Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.

Usual garbled author notes:

My muse is wilful; you know the thing that makes me write certain things or not, as the case may be? I promised everyone I would finish the extension of 'I'll be home for Christmas' and I have done a lot of work on that one - over 30k words. But the story that kept coming to the front of my head was this one. It isn't finished yet, and normally I don't post on fanfic until the story is complete, but it seems to be growing hugely and I don't want you all to have to wait another two months for me to finish it. Especially as you all leapt on my last one shot like a pack of starving wolverines.

I have done 31 chapters and 100k words so far, so I can give you those, and keep writing like a crazy person to stay ahead OR you could go without?

Yeah. I knew you'd pick that option. If I catch up to myself there might not be daily postings, that's all.

This is another extension of a one shot. I have never written femslash before and I have read one, that I beta'ed for feebes, but I am going to give it a go. And if it is awful… well, there will be Paul compensation.

I know some people were pleased to see a femslash story from me, and by making it into a threesome, I am not implying that women 'need' men, I just suspect that Leah might as a she-wolf. But I can say that it is majorly angsty. (And you all thought 'Hurt' was bad?!)

So, fair warning, this will be a mostly Leah and a whole lot of Paul story - I think… it's still not finished yet. But it is also me, so they should have a HEA.

Trust me… would I lead you astray? *mwahaha*

Bella finished high school. She and Leah skipped the prom; it really wasn't either of their styles. Charlie and Sue took them to lunch at the Lodge after the graduation ceremony in June. Renee cancelled her trip to Forks because Phil had broken his leg sliding into home base.

Bella sat there thinking about how far she had come. Her acceptance letters to the University of Alaska had been left uncompleted and not returned. Bella wasn't sure what she wanted to do for the next year, given she now actually had a future. It was a heady feeling. Charlie frowned and lectured her about expectations, but she got the idea that he liked having her around for a little longer. She kept telling him that she would sort it out next year. She was nineteen and she had her whole life ahead of her. She wasn't intent on killing herself for her High School boyfriend anymore; not that she told Charlie that. Sometimes she looked back at that period of her life and didn't recognize herself. Now, she dated a twenty year old.

Definitely more her own age group. Even if she was a girl, she was beautiful. She beamed at her across the table and Leah winked back at her.

Charlie had agreed to her moving in with Leah after she graduated. She was ready to go, now. In fact, she was already packed. The last few things were in her truck. This was not only a graduation lunch, but a kind of a farewell, too.

Leah got a land allowance from the tribe as a wolf pack member. Most of them were too young to need it yet and still lived with their parents. Except for Sam and Emily. They had a place of their own and Emily was expecting a baby. Everyone was pleased for them, even Leah. Sam was determined not to be his father. Nobody really thought he would be, so the only person who was worried about it was Sam, but they all understood. Jared and Kim had recently applied for one. They wanted to be in it as soon as Jared turned eighteen.

For her land allowance, Leah asked the council for a small block with an older house on it. It hadn't been occupied for a while and didn't suit a family; there just weren't enough rooms for a start. She had checked it out a couple of times and it seemed solid enough. The roof didn't leak and most of the damage inside was from a broken window that hadn't been repaired. It had let through some leaves and some water marks stained the floor where the rain had come in. But she thought it was easily fixed up.

Leah was so uncharacteristically nervous when she took Bella out to look at it. It was tiny; like all the rez houses. It had one bedroom, a bathroom, and a larger room that served for everything else; kitchen, lounge, and dining. The laundry was outside; built up against the side of the house.

"It will need a bit of work," Bella said, carefully. "A lot of renovation."

"I know. But it has good bones and it's a wonder what a coat of paint will do."

"We'll have to save our money and do things ourselves to save costs."

"The pack will help."

Bella was standing on the tiny little porch staring off into the distance. She tilted her head and listened to the sea in the background.

Leah reached down and clutched her hand. "Do you like it?" she asked hesitantly.

Bella squeezed her hand. "It's absolutely beautiful, Leah."

"Oh, thank God." Leah hugged her. "I thought you hated it."

"Why would I hate it? It's ours."

"Yeah. It is. If we want it." She studied Bella's face. "Do you want it?"

"Yes, please, Leah."

