This one is a bit longer than the others, folks. I hope you enjoy it. Hit me with that feedback in the comments, folks. I want to know your thoughts on how this is going ;)
Also, no copyright infringement is intended. SM owns all characters but Hodie.

Finding the lights on in her house nearly sent Leah into a panic with Hodie at their side and memories of the shape-shifting tick still too fresh in her mind. The back door was still locked when they reached it, however. Quil quickly calmed her and then checked that no one was in the house. He walked out calmly and shrugged, gesturing all was fine.

As they entered through the back door, Seth walked in through the front. He looked over in surprise as Hodie followed them inside.

Leah asked Seth, "What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be on patrol?"

Seth shifted his weight nervously, looking only at Quil as he said, "Uh, yeah. I need Quil. Caught some trails near the Rez."

Quil glanced toward Leah suspiciously and asked, "Why didn't anyone alert us?"

Seth huffed and said, "I'll explain on the way. Just come on."

"Be careful," Leah called after them as they left. She gestured for Hodie to follow her, and they rushed outside in time to see Quil phase. Hodie scoffed in disbelief at the size of the wolves Quil and Seth became.

He said, "That's how you guys managed to take down Amara, huh? I don't understand how that much wolf fits back inside them. Your wolf proportions are way more believable. What is Jacob? Six foot seven? Makes me feel scrawny in comparison."

Leah was taken aback by his admission. Hodie had never mentioned having any insecurities about his appearance that she could recall.

Leah said, "Jacob dwarfs us all because he is Alpha. His wolf is practically a fucking horse. Sam is the second tallest because he used to be Alpha and remains Beta. If someone else took over his position, they would go through another growth spurt."

Hodie gaped at her in disbelief. She grinned and said, "You are more toned this year than last year. You look better than when we first saw each other again. When you left, I was worried you would starve. It was why I had Tom send money. I told him that very thing."

Hodie followed Leah back inside and sat down on the couch. He said, "You were thinner when I came home, too."

The wolf was practically hopping inside of her happily from his use of the word home. She bit back her grin and shrugged away his comment.

Hodie said, "I wasn't starving. I mean, I had food. I couldn't keep it down most of the time. If I had an appetite, it wasn't much. When I first started coming here again, it picked up."

Leah smiled and said, "Yeah. Bella's cooking helps. The guys joke that it is from all the love she puts into it, but Jacob, Angela, and I believe it is one of her gifts as a singer. I couldn't keep anything down after I got hurt. At first, I thought it was from my injuries, but Amara had scrambled my mind somehow. She was manipulating my dreams and memories. I was in and out of it for four days with skull fractures. I stayed on liquids for a few days after I woke up. Quil and Jacob carried me everywhere because I couldn't walk very well for a while. I had nightmares and severe depression. I couldn't get out of bed sometimes. I would wake up screaming, but Quil brought me out of that. He started sleeping next to me so that I felt safe because that bitch kept getting to me in my sleep.

We moved in with Jake and Bella after some of my memories returned. Then I found out about Julien, literally the same fucking day Amara was caught. The nightmares ended, and I got the rest of my memories back when her head came off. I finally got my appetite mostly back right about the same time that I found out you were coming home."

Hodie shook his head and said, "Do you think it was from the imprint? I mean, I thought you were dead. I couldn't get out of bed for days. I laid in a motel for over a week, hoping the bastard would just show up and finally kill my ass already. I have cried over plenty of losses in twenty-seven years, believe me. But, you? I was living in my worst nightmare. I thought I had found my forever person, and then you suddenly did not exist anymore. I did intend to come back, Leah. When I thought you were gone …" He scowled and shook his head as he said, "there was nothing to come back for. Not without you here when I knew I would think about you no matter where I went. I sure as hell didn't think anyone would want me around when it was my fault you were gone."

"No one ever blamed you, Hodie," Leah said. "We all just wanted you to be safe and come back."

Hodie nodded and sighed. He said, "I sent Amara a fucking postcard, and she called me. She was supposed to come and see me, at her insistence. I did warn her not to come. I never mentioned you to her because I didn't want to hear the shit I knew would hurt. She never showed up, and I didn't hear from her again.

