"It's a Saturday night, Jordan. What the hell are you doing inside?"

Alex asked her slightly older brother through Skype as she continued to drag the brown colored eye shadow across her eyelid. Kim was just to her right doing much the same thing, the pair were getting ready for the bonfire on the reserve.

Jordan shifted in his seat. His eyes downcast to where he was toying with the woven bracelet on his wrist, a gift that both of the twins had been given on their tenth birthday. Alex had lost her's years ago but Jordan didn't go anywhere without his. "I have football practice tomorrow. We're on strict bed rest."

"Yeah, but when has that stopped you before? Your motto used to be that a party can never be relived. Saturday night has always been your party night."

"People change, Lexi."

Alex put down the brush in her hand to look deeply at the screen now rather than on the mirror. She saw Kim flinch slightly at the hostile tone of her slightly older brother but the brunette stayed with her lips shut. Alex couldn't tell much from the slightly pixelated computer screen but the brunette knew her twin—he was pissed about something. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jordan answered almost immediately. He didn't look up at the camera, instead concentrated on moving his woven bracelet around his wrist.

Alex sighed at the sight. She wished her twin was here with her so she could pull him into a tight hug. If he was here then Alex would be able to coax out of him what has been wrong for the past few weeks. "Well when you are ready to talk to me I'll be here, J. Always remember that."

Jordan smiled slightly at the camera now. The twins didn't realize how much of an affect they had on one another, they were truly the only people in each other's life that could make such a difference.

Alex had come to know by now that forcing Jordan to talk was like walking into a prison without any security—it wasn't going to go well. So she just let him deal on his own until he was ready to talk.

"Have fun at your bonfire," Jordan said to his sister before the two said their goodbyes.

"Your brother is cute," Kim nonchalantly mentioned as she swiped some lip gloss over her already red painted lips.

Alex groaned at that. It wasn't the first time people had showed an interest in Jordan but that didn't mean it still didn't make Alex's body want to vomit up the dinner she just ate. "Shut up. Go back to thinking about your boyfriend, Kim."

"Hey, we all know that Jared is my number one but just because I'm in a relationship doesn't mean I can't look. Looking isn't a crime."

Alex shook her head as she dismissed her friend's comments. Her mind wasn't really ready to try and understand Kim's thought process with how her brother was acting. It wasn't a one time occurrence, Jordan had been acting weird for the past few weeks and Alex needed to get to the bottom of it.

She tried her best to ignore the worry building up inside her for Jordan as she continued to get ready for the pack bonfire. The only redeeming thing on her mind was that she would see Embry again finally, Paul also being in attendance wasn't a bad thing.

Even thinking about this, Alex was still determined to get information out of her twin.

---

"Hug me any tighter and I won't be able to breathe, Lexi."

Alex ignored Embry's complaints and proceeded to squeeze his torso tighter. The extra muscle he had put on due to the shift didn't go unnoticed by the girl, she was used to his scrawnier frame. "You're a tough, strong werewolf now, Em. My hugs shouldn't hurt you."

The bonfire was in full swing when Alex and Kim arrived. The very first thing that the brunette girl did was track down the wolf that she hadn't seen in a week and almost attacked him in a hug. Alex didn't realize how close she had become to Embry—the boy was easily one of her best friends and the bond they shared felt like the one she had with her brother, it almost made missing him that much easier.

Embry ran a hair through his newly cropped hair when Alex finally pulled away, albeit reluctantly. "I really did miss you though, Alex. It's great to have you back."

"And now I don't have to lie to you anymore," Alex stated rather gratefully.

"And I finally know why you hang out with Paul. It used to confuse the fuck out of me but now I know everything about imprinting it makes a lot more sense."

Alex furrowed her brows in confusion. The word seemed foreign to her, she had no clue what Embry was going on about. "What the hell is imprinting?"

Embry looked like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes widened and mouth gaped slightly, clearly trying to formulate words to explain himself. He had no clue that the brunette didn't know—he just presumed that Paul had told her.

"Lex," Hands gripped the smaller girl's shoulders from behind and she didn't need to turn around to know it was Paul. Only one person called her by that nickname. The touch of his finger tips on her exposed shoulders from her flowy tank top was also familiar to Alex. "Come with me. We have to get you a drink."

Alex turned now to face Paul. One thing she could never deny was that he was hot—especially tonight with his hair freshly washed and shirt off like always. She almost forgot Embry stood behind her now. "A drink? As in alcohol?"

"No, a drink as in a cup of tea," Paul quipped to the girl, an amused grin pulling on his face. One thing he found most enticing about Alex was how innocent she was. She wasn't someone he would normally surround himself with—it was all new to him.

The sarcasm in his tone was easily picked up on by Alex and she narrowed her eyes at him in offense. "I don't drink."

"Have you ever tried, Lex?"

Alex's cheeks flamed hot at how quickly Paul noticed this. She didn't know why it embarrassed her, most likely because she knew that Paul himself was well experienced in this area. Alex never felt the need to drink despite how many times Jordan tried to convince her. It didn't seem fun to her—not being in control of your body and your mind. "Am I that transparent?"

"Only to me," Paul answered quickly, his grin now replaced by a close lipped, reassuring smile. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable. His hand gripped her chin affectionately, gently turning her head so that it faced the drinks table set up by the outside of Sam Uley's house. "It's just alcohol. You'll be fine, we'll start you on something easy."

