Hello all. Thanks to all of the fabulous readers of my first Twilight fan fiction, I have started yet another story. I don't know if this one is going to be as well received because what I have planned will go down a slightly dark path. At the end of this chapter there will probably be more questions than actual anwers, but you'll learn more about my OC as the story goes along. I promise. Again, this story is mildly AU since it is another PaulOC story, but it is not set as far in the future as my previous story. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with the Twilight series.

Chapter 1

"Come on, Harper, you can't hide away forever," came the deep voice of my older brother, Jason, from the other side of my bedroom door. I had no plans to hide away for forever. I only had plans to hide away until it was too late to go and have dinner with Jason's new friends. We'd moved to the small town of Forks, Washington from Sacramento, California to try and make a fresh start. We'd barely been there for two weeks and my socially gifted older brother had already made friends with the three guys he worked with.

Through the Chief of Police, Charlie Swann, Jason got a job working with a carpentering company in La Push that was run by a small group of men from the reservation. From what Jason told me the guys were great and easy to get along with even though he felt like he hadn't fit in at first. Jason said it felt like he had to prove himself in some way and once he did, the guys welcomed him into their group. However, he said it still felt like they weren't completely honest with him, but he figured they weren't hiding anything bad. He'd only known them for a little while and didn't expect to know their life stories. One of the guys' wife invited Jason and me to their house for dinner on Friday night and Jason agreed without even bothering to talk to me about it.

"I'm not hiding," I said from where I laid on my bed. I think he had enough of my stalling because he finally opened the door and walked into my room with a frown on his face.

"Come on," he said again. "We're going to be late." I sighed quietly as I climbed from the bed and looked up at Jason. It was easy to tell the two of us were brother and sister. We both had auburn hair that we inherited from our mother and the pale complexions and blue-green eyes that came with our predominately Irish heritage. Jason was slightly taller than me at six feet two inches while I stood a taller than average five feet eight inches. I guess women would call Jason attractive, but he was my brother. He really didn't fall into that category for me. I on the other hand considered myself average at best, even on a good day.

"Jason, why do I have to go with you? Couldn't you tell them I wasn't feeling well or something?" I asked and he put his hands on my shoulders. Aside from my doctor, Jason was the only one I was comfortable with touching me, and it had taken me two years to let him. I still flinched, but it wasn't as noticeable as it used to be.

"Because I'm not going to let you do what you did in Sacramento," he told me firmly. "You'd go to school and come home; go to school and come home; go to school and come home; and then during the summer you'd stay in the house. I had to force you out just to go shopping with me. You need to make some friends, Harper. They're good people. None of them going to care about this," he said as he raised his right hand to my jaw and his eyes glanced at the jagged red scar that rested on my left cheek. The scar went from my temple to my jaw line and it was painfully obvious against my pale skin. His blue-green eyes met mine again and he lowered his hand back to my shoulder.

"Jason," I started but he interrupted.

"I know it's hard, but you've got to try. You're never going to be truly happy if you don't," he said. I took a deep breath and let it out heavily. I knew Jason was right and even though he hadn't been through exactly what I had, the past we've been trying to leave behind affected him too. As Dr. Hamilton told me at our last session three weeks ago, I was more than my past. I just needed to remember that.

"All right," I said lightly as I took the butterfly clip from my hair and let my loose auburn curls fall around my shoulders so my hair covered my face. Jason sighed as he took his hands off my shoulders. "What?" I asked and he pushed my hair behind my ears.

"You don't have to hide it," he said.

"You can still see it, Jason," I said as I fixed my hair back into position. "I just don't want it to be the first thing they see."

"Okay, let's go," he said heavily and I slipped on my tennis shoes before I grabbed a sweater and followed him from my room and down the short hall. Despite the June weather it had been a bit chilly and rainy, so, I wasn't going to leave without a sweater. As I followed him, I could only hope that the night wouldn't be a complete disaster.

