Jacob's head fell into his hands once again as Leah finally finished her retelling of the last few days events. She had surprised herself by not falling apart at any point of the story although she had stuttered over Sam's name the one time she allowed the word to pass her lips. She knew that Jake would understand as she replaced the word with a small head nod and powered through her story, too afraid to slow down for fear of losing herself at any point.

It had hurt her to see the colour drain from his face as she described the sight of catching Bella in Edward's arms. Still, she was painfully descriptive, wanting him to feel what she had seen, to feel the hurt. She wanted him angry, to be full of rage past the point of being able to see straight. She wanted him to blame Bella and Bella alone.

But she knew that wasn't her Jake.

In her own way she was trying to spare him some of the grief she knew he was going through. She had seen it before, when he suspected Bella was sneaking around on him a while ago. He withdrew into himself, away from his loved ones, away from anyone who could help him. He thought he was helping, removing the burden from others. He was only making it worse.

His head remained in his hands and she was beginning to get impatient. She wanted to hear his voice desperately, to have some idea of his grief levels, but she knew better than to push him. He sat completely still for a few moments longer before exhaling a long, deep breath.

"I'm really sorry Jake."

He looked up at her with a furrowed brow.

"Youhave nothing to be sorry about Lee. I just can't believe that I didn't see any of this. I know it makes sense now, I mean, she was always making excuses to hang with that Cullen guy. I know she's pretty good at getting what she wants too, the most unimaginable things...I just, I didn't piece it all together because I was so stupid and idiotic and..."

"...blind?"

His eyes flashed up to her.

"Sorry! I'm just saying, I have no idea how you could be so oblivious either, I mean, I've been blinded by love myself Jake but really..."

She was trying to ignore the hurt in his eyes. Part of her wanted to yell at him, to put some of the blame on his shoulders. If he had seen this earlier she wouldn't be worrying about whether she was within the time frame the morning after pill allowed for. Thankfully the part of her that realised she owed him her sanity was still with her, as were the visions of him holding on to her tightly as she fell asleep in his arms.

"You know I don't mean it like that Jake..."

"You do Leah. You always mean what you say."

She moved awkwardly from foot to foot, unsure of his tone and what he meant by that remark. The sound of a car pulling up outside her house and an engine switching off sent a look of panic over her face as her eyes locked with Jacobs. He stood up instantly and moved to the window as she moved to hide behind the wall in the hallway.

A sourness filled his face as he went to open the door.

"What are youdoing here?"

"Ugh, did your bitch let you off of your leash?" A female voice replied, her voice filled with disdain.

The panic that had begun in Leah disappeared at the first note of the high register that answered. She peered around to see the now familiar blonde standing in the doorway. Rosalie's hand sat on her hip as Jacob filled most of the doorframe, refusing to invite her in. Leah moved towards them and lightly placed a hand on Jakes arm. She surprised him because he jerked his arm away, startled by her touch, and she jumped at his unexpected reaction. His face was instantly apologetic as he remembered himself.

"Oh, Lee...I'm a moron, I spaced for a sec, sorry!"

She glanced up at Rosalie, embarrassed to be viewed in such a weak state. She couldn't help the shame that accompanied her every action. She wasn't used to being so helpless, so pathetic. She expected to see pity in the blonde harsh blue eyes but instead she saw concern. The same kind that sat within Jakes. She was staring at Leah's legs which were on display due to Seth's football jumper sitting just above mid thigh. Her eyes were darting from each mark to the next until finally she pulled them up to meet with Leah's.

"No..." she whispered. "Leah, What...what happened?"

It was then that Leah realised this would not be the last time she was asked this question. The thought of having to explain it again and again, for the rest of her life, it was a new type of pain. The kind that only acceptance and forgiveness could heal, and right now those two words meant nothing to her. Her mind had too kindly filled in the blanks and she found herself fighting the flashes of Sam's teeth on her skin, his nails gripping and pulling at her flesh. She moved quickly to the kitchen to grab a glass of water while steadying herself by leaning against the countertop.

Jake was behind her in a second as he hovered for a moment, afraid to touch her, before clearing his throat and putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want me to ask her to leave Lee?"

She swallowed another sip of water as she shook her head.

"No Jake, I want her here. I invited her before all of this happened and I need her now."

"Well that's settled then." Rose said while squeezing her way in-between Jake and Leah.

"Now you, bed." And with that she had dragged Leah back into her bedroom.

"No..." she began to protest.

