About the lyrics below… I just felt like they belonged for the pre-Nahuel "home" thing (you'll see) in this chapter. Yeah. I might write a drabble about it in Circles (my Twilight random Leah-centric-ish drabbles story). … yeah.

For readers of DitR~ sorry it's taking me so long to update; writers' block sucks. I'm trying to update by next (or this? … not sure of the correct terminology) Wednesday, though; Friday at the latest. (Monday, music lesson; Tuesday, going to the capital city of the US state I live in for my American citizenship or something like that; Thursday, math team meet.) So, yeah.

I'll be coming home
Just to be alone
'Cause I know you're not there
And I know that you don't care
I can hardly wait to leave this place

No matter how hard I try
You're never satisfied
This is not a home
I think I'm better off alone
You always disappear
Even when you're here
This is not my home
I think I'm better off alone
Home… home… this house is not a…
Home… home… this house is not a home…

– "Home" by Three Days Grace

"Hello," he said, looking slightly bemused, and I honest-to-God hoped the feelings that shot through my chest at his voice didn't show on my face. Because, dude, if they did, well… that'd just be plain embarrassing.

There was an awkward silence, during which I tried to rearrange my facial features to vaguely resemble normalcy. At least, that was the effect I hoped to eventually achieve. (I probably failed.) The bloodsucker spawn looked from my face to Nahuel's, and understanding lit up her eyes.

Shit, was I really that obvious?

"Am I interrupting something?" Nahuel asked. "If I am, I can leave; I was just—"

"No!" I yelped, and I think I totally failed to hide the panic in my voice at the idea of him leaving.

Fortunately for me, the mind-fucker, Jacob, and the spawn spoke at the same time as I did.

"No, you're not interrupting anything," Edward said.

"No, Nahuel, you may stay," the spawn said. (Ew, who the hell spoke like that? At ten-freaking-months-old?)

"Nope," Jacob said. (Good ol' Jacob. He could speak normally. Too bad the same couldn't be said for his little imprint.)

Nahuel's eyebrows shot up into his hairline at our vehement responses, but I couldn't blame him. I took this moment to study him, really study him.

He looked exactly the same as he had when I'd seen him… what was that, an hour ago? Two hours ago? Half an hour ago?

Either way, he didn't seem to have changed. Long black braid, dark skin, eyes a warm brown. Tall, finely featured face. Very finely-featured face.

… Goddamn, he was hot.

DPI (Daddy Privacy-Invader) coughed delicately. I tore my eyes from admiring Nahuel to glaring at said mind-fucker. Goddamn, he was rude.

"Oh, man, Nessie," Jacob spoke up, sounding almost frantic. I shot him a wary look; he was shifting his weight from one foot to the other and looked seconds away from bouncing up and down. "I want to show you this… uh… really cool leaf I found in the… forest. Yesterday! Yeah."

I think my mouth fell open; I'm not sure. But…

Really cool leaf.

Really cool leaf.

… Jacob Black needed to be taught the art of subtlety. Not to mention the art of creating adequate excuses on the spot.

The BS looked extremely amused at his pathetic attempt to make up a good excuse to leave as well. (Not that I wasn't grateful; it was just… really cool leaf?!) Well, at least that was one thing we had in common. (Not that I'd ever admit it.) "Of course, Jacob; I love leaves," she said, and I think that was when Jake realized how suckass his excuse was. He did look rather embarrassed after that, after all.

The spawn jumped down from Jacob's arms and ran over to Nahuel, and proclaimed, "Adios, Nahuel!" And then she giggled insanely, like a little sixth-grade girl who'd just received The Talk.

From her dad.

Nahuel was not perturbed; he smiled gently, looking for all the world like a kind parent amused by his child's silly antics. Only he probably didn't think the spawn was being silly. After all, he was just teaching her Spanish, right? "Adios, querida," he said.

… Who knew Spanish could sound so sexy?

