The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.
Leah spent the entire day shopping with her mom. Sue dragged her from store to store. About the only good thing was dad had given her some spending money. She was desperately in need of some new lingerie. And she certainly didn't want to buy that in front of her mom.
She was pretty sure that her parents knew she was having sex. Or at least that she was going to. She and Sam were going to be living together soon in a one-bedroom apartment, they'd be fools to think that Sam would spend his nights on the couch. She just wasn't going to throw it in their face, so hence her relief at her own money.
By the way her mom was buying things, one would think that it was Leah's first day of school, and by that she didn't mean college, more like kindergarten. Her mom was insistent that she needed the perfect first day outfit. From what Leah understood about college, kids wore tee-shirts and jeans or sweats, hell some kids didn't even change out of their pajamas before class.
But she went along with it, it made her mom happy. And Leah allowed herself to be dragged from store to store. She tried on dozens of different pants, skirts, shirts, shoes, you name it. It was like her mom was afraid that Leah was never coming home and she needed to prepare Leah's wardrobe for the next ten years. Only the growling of Leah's stomach slowed down her mom's shopping rampage. It didn't stop it but slowed it down. Finally after what seemed like days, Sue decided they had put a big enough dent in Harry's pocketbook that they could go home. As they drove home, Leah sat on the passenger's side and rubbed her aching feet while watching the scenery pass by.
As unpredictable and gloomy the weather could be she loved where she had grown up. It was beautiful. The forests surrounded them and were teeming with wildlife. She remembered growing up and spying a deer or a fox in their backyard before it was scared away. And the beaches in La Push were breathtaking. They weren't like a beach you'd see in California or Florida, they were rugged. The land demanding the people who lived here were strong.
She suddenly realized how much she was going to miss her home, her family, and her friends when she went to college. She wouldn't be gone forever, it was only four years. She'd be back for summer holidays and Christmas, it wouldn't be the same but it would be have to be enough.
Once they pulled into the driveway she realized how late it was. Emily had borrowed her car that morning and she still wasn't home. Maybe she had decided to run some errands.
"You're back," her dad greeted as he kissed Leah on the cheek and took the bags from her arms. "So did your mother break the bank? It feels like it."
"Nope, there's just enough left for you to buy a 12-pack of beer but not much else," Leah joked.
"Well, I guess that just means I'll have to make Billy and Charlie pay for my share," he told her laughing.
"Where's Emily?" Leah asked.
"Oh, she left a note. She decided to go home and see her parents tonight. She'll be back tomorrow."
"Oh, did Sam call? He said if he had time he would."
"Nope, haven't heard from him. I know he said he was going to try and straighten stuff out with Dan. He's hoping that he'll at least be able to work part-time with him for now. So I'd imagine that if he was able to work things out, he'll probably have to get up early tomorrow and work."
"I guess," she sighed. "I think I'm going to go put this stuff away and try and give him a call. At least I can wish him a good night. After that I'm going to bed, shopping with mom, means at least sleeping in tomorrow until noon."
Both her parents told her goodnight. As she walked past Seth's door, he looked at her and told her goodnight too. Putting the bags on the bed, she sorted through the different items she and her mom had purchased. She decided that she would wait to start wearing them until she arrived at school, so she placed everything back in the bags and put them in the closet.
Picking up her phone, she dialed Sam's number; the call went straight to voicemail. "Hey, Sam. Sorry it's so late. I hope your day was good. You won't believe how many stores my mom dragged me to. Call me tomorrow. I'd really like to see you. I miss you and I love you. Bye."
Sam woke up startled. He glanced around the room trying to figure out what was wrong. He took a deep breath in and immediately his nostrils were assaulted with the scent of honeysuckles and rain. Shit he thought, remembering everything. He glanced down at the small woman lying in his arms.
She moved slightly in her sleep and cuddled closer to him, murmuring something unintelligible. He realized there was no going back now, this was it. They had warned him, it didn't matter what the imprintee wanted if the relationship was consummated. Then in that case the wolf decided. And he felt it like a punch in the gut when he thought about how this was going to destroy Leah. And as fucked-up as his life was at this moment, of course the fucker was content and for once he didn't say a word.
