A/N: I apologize in advanced to the Leah fans. Again Leah's POV is absent from this chapter. Don't hate me

I plan to make it up by giving Leah her own chapter at some point. Also i think this is my longest chapter.

I also think it is my best. As always reviews are always welcome.

Good, bad, a direction you'd like to see the story go. I'm always open to suggestions as long as they're reasonable.

Kay I'll stop blathering now and let you read in peace.

Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine. I just like to play there.

Chapter 10

Hospitality

Thomas

Here we are again I thought with a smile. We had fallen asleep together in the forest this time. It amazed me that after I told her what I had been and what I had nearly done she still accepted me. I buried my face in her hair, filling my senses with its texture and scent. My mind began to pick apart the components of that beautifully delicious scent. It was earthy and rich with undercurrents of wildflowers and I thought I smelled ocean waves. In hindsight letting her scent permeate me like this was a bad idea.

The thirst made its burning appearance. I had anticipated this and already formulated a plan of how to deal with it. The only way to control the thirst was to feed regularly. So that was what I planned to do if it kept me from harming the angel lying in my arms.

I didn't want to leave her alone but I needed to feed to control the burning in my throat. I was very careful not to jostle Leah as I extricated myself from her embrace. Thankfully she did not wake as I lay her down to the forest floor. I positioned her arm under her head so she had somewhat of a pillow. I gently traced my fingertips across her cheek. She stirred slightly but did not wake. I took a step away, but stopped when an idea occurred to me. Pulling my shirt off I folded it and put it between her arm and head. She took a deep breath and whispered, "Thomas." Her speaking my name in her sleep brought a smile to my face.

I straightened and took a deep breath tasting the air. A familiar scent made me look to the right. I quietly moved in that direction. The smell of deer drew me onwards. I found a large stream and the scent seemed to follow it, I did the same. Eventually I came to the edge of a small pool and saw a large doe drinking. She was completely oblivious to my presence. My leap was accurate as I grabbed the deer and satisfied my thirst.

Not wanting my kill to sully the pool of water I dragged it into the trees and left it for scavengers. A sound of falling water made me look up. I decided to follow the stream and came upon a small waterfall that fell into a small lake for it was too big to be called a pond.

The beauty of the place took my breath away. The water of the lake below was crystal clear and I could see all the way to the bottom. The cliff I was standing on made a perfect horseshoe shape. I noticed two more small waterfalls set around the horseshoe. The trees added an emerald hue to the air and the waterfalls created a mist where they emptied into the lake. If the sun were not hidden behind the clouds little rainbows would have colored the air. Leah would have to see this place when the sun made an appearance from behind the clouds.

Thinking of Leah made me realize I didn't want her to wake up alone. Her possible reactions frightened me, she really didn't need the extra stress. As luck would have it she was just beginning to stir as I came back to her side.

"Good morning," I greeted her with a smile. She blinked sleepily at me and smiled in response. She sat up quickly and looked around confused by her surroundings and finally settled her eyes on my naked chest. Her blush made her look even more beautiful, she looked away shyly.

"Does this bother you," I asked indicating my torso. She looked up quickly and then looked away blushing harder. My chuckle at her embarrassment seemed to make the blush deeper. "Can I have my shirt then?"

She handed it to me still not making eye contact. I frowned a little as I replaced my shirt to its previous job of covering my chest and back. Leah finally looked up though her blush was still faintly visible.

"Where did you go?" Apparently my absence hadn't gone unnoticed. I sighed and decided I would not keep things from her if I could avoid it.

"I needed to hunt," I frowned a little and looked down "I didn't want to wake you."

I looked up just enough so I could see her face but she couldn't quite see my eyes. Her look confused me and I was about to question her feelings on my need for blood.

"Oh, I was hoping you would want to have breakfast at my place." That sounded very inviting but I needed to check in with the Cullens and see if everything was okay. I frowned before a thought came to my mind.

"I need to check in with the Cullens," I began, her face fell at my rejection of her offer, "but I would love to come to your place and have lunch."