The house we pulled up to after the thirty minute drive was like something out of a made for TV movie set in a small rural town. The yellow house looked inviting even from the outside and I found my nerves slowly ebbing away; that was until a very large man stepped out onto the porch as Jason and I climbed out of his truck. I froze and looked at Jason only to see him smile.

"Hey Sam," Jason said and I quickly looked back to the man, who's stern face broke out into a smile. If I remembered right, Sam was Jason's boss.

"Hey Jason," Sam said, his voice was deep and he turned his eyes to me. "Harper, right?" he asked and I forced a quick smile as I nodded and slowly followed Jason over to the porch.

"Yeah," I said as I followed Jason up the stairs. Jason wasn't kidding when he told me his boss wasn't much older than him and was huge. Sam was at least three inches taller than Jason and was broader. He wasn't fat by any means, he was just all muscle. Jason said all the guys sort of looked alike, and my nerves were back in full force.

"Sorry we're a late," Jason said. "Harper took a little awhile to get ready." Sam sent me another smile before he shook his head and looked back at Jason.

"You're fine. Come on in, Emily and Kim are just getting everything on the table," he said as he gestured towards the open door of the house and the three of us went inside with Jason leading the way.

"Jason, man, you made it," another deep voice said and I looked up as yet another tall young man walked over to Jason and shook his hand. I realized then that Jason wasn't kidding when he said the guys looked alike. The two that I've seen so far could have easily been mistaken for brothers. The guy noticed me then and sent a smile my way. "I'm Jared," he said as he held his hand out to me.

"I'm Harper," I said as I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans. He looked a little offended as he lowered his hand and I gave him a small smile. "I don't shake hands; I'm sorry," I said and he shrugged as his smile returned.

"It's okay," he said and I looked at Jason who gave me an encouraging smile. I noticed then that when we entered the house we walked into what looked the like the dining room/kitchen area and beyond it was the living room where another large figure sat on the sofa, staring at the television. I couldn't make out the third man's face because the light from the large window created a shadow over his face. His posture was a little hostile and I had a feeling whoever he was, he wasn't in a very good mood.

"It's nice to finally meet you Jason," came a soft voice and Sam walked by us to help the tall and obviously pregnant woman with the large tray she was carrying. Her smile was warm and welcoming, but the scars on the right side of her face surprised me. They deformed her face slightly, and I suddenly felt very shallow. My one scar was minor compared four that marred her face. However, the scars did very little to take away from her beauty. The kindness in her brown eyes could easily make you forget the scars were even there. "And you must be Harper," she said, as she walked over to me and smiled. We were the same height and I found myself smiling back at her as she looked at me. "I'm Emily, Sam's wife."

"Nice to meet you," I said with a small nod.

"Jared, can you give me a hand?" came another woman's voice from the kitchen and Jared quickly rushed into the kitchen, which made Sam, Jason, and Emily chuckle.

"Thanks for inviting us over, Emily," Jason said and Emily turned her smile from me to Jason.

"You're welcome," she said lightly. "Supper's just about ready, so, go ahead and make yourselves comfortable." She went back into the kitchen and I looked at Sam.

"Um, Sam?" I questioned and he looked at me expectantly. "May I use the bathroom?" I asked and he nodded with a small smile.

"It's just up the stairs and the first door on the right," he said as he gestured towards the stairs that rested in the living room. I smiled at him in thanks and took my hands out of my pockets before I quickly started towards the stairs. Of course, I wasn't watching where I was going at first since my eyes always found the floor more interesting and I ran smack into something very hot and solid. I stumbled back but calloused and hot hands shot out and caught me, saving me from falling.

I gasped as my eyes shot up to the man that held me rather tightly, and the second I did, his hands loosened but didn't leave my arms. For a second the world stopped as my blue-green eyes held the warm brown eyes of the very tall and very handsome man. The scowl on his face slowly melted away and a look of pure shock and surprise filled his face. His lovely eyes softened as a smile came to his face, and he slowly started to raise his left hand to my face. To my surprise, I wasn't freaking out as I stood there and looked up at him. I was oddly comfortable to be standing as close as I was to him and to have him touch me.