Then I got robbed by some dickwad at gunpoint. He made me prove there was no money on my prepaid debit card by listening to me check the balance. When he realized he was robbing a broke person, he decided to let me keep my shitty old truck. I was stranded with nothing but my truck, a few changes of clothes, and a debit card worth seven cents. When I found a job, it was the only thing keeping me going for a long time." He paused and frowned as he said, "Sounds like we both stopped getting sick around the same time. We were grieving at the same time, too."

The other wolves felt intense pain and grief when away from their imprints for too long. God, if what I felt then had only been a fraction of what I could have felt… Leah felt a sense of intense pride coming from her wolf. You let go of the imprint to keep Julien safe, didn't you?

If Leah had felt as much emotional pain as she could have felt, she was sure to have lost her son. No wonder you stayed curled up in a ball all of that time. You took on the pain so that I didn't have to.

Leah said, "We were feeling each other because of the imprint."

Hodie scoffed and said, "This will sound crazy, but there were times when I thought I was losing my damn mind because I would get these intense feelings of comfort. I thought it was my mom, and it brought me a lot of peace. Do you think it's possible that I felt Quil comforting you?"

"Oh," Leah said. "Maybe? I could feel what you were feeling before you left. It all makes a lot of sense."

Hodie asked, "Will you tell me more about what happened while I was gone?" He patted the seat next to him on the couch. Leah grinned as she slid next to him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

She said, "I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you everything that happened here while you were gone. The full story, even the shitty parts. I have some pictures if you want to see them. My injuries as they healed, pictures from the wedding. I still want an answer to the question you dodged earlier."

"What question?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Gem was your fiance?"

Hodie said, "Baby, do you know how many women ghosted me when I told them I was briefly engaged to another man? More than I would care to admit."

Leah said, "You have been friends since you were teenagers, right?"

Hodie nodded and said, "Yeah. Met completely by chance. He was blatantly bisexual. I didn't give a damn, you know? I felt like a walking harbinger of death with my mom dragging me from place to place, chased by monsters that we couldn't tell anyone were real. I went on dates but never really attempted a relationship in my teens. We both had intimacy issues. Who the hell was I to judge?" He chuckled as she snuggled closer to him.

Hodie said, "Gem was tossed into foster care when his parents died in a plane crash. He was a trust fund kid but couldn't get his money until he was twenty-one. He ran away from a foster home and ended up on the beach. Started hanging out with some surfers and learned how to surf.

There isn't a shy bone in Gem's body, and he would befriend just about anyone. He is hilarious as fuck, and we hit it off right away. I don't care about gender, race, weight, or any of that shit. I connect with people for who they are. That being said, Gem wound up in a jam and moved in with my mom and me. We went surfing every chance we got. We started competing and ended up surfing professionally. Then we started getting recognized places, which made getting our underage-asses alcohol and weed way too easy. Now, Gem was just my friend for a few years, but all we had was each other for a long time. We got drunk one night and shit changed."

Leah gave him a knowing grin and asked, "You slept together?"

Hodie nodded, smirking. "It wasn't my first time having sex, but it was my first time going that far with a guy. I had a complete freakout the next day."

Leah frowned and asked, "Because you slept with a guy?"

Hodie barked out a laugh and said, "No, it was because it was my best friend. Gem didn't even blink an eye about it. Just went on about his day as if nothing had happened. A couple of days later, I finally got the balls to ask him if what happened was bothering him.

"What did he say?"

"You're loud as shit, Hodad. We need to get our own place so that your mom doesn't have a coronary."

Leah hugged him a little tighter as she laughed and said, "I probably would have said the same thing. I have never had sex in my Mother's house."

Hodie laughed and asked, "Never? wow."

Leah shook her head no, and he chuckled. He said, "Well, I found us a place near my mom. I met Mike, and she needed somewhere to go. We needed a roommate to help with bills, and it seemed like a good idea. She fell in love with Gem. She cared about me, and I cared about her. Her solution was that we all be together and take care of each other. Then the vampire came for me, and we had to move again.

The next I knew, we were all living in different places while I ran from the vamp. I finally thought I dodged the vampire again. We all moved back in together, but the dynamic was different. They were closer, and I felt like an outsider. I started getting super jealous. I thought I was losing Gem. I know it was for the wrong reasons, but as a last attempt to save things, I asked him to marry me. He was the only constant connection that I ever had besides my mom. I was surprised when he said yes. I was more surprised that Mike was supportive.

