I do not own Twilight etc.
||= Finally My Turn =||
Needless to say, things between Embry and I were a little tense over the next few weeks. The funny thing was that I wasn't the source of the tension. I'd openly explained to Embry (as if I needed to), that I was deeply in love with Rebecca forever and always, and I wouldn't take it back for anything. Of course this irritated him, as expected, but he understood. Maybe a little too well. I had been the only person able to relate to his pain and vice versa for so long, it only made sense that we would most likely hook up if things continued as they had been. I sincerely hoped for his sake that he would imprint sooner rather than later after having to deal with him.
Without openly mentioning it to me, his discomfort with the fact I had imprinted on a member of the same sex was expressed to me in full detail. His homophobia was almost laughable. If I hadn't been in such a good mood, I might've fought him over it, but it seemed rather pointless. I was deeply reminded of myself after Sam dumped me for Emily. The same hurt, although under a tad different circumstances, was mirrored in his eyes. I finally knew what it must've been like for all the other wolves to have to deal with me and my constant depressing train of thoughts flowing into their brains. So all in all, I cut Embry some slack, and we went our own way, letting our subconscious minds clue each other in for the rest of the night. He'd been avoiding me since.
It was Saturday afternoon after a particularly long night of patrol with Jacob whenever the home phone woke me up, trilling loudly from the kitchen. It took me a few moments to come too, and then I was racing to the phone. I snatched it up on the fifth ring, not bothering to glance at the caller ID.
"Hello?" I asked, clearing my throat and rubbing my eyes, half grinning.
"Hey, Leah." Rebecca answered, sounding pleased. "Did I wake you up? You sound tired."
"Oh, yeah. It was about time I get up, anyway." I glanced over at the clock and grimaced. It was four thirty PM.
"I'm sorry. Want me to call you later?" she asked apologetically.
"No, no. I'm fine. A call from you is a nice way to wake up. So how are you?" I asked, heading back to my bedroom and sitting on my bed, scrubbing my fingers through my hair.
"Not much. I've just been hanging around the house. So, if you don't mind my asking, how come you sleep in so late everyday? Do you work nightshift somewhere in town?" I pursed my lips, trying to think up a believable excuse. I felt incredibly guilty that I couldn't tell her. I'd been lucky for quite a while since this was the first time my oddball sleeping habits had ever come into question.
"I stay up pretty late most nights. Mostly watching TV and stuff, you know. I'm kind of a night owl." I said lamely. I bit my bottom lip, hoping she wouldn't call me on it.
"Ah." She said, amused. "I never took you for an early bird, anyway."
"Well you're certainly not an early bird." I said, smiling. She chuckles on the other end.
"How would you know? Are you stalking me or something?" She joked playfully. I laughed weakly. It was funny in a sick sort of way that she'd hit the nail on the head.
"Yeah, definitely. Everyday." I said, wide awake. Then she paused.
"Well, the main reason I called was to tell you that I'm going to be gone all of next week. I'm going to California to stay with my grandparents over break, but I'll be back a few days before school starts back up again." The smile wiped off my face in an instant. Was it spring break already? I could feel a sinking in my chest.
"When are you leaving?" I asked, unable to keep the unhappiness out of my voice.
"I'll be flying out on this Sunday afternoon." She said, reading into my tone.
"Where in California?"
"San Francisco."
"I don't want you to go." I said honestly, my mood ruined.
"I don't really want to go either, but I haven't seen them in almost a year. I've been having a great time with you, and I'll miss you a lot. But I'll be back that Sunday. My flight will take off at ten, so unless we have the mother of all delays, I'll be back before nightfall." She explained, sounding reassuring. I didn't want to be reassured. I wanted her to stay in Forks where I could see her any time I wanted and protect her when needed.
"I'll miss you more than you'll know." I grumbled, dropping my head into my hand like a dejected puppy.
"I doubt that." She retorted, and my lips twitched into a small, half-smile.
"Don't. I don't know how I'm gonna live without you, Rebecca." I sunk my teeth into my cheek before I allowed myself to say I love you. It was still too soon, she wouldn't return my feelings.
"It's only a week, Leah." She says softly, but I can tell she's flattered. I can imagine her face brightening up.
"It'll feel like forever." I contradict. She laughs.
"Well I'm not leaving forever. It's only seven days not counting the Sunday I come home."
"If you left forever I'd die." I say, perfectly aware of how dramatic and childish I must sound.
"I wouldn't want you to die. Then I'd die." I can tell she's playing, but at the same time she's serious. It makes me feel good and irritated at the same time.
"I wouldn't want you dead if I was dead." I argue.
"This is a really weird fight." She chuckles.
"Well I'm serious." I moan sadly. The thought of anything bad happening to Rebecca tears me up on the inside. In California I couldn't protect her. Jacob wouldn't let me go that far from La Push, and if I went, I didn't have nearly enough money to rent even the cheapest hotel for more than three nights. I felt bad enough that my date money for Rebecca and I was already eating up what little cash I had. I spoke up again before she had a chance to say anything else.
