Tip Toeing

AN: Thanks everyone for reading this story! And an amazingly loud shout out to everyone who's reviewed so far: THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!!! What an inspiration to keep writing! Hope you like this chapter. It's really not my favorite....Ah, well. Next one will hopefully be better, so please bear with me. I'd appreciate any critiques on how to make this chapter less boring. Thanks!!
Yadda, yadda, disclaimer, etc.

Two weeks had nearly passed, and I'd somehow managed to avoid going back to the Cullen's for a repeat visit. The nasty stomach flu making it's way through Forks and La Push certainly helped, since Carlisle spent as much time at the hospital as he could without raising suspicions. I hoped for the very unlikely chance that everyone would forget about my little smashed hand incident so I wouldn't have a reason to go back there at all. Bad things happened when I spent time with the leeches.

April was blending into May, and for the first time in several years, I was actually excited to see Spring. It felt like freedom to me, like a physical reminder that I was coming back to life with the fresh, green plants. Corny, I know, but that's how it felt.

This morning, the sun shone sporadically through the fluffy white clouds floating across the sky, and my feet flew over the worn path faster than any normal human could hope to run. Since the day I had my run-in with Sam, I'd taken to running- sprinting, really- human style every morning. And every day, I got faster. I thought I might be able to run as fast as my Pack mates now in their wolf forms. Maybe it was a compensation for me being smaller and weaker than them- and obviously more breakable. Whatever the reason, I couldn't deny the certain thrill tearing through the forest like that gave me.

My feet slowed abruptly as I passed my self-designated ending spot, and I glanced at my watch hopefully. Yes! Another ten seconds shaved off of my best time. I wondered if it would make any difference to my speed as a wolf, but I was too chicken to phase yet. What if Edward and Embry were right and it did mess up something in my hand?

I rounded the corner to my house and was surprised to see Embry's rusty, old Ford parked in the driveway. Embry himself leaned nonchalantely against it, his massive arms crossed over his chest as he watched me jog up to him.

"Morning, B," he greeted casually as I slowed to a stop in front of him.

"Hey, Tank. What's up? I'm not working today," I said, tilting my head to scrutinize him with some confusion.

"Oh, so I'm only allowed to hang out with you when I'm driving you to work?" he asked with a grin, and I grimaced sheepishly.

"Well... no, but..."

He grinned wider. "Besides, I am planning on driving you somewhere."

Now I just stared at him in confusion. What the hell was he talking about?

"Carlisle's got the day off, and it's about time you got your hand checked out," he announced, and I bristled immediately.

"Oh, hell no. No way! There's no reason he needs to see my hand. It's healed perfectly fine, see?" I flashed my hand at him, all the fingers straight, and backed up nervously. I did not want to spoil this perfectly beautiful day by heading into certain disaster at the Vamps'.

Embry rolled his eyes at me. "Cut the crap, Leah. Carlisle'll just get Sam's permission to cross the border if you don't get it checked out soon."

I paled at the mention of Sam's name but kept a dark scowl on my face. "I'll go some other time, okay? I'll... stop in and see him at the hospital or something. I've got other things to do right now."

"No, you don't," Embry laughed. "You've got as much going on today as I do, which is absolutely nothing."

"Yeah, well, thanks for pointing out how pathetic my life is," I muttered, stung by the truth of his words. Scowling, I headed toward my front door with every intention of slamming it in his face.

Embry heaved an exasperated sigh. "Leah, don't make me throw you into the car myself. Because I will."

"Ha. You would not," I snorted, turning back to roll my eyes at him.

"Wanna bet?" he taunted with a grin. His eyes suddenly twinkled mischieviously, and my mouth went dry. He wouldn't dare. Would he?

I spun back toward the door, scrambling to reach the safety of the house, when his long, heavily muscled arms snaked around me from behind. My shriek came out as a pained "oof!" when my stomach connected with his collarbone as he hefted me effortlessly over his shoulder. He merely chuckled when I pounded my fists uselessly against his back.

"Embry Call, you put me down right now, or so help me, I'll...I'll.." I bit out furiously, too angry to even come up with a suitable threat. He just laughed at me again while he tossed me across the driver's seat and climbed in behind me. Before I could even straighten myself out, he was half way down my street heading out of La Push.

