Leah and Edward
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
"I'm bringing apes, beagles, centipedes, ew, dolphins, eagles, and...ooh! Flamingos." Leah struck a yoga pose, imitating the bird.
Rachel and Rebecca laughed.
"Nice," said Jacob.
"You forgot to say the first part!" Seth shouted. She threw a gift bow at him.
"Fine. I went to the zoo and I'm bringing back apes, beagles, centipedes, dolphins, eagles, and flamingos. Next."
The Clearwater and Black kids were sprawled out in the Clearwaters' living room, wrapping up Christmas presents. This was almost a tradition. Neither family had much money, so Christmas was more about spending time with loved ones than exchanging gifts. Leah, Seth, Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob would always wait until the last minute to wrap up their presents, then spend all afternoon watching movies and drinking hot cocoa while they did.
Leah smiled at her friends and brother. Rachel had been distant, Becca was always busy, Seth was a brat, and even Jake sometimes had his adolescent mood swings - but at the moment, all that mattered was that she loved them all. Even if they did cajole her into playing silly games.
Sue walked into the living room, carrying a tray of chocolate chip cookies fresh out the oven. "Done!"
"No, Mom! I'm wrapping your gift!" Seth tried to shield the partially wrapped big box in front of him.
"Oops! I'm leaving!" Sue set the tray down on the coffee table then rushed out of the room.
"She knows what it is, genius," Leah said. "You get her the same thing every year."
"No, I don't."
"Yeah, you do. An ugly vase you threw together in art class."
Seth punched her in the arm. "You're mean!"
Rebecca said, "It's okay, Seth. I think it's pretty."
Seth grinned and continued to stuff his face with cookies while chatting with Jacob about some game.
From her seat in the armchair in the corner, Rachel called, "Yo, where's the tape?"
Leah checked under the piles of gift wrap, bows, and shopping bags. "Aw, we just ran out. Dang it."
"That sucks, we got a lot more to wrap," said Becca.
"Hey, mom, I'm gonna walk to the corner store, okay?"
"Alright," Sue called from the kitchen. "Get a half-gallon of milk while you're at it. And be careful, it's icy!"
"I will!" Leah pulled on her coat and boots. "See you in five," she told the others.
Leah was almost to the door, when it flew open. Her father came in. "Oh, hey, Dad."
Harry's face was clouded with uncharacteristically upset. "I think we should have a talk, Leah."
Leah sat at the kitchen table in Billy Black's house. She stared at the wood, wishing she could set it on fire, set the whole room on fire, and burn away with it. Anything to escape this conversation.
"Leah? Are you going to answer the question?"
Her head snapped up to meet Billy's eyes. He wasn't unkind, rather just serious at times, but she felt herself shrinking under his gaze.
"Dad, why am I on trial?" she asked Harry.
"You're not on trial, Leah."
That was rather hard for her to believe when she sat across from two solemn elders in a poorly lit room, both of them questioning her about her whereabouts and activity and whatnot.
"I sure hope not," she said, too anxious to even make the joke forming in her head about crime dramas. "Who even told you I knew the Cullens? Was it Sam? That stupid, stupid, stalker Sam!"
"Settle down," said Harry. "We won't have any histrionics from you, today."
"We just want to know what your relationship with the Cullens is," Billy said.
"Why? What's it to you?" she said icily.
"What is it us?! I'm your family. We're your people. You don't think we'd be upset that you're running around with these dangerous people?!" Harry slammed the table so hard Leah flinched.
"Okay. You're right. I just don't want them to be punished because you all have a few stupid fairytales vilifying them. You don't even know them!"
Billy said, "Oh, but we do. And what you call a "fairytale", young lady, some call a "warning"."
Leah stared out the window to her right, sighing. "They're not murderers, okay?"
"It is their nature, Leah. You have to accept that."
"Then why would they help me look for Sam? Why would they save my life?"
Harry grabbed her hand. "Maybe they were good friends in your eyes, honey. But they can only control their instinct for so long. It's not safe to be in their company."
Leah's blood boiled. "We barely speak, as is. Why should I be blocked from seeing them altogether?"
