-- this is how we'll stand when (paul)

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

Rachel had to admit, being back in La Push in a lot of ways was a pretty nice thing. She had missed the beeches that she had loved so much, had missed her family and friends. The only thing she hadn't missed was the memories of her mother that were stirred from the depths of her brain staying the old house. She loved her family to little pieces, it made her terribly guilty not visiting them. She knew eventually she was going to have to visit Rebecca and her husband, she hadn't visited them since their wedding and probably should soon enough. Tickets to Hawaii granted weren't the least expensive thing in the world but with all the extra jobs she normally worked to keep herself from being completely guilty about staying away from home soon enough she would have enough.

The thought of jobs though caused a sigh to erupt from Rach's lips. She was not only behind in hours for that but was starting to getting behind in classes. She was that student that was always ahead and could more than likely be found with her nose in a textbook or something like that. So she had been good for the most part but was starting to fall behind, not a good thing for her to say the least. Thus, she had dragged out the laptop that she had carried down from Seattle with her. That had been a smart move on her part, if she had left in her room she would have been dead.

Rachel had been typing away on her laptop, working on a paper for the majority of the day. Sitting on the air mattress, leaning back against the wall with knees propped up and a laptop on her knees. A comfortable position that she had gotten used to in the last three years of college and that wasn't going to change. The deep chain of thoughts was interrupted when she swore she heard someone come into the house. Saving the document and placing it on the mattress, she got up wrapping the bathrobe around her slim frame and timidly called out, "Hello?"

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

Paul had gotten back from patrol. Sam had them all doing extra time lately so he had been exhausted. It had been going on since a few weeks prior to Rachel's return. He had not been thinking clearly, especially when she was gone. The whole pack knew that and it was driving everyone crazy. He was sure Jake was going to kill him sooner or later. Once Rachel got back, Paul was always in a better mood and began to gain concentration while on patrol.

He walked into the house knowing she'd probably be doing something stressful. She was working a lot lately and he wanted to see her relax. He attempted to shut the door lightly but when Rachel called out hello, he had known it was not light enough. He smirked and came into the room, running behind her so he could wrap his arms around her from behind. "Hey Rach!" he greeted with high spirits as he pecked her cheek.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

It surprised her to hear the door open. Rachel was pretty sure Billy was at Sue's for the time being and well, she wasn't quite sure where Jake or Paul was. She assumed it was one of them though as her father usually didn't make a quiet entry, though it was one she still noticed. She had gotten in the zone of just hearing her thoughts and keyboard clicking which was an easily disturbed thing. Aggravating but occasionally nice depending on who was walking in their home.

Rach jumped lightly when she felt warm arms wrap around her waist. A smile blossomed on her lips, she knew exactly who it was knowing no one else would greet her like that. "Hi," she spoke almost shyly. She kissed his chin softly, about the highest place she could reach without strain on her neck from him being so tall. And she wasn't even considered short. "How are you?" She asked, her brown orbs looking up at him curiously. What he did was frightening, so she thought, but she couldn't help to respect it at the same time. She knew he was much braver than she was and obviously much stronger, but that did not stop her from worrying over there when he was out in the woods. Even though she was the one that had to be in Seattle, which was scary at times as well.

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

"Perfectly fine!" he said happily. He knew she worried about him, though he didn't like her spending her time worrying. He was fine. He chuckled and released her from his grasp and sat on her bed. "And how are you? Still absolutely gorgeous." he said, laying his back down against the bed. He was still exhausted but he loved talking to her. He layed his head back and it touched something. He turned around and shook his head in disapproval.

"Rach, were you working again?" he asked, already knowing the answer as he saw the laptop sitting there. "You've got to relax! Your classes can wait." he said. The second his head touched the bed, he was beginning to lose himself in a daze. He risked falling asleep every second his eyes were closed. He couldn't help it. He had barely gotten any sleep.

OOC: Sorry..that could be longer :/ I'm a little blaah right now.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

A rosy blush spread across her tanned cheeks at his comment, looking away shyly. Rachel wasn't used to have men call her gorgeous or things near that, she had always been the quiet one that had avoided all sorts of attention. She was glad she could be different around Paul, feel good about herself inside-out. "I'm fine," It was true enough. Being in this house wasn't the most fun of her options but she didn't like driving to and fro from La Push to Seattle and back, so staying in one place for as long as she could manage was her best option. Even if it brought up memories that made her cry herself to sleep at night.

