A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, or favorited my story. Your feedback means SOOOO MUCH to me : ). As for this chapter, it is what it is. I feel like the ending needs some more work done to it, but for now I'll leave it be. I'm ready for the next chapter because some juicy stuff happens! Please enjoy and remember to review!

Chapter Two: Rescuing Leah

Leah POV

I was standing near the outer edge of the reception, trying to make as minimal an effort as possible to be noticed. On the makeshift dance floor, which was really an extremely large tiled floor lifted two inches off the sand, couples swayed to the music. Lucky for me, Kim wasn't much of a dancer. Currently her, Jared, and I were busy watching Rebecca argue with Paul over something some trivial.

It was sort of nice to see that even after six months nothing had changed. Becca and Paul were still the same two very passionate people. Passionate in their arguing, passionate in their loving.

"Do they ever stop?" I whispered to Kim.

She nodded her head from side to side, "Just imagine double dating with them. It's a nightmare."

Ahh, the joys of double dating.

I remember when Sam and I were together we would always go out with Paul and whatever girl he was with at the moment. I can't really say I missed those dates. Paul was just as obnoxious as he is now, and always tried to wear the pants in the relationship…a fact that Rebecca just wouldn't have it seemed.

"Ugh! I am sooooo moving back in with my dad!" Becca yelled, starting to make a scene.

In an instant Paul's demeanor changed, and he started apologizing. "…No baby, don't. I'm sorry. I'm such an ass."

Maybe it was because I was paying so much attention to Paul and Rebecca, or maybe it was because I had my back turned away from the dance floor, but for whatever reason I was completely taken off guard when Sam Uley appeared by my side.

"Hey Leah, you look beautiful." Sam said, sounding very nonchalant.

Suddenly I couldn't breathe. It was like I had been punched in the stomach with enough force to send all the feeling out of my body. I wanted so badly to be mad. I dare he tell me I looked beautiful, especially on today of all days. But for some reason I couldn't muster up an inch of anger. I was just numb.

"Thanks," I replied, unsure of what to really say, "you look very handsome as well."

Sam's smile stretched across his face. I looked him once over and choked back the tears. I couldn't find it in myself to say anything rude to him.

Not today.

Sam seemed so at ease talking to me, like there was no weird animosity between us and we were back to the same old Sam and Leah again. I found his ease very disturbing.

"Listen Leah," he said very confidently, "I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?"

I was completely speechless.

Me, Leah fucking Clearwater, was at a complete and total loss for words. This was truly a first.

I turned to Kim for assistance, but she looked just as shocked as I did. Jared's jaw was practically touching the floor, and even Rebecca and Paul had stopped fighting to stare at Sam.

Great, some help my friends were. What was I suppose to say to him?

"Uhhh, sure." I said in complete awe of my own answer. I heard a few surprised gasps behind me as Sam grabbed my hand. One of those gasps was, I'm sure, from myself.

"Great", he said as he led me out onto the dance floor.

My heart was pounding rapidly. There was no way I would make it out of this dance alive. Sure, I had been doing better lately. Seattle was like a breath of fresh air for me. I had been taking yoga and learning how to control my inner self, but it was too soon to tip the pot. I was afraid I would phase. There was no way I could give up all my hard work for one tiny dance.

…Yet I couldn't walk away. It was like a watching a train wreck in slow motion.

Just as we took our place on the dance floor a new song started to play.

Perfect. It had to be a slow song.

It didn't take me long to figure out what song was playing. Naturally, it had to be a song that brought back flooded memories from mine and Sam's relationship. Fate was always a bitch to me like that.

I was just a freshmen when Sam asked me to him junior prom. I felt on top of the world. Sam was cute, popular, and most of all he liked me. That night, as the exact same song that we were dancing to now was playing, Sam leaned now and kissed me. "I love you, Leah." He confessed.

I could tell Sam had forgotten all about that song as we danced now. Hell, he probably had forgotten all about that night.

"Emily and I are so glad you came tonight, Lee-Lee." Sam said, calling me by my old pet name.

How many times had I imagined dancing with Sam at his wedding? Millions of times to be sure. However in all my daydreams I was the one in white¾not Emily.

I felt sick.

