Thank you so, SO much to my awesome beta laurazuleta18 - you rock bb! And I know this is short, but it was initially intended as the prologue. The other chapters are much, much longer.

Hope ya'll enjoy.

Thanks to any who read/reviewed!

Chapter One – Leah's Got Butterflies

Leah didn't know him, not really. It was difficult to say when she finally looked up from the fire and met his eyes, but when she did; his face was forever imprinted inside her brain.

He kept staring at her, and she kept staring back at him. Leah was alone that afternoon; all of her best friends were gone on summer vacations to Ontario or Oregon or some other exotic location she wished she could go to but couldn't.

Leah had barely kept herself entertained without them, so when the opportunity to get out and do something with other people presented itself, she jumped at the chance to get out of her house.

Now, her cheeks were flaming hot, she couldn't help but thank herself for doing so. Even if she didn't work up enough nerve to go talk to him, she would at least have someone to daydream about in her spare time (something she had more than plenty of these days).

Leah tried to scream at herself to shut the fuck up, that this was completely crazy. No good would come out of obsessing over this guy. She squinted, trying to see past the darkness and shadows the fire was throwing around.

Embarrassment made her cheeks grow warm when she realized that she did know this boy. Duh, of course she did. He was in her grade, though she'd never been in the same class with him, a rarity in La Push Elementary where there were only two different teachers for every subject. Leah had not looked twice at him at school before tonight, but maybe that was because she had never looked at him in the eyes, his captivating and warm eyes.

Leah bit her lip as she rummaged her brain, trying to remember what this guy's name was.

And then it hit her: Sam… Sam Uley. Sam's dad was what Leah's dad Harry called a… well; he called him some words her mom Sue did not like her to say. But both of Leah's parents liked Sam's mother, Annalynn.

Leah bit her lip as she stared at him; the desire to talk to him was getting stronger.

Her nerves stifled that desire quickly. Someone as hot as Sam could not start talking to someone as... gawky as Leah, could he? Although if he did, then maybe, he would ask her on a date!

She fantasized briefly about that, thinking of going out on actual dates, without her parents sitting in the back row of the movie theater making sure nothing 'inappropriate' happened. They had finally relented on that rule now that she was going into her freshman year. The freedom had also come with an hour long lecture on responsibility. Leah had to remind herself numerous times that it would be worth it.

"Um, hey," a new voice, one that Leah had never heard, rang through the air. It was close to her, almost in her ear. Startled, she jumped and looked next to her to find the object of her musings, Sam Uley. She was shocked, disbelieving that she'd been fantasizing so badly she hadn't noticed him get up and come over to her. His deep brown eyes, almost black, were calculating and searching.

"Hi!" Leah squeaked back, and then got frustrated. She had promised herself that she would never get all gooey or dumb over a guy, even if he was as hot as Sam, ever. "Hi," she said again, calmer. He grinned, real big.

"Leah, right?" he asked, and Leah's heart spluttered, much to her irritation. She smiled at him a bit nervously, forcing herself to keep herself calm and cool.

"Yeah…you're Sam I think?" she questioned him back. He nodded too. Leah thought she probably looked like a frog, the way her eyes were bulging and her tongue was falling out of her mouth, as Sam brushed his dark hair out of his eyes, which were twinkling.

"Yup, that's me. So you friends with anyone here?" he gestured around the two of them.

"Um…no, I mean, not really. I just heard there was a party here tonight, and decided I'd drop by, see if there was anyone to hang out with…" Leah trailed off, shrugging.

"Cool. To tell you the truth, I don't really know anyone here that well either. I just wanted an excuse to get out of going to Seattle with my mom. She wanted me to get out and do something, I figured this was better," Sam said, and she nodded, rapt with attention.

"Yeah, I guess. I love going to Seattle, personally! Even if it is with my mother," Leah gushed, suddenly excited as she thought of the lights and all the people and the shops and cafés and restaurants…

"When I grow up," she added, "I think I want to move there. I love the city. There's nothing to do around here!" she rolled her eyes, and he nodded in agreement.

"Trust me, I know the feeling, Leah," hearing him say her name sent her heart spluttering all over and butterflies to erupt on her belly, "I lived there for a year or two back in elementary school, it was really something different."

Leah faked a little glare at him, "Lucky! I am so jealous of you right now, you wouldn't even believe it!" she breathed jokingly. He laughed, and Leah joined in quickly. She felt light, like she was floating in a bubble that would never pop, so high up in the sky no one would ever take hold of the her and bring her down. Leah couldn't believe she'd said something to actually make him laugh!

"Tell you what, when we're older we'll buy apartments really close to each other, and go to every place we can think of in Seattle!" he grinned. Leah giggled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She saw his eyes follow the movement and smiled bigger.

"Sounds good to me! Hell, might as well live together if we're gonna do that-" she cut off immediately, noting the way his eyes grew really big. Her face must have been red as a tomato, she was so dumb, he probably thoughts she was some kind of obsessive stalker.

Leah's bubble was racing to the ground now, and she was in distraught disbelief that she would be stupid enough to scare him away after three minutes of conversation!

Finally after a while, he replied, "We'll see. Maybe we will end up living together."

It was definitely not what Leah expected him to say, but she nodded and laughed all the same, brushing the awkwardness away as easily as if it had never been there to begin with. She really, really hoped that was a sign of good things to come, or maybe he was just being nice and was going to run for hills as soon as she turned around.

"So, wanna take a walk? The fire's really starting to get to me. I'm sweltering!" Sam joked, tugging at the collar of his shirt. Leah's heart was hammering now, her stomach flipping around, butterflies flapping away. Or maybe he really wasn't gonna run for the hills.

"Yeah, sure," she agreed shyly, tenderly taking his hand in her own when he offered it to help her stand up after he did.

Sam didn't release her hand after she stood up, and she couldn't help but hope that they would get that apartment in Seattle one day.