Something

Chapter One


He had never loved anyone like he loved Leah. She was, to him, his everything. At least until he met her.

Leah had begged and begged him to join her for a dinner with her family. Her dad, Harry Clearwater, was making his famous fish fry, and the whole family would be there. To her, Sam coming to dinner with the entire family was her way to parade him around as 'this is who I will marry'. To him it was just an annoyance.

Sam had always hated the whole family-this and family-that with his own family. He was certain he would absolutely hate having to deal with a family that wasn't his own. Hell, he was damn sure that he would be better off being at home listening to one of his many grunge cds. Although when it came to Leah he would do anything for her and this was what she really wanted. Her whole family would be there. It was like a mini family reunion. Only not quite. The night before she left him a voicemail telling him that he was to show up at her place exactly at 4 o'clock on the dot that evening looking sharp, no scruffy hair or any of that rocker crap that usually made up his day-to-day wardrobe.

Not so long ago he would have laughed at her and told her that there was no way in hell he would ever have a dinner with her entire family. Had you have asked him what Leah meant to him he would have shrugged, but that changed rather quickly when his world became all about her. Sure, she was pushy and they butted heads all the time, but they were good together. He always felt as if he would one day rule the world with her and he could never figure out why.

So he agreed to this dinner and did as she asked of him without any fuss. He grabbed his finest pair of jeans and his best plaid long-sleeved shirt and pulled it on. He thought he looked sharp but he was certain that Leah would find something wrong with. She always did. He yanked his keys from the cluttered kitchen table and headed out the door.

Getting in his truck, he glanced at the time and swore to himself. It was ten minutes after 4. Where did the time go? He sped up and turned the few corners till he reached the Clearwater's. He parked his car behind Leah's beat up old Ford truck, took a deep breath, grabbed the bottle of cheap wine he bought as a thank you and stepped out.

Rounding the truck he made his way past a group of little girls running around. He laughed as he saw Leah's little brother Seth up in one of the taller trees, no doubt hiding from the girls. He lifted his fist to knock on the door and stopped himself as this gem of a woman swung the door wide open and let out a high pitched squeak. She didn't expect anyone to be there. Giggling softly she waved her hand and spoke softly, "Hi, you must be Sam. Leah has been talking about you all afternoon. Come on in."

Sam just stood there and looked at her. She glowed; she made every bit of him tingle. She was perfect, gorgeous. Who was she? Why did he suddenly feel as if the world had stopped rotating and there was no one else on earth? The girl reached out and took the wine from his hand and laughed again, "Sam? Come on, Leah's in her bedroom. But there are several other girls in there. So you might want to be careful." He shook his head and blinked a couple of times. He had to think about his response more than once which was so unusual for him. "I'm Sam, and uh thanks, I'm um hungry" he said like a matter of fact.

He stepped into the house and paused to take the bottle of wine back from this girl when she spoke again and stopped him. "I've got it. I'm Emily Young. One of Leah's cousins. Here, come with me to the kitchen. I just pulled out a fresh batch of muffins for the kids to snack on." She reached down and quickly grabbed his hand, a charge of electric shock bolted through his veins from where her hand touched his. He didn't even realise that she had pulled him into the kitchen.

She led him directly to a pan of fresh baked muffins. "Here, take this tray to Leah and the other girls will you? I've got another batch to give the kids that's almost finished baking." She pushed the warm tray into his hands and turned around to tend to other things in the kitchen. He swallowed and turned away from her and wondered why he didn't want to leave her side, why he wanted to find out more about her. Why did this Emily Young have such an effect on him?

He walked down what seemed to be the longest hallway he had ever been in and stopped just as he reached Leah's doorway. He looked back towards the kitchen to Emily and realized that he had to be with her, this girl whoever she was, was the love of his life. How he knew that he wasn't sure but he just knew.

As he reached out for Leah's bedroom door knob and watched one last time as Emily twirled around the kitchen island. She paused and whispered out "Good luck." He nodded taking a deep breath and opened the door. His mind was racing wondering when he could next get to be near her when Leah jumped into his arms and forced him to snap back to reality. He looked into Leah's eyes and smiled. What was he going to do about Leah? She was the one he shouldn't let get away. She was the girl that everyone wanted him to marry. She was as his mother said the perfect girl to unite the Clearwater and Uley families. He knew Leah loved him, hell he loved her. But was it really love? He knew he shouldn't even be asking himself this, but this Emily, just 3 minutes with her and his whole world was about her.

He remained silent as Leah introduced him to all the women of her family, then stepping out of her bedroom and into the living room she called into the kitchen, "Emily, come get out of that kitchen and meet my boyfriend!" Sam turned to Leah and spoke with a crack to his voice "We already met." Leah of course ignored him as she pulled Emily out of the kitchen. "Emily, this is Sam, my boyfriend. Sam this is Emily, my cousin and best friend." He reached his hand out to shake hers but quickly pulled it back as Emily reached her arms up and gave Sam a welcoming hug. He shuddered at he took a deep breath of her scent and pressed his nose into her hair letting him become engulfed in her entirely.

Leah noticed this and turned red, she grabbed his arm and yanked him away from Emily, giving him a look that could kill. 'Uh oh' he thought as he was yanked away. But as quickly as she grabbed him she let him go. She smiled her innocently sweet smile as she turned back to her family and went back to talking about some TV show.

He leaned back against the lazy-boy and tried his best to pay attention to their conversation, but as every word was spoken another thought about Emily crept into his head. Emily giggled at something Mrs. Clearwater had said and he let out this roaring laugh. Everyone turned to look at him and they all started laughing along with him and Emily. Her eyes twinkled, and her cheeks blushed. He was flying high. What the hell was happening? He didn't know her at all yet he was falling in love with her. He loved her as much as Leah at this point if not more and they hadn't even gotten to know each other. And with every passing second Leah could see something wasn't right.