Disclaimer- I do not own twilight
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Day 9: So Long
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Leah ended up slipping out of the Cullen home before sunrise, not that the early hour mattered much; They don't sleep. The scarred leech, Jasper, had succeeded in scaring the living hell out of her. She held out as long as she could, but her nerves and her instincts finally convinced her that it was time to bolt.
She was more than happy to be out of there, but felt a little guilty about not thanking Esme and the doc. She hoped the mind-raper would make himself useful and convey her gratitude.
She carefully climbed out of the guest bedroom window, landing from the second floor drop in a crouch, wincing a little at the slight pain in her ribs. She looked up at the Cullen house. She owed them her life; she hated owing people.
Leah shook her head with a sigh and started the walk back towards town, disappearing into the trees.
The walk home was slow going, since Leah had decided against phasing. The shift, while Leah had gotten used to it, was abrupt and jarring; With her ribs still healing, she didn't want to risk the potential pain.
She hated how jumpy she was, though she felt it was justified, she hadn't had the best luck walking through the woods on her own lately. One squirrel chased another up a tree to her right and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She let herself relax a little as she had made it out of the cover of the trees and into Forks.
It was still early, so there wasn't too many people out save for the occasional person heading to work. She passed an old woman sitting on her porch, tossing breadcrumbs to a small flock a birds. The women noticed Leah watching and smiled up at her. After a second of hesitation, Leah smiled back then quickly looked away.
The smile felt weird on her face, people rarely smiled at her anymore. She rarely smiled herself anymore.
Leah looked around her at all the nice, middle class homes in the quiet little neighborhood. Some people would say it was boring, that they dreamed of being in some big fancy city filled with exciting people to mingle with, but La Push was all Leah had ever known; this was fancy to her.
And it's not like she had a lack of excitement in her life at the moment.
Leah bit the inside of her cheek to contain the sigh that was working its way out of her as she crossed over the border. La Push was her home, and she would always have a place in her heart for it, but there was too much history here. She thought of her near empty pickle-bank with a sigh; she really needed a new job.
It was like her stepping on La Push soil set off an alarm or something, because Leah had been on the Rez for no more than a few seconds before two wolves were running out of the trees to block her path. Leah was ready to bolt in the other direction before she realized it was just Seth and Embry.
Guilt hit her immediately when she saw her brother. What he and her mother must have felt when they heard about what she tried to do, it made Leah want to puke.
"Look, Seth, let me just,-"
Seth phased and immediately wrapped her up in a hug. She bit her lip to hide a wince at the pain in her ribs that the movement caused.
"Shut up. don't try to make it better, you'll just make me mad and I just stopped being mad." Leah kept her mouth shut and waited, enjoying the feeling of her little brother's warm, loving embrace. It should have been weird, considering he was nude, but she barely noticed that sort of thing anymore.
They hugged for at least a full minute. Leah didn't start to feel awkward about it until she looked over his shoulder at Embry, who was looking back at her with a goofy smile on his face.
"Alright, I'm good," Seth said as he finally ended the hug, but kept a firm hold on her shoulders as if he thought she would run off if he wasn't holding on to her. "You can't keep doing this Leah, it's not fair."
"I know-"
"No you don't! You don't know because if you did you wouldn't keep doing it! Mom woke up early yesterday morning and made breakfast. She wanted to show us how much she loved us, how happy she was that we were both safe at home. Do you know how she felt when she realized you weren't there? How much she cried?"
"Seth-"
"No," he interrupted her, "you don't know because you weren't there, I was. I was the one holding her while she cried, I was the one telling her that you were gonna come back when I didn't even know if that was true or not. So don't tell me that 'you know', or that 'you're sorry', just don't leave again!"
Leah felt her heart break at the sight of her little brother's pleading face trying to hold back tears. She pulled him into another hug as her own tears started to fall. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay." He let it go then, sobbing into her shoulder, and she sobbed with him. Her dreams of getting away from this place were pushed aside by the new dream of never seeing her little brother hurting like this again.
Tears were a surprising but welcome start to Leah's day. She had cried more in the last week than she had the last year or so, save for the month her dad died, that is. That was a time she had voluntarily let her walls down and allowed herself to grieve with her family.
