Here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy. Please review if you like (:
Disclaimer: I don't own twilight or any of its characters. It's all SM.
The bell rang above my head as I ducked through the diner door and the old lady working the counter turned to look at us. I remembered Leah thinking about her. Her name was Beth and she always seemed nice to my imprint so she was cool with me.
Jake and I took a seat in one of the booths in the far corner and I thumbed through the menu while I waited on Leah to get done with the other customers before she came to take our orders. Jake chatted away happily in my ear about something a rather he'd done with Bella recently. He'd been so upbeat since his Bells had figured out we were all wolves. I smiled at the thought of my best friend being so happy.
I put the menu down when I felt Leah making her way towards us.
"Hey guys, you ready to order?"
God she looked so good today, I could feel my body reacting to the way she smiled at me and tried my hardest not to show how I was feeling "yeah can I get a steak meal, a hamburger, a chicken burger and an extra side of fries please? Oh and a caramel milkshake?"
She took down my order and nodded at me. Then Jake placed his order and she scribbled that down too before she strolled off again.
While I waited on my order I watched her as she worked, smiling at all the customers and plastering on the charm. At first I thought she was just fishing for good tips but then I realised she actually enjoyed these people. Especially the older guys that were clearly regulars in here. She chatted with them, sharing jokes and asking about their lives.
I couldn't help but wish she was like this more often. Especially around the pack. Seeing her like this was something I was treasuring, she was so beautiful when she was happy. It made my wolf soar.
When I finally tore my eyes away from my imprint they were met almost immediately with Jake's curious eyes. Shit. He'd totally caught me staring at Leah.
He didn't even bother opening his mouth. Just raised his left eyebrow in question.
I stared him down. Not willing to talk about it. Years of friendship had taught him what that meant. He'd have to pry it out of me.
"Come on Em! What was that?! You just blanked on me for 5 minutes straight! Staring at Leah! Leah! You can't leave me hanging on this man."
I sighed. I really didn't want to tell him about the imprint. Not yet. I hadn't even told Leah. "It's nothing Jake. I was just watching." He looked at me like he didn't believe me at all but he let it drop anyway.
"She looks so much happier here than she ever is around the pack. Haven't you noticed? I was just wondering why she isn't like that around us."
He snorted at that "it's pretty obvious why bro. Nobody wants to be stuck watching their ex's memories of their current girlfriend. Especially when that current girlfriend happens to be your cousin. And she gets that every single day. I wouldn't be smiling a hell of a lot either."
"Yeah." I Smiled. I thought I was the only one who got it. All the others just act like Leah was wrong for being pissed but I got why she acted how she did. Turns out Jake did too. He was more perceptive than I knew. He'd make a great leader one day. One day soon I hoped.
Just then Leah came over balancing all of our dishes on her arms. She placed our meals down in front of us. We quickly thanked her and chomped the food down. I was starving!
The food was all gone in no time and Jake and I got up to go pay our bills. Jake paid first and as I stepped up to the counter he nudged me "hey there's Bella and Charlie!" I looked out the window and sure enough there they were climbing out of the cruiser. "I'm gonna go out and say hi."
"Sure man, go ahead. I'll catch you out there." Jake bounded off to see his girl and I turned back to mine.
I pulled a fifty out of my wallet and looked up to Leah's eyes. "How much do I owe you?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it Em. It's on the house" she smiled at me.
"You can't pay for my food Leah. I insist on paying. How much do I owe?"
"No seriously Embry don't worry about it. If you want you can think of it as payback for letting me crash last night."
I looked straight into her gorgeous green eyes. I wanted her to understand I was serious when I said this "you don't ever have to thank me or pay me back for taking care of you Leah. It was my pleasure and you know you're welcome any time."
I saw the blush rise on her cheeks and smiled at her "now how much do I owe you?"
She hesitated so I pulled another 30 dollars from my wallet and handed over the cash. "That should cover it. You can keep anything that's left as a tip."
She thanked me and I assured her it wasn't a big deal. I sighed before turning to leave. "See ya later Leah"
"See ya Em."
I yelled to Jake that I would see him around as I walked past. I headed straight home wanting to have a shower before I went back to Leah's to watch over her for the evening.
I hopped out of the shower and threw on a pair of boxer shorts. I must have been more tired than I realised because I ended up falling asleep on my bed.
I awoke in a daze to a rapid tapping sound on my window. Confused and still half asleep, I sat up and pulled my curtain back. I blinked a few times unsure if I was actually seeing what I was seeing. Eventually my mind caught up to my body and I pulled my window open.
"Leah? What are you doing? Are you okay?"
"Please Em can I come in?" Of course. I wouldn't ever deny her.
"Yeah, let me go get the door. Come meet me out the front."
She groaned. Then "ok. I'll be there in a sec"
I got up and walked to the front door, unlocking then opening it. Leah was just walking up the stairs and she looked up at me, a nervous expression on her face as she stepped into the porch light.
I gasped when I saw her. She had dark bruises across her face and I noticed she seemed to be walking funny. Like she had tender legs or something.
I ran down to her "Jesus Leah! What happened to you?! Who did this?!" She tried to walk past me but I picked her up and carried her inside to my room. I didn't want her to hurt anymore than she already was.
As soon as she was scooped up into my arms she said quietly "please don't pry Em. I really don't want to talk about it."
I cringed. I needed to know. Why wouldn't she tell me? Why didn't she trust me?
"I'll tell you Em. Just not now. Another time ok?" she sounded so desperate that I found myself agreeing.
When I got her to my room I gently lay her down in my bed and wrapped her up in my blankets. "You wanna sleep in this or should I grab one of my shirts for you?"
"I'll be fine like this" I could tell she didn't want to change only because she was in too much pain so I let it drop.
"Well do you need anything else?"
She shook her head at me. "I just want to sleep"
"Ok, well I'll just head back out to the couch ok? Call me if you need anything?"
" I will. Thanks again Embry. I really appreciate this."
I nodded and headed back out to the lounge grabbing a blanket on the way. I glanced up at the clock as I slumped onto the couch. It had just ticked past 10pm. I knew I had patrol tomorrow - it was the day that Leah had off and I covered her shift - so I crashed straight away knowing how exhausted I was going to be tomorrow night.
I was abruptly awoken by a bloodcurdling scream. I jumped up and ran to my bedroom throwing the door open and there was Leah, tossing on my bed and screaming. I grabbed her by the shoulder and tried to shake her awake.
"Leah! It's me, Embry! Wake up Leah. You're ok. You're fine. It's ok! Just wake up Leah!" I murmured to her in what I hoped was a comforting voice despite the panic I was feeling.
She finally woke up, tears streaming down her beautiful face.
"Hey. It's ok see? It's just me. Shhhhh..." I soothed her. She sat up and let me wrap my arms around her. I kept up my soothing words until she finally calmed down enough to communicate with me.
"Are you okay now?" I asked her
"Yeah. I'm real sorry bout that" she whispered back to me, clearly embarrassed.
"It's cool. You wanna try go back to sleep now?"
She nodded. I went to get off the bed and she grabbed at me. "No Em! Stay? Please?" she pleaded with me.
The desperate look in her eyes gripped my heart and I nodded. "Scoot over then"
She did and when I lay down on my small bed she rolled to her side and lay her head on my bare chest, throwing her leg over my thigh. Guilt flooded me as I revelled in the amazing way that this felt so perfect to me. I reminded myself that she was only here because she was hurt, lonely and vulnerable.
Soon after she fell asleep, snoring lightly on my chest. As soon as I had assured myself that she was asleep, I closed my eyes and let my own exhaustion overtake me.
