Leah's alarm went off and she was quick to shut it off. When she opened her eyes her room was still dark as the sun hadn't risen yet. She was used to being up this early and quickly pulled some clean clothes on. She preferred the early morning patrol because no one else was likely to phase during this time. Leah had slept in her old bedroom at her mother's house as it would be easier to leave on time. That was if Seth would get out of bed. Leah made her way to her brother's room and walked in without knocking. His alarm was going off but he was still fast asleep. Leah turned the alarm off and stood over her brother for a second then she unceremoniously slapped his cheek, hard. Seth sat upright, quickly and looked around, his eyes wide. Leah smiled sweetly at him as recognition dawned on him.
"Hey sleeping beauty, it's time to get up"
Seth looked out his window and groaned when he saw it was still dark. Leah left his room to go make coffee. Seth and Leah had loaded all the fishing gear into the trunk of their mother's car last night. Seth didn't have his own fishing gear so they decided he'd use Leah's and Leah would use her father's. All they had to do was pack all the food their mother had made them into the large cooler she had left on the kitchen island. Which Leah did as the coffee brewed. She heard Seth dragging his feet as he came down the stairs. As he entered the kitchen Leah thrust the full cooler into his arms.
"Go put this in the car"
Seth was too tired to protest and shuffled out the door to do as instructed.
Leah grabbed two travel mugs and poured coffee into them, once she had added the preferred milk and sugar to them she scooped up two of Emily's muffins they had commandeered the day before. She left the house just as Seth was coming back towards it, in his zombie state. Leah shoved his coffee and muffin into his now empty arms.
"Get in, we're leaving" Leah instructed.
Zombie Seth dragged his feet to the passenger side and got in. He was too tired to form words just yet. They both sipped their coffee and ate their muffins as they drove to the Swan residence. Leah was enjoying how subdued and quiet Seth was being, she knew this wasn't going to last though. They pulled in behind Bella's truck and Leah hopped out, leaving her coffee in the car. She played with the idea of quickly climbing into Bella's room to snuggle her for a few minutes but worried that Charlie had already seen the headlights pull up. Seth followed behind Leah, cradling his coffee, as they approached the front door. Leah knocked softly, not wanting to wake Bella. She was happily surprised when Bella opened the door, looking as much like a zombie as Seth did. Without a word, Bella walked into Leah's arms and buried her face in Leah's neck. Leah looked past Bella and into the house where Charlie was pouring coffee into a large soup thermos. Leah lifted Bella off the ground a little bit and carried her inside the house.
"Bella insisted on being woken up so she could wish us luck with the fish" Charlie chuckled as he looked over to see Bella half asleep in Leah's arms. "Although I haven't heard any well wishes yet"
"Luck" Bella mumbled.
Leah and Charlie laughed and Charlie turned his gaze to Seth.
"Good to see you could make it, Seth"
Seth looked up at the mention of his name and smiled sleepily.
"I guess the fish will just be for you and me then" Charlie chuckled lightly as he looked back at Leah who was now completely holding Bella up.
"Do you think you could help her find her bed again?" Charlie looked amused as he shook his head at Bella's behaviour. "Seth and I can load my gear into the car" Seth looked up at the mention of his name again.
"Yeah, no problem" Leah laughed lightly as she switched her hold on Bella so she was carrying her bridal style.
This seemed to wake Bella a bit as she looked up into Leah's eyes with a sleepy smile. Leah smiled back down at her as she carried Bella up to her room.
"I wanted to see you before you left" Bella mumbled.
"Was it worth it?" Leah snickered at her girlfriend as she tucked her into her bed.
"Kind of" Bella closed her eyes but made a puckering gesture, requesting Leah kiss her.
Leah obliged and kissed her gently before kissing her forehead.
"Goodnight" Leah whispered as she backed out of the room.
