Disclaimer: I now nor ever will own Twilight or any of the characters. That title belongs solely to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N: I know you were wanting this sooner but taking physiology and developmental psychology at the same time is very hindering on my free time.
When Bella learned about the new residents in their house she had taken it well, for the most part. She probably would have been more open to the idea had Leah shown her at least one act of kindness. And then there were Edward's late night visits and how this was most likely was going to hinder that. Plus there's the fact that she came with a baby. They're not known for sleeping through the night and she had a hard enough time getting enough sleep as it was. But she didn't show any apprehension when Charlie had told her. He said she was having a hard time on the reservation and needed to get away. From everything she'd learned about Leah, she was having a hard year. But what prompted her to come here and why now? If Bella was a more assertive person she'd ask, but that just wasn't her nature and plus Leah wasn't the most approachable person on a good day. She highly doubted that had changed.
Bella was getting sheets out of the linen closet to set up a makeshift bed for Leah; she even grabbed a few extra pillows to cage Daniel in since he didn't have crib of any variety. Bella made it downstairs to the couch and was about to set everything up when Leah stopped her.
"I can do that myself, but thanks."
"Oh, I just thought it'd be a little difficult because you can only use one hand." Bella replied a little timidly. She had no idea how Leah managed to intimidate her in her house with a simple few words, but she succeeded.
"Trust me, you get used to doing one handed things. I have everything I need you can go now." Leah was a little short with that last statement, but Bella complied nonetheless. She wasn't in the mood for confrontation, plus this was hindering her time with Edward already.
Bella made to the top the stairs and ran into Charlie. She was about to head towards her room when he stopped her. "Hey Bella, can we talk for a moment?"
"Sure, Dad." She said with a weary smile. There were very few times in her life when Charlie asked to talk and almost all of them weren't good. The latest one sprang to mind and she hoped Leah's baby didn't spark another sex talk.
"I know I dropped this whole Leah thing on you, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it." Bella smiled at this. She knew nothing she said would get him to kick Leah out, but she appreciated him considering her feelings about it. Plus this definitely wasn't a sex talk and she could appreciate that on any day.
"It's fine, Dad. She needs our help, we'll give it." She said firmly and she meant it. The circumstances may not have been ideal and Leah could be a lot nicer, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve help.
Charlie smiled at his daughter's generosity. It's been a while since he's gotten to that side of her. He chalked it up to normal teenage egocentrism for her inconsiderate behavior as of late and was glad it hadn't taken over her completely. "Well that's good because it's not going to be that easy. She's as stubborn as they come and got little too much pride, so she might not be the most pleasant person to be around."
You have no idea. She was tempted to say but stuck with "I'll do my best to ignore it." And smiled at him
Charlie smiled back. "That's my girl. Well that's all I wanted to talk about so goodnight kiddo."
"Night Dad." She said quietly and went to her room.
Leah lay on the couch with Daniel on top of her. He was out like a light drooling all over her shirt but she didn't care. She missed everything about him including the messy parts. She laid her hand on his back and stroked him gently. He stirred a bit, but nothing to indicate he was walking up any time soon.
She was trying to sleep, but that was a bit hard when there was a vampire less than 25 feet away from you and you're a werewolf who could hear and smell everything. She was tempted to go up there and remove him from the premises, but she knew as a guest in this house and Forks, she had absolutely no right. She may be done with La Push and its inhabitants, but that didn't mean she wanted to start a war. Her son was at least as close as possible, so she knew he was safe.
She didn't quite understand what he was still doing here. After unintentionally hearing mindless chatter from them, Bella had reluctantly fallen asleep. Leah had hoped that that would be his queue to leave so that she could be comfortable enough to sleep, but he just stayed. That was about an hour and a half ago and it was nearing one o'clock in the morning. She knew at most she had two hours before Daniel was due wake for a changing and feeding. She knew he was the mind reader and had be leaving subtle (or as subtle as she gets) hints in her head for him to leave, but apparently he wasn't getting the message.
She probably had been screaming GET OUT a hundred thousand times before she got a response, just not the one she was hoping.
"I'm not leaving her." He said in his all too perfect velvety voice. She heard it as clear as day from her spot on the couch.
Mindful of her sleeping son she whispered her response to minimize the amount of vibration coming from her chest. "I don't know what universe you come from, but going home isn't leaving someone, it's giving them space. Necessary space, especially since their unconscious."
Edward chuckled at her added commentary. "I like watching her sleep. Also she gets anxious if I leave. She thinks I won't come back."
Leah huffed. Seriously! She thought. You won't let me sleep because you don't know how to solve your girlfriend's trust issues?!
"Which by the way, this isn't it" She said aloud a little too loudly. Daniel made a small noise in protest but quickly went back to sleep.
"Well Leah, with all your years of wisdom. What would you suggest I do?" Edward said with a subtle hint of sarcasm in his voice.
