Lost and Found

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the awesome reviews!

Part Fifty Five-Time Moves On

Old Quil was finally released from hospital after a week's stay. After extensive tests the doctor's had come to the conclusion that the old man's collapse had been brought on by severe stress. The elder was sent home in the care of his family. When Billy and Harry tried to see him they were blocked by an angry Joy and irate Quil.

"This is down to you." Quil yelled at the two men. "You've forced my grandfather to deal with everything on his own. No wonder it all got too much. I don't want him under any more duress than he already has been. It's up to you to deal with things until he recovers. Until then stay away. I will not lose my grandfather like I did my dad." Quil had then shut the door in Billy and Harry's faces before they had a chance to defend themselves.

"This is unbelievable." Billy said in disbelief. "Where does the kid get off talking to us like that?"

Harry frowned as he studied Billy carefully. He sometimes wondered whether his friend was really that selfish or actually just stupid. Harry had defended Billy countless times over the years, even when he felt he was in the wrong. Like Charlie he had kept quiet and not pulled Billy up on his actions. Harry didn't like confrontation; he left that to his wife. Sue was the one with the fiery temper not him. He used humour to deal with stressful situations. But right now he couldn't find anything to joke about. The weight of responsibility dragged him down as he suddenly realised he was going to have to shoulder the burden as Billy was just incapable of it.

"You're quiet." Billy continued as he led the way from the Ateara's.

"I have a lot on my mind." Harry muttered.

"Maybe a beer will help. I know Tiffani just stocked up on my favourite." Billy suggested.

Harry stopped walking and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he looked at Billy in disgust. "Is that your solution is it? We go back to yours and get wasted. Yes, that's really going to help us deal with everything isn't it? What a great example we're setting our children. Let's get drunk and let them just go out there and risk their lives to keep our sorry asses safe."

"Harry?" Billy stared at his friend in shock. Harry had never used that tone with him before and it took him a moment to recover. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong is that I've been a weak fool. I've never had the guts to tell you what a selfish, arrogant man you really are. I've let all the bad things you've done slide mainly because of our shared past. We were the three musketeers, you, me and Charlie. We had each other's backs. Or at least that's how I chose to remember it. But the truth is it was Charlie and I constantly hauling your ass out of trouble. Not the other way around. And still, after all these years, after all the hurt you've caused you just carry on being selfish. Well I've had enough, do you hear?" Harry's face was flushed as he glared at Billy defiantly.

"I can't believe you're saying this." Billy was appalled. "Did Sue put you up to this?"

Harry's lips thinned as he shook his head in disbelief. "That right there just proves my point. I'm going home, to my family, whom I care about. Get drunk on your own."

With those parting words Harry stalked off leaving Billy staring after him.


Bella went to visit Leah after school. She had been worried about her all day and despite Sue's warning to keep away, she just couldn't. So she turned up on the Clearwater's front porch carrying Leah's favourite ice cream, Rocky Road. Thankfully when she knocked it was Harry Clearwater who answered. He smiled tiredly when he saw her and ushered her inside.

"Lee will be happy to see you. She needs cheering up. That virus she's got has really dragged her down."

So that was the cover story, a virus. Bella had to force herself to plaster on a smile. She thought it was absurd that Sue was keeping such important information from her husband, and she wondered why the older woman didn't trust Harry with the truth. She still felt uncomfortable keeping the information from Sam. As Harry led Bella toward Leah's room they passed the kitchen where Sue was sitting sorting through some bills. An annoyed expression crossed her face when she noticed Bella go by, but she had to remain silent as she didn't want to alert her husband as to why she suddenly didn't want this particular friend of Leah's to visit.

When Bella reached Leah's room she knocked softly on the door and waited. There was no response. Bella glanced at Harry who shrugged. "Maybe she's sleeping."

"Let me just peek in to check. I know she wants to see you." Harry gently pushed on the door and looked inside his daughter's room. His face fell when he saw it was empty. Harry hurriedly pushed the door open wide and went inside. Bella followed after him more slowly.

Leah's bed was in disarray and her wardrobe containing her clothes was wide open. It was clear that all of her clothes were gone. Harry felt his head spinning and he had to sit on the edge of his daughter's bed as he tried to calm his racing heart. "She's gone. Oh my god, my baby has run away."

Bella didn't know what to do. She glanced around the room, searching for something, anything that would indicate where Leah may have gone. There was no telling what state of mind Leah was in. Losing the baby had sent her spiralling into depression. Eventually Bella's eyes landed on a white piece of paper poking out from under Leah's pillow. She hurried over to it and pulled it out. It was a note addressed to Harry and Sue. Bella didn't read it but passed it wordlessly to Harry. He took it from her with shaking fingers and unfolded it.

Mom, Dad, Seth,

I can't stay here. The walls are closing in on me and I can't breathe. Please don't try and find me, I've left my cell so you cannot contact me. I need to get away otherwise I'll die.

I'm sorry. I love you, every one of you.

Lee XXX


Days turned into weeks, turned into months as the search for Leah Clearwater spread state wide. Her face was everywhere, nailed to every tree and taped to every shop window. Her face shone out from billboards and covered milk cartons. But there were no sightings anywhere. Any tips that came in were usually false or mistaken identities. It was like Leah had been abducted from the face of the earth. There was no paper trail to follow. She had left her cell at home; she used none of her credit cards. She hadn't even accessed any of the money that had been saved toward her college education. Slowly, as the months turned into a year and then two, the Clearwater family fell apart. Harry put on an extensive amount of weight as he sought comfort in food. Sue became more bitter than usual. She snapped at anyone trying to offer help until she drove even her closest friends away. The house was like a pressure cooker. Seth spent most of his time at the Black's house with Jacob and his sisters as he tried to escape the sadness consuming his parents and sending them spiralling into a black hole of despair.