When Leah came back downstairs Charlie was loading the last of his gear into the trunk of Sue's car. Seth was sitting in the backseat, half-asleep, still holding his coffee as if his life depended on it. Leah rolled her eyes at him as she got in the driver's seat. Charlie locked the door and joined them in the car. Leah drove them down to where the townsfolk of Forks docked their boats and they arrived just as the sun was rising. Seth grunted as he took the view in, it had been ages since he had watched the sunrise. Leah rolled her eyes at him, she had tried to get him to wake up early with her numerous times to feel how magical the sunrise was as a wolf. Somehow Leah felt more connected to the spirits during the sunrise, the time of day seeming mystical. She used the time to connect with her wolf better and do her version of meditating, which she hadn't disclosed to anyone. They all grabbed gear from the trunk when Leah put the car in park. Charlie looking at the two Clearwater kids, impressed by the amount of stuff they could carry. They walked down the beaten up old dock to Charlie's boat and unloaded everything into it. Leah had always preferred fishing in Charlie's boat because it was a yacht compared to her father's. Her father just owned an aluminium boat with a simple engine on the back. Charlie, on the other hand, had a decently sized boat that had a cabin below deck. In the cabin, there was a bed that could sleep Harry, Charlie and herself when she was younger. It was a tight fit but it had worked the few times they made a weekend trip. There was also a small bathroom that contained a toilet and sink. Above deck, there was a modest seating area but it had a canopy that could be pulled up in case of rain. Though Charlie and her father always insisted on docking and getting out of the boat during the rain, just in case lightning made an appearance.
"Come on, kids we'll talk to Howard and get some live bait" Charlie gestured for the two to follow him up the dock when they had offloaded all the gear.
Leah and Seth followed Charlie up to a small shack near where they had parked. There were sun-bleached signs in the window of the shack advertising live bait, cigarettes, energy drinks and other things. In the window of the door a beaten up open sign hung and Charlie led them inside.
"Howard, how are you?" Charlie smiled at the man behind the counter.
"Good, as always Charlie" Howard beamed at the Chief before quickly taking in his companions.
"Howard, you remember Leah Clearwater?" Charlie grinned, like he was introducing his own daughter, proudly.
Howard's eyes bulged as recognition dawned on him. "How could I forget the young fishing protege?"
Leah smiled a little embarrassed. "Hey, Howie" She used his old nickname for her past. When she had met him she was so young she had trouble with the hard "ard" noise at the end of his name. So she had settled for calling him Howie and it had stuck.
"I've got just the thing for you, Leah" Howard grinned at her excitedly and turned around, looking through styrofoam cups before settling on one. He turned around, holding the selected cup in his hand, extending it out to Leah. In the cup was some dirt and wiggling worms. Leah smiled and took the cup, assessing how active the worms appeared to be.
"Nice and fresh, just how you like them" Howard's grin was stretching from ear to ear.
Leah laughed lightly as she remembered her father telling her the wiggly ones were the fresh ones. Since then Leah made it a point to look in the cup Howard would give them and demand wigglier worms if the current cup didn't meet her standards. It had been about 6 years since Leah had been here and she was touched that Howard still remembered to give her the fresh worms.
"Thanks, Howie, these look nice and…wiggly" Leah tried to hide how wide her smile was attempting to be.
Seth was looking over her shoulder and into the cup. He made a face when he realized what was in it.
"And can I assume this is little Seth Clearwater?" Howard turned his gaze to the young man.
Seth looked up and smiled but was obviously confused that this man knew his name.
"Sure is" Charlie clasped a hand on Seth's shoulder.
Howard whistled low but smiled at Seth pleasantly.
"Last time I saw you, you were about 5 years old" Howard shook his head in disbelief. "And you were bouncing around my shop like a mad man"
Leah snorted as an unexpected laugh escaped her.
"Oh don't worry, Howie, he's still like that. It's just too early for him right now" Leah reassured him.
"Well, it seems you've both grown into fine young people" Howard offered "do an old man a favour and swing by on your way out. I want to see this young man's first fish and put it on the wall" Howard gestured to the wall off to the side containing numerous pictures.
Leah jumped, amazed she had forgotten about the wall. It contained pictures of generations of kids' first catches.
"I forgot about the wall" Leah spoke as she walked over to it to take a closer look.
"What's the wall?" Seth asked as he followed behind Leah.
"It's a picture of the first fish you catch. Some people send Howie a copy but a lot of them are taken on the dock" Leah explained as she scanned the wall. She found the familiar photo she was looking for and pointed it out to Seth "that's dad back in the day."
Seth looked at the picture and pulled out his phone, snapping a picture of it.
"You looked like a carbon copy of him when you were last here," Howard said to Seth, "I thought I was losing it for a second. I had really hoped you had caught a fish that day so I could put your picture next to his"
Seth's eyes wandered to the left of his father's picture and spotted a young Leah struggling to hold up a fish that looked to be half as big as her. She wore a goofy smile, full of pride that Seth recognized as similar to his own.
