Yes, I know awesomer isn't a word… but I like it in this case. :P Anyway… I do apologize for my grammatical and spelling errors along the away… I forgot to mention I completely SUCK at stuff like that! Anyway, this is another one of those 'what was I thinking?' chapters. Actually a lot from this point out are… but just go with it. I needed it to work out for the ending and I only have so much time during S.S. to plan it all through.
Part 11 – Kevin's POV
Sue looked nearly as tall as Leah – making them almost twins. Leah was prettier, of course. Younger. Awesomer. More spectacular. Well… Leah was mine. That was probably the biggest difference.
Before I could speak, she spoke. "Hello, you must be Kevin." Her voice almost sounded fake, but that was probably just me being overly suspicious.
"Yes, and you must be Ms. Clearwater. Nice to meet you." I took the crutch in my left hand, freeing my right to shake her hand. "And Chief Swan." Ew. He even smelled like leech. Must have been over seeing Bella and Nessie before bringing Sue here.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Kevin." She replied curtly. "So… you and Leah?"
"Umm… yup." Great. It wasn't just me… she was overly suspicious. I gulped, aware of Leah at my side.
"How's your arm?" Charlie spoke for the first time, motioning.
"It's healing quickly. I think Leah helps," I added. Perhaps it sounded weird to the humans, but I only was concerned that Sue got the message.
Correct. Sue bit her lip. "Leah talks about you all the time…"
"She does?" I chuckled, glancing at Leah. "I'm afraid there isn't that much about me to say…" at least if you were to cut off all the werewolf stories.
"Yes. Like that one time she broke her ribs… or whatever happened." Because 'broken ribs can't heal in a day.' "She said you were very generous and she had to force you to go to school… without her." I flinched. She almost hesitated too long.
"It was a very rough day at school." I grumbled. The day Sam left and we first learned Cohl was going to phase. A rough day indeed! "I hear that Leah's all settled into Bella's old room. I should come over sometime, I'm eager to see it." Leah stiffened, as did my parents – but they were more worried about me inviting myself. To Leah, I was obviously trying to establish my own boundaries. Leah was mine. The sooner Sue got that through her head, the better.
Charlie sighed – obviously not too thrilled to have another teenage girl in the house so soon after Bella got married and ditched him. But I was way better than that…. Edward.
But now that I thought about it, Edward was smart. He'd done one thing I'd never had the idea to do, mostly because Leah lived with nocturnal creatures. Maybe Edward did have a point. Maybe Edward had just given me the greatest idea of all time.
If Edward could get away with sneaking into Bella's room every night for two years, why couldn't I do the same?
"So can we get you anything? We have chicken and milk or water…" my mom broke the awkward silence.
"No, thank you. It's been a long night… we're actually hoping to get home soon." If only their sensitive human ears could hear how much she was lying!
"So soon?" I gulped. No, I didn't want Leah to leave.
"Yes… Leah has school tomorrow."
"What day is it?"
"Sunday."
"Oh…" I'd been lost in time.
"Yes."
"Well, then," I glanced at Leah in a meaningful way that only she would catch. "I guess I'll see you… when?"
"I don't know," she tried to seem calm. "Around…. School?"
"Oh. Anytime else?" I felt wasted. I'd been worried about what I would say to convince her parents, but now I didn't even get the chance.
"Sorry. I… I don't know." She sighed, glancing at Sue.
"We'll talk over our schedule at home," Sue growled.
"Okay, then." I said. Half-instinctively, I pulled Leah against me with my good arm wrapped around her hip. I cast a quick glare at Sue. Sucky Sue. Hm.
"Bye," Leah said quietly.
"Bye," I kissed her one last time, earning a quick, embarrassed but joking glare from Leah, an angry scowl from Sue, and just a few blank expressions from my parents and Charlie.
With the Clearwater's/Swan gone, it left me alone with my parents. Yay. Full access to The Talk. No! I didn't want The Talk! I'm sure I already knew everything there was to know thanks to certain fan fictions online… and the telepathic minds of those 20 year old boys in my pack.
"Kevin," my mom said after an awkward silence, not that her voice was any less disturbed. No, no, no, no!
"Mom," I gulped.