"Don't 'No' me Leah Clearwater. Move it."

She obeyed without further protest and realized how much she wanted her mother to be there for her, to be instructing her path to recovery, more than she had known. There was a strange maternal edge to Rose's words, the kind that you didn't argue with, the kind that came from a good place.

It was comforting.

"Leah, you don't have to tell me anything until you're ready, okay?"

She lay within the warmth of the fresh flannelette sheets Jake had placed on the bed. As much as she had slept over the last day or two she found herself yawning yet again. It was draining being this emotionally unstable.

"I do want to know one thing though."

"Which is?"

"Would you mind if I asked Jacob for a summary of events while you got some rest?"

Leah thought about it for a moment. Her distrustful nature made her opposed to the idea almost straight away but she wanted Rose as an ally and Jakes retelling would spare her the task of doing it herself.

"Sure" she said, a little hesitant. She felt like she could trust Rose but after the last time she trusted a visitor to her house she was justifiably jaded.

"Thanks. Now you get some rest while I talk to Jacob. If you need anything just call out. He usually answers to 'fetch', just FYI."

Leah bit the inside of her lip forcing it to seem like a smile. Rose didn't seem to expect anything from her though, thankfully, and she lay with her eyes wide open as she stared at the ceiling. She was tired but still unable to drift off to sleep, as much as she tried.

She then felt the other side of the bed get heavier as two warm arms moved around her body. She molded herself into Jakes chest as he pulled her tightly against him.

"I'm here Lee, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to leave you, I'll be here when you wake up."

The warmth in his voice helped to dull the overwhelming visions that filled her and she let herself succumb to sleep, safe in his arms.

"Leah...Leah!"

Jakes voice pulled her from the nightmare she trapped in, her body shaking violently. The dream was so vivid it took her a full minute to try and convince herself it wasn't real.

She was in the middle of her living room, her family and friends all present, including her father. Sam had stripped her in front of them all. He seemed to have the room convinced that she deserved the humiliation he was putting her through, displaying her body as if it was no more than a piece of meat.

"It's what she deserves, she wanted it. She's always wanted it."

His main defence was a graphic retelling of the loss of her virginity, initiated by her at the time, and lost to him. The people of La Push needed little convincing as they stood at his side and called her a slut and a tease, a faceless woman even spitting at her in disgust.

Her father was shaking his head along with her mother. Both were ashamed of what she had become.

"We taught you strength Leah, we taught you to protect yourself. You wanted this to happen, you put yourself in this position. It's what you deserve."

That's when Jake's voice rescued her.

Her shaking eventually stopped as Jake calmed her down, hushing her and kissing her head. Rose was holding her hand tightly between her own cold, pale hands. They let her recover on her own though, waiting for her to speak so she didn't have to feel so defeated.

As much as she knew it was a dream a part of her couldn't help but feel it was right. She had disappointed her father and his memory. He had equipped her with more sense than to allow herself to be violated and all she could do now was to try and prove to him that she was strong enough to deal with the aftermath of her actions.

"I'm fine guys. This is just something I'll have to get used to I guess. Sor…"

"Don't apologize." Jake commanded. "You never have to be sorry for anything that is outside of your control."

Leah almost smiled but, instead, squeezed Jakes arms tightly in thanks. Rose began to speak, her tone soft and low. Again, comforting.

"Jacob filled me in. I've cleared out my day; you have me here as long as you need me Leah. I'll be happy to escort you to the station when you're ready…"

"I'm not going to the station. I'm not going anywhere." She replied bluntly.

Both Jake and Rosalie's faces dropped. Rose began to speak as Jake spoke over her.

"You're at least going to the hospital Leah, you have time for the police report but they need to find out what he drugged you with as well as side effects and…"

"I'm not going Jake."

She felt his body tense around her.

"Leah. You need to go. You can't let Sam get away with this. You will need concrete evidence for when he goes to trial and this is the only…"

"I'm not reporting it to the police either."

"Like fuck you're not." His words were loud as he let the anger inside of him take over now.

"Shut up for a second Jacob." Rose barked at him. "Leah, I can understand you wouldn't want to go to a Fork's hospital but we can drive as far as Seattle for you if you'd like."

"Do I need to speak slowly for you guys? I'm not going to the hospital."

"Leah." Rose was letting her irritation show through her tone now. "You need some testing done. You need to be able to prove that you did have chemicals in your system at the time."

"I know I do, I'm not a moron. I will be tested but it will be here. Your dad is going to do it."

