OK, I have tried my hardest to keep to the timeline that Stephenie Meyer has set, but it doesn't quite add up, as Emily's accident supposedly happened over a year before the main events in New Moon (which are around March) and that Paul and Jared had phased by that point but Jacob also says that Paul is only sixteen, meaning that he would have only been fifteen then. Yet, Seth phasing at fifteen meant he was the youngest wolf to have phased, meaning that Paul ought, by rights, to be older. So I have changed the dates to make it more believable, I hope.

Also, when this story starts, it's about the same time that Bella comes to Forks. Sam left school the year before, but he is still only eighteen (I made his birthday to be in March) and Leah is still at school (her birthday is December, so she is also eighteen). He wants to go to college with her, so he is having a year out. He also takes on small jobs to try and earn a bit of money.

I hope this makes everything clearer.

The Story of Sam and Emily

Chapter 1

Stupid stupid accounts! I threw my pen down in anger. I was supposed to be sorting out my money for this month, so that Mom could help me with the deficit, as per usual, but the numbers just weren't adding up. I had to get it in by tomorrow and that thought really didn't help me with my temper.

I shoved my chair away from my desk and stormed out into the forest, cursing myself for acting like Leah with PMS. I wasn't normally this easy to anger. In fact everyone knew me as one of the most level-headed guys and it was one of the things that Leah loved me for, since it was a complete contrast to her hot-headedness.

I smiled at the thought of my beautiful girlfriend. No; fiancée. I had proposed to her only the month before, knowing that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. It might seem quite young to marry, only six months after I had graduated, but we had both grown up in a small town and that was how it was done.

With the thought of Leah, and the long walk in the forest, I finally calmed down. It seemed that it was only these two things that could calm me down at the moment, helped only by imagining what Leah and I would do in bed later that evening, when we were supposed to be babysitting her little brother Seth, who was only thirteen.

I wandered slowly back to my house, trying to postpone my work for as long as possible. Then I remembered that I also had some research to do on the Quileute history, a subject which I really liked, as it had been my favourite subject in school, and even better, it was now about my own tribe. My pace automatically sped up as I thought of that, all ideas of numbers forgotten. I resolved to do it later, maybe while Seth was still awake, with Leah. She understood math but hated history. It really was true when they said opposites attract. Leah and I were nothing alike; that was partly why we loved each other.

"Hey beautiful," I said, as the door opened to reveal Leah.

"Hey!" She smiled and her whole face lit up. I loved that I had that effect on her, "You know, you're not so bad yourself." She smirked, then looked up at me properly and frowned,"Have you grown again? You're getting huge."

"What can I say?" I shrugged, unable to explain my growth spurt, "I'm a growing boy. There's just more for you to love." I kissed her on the cheek, giving her flowers, "These are for you."

"You shouldn't have!"She giggled.

"Why not? Can I not treat my favourite girl? My fiancée?"

"I love it when you say that," she beamed at me, "But really, you're supposed to be saving money."

"That's why I picked them from the forest."

"Struggling with the accounts again?" She said archly, raising an eyebrow, "I knew there would be something in it for you."

I smiled ruefully. She knew the forest was where I went when I couldn't do my math, and she knew that I knew how good she was.

"But you enjoy math and I don't get it. Plus, I'll do your history." I smiled hopefully at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she sighed,"Now let's get inside and shut the door; it's freezing!"

"Really?" I asked genuinely, "I didn't notice."

"How did you not notice? You're only wearing a t-shirt." She asked, looking at me strangely.

"Honestly, Lee, I'm fine."

"Whatever," she dismissed with a laugh, as we walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Sue," I smiled, pecking her on the cheek as well.

"Hey, less of that Samuel. That's my wife you're flirting with there." Harry reprimanded me, smiling at the same time

"Sorry Mr Clearwater,"I apologised formally, yet at the same time joking.

"Think nothing of him," Sue said to me, "Overprotective old fool." She smiled at him, the love between them obvious. I only hoped that Leah and I could still have that love in twenty or thirty years time.

"Mom, Dad, could you leave already? You're embarrassing me." Leah complained.