"Harper?" Jason questioned slowly from behind me, breaking whatever spell that was between the stranger and me. I shook my head and freed myself from the unknown man's grip before his hand reached my face. I didn't answer my brother, I just rushed past the still staring man, ran up the stairs, and into the bathroom. I closed the door behind me after flipping on the light and I leaned back against the cool wood. I started shaking then and I was hyperventilating slightly as the panic that usually came at unwarranted touch finally flooded me.

It took me a minute, but I soon had my breathing under control again before I pushed off the door. In a quick motion, I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face to help calm myself down. I turned the faucet off and took a deep breath as I rubbed my left hand over my face before I looked at my reflection. After a minute of staring at the dark circles that loomed under my eyes from the lack of sleep I've had over the last couple of days, I turned my eyes away from the mirror and used the facilities like I intended before I washed my hands. When I opened the bathroom door, I wasn't the least bit surprised to find Jason standing on the other side.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked quietly and I nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I just freaked out a bit," I said.

"I'm surprised you didn't the second he grabbed you. You normally would have," he said and I just nodded again before he sighed. "Everyone's waiting," he said and I walked out of the bathroom and followed Jason down the stairs.

Everyone looked at me as I walked up to the table with Jason, including a woman I hadn't seen before. I forced a quick smile at everyone while Jason sank into the seat next to Jared, leaving the seat on his left empty. I faltered a bit when I saw that I would be sitting to the right of the man I had yet to formally meet, but I swallowed hard and slowly sat down in the chair. Quick introductions were made then; the other woman was Kim, Jared's wife, and the man that was sitting far too close to me was Paul.

"Okay everyone, dig in," Emily said brightly and Jason handed me a bowl of mashed potatoes after he had put a healthy scoop onto his plate. I put a little bit on my plate before I handed the bowl over to Paul without looking at his face. I used my hair as a curtain on the left side of my face to block my face from his, and I could still feel his eyes on me. When he took the bowl from me, his fingers brushed against mine and I dropped the bowl into his hands and quickly pulled my hands away.

"Please don't do that," I whispered as I looked up at him and my eyes met his. He frowned before I looked away and took the bowl of vegetables from Jason. Instead of handing the bowl to Paul, I placed it in the empty space between out plates and I heard him sigh before he picked up the bowl and continued it around the circle. I took a piece of chicken from the tray Jason handed me before doing the same thing with it that I did with the bowl of vegetables. Small talk soon filled the room with chatter, but I didn't partake. I imply listened as everyone talked and interacted with each other, and I couldn't help but notice Paul didn't say anything either.

The food was absolutely delicious. Far better than anything either Jason or I had ever come up with, and I found myself wishing I would have taken more potatoes. I glanced around the table for the bowl of potatoes only to see that it rested on the other side of Paul. I wasn't about to ask him to hand it to me, so, I looked away from it and back to my plate with a soft sigh as I speared a steamed baby carrot with my fork and popped it in my mouth. As I chewed the bowl of potatoes suddenly appeared in the space between Paul and I, and before I could stop myself I looked up at him. He, however, was not looking at me, but at his plate as he took another bite from the large piles of food still on his plate.

"Thank you," I whispered as I grabbed the spoon for the potatoes to put some more on my plate, but he didn't look at me. He simply nodded his head to let me know he heard me. I was pretty sure I had insulted him when I told him not to touch me, but when he noticed that I wanted the mashed potatoes he handed them too me anyway. He couldn't have been too terribly of a guy, but the way he had looked at me earlier unnerved me.

I wasn't comfortable being touched. I feared it to the point that I would have a panic attack if someone would just brush against me. That was why I kept to myself and avoided the most crowded halls at school. The seconds that I had been in Paul's arms had been the safest I had felt in the last three years and I was beyond confused as to why. I didn't know him from Adam and yet I wanted to. I decided then that I had lost it and made a mental note to call Dr. Hamilton Monday morning to talk her and see what she thought of the whole thing.