"So… your dad and I wanted to talk to you about-"
"Ah! Dah! No! I know I know I know!" I said all the words very fast. Seriously, compared to what I've seen, this conversation looked like a walk in the park. I mean… I've seen the hard and rough and… okay. I'm starting to sound like a pervert. I'm going to stop myself there.
"Are you sure you know?" my dad asked. He could hardly contain his smirk, bastard! When I get him out alone in the woods I'm going to go all wolf on him! Dammit! Calm. Calm. Calm.
"I'm one hundred fifty thousand percent sure that I know how… it all works. You… yah." Stop it, Kevin. No need to go into specific detail and freak your parents out.
Oblivious to what I had been about to say, my parents watched me for a moment. "Fine," my mom finally said. "But if you ever have any questions-"
Then I'll ask my bros. "I'll come to you," I lied.
This made them happy. "Okay. Go ahead and do whatever you want, then."
I made my way to my room and lay on my bed, staring out the window. There were things I had to take care of. Tomorrow I would have to reorganize the pack; God knows what Brady could've done in two days! Ha, no. Brady's better than that. Whatever. I should sleep now.
But sleep evaded me. I couldn't stop thinking about Leah. I wasn't able to go over three days without her and that was before we met. Now… the not knowing was going to kill me. Maybe I would be depressed enough that my mom would tell Sue and Sue would finally understand? Pain is a lot to hope onto yourself but in cases such as this it seemed worthwhile.
Yet as my arm healed more thoroughly with every beat of my heart, I couldn't help but wonder if I would make it without her long enough to consult Sue. Already I could feel my care to move and eat and live fading away. Soon the pain would come, then the numb. And finally… I don't know. Maybe something much, much worse. I had never reached that stage and never wished to.
9:00. 10:00. 11:00. I couldn't sleep. 12:00. 1:00. 2:00. Blinking made me anxious. 3:00. 3:30.
I couldn't take it. I jumped to my feet and threw the window open, slamming it shut and sprinting toward the forest. That wasn't going to work. I had to get out of here and to Charlie's house.
But where was Charlie's house? Dammit! How the hell was I supposed to go to Charlie's house if I had no idea where it was? I ran as a wolf – my shoulder barely a nuisance. Perhaps I could ask Jacob. Or any of the Cullen's. Bella? Edward? The two of them knew the house better than anyone else.
Phasing quickly, I ran into the Cullen's house. They were sitting at random and looked up at me, not surprised. They probably heard me. "Hello, Kevin." Carlisle greeted. "I'm afraid Leah's not here."
"Can I speak to Jacob?"
"Jake and Nessie are both sleeping, but I think I can help you." Edward's cool, ghostly voice sounded from behind me. I zipped around to see him watching me as he leaned against the wall in a picture of ease. Stupid mind-reader!
So you can take me there? Right now?
"Of course."
Let's go.
"Okay. Esme, Carlisle, I'm taking Kevin somewhere. I'll be back shortly."
"Don't rush, Edward." Wow. I wish my parents were that awesome. Edward laughed at that thought. Hmph. Well, I should be used to it. People were always in my mind anyway.
"You should stay phased," Edward warned me as we started running. "It's through town a lot. A human sprinting will be a lot less noticeable than a wolf sprinting. Can you keep up?"
"Hell yeah," I growled. "It's what I'm built for. Catching you hotshots."
"Then come," and he was already gone.
Running as fast as I possibly could, I followed him. He was always there – right in front of me. I had heard he was the fastest of them all, they weren't kidding. I swear he was slowing down for me and this was how fast a regular vampire could run.
After about three minutes, he stopped in front of a house. "Climb up that tree and into that window. It had a lock… but I took the liberty to break it off." He smirked. "My apologies, I'm something of a stalker, as people like to say it. Unless they've replaced it, you should make it through without a problem."
"Thank you, Edward." I smiled. "You know, Jake, Leah, and Seth are right about you guys. You aren't bad."
"Most of the time. I understand what you're going through. I was you once… too. Now, go." And he was gone.
I was alone. Good. Now… climb the tree, he said? Jump through the window, he said? Whatever he said.
With a running start, I ran up to the tree and thrusted myself as high as I could jump. I made it up so I was hanging to the limbs at the second level of the house. Well, maybe we werewolves are stronger than I'd ever realized. Note to self: Take it easy in gym class. The teachers had been eyeing me the last few weeks… now I know why.