The pack had done their own search. With Seth devastated by his sister's loss and also Sam's guilty conscience driving them forward, the pack went far and wide, scouting as far as the Canadian border as they tried to hunt for clues. But they came up empty. It became a monthly thing that some of the boys would break off from the main pack and form search parties. One month Jared and Paul went off for a few days as they visited different towns. The next it was Jacob and Quil, or maybe Embry and Seth. Sam often disappeared for weeks at a time as he did a solo search. He knew it was his break up with Leah that had forced her to run. He was still in the dark about the real reason why she fled. No one had told him about the miscarriage. Bella kept it to herself as she knew his guilt was tearing him apart and she didn't want to add to it, and Sue because she was drowning in her own grief for not supporting her daughter in her hour of need.

Everyone's lives that had been connected with Leah in some way, stalled. Bella felt like she was pulled in two different directions. Jacob and Sam began to lean on her heavily for support as their lives fractured. Sam's guilt over Leah began to consume him. When he wasn't out searching he would seek out Bella for comfort. She witnessed his despair and listened as he felt apart in front of her. It was often late at night while others were sleeping, and as a result she got little rest herself. At the same time Jacob's life was thrown into turmoil when his mother began to fall ill. Sarah's migraines intensified. She was often bedbound as the pain was too much to bear. In the times she was lucid she was very temperamental. No one could find the cause. It had all started after she had been bitten. The venom may have been sucked out of her blood but it seemed to have left some of its poison inside. The twins were forced to move out as their mother became increasingly erratic. Rebecca moved in with Jared's family while Rachel fled to a college in another state after winning a scholarship, which left Jacob to bear the brunt of his mother's moods.

Billy was no help at all. Feeling alienated and put upon by others he retreated into himself and began to drink. It got to the point that even Tiffani was getting sick of his selfish attitude. Their relationship became very rocky. Embry, finally witnessing the side of his father that thus far only Jacob and his family had seen, began to hate Billy as much as Jacob. The two brothers often commiserated with each other when they weren't dealing with their fractured families. Like Sam, Jacob leaned on Bella for comfort when it all got too much. She spent hours in La Push when she wasn't at school or trying to keep up with her school work, helping him with his mother. Some days Sarah didn't even wash and it would take the combined efforts of Bella and Rebecca to keep the older woman groomed.

Charlie did his best to help; when he wasn't working he spent time with Harry, investigating any leads, however vague, when they came in. The official investigation into Leah's disappearance had been wound up but Charlie kept it going out of working hours. It was due to his efforts and Harry's, which kept Leah's case in the spotlight.

None of the youngsters had any time to themselves. Their lives were consumed with trying to keep up some sense of normality amidst the chaos. They attended school; they kept up their patrols, despite the fact that they were worn ragged trying to keep up the search for Leah. They were essentially all just surviving. No one had any time to concentrate on personal relationships; they barely had time to breathe. Soon the two year anniversary of Leah's disappearance approached and they were at the end of their rope. The pack was exhausted, worn down by the constant calls on their time. The adults were too consumed with their own problems to be of any help. Everyone was walking on an emotional tightrope and it was only going to take one more stressful event to make it explode.


Jacob woke up on the morning of his sixteenth birthday feeling utterly exhausted. In truth he had barely had two hours sleep. With Quil and Embry off on yet another scouting mission in search of Leah, he and the others were forced to take up their slack. It meant fourteen hour patrols, which meant little rest. He groaned as he rolled out of bed. He could already hear his mother moaning in pain. Sarah had been suffering the effects of her latest migraine for the last three days with no sign of relief. Bella and Rebecca had been forced to stay over in shifts to help care for his mother. He heard Bella's soft voice as she tried to placate Sarah. Jacob could picture Bella now, hovering over his mother in her darkened room, a warm washcloth in her hand dabbing his mother's sweat soaked skin.

Jacob stretched his weary limbs before hurrying to his mother's room. Bella glanced at him tiredly as she held a glass of water to Sarah's lips. "She had a bad night." She whispered.

"I'll take over now, Bells." Jacob took the glass from her and gently held it to his mother's lips. "You need your rest."

"So do you." Bella said in concern as she took in the dark circles underscoring Jacob's eyes.

"I'm fine, honestly." Jacob mustered up one of his sunny smiles but it faltered when Sarah began to moan in pain.

"She's getting worse, Jake." Bella replied helplessly. "None of the painkillers work. She's in agony."

"What am I supposed to do?" Jacob said in frustration. "Normal medical intervention can't help my mom. We've tried."

"Well maybe it's time to look elsewhere." Bella suggested, not for the first time.

Jacob knew what she was hinting at. He clenched his jaw as he tried to keep his voice steady. "No, Bells. Not the vamps."

"Carlisle Cullen is a doctor. He may know something we don't." Bella persisted. "Please, Jake, I know you hate the idea of asking your natural enemy to help, but your mom is not getting better. You and the pack have to stop being so damn stubborn."

"They caused this." Jacob snapped.

"Maybe so, but perhaps they can be the ones to resolve this because I can't bear to watch you suffer like this anymore. It's killing me. It's killing all of us. Please consider it, Jacob." Bella begged. She pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek to soften the blow. "Happy birthday, sweetheart." She whispered in his ear. "I'll make you something to eat."

Jacob felt tears brimming in his eyes at her sweet words. God, he loved her. He closed his eyes briefly as he tried to summon up his energy reserves. Sarah groaned in pain again and he was forced to focus as he tended to her.

A/N-thanks for reading! Let me know what you think, thanks.