Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

STORY NOTES: The pack have always lived in Mystic Falls, end of. The phasing started when Stefan and Damon returned to Mystic Falls. Bella does not exist, not many of the Cullens do but Rosalie will make an appearance. Elena sort of replaces Bella's role – Jacob was in love with her, but she was with Stefan. He pursued her until he imprinted on Bonnie. Bonnie was with Damon, but left him for Jacob. You ask why the pack hasn't destroyed Damon? Ah, good question. I have the answer – Bonnie cares for him still, therefore hurting him would hurt Bonnie, they can't hurt Bonnie because she's an imprint of a pack member. BOOM.

DESTINY
Leah Clearwater/Tyler Lockwood
Imprinting is supposed to be easy, but nothing is ever easy for Leah Clearwater or Tyler Lockwood. Both of them hot-heads and with hidden secrets, will they be able to bond or will they tear each other apart?

"Are you really going to just sit around in your apartment and sulk for the rest of your life? 'Oh, my name is Leah Clearwater and I hide from happiness because I like being all solemn and depressed'."

"Fuck you, Black. You know, if you're not going to say anything fucking helpful, you can just go fuck off out the door."

Leah's voice was harsh, though Jacob didn't actually get insulted by it – he merely barked out a laughter and shook his head, ignoring the way Bonnie whispered in his ear for him to stop winding Leah up. Truth was, that was about the fifth time she had hissed poison words in his direction this evening. He enjoyed getting a rise out of his friend – Leah was always so amusing when she was angry. Most people found her irritating, by Jacob got his kicks out of making it worse, especially lately.

It had been three days ago when Leah's eyes had fallen upon Tyler and her body made aware of the imprint. It had been three days since she dared step outside due to the chance she may see him again. It hurt – oh god, the feeling was indescribable. Forcing herself to stay away from him was like a form of self-harm. Her heart constantly felt like there was a clamp around it, squashing it tightly together. Her body seemed to physically ache, as if she had done far too much exercise and she was never able to get comfortable. She was always fidgeting around, always needing to do something in the vain attempt to distract herself. Three days felt like three years, yet she continued to do it. How did she get by? Drank herself silly every night, that's how.

And that was why she was now getting a lecture. Apparently, she was 'heading down a dark path' or something shit like that. Gee, you drank three bottles of vodka in a short space of time and suddenly everybody actually gave a damn about you. Who would have thought?

"I don't understand why you won't just face him." Jacob spoke up once more.

Leah hated that Seth constantly had the pack members over here – every day, she would wake up, trudge out of bed and be greeted by howls from various males. With her mother and father 'in a better place', she had to take the responsible role as Seth's legal guardian, leaving them to share a flat together. It was only small, but Seth still insisted on using the widescreen TV as an excuse to have everyone plus their girlfriends over. Normally, she didn't care but right now, everything pissed her off. All she wanted was some peace, maybe a talk with her brother, but here she was, surrounded by the world and its fucking wife. They'd all been here the past three days and nights, all of them bugging the shit out of her as they spoke in know-it-all voices, assuming they knew what they were on about just because their imprints had gone so well. Paul was the worse – thought he was God's gift ever since he'd snatched himself up a hot little cheerleader. Dude never shut up about his sex life now. Sam and Emily, Jared and Kimberly...the list was endless. Even Jacob always looked loved up – nobody could ever get him on his own anymore, Bonnie was always there, much like she was now.

Tonight, the only people she had to deal with were Jacob, Bonnie and Seth, but even they were beginning to send her insane. Seth said they were round to watch some film he'd rented, but Leah knew he'd asked Jacob to come in hope he could talk some sense into her – she'd overheard the conversation.

Leah narrowed her eyes at the form of her friend, sneering at the way Bonnie was curled up faithfully by his side, his arm draped lazily around her while his fingers idly played with a strand of her hair. They looked so fucking perfect – like they belonged in a fairytale. It was hard to believe just two months ago, the witch had been screwing a vampire. Ha, maybe she'd remind Jake about that if he continued to piss her off. "I won't face him, because I'm not about to become some little bitch-ass slave to a man I hardly know! That might be your style, but it's not mine."