"Oh, man Bella's going to love this!" Seth snickered as he snapped a photo.
"Your girl?" Howard turned to Charlie.
"Yeah" Charlie smiled pointing out a picture to Seth.
Leah had seen it before but had never fully appreciated. Bella looked to be about 9 and held a small fish up with a weak smile. Seth snapped a picture of this, thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Hey, Charlie, is that you?" Seth pointed to a picture beside Bella's of a young boy grinning triumphantly for the camera. Charlie laughed and nodded.
"Alright, kids, let's go before all the fish are gone" Charlie snagged Seth before he could snap a picture but Leah hung back long enough to do this on her phone, thinking Bella might enjoy it. Leah turned as she was leaving and smiled at Howard.
"Don't worry, Howie I won't push him in this time. You'll get that picture"
Leah could hear the man laughing as she left, following Charlie and Seth back to the boat.
Once out on the water, Charlie began reteaching Seth how to put the worm on his hook. Leah made quick work of hers and cast her line out into the calm water. She watched as Seth struggled for a while and managed to cut himself with the hook. He began to bleed and Charlie stood to get the first aid kit.
"Don't bother, Charlie, it'll heal before you can get alcohol on it" Leah reassured him.
Charlie looked at her like she was speaking another language but she gestured to Seth's hand.
"It's already stopped bleeding" she commented, apologetically.
Charlie took Seth's hand in his own and studied the small cut. To Charlie's surprise, he could see it closing right in front of his eyes.
"How?" Charlie whispered as he wiped the wet blood from Seth's hand to get a better look. All that was left now was a small pink line where the cut had been.
"Didn't Billy tell you about the speed healing?" Seth asked as he took his hand back and began working on his worm again.
"Yes, but I didn't think…" Charlie trailed off.
To his credit, Charlie still managed to help Seth hook his worm while Seth excitedly told Charlie about Leah breaking a lot of bones on her one side. Charlie looked over at her, concern written all over his face.
"What would you say? Like a week and you were back to normal?" Seth asked Leah as he tried yet again to cast his line properly.
"Yeah about that" Leah responded "hey, Seth. Why don't you focus on fishing, I'll tell Charlie about the wolf stuff" Leah suggested, seeing that they were going to have to go a bit slower to fill in the gaps Billy had left.
Seth shrugged and reeled his line in and cast it again. Leah moved so she was sitting relatively close to Charlie as he cast his own line.
"What do you want to know?" Leah asked "I can tell you everything"
"Why was that Sam boy there?" Charlie spoke his name with a hint of disgust.
Leah knew where Charlie's dislike for Sam had come from. When Leah had found out about Sam and Emily she was distraught and had gone to her mother for comfort. To Leah's dismay both her parents were trying to get Leah to calm down because "Sam was a fine young man". Leah was outraged that her own parents would side with the man who had just cheated on her over their own daughter. Seth had been at a friends house and Leah had no one else but Charlie. Sobbing she had hopped on her bicycle and rode all the way to his house. When Leah had knocked on the door Charlie didn't say anything, he just pulled her into a tight hug and waited for her to tell him what was wrong. Leah didn't disclose much to him at first, fearing he would react the same as her parents. But the more Leah spoke the more upset Charlie was with Sam, and even though he tried not to show it he was upset with Harry and Sue. He couldn't think of a single reason why they would put that boy above their daughter. From that day forward Charlie hadn't liked Sam but kept things civil when around him. Charlie had tried asking Harry about the boy a few times but Harry only gave short answers insisting that Sam was a great help to the tribe.
"Sam is the alpha of our pack" Leah explained, smiling at Charlie.
Charlie grunted his disapproval for the boy but nodded.
"Jacob is actually the true alpha as dictated by his blood but he didn't want the position so it fell to Sam because he was the first to phase" Leah explained further.
"Jacob would make a better leader" Charlie stated, his face still one of disapproval.
"What Sam did to me isn't excusable but not for the reason you think" Leah sighed, reeling her line in slowly.
Charlie looked up at her, curious but recognizing that Leah would tell him when she was ready.
"He imprinted on Emily. To his credit, he did try to fight it but it wasn't enough" Leah shook her head, casting her line out again. "If he had just come to me and broke it off, I don't know, better. Or waited a bit longer before going public" Leah trailed off, unsure of how she would have prefered Sam to break her heart.
