"Everybody's right. You guys smell." Nia scrunched her nose in disgust. 

"Hey! We do not." Embry protested.

"There's something wrong with your nose leech." Jared shot back though not meaning the name-calling part.

"How dare you!" Quil, as dramatic as ever, put his hand over his chest and gasped. 

Nia laughed shaking her head. "It's true! I didn't get what Alice and the others said about wolves but now that I'm one of them, you guys really stink."

Before the boys could defend themselves, Emily walked out carrying freshly baked cookies. Apparently, she heard their debate. "You guys aren't the not the only ones. Even me, a nonvampire, can testify that these boys roll on dirt the whole day and expect themselves to smell as if they bathed in perfume." The boys no longer bit bat being distracted by the delicious looking and smelling chocolate chip cookies before them. They each took a couple off of the plate before thanking the baker.

"You had no idea how much I missed your food while I was away Ems." Nia moaned after munching on her second cookie. 

Nia Swan decided to pop by Sam's house and stay there for the day. Though the real reason was to hopefully run into Paul, she had planned to catch up with Emily and the rest of the gang. They were all outside of the house sitting on the chairs by the porch. The boys didn't have shirts, as usual, they were just waiting for their pack members to finish their patrol so that their shift could start. As if on cue, a howl erupted from the forest. A few seconds later, a couple of wolves who turned back into humans emerged from the forest. Among them was Paul in his shirtless glory. It didn't help Nia that the sun shined brightly on his abs making him look like a Greek god. Nia slowly chewed on her food as he (and the others) made their way towards them and Emily's cookies. 

Paul was the only one who didn't grab a piece because, by the time he had arrived, there was none left. He didn't seem to mind it though because his gaze was fixated on Nia. He gave her a sly smile making her smile back in return before her eyes landed on the ground hoping that he didn't see her blush. Ugh, after all these years, why does he still have this effect on me? Nia felt like her stuffing a bunch of cookies inside her mouth wasn't appealing and blushed even harder. She made eye contact with Emily who seemed to be the only one who had witnessed this. Emily tried to cover her laughs with coughs.

"Okay, time for Mr. Wolfy to come out," Quil said aloud whilst taking his shoes off. 

Nia almost choked on her food, "Wait-what did you just say?" She started laughing. The others started joining along while Quil looked confused. 

"What? Mr. Wolfy? The ladies call me that. Sorry, Nia but since you left, I took Paul's place and became the new player of La Push." Quil scoffed trying to be slick. It backfired though making Nia laugh harder.

"Dude literally no one calls you that." Jared laughed clutching his sides.

Embry joined in the bullying, "You're just trying to impress Nia now that she's back."

"Am not!" Quil shouted defensively.

 Even the new kids were laughing but none of them compared to Nia who had tears falling from her eyes. "Quil, oh god. You're still the same moron who took his cousin to prom all those years ago."

Nia's phone vibrated in her pocket. She reached down and opened her phone revealing a text that brought down her mood. It read...

Can we please talk?

- Nathan Gray

"Who is it Nia?" Emily questioned noticing the distressed expression her friends face.

Nia shook her head pretending to be fine. "It's nothing."

---------

A car speed through the roads of the rez. It was dark, probably eight or nine in the evening. The only things that were visible were the silhouette of trees and stars that sparkled brightly above. Nia sat on the front seat admiring both the trees and the stars starring at them as they went by. She dearly missed seeing nature first hand and not through the T.V. screen. Sure, there was Hyde Park, but it was no forest like the res. 

Paul glanced at Nia who was busy admiring the stars. He smiled knowing that Nia was secretly glad she was back. He had offered her a ride back to her house when she announced that it was time for her to leave Sam's house. Half of the pack also had gone home to rest. He saw his chance and took it insisting she takes his car back home. Nia could've easily said no for a number of reasons. One of them was that she was a vampire already, she could easily be home in a matter of seconds thanks to her new ability to run super fast. But she also saw the opportunity and took it. Though she wasn't planning on making any moves since she will be returning to London after the Volturi drama, it felt good to be near him again.

"Are you hungry?" Paul asked her. Nia shook her head 'no' having fed on a deer before leaving Sam's house. "Well, I am, mind if we make a pit stop at the bakery?" Again, she shook her head okay with it.

