A/N: Alright, here we go. You only get one first, and this is mine. I'd like to thank everyone who got me here, and everyone who continues to carry me throughout it. That includes everyone who reads and reviews, yeah- you! Right there! Whether you favorite, follow, review, or abstain altogether, thank you for taking a chance on a pretty cover, a bland title, a vague description and an ambitious author with a strive to entertain. To name a few special users, Aninat131 for being my first inspiration, ThatPersonYouMightKnow (wherever you may be in this wide world) for showing that there aren't limits to imagination or storytelling, and PyreFly77 who looked after me until I was ready to write and helped me through the driest parts of the writing process.

I don't own Twilight. There's only one person who can say that accurately, and that's Stephenie Meyer, whom I am not.

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"Of all possessions, a friend is the most precious."
Herodotus

On any other night, the dusk sky over the usually dreary Washington would have struck awe in anyone. In the heart of photography's golden hour, the sky was painted with shades of orange and pink as they mixed with the natural blackness of the almost night sky in ways the Pacific Northwest had never displayed before, and may never display again. Mother Nature had crafted a perfectly serene scene, sparing the state from her usually rainy downpour over the area. Had it been any night but this, nobody in La Push would have denied the beauty and unforgettably gorgeous look of the surroundings.

But not tonight. Tonight was no ordinary night. Tonight would be different. It would be long remembered, most certainly, but not for the way the sky looked.

The sound of a glass bottle flying through the air broke the very brief quietness that had fallen over the area. The glass shattered on the nearby rocks, sending broken glass scattered across the grass, though leaving the bottle's target unharmed. Within a second, a poorly suppressed sob escaped the mouth of a distraught Native American teen, who frantically looked around her porch and immediate surroundings for something else she can throw.

"Please, just listen to me for a second."

An unusually low voice cut through the air. The voice was panicked, and was accompanied by the gentle raising of his hand, outstretched. A futile attempt to mediate.

"I've heard enough! Get out of here!"

"You're not letting me explain-"

"I don't need your explanation! You've told me everything I need to know!"

"You're still not listening, please, give me a few minutes-"

"Get outta my sight," the strained voice of Leah Clearwater choked out. She could hear that he was still talking, but the meaning behind his words were null and void. She didn't need to hear anything else. As far as she was concerned, everything that needed to be said was already on the table. Sam Uley was no longer her boyfriend. And worse yet, he wasn't telling her why. While he was cycling through an explanation that Leah was neglecting to listen to, she found every aspect of herself she could blame for it. There must have been something wrong, a chink in the armor, a fatal flaw. What else could it be? Something was wrong with her.

Or Sam thought there was something wrong with her. The mere possibility alone caused rage to bubble inside of her, and she took it out on a flower pot, kicking it full force in his direction. Sam's explanation was cut off, and the sudden silence reminded Leah that he was still speaking. She didn't hear a single word of it. She was only vaguely aware of even the tone of voice he was speaking in.

Before anyone could save it, the flower pot cracked on the ground, spilling dirt and a young pine tree onto her rocks, a few feet from Ground Zero to the glass bottle. It was a simple notion, kicking the flower pot, but only after it cracked on the ground did she remember where she got it. It was an Arbor Day present from Sam himself. She remembered the day he brought it over, the idiotic smile he had on his face when he set it down on her table, the faltering firmness in his voice while he was insisting that Arbor Day was an important holiday, eventually overcome by laughs as he failed to keep a straight face. They had decorated the pot themselves with magic markers. Even Sue put her fingerprint on the bottom.

The very same pot that now lay shattered at the base of her steps, so close to Sam he might have accidentally stepped on it if he took so as much as one step forward. She looked up to meet his gaze again, not expecting him to be looking solemnly at the dying infantile pine tree. She knew he remembered where it came from, too. He may have been recalling the same story in his head.

"I get that you're upset, Leah, but you gotta calm down."

"Why should I even bother?"

"Because I think you're misunderstanding this situation. Big time. You just need to hear me out," Sam promised. Before Leah had time to reject his offer, he was already speaking again. "I just- I - I wish I was able to tell you what's going on, but I - I just can't. I want to, I promise, but I don't have a choice. I wish I did, Leah, but I don't."

"Just spit it out! What the fuck did I do wrong?"

"You haven't done anything wrong," Sam mediated. She could tell he was starting to tear up.

"Did you stop loving me? Is that what's wrong? Is that why you've been acting so dodgy and different recently?"

"I don't think I'll ever stop loving you, Lee-lee."

"Did you find someone else? Did you find someone better than me?" Leah was yelling in a tone she didn't recognize her own voice in. It was a dangerous mix of anger and sadness that got more vicious as the argument went on. Leah's question caused Sam to visibly stutter, and he hesitated for a second.

A mere second's hesitation would be his downfall. Leah's anger duplicated, and Sam knew he had to act fast.

"It's not what it looks like, I promise, please jus-"

"I've heard enough." Leah declared, turning her back to him. "Get off my property."

"I'm not leaving until I know you're okay."

"Oh yes you are. Get out before I find something sharp and metal."

Sam, not taking no for an answer, headed up her steps uninvited. He forcibly hugs her, his feverish warmth fending off the cold breeze of the evening. Normally, Leah would have welcomed this gesture wholeheartedly, but she was not in the mood for it now. She wasn't sure if she would ever be in the mood for it again. She was almost concerned by how warm the hug was, with it burning after a few seconds.

"Why?"

Leah's yelling was addressed to nobody in particular. She tried to pin down a moment where it all went wrong. She met him for breakfast that morning, did she say something wrong in the 25 minutes they were at the diner? He didn't seem upset. Did she upset him on the car ride home? She remembered it being mostly quiet on the way back. Was he already mad by that point? Sue said hi to him, they had a short conversation.. did Sue say something? No, she couldn't have; she remembered seeing Sam smile at least twice. Emily stopped by for a while, did she upset him? Was she too-

Emily. Emily Young. Her very own cousin. It couldn't possibly be anything else.

"You're fucking unbelievable! You and Emily can both go to Hell!" Leah pushed him off, managing to completely dislodge him and free herself from his hug with the newfound strength borne from her anger.

"I - I can explain, p-please, just.." Sam's sentence went unfinished. Leah noticed that he was crying much more heavily than he was before. He was more upset than she had ever seen him before. His voice was already breaking, and Leah didn't know how much longer he had left until his voice vanished completely.

"Just go, Sam."

"I - I need you to understand that this wasn't my choice. I w-want things to be different."

"Then what's the damn problem?"

Sam audibly stuttered a few times. She could see the conflict on his face, whether or not it was a good idea to tell her. It was obvious at this point that there was something he wasn't telling her. He was keeping a secret from her. One that he clearly didn't want her to know. The only question now was whether or not he would reveal it in the end. Leah waited impatiently as he forced out a syllable or two at a time every few seconds.

"I can't tell you that."

"How long?"

"Huh?"

"How long has this thing with Emily been going on?"

"Listen, Leah, hear me out for just 15 seconds, please, I've never begged you for anything before, all I'm asking for is 15 seconds to explain myself-"

"Save it." Leah's voice was definitive and firm, more stable than it was a few minutes prior. Her face was still coated with water from the eyes down, but she had found her voice at last. Sam was not so lucky. He spoke in what could almost be described as desperate blubbering.

"Gimme half a minute, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, just gimme something! It's not like that, hear me out-"

"I'm not asking you again, Uley. Leave."

Sam wanted nothing more than to stay and clear his name. He didn't want to see Leah crying on her porch anymore, but he couldn't fix it. He was powerless in this scenario. She didn't want to see him, and the only thing that held the possibility of making her feel even the slightest bit better at this point was for him to get off her property and leave her alone. Without another word, he turned around and headed down her steps, passing the broken flower pot on his way out. Before his voice would have been too quiet to register, he turned back to Leah halfway.

"I wish that things could have been different between us."

Leah choked back a sob.

"Me too."

『••🌲••』

The golden hour of photography had been long surpassed. Leah lost track of time. All she could confirm was that it wasn't as bright as it was before. The humidity in the air and the smell of rain hinted that a storm was on the horizon, as was tradition in La Push. The sky had lost the yellow hues that permeated the horizon during her argument, but the pink highlights still held on to the engulfing black of the night. It was bright enough for Leah to see the vibrant colors of the sky. She noticed how beautiful it was outside for the first time. It didn't represent her mood. For the first time, she wished the sky was dark and dreary. How dare the sky get to have the best day in years while Leah was stuck with one of the worst?

She certainly didn't feel like the sky seemingly wanted her to. She felt completely and utterly broken. Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing was right. She kept waiting to wake up screaming, and roll over in her bed and pass it off as just another bad dream. But not this time. This was as real as it gets. Nobody was going to help her this time. The cold hard truth of the situation was right of front of her, waiting for her to process it. Her boyfriend had left her for her cousin and he was hiding something from her. And she had no boyfriend to comfort her for it. She was well and truly alone.

For the first time in a very long time, Leah was well and truly scared for the future. She can't remember the last time she felt so helplessly depressed and totally inconsolable.

She had to be strong, though. Tomorrow she couldn't show anyone how bad tonight hurt her. She was strong. She was Leah Clearwater. There were people counting on her. People she cared about. And she wouldn't let them down.

It was around this point Leah realized how thirsty she was, having cried out most of her internal water supply. She took a deep breath and forced strength into her legs, just enough to raise her from the ground and find her footing. She took a tentative step forward, her energy seemingly drained entirely. Trying to focus on her thirst over her pain, she headed over to her door, and tried to blink the tears out of her eyes. The last thing she needed was to show her family how upset she was, and her red eyes would have been a dead giveaway.

She took a final deep breath and pulled the door open. She head through her backdoor and almost immediately into a crushing bear hug.

"Did he hurt you?"

The voice came fast, worried, stressed. Protective. Seth Clearwater.

Leah struggled out of his hug, leaving her little brother without a response. His unannounced embrace reminded Leah too much of Sam's surprise hug only 15 minutes before, and her immediate instinct was to push him off. Leah wished she could redo that day and not break away from his hug, because she saw how much it hurt Seth when she angrily squirmed away from him. She wished she could redo so many things about that day.

Leah pushed on into the family room, which she would need to cross to get to the kitchen. Sue and Harry were worriedly waiting in the room. They were standing close together, and they stood up slowly when she entered. She could tell they wanted to say something, but were going to wait for her to put in the first word. They had the TV muted, or on a very low volume; Leah couldn't tell, her hearing was still a little blurred by emotion. It's something her family usually never does. It looked like evening news was on. Leah pushed on.

When it become clear that Leah had no interest in talking first, Sue delicately spoke up.

"Is everything okay, Lee?"

"No." Leah replied flatly.

"Did you have a fight with Sam?"

"We broke up." Leah replied equally flatly, with a touch of bitterness. Sue immediately took in air, and Harry's eyes widened, striking her parents speechless. Everyone in the room assumed that Leah and Sam would be together until the heat death of the universe. Nothing could ever separate the two. The concept that the two had broken up with almost no warning was virtually impossible to them. It wasn't even a possibility.

"W-what?" Seth called from behind her, dumbly. He seemed to have a hard time processing it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked quietly.

"Leave me alone," Leah begged. She finally arrived in the kitchen, under the watchful eyes of Seth. She wanted to be completely alone and isolated, but she allowed Seth to trail her anyways because her love overpowered her spite. She took a long drink out of the closest bottle for 8 seconds straight, draining it completely. Only after she screwed the cap back on to recycle it did she notice that the bottle was marked with an S on the top with a Sharpie.

Great. First I reject his hug and then I steal his water. How else can I ruin his day?

Leah recycled the bottle anyways, and crosses the house again wordlessly. Seth trails her across the house, but leaves her at the door as she continued on outside. Leah sat back down at her spot at the top of the stairs, the adrenaline dulling and leaving pure, unfiltered pain in its wake. The bleakness of the future persisted in her mind like a black neon sign. A mosquito buzzed around her perched on her knee.

Drink up, she thought. The mosquito didn't bother her as much as it would have yesterday. Yesterday, she would have rained hellfire on the mosquito and shown it no mercy. Today, she hoped it would somehow suck every last drop of her blood out of her body and leave her dead on the porch. It would be the only way for her to physically match the emptiness her heart felt.

She looked absentmindedly at the broken glass on the rocks. She could only hope that an especially dumb bird didn't pick it up and feed it to her chicks, because she sure as hell wasn't sweeping up the pieces tonight. She was busy sweeping up the pieces of herself. Her eyes glided a few feet to the right where she spotted the broken flower pot. Sue's fingerprint was visible on one of the broken pieces, bright enough to almost glow in the darkness of her surroundings. Leah felt tempted to leave it there and let it wither and die, but before she could brainstorm another reason for the tree to die, she was already on her feet, bounding over to the tree.

I'm not letting Sam Uley destroy two lives today.

Leah dusted the broken flower pot pieces around, fishing for the pine tree fern, barely old enough to sprout. She cradled it once she found it, hoping it was still alive. She returned to the steps, holding the young tree in her hand as she turned it over in her hands.

The tree would live, she decided. The tree was one of the things she had left of Sam. The tree was going to be just fine.

She wasn't so sure about herself, on the other hand. She had never been through anything of this nature before, that she could remember. She would never completely heal from the events that took place that night. They would reappear when she wanted the memories the least, and they would follow her night and day to torment her. One of the lowest points of her life had been set into motion, and she wasn't quite sure she was ready for it. It was her first heartbreak. Her future looked so dim she worried if she would ever be okay again.

For the first time that night, as the pink highlights were claimed and swallowed by the hungry night, the dark, starless sky finally matched the way she felt inside.

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A/N: Happy Arbor Day, guys! Chapter 1 is being served up hot soon. As with most stories, the prologue will probably be one of the most skipped chapters. It isn't part of the story, after all, but if you read it, I sincerely thank you for it. I implore you guys to review, whether you love the story or despise the story.

Deuces -
Zojak