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𝑮 𝑳 𝑰 𝑻 𝑪 𝑯
❝  𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍?  ❞

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ㅤ𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄, Maria insisted on Paul coming to her house the next morning. She realized early on how Billy's words affected him; he became tense, worried, and right after the bonfire, insisted to accompany her home, scared for her safety. She could understand why he felt this way, especially because she knew her near-death experience with a vampire was still fresh on his mind. She couldn't complain though, as she liked having him by her side.

She smiled when she heard her doorbell ring and practically raced downstairs, ignoring her aunt's laughter. She quickly opened the door and pretty much launched herself at him.

Paul laughed, hugging her tightly, having no problem catching his imprint. "You seem excited."

"Well, for the first time, you're actually welcome in my house," she teased. "Aunt Vic's gonna interrogate you, though. Dad, on the other hand, is pretty chill with you coming over, just as long as you don't go through my window or else, and I quote, 'he's gonna tie you to a tree.'"

Paul laughed again, before letting her down carefully. She carelessly grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. She closed the door and dragged him to the kitchen with all her might, which isn't much considering how naturally skinny she is. If he could make himself weightless for her, he would.

Once in the kitchen, he was greeted with the scent of food, more specifically, Emily's muffins. "Oh, you actually got the recipe from her."

"Of course," Maria grinned. "And, Aunt Vic absolutely loves using it."

"Yes, they are delicious," Victoria nodded, putting on a pair of mitts to pull out the newly baked goods from the oven. "I've been trying to get Mia to take me to her house, but she's always somehow too busy."

"Yeah, Em's preoccupied, mostly with wedding preparations," Paul offered.

"Ah, understandable," Victoria nodded, placing the freshly baked muffins on the table closer to Paul, before sitting down at the other side of the dining table. "Now, come sit down. We gotta have a proper introduction, now that you're dating my niece."

"O-oh, we're not--"

"But you will be, soon," Victoria smirked. "I'm not blind, you know. Now sit down."

Paul couldn't help but do so, taking a seat across from Victoria, somehow intimidated by how she spoke to him. He admittedly feels relaxed at the scent of the muffins, though. Looking towards his imprint, he gave her a look once he realized she's trying to hold back her laughter.

Maria shook her head, trying not to laugh, before taking the seat next to Paul, who put his hand on her thigh almost immediately. She figured he needed some reassurance, but couldn't help but flush at the feeling of his large and extremely warm hand holding her.

"Paul, what's your full name?" Victoria crossed her arms.

Paul cleared his throat, fixing his posture on the chair. The way this was set up was like..."Wait, are you a therapist?"

"Psychiatrist, head of the psychiatric ward at Forks Hospital," Victoria grinned. "Glad you were able to pick that up."

"I've...had my fair share," Paul shrugged, clearing his throat. "Paul Lahote, by the way, that's my full name."

"And your intentions with my niece?"

"I just...I just wanna make her happy."

Victoria leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "And how do you suppose you'll be able to do that?"

"I don't know, it's up to her."

Victoria hummed at his response, eyes searching his face. He was looking right at her, but his posture was tense and she could see that he's only calm because of Maria's presence. "So, you're going to be at her beck and call?"

Paul shrugged, turning to Maria as he answered, "Pretty much."

Victoria leaned back against her chair and crossed her arms. "Alright. I'll hold you to that. I mean, Mia's a Stark and they're really headstrong, whether they realize it or not. They always get what they want, and I hope you're ready for that."

The shifter nodded. "I am."

Victoria smiled to herself. "You better be. Now, I'm needed at the hospital, and you guys are gonna be here alone. Please do not do anything I wouldn't do, and use protection."

"Aunt Vic!" Maria groaned, standing up from the table, covering her ears to try and unhear Victoria's words and ignore her laughter.

Paul smiled shyly. "We're not gonna do anything, Ms. Jarvis."

Victoria laughed even more before calming herself down. "Just call me Aunt Vic. I'll see you both later."

And with that, she left, leaving Paul and Maria alone in the kitchen.

"I would assume I already got her approval?" Paul teased, finally relaxing and grabbing a muffin.

"I mean, she did ask you to call her Aunt Vic," Maria shrugged, setting herself on his lap. "I would assume so."

Paul hummed, taking a bite off the muffin. "You seem...touchy today."

Maria giggled despite the warmth that crept up her cheeks. "Well, I realized something last night." She then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I think I'm starting to like you...romantically. And I wanted to know what you think of that."

Paul grinned so wide that his face looked like it was going to split in half. In his excitement, he placed his muffin back on the table, grabbed Maria's legs and stood up. He carried her in his arms, laughing at her surprised squeal before spinning her around.

"Paul, I'm getting dizzy!" Maria whined while laughing along with him. "Woah!"

Paul carefully set her down before hugging her close to his chest. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Taking a chance on me."

It was a little after nine in the evening when the pair found themselves lying side by side on Maria's bed. Paul had ordered Chinese take-out for their dinner, and after eating in the living room while watching TV, they decided to head upstairs.

Paul moaned. "Your bed is the most comfortable thing I've ever laid on."

"Thank you," Maria giggled. "So, now what?"

"Well, what about we just talk?" Paul turned to face her. "I mean, there's a lot we can talk about, especially that little something about you liking me."

Maria teasingly rolled her eyes before turning to face the ceiling. "I told you, I really like you. I've talked about you to multiple people and most of them assumed we were already dating."

"So, what do you say?"

"About what?"

"About making what they kept assuming a reality this time?"

"Wait, seriously?" Maria turned to face him, an incredulous look on her face. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yep."

"Bold, Lahote, bold," she nodded. "You're learning."

"Excuse me, I've always had game," he scoffed.

"Right, you were a playboy," Maria nodded. "Almost forgot." Then she gasped. "I can't believe I've achieved every teenage girls' dream: to change the bad boy, make him good. Holy shit."

"That's seriously what you're focusing on," he huffed. "But seriously, what do you say? You, me, together? Officially?"

Maria sat up and used her arms to hold herself up while she looked down on Paul. "Why not?"

"Great, now come give me some cuddles."

"Good morning," Paul greeted, as soon as he saw Maria's eyes flutter open. He had spent the night—with the permission of Aunt Vic—and relished in the fact that he now can call Maria his girlfriend.

Maria groaned, shifting to face Paul, just to cuddle into his chest. "Go back to sleep."

"Babe, you have school," he reminded, which elicited another groan from her.

"I just wanna stay here and cuddle with you," she sleepily whined.

Paul smiled down at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "So do I."

"Then let's just go back to sleep," Maria pouted, closing her eyes again.

"Mia..."

"...fine." She pouted as she stood up from her bed. "Meet me after school?"

"Of course."

And for the rest of the day, Maria anticipated the end of the school day, eagerly wanting to see Paul again despite spending the day together. During lunch, she excitedly told Jessica and Angela about her new boyfriend, with the former almost squealing out loud.

She laughed at their reactions, telling them to keep it on the down-low. Of course, her vampire friends overheard and that led to Bella finding out. The pale girl had the audacity to warn her over the dangers of having a wolf for a boyfriend. Of course, as a retaliation, Maria calmly reiterated every single time Edward had put her in danger.

Bella walked away after that.

Once the bells rang, Maria practically skipped outside and ignored all the pointing and whispering that occurred around her as she jumped into Paul's awaiting arms.

"Hey," she grinned.

"Hey," he cheekily replied. "So, plans?"

"I'm taking you out on a date," she winked.

Paul groaned. "Why is it always you that's taking me out?"

"Because why not," Maria poked her tongue out. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with me taking you out. It's the 21st century, darling."

"I know, I know," Paul sighed.

"How about this: next time, you take me out. Deal?"

Paul chuckled. "Deal."

"Then let's go."

It didn't take long for them to reach a quaint diner Maria had found on Google. They got out, and Paul immediately sought out to hold Maria's hand, which he complained was always cold. They pushed open the door to the diner and found themselves led to a table right next to the window.

"So, this impromptu date, what's it about?" Paul asked, leaning forward towards Maria who sat across from him. Before she could answer, a waitress came forward and asked them if they were ready to order.

With a polite smile, Maria ordered steak for the both of them, before focusing back to Paul. "Well, I talked to dad and he wants us to visit him in New York."

"New York?" Paul asked with a frown. "Thought you lived in California?"

"He bought a building there," Maria shrugged, laughing at her boyfriend's face. "Come on, you know how dad is."

"Yeah, just, I keep forgetting you're a literal billionaire."

Maria shook her head. "Well, you better get used to it. So, what do you think? New York? Just the two of us? We visit dad, you can meet Pepper and Happy?"

"Pepper? Happy?" He asked, confused about their names.

"Pepper's dad's girlfriend, who's also the current CEO of the company," she began, leaning away from the table as their orders were placed in front of them. "Thank you," she commented, before facing Paul again once the waitress walked away. "And Happy's head of security. Those two are my family, other than dad and Aunt Vic."

"Meeting the family already, huh?"

"Of course," Maria winked before slicing into her steak with her fork and knife. "So?"

"Mia... of course, but I feel bad," Paul smiled sadly. "You're literally a billionaire's daughter, you're beautiful, smart, you can literally achieve anything and have anything you want. I'm just a guy from La Push who happened to have imprinted on you. I'm lucky, absolutely, but people keep telling me that you're way out of my league, and now..."

"Look, Paul, I really don't give a shit about what people say," she rolled her eyes, smiling at him. "I mean, I understand your concerns. But like you said, I can have anything I want, and right now, you're what I want. You really do make me happy, Paul."

Paul sighed. "Well, if that's...if I'm what you want, then yeah," he took a hold of her hand, "let's go to New York."

author's note: hello everybody! finally updated this book and i'm so happy that paul and mia's relationship is now developing!

a couple of chapters ago, in my author's note, i wrote down this book's timeline. in case you didn't read it or forgot about it, basically there's this huge time jump between the bonfire and the graduation/new born battle. and within that time jump, the first avengers movie occurs. SO, i'm gonna skim over that, add some scenes, put some angst in between, before graduation.

hope you guys are ready for that! (￢‿￢) because *SPOILER ALERT* there will be conflict between paul and mia whilst they're in the east coast, and some of you might even figure out what it's gonna be about.

another thing! i'm pretty sure this book's gonna be a lot longer than my other books because honestly i have so many things planned for #pia (≧ ◡ ≦)

anyways, i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! please don't forget to vote and tell me what you think! please don't hesitate to point out any spelling or grammatical mistakes!

love y'all ♡