Leah had no intention of going into a hospital that was currently housing Sam Uley nor did she trust anyone else in the hospital. Bella was able to manipulate Dr Cullen based on the basis of her knowledge of their affair so, if worse came to worse, so would she. She watched as Roses face changed from annoyance to confusion and then understanding.

"Wait, what?" Jake asked.

"I'll need to use your phone then." She replied ignoring Jake as Leah nodded towards hall.

"It's in the living room"

"I'm not sure what he'll need, it could just be bloods or urine, I have no idea. That's okay with you though?"

"It's fine."

"Anything else I can have him bring for you?"

"He'll need to bring the morning after pill with him. I don't want my name on anything and I want that clear. I'm sure Bella has predicted all the possible scenarios of what I may do next and who knows who she has as a contact at the hospital."

"Alice does some volunteer work there in the weekends. Your concern is warranted. I'll go make the call."

She stood to walk to the door and froze in place. Leah lifted her eyes to see what Rose was staring at when she saw Seth's head peering from around the corner.

"Leah?" He said with a voice so soft she had to read his lips. She couldn't help but feel the relief of seeing her brother once again, as angry at she was for his abandoning of her.

"Seth, I didn't think you'd come back."

Jake moved out of the bed to sit at the end of it now, out of respect for her sibling's entry. Seth took a hesitant step into the room using Leah's voice as permission. He was clearly eyeing up Rosalie as she did the same to him.

"Well of course I was coming back. I just didn't want to be around for the fallout and I, ah, I kinda had some serious memory repression to work on last night."

He smiled at her to match his light-hearted tone and she tried to remember what it felt like to want to smile.

He looked her face and then at both Jake and Rose whose eyes were on the carpet below them. His smile dropped quickly and was replaced by the look she was getting used to, the look of concern.

"What...what's wrong guys? Did Embry take it pretty hard? Or are you mad at Jake for beating Sam into a bloody pulp Lee 'cause, in all fairness, he had it coming."

Seth moved to sit next to her on the bed. He placed his hand on hers and she instinctively flinched, her apologetic eyes meeting his instantly. She had flinched at her own brother's touch. His face grew as serious as she had ever seen it as she saw his eyes move over the few parts of exposed skin his football jumper wasn't covering.

"Leah. What happened?"

His voice was that of her fathers and it had more of an effect on her than she was prepared for.

"Nothing Seth, it's just..."

"DON'T. I am going to ask you again Leah. What. Happened?"

Her eyes fell and her face filled with shame. Seth's head snapped quickly towards Jake now who seemed startled by the change of tone from the usually jovial boy.

"Jake. What did Sam do to my sister?"

"It's not for me to say Seth."

But his words were confirmation enough. Seth's mouth had fallen open as his nostrils began to flare.

"I thought...but he had...and Iknew she wouldn't...but I didn't think..."

He stormed out of the bedroom as they heard his own bedroom door slam behind him.

"Shit." Leah and Jake both said at the same time. Rose grabbed Leah's hand once again.

"At least he knows now, at least you don't have to explain it to him."

Jake started in on her.

"That's not the point, you don't know Seth, and don't act like you have some idea of what you're talking about."

She shot him an icy glance to match his own.

"I never pretended to know anything. I'm just saying, isn't it better this way?"

"We're pretty tight with our siblings around here, unlike you. We actually care about them. Their pain is our pain but tenfold."

"I may not be close to Edward Jake but speaking as a sister myself, if I was one of your sisters I'd happily throw a shiny object off of a tall cliff in the hopes that you would follow it."

"Oh really Rosalie? 'Cause shiny and materialistic crap seems to be more of your thing..."

"Shut. It." Leah said, cutting the bickering off. She had a headache and a thousand things to be thinking of. The last thing she needed were these two bitching at one another.

Then they all stopped as their heads flew towards the window. There was a loud banging sound in the distance. A crashing of sorts, and possibly glass breaking. Jake walked out of Leah's room as she got out of the bed and moved to the window with Rose.

"FUCK! IT'S SETH."

Jake flew out the door only moments after announcing his discover. Leah looked at Rose as both girls ran out the door following quickly behind him. They turned the corner to see Seth down the road, standing on Sam's car with his baseball bat in hand and going to town on the body of the vehicle. He'd already taken out all the windows as bits of glass were scattered all over the driveway. Rose went to run down the street as Leah pulled her back. The onlookers that were now gathering worried her and her legs were still fairly exposed.