A few months later, the vamp returned. I came home to a busted door, half of their belongings missing, and they had disappeared. I didn't know Amara had been sneaking in and fucking with their heads while they slept. I never heard from either of them again.

I was the one who filed missing persons for them both. After everything I had been through, I decided to trust the cops. They turned around and started hounding me because of other deaths and disappearances that either my mom or I had been a witness of.

Mike and Gem had closed out their bank accounts and everything, but Gem had transferred a few thousand into my account. I guess he knew we might not see each other again by then. I'm not sure. Either way, it looked suspicious.

The cops had nothing to arrest me for and no crime outside of my door getting busted in, which somehow I was evicted for. The landlord didn't say so, but I had gotten arrested for weed like two months prior. I am pretty sure she was waiting for an excuse after that. She thought we were all weird, free-love hippies.

I competed one last time, but it wasn't the same without Gem there. The public didn't know we were ever a couple. They did know that we were friends and had always competed together before that. No one knew where Gem was, and it was all anyone could talk about. It didn't feel the same without him.

I spoke to my mom on the phone for like three hours the day before I came home. I told her everything that was bothering me. She told me to come to stay with her for a few days. Mom had moved to some tiny ghetto duplex on the outskirts of some town I can't remember the name of in Washington. I thought, Good. No one will know me, and I won't get any questions about Gem.

We said, I love you, and I began packing as soon as I got off the phone. I drove from Southern California to Washington. When I got there, she was dead. She had been murdered that morning, just a few hours before I arrived. Of course, I called the cops. They immediately arrested me. I sat in jail for the weekend and was released Monday morning because there was nothing other than my presence tying me to anything.

It looked like she had been … her throat was ripped out. There was no way anyone could have done that without being sprayed in blood, you know? There was fucking blood everywhere. The vampire didn't drink her, Leah. It killed her; quickly and violently while she sat asleep in her fucking recliner. I could see her from the doorway when I walked into her house. I walked right back outside and barfed over the porch railing.

Police just suspected me for the same old reasons. I had a van at the time and a gas station receipt for an alibi. Cops tore all my shit apart, searching for proof that I was responsible while claiming to look for what I had already told them was in the glove box.

Luckily, no one there knew who I was.

I called my sponsors and quit everything. No events, no competitions … no more paycheck. I buried my mom. I tried and failed to fix my van after it was torn apart. I used some of her life insurance money to buy my truck. I sold her half of that damn duplex, and I moved to Port Angeles because it was where I ran out of gas. I found my apartment with the money I had left and got a job.

Once I got a little comfortable, I went on a few dates, one of which was with Amara. I thought that was how we had met. I thought she was a sweet girl but not my type. I had some very careful and unfulfilling one-night stands during that time. She was not one, by the way. I befriended the last girlfriend before you at a job I only kept for two weeks. You already know that story.

Got discouraged and gave up on dating. I decided to just … be alone, I guess. I tried to get my shit together. Then you walked into the club, and I think I fell head over heels the minute I saw you. You were looking like the cartoon Pocahontas and shit." Leah laughed, and Hodie said, "That love at first sight shit had never happened to me before." Leah felt him shrug underneath her. "Now you know all of it. Do you see me any differently?"

Leah sat up and pressed her lips against his tenderly. "Not differently. I see you better," she said and snuggled against him again.

Keeping her word, Leah proceeded to tell him everything that had happened while he was away, from the day he left up until the point where she met him at the restaurant. Hodie cried with her as she described her vivid nightmares, again when she told him all of the things Quil had done to take care of her along the way. He was angry about Amara impersonating Quil and Chelsea. Hodie was devastated that Quil's life could have become a shit show as he had turned out.

Hodie hugged her tighter during some parts, indicating his sympathy and regret. He calmed her with gentle kisses to her temple and languidly stroked her upper arm with his fingertips.

At least an hour had passed when Quil and Seth finally returned to the house. Seth's mood seemed greatly improved as he walked inside laughing, only for him to freeze at the sight of Leah and Hodie snuggled together on the couch. When Quil grinned at them as he passed by, Seth gaped at him in disbelief.

