Crushing Gravity

Chapter 13

The sky is crying. Just a soft and quiet weep that dampens the top layer of my hair, but doesn't go any deeper. The kind that is nice to stand out in and turn your face up to the overcast sky that doesn't hurt your eyes. The kind that is cool against your skin, but that's okay because the outside air is warm enough to not need a jacket.

I still have my hoodie of course, but Leah is just wearing shorts and a tank top. It's the least amount of clothing I've seen her in, and my eyes keep drawing back to her smooth shoulders.

I trip over a root, just a stumble really, but Leah's hand snaps out to steady me.

"Thanks," I manage with a blush. I've been feeling odd around her all week. Shaky, uncertain, more aware of her physical presence.

"So are we almost there yet, or what?" I ask, becoming annoyed. With walking, with my squirming stomach, and with her coming to my house this Saturday to wake me up at ten. She didn't tell me what we were going to do, just dragged me out of bed and stuffed an extra change of clothes into a bag.

She just smiles at me and keeps walking slightly ahead.

The path starts to look familiar the farther we go, until we come to the cliffs of the last bonfire. The fire pit is unlit; there is no towering table of food, and no elders.

Just, about, a dozen half-naked men.

My heart, which had also been all wonky lately, takes off at a sprint, pounding hard and fast in my rib cage.

My knees lock against any forward movement, eyes widening and jaw tightening to a painful ache.

Leah stops suddenly, turning to face me with a confused expression.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

I reach out to her, and she immediately closes the distance, embracing me with little to no thought. "What is it?"

Surprisingly, in her arms, I start to calm. My heart steadies to a healthier racing pace and not the kind that I can feel in my ears.

She pulls back, looks at me closely, looks at the guys, looks back at me, and then tugs me toward them.

I'm calmer; the shock had worn off enough for me to recognize the men, most of them actually boys, but I still cling to Leah's back.

Inexplicably, even though she is a girl and much smaller than them, I feel safe with her. And I do suspect that the boys would never hurt me in that way; they protect humans against the cold ones.

Still, their bareness makes me uncomfortable, even more so than Leah's originally did.

"Why are we here?" I mumble, feeling very childish as I burry my face between her shoulders and bite the tip of my thumb. Leah tries to gently coax me out, not knowing what to make of my sudden shyness.

Paul turns to me with that smile I absolutely hate.

"Cliff diving," he tells me, voice full of mean taunt. "Lee-Lee didn't want to leave you out, but it's not like you'll jump anyway."

I straighten, pulling away from my friend to face the senior boy. He's good at starting anger in me, and he always finds it amusing when I take a swing at him. Of course, I know he's trying to provoke me, but that doesn't matter any because I always react.

"Paul," Sam chides. "That's enough."

Leah is already growling at him.

He smirks at me, before turning around and jumping off the ledge.

My eyes widen and I dart forward to the edge of the cliff to look down at the calm grey waters.

He lets out a long whoop until he submerges with a splash.

My heart is loud again, beating in my throat until he reemerges a full six seconds later. I can hear his laugh from all the way up here. It must be fifty feet.

And then the boys are howling, and Sam is running and jumping and doing a perfect swan dive into the water bellow. The two ant-like figures swim farther out and then look up the cliff-face.

Leah is at my side, steadying me, as I seem to sway.

Brady grins at me. "You going to jump?" He asks. "It's actually really fun."

"Or are you scared?" Collin teases good-naturedly.

Seth comes up behind him and shoves him off the cliff. Collin howls, flails, flips, and then hits the water with a painful sounding bellyflop.

My heart is in my fingertips until he comes up gasping and cursing.

I stare wide-eyed at Seth as he grins down at the water.

"What?" He asks. "He's being a jerk, and it's not like it would have really hurt him."

"Thanks Seth," Leah grins.

"No prob, Sis."

"My turn!" Brady cheers, taking the jump with a run and flipping a few times.

