Sam
I rolled my eyes at Leah for the fourth time as she spilled the entire contents of her locker all over the back seat of my car. She bit her lip in that adorable way of hers, looking up at me with sheepish eyes.
"Oops. Sorry babe," she muttered. I chuckled through my teeth, shaking my head despairingly.
"You are such a klutz sometimes," I informed her. She blushed, a rosy glow shining through her copper skin.
"I guess I forgot to zip my bag up before I threw it..." she decided, her dark eyes raking over the back seat, now strewn with heavy textbooks and empty packets of chips.
I raised one eyebrow at her. "You don't say." That comment earned me a playful punch on the shoulder, and I was still laughing as I started the engine and put the car into reverse. My hands felt a little clammy on the wheel, so I readjusted my grip slightly, flexing my fingers. My joints felt wrong.
Leah noticed my frown, as always, and gently laid one hand on my right forearm. "Is everything okay?"
I shrugged it off, not wanting to seem pathetic in front of my girlfriend. I knew it sounded stupid, but I really did get off on that adoring, idolising look she gave me whenever I lifted up something that was way too heavy for her, or whenever I didn't cry when Jack dies in Titanic.
Taking the usual route home, I pulled up outside Leah's house, leaving the driveway free in case Harry wanted to park in it when he got back from his fishing trip with Chief Swan, the local police chief in the nearby town of Forks.
"I hope Mom's not in," Leah said heavily, and I glanced at her with suspicion.
"Why?" I asked curiously. She hadn't mentioned any fights with her mother for a really long time, and if I was honest I felt a little panicky that she didn't seem to be confiding in me. Apparently, once that happens, it's the beginning of the end.
She must have interpreted my look correctly, because her eyes widened. "No, no! It's not like that! Just... if Mom is here, Seth will be."
I breathed a silent sigh of relief. It wasn't that she was withholding information from me, it was just that she was fed up dealing with her nearly thirteen year old kid brother, and that was fairly standard Leah behaviour. It was obvious to me that this attitude was a show though. She would take a bullet for Seth in a heartbeat.
My stomach lurched uncomfortably at that thought.
"Sam, are you getting out of the car, or are you just gonna sit there like a lemon?" Her voice snapped me from my reverie.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry, I wasn't with it," I swung one leg onto the drive and hoisted myself out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind me with a fierce finality that made the car rock.
Leah pushed me backwards into the door as soon as it was shut, and quickly stole a not-so-innocent kiss from me before we had to suffer the presence of a parental figure. She broke away, leaning her forehead against my collarbone, trying to catch her breath, as I did the same.
"Jesus, Lee-Lee, you're gonna kill me one day!" I exclaimed, laughing. She grinned up at me, but a cloud passed over her vision and she tilted her head to one side.
"You've grown again!" she accused, narrowing her eyes.
"Have I?" I was surprised. I knew I was tall, and Leah always seemed small and delicate to me, but as I gazed down at her it did strike me that I had to look quite a way down. And Leah wasn't exactly short at five-foot-eight.
"I swear you're about a foot taller than me these days!" she puffed dramatically, and wriggled out of my grip to flounce up the front steps and into the house.
I shook my head amusedly at her dramatics, and followed her in the door.
For a second, I thought someone was being mugged in the kitchen, because all I heard was a scuffle and a squeal. I jogged through the open door, and was instead met with the sight of Leah bear-hugging a girl about ages with the both of us, whilst Sue Clearwater, her mother, watched fondly, and Seth blanked them both, stuffing his earbuds further into his ears and cranking up the volume on his iPod. I gave him a cursory wave and he grinned, absurdly pleased that someone as 'cool' as me gave him any attention.
The girls stopped hugging, and I looked inquisitively at the one that wasn't my girlfriend, trying to guess who she was.
She was beautiful, no doubt about that. Her raven hair was glossy and thick, her eyes the exact colour of milk chocolate. Her smile was radiant, it seemed to be setting Leah and her mother aglow, you couldn't fail to be captured by the warmth of it. She looked like someone who would be a real understanding friend.
I wrapped my arms around Leah's waist and rested my chin on her head, even though she'd slapped my arm many times for doing that. She said it felt 'condescending'. I knew she secretly loved it though, I could tell from her cute little blush.