"Sure thing, honey."Sue replied, "We were just on our way out anyway. Could you make sure Seth's in bed by nine thirty. He's got school tomorrow. As do you." She added; a knowing look in her eye as she glanced pointedly at Leah.

Yet it was me who blushed and looked to the floor, silently resolving to get Seth into bed as soon as possible, so Leah and I could still have some fun time.

"Whatever Mom. We're eighteen now, not fifteen. I think we can look after ourselves."

"Sure!" Sue laughed and shut the door behind her, tipping me a little wink as she left.

"Don't you find it weird that your parents know all about our love lives?"

"Nah and you wouldn't either if you could hear them every other night." She shuddered a bit.

"Fair enough," I replied, grimacing myself.

"Sam!" Seth, as ever, was excited to see me. He knew that his sister would be much less likely to snap at him if I were there. Just as the thought of Leah seemed to calm me down recently, I seemed to be a relaxing influence on her.

"Hey buddy," I said, ruffling his hair, "What'cha up to?"

"Watching the game. Wanna join me?"

"Sure, why not?"

"You pamper him too much," Leah sighed, "Besides when are you gonna do those accounts?"

"Eh, later," I shrugged,"And when we do it, I'll give you a reward for every question you do."

"What sort of reward?"She asked coyly.

"Something a little like this," I murmured, kissing her softly.

"I'm thinking I want to do the work now," she whispered back.

"EW! Sam that's gross!"

I grinned and pulled away.

"Really, Seth? Well, when you're a little older, you might want to try it. I bet you'll be a real ladies man."

"Whatever!" He dismissed.

"I'm surprised," I said quietly to Leah, "By his age, all I could think about was girls."

"He's immature for his age. Mom pampers him quite a lot."

"Fair enough."

The shutting of the front door and quiet voices roused me from my sleep. That was strange, as normally I slept like the dead and never heard Sue and Harry come in anyway. So why should I hear them tonight? And why were their voices so clear. It was like they were standing next to me in the room. Puzzled, I resolved to think about it more in the morning, as I was very tired and could barely think straight.

I rolled over, slinging my arm over Leah, and fell back into an easy sleep.

When the alarm went off in the morning, I barely remembered the happenings of the night before, and shrugged them off as dream; although Leah commented that she had liked it when I put my arm around her.

"Anything for you baby," I said, pecking her on the lips, and we set off for school.

Throughout the day, I kept having flashes of irrational anger, which I couldn't control, and happened every time I got even mildly frustrated at something.

It got so bad that I cancelled my date that night with Leah when I went to pick her up. I wanted to spend more time with her, but I was feeling strange, and I didn't want that to affect our evening and sour it. Leah had a bit of a go at me for that, and once again I got wildly angry, but I managed to control myself enough to sound like I was only a little irritated at her instead. She calmed down when I blamed it on illness. I told her the truth; that I was feeling very strange and quite ill, and she told me to go home and go to bed. I was only too happy to comply.

My bed was too hot. I tossed and turned and just couldn't get to sleep, which was what I really wanted. I got frustrated with my inability to shut my mind off. Bad move.

I ended up throwing the covers off myself in rage and heading outside into the forest. I was seething. I was so angry that my whole body was shaking. Tremors were running up and down it like I was the only person experiencing an extremely strong earthquake.

All of a sudden I heard a loud ripping noise, and white heat shot through my body. I felt like I was on fire. The feeling started at my core and spread to my extremities. There wasn't a single part of my body that was spared from the excruciating agony.

Just as quickly as it started, it stopped, leaving feeling achy all over and standing on four paws. Four paws. My eyes widened and I started freaking out. I needed to see myself already. I raced towards the river, hoping it would give me a good enough reflection, tripping over my paws a few times. I wasn't used to the sensations. I noticed idly that they were jet black.

I became aware of new sensations as I ran. Like the speed that I was running. I was fast. Super fast. So fast that the trees were blurring slightly as I rocketed past them. In no time at all I came to the river, but I couldn't see a reflection; the water was moving too quickly. I paced up and down the river, wishing I could see myself. Not knowing was killing me.

Luckily I came to a small pool in which I could just see my face. The face of a wolf.

