ASPEN ? Paul Lahote [1]

nine

Strong, warm hands gripped her shoulders, and Aspen smelled the musk of patchouli and sandalwood through the humid air. She reacted with a jerk backward; however, her body seemed to know who it was before her mind, and she crashed herself straight into the hard chest of Paul Lahote as he stood before her. The tears she tried to hold back burst like a dam, broken and flowing freely down her cheeks. She felt his arms guide their way along her back, sliding between her backpack and bringing her into his chest firmly.

Paul's exterior hardened, his body growing hot with anger, witnessing the girl wrapped up in his arms crumble. He was angry with her actions, being out in the woods after already being warned against it, let alone being near one of them. But he felt the pain knotted deep in her core. He wanted to answer every question she had that he knew was eating her alive, but it had never been the right time. He had so much to figure out, and yet, seeing the girl in front of him hurt, hurt him.

"Shhh, take a deep breath. You're okay. It's just me." Paul soothed while he ground his teeth, fighting to keep an outburst at bay.

Aspen attempted a deep breath, but it kept getting stuck in her throat. Warm, wet rain droplets began to sprinkle onto the top of her head and over her shoulders as the skies finally opened up, and she could feel the cold rain contrast with the warm body she molded into. She ached, and she knew it was in part because she was scared, but it ached deep in her chest, and it felt like clawing its way out. She didn't expect such feelings to emerge and take over her body.

Her body shook against his hard chest. Paul squeezed her tighter.

Tires were rolling over wet pavement, and a car door hastily opened and reached Aspen's ears. She flinched and a hand smoothed over Aspen's hair. Paul bent down to whisper in her ear. "Sam is here; we are going to take you to Emily's; are you okay with that?"

She didn't know where else to go. Paul felt the shaking girl nod her head, so he tucked her under his arm and into the backseat of Sam's black pickup out of the pouring rain. He gently pulled her backpack off her shoulders and placed it in the front seat. He slid into the backseat next to her, though he gave her space to move over to the other end of the bench. Her glossed-over eyes looked down at her hands twisting together in an anxious release. Paul glanced down, seeing the bandage secured around her arm, and his nostrils flared. Sam caught his eyes in the rearview mirror and, like a silent command, nodded his head at his friend.

☼☼☼

Pulling up to Emily's house felt familiar. The gravel driveway. The marigolds in the planter box below the window. This time, it smelled like the Earth and freshly steeped chamomile tea. It almost put Aspen at ease. Almost.

It was a flurry of leaving the confines of the back seat and entering the humble home with Aspen blinking hard to adjust to the low-lit dining room they stumbled into.

Embry leaped up from the couch, maneuvering around the kitchen table and wayward chairs to come to see the trio that entered. Sam is in front, Aspen is in the middle, and Paul is behind them all. Aspen stood sandwiched between the two men, her arms crossed, clutching onto herself, comforting her like a pathetic hug.

"Aspen! Why weren't you answering your phone? Paul and I called about a dozen times. After we saw yo-"

"Enough," Sam interrupted the boy. Embry backed down immediately from his barrading questions. "Let her be. Em? Aspen is here."