Quil asked, "You two get to talk about some stuff while I was gone?"

"Yep," Hodie said, staring down at Leah. He turned to a confused Seth and asked, "How's it going, Seth? Did you guys find anything?"

Recalling why they had left so abruptly, Leah sat up and asked, "Yeah? What happened to the trails?"

"Uh, just a random passing through," Seth mumbled, peeking up at Quil. "Trail whipped around toward Canada."

Why the hell is he acting so damn nervous? Is he lying? Seth never lies about shit… Leah watched her brother shifting around anxiously and asked, "What's going on with you? Do you need to talk about something, or do you just gotta pee?"

"I …" Seth looked up at Quil again as he cheerily sauntered past and toward the bathroom. "Is everything okay with all of you?"

Leah said, "We are fine. Are you? Is everything okay at home?"

Seth huffed and blurted, "Why? What did you hear?"

The sound of the shower turning on poorly muffled Quil's laughter. He called out, "Might as well talk to your sister, Seth."

What the hell does Quil know that I don't?

Hodie chuckled as Leah tried not to grin. She said, "Sit and spill."

Seth grumbled, "Everything is fine, Leah." He gestured between Leah and Hodie heatedly and said, "You spill. Where is Jules, anyway?"

Leah groaned at the quickly spreading nickname. "Bella wanted to keep him," she said. "Are you still staying over there tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm glad I'll see Julien for a bit," Seth said, quieting. His shoulders drooped defeatedly as he finally sat down on the edge of her (thankfully) sturdy coffee table. "I think I'm going to see if I can rent their spare room."

Leah leaned over to rub his back affectionately. It was something she had done to comfort him since he was little. Leah was saddened by the realization that she had spent little time with Seth over the last year. His eyes welled with bitter tears as he stared at the floor.

He said, "You don't want to hear about it. You have enough shit going on."

Leah said, "Seth, you're my brother." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "You can always come to me. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you can't. That's my fault, and I'm honestly only realizing it right now. I have been a shitty fucking sister for a long time, huh?"

He chuckled and wiped his eyes with his other hand. Seth had always been softhearted and kind. He forgave people far too easily, which tended to bite him in the ass where his loved ones were concerned. Though he was kind, Seth did not always befriend kind people. Leah had not been very kind to Seth in recent years.

She said, "I am sorry, Seth. I love you. No matter what the problem is. You can fucking live with me if you are afraid mom might kick you out."

Seth turned to look at her in surprise and asked, "Really?"

"Hell yeah," Leah said. "I'll have Esme build you a bedroom if I have to." On second thought… "Maybe your own little guest house or some shit. Maybe a wolf-sized version of a tiny house." She grinned as Seth chuckled, and she said, "Now, tell me what is going on, Bud." Seth glanced at Hodie hesitantly, and Leah said, "You can trust Hodie, Seth."

Seth said, "Actually … Quil said Hodie might be a good person to talk to, but I was worried you would just get pissed if I asked to talk to him and not to you."

From the bathroom, Quil yelled, "Don't throw me under the bus, bro. I told you to talk to your sister, too."

Seth yelled back, "Why are you showering with the door open? Weirdo."

Leah grinned at the combined sound of Quil and Hodie's laughter. Had the wolf been a cat, it would be purring. Unfortunately, wolves do not purr. She asked, "So what is going on?"

Seth sighed heavily and said, "Quil knows most of it already." The shower turned off, and Leah smirked as Quil walked out with a towel around his waist. He winked at her as he stepped into the bedroom and shut the door.

Seth seemed confused as Leah unconsciously leaned back against Hodie, and his arm slipped back around her shoulders. He blurted out, "I can't concentrate until I know what this is." He gestured between Leah, Hodie, and the closed bedroom door. Hodie grinned and kissed Leah near her temple.

Seth glared at them in confusion as he glanced toward the bedroom and asked, "Are you and Quil still together?"

Leah said, "Yep."

Seth was only more confused by her answer. He asked, "So is this an imprint connection thing?"

Leah said, "I'm with them both, Seth. Hodie is my boyfriend. Quil is my boyfriend. One big happy fucking family." Hodie burst out laughing again as Seth scowled at his sister.

Seth asked, "Are you screwing with me right now?"

Leah laughed and said, "No, I am not screwing with you."