Her and Seth had stood there for a while, in the middle of the road, her in an oversized t shirt one of the Cullen's had left for her, and him butt ass naked, as they hugged while bawling their eyes out. Luckily, people in La push don't leave often and people outside of La push barely visited; it would have been a very hard sight to explain.
After collecting themselves, the two headed back to town, meeting up with Embry a little ways down the road. She hadn't noticed him walking away in the moment.
"Well wasn't that a heartwarming family bonding moment. It nearly brought me to tears," Embry laughed as Seth shoved him lightly and Leah flipped him off. "But seriously though, no more running off?"
"Yeah," she sighed, "I'm done doing that."
"Good," He nodded, "I don't know why you didn't say anything in the first place, one of us would have went with you. How was it anyway?"
"...What?"
"The trip the Cullen's," Embry said slowly, like she was stupid. She was too caught of guard to be pissed about it. "Wasn't the whole point of you going over there so that the doctor could tell you more about your heat? That's what Jake said anyway..."
"Oh, yeah. It went pretty well I guess. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know."
"Then why'd you have to stay so long then?" Seth spoke up, "You were there all day. Mom would have went crazy if Jake hadn't called and told us where you were. You really need to get a new phone, by the way."
"He just wanted to be really thorough. Trust me, I wanted out of there as soon as possible but they really wanted to help. They're nice I guess."
"Told you so," He said smugly. "So you gonna come with me next time I go to visit? You should come too Embry, you'll like them. Esme makes the best food."
Leah let out a relieved sigh, realizing she had been holding her breath throughout the exchange. Obviously Jake knew why she really went to the Cullen's and had covered for her with her family, but she couldn't figure out why. As the three of made their way into town, Seth talking Embry's ear off, Leah decided that she needed to have another talk with Jake.
Those were always so much fun.
The tears were once again abundant once again when Leah got home. Her mother reacted much the same way Seth did when she saw her; first anger, then crying hugs. That must be where he got it from.
There was a lump in Leah's throat the whole time Sue was recalling how worried she had been. The guilt was like a dark cloud hanging over her head as she thought of how her mother would feel after losing her husband and her daughter within a year of each other if her suicide run had been a success.
She had assured her mother that she wouldn't run off without telling someone again and Leah meant that wholeheartedly, but when she looked in her mother's eyes, though Sue had smiled and nodded, Leah could tell that she didn't believe her. It hurt to know that your family had lost faith in you.
Well you'll just have to prove her wrong then.
So you don't believe me either? Leah sighed. Her wolf hadn't spoke to her since last night. Leah was starting to accept the fact that she missed her if she was quiet for too long.
I'm a part of you dear, I know you. I know how badly you want to leave this place and all the bad memories it holds, but I also know that your family means the world to you and how badly you don't want to hurt them anymore. So if you really mean what you say, don't tell them that, show them.
Leah nodded, determined to do just that.
Later that evening Leah decided, after informing her mother and leaving through the front door, that it was time to go see Jake.
She had walked over to his house without calling, not wanting to give him, or herself, the chance to back out. She'd just have to hope he was home.
She made it there just as the sun was starting to go down. Billy's truck wasn't outside, which was good because Leah didn't want an audience for this conversation. Also, she didn't like him all that much. She took a deep breath to settle the nerves that were starting to stir and went to knock on the door just as it opened.
Jake. He was naked.
Her stomach twisted itself in knots as Leah looked him up and down. He looked good. Like damn. She tried to tear her eyes away from it, but she couldn't do it. It had been so long.
"Still haven't kicked the staring habit I see," his voice snapped Leah out of the trance she had fallen under and she was able to see the cocky little smirk on his face. Asshole. "What are you doing here?"
"You know we need to talk about yesterday...and the day before."
Jake's smirk turned into a pained grimace. "Yeah, I know. I was going for a run, You wanna join?"
"...Yeah, sure." He walked past her, goosebumps sprouting on her skin as his shoulder gently brushed hers, before phasing and taking off into the woods in a light trot. After a few seconds of hesitation, Leah followed him.
The phase felt so natural and good, like a morning stretch. Her ribs were pretty much healed at this point and there was no pain, but Leah did notice that she didn't feel the underlying disgust at being in her wolf form that she used to.
She broke into a light jog to catch up with him, but as soon as they were side by side, Jake sped up. They continued like that for a while; Jake going a little faster each time Leah caught up with him.
"What the hell are you doing?" she tried to look into his thoughts but he was blocking her. Leah was just about to stop when she realized what was going on; he was trying to race her.
"Finally. I was starting to get bored."
Leah ignored the sarcasm in favor of breaking out into a full on run. She was the fastest wolf in the pack and her pride wouldn't let him win.
Jake looked over his shoulder at her with a smirk and broke into a run as well. He kept the lead for a bit, until he made a turn off the trail, that was his mistake. He was bigger and not as agile as she was; the trees that he had to slow down to avoid Leah weaved through with ease. She eventually gained the lead, Jake nipping playfully at her tail as she passed.
Feeling pretty confident, Leah decided to rub it in a little. She slowed down so that they were side by side, before turning on a dime in front of him and coming around on his other side. She did this two more times, making sure to look him dead in the eye each time she did. Jake was not amused.
He threw his body in to hers and the two rolled off to the side together before settling in a heap.
"You are such a sore loser," Leah thought, panting as she rolled off of him. She looked over at the frown on his face and laughed a little. She hadn't had that much fun in a while.
"And you're a show-off." His lip was poked out like a toddler throwing a tantrum and Leah couldn't help but laugh again. He joined after a few seconds. Their laughter broke of when they felt the familiar shifting in the air that indicated someone had phased.
"Hey Jake, what are you doing out here? Have you seen Leah? She was supposed to be- oh hey sis! Long time no hear. What are you two up to?"
"I see you guys were having fun," Embry said, phasing and joining Seth. "Hope were not interrupting anything..."
"You are actually," Jake snapped, "Why are you two out here?"
"We're on patrol, one of the extra ones that you scheduled."
"I scheduled Seth for this patrol, why are both of you out here?"
"Because patrolling by yourself is boring," Seth answered, "That's why Sam always had us patrol in pairs- ow!"
Leah saw Embry nip at Seth through the bond, but the damage was already sound of his name had already caused a jolt of pain in Leah's chest.
"Well things are different now. I don't care if you patrol together, but the extra shifts still need to be covered. We've got this one though, so you to can leave."
"Works for me," Embry said, "See ya." He phased without another word.
"Wait, so does this mean I have to cover your shift in the morning? Because that's really early and I don't think I can-"
"I've got that one too Seth, go away."
"Fine, fine. See ya later. Bye sis."
"Bye," Leah said softly before Seth phased and everything was quiet. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her self down. She was thrust back into the pack so quickly she didn't have time to collect her thoughts before they were at danger of being on display.
She phased back to her human form and scooted her back up against a tree, squeezing her eyes shut tight.
"Are you alright?" Jake asked after phasing and scooting to sit next to her.
"The others, where are they?"
"At home I guess," Jake shrugged, "I ordered them not to phase until your heat is over."
Leah nodded. "Thanks." She could breath a little easier now without the threat of one of the other pack members coming after her. She was ready to go home though. She had lost her nerve and the last thing she felt like doing at the moment was talk about him.
"Look, about Sam-"
"Don't say his name!"
"I don't wanna talk about it either-"
"Then don't."
"You came to me!" Jake snapped. "you're the one who came to me wanting to talk and that's what we're gonna do. Not talking about stuff is what keeps getting us in trouble."
"Well look at you being mature," Leah snorted.
"One of us has to be."
He was right, one of the had to be mature and it should have been her. She dug her fingers into the soft, slightly damp earth and took a deep breath, letting all the feelings she had been stamping down come up to the surface.
"You killed him. You killed him Jake, how could you?"
"I didn't want to, Leah I had too." he wrapped his arms tightly around his body, as if he was trying to keep himself together. "They were gonna- I could hear what they were gonna do to you Leah, and it made me sick. Sam was the loudest, he was yelling at me about how he was going take the alpha position back from me and how he was gonna take you from me-"
"I'm not yours!"
"I know that!" Jake paused to take a few deep, calming breaths. "Trust me, I know. But my wolf doesn't. As far as he's concerned you're his and Sam was threatening to take you away and he was angry. He was so angry. I tried to stop Leah, you have to believe that. I tried as hard as I could but he made me. I couldn't stop him, Leah, you have to believe me."
He sounded so defeated. And Leah did believe him; Her wolf has done the same thing to her in the past, though not to that extreme. While she could admit that she had grown fairly close to her wolf lately, there was a part of Leah that would always resent the level of control that she held.
