/BPOV/

Edward stopped walking when we arrived at the entrance to the hotel I'd been staying at, then leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Alice told me something this morning about your future. I know I can't actually talk to you about it, but I really wish I could. You know I'll always be here for you. If you ever need to talk, I'm just a phone call away."

"Thank you Edward. I appreciate it. I'm sure whatever she told you will be discussed when it can be."

"Of course, though I don't believe I will be in Forks when that conversation happens. So just know, I love you, and I will be here for you no matter what."

Edward hugged me then hopped in his Volvo and drove away. Angela was waiting inside the lobby doors for me. There was no threat any longer, however in a city this large, and with my luck, I wasn't our of eyesight of at least one super natural person that could protect me.

"What was that about? Sounded pretty ominous." She asked, walking toward the elevator doors and pressing the button to go up.

"Yeah… I can't think about the what ifs though. How's Leah?"

"Angry. She keeps saying it's her fault." Angela pressed the 4 button on the elevator and the doors closed behind us.

"What? How could this possibly be her fault? That makes no sense." I needed to get upstairs and talk to Leah. Try and figure out what was going on. We arrived at our hotel room door and Bella pulled me over to her. She was visibly upset and I had no idea what to do to help her. As we walked through the door, I overheard her talking to Kim.

"Carlisle said most of these tumors are caught because a loved one notices a drastic change in personality, and when that happened, I just assumed she was a bitch who dug her claws into my boyfriend. And when it got worse and we found out about her using magic, I just assumed she was a sociopath. I was the person who could have noticed personality changes sooner than anyone else but instead, I was too busy thinking the girl I grew up with was a huge liar and fake."

Kim held her arms out and placed them on Leah's shoulders, stopping her pacing. "I understand what you mean. I get it, but you're also so very wrong. None of us could have guessed this is how this part of the story would go. I mean… the only thing we can do now, is be there for her as she heals, if that's what she wants. Is that what YOU want?"

Leah's sob broke me. She was a fighter, not much brought her down but the thought of what almost happened has completely destroyed her.

"I... I do. I feel horrible that she's been going through this without a friend. Everyone she had in her life aside from her parents and her sister… we all abandoned her. Alexa told me she's been aggressive and angry but that it was the tumor, Edward said none of that remains. She's just… Emily."

"Then we be there for her. We show her that despite everything, she still has her friends, if she'll have us." Kim looked over put way and smiled. "Now, as for this whole Sam thing, you really want to just go back to your parents to think things through? We have a whole night. We can settle this problem before we head home."

"I'd like to try that, if possible. I just don't see what can be done. Sam hates her. He never knew that I felt, feel, the loss of what we had. I just don't even know where to begin."

We spent the entire evening talking to Leah and discussing the problems she was feeling. By 1 am, we were all exhausted but it was settled. Leah was going home and would talk to Sam in the morning about how she felt.

/LPOV/

As we pulled up to the house Sam and I shared, I couldn't help but think about seeing Emily on this very porch only 6 months ago. They spent a year and a half together, and despite fate playing a huge role, I still felt guilty about taking away her happy ending.

Sam opened up the door as he heard the rocks grind together under the weight of the car. The looks on his face completely matched my own. Home. Not the house but his arms was what I needed these past 2 days. I missed him more than anything. The car barely stopped moving before I was out the door and in his arms.

"Oh Leelee. I missed you so much. I could hear the vehicle drive away as the girls have us some much needed space. Are you alright? What can I do?"

"Just... listen, I guess."

I pulled away from Sam and he nodded his head then lead me inside to the couch. We sat down and I felt a thousand times better just being home with Sam again. Dealing with all of this alone has not been good for me. I wondered what it was like for Sam.

"So I guess I should start at the beginning. Ever since You left me for Emily, there was this part of me that was missing. I didn't fully realise it at the time but a good chunk was because of Emily. She was like a sister and when she became yours… well it was like she was a whole new person and there was no place for me anymore."

Sam's eyebrows furrowed and I could tell the look he held was that of confusion.