He woke up later to the smell of eggs and bacon cooking. Opening his eyes, he realized he was in bed alone. Grabbing a pair of shorts and pulling them on, he padded out to the kitchen. Emily was in front of the stove, humming a song as she made breakfast.
"Good morning," he said with a slight flush in his cheeks. "You didn't have to make anything."
She turned around and smiled at him. "It's alright. I was hungry and I figured you would be too. I hope you don't mind I had to search the cupboards to find what I needed."
"No…it's fine," he told her. "Listen we, well I need to talk to the elders and let them know about this development. Umm, I also need to figure out how to tell Leah about this. I know how hurt she was by my disappearance and I still haven't told her that I wouldn't be able to go to school with her in the fall, much less…well anything about this."
He watched as her smile faded as he spoke. Her bottom lip quivered and her eyes moistened with tears. "You're going to tell her though, right? I mean…what happened it means something doesn't it? It's just I've never…" she broke off in a whisper.
Shit he thought, just his luck to imprint on his girlfriend's cousin, sleep with her, and then find out the next morning that she's a virgin. Fuck. He couldn't deny the feelings of his wolf though, his wolf was happy that they had laid claimed to her and that no one else had ever nor would ever touch her again.
He walked over to her and gathered her in his arms. "Of course, I'm going to tell her but I don't want her to be hurt any more than is necessary. That's why I'm going to talk to the elders first. Does anyone know that you came here?"
"No," she sniffled. "I figured I'd come and talk to you and then I wanted to go home for the night to see my parents. I thought I'd call them on my way there. But I left a note saying that I'd be back today, so I'll need to leave soon."
"Okay, well how about breakfast first then I'll call the elders and talk to them about the situation. I know it's hard but we can't be seen in public until Leah's been told."
"I know," she cried. "But it just feels like you are regretting what happened when you talk like that."
Sam pulled her slightly away from him and looked into her eyes. He used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. "I know, I'm sorry but you don't want Leah to be hurt, do you? I know I don't."
Emily shook her head no. Sam leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips. Then pulled her over to a chair and had her sit down. He grabbed a couple of plates out of the cupboard and placed some food on each of them. Placing one plate in front of Emily, he sat down in the chair next to her and started eating. Figuring that they needed to get to know one another, he asked her questions about her interests and childhood as they ate.
After Emily left, Sam cleaned up the kitchen. He was so confused. He had loved, no he still loved Leah. But Emily, being with her made him complete in a way he had never known. It didn't matter that he father didn't care about him, that he'd been abandoned by him, or how his mom had struggled to raise him. Emily was his reward for his patience and sacrifice to the tribe. She gave him the reason to continue each day and no matter what happened he would always come home to her.
He made his calls to Billy and Old Quil, he couldn't talk to Harry right know. It was bad enough that he was going to have to admit all but the less he spoke to Harry the better. So he suggested to Billy for him to call Harry. They planned to meet that afternoon at Old Quil's. In the meantime he needed to avoid Leah.
She had already left a message on his phone last night. He decided a drive to Port Angeles would be a good idea. He needed to pick up a few things and it was far enough away that he most likely wouldn't run into her. During the drive he tried to figure out what he was going to say to the elders. No matter how he tried, he came out as an asshole or Emily as a man-stealer. He was almost sure that she had played him. At this point it didn't matter because fate and his wolf had made his choice. After much deliberation, it was best to make him out to be the bad guy. He couldn't resist the imprint. Once he looked at Emily, he didn't care about Leah. That was the only way to make things right. Harry, Sue and Leah could all hate him. He was no different than his father, tossing a nice girl aside for the next one that caught his eye. It was the only way.
He walked up to Old Quil's house with his heart in his stomach. He knew as a wolf he couldn't get sick, but that didn't stop the man from wanting to vomit. There was no point in delaying it any longer.
Knocking on the door he waited for Old Quil to answer. It didn't take long before the door opened and Old Quil invited him in. Following Old Quil into the living room, he looked around the room and saw both Billy and Harry were sitting. They obviously had been waiting for him to arrive. He sat down on one of the chairs and faced the three men.
