Reaching Out

Never refuse any advance of friendship, for if nine out of ten bring you nothing, one alone may repay you. - Madame de Tencin

Leah ruffled through the mess of objects in the cardboard box until she came to the one item that caused her to venture down into the basement. The binding was frayed and creased from the countless times she had opened this book, putting in new pictures and just soaking in the memories. It had been two years since she last looked at the pages. She peeled back the cover to reveal the first group of photos. How ridiculous she looked in those glasses! Thank god they were only for reading.

Leah flipped through the other pictures, by-passing any that had Sam in them, and lingered on those that held the only man she could ever tolerate being around: her father.

Though she hated to admit it to any one, she had been a daddy's girl. Not in the stereotypical 'daddy-lets-me-do-whatever-I-want-and-gives-me-everything' way; she and her father had a special bond, a friendship almost. He had understood her crazy mood swings and let her blow off her steam; he was always there to lend a hand and be the shoulder to cry on - even when she denied that she was crying. He allowed Leah to be herself, free of judgment, and she missed him terribly. She needed to remember what it felt like to be loved unconditionally and her father's memory was the best she had. It wasn't that she thought her mother didn't love her because Leah knew that for a fact; it was just her father gave her hope that not all men were disgusted by her.

The sound of a door clicking brought Leah out of her reverie. She whipped around to see Jacob Black coming down the stairs. Annoyed by his very presence she growled quite loudly but that only made him smirk arrogantly.

"What the hell are you doing here, Black?" she spat.

"Billy's in a retro mood and wanted to borrow some of Sue's old records," the abnormally tall teenage boy explained striding across the room.

"Whatever. There's a box over in the corner marked 'Music'. Get it and get out."

"Touchy today, aren't we?" he retorted from the opposite corner of Leah. "Oh wait; you're always a psycho bitch."

Leah glowered at the stupid boy, ready to punch him hard in the face. She was really getting fed up with his smartass comments all the time. But she could play his game just as well.

"If you want to see a psycho bitch, I'll show you one," she commented threateningly.

He turned around, box in hand, and stated "Oh, a free show? I feel privileged."

"You're about to feel my fist in your face if you don't leave now!"

Leah pushed at Jacob's muscular stature, barely moving him because of his massive size. She huffed out of frustration when he started to laugh tauntingly at her. Jacob patted her on the head before veering towards the steps again.

"Don't pet me!"

"But you're a dog, it's what I'm supposed to do."

"That cheeky smile is going to be wiped off his face!" thought Leah, racing after him.

He was struggling with the handle and Leah took this chance to inflict as much pain upon him as she possibly could. Her attempts were somewhat feeble. Though they both had inherited the freakish wolf gene, Jacob was still three times bigger than her and therefore less likely to wince or cower at her wrath. That didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

Leah pounded on his thick arm and broad back repeatedly, mumbling about how asinine and cocky he was. She even kicked him swiftly in the back of the leg but that didn't even seem to faze him. Tired of beating on Jacob, Leah wondered what was taking him so long to open the door.

"Forgot how to use a handle?" she quipped.

"No," he answered pushing past her to go down the stairs.

"Then what's the problem? Why aren't you leaving?"

She leaned over the banister to watch him put the box down on the ground and sit against the wall. Why was he getting comfortable? She didn't want him here, she'd made that quite obvious over the past few minutes.

"Door's locked," Jacob responded indifferently.

Leah stared at him in confusion. The door couldn't possibly be locked...She climbed the last two steps and turned the knob anticipating the door to separate from the frame. That did not happen. She tried again and was faced by the same results. Agitation began to build in her body. This was not happening; she did not want to be stuck in this room with Jacob. Leah banged on the door with her fist, calling out her brother's name. Where the hell was that kid?!

"He left while I was coming in," floated up Jacob's husky voice.

"Damn it," Leah grumbled, reluctantly descending the steps. "Did he say where he was going?"

"Allison's."

Leah groaned. Of course. Whenever she called, Seth ran to her like his ass was on fire. When her little brother imprinted on the girl around the corner, Leah knew nothing good would come of it. And look now, she was being held against her will in the basement of her home with the person that annoyed her more often than the cheesy soap operas that played every afternoon. If Seth hadn't gone to be with Allison, he could have unlocked the door, Jacob could leave and Leah would be able to get back to doing her own thing. That would have made her extremely happy.

"God, my life sucks," she complained as she moved boxes around on the table so she had someplace to sit other than the cold, hard floor.

"Haven't heard that one from you before," commented Jacob sarcastically.

"Why don't you just shut it?"

"I like testing you, actually."

His signature wolfish grin appeared on his russet face. Leah scowled from her makeshift seat. She believed that whatever higher power had control of the universe, it was playing a cruel joke on her. She wondered what could be done to appease it because sitting with Jacob was definitely going to be torture. Leah couldn't wait until her mother and younger brother returned - which she hoped would be soon.

"So what are you doing down here?" asked Jacob moments later.

"Why does it matter?"

He shrugged his shoulders, staring at her plainly. "It doesn't...but I'm curious just the same."

"Well, it's none of your business."