"Can I at least see you before you go?"
"Of course you can. I was thinking of that just now." I knew there was no way I could ask her to not go and see her family, and I was positive her mother would become suspicious if I drove her to the airport. I had to spend as much time with her as I possibly could while I had the chance.
"Can I come over now?" I asked, not even considering that I needed a shower and my breath stunk.
"Yeah, sure." She said, sounding a little surprised.
"Er, scratch that. I need to… freshen up." I explained.
"Ah. Talk to you later then."
"Bye, Babe." I said offhandedly, feeling like an idiot. Hopping off the bed, I bathed in record time. It was a miracle that Charlie or some other cop didn't pull me over as I sped like a madwoman into Forks. I took a moment as I sat in Rebecca's driveway to compose myself, then jumped out and knocked on the front door. She smiled happily when she opened up.
"Would you mind if we went for a walk? I've been cooped up in the house all day long."
"Not at all." I say, and she turned to pull a thick black jacket off the coat rack. I move aside as she steps out onto the front porch, helping her arms through the long sleeves. When she's done I pull her into a tight hug, careful not to hurt her.
I bury my nose in her hair, inhaling deeply as I rub one hand up and down her back. She hugs me around my waist, squeezing softly. I hold onto her for several minutes, unwilling to let go, feeling that if I do she'll jump on a plane right then and leave me. She can't possibly know how much I love her or what her absence will do to me.
"You're going to get cold without a jacket." She says quietly, muffled against me. I almost say "no I won't" but catch myself. I shrug nonchalantly.
"You can borrow one of ours." She makes no attempt to pull away. I pressed my lips to her hair. Not that I'd have let her go if she tried.
"Don't go." I mumbled, completely changing the subject. She's quiet for a minute, and I'm fairly sure I've lost her when she says.
"I wouldn't, but my mom would get suspicious if I just called it off the day before. Plus, we've already bought plane tickets for tomorrow and back. That'd be a huge waste of money. I doubt she'd let me stay even if I did ask." She sighed. I pouted, nuzzling the top of her head.
"Why'd you wait so late to tell me, anyway? A little warning that my girlfriend was going to take a six hundred mile plus trip would've been nice." I huff. She groans and buries her face in my belly.
"I was going to, but I kept forgetting. Every time I see you we always talk about all sorts of things and the trip would just slip my mind." My pout turned into a frown, and I pulled back just slightly to look down at her.
"I'm sorry." She says, looking up and meeting my eyes. I can't stay annoyed for long, looking down at those gentle blue irises.
"The last time I saw you we talked about mechanical pencils for almost two hours straight. It didn't occur to you to bring up the trip once in that whole conversation?" I complained halfheartedly.
"No." She mumbled guiltily. I sigh at her in mock disappointment, shaking my head teasingly as I pulled away from her fully, cupping her face and leaning down to kiss her lips. It only lasted for a few seconds, but I couldn't help but feel a little adventurous. I nibbled her lower lip just slightly, swiping the tip of my tongue over it before pulling back. Her eyes flutter, cheeks rosy red. I can never help but feel a little prideful whenever we kiss or I catch her checking me out.
"Let's go on that walk now, hmm?" I suggest, smiling as I kiss the end of her nose. She nods.
"Oh, wait, you need a jacket." She said, going back into the house and searching for one that was big enough to fit me. She frowned as she pulled a large, but very thin coat out.
"You'll freeze in this; let me go upstairs and dig through my stuff. I'm sure I have something thicker." I shake my head and catch her wrist.
"Its fine, I promise. I don't get cold very easy." I pull the jacket on, and even though it's the biggest that she has readily available, it's tiny on me. The little article of clothing pulls tight across my chest and sucks in around my stomach, and I smirk as I zip it all the way up, feeling Rebecca's eyes fall on me appraisingly when she thinks I'm not looking. Reaching out, I take her hand, which isn't a whole lot smaller than mine and thread our fingers snuggly so that our palms have no space between.
"You're always so warm. I don't get how you do it." She says absently as we stroll down the driveway. My lips twitch again, and I shrug again. Halfway on our walk, we stop and I take her other hand, which was cold as ice, and stuck both under my shirt against my belly, delighting in her embarrassment. When we were almost back to her house, I made a daring move. I stood a few blocks away, clearing my throat and licking my lips.
"Rebecca, I was wondering if maybe I could spend the night with you? I mean, nothing sexual or anything like that, and I understand if you uncomfortable with it…" I trailed off, watching her carefully. She was stunned for maybe a second, her already flushed face brightening again.
"Yeah, I would really like that, but I don't know how we'd do that. My mom doesn't know that you're my girlfriend, but she'd still think it was kind of odd if you spent the night." I grin.
"Don't worry, that won't be a problem."
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Please review.
Apologies for the slow update; I hope that there was enough dialogue for everyone whose been asking.