Then Jared, and Jacob, and Seth, and Quil, and Embry all go and it's just me and Leah left on the cliff.

My heart pounds as I stand at the very edge, bare toes gripping the rock as I stare down at the grey sloshing water.

Leah turns away and starts heading to the forest. "Come on, Sam," she calls. "We can go meet them on the beach."

I back up, one step, two steps, three steps. I hear Collins teasing 'are you scared?' in my mind, and I fling myself off the ledge.

Leah gives a startled scream that is lost by the rushing wind in my ears. My heart drops to my stomach, my stomach drops to my feet, my limbs flail until I am just ten yards away.

I suck in a deep breath, cross my arms over my chest, and close my legs, pointing my toes into the water like I saw the majority of the others do.

A shock goes through me as soon as I'm swallowed by the ocean. The water is cold, colder than I expected, and I had went down further than I had thought.

As soon as my descent slows, I kick out and start swimming for the surface.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seve- my head comes above the waves and I gasp in a breath, spitting water.

The guys' crows rush to my ears along with the gurgle sound of the small waves hitting the rocks.

Arms wrap around me, and for a moment, I freak. Because the guys are in the water and half naked and I'm being touched, but then I turn my head and see familiar big brown eyes with flecks of gold, and I relax.

Leah's shorter hair is plastered to her cheek and neck, and water droplets clump on her lashes, and her body warms mine.

I hadn't seen her jump in after me.

"What the hell, Sam?" She glares at me, and I blink.

"What?" I pull back some, but she doesn't let go. Her hold is restraining. "Let go!" I kick out, hitting her hard in the shins, and she releases me.

"Why'd you jump?" She takes a deep breath, calming her tension.

"What are you talking about?" I scowl. "You're the one who brought me here; you thought I wouldn't? I wasn't scared."

Jacob swims closer, looking cautious.

"Hey, calm down guys. Sam, it's just that the humans normally jump from the smaller one halfway down. She was scared, okay?"

That doesn't make sense. Why would she be scared? "Okay," I say anyway.

"Come on, let's swim back up to the beach," Leah says softly.

I nod and start doggy paddling in that direction. It's the only way I know how to swim. That, or duck under and froggy it.

It takes several minutes to get to the sand, and Leah has to tug quite a bit before I'm able to stumble out of the surf.

Leah slings an arm around me as I shiver, and I only hug her tighter around the waist.

"Why didn't you take some of your clothes off?" She sighs as we start the half-mile walk back up to the cliff where our changes of clothes are. "Come on, take off your sweater; it's only making you colder."

I allow her to peal it from my body, and goose bumps immediately spring into existence on my exposed arms. She hugs me again, rubbing her warm hands up and down along my skin to cause friction.

This touch, this one, is the one I like. I close my eyes, burning from the salt water, and turn my head into her shoulder, trusting her completely to get me to where we're going.

I give a silent sigh of contentment, and she shivers. I wonder if wolves get cold?

The guys all don't need to go up to the cliffs, so they head back to Emily's house for lunch. The poor girl provides practically three meals a day for werewolves, it's a wonder she isn't broke.

Leah is kind enough to turn her back, but it's still awkward to change out in the open without a wall separating us. After that, she takes me to the diner for lunch where we hang out for several hours before she finally takes me home.

I feel strange as she walks away, leaving me at the door. My mind seems kind of fuzzy, like there's something I ought to do, but I can't fathom what it is. All I know is that the farther she walks away from me, the faster my heart speeds.

"Leah?" I call. She's already halfway down the road, but she hears never the less, and turns with a curious tilt of her head. I'm not sure what I'm going to say next, and it surprises me even as I'm asking it. "Do you want to spend the night?"

Even from so far away, I can see her grin. She jogs back, eyes dancing in happiness. "I'd love to."

A/N: There is a surprise next chapter. How would you guys feel about another Leah's POV? (hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge)

~Silver~