He cleared his throat and tried to start, "So…" This was going to be harder than he thought, he realized. He wasn't sure he was ready to make himself be the villain. "About the imprint," he continued. "I wasn't expecting the pull to be so strong. It's done."
"What do you mean done," Harry probed.
"I mean it's done. I need to know what you three want me to tell Leah. Because I sure as fuck don't know what to say, so you need to tell me, now. I want some type of normalcy to my life. I don't need us to drag this out for weeks. Tell me what to say and I'll do it tonight. I know you all need me to get my shit together so when Jared phases, I'm ready. So, let's cut the bullshit and get this done."
Both Harry and Billy were shocked. They assumed Sam would walk in and happily state that Emily wanted to be friends. Instead, this happens and they knew the ripples it was going to cause. Harry would have to continue to help support Sam and the others but yet be there for his daughter as she experienced her first heartbreak. Billy quickly realized this would cause people to take sides. Many members of the tribe would see Emily as a man-stealer or a whore; she would not be welcomed with open arms. The Clearwater name alone was well known throughout the tribe and Leah was well-liked.
Old Quil on the other hand was not shocked. He knew this was going be the eventual outcome. As far as he was concerned, this was one of the better outcomes. How awful would it be if Sam and Leah started their lives together or even worse a family. Sam was going to have an uphill battle to get Emily accepted by the tribe's members. As the elders, they would all have to do their parts to support him and his relationship. The tribe didn't know of the sacrifices that Sam and the others were making, so it was up to the elders to promote the pack as outstanding citizens of the tribe.
"Well, you three can sit here all day and think about it. Or you can tell me what you want me to do. Figure it out or I'll do it myself and then you'll have an even bigger mess to clean up."
"Sam, calm down and give us a moment," Old Quil implored. He thought for a few minutes as he formed a plan. "Obviously you can't break it off with Leah tonight and then start dating Emily. You explained this to Emily, right?" At Sam's nod, Old Quil continued, "Alright, well you knew that you were going to need to tell her that you weren't going to school. So start with that tonight. Tell her that you've seen your duty is to the tribe and leaving for school right now is not the right path for you. I doubt Leah will take this well, if you can pick a fight or two with her. You're controlling the phase well?"
"Yes."
"By the end of the week, break it off with her. She wants different things than you and you couldn't make her happy. Say whatever you need to say to make it seem truthful. You and Emily cannot, I stress cannot be seen together in any way, until you've broken it off with Leah. There will be enough difficulty getting Emily accepted by the tribe as it is, any infraction on her part will cause people to ostracize her. Do you understand, Sam?"
"Yes, I get it. Tell Leah no school, fight with her, and then break up. Do not be seen with Emily. Anything else, or can I go so that I can get this started?"
"No, Sam I don't think we need you for anything more."
"Harry, I hope what I told him is alright," Old Quil stated.
"What do you want me to say? No. Obviously we have limited choices here. Do you really think I'm pleased that my daughter gets to have her heart broken and that I have to stand by the man and his mate that did it to her? None of you understand you don't have daughters, at least not ones that are here. While you two get to go on like nothing's happened, I have to go home and listen to my daughter crying at night. I have to be the one to face her and tell her that fate has chosen this for them and she needs to be happy. I don't even get to tell her the real reason why Sam is doing this. I don't get to treat him like shit or punch him in the face for hurting my daughter. No, I get to stand by his side and defend him and his new relationship with my niece."
"Quil, we need to discuss what we are going to do when the others join Sam, so this doesn't happen again. We can't negate their choices to date but they need to be aware of this very real possibility before they get too involved."
"You're right, Billy. If Jared is next like we assume it could be an age thing. So what order do we think the phase will occur?"
Harry spoke up on this one, "Paul, Jake, and Quil Jr. And if we go out further, maybe Seth, Collin, and Brady. Though in the journals it's been between three and five, right Billy?"
"You're right, Harry. Sam needs to take care of this. Hopefully we can have this situation under control before Jared phases. Jared will be the easy one; Paul is going to be another story. So it's even more important that Sam be in the right frame of mind to deal with him. It's going to take both him and Jared to get Paul under control."
"Well I'm going home. I need to get ready to deal with the drama that will be happening at my house."