USE SOMEBODY

one. handful

▬▬ DEEP BREATH AFTER DEEP BREATH did nothing to calm Cassie's nerves as she stood on the side walk, her chocolate eyes on the sign above the door that read Allison's Sweets. The letters were a beautiful italic font with swirls the swooped of the ends of the letters. Just under it, in small block letters read: come in for a sweet treat. It was a cute sign, it was the kind of sign that made you want to get a closer look and when you did, you just had to go inside for one of those sweet treats.

This wasn't exactly how Cassie wanted to go about all of this but she needed to do something. Sitting around and talking about it was stressing her out. She took another breath and swiped her newly cut bangs to the side before she reached for the doorknob. Her hand faltered as her eyes caught sight of the woman behind the counter, she wore a smile as she handed a box to an older man that stood on the other side of the counter. Allison. A rush of panic flooded the teenager and she quickly stepped away from the door and made her way down the sidewalk, weaving through the few people that leisurely walked passed store fronts. She fought off a wave of nausea as she climbed into her truck and pulled away from the curb, not bothering to buckle her seatbelt as she fished her phone from her pocket.

"Hey, Cas." He picked up on the third ring, like always.

"I couldn't do it." She rushed out. "I got to the door and I just . . . I-I-I chickened out. I was right there!" She wedged her phone between her ear and her shoulder before slamming her hand down on her horn. "Move, asshole!" She shouted at a person that had made an illegal U-turn and was slowing down her retreat home.

"Whoa, Cassie, what are you talking about and why are you road raging?" He asked, slightly panicked.

"I couldn't even open the door." She huffed, her eyes on the road as she sped off of main street and turned down a back road. Trees replaced the buildings and the other cars on the road thinned significantly.

"Cassie, listen to me. You gotta breathe."

"No, Paul, I don't wanna breathe!"

"Cassie."

"Why couldn't I open the do?" Her voice fell to a whisper and her eyes drifted from the road, her foot let off the gas a little. "I was right there." Tears filled her eyes. "All I had to do was turn the knob."

"Cassie, you're scaring me." He told her. "You're not making any sense."

"Allison!" She shouted, slamming her hand again the steering wheel. "I went to the bakery but I couldn't-" her eyes grew wide as the truck swerved to the side, the tires leaving the pavement and rumbling over the gravel. "Damnit!" She shouted, letting the phone fall from her shoulder as she gripped the steering wheel in both hands, hating herself for not clicking her seatbelt into place and hoping that her truck didn't flip. She let off the gas, easing her foot onto the break so the truck didn't jerk.

"Cassie! Cassie, what's happening!" Paul shouted but all he heard in response was mumbled profanities and squealing tires before the sickening crunch of metal and the shattering of glass.

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▬▬ "CASSIE!" Paul jumped out of his truck, barely putting it into park, then he rushed over to where the girl sat on her tailgate, her phone against her ear. Sam followed the boy but he walked towards the front of the truck to check the damage, he knew that Cassie didn't need both of them smothering her with questions.

"Dad . . . dad! Paul's here." She jumped off of the tailgate, shifting her weight onto her right foot, hiding her wince.

"Tell him to take you to the hospital."

"Yeah, I'll go to the hospital." She nodded. "But I'm fine."

"I'll meet you there."

"Okay, bye, daddy." She hung up and turned towards Paul, her lips parted but he secured his arms around her before she even got a word out.

"Are you hurt?" He pulled back and ran his hands down her arms then he cupped her cheeks, looking for any injuries, taking note of the cut on her forehead and her cheek. "What happened?" His hand moving up to her hair to check her head.

"Paul, I'm fine." She giggled a little, she thought it was cute when he fussed over her after she had a minor accident like a fall or when she slammed her shoulder into the doorframe at his house ― she'd had a bruise for two weeks. "My ankle's a little sore, but I'm okay."

"You scared the hell out of me." He sighed, leaning down to capture her lips in a quick kiss, when he pulled back he picked her up and sat her on the tailgate.

"What are you-"

"Looking at your ankle." He trailed his fingers down her leg until he reached her foot, he took her shoe off and put it beside her before running his hand over it to see how bad of an injury it was.