"Imprinting, what is that?" Charlie questioned, casting his own line back out "Billy mentioned it but didn't explain it. He said it was best left to you to explain"
Leah blushed lightly, silently cursing the old man for leaving her to explain this to her imprint's father.
"Well, we can only base our knowledge of this old magic on legends. We're kind of flying in the dark" Leah began, struggling with how she wanted to explain this to Charlie.
Charlie, the good listener he was, sat patiently waiting as Leah gathered her thoughts.
"Legends say imprinting is a blessing, and that is fairly rare. It only happens once a wolf has phased." Leah wrinkled her nose "Once he first lays eyes on his other half he knows. They are bound together and the wolf will do everything in his power to keep her safe and happy" Leah rolled her eyes as she recited the legend.
"Like a soulmate?" Charlie piped in, a little confused by Leah's eye-rolling as she had been the one to bring up imprinting.
"Yeah" Leah agreed, "People think the legends of imprinting are the spirits finding the strongest bloodline to carry the wolf gene down the generations. A few are a bit more romantic about it and think it's the spirits rewarding the wolf warrior for his devotion to the tribe."
Charlie nodded, following Leah so far.
"The problem with all the legends is they've never had a female shifter before" Leah watched Charlie's reaction. "Ever."
Charlie paused to think for a second then looked at Leah with a hint of pride. "So you're the first female shifter in history?"
"That we know of, yes" Leah answered.
"She's the fastest in the pack too" Seth piped in. "No one can catch her"
Leah rolled her eyes.
"So can't you just add "she" instead of "he" in the legends?" Charlie inquired.
"Everyone's been making an effort to be inclusive, yes but that's not what complicates things" Leah fidgeted, awkwardly.
Again Charlie waited for Leah to gather her thoughts, patient as ever.
"Well you see, I imprinted" Leah began and Charlie nodded, encouragingly. "On a woman…" Leah copped out of admitting it was Bella.
"So it threw a wrench into the whole imprinting to carry the bloodline down legend" Leah explained.
"You imprinted on Bella," Charlie stated.
"Y-yeah" Leah stuttered, caught off guard by how sharp Charlie was. She should have known he'd catch on, he was an observant man.
"Okay, a few things make a lot more sense now" Charlie stated, "So this imprinting, does the other person feel it too?"
Leah nodded, momentarily stunned at how well Charlie seemed to be taking this information.
"From what we've gathered the imprint feels the draw to the wolf too but it isn't always romantic" Leah explained. "You know Quil Jr?"
Charlie nodded.
"Well he imprinted on my cousin, Claire, but she's only two." Charlie made a face but was waiting for Leah to finish before passing judgment.
"They're like brother and sister or best friends. He has no romantic feelings towards her at all. From what we understand the wolf only reciprocates the feelings the imprint gives off." Charlie sat silent for a long time and Leah awaited his response anxiously.
"So if Bella were to break up with you and start dating someone else?" Charlie threw out the rhetorical.
"Then I'd be her best friend if she'd have me," Leah answered confidently.
Charlie nodded his approval.
"So Sam imprinted on your cousin?" Charlie went back to the beginning of their conversation "And they were instantly drawn to each other?"
"Yes," Leah responded.
"And Billy said you can read each other's minds?"
"Kind of, we have a mind link when we're wolves so we can communicate to protect the tribe" Leah placed her fishing rod in one of the pole holders "Some of us are better at hiding our more...intimate thoughts. But others are like an open book if you go probing which is generally frowned upon"
"Can you see Sam's thoughts of Emily?" Charlie asked, his voice full of fatherly concern.
"Yes" Leah frowned and Charlie mirrored it.
"It used to bother me a lot, and I'll admit I wasn't the nicest person to be around because of it…" Leah trailed off and looked at her brother who was adamantly staring out at the sea, pretending not to listen. "But then Bella came along. She took all of that anger and sadness away." Leah could feel her cheeks get a bit warm and hoped Charlie didn't see the blush.
"I'm glad" the corner of Charlie's mouth pulled up into a small smile.
After that, the conversation became a bit lighter. Charlie asked simple questions about their body temperature and who else was a wolf. They talked idly about Charlie's job and Charlie adamantly suggested Leah apply for a position. He joked that with her strength and heightened hearing/smell she'd make one hell of a cop. Leah was rolling this idea around in her head when she saw Seth's bobber dip under the water and pop back up quickly. She looked up to see Seth was asleep, still sitting upright and holding the pole. Leah quickly took a picture of him and sent it to Bella and her mother. His bobber went underwater again and Charlie nudged him.