"You'll what?" he drawled, flashing me an innocent grin. I huffed angrily and crossed my arms tightly across my chest.

"I don't know. But it's going to be painful. Really, really painful," I assured him in a deadly voice. It didn't surprise me, although it irritated me, that he didn't look worried in the slightest. Meh. Stupid, near-invincible wolf boys. I slumped down in my seat with the darkest scowl I could manage, silently contemplating how badly I'd get hurt jumping out of the fast-moving car.

"Aw, c'mon, Leah. What's the big deal about having Carlisle check your hand? You were fine with Edward fixing it up," Embry said, flashing his best grin at me. Good lord, it was difficult to stay angry at him when he was being cute like that.

"Tank, have you noticed what kinds of things happen when I go to that house? Freak-outs, broken bones, 'accidentally' getting high from the Mojo Master? Are you remembering all that?" I snapped irritably. "Bad things happen when I have anything to do with the leeches."

Embry frowned. "You should stop calling them that. You sound like Sam."

I shot him a startled look; he actually sounded angry when he muttered that. The frown on his face was dark, and he stared out the windshield with hard eyes. I wanted to shrink into my seat until I disappeared.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it- it's just a bad habit," I mumbled, looking awkwardly out of the window. Embry glanced over at me, his frown smoothly replaced by his grin.

"Naw, no worries. It's no big deal. I was just thinking about Sam before, and it..." he broke off in mid-sentence at the involuntary twitch I gave. "Mojo Master? Man, Emmett's gonna have a field day if he hears that one. Poor Jasper," he chuckled. I scowled at him, not buying his attempt at switching the conversation.

"Thinking what about Sam?" I demanded. Had he had another run-in with him? Was Sam still trying to convince Embry to rejoin his pack? My stomach gave a funny little twist at the thought. Embry's eyes flicked uncertainly at me, the angles of his face hard again, but a subdued amusement sparkled behind his frown.

"Well, I was just thinking about how I talked to Quil a couple of days ago, and... you know he sees Sam pretty often," he began hesitantly, and I nodded even as a sharp pain knifed through me. I concentrated hard not to let him see it, and he turned his gaze back to the road with a tiny smirk.

"Yeah, well, Quil told me that Sam's nose is a little bit more crooked these days. No vampire doc around to straighten it out for him, so..." he trailed off with a casual shrug, but the smirk stayed firmly in place. I stared at him silently, blinking with astonishment. Jacob had broken his nose? He'd actually....

I didn't even know how to react to that. Part of me wanted to smile vindictively, but another part of me cringed with guilt. Poor Sam had gotten punched in the face (at least, I assumed that's how Jake broke it), all because I was a pathetic loser who couldn't get over him. That was horrible. I was horrible.

Embry glanced over at me and rolled his eyes. "B, cut it out. It's not your fault, and anyway, Sam had it coming."

"What? I'm not thinking anything..." I muttered, shrinking down into my seat as far as I could go.

"Right. It's pretty obvious when you're chewing on your lip like that," he told me matter-of-factly as he parked the car in the Cullen's driveway. "So, are you going to be mature about this, or am I hauling you over my shoulder again?"

I glared at him before I thrust open my door and stood up haughtily, my nose in the air. He chuckled quietly to himself as he followed me up to the front door. Carlisle held it open for us before we reached it.

"Leah! I'm glad you're here. Edward has been very concerned that he didn't fix your hand up correctly," he stated, smiling kindly at me. I held my hand up and wiggled my fingers.

"It's perfectly fine. There's really no reason you need to look at it."

He smiled as he ushered me into their pristine living room. "Better safe than sorry. Edward's studied medicine, but he's never actually practiced it. I'm surprised he set your fingers for you. He never even trusted himself to bandage up Bella's numerous injuries."

Oh, great. That made me feel better. He was too worried about doing something wrong to fix up Bella, but I could be his medical lab rat. Although, he'd always been a bit psychotic when it came to Bella...

I sat down on the couch as Carlisle pulled up a chair next to me and took my outstretched hand. Embry settled himself at my side and relaxed as Alice danced down the stairs, pulling a reluctant Jasper behind her. My silent prayer to turn invisible went unheard, and their eyes fastened on me as they reached the living room.