That's it, I had to get out of here.

Just as I was about to pull away Embry's voice called us over.

"Hey Sam, we need to talk." There was something about Embry that was off. His face was hard even though he wore a smile. It was a look I could have recognized from a mile away, because it was a look I had worn all to often. Embry was forcing his smile. Beneath his calm composure lay something else.

Embry didn't wait for Sam to speak, he just continued talking once Sam's gaze fell upon him. "It seems that Emily has fallen in love with my mad dancing skills. She says they're way better than your's."

Emily looked absolutely confused as to what Embry was talking about, but Embry disregarded her.

Sam smiled, taking the bait, "Oh yeah?" his lips started to pull upward into a devious smile, "Let me at her then!" He immediately let go of my hand and pulled his wife into a passionate embrace.

I stood alone, completely bewildered about what to do. I couldn't just draw attention to myself by standing in the middle of the dance floor, so I turned to walk away. I wasn't too sure of my destination just yet. I just knew I wanted out of this all-consuming black hole that was La Push.

"Wait!" Embry called after me, I stopped to see what he had wanted, and he asked, "Do you wanna maybe dance with me, Leah?"

I looked Embry square in the eyes. He had a look I hadn't seen in a very long time. He looked hopeful.

But I was done letting people pity me.

"No," I responded almost robotically, "the only thing I want right now is to leave."

I threw him an apologetic glance, then quickly turned away and ran home.

Embry POV

I stood in awe as I watched Leah rush off the dance floor and away from the beach altogether. I knew not to take her rejection personally, she was probably in a ton of pain right now, but I still felt a little stung by her refusal to dance with me.

I mean I didn't even get so much as a 'thank you' for rescuing her away from Sam.

It was at that moment that I decide to put all this Leah nonsense behind me. Leah Clearwater needed to stay out of my head for good.

The rest of the reception passed by in a blur. I toasted the newly weds with the rest of my family and friends, and even managed to work in a few dances with Nessie and Claire. As soon as Sam and Emily left for their Hawaiian honeymoon, the rest of the party disbursed into smaller groups. A lot of the older guest went home, but some of the younger adults and teenagers lingered on the beach to start other bon fire parties of their own.

The boys wanted to skip the bon fire and grab some drinks in Port Angeles instead. I decided to opt out this time, giving the excuse that I was exhausted. There was a bed gladly calling my name at home. All I wanted to do now was crash and get out of the monkey suit.

The walk home from the beach to mine and Quil's small two bedroom apartment wasn't very far, and within ten minutes I was sitting on the couch, TV dinner in hand.

After eating dinner¾which consisted of one Hungry Man and three pepperoni pizza flavored Hot Pockets¾ and watching two hours worth of old Friends reruns, I decided to call it a night.

I went through all the motions of getting ready for bed without giving too much though into the process. I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, then quickly brushed my teeth.

Despite it being October, I slept in nothing but my boxers. Always running warm was one of the best advantages about being a wolf. I absolutely hated cold weather.

I wasn't sure how long I had been out when I suddenly heard the shuffling of feet in my room.

Just my luck, Quil was drunk again.

I had discovered after one horribly long night out partying with the pack that Quil was impossible to deal with when he was drunk. He was worse than a small child! Someone was always having to keep an eye on him because he would want to try stupid shit. Once he tried to jump off Emily's roof because he thought he could fly. He was very lucky our bones healed faster than the average human's.

There was no way I was going to deal with his drunk ass tonight though.

"Quil, go to bed. You're drunk." I said, burying my face deep inside my pillow. Maybe if I ignored him long enough he would go away.

"Wrong." A clearly female voice answered.

I rolled over and opened my eyes, stunned to see Leah standing over me. I rubbed my eyes to make sure what I was seeing wasn't actually a dream. Leah used this moment to continue talking,

"You're wrong on both accounts, actually. One, I am definitely not Quil Ateara." She said, motioning to her body. She was wearing a blue Ramones tshirt, black cotton shorts, and a pair of black low-top Chucks. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and once again her long legs were visible.

…"And two, I'm not drunk. Not yet at least" I looked at her hand, and sure enough she was holding a brown paper bag with the neck of the bottle visible.