Sitting up besides him, Rach crossed her legs and watched him lay down. A small frown appeared on her lips at the question, but she nodded timidly. "Yeah," she admitted, once again glancing away from him. Though she was aware he was right, she did need to relax more than she did. "I know. You've got to sleep! I can't relax knowing that you aren't sleeping right." She replied, tucking back some of her long hair. She was being honest with them, stress got to her very easy from being prone to react emotionally and well, it just wasn't easy during college regardless.

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

He smiled when she reacted to his words. He loved her unconditionally and always wanted to remind her of that. She deserved it at the very least. Paul rolled his eyes and laughed a little. "I am getting enough sleep to get along. But you need to stop with the work for a little bit! Take a break!" he said while yawning. He didn't want to sleep knowing that she was stressed. She did this to herself quite often. "So maybe I'm not in college, but, I'm sure that you work harder than anyone else at your school. And I'm fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to me while I'm out, so the worrying about me is pointless and only adding to your stress." he continued. A smile appeared on his face as he sat back up and kissed her again.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

"Your yawning says otherwise," Rachel pointed out politely, raising her eyebrows at him lightly. She was being honest, he sounded tired from the way that he was acting. "Besides, I do take breaks. Most days at least," She shrugged lightly. She always tried to give her a little time for herself but some days were more busy and more stressful than others.

"You'd be surprised," she remarked quietly. Rach had seen people working harder than she does, but they were probably taking more difficult courses than she was or something. "Besides, college has a lot more work than high school. So that's part of my stress. How can I not worry about you?" She asked, meeting his eyes as she did so. She just didn't see how she couldn't worry about him. After they kissed she couldn't help but smile at him, it was harder to be stressed knowing he was with her and safe.

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

Rachel was right. Paul was tired, very tired, though he didn't think much of it. He was always tired. That came with the shifter package (as well as eating four meals a day). Being part of Sam's pack really took a toll on him. He hated the restless nights at first, though he grew to tolerate them as his hate for vampires had reached it's peak. He wanted to do what he was doing and believed it was worth every bit of stress. He wanted Rachel to see that. If he wasn't worried about it, he sure didn't want poor Rachel worrying about it.

He continued to try to get her on his train of thought, though he knew her well and understood why she had worried so much. That's one thing he sort of liked, somewhere in the back of his mind. Rachel made him feel important and he always knew someone was thinking about him. Imprinting had made things easier in a way. It could be a pain at times but it made him feel happy at times like this.

Rachel had smiled when he kissed her, something he would die to see again and again. She had a beautiful smile. How could she not? Everything about her was simply beautiful. His mind had shifted from patrol to imprint mode and he couldn't have gotten enough of her while in the room. He just wanted to be close to her and make her feel more relaxed. "I'm a big, strong wolf." he said, chuckling. "I'm not going to get hurt unless your head explodes from overthinking the wrong subjects." he continued while tucking a piece of her long black hair behind her ear.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

Rach watched him as she spoke, seeing his reaction to her words as she did so. She had a tendency to do this to make sure she wasn't saying the wrong words, because she knew when people said the wrong words to her she would end up crying. She was very easy to get into tears with the wrong words but did know how to joke around some, though was not very good at it as she was good at taking things the wrong way, unfortunately. But from what she could tell over anything else Paul looked thoughtful at what she was saying.

"Not to mention warm," she sneaked into the small pause between his warms. Rachel was well aware that he was very warm and would much rather be warm than cold any day, especially it being Washington. Leaning into him was one of the most amazing feels, knowing that he was not only made for her but warm enough to not have to worry about at least being cold in the woods. "That's getting more and more possible," she said, shrugging lightly. It seemed like everyone knew she overworked. As he tucked back part of her hair, her small (in comparison) hands grabbed the same one, squeezing it gently.

