He'd gone to see her.

Alex could see it in the smug set to his smile, in the occasionally faraway glisten to his eyes, in his laughter. He was laughing now; bent almost in half over the lunch table that was too small for all of them but her.

In her time off school, it appeared that a new grouping had formed. Now, their usual spot at the back of the cafeteria, closest to the doors leading outside, was also occupied by Seth. The freshman shouldn't have been a dramatic addition, but the sheer size of him and the other three boys crammed into the bench made it seem like there was an extra five people there. Seth seemed torn between the typical shyness of underclassmen and a bit of awe. Alex could see he had a massive bit of hero-worship for Jacob, and still hung on his every word.

She was sitting beside Seth now, mostly on the bench, but a little bit off – and just as unable to stop staring at Jacob. He had definitely been to see Bella, and she was in a confusing tangle of irrational displeasure at the thought, and complete distraction due to the sheer brilliance to his smile. Get it the fuck together.

She forced herself to look away, to occupy herself differently. "How're you handling Wertz?" She nudged Seth lightly during a lull in the conversation. His attention snapped wholly and immediately to her. It was a little gratifying. "He always ramps up towards the end of the year."

Seth's face crumpled in despair. "You're telling me!" He shook his head morosely, "I thought teachers were supposed to relax last semester."

Alex patted his shoulder sympathetically. "He thinks students get lazy."

"Try tired." Seth whined, and slumped over to lay his head on his folded arms. Alex pitied him; she was pretty sure Wertz was the devil, plus the added Pack duties, and his family tragedy… How Seth Clearwater managed to keep smiling was nothing short of a miracle. "I've got so much English due too…"

Alex bit her lip. She was terrible at math – like, really, really bad – but her English marks had always been good. Good enough that she had been encouraged to take literature this year. "If you wanted a hand with English, let me know."

Seth perked up in an instant. She leant back slightly at his sheer enthusiasm as his hand fluttered around between them, as if he was about to grab her in excitement. Finally, he balled his fists and set them carefully in his lap, but he was still watching her with wide eyes. "R-really? You would do that?" he sounded surprised enough that she couldn't help but prickle defensively.

"Yeah, it's not a problem." She waved him off dismissively.

Embry leant around Seth to shoot her a grin, before clapping Seth heavily on the back. Alex knew it must have hurt, but Seth didn't even flinch. "Alex is something of an English prodigy. Mr. Williams uses her essays as examples."

"Shut up." Alex grumbled, cheeks heating a little with the praise. "It's not hard to seem good at English when you hang out with Quil."

"Hey!" Quil stiffened with a scowl, shooting her an indignant look over the mountain of pasta in front of him.

"I really appreciate this, Alex." Seth told her seriously, eyes going limpid as he gazed at her. She shifted under his gaze, and nodded.

"It's fine, Seth." She awkwardly patted his shoulder again.

The fluttering heat in her chest grew in sudden fervour, and she looked up to find Jacob watching her. She almost flinched at his gaze; there was a nameless something in his deep eyes. The sensation was gone in the next second, as they both turned to respond to Quil's joke. She rubbed absently over her collarbone, trying to lessen the hot, tight feeling.


The Clearwater's house was vastly similar to her own, but for a few more years of weather damage, and overgrown flower beds. The front porch was done in different wood, and their door was painted red, not white, and there were several pairs of sneakers in various stages of disrepair strewn across the stoop.

Alex lingered for a second, feeling suddenly awkward. She didn't really know what to do. She didn't have experience with death; her grandparents had both been dead for years before her birth, and she had no extended family to speak of. She bit at her lip, lowering her hand from where she'd raised it to knock.

The door swung open suddenly, and she came face to face with Leah Clearwater.

The last time she had seen the other girl, she'd been naked and filthy and furious. Memories of her vicious snarl and bared fangs came back a little fuzzily; both for the heavy rain and the head injury she'd been nursing at the time.

"I'm not attacking her…he's the one I want to gut-" Leah Phased in and out uncontrollably, ferocious, and unbound. "He's kissing her, breaking her little heart, just because he wants to make Bella jealous. I heard him think it-"

"Are you gonna stand there like an idiot all day, or are you gonna get the fuck out of my way?" Leah snapped at her, looking down her narrow, aquiline nose like Alex was a bug. Alex startled from her muddied thoughts and hopped out of the way. Leah unfurled from the doorway, all long tan limbs and sleek hair. Alex felt for a moment, faced with the older girl, dreadfully ugly and awkward. Leah paused at the bottom of her porch stairs to look back over her shoulder at her. "Seth's inside. He's been waiting…" She paired her derisive tone with an eyeroll so smooth Alex was jealous.