She didn't want to disturb Daniel again so she chose to respond in her head. Well first, I'd lose the attitude unless you want the Swan's home to become the site of a murder. And second, I don't know, but what I do know is that what you're doing isn't working. In fact it's making it worse. All of your problems are being ignored by both of you in hope that it'll go away, but unfortunately they're still there and will continue to be there until you stop ignoring them. In the meantime your presence is causing her to become a pathetic little girl who has zero consideration for others. So my real suggestion would be you leave her all together, but that doesn't seem to be something that's happening anytime soon, at least not tonight.
"What would have you think Bella is pathetic in any sense of the word, let alone in my presence?" Leah could hear the irritation in his voice and smiled. If she couldn't sleep at least she could get a rise out of him.
She then thought of the conversation she overheard earlier between Bella and her father. Her answers sounded genuine and for the first time she saw a glimpse into what Jacob went on and on about. She was actually not that bad of a person and Leah's opinion almost changed about her, but then she went back to her room and back to Edward and every formed opinion Leah had of Bella was proven just from the things she heard alone. She was talking about turning soon and having to make her parents think she's dead. She said it like it was the only choice in the world and that those consequences weren't serious. She sounded even more like a petulant child when Edward tried to get her to rethink it and she adamantly said that it was her choice to make. Even if Leah didn't have a child to look after she would never have made such a life or death decision over Sam, just for her mom and Seth alone. But then again, she never thought of herself being that desperate for Sam, ever.
Leah didn't wait up for a response because she knew there wouldn't be one. She hoped it was because he saw that she was right on some level, but knew it had more to with the fact that not much else could be said. She had her firm opinion that wasn't changing and he had his.
Sue was in her kitchen cooking to keep busy. She had no idea what to do with herself; Harry wasn't around anymore to help keep her anxiety at bay. She was having flashbacks to almost a year ago when Leah first ran away. She hoped she didn't lose her daughter for that long again.
She kept thinking over and over again If I only had faith in her. She knew the likelihood of Leah phasing too close to Daniel was nearly impossible, but she didn't want to take a chance that it didn't because that would be devastating on everybody especially Leah. But now looking back she realized she should have trusted or at least explained her actions better. Perhaps she shouldn't have called Sam over. That is probably where her real mistake lied, but at the time she thought act now, explain later. Later never came and now she was more worried than ever. Her daughter was out there alone with a baby and vampires were going to be running loose in the area soon. None of that sounded good in her head.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. She quickly scrambled to wash her hands and ran to the door. She had no idea who would come to it especially since no one ever bothered to knock anymore, but she hoped it had to do with her daughter.
When she got the door open she was surprised to see it was Chief Swan. It had been a while since they last spoke and he wasn't usually the one to stop by for surprise visits.
He smiled at her before he spoke. "Hey Sue."
She couldn't help but smile back; he had a great smile that rarely got used. "Hey Chief. What brings you out to this neck of the woods?" She opened the door wider and motioned for him to come in.
He let out a weary sigh and then stepped into the Clearwater home. "Well, Leah asked me to come by and pick up some of her stuff." He looked at Sue and waited for her reaction.
Sue was perplexed. Why would Leah ask Chief Swan to get her stuff? And why does he know the whereabouts of her daughter while she's completely clueless? She had no idea how to respond so she settled for staring blankly at him in hopes that he'd elaborate further.
Charlie shifted his feet right to left and put his hands in his pockets. "She came to me last night saying something about the counsel trying to take away her son." He kept it vague in hopes that he'd get the real reason he had a scared 19 year old come to his house unannounced.
Sue's eyes widened at Charlie's statement. She wondered just how much Leah had disclosed. She doubted she included anything about werewolves. Charlie seemed way too calm for that revelation. She decided to play it safe and be as ambiguous as possible. "It's a little more complicated than that."
"Right." He said clearly dissatisfied with her answer. It went quiet for a while. "So. Her stuff?"
Sue snapped out of whatever daze she was in. "Oh. Right. Do you need help gathering what she needs?"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I don't have too much experience guessing what girls need."
Sue laughed at this. He was always a simple man, not very attuned with much outside of beer and sports. "Come on right this way."
Sue basically packed everything Leah and Daniel would need while Charlie just stood in the doorway. She packed things he never would have thought of, which made him even more grateful that she had taken the reigns. He had everything packed in the cruiser and was about to leave, but Sue stopped him. "Is she okay? I mean obviously she's alive, but how did she seem to you."
Charlie looked into Sue's worried eyes and told her as much as he could, which sadly wasn't very much. "Overall she seemed alright, but here were moments I could tell that it's getting to be too much for her." Her eyes started to tear up at that last statement especially knowing that she was included in what's "too much" for her to handle. "Look she can stay with me as long as she'd like and maybe her getting away for a bit will help her in the long run and she'll come home soon. I know she'll miss you eventually at least." Sue gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but she knew he was right.
"Well I'll let you go get this stuff to Leah."
"Yeah." He walked to his side of the car and right before he got into the car he said one last thing. "If you need anything just call."
"Thank you. I appreciate it." She said with a genuine smile this time and waved as he drove away.
A/N: Well there's Chapter 11. Sorry if it's a little short and seems a little rushed, but I needed to get this out it's been way too long since I last updated