"Hi, guys! Finally here to get your hand checked over?" Alice asked as she plopped herself on the floor by Embry's feet. Jasper stood farther away, no doubt sensing my wariness as he came nearer. I muttered an incomprehensible answer and kept tabs on my emotions. If I felt so much as a flicker of calm that was out of place, I was gonna bolt.

Alice eyed my brief running shorts and white tanktop with less distaste than normal. "That's a decent look for you. The sporty thing," she clarified when I gave her a blank look.

"Alice," Carlisle murmured warningly without looking up from my hand. The black haired fashionista shrugged innocently.

"I'm just saying, you've got great muscle tone, so sporty outfits will look good on you," she paused and giggled. "At least you didn't grow seven feet tall and beef up like a body builder."

"No kidding," Embry agreed fervently. I shot him a dirty look, even though I heartily agreed with them.

"I've been wondering about that. You haven't reacted to the shifting in the same way the rest of the Pack has- perhaps because you're female," Carlisle theorized quietly. "I suppose since you're the only one, we can't know for sure."

I sighed. It sure wasn't a whole lot of fun being the biggest freak of the freaks. It crossed my mind that maybe Nessie sometimes felt the same way. She was almost one of a kind, and Carlisle was constantly theorizing and hypothesizing over her. Poor kid. But thinking of Nessie...

"Uh, where is everybody?" I asked after a moment of glancing around the empty, quiet house in confusion.

"Oh, out hunting," Alice replied airily. I thought about it for a moment, scrunching up my face in confused thought. Didn't they usually go out hunting in groups of only two or three?

"But where's Seth and Jake? I thought they headed over here this morning," I added questioningly. Embry and Alice shared a quick, conspiratal look, and I narrowed my eyes. "What's going on?"

"You're paranoid, you know that, B? Jake and Seth just took Nessie hunting," Embry told me with a laughing grin. Alice nodded fervently.

"Yeah. She likes to make a game out of it. So, are you coming to watch the game on Sunday?" she asked, casually attempting to change the subject. I pursed my lips as my gaze flickered between the two of them suspiciously.

"If I may caution you, don't bet against Emmett. He's bribed Alice into telling him the outcome of the game," Carlisle added. Right. So he was in on whatever they were hiding, too. Great. I grumbled noncommittingly under my breath, annoyed, and Alice propped her chin on her hands to survey me with interest.

"Charlie and your mom will be here," she told me, and I sighed. That was just playing dirty, bringing my mom up like that, and she knew it. Thank goodness that Carlisle broke in then with a few questions about my hand so I could avoid giving any sort of reply to her.

"Well, it seems that Edward did a fine job fixing you up. I can't find anything wrong with your hand," Carlisle finally informed me, and I gratefully took my fingers out of his cold, marble grasp.

"Thank goodness. Now maybe we can stop listening to him worrying about it," smirked Alice with a roll of her eyes.

Esme's voice floated down from somewhere upstairs, startling me. "That's not very nice, Alice dear."

"Sorry, Esme!" Alice called out as she exchanged a quick, amused glance with Jasper. Embry stood up with me as Esme appeared at the top of the stairs and gracefully descended to greet us. I edged nervously toward the door as I mumbled a hello in reply, not caring if Embry was following me or not. Now that I'd gotten the okay, there was no reason for me not to shift anymore.

"Oh, do you need to go so soon?" Esme asked gently, sincere disappointment in her voice. "I just tried a new recipe for a chocolate s'mores cheesecake, and I was hoping the two of you could taste-test it for me."

"Hey, I'll be your kitchen guinea pig anytime, Esme," Embry agreed enthusiastically, but I bit my lip uncertainly. My instincts were screaming at me to get away from that house before something awful happened again, but my stomach was pulling me towards the deliciously tempting dessert. Cheesecake, chocolate, and s'mores were three of my all-time favorite things.

"Won't you try some, too, Leah?" Esme smiled and asked innocently, but I could've sworn she'd made that cake on purpose just to tempt me into her kitchen.

"Uh, well, I... chocolate s'mores?" I mumbled, my mouth watering traitorously.

"C'mon, B. We'll head back to La Push right after we have a piece," Embry promised, and I caved pathetically. Who knew that getting my appetite back would someday be my undoing?

Esme fairly glowed with elation as she led us to the kitchen, Alice dancing along beside us. The pixie laughed at the nervous glance I shot over my shoulder at Jasper trailing disinterestedly behind us.

"No worries, Leah. Esme made him promise never to mess with your emotions again," she whispered, but of course Jasper overheard her.

"I really didn't mean to... ah, have that effect on you last time you were here," he muttered apologetically. "Sorry about that."

I could feel myself turning slightly red as I winced with embarrassment. "Yeah... well, it wasn't your fault, so..."

Luckily for me, Esme handed me a huge slice of her amazing-looking cheesecake, and I had a good reason to drop the awkward conversation. She watched our reactions anxiously as Embry and I took our first bites.

Oooh, yeah. This was totally worth any potential disasters from sticking around the Cullen house. The scrumptious deliciousness melted on my tongue, and I closed my eyes in pure enjoyment.

Ten minutes later, I still had almost half of my slice to go, and Embry quirked his eyebrows mockingly at me.

"Jeez, Leah. It's cheesecake, not ecstacy on a fork."

I glared at him in between my itsy-bitsy bites. "Shh. Don't ruin this. It's called tasting your food. Maybe you should try it."

"I do taste it. I just don't spend five minutes over every bite," he laughed.

"No, you'd rather just swallow whatever it is whole. I don't know why Esme wasted a piece of this on you."

"Oh, now. That's not very nice-" Embry began with a huge grin, but he was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming. I didn't miss the confused, surprised looks everyone in the room except for me were giving each other.

Nessie skipped into the room, but instead of Jacob, her faithful puppy, following at her heels, Rosalie and Bella drifted along behind her. Rosalie paused momentarily as she moved forward, her eyes scanning the room quickly before her usual mask of long-suffering civility dropped down to cover her confusion. Bella, though, was a different story. That girl had never been good at hiding anything, and right now she looked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She stopped dead in the doorway at the sight of Embry and I sitting at the counter, her mouth forming a shocked 'O'.

"Okay, seriously. What is going on?" I demanded as Bella's reaction confirmed my suspicions. Alice directed a death glare at her sisters, and Rosalie gave a tiny, nonchalant shrug. Embry rolled his eyes and speared a huge chunk out of my remaining cheesecake with his fork.

"What does it look like? Bella, Nessie, and Rose are back from hunting."

Scowling, I moved my plate as far away from his reach as I could. "I'm not dumb. Something's going on, and all of you are in on it. And if you try that again, I'll stab you with my fork," I warned as he leaned forward to steal another bite.

"Why on earth do you think something's going on, Leah?" Esme trilled laughingly, but there was a nervous edge to her voice that didn't escape my notice. I didn't miss the tiny, indulgent eye-roll Rosalie gave her mother-figure over her poor acting skills, either.

"Okay, then. Where are Seth and Jake? I thought they went hunting with Nessie today," I asked, giving Bella a hard glare. She was the most likely to crack, after all.

"Probably getting dressed after shifting back. Right?" Embry prompted Bella, and she finally managed to give a flustered nod.

"Oh, right. Yeah. Of course," she mumbled, and I scowled, completely unconvinced. Unfortunately, my distraction was Embry's gain. He reached across me and speared the last bite of my cake, shoving it in his huge mouth before I had a chance to react.

"Tank! You just ate my last bite! You... you... dessert thief!" I squeaked furiously, brandishing my fork at him like a deadly weapon. He just smirked at me and licked his lips.

"You snooze, you lose, babe. 'Sides, it would've taken you another hour to finish it, and we've gotta get going."

I narrowed my eyes skeptically at him. "Oh, so now suddenly we've got to get back to La Push?"

"Yep," he drawled, grinning as he got to his feet. I crossed my arms stubbornly across my chest.

"Shouldn't we wait and say hi to Jake and Seth?"

"Since when do you want to hang around for small talk?" Embry queried as he hauled me to my feet with one meaty hand. I let him lead me out of the house, since it was either that or be dragged.

"See you on Sunday!" Alice called from the front door as we climbed into the car. I snorted to myself and crossed my arms tightly over my chest as Embry waved and tore out of their narrow driveway.

"So, I take it that means you're not going to show up for the game?" he asked casually.

"You don't seriously think I should, do you?" I demanded incredulously. "What good could possibly come from tempting Fate like that?"

Embry scrunched up his face in thought. "Well, I dunno. It might make things a little easier for your mom, for one thing."

"How so?"

"Maybe I'm wrong, but her and Charlie seem to be getting really close. But, you know, Bella's his daughter, and it seems like you hate her. I mean, you hate all the vamps, so..." he shrugged.

"I don't hate the Cullen's," I muttered in a low voice that was barely audible over the engine. Unfortunately for me, Embry's unnaturally good hearing caught every word, and I slumped down in my seat and scowled at the surprised look on his face.

"Anyway, what does that have to do with Mom and Charlie's relationship?" I demanded in a louder voice, hoping against hope that he wouldn't bring up my last comment.

Embry blinked at me for a short moment before re-collecting his thoughts. "Oh. Well, it just seems like they'd like to take it to the next level. But your mom's worried about how you'll deal with it. That's all."

"Embry, jeez! I don't care how old and mature I get. I never want to think about my mom taking things 'to the next level' and doing the Horizontal Polka with Charlie," I gagged. I had to shake my head a few times to stop the disturbing mental pictures before they could scar me for life.

"Holy crap! I wasn't talking about that kind of level!" Embry squeaked out. I could've sworn the tips of his ears were turning red. "I was talking about them getting married."

"Ooooh!" Realization dawned on me, and I burst out laughing. Embry laughed with me, poking fun at my apparently dirty, dirty mind.

"Seriously, though," I gasped when we'd finally calmed down. "You think they wouldn't get married because of me?"

"I think that Charlie's not gonna take the next step unless he gets some kind of clear go-ahead from your mom. And I don't think she's going to do that when she thinks you despise his daughter and all of her family. I mean, legally, once they're married, Bella's your step-sister."

"Technically, she's dead, so she can't legally be anything," I muttered, and then grimaced at the withering look he shot me. "Okay, okay. I get it. I'm making Mom and Charlie miserable. I'm good at doing that, I guess."

"You really think highly of yourself, don't you, B-Wolf?" Embry snorted with an exasperated eye-roll.

"Or maybe I'm just honest with myself," I returned bitterly. "At least I can own up to my multiple faults."

"Oh, please. If you were so honest with yourself, then you'd see all the good stuff, too. I didn't bring up your mom and Charlie so you could throw yourself a pity-party. 'Sides, if you're okay with the two of them getting together, then just tell your mom that and let them work it out for themselves."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't stop myself from giving him a tiny grin. "Thank you, Dr. Phil. Are you charging me for your words of wisdom?"

"Naw, only if I'm right and they end up getting hitched," he replied, and then shook his head and chuckled. "Jeez, I can't believe you thought I was talking about them getting laid. Although, I guess if they get married-"

"Stop. Just stop. Your talking priviledges have been officially revoked, Tank," I broke in, putting up my hands and shaking my head violently again. He laughed at the pained look on my face, but didn't say another word. The grin on my face abruptly died when I noticed he'd driven right past the turn for my house.

"Uh, Tank, you just my road," I told him. He grinned and pressed his lips together silently, and all my earlier suspicions came flooding back. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

"Alright, enough with the secrets. Where are you taking me?"

In answer, he swerved off the road into the Black's driveway. I gaped in astonishment as we pulled up next to a very familiar, enormous Jeep. Only one family in the entire Forks and La Push area could afford something like that, and none of them were supposed to be within 10 miles of this place.

"Okay, what the hell is Emmett's Jeep doing here, Embry?" I demanded much more sharply than I intended. My eyes frantically scanned the Black's yard looking for any signs of the bear-like vamp, or any of the rest of the Cullen's. Embry yanked open his door, and I could smell the vampire stench heavy in the cool, April air. Sam was going to tear a fit! The entire La Push pack was going to pour down on us in a rain of fury! I sat rigid in my seat as Embry got out and came around to open my door.