Jacob rolled his eyes and his arm tightened around Bonnie in a protective manner. "It's not like that, Leah and you know it."

"That's exactly what it's like. The second I laid eyes on him, I had this urge to do whatever I could to please him. It was like I would die if I didn't." Leah was now pacing, unable to sit down, moving back and forth in front of the television.

"That's what imprinting is, Leah. It gets easier after a while. You're just at the first stage – it's a shock for everyone, but you learn to deal. The more you hide from it though, the harder it's going to get. You can't fight this." Jacob told her with an impatient sigh.

"I can and I will." Leah huffed angrily, moving out of the room for a few brief moments and disappearing into the kitchen. When she came back out, her fingers were curled around a glass with clear liquid in, ice chinking against the side. The strong smell that the wolf noses could pick up on implied it wasn't water, but something a lot stronger.

"I'm not carrying you to your bed for the third night in a row, Leah. You want to get wasted; you're sleeping wherever you pass out." Seth sighed in a tone that sounded extremely fed up. Leah simply made a face at him and dropped down into an armchair, sipping at the alcohol.

"You shouldn't drink that shit straight, Leah." Jacob added and Leah groaned out loud.

"Fuck, what is this, an intervention now? Shouldn't all my friends be here?" She snapped.

"They are." Jacob told her and she looked a little taken aback by this. "You know, you didn't have many to begin with but ever since you imprinted on this Taylor – "

"Tyler." Bonnie whispered in a correction, Jacob smiled at her, mumbled something about her being so smart and gave her a chaste kiss. Leah pretended to gag though once Jacob looked back at her, she smiled innocently.

"Ever since you imprinted on this Tyler person, you've been acting like a grade A bitch. You've alienated the few people you had that were willing to put up with your bullshit. Paul doesn't even want to come around here anymore!" Jacob told her, shaking his head slightly. "Nobody wants to be near you when you're like this. You told Embry to fuck off and die yesterday just because he said he didn't like the television show we were watching."

"So?" Leah lifted her eyebrows up.

"You didn't like it either! He was agreeing with you and you bit his head off!" Jacob's voice went a little high pitched as he said this. He was clearly getting frustrated that she wasn't listening to him or taking his words serious. It was obvious by the blank look upon her face that she wasn't getting his point. "Come on, man. You're twenty one and I'm acting more mature than you."

"Wow. A seventeen year old boy whose life consists of sex, porn and 'Oh Bonnie, can I shove my head a little further up your ass' thinks he's more mature than me." Leah sneered, shooting back the rest of the vodka straight not bothering with pussy sips any more.

"See, this is what I'm on about. You're being a dick, Leah and you know what, I don't even want to be here. I'm here for Seth because he doesn't deserve to have to look after his older sister, just because she can't handle the fucking truth and has commitment issues." Jacob was getting angry now – it was clear because he'd actually removed his arm from around Bonnie's shoulders and was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees with his dark eyebrows formed into a tight scowl.

"I don't have fucking commitment issues!" Leah was beginning to shout now as well, her eyes darkening slightly, a wolfish glint beginning to appear in them as she warned Jacob not to push the matter further, but he did.

"Yes, you do, Leah. We're not as dumb as you like to think we are. We can see inside your head, remember? So you, trying to convince us, that this is all because you don't want to become somebody's 'slave'? It's not working. This is about you being scared of getting hurt again – this is about Sam, just like everything else is you do!"

"Shut up, Black. You don't get to talk about shit you don't understand. This conversation is over." Leah pushed herself to her feet and snatched up her glass. Her heart was beginning to race, not out of fear or nerves, but out of the sheer fact that he was right and she did not want to talk about it. She didn't want to go there. The past three days, she had not only been convincing them, but also trying her hardest to convince herself. She didn't want to face the truth – the truth hurt. She wanted to avoid it, just like she was avoiding Tyler. Why couldn't everyone just leave her be? She was a part of the pack, sure, but she still deserved a little privacy.

"Oh look, running away again. This is becoming a regular thing for you, Leah. I never took you for being a coward."

This made Leah stop and she spun around to face him. "I'm not a coward, Jacob."