"We thought they could be trusted. But judging from how they've acted these past few weeks, that's clearly not the case."
"Can't you see the danger you are in? Why would you want to put yourself through this, or your family for that matter?" asked Billy.
"You know what? I do think they're dangerous. They're freaks. They're unnatural, scary, freaks. But no way am I going to act like they're bad people," declared Leah. "I was raised, by you, Dad, I might add, to judge a person by their heart."
Harry threw up his hands in exasperation. "Don't use me to justify this...attachment you have to those creatures."
"And don't monitor me like you guys are my parole officers."
"You don't think we have a right to intervene?"
"No, I really don't. I should be able to make my own choices about my own life." Leah crossed her arms.
"Is that really how you feel?" Harry questioned.
"Yes," she told him.
"Then I'm going to have to ask you to not leave."
Leah was thrown for a loop. "This...house?"
"You're not to set a foot off of the reservation."
Her vision seemed to blur. "What? How can you do that?"
"It's not illegal."
"Billy!" She appealed to the man who was practically an uncle to her. Surely, even he wouldn't go this far.
"There's nothing I can do, Leah. Besides, I think it's for the best."
She jumped to her feet. "I'm seventeen years old! I'm not a child! You can't ban me from going."
"Yes, you are seventeen. A child. I can't stop you when you're an adult, but you'll actually need to live until then," Harry said.
"Dad," she cried. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
"No, Leah. You haven't. But if you think it's okay to gamble with your life like this, I clearly have done something wrong in raising you."
Leah could see the determined look in Harry's eyes. She knew there would be no way to get out of this now. She had misstepped, miscalculated, somewhere along the way in her choices. Now she would pay the price.
It was twenty minutes after midnight.
She shivered a bit. At least it wasn't snowing anymore. And she was almost there.
Just up ahead was the smallish tree. The one that was so straight and perfect and neat, it almost seemed artificial. She stopped right next to it.
"Are you there?" she called up.
"Yes. Climb up."
Leah was pretty athletic but it took a bit of effort. She settled into a branch next to her companion. "Boy, was that a walk. I'm going to be sore tomorrow."
Edward's teeth glinted in the moonlight when he grinned. "Now you see why I didn't want to meet at the border."
"Yeah, you would've found me dead in the snow," she said.
He grimaced, only to quickly rearrange his features.
"Relax," she said. He worried too much.
"I can never relax with you. I'm always looking for things to focus on other than your scent."
"Oh," she said, feeling a bit guilty.
"You help a bit."
"I do?"
"Yeah, you practically scream your thoughts," he laughed.
"Glad to be of use." She rolled her eyes.
He simply stared at her, saying nothing. She was starting to get used to that. Him going still and becoming absorbed in his own reflections. Even if it was a tad creepy.
"Hey!"
She leaned back into the tree. "So. Merry Christmas Eve."
"Merry Christmas Eve, Leah."
"You didn't get me any presents," she mock-grumbled.
"Yes, I did. My gift to you is leaving."
"Edward." It was uncomfortable, it was bizarre, but it was true. He had to know. So she said, "When you called me today and told me, your family would have to leave because of me, I felt really...bad," she finished lamely.
"Don't be upset," he assured her. "Your father is a good man. They all are. They have to protect their own, just as we do."
"It's not fair," she pouted. In the back of her mind, she knew she sounded like a brat, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
"Your life can get back to normal," he said. His eyes shone with an emotion she couldn't quite place. "You have your family and you have your Sam. Most importantly, you have a future."
"I know that. I just really came to care about…"
"Yes?" Everything about him seemed on edge now. She took in the gold of his eyes, memorized how his cartoonish hair danced in the wind. She let her eyes linger over his hands, which she had only ever touched once or twice.
"I really came to care about Alice and your family," she said, suddenly preoccupied with her coat's zipper. "I didn't want you guys to get into trouble."
"We're not in trouble, Leah. We'll leave for a few months until the tribal elders have calmed down."
She was in her own world. "And you know something? I really came to care about you." She looked him in the eye now.
Her heart was on the line. She was asking him to make a decision.
Edward looked away first. "I'm not sure I deserve it, Leah."
