Hope's POV:

I'm nervous. There I said it. I'm currently standing in front of my mirror in my room surveying my outfit and deciding whether to change or not. "You look amazing, stop worrying." Leah says, walking up behind me. I take a deep breath.

"I know, I'm just nervous. I know I shouldn't be, but I am." "It's ok to be nervous. It's normal." "Yeah, but I'm not normal." "You're still somewhat human. Feelings come with the territory." I chuckle a little at this. "You're right. I'm fine. This is fine. Everything is going to be fine." I mutter.

She laughs at me. "There you go, now try to believe it and we'll be all set." I shoot her a fake glare, but we both end up laughing. The nerves instantly return when I hear the knock on the front door. It feels real now. Paul never knocks, he knows he doesn't have to.

The knock feels so official. I turn toward Leah again. She just rolls her eyes. "Go, you'll be fine. You're Paul and Hope for fucks sake. You two are so perfect for each other it's a little irritating." I chuckle at this. "Ok, I'm going. See you after?" "Not today. I'll see you tomorrow though" I nod.

"Thanks for everything Lea." I tell her, hugging her. "Stop stalling." I laugh fully this time as I pull away and with one more look, head towards the door. When I open the door I grin at the sight in front of me.

As opposed to his usual shirtless with cargo shorts attire, now he's wearing jeans and a t-shirt with sneakers. He also happens to be holding a single sunflower, my favorite. The smile on his face is the biggest I've seen on him. "You look..." He trails off, causing me to blush.

"Not too bad yourself Lahote. Didn't know you still owned shirts." He chuckles at this. "Well, I thought since I was doing this right, might want to make a good impression." It's my turn to chuckle. I grab the sunflower and beckon him in while I prep the flower in a vase of water. 

Once that's all set, he offers me his arm. My grin that's been on my face since I opened the door widens as I take it. He leads me out of my house and past his truck. One of the reasons I love La Push so much? Everything is walkable and I love walks. 

I love just walking with no clear end in sight. Walking just to be with someone or in my own thoughts. Paul knows this. Of course he knows this. He's been on a few of these walks with me in the time we've known each other. And by a few, I mean probably several hundred at this point. 

It's not quite sunset, but it's getting there. Surprisingly, it's a clear day out. Something so unusual for this part of Washington. Despite my love for the usual gloomy weather, it feels like nature is trying to tell me how right this is. Me and Paul. 

Everything about this has always felt so right to me. It's like the universe is agreeing. We walk in silence, something not abnormal for us. I see him everyday and he's been my best friend for most of my life. 

We don't need to make idle chit chat to make the time pass and the silence is never uncomfortable. The silence is peaceful and tells me one thing. We're enough. We don't need anything extra to make us worth it. My presence is enough for him like his is enough for me.

We walk for about five minutes until I realize where he's taking me. After a few more minutes of walking, we reach the jumping cliffs. The top one that overlooks the reservation. There's a blanket set out on the edge with a basket on top of it. I smile up at the werewolf next to me. 

"Please tell me it was Emily who cooked." I tease...well, not really a joke. Paul's cooking is atrocious in the best case scenario. He laughs. "Of course, I didn't think food poisoning would be a starting point for us." I chuckle. "Good call. Why start this off on a bad note." 

He leads me by the hand towards the edge of the cliff where we sit, our legs hanging over as we watch the beautifully rare, clear sunset. My thoughts start to wonder as we sit there. They wonder to my mom and our conversation on the other side. 

What she told me right before I came back. Find your epic love. "What are you thinking about?" Paul asks, nudging my shoulder with his. I lay my head on his shoulder. "My mom...again." He looks down at me. "What about her?" There's worry in his tone. 

"Nothing, bad, just something she told me. Remember when I told you and the pact that I took in my ancestor's spirit so that I could be around my dad again and how it was killing me?" I ask. He nods, his jaw tightening. 

"Well...I may or may not have omitted the part where I died for a few minutes." I feel him tense under me. "What?" "My heart gave out. I couldn't handle it. When I died, I woke up in a forest surrounding a cabin. Outside of the cabin were the souls my mom and her pack." I explain. 

"I got to say goodbye and I got to I'm sorry. The reason I was able to forgive myself was because I got to see her one last time. I got closure. She told me that she wasn't dead because of me, she was at peace because of me. There was something else she said, right before I woke up." 

I finally look up at him, staring directly into his chocolate colored eyes. "She told me to have at least one totally epic love." I bring a hand up to his cheek, loving the warm feeling that spreads through my body at the contact. 

"You're my totally epic love Paul. I know it. I may not be anywhere close to the start of my long life...but you're it for." An emotion fills his eyes. One I've seen time and time again. I now have a name for it. Love. 

I use the hand on his cheek to bring his face down to mine, letting our lips mold together perfectly. This...everything about this...it's perfect.