"Leah, pass the chips and salsa, would you?" Amy asked from across the table. Leah, Amy, and Kim were sitting in Connweller's kitchen with a variety of snacks between them. Amy was leaving for Montana in just a few days and tonight was her little farewell girl's night. It was just the three of them, but Leah preferred it that way. It was easy to feel at home with them.

Kim had brought some of the homemade salsa from the little restaurant that was owned by Jared's family and Leah sadly handed it off to Amy. It was some good stuff, not that she'd ever tell Jared that.

Leah had been over at the Connweller's for a few hours now and their topics had ranged from everything under the sun. They'd discussed school and boyfriends and parents and abortion rights. They'd done their nails and eaten pizza that Amy had brought in all the way from Forks.

Kim and Amy had bickered some, but it had been a peaceful, non-violent evening. Without realizing it, so much of Leah's time had been spent with the Pack lately that the lack of violence was a refreshing change that made Leah feel human again. But still, Leah couldn't help but wonder what the Pack was doing tonight. They had invited her to hang out with them, but she told them she had plans, and for once, she hadn't been lying.

"This shit is good," Amy announced, after she dipped another chip in it, "Kim, I finally understand why you're with Jared."

"There's more to him than just the salsa, Amy, but I will admit that it's a definite plus." Kim reached over her sister and stole the whole thing of salsa back before snatching the chips as well.

"Just the salsa and those abs."

Kim sighed dramatically, "He sings, too, Amy. And he happens to be very nice."

Not for the first time, Leah was glad she had Seth instead of a sister. It was bad enough when Rachel and Becca used to argue back in the day, but now she had to put up with it from Amy and Kim, too. Leah had Seth, who wouldn't fight back even when he should and while they sometimes fought, it was never over the other's choice in partners.

"Did I tell you I met Embry's boyfriend the other day?" Leah blurted out.

The meeting hadn't been intentional and Leah was confident that Embry was not happy that Leah was the first member of the pack that Alex had met, but she'd gone straight up to them and introduced herself when she saw Embry and Alex of them at a bookstore in Port Angeles. Leah had told Alex she was a coworker of Embry's, but Alex laughed and said he knew who she really was. Then, just to piss Embry off more (and because she was immensely curious), she'd sat down and proceeded to interrupt their date for the next thirty minutes before she knew she had to leave or she'd be late for work. Leah hadn't seen Embry since then, but she was expecting hell when she did.

"Did you really?" Kim perked up as soon as Leah said it, "I just heard he had a guy two days ago and you've already met him!"

"To be fair, I've known a lot longer than you."

"Embry? Embry Call? He's gay?"

"Amy, do you not know anything?" Kim asked, exasperated, "It's all anyone's been talking about."

This was true and Leah felt bad about it. She wasn't even sure how it got out – she was fairly confident no one in the Pack had told anyone – but when she'd clocked into work two days ago, one of the new girls she'd hired, Rowena, was talking about it. But so far no one had said anything unkind about it, which was good – not that she'd stand for that. Even Sam's Pack was cool about it and Sam and Jared had both apparently tried to give Embry advice on how to tell Alex about the whole wolf thing and the imprinting thing, which Leah found hilarious and annoyed Embry to no end.

"I just didn't realize it!" Amy said defensively.

"Well, he's gay. And apparently, Leah met his boyfriend. Leah, what was he like? Was he nice? Was he cute?"

Alex wasn't Leah's type, but she could tell Embry liked him, so she just said, "Yes. To both."

"Tell him to bring him to the next bonfire!" Kim insisted.

"What bonfire?"

"The ones I go to with Jared! Amy, do you ever listen to me?"

Not wanting to listen to her two friends bicker once again, Leah spoke up, "Amy, you had mentioned a movie. Should we watch one?"

"Yeah, let's," Kim agreed quickly, standing up and pushing the salsa away, "I just bought the What a Girl Wants DVD the other day! We should watch that."

"Okay," Amy muttered reluctantly, "But it's an old movie, you know."

"It's good though," Kim protested.

"I haven't seen it," Leah said quickly, trying to stop them from arguing before they could start.

"Fine," Amy conceded with a sigh.

The three of them made their way to the living room, where Kim eagerly popped her DVD into the player. Within seconds, they were transported to the magical world of mysterious fathers in England and evil stepsisters. By the time the movie was over, Leah could barely keep her eyes open.

"Are you tired, Leah?" Amy asked teasingly as the credits started to roll. She and Kim had managed to stay quiet the entire movie, much to Leah's relief.

"A bit," Leah admitted, "I was up late."

Up late didn't really cover it. She had patrol last night, which meant that she didn't get home till early in the morning. And then somehow, Leah really wasn't sure how, she'd ended up making out with Jacob against the tree once they'd ended their shift and phased back to their human state. It was a horrible idea and broke every boundary she'd tried to establish, but it had happened and Leah had enjoyed every second of it. So then by the time she finally got home, Leah had tossed and turned and had barely managed to sleep at all before she went to work. And then she had come straight from work to the Connweller's house. So she was running a little low on sleep.

"Doing anything interesting? Seeing anyone good?" Amy asked with a hint of knowing in her voice.

"Well you just had that, uh, thing, didn't you, Leah? The volunteer thing that you do, right?" Kim came to Leah's rescue and it seemed clear that Kim didn't suspect anything. Sometimes Leah felt like it might as well be written on her face I kissed Jacob Black and I really liked it, but if Kim didn't suspect anything, maybe Leah was hiding it better than she thought she was.

"Yeah, I did. So it was just a late night." And it wasn't at all made any later by anything untoward she was doing with Jacob, "So I should probably get going."

Leah said goodnight to Kim and goodbye to Amy, as she would be leaving soon for Montana, and Leah wasn't sure that she'd see her again. It was bittersweet in a way; Amy was the person who'd been so kind to her so many months ago and had gotten her the job at the Resort. It felt like eons ago, though it wasn't even a full year ago. So much had changed. But Leah was happy for Amy and Leah knew that she'd see Amy again when she visited. And Amy offered to host if Leah ever made it out to Montana. Leah couldn't help but notice Kim tearing up as Amy talked about her move. Suddenly, their bickering made sense.

The radio was playing softly in the background as Leah drove home. It wasn't a long drive, but she had come straight from work and didn't want to rush around in the summer heat. The air conditioning in her car barely worked, but it was enough to help it feel a bit cooler.

It was late enough that the reservation was mostly deserted; Leah passed only one other car on her way home. But as she turned on to the little street that her house was on, she saw a dark figure approaching her.

"Jake, what are you doing here?" Leah asked as she rolled down her window. She slowed her car down, stopping as he

"I haven't been stalking you!" he said quickly, as if that was her first thought, "I was hanging out with Seth and Quil and I was just on my way home."

Leah looked at him doubtfully, "Doesn't Seth have patrol tonight?"

"Well, yes, he does, but he was a little late getting off. We were playing Call of Duty and just got carried away," Jacob shrugged sheepishly.

"I sure hope that La Push doesn't get attacked by vampires tonight."

"If it does, I wouldn't want Embry and Seth patrolling anyways."

Leah laughed easily, "Well, no. But they would be able to call for help if they need it."

"Sure, sure," Jacob yawned dramatically, "But I'm too tired to help them tonight. So let's hope there are no vampires in the area. What were you doing out so late, anyway?"

"Girl's night with Amy and Kim. Why are you walking home?"

"I didn't want to phase with Embry and Seth in the pack mind."

Leah wondered if he was also thinking about what had happened earlier this morning. She swore she could still feel his lips on her neck and his hands in her hair…

"Leah?" Jacob asked, pulling Leah out of her daze, "You okay?"

"Never been better," she said automatically, "Do you want a ride home?"

"If you're offering…" Jacob shrugged and walked around the side of her car. He opened the passenger door and immediately his entire scent filled her little car. When did she become this little lovesick girl?

Leah promptly u-turned the car and drove in the direction of the Black's house. It was a short little ride and neither of them said anything. Leah focused on trying not to breathe too much or else she knew she would end up in a compromising position, yet again.

"Thanks for the ride," Jacob said as she pulled up to the Black's house. All the lights were off.

