And finally, we kinda introduce the Quileute tribe. Or at least 3/4 of the Clearwaters. I've always loved Leah much the same way I loved Rosalie to be honest, since they're basically the only two worthwhile females in the series. There were others of course (Victoria, The Amazonians, and Esme being examples) but I loved those two best. Getting Leah into character was hard, especially this was around the time Sam dumped her but eh, I tried. Also, according to my calculations, Seth is around 11/12 during this time, so I've altered his age accordingly.
We'll be seeing more of them next chapter of course, but for now I'm satisfied with the ending of this chapter, and I hope you guys are too.
Hope you all enjoy the chapter :)
Review?
Chapter XIII - Black
"Judging by the fact that it's seven-thirty, you're still in bed, and still wearing your pyjamas, I'm going to assume that you'll be opting out of your education today?" Inquired Charles with a raised eyebrow as he leaned against the threshold to his daughter's bedroom.
"It's the last day of school before the Halloween break. I see no reason for me to attend." Came the muffled reply under the large comforter. Charles distinctly remembered that at one point in time, it was dark green –now it was basically unrecognisable, covered in paint splatters, ink splotches, and assorted other marks, much like the rest of her bedroom.
Her previously grey carpet was half dyed red at this point, and don't even get him started on the walls and ceiling.
The small lump in the middle of the bed shifted, drawing his attention once more. "There could be important homework being assigned." He pointed out, though he knew that it was futile. Edgar wasn't going to go to school that day. He knew his daughter well enough to be able to tell. There was a little snuffling sound and more movement from the lump, though this time, one droopy grey eye peered out, along with plenty (and messy) dark curls.
"Exactly father. And if I'm not there when it's assigned, then I'll have none to do over the break." She informed him, voice groggy but still convincing, and he had to admit, even he couldn't argue with that logic.
He sighed wearing and ran a hand through his hair, wondering if it was just his own imagination or if he really could sense his wife's amusement radiating around him. Elizabeth probably would find his exasperation funny if she were around to see it; she always had, especially when dealing with their flighty daughter.
He contemplated briefly if he should be sterner with Edgar, perhaps order her to attend classes whether she wanted to or not, but one look at the now sleeping girl stopped him. He was too much of a push-over when it came to his daughter, and plus, he already felt guilty for not allowing her to go to that one Art gallery taking place in Seattle. Especially with the way she looked at him the previous evening during dinner, eyes entirely accusing. He just knew she was angry at him.
He swallowed, the remorse surfacing just by the mere memory. He half-decided to just let her go, if only to get her to stop staring at him with those big silver orbs that melted his heart.
Yes indeed, Charles Beauregard was a big ole softie when it came to his daughter.
Sighing once more, he left the colourful room and closed the door softly behind him, before making his way downstairs and to the kitchen to get some breakfast before he had to resign himself to a day of paperwork. To be honest, he had no intention of going into the office that day. He had far too much work to do, and couldn't afford to be distracted by various meetings and requests to be seen and such.
Esme Cullen's file was an example of things he had to work on. Not that working with her was something new, they'd been business partners for a while, and with the amount of clientele she received, he'd frequently found himself pouring over reports and making sure everything was in check.
He poured himself a cup of coffee into a paint stained mug (because really, nothing in this house had managed to escape his daughter's clutches), before sitting down at the island counter where his morning meal and various files awaited him patiently, having been set down earlier before he'd checked on Edgar upstairs.
His daughter had been surprised when the woman had come over the previous week to drop off some papers, though mostly miffed for some reason. He suspected it didn't have much to do with the woman herself, and more with her son. Charles himself had been taken aback when the boy had immediately inquired over his daughter as soon as the initial pleasantries had been over with, because as far as he knew, Edgar didn't associate with anyone other than the Smith boy, and even then it was awkward and mostly for necessity than anything.
Esme had explained with a happy smile that they knew each other from school, where they'd shared a few encounters. She hadn't seemed worried or bothered at all, and her son seemed like a polite enough boy, so he too had simply let it go and been happy with the knowledge that his daughter was finally making friends…sort of.
