Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter Four
"Do you wanna go to a movie tonight?"
He is leaning over the counter, watching as she devours her third bowl of ice cream. She shakes her head, swallowing the food in one big gulp. "I can't. Jacob's called a meeting for tonight."
"Right," he replies, nodding slowly. The pack situation is something they haven't really discussed yet. As it stands, Sam is still Alpha of his pack and Leah is still Beta in hers. He would love to have her back in his pack, but he knows that it has gone beyond her wanting to get away from him. It is her independence and she's developed a kinship with the others. Plus, she holds a higher position there than she would in his pack.
"What's up? What does he want to talk about?" He isn't expecting to get an answer, Leah usually keeps quiet about the goings on of pack B, but it has never stopped him from trying. He hates that there is a part of her life where he isn't allowed, and although it has long been proved irrational, he hates that it involves Jacob Black.
She shrugs and swallows another mouthful of ice cream. "He probably just wants to go over new formations and tactics. Boring stuff like that."
That's about as much information as he will get. He grasps her hands and smiles at her. "You look good today."
"Good?" One eyebrow is raised in a question but he can see a smirk threatening the corners of her mouth.
"Good enough to eat."
She pulls her hands back and looks around with faux concern. "Careful, Uley. You've only been here a month. You're still on your probation period, and I'm sure ravishing me over the counter is strictly against company policy."
He leans closer and whispers conspiratorially. "I'm sure it would be worth it."
"Contain yourself. Anyway, Mom is on a late shift tonight and Seth will probably be up with guys all night watching crappy movies and playing crappy video games. You'll have more of me than you can handle," she promises with a wink and a smirk.
He returns it with his own. "I doubt that."
There is never anything on TV. That is an actual fact. When he needs something to do, it is all repeats and rubbish. When Leah is teasing him with short skirts and a smile, the movie he has been dying to see will be playing.
He hears the door creak open and click shut, as though she is trying not to wake him. She looks surprised to see him in the sitting room. " I thought you'd be in bed."
He probably would have been, it is past midnight, but she had estimated that she would be home around ten, and so he had decided to wait up for her. "You're late." It is more of a question than a statement.
"Yeah. I'm sorry. Embry and Quil started brawling which set Seth off on one of his 'can't we all just get along speeches', so Jacob jumped on him and I had to intervene. As part of my sisterly duties and all that crap."
She kicks off her shoes and nestles up to him. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
Laughing, he throws an arm around her shoulders. "No. I know how carefully constructed pack meetings can degenerate into utter chaos."
They are quiet for a moment, both of them not watching the TV. He rests his cheek on the top of her head and breathes deeply. Her hair is silky soft against his skin but her scent is mingled with Seth and Quil and Embry...and Jacob.
"Sam,?" Her voice is soft and quiet, the exact tone she uses when she has something to say and isn't sure he will like it.
This can not be good.
"Yeah?" he chokes out. He tries to disguise the tension and worry working its way through his body but she doesn't seem to notice. She sits up and looks at him. "I was thinking about going to college."
She raises an eyebrow at his audible sigh of relief but he ignores it. He throws his arm back around her and pulls her into his chest, just needing to be close to her. "Is that it? I thought you were gonna tell me you'd killed someone and needed help hiding the body."
She giggles. "No. If I killed someone I'm sure I could hide the body myself. I just—well, you're working at the ice cream parlour,trying to make a life for us, and if I go college then I won't be making any money. I could get a part time job, help out that way, but it would still be a struggle."
"If that's what you want to do, Leah, then go for it. I'll get seven jobs if it gets you out of the house and into the world again."
"Yeah, but what about you?"
He doesn't understand what she is asking him. The thought strikes him that she might want to move away to go to college and he makes a silent vow to follow her. "What about me?"
She snorts and works her lips into a stubborn pout. "Do you really enjoy selling ice cream to screaming brats and overweight teenagers? You always wanted to be a lawyer, what about that?"
He thinks about it for a moment. It's true that he had dreamed about being a lawyer, it had been his ambition since he was old enough to consider his future, but that doesn't seem to be enough any more. The thought of sitting in an office and shuffling through papers fill him with dread. "I wanted to be a lawyer. Key word, wanted. I dunno, that seems kind of—boring, now."
"Compared to morphing into a giant wolf and fighting mythological creatures?" She laughs, and punches him on the shoulder. He grips her in a headlock, careful not to put too much pressure on her neck because although she'll heal, he doesn't want to hurt her. She's draped across his knee and he's leaning down so he can slobber kisses all over her face.
After she has recovered from her fit of giggles, she looks up at him. "You should think about what you want to do. We can work it out somehow." Her big brown eyes are glassy and dazed with joy. The sight takes him back to a time when things were so much simpler. In life, as well as love. "It doesn't have to be anything boring. You can do something artistic."
"I could sing," he suggests, which results in another attack of giggles.
"You really couldn't."
He glares at her with mock outrage and responds by tickling her until she is begging for mercy. It's nice familiarity, and they curl up on the couch together, only moving when Sue comes home and wakes them.