Disclaimer: I do not own, only play. These are Stephanie Meyer's characters.


Leah Clearwater was behind on her college credits.

She didn't start on time like the rest of her high school graduating class did. She stayed behind a year to work and build up her bank account. She stayed home to help with the bills while her mother was laid off and forced into part time job. She worked her summer and fall and spring until she was able to apply the following year.

When she applied, she applied to only a few schools.

She was accepted to all three; however, she found it hard to choose between the better college or the one closer to home.

In the end, choosing the one further away and not the better school was her option for reasons she couldn't even remember.

So she started out as an Early Education major, but she didn't like that. So she switched to a Christian Ministries major but that was no good either. She switched two more times, before settling on History in Researching and Resource Management; she was fascinated by museums, historical organization and preservation.

But even with all the switching, she wasn't even done with her gen-eds.

So Leah Clearwater was 23 by the time she was a senior and she was working out those last few mandatory classes so she could graduate. In order to do this, she was taking 7 classes in one semester. Two of them being 8 week courses and half of them being online, she barely left her room or the classroom buildings.

But it was in one of her annoying introduction classes that she had somehow skipped over in her scheduling over the years that she ended up in a class with Rosalie Hale.

Leah Clearwater had heard a lot of things about Rosalie Hale; granted, she attended a very large campus so the rumors must have been worth hearing.

Rosalie Hale was the girl worth being jealous over. Typically good hair, good skin, good physic, but on the inside, rotten.

Leah had been raised in a Christian home and was brought up with strong morals and manners and behavior; Leah didn't have tolerance for 'mean' people. Leah also didn't have jealously issues either.

So when Rosalie Hale showed up in her class that first day, Leah was not eager to introduce herself anytime soon. So she ignored her for half the year.

For that half of the year, the most Leah could report on was that Rosalie never offered her hand to answer the question. If she was called on, she always had the right the answer, but she never volunteered to share it.

Leah found out Rosalie Hale was smart.

She also realized that the blonde haired girl had a sophisticated way of speaking in class. Many times Leah overheard Rosalie talking with her friends and every other word out of her mouth was 'like' or 'oh my god, so' but in class Rosalie was a well-rounded speaker. It was a no wonder she had a minor in Communications.

Leah then realized Rosalie Hale was different.

But it really wasn't until the class was assigned to groups—all of which Leah hated immensely—that her partners were two guys and of course, Rosalie.

She sat down next to her and at first Leah was off put because the girl wouldn't stop staring at her. Leah had thought maybe something was on her face or maybe Rosalie was judging the way she looked, but it all reflected poorly on her when Leah realized Rosalie was smiling the whole time. And when Rosalie had stopped staring and smiling, she was politely asking questions and making smart notions and being nice.

And that's when Leah found out that Rosalie Hale was pretty; exterior and interior.

They exchanged numbers; Leah thinking it would be great to get Rosalie's help with assignments if she ever needed it. But mostly, because Rosalie Hale seemed like a friend Leah wanted.

Rumors were just rumors. This was what Leah Clearwater configured.

Then another new week came around, a week before Spring Break and Leah would be able to go home for week and see her mother. She was all geared up to take her midterms and be done with it all for a little while, until she heard another rumor.

Rosalie Hale is gay.

Leah didn't think much of it; she had obviously learned her lesson the first time.

Rosalie Hale is a cootchie licker.

Carpet cruncher.

Muff mouther.

Rumor or not, true or not, it was not something Leah would ever approach Rosalie about. Considering they weren't even close, friendship wise. But her disinterest in the matter didn't derail her away from the possibility that the rumor could be true.

Maybe she wanted to know.

Maybe she didn't.

Maybe it was none of her business. But she liked Rosalie, and Leah didn't think it was fair that anyone was talking about her personally like that.

Leah Clearwater didn't know what to do.


Bella sat next to Alice and Rose on the city bus. They decided maybe getting out of the dorms would be good for them because they had been locked inside for hours studying.

They rode the city bus downtown until they hit an ice cream parlor that was open late and gave college discounts. They walked inside, ordered, paid, and ate their ice cream in a booth in the corner.

