A/N DON'T TELL ME TO UPDATE IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA REVIEW.

The thirteenth arrives and I don't think I've ever seen so many flowers before.

It was abnormal when the first few bouquets arrived because I didn't think the men they performed for had a single romantic bone in their body. I was quickly proven wrong when flowers from secret admirers and past loves are constantly being delivered to The Coven. They were all addressed to their stage names instead of their real names.

The first one to receive a bouquet was Rosalie and she kept getting them till a dozen roses were delivered for Alice from Jasper. Then Nessie got a handful next and throughout the course of the day, they kept coming in by the bus load.

And not only were their flowers but gifts like jewelry and chocolates. They had quite a little collection going.

I felt lame with the single red rose and greeting card I'd left each of them. It was the thought that counted but I guess I hadn't thought hard enough. All my thought went towards Leah, honestly. I customized her a really funky t-shirt from the same shop I got Alice's. Rosalie went with me and together we picked out a white loose fitting tank top and had the words 'National Anthem' printed across the chest in navy blue. Rosalie designed a bandeau-that's what she called it- with the American flag on it so that they were a matching set.

And yes, I got even more creative and bought her a bracelet from Tiffany's -yes, my salary was that good-with her name engraved on the single charm.

I hope she'd like her gifts. The only girl I'd ever shopped for was Mom and maybe tonight would be the night she finally says yes to being my girlfriend.

I've gone a month and some days without having sex. This celibacy thing wasn't as hard as you'd think but it did suck in terms of feeling sexually starved.

Hell, I just might get to tonight. The second she says yes, I'm taking her her upstairs and-

"I chase your love around a figure eight. I need you more than I can take," Nessie's soprano rings throughout the dressing room as Rosalie and Leah huddle around her, harmonizing. She pauses and does another vocal warm up with them helping her.

After tonight, I would have slept with all three of them. I snicker at how gross I am and I was actually embracing this. I broke the barrier; I was a man-whore but I wasn't a player.

Rosalie catches me staring for a sec and holds the contact. I blush when she sees me looking them over.

I'm grateful that Emmett can be something to her, unlike me. He sent her a pink and white teddy bear, holding a rose and a note that read: A rose for my Rose.

She confided to me that she's seeing him tonight, after the show, and I warned her to be safe. I didn't wanna have to worry about her even though it was hard not to.

Nessie reaches a high note and Leah slowly directs her back down to her normal vocal range and applauds her. I check the time to discover that it's nearing eleven-forty five: Show time.

They rush around, like usually, getting into costume, putting on wigs and finishing makeup. As they're exiting out the dressing room, I pull Leah to the side.

"Hey," I whisper and bring her towards me. "I got you a little something."

"For?"

"Valentines day," my voice is squeaky for some reason. I'm nervous.

She smiles to the ground and takes my right hand by three fingers. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"I wanted to. You only say that cus you didn't get me anything."

She shoots me a look. "You don't know that."

"Did you?" I wasn't expecting anything.

"You'll find out later," she says and kisses my lips. "Let's get this show on the road."

Valentines Day was a different scene. I expected more drunk and forever alone men than ever but tonight there were actually women in the audience. I found that odd.

They weren't as active as the men were of course but nonetheless they seem to be enjoying themselves.

"What'd you get Leah for Valentine's Day?" Edwards asks me just as I sit on a bar stool He wipes down the counter.

"A shirt and Tiffany's bracelet," I answer. "What'd you get Bella?"

"A set of makeup brushes with her name of 'em. Alice helped me. Did you ask her yet?"

I shake my head. "I got something planned after the show, though. You should ask Bella."

He shakes his head and the lights from the stage flash across his face. "We're not as serious as you and Leah."

Leah and I are serious? "You could get serious. She's very smitten with you."

His white cheeks go rosy. "Feeling is mutual."

"What'd you even say to make her come around?"

"It was when we were at the club for your birthday. Before we got drinking, I just told her that I thought she was pretty, talented and just an all around sexy girl. We got to talkin' and she told me she likes my eyes. I said I liked her singing and next thing we know we're on the dance floor."

I'm nosy for some reason. "You guys haven't done it, have you?"

"A wise jackass once said he never kisses and tells. I happen to be best friends with that jackass."

My face falls. "Don't be a douche."

"Then fucking tell me!" He urges over the music.

"Neh-vurr." I stick my tongue out at him and he sneers.

"Fuck you, Jake," he pours someone a martini and shakes his head.

"Oh, get your panties out of a wad." I laugh and swivel towards the stage.

" I chased your love around a figure eight.

I need you more than I can take.

You promised forever and a day, and then your love away!"

Nessie's tiny voice grows as the song climaxes and they sashay into a crouching position. The song fades and the crowd is to their feet. I'm never not impressed with them. The show resumes for the next ninety minutes, seeming quicker than usual. Leah does a solo, the twins do a synchronized strip tease on the poles, Nessie and Bella do something similar and the show finishes off with 'No One Else.'

Before he shoos me off, I ask Edward if he's seen Carlisle. He says no and his absence is beginning to become worrisome. I wonder if the girls have noticed it.

Rosalie, Bella, and Alice we're all at their mirrors, wiping their faces clean to restart their makeup. Nessie was nowhere to be found while Leah was lounging in Rebecca's lap, in the sofa, half asleep. Rachel was assisting Rosalie in her hair.

They looked exhausted.

"Great show, guys," I say cheerfully yet they barely respond.

"Girls, calm down." My sarcasm rolls off the tongue like an accent. "What's wrong?"

"We're beat," Rachel explains bluntly.

I understand that. "Then why're you guys putting on makeup?"

"We got dates," Rosalie tells me and I nod.

"Where's Ness?" I ask.

"She went upstairs. Why?"

"Just wondering." I turn to Leah now. "Hey, meet me on the roof in like five minutes, alright?"

She gives me tired smile. "Okay."

"Awesome," I say happily and race up the stairs to get everything ready. I'm expecting to find Nessie up there, sleeping or something. I'm presented with her sitting half naked on her bed, chewing obnoxiously with a box of chocolates in her lap. She's watching what sounds like a Lifetime movie and her expression is less than amused.

"Hey there, little red," my voice booms, making her jump. She obviously hadn't heard me come in. "What's up?"

She shakes her head and goes back to the movie. "Nothing."

"Why're you up here?"

"Cus this is where my bed, chocolate and the TV is," she says it with sass; more sass than usual.

"I was just asking. Just making sure you're alright."

"Jacob, I can't hear the TV."

"I was just-"

She gives me a look. "What the hell do you want?"

I twist my face in confusion. "Are you on your period?"

She throws a piece of candy at me and it bounces off my chest. "Fuck you!"

Well, that escalated quickly.

"For trying to figure out what's wrong with you?"

"Oh my Marilyn, go away," she growls. "You're so damn annoying."

I scrunch my brows together. "Nessie?"

She grimaces and ignores me. I watch her as she watches the movie for a minute or two till I take a seat next to her.

I poke her side. She slaps my hand away.

I poke her shoulder now. She sucked her teeth and pushes me.

I poke her neck now and she hits my shoulder.

"Stop, you dick."

"Make me," I test her when my fingers began to crawl over her sides. She jumps and hides a giggle.

"Stop, it tickles!" She yelps and tries to escape but my hands capture her by her waist. She laughs aloud when I attack and tickle her stomach. She tries fighting me but I creep low enough to raspberry her bellybutton.

"I surrender!" She gives up and I get back to my feet. "Jake, fine. You win but just don't tickle me ever again."

"Tell me whats wrong."

"Only if you promise to never tickle me again," she fixes the waistband on her sweatpants and wipes my spit off her stomach.

"I promise. Now what's the matter?"

She rolls her eyes and eats another piece of chocolate. "I'm just a little upset."

"That's obvious. Why'r you upset?"

She hangs her head. "I'm gonna end up alone."

"Just cus it's Valentine's Day and you don't have a date-"

"That's not what I mean by alone. I mean Rach and Becca have been together forever and they'll want a family or whatever. Bella and Edward are getting serious as are Alice and Jasper. Emmett's already proposed to Rosalie and then there's you and Leah. Sooner or later, you guys are-"

I stop her. "Emmett proposed?!" Why didn't Rosalie tell me?

"I know right! Before I know it, everyone will be gone and it'll be just me. Hell, maybe even Carlisle will move on and he'll leave this place to me. I'm never gonna get out of here."

Leah was right all along. I should've known she was.

"Nessie, do you wanna leave?"

She shakes her head. "Hell no. I'm talking about in the future. When I'm Leah's age or older. I don't wanna think I'm wasting my time here."

I sigh and meet her at eye level. "You're not."

"I kinda am. I don't have any business being here. I sometimes thing I should've fucking stayed in Seattle. I should've never quit that waitress job for this. At least there I didn't give a fuck about anything and money was all I had to think about! I love The Queens but what about me? I could die here. I'm gonna die alone. In the end, I'll be alone."

She buries her head in her hands. I can't tell if she'll start crying so I put my arms around her anyway.

"No one is gonna leave you. They wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't and neither would Carlisle."

She lifts her face. She is crying.

"You can't make that kinda promise. Everyone leaves me. It's always been that way. My dad left me and my mom and eventually she left me too. I've always been alone, Jake."

"Are you alone now?" I bring my forehead to hers and she sniffles. "Are you not surrounded by people who love and care for you like a sister?"

"I am," she says and looks to the floor. "It just seems nice to have someone to love them, too."

"I love you. You mean a lot to me and I have so much to thank you for. I'm glad you took my virginity, alright?"

I can't help thinking this is my fault.

"I'm glad you took mine, given it wasn't the ideal way."

I nod and kiss her forehead. "You shouldn't cry. You don't have the face for it."

"I guess." She still doesn't seem convinced.

"Do you ever wish we hadn't?"

She shakes her head. "Second time was even better actually."

I snicker. "My pelvis and penis thank you."

"My pussy says you're welcome," she laughs now and meets my eyes. "Leah's a lucky girl."

I kinda frown when I remember her "story." "Do you know how The Queens were formed?"

"Nope."

I sit on the bed behind me. "Do you know at least why she won't be my girlfriend?"

She wipes her face. "She's been hurt a lot."

"By?"

"You know she wont tell us."

I nod. "Of course," I mumble and get up to cross over to the other side of the room to my bed. I crouch down and reach under my bed for Leah's gift.

"Why'r you up here anyway?"

"Lee and I are having a little Valentine's thing on the roof. Hey, do you know if she got me anything?"

She relaxes back on her bed. "Of course she did."

Maybe we're more serious than I thought. "That was sweet of her."

"What'd you get her?"

"You'll find out later."

I set the bag on the bed and make sure all the stuff is in there.

"You gonna get some?"

"Hopefully," I say honestly and unplug my iPod dock from its cord and make sure it batteries. I grab a blanket too and make my way around my bed to the closet. "You gonna get some?"

"I usually fuck around with Alice but-" she shrugs and goes back to her movie. That image shes planted in my head now is hot but I ignore it as I open the closet door.

"Oh and by the way, I am on my period, asshole!" she yells after me but I pretend she hadn't said it.

I climb up and out to be met with February's chill. The snow was melting, thank goodness.

I spread the blanket out and set her gift and the dock on it to make weight so it doesn't fly off. I put my iPod on shuffle and all that's left to do is wait.

I predict the wait will be like five minutes top. She'll get here, we'll exchange gifts, we'll make out a little, hopefully we'll make it to the kitchen where I can eat something off of her cus I just realized I'm starving, and once I ask her, she'll have to say yes.

But five minutes turns to ten. . .fifteen. . .twenty. . .

Two in the morning swiftly turns to three. The Coven was closed now. My toes were frozen.

She stood me up.

Well alright then.

I take this rejection as a milestone in our relationship. It actually hurts.

I take the stuff back into their room and take in the darkness. The TV was off. Their snoring is all I hear as I switch on my lamp and plug the dock back in. I hide her gift again and tip toe to her bed.

And there she is, sound asleep.

Well they said they were tired. We'll try tomorrow night, I guess.

Doing a bedcheck, I see the twins-naked- are knocked out as well as Nessie is. The other must've been spending the night with their dates.

I climb into my own bed, not wanting to disturb Leah.

It's Monday morning, meaning they don't perform today.