"I believe you Jake. I know what it feels like to literally not have control over you're actions, but you have to understand that I watched you kill him. He was my first love and yeah, I hated him for what he did to me, but I watched him die. I watched you kill him and it's gonna take me awhile to get over that."
"I know," Jake said softly. Leah reached over to wipe away a tear that had trailed down his cheek. His seem surprised, either by the action or the fact that he was crying. She didn't think he had realized.
"I just don't want you to hate me. Me and Embry barely even talk anymore, Quil like a different person now, and Bella doesn't want anything to do with me. I know you don't like me all that much but I don't think I could take it if you hated me."
"I don't hate you, Jake. And I thought we already established that I sorta like you, or did you forget?"
"No, I didn't forget," He said with a ghost of a smile. It reminded Leah of simpler times, when he used to smile a lot more. Before supernatural bullshit ruined all of their lives. "There's just been so much going on we haven't had time to continue that talk."
Her hand was still on his cheek, and at some point his hand had made it's way to the small of her back and all of a sudden Leah was distracted. They were sitting so close their thighs were touching. His body heat was making her feel warm in all the right places.
"I don't feel like talking anymore."
"Alright. What do you wanna do then?" His fingers were tracing light circles on her back and it was hard to focus.
"It's late. I should probably go."
But Leah didn't want to go. She wanted him to keep touching her like he was, because it had been so long since anyone had touched her that wasn't Embry or Seth or her mother. Someone who wanted her the way that Jake did, and she knew he wanted her because of the way he was looking at her. And she knew that she should back away, that she should get herself together because this was not the time or the place to do what she wanted to do with him.
But she wanted it so bad. It had been so long.
She was on him before she had a chance to stop her self, attacking his mouth with hers. She climbed into his lap, his arms wrapping around her waist as her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. It was good, but Leah wanted more. The lingering guilt she carried about possibly taking advantage of him was lifted when she reached down to take hold of him.
He cursed as Leah stoked him up and down and it brought a smile to her face. He wanted this just as bad as she did. She lifted herself up long enough to position him, before slamming herself back down. They both gasped at the suddenness of it, Jake's fingers digging into Leah's hips and her grip on his hair becoming almost painful.
It had been awhile, so long, but it wasn't her first time, and It wasn't long before Leah was moving. She lifted up and slammed back down with a sense of urgency. The felling of being full had been a stranger to her for so long that she was eager to reclaim it
She was lost in the feeling, throwing her head back as she moved. She growled as she was suddenly flipped over onto her back, Jake smothering the sound with his mouth on hers. The loss of control was both infuriating and exciting as he slowly pulled nearly all the way out before pushing in just as slowly.
Leah needed more. She growled again, raking her fingernails across his back in her impatience. Jake lifted up to grab hold of her wrists, pinning them above her head before leaning back down, kissing up and down the side of her neck.
Leah relented, letting herself enjoy the feeling of his weight on top of her. It wasn't long though, until she was squirming underneath him. "Faster," she ordered.
Jake obeyed, increasing his pace slightly. It was better, but not enough. "Faster," She growled out again, wrestling in his hold. She may be the fastest wolf, but he was definitely stronger. His grip didn't budge, but he did speed up a bit more.
She moaned out in ecstasy at the feeling, and that seemed to egg him on as he moved faster and faster, his thrusts slamming into her harder and harder. "Jake..." She moaned. He groaned in her ear, relinquishing his hold on her wrists and digging his hands into the earth on the side of her head.
He was panting in her ear, his thrusts becoming frantic and irregular. Leah knew he was getting close. She caressed his back as she moaned, "don't stop." She could barely breath as the pleasure rolled through her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hers teeth clamping down on the shell of his ear as her climax hit her.
"I'm g-" Jake stuttered as his own release followed soon after. He moved wildly a few more times before stilling, his body going stiff.
Everything in the Forrest was still and silent, save for their labored pants. After a few moments Jake rolled of of her. He settled next to her with a sated sigh, reaching to grab hold of her hand. Leah frowned at the intimacy of the action, realizing how odd that was after what they had just done.
She looked up at the moon hanging high above their heads with a sense of both relief and dread.
What did she just get herself into?
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Thank you all for the reviews. Any and all constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.