Alice wondered if the two girls would be staying in the dorms for Spring Break like she would be and so she asked this, spooning a nice dollop of strawberry ice cream. Both of the girls had said they weren't sure but Rose thought it was more likely than not that she would be going home. Bella was a little less sure.

And it was mainly because of Edward, this Rose and Alice both knew. Because after Bella and Edward had had their discussion about their relationship, they had definitely put a discloser on the topic. And with that, they had been seeing more of each other.

The thought of not seeing him for a week left Bella strangely strained and she was reassured by Rose that it was a normal feeling; a normal feeling for a girlfriend. Bella grimaced at her remark.

"I don't care what I'm doing, just as long as I'm not locked up in the damn dorms all week," Rosalie proceeded to say, "I'm tired of looking at my computer screen."

Both Bella and Alice said 'Same' in unison and smiled at each other in congratulations for their sudden telepathic abilities.

And it was also then that Leah Clearwater walked in with two friends of her own. Once she saw Rose sitting not too far away, she smiled and waved over to them.

One of the features Rose liked about Leah the most were the very pale, very scattered freckles Leah had on her nose. They occurred more when she got sun and it complimented her olive skin so well. Leah had shoulder length, very dark hair that was layered with bangs and fringe in the front. And her fingers were very long and slender and feminine.

But mostly, it was just about everything that made Rose smile, including when Leah walked in the noticed her sitting there.

Surprisingly, Leah was there with Jessica and so she smiled at Bella, Rose, and Alice in familiarity and then went to order her ice cream. With them was another girl, named Lauren; an athletic girl who was known around the school for knowing archery.

"Nice seeing you guys," Leah said before wandering back over to the counter.

"Isn't she just frosting on a cupcake," Alice murmured, licking her spoon.

"I know; she's perfect," Rose said in a very serious manner, not seeing the sarcasm in Alice's voice.

As it seemed, Leah, Jessica and Lauren were taking their ice cream to go and Rose quickly shoved Bella out of the booth so she could follow behind them to get Leah's attention. At the door entrance, Rose caught the dove tail of Leah's shirt to stop her.

"Hey, maybe we can hang out sometime," Rose offered casually, not trying to sound overly zealous.

Leah nodded, her back against the door, keeping it open as Lauren and Jessica were already outside.

"Sure, what are you doing for Spring Break?"

Rose pursed her lips. "Not sure yet. You?"

"I'm going home."

"Where do you live?"

"Oregon."

"Oh."

"Yeah. But I'll be back that Saturday before classes start up again. We can hang out then if you want?" Leah's voice didn't particularly match her attitude and appearance. If anything, her voice would be described as raspy and low. Another trait Rose found so appealing.

Without sounding too disappointed, Rose nodded in agreement and released Leah, letting her close the door and walk off.

When Rose returned to the table, Bella and Alice were both looking up at her with odd expressions.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Nothing," Bella said and they all eventually returned to eating their ice cream.

Later on that night when Rose and Bella had resulted to studying in Rose's room, Bella fingered her notes lazily, feeling the day's wear on her shoulders. She was tired and wanted to sleep. She began packing her things to move back to her room when Rose shut her books as well.

"I don't care what people think, you know?"

Bella looked over at her. "Okay…."

Rose continued. "But I don't want them to say anything about her. I can take the cruel jokes and sarcastic slanders, but I don't want Leah to fall under that with me."

Bella slowly knelt back down, with her hands in her lap. And in that moment, she felt really bad for her best friend. Because it had been bothering her; this was it. There was no telling just how bad it really was because even this was a surprise to Bella that Rose was even sharing but Bella could probably figure that it was hurting her a lot.

And the sad part was Bella was crap for comforting people; always had been.

"Leah is a big girl. She can make her own decisions."

Rose's eyes were sad as they looked up at her friend.

"Yeah, but she doesn't even know. About me."

"Then maybe you should tell her."

Rose only nodded. And eventually, Bella got back to her room and got ready for bed. She washed off her makeup and wrapped all her hair on her head to tie with a scrunchie. There was a time, when Rosalie first came out, that Bella wondered if people would start thinking that because Bella hung out with Rose so much, it meant that they were dating. Bella didn't lie to herself; she admitted that it bothered her at first. But the she realized that she just didn't care because it wasn't true, and even if it had been, that it didn't matter because it wouldn't have been anyone's business but Bella's and Rose's.

