"You're ditching me."

Alex stood on her porch while she was talking to her twin brother on the phone. Jordan had called her suddenly and the girl immediately answered like usual. "Hey, you're the one that left me for a football scholarship."

Jordan sighed through the phone, not knowing entirely why he was getting so worked up about this. Alex and he hadn't been talking nearly as often as he would have liked, more so because she was always busy these days. Today they had a scheduled Skype session planned where they were going to simply talk. They hadn't done so in a while, only Alex apparently couldn't make it now. "You said you could make it when I texted you yesterday."

"I know," Alex felt bad for having to get a rain check for their plans but he was the one that encouraged her to gain more friends and that was exactly what the small girl was doing. "I could yesterday but something came up. We can talk tomorrow, I promise."

"Do you really promise, hermana?"

"The Spanish guilt trip, well played, J." Alex looked up to find Paul watching and waiting for her. She had excused herself to take this call and the wolf was patiently waiting, ready for their plans he had organized.

Jordan didn't budge however and his voice sounded desperate down the line. "You have to promise me, Lexi."

"Are you okay?" Alex asked concerned, she hadn't heard that tone of voice in her brother in a long time and it sent a chill down her spine. Alex hated not being able to see his face, one look at it and the girl would have instantly known what was up. "If you really need to talk about something then I can cancel what I'm doing with Paul, you come first."

There was pause on the other side of the call before Jordan spoke again, his voice sounding completely normal compared to how Alex heard it before. He seemed to have shrugged something off, even his snarky, confident nature came back. "Paul, huh? Make sure he wraps it before he taps it, I'm not ready to be a teenage uncle."

Alex scrunched up her nose at that, wishing her brother was there so that she could give him a massive whack on his arm. "Gross, this is a conversation I never want to have. I promise we will Skype tomorrow, now goodbye, Jordan."

"Bye, Alex," Jordan's voice was softer as he spoke. "I really do miss you."

This made Alex smile sadly, being apart from the person she hadn't spent four days apart from before the move wasn't as hard as she expected but that didn't mean it was ideal. She missed his wit, his confidence and the support she got from him daily. "Yeah, I miss you too. Love you."

"Love you too, tell Mama and Dad that I'm being good."

"You want me to lie to them?"

"I take it back, I don't miss you at all."

"Liar," Alex said before the two said a few other goodbyes.

Alex slid her phone into the back pocket of her light wash jeans before she was walking back to where Paul was waiting for her. The two were planning on going to Emily's house, although Alex still didn't really know who the girl was and why they were doing it. Paul had insisted and Alex wasn't going to say no to spending more time with the boy – especially as she hadn't seem as excited as this in a while.

Alex didn't think she would be able to refuse Paul anything if he kept that charming grin on his face, it almost made her melt.

"I didn't know you were cancelling plans with your brother for this," was the first thing that Paul said when Alex made her way over to him. He had been patiently waiting up the street slightly from Alex's house – the pair had slept there last night after Alex fell asleep against Paul's chest, causing him to do much the same.

They were just lucky that Alex's parents hadn't disturbed her on a Saturday morning before they went on their shopping trip into Port Angeles.

Alex waved him off as the pair began to walk. "Just a Skype call, we can do it some other time. Besides, he was the one that told me to be more social and I'm doing exactly that."

Paul smiled down at the girl, having to slow his steps so that they could walk in time together. He didn't mind, it meant more steps until they had to hop into his car. "How anti social did you used to be?"

This made Alex looked down at her once white converse, the La Push ground making them appear a lot dirtier. Anytime she told anyone about her used to be lack of friends she was looked at with a disapproving eye, everyone always wondered how she ever survived without any friends beside her brother.

"Hey," Paul's soft voice called the girl to lift her head. The boy sent her a gentle grin, he could sense the nerves building up at that simple question he meant as a joke. "I'm not going to make fun of you. It's okay."

"Jordan used to be my only friend until I moved here," Alex answered honestly, her eyes not moving from Paul's as she spoke. The nerves faded away as she looked at him which she found odd but wasn't opposed to. "He was all I ever really needed, he had tons of friends but all I ever needed was my twin."

Paul didn't know why that fact was so adorable to him, it was something that he didn't quite understand himself as family was never an important element to him but he could just see how important it was to Alex.

"Well, it is an honor to be your first proper friend then, Lex."

Alex felt the same – she didn't think anyone was better to be her first friend then the very boy that made her heart beat a little faster every time he was near.

♡♡♡♡♡

"Warning before we enter," Paul spoke to the girl as they stood outside the aforementioned Emily Young's home. The wolf had described it to Alex as sort of a home for the wolves, somewhere that they all felt safe and could be together. "Emily has a few scars, just try not to stare."

Those were the only words that Paul spoke, leaving Alex almost dumbfounded at why he thought she would be inclined to stare. That would just be rude. Paul then grabbed Alex's hand comfortably, lacing their fingers together. It was weird to Alex that she didn't mind, the simple act had become common between the two recently and she wasn't sure how it was supposed to make her feel.

"Paul and Alex are here!" Alex noticed Jared's voice instantly, having heard him rant her ear off in both the Chemistry class they shared and lunch when they sat together.