I freaked. Literally, I couldn't hold it in. I started howling, scaring myself more. How the hell was I a wolf? I was a normal guy, with normal life aspirations, not a wolf! I was crazy for what felt like hours. My thoughts were a jumble. I couldn't make sense of it. I was going insane. I didn't understand. All I could think was: What freaky magic was happening here?

Magic...

The stories that Billy used to tell us came back to me. The stories that we learned in Quileute classes. Taha Aki and the spirit warriors; the transformation of Taha Aki into a wolf. Did we really still possess that dream? Could certain members still transform? I knew that my father was pure Quileute, but I didn't know that he was a direct descendant.

That worry shot clear out of my mind as another memory hit me. The reason for us changing.

The cold ones...

Did the cold ones also exist then? Did vampires really roam the earth, just like they did in the stories. Were they truly like the ones in our legends, or were they actually more like the stereotypes that you heard from people like Bram Stoker?

These questions I had were starting to drive me mad and I wanted so much to be human again, but I didn't know how I could be. How could I turn back? Could I turn back at all? The stories seemed to suggest that I could, but unfortunately, as they were stories, they didn't come with an idea on how to do this sort of thing and I had no clue myself.

I howled in frustration. There was barely anything I could do and I was still completely unnerved by the fact that I was a fucking wolf. The thought overwhelmed me once again and I lost any coherency in my thoughts that I might have just regained.

Not to mention I was starting to get hungry as well. Could I try and catch something? I retched at the idea of eating something raw. I might have been a wolf physically, but mentally I was still human and I really couldn't stomach the idea of raw meat. I thought that maybe if I got really hungry, it would sound more appealing, but right now there was nothing I could do.

Eventually, I tired of walking and running around, especially as it only exacerbated my hunger. I was learning to enjoy the speed at which I could now move, but the discomfort of my hunger was painful. I flopped down by a tre, and my mind turned to my human life. How could I go to college next year with Leah if I was like this? How could I work when I was a wolf? I certainly couldn't study. Even though I'd never known my dad and I had moved out of Mom's house at sixteen, unable to cope with her new husband, I wondered if they would notice that I was different. Hugely different. Then I realised that my removal from my mother's house was right now, a blessing. Less people would realise I was missing. Leah would though and she wouldn't be happy.

Leah. Could I continue spending time with her? What if I burst into a wolf right in front of her? That idea was frightening. I didn't want to hurt her, but I also couldn't leave her. It would break me. Kill me. I loved her so much. In that instant I resolved not to leave her, but just attempt to be incredibly controlled in front of her and to put up with her temper better than ever, as it would be more prominent if I couldn't spend the entirety of my time with her.

I snorted. That sounded like she was a clingy girlfriend, but up until now it had been mutual. But I never could have factored in my transformation into a wolf. I huffed; I would have to work something out once I changed back, but if I continued to ponder on it now, I would drive myself crazy.

Slowly my eyes drooped shut and I fell asleep.

In the morning I woke up, feeling decidedly uncomfortable, and I realised to my disappointment that I was still a wolf. This annoyed me, and the heat of my body seemed to get worse.

It was the same routine everyday for a week and I was really starting to miss civilisation. I bathed in the river and I managed to get over my revulsion so I could eat a little bit but I did it as little as possible.

I slowly came to realise that the key to me being human was being calm. I'd had a lot of time to think and I'd noticed how in the days leading up to my transformation I had in fact been incredibly irritable, and it was even worse as a wolf. And it had been anger that had triggered the change in the first place, so it was logical that I had to relax to turn back.

It was harder than it looked however and, of course, failure led to more irritation. But eventually I cooled myself enough. There was a moment of confusion, then of space bending, and I was lying on the floor in considerable pain and naked, but human, at last. I immediately threw up the catch of the day; a particularly chewy possum, before shakily standing and making my way carefully home.

AN: I hope you enjoy this. It's a little different to my other stories, but it has been playing on my mind for a while.

I'm hoping to have a weekly schedule of updating, but this is very flexible. I'm about to start university, and I don't know how busy I'll be yet. Please be patient if I haven't updated for a while.

Thank you

Layla x