"If you don't know it, then you don't know it, Quil. There's nothing wrong with that." Embry sounded a lot more confident than Jacob felt.
For the first time in the history of their friendship, Embry, Quil and Jacob were spending their free time studying. Currently, they were huddled over a math book in Embry's kitchen. The Call's house was tiny, even for a res house, and the three of them took up almost all of the room in the kitchen. It was more than slightly uncomfortable, but they made it work.
They had tried a variety of spots for their study group. First was Jacob's garage, their go-to hang out spot. But the lack of tables or desks made it hard, and it felt wrong to do too much homework in there. Then, they'd spent exactly two hours and seventeen minutes being called nerds by Paul and dealing with Billy muttering about not being able to relax in his own house at the Black's kitchen table before they'd decided not to study at the Black's again. The next day Embry offered up his house, and it worked surprisingly well.
"I do know it though!" Quil protested, "Or at least I did yesterday."
"Dude, this isn't fair. Why do we need to know all these equations to take community college classes?" Jacob whined, trying to take the heat off of Quil.
Embry shrugged, "I guess they want you to make sure you can handle it before they let you start taking classes? Fuck if I know. Here, Jake, check your answers with mine."
Embry's math ability far eclipsed either Quil or Jacob's, and Embry had flown through the set of practice problems that they had printed off at the library. Confident that his answers were correct, Embry was attempting to teach his two best friends some of the basics so that they might have a chance to pass the test. Quil was still struggling through his sheet, but Jacob had managed to come up with answers to all of the questions.
Jacob took the sheet from Embry and began to compare their answers. 2X for number one, check, -5 or 5 for number two, wrong…
The sound of keys banging against the front door interrupted Jacob's comparisons. He could hear Tiffany Call cursing at herself under her breath as she realized that the door was unlocked; Embry was so rarely home after school that she wasn't expecting him.
"Fuck, it's my mom," Embry swore.
"Should we get out of here?" Jacob eyed a large window, their best chance at escape.
"Nah, she'll know something's up," Embry took a deep breath. The Call's house was small enough that that as soon as Ms. Call made her way through the door, she'd see the three of them anyway. And the sight of Quil and Jacob making their way through the window was sure to only infuriate her more.
"Embry?" Ms. Call asked as soon as she got the door open. She had a large bag of groceries in her arms. Her face narrowed as soon as she saw Quil and Jacob, "Embry, you're grounded. You can't have your friends over."
"I know, Ma, but look, we're studying," Embry gestured at the pile of paper and books.
"Hello, Jacob and Quil," Ms. Call took a labored breath and put her groceries on the counter. Embry immediately jumped up and started putting them away, while Jacob sunk further into his chair.
"Hi, Ms. Call," Quil squeaked out. Jacob kicked him under the table. Jacob knew better than to say a single word.
"Jacob, Quil, while I'm happy that you're studying, Embry is grounded and will be for the foreseeable future. So he really can't have guests." Ms. Call had a stern but exasperated look on her face. She glared at her son's back as he continued putting away the groceries.
"We were just leaving," Jacob said as he closed the textbook dramatically. He grabbed his book bag from the floor and slung it over his shoulder, "Come on, Quil."
Quil got up from his seat, as well, and quickly stuffed his papers into his bookbag, "Sorry, Ms. Call."
"We'll see you tomorrow at school, Embry," Jacob said as he and Quil made their way out the door.
"See you," Embry echoed dejectedly.
Quil and Jacob barely closed the door before the yelling started.
"How can you have people over, Embry? You know you're grounded! That means you can't go out and you can't have people over! You know that!" Ms. Call started, "You snuck out just last night! And don't try to deny it – I checked your room when I got up to use the bathroom at two am and you weren't there! For the past year, it's been nothing but you sneaking out and breaking the rules! I don't get it!"
With werewolf hearing, Quil and Jacob could hear Ms. Call's rant as they walked slowly away from Embry's house. Not that it took werewolf hearing. Jacob was pretty sure that half of the street could hear Tiffany Call's exasperated yells.