"Seth you've got something," Charlie told him excitedly.
Seth woke with a start and pulled back on the line, hard. Once he did the bobber completely disappeared under the water but didn't resurface.
"You've got a fish!" Leah exclaimed.
"What do I do?!" Seth looked panicked as he held his rod for dear life.
"Reel it in, Son!" Charlie explained.
Seth started reeling in, quickly and Charlie moved over to help him, correcting his technique. Leah took another picture of the both of them and sent it to Bella and her mother again. Leah snickered knowing her mother would like that one. Seth looked terrified and determined at the same time while Charlie wore a face of pride and excitement. With Charlie's coaching Seth had pulled the fish in and he held it up by the fishing line. Seth beamed as he looked over at his sister.
"Leah! I caught one" He practically giggled the words.
Leah snapped another picture of him beaming at her, holding the fish up by the line.
"It's a pretty good one" Leah complimented him as she eyed the fish that was slightly longer than his forearm.
"Alright get that hook out of him and put him in the cooler with the ice" Charlie instructed with a large smile on his face.
Seth then looked at him with the innocence of a small child.
"Can you help me? He's wiggling too much" Seth asked as he tried to get a better grip on the squirming fish.
Bella woke to two texts from Leah which she eagerly opened. The first was of Seth asleep, holding a fishing rod. Underneath Leah wrote, "vigilant wolf, unaware of fish hooked on his line". Bella giggled at this and opened the next text which had another picture. This picture shows a nervously, determined Seth next to Charlie who looked excitedly proud. Charlie looked to be helping Seth reel something in. Underneath Leah wrote, "you'll have to wait to see the monster of a fish he caught". Bella smiled, loving that Charlie had someone to fish with again. She got up and showered quickly, noticing she had another new text message when she returned to her room.
'If you're not busy today feel free to come over' It was from Sue.
Bella smiled and responded 'House is too quiet, I'll be there in 30 min?'
Bella got dressed and saw the reply once she was done 'Sounds good, I'll have all embarrassing childhood pictures ready for your arrival'
Bella laughed and sent a quick text to Leah 'going to hang out with you mom since you stole my dad'
Bella went downstairs and poured herself a bowl of cereal. As she ate she received Leah's response 'Steel is a strong word. How about momentarily occupying his attention?'
Bella could feel the joking smirk in Leah's text and replied 'Well I'll be occupying my attention on old photo albums'.
Almost as soon as Bella had sent the text she received Leah's reply 'What are you talking about?'
'Your mom is going to pull out the old photo albums so I can have a peek' -Bella
'Whoa, that's not cool' -Leah
'I already know you were a cute kid, can't wait to see what kind of trouble you got up to' -Bella
'Yeah, well most of the embarrassing photos are Seth. I was sophisticated.' -Leah
'I have a strange memory of a professed love for making mud pies while naked' -Bella
'Good luck finding that picture, I hid it' -Leah
'There's photographic evidence of that?!' -Bella
'Guess you'll never know' -Leah
'I bet your mom knows where it is' -Bella
'Wish her good luck finding it' -Leah
'By the way, you made a cute fisherwoman' -Leah
Below that text was a picture of Bella when she was 9 holding up the first fish she had caught. She remembered the photo. Her father and the tackle shop owner encouraged her to hold the fish by the mouth, which she did to please her father. But she remembered how cold the fish was and how much it grossed her out. When they told her to smile for the picture she offered a weak smile. Bella was floored, she had to think back for a second to figure out how the hell Leah had found that picture. Then she remembered the wall of the first fish and had a vague recollection of Charlie pointing out Leah's picture on the wall.
'Send yours' -Bella
Bella put her empty cereal bowl in the sink and received another text from Leah. Instead of seeing a picture of young Leah, she saw her father, maybe 4 years old, holding a fish up and beaming. She smiled at this, amazed that there was a picture of Charlie in there that she hadn't known about. Underneath Leah wrote 'And so the addiction begins'
'He was born to fish. Now send yours' -Bella
It was just a picture without any smart ass remarks. A very young Leah was holding a massive fish that looked to be half the size of her. Bella smiled as she saw the massive grin the girl wore. Bella was definitely glad Charlie had Leah to fish with, the two seemed to enjoy the sport equally.
'Cute 3' -Bella
Bella arrived at the Clearwater residence a little after her estimated time of arrival. Sue greeted her with a big hug and invited her in.