"I'm Sam Uley," I offered, holding out my hand to the girl with the friendly smile. "I'm Leah's boyfriend."
I saw Leah's lips twitch proudly when I said that out loud, and felt a sudden rush of affection towards the girl I loved.
"I'm Emily Young," she replied, taking my hand firmly and shaking it, in a way I watched Leah do with the bigger Quileute men countless times, as though she refused to seem daintier than them. "I'm Leah's cousin."
Cousin. Now that she'd said so, the resemblance seemed more pronounced. Their attitudes as well, even down to the stance, hand on waist, one hip thrust out, chin up with a playful but slightly belligerent air, were identical. Emily had the same devil-may-care flavour to her that I loved so much in Leah. I smiled with genuine warmth.
"Nice to meet you, Emily," I said politely. She smirked.
"I'll reserve judgement before making that claim." Her answer was sharp, and quick. I grinned.
"Touché."
"So, Sam..." Sue called for my attention, and I turned to her with my usual ass-kissing expectant smile.
"Yeah?"
"There's a shelf in the bathroom that needs putting up, would you mind...?" she began, but my eyes swam out of focus before she'd managed to finish. She frowned at me, concern in her eyes, and I felt Leah's hand fly to my forehead.
It was really, really freezing. Like she had held it in a bucket of ice.
In fact, it felt like that one time I'd torn a gash in my shoulder helping old Billy Black shift some old parts for the Chevy that he'd recently sold to a really idiotic Chief Swan, and I'd let Dr. Cullen stitch me up. His fingers were so frigid that they made my entire back erupt in goosebumps.
"Baby, are you okay? You're burning up!" Leah fretted, and I sucked in a breath to tell her I was fine.
The words didn't come out. Instead, I gripped the counter to stop myself landing ass first on the stone floor.
"I... I think I should go home..." I muttered, my words slurring ever so slightly.
Leah's eyes were wide with sudden panic. "I don't... Sam..."
"I have to go," I insisted, and turned on my heel, resolutely ignoring the four pairs of eyes staring incredulously at my retreating back.
"Sam?" I crossed paths with Harry Clearwater and old Quil Ateara in the doorway. Old Quil's eyes trebled in circumference as he took in my face, and he shakily raised a hand to his mouth. I barely noticed that, however. I was too busy trying not to pass out.
"Sam, are you feeling okay? You look a bit... crazed."
"I just need to go home."
"You aren't fit to drive."
"I'll walk, I just..." I lurched out of the doorway, and down the path, reaching the sidewalk in time to glance back and see a meaningful look being exchanged between the two men in the doorway. After a moment's hesitation, they turned on their heels and followed me, as I, for whatever unknowable reason, began to walk shakily towards the forest.
"Sam, wait..." Harry pleaded. Contrarily, I moved faster. I wasn't aware why. The anger inside me, anger that had barely been present a second beforehand, swelled and raged, and every single movement, of mine and the older men, fanned the flames of my fury.
Once I was safely engulfed in trees, I turned back to face old Quil and Harry.
"Go home!" I shouted, the anger making my voice quake.
"No," Harry replied calmly, which made me all the more irritated. "Sam, something is happening to you..."
"Are you trying to tell me how I'm feeling now, is that it?" I bellowed in his undeserving face. Old Quil took a step back, pulling Harry with him. Their secrecy seemed to infuriate me all the more. Nothing they could do would stop my wrath.
"No, Sam. This hasn't happened for a while, but we think..."
"I don't care what you think, old man!" It was Quil's turn to get chewed out by me. He pulled Harry a step backwards once more.
"I'm not contagious!" I roared, the sound tearing out of my mouth like a howl from a wounded animal – I had never heard myself make a noise that was less human.
"We know that," Harry answered, palms spread in the universal sign for 'I'm not going to hurt you, take it easy'.
But I couldn't take it easy. I felt my chest constricting, felt a sudden, horrible fire raging in my bones, and shuddered violently against the sensation, the heat coursing through me.
"Tell me what the big secret is!!" I growled.
And that's when I exploded.
A/N: This idea just took me hostage one day, and I've had this chapter written for a while, so I thought I'd post it. I think I'm going to continue the whole 'Sam's story' thing, I'm not sure how long for or where to, but at least I sort of know where I'm going.
Merry Christmas!
PJ XD