Seth rolled his eyes and let out a long, deep breath. Quil walked out of the bedroom in a t-shirt and pajama pants. He smirked as he sat on the other end of the couch and pulled Leah's legs up into his lap.

Incredulously, Seth asked, "This is for real? You guys are all fine with this?"

Quil said, "Seth, you know me. Would I stick around if this shit bothered me?"

"No," Seth blurted without thought. Quil shrugged and turned to grin at Leah. "So I'm not going to have to go back to listening to you whine about how much you miss my sister all the time, right?"

Leah and Hodie both laughed as Quil said, "No, dude. I'm not going anywhere."

Seth grinned at Leah and said, "Okay. I was going to say, pick me a damn brother-in-law already. I'm getting confused here."

Leah's cheeks flushed as Quil and Hodie both burst out laughing again. She said, "Quit stalling already, Seth. What's going on with you?"

Seth glanced over at Quil, who gave him an encouraging nod. "You know mom isn't exactly thrilled with a lot of my friends these days," Seth said.

Leah said, "Well, that is old news. What is her problem now?"

"She tried to set me up with some nice girl she works with at the hospital," Seth huffed. "I tried to tell her I wasn't interested, and she got mad about it. As if I was insulting this girl or something." Seth scowled, appearing the spitting image of their mother as he threw up his hands and said, "I have never even met this girl."

Leah bit back her laughter and said, "You usually befriend pretty much anyone, Seth. What's wrong with her?"

Seth shot Quil a dirty look as Quil snickered and said, "She is … not his type, Leelee."

"Which I told Mom," Seth nearly yelled. "And, she didn't get it. So I told her I am already sort of seeing someone. She got all excited and asked me if I had imprinted. "

Leah said, "Seth, whatever it is? She'll get over it. I can't believe she was trying to set you up anyway when she knows you might imprint one day. She fought me tooth and nail about being with Quil." Quil laughed outright as he nodded in agreement.

"Wait," Hodie said sadly, "She did? Why?"

Leah cringed and glanced over at Quil. Fuck. Good job, Leah. How do you explain this one without hurting his feelings?

Quil leaned behind her to see Hodie and said, "Sue isn't my biggest fan. She thinks I'm an immature slut-bag and is afraid I will up and leave Leah one day. Or cheat on her, and let Leah take care of me while I sit on my drunk ass for the rest of my life. Sue just never says it out loud to anyone but Leah."

Leah turned to gape at Quil in surprise. He has never said that shit out loud before.

Quil chuckled, pushing away any hint of his bitterness, and said, "What? It is what it is. It sucks because she should know me better. She watched me grow up. It doesn't matter, though. I know who I am and what is important. Sue will come around eventually."

Leah reached for his hand and squeezed it, hoping it somehow conveyed how sure she was that he was right. Sue had finally accepted their relationship, at the very least.

Quil asked, "Seth? You were saying?"

"Um, yeah," Seth said and reached up to scratch his head awkwardly. "Anyway, I had to tell her the truth, which is that I don't think I'll ever imprint. Then she asked me why …" He looked at Quil, who smirked at Leah in turn before glancing toward Hodie.

Quil winked at Leah and whispered, "Remember our conversation with Gem and what I caught onto before you did?" He glanced at Seth and back to Leah. It took less than three seconds for the hint to dawn on her. Suddenly, she could see her brother much clearer and wondered when her observation skills had decided to fuck off.

Leah put her feet on the floor as she sat up and asked, "Seth, are you gay?" Quil chuckled, and Seth couldn't hold back an anxious grin as he nodded his head. "Wait a damn minute," Leah said as she recalled some of Paul's more recent teasing. Leah yelled, "Paul fucking knew and actually kept his mouth shut?"

Seth laughed and nodded again. "Suprised the hell out of me, too. He finds ways to give me shit without actually outing me, though. Sometimes he goes a bit too far, but Quil keeps him in line." Seth smiled at Quil gratefully. "Anyway, Mom's the one I'm worried about for now."