"Do your friends do this? Do Jacob and Quil sneak out too? I haven't heard Joy complain about Quil sneaking out into all hours of the night! I don't get it, Embry – you used to be such a good kid! But this past year… you've been damn near impossible. I don't understand what happened to you!" If Jacob wasn't mistaken, there was a sob at the end of Ms. Call's rant.
"Damn," Quil muttered as they reached the end of the street. Embry hadn't said a word, at least not that they could hear, but by now they were far enough away that they might not hear something if he spoke in a calm tone.
"I know," Jacob agreed. They trudged along in silence.
Guilt seeped into Jacob's mind. It was hardly fair that Embry had to suffer through his mother's anger like that, not when Billy had reacted with happy pride and Joy Ateara, while not exactly delighted at Quil's transformation, was still proud of her son for joining the ranks of La Push's most secret society. But Ms. Call was stubbornly convinced that her son had run away for a few days on some drug binge and, even when he came back, had been transformed into some horrible shell of his former self. The worst part was that she wasn't entirely wrong. The transformation had changed all of them in some ways that would be unrecognizable to their past selves.
But Jacob couldn't help but feel that he was partially at fault for Embry's disappearances. Sure, in the beginning, it was Sam who ordered Embry around and kept him up late, but now, it was Jacob. It was Jacob who had told Embry to take the night shift last night with Seth. It was even Jacob who talked them into studying together after school when Embry could easily be home studying alone and not breaking his mom's rules. There was no reason that Jacob himself couldn't have patrolled for him or suggested that they study alone. Sam always took more shifts than anyone else so that Brady and Colin didn't have to spend as many nights patrolling since they were so young. Maybe Jacob should be doing that. Shielding his pack from the wrath of their parents.
"Where are we going?" Quil asked, interrupting Jacob's thoughts. They had reached the end of Embry's little neighborhood (it was nothing more than a single street that had a handful of houses on it, but in La Push that was as close as it got to a neighborhood) and were now standing at a dead end, with the option to go left towards town and Quil's house or right towards Jacob's house.
"We can go to mine but Paul's definitely there," Jacob offered.
"What day is it?"
Jacob stared at Quil, "Wednesday. Why?"
"My mom isn't working. So she'll be there. And Jeff will probably be there, too," Quil made a face.
"Who's Jeff? Her new boyfriend?"
Quil nodded, "He's lasted a long time. Four months."
"And you don't like him?" Jacob asked. He felt bad that Quil's mom had apparently been dating this guy for four months and Jacob had never bothered to ask Quil how he felt about it. He felt even worse that he had barely realized that Quil's mom had a new boyfriend.
"He's alright. But he thinks he's my dad. Treats me like a kid. Tells me what to do. He tried to tell me I shouldn't stay out so late the other night."
"Oh. That sucks." Once again, Jacob was glad that Billy had never once dated anyone since his mom had died. It all seemed like more trouble than it was worth.
"Yeah."
"So where should we go?" They had been standing in the road the entire time they had this conversation. Not a car had gone by, but it still felt silly.
"I guess we could try your garage again. Or Emily's!" Quil suggested brightly.
Jacob didn't feel like dealing with Sam, not today. Or ever, really, but something about studying for exams in Sam's house felt especially wrong. And Quil must have guessed that, because the next thing he said was, "Or not."
"What about the Clearwaters?" Jacob couldn't believe he didn't think of it earlier, "We can go to the Clearwaters. Sue might grumble some but she never minds too much when we stop by. And Leah can help us if we have questions."
"You think Leah would help us?" Quil asked doubtfully.
The old Leah wouldn't. But the new Leah, the one who was so determined to turn over a new leaf and had been the one to tell them about the whole dual enrollment program might, "Maybe. Wouldn't hurt to ask."
"Well, it beats dealing with Paul or Jeff. Let's do it." And so the two friends turned right towards the Clearwater's.
Leah was surprised when they knocked on the door and asked for a place to study, but she didn't deny them entry. Instead, she simply said that she had to study for an upcoming exam and they could all study together.
"Where's the third moron?" Leah asked as she let Quil and Jacob inside.
"Funny story. Actually, not funny at all," Quil began, continuing after Leah raised her eyebrow in question at him, "We were studying at his house. But his mom came home and apparently he's still eternally grounded for sneaking out all the time and so Jake and I had to leave and then Embry got yelled at."