"Let's go, Jacob; I want to see that leaf," the spawn said, still giggling, and then she took a hold of Jacob's hand and began pulling him out the door. He picked her up, and as he left, he turned and shot me one long look. It looked like it said good luck.

Or was that try not to jump him right away? I couldn't really tell.

"Where is Huilen?" Edward asked, and I was forcefully jolted back to what was going on here. Which had nothing to do with leaves. "I don't hear her thoughts."

"She's gone hunting," Nahuel said, rather shortly.

"I didn't hear her leave," Edward remarked.

Nahuel shrugged.

"Oh," DPI said suddenly, sounding resigned. I wasn't exactly sure why.

Then he blinked, and said, "Well, I'm going to find Bella. I'll leave you two to your…" his voice trailed off, he smiled in a sort of all-knowing way, and then he sidled away, oozing innocence.

I was not fooled.

… And then I was left alone.

With Nahuel.

I wasn't sure if I should rejoice or run after Jacob and his spawn, and their really cool leaf.

Nahuel spoke. "You are one of the shape-shifters, correct?"

I nodded, mutely. I didn't trust myself to speak; with my luck, I'd probably start babbling random declarations of love or something.

… Shit. Love. Love?! I didn't love him, did I?!

But of course I did; he was my imprint, after all.

But… love…

Before I could fret any more over this whole "love" issue, he spoke again, and all thoughts of love flew out of my mind. (I mean, they didn't, because I possibly loved him, but all immediate thoughts of love flew out of my mind… if that made sense.) Whether or not I loved him, I sure as hell loved his voice.

"My name is Nahuel," he said.

"I know," I found myself saying.

… Great. Fantastic job, Clearwater. Make him think you're a stalker or something.

"Of course; you were in that clearing approximately half a year ago," he mused, and my heart lightened. He didn't think I was a stalker. That was… good.

"My name's Leah," I mumbled, suddenly feeling like a middle school girl with a crush on a high school boy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leah," Nahuel said, and my heart tried to jump out of my chest. (It failed, just for the record; the ribs in the way stopped it from doing so.) If he said my name one more time in that voice, I'd die happy.

"Nice to meet you too," I managed to say, and tried very hard not to stare at his face. I think I succeeded.

There was a moment of silence, but it wasn't awkward or anything. It was more like… like we'd run out of things to say, and were just enjoying each other's company.

… Except, y'know, that wasn't really the case, because all we'd done was introduce ourselves, and we didn't know each other.

I certainly planned to remedy that, however.

"May I pose a question?" he asked, and I was jerked back to attention.

I nodded. I'd probably jump off a cliff he asked me to. (Though, of course, that didn't really have the same meaning as it would for others, because I was a shape-shifting werewolf—redundant, yes; do I care? No—and wouldn't be killed by jumping off a cliff. And I'd gone cliff diving before, anyway… er, but I'll get back to the point.) "Go ahead. Pose away."

He smiled, and this time, it was directed specifically at me, and I felt my mouth involuntarily stretch into a smile as well. (I couldn't help it, okay? It was an instinctive reaction. I think my face cracked when I did so, caused by the disuse of those muscles.) He was smiling. At me.

… I really needed to stop smiling like an idiot before he thought I had gas or something.

He certainly didn't seem to think that, though. He just went ahead and "posed his question." (I'd never liked guys who spoke like they were English professors or whatever before, but I just might have to change my mind now.) "This may sound strange, but… do you know which shape-shifter has a gray coat, and is small for his size?"

Would you believe me if I said I really hadn't expected that question?

It was true, though. I really hadn't.

I really should have, though. In retrospect.

"Oh," I said… it was sort of more like a squeak, actually. But there was no freaking way I was going to admit that. Because Leah Clearwater was not the type of person to squeak. "Um… yes."

"Who is he, if I may ask?"

He. Ha. "Er… why do you want to know?" I was stalling for time, yes, and debating whether or not I should tell him. That the wolf was me, I mean.