"I felt horrible because I lost you, yeah. That's a given. But I never got over losing Emily as well. That is until I realised that you had each other because of an imprint bond. I thought, well it isn't like they did this on purpose to hurt me or anything. And things felt like they might go back to normal. I mean you with her but I could be around you both again; Have my sister and best friend back."

"Oh." Sam barely spoke but I could tell he was getting where I was coming from.

"Yeah… then Bella broke the spell and you were mine. It felt so right but I still… I dunno… I kind of felt guilty. Like "I" was the one to destroy some special relationship. I felt bad for Emily, because she had to go through the pain of losing you. She was still a sister to me, and I hated it more because I knew how that pain felt. On top of that, I was losing her once again.

"When Alexa told me what happened, I felt even worse. Most tumors are caught by loved ones who notice a sudden drastic change in personality, which Emily definitely had. However instead of thinking something might be wrong when she was caught, we all assumed she was psycho. I never once thought about how close we were or how I knew her better than anyone, and it wasn't like her to do something so crazy."

I turned toward Sam, but didn't yet look into his eyes. "She could have died and I would have felt like it was my fault. If I had recognized the signs, maybe I could have gotten her into a doctor before it got as bad as it did."

"No, Leelee." Sam took my face in his hands, forcing me to look into his eyes and see the sincerity in his words. "Don't think that way. You never could have known."

"I… I know. The logical part of me knows, but I still can't help thinking it. How do you feel about all of this? I can't believe I never asked you before, but I was worried about what you might say."

"Well, Bella told us that Edward did his weird mind scan thing and everything appeared normal, including her feelings toward me and the tumor was the cause of her erratic behavior. So I guess there really isn't much to be angry about, though I can't say for certain that I will ever be comfortable around her."

Sam pulled me into his chest, hugging me and stroking my hair.

"How about we try to think about better things right now, and just see how everything else goes? Did you find some stuff for our wedding?"

I smiled his favorite smile and talked to him about our success choosing décor for the wedding as well as some things for the house. He was able to keep my mind occupied for the rest of the day. His soft hands and warm mouth kept me even busier well into the night.

/BPOV/

As we drove away from Sam and Leah, and toward the local store, I wondered if things would ever calm down, or was this what it meant to be an adult? Life was always going forward and not everything was rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes bad things happened, but for once, I was taking things in stride instead of falling apart. I guess that was also a part of being an adult; learning and growing into a confident person.

We decided to hang out and wait together for our men who were all still in school, so we were at the store for some snacks and drinks. Kim was on the phone with her parents to let them know she was home safe. They'd already called the school to excuse her given the circumstances and trusted her enough to allow her to come with us.

We walked into the store and grabbed a few bags of chips and some cans of soda. I picked up a crossword puzzle variety book for myself and a pack of pens and set them on the counter. When I looked up, the cashier staring back at me had her mouth open. It was Chelsea, the girl Jake almost slept with back when he had no memory, and apparently no conscience.

"I…" Chelsea started and my eyes went wide at the conversation I was not prepared to have. "I am so sorry! I didn't know what was going on and when I found out he had amnesia from his car accident I felt even worse not NOTHING makes me feel worse than when I found out he's only 16!"

I was stuck. I just listened to this woman word vomit all over me and I had no idea what to say or do to get her to stop but it was the single most awkward thing to every happen to me.

"Oh my GOD! I puked. I couldn't believe we almost… I'm 23! I felt so sick. I mean look at him. He doesn't look 16, closer to 25 and he never said and I feel disgusting! I almost walked myself into the police station. He's just a kid!"

She needs to stop. I couldn't listen to this any longer. We had JUST gotten through our issues, I did not need this right now.

"Ok. Slow down. I get it, you feel bad. Listen, he was definitely not himself. I'm not blaming you or him for it. I just want to put it behind us and pretend that time never happened. Jake's memory is fully back and he feels guilty enough so if you ever see him in here just like… don't say anything about it." I could practically feel the eyes searing holes into my back as Kim and Angela watched our exchange.

"Ok. You're right. I'm sorry. I just guess I needed to get that off my chest."