"His mom still doesn't know?" Leah asked.
"No," Jacob said, "And she's really pissed. Apparently, she caught him 'sneaking out' again last night."
"Jesus. Poor guy," Leah said. Quil and Jacob followed her into the kitchen, where her stuff was already sitting on the kitchen table. She gestured for them to sit down and they did.
For several minutes, they studied in relative silence. By the way that Quil was tapping his pencil, Jacob knew that Quil didn't know how to do any of the math problems that they were supposed to be attempting. They had stolen the sheet with Embry's answers on it and Jacob found that he had only gotten half the problems right. The test was in just a few days, and it wasn't going well. The only thing worse than using their free time to study would be using their free time to study and then getting rejected from the program and having to go back to QTS next year anyway.
After they had studied for a good twenty minutes, the Clearwater's front door jingled, and in came Seth. He was carrying his book bag, but based on his lack of shirt and athletic shorts, Jacob could guess where he came from.
"Hi, everyone!" he greeted them excitedly, "What are you guys doing here?"
"I live here, moron," Leah retorted.
"Studying," Jacob answered dully, ignoring Leah and motioning to the pile of papers and textbooks.
"Why are you studying here?" Seth asked, "Embry's looking for you, you know."
"Embry's looking for us?" Quil asked.
Seth nodded. He grabbed a Poptart from the pantry and ripped the bag open, "I saw him on my way here. He said he was looking for you guys," he said before stuffing the Poptart into his mouth.
"What an idiot," Leah muttered under her breath.
At the same time, Quil let out a laugh, "Embry's a legend."
"He's supposed to be grounded," Jacob explained to a perplexed looking Seth.
"He was definitely out in the middle of the street looking for you guys. He wasn't far. You could probably go find him."
Jacob shook his head, "He'll figure it out eventually." There were only a limited number of places on the reservation that they could possibly be and Embry was bound to check at the Clearwaters at some point. And besides, he didn't want to risk getting Embry into even more trouble than he already was.
"Look at what Bella got me!" Seth changed the subject, reaching into his book bag and pulling out a hoodie that read Rome in big font.
"What the fuck is that?" Leah blurted out.
"It's a hoodie! From Rome!"
"Aren't you supposed to get something, like, high fashion in Rome?" Quil questioned as he stared at the hunter green hoodie doubtfully. It looked comfy, but it was hardly the epitome of fashion.
Seth shrugged, "That's what Alice said. But only Bella went to Rome and she got me this. And some chocolates, but I already ate them."
"What was Bella doing in Italy?" Quil asked.
"She had to go prove to those scary Italian vampires that she was a vampire. I don't know the whole story. It was all very complicated. Carlisle went to London, though, and look at what he got me!" This time, Seth pulled out a large book on the history of London from his book bag. He started thumbing through it, "This is the London that Carlisle was born in, look!"
He flipped to a page and showed them a picture of London in the 1640s. Seth seemed quite pleased with his gifts.
Leah and Jacob made eye contact and shared a disgusted look.
"So fucked up," Leah mouthed. At least that's what Jacob thought she mouthed. It could have been something else, but Jacob just nodded in agreement.
A knock on the door interrupted Seth's lecture on the history of Carlisle and his disgustingly long life.
"Must be Embry," Jacob said. He stood up quickly, "I'll get it."
Sure enough, Embry was standing at the Clearwaters door.
"Dude, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked as soon as he opened the door.
"I could ask you the same thing!"
Jacob ignored him, "We heard your mom yelling at you. You're grounded, dude. Maybe you should stay home."
Embry shook his head, "She got called in to waitress at the diner. She'll never know I'm gone. Don't worry about it, man."
"I just don't want you to get into even more trouble."
"She'll never know. How do you think I've been hanging out with you nearly every day after school? I do this all the time," Embry assured him, "Now are you going to let me in? Why are you here anyway?"
Jacob stepped aside to let Embry in, "We're just studying. Paul was at my place and Quil's mom's boyfriend was at his so we came here."
Embry gave Jacob a strange look but didn't say anything.
"What?" Jacob asked him.
Embry shook his head, "Nothing, man."
