This chapter is a little weird. It was one of those 'not nearly close to being rated M but Sidney is OCD and paranoid about it' chapters. As I have clarified in the past, I don't write lemons, period. The closest thing to a lemon I've written isn't even in this story, but I'm a bit paranoid so I'm going to warn you. Embry and Leah talk about sex. But remember, they're adults (or legally, anyway, whatever age they look) and it's a perfectly normal conversation to have, considering it's highly insinuated in the books that the imprinted couples of appropriate age do more than talk about things like that. Either way, I feel kinda weird posting it, but it's in no way graphic or inappropriate. I don't even think there's cursing in this chapter…. Which is kind of rare for me. Anyway, this AN is too long, so I don't own, and please review!

"Oh, Leah, you look darling!" my mother cooed, clapping her hands together.

"You do look really nice, Lee," Rosalie said, tilting her head to one side. "Mrs. Clearwater, did you pick that out?" It was surprising, but Mom had wanted her input in the wedding planning, despite her 'species'.

Mom smiled and nodded, standing to get a better look. "My lovely Maid of Honor! You look so beautiful in that dress, sweetheart. I can't believe I'm doing this again."

"Getting married?" Emily asked from her seat, a hand on her noticeable baby bump.

"Picking out a wedding dress. The wedding isn't the hard part. The dresses, though…" Mom looked me up and down. "I just love pink on you, Leah. Now we need to find my dress…"

I smiled, doing a full turn. "Do you want me to pick it out for you?" I joked. "We could match."

"You, Leah, can pull off a strapless cocktail dress. You have the body of a supermodel. I, however, have the body of a middle aged widowed mother of two wild animals."

The dress shop worker smirked. "Oh, I understand feeling like you're raising a pack of wolves."

Mom, Emily, Rosalie, and I all burst into laughter. "Oh," Mom said, "you have no idea. Do you have the dresses I tried on before?"

The woman smiled and went to a rack. A moment later, she pulled off three different dresses. We ordered Mom to try them on, then decided from there. The first one was slightly too young, with spaghetti straps that she hated. The second was alright, but was far too large. The last was nearly perfect, with simple white floor length skirting, long sleeves, and a sweetheart neck. It just needed to be taken in a bit and it would be her wedding dress. But it had to be done fast.

Two days later was the actual wedding. It was fast, but it was exciting, and Charlie and Mom made each other happy.

"This day is going to be great," I said, straightening her veil.

"Do you really think so?" Mom asked, observing herself in the mirror. Her faintly lined face had an expression of worry. "Is the dress alright?"

"Mom, yes," I said, taking her hands. "You're beautiful."

She smiled a bit her lip, looking so young. "Thank you."

I smiled, then kissed her cheek. "Now all that's left is walking down the aisle."

"You don't think I'm going into this too fast, do you?"

"No. Now let's get you hitched."

She laughed, then grinned. "Let's go."

The wedding was beautiful and simple. Seth walked Mom down the aisle, Bella was Charlie's 'best man' and I was the Maid of Honor. Nessie was the flower girl and thoroughly enjoyed skipping down the aisle tossing flowers, and the audience (all tribe members and vampires, so there was no need to have any sort of act) all fawned over her. The reception was on the beach, bonfire form, and there was music and food and dancing. The wedding, though, had a surprise (and somewhat unwelcome) guest. Thunder and rain.

"Thank you for coming everyone!" Mom yelled into the microphone on the makeshift stage. "Get home safely!"

Charlie laughed and took her hand, pulling her offstage and out to the parking lot, to his cruiser and to their new life as husband and wife. They were going to Portland for a few days, then they would live at our house until Seth graduated. They would be keeping up (and occasionally staying at) his house until then, when they would permanently take up residence there. It was complicated, but they were happy with it.

The pack stayed behind to help clean up the area, but Embry kept arguing with me, telling me to go home so my dress wouldn't be ruined, that he could handle it. I told him no, ant that I could do whatever the hell I wanted to do and he couldn't stop me. The guys laughed at us for bickering. We finished just as the rain picked up into a full blown storm.

"Leah!" Embry called over the noise. "C'mon, we can leave this! Let's get you home!"

I took his hand and dragged him along, beginning to urn towards my house. Let's go!

Thunder crashed around us, making me laugh like a wild woman from the thrill of it. Embry laughed at my cackling, smiling the whole run down the streets of La Push. God, I love you so much, Leah.

We made it all the way to my house, where I had to reach up into the hanging flower pot for the spare key, my dress not having anywhere to stash a key. We continued laughing as we watched Quil and Seth run like maniacs to Quil's house, both soaked to the bone with their coattails flapping in their wake. After having a good laugh at their expense, I unlocked the door, then reached up to toss the key into the flower pot again.

A crash of thunder hit just as I turned the door knob, making me collapse into Embry's arms, still laughing with him. "I love you, too!"

His face looked shot, then he breathed a quick, "What?"

"I said," I spoke louder, shouting as several rolls of thunder hit, "I love you!"

Embry's lips were on mine as we fell through the open door, kissing intensely and out of no where. It may have been the fact that we were just happy, it could have been the fact that the storm added to our animal instincts, and it could have been the fact that it was the first time I said I loved him, but Embry was kissing me more heatedly than ever before. And I loved it.