They both ended up in the kitchen of Emily's Bakery. And like the last time they were there, they were laughing and catching up with stories; enjoying each other's presence. Paul was currently teaching Nia how to make croissants.

Nia rolled the dough on the counter before sprinkling more spreading more flour. She rolled again but sighed noticing the dough still sticky. Paul had noticed this and placed his white wine back on the island of the kitchen before making his way to help her. "Here, let me help you." He stood behind her and gently grabbed her hands. Nia blushed to notice how close their bodies were. He began to grab some more flour and spread it all over the counter. "The trick is adding more flour. The more, the merrier." He whispered.

---------

At last, after nearly two hours, the croissants were ready. The two lost track of time. They still talked as if they hadn't already covered everything that had happened in the last nine years. Nia's face began to hurt a little from all that smiling but she couldn't help but mirror the smile Paul gave her. He was washing the dishes while Nia sat on the counter eating the freshly baked warm croissants. Paul decided to add a twist: to make them blueberry croissants instead. 

Nia rolled her head back tasting it for the very first time. "This is amazing! I can't believe that hothead has a talent for baking." She chuckled munching away. 

Paul gently chuckled at Nia who was speaking while her mouth was full. He could barely understand a thing she was saying. His back was facing her since he was washing the dirty pans and trays they used when baking. So he was surprised when Nia suddenly appeared behind him. "Here, try it!" She fed him a piece of croissant. Paul's eyes grew as Nia nodded laughing "Good right?"

"Hell yeah." He took her place of talking when the mouth was full. 

---------

The two didn't remember how they ended up dancing. It was probably the wine but that didn't matter. Nia somehow found herself tangled in Paul's arms while hers rested on the back of his neck. Soft Italian music played through the speakers. The kitchen was lit up full of fairy lights and candles. The two bottles of wine they had opened were now empty and rested on the wooden table where the only evidence that they had baked were the crumbs on the wood. Nia placed her head on Paul's chest as he brought her closer. The spark continued to grow in their chests. Nia remembered their time together. All those times Paul surprised her in the middle of the night by throwing pebbles on her window before whisking her off to the beach where they would spend the night at the back of his pick up truck. All those times they spent hours cuddling by the meadow and discussing their future together. All those times with him in general. She missed it a lot. Nia wished that she could be that teenager madly in love again. Heck, at this moment, she still thinks she is that same girl. But nine years apart felt like a lifetime. All for some stupid misunderstanding if only she gave him a chance to explain himself. Now, they belonged in different worlds with her living in London being a lawyer and him living in La Push being the Beta of the pack. Not to mention that she was now a vampire and him a wolf.

"What's wrong?" he lifted her chin up so he could see her. Paul gently wiped the tears that Nia hadn't noticed fallen. 

She shook her head giving her a sad smile. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing."

"It is...at least, it should be." She explained looking down. "I'm sorry for running out on you. For assuming the worst before anyone said anything." Nia's voice cracked as she cried harder. I still love you! She wanted to scream out but just held him harder instead.

"No no no it's not your fault. Look at you now! Ms big shot city girl who fights for those who can't be heard. That's pretty amazing Nia and I-I love you for that."

Nia slowly looked up at Paul. "You still love me?" She had a hopeful glint in her eye.

"I never stopped Nia."

"Neither did I." She whispered before crashing her lips on his.

They made their way to the kitchen island where Paul placed her on top. They both made out heavily removing each other clothes off before they were left in their underwear. By that time, however, Nia laid flat on the counter tangling her legs on Paul's waist. His hands were placed on the sides of her head. Their eyes sparkled with lust and passion for each other. 

After Paul slowly removed Nia's underwear with his teeth. She whispered, "Paul, I'm still a virgin."

He went up immediately. His face had shock written all over it. "What?" He said in disbelief.

"I never did it with my boyfriend-well ex actually. We broke it off before I came back. I didn't know why I never gave into sex with. I guess-I was actually waiting for you. Not for sex but to make love." She bit her lip embarrassed. However, Paul had the biggest grin on his face. He pulled her face kissing her harder.

Their night was spent making love to each other over and over again.