Leah folded her arms across her chest and turned away from the boy sitting opposite her. Why did he care what she had been doing? He - along with everyone else - had gone to great lengths to ignore her; it became natural for Leah to just isolate herself from them when she had the chance. What was the reason for the change in that routine?

She could hear Jacob shuffling through some boxes on the other side of the room. Who said he could go through her family's personal items? Leah hopped off the table and went over to him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Trying to entertain myself since you won't talk," he stated holding up an old stuffed animal Leah recognized from her childhood.

She'd forgotten that Mr. Whiskers was still here in the basement and the former sentiments towards the ratty rabbit returned - but only slightly.

"Who the hell what's to go through someone else's beat-up crap?" she inquired, snatching the toy from Jacob's large hand.

"Someone who thinks there's more to the story than what's being let on."

Jacob continued to rifle in the box, unperturbed by Leah's penetrating stare.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded of him as he gave up on that box and moved to another one.

Jacob whipped around so fast that Leah was momentarily surprised, stumbling backwards. He chuckled lightly at her predicament which earned him a good smack to the back of the head. Leah smirked triumphantly.

"So, are you going to tell me what you're trying to find or do I have to continue harassing you?"

"It's nothing in particular," he started, finding interest in another container of retired objects. "Just anything that'll tell me more about you."

"There's nothing else to me; you should know, seeing as you invade my mind quite frequently," Leah snapped, following Jacob with her eyes as he rummaged in a new bin.

He humph-ed yet did nothing else except pick through more things that were hiding in the boxes. Leah didn't understand what it was Jacob thought he was doing. Or why he was even doing this. Of all the people in the pack, he was the one that tormented her the most and acted as if he couldn't care less about her life. Yet here he was trying to find something that would 'tell' him more about her. He could be so irritating sometimes - like now.

"There's always more to the story," he said, lopsided grin on his face as he held up a photo of Leah from when she was younger.

She specifically remembered asking her mother to burn that picture. No one was supposed to know she ever took ballet, even if it was just for a year when she was in first grade.

Leah stomped over to him and grabbed the picture from his hand. "What are you doing? What's your reason for all this?"

Jacob shook his head and sighed deeply before speaking. "You've got these walls built around you, Leah. Everyone's tried to get around them but you always push back. I'm gonna try again to get through them because, believe it or not, I want to be your friend. And friends are there for one another to let each other in."

Was what she just heard true? Did Jacob Black really want to be her friend? Did she even want him to be her friend? She stared at him incredulously because there was no way he was being honest. His smile would return any second to reveal his true intentions to spite her. However, Jacob's mouth never quivered and his eyes remained focus on Leah.

"Right. Jacob Black wants to be friends with me. Just stop messing around," Leah said uneasily.

"I'm not messing around. Yeah, I've been an ass towards you but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop reaching out to you. You need to know that there are people who care."

"You can't be serious," she said, her voice quieter than she had expected it to be.

"I am."

His earnest tone and meaningful stare frightened her. It felt like so long since Leah had someone other than her biological family care for her yet she was still wary of getting hurt. Should she risk putting herself out there? What would she get out of this in the end? Could she even trust Jacob? It was overwhelming trying to comprehend that, after all this time, somebody thought enough of her to want to be her friend.

Unbeknownst to her, tears were trickling down her cheek. Jacob, noticing the drops fall from her eyes, tenderly wrapped his arms around her frame. She was tempted to push away but was surprised at the comfort she found in his large arms. Leah had to admit it felt nice, though the situation retained a great amount of awkwardness.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you," her muffled voice sounded against Jacob's chest.

He laughed a deep hearty set of vibrations that reached every fiber of Leah and caused a tiny smile to spread across her lips. She could just imagine the grin plastered on his handsome face as he spoke.

"Yeah, I know."

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Sue Clearwater returned home with an armful of groceries. She called out for her children to help put away the items but she did not receive a response. Curious as to where they could be, she set down the bags on the kitchen table, and began searching their home for any sign of them. Sue found a short, scribbled note from Seth sitting by the phone saying he had gone to Allison's house yet there was no mention of Leah's whereabouts. Leah was an adult now, able to come and go as she pleased, but it still unsettled Sue not to know where her daughter was.

She checked Leah's bedroom and once finding out she wasn't there, Sue decided to let it go. She had to stop being a nosy and over protective mother. Well, not completely; a parent always needs to know their child is alright. So, with that thought in mind Sue went back downstairs to unpack the numerous bags of food her children would surely devour in the next few days. As she was putting away the canned goods, she realized there wasn't room for them all. They had to go some place else.

Sue gathered the excess cans of food into a shopping bag and headed towards the basement. She walked down the stairs and stopped abruptly on the landing, surprised by the scene before her. Leah and Jacob were sitting on Harry's old card table, a scrapbook balancing on their knees. Leah's head rested on Jacob's shoulder and his head leaned gently on top of hers, both their eyes closed and breathing evenly.

Sue smiled to herself as she turned back upstairs. It had been so long since she'd seen Leah happy and Sue hoped the small smile that lay on her daughter's lips, even in her sleep, would stay for a while. And if it was Jacob Black who made her Leah happy, well, he could stay for a while, too.

Endnote: This is my first Blackwater :) I'm still kind of iffy about the ending with Sue. Let me know what you think about that, k?