"It's good to see you under friendlier circumstances" Sue beamed.
"You too" Bella smiled, shyly.
"Would you like some coffee? I think Leah made it before she left but I can make a fresh pot. Or are you a fan of tea? I just put a kettle on the stove" Sue asked as she started walking towards the kitchen.
"Tea would be nice" Bella stated as she followed Sue into the kitchen.
"I'm guessing Leah sent you the two pictures of the fishing trip too" Sue pondered as she leaned against one of the kitchen counters, waiting for her kettle to boil.
"Yeah" Bella snickered "And I made her send this too" Bella pulled out her phone and pulled up the photo of Leah holding her first fish, turning the phone so Sue could look.
"Oh, I love this photo of her. She was so excited when she got home" Sue reminisced. "She must have been four or five but she insisted on cleaning her own fish. God, Harry and I got into an argument about that. I was terrified of her cutting herself with that big knife."
Bella smiled, enjoying hearing about Leah when she was younger.
"She was stubborn though and I finally gave up. Harry did most of it but Leah was pleased to say that she had done it herself" Sue chuckled lightly. "Harry taught her how to make fish fry with that fish"
Bella could feel the large smile on her face and couldn't help herself. The idea of a stubborn 5-year-old Leah sounded too adorable.
"What about you, Dear?" Sue inquired "You must have a picture up on that first fish wall too"
Bella grumbled and pulled up the other picture Leah had sent of Bella at 9, holding up her fish hesitantly. Sue laughed and quickly covered her mouth, trying to stop the laughter.
"Oh I'm sorry, Dear"
"No, it's fine" Bella was laughing a bit too "I'm not a fan of the sport"
"I can see that" Sue was laughing now, seeing the misery behind the weak smile.
"How long did he have you out there fishing?" Sue inquired, still chuckling a bit as Bella put her phone away.
"God, it felt like an eternity" Bella groaned and the two snickered about it.
Sue made them each a mug of tea and they retired to the living room where Bella saw a stack of photo albums. Sue saw Bella eyeing them.
"I had the idea to look through these again after Leah and Charlie made plans to go fishing. It brought up a lot of old memories" Sue smiled softly at Bella. "Plus, there are some in here from when you would come down to visit"
Bella blushed at this, she hated pictures of herself, let alone what embarrassing pictures might be in there. Leah was always encouraging Bella to do something crazy and impulsive when they were kids.
"You were always so quiet and polite when you first arrived at the house. And by the end of the visit, you were just as…" Sue paused looking for the right word "boisterous as Leah" Sue laughed as she took a seat on the couch, Bella following her lead sitting next to her.
Sue opened the first album which looked to be baby pictures of Leah. Bella smiled as they flipped through the pictures of the chubby-cheeked baby girl. Sue pointed one out every once in a while to tell Bella a story about a certain outfit or something Leah had done. Near the end of the album, Leah was a toddler and there were two pictures of her and Leah playing together in the very living room she sat in now.
"I don't remember coming over here that often," Bella admitted.
"Oh yes, before your mother moved away you were over here all the time" Sue explained. "Leah only being a year older than you it was easy to put you two in a playpen and let your mothers have some quiet time. Though you were pretty quiet as was and your mother didn't seem to have her hands as full as me" Sue chuckled.
Bella smiled and Sue grabbed another album. There were a few pictures of Leah as a toddler with other children. Most notably, Bella noticed was a girl who looked a few years older than Leah. Bella pointed at her.
"Is that Emily?"
"Yes, Emily and Leah were inseparable, the two grew up more like sisters than cousins" Sue explained with a smile. "Emily was always more responsible and kept Leah grounded."
They flipped through a few more pages and Bella saw herself again. Leah Emily and herself were laying on the floor of Leah's room playing with toy cars. Leah was on her back, tilting her head back so she was looking at the others upside down. Emily was giving Leah a knowing look and Bella was smiling, shyly at Leah.
"Do you remember what was going on here?" Bella asked.
"I think Emily was trying to establish a speed limit for the cars and Leah was insisting that her car didn't need speed limits" Sue turned to Bella and smiled at her "you were probably quietly agreeing with Leah. You usually sided with her against Emily"
Bella blushed a little and looked back at the photo with a small smile. They flipped through some more and Bella was thoroughly enjoying herself as she sipped her tea. Sue continued to point out certain pictures and tell stories which Bella happily listened to. They continued flipping though and Leah appeared to be about 6 now. There was a photo of Leah pressing her ear to her mother's very pregnant stomach.
