CHAPTER TWENTY:
IT ENDS WITH US

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A FEW DAYS CAME and went where not much happened in La Push. The sudden normalcy was off-putting for Maggie, whose anxiousness seemed to get worse with every day that nothing happened. She got up, had an awkward breakfast with her family, went to school where the most riveting part of her day was getting glared at by Hayden. Then she came home, or went over to Emily's just to avoid the sting of Zeke's silence. Sometimes, she'd stay with her or Paul, or come home late enough that nearly everyone in her house was asleep. Being the insomniac she was, she'd stay up half the night, then get up running on fumes the next morning just to repeat the same painful cycle.

Everyone else seemed unbothered by it. Even the pack, who would've once been concerned that Victoria was nowhere to be seen, seemed to find relief in a few days off. They spent their afternoons lounging around Sam and Emily's, or kicking a football around at the beach. When one of the kids in the grade above decided to throw a bonfire, they were practically jumping at the chance to go.

Which was how Maggie found herself sitting in the sand as day dipped into night. Much to her surprise, Wren and Everett had no problem with her staying out after dark. Maggie put it down to her uncle's trust in the pack; he knew that none of them, especially Paul, would let anything happen to her. Still, Wren had tried to ask Zeke to go with them. Despite her usually observant nature, their aunt was completely oblivious to the sudden fractured relationship between her niece and nephew. She expected, with the recent reveal of Zeke's boyfriend, for them to be closer than ever. Of course, that just wasn't the case  so much to Wren's confusion Zeke made an obvious excuse and retreated to his bedroom, refusing to come out until Paul was in the driveway waiting for Maggie.

Like usual, it hurt like hell, but with days of fights and silent treatment spilling into weeks, she was slowly beginning to give up. What was the point of resisting something when she knew the outcome already?

"Hey, do you know where Kim is?" she asked when Paul returned to her side with two red cups of obviously spiked soda. 

Maggie had looked for the girl when they first arrived, but where Maggie had expected her to be at Jared's side like she nearly always was, Kim was nowhere to be found. For a second, she panicked, her mind presuming the worst, but reality came crashing back when she realised that there was no bloody way Jared would be content with partying if he didn't know his girlfriend was somewhere safe.

"I think she's picking up the new girls," Paul shrugged. Embry sat up grinning like a lovesick puppy. "Aw, Call, is your crush here?"

"Shut up," Embry retorted without even sparing Paul a glance. He was too busy staring at Mae to notice the other boys smirking, his whole face lighting up when she raised her hand to wave at him.

According to Paul, Embry had imprinted on the new girl in English class. She'd asked him for a pen and, like a total idiot, he spaced out and stared at her until he freaked her out enough to ask Jared instead. The pack had teased him relentlessly when the news spread but Maggie had to admit that it was nice seeing Embry so happy. That, and Mae seemed nice enough, so perhaps she'd get a new friend out of their pending relationship.

"It's about time you three got here!" Jared exclaimed, opening his arms wide for Kim to run into. "I was starting to think you wouldn't show."

"Hey, you can blame this one for that," Kim said while pointing at Lina Song.

The Cooper-Song sisters stood before them like they'd never been to a party before. Maggie had a feeling that wasn't the case for Mae, who seemed to thrive beneath the firelight, head moving with the music thumping out of a nearby speaker. Lina, on the other hand, looked sick to her stomach.

"Well? Are you two going to stand there the whole night?"

Mae was the first to sit down, crowding her way onto the log occupied by Embry and Jacob. Embry didn't seem to mind her close proximity. If anything, his grin widened to a borderline creepy kind of smile, prompting Jacob to snicker and exchange a look with the other guys. Maggie waved as Lina's eyes met hers, shining with uncertainty. Encouraged by the gesture, she sat cross-legged on Paul's other side, watching Maggie for her next move.

"Hey, I'm Maggie," she greeted, pulling away from Paul to look at both Lina and her sister.

"I'm Mae," the Cooper girl replied when Lina remained tight-lipped. "And this anti-social nerd is my sister, Lina."

"It's nice to meet you." 

It didn't take the group long to settle comfortably with the new presences. The boys and Kim were quick to spark up a conversation of their own, their laughter loud and drawing the attention of people nearby. Maggie smiled sheepishly as Mae and Lina exchanged a look, clearly unused to such... lively behaviour. 

"So," she began, taking a sip of her drink when their eyes darted towards her. Okay! Time to be the social one, Maggie, you can do this. "What brings you to La Push?"

That was a good enough start, right? Let them speak about themselves. That way, Maggie didn't have to.

"Our mum and dad," Lina said, much to Maggie's surprise. For a moment there, she'd wondered if the girl just didn't like to speak. "Mum's a lawyer in Port Angeles and James is the new History teacher at the middle school."

There was that name again. James. Maggie tried her best to seem unbothered but it sent a shiver of discomfort down her spine, prompting her to shuffle closer to Paul again. Subconsciously, his arm circled her waist but his eyes were yet to meet hers as he responded to something Jared was shouting about. 

"My aunty's a teacher too," she said when the silence began to stretch. "I think you have her for Math."

"Oh, we do!" Lina exclaimed, her eyes lighting up like bits of sunlight had been captured in her pupils. Maggie was beginning to notice things about the new girls, things beyond what the nosey people of La Push had sleuthed their way into learning. For instance, Lina loved talking about school, maybe more than she did being at school. It was hard to get her to stop talking once the topic was mentioned. "Mrs Sullivan's the best."

"She'd be happy to know you said that," Maggie chuckled, smiling just at the thought of her aunt. Wren adored teaching and she loved it even more when students appreciated the effort she put into her work. It was something that Maggie admired about her aunt; how much she tried to help people, how passionate she was when she set her mind to something. "I swear that woman loves her job more than me and my siblings sometimes."