"This doesn't look too bad." Sam stated as he joined the two. "You sure you're oaky?" He leaned against the taillight.

"I'm fine." She nodded then Paul twisted her foot, she yelped and pulled away from him. "That hurt!"

"Sorry." He held his hand up, his eyes wide. "But it not broken, maybe just a sprain." She narrowed her eyes at him as she rubbed her ankle.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"I lost control." She shrugged. "The roads are wet, I went off the road and when I tried to get back on the road the truck had a different idea. I hit the tree. Pretty sure I busted the carburetor."

"How'd to lose control?" Paul asked as he leaned against the tailgate next to her. "Did it have anything to do with Allison?"

"Allison?" Sam's brows pulled together. "My mom?"

"Nice going, Paul." She muttered, slapping his stomach.

"Was I not supposed to say anything?" He nearly shouted, his eyes wide.

"I don't know." She huffed. "I just don't think it's really that important right now."

"What about my mom?" Sam asked, he was curious.

"I was in town and I may have almost went into the bakery." She told him. "But I saw her through the window and I couldn't and I took off. I was speeding, that's why I lost control."

"I didn't know you were going to see her today." Sam moved to sit next to his sister.

"I didn't plan on it. I was just there and I saw the sign and I figured I could just drop in but I'm a wuss."

"Next time, I'll go with you." He gave her a smile and she returned it.

"And, if you want, I could go, too." Paul offered. "Unless you're gonna keep yelling at me." He added in a playful mumble.

"I'm sorry." She told him, reaching out to grab his shirt. "I'm just a little stressed out. With dad always asking about me meeting Allison, and the guys being idiots and graduation. And now my truck. My poor truck." She pouted a little and he let out a soft chuckle.

She tugged him closer and he let her, stepping towards to her. "I know." He nodded, letting his hand drift to the small of her back as the other held him up. "You got a lot going on and I will gladly be your punching bag."

She smiled up at him as she leaned forward, tilting her head back a little and he let out a small laugh as he leaned down, connecting their lips. Sam smiled a little, they had come a long way, but he pushed himself off of the tailgate and walked around the truck, taking another look at the damage to the passenger side of the bumper, the grill and the windshield.

"Okay." Paul pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. "Let's get you to the hospital."

"I gotta wait for the tow truck." She told him. "Said he wouldn't be long."

"I can wait for him."

"You don't have to." Cassie turned to look at the older wolf.

"You go get checked out, I'll wait here for the tow truck." He gave her a smile. "I'll make sure he takes good care of it."

"Thank you." She gave him a smile as she slide off the truck, wincing a little before she shifted her weight onto her good leg.

"Of course." He nodded, giving her a quick hug before Paul scooped her up.

"It's not that serious." She told him, a smile on her face as he carried her to his truck.

"Let me take care of you."

"Okay." She grinned up at him, leaning forward to kiss his jaw as he opened the door and sat her in the passenger seat. "And thank you."

"For what?" His eyebrows pulled together.

"Coming to my rescue."

"Always." He smiled. "But let's not make a habit of it, okay?"

"I'll definitely try." She nodded and he laughed as he leaned towards her and placed another kiss to her lips.

"You are a handful." He muttered in that teasing way that was more endearing then anything else.

"I know." She nodded and he let out another laugh as he stepped back and closed the door before making his way around to the driver side door. She watched him with a smile, everyday she fell just a little harder for him.

⚘‎ nova speaks┆ and we're back!! I love Cassie and Paul so much!!

so sorry for the long wait! the plan was to get some chapters prewritten before I started publishing chapters each week. but things rarely go as planned for me. I've actually been struggling a little with the timeline of eclipse -- a lot happens in a short amount of time and I have so many ideas and scenes that I wanna write. and changing some scenes here and there hasn't been the easiest.

what I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to get enough chapter written so I can kinda relax a little and edit and post weekly. I hope I can get there soon.

along with getting this book written I'm also working in my drafts a lot. I have a few books that I wanna publish sometime soon -- at least that's the hope.

I have a twilight / jared fic that I'm excited about. and a new teen wolf fic that has literally taken over my brain lol. there's just a lot I wanna do.

thank you all for being so patient with me, I appreciate it!! you're all so amazing!!

also, updates will be every other wednesday for a little while!