A/N: I know. IknowIknowIknow "It's been a freaking year. NO. It's been MORE THAN a freaking year." The sad truth is that I forgot my password and there's this whole long story that you don't care about. ANYWAY. I figured it out and was feeling inspired. This is fairly short, but I felt like you deserved SOMETHING. I'm running into a little more free time now, so hopefully updates will be more consistent. I can't make any promises, but things are looking up! Enjoy!

Her head felt like it was about to explode. Leah groaned into her pillow before rolling over and letting out a huge sigh. She wanted to die. She wanted to curl up into a ball and shrivel away; anything to stop the aching that was pulsing through the back of her neck and up through her eyeballs.

She winced as she heard the front door slam.

"Leah, you home?" Seth's voice called from the living room. It sounded like he was using a leaf blower by her head.

She growled, forcing her body upright and wrapping herself up in the comforter. Her door opened and Seth's head inched through. He was shielding his eyes, feeling around into the air with his other hand.

"You're not naked, right? 'Cause it seems like you are making a habit out of that lately."

"Yes," she answered. "I'm laying here in the gloriousness of my unclothed body. Come. Join in this renaissance of self-discovery."

"Ew." Seth answered, before bounding in and throwing himself on her bed. Leah retreated further into her blanket cocoon.

"What do you want." She extended a leg out and pushed him farther away from her.

Seth grabbed one of the pillows that had fallen off the bed and hugged it. "Carlisle called," he said. "Rod's doing better. He's not awake, but his vitals are starting to look okay."

"That's good," Leah yawned. "Any word on why his wolf genes haven't kicked him into tip-top shape yet?"

Seth shook his head. "No, it's still a mystery. Carlisle keeps running tests, but they already know so little…he doesn't really know all the things to test."

"Werewolf biology," she said. "It sure is a bitch." Leah removed the blanket and stood up out of the bed. She immediately regretted it, seeing star bursts float around her eyes.

"Are you hung over?" Seth asked. "I haven't see you this miserable since you and the guys took down a few kegs a piece last Christmas."

She smiled, despite the throbbing in her head. Oh, last Christmas.

It had been brilliant.

Because of their accelerated metabolism, the pack was able to drink more than a normal human. They did discover a limit though, and it had been fun as hell to figure out how long it took to get drunk of their asses crazy. It had taken three liquor stores and one bar crawl to find out; totally worth it.

But she wasn't hung over. She really wasn't sure what she was. She'd woken up like this in the woods; just sore, fuzzy, and trying to explain to "Joe Tourist" why she was naked. She had been competent enough to pull something out of her ass about some Quileute rite of passage, but she couldn't get home fast enough to collapse in her bed and sleep off whatever weird wolf thing had happened the night before.

The last thing she remembered was the "ceremony" and feeling all "Pocahontas-colors-of-the-wind."

What the fuck was that about? Really.

"I think I'm just overdone." She walked out to the kitchen, Seth soon followed.

"What do you mean?"

"You know. All that weird wolfy-nature lover crap mixed in with the "all my friends are dead" crap. My brain must be on overload."

"Wolfy-nature lover? What are you talking about?" Seth raised an eyebrow at her, pulling a bunch of food out of the fridge.

"You didn't feel like we were all on some sort of doggy-crack last night? Everything was all shiny and rainbows and cupcakes."

Seth shook his head. "Leah, the only weird thing going on last night was you bailing." He nodded once. "Actually, never mind. That's actually not that weird."

Really? She didn't remember much, but she remembered it differently.

She shrugged. It was slightly unsettling, but at this moment in time, she wasn't too concerned. A lot of crazy shit had happened to her since she became a werewolf…she'd just file this under "Odd things that come with not knowing all the answers." She was alive. She had all her parts, and as far as she knew she hadn't killed or eaten anyone. All things considered, she could be doing a lot worse than a massive headache.

She ignored the voice in the back of her brain begging her to inquire further.

~xxx~

By the evening, her headache had subsided and she was feeling back to normal, or whatever it was that "normal" passed for these days.

She'd managed to make it out to run some errands, and was filling her trunk up with groceries when she heard the familiar sound of Billy's wheelchair roll up from behind.

"So," he started "I heard a rumor that we have a new tradition. Something about leaving all earthly possessions by the wayside to prove our devotion to our 'spirit' guides? Apparently clothes are the pale-faces' way of confining our souls to their man-made, Mother Earth killing ideals."

She turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yea, old man, didn't you know? The Res is turning clothing optional so we can become one with the Earth. It was either that or build a casino."

He chuckled briefly, "You have your father's sense of humor."

She smiled. "Sure as hell."

Billy rolled closer and then gestured for her to bend. "We're swarmed with reporters, and there are plenty of families in desperate need of peace. Keep the peep shows to a minimum?"

She rolled her eyes playfully and then smirked. "I'll do my best."

"Good." He cocked his head, ready to speak again when a large figure in a black hoodie lumbered into view. Jacob gave a brief nod to the two of them and then stared at the ground. He swung a bag of groceries around like a pendulum made out of Little Debbie snack cakes.

"Hey," he said.

Leah looked at Billy, who seemed to be nodding for her to say something. She shook her head.

"Well!" Billy sighed and clapped his hands together. "I've just realized that I need to run next door to the hardware store." He started to roll away, "Hank will help me out, and Leah, it seems you're heading back home. You can take Jake with you, okay bye. Enjoy you processed sugar, son."

''Dad, c'mon—"

"Sorry, I can't hear you, I'm an old cripple!"

They both watched him head into Hank's store.

"Wow," Leah said. "That just happened."

Things were silent in the car until Leah heard a crinkle of plastic wrapping as she bent to release the brake. The smell of artificial chocolate filled the space.

Somehow, Jake had managed to stuff three Swiss Rolls into his mouth at once. He looked like some warped version of a chipmunk.

As she pulled out of the parking lot, another Swiss Roll found its way beneath her nose.

Huh. A peace offering.

She begrudgingly obliged and opened her mouth. She almost choked as the chocolate covered cream cake exploded on her taste buds. Cream leaked out and dribbled down her chin.

And then he started laughing.

And then she was laughing.

Leah pulled the car over just as they hit hysterics.

"We-are—SO—damn-weird!" She managed to gasp out.

She wasn't sure how long they laughed; setting each other off with a new roll of giggles. She didn't even know why they were laughing.

And then she realized she wasn't laughing. She was crying.

Then she was sobbing.

And then…he was crying softly and holding her; rubbing her back which only made her cry more.

They sat like that, crammed in the front seat for God knows how long.

Eventually they untangled themselves and just sat there.

They didn't speak. It was dead silent.

Leah realized they didn't have to speak. There was some sort of understanding between them that negated the need for words.

Leah turned on the ignition and drove back out onto the road.

She realized that they were good again. That whatever fight they were in, the worst of it was over. It didn't really make a whole lot of sense, but it felt like it didn't need to.

Because grief was fucked up like that.