Then she was gone, loping across the road and into the trees, disappearing so quickly into the grey shadows beneath the boughs it was as if she hadn't been there at all. Alex swallowed, unable to help herself from waiting a beat to see if Leah would come back, before she turned to the still open door. She jumped, startled again, by Seth's soundless approach.

"Sorry…" He grimaced, hanging out of the doorway much like Leah had. "She's just…" he trailed off, and she got the feeling that it wasn't the first time that Seth had apologized for Leah's behaviour.

"She's cool." Alex said, before she could stop herself. "A badass." Seth blinked, clearly caught off guard.

Finally, he laughed a little. "Yeah! Sure! Did you wanna come in?"

She followed him into the cool dark of his house. There was a sense of quiet across it all, and she guessed that the curtains hadn't been opened in some time. Just as Leah had said, Seth had already set up his work across the kitchen table, pens laid out neatly, two cups of juice and a small plate of cookies set between two chairs. Her stomach flipped at the sight. Seth Clearwater…

"Uh, so I have an essay coming up, and I've written a few drafts, but I don't think they're any good." Seth took a seat, and after a beat, Alex followed his lead. She'd already studied Lord of the Flies so she was pretty confident she'd be able to help him out. "Plus, I've got to write it under exam conditions."

"Are you allowed to bring in notes?" She tugged one of his drafts towards herself and began to read through his introduction.

"One page…" He sighed, and picked up a pen to spin between his fingers, "And no quotes." She waved her hand.

"It's fine, they expect, what, like two or three quotes a paragraph? You can get away with one-word quotes, it'll make it easier to remember. Just gotta imbed them well." She absently underlined a sentence that didn't quite work, and then turned to him. He was watching her with almost unnerving focus, and she reached for a blank piece of paper. "I'm going to give you some potential essay topics, and then just for practice, write an intro, and three topic sentences, okay?"

"Okay!" Seth nodded eagerly, and waited patiently for her to scrawl some of the essay topics she remembered onto the paper. If she knew small town education, and she did know small town education, then it was highly likely that the essay topics hadn't changed from when she had done them herself. He set about her small practice task with the same amount of enthusiasm she was beginning to understand he gave everything.

It was kind of…fun.

Seth was easy-going – probably to a fault – and laughed effortlessly. He was eager to learn, and there was none of the awkwardness she thought there might have been. He seemed mostly oblivious to Pack politics, and they didn't even touch on the subject of Pack or Pack business. It was nice and normal.

Of course, the shoe dropped as the sun did. Seth was still new to the whole werewolf thing, and as Alex looked up from editing one of his practice paragraphs to find him asleep at the table, she was hardly surprised. He'd basically faceplanted onto one of his drafts, his pen still in his grip, and his face slack. Her stomach did another soft flip, sympathy making her chest hurt for a moment.

Gently, she eased the pen from his grip, and opened to fresh page in his notebook. It wouldn't hurt anyone to help him with his notes, and it wouldn't take long. Quietly, so she wouldn't disturb him, she began to jot down everything she thought might help in the essay, including the things that she'd done last year, plus extra themes they hadn't touched on.

Alex had just finished the page, when a floorboard creaked behind her. She turned and gasped loudly. Leah raised an eyebrow at her, and Alex felt her cheeks flame. Leah's eyes slid to her brother's sleeping form, and for a beat, her face softened. It was gone in the next moment, and with impossible grace, she crossed soundlessly to the fridge, pulling out two cans of beer. She closed the door with her hip, and then jerked her head at the door and a meaningful look.

It took Alex a beat too long to understand, and Leah rolled her eyes, leaving the kitchen again without a word. She got up as quickly and quietly as she could, and tip-toed out of the kitchen.

Leah had left the front door open and was sitting against one of the pillars supporting her porch, legs extended down the stairs. Alex joined her, hesitating for a moment before sitting next to her, mirroring her pose. Her own legs only stretched to the second step. Leah took a swig of her beer, before wordlessly passing her the other can.