Leah had the most brilliant smile and she showed it to me now. I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"That's perfect," she exclaimed, her excitement made me feel better about turning her down for breakfast. I looked up at the sky and judged the time to be about nine or ten o'clock in the morning.

"How does around one sound." She continued to smile with excitement as she nodded her ascent. It felt amazing to see her so happy. I found that I liked this imprinting phenomenon. We both stood and I was suddenly confused by how I should say my farewell. On the one hand I wanted to give her a deep passionate kiss like the one we shared after our first meeting. On the other I didn't think it was appropriate given the events of yesterday.

I stepped forward and she tilted her face up slightly to mine. I kissed her gently on the lips, just barely making contact. I stepped away and smiled at her closed eyes she looked a little disappointed but not much.

"I'll see you later." I turned at that and ran off towards the Cullen house smiling to myself.

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I made it to my destination in short order having no trouble with my sense of direction in this unfamiliar area. I mostly followed my nose. My father had been an impressive tracker when he was alive. He had trained me from a young age to use senses other than my eyes. I had inherited his senses and they had served me well. Thankfully he had also taught me to fight as well. In a life or death situation my chances of survival were better than average. The one thing that I had never trained was my ability to move objects with my thoughts. Thankfully Edward had agreed to help me.

The house was quiet and I could only detect traces of Edward's and the other's scents. Esme's was the most potent, Carlisle's was also strong but it was fading. Again I was struck by confusion as to whether I should knock or not before entering.

"Come in Thomas," came Esme's soft call from somewhere in the house. Entering the house I saw Esme coming down the stairs. She had a motherly smile fixed on her face. I wondered if it was ever not present. I returned it with a smile of my own.

"Did everything go alright with Leah?"

"Yes I found her and explained," I answered. I then told her what I had told Leah about myself and how human blood caused me to need to feed more often to keep my thirst under control. She looked concerned at my explanation.

"Don't worry I'm just going to feed more often for a while," I told her to alleviate her concern. "Eventually I'll wean myself back to a more normal hunting schedule."

"That seems reasonable," she said in agreement "but can I make one request?"

"Certainly, after all I am a quest in your home." She nodded thoughtfully at my easy aquiesnce. "Please hunt with one of us."

"Agreed," I didn't mention that I had already hunted by myself twice now. Her request was reasonable and I got the impression that they were all concerned that I may be attacked again if I was alone.

"Where is everyone?" I was curious where everyone had gone off to.

"Edward and the others are at school," she said "and Carlisle needed to return to the hospital." I mused at the thought of a vampire doctor. I was impressed with his ability to resist blood to the point he could work for a hospital.

"Alice got you some clothes of your own," she said motioning me to follow her "I moved them into the guest room."

She led me to a different room than the one where I had spent the night with Leah. A king size bed was against one wall. The room was sparsely decorated, a dresser sat near the doors I assumed to be a closet. Thankfully this room had its own bathroom.

"You can stay with us as long as you like," Esme said from behind me. I didn't know what to say, the kindness was overwhelming.

"Thank you." I turned and gave another smile of gratitude to Esme.

"I'll let you get settled and change," Esme said as she backed out of the room. I took in my surroundings when I was alone. The bed was large and was covered in a blue comforter and sheets, the pillows looked particularly comfortable. I walked over to the closet and opened it to find the clothes Alice had purchased for me hung up neatly. I thought she may have gone a bit overboard with the amount of clothes. The shirts were mostly dress shirts not something I normally wore outside of when I was still attending school. The slacks were mostly khaki and I found a lack of denim in the closet.

I moved to see what was in the dresser. The underwear drawer thankfully contained boxers instead of briefs. After inspecting the rest of the drawers I found one was for t-shirts in various light colors, while the others held jeans in different cuts and shades of blue. I chose a pair of boot cut jeans and a light grey t-shirt I also grabbed a pair of socks and boxers. In the very bottom drawer I found towels one of which I grabbed as I headed into the small bathroom.

Thankfully whoever had designed this room had taken into account the size and just installed an enclosed shower. Alice apparently had also purchased soap and shampoo. I took a shower and dried and dressed before choosing what I could only assume were designer boots. I was amazed that everything fit perfectly. Alice must have looked at what I was wearing when I had first arrived in order to get my sizes for the clothes. I blushed at the thought of her removing my clothing to do so. Looking around the room I wondered where my backpack had been stored as I wanted to move the contents to a drawer.