"What the hell, Lee! How did you get in here?" I asked , my groggily voice barely audible.

Leah raised her other hand and dangled my keys in front of my face.

There was no way Leah could have stolen my keys from me. I used them to get inside my apartment earlier.

"Where did you get those!" I demanded.

Leah giggled, which seemed like an unnatural response for her. Despite the thoughts I had about her today, I still thought of her as one of the dudes. And dudes did not, under and circumstances, giggle.

"Why Embry, are you questioning my badassness?" she answered, almost perfectly mimicking the same words I told her earlier.

"Fine." I said, "if you want to act coy you can, but I'm going back to sleep."

Two can play at her game.

"You know," she said as she sat down on the bed beside me. Her action startled me, so I sat up to make things less awkward. This passing went by unnoticed by Leah.

…"You really shouldn't have a Hide-A-Key rock when you live on the second floor. It's pretty obvious."

Duh, I should have guessed she found where Quil and I stashed our spare key.

"Why are you here?" I asked, more demanding than I meant it to be.

Leah looked taken aback, but after a moment's thought she brushed my hostile voice off.

"I told you already, we are going to get drunk. Put some clothes on and let's go; we're running out of time."

Leah's demeanor was frantic…or maybe desperate…or maybe a strange combination of the two. I'm not quite sure.

"Why don't you get Seth or Jacob to go with you?" I questioned. After all, those two were like her BFFs. When all the drama over the Italian bloodsuckers was settled I was sure Jacob would promote either Quil or myself to Beta, but he let Leah keep her position. Even after she moved to Seattle Jake kept her spot open "just in case she came back."

Leah looked down at my chest. I was suddenly aware that I wasn't wearing a shirt. Even though Leah had seemed me shirtless a thousand times, I suddenly became super aware of her presence. I pulled my comforter over my body for security.

She bit her bottom lip, still not answering my question. There seemed to be a hint of pain in her eyes.

"I can't" she simply responded.

"You're going to have to give me a better answer than that."

"Jake smells like leeches all the time. I can barely stand it. Besides, he's always trying to get me to come back. He just doesn't get it." She definitely had a point. I loved Jacob as if he were my own flesh and blood, but he did have a extremely pungent bleach-like smell about him. What did Leah expect though? The boy ran with vampires nowadays.

"What about Seth?" I retorted.

Leah sighed, as if the answer was obvious, "Seth is only sixteen. I can't condone underage drinking."

I laughed. No body ever stopped Seth from drinking before. "I'm only nineteen, remember?"

Leah hesitated. She knew I had her beat.

"Yeah, but you're a man. Seth is still just a kid." She batted her eyelids in an effort to flirt.

She had to play the man card. I swear, even though she was only playing, the whole eye batting think could have worked…if I was a weaker man, that is.

"Nice try" I joked.

Leah paused for another moment, this time she gave herself time to think her answer over.

She let out a long sigh, whether for dramatic effect or for her own despair I do not know, "Because you saved me today when no once else did. Nobody even asked me how I felt about all this, but you did. Can you see, Embry, I'm a joke to everyone around this hellhole. Just some depressed bitch who won't get over her high school boyfriend. Sure, Seth and Jake get me better than most people…but you…today I saw something in you Embry…it was like you understood. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know…but I need you, Embry. Please come get completely shitfaced with me?

At that exact moment I felt like I had be hit by a tsunami. Something happened deep within my body that changed the way I felt about everything I had ever known. I couldn't wrap my mind around what was happened, but all I knew was this:

Leah Clearwater was in pain.

Leah Clearwater was beautiful.

Leah Clearwater needed me.

And I, Embry Call, would do just about anything to make sure to make sure she never felt an ounce of sorrow again.

I pushed the covers off myself, and stood up. I was no longer worried about my appearance like I was before.

"Let's go." I said sliding into a pair of sweats I had laying on the floor.

Leah's mocha chocolate eyes lit up brighter than the most powerful light I had ever seen. "Awesome, I knew you'd come!" She replied, all her sorrow erased with excitement.

I let her lead the way as we made our way out of the apartment.

Where we were going, I didn't know. Hell, I didn't care. Tonight I was hers, and that was all that mattered.