"Relax, Leah. Jake's the head Alpha, remember? Everything's cool, I promise. Just trust me, okay?" Embry pleaded. I looked up into his warm, dark eyes and realized with shock that I did trust him. Completely. But that didn't mean I wasn't still a little leery of this whole situation.

Slowly, I reached out and took his outstretched hand, letting him lead me into the shed where he, Jake, and Quil worked on all their cars. I blinked rapidly in the dim light and could just make out the shape of a car shrouded in a thin, white sheet.

"Surprise!"

My skin just about jumped off of my body at the unexpected shout coming from the shadows of the garage. Someone suddenly flicked on the light switch, and I stared wide-eyed at an unbelievable group of smiling faces. Jacob stood with his hand on the light switch with a beaming Seth beside him. Billy leaned back comfortably in his wheelchair, one of my mom's hands on his shoulder while the other one was tucked securely into one of Charlie's. Edward and Emmett stood shoulder to shoulder right next to Charlie, both grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't manage to do anything more than gape at all of them with my jaw hanging half-way to the floor.

"Ta-da!" Seth exclaimed, whipping the sheet off of the car like a magician pulling a tablecloth out from under a full set of crystal. I stared in confused disbelief at the slightly rusty, black 1970's era Dodge in front of me, and Embry gave me a light punch on the arm with a laugh.

"Hey, B, you gonna say something or just stand there with your mouth open?"

"I- wha- tha- I..." I stuttered, then pulled myself together. "Is it mine?"

Everyone laughed, and my mom moved around the car to put her arm around my shoulders. "Of course it's yours! Do you like it?"

"Wow," I breathed in answer, my hand stroking the black paint of my very first car. "Thanks, Mom! I mean- man, just saying 'thanks' feels way to lame for something like this!"

"Don't thank me. Charlie's the one who found it," my mom replied laughingly, looking over at Charlie with a glowing face. I guess there really was something to what Embry and I were talking about in the car.

"Oh. Well, thanks Charlie. Really," I told him earnestly, grinning from ear to ear. His face creased into as big of a smile as I'd ever seen him give.

"The real heroes here are Edward and Emmett. Without them, this hunk of metal would still be sitting in the lot," he told me, and suddenly the presence of the two vamps and their giant Jeep made a lot more sense.

"Ah. So... she's not really operational at the moment, huh?"

"Well, no. Not so much," Charlie admitted a little bit sheepishly.

"That's where we come in," Embry told me with a grin, waving to indicate himself, Jake, and Seth. "You supply the parts, and we'll supply the labor."

"Seriously?" I gasped, and their huge, happy grins were all the answers I needed. "Thank you, guys! I mean, it's kind of totally unfair, but if you're okay with it..."

Jacob shrugged his massive shoulders. "We haven't had anything interesting to work on for a long time. It'll be fun, right Embry?"

"Hell, yeah, brother," Embry answered enthusiastically, reaching out to smack Jake's outstretched fist with his own. I shook my head at them, smiling from ear to ear, before I patted my precious baby again. I was so happy, I could've hugged it. Suddenly, I laughed out loud.

"So this was what the big secret was about! I thought Bella was going to pass out when she walked in and saw us sitting there!"

Edward quirked his eyebrow with a grin. "Bella showed up before you left?" he asked Embry laughingly. Embry nodded, and Emmett shook his head in exasperation.

"Oh, man. We're just lucky she didn't spoil everything! That's why Rosie took her and Nessie out hunting this morning!" he groaned.

"Speaking of them, we'd better get going," Edward said, glancing at Jake seriously. Emmett nodded and winked at me as the two of them headed out of the garage. I screwed up my face and balled my hands into fists as I battled with myself for a moment.

"Thanks for getting my car here, guys!" I finally called out to them, surprising everyone.

"Anytime, babe," Emmett laughed. Edward opted for the more proper "our pleasure" murmured as they climbed easily into the huge Jeep. Charlie and Mom followed Billy back into the house, and Embry turned to me, smiling.

"So, ready to go parts shopping?" he asked, and I grinned back.

"Absolutely. Let's get my baby up and running!"