I scampered out far onto the limb before lunging and landing on the roof right outside the window. Taking my strength, I pushed it open. There was a loud crack. Oops. I think I just broke the lock again.
Leah was asleep. The room was similar to what it had been back at the Cullen's, just bigger and with more boxes and wall space. She snored quietly from where she was splayed out in her bed. I couldn't help a grin. She was so pretty when she was asleep – not scowling at anyone.
Because of this, I didn't have the heart to wake her. She looked so at peace. I sank to my knees, bowing right in front of her bed and watching her with wide, awed eyes. Cautiously, I extended my hand to touch her arm. Warm. Ummm. It felt good after my long run, not that I was cold.
Then she rolled over in her sleep, her other arm swinging so her hand fell on mine. I froze, hoping she wouldn't suddenly wake up and freak. Instead, she mumbled something and appeared to fall deeper asleep.
Eventually, she released her grip on my hand, but not before an hour had passed. It was 5:00 and I was aware why Leah hated this room. It stank like the bloody pits of hell. Vampire vampire vampire yuck!
Freeing myself, I walked over to the strongest smelling corner where Edward must have stood and overlooked Bella. I took my shirt off and rubbed it all over the area, muffling the scent to a point where it was tolerable to my sensitive nose, and hopefully Leah's.
Ew. Now my shirt stank. Whatever – nothing a good wash couldn't fix. Regretfully, I walked over to the bed and gave her a long, last good look. She grunted and rolled over again. I smiled. Now I know why Edward watched Bella sleep. It was very amusing from this angle.
5:15. I opened the window, carefully shutting it. I leapt from the room to the ground and started trotting away. I saved the sprinting until I was away from the house.
Home was a good 20 miles away. Geez, if the gym teachers could see me now! A ten minute sprint! And they say we don't get exercise on our own. Hmph. That's just offending.
Finally after what seemed like forever, I climbed through my window and lay in my bed; shirt on the floor. Couldn't have that in my bed. The clock read 5:30. Maybe I could get a few hours of sleep before school.
Sleep came very fast. The next thing I knew, Mom was waking me up. "Kevin?" she asked.
"Yes?" I replied groggily, my eyes barely so much as flittering to see her. Ugh. If only I'd gone to see Leah sooner… I might have gotten back and had more time to sleep. No… I still would've waited.
"It's time for school. Are you up to it?"
No. "Yes," Cohl hadn't officially finished his time at The Island. We'd have to teach him between classes. Besides, I should stop by the store and get a gift for Leah in case she was mad at me and waited when I went to see her again tonight.
School passed quickly. We explained pack relationships carefully to Cohl. I stopped at Walmart before coming home and bought two items. A stuffed tan wolf with patches of brown and a stuffed silver wolf. I got home and rubbed the store-scent off, wrapping them in a gift-bag and setting them aside.
4:00. A good six hours at least before I could sneak out. With that thought, I lay in my bed and fell asleep. Mom woke me at 6:00 for dinner, but I was back by 6:30 with an alarm set to wake me at 10:00.
The ringing of my phone woke me with a start. I shut it off as to not alarm my parents and went to grab a shirt to wear over to Leah's house in case I got more time to scrub off that horrible scent. As I neared the dresser, something caught my nose. An off scent.
I opened my shirt drawer to find a small piece of paper sticking out. It read:
Thank You
~Leah
I smiled and grabbed the gift bag. Without further ado, I took off in a sprint to Charlie's house.
Shoving the window open, I panted and stepped inside. She was asleep, just as last time. I set the gift bag down on her desk along with the stories she had written and I had read. Taking a piece of paper and a pen I saw lying around, I wrote:
You're welcome
~Kevin
Now I could watch her sleep. Ha – that made me sound like a creeper. I sat down on the side of the bed, hand stroking her hair that lay limply to the side of her head. She rolled in my direction, as if we were two magnets drawn together. "Kevin," she mumbled.
"Leah," I whispered with a silly, stupid grin on my face. She was dreaming about me. She was thinking about me. Well, I usually dreamed about her anyway. I guess it goes two ways.
A loud thump resounded outside the window; my head shot up and glared out, only to realize it was Jacob. Oh great, what was Jacob doing at my girlfriend's house while she was asleep? I bared my teeth lightly.
