There was an eviction notice on her front door.
She'd been ignoring the calls from her landlord mostly because she really just didn't want to go back to being an adult. She liked not working and being at the house with the guys like she was one of them, like somehow this would make her understand Sam more or something. She knew this wasn't going to be her new normal and that reality was going to set in eventually but she wasn't ready and if she had to put her foot down and throw a tantrum until her responsibilities went away, then she would do just that.
Her mother was curious about what she was doing at Sam's old place but Leah didn't have an answer for her. She could try to explain it to Sue but she was overbearing and would just worry even more than she already was. Which was why Leah devoted an entire day to being with her mother, no matter how much it drove her crazy, to simply set her nerves at ease. Turns out that day turned into shopping for their weekly Sunday dinner and stopping by the police station to drop off leftovers to Chief Swan. Leah would be lying if she said she wasn't disgusted every time they were in a room together because they flirted like two teenagers. She could almost visibly see her mother's knees growing weak and at one unfortunate dinner, she was positive she spotted Charlie concealing a boner. Aside from the gross factor, she was happy for her mother. It was weird and she wouldn't want her mom dating the god damn police chief but at least she was happy and she deserved it. Leah just didn't want to get dragged into their lovers rendezvous.
"Mom, I can wait in the car," Leah said, watching her mom get out with a Tupperware container full of baked chicken and vegetables.
"I'll only be five minutes and I'm sure Charlie would like to see you," Sue said with a smile.
"And I'd like to blow my brains out instead of seeing you two canoodle."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing," she said quickly, getting out the car. "I'm coming."
The last time she was in this police station, she was 17 and pissed because she'd been arrested for just a small baggie of weed. She knew her mom was going to lose her shit when they got down there to pick her up. And just as she'd guessed, she was right. Her mom had yelled the entire way home about how irresponsible she was and wanting to know where she'd gotten the weed and why she thought drugs were the way to go when they had taught her differently. It was her mother's typical spiel and as per usual, Leah ignored it and counted down the seconds before she could get to her room. But what wasn't usual was her dad making her stay outside with him to talk while her mother continued to rant inside the house. Her dad wasn't the disciplinarian. In fact, he was the fun dad. He laughed when you did something wrong but that night, he'd talked to her more sternly than she'd ever been spoken to before. He wasn't just mad that his teenager had drugs, no matter how gentle they were, but he was pissed because she was speeding. It was in that moment that she realized she truly respected her father because he wasn't just yelling because he was mad or disappointed. He was upset because he was scared that she'd put herself in danger and to this day, Leah never forgot that conversation.
"Charlie, hi!" Sue said, her voice squeaking slightly. "We were in the neighborhood and we decided to bring you some lunch."
"Hi there Leah," he nodded her way before taking the container and peeking inside. "Aw thanks Sue, is this from last night?" he asked.
"Last night?" Leah questioned. How often were these two seeing each other?
"Yes," Sue replied, ignoring her daughter. "I know how much you liked it so I figured why not…"
Leah had never seen her mother act like this before probably because she'd never been subjected to her parents courting each other. Although from what she heard it was more along the lines of her father smooth talking her mom into a date.
"Thank you," Charlie said. "Oh come meet my daughter. She's here visiting with her husband for a little bit and I think she mentioned going to school with Leah."
Leah fought an eye roll and shrugged. "I didn't even know you had a daughter," she lied.
"Yup. Follow me," he said, leading them to his office.
Leah followed behind her mother, her teeth grinding because the last person she wanted to talk to was Bella fucking Swan. Call it an old grudge that needed to be buried or what have you but Leah knew fake when she saw it and she didn't want to deal with it.
Her saving grace came in the form of Jacob, sitting at a desk and doodling intensely on a notepad. She never thought she'd ever think it but thank god Jake was there.
"Hey I'll catch up Mom, Jake is over there and I'm gonna say hi," she said, not waiting for a response before shuffling over to his desk. She stared over his shoulder, watching as he erased and redrew a nose on to the sketch of a man. He was pretty good, she'd give him that but she could tell from how close his face was to the sketch pad that he was a perfectionist.
"You're in my light," he said before looking up at her. "Oh. What are you doing here?"
"My mom is boning the chief. Who's this?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Some jackass that broke into an old lady's house and gave her a scare. Did you just say your mom and Chief Swan are dating?"