The girls renovated their little cabin. They were thrilled to make it together. Painting and decorating and arguing over which pieces of furniture went where. Leah brought over her bed from the Clearwater house. Mostly Leah let Bella win. It didn't worry her and for Bella, it was the first real place of her own. Renee had always set up their house (she had very definite ideas about decorating) and Charlie's place was his when she moved in. So she loved to have her own ideas and see them work out.

The tiling in the bathroom was well done but was a garish, old fashioned color. Bella found some tile paint that could just be painted over the top. She chose blue and white. It looked like new when she had finished and she was very proud of herself.

They collected battered furniture from family and made a home. They didn't own a TV and it didn't take long for Bella's small bookcase to overflow with mass produced paperbacks and recipe books. Now it was all finished, and right after the graduation lunch, the girls would move in together.

That night after some last minute unpacking, they were in bed together. Bella had got paint in her hair from the tile paint. Leah scraped it out for her with her fingernails. It was much harder than normal paint to remove.

"I'll cut it all off," Bella proposed. Then she stifled a yawn.

"No. Please don't," Leah argued. "I love your hair."

"Yeah?"

"I love the way it feels like silk across my skin." She wound it around her hand. "How the strands catch on my nipples when you kiss me."

"Gah," said Bella. "I love your nipples. I have no chest at all." She puffed up her chest and looked down at herself. "Look at it. I'm as flat as a boy."

"You are not," argued Leah.

"Pfft. I can't compare to you." Bella reached out and cupped one of Leah's breasts in her hand. "These… are magnificent."

"I love the way you touch me," Leah breathed. She thought that Bella almost worshipped her body. It made her feel like a god. She said it to her once and Bella argued that she wasn't a god; she was an Amazon. Leah had to go look it up. She found that Amazons were a nation of all-female warriors from Greek mythology.

"I am not an Amazon."

"You are!" argued Bella. "Look at you! You are the quintessential warrior woman. You hold your own with that pack of men. I admire you for that."

"Okay… I'm an Amazon." Leah laughed.

"On one condition," added Bella.

"What?"

She grabbed her breast in her hand. "Don't ever cut these off."

"I thought they only cut off one. Got in the way of the bowstring, didn't it? I know how that feels, when they get in the way."

"Whatever. Just don't cut either of them off. I need them."

"Need them, huh? I doubt that," Leah joked.

"Okay, fine. I love them." Bella brushed her thumb across Leah's nipple and watched it tighten.

Leah watched her face. "Hey, beautiful."

Bella looked at her and blinked. "I'm not beautiful," she argued.

"Of course you are. I can do research too, you know." Leah shifted her body on the bed and moved her face closer to Bella's. "And I know that 'bella' in Italian means beautiful." She kissed her gently. "Beautiful girl with a beautiful name."

"Leah," Bella breathed. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know. I'll have to look it up. But right now, I have other things that I want to do." Her arms reached around Bella's body and lifted her; laying her down on her back on the sheets.

Bella smiled up at her. "Kiss me."

Leah did and then she kissed down the edge of her jaw to her neck. She held her firmly at the back of her head and she feasted on Bella's neck until she writhed under her. Her other hand slid under Bella's thigh and lifted her a little. Bella moaned and pushed her hips against Leah's body. Her own hands were stroking her wherever she could reach. Leah's warm fingers worked their way between her legs. She was already wet. Leah stroked her expertly, sliding her fingers inside Bella when she knew she needed more. Bella made breathless, panting noises and when her neck arched back, Leah moved back to stroke her clitoris. She watched her lover orgasm, capturing her cry with her lips. She kissed her hard as she jolted under her.

They lay together, getting their breath back.

"Your turn," said Bella.

"Not tonight. You're tired. You've had a big day, graduating and all." She kissed her gently. "Sleep now, beautiful."

Leah wanted to get a job. A real job. She also wanted to get away from the pack boys. She spent more than enough time with them. And in their heads, too. She didn't need her rare human hours spent with them as well. It didn't seem to worry them. The ones who had ditched school worked for Sam. He had a small construction business started. Erratic hours could be dealt with, as long as the job was finished on time. His biggest problem was trying to remember not to give crazily short estimates of time to complete a job.

Leah ended up getting a job as the driveway attendant at the gas station. She wore her usual attire of incredibly short shorts, a tight tank top and a battered pair of old runners. And seemed blissfully unaware of the guys who came in every couple of days for fuel or a quart of oil.

Bella just laughed that she had exchanged one group of men for another, but Leah argued that it was different. They weren't in her head, for a start.