"Hey, Kevin," he huffed as he walked inside. It must have started raining since I got here. His hair was dripping wet. He was shirtless.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I came to see you. Edward said I could probably find you here."
"Why do you want to see me?" I made an effort to keep my voice low.
"Because… there's something I need to tell you. No one else – but both of the packs that read my mind – know this. Before his death, I made Harry a promise. He knew that Seth would phase. He had a heart attack when Leah phased, hence he couldn't really tell me personally what he wished for her, but I can still guess it's the same."
"What did you promise Harry?" my eyes were back on Leah. It must have been horrible, losing her dad.
"I promised him that I would find the imprintee's of his children and have a good talk to them, just as he would have." Jacob's faint smirk flashed in the dark.
I couldn't help a faint grin. "So you're here to have 'The Talk' with me?"
"Basically. While I think this is different than what Harry or any of us were anticipating, I still feel obligated to uphold my promise. But since I already know that you will love her forever and ever and crap like that, I'll give you the non-awkward not too over-protective version. 'Kay?"
"Okay." I lay down on the bed, getting comfortable. I wasn't sure how long this would take. I wrapped my arm on the pillow above Leah's head as not to wake her. "Shoot."
Jacob cleared his throat and attempted to make his voice lower and more serious. "Son, I wanted to tell you that my daughter is a very special – if not crazy – person with a sharp-tongue and a fast lope. She can seem tough and hard at times, but on the inside, she is always trying to please you… unless you're a wolf in which she will be more than happy to torcher you. Bear with her and she will be all you've ever wanted…" his voice was becoming regular with every word. I had the feeling this wasn't just Harry talking now; it was Jacob. It was Jacob warning me to be everything I could for Leah.
"Leah is an amazing person to know and once you get to her she will do her best not to be the annoying… person…" I don't know what he was about to say but I don't think it was anything good. "She will do her best not to be the annoying person that will drive you crazy for the rest of your life. She has served as a very important person to our pack, one of the most important for that matter. The beta. You treasure her as you claim you always will and I give you my blessing." He finished, eyes on Leah as well.
"Thank you, Jake." I smiled.
"No, Kevin, we thank you – my pack. You have finally tamed the lion; made her see her own true colors. I don't know what we would've done without you." Jacob stood, seeming about to leave.
"Wait," I ordered, standing up as well.
"What?"
I took off my shirt. "Help me out, this place still reeks." In a quick jerk, I ripped the article of clothing in half. It's okay, I wore that shirt because I wanted to get rid of it. Once it smells like vampire it's hard to forget. I tossed half the shirt to him.
"I guess I have a few…" he started rubbing down the corner that I had worked on yesterday. I focused more around the bed. It must be hard to sleep with that vile, repulsive smell in the room. Next time, I'd bring her an air freshener.
"That should do it," Jacob stepped back to look at both our work. The stench was hardly visible now. Still, it was there.
"In a few days we'll have it all gone." I said.
"We?" Jacob asked tentatively.
"I meant I'll."
"Good, because she's hesitant about you staying here. If my scent starts showing up she'll throw a little hissy fit."
"Okay, Jake, thank you again."
"No problem Kevin. See you later." There was a thump. I walked over to the window to find a russet wolf running into the woods.
Wolf. I needed to phase sometime in order to keep my wolf on. Otherwise I might get rusty. We could check and see if Sam's on his way back and see how things have been going. Maybe we should have a midnight meeting tomorrow night.
Scratch that. Tonight. It was already 1:00. I was exhausted. I should head home. I didn't like leaving already, but I needed to sleep so I wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of school.
Reluctantly, I slid out the window. Shutting it quietly, I glanced at the ground far beneath me. Too far. It made me dizzy to look, or maybe that was me being tired. Sometimes if you're too tired, your vision will start blurring.
I jumped down. The ground came fast and I sighed as I thumped to it. My head turned to the woods where Jacob had disappeared. Maybe I could find a way home through the forest. I could phase and have a good run.
I slid out of my pants and leapt, letting the wolf take over with ease. My legs stretched and tail extended from my spine. Before taking off, I stretched and loosened my muscles. Then I took off sprinting. If I could keep up with a vampire while human I could probably outpace Edward as a wolf.
Even with the detour I made it home faster than if I'd been human. I sank into my bed gratefully, closing my eyes and falling asleep almost instantly.
:P
