Standing Straight

AN: Okay, I know this is a really fast update for me, but this chapter is very short. I'm happier with this chapter than I was with the last one, but I'll let all of you be the judge of that. Please do leave me a review to let me know how I'm doing. I really appreciate it!
Thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter (and thanks to the anonymous reviewers that I couldn't reply personally to as well). Thanks for inspiring me!!!
I really don't think a disclaimer is necessary...

Saturday afternoon was unseasonably warm, even with the persistent cloud cover. I lounged in Jake's garage in shorts and a worn, tight t-shirt, sipping on a warm soda as I watched Embry work on my beautiful, black car. Sure, most people wouldn't think she was much to look at, and yeah, she wasn't exactly running at the moment, but I absolutely loved her.

As usual, Jake and Seth had taken off for the Cullen's earlier that morning. The whole "the three of us will work on your car together" thing had turned into "Embry will work on your car and because we have to go check on Nessie". Not that I was surprised, but I did feel kind of guilty that Embry was using all his free time on my baby.

"You're sure you don't mind doing this? Because I could probably threaten Seth with something and make him fix Molly up for me," I told him as I propped myself on my elbows and leaned over the engine next to him. Embry flashed me a grin as his big, grease-stained hands fiddled with some unidentified part.

"Naw, it's all good. What else have I got to do?" he replied. "Anyway, you're good company, even if you don't know a lug nut from an oil filter."

I laughed. "Lug nut? There's actually something called a lug nut? I thought that was just an insult!"

"Jeez, B. Do you know anything about cars? How're you gonna keep it running after I get it fixed?" Embry laughed, shaking his head in exasperation. I leaned over a little farther and batted my eyelashes at him.

"Well, that's what I've got you for, right? You'll keep my Molly running smooth for me."

Embry tried to pull a face at me, but he didn't disagree. "I can't believe you named your car 'Molly'," he groaned.

"Well, she looks like one. Don't you, Molly-baby?" I grinned and patted her side, and Embry rolled his eyes good naturedly. His teasing reply was cut off by the sudden sound of heavy footsteps heading toward the garage.

"I didn't think Jake and Seth were coming back until tonight," I muttered as I leaned over to stick my head around the side of the car to see the doorway. Suddenly, I gripped the cold metal of the car as my heart skidded, jumped, and then pounded furiously in my ears. Embry flashed me a surprised look before he straightened to look over the raised hood at our visitors. I could see the veins straining under his skin as he balled his hands into white-knuckled fists.

Sam stood silhouetted in the garage door, flanked by Jared and Paul. Their noses were wrinkled up in disgust, and I sniffed the air tentatively. The faint stench of the vamps was still noticeable, though Embry and I could hardly smell it anymore. I guess we were just so much more used to it than the three of them that it didn't bother us.

We stared at each other silently for several long moments before I forced myself to straighten and move out from behind the car. Sam's eyes flickered between Embry and I warily as I moved. I studied his face with narrowed eyes, and I had to tamp down a short swell of guilt when I noticed his crooked nose. I kept my arms rigid at my sides to keep from shaking and forced myself to breathe calmly, slowly. Four seconds in, four seconds out. I would not fall to pieces over that man again.

"Is there something you want?" I asked acidly through my clenched teeth. Jared and Paul threw furtive glances at Sam as Embry moved to stand next to me.

"I came to speak with Jacob," Sam answered in his deep, authoritative voice. My breathing hitched momentarily before I could stop myself. Damn it! His voice shouldn't affect me like that anymore. I was stronger than that. And I would die a thousand deaths before I would ever back down from him again.

"Well, obviously Jake's not here right now. If it's really important, you could always go to the Cullen's and find him," I told him with a tight-lipped, icy smirk. His jaw tightened visibly, and my smirk grew just a little bit bigger. I knew he'd never set foot on Cullen property, and he knew I was calling him out on it.

"Or, you could just tell us what's so important that you brought two of your Pack along just to 'talk'," I continued, giving the three of them a hard glare.

"I'd rather discuss it with Jacob," Sam replied harshly. Beside me, Embry crossed his arms across his chest, and I pulled myself up to my highest height. Admittedly, compared to the goliaths surrounding me, it wasn't very impressive.

"I'm Jake's Beta. If you've got a problem with him, then you've got a problem with me," I stated in a deadly, calm voice. Embry nodded his agreement with narrowed eyes. I did my best to look casually unconcerned and annoyed, but my insides were quivering like half-done jello. I wanted to scream, I wanted to run away and hide, I wanted to break Sam's nose again. Why did it still hurt so bad just to see his face?

Sam was silent for several long minutes as he scanned our faces. Jared and Paul stood tensed and ready at his sides, scanning the shed furtively as if they expected the vamps to jump out from their hiding places at any minute.

"If that's the way you want it," Sam finally said, looking every inch the Alpha he knew he was. "I'm here to warn you that I will not tolerate breaking the treaty. I don't care that Jacob's imprinted on a half-vampire. My Pack will not allow vampires to trespass onto Quilete land unless it's for a life or death need."

"Really? And what are you going to do to stop it, if Jacob gives the okay? You know his orders stand for more than yours do," Embry snarled harshly beside me, and I was surprised at the vehemence in his voice.

"My job- no, our job- is to protect the people of La Push. I won't allow Jacob to put anyone in jeopardy because he's forgotten his duties," Sam growled back.

"The Cullen's are not a danger. They won't hurt anyone in La Push," I ground out through my tightly clenched teeth. Could anyone else hear my frantically pounding heart? Or notice how I was nearly hyperventilating?

"I'm not willing to take that chance," Sam stated heavily, authoritatively, and I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to kick his butt to next Tuesday. How blind, how stubborn could he be? And how transparent? He didn't want the vamps to have access, no matter how occasional, to La Push because his Emily was here. And any risk, no matter how small, was not to be tolerated. Pain tore through me, and I struggled to keep my face from betraying me.

"Well, that's just too bad, isn't it? If Jake gives them the okay, they can cross the border. You're just going to have to deal with that," I snapped acidly. The pain ripped through me so wildly, I felt like I was going to fall apart if I didn't wrap my arms around myself. Stiffly, I kept my hands straight down at my sides and forced myself to deal with the pain. So what if Sam was willing to start a Pack war to protect his precious Emily? So what if there was no one in the world who would do that for me?

"Leah, the treaty was made for a reason. Jacob can't ignore the fact that the leeches are dangerous, no matter how much he would like to. They've killed people. And no matter how hard they try, someday one of them will kill a human again. It's their nature."

"Stop calling them leeches. They're people. With names. And you aren't exactly safe to be around, either. Or don't you count that slip up?" I spat out. Sam winced, his whole face spasming, and I almost broke right then and begged his forgiveness. It was unbelievably cruel of me to bring up how he'd hurt Emily; I cursed myself for being so black-hearted and selfish. But I'd wanted to hurt him like he had hurt me, and the words had come tumbling out.

Sam composed himself enough to look me in the eyes again. "This isn't about me. This is about keeping people safe."

"Right. Like when you wanted to keep people safe by murdering all the Cullen's and Bella because we didn't know what her baby would end up being," Embry snorted angrily, glaring daggers at Sam.

"That was a mistake, an overreaction," Sam argued back. "This is different. This is about the bloodsuckers breaking the treaty-"

"The Cullen's didn't break the treaty, and you know it. They agreed to help move Leah's car when Jake asked them. They weren't even over the border for more than thirty minutes," Embry snarled.

"This time. Next time, it'll be an hour. Soon, they'll be crossing the border whenever they'd like, and the treaty will mean nothing. I refuse to allow that to happen."

"Like I said, you don't really have a choice. You know that Jake could end the treaty altogether if he wanted, and you couldn't do a thing about it," I said, finding my voice again. Sam's insistence, his bull-headed stubborness re-fanned my fury. If he was so damn worried about his darling Emily, why didn't he just lock her into a giant steel box and throw away the key so nothing could ever come near her?

"Why can't the two of you understand? You're going against your very natures siding with those bloody leeches. You'll turn on your own people, leave your own Pack to defend the creatures we're supposed to destroy! And all because Jacob Black imprinted on one of them," Sam exclaimed angrily. He ran a hand over his short cropped hair, obviously frustrated. I could feel Embry tensing next to me as my own blood boiled.

"Jacob Black is more worthy of my allegiance than you could ever be," Embry snarled in unbridled fury. His big hands clenched tightly as tremors shook his enormous frame. I put my hand on his arm warningly, silently ordering him to calm down. Without Jake to back us up, things could get ugly fast if he shifted and attacked Sam. Besides, their three to our two didn't give us the best odds of coming out on top.

"Jacob Black has let himself become nothing more than a lapdog to the bloodsuckers. I'll be damned if I'll sit back and watch him drag both of you down to that level," Sam growled harshly. Instinctively, my blood rang loud and furiously in my ears and my muscles quivered and tensed. I could feel the rage pouring off of Embry, barely kept in check by my subtle Beta order not to shift. But without fighting, we had no way to respond to Sam's insult.

Ah, to hell with it. Without warning, my fist connected squarely with Sam's nose. He staggered backwards from the strength of my punch, tripped over a spare part laying on the floor, and landed sprawling in the dirt. Blood spurted heavily down his face and dripped through his fingers as he tried to stem it's flow. Paul and Jared tensed, ready to spring on me, and Embry moved swiftly to get between them and me. I was grateful for that; I might have been able to catch Sam off-guard with my surprise sucker-punch, but I knew I wasn't really a match for them in either form.

Crap. What the heck did I just get us into?

"Stop! Back off, boys," Sam called out from the floor, his voice muffled by his hands and the blood. Growling deep in their chests, Paul and Jared stepped back a few paces, never taking their eyes off of us. Embry stayed tense and ready, glaring at them as if he dared them to try anything. Sam hauled himself to his feet, and I watched as his deep red blood ran down his arms and dripped on the floor.

"Don't you ever insult Jacob Black in my presence again, Sam Uley," I stated in a voice of acid ice. "And the same goes for every one of the Cullen's, too."

Sam stared at me as if he was seeing a completely new person, and I suppose I couldn't blame him. Even before everything started, when things were normal and we were just two teenagers in love, I'd never been able to stand up to him. He won every single argument without having to work at it.

The squeaking wheels of Billy's wheelchair caught all of our attention as he maneuvered himself out of his house. There was no way he could push himself across the yard to see what was happening in the garage; we could hear him bring his chair to a halt right outside the front door.

"Leah? Embry? Everything alright?" he called, and I had to wonder if he'd inherited the unnaturally enhanced hearing of the wolves.

"Everything's fine, Billy. Sam was just leaving," I called out, glaring at Sam pointedly. He backed away slowly, Paul and Jared following him without turning their backs to Embry and I.

"You know I can't just let this end here," Sam said quietly. "Tell Jacob that I expect to talk to him soon."

"Oh, I'll make sure he knows all about it," I returned, sweetly sarcastic. All those years of being bitter harpy Leah sometimes payed off.

"Maybe you should get someone to punch you the other way to straighten your nose out a bit," Embry called mockingly after him as the three La Push wolves ducked out of the garage. Paul turned around slightly to give us the finger, and we both snorted in amusement.

After a few minutes, I poked my head out of the garage to wave at Billy. "Everything's fine, Billy. We just had a little disagreement with Sam, but it's no big deal," I reassured him.

"That was one heck of a disagreement. Sam looked like someone really laid him out," Billy replied, one eyebrow quirked questioningly.

"Just a wolf thing," Embry told him with an easy grin. "Quick tempers and all."

Billy shrugged and started to maneuver himself back inside his little house. He'd seen enough squabbles between Pack mates to buy that excuse. Embry and I ducked back into the sem-privacy of the garage.

"Leah, holy crap! I can't believe you punched Sam like that. Seriously, you punched Sam!" Embry exclaimed. "Just wham, and he's flat on his back! Oh, man, Emily's going to freak when she finds out that he got his nose broken again!"

Suddenly, I was crushed in a tight bear hug with my feet dangling at least a foot off the ground as he spun me around. Yeah, part of me felt like celebrating, too, because, you know, I'd just punched Sam. But then again, I'd just punched Sam.

Embry released me, and without the support of his strong arms, I sank right to the floor. The quivering jello that had replaced my insides now made it's way into my bones, and I was reduced to a little puddle on the floor.

"Whoa, Leah. You okay? What's the matter?" asked Embry, crouching down to get a better look at my face.

"Embry, I just punched Sam. Sam, Embry. I broke his nose," I whispered, my eyes huge in my white face.

"Yeah, and it's about time, too," he replied earnestly. His big, grease-stained hands closed over my shoulders and he gave me a tiny shake. "C'mon, babe. Don't lose it on me, here. He's not worth it, you know. You're better than him."

"No, I'm not," I muttered miserably. My face smashed abruptly into his hard chest as he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Yes, you are, Leah. How many times do I have to tell you that? You, Leah Clearwater, deserve so much more than you realize. And I, for one, am thrilled that you finally stood up to Sam."

Tears pricked my eyes, and I swallowed convulsively to stop myself from losing it. It was weird, but even though my face was smashed into his shirt and I could hardly breathe, I was comfortable there with his arms around me. It eased the aching in my chest more than I could have dreamed.

"Embry, you are the nicest person I have ever met," I finally managed to say, my hoarse voice muffled by his chest.

"Hardly. You just punched Sam. I was ready to rip his head right off of his shoulders," he laughed, but there was a dark edge to the sound.

"Yeah, well, punching him was bad enough. Jake's not going to be too happy about it when he finds out," I moaned.

"You really decked him," Embry chuckled, his delight in that fact evident in his voice. "So, how come you broke his nose, but you barely bruised Jake?"

I shrugged a little under his heavy arms and turned my head a tiny bit to the side so I could breathe better. "I don't know. I was a whole lot more pissed off at Sam than I was at Jake, though. And I hit him in the nose instead of the jaw. I learned that lesson the hard way."

I winced at the memory, and then realized that my hand was throbbing again. Groaning, I pulled away from Embry to examine it.

"Did you bust it up again?" asked Embry in concern. I wiggled my fingers experimentally and then shook my head.

"Nothing feels broken. Just bruised," I smiled proudly at him. "I remembered to tuck my thumb in this time."

Embry laughed heartily and pulled both of us to our feet. "Still, maybe we should head over to the Cullen's and have Carlisle check it out to be sure. We should probably give Jake the heads up, too."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? Everyone's heading over there in the morning for the big game day, anyway," I said, my voice quivering just the tiniest bit. I was hanging on by a thread here. The only thing keeping me together so far was Embry's words and my own strength of will. If we had to hash over everything word for word with Jake around the vamps, I'd have another uncontrollable breakdown. And I just couldn't allow that to happen.

Embry must've seen the pleading in my eyes, because he clenched his jaw and nodded once. "Alright, tomorrow then. But only if you promise to show up."

"I'll be there. I promise," I told him quietly. I gave him a tiny smile of pure gratitude, and he reached out a hand and stroked my cheek.

"You okay, B?" he asked gently. The pain spasmed across my chest again, but it was gentler this time, mostly due to the soft warmth in his deep, brown eyes. I wanted to crumple. I wanted to wrap my arms tightly around his waist and cry. He would understand.

Oh, I had to go. I had to get home where I could wallow in my misery without worrying about someone seeing it.

"I'm fine," I lied, and the slight frown on his face showed me that he saw right through it. "Really. I just want to get home. Get some ice on my hand, you know."

It was the truth. Even though I was fairly certain there weren't any broken bones, it still throbbed painfully, and an ugly, dark bruise was spreading across the surface of my knuckles. I knew it would fade in a matter of hours, but for now, ice sounded like a good plan.

Embry frowned deeper and rocked back on his heels. "Want me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay. I just... kind of want to be alone," I answered him after a few long moments. He looked a little unhappy, and I mustered a smile for him. "Thanks for the offer, though. If I wanted to be around anyone, you'd be it, Tank."

He smiled a little bit back at me as I headed out the door. "Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me. See you tomorrow, B."

"Yeah," I replied, and I stopped and turned around in the doorway to look back at him. "Thanks. I mean it. Thanks for everything, Embry."

I saw the grin on his face before I turned and sped away down the Black's driveway toward my house.