I admit to this chapter being a little bit of a filler - there are a few scenes that are important, though, so watch out for them! I decided to add those fun scenes especially because the next chapter is gonna be considerably darker.

Thanks to those that review, and also the fabulous laurazuleta18, who I could not live without. I swear it, Hon, I don't know what I would do!


Chapter Seven – Seth's got a Dead Fish Named George

"To the beginning of a beautiful summer!" Kat screeched, raising her glass of orange soda joyously. Leah, Rachel, Rebecca, Sam, Sam's friends Victor and Nate, plus the student who had arrived just two weeks before school had ended: Isaia Matefeo, were hanging out to toast the beginning of their three months of freedom, of no homework and no teachers and no detention…

Leah grinned and gave Sam a kiss straight on the lips. Kat sat down, grinning, as everyone else chugged half of their soda. "So, Isaia," Rebecca smiled flirtatiously. "Where did you move from?"

"Well, I'm actually from Samoa, though I lived in Oregon a little before that," he admitted. Becca's smile widened as she placed her elbow on the table and leaned in very close to him. His eyes widened a diminutive amount before returning his composure to normal.

Leah rolled her eyes and turned away from their conversation, instead choosing to tune into Sam and Nate's. "…was pretty smoking. I don't know what you think, but she has an ass, man!" Leah then wrinkled her nose and turned away from those two, preferring not to hear Nate's detailed rant about Sara Beveller's butt.

"All guys are disgusting," Leah decided as she finally turned to Rachel and Kat. Kat snorted but nodded in agreement.

"Took you that freaking long to notice, Hon?" she smirked, flipping her hair behind her back with perfectly manicured nails. Rachel was watching this almost enviously and raised her hand to her hair, almost defensively, and then thought better of it.

Kat shot a winning smile at Victor, who was across the table, and he smiled back nervously. "Hmm, you really seem to agree with me," Leah said with sarcasm dripping from every word she spoke.

"Well, I'm not the one who's been in an exclusive relationship for almost a whole year now," Kat retorted, which did indeed shut Leah up.

She glanced down at her banana cream pie and her stomach did a flip…it was unbelievable that she had been a girlfriend to Sam for almost an entire year. Almost ninety percent of high school relationships didn't last for more than a month, and she had always assumed that she would be part of that percentage instead of having a long one.

She was hoping that maybe, just maybe, they would last for two years, although she didn't really have an idea of what would happen in the future. Leah wished she had a crystal ball or something, because it was fucking killing her to not be able to know what was going to happen with her and Sam. Would they get married?

She fantasized about that briefly: walking down the aisle with her father, him taking her hand and placing it in Sam's, Emily as her Maid of Honor standing right beside her as she made the biggest vow of her life…

Well, at least she knew one thing: Emily would be standing next to her no matter who the groom was to be. She was comforted in this fact and relaxed more than she was, laying her head on Sam's shoulder and closing her eyes.

She would be visiting her best friend this weekend, and all would be good.

"Leels!" Emily said excitedly as she threw her arms around her best friend. Leah hugged her back with all her might and then placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!" Leah said proudly, one of her arms winding its way through Emily's.

"Well, thank you, it's wonderful to see you too!" Emily giggled, taking one of Leah's bags and carrying it up the stairs for her as Leah lugged the other. Once they reached Emily's room she whipped around and crash landed on her bed, legs splayed out wildly and tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Leah pressed a hand to her mouth and then looked away, snickering as she did so.

"You're such a dork, Em," Leah giggled. Emily snorted and sat up, stretching. Leah noticed with a twinge of envy how beautiful Emily was. Her long, black hair showed off every inch of the Native American in her and she was showing it proudly.

Her big brown eyes were wide open and beckoning, sort of flirtatious. Her limbs were smooth and long, and her boobs weren't bad either. Leah felt very self-conscious around her cousin a lot, but she didn't let it show. This was why she cleared her throat and flopped next to Emily, making the girl bounce a couple times.

"Headache inducing!" she chuckled dizzily.

"Hey…um, Emily? Do you know that you're the best cousin in the whole world? I can rely on you, and I trust you, and I love you so much," Leah said seriously. Emily stared at her for a long while before letting out a gasp of irritation and exasperation.

"If you want cookies, Lee, all you have to do is ask," she grumbled, standing and stretching again. Leah grinned happily and trotted along behind her cousin as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Thank you so much, Em! You are now officially the best cousin in the whole world, did you know?" she beamed and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, okay; remember not to touch me when I'm baking. That's when I get my groove on," she reminded Leah strictly, which did not work on the girl.

"That's when you get your groove on, Emily? Really? You say that and still expect me to take you seriously?" Leah snorted shaking her head. Emily giggled and tied an apron around her waist.

"I'm a hippie at heart, Hon."

"Right; and I am a circus performer at heart," Leah smirked. Emily shot Leah an evil look and then shot an orange at her. Leah ducked just in time with a squeak before popping back up with her hands on her hips.

"What the hell was that for?" Leah shrieked wildly as Emily collapsed into laughter.

"You s-said that you were a circus performer so I was seeing if you could juggle!" Emily managed to spit out a reply before busting into giggles once more.

"I can so juggle, just not when you freaking throw them at me!" Leah hissed before scooping the orange off of the floor and taking two more out of a bowl on the table. Concentrating so hard her tongue stuck of her mouth gently she threw all three into the air.

They all landed on the floor with a thump and Emily fell on the floor, laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach. Leah was glaring at her, her cheeks covered in a pinkish tinge.

"Oh shut up and make my cookies, woman!" she demanded jokingly. Emily, finally able to control her giggles, stood and brushed herself off delicately.

"Excuse me, Ms. Clearwater. I am not your slave, thank you very much!" Emily stated defiantly, though there was still a hint of a smile in her expression. Leah snorted.

"Sweetie, of course you aren't my slave…but you are my maid. Now feed me!" Leah commanded. Emily raised her eyebrows and then shrugged.

"Yes, mistress," she said in a British accent while curtseying. Leah grinned and propped her feet up on the Young's table.

"Get to it, maid! I'm hungry!" Leah announced imperiously, talking in a fake British accent.

"Ooh, someone's feeling a little deferential!" Emily joked. Leah chuckled but shook her head.

"Sweetie, deferential means respect. The game we're playing doesn't involve me giving you respect," Leah explained smiling. Emily huffed and turned to shoot her cousin a look.

"Deferential does not mean respect! Hello, ever looked in a dictionary?" Emily cocked an eyebrow and began to mix the ingredients she had gathered.

"Em, I think you're the one who hasn't looked in a dictionary," Leah sighed, shaking her head. Emily made an offended noise and then jerked her head towards the family room.

"There's a dictionary on the top shelf...go look it up!" Emily demanded, chin up. Leah rolled her eyes and jumped up to get it, returning to the kitchen while flipping the pages diligently.

Suddenly, a triumphant expression floated across her face as she found the right word. "Aha! See here, Emily! Deferential: showing or expressing polite respect or courtesy." Leah stuck her tongue out childishly as Emily frowned.

"Hmph. Alright, I'll give you that." So, Leah was right and Emily was wrong.

Oh, the irony…

"Hey, Seth, what do you have in your hands?" Leah asked as her little brother attempted to slip past her without notice. When would he learn that Leah was a super-ninja?

"Oh! Um, nothing…umm. Nothing," Seth gulped nervously, quickly stuffing whatever he was holding beside his back.

"Seth Tiberius Clearwater!" Leah said threateningly while wagging her finger at him. Seth huffed at her, hands still behind his back.

"My middle name is Harrison, Leah! Not Ti-beard-us!" Leah sniggered as Seth failed to pronounce the name the right way.

"Well duh, I know that. I just wanted to hear you try to pronounce the name Tiberius," she said, making Seth stick his tongue out at her.

"Anyway, show me your hands or I'm calling for Mom," Leah demanded, smirking evilly as he paled.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, Seth, I would. And you know it," Leah whispered dangerously. Seth took a deep breath and then showed his older sister what was in his hand: a bag of water with a goldfish in it. Leah gaped at it for a moment before busting into giggles.

"Oh my god, Seth! You got a fish! How the hell-?" Leah couldn't continue because she was so overcome by laughter. Their parents had never let them have a pet before, and they were sticking to that resolution until…well, they weren't ever going to let that up.

Personally, Leah was a little astounded that her brother had pulled something like this and cocked her head to the side as he answered grudgingly. "Well…a kid won him but didn't want him so he gave him to me and I named him George," Seth said in a rush. Leah stared at him for a moment before laughing, shaking her head, and dismissing him as she turned back to the television set.

Seth ran upstairs with his new pet and stared at it for a while, wondering idly what to do with it. He needed a bowl first of all…and then remembered that his parents were in the kitchen. Sighing loudly, he scooped the bag up and made his way to the bathroom, where he dumped George the only place he could think of: the toilet.

Poor George…he never saw old Harry Clearwater coming. And Harry would never understand why, when he came out of the bathroom, his son was quivering with horror and making whimpering noises and Leah was laughing her butt off almost maniacally.

And nobody except the two, ever, found out why from that day on Seth kept a picture of a skull and crossbones posted on the wall in the bathroom with the name 'George' pasted on top of it.

Leah brushed her hair gently and smiled at her reflection, the summer breeze blowing it around gently. She smoothed her hands over her short, black dress and stood slowly, twirling around and around. She wasn't wearing any shoes just then, so her toes were acting as her balance.

Laughing still, she slipped on a pair of high heels and made her way down the stairs excitedly. She was sort of sad that everything was going by so fast, now that it was August. She and Sam were about to go into their eleventh year of school, to be juniors, which also meant that they had arrived at their second anniversary.

Sam had been waiting downstairs for fifteen minutes and she was hurrying as fast as she could. Once Leah arrived she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard, keeping her lips at bay only because her parents were standing right behind them.

"Now, remember to follow all of our usual rules," Harry said sternly, and Leah smiled slightly, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Of course, Dad, you know I always listen," she said in a sickly sweet voice that both parents and Sam snorted at.

"You're so cheesy," Sue chuckled, bringing her daughter into her arms lightly before letting go and waving them out the door; once the two were alone both grinned and interlaced hands, swinging them gently as they made their way to Sam's car.

They were going to a fancy restaurant in Port Angeles, and Leah was very excited about it, since they rarely got to do something of that sort. La Push wasn't exactly known for fine dining…

He grinned as he began to drive and Leah had an urge to lean into his shoulder. She and he were so comfortable now, they could say or do anything (well, almost anything) and not be concerned about it being kept a secret. Trust wasn't an issue for them.

"I like you, Sam. I like you a lot." Maybe I even love you… Leah wasn't about to admit this, though, or at least not at the moment.

"I like you a lot too, Leels," he grinned back happily. He leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek and she beamed, leaning in as well to show her neck.

Later, Sam would just wish that he had waited until they'd arrive in the parking lot, because then he would have seen the patch of ice.