Loving You / Paul Lahote - [EDITED]

6 - [EDITED]

Halfway through the week, Bella stopped Ashley in the hallway to speak on the project. "I was at the La Push beach this weekend and I ran into Jacob," she started, "And I did some digging. Guess what?" 

Ashley raised her brows. "I'm really bad at this so just spill," 

Bella chuckled. "Turns out there's a book. About the tribe and the legends," 

Ashley smiled. "Great! Where can we find one?"

Bella shrugged. "You'd think that the shops here would have it, but it doesn't. The nearest is in Port Angeles, I'll go there with Jessica and Angela to shop for prom dresses on Friday, I'll try to go there too,"

Ashley furrowed her brows. "I thought you were going out of town for prom,"

Bella was taken aback. "Uh, I am," she stuttered, "It's to help the girls, want to tag along?" 

Ashley smiled. "I don't think it'd be fair to my sisters, however, thank you for the offer, maybe we can meet up after you get the book?"

Rest of the week went uneventful except for some guys trying to ask Ashley to the prom. They either got rejected or scared away by Emmett. Ashley wanted to ask Paul about it but she wasn't sure how it would all go with her family around.

During the weekend Rosalie and Ashley had talked about Paul. Ashley didn't really give specifics and Rosalie informed her that she wasn't fond of her daughter seeing him. 

Since she had promised her father not to do any digging she still had no idea over who 'them' were or why her family hated them.

The school was over and Ashley was going to meet Paul again. She didn't know what they were going to do, they didn't agree on anything, just that they were going to meet up. 

She happily got dressed, did some make-up, and quickly said goodbye to her mom. They agreed to meet up at the diner where they had met. Ashley didn't really mind the long drive. It was practice for her and the chance to blast her music. 

After parking her car and getting in she spotted Paul already there, sitting in one of the booths. "Hey there," she said smiling as she sat down. 

"Hey, beautiful," Paul greeted her back with a grin. The two instantly got to talking as if they had known each other for a long time.

It was easy to talk to Paul. He got her and shared some interests. Talking about her favorite TV shows or movies was a hobby for Ashley and getting to do it with someone outside the family and she actually liked meant a lot to her.

"So," Ashley said, something was bugging her for quite some time now. Jacob had said that he was on some kind of a cult and her family, especially her mother had been referring to them as 'them' and she wondered if they talked about the so-called 'cult'. "Don't get this the wrong way, but, after meeting you I heard some rumors about you," 

She spotted the instant change in Paul's attitude. "What did you hear?" Paul asked her hesitantly.

"People have been saying that you are in a cult or something, and apparently my parents have heard it too and they're not fond of this," Ashley said waving her finger between them. "Is it true?" 

Paul shifted in the booth uncomfortably. He took some deep breaths. "I knew this would come up eventually," he finally said. 

"Don't get me wrong," Ashley quickly said upon seeing him like that, "You really seem like a nice guy, and I like you and--," she started but got cut off by a grinning Paul. 

"You like me?" he asked her. 

Ashley blushed. She had said the word, hadn't she? 

She nodded and Paul chuckled. "You look cute when you blush," he said and Ashley blushed even more.