"Anytime," Leah said tensely.

"Are you upset because of what happened this morning?" Jacob asked without hesitation.

Upset wasn't the right word for it. Leah didn't know what she was, but she knew she wasn't upset. She didn't even regret it, not really. And God knows she'd enjoyed it.

"No," Leah answered honestly, "It's just that…"

It's just that what? That she hadn't stopped thinking about him all day? That her heartbeat definitely sped up just a little bit when she saw him? That the smell of him in her car was making it hard to think?

"Shh – listen!" Jacob cut her before she could finish and then paused for about half a second, "It's Rachel! She's coming."

Leah listened carefully and heard a car coming. To her, it sounded just like a car, but she knew Jacob spent enough time with all the various cars to be able to differentiate one from the other. One thing was clear, though, the car was quickly coming closer.

"Get out!" she hissed, but it didn't matter. Jacob was already halfway out of her car.

As soon as Jacob slammed the car door, she sped away, praying that Rachel didn't notice who was driving past her at midnight.


For all the time she'd spent dreading and worrying so much about Sam and Emily's wedding day, Leah was finding that she was perfectly fine. Sue had gone overboard with an elaborate breakfast of French toast and pancakes, which Leah devoured. They'd driven over to the community center together and Leah had gotten dressed and ready there, with Kim and the other bridesmaids. The weather was nice and Leah was finding that the bridesmaid dress that Emily had selected wasn't actually that uncomfortable or unflattering. There were a lot of things that sucked about being a werewolf, but the improvements to her physique were not something that Leah was complaining about.

But perhaps most of all, even more than the breakfast and muffins that Emily had provided for her bridesmaids (Leah had eaten two, determined not to look like a freak in front of all the other bridesmaids), the nicest part of the day was seeing how Emily was sparkling with joy and excitement. In all her life, Leah couldn't think of a time when Emily was this happy. She had been dancing around all day, positively glowing with excitement.

For her part, Leah was just sitting in the back, watching everything happen. She didn't feel the need to insert herself into anything – although she doubted she could ruin Emily's day, that's how happy she seemed.

"I've never seen her so excited," Kim said to Leah. Kim's eyes were trained on Emily as Emily's mother helped Emily with her hair.

"You gonna be next?" Leah asked Kim.

"Never say never," Kim shrugged, "But I'd like to finish school first and have my life a little more figured out."

"Makes sense."

"What about you?"

"Me? I'm never getting married," Leah laughed.

"You will! You'll find someone! You've just had some bad luck with love lately."

"Kim, I never want to get married."

Kim rolled her eyes, "I think you're just bitter. You'll find someone."

"We'll see."

Kim didn't respond and within minutes, the photographer was calling both of them for some faux candids of getting ready. From there, they were hurried off to the staging room and told to wait until the ceremony began. Leah watched as almost everyone she'd ever met was ushered into the outdoor ceremony space – the wolves who were not in the bridal party serving as ushers, as well as a few random cousins and other relatives.

"You look so beautiful, Emily," Leah told her as everyone was seated. The other bridesmaids had gone to fix up their make-up one last time, but Leah had stayed to talk with Emily. It was the first second they had had alone all day and Leah knew what had to be said.

"Thank you, Leah. Thank you for everything, thank for being here, thank you for -"

"It's okay," Leah interrupted her, "I don't mind. I'm so happy for you, Emily. I really am."

Leah smiled at Emily, trying to show Emily that she was being genuine. It seemed liked Emily believed it.

"I can't believe I'm getting married today," Emily whispered.

"I'm so happy for you," Leah repeated, "Congratulations."

"Are you ready, Emily-boo?" Uncle Frank, Emily's dad, came up behind Emily and Leah and gave Emily a swooping hug. Leah took this as her chance to step back and let Emily have a moment with her dad. At the same time, the other bridesmaids were returning from the bathroom and the last of the guests had arrived. Leah knew that would processional would be starting in a few mere minutes.