Romance of course, wasn't something he was worried about. Edgar has enough trouble understanding the basic principle of amusement –love or anything of the sort was far out of her range.
As a father, that was something that made him entirely too happy. No chance of her leaving home that way.
As he opened the first folder and began to read over a statement, the doorbell rang, interrupting him. He sighed and put down the coffee mug in his other hand, before standing up to go and attend to whoever it was.
Opening the stained glass front door, he was greeted with the sight of a familiar dark haired woman standing on the door mat, hands clasped in front of her, clutching her handbag. "Oh, hello Sue," He said with a pleasant smile at the sight of his friend. "It's been a long time. Please, come in." Charles said, stepping aside so that she could enter. She gave him a grateful look, stepping through the threshold.
"I'm glad I managed to catch you. I was worried you'd already be gone." She said as she made her way to the kitchen familiarly. She knew the house well and the kitchen best, having frequently come over to help after Elizabeth's passing.
"Ah, I'm actually not going in today. I've got plenty paperwork." He explained, gesturing to the pile on the counter. "May I offer you something? We've got some Purple Blueberry Muffins if you're interested." He offered and she smiled in amusement, taking a seat at the round table.
"I see she still loves her food colouring." Sue declared fondly. Charles chuckled, pulling out the pan of baked goods from where it previously sat in the oven.
"She'll probably never stop." He replied, and soon, a warm cup of Earl Grey and a muffin sat in front of his friend. She gave him a grateful nod.
"How have you been? We haven't seen you around these parts recently." he commented as he refilled his own mug with coffee.
Sue let out an appreciative hum at the taste of his daughter's baking. "This is lovely." She acknowledged with a smile. "I've been good thank you, and maybe you should come down and visit every once in a while. Harry's been asking about you." She told him, as he took a seat across from her on the round table.
Charles laughed. "Tell Harry I don't hang out with old men." He teased, and Sue chuckled, taking a sip of her tea.
"Oh, he won't be pleased to hear that. I'm fairly sure one of these days he's going to come up here and bodily drag you fishing." She declared, and Charles was fairly sure she wasn't even joking. Let it never be said that Harry Clearwater wasn't a determined man.
The grey eyed man cringed. "Even after the last disaster?" The memory of being dragged down the river by a freakishly large Salmon was still fresh in his mind. Sue laughed.
"Indeed." She confirmed, her voice filled with amusement.
"Perhaps I should start running then." He joked. "Now, how may I help you today?"
The black haired woman nodded, setting he cup down. "Well, lately Leah has been complaining about the colour of her bedroom, going on about how she's grown out of it, although, I personally think peach is a very elegant colour for a young woman, she doesn't agree. Seth is getting on my case now too, seeing that I said yes to his sister's request." She explained, sounding weary. Charles gave her a look of sympathy, knowing the difficulty of raising a daughter. He couldn't imagine the challenge of two children. "I was wondering if Edgar would be available soon to come over? Even Harry has grown tired of hearing the both of them go on about it." The woman said, shaking her head and taking a calming sip of her tea.
Charles let out a thoughtful hum, thinking of his daughter's heavy schedule. She would busy the whole break, however he couldn't think of anything pressing enough to begin that day. And plus, considering the fact that she's refused to attend classes today, he figured that she may as well do something productive. He'd ask of course if she had any real plans, but if not, then it was to the Clearwaters' she went.
"I think she's available today actually." He said, tapping the rim of his mug idly. Sue looked relieved.
"Oh thank goodness, I don't think I can take any more of their incessant complaints." Sue breathed in relief. "We already bought the paint, but I didn't want to let them do it themselves in case they made a mistake, and goodness knows that Seth would probably make a right mess of things on purpose." She told him, sounding exasperated.
Charles chuckled slightly. "Boys will be boys." He said and she let out a huff.
"They just never clean up afterwards." She grumbled, reaching for her purse. "How much shall I give you then?" She inquired, but he shook his head.
"No, it's alright. It's a gift." He told her. Sue frowned in displeasure.
"No Charles," She began in a disapproving tone, "You can't very well expect me to agree to that." She stated.
"Would you have wanted me to pay you for all the times you helped around the house?" He asked, raising a dark brow, and her frown deepened.
"Well, no, but-"She began and he put up a hand to stop her.
"Then please don't pay us for this. And you know Edgar doesn't like receiving money in the first place." The black haired man pointed out, making her sigh in defeat.
"Alright, you win." She relented, though it was clear she still didn't approve. "Thank you, you have no idea how much we all appreciate it." She stressed the word "all", much to his amusement.
"Of course." Charles acquiesced. Sue gave one last smile, before standing, bag in hand.
"I'll have to take my leave now, I'm already late enough for my shift at the Clinic as it is." She told him, and he stood to walk her to the door.
"You didn't have to inconvenience yourself. A phone call would have sufficed." He told her, opening the front door. She chuckled.
"But it gave me a chance to see if you two were still in good health." She told him, stepping though the threshold and pulling out the keys to the blue Toyota that sat in his driveway.
"I don't think one can keel over from food colouring, so really, we're just fine." He said, and she let out a huff of amusement.
"Give Edgar dear my love, and don't be a stranger, you hear?" She ordered. Charles shrugged.
"No promises." He answer, just before closing the front door.
Leah opened the front door to reveal a relatively tall girl with extremely curly, messy black hair, filled with twigs, leaves and what seemed to be white chalk dust, clad in bright rainbow patterned gum boots, red leggings that were dirtied with soil and even more of the white chalk dust, and a pouch adorned, tool filled apron that covered the green long-sleeved shirt underneath, a leather bag draped across the girl's shoulders.
Those too were dirty.
Large, wide, colourless eyes stared in her direction, though Leah got the feeling that the girl wasn't even looking at her in the first place,
Her last real memory of Edgar Beauregard was from three years ago, just before the girl's mother had died, but really, she couldn't say much had changed about her at all.
"Hullo." Said the girl in front of her, voice soft and airy.
Leah stared at her a moment longer. "…Hi." She answered finally." You're late." She commented, annoyance showing through as she gave the girl a severe look. Mr Beauregard had called and said ten o'clock. Two hours had passed with no sign of her, until Seth had loudly declared she wasn't coming and had gone to sulk in a corner. Now, thirty minutes after that, here she stood at the door.
Edgar wasn't even looking at her any more, staring at something behind her, though all Leah didn't see anything interesting. "There was a dead log in the forest that drew my attention." She said, sounding entirely unrepentant. Leah wondered how chalk had gotten involved.
Right, she thought shaking her head, the girl's a weirdo. Forgot.
Leah's chocolate eyes scanned the immediate area, looking for the car that had brought the black haired girl here, but she could see none, and hadn't heard any vehicle either. She frowned.
"How'd you get here?" She inquired.
"I walked." Edgar answered.
Leah shook her head. "No, I mean how'd you arrive in La Push." She clarified. Slowly, the younger girl's head turned until she was once again staring Leah dead in the eye. Shifting uncomfortably, Leah held her gaze.
"I walked." Edgar repeated in a tone that said she was probably wondering about Leah's mental capabilities, which she thought entirely unfair because if anyone's mental state needed to be examined, it was Edgar's and not hers.
Albeit, she could admit to herself that lately she had been a little, unstable, ever since the whole thing with –NO, she wasn't going to think about it. Not now when she had finally managed to get the constantly burning pain in her heart to a dull throb. She was fine. She didn't need him.
Leah blinked a few times as the girl's words registered in her mind. "You walked here? All the way from Forks?" She echoed, raising a dark brow, disbelief evident in her expression. The younger girl nodded in confirmation.
"Yes."
"It's a forty minute drive. How long could it have taken to walk?" She asked incredulously.
Edgar shrugged. "An hour, five minutes and thirty-three seconds. I suspect it takes longer under normal circumstances –I normally just cut through the forest." She explained in a tone that suggested that she really didn't grasp how big of a deal it was.