"She told me she could hear her little brother" Sue smiled at the memory as she pointed at the picture "We didn't know what gender the baby was going to be but Leah insisted that it would be a boy"
A page later there was a picture of Leah holding her newborn baby brother. She looked oddly calm in comparison to the pictures they had been looking at.
"She looks so calm" Bella commented
"Yes, she didn't want to hurt her brother" Sue explained with a large smile. "She loved her baby brother-well she still loves him dearly but now she won't admit it if you comment on it."
The next few pages were of baby Seth being held by many people, including Charlie and Emily. They flipped through pictures of Leah and Seth playing in the living room, Leah fishing with her father, Seth baking with his mother. Emily, Leah and Seth running through a sprinkler in the front yard. Bella couldn't help smiling at all the childhood pictures. Then they came across a page that seemed dedicated to one day.
"What's going on here?" Bella asked as she saw herself following Leah, both looking incredibly guilty.
"You don't remember?" Sue raised an eyebrow at her.
Bella squinted at the picture and then noticed what Leah was holding. It all came flooding back to her and she blushed while laughing.
"Oh god, I remember now" Bella snickered and laughed at the foggy memory of Leah grabbing her mother's makeup bag. Leah was about 9 years old, Bella 8 and Seth 3. Leah had told Bella that they could do Seth's makeup, and Bella being fascinated by the idea had gone along with it. Bella looked at the picture of the two of them guiltily taking the makeup bag back to Leah's room, apparently unaware that their picture was being taken.
"You two weren't very sneaky" Sue laughed as she studied Bella's gaze.
Bella laughed as they moved on to the next photo. It was Bella, Leah and Seth all sitting in Leah's bed, makeup products scattered all over the bed. Seth was already wearing one of Leah's dresses, though it was far too big on him. The two girls appeared to be giggling while Seth watched them with the fascination and idealization that only a baby brother could have for his older sister. The next picture showed the girls examining the products and showing each other different things. The next few photos were of the girls applying makeup to Seth's face. In some pictures, Seth looked upset but others he was smiling and laughing with the girls. The final few were of Seth standing in his dress, makeup all over his face, odd hair clips in his hair, grinning wide. The last one was of the three of them together. Seth still grinning for the camera and Leah and Bella on either side of him looking both guilty and pleased with themselves. Both of them had makeup all over their hands and clothes. Bella was laughing hysterically as she looked at the photos. She had had a vague memory of the event but she didn't remember it being this funny.
"Oh, poor little Seth" Bella managed.
"Are you kidding, he loved it" Sue laughed "He loved being the center of attention, especially his sister's attention."
They flipped through more photo albums and Bella saw a few of Sam and Leah as teenagers. There was one taken of both of them, Sam had his arm around Leah's waist, he looked incredibly nervous. Sam was wearing a nice shirt and tie. Leah, on the other hand, looked annoyed, wearing a casual hoodie and jeans.
"It was the first time Leah had brought him over to meet the parents" Sue explained with a small smile. "He was so nervous, I thought he was going to vomit"
Bella and Sue laughed at this lightly.
"They look so young…" Bella paused "and small"
Sue nodded her agreement. Bella was more focused on Sam in these pictures. She knew the pictures weren't that old but Sam looked so different. He was still fairly tall in the pictures but he looked kind of lanky. She couldn't see any apparent muscle definition on him at all. She shifted her attention to Leah and smiled at her mildly annoyed look. She still looked stunning in the pictures and her imprint pull twinged a little as she realised she missed Leah and was eager for her to come home. The next few photos showed Seth and Sam pulling faces at the camera and striking weird poses with an embarrassed Leah in the background with Emily. They appeared to be at a backyard BBQ. The last few pages in the last album showed Seth and his father and mother a lot. There weren't many of Leah and the few that there were; she looked utterly miserable under a fake forced smile. Bella then spotted the lack of Harry in the pictures and could see the two Clearwater children had physically changed a lot. She knew these last photos were very recent. Sue closed the last album and turned to Bella, smiling.
"Thank you for sharing those with me" Bella smiled back at Sue.
"Of course" Sue seemed surprised at Bella's comment "you've always been a part of this family. It is interesting to look back on how you and Leah interacted as kids, now that you two have imprinted" Sue commented.
"What do you mean?" Bella was curious now.
"Well you always went along with Leah's crazy ideas but if you two ever got in trouble she always insisted it was all her fault. Which she never did for anyone else. She was always quite protective of you" Sue smiled at the memory.
Just then they heard the crunch of tires on gravel.
"Speak of the devil sounds like our fisherfolk are home" Sue smiled as she stood up.
As if on cue Seth came running into the house with a large cooler and Bella could hear ice sloshing around in it.
"MOM-MOM!" Seth was yelling as he ran into the living room "Look at the fish I caught!" Seth set the cooler down on the ground and opened it up to pull out a fish by its mouth.
"Seth, take those out to the backyard!" Sue protested at the fish being so near to her photo albums. "I'll come to look out there"
Seth didn't even look fazed as he dropped the fish back into the cooler and picked it back up, taking it out the back door. Bella stood, anxious to see Leah but only had to wait for a second as Leah and Charlie entered the house, carrying fishing gear. Leah's eyes instantly found Bella's and she gave Bella a small smile which made Bella's stomach flutter slightly.
"Hey Bells" Charlie greeted her and Bella turned her smile to her father.
"How were the fish, Dad?" Bella asked as she approached the two.
"Hungry, we caught a lot" Charlie smiled as the two hugged briefly.
"Charlie, I've got the knife!" Seth's voice called from the backyard.
"I promised Seth I'd show him how to clean the fish" Charlie smiled at Bella as he moved to the backdoor.
"Hey mum, I heard you were going through the old albums so I had Howard take two pictures so you could have one" Leah explained as she moved into the living room.
Leah handed Sue a polaroid and Bella glanced at it as it passed in front of her. In the picture was Seth holding a fish up, his 100-watt smile glowing with pride. On the bottom of the picture was a handwritten note that said "First fish 13.6 inches".
"This is wonderful, Leah" Sue smiled and pulled her daughter into a hug before turning her attention to the albums.
Leah set her fishing gear down and pulled Bella into a tight hug. Bella sighed and held onto her girlfriend, burying her face in Leah's neck. Bella inhaled deeply and noted that Leah's usual woodsy smell had a hint of saltwater to it.
"I missed you" Bella mumbled against Leah's neck.
"I missed you too" Leah chuckled as she kissed the top of Bella's head.
Reluctantly the two released each other and Bella helped Leah put the fishing gear away. Sue decided they would do a fish fry for dinner and insisted Charlie stay. Charlie and Seth were out back still cleaning the fish and Sue went to work in the kitchen, preparing ingredients for the fish. Leah took this opportunity to sit on the couch and pull Bella into her lap. Bella hadn't really seen Leah all week and had lost her time with Leah today. So when she was seated in Leah's lap she quickly wrapped her arms around Leah's neck and crushed her lips to hers. Leah tightened her hold around Leah's waist, pleasantly surprised by Bella's kiss. Bella readjusted herself so she was now straddling Leah, with each leg on either side of Leah. Leah's one hand moved down to Bella's ass while the other snaked under her shirt, resting on the small of Bella's back. They desperately tried to communicate with each other through kisses and touch how much they had missed each other until Leah pulled away quickly. Bella protested with a groan and buried her fingers in the hair at the base of Leah's neck, about to pull her back in when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Seth came trotting into the living room and froze. He saw Bella straddling Leah on the couch, her hands deeply rooted in Leah's hair, her face inches from his sister's. Leah's hands were quickly moving away from Bella's ass and out from under her shirt but Seth had seen it all.
"Jesus, you have your own house" Seth grumbled.
"What do you want Seth?" Leah sighed, knowing this scene would make it into the pack mind due to Seth's poor skill at hiding his thoughts.
"Mum wants your help with making the fries," Seth said as he turned away from the two.
Leah groaned momentarily and slid her hands up Bella's back, on top of her shirt.
"Do you think your dad will let you sleepover at my place, tonight, now that he knows everything?" Leah looked up at her girlfriend, hopefully.
"Can't hurt to ask" Bella smiled down at her giving her a chaste kiss before getting up to help in the kitchen.
Authors Note: I'm writing this during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning I'm stuck at home all day every day. I created a discord server (fanfiction isn't allowing me to post links so you will have to type h-t-t-p-s : / / discord. gg/ sRVeGXH minus all the spaces and hyphens) if anyone wants to hang out and talk either in text or voice chat. I think it'd be cool to talk to and meet new people. Plus, I'm almost done all my puzzles...so I'm running out of activities.