"Then why are you hiding away in your apartment when you could be out there actually finding some happiness? What the hell are you so afraid of?"

Leah clamped her mouth shut. She was not going to talk about this. Her chest was rising up and down in a heavy manner, her fists clenched. She was not going to break. But Jacob just wasn't going to shut up either.

"What happened with Sam was bad, I get it, but it's over now and you've got a chance to move on and what? You don't want it? Why? Are you still clinging to some false hope that Sam will come back? Or do you just not want to move on because you like sulking around?" Jacob was on his feet now. Seth took a step forward.

"Hey, Jake man, come on – "Seth was all for getting through to his sister, but he didn't want to attack her like this.

"No, Seth, I think it's time she start sharing! She wants us to have to deal with her, we should at least know why!" Jacob took a step forward. "What are you so afraid of, huh, Leah? What are you running from?"

"I'm scared!" Leah yelled, so loud that it made Bonnie jump and her grip on the glass suddenly became too tight, causing it to smash. Shards cut in her hands as they tumbled to the floor, but she didn't even notice the blood that began to ooze from them. "Okay? I'm scared!" She hadn't meant for it to come out, but she broke under the pressure. She could feel the word vomit building up and she had tried so hard to keep it down, but in the end, she had snapped. He'd cornered her and the worst part was, now she'd begun she didn't want to stop. "Is that what you wanted to hear, Jake? I'm fucking terrified. I've seen what imprinting does to people – it changes their entire lives. Look at you – one minute you were willing to die for Elena and now you're jumping her best friend! Look at Paul – he used to sleep with any girl he could get his hands on and now suddenly, he's ready for marriage! I looked at Tyler that night and my life changed. I existed for him and him only. I wanted him so badly that it hurt."

"What is so wrong with that?" Jacob asked, sounding desperate for an explanation.

"Because what happens when he doesn't want me? What do I do then?" Leah yelled. Her eyes were wide and strands of brunette hair were beginning to fall in front of her face. "What happens when I talk to him, I get to know him and then he turns around and doesn't want me? What happens when my apparent soul-mate decides I'm not good enough for him and runs off with someone better, someone prettier? Someone who...who is a good cook and hey, she might even be my cousin like the last one! What do I do then?"

Jacob seemed a little taken back by her outburst and he was silent for a few moments, before he brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck nervously. He'd wanted answers but now he didn't know how to deal with them. "Leah...what happened with Sam –"

"- could quite easily happen again." Leah finished off. "And again...and again...until I run out of relatives, but even then I'd probably still have some girl friends hanging around. I will not put myself through that again, Jacob, I won't survive."

"Leah – this doesn't have to be a relationship. An imprint isn't about love, it's about devotion whether it's as a sister or a lover or a friend – "

"Right, because "I might be your soul mate, but let's just be friends so I can sleep with other people" is so much better than "Hi honey, I'm home, but not for much longer because I'm actually leaving you for your cousin"." Leah spat out as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. She glared at Jacob, hating him a little for making her admit all of this out loud. "See, I'm not afraid of commitment, Jacob. I love commitment. I'm scared of rejection. I gave my heart, body and soul to Sam and you know what he did? He threw it right back at me. He spat on me. You might think the sun shines out of his ass, but you have no idea what he's really like and if you for one second stopped kissing the ground he walked on and looked inside my memories for once, you'd know that!"

"Sam couldn't help who he imprinted on, Leah, just like you can't now." Jacob soothed, but Leah just laughed in a mocking way.

"Sam wanted Emily before he even imprinted on her." Nobody knew what to say after that. Leah had never told anyone about that – who would have believed her? Sam was perfect in their eyes – Sam was their alpha, Sam could do no wrong. Sam was their idol. But she knew the real Sam – the Sam that was hidden away, the person he'd been before he'd become alpha.

Seth came to stand by Jacob's side now. "Leah...what are you talking about?" He asked, cocking his head to one side.

