Jump then Fall

Disclaimer: Like always, these are not my characters, they're Stephenie Meyer's.

Warning: This is Post-Breaking Dawn, assuming Leah and Jacob somehow returned to Sam's pack after Jacob learning how to turn his Alpha-maleness off. Also, Renesmee is born, yes, but Jacob did not imprint on her.

Leah's point of view

I took two small steps toward the edge, looking down and seeing my life dangle before my eyes. Of course, my intention wasn't to commit suicide or anything of the sort. I wasn't suicidal. I was simply looking for some source of rush to make something liven inside of me and stir me from the nonsense numbness succumbing me to a life unlived. The smell of salt water entered my nostrils and I breathed it in, welcoming it into my lungs, my chest rising and falling heavily.

Taking a deep breath in, I stepped back one, two, three, four large steps and then, as my feet pounded on the dirt below me, before I could change my mind, I plunged forward in a brisk jog. I was acting upon instinct. Not common sense or rationality, quite clearly. However, the rush I got from acting upon my instincts... Woah.

Mere seconds later, I was suspended in the air and then, I was free falling, my heart beating loudly in my ears as my body felt weighed down, accelerating faster and faster as I fell. A scream floated from my lips, my short, dark hair flying back so that it was standing on ends from my scalp. Something flooded through me, pulsating through my small, blue veins visible under my wrists.

Jacob and I had a connection before he ended our - his - pack. Of course, it was nothing romantic or anything foolish. It was merely friends, but still... I missed it. Since he'd returned to Sam's pack, forcing me, in return to do so, he'd been with the guys all the time, and since then, I had been the outcast once more. At least we were forced to talk when he was in wolf form with me before. Now, I was alone. Again. Nothing had changed. If anything, they were more unbearable with the rejection Sam supposedly felt from me for leaving his pack.

But it stopped there; the thinking, the thoughts, the hurt. It all stopped as the water came spiraling toward me, no sign of stopping. Of course, I was a wolf, so I was more than capable of hitting the water and bouncing back up. - I hadn't expected any differently. However, I'd seemingly missed two large, dull rocks peeping out from under the dark blue, white-tipped waves rolling to shore. The ones I was headed straight for and then, as my body contacted the water, slapping it considering I hadn't dived aerodynamically; merely jumped, my body then fell against the large rocks, the water not being deep enough to slow me down first.

When I hit the rocks, it merely felt like a bruised arm. It was me bouncing off them afterward, the wave pushing me forward and slamming off the cliff behind me that caused my head to start spinning. A feeling of nausea came over me and suddenly, the waves looked all too inviting. There had been a storm coming. Not a bad one, just... a storm, by definition. Though I hadn't listened to the weather warning. There was always crappy weather in La Push. It only occurred to me as I stopped fighting the current that I probably should have waited for another day to get my livening fix. But now, it was too late.

The waves started shifting me in to the shore, but considering their force, the ocean rose and fell rapidly and I found myself being on the decline of a wave approaching. My head hurt and my vision was spotting, black dots dancing in front of my eyes and before I knew it, the wave had came over me, engulfing me in it's force. To my luck, with a pounding head and weak limbs... Well, there really was no fighting to get back. Not when waves were washing over me every few seconds, sharply and I couldn't possibly fight my way back up with the force coming down on me.

Then it occurred to me. The fate I had pointedly considered, telling myself it wouldn't happen, was crashing down on me. If I didn't fight, death was a very... No, completely real conclusion. My body would be swept in to shore and in the few seconds I was under water, having my epiphany, I then started to wave my arms and kick my legs, even with my sick stomach and foggy mind. I wasn't going to die. I hadn't wanted to die. I wanted something to do; something that would make me feel better. That wasn't death. I was too young and although I always complained and bitched... I didn't want to die this way. By my own stupidity. At my own hands.

But it was too late. I tried, and struggled to push through, and with my lack of oxygen catching up with me, my cloudy, dizzy mind, sick stomach and aching limbs... I couldn't fight anymore. I couldn't do anything and I closed my eyes, waiting for death to roll over me like the waves.

"Leah!"

The voice was far away, or so it seemed. Far away and muffled by something. Though, maybe I was wrong. I couldn't really grasp anything and my eyes were closed. Either that or I was in a pitch black room. There was a pounding, pulsing pain in my head and then, I heard the voice again... And again.

Moments later, as I focused in on the voice, I felt myself regaining consciousness - One I hadn't realized I lost up until now. My eye lids fluttered open and I felt a warmth radiating around me. Immediately, I turned my head before trying to make out the faces and spit up two mouthfuls of salty water. Bile rose in my throat, but I gulped it back, gasping for air my lungs desperately searched for.

"Leah!" Sam's voice called, clearly relieved as a loud sigh escaped his lips.

I cringed, only making my head hurt more. However, he wasn't the one calling my name before..