"I was… running earlier today," Nahuel said. "I came across a gray wolf—a shape-shifter wolf—in the forest, though he was small, compared to the size of other shape-shifters. I am merely curious. I mean no harm."

"Oh." I bit my lip and glanced at the floor. It was suddenly very interesting, for some reason. The shiny wooden floorboards were very… shiny, too. And brownish. Yeah. Shiny. (And brownish.) "Er… no one important." Well, at least that was true.

He seemed a bit puzzled by my obvious reluctance to talk about it, but didn't push it. Awesome he was, yes. "Alright," he said, and then that was that.

Another silence followed, and I snuck a peek at his face again… to find that he was studying mine. Something that felt horrifyingly like a blush rose in my cheeks. Leah Clearwater did not blush, either. What was wrong with me?

… oh, right, I'd imprinted.

… but there was nothing wrong with that…

"Is there a reason you are here?" Nahuel suddenly asked.

I blinked, startled out of my space-out, and glanced up at him. God, his eyes were captivating. They were like… I dunno, endless pools of something. (Yeah, cheesy and wannabe-poetic as that sounds, it was true.) "Um… I just came with Jacob. He wanted to see the B—er, Nessie."

"I see," he said. "Jacob is your… alpha, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And… Edward told me of this. The reason Jacob is so attached to Nessie is because he—"

Shit, no. I was not going to be reminded of that. Because that was only going to make me think that I had to tell Nahuel. About the imprint. Someday.

It didn't seem like a very wonderful prospect. At all.

And I didn't even know why. A huge part of me, inside, just really, really did not want to tell him.

Which was why I exclaimed, blabbing out the first words that came to mind, "Um, wanna go find that leaf Jake was talking about?"

… I'm serious. That's what I said.

… Who was I to sneer at Jacob's suckass made-up-on-the-spot excuses, when mine sucked even worse? (I mean, I couldn't even think of something original, so I mooched off Jacob's excuse.)

Nahuel blinked, and said, "I believe the leaf Jacob was talking about was merely an excuse to leave. I don't know why he felt the need to invent an excuse to leave, but I think his leaf was an excuse to depart, and not something he actually did find and wanted to show Nessie."

Well, damn.

"Uh… well, I'm going to find Jake and Nessie," I mumbled. And then, before I could stop myself, the words burst out of my mouth, of their own free volition (National Screw Leah Over Day, remember?): "Wanna come?"

He smiled, and my heart fluttered again. I swear, it grew wings or something. "Why not? I will come."

"So," I said, conversationally, as I traipsed through the woods, Nahuel by my side, "you have three sisters." (It was one of the interesting tidbits of information I'd suddenly remembered about him, the moment I imprinted on him. Yup.)

"Yes, I do."

I brushed a stray branch out of the way; it was completely blocking the path (or rather, the area where my head wanted to pass through). Ten minutes or so had passed in silence, during which I'd started into the forest, looking for the general direction Jacob and Nessie had gone in. Nahuel followed.

"Can I ask their names?"

"You just did," he pointed out, with a small smile, and a stupid smile of my own pirouetted across my face as well (again). Every single time he smiled (directly, at me), I either smiled back or my heart started doing jumping jacks. Or both. It would've gotten irritating, but I would seriously do anything to keep him smiling at me like that. So I ignored it.

"Yeah, I guess so." I bit the insides of my cheeks. Stop smiling, Leah. You probably look like the Joker or whatever. Seriously. Stop. Smiling. It's not that freakin' hard.

But it was, because the idiotic grin on my face seemed to have taken up a semi-permanent (self-contradictory, I know… whatever) residence on my face. Ugh.

"Their names are Joanna, Sadie, and Layla."

"… Sooo, their moms were European, then?"

"Most likely, yes," Nahuel said, frowning slightly. I did not like him frowning. He was supposed to be happy. Not all… unhappy. (Oh, shut up.) And frowning. "Though Layla looks slightly exotic… Joanna and Sadie are both English."

"Cool," I said, lightly, and then I tripped over a branch blocking my way, and landed practically face flat on the ground. "Shit, ow," I muttered, through a mouthful of dirt. I normally wasn't this clumsy. When the hell had I turned into a werewolf human-Bella Swan? (If that even made sense… which it probably didn't, but oh well.)

Then I felt someone's hands on my arms, pulling me back to my feet. Warm hands, and it took me a moment to realize that Nahuel was pulling me up, touching me.

I'd always known the BS (though I should probably stop calling her that, because it sort of applied to my imprint, too… I quickly forced the thought out of my head) was warm, hot, whatever, running on a temperature just a few degrees cooler than us werewolves (shape-shifters)… but, dude, his hands were fucking hot. Or maybe it was just in my head.

Either way, his hands were warm, and firm, and I never wanted him to let me go.

But of course, he did.

I stumbled slightly again, at the loss of his touch, and then quickly regained my balance. "Thanks," I mumbled.

"You're welcome," he returned.

We returned to silence for a while after that, but once again, it was a perfectly comfortable silence. It felt right. Like I'd been in the threshold of a door before, standing outside, watching everybody else from a vantage point far away, and then I'd stepped through the doorway, and into my—

I swear, the word just popped into my mind with absolutely no help from me whatsoever.

—home.

I started, and nearly crashed into a tree stump, but managed to skirt around it just in time. Nahuel shot me a concerned look, and I waved him off (and normally, I wouldn't have, but this realization required all my attention). I'd just…

Home?!

It wasn't like I hadn't been home before, though.

… right?

A memory then jumped into my brain, like it'd been just waiting at the edge of it (it as in my brain), ready to dive in, the moment I triggered something to let it. (Dive in, I mean.) It was only… what, a few hours ago? … when I'd run away from Sam and Emily's wedding reception (and let me tell you, that felt like ages ago), and I'd been moping around the forest in wolf form, before I'd imprinted, and Seth and Jacob had popped into my head.

I'd been all, "I'm in the forest, near Forks." I was going to say "home," but I hadn't.

Was it because…

Nahuel was my home?

(I told you. Popped into my head. With absolutely no help from me. National Screw Leah Over Day, okay?)

… That was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Your imprint was your soul mate. Not your home.

I realized how ridiculous that thought was (also) the moment it entered my head, and frowned to myself. Alright, so an imprint was a soul mate. Who your soul belonged with, or something.

And wasn't that home?

I chewed my lip and glanced over at Nahuel. He was stepping over a tree branch in his way, and the late evening sunlight sent a faint glimmer over his skin. It wasn't a freaky vampire sparkle glimmer, either; just a light, slightly shiny, healthy glow glimmer. And then he glanced up, looked at me, and smiled, the sunlight sparkling off his super-white teeth, too.

Taipei 101 did a(nother) jig in my chest.

Well, if he was my home… I certainly wasn't going to complain.

Eh. Sorry if the ending was too cheesy and un-Leah-ish. If so, just pop me a review saying so, and I'll try to fix it up a bit, and chalk the rest up to the craziness of imprinting. :)

I have a feeling Nahuel and Edward were both sort of OOC in this chapter… blah. Were they?

Watch out for Nahuel's sisters. They'll be important, yo.

… I /mean/, erm… won't you please review? -cough-

Oh, and this chapter hasn't been edited. 'Cause I have to get off the computer with the functioning Microsoft Word now. Screw my dad. He has two freaking laptops, too. Guess how many /I/ have. (The answer's zero, by the way. Just in case you weren't sure.)

EDIT: I changed "Sage" to "Joanna". "It was originally Joanna and Christie, and then I, er, came up with Sadie. Maybe that will be her middle name or something. Sage. Oh, whatever. You shall all see why the names are a big deal later on.