Bella wanted to get a job, too. She still did some hours at Newtons. They had enough income to cover their expenses. She had picked up Mike's shifts as well because he had gone to college. Leah worried about that. All of Bella's friends had gone to college. Leah thought she was holding Bella back. Bella insisted that she wasn't. That she could do distance education if she wanted or something on-line one day. Right now she was happy.

They were both happy.

Jake came over to see her. He used checking her oil as an excuse. He was still the only one who could keep her old truck running.

"So," he started. "Leah, huh?"

"Yes." She looked at him warily. She loved Jake, but she had never loved him in the romantic way he had always seemed to hope she would.

Jake nodded.

"So are you dating?" she asked carefully.

Jake looked serious. "No."

"You should. You're a pretty good catch, Jacob Black."

He opened his mouth as if he was going to make a comment and then didn't. She could guess what it would be. Not good enough for her or something like that. He shook his head a little and then he said, "Embry and Quil keep trying to get me to date."

"You three do everything together," she joked. "May as well date together, too."

Jake smiled. "Yeah. I suppose we do."

He worked on the truck silently for a little while.

"But you're happy," he said.

It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway, "Yes, I am happy."

He hesitated when he went to hug her goodbye.

"Leah won't mind," she assured him.

"No, that wasn't it." Then he laughed at himself.

"You're still you, Jake." That didn't explain it any better, really. "And I'm still me and you are still my best friend."

"Okay, Bells." He hugged her properly then; a real Jake rib crusher. She felt him press his face to her shoulder. Just a feather light touch.

She and Leah slept naked in a tangle of limbs and hair.

Bella usually started the evening with her thighs wrapped around Leah's head. She couldn't decide what was her favorite Leah body part. The eyelashes, the breasts or Leah's tongue. She loved Leah's tongue. She could slash a pack member with a well-aimed barb in about the same amount of time as it took her to bring Bella to her knees as well. And when she growled into her? Ooh, that hit the spot.

Of course, she got her eyes then, too. They would peer up Bella's body to her face, taking note of every quiver, shudder and moan. Blinking slowly in her own ecstasy. Leah said Bella tasted like honey.

Bella thought Leah tasted musky and spicy. Impossible to describe but she'd know that taste anywhere. She caught herself one day, tossing the clothes in the washing machine. Before she had really thought about it, she had Leah's panties held to her face.

She inhaled deeply. Yes. That was it. Just a hint of musk. Her earthy Leah.

Little did she know that she fueled Quil's spank bank for weeks with that image. The laundry was outside in an old shed. Not functional for winter but they had to add it to the list of big ticket renovation items. He had seen her from the forest in wolf form.

It wasn't the actual sniffing, Quil tried to explain to Embry on patrol later. It was the look on her face as she did it. Embry, I swear, Bella was creaming her jeans right then.

You are a sick, sick man Quil.

Oh, come on, Em. What about Paul?

What about him?

He is seriously smitten by those two.

Smitten? Maybe, Quil. But I don't see him hanging in the forest near their house to get erotic laundry glimpses of Bella.

But the look on her face!

Yeah, yeah Quil. Enough!

Erotic laundry glimpses, Quil repeated.

Fuck's sake, Quil. Give it up!

Jeez, that even sounds good.

If it sounds that good, how come you never do any laundry?

What? Mum loves laundry.

She does not.

She does! She irons shirts twice.

What the?

Once when they are damp and again when they are dry.

Why would she do that?

I dunno. She says it makes it easier to iron them the second time.

Of course it does, she already ironed them.

I don't get it. It's mum. She's just lucky I don't wear shirts much.

At least Embry had successfully changed the subject; even if it was to laundry.

But Quil was right; Paul was still obsessed with the girls. He had suggested to Bella that she might like to try 'the other dark meat; the one with the boner' and Bella had slapped him.

She had hurt her hand doing it.

He was lucky Leah hadn't slapped him instead. That would have hurt. But Leah got him back in a way more painful manner. She held Bella's sore hand up to her face. She fluttered her feather duster eyelashes at Paul and then she had kissed it better for Bella. With an awful lot of tongue and way too much extraneous hip action.

Paul had actually whimpered and Leah had flicked him a triumphant glance. She knew she had got to him. She always was the smart one.

So that was it! Challenge accepted. At least that was how Paul saw it.