Leah nodded. "Sadly. It's like your mom dating the principle when you're in high school and you cant escape it. He's been to every Sunday dinner for the past month and I wanna scream."
"Aww but I bet it's cute," he teased, earning a glare from her.
"That nose is crooked," she shot back, pointing down at the sketch.
"That's not funny." Even so, he still glanced down at the picture and scribbled a little shading on the nose. "You coming back to the house tonight?"
Leah rose an eyebrow in shock. Could it be? Did Jacob Black like having her around? "Aww are you scared you wont see me anymore?"
"Nah, I just wanna know since I have a date and I didn't tell her about the new chick that lives in the room next to mine. I don't want her to have to worry. She's the jealous type."
Leah made a face. "Oh trust me she wont have to. Could this date at all be Bella Swan?" she asked. "Isnt she married?"
Jacob clenched his jaw tightly and she could see the muscle flexing through his skin. It must have been a sore subject for him because by the time he spoke, his voice had deepened and his eyes grew dark. "Unhappily married but yeah. And which one of the guys told you?"
"That you're sleeping with a married woman? None of them but you just did," she smirked. "I heard you two had a past. Still doesn't explain why she's sleeping with you and then going home to her husband."
"Not everything is black and white Leah," he said through nearly clenched teeth.
She bobbed her head. "Yeah, not everything is but this is pretty obviously. If she doesn't wanna leave her husband, you're nothing but side dick that she cant seem to give up. Give yourself more credit than that." She didn't know why she was so invested in this. She knew Jacob was kinda sleezy but this was a new low. Maybe it was because she'd gotten to know him in the weeks she'd been staying at his house and she realized he wasn't as bad as she always thought he was.
Jacob shrugged a shoulder as he leaned back into his seat. He was tense and she could tell he hated this line of questioning. "You ever think I'm just sleeping with her for shits and giggles? She doesn't even live here anymore."
"But when she comes back you lose it, don't you? If you still love her, fine. But you sleeping with her, interfering in her marriage will do nothing but hurt you in the end."
"You always this candid with all your friends?" he glared, slightly annoyed.
"No but thank god we aren't friends."
"Well since we're not friends, why don't you mind your damn business because from where I'm sitting, you've got a lot more issues to work out than I do," he spat.
Leah recoiled as if she'd been slapped in the face and pressed her back into her seat. He wasn't wrong, she did have issues to work out but she didn't need to be reminded of them, especially from Jacob. She knew there were things about Sam's life she didn't know and she could only hide from them for so long before they came bubbling up. She opened her mouth to speak and maybe remind Jake that he was an ass but before she could, giggling came bubbling out of the chief's office.
"Jake!" a voice called, making Leah wince. God, even her voice annoyed her and sadly it hadn't even changed in the 8 years since high school.
"Hey Bells," Jacob said, tearing his eyes away from Leah and turning to her.
"Hey," she said, looking down at Leah and tilting her head until she could get a good look at her face. "Leah Clearwater."
"Hi Bella," Leah said, turning around and forcing a smile on to her face.
"Your mom told me you were out here but I didn't know you knew Jake."
"Yeah we live together," she blurted out. Why did she say that? It wasn't like it was a lie but it also wasn't exactly the truth.
Red suddenly stained Bella's cheeks and she nodded, crossing her legs. "Oh? I didn't know you two were…"
"No Bells, she was Sam's fiance," Jacob explained.
Her cheeks were red again, this time from embarrassment. "Oh. Ohhhh god. I'm really sorry for your loss. I heard about Sam. Aneurism. So awful. He was always so nice to me."
Leah cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. "Turns out he was a liar so don't feel that bad," she said angrily and stood. "I should go. I have a lot of issues to work out, right Jake?"
Jacob looked away from her fiery stare and honestly, she didn't care. Go ahead, she thought, screw your married ex for all I care. She was simply trying to be nice and give some life advice and this was what she got for it. She walked away from a lost looking Bella and Jacob before pushing her way out of the station.
"Leah?" her mom called, at a loss.
"Let's just go, okay," she said, getting into the car and slamming her door shut.
A/N: So we're getting to see that even though Leah and Jacob are becoming friends, they will ALWAYS argue. In fact I just finished writing a chapter that I know for a fact you guys will all like! Also Bella has made her appearance and as you can see her and Jacob's past is... complicated. This story is going to be longer than I expected but I'm sure no one has a problem with that. :) MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW!