Crushing Gravity

Chapter 29

Leah's POV

My eyes narrow at the man wandering around the store, going from isle to isle as slowly as possible. His head appears over a shelf every now and then to pick at things on the top. Slowly. Leisurely.

I was prepared to take my lunch break a minute early because only four people came into the stop and shop since I've been here at eight, but then this guy comes in and I'm now going on three minutes late for my break.

He's moving so slowly.

He moves to the back of the store with the refrigerated items.

I sigh, leaning against the counter and resting my head in my palm. This is not where I wanted to be when I graduated.

I wanted to leave this stupid reservation. I wanted to be the first in my family to go to college, to escape, to be free. I wanted to go away with Sam Uley, get married, and have 2.5 children.

But then everything changed. He broke up with me and I turned wolf. I was stuck again. Stuck in my ex-boyfriend's thoughts, stuck on this res, stuck between vampires and werewolves that I didn't even believe in until I became one. I was sure I was going to be stuck forever.

Until she came. Samantha. So innocent and naive despite the things she'd been through, even if I didn't know it at the time.

I didn't care about getting out after taking one look at her, not if this is where she was.

My eyes slide sideways to the calendar, taking in the date, and then up to the clock.

Six minutes since I was supposed to be on break.

I sigh again in impatience. I wanted to surprise Sam at lunch today. She's been in my life for a year exactly today, and I wanted to surprise her. To celebrate her being in my life and making in not only bearable, but happy.

The guy sidles slowly up to the counter with just a jug of milk in hand, and I want to bang my head against a wall.

Instead, I put on a false smile and hurry him out the door, flipping the closed sign as I go.

I don't care that the next person on shift hasn't shown up yet; I'm going to go see my girlfriend, who will be let out for lunch in only a few minutes.

I jump on the motorcycle Jacob had unwillingly donated to me for the day, and take off in the direction to Forks to pick up Chinese food, Sam's favorite.

I get to the old high school just after they let out for lunch, but I don't spot my girlfriend just yet as I stride through the doors.

Brady waves at me as I walk past, bumping Jacob in the arm to glare at me.

With one last look around, I hurry to the front of the cafeteria with the paper bags of food, taking the lids off of all the items and setting them on the expanse of two trays. Grinning, I place a rose on the ugly green plastic as a finishing touch before lifting the arrangement in two different hands to search the cafeteria once more.

Sam is here this time, bent slightly over the table, talking to Brady and Collin as they try to keep her distracted. She looks to be getting annoyed though, straightening up to leave only to have to bend back over when Brady says something or another.

I start over, smiling widely as I come up from behind to wait for her to turn around.

"Alright," she says, "alright, I'm starving so just let me go get some food and you can finish your fascinating-"

She pushes off the table, never turning around as she backs away, spinning- and I really should have seen it coming.

But I can't believe it as I watch her fall, crashing hard to the floor as the food I was just carrying follows her. It was not in slow motion. I just blink, and then she's on the ground drowning in orange chicken and teriyaki chicken, and spring rolls, and noodles.

Her mouth opens in shock, looking up with wide, disbelieving, eyes like she can't really believe what just happened. And I'm hit with such a strong sense of déjà vu as I gape at her sprawled, familiar, form- almost expecting her to leap to her feet and start cursing me.

But then her eyes lighten in humor, she throws her head back, and she laughs, leaving me more stunned then ever when I realize I've never really heard her laugh before.

She's giggled, and smiled, and chuckled, but I've never heard this loud joyful timbre. It's a pretty sound that turns several heads that weren't already staring at the girl on the floor with the unfortunate mess around her.

He laughter is a surprisingly high tone for her normally carefully low voice, and her eyes dance with something that stutters in my chest and makes my knees weak.

The sound slowly breaks off to silent gasps, staring up at me with a large smile, as I remain frozen to my spot, arms still outstretched as if holding invisible trays.

She tilts her head, resting in on her right shoulder as a noodle falls from her hair and past the grin.

"Please don't hit me with a door too," she says, amusement lacing her voice.

A snort bursts through my lips before my brain can even process the comment, but when it does, I break down in laughter too.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry," I manage between gasps as I kneel down to wipe orange sauce out of her eyes. "I was trying to surprise you."

"Mission accomplished," she grins, plucking chicken from her lap and popping it in her mouth. "I'm very shocked to be in this position again- and try to pick as much as you can of this, up, because I'm hungry and this is delicious."

I nod, tugging the tray closer to collect the food, that hadn't fallen on the floor, from her lap.

When that's done, I sheepishly help her up and back over to the table that shakes under the fist banging of Seth, who is laughing so hard that he's not able to suck in a breath. His face is slowly turning purple as Jacob beats on his back with wide eyes.

"Can't. Breathe!" He gasps, only able to suck in a fraction amount of air.

I roll my eyes at my dramatic brother.

It wasn't that funny.

...

I silently let out a sigh as my girlfriend once again glances up from her work, through her crooked bangs, at me. Her stare is thoughtful and shy, and colored in hesitance. Yet there still seems to be a determination behind it. A desperation.

She's been looking at me like that since Christmas, never bringing up what's been on her mind, and the silent stare just sets me on edge.

I sigh again, audible this time, and move from my desk to lie next to Sam on the bed.

I prop my head in my hand, turning my body to give her my full attention.

"What is it?" I ask softly.

It's amusing, yet concerning, to watch her face slowly turn pink as she looks back up at me (she had looked back down at her homework the moment I stood up).

"Nothing," she says quickly, eyes darting away.

"Alright," I say patiently, rolling onto my back to relax. I throw my arm over my eyes, trying not to let my lips twitch. She's watching me.

After several moments, enough for me to get my expression under complete control, the bed shifts slightly.

"Um..." Fingers ghost hesitantly across my forearm.

I move it out of the way for her, seeing stars from the sudden light. Her face is flushed, reminding me a little of Christmas with it in contrast to her eyes. I wait patiently as her eyes flit around the room until they finally settle on me, a steel determination behind her embarrassment.

"I love you and..." He voice wavers despite the certainty in it. "I want to go all the way with you."

My amusement at her struggle vanishes, as my eyes sharpen to really take in her expression.

My heart is in my fingertips, and I hate that arousal immediately hits me, even as I feel concern.

I reach out to touch her face, to make sure that what her expression says is true.

"Are you sure?" I search her eyes, looking for any doubt or uncertainty, or an insecure, hidden, reason that is anything other than the reason she wants to be with me should.

She nods. "I've been thinking about it since Christmas. Leah, you died. I lost you. And I can't live without you- I can't- I know that now. So I need to live with you and push my past to where it belongs. In the past. And I know that it won't be easy, I am so messed up, but we've been working on it and I want to try."

My furrowed brow smooths out, my muscles relaxing as she explains her reason, and I turn to mush in her presence. She really means it. I smile at her, which she seems to relax at. Her blush recedes some, as I don't immediately laugh in her face at what she wants.

"Okay," I say, and a thrill goes through me. "But at any time, you can tell me to stop. If you feel uncomfortable or you decide you're not ready, tell me and I'll stop. Okay?"

She nods, biting her lip nervously. Then she throws her leg to the bed on the other side of my hip and kisses me.

I know from experience that she likes this position better than most. Being in control, or the allusion of control, usually has us going father. It's when her back hits the bed, or couch, or what ever she lies down on, that she starts to panic.

I gently push her back by the shoulders, trying my hardest to not in any way embarrass her.

"We can't do this right now," I say breathlessly.

"Oh," she stutters, somewhat relieved, but also disappointed. "Why?"

The door slams inward at that moment.

"Hey, Leah, have you seen my- OH MY GOD!" Seth spins around, slamming the door after him.

"That's why," I deadpan, tipping my head backward to stare at the closed door for a moment. I snort in amusement before turning to look back up at my wide-eyed girlfriend.

"Sorry!" A muffled voice comes through the door. "You should really lock the door next time."

"Knock," I snarl, making Sam jump. I grin quickly to show her I'm not really mad, but Seth doesn't have to know that. Wolves can get very territorial.

"Yeah sure," he says quickly. I wait patiently during his pause. "Um, have you seen my really cool shirt? The one with the werewolf and-"

I chuck Sam's textbook at the door and the bang resonates around the entire house. Other slams follow as Seth scrambles away, no doubt running into some walls and tripping over doorframes.

I laugh silently, turning back to face Sam who now has an amused smile pulling her lips crookedly across her face.

I sit up, holding her carefully to keep her from falling off my lap.

"We're going to make this extra special, alright? We'll take our time; we don't have to rush."

She nods, and her smirk falls to something more grateful and at peace.


A/N: This site is really starting to annoy me. I thought that whatever wasn't working would be fixed by now but the updates still aren't getting through. I gland at least some of you are seeing these, though.

Please review; only one more chapter!

~Silver~