"Stay with me?" She asked. Rose nodded.

She could see Emily standing in the doorway with her hand over her mouth in horror.

"Seth! Get off the car NOW, before someone calls the police."Jake was begging with him as he continued to lay into the roof with enough force to kill a man.

"Where is he Em?" He yelled out between a few more good hits. She was sobbing now and had a look of panic in her eyes. He looked at her and jumped onto the bonnet, taking out the headlights he had missed before.

"He's still at the hospital Seth, now get your scrawny punk ass off of the car and save some energy for when you see him instead, okay?"

Seth looked at Jake with an animalistic fury in his eyes but his words seemed to reach him. He jumped off the now destroyed metallic brick and turned to place two more good dents into the side.

"Tell your bitch-ass boyfriend that he can expect to look like this car when I see him next."

He stormed back towards the house, the adrenaline in his veins making his breath release in heavy bursts. Jake was at his side as they both walked right past Leah and Rose, who had to almost jog to catch up to them. No one spoke, still in awe of the passive, sweet, always bright kid who had just gone to town on Sam Uley's car. As they entered the living room Seth fell into the couch and it was evident his hands were shaking. Leah sat next to him and wove her own trembling fingers between his. His breathing began to slow and the rage in his eyes softened a bit. Jake sat himself on the other couch as Rose made a point to stand with her arms folded. He offered her the seat next to him and she turned her head while lifting her nose in the air. He rolled his eyes and sprawled out on the couch as his long legs extended over the sides.

"I gotta say, I didn't think you had that in you kid." He said.

"Neither did I to be honest."

"Seth." Leah started "as much as I love you for what you just did you know you have probably just made everything a hundred times worse, right?"

"Wait, what?" He said as he turned to her in surprise.

"She's right." Rose spoke up. "I assume your tribal council will now want to be involved. Not only that but I am sure Charlie will find out. The girl standing in the doorway looked pretty freaked out. She may have called them herself if one of the other onlookers didn't already do it."

"Shit, I didn't think..."

"There is a lot you don't know Seth and I'm worried about telling you to be honest. This doesn't have to be your problem you know."

He turned to face her with anger in his eyes now.

"He did that to you Leah. He is my problem. The only problem I'm going to have is trying not to kill him although a life sentence seems like a cheap price to pay for the honour."

Jake smiled at the boy. They seemed to be on the same page.

"Jesus Seth, this is what I mean. We have to be smart about this. He and Swan are a step ahead of us and..."

"...Swan?" He interrupted.

"I told you there is a lot you don't know."

His face filled with confusion and he seemed to be holding back from asking a million different questions.

"For now the obvious options will either lead us into jail or set us up for even worse. The advantage we have is that we are all together so we have four against their two."

Seth's eyes roamed the room as Leah's did at the mention of their small pack. He leaned into her, whispering so only she could hear.

"Speaking of, who's the blonde chick?"

"It's Rosalie, Dr Cullen's daughter. The blonde, youngish one who was their when dad passed."

Seth nodded as he remembered although he was still fairly confused.

"And she fits in...how?"

"She's been hurt by Bella too. She needs our help as much as we need hers. Don't worry, we can trust her."

Seth's eyes did another casual cover of the room although it was clear they both knew he was talking about them.

"What's the deal with her and Jake? Were they an item or something..."

"EW, NO!..."

"She wishes..."

"I mean, I know I was pretty drunk at the time but..."

"she was the one that was all over me..."

They were speaking over one another before they both stopped at the exact same moment. Both Leah and Seth sat with shock on their faces as Seth slowly lifted an eyebrow at Jake. He glared back at him and Seth's eyes dropped. This was one of those things they would not be talking about in length…ever.

Leah cut through the now heavy awkward silence.

"Rose, you have a call to make."

She looked happy for the chance to excuse herself.

"And after that Jake, it's your turn"

"Huh?" he asked as Leah stared back at his blank face.

"You're going to call Bella."

His face filled with panic suddenly.

"No, Lee, I'm not ready for the breakup call yet, not just yet."

"…You're inviting her over Jake."

"WHAT?!" Rosalie spat as Jakes jaw fell.

"Just make your call Rose."

"But!"

"Make the call Rose." Leah seethed at Rosalie who seemed unimpressed at being put in her place.

Leah was beginning to form her plan.

"Prepare yourself Jake, I don't want you falling apart on me now. After Rose, you're up next."