And there came the crash. She waited for Mae or Lina to latch onto the potential of a new topic, to ask about them and back Maggie into a corner. It was something Hayden would've done and Maggie wasn't anywhere near ready to scramble for excuses. 

Almost like he sensed her worries, Paul turned to look at the three of them huddled together, rolling his eyes. "Can we stop talking about school?" he grumbled, tossing his now empty cup aside and looking hopefully at the one clutched in Maggie's hand. Maggie let out a pointed sigh but let him take it anyway. He was quick to gulp the rest of it down. "I'm bored out of my mind here."

"Well, you could always come dance with me." As soon as she suggested it, she knew what his answer would be. Still, Maggie pouted when he immediately shook his head, looking at her like she was insane for even suggesting it. "Oh, come on, why not?"

"Because I don't want to," he retorted, slowly pronouncing his words like he was speaking to a toddler instead of his girlfriend.

Maggie scoffed at that, reaching for his hand as if she was considering dragging him over. Paul snickered and squeezed her hand, a silent challenge that both of them knew he would be the victor of.

"Fine," Maggie huffed, stomping her feet in the sand as she stood. Paul grinned at her teasingly and released her. "I'll dance with the girls instead."

"You do that, baby."

To the right of them, Maggie heard Embry cheer in triumph, Jacob's head falling into his hands as he groaned with disappointment. She rolled her eyes as money switched hands. Of course those idiots were betting on them. Of course it was Embry who won. 

"Kim, come dance with me," Maggie requested — no, demanded. When Kim made a face at her, Maggie put on her best puppy dog eyes, to which the other girl almost immediately sighed in defeat, muttering a 'fine' as Maggie set her sights on Lina. "You too, Lina, come dance."

"Uh, n-no, I'm good..." Affronted, Lina stubbornly shook her head, face paling when Maggie scoffed and held out a hand. "Maggie, I don't dance..."

"Well, you're about to," she said. "Come on. We can look like idiots together."

Lina shot Mae a helpless look but Mae was too busy giggling with Embry to notice. Much like Kim, Lina let out a defeated sigh, allowing Maggie to drag her off the ground. With Kim on their other side, the three girls set off towards the crowd of drunken teens singing and dancing along to the music. Maggie was already moving to the beat, feeling the buzz of alcohol in her veins, the numbness of all coherent thoughts fading away. Lina looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there, stiff-bodied and clinging to Maggie's hands, Kim pausing at the edge of the crowd to turn back to the others.

"Mae!" she called out, finally catching her attention. "You coming?"

Maggie watched Mae not-so-subtly glance at Embry before shaking her head. "Maybe later," she replied, which prompted both Kim and Maggie to smirk at each other. Embry's face blushing bright pink was the last thing she saw before Kim skipped over and dragged them further into the crowd.

The rest of the night was spent dancing, drinking and forgetting. For once, Maggie didn't stop to think about Victoria or Zeke or Hayden or anything. She didn't think at all, just let her body jump up and down to the music until an exhausted Kim tugged both her and Lina away from the masses. Their bleary-eyed friends were yet to stop drinking and talking over by the fire.

"We should head home, Mae," she heard Lina yawn. "Mum and James are expecting us soon."

Mae looked comfortable where she was but didn't argue upon noticing the tired look on her sister's face. With one last goodbye to everyone, the two girls made their way over to where Kim was kissing Jared goodnight. Then, after giving Maggie a hug, she led the two sisters across the beach to where she'd parked her car.

"We should get going too," Paul said, grinning when Maggie began to sway in his arms. Upon hearing his words, she froze, a protest on the tip of her tongue. "Nope, no arguing. I promised your uncle I'd have you back at mine by midnight."

"Well, how's he going to know if I'm staying at yours?" she scoffed. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, he has his ways," he said before shouting a goodbye to the others. "Come on, Mags, you know you want to sleep. You're so tired..."

"No, I'm not," she frowned but couldn't deny that she was feeling just a bit weary. Her eyes were slowly drooping, limbs going heavy as Paul helped her into his car and strapped her belt around her waist. "Okay, maybe I am..."

"No shit," he scoffed, closing her door just to round the car and climb in behind the steering wheel. "Why'd you get so drunk anyways? This isn't like you."

"I'm not drunk," she muttered, watching the headlights cut holes through the dark night sky. "I'm tipsy."

Paul snorted, reaching for her hand and intertwining their fingers on her thigh. "Fine, then why are you so tipsy? This isn't like you."

Maggie let out a frustrated sigh. She hated thinking so much. Shouldn't he know that already? These moments of peace in her head were few and far between. She wanted to savour them whenever she could.

"I just... want to stop thinking," she mumbled, her eyes glossing over with tears threatening to fall. "I'm always so anxious, Paul. Victoria, Zeke, Hayden, Zeke. I don't understand why he can't forgive me. I miss him so much..."

"Shh," Paul soothed, lifting her hand up to press kisses along the ridges of her knuckles. The tears were falling freely now while Paul stared at her with concern. "It's okay, Maggie. Don't cry."

But Maggie did cry. She sobbed until the effort of her tears sent her drifting off to sleep. Paul was left to spend the rest of the drive in silence, his hand in hers, brainstorming ways that he could fix things for her.

When Maggie woke up the next morning, wrapped up in Paul's sleeping figure, she'd completely forgotten the night before and what she admitted to him. 

But Paul didn't forget. That was one of the few times he had seen his girlfriend cry. If Paul had his way, it would be the last.

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A/N: You guys have no idea how excited I was to write this chapter. Finally, we're catching up to my Embry fic and I don't have to worry about spoiling Maggie's story in Mae's. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading <3