Crushing Gravity

Chapter 22

I giggle girlishly, a sound I can't believe would actually come out of my mouth. But it did, and I don't care, and I lean into Leah's warm body. All my weight is practically pressed into her, but her wolf strength easily allows her to walk straight without any hindrance other than plain not paying attention.

She stumbles slightly, but she still doesn't look away from my face, her expression doesn't falter, and her arm remains wrapped around my back.

The time is later in the evening, well after dark, and the smell of smoke still clings to me even as the sprinkling mist from the clouds dampen my shoulders. The imprints of lingering fireworks still seem to be ghosting the sky.

Leah and I are walking up the path from the beach, and I feel very bubbly from the fruity drink Brady had shoved in my hand earlier in the evening. It's not very late now, just after nine o'clock, and the Fourth of July party is still audible from the gravel road.

There are bonfires all up and down the beach as the natives flood them in celebration of a holiday that doesn't even concern them. Laughter and shouts travel through the humid summer air, every now and then drowned out by a random lit firework that explodes in a shower of sparks or flares in a flash of bright light.

I trip for the innumerable time tonight, feeling strangely clumsy and light. A giggle puffs from me as Leah steadies me once again with an amused showing of teeth.

"I told you not to drink whatever Brady gave you," she scolds lightly without any real bite. "You're drunk."

"Not much," I argue, breathing her in as I burry my nose in her shoulder. "You smell good. Hey, why did we leave everybody behind?"

She laughs, righting me as I misstep slightly. "Mrs. Fuller called Brady and asked him to send you home. Someone is at the house."

"Oh yeah...hey, why are you coming with me?"

"Because I don't trust you not to fall flat on your face on the way back," she says patiently with an amusement that's similar to answering a child's simple-minded questions.

I sigh happily as we walk the dark road, knowing my Wolfe will protect me from any monsters that might jump out.

There is a strange car parked on the road in front of the Fuller household, one that I've never seen before, but I don't think anything of it as we go all the way to the door and open it. There is an idle curiosity of who could be at the house, but my mind is too fuzzy to hold onto anything much.

However, that haziness is blown away completely as we round the corner to the living room. Meek and familiar emerald green eyes meet mine, and the young woman rises slowly from the couch along with Mrs. Fuller.

I straighten up, pulling out of Leah's arms completely as I can feel her curiously looking past me.

"What are you doing here, