Leah had called her parents and gotten them to believe that she was staying at her best friend Nicole's house. Leah hardly ever lied to her parents; she was generally a "good girl" well, at least in that aspect. They were really strict, and it was her and Sam's anniversary after all, she wanted to stay out and have fun with him as long as she could. Nicole was planning at being at the party late anyway and her parents would just figure her and Leah would come home late if Leah's parents had decided to call.
When Seth heard his parents tell him not to wait up for Leah, because she was staying at Nicole's he didn't believe it. He liked Sam, he was like a big brother to him, but Seth was still protective of his older sister. Sure, they fought sometimes, and he knew he was annoying to her, but he loved her and didn't want anything to happen to her. He had overheard them talking about a party on the beach a few days ago, and figured they must be there. He waited until his parents went to bed and slipped out the door.
Meanwhile, back at the party, Leah and Sam were sitting near the bonfire, just talking, and kissing … a lot. Brad had come but he was actually leaving them alone, Leah hoped she finally got the message into his thick skull. This was the night Sam and Leah made all the promises to each other.
"I promise as soon as you graduate, we will marry, find a house, and start a family. Our family." Sam said in between kisses. "I also promise to love you forever…" He whispered against her neck, and then began kissing her neck.
Leah giggled. "I promise to love you forever and to stand by you through everything." She said, trying to keep her mouth busy so she didn't make a scene at the party. She brought his head back up so it was level with hers and kissed him roughly. "Happy anniversary even though it's technically not even our anniversary anymore."
Sam smiled. "If this is what happens on our anniversary, we can celebrate our anniversary every day." It was nearing the end of his junior year and her sophomore year. Sam remembered her 16th birthday was coming up soon, and his 17th birthday had just passed. His brother was to have gone to college last year which he did, but he came home consistently after his classes to antagonize Leah and Sam. Sam was getting rather tired of it, and he knew Leah was too. The consolation was that Sam knew Brad's grades must be in the toilet due to the not ever staying on campus to study at night or on the weekends. Just then he saw Leah's little brother walking onto the beach. He pointed him out to Leah quietly and Leah's eyes widened.
She stood up from sitting on Sam's lap and walked over to her brother, who was only a 7th grader at the time. "Seth what are you doing here? If Mom and Dad see you're gone they're going to be worried, and some of these kids are drunk, and you just really shouldn't be here."
"You're lying to our parents about staying at Nicole's because you want to stay here with Sam." He stated simply, ignoring her ramblings.
Leah was surprised at how much her brother knew; generally her brother ignored her, especially since she'd been spending more and more time with Sam and less and less time with Seth and Jacob. She had been busy lately, and she did feel bad that she wasn't hanging around with Jacob and Seth, they were really close until the time Leah entered high school. Leah saw Jacob at school a lot, and he was even at the party tonight, but she hadn't even made the slightest effort to talk to him at all. She instantly felt guilty and looked at her little brother like a puppy who had just done something bad. "I'm sorry Seth… Please don't tell Mom and Dad, I'll be staying at Nicole's, but not until late, so I didn't want to get in trouble with Mom and Dad for staying out too late."
Seth nodded and looked over at Sam and sighed. "Just be careful, Lee, okay? I just don't want you hurt again… I know how much Brad hurt you over that short amount of time, and you've been with Sam a lot longer than you were with Brad, and he has a lot potential to hurt you than Brad did."
Leah nodded. "I know Seth, and Sam won't hurt me." It was about midnight, and she looked around nervously, not wanting Seth to walk home alone in the dark. She saw Jake, and called his name and felt even guiltier when his eyes lit up as he looked up seeing it was Leah that called his name.
"What is it Lee?" He asked, looking up at the girl he had had a crush on since he was a toddler.
Leah looked down at him and frowned some, feeling like a complete jerk, having ignored him and her brother for so long. "Well, Seth needs to be walked home and I … um…" She stumbled for the right words, but saw Jake's face darken all the same.
"Save it Lee. I'll take him so you can be with your precious boyfriend." He muttered. "Come on Seth." He said as they walked off the beach and toward the Clearwater household.
Leah stood there guiltily and wishing she could actually be a good person. She loved Jake and Seth a lot, Seth was the best brother she could ask for and Jake was like a brother to her too.
Sam walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, making Leah jump. "Sorry Lee-lee… Are you okay?" He was frowning.
Leah whispered, "It's fine Sam… and no… I'm so stupid… I'm a horrible person." She kept whispering insults about herself and knew they were all true.
Sam became angered listening to her say these things about herself; he turned her around and kissed her passionately on the lips. "None of that is true Lee-lee and you know it… What happened Love?" He looked worriedly at her.
"I have been completely ignoring my brother and my friend… They both completely hate me."
Sam looked at her. "Neither of them hate you Leah. Nobody could hate you… You can spend more time with them, and then you won't feel as guilty, but I assure you that they don't hate you."
Leah nodded and they sat back down at the bonfire, her beside him, not on his lap this time. She leaned against him after they talked for a bit. "Hold on…" Sam said and he moved so he was a little bit behind her and pulled her back so she was lying down with her head in his lap.
Leah smiled a little and closed her eyes, Sam talked quietly, stroking her hair, and she occasionally responded to his quiet banter.
Leah was almost asleep when the police car sirens started blaring… they knew alcohol had gotten into the party, and anyone who was there would be taken to the police station and tested, and neither would live it down from the parents. Sam got up quickly, pulling Leah to her feet. She was half-asleep still and almost fell over, so Sam picked her up on his back and ran as fast as he could until they reached a bathhouse where he set her down and whispered, "We'll have to wait out here until they're done busting the party…"
"Okay, it's kind of gross in here, but as long as you're with me…" She whispered back, now fully awake. "I hope Nicole didn't get caught by the police…" She started rambling quietly about how everything would be ruined if Nicole had been caught by the police, plus she knew Nicole's parents would be very angry and she'd probably be grounded for eternity.
Sam chuckled quietly and kissed Leah, cutting off her rambling. "Shh Lee… I'm sure Nicole got away just fine."
Leah kissed him back and nodded. "Well, this turned out interesting didn't it?" She whispered. They talked back and forth as quietly as possible until they heard the police sirens stop. They waited about ten minutes and were about to leave when someone busted down the door. Both Leah and Sam were frozen with fear, but saw it was just Jake.
Jacob pulled Leah away from Sam. "Lee, Nicole got caught, you have to go home and explain to your parents."
Leah nodded and sighed. She looked at Sam. "I probably won't see you for a long time if I don't successfully convince my parents that I wasn't doing anything bad…" She stood on her toes and kissed him gently, not wanting to show too much passion in front of Jake.
Sam kissed back and then watched her and Jacob run out the door. He sighed, then went and got in his truck and drove home, slipping inside the house. By now it was past 4 in the morning and he saw his mom passed out on the couch. He frowned, knowing she must have been waiting up for him. He kissed her cheek, waking her up, and helping her to her room while she was giving him a lecture. "I know Mom, I'm sorry, I just got caught up."
"You better not have been doing anything I disapprove of." Sophia warned.
"Of course not Mom, we didn't do anything bad."
"Okay, well go get some sleep Sam." Sophia yawned and lay on her bed, instantly falling asleep.
Sam closed her door and went and laid on his own, falling asleep pretty quickly as well.
Meanwhile back at the Clearwater house, Jacob had already asked to stay when he brought Seth back, since Harry and Sue had been awoken by Seth and Jake's reentrance. Jake had calmly explained that Seth heard a noise outside and had called Jacob to go check it out. Jake hadn't wanted to go back to the party, and was angry at Sam, blaming him for Jake's hardly seeing Leah anymore. So he had called the cops to bust the party while Sue and Harry went outside to make sure nothing had been outside. He told Harry and Sue when the police sirens started wailing that Leah and Nicole had been at a drinking party. He said he'd go make sure Leah was okay, because he knew that she wasn't drinking or doing anything bad.
So, when Leah and Jacob arrived back, Jake walked upstairs to Seth's room, while Leah talked to her parents and convinced them she hadn't been drinking. They didn't trust her at all, even though Leah hadn't said she and Nicole were going to be at Nicole's house all night. She had to walk in a straight line and even breathe on them to make them believe she hadn't been drinking. "I was just hanging out; I didn't know the party was going to get out of hand..." She saw her mom wanting to punish her big time in her eyes but Harry put a hand on Sue's shoulder.
"Come on Sue she obviously didn't drink and we really didn't know where she was going to be, except that she would be sleeping at Nicole's house…" With that Harry and Sue went up to bed. That left Leah to go to her room and get into her pajamas, and then she went straight to Seth's room, which, of course, Jake and Seth were sitting on the floor playing video games.
Leah grabbed the extra controller hesitantly, and looked at Seth and Jake who had paused the game and were both looking at her. "Well… only if it's okay with you guys…" Leah said, looking down quickly.
Jake added an extra player to the game, plugging Leah's controller in. "Sure why not?" He said. Although the first few minutes of game play were somewhat awkward it started to feel like old times, when Jake would always come over and they'd all pull all nighters.
By six Leah had laid back on her brother's floor and passed out from having a full day. Seth and Jake were used to her falling asleep first. Seth put a pillow under her head as Jake put a blanket over her. By 8 Seth and Jake settled down to sleep for a bit.
Jake couldn't help but glance a look at Leah right before he fell asleep… she was so beautiful, as she had always been ever since he could remember. His last thought before he lost consciousness was but she could never love me.
((REALLY REALLY SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATING! Should be a lot more frequently now, I got really preoccupied…. Review please! The updates should be at least weekly from now on ))
