was like hers and tended to surface at unexpected and unpredictable moments, and that was something she wanted to avoid at the moment. “So...”[/color] she said awkwardly in response to him. If he didn’t need something, then why the hell was he still standing there trying to talk to her? It made no sense at all.

She wondered if maybe he was trying to sneak another peek at her and had followed her when she’d gone to phase and was now trying to cover it up, but she doubted it. She doubted it because Paul never apologized for anything; he just did what he pleased and was basically shameless. Every time she’d caught him staring at her after a phase, he’d never try to pass it off or cover it up the way the other guys did. In a way, it was a bit pointless for them to try and pass it off since she never believed them anyway and she was somewhat glad that Paul didn’t try. This, however, was one of the reasons that she wished she wasn’t the only female in the pack. It did, however, give her a confidence boost because sneaking peeks at her meant that the guys found her worth looking at. In truth, most of them were worth looking at too, but she tried to avoid actually doing it as much as possible – especially since her little brother and younger boys were part of the pack as well. She was taken aback by him asking her such a casual question, and didn’t bother to try and hide her surprise. “Uh, well. Nothing I guess,”[/color] she responded somewhat awkwardly. “What about you? Aren’t you in a hurry to get home to your bed?”[/color] she asked, figuring it was best not to be rude and walk away from him.
[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

TAGGED ! PAUL
WORDS ! 746
OUTFIT ! CLICK
LYRICS ! sometimes by skillet
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! N/A

[paul anthony richards]

As he waited for Leah's response, Paul sort of wondered why he was still there trying to force small talk amongst them. Leah and Paul had a few awkward conversations before, but they had always been brief and usually bloodsucker related. Trying to socialize now didn't seem to have a point, but Paul was always up to challenges, and befriending Leah certainly would be one. Despite the fact they were all connected to the pack, not all of them were close. Paul didn't mind that because technically, none of them were truly related, disregarding Embry's odd case, but they still called each other brothers. Some secretly resented having the wolf gene in them, but Paul just wasn't one of those guys--or girl. Paul was happy the day he phased because he felt suddenly meaningful. His parents did a good job all of his life on subconsciously pushing him behind, so the opportunity to be stand out and be apart of a family was never an option to him. Now that he had that, he was thrilled. Taking down bloodsuckers was just a bonus to the wolf life. The only downside of it all was the fact he had to replace clothes pretty often since his temper was pretty nasty and he phased more than most of the guys--and Leah--in the pack.

In fact, keeping the secret wasn't even a bother to him. Unlike Embry, who got grounded for sneaking out repeatedly, Paul's parents didn't give two shits about where he was or what he was doing. Before, that just pissed him off, but now it was a blessing. So since his parents didn't need to be informed that their son was a part time werewolf, Paul's only worries were about outsiders finding out. Out in public, a lot of people--typically girls--stared at his shirtless body and gym shorts, he went barefoot and always looked grumpy even if he really wasn't. To most people, he'd just seem like a freak on some sort of reservation drug, but Paul didn't mind if that's what they wanted to believe. It was the people invading the woods that really tended to piss him off. When they started bringing their guns and took wild shots at them, he was furious. He they were trying to protect those ungrateful humans from bloodsuckers, and they try to kill them. None of the guys got hurt, but it was irritating having to check your backside to make sure you weren't being trailed by a leech or a human with a loaded rifle. Paul couldn't help but smirk slightly at Leah's response and the way she said that simple word. "What? Am I making the great Leah Clearwater nervous?"" He asked with a big grin slapped on his face. Just the thought of making Leah feel uncomfortable was pretty humorous since she came off as the fearless girl.

Paul tried to shake off those heavy feelings of becoming a school boy again, those were days he didn't want to relive. Besides the naps, the naps were good. Either way, he took more confidence in Leah's awkward reply; it was better than he ignoring him all together, right? "Don't sound so sure," Paul smirked, before folding his arms across his bare chest. It might actually be fun to try and make Leah blush, of course that wasn't the original intent of Paul's, but a little detour never hurt. Of course, if Paul tried to play it too cool, Leah would hurt him. He wasn't up for a fight, much less a fight with Leah. Nah, he'd rather just make small talk and get her blood flowing. Ew. Did he just sound like a bloodsucker talking? Anyways… Paul just wanted to finish the day with some small talk and maybe stirring Leah, just a little. It was nice to see her so off guard, and not tense. If Leah acted like this all the time, he might just like her for real. Paul shrugged, "It can wait; I'm having too much fun now."

TAGGING TAG* !
WORDS 683 !
NOTES Animal by Neon Trees pretty much inspired me through this post, haha !
LYRICS BAD REPUTATION BY JOAN JETT !
CREDIT R A W R IT’S E M M A ! OF CAUTION ![/COLOR][/FONT][/size]