Leah looked away, licking across her lower lip. She wanted to tell them to forget it – beg for them to just drop it, but she knew they wouldn't and if they went to ask Sam about it, he would just make her out to bed the bad person. She was tired of that – tired of him forever making her look like some desperate little bitch that was just bitter for no reason. Looking back up, she shrugged her shoulders to try and make herself more comfortable. "Sam wanted Emily before he imprinted on her." She repeated. "You remember last year, everyone came down for my twenty first and we had that big party at the Mystic Grill? That was the first time Sam and Emily met. I caught him trying to make out with her outside after he'd had a few too many beers. Emily was pissed – she slapped him and walked off. Next morning, he apologised and I accepted." She cut the story as short as possible, not wanting to go into much detail. "Sam wanted Emily a long time ago – the imprint just gave him an excuse to finally have her and not be the bad guy. And even then, during the first two months, he tried to have both of us. Until we both found out and Emily made him choose – I was dropped in seconds, there wasn't even any competition. So yeah, I got a little bit of a fear towards rejection. You want to try and fucking tell me I don't have a reason for it? You want to carry on shouting at me?"

Jacob and Seth were quiet. Bonnie looked like she wanted to get up and hug Leah, but she knew better than to try and comfort a girl who didn't want it, especially one that could phase into a wolf and eat her.

"I hide from Tyler, because I know that in the end...I'm just going to get hurt again. He'll have his fun, but he'll get bored because guess what? I'm not the kind of person that people want to settle down with! I don't cook, I barely clean...I can't give anyone children, I don't do well at family dinners and I'm not the kind of person parents want their children marrying either! I'm the one that they have fun with – I'm the daring one, the exciting one...the one they can get a few thrills out of before finding Mrs Perfect. I'm not comforting like Bonnie...I'm not a trophy piece like Caroline...I'm the tomboy that everyone sees as one of the lads and now, to top it all off, to add insult to injury, I'm a wolf!" She was really blowing off steam now, letting out every single insecurity she kept hidden within her, her voice raised and her eyes refusing to blink just in case there were tears there. She would not cry. "I'm not a princess and this whole 'imprinting' shit...it's not a fairytale. I'm not the one boys sweep off their feet...I'm just the one they stick with until they find something better."

Everybody seemed speechless. Jacob had recoiled slightly, his eyes staring at the floor rather than looking at her. The air was thick with tension, everybody feeling awkward and nobody knowing what to say. Nobody had really expected Leah to suddenly burst out like – nobody had ever realised that behind his tough girl, there really was a sensitive soul, someone that really thought nothing of herself. Even Seth was awe-struck, wide eyes just observing his sister, looking uncomfortable but at the same time, sympathetic. Leah almost wanted to smirk at the irony of it all – moments ago, they'd been demanding answers and now it was like they wished they'd never even asked. It was so typical of them, especially Jake. They always wanted to know the 411, but never appreciated it when they got it. They couldn't help her – there were no comforting word they could offer her and that was why she kept shit like this inside. It was so much better to ignore it than acknowledge. Leah wasn't the kind of girl that wanted to hug and cry or learn and grow. She just got by, did what she did and dealt with shit hand life dealt her.

"Fuck this. If I want to talk about my problems, I'll go to a meeting." Leah hissed through gritted teeth, turning her back on them. Moving into the kitchen, she wrapped a towel around her cut hand before snatching up her jacket with the other. It wasn't long before she was moving towards the door. Seth called after her, trying to get her to stop, but she kept her back to them. Yanking open the door, she disappeared out of it, slamming it behind her and disappearing out. This whole thing had started because she'd refused to leave the house, right? Well, fine, she'd leave the house. If she couldn't get drunk at home without getting a lecture, she'd go get drunk somewhere else. Maybe she could find some company to distract her away from Tyler while she was at it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some of you might be wondering when she's finally going to interact with Tyler. Well, it will be shortly, I promise! But, I don't want to rush into this. In my opinion, this is how I view Leah and I think if she ever imprinted, she would be scared at first even if she wants it. This is just the way I view her – if you disagree, feel free to share with me your opinion on her character, but do it nicely and maturely please, don't start sending me shitty emails that I'm playing her out of character. I'm playing her how I view her. I'm not Stephenie Meyer so I'm just rolling with it.

COMING UP NEXT: A conversation with Damon makes Leah realise that perhaps this imprint is too hard for her to ignore.