Leah said, "Bro, I doubt mom cares if you are gay. If she does, it is likely because the council will be weird for a minute, and that will pass. I'm the first known female wolf. I'm assuming you'll be the first known gay one, although I'm sure others existed." Seth rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Leah continued, "Honestly, someone was bound to be eventually. A few of the last generation of wolves never married or anything. I can't see her turning against you or anything crazy like that. With all the shit we have been through … trust me, mom just wants our lives to be easier. It honestly took my fight with her last Christmas for me to understand that. I know she seems angry a lot of the time when she is just worried. Charlie won't give a damn as long as you are happy. Also, I'll personally clobber the shit out of anyone that fucks with you about it."

Quil said, "Some North American tribes considered gay people special and called them Two-Spirit. The forced conversion from the white Christian immigrants made people begin turning against homosexual relationships and people."

Leah stared at Quil incredulously and said, "You know, you're a lot fucking smarter than the other pack members ever give you credit for."

He chuckled and said, "I told you. I am full of absolutely random fucking information. Also, I just like History." He pointed to his head and asked, "Not just three pounds of bong water up here after all, huh?" Leah burst out laughing and shook her head.

Seth laughed and continued, "Anyway, only Quil, Paul, Jared, and Mom know. Now, you two. Edward knew. He was easy to confide in, regardless of the things he did. He never teased or judged me, either. Ed always said it was only his business if I wanted him to know about it and that I was a good person that deserved happiness."

Leah damn near scoffed in surprise. I never thought I would feel gratitude toward Edward fucking Cullen, but here it is… She said, "You have a right to privacy. If you want to tell others, that is great. If you are worried about any backlash, my advice is to just be yourself, Seth. The right people will love you no matter what. Quil and I will always be here for you." Leah nudged Quil with her foot and asked, "How long have you known?"

"About a year," Quil said. Leah's jaw dropped in surprise. "Kid is almost as good at keeping his thoughts to himself as you are."

"He found out by accident," Seth said and grinned. "Sort of allowed my thoughts slip one night on patrol. Luckily, only Quil caught it, and he didn't give me any crap. He just told me I could talk to him if I needed to."

Leah grinned at Quil affectionately and said, "That's not surprising, actually." Anticipating the answer, she asked, "So how does Jared know?"

Seth said, "Uh, because of the vamp that knows Hodie. Jared gave me some shit about a comment he made, and I was already embarrassed. He figured it out pretty quickly when I got defensive. Jared apologized and hasn't said a word about it since, but he has barely spoken to me ever since. Now I am worried about him judging me and just not saying anything. I don't want any of the guys thinking I'm checking them out or giving me hell. To me, they are all like my brothers. Even watching you and Quil together makes me… Blegh." Seth shivered dramatically, sticking out his tongue as the others laughed heartily.

"I am seeing someone from Forks. He is out, and he gets a hard time for it from a few people. Our other friends think we are just friends and hang out at the beach, but … I feel like a jerk. We argued about it today. He is starting to think I'm embarrassed to be with him or something. I don't want that because I really like him. Hiding my wolf from him is difficult enough because my wolf cares about him, too. I can't tell him when I have to patrol, and he thinks I just avoid him half the time. I hate feeling like it has to be some huge deal, or I'm being silently judged for it by people that don't even know."

Hodie asked, "For being gay or being a wolf?"

Seth scoffed bitterly and said, "Both."

Leah said, "Honestly, Quil is right. It might be good for you to talk to Hodie sometimes." She turned to look at Hodie, and he kissed her temple again in response. "Also, I think you should confide in Jacob. You know he will be supportive, and he would cold-cock anyone that tried to be a dick to you about it."

"The thing is, though," Quil said, "I don't think he will have to worry anyway. Seth is like all of our little brother. I keep telling him that he is more worried than he needs to be. No one will think any less of him. Paul teases him a bit, just because it's Paul." Seth scowled and rolled his eyes again.

Leah asked Seth, "How did Paul find out, anyway?"

Seth's cheeks flushed red as Quil burst out laughing. Seth admitted, "Uh, he caught us on the beach." As Leah stared at Seth suspiciously, he held up his hands innocently and said, "Just holding hands, Leelee. I'm not into your kinda stuff."

Incredulously, Leah asked, "My kind of stuff?"

Seth laughed and said, "Yeah. The public display stuff. Like swapping spit with Quil at Christmas, and me thanking God that Jake put a TV in Billy's room before he moved in because you are loud. That kind of stuff."

It was several minutes before everyone could stop laughing and continue the conversation. Leah asked, "So, why didn't you ever tell me? We all thought you were crushing on Bella for years, Seth.."

Seth said, "Well, I wasn't completely sure. I had never really crushed on anyone. When I finally started admitting it to myself, you and Sam had just split up. You were dealing with enough. Later, I let people think I had a crush on Bells because it was easier than being honest, I guess. Also, Hodie? Quil wouldn't say why I should confide in you. He only said that I should. I kinda figured it's because you have gay friends or whatever."

Leah snorted and tried not to laugh as Hodie playfully pushed her away before pulling her back into place against his side.

Quil smirked at them and said, "I told him it was Hodie's place to tell Seth about himself. I have invaded enough of Hodie's business."

There was mischief in Hodie's eyes as he tried to stop laughing and said, "I'm guessing Gem said something about Seth. Am I right?"

"Oh yeah," Leah said, recalling the expression on Gem's face as he had stared after Seth. "He didn't even care when I said Seth was my baby brother."

Hodie barked out a laugh and said, "I told you, he's not shy, Leah. Gem would flirt with Jesus himself." Hodie's smile softened as he turned to Seth and said, "Gem is my ex-fiance, Seth. We were together for a few years." He laughed as Seth's jaw dropped.

The memory of Gem whispering into her ear about Hodie made her shiver. Leah had deliberately avoided telling Hodie that part of the story. Gem's mocking revelation would have crushed Hodie, despite having been under Amara's mind-twisting influence. Gem had wanted his lover back. Amara had just wanted to fuck him.

Loudly, Seth asked, "You were with a vampire?"

Hodie retained his amused smile and said, "He was human then." He moved his arm away, and Leah sat up so he could stand. "Come on," Hodie said and gestured for Seth to follow.

Suspiciously, Seth frowned and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Jacob's. We can chat on the walk and then with him. Maybe the three of us can figure out the best way to come out if you're certain that's what you want to do?"

Seth gave Leah a tearful smirk and nodded as he stood. Leah stood quickly to hug her little brother. He squeezed her back tightly, and she said, "I'm proud of you, you know? No matter what. Thank you for telling me. Who is your boyfriend anyway?" Seth grinned but remained silent as he followed Hodie outside.

Leah sat back on the couch and gently shoved Quil to the side. "Hang on," He said and laughed as he put his legs behind her, and they laid down together. Leah giggled as he hugged her tight against his broad chest so she wouldn't fall off the seat.

"I told you this thing is too small," Leah said with her face buried against his neck.

"You know, comments like that out of context could really hurt a guy's feelings," Quil joked. Leah burst out laughing and pulled away from him to stand.

"Like you need any encouragement in that department, Sir," Leah said as she pulled him up from the couch.

"Sir. I like it. It's not Daddy, but it will do," Quil teased. As she walked toward the bedroom, Quil went the opposite way and ducked into the spare room.

Leah was still laughing as she turned around to find him gone. Leaning out of their bedroom doorway, she asked, "What are you doing?"

From the dark spare bedroom across the house, Quil yelled back, "Testing out this new bed." The sound of him flopping down on a soft surface was followed by a contented sigh. Leah walked into the spare bedroom and gaped at the new bed, freshly outfitted with bedclothes and pillows.

Leah asked, "What the heck is this?"

Quil chuckled and said, "This is for when Hodie wants to be here. I hope he will be more often since my schedule is ridiculous. So that you do not have to sleep alone, or you can if you want to. If he moves in one day, he can have his own space."

Leah remained silent, unsure of what to say. Her heart seemed full enough to burst as she croaked out, "How did you get it here?"

Quil said, "Emmett and Rose dropped it off. They were heading out the front while we came in through the back. That's why the lights were on."

Leah shook her head and grinned. "I didn't smell them or anything." Quil pointed above his head at the open window. Slick," she said, "I guess that's why Seth looked so surprised, huh?"

Quil said, "No. That was genuine. Seth didn't expect to see Hodie."

Leah finally crawled onto the bed next to him and sighed.

Quil stretched and mumbled, "Feels good, huh?"

Leah snuggled up to him and yawned before sliding her arms around his waist. They remained there as Leah dozed off with her head on his shoulder.