Twilight – Against All Odds
Author: L
Chapter 9 – Goodbye
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.
Leah's Point of View
The wardrobe and the drawers were half-open with my belongings hanging out of them. I scanned the room to see if there was anything else that I needed or wanted for my journey. A sudden wave of sadness rushed through me as it finally dawned on me that I was never going to see this place again.
In this room, this house, there were so many memories that I was not willing to leave behind. I had spent my entire life here. Every time I went down the stairs and into the living room, I was flooded with memories of my dad sitting there, telling Seth the old Quileute legends. Whenever he asked me to join them, I would groan reluctantly, making him laugh.
When my father died, I stayed in my room and cried. I cried until one day, I forced myself to accept that he was gone. This room had witnessed my happiness, my joy, my pain and my anger. I thought back to all the times that I had spent with Sam in this room, enjoying each other's company.
After Sam had imprinted on Emily, I never let anyone see the tears that fell for him. This room had been my solitary space and the second that I had stepped foot in here, they respected my privacy and left me to my misery. I didn't even want to leave my room, let alone La Push.
Maybe I was making the wrong decision. While I was considering this, a rectangular object in my wardrobe caught my attention. The box held pictures of Sam. They had been ripped and then taped back together. The very first present that he had bought me was a scarf, and it now lay in there.
Thinking about it didn't hurt me now but to be honest, it wasn't a surprise. At first, I thought the pain had been numbed but it took me a while to realise that it had disappeared. There was a part of me that would always love Sam but I didn't feel anything towards him anymore.
Hesitantly walking over to the wardrobe, I pulled a jacket off of its hanger. It was black on the outside and white on the inside. Pulling it up to my face, I breathed in the familiar, enticing scent. Jacob had given it to me the night my father died, when he drove me home from the hospital.
Folding it carefully, I sat down on the bed and placed it into one of my mom's small suitcases. Breathing a long sigh, I could feel the moisture in my eyes. Blinking back the tears, I ran my hand across the mattress and gave the walls another longing look.
"Leah!" Seth called, breaking the silence. His voice had travelled up the stairs, echoing around the house. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm coming!" I replied with a shout of my own.
Closing the suitcase, I pulled at the zip and set it on the floor. Giving the room one last glance, the pain that I felt was indescribable. This was it. The last time I would ever see the house or La Push again. I didn't want to say goodbye but there was no point in staying here any longer.
I trudged down the stairs with my suitcase and saw Seth waiting by the door with a worried expression on his face. Bella's old truck could be seen through the open doorway. She had given it to Seth for his birthday when he expressed interest in it. As an additional present, Jacob had done some work on it to make it run faster.
Seth had already loaded his bag into the bed of the truck and when I reached the bottom step, he silently took my suitcase from me. I could see the concern remain in his eyes even though I had tried to smile reassuringly at him.
I shut the front door gently, taking a few steps back to get a final image of the house in my mind. With one swift motion, I jumped from the top porch step onto the ground beside the truck. When I was sure that Seth wouldn't notice, I scanned every part of the forest that I could see. The trees were still; not even the tiniest bit of movement could be heard in there.
"I rang mom and told her that we're taking a trip," Seth said, awkwardly trying to make conversation as he leant against the truck. "I didn't want to worry her so I thought that we could wait until she got home from her vacation before we tell her the truth. She's going to kill us for running off like this though." I didn't miss the flash of misery across his light expression.
"Seth, it's OK if you want to stay," I insisted in a soft tone. "I don't mind. It's not fair for you to leave your entire life behind just for me. You don't have to worry about me, I'll be alright."
He instantly responded without even taking the time to think. "I'm not leaving you. Leah, I promised to look after you and that's exactly what I'm doing now. Yeah, I'm going to really miss this place, but I'll miss you a hundred times more if you leave without me."
I could feel the tears in my eyes again as I wrapped my arms around him tightly. "It's like you're the big brother," I laughed. "I know this is selfish, but I'm really happy that you're coming with me." There was a grin tugging at my lips.
"Come on, we should go," he murmured, pulling away from me.
My feet moved reluctantly towards the passenger seat but my eyes were glued to the forest. I heard Seth open the door on his side of the truck yet it didn't slam shut. There was a lengthy pause before Seth let out a sigh that cut through the air.
"Jake's not going to come," Seth mumbled gently. "He's not worth it, Leah. I know you want to say goodbye to him but it will just hurt you even more."
He was now sitting in the driver's seat, door closed, with an expression that required a lot of focus to read. I could see anger that he felt towards Jacob but he was also fighting a sympathetic look that was trying to cross his face; anxiety was the dominant emotion among his features.
"I know," I whispered, finally tearing my gaze away and sliding into the seat. Turning my head so that I was looking out of the window, I remained transfixed on the house as Seth started the engine. I didn't want him to see the tears but I was almost certain that he could hear the sniffling.
The truck started shakily along the sandy path with dust flying in every direction. I wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to where we were going as I focussed on freezing the sharp pain that struck my heart like a bolt of lightning. I suddenly jerked forward in my seat as Seth slammed on the brakes. Gasping loudly, I could feel the truck stop abruptly as it collided with something.
"Oh my God," I shrieked with my heart thumping furiously. "Did we just hit someone?!"
"No," Seth replied in a cold voice. "Unfortunately, we didn't," he added, his tone still icy.
My brother's behaviour scared me, especially when I saw that his face had grown angry and his arms were shivering from the convulsions that were running through them. His hands were clasped tightly around the steering wheel and for a second, I wondered if it was going to break. As Seth narrowed his eyes, he glowered through the windshield.
I followed his line of sight to find a pair of strong, muscular hands gripping the front of the truck. The shaggy black hair was familiar and when his head shot up, I was met with a pair of desperate, solemn eyes that I had no trouble identifying.