"Leah what do you think you were doing!" Jacob's voice called, clearly worried.

Jacob. His voice was the one I heard.

"I..." Oh God. I took the arm that didn't feel like it was hit by a transport truck and rose it up, my hand reaching for my head. "Ow."

"She could have a concussion!" Sam exclaimed.

I groaned. "Shut up," I spat through clenched teeth. "Lower your voice." I wasn't trying to be mean, but he was a few inches away from me, sitting beside me on the rocky beach. He didn't need to yell and he was only going to give me a even worse headache.

"Leah..." Jacob said my name again, with more... adoration. "What were you doing?"

What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, well, you know, just wanted to go cliff diving considering you guys don't let me go with you.' Okay, no, it wasn't the guys who didn't let me go. It was Sam. Why? Maybe this was the reason. Maybe he thought I'd like it too much and actually chose that for my death bed. But no, that wasn't my intention and realizing how close I came to death...

"Which one of you pulled me out?"

"Answer the question, Lee," Jacob pressed.

"You answer mine first," I said, squinting as I looked up to him, the smallest amount of life causing my head to scream at me.

"I did," Jacob announced. "Now, answer me."

I tried to sit up, going to lean back on my elbows when Jacob gently laid me back down, catching me. "You could have a concussion, stay laying down," he ordered. "Carlisle's on his way."

"I'm fine."

"Leah," Sam said, using his Alpha voice.

"Holy hell! I'm a big girl. You know," I said, looking over to Sam. "You stopped being able to order me around a long time ago. So stop it." But Jacob didn't have to ask again. Under Alphas orders, I had to tell them. Not that it was anything horrible. "I just wanted to jump," I said, looking away from Sam's gaze, unable to see him anymore as my heart clenched. It was all his fault. "Everything..." I shook my head, only causing a slight pain to stream through. "I just wanted to have fun."

"And you almost got yourself killed," Sam stated.

"No shit Sherlock Holmes, how much do I owe you for that amazing discovery of yours?"

"Leah," Sam said, shaking his head.

"Lee..." Jacob breathed. "What would I have done without my Beta?" Of course, he was only trying to mildly lighten the mood, but I clenched my jaw.

"Run back to Sam's pack like you've already done when your precious Bella was out of danger. You only care about yourself, you know," I said harshly. Even I knew that wasn't completely true, but I couldn't help it; the bitterness toward that decision.

He looked taken aback. But he got it. I saw it in his eyes. He finally understood why I had been so hostile toward him. "This is about me coming back." He paused, "This is about you having to come back."

"Want a gold star?"

"Leah..." Jacob sighed and the same, sympathetic way they'd been saying my name started to get on my nerves.

"Don't Leah me. The both of you, go back to the guys so I can kindly go home."

"I'm sorry, Lee.." Jacob's tone was honest and he avoided my gaze.

I wondered, absentmindedly how broken; desperate I probably looked right then. Seeking adrenaline; life, by flinging myself off a cliff when there was a storm watch in place for a reason. And with no one with me.

"Whatever." However, my voice cracked. Jacob saved me. If not for him.. I would be dead. Truly dead. You really didn't appreciate life while you lived it, that was for sure. But still... Jacob had rejoined Sam's pack, causing Seth and I to have to exile back as well. It was horrible being in Sam's pack. He was a good leader, yes, but... hearing his thoughts. Thinking back to the night before I joined Jacob's pack, hearing him and Emily having sex... I closed my eyes. "Jake?"

And he knew. Immediately, his strong, warm arms wrapped around me, engulfing me as I laid against his chest, on his lap as he repositioned himself to allow such a placement. "Lee.."

And that's when the first sob escaped my lips; the first tear streaked down my cheeks. Why? A multitude of reasons. I was alive, for one, and for the rest... Just, everything. Sam, the guys, my mom, Seth, Jake... Emily. My small frame shook in his large, strong arms and he smoothed my hair, making small circles on my back with his other hand. I didn't want to cry in front of Sam, no, but... Jacob was all I had left. Jacob, Seth and mom. However, Seth and mom... They were more independent than I was and I could tell they were fed up with my constant dreary moods, too. Jacob... Him seeing Bella run into the bloodsuckers arms and have his child... At least he understood to a certain degree, even if he hadn't been technically in a relationship with Bella beforehand.

"Shh," Jacob soothed, no awkwardness swallowing me while in his arms. "It's going to be okay."

Yes, I realized, it would be. Maybe not right now, or in the next day, or month, but eventually.

Author's Note:
This is kind of short, yes, but it's not supposed to be long. Just a little taste of Leah in addition to my other Leah pairings. Shortly, there will be one with her and Sam, possibly, and maybe a one shot of her and Sam together pre-break up. We shall see!

Anyways, review! ;D

- DramaticField