A smell of spices wafted through the cozy home as Alex walked in, trailing after Paul with his fingers interlocked with hers. The brunette wasn't surprised to see Kim alongside Jared, fitting perfectly under his arm as they leaned against the kitchen counter – wherever one of them went the other was sure to follow. It was Jared and Kim, Alex didn't expect anything less.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Jared," A feminine voice joked from the kitchen and as soon as the woman walked out of that very room into the small living room where Alex stood, she realized why Paul had warned her.

Three claw marks were etched into Emily's face, gliding all the way down to her neck. The skin was tinged pink, although they definitely weren't new cuts as her russet colored skin had already closed over some of them. Alex averted her eyes quickly, not wanting to seem like she had been staring like Paul had warned.

"It's really lovely to meet you," Emily walked her way over to the small girl and bent down to engulf her in a hug. Alex took a second before she was returning it, already feeling comfortable in Emily's arms. "Paul never shuts up about you. It's nice to put a face to the name," Emily turned to Paul at the mention of him and she almost smirked his way before saying, "She's just as pretty as you said."

Alex's infamous blush came across her face then, she even bowed her head lightly so that her eyes were trained on the wooden floors of Emily's home. Paul laughed lightly from beside her, sending Alex's hand a gentle squeeze in encouragement.

"Thanks," Alex said, not sure which compliment that had been fed her way she was responding to. She figured the knots in her stomach had a lot to do with Paul calling her pretty rather than Emily, although she was grateful for the girl's words.

"She's not much of a talker," Paul announced and his lips turned up at the memory of those words being what he asked when they first met. Although in reality it had only been a few weeks since then, Paul thought it felt like a lifetime ago.

A much deeper voice was the one to reply to this and Alex recognized the man as Sam, who walked out of the hallway. "You do enough talking for you both I assume."

Alex had always been intimidated by taller people, especially due to her tiny five-foot-one stature. She thought her height difference was ridiculous when next to Paul but the brunette didn't even want to look at herself beside Sam.

"Alex, this is Sam," Paul introduced as Sam sent the girl a small smile. Alex returned it.

"Don't bother introducing her," Sam muttered as he walked over to where Emily had returned in the kitchen. His hands came to rest on her shoulders, rubbing them gently. Alex could see that Emily smiled at his touch before she continued to plate up whatever she was cooking in the kitchen. "I am fully aware of who Alex is. If you say one more thing about her my head will explode."

Paul only shrugged at the comment made, not ashamed at the amount he talked about the girl beside him. He just found her so intriguing and wanted to know whether anyone else felt the same – according to Jared no one else was that interested in the girl, although he loved Alex no one could rival Paul's small obsession.

"Uh, Sam. I think you mean Lex, not Alex," Jared joked with his pack mates, stiffling a throaty laugh.

Alex bit her lip to stop a smile coming through at how Paul barely called her Alex anymore, the nickname he used seemed to be all he knew her as. The brunette didn't mind, in fact she liked the way it sounded in Paul's deep yet soft voice.

"Don't other people call you that?" Paul asked the girl.

Alex shook her head, looking up at the larger boy through her dark eyelashes. "Just you. I get called Lexi sometimes but Lex is a new one."

Paul seemed oddly proud that no one else used that nickname for the girl, a chuffed grin came to rest on his face. He hadn't really even realized that he used a nickname for the girl, it just came out of his mouth naturally.

Alex was now the one squeezing Paul's warm hand gently, making him move his eyes to rest on her. In an effort to reassure him that all was okay, although it didn't seem he needed it, Alex sent the boy a quick wink, making him chuckle slightly.

"Why aren't we that cute anymore?" Kim mumbled bitterly causing Jared to look at her ludicrously before he pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"We have to get used to it, K. We are old news now."

It wasn't long before Emily placed a large bowl of pasta on the table and everyone sat in a circle around it. Alex sat between Paul and Kim.

Alex placed a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide her giggles as she watched Paul, Jared and Sam fill their plates – the three of them alone took at least two thirds of the food that Emily had just slaved over.

"It's always like this," Kim muttered to the girl to her left as she noticed her reaction, Emily nodded in conformation.

None of the boys took any notice of the three girls communicating between themselves as they continued to pile the noodles onto their plates.

"Cheers," Paul announced after everyone had their plates full and were ready to eat. He held up his glass of water, everyone else doing the same with small smiles on their faces at what the rambunctious boy might just say. "To Alex, for finally making friends."

Alex whacked his shoulder for that with her free hand. "Shut up."

"I'm kidding," He muttered to the girl, rubbing his shoulder as if the girl had actually sent pain through his bones. Alex stuck her tongue out at the boy, causing Paul to grin her way happily. "Cheers to Alex for finally joining our dysfunctional, wolfy family."

The girl couldn't help the smile that beamed on her face then, everyone clinked their glasses together in cheers.

Before Alex could dig in, Paul's hand quickly grasped her arm at her side. A tingle lingered where their skin touched and it wasn't the first time it had done so. "I'm really glad you're here, Lex."

Even though she was a girl who would usually have been embarrassed by such an action, Alex leant over and pressed a small but quick kiss to Paul's cheek.

"So am I," she muttered before digging into her food, too afraid to look at the boy after her bold move of affection. She wasn't sure why she did, but Alex knew it felt right.

So she ate her food with a bunch of people around her that she already felt comfortable with. Not once did Alex's smile leave her face.

The brunette could most definitely get used to this.

♡♡♡♡♡

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