Although, Bella could understand why Rose would be upset if more rumors would spread about her and Leah. But Bella thought Leah would be a little injudicious if she hadn't heard any of the rumors about Rose yet, so Leah couldn't leave all the blame on Rose. If she had heard the rumors, she wouldn't be going in blind.

And if she hadn't, well, Bella hoped for Rose's sake that honesty was going to play a key role in that new-found friendship somewhere.

Because after all, honesty was the only non-enemy in any relationship, wasn't it?


As it turned out, Bella ended up staying for Spring Break, leaving her parents very unhappy on the welcome mat of their front porch. And the very decision to stay was ultimately for two significant reasons. One; Bella hated going home, as her father was a human tirade and her mother was just always so tired, visits home were least of all pleasurable. And two; Edward.

Since their turn around in the shower, literally and figuratively, Bella spent more time with him than not, physically never seeing the inside of her dorm that much anymore. This excited Alice just as much as it saddened her. She loved having the room to herself, but Bella was still her friend… and not seeing her meant Bella was just another person Alice never saw because she was a home-body.

So Bella had originally spent most of her nights at Edward's and then at her classes during the day, repeating the cycle as fluently as her schedule allowed her. But this past week has been bliss as Bella didn't have to rush anywhere for any classes at any specific time. And it was amazing.

She lay in bed, facing Edward as he lay on his back, facing the ceiling. She reached up to starting kissing his jaw when he made the notion to speak up.

"So my mom and father want to have dinner with me and you some time soon."

Bella sighed and pulled away. "You know, I like you and all but you have such terrible timing on when you want to ask me things."

Edward cracked a smile down at her, pulling her closer to his chest.

"You 'like me and all', huh?"

Her smirk grew, kissing the edge of his mouth. "Yes."

"Thank you."

"Thank you?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm being polite." Edward watched as she then squirmed out of his arms and sat up. She tossed on a t-shirt of his, sitting on the edge of the bed while fishing for her hair out of the neck hole.

"Oh c'mon," Edward reached for her and pulled her back into bed, "You know I like you. I like your face." He began dragging his lips along her cheeks.

"I like your hair. I like your lips." Edward made a silent note that she hadn't worn her usual shades of lipstick today, or recently at all. Her pale lips screamed at him now and although tender, plump, and still perfect, it was odd to see her without the red. Or purple. Or one time, even black.

"I especially like these." He lifted his hand under her shirt to kiss one of her nipple rings; her breast puckering from the touch.

A tiny moan escaped her lips as he did so.

Edward's hands lightly traced the outline of her curves, sliding a hand down her chest to her hips where he lightly stroked her inner thigh. Bringing one of his other hands back up to her face, he kissed her again heavily on the mouth.

With ease, Bella sank back into her original spot and clung to him.

"But my parents though," he said in between his nips to her mouth.

Bella inevitably pulled back. "Dammit, Edward."

"Just say you'll have dinner with them."

"I already met your dad."

"Yeah, but not my mother and besides, you were introduced to my father at work; he's a completely different person then."

Her sigh was a submissive one, allowing the room to swallow it but somehow leave it lingering in the air. And Edward felt it and knew this dinner was probably the last thing she wanted to do, but it was important. To him.

"Okay."

"Thank you." He kissed her once on the lips.

"When?"

"Whenever you want." It didn't really matter to Edward, per se; he just thought his parents were excited about Edward having a solid girlfriend for the first time in a couple of years.

"This week then; might as well while I'm off. Get it over with."

"Your enthusiasm is killing me," he stated sarcastically.

Bella set her head back on her pillow, sinking into it. "You already know I'm not completely thrilled."

"Not good at meeting parents?"

"No; I'm great with parents. Parents love me. All my friends' parents took one look at me and knew I was the responsible one." Her attitude was quite serious.

Edward cocked his head to the side. "Are you joking with me right now or?"

"Just shut up," she hissed, crawling to sit on top of him.

Edward then sat up, pushing her back down; he grabbed onto her hips for power. With delight, he tore her thong off and tossed it to the side as his tongue traveled down her below her naval.

And all the while, Edward still wasn't quite sure if she had been serious or not. But he would find out, now, wouldn't he?


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