Alex didn't even bother arguing, knowing that it would only take up more of her time with the same end result. Paul intertwined his fingers with hers naturally, like it was something he did upon instinct. Before the two made their way over to the table set up with drinks, Paul sent an annoyed glare in Embry's direction at mentioning imprinting. Embry sent him a sorrowful glance back, truly not meaning to make things awkward betwen Alex and Paul, which thankfully he didn't do.

When the two reached the table, Paul let go of Alex's hand to grab a red solo cup and the bottle of vodka to the side.

"I thought you said something easy to start," Alex commented sheepishly at the sight of the strong liquor. She didn't need to be an expert to know that it wasn't for the faint hearted.

Paul looked at Alex briefly, yet continued to pour a small amount of the clear liquid into the cup. "Just trust me, Lex. I've got this."

Alex knew she would come to regret trusting Paul with this, images of her ending up passed out on the ground by the end of the night flashed through the brunette's mind. The only redeeming factor of this was that she was sure Jordan would be proud of her, trying normal things teenagers did—like underage drinking—was his idea after all.

---

Alex had given up on trying to stand a long time ago.

She didn't know how much time had passed and she didn't think her eyes would focus on a clock if she tried to check. Her vision had blurred and the room spun within the third orange juice and vodka mix Paul had given to the girl.

It was for this reason that her body slumped against Paul's, he had pulled her to sit on his lap a while ago as the rest of the pack sat in chairs around the fire. Alex's head happily wedged itself on his shoulder, her legs draping over Paul's other side.

Despite being surrounded by the other pack members, Alex could barely look their way. Everyone was fuzzy but Paul, his features were perfectly clear up close to the brunette. Her hand came to graze his cheek softly, making Paul turn away from his conversation with Jared.

"What's up, Lex?" Paul's hand absentmindedly drew circles on the outside of her thigh.

"You're very pretty." Alex's usually slow voice was much faster, her words slurring together due to the intoxication her body was currently enduring.

She didn't know why she hadn't gotten drunk earlier. There was something about feeling not totally in control that made everything better, Alex felt free from all the usual thoughts plaguing her mind and all the issues she felt she had to resolve. There was no pressure.

This comment made Paul laugh, his nose nudging against her cheek affectionately. "God, you're so cute."

Alex's smile beamed at this compliment. It wasn't the first time Paul had said something like this to the girl, and she was sure it was the alcohol that made her feel even more validated by his words. "I think it's the vodka that's making me this way."

Paul shook his head almost immediately, looking at Alex like she was the only thing in the crowded backyard. In his mind, she was essentially the only one that mattered to him. "No, you're always cute. I just like that you aren't using a filter. I'm the one that's usually like that."

"Not around me," Alex's hand now gripped the back of Paul's head gently, her fingers weaving through the short hairs that lay there. "You always seem to say the right thing when I'm around."

"That's because I care what you think," Paul answered as if Alex would remember this entire conversation. He figured she wouldn't but wished she would. It wasn't often that he was vulnerable and it just so happened to be at a time when his soulmate was drunk.

Alex tried her best to focus on the words he was saying. Clearly her gaze was convincing enough as Paul continued to speak, "I'm an asshole to the majority of people I meet simply because I don't care what they think of me. They can think I'm a jerk, that doesn't bother me. It had been like that with everyone, until you came along with your cute little smile. I want you to like me, Lex. That's why I'm different with you, because I care about what you think of me. I don't want you to think I'm a jerk, you're not like everyone else in my life."

Alex felt utterly sober in that moment. His words made her breathing stop, hitting her right in the heart. She didn't want to believe that she was a girl who could change a bad boy like a cliche romantic movie. But maybe she had done that with Paul—everyone told her that he was an asshole, but he had been anything but that to her.

Clearly the girl was still drunk however as she quickly realized how close she was to Paul's lips. His breathing fanned out on her own ones. "I definitely don't think you're an asshole. I like you, Paul. Like a lot."

As the brunette leaned her lips so they ghosted right over Paul's, her mind barely comprehended that she was about to kiss him. Not only that, she was about to have her first kiss ever.

Before her mouth connected with his, Paul hesitantly moved his head to the side. Alex's eyes began to widen in embarrassment at getting rejected, Paul had retracted himself so that their lips didn't meet.

"Hey," Paul made sure to keep his grip on Alex's thigh, fearing that the girl would move off his lap which is the last thing he wanted. Despite pulling away from their almost kiss—which was easily one of the hardest things to do, it tested his self control more than anything—he didn't want Alex to get the wrong end of the stick. "Don't get embarrassed, Lex."

The brunette, despite being intoxicated, could still feel her cheeks going red at nearly kissing Paul. Even more so at the fact he clearly didn't want to.

"I want to kiss you," This fact made Alex's dark eyes meet Paul's again. "I really, really do. But I want you to remember it and I'm scared that if I kiss you now then you won't."

This made Alex bite her lip to suppress her smile. Like she said before, Paul always knew exactly what she wanted to hear and said it. Forgetting not only her first kiss but a kiss with Paul seemed like the worst thing to Alex, she would be kicking herself.

"You okay?" Paul asked the question hesitantly, watching the brunette be in some kind of thought.

"Perfect," Alex answered, ignoring that her words still came out slightly off.

And it was an entirely honest answer. She liked Paul. He liked her. And they were going to kiss soon, once Alex was sober.

She didn't think anything could get more perfect.

---