Alice, Rosalie and Bella were all back by sunlight, fast asleep in bed, drooling on their pillows. The smells of pancakes and bacon is coming from what I assume the kitchen, revealing where Ness, the twins and Leah are.

I'm still a bit edgy about being stood up last night and I know I shouldn't be upset but I was. It was still Valentine's day, technically.

It takes me a few minutes to full awake and get out of bed. My feet do a drag towards the bathroom for a shower.

My reflection looks just as tired as the girls feel. This bodyguard thing had its perks but I was growing withered. Maybe once Lee and I are together, it'd slow me down.

The steam from the water against my skin is an instant wake up call. My eyes rid of sleep and my muscles relax. I wonder what the girls had planned for today. Hopefully Alice, Rosie and Bella and the twins would be out on dates so Leah and I could be alone. Nessie always finds a way to occupy herself; or maybe I could hook her up with someone.

Yeah, like I knew people.

I shake it off as I dry my body. After brushing my teeth and cleansing my face, I tie the towel around my hips and exit the bathroom, instantly getting cold even when the room was moderately toasty.

I'm dressed within a couple minutes and my stomach begins to growl at me with hatred. I pat him and jog down the stairs. The smell gets more potent and just when I get to the swinging doors, I stop. I've passed Carlisle's office and in all honesty, his lack of appearance was beginning to freak me out. He's missed multiple performances and sent Edward out to give us our checks instead of doing it himself.

My spine shivers. Before I do anything, I feel like I need to check up on him. Something could've happened and we would've never known it. Yeah, he was grown but he was my boss. My route swerves back up the hallway and towards the tall and mahogany door of his office. I mentally prepare myself for what I might see. If he's OD'd, died and was keeled over his desk, I had to stay calm. . .ish.

My fist is an inch from the wood till I hear something that makes me relax.

His voice. I grin at how healthy he sounds so I begin to walk backwards, towards the kitchen.

"Carlisle, are you serious?" The muffled yet familiar voice echoes throughout the short hallway. I stop.

That's Leah's voice.

I do a moonwalk like motion and press my ears slightly against the door, hoping to clear the sound.

"Leah, you're overreacting."

"Carlisle!" She sounds astounded. Something was wrong. "He's a fucking leech, okay? He has to go!"

"What has he done so wrong that you want me to fire him over?" He sounds way too calm for her taste and it makes me growl now.

"Why can't you just take my word for it? He's sucking us all dry. The girls and I are exhausted cus of him."

"What does he have to do with you guy's sleeping patterns?"

Who the hell were they talking about?

"He doesn't belong here, Carlisle," she avoids the question.

"He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he graduated high school at the top of his class. He does his job and he's a good kid. What the hell should I fire him for?" There's a chuckle in his tone.

There's a silence.

Carlisle continues minutes later.

"Just yesterday, I saw you guys being all love dovey. What happened to that?"

I listen harder.

"He's just not who I thought he was."

I hear him sigh lightly. "What'd he do?"

"N-nothing. He just. . .he's a fucking dick and I don't like him and I want him gone."

Was she talking about me?

"Leah, babe, you know I love and adore you. I respect how you feel but I can't get rid of him if you don't give me a valid reason. If you'd pulled this stunt back in August, I might've actually believed you but the other girls have taken a liking to him. I've taken a liking to him. He's the best bodyguard you guy's ever had and you know it. I mean don't you feel safe with him around?"

She doesn't respond.

My heart slows down and to a gradual stop.

"Leah, it honestly wouldn't be fair to the others for me to make such a decision. I trust you but it's hard to read you when you're like this. Unless you can give me a legitimate and reasonable argument, I can't fire him. Jacob's a good guy."

"A leech is what he is."

I detect the hostility high in her tone. I'm more confused than infuriated, feeling like I've been played.

"How so?"

"He takes your money and takes up space in our room."

"It was your idea."

"You pay him hundreds a week and what does he give you in return? Nothing!"

The squeak of his wheels against the floor echoes as well. "He protects you. He loves you girls very much, okay?"

There's another moment of silence and I'm shocked they don't hear my heart thumping through the door.

She speaks first. "It's me or him."

"Excuse me?"

"Either he leaves or I do."

A/N So what's wrong with Leah? Any ideas?