I smiled, genuinely not blaming her for what happened. She rang us through and talked a bit about random things. She was a huge talker, it was a struggle to get this girl to stop, but nothing else she said was about Jake. She seemed like a nice girl and I felt bad that she got roped into our mess, but nothing could be done about it anymore.

The quiet walk through the parking lot made Kim's voice much too loud when she finally spoke.

"Ok, what was that? The girl would not shut up. I mean, I'm not trying to be rude she just literally would not stop talking."

"Word vomit." I spoke softly, pulling my hair up into a bun to keep it out of my face while the wind blew through the nearby trees.

"That," Kim said, sipping on her Slushie and pointing a finger in my direction, "is the perfect analogy."

"I think she's nice. Definitely the kind of person I could see us hanging out with if it weren't for the history." Angela sat down at a picnic table and opened up a bag of chips, shoving a few into her mouth, then covering as she chewed.

"Of definitely, just very talkative." I couldn't believe I was agreeing with her but it was true, she seemed really nice and genuinely sorry for everything that happened.

"Anyone else going crazy or is it just because I'm on both ends of this imprint?" Angela asked between bites. I sat down beside her and opened the puzzle book, struggling to do some word puzzles through the wind, but it wasn't bad enough to make me put the book away.

"I'm right there with you, girl." Kim groaned and took a seat on the top of the table, her feet planted on the seat. She snatched a couple of chips from Angela's bag, but she didn't mind. Angela just smiled at her and held the bag up higher. Allowing Kim to take a few more.

"Yup. After spending so much time away from Jake, I don't want to ever be away again so this little trip was Hell. Not months away from each other Hell, but still not something I enjoy doing." I glanced at my watch and sighed. It was 1:20PM, Jake was out at 2 but had to head right over to work so I knew it would be a while before I could see him but I was very impatient. "Not that you guys aren't amazing company or anything, just that… well, Jake can give me something you guys can't."

"Amen to that, sister!" Kim said, holding up a hand for a high five. Angela glanced over but looked back down at her bag of chips. I couldn't leave her hanging like that so I slapped my hand against her own. Kim seemed to notice Angela's sudden quietness and leaned down. "Care to share? Having some issues in the bedroom?"

"No! No issues in the…" Angela cleared her throat and furrowed her brow. "bedroom. Nope."

"So what is it?" I asked, knowing if Angela didn't want to share, she wouldn't.

"We… well I…"

"Yeah?" Kim asked, stealing a couple more chips.

"We haven't… ever."

Kim and I both sat there in silence for what felt like forever before I finally spoke. "How is it possible to both be imprinter and imprinted and you guys aren't going at it like bunnies?"

"Well I kind of want to uh… wait for marriage? My parents are super religious and I kind of started going down that road too and this part year I've been going to Church and we'll, I'm waiting for marriage."

"Ok, I lied. THAT seems like Hell. I couldn't imagine not… that's so awesome for you though. And Paul is all for it I assume, though I doubt that's been easy."

"It really hasn't been. Paul's been great though, and I know that technically imprinting is so much more finite than marriage but I made this vow and I'm sticking with it."

"Aww. I'm proud of you!" Kim said, hugging Angela awkwardly then grabbing more chips.

"I'm happy for you Ange. Devoting yourself to something like that takes a lot of courage and faith."

"Thank you both so much. I was so worried because it's such a rarity these days that maybe you guys would think I was weird. I knew in my heart though that you guys wouldn't judge me for it."

"Of course we wouldn't!" Kim said "We love you."

We hung out for another 30 minutes before there was a loud crack in the sky and rain fell down in buckets. We rushed into the car and once in the safety of the vehicle we all started laughing.

"We look like drowned rats." I laughed, fixing the stray hairs that had blown out of my ponytail and had stuck to my face.

"Speak for yourself, I look fantastic." Kim shook her head, flicking water from her hair at us making us all laugh harder. "Ok, I think it's time to call this a day. Mind giving me a lift home?"

"Not at all." Angela dried her face on her shirt. "Bella, you going back to Leah's?"

"I want to give them a bit more time together, could you drive me to Jake's?"

"Sure." Angela started the car and dropped us both off at our chosen locations then drove herself home.