Jacob followed Embry into the kitchen, still confused by the unfamiliar look on Embry's face. But he sensed that he wouldn't get an answer anytime soon.
Everyone greeted Embry and he took a seat at the table, as well. Leah managed to convince Seth to put away his history of London book that Carlisle had gotten him and take out his history homework, but only after he showed Embry everything that had been given to him. And so the pack studied together, mostly peacefully (there was always some squabbles and back and forth – Jacob had accepted it as just part of pack life) and, really, other than the fact that there was math involved, it wasn't a bad way to pass an evening.
It was a pleasant coincidence that Embry and Seth were born only two years and four days apart. Their birthdays, on the 10th and the 14th of February, respectively, as well as their friendship, meant that there could be one bonfire for the two of them and only one all-wolf get together, taking up only weekend night instead of two.
So on the Friday before their birthdays, everyone gathered at the cliffs, just like always. There'd been several of these little get-togethers in the months between Jacob's birthday and now: one for the holidays and one for Sam's twenty-second birthday in January. Where Jacob had once dreaded them, he'd grown to enjoy them, as it was a rare chance to let down his guard in public without worrying about anyone seeing his superhuman abilities.
"Jacob, think fast!" Colin yelled before tossing a Frisbee from way too far away. But with wolf reflexes, Jacob caught it with ease.
"Nice one, Colin!" Jacob yelled back. He waited only half a second before tossing it back with much more power than Colin had used, sending the younger boy running into the forest to try to catch it.
All around him, the two packs were enjoying the evening. Sam was sitting around the fire with his arm around Emily, both laughing with Jared and Kim. Embry, Brady, and Colin were all involved in the intricate Frisbee game that Jacob occasionally joined in when they tossed the Frisbee to him. Quil and Seth had brought Claire and Nessie, and the two girls were just the right age to play with each other. So while Quil and Seth supervised, Nessie and Claire ran around, giggling and squealing at each other.
Paul was manning the grill, and Billy was barking orders at him, yelling at Paul each time he didn't flip a burger to Billy's satisfaction. Why Paul wasn't arguing with Billy, Jacob wasn't sure, but he guessed it was all part of Rachel's request that Paul should try to get along with the family more. Sue and Old Quil were nearby them, deep in discussion about God knows what. The old times, probably.
Only two members of the pack were missing: Rachel and Leah. Rachel had gone up to Seattle for the weekend to see some friends from college (she claimed it was just a coincidence that they'd agreed to meet up the same weekend as the bonfire, but nobody bought it). Leah, on the other hand, was supposed to be here, although she was always notoriously late to these things. While Jacob had come to accept the all-wolf bonfires as a fact of life, Leah had not.
A huge bang echoed around the camp, causing everyone to jump a little bit. Sam stood up immediately as the trees shook. But before anyone could phase or react, a tree fell to the ground at the edge of the forest.
"Sorry, everyone!" Colin came running out of the woods, pieces of shattered Frisbee in his hands, "I threw it a little too hard."
"Be careful, Colin," Billy warned with a laugh, "I think they probably heard that in Forks."
"Sorry!" Colin apologized again, "Jacob, come play with us!"
"You just broke the Frisbee!" Jacob pointed at one of the neon green shreds in Colin's hand.
"There's another one," Emily reached into her oversized tote and pulled out an identical Frisbee. She tossed it halfheartedly to Jacob, but Sam grabbed it before Jacob could.
"Come on, Jared. Let's play!" Sam clapped Jared on the back as Sam walked by with the Frisbee in his hands. Jared immediately obeyed orders and stood up, but not before giving Kim a quick kiss. Both Jacob and Jared followed Sam to the larger clearing where Embry, Colin, and Brady were waiting.
"I'll watch Nessie and Claire. You two should go play," Emily said to Quil and Seth who were still sitting by their imprints. Jacob watched as they glanced nervously at each other, unsure of what to do. Leaving their imprints was still unthinkable to them, even after all these months.
"Auntie Emmy!" Claire squealed as Emily approached.
Quil shrugged and stood up, "I'm going to go play Frisbee with the pack, okay, Claire-bear?"