"Please don't go all "I'm a scary monster" on me. I'm your friend. As messed up and horrible as everything is, I'm your friend," she swore fiercely. If it weren't for the distance between them, she would've grabbed him and shook him.
"But I'm not yours," he said.
"How do you figure?" she said, half-amused.
"I mean it. I've kept things from you."
"Like?"
"Like Sam."
The wind howled and whistled. It was colder than she had assumed.
"What about Sam?" she whispered.
"You asked me about shapeshifters."
"I asked you about shapeshifters," she repeated numbly.
"You wanted to know if the legends were true," he said.
"And you told me, Edward, it wasn't true," she said. She was praying, pleading for one thing in her life to not be a lie. For something to not rot or wilt or be poisoned. Was that so much to ask?
"Yes, I did. But I was lying, Leah. It is true. Shape-shifters are enemies of vampires. We made a peace treaty with the Quileute pack in the thirties."
"Why would you lie?" she asked,
"I'm sworn to secrecy. I'm not even allowed to be here, on your land. I've broken the peace agreement twice in one night," he laughed bitterly.
"Okay. Then, you have my word I won't tell a soul about any of this," she frowned, shaking her head. "But what does that have to do with Sam?" She said, ignoring what she knew in her heart. He had to say it. If he didn't say it, she would keep on denying it, because that was the easy thing to do.
"Sam is one, Leah. He was with the elders when they confronted us. He nearly tore off a few heads, but Jasper managed to calm everyone. Nearly gave himself a headache."
"I don't understand. How could he be one, that's not a thing anymore." What she really didn't understand is how he could say all of this with a straight face, not even realizing he's shifting around the pieces of her world.
"He is...because of my family."
"You turned him into a werewolf?!" she screeched. Some frantic birds in the tree flew away at the sound of her voice.
"No, not purposefully. We're not sure how, but the presence of vampires triggers it. Just being a few miles from the reservation has caused him to transform. It's in his genes," he finished with a hint of regret.
"I can't believe this." Leah felt sick to her stomach. The ground was too far away.
"How long have you known about this?"
"Around the time he came back."
"Not just that, he's a dangerous one, too. You should keep your distance."
"Stop right there. I'm a little sick of people giving me orders." And with that, Leah scrambled out of the tree.
"Leah, be careful, you're going to -"
She lost her footing on one of the lower branches, and plummeted to the ground…only landed in Edward's waiting arms.
He cradled her closer than she would've imagined. He hadn't touched her for this long since the piano incident. He was always keeping his distance, never wanting to cross the line again. His eyes were wide as if he did not expect himself to react either.
"I wouldn't have fallen if you didn't distract me," she said.
"Sure. Next time I'll let you crack your head open."
"Let me go."
He set her on the ground.
Teasing him and yelling at him felt good and right. And that fact only made her angrier that he was leaving, that she was trapped on the rez, that she even cared after about him after all that had happened.
"Leah, you don't have to forgive me. But know that I'm sorry. For lying and making Sam what he is. For involving myself in your life."
"That's good, because I'm not sure I forgive you. Or if I ever will," she lashed out.
He nodded. "Alright." To the untrained eye, he was emotionless, impassive about the situation. Leah now knew that that only meant he was holding back a lot of emotion.
She shook her head. "But you have my word I will not say a thing to anyone about tonight."
"Really?"
"God knows I owe you for my dad. Probably always will."
"Consider us even," he said earnestly.
"We won't be," she said, leaving no room for an argument.
He always understood her much better than she understood him. "Alright. I'll see you home."
Leah turned on her heel (as much as she could in the snow) and stomped away.
She took one...two...three...four, four shaky steps before she spun around and ran back to him.
She threw her arms around him, ignoring how cold and stiff his body felt, even through their coats. She squeezed him tight, knowing it couldn't hurt at all.
"This is a bad idea," he said, but he gently wrapped his arms around her.
"Possibly. But you could have stopped me."
"You're still mad at me." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes. But it's a hug for good luck, wherever you go."
"Thank you, Leah Clearwater," he smiled down at her. It looked so very beautiful on him, she could not help smiling back.
He let her go.
She left.