I found my wallet and other important items in the nightstand next to the bed. Also present was a cell phone with a note attached. I pulled of the note and read it.

Thomas,

I saw you needing a cell phone so I took the liberty of getting one for you. It has all our numbers preprogrammed into it, along with Leah, Jacob, and Renesme's numbers.

Also I hope you like the clothes and you will thank me later and you really shouldn't have with the gift it was very thoughtful.

Alice

P.S.

Bring flowers when you go over to Leah's for lunch. Trust me.

"Wow Alice must be psychic," I muse aloud. Esme's laugh at my statement confirmed my suspicion. I chuckled to myself as well and followed the instruction on the phone to activate my number. Leah's number was second on speed dial so held the '2' key until it dialed the number. Someone picked up on the second ring.

"Hello," a male voice on the other line asked.

"Is Leah there." A moment of silence from the unknown speaker followed my question.

"She just got in can I ask whose calling."

"My name is Thomas," I stated "I'm a friend of hers." More silence followed as if the person I was talking to was trying to figure out if he knew who I was.

"Oh Thomas," the voice took on an excited tone. "I'm her brother Seth."

I remember her saying something about a younger brother who had started phasing about the time she did.

"Hey Seth, I'm coming over for lunch and I need directions." He proceeded to provide them. I didn't need to write them down as I had perfect recall thanks to my vampire heritage. A thought occurred to me then.

"Seth do you know what kind of flowers are Leah's favorites." Hopefully he knew because I had not gotten a chance to ask her.

"Tulips I think, do you want me to ask her."

"No that's alright, I'll see you later." We bid each other good bye and hung up. I exited my room.

"Esme," I called out trying to locate her.

"In the living room" she replied. It was getting close to noon and I still needed to find a nearby florist so I could follow Alice's suggestion.

"Thank you for your hospitality," I started not sure how to ask to borrow a vehicle. "I really hate to impose further but I told Leah I would go to her place for lunch."

"Alice said that it was alright if you borrowed Jasper's motorcycle," she said drawing a confused look from me. "Alice is psychic."

I had already guessed this but to have it confirmed was nice. I nodded for a second before moving onto my next question. Again Alice had beaten me to the punch.

"She just called a moment ago and said there is a nice florist in La Push not far from Leah's house." I smiled as she handed me the keys to Jasper's motorcycle.

"Have a good time and say hello to Leah and Seth for me." I acknowledged her request and went out to the garage. Inside the cavernous garage looked like a car museum. All the vehicles looked amazing. The one that really caught my eye was the Aston Martin Vanquish. I had always preferred motorcycles to cars but if I had to choose a car I would probably pick a car like that. In the corner I saw two motorcycles one was a silver Harley Davidson Soft Tail, next to it was a BMW motorcycle it was also silver. I admired the sleek styling of the BMW, the look was similar to my lost Ducati which made me sigh at the loss of my motorcycle.

I mounted the BMW as the logo on the keys I held bore the same logo as the motorcycle. The garment bag hanging on the wall I was facing drew my attention. Another note was attached to it. I dismounted and approached the garment bag. The note only had my name on it. I opened the garment bag and found a black and blue riding jacket inside.

I was unused to this amount of generosity. First room I could call my own for as long as I cared to, then a massive wardrobe, the use of a vehicle without reservation. I made up my mind then and there if it took a lifetime I would find a way to repay the kindness I had been shown.

I put on the jacket and got on the motorcycle kicking it to life. I sped out of the garage and down the long driveway to the main road. Once I hit pavement I really sped up following the directions to La Push and Leah's house. I made a brief stop at the recommended florist, thanking any god that would care that it had tulips in stock.

Leah's home was small and looked cozy from the outside. I parked Jasper's motorcycle in their driveway. I was a little early but I figured that was fine. On the porch I took a moment to make sure I looked presentable and reached over to knock on the door.

Links for pictures of mentioned motorcycles are in my profile.