Claire didn't seem to care one way or the other. Seth followed Quil's lead, explaining to Nessie that he was going to play Frisbee with the pack and instructing her to sit with Emily and watch him. Nessie was a little more hesitant, but once she saw what was happening, she didn't seem to mind.
Paul turned the grill over to Billy at Sam's urging, and all nine of the guys started what was quickly becoming an epic Frisbee tournament. They all remained human but the Frisbee whizzed back and forth, from the edge of the cliffs into the forest, dodging trees as they ran at speeds that were a little too fast for pure humans to maintain for any length of time. They laughed as they crashed into each other with a force that would normally put a person out of the game. But with their quick healing, it was nothing. There were downsides to being a werewolf, lots of them, but times when the whole pack played Frisbee like this showed Jacob that were, in fact, upsides, too.
The game continued for some time, with the non-wolf pack members watching. Claire and Nessie both thought the whole spectacle was hilarious; they roared with laughter each time any of the wolves had to slide to catch the Frisbee or jump especially high. Even Billy cheered Jacob on when the Frisbee headed squarely between Jacob and Brady.
"Let me get some water!" Jacob huffed after an especially long chase after the Frisbee that ended in collusion with Embry.
Jacob was quite a distance from the bonfire by now, almost at the break in the trees where they parked all the cars. Jacob could hear footsteps and he spun around, knowing that everyone was closer to the bonfire than him. About fifty feet behind him was Leah, late as always, walking slowly and dressed in a tank top that clung to her body tightly. She was wearing jeans and holding a cardigan and looked more put together than Jacob had seen in months.
"Hey, Leah!" Jacob called, waiting for her to catch up with him.
"Hey, Jake," She smiled at him as she approached, "How's the bonfire going?"
"So far, so good. Paul didn't burn any of the burgers and now we're all playing Frisbee. You should join. It's pretty fun." To illustrate Jacob's point, Colin used a nearby tree to jump unnaturally high to catch the Frisbee in midair.
"Hmph," Leah eyed the packs and their game disapprovingly. They were approaching the bonfire now, "Maybe I will. After I get some food."
"You should!" Jacob encouraged.
The water bottle that Jacob had brought was sitting just outside of the fire, in a pile with everyone else's stuff. Jacob grabbed it as Leah greeted the few people not playing Frisbee. Jacob couldn't help but notice that Kim jumped up as soon as Leah approached the bonfire and followed Leah to the mostly abandoned food table. With his werewolf hearing, it was easy to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"So… how was it?" Kim whispered to Leah. How was what? Jacob wondered. Did Leah actually have a reason she was late to the bonfire and she wasn't just late due to general ire at the pack?
"Shhh!" Leah chastised, but a quick glance at her showed Jacob that she had a smile on her face as she said it. He turned away, embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping, and acted like he wasn't listening to every word Leah was saying, "It was good."
"What did you guys do? Did you like him? Are you going to see him again?" Kim buzzed. Jacob could hear the excitement in her voice. He took another purposeful drink out of his water bottle.
"We just got coffee at a place in Port Angeles. He was funny. Sweeter than I was expecting."
"So will you see him again?" Kim repeated.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw Leah smile and shrug, "Let's just say that if he asks I won't say no."
"Did you kiss?"
"Yeah," Leah sounded gleeful, almost smug.
Jacob's stomach dropped. All of this was news to him. Leah hadn't told Jacob that she was going on a date. He turned away and tuned out the rest of their conversation; he barely heard Kim pressing Leah for more details as he realized that he didn't want to hear anything else.
Jacob walked away from the bonfire, past the Frisbee game, in a state of stunned silence. Leah was dating again. Embry turned to him with a confused look as Jacob passed him.
"Bathroom," Jacob said as an excuse. Normally the guys just peed in the forest, but not in front of everyone. They had dignity like that. This excuse allowed Jacob to go further away from the group and take a second to collect his thoughts.
Jacob had known Leah his entire life, and never once had she told him about her love life. Sure, Jacob saw some of it in her thoughts now that they were constantly in each other's heads, but never once had Leah given him updates about it. Jacob had found out from Rachel and Rebecca that Leah was dating Sam and he'd heard about their breakup after hearing Billy and Harry gossip. Leah was never the one to tell him any of this. Why would now be any different?
