Between the Perennial Blooms || Paul Lahote

Forty Five | Snapdragon

"We disappear as stars do, soundless, without a trace."
—Charles Wright | 'Appalachia'

• • •

It was safe to say that by the time the Imprint pair left their hidden beach later that same afternoon, Bailey's nose was burnt red from the sun and Paul's shoulders were tense with pent up sexual frustration. Nevertheless, the two lovers were both happy and content, and as they made their way to the Uley household hand-in-hand, all those who looked upon them couldn't help but agree that they had never seen a couple more in love.

"We're meeting with the bloodsuckers tonight," Paul was saying as Bailey swung their connected hands back and forth absentmindedly. His free hand had a hold of the little blue cooler they'd taken with them and he paused for a moment to grab his Imprint a water bottle.

Murmuring a polite 'thank you', Bailey let go of his warm palm to unscrew the plastic lid. "I almost forgot about that," she admittedly quietly after taking a long drink. Handing the bottle over to Paul to finish off, she waited for him to throw the empty container back into the cooler before latching onto his hand once more. "Are you nervous for it?"

"Less nervous, more wary." Paul conceded. "It's gonna be the closest the pack's ever been to that many of 'em without being able to rip 'em apart."

"Paul..." Bailey warned, sensing his rising aggravation as well as disliking the picture his words procured.

As a response, Paul simply huffed. "You know what I mean, baby. 'Sides, I'm a little irritable right now."

The pointed look he gave her made her giggle.

"It was pay back," Bailey defended with a wide, excitable grin present on her pretty sun-kissed face.

"What it was, was mean," Paul grumbled.

Once again, Bailey giggled at his glare.

"I mean, not letting me kiss you is one thing. But not letting me kiss you while you're wearing some skimpy little bikini? C'mon baby, now that's just cruel."

Looking back on the hours that preceded them, Bailey couldn't argue that his words weren't true. She had followed Kim's advice to a tee and not given in to the temptation to let Paul kiss her or in return her, him. Instead, she had made sure he kept a respectable distance away from her at all times and ignored all of his pleas to grant him the privilege to do otherwise. She had even gone so far as to make sure he always received an eyeful of her sparsely-covered body when she basked beneath the sun and re-applied her sunscreen in such a way that she knew she was driving him wild. As a result, the day had turned out most amusing for her and, contrastingly, most aggravating for him. Successful all-in-all, she thought. But despite her attempts to appear nonchalant, her teasing had taken its toll on her too.

"W-well you wouldn't listen to me last night," she explained herself, grinning with pearly white teeth as Paul flashed her a look of exasperation. "So it was only fair that I didn't listen to you today."

"I'm not so sure I like this new side of you," Paul grunted, though his words held no true conviction. "The real Bailey's much nicer."

Rolling her eyes, Bailey made sure to bump him with her hip as the two of them came upon the edge of the Uley's front yard. "Oh hush," she scolded lightly. "Don't be such a baby."