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

Paul smiled at her comment. Sometimes, being warm had it's disadvantages for him. Summers were brutal and he would sweat excessively.But, that was being part of the pack and he grew used to it. The advantage of having Rachel comfortable overshadowed any disadvantages by far. He cared more about what Rachel thought than anything else. He offered a soft smile, knowing that Rachel was shy and it was showing.

"You don't need to work that hard. Trust me." he attempted again to get her to relax. It was something he was often trying to do. "I love you , Rach." he continued, chuckling a little as he thought about her. How could someone so responsible and hard-working love him? He never could understand that fact.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

That was true and Rachel was aware of it. She did work too hard but old habits died hard. "You're right, trust me I know, but I don't want to be in college forever. The harder I work the faster it's done and I'm out." Of course after college she was going to have to work hard and find a job, as well as somehow trying to reach her ambition. That would be the more difficult part of the task, though.

"I love you too, Paul," Rach replied almost thoughtlessly at his comment, because it was true. She did. Nothing would ever stop that, though she wasn't sure how he could love someone like her. They were complete opposites. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling herself closer to him and sighed in content. Moments like these made life good.

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

Paul smiled, enjoying hearing that she agreed. At very least, she knew it was a lot of work she was doing. He did understand. He didn't want her stuck in college either, and she knew what she had to do to get to her goal. "At least you're smart enough to know how to get out of there." he said with a chuckle. He did feel slight sympathy for his own behavior and this could be heard in his voice. He wanted to be as helpful as possible and understood that all his nagging her to take a break wasn't doing her much good.

Then she had gotten closer to him, a feeling he could stay frozen with for a lifetime. He loved having her near him. It was assurance that she loved him, and that she wasn't going anywhere. Though he knew that to be a true fact, he needed it renewed once in a while. He pecked her lips and smiled, watching her eyes. They were beautiful and he saw them very often while she wasn't around.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

Rachel was glad that Paul at least was emotional support for the stress that came with college, that was always a good thing to have. Even if it looked like he didn't love the fact that she overworked herself a ridiculous amount almost. "True enough," she said, shrugging softly. She knew (briefly) some people that hardly put any effort and were just managing not to fall behind, that was the exact opposite of how she was.

Being just near him was a relaxing thing for Rach. She pulled herself onto his lap, glad that he was there. She loved his presence more than anything and wasn't sure how she had properly functioned before he had run along and made her life... complete. It was nice though now. "So what did you plan on doing?" She asked, her eyes shut as she breathed him in like a drug.

[PAUL KETWA MERAZ]

"This." Paul answered with a light laugh. It was his solution for everything. He felt much more relaxed next to Rachel, knowing she was okay. He could also feel her tension loosen. This also made him feel much less paranoid. He sat down on her bed again, taking her with him. His arms stayed around her with his chin above her head. She was so fragile, so small. He couldn't imagine what he would do if anything ever happened to her while he was gone. He wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. As if that wouldn't be enough, living alone, without Rachel, wouldn't be possible anyway.

He joked, "I suppose you just planned to do work all night. I'm here to change your plans.". That's one of the reasons he had come, aside from needing to see her. He always had to worry about Jacob being sick of him over. It didn't really bother him, since he really didn't care what Jacob thought, though he always felt a bit out of place while visiting, knowing Jacob hated hearing his constant thoughts about Rachel. "Has Jake been around?" he asked absentmindedly, knowing he hadn't been with Jacob in a few weeks. Their patrol shifts had been separate.

OOC: Just so you know, I'm aware we don't have a Jacob Black yet .. Haha.

[RACHEL ARIANNA BLACK]

That was nice to hear. It was nice being able to just spend time with Paul, and not have to worry about doing anything spectacular. His next comment earned a light chuckle out of Rachel, though it had been correct. She really had planned on just working all night. "I'm fine with that, but think of it this way. It's my last year, Paul. If I work hard now I can relax later, though. I'll have more time." She at least hoped she would, she couldn't be completely sure about it. But she needed a break from all of the work that she was piling on herself, so his little interruption would be appreciated.

The question caught Rachel's attention, breaking the chain of thought going on her head. She hadn't seen her brother much recently, occasionally in and out of the house or sleeping. "Not much, I'm worried about him." She might as well be honest. She avoided the house for... different reasons than he did, but even when she had locked herself up to work on the occasional weekend she didn't see him too much.