Howl • Paul Lahote

• 0.7 •

Sam and Emily sat at the table across from Paul and Ava. The pair of couples had decided to go out on a double-date to one of the small Italian restaurants in Forks for Sam's birthday. It was wet and rainy outside but in the small room, it was humid. The boys had actual clothes on and everyone felt fancy, more importantly, they all felt like they could talk about things other than the pack.

"So Ava, tell us about California," Sam said from across from her. She smiled and looked down.

"Well to start with, it only rained 10% of the time. It was always warm like it didn't really get cold in winter over there and I was always at the beach or outside. It was really good."

She looked over at Paul and saw him frown. 

"I do like it here, though, I love the rain a lot because it's so cozy. And I like the little community, I like feeling at home and being with my family." She smiled up at Paul towards the end and he returned the gesture.

The waiter came with their food after that and they dug in. Sam and Paul had ordered Pizza while herself and Emily went with pasta. They thoroughly enjoyed the meal and left soon after. The rain had stopped just in time for their departure. Arriving back at Emily's house, the pack had organised a surprise birthday party for Sam. Everyone was hiding in the house with the lights off. Just as they pulled up Sam stared at the house as he took the key out of the car.

"That's weird." He stated. Emily looked over at him questioningly. "Normally the light's are on and someone's in there, most of the time it's Embry but still."

They all got out after that and Sam told them all to walk in behind him. As he got up to the front door, he opened it slowly and the lights turned on.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone yelled in unison. Sam smiled hugely and looked back at the three. 

"You were all in on this?" He laughed and looked down at Emily. He quickly kissed her then they both walked forward to greet some people. The room was decorated in birthday banners and balloons. 

Ava turned to Paul and they both smiled at each other. 

"Close the door, you're letting the cold in!" Joy yelled at the couple as they both lead into a kiss. Ava smiled into the kiss and looked over to her Aunt, who just winked back. She laughed as Paul shut the door then placed his hand on the small of her back and lead her further into the party. They ran into Jared and Kim and the boys struck up a conversation about something that had happened on patrol. The girls, not really caring about what the boys were talking about, snuck off to the kitchen in search of a drink and a quieter place.

Kim stuffed a chip into her mouth as Ava took a sip of her lemonade and looked around. Everyone was so happy, laughing and dancing to the quiet music that was playing. Ava felt a small breeze and looked towards the front door.

"Oh God," Kim said as they both saw the dark hair and pale skin of Bella Swan. Ava groaned and looked at Kim who rolled her eyes. Jacob's head turned to looked towards the two girls and he glared at them, then lead Bella the other way. Ava and Kim turned to each other and held back a laugh. Emily ran up to them with a huge smile on her face. 

"Why are you both so giggly?" She giggled herself. 

The girls explained the situation and they all ended up standing in the kitchen laughing about Bella Swan.

"Ava." The girl in mention turned when she heard her name. Paul was behind her with a melancholy look on his face.

"Yeah, what's up?" She stepped closer to him and put her hands on either side of his face.

"Can we talk outside?" Ava nodded at this and let Paul take her hand to lead her outside. She looked back at her friends who gave her questioning looks, she just shrugged to them and followed the boy outside. He walked towards the middle of the field and stood in the middle of it, staring up at the stars. Ava felt him starting to shake and turned to him, grabbing his other hand and giving it a squeeze.