Alex rolled the cool can between her palms for a moment, hesitant. Leah snorted. "It's a beer, Alex. I won't tell if you don't." Feeling a little embarrassed and a little called out, she cracked it open and took a sip. It tasted like ass. She made a face before she could stop herself, and Leah barked a hoarse laugh. "Yeah. It sucks." She took another long drink of her own. Alex took another drink anyway.

The sky was overcast, grey as it usually was, but the faint yellow light of the sunset was still fraying at the edges of the cloud cover. The treetops danced in a soundless wind, and if she strained her hearing, she could hear the distant crash of waves on the shore. "You're helping Seth with his homework." Leah didn't phrase it as a question, but she nodded anyway. She meant what she said, Leah was totally a badass, but super, super intimidating. She wasn't quite sure what the other girl wanted, but as long as she was allowed to sit here, she would. "And Jacob's your-"

"Sure fucking is." Alex interrupted her before she could even finish the sentence. Leah laughed again, sounding almost surprised. They sat in silence for another moment, long enough for Leah to finish her beer with a belch, and for Alex to get through half of her own. She could already feel it sitting heavily in her gut.

"I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to apologize." Leah said abruptly, and Alex turned to look at her again. This time, she met Alex's eyes, and the sheer intensity of the other girl's dark eyes was almost enough to make her look away.

"You don't have to." Alex said immediately.

Leah smirked, wide and feral. "I wasn't going to." Alex felt her own lips twitch into an amused smile. "But the boss wanted me too."

Ah. Right. Alex knew all about the Sam-Emily-Leah pain-fest.

"…breaking her little heart."

"You were protecting me." Alex realised out loud. Leah grimaced and looked away.

"Ew. Don't say it like that. Makes me sound…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "Whatever. I just- whatever." I know how it feels. It wasn't said aloud, but Alex knew it. "You're too cool for Black anyway." Leah said gruffly, crushing her can with one easy clench of her fist, and then threw it into the overgrown grass before them.

Alex couldn't resist; she widened her eyes and gave Leah a dewy look. "You think I'm cool?"

Leah growled. "Shut it, Faye." Alex grinned at her, and Leah rolled her eyes theatrically again. "Anyway. Let him slum it with the leech-lover if he wants. It's his loss."

Alex scowled. There was something about Leah that made her want to be honest. "If only it was that easy. It's at the point where thinking about her," She made a wordless noise, touching her belly. Indeed, the very thought of Bella and Jacob had made her stomach turn. "It fucking sucks."

"Unnatural." Leah muttered, and shook her head, looking equal parts bitter and sympathetic.

"Thank you!" Alex clapped her hands together and pointed at Leah. "Everyone keeps saying how special it is."

Leah's smile was all teeth and no humour. "It's not special. It's fucked up. It's all fucked up." A tremor ran the length of her body, and Alex bit her lip.

"There's really never been another girl?" She asked gently.

Leah's face contorted. "Never. I'm the first. And the only." Her fingers flexed, like she wanted another can to crush.

"Leah-" Alex began, unsure what to say to comfort her. Before she could fully realise the thought, a car turned into the driveway. Quicker than she could process, Leah's hand darted over to grab the half-full can of beer from her, and she stood up.

"I'll see you around, Alex." Leah told her, and it was as much a dismissal as a goodbye, as the tall woman loped towards the car. She recognised Sue Clearwater through the windshield, and though her gut panged with guilt, she was relieved at the chance to get away.

"Alex!" Seth appeared in the doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes and blushing. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's cool, Seth. I left a page of notes for you to look at. Use them or don't, it's whatever." She shrugged. Alex was too slow to avoid him as he threw his arms around her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He mumbled, and squeezed her once before letting her go. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

She shook her head, casting another look at the darkening sky. It wasn't too far, and it probably wouldn't get too dark. "No thanks, Seth." He beamed easily, and lifted his hand to wave her off.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" He called after her. Alex waved awkwardly at him, and then gave Sue a small smile as she passed the car. Leah was leaning half into the driver's side window to talk to her mother, and gave her a small nod as she passed.

She couldn't help but hear Leah's voice in her head that night.

"He's kissing her, breaking her little heart, just because he wants to make Bella jealous."