After what felt like forever pressed into the wall of the foyer, kissing until our lips were chapped, Embry pulled back and then hugged my tightly, holding me as close as humanly possible. His warm arms held me, and his face rested in my hair.

"I love you, too, Leah," he finally said after a while, softly.

I smiled. "Let's get into something dry."

"Okay."

Embry changed into some sweats he'd left here after the last time we ran patrol together while I changed into some pajamas, then we cuddled on the couch for a while. Later that night, over a dinner of leftover pizza, I made a suggestion.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" I said, not meeting his eyes as I toyed with the crust of my slice.

"Okay," he said, after a long moment of silence. "I'll call Mom and tell her I won't be home. Can I use your phone?"

"Go ahead," I said, fighting a smile.

Embry got up and walked to the wall phone, dialing his house. "Hey, Mom. I won't be home tonight." Silence while she spoke. "I'm staying the night at Leah's house." More silence. "Seth's staying at Quil's tonight, so she'll be alone." Silence… "Exactly. I don't really want her alone, anyway." Getting sick of silence here. "Yeah, goodnight. I love you, Mom." He finally hung up.

I smiled at him as he sat back down. "So do you want to watch a movie or something?"

Embry smiled and nodded. "We can see what's on."

A little while later, we sat on the couch, eating out of a carton of ice cream and watching an old Meg Ryan movie. The phone rang a bit later. It was Mom, and she and Charlie had made it to Portland. Nearly the second after I hung up with Mom, Seth called from Quil's house, telling me he wouldn't make it home, like I knew.

"Okay, well, are you going to be okay alone?" he asked.

"You're only across the street, and Embry's still here. I'll be fine. Love you, Sethy."

"Love you, too, Lee."

I finally got back to the couch and sat down. When the movie ended, though, I suddenly had no idea what to do. Suddenly, all of the things I hadn't thought about began to come to my mind. Where would he sleep? When would he want to go to bed? What if he wanted to do more than just kiss?

Embry looked at me and smiled. "Sleepy, Leah?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

He laughed, then put an arm around my shoulders. "Well, do you want to go to bed?"

"I guess. Where do you want to sleep?" The million dollar question.

"Wherever," Embry said passively. "The couch, your room, wherever you feel comfortable."

"Well, um, where would you rather sleep?"

"Where are you going to sleep?" That struck me as a rather dumb question.

I replied in kind of a 'no duh' tone. "My bed."

"Well I thought I'd sleep where you sleep," he said, unperturbed. "Do you mind?"

I blushed crimson. "Okay, I have room."

He put a hand on my cheek. "Are you uncomfortable with me sleeping in your bed with you?"

"What? No!" I said quickly. "I was just…surprised is all. Well, I guess it's bed time."

Embry smiled, then took my hand and led me to my room. I pulled back the covers on my bed and slid in, leaving ample space for Embry to lay down. He turned off the lights and got in as well, pulling me into his arms and kissing my lips.

"I love you, Leah," he said around feather light kisses, holding me in his warm arms.

"I love you, too, Embry… But…" I was nervous, but I had to get my thoughts out in the open.

"But what?" Embry asked, sounding concerned. "Are you okay?"

I took a deep breath, then looked Embry in the eye in the faint light from the small plug in night light in the corner. "I'm not ready to have sex with you. I'm sorry, but…I'm just not ready to be that kind of intimate with you. I didn't think about it before I asked you to sleep over, but I'm just not ready."

A look of realization dawned on his face. "Oh, well, Leah, it's okay. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, or if it seemed like I was too eager for…anything. I wasn't thinking about it either. I just wanted to be close to you. I can go to the couch if you want me to."

"No," I said, in a slightly unconvincing tone. "I just… It's been so long since I felt this way. I was just thinking about how I said I loved you, I asked you to spend the night, and we're both kind-of-adults that have been in a serious relationship for a notable amount of time… So I thought I might have made it seem like…yeah…"

"Leah, you will always be more important than something so trivial," Embry said, rubbing my back a little. "I'm sorry if I seemed too eager, or if I made you uncomfortable. Trust me, sex is the farthest thing from my mind. You're more important to me than anything, and I didn't mean to make you nervous."

I nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm just…scared to be this open with anyone. I haven't had a good history with these things."

He looked me in the eye. "Leah, I will never hurt you like that. I don't expect sex and I never have, and I'm so sorry for making you feel obligated or anything like that."

"Thank you," I whispered, a bit choked up. "I really do love you."

"I know," Embry said, smiling gently. "If you want me to sleep on the couch just say so; the offer's still open."

I took his hand and pulled his arm over me, cuddling up to him. "Stay here with me. It's been forever since I had a sleepover."

Embry chuckled and pulled me closer. "I love you."

The storm continued through the night, but I slept soundly in Embry's arms, just sleeping. We didn't have to do anything but be there for one another. It was a kind of love I'd never known, and it was lovely.

A/N: Okay, so in most of my stories the characters spend the night with one another. It's one of my little trademarks. I do have another trademark that I don't think anyone but my beta for The Single One and the LTL stuff knows… Anyway, review!

~Sidney