No wonder she's late, Leah thought shaking her head. And judging by the fact that she'd said "Normally", it meant that she made the trek often.
Sighing, she stepped aside in order to allow the younger girl through the threshold, feeling as if she'd just gone ten full speed turns on the Merry-Go-Round.
"Seth!" She called out loudly over the signs of television coming from the living room as she closed the door behind her.
"What do you want now? I'm in the middle of the newest episode!" He called back in a whine. Leah tsked in annoyance, rolling her eyes.
"I guess you don't want your room to be painted then!" She called, grabbing a startled Edgar's wrist and leading the way down the corridor until they reached the horrid yellow painted door (in Leah's not-so-humble opinion) that served as the entrance to her bedroom.
It was a small room, with peach painted walls, aged wooden floors, a white dresser adorned with various trinkets and framed photos with a two door brown wardrobe next to it, and a modest sized three-quarter bed with light blue dressings, on top of a fluffy but worn carpet, with a small bedside table with a lamp -all shoved under the large open window with pink lace curtains floating in the breeze
Leah absolutely hated it.
She hadn't told her parents but she was doing more than 'just a little' repainting. She was completely dead set of refurnishing her room completely. It was filled with far too many painful memories for her to be truly comfortable within, and she felt that the best way for her to move on would be to simply just start it a fresh.
She'd bought new curtains and bed things with the money she'd saved from working at the local bakeshop, along with more paint to change the colour of the furniture. They were stashed under the bed so that her mother wouldn't be able to discover any of it, lest she get angry and disapprove. Leah knew she wouldn't understand. She'd think it an overreaction and a waste of money, despite whatever Leah would do to convince her otherwise. So she'd rather just keep the whole thing a secret until the whole room was done. Plus it was the perfect opportunity to do it today, considering that her mother had an all day shift at the clinic, and her dad was over at the Black's place. By the time they'd both come home, Edgar would be long gone and the room completely finished. Of course, Leah though with a frown, she would have preferred if said female had come earlier, but she figured that she should be grateful that she'd come at all.
"So you're the person who's going to be painting our bedrooms." Seth's voice declared, bringing her back to the present. She turned to see her little ten year old brother standing at the door with his arms crossed and legs apart –probably his dismal attempt at looking intimidating-, with an exaggerated frown. Suddenly, he whipped out his left arm and pointed an accusing finger at the person in question. "You're late!" He exclaimed indignantly.
Leah's brown eyes shifted to Edgar who had at some point drifted to the window when she wasn't paying attention, and saw that really, for her part, she seemed totally unfazed.
"I am. I apologise if it's as much of a bother as you and your sister make it out to be." She replied, not even looking her little brother's way. Seth sputtered like an old train at being mostly ignored.
He puffed up his chest. "W-well, it's rude! And look at me when I'm talking to you! My mother says ignoring somebody is rude too!" He demanded hotly.
Edgar turned around to look at Seth, though her brows were furrowed slightly. "Well, my father says pointing blatantly at strangers, as well as speaking in loud tones is rude, especially demanding things in said tones. So if I am being rude, then you are as well. Perhaps even more so." She pointed out. Leah had to hide her smirk of amusement behind her hand as Seth froze, slowly processing her logic.
She decided to step in a salvage the situation while she could. "Seth, go and fetch the paint stuff from the shed. We're starting with my room first." She told him. Large chocolate eyes snapped in her direction in surprise, as if he'd temporarily forgotten that she was even there.
In her own bedroom.
He pouted, bottom lip jutting out slightly. "B-but, I wanna do mine first." He complained. Leah placed her hands on her hips and gave him a firm look. Under normal circumstances, she would have succumbed without a fuss (especially with the way his puppy-dog eyes were looking at her), but she needed to get her bedroom done first before her parents got home.
"Seth." She stressed in her no-nonsense tone. He gave a heavy sigh, before slouching off to do as told. Turning back to Edgar, who was still staring in the direction her brother went with a small frown, it was her turn to frown.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" She offered, remembering her manners, if a little belatedly.
All she got was a blank stare in return.