It wouldn't be. Of course, it wouldn't be any different. Everything else in Leah and Jacob's lives had changed, but this had not. A familiar feeling of jealousy seeped through Jacob's veins. Leah hadn't betrayed him, not like Bella had, of course. He'd never made a move on Leah. He barely even liked Leah as a person; it wasn't like he was in love with her.
Jacob and Leah were friends – and nothing more. But still, it was friendship. After all, he'd confided in her about his fear that Quil wouldn't make it into the dual enrollment program and his worries about Embry and Ms. Call. He'd even told her about his worries about the upcoming trip to Hawaii and seeing Rebecca again after so many years. But none of those were quite as personal as dating or love life.
And then there was the mystery guy himself. All those nights Jacob had spent on patrol with Leah, and he couldn't remember her thinking of anyone romantically (other than Sam – but that hadn't been for months). The mystery guy must be someone from her classes in Port Angeles. Some college guy. Suddenly, Jacob was reminded that, even though he may have been Alpha, in the real world, Leah was so far out of his league it was laughable. She was three years older than him. She'd been a senior when he was a freshman. And now she was in college and – even if he got into the stupid dual enrollment program – he was still facing a year and a half of high school.
Jacob had always known Leah was beautiful. He'd known it when he was five and she was eight and she was bossing him around with his sisters. He'd known it when he saw her taking pictures for prom her junior year of high school and he was nothing but an awkward middle schooler. He'd even known it when he was fixing up the bikes with Bella before either of them phased and entered the world of the supernatural. The only time he'd ever doubted it was after they both had phased and they were both so angry. But he could see now that anger had clouded his judgment. It was a fact of life; Leah Clearwater was beautiful.
She was beautiful, but she was three years older and his Beta. And now, apparently, unavailable. It would have been a bad idea no matter what, Jacob knew, a way to make pack life more complicated than it already was. And she wasn't likely to see him as anything but an overgrown kid. But still. There was a certain sting that Jacob didn't want to admit. Maybe he really did like Leah a little more than he should.
"Hey, Jake. Everything okay?" Quil approached Jacob from the direction of the bonfire. Jacob didn't know how long he had been standing alone in the woods, away from everyone else. But it was apparently long enough where people needed to worry about him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured Quil. This was one topic he couldn't broach with Quil or Embry or anyone. How pathetic it would be for them to find out that he had a little crush on their Beta. No, this was something he needed to keep to himself.
"Oh good," Quil said, "Leah was asking about you. Wanted to know if you were ready for patrol in a few."
Fuck. How could Jacob have forgotten that it was he and Leah on patrol tonight? He'd never wanted to protect his thoughts more than he currently did – not even when Leah took no shame in mercilessly shaming him for his former crush on a vampire girl. If Jacob thought that was bad… well, this would be even worse.
"Uh, Quil?" Jacob asked. He followed Quil back towards the bonfire, staying a couple of paces behind his friend, "Could you do me a favor?"
"Anything, oh-fearless-leader."
"Could you take my shift tonight?"
Quil turned around to look up at Jacob with a confused expression, "You want me to take your patrol shift?"
"Yeah, you don't mind, do you? Emily can make sure that Claire gets home. And I'll take your next one – I promise." Quil's next shift was with Seth and it wasn't for another four days. Jacob would figure out a way to get the awful thoughts of Leah kissing some college guy out of his head by then.
"Yeah, I can take it," Quil still had the puzzled expression on his face as he spun around and continued walking, "Can I ask why, though?"
"I just want a night off, that's all," Jacob lied.
"Your wish is my command, almighty Alpha."
"Quil?"
"Yeah, Jake?"
"Shut up."
Quil huffed out a laugh and slapped Jacob hard on the back. Jacob chuckled and the two of them made their way to the bonfire, where Jacob managed to plaster a fake smile on to his face and avoid Leah for the rest of the night.
A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry that this is late, please know that this is hardly the only thing in my life I'm behind on!
Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for all the amazing comments I got on the last chapter, it really just made me so happy. So especially thank you to brankel1, sentinel10 and LeticiaBS for your continued comments and support!