The ceremony passed without a hitch. Sam cried, Emily cried, so did both of their parents, and Leah was pretty sure that she saw Charlie Swan dab his eyes, too. Claire made it down the aisle without getting distracted (it helped that Quil had bribed with her promises of candy) and no one tripped or vomited or fainted. No one objected when the officiant asked and the rain held off. Leah didn't know what else a person could ask for in a wedding ceremony, but judging by the smiles on Emily and Sam's faces after they were pronounced man and wife, they were delighted with it all.

After the ceremony, the entire bridal party took pictures for what felt like ages but was really only an hour and a half. And then finally, the wedding party joined the rest of the guests at the reception, which was just set up in the main hall of the community center. Emily had done a nice job disguising it – elegant streamers hung from the rafters and almost managed to hide the fact that they were in nothing more than a gym – and the community center had a festive ambiance that was so different than the weekly meetings that Leah endured here. It was a nice change.

Most importantly, though, was that there was food in the reception hall. The breakfasts provided by Emily and Sue were not insignificant, but Leah was starving by the time everyone got seated and made their way through the buffet line, which was catered by Jared's family's restaurant. Leah managed to choke some food down before the speeches and toasts started, which were mostly kept appropriate, though Jared made some questionable comments. Rachel caught the bouquet, which made her squeal and Paul shrug indifferently (Billy and Jacob both looked horrified).

In the few words Leah exchanged with Emily, Leah could see the joy radiating from her cousin, just as it had this morning. After so much tension and anger, Leah didn't have it in her to be anything but happy for Emily. Strangely, Leah felt at peace with it all.

The main hall of the community center had been transformed into a dance floor and the floor was vibrating with the loud music. All around Leah, people were dancing and jumping, and while Leah had managed to dance a little bit, she found that she was thirsty and ready for a break.

She grabbed a glass of champagne – her third or fourth of the evening – and scanned the crowded room until she found who she was looking for.

Leah sat down next to Jacob at the table he was sitting at. She'd been keeping an eye on him all evening, but he'd spent most of it with the other morons by his side. But at some point Seth, Embry, and Quil had all disappeared – Seth was laughing with some of the cousins that had come down from the Makah res, Quil was chatting up some girl that Leah barely recognized while holding an exhausted Claire and Embry had gone God-knows-where – but Jacob was still sitting at the table, all alone.

"How's it going?" he asked her before she could speak.

"Good," Leah said without thinking about it, "Why aren't you dancing?"

Jacob stared at her, "You know why. How are you really doing?"

"Jake, I'm fine. Really. I am. I think the weirdest thing about this is that I have an ex-boyfriend who's old enough to be married."

Jacob let out a hearty laugh, "I know the feeling. Just wait until they pop out a demon baby and your friend imprints on it."

"Jesus. No," Leah shuddered at the thought, "At least all my friends have already imprinted, so I don't have to worry about that."

"What about me? Am I not your friend?" There was an uncertain feel to Jacob's question.

Labels were hard. On the one hand, Leah didn't have many friends that she would routinely make out with. But on the other hand, she still wasn't sure that she was ready to call Jacob anything more than that. Even though he was. But admitting it was another beast.

"You're…" Leah gestured wildly and Jacob raised his eyebrow at her.

"I'm…?"

"Well, I don't normally let my friends touch my tits," she admitted sharply.

"Yeah, and I've done that a lot," Jacob smirked and Leah reached out to hit his arm.

"I can't stand you," she muttered, feigning disgust, "You're repulsive."

"Hey, you're the one who brought it up. Is that your mom dancing with Charlie?"

Leah turned her head so quickly she almost go whiplash. Sure enough, on the other side of the hall, Sue was awkwardly dancing with Charlie.

"What the fuck?" Leah couldn't take her eyes off of the two of them, "Didn't see that coming."

"Neither did I. I wonder -"

Jacob was cut off by a loud noise and Leah saw that one of the centerpieces had fallen onto the floor across the room.

"Jesus, is that Sam's dad?" Leah had only met Joshua Uley a handful of times. He'd never bothered to show for Sam's graduation or any of the other life events back when she was dating Sam. He wasn't involved in Sam's life much, so she had been surprised when had Joshua showed up for his son's wedding.

"I'll go deal with him." Without hesitating, Jacob stood up and crossed the dance hall, leaving Leah alone. She downed the rest of her champagne and stood up, now feeling brave enough to go socialize with the rest of her relatives that she'd mostly been avoiding all night. At least they weren't knocking down things and making a fool of themselves.

The packs were the last people in the community center that night. At Jared's insistence, Sam and Emily had left shortly after the party had begun to wind down, the disgusting happiness still plastered on both their faces. That left the packs and some family members to help clean up the community center. Once the chairs were put away and the tables wiped clean, even members of the packs started disappearing. Leah was tempted to be among them, but Jacob was still there and it didn't feel quite right.

"We can finish the clean-up tomorrow," Jared decided. Leah wasn't quite sure who put him in charge, but she wasn't about to challenge his decision. It was past midnight now and Leah was exhausted.

Murmurs of agreement echoed through the hall of the few remaining helpers. Most people had disappeared, but Jared and Kim were still left, as were Jacob, Quil, and Brady.

"You want a ride, Leah?" Jake asked her. Leah glanced around, but Sue had left a while ago, leaving Leah stranded. And Seth was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant that he was at the Cullens or something. Maybe he'd escaped early. In theory, she could walk back to her house, but she was tired and her feet hurt from the stupid heels she had worn.

"Guess so," she muttered. She grabbed her backpack full of makeup and other goodies and waved a quick goodbye to Kim and Jared. Leah followed Jacob out of the community center and into the parking lot. She took one last look at the community center. She'd told Kim she never wanted to get married and she wasn't lying, but what Emily had managed to do to the community center had actually been kinda nice.

The parking lot was nearly deserted by the time they made their way to Jacob's little car. Leah slid into the passenger seat, happy to sit down for a second. In silence, Jacob joined her in the driver's seat and started the car.

"It wasn't bad as far as weddings go," Jacob said as he drove.

Leah couldn't help but laugh, "Have you been to many?"

"Well, I've only been to two other weddings. The last wedding I went to… well, let's just say it didn't go well. I don't want to think about it. Too embarrassing. But the other one was my cousin's when I was real young, but they had a candy bar and I ate too many Skittles and threw up in the hallway and Billy yelled at me. So I'd say this wasn't a bad one."

"Ha, I think I remember that," Leah laughed lightly, "It's the first wedding I've been to where they let me have champagne."

"See? Free booze. Any place you get free booze isn't a bad place. Doesn't have to be a good place, but it's definitely not a bad place."

"Whatever," Leah laughed. Jacob wasn't wrong though. Sitting next to him, it was impossible to feel sad or angry or anything else that she thought she would be on the day of Sam's wedding. Because Sam didn't really feel like her Sam anymore. Not the way that Jacob felt like her Jacob. And her Jacob was so easy to be with, so easy to spend time with. The more she spent time with Jacob, the more she knew what she wanted to do. And in moments like this, where she was laughing with him, it was harder and harder to think of all the reasons she shouldn't date him.

Jacob pulled in front of the Clearwater's house. Leah could tell that it was empty, but she had no idea where Sue and Seth were. Based on the way that Sue was dancing with Charlie, Leah had a sinking feeling that Sue might be spending the night in Forks. And Seth was a wild card.

Jacob cut the engine and turned to look at Leah. She wasn't surprised that he cut the engine; she had a feeling he'd try something when he offered her a ride. And truthfully, even if he did, Leah didn't think she'd be opposed.

"Is something wrong?" It wasn't that Leah hadn't ever seen that intensity in Jacob's eyes before, but it still made her a little self-conscious.

"You… you just look really nice tonight."

"Don't tell me weddings make you sappy, too," she groaned.

"I don't think it's weddings that make me sappy. I think it's just the fact that I'm in my car and I have a beautiful woman sitting next to me."

Leah rolled her eyes, "You are such a dork."

"You love me anyway."

"Do not."

But when Jacob leaned forward to kiss her, she didn't pull away. Instead, she let her hands tangle in his hair and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Her lips crashed against his in a way that had become so familiar to her.

"Leah, I think I'm in love with you," he murmured when they pulled away for air. He pressed his forehead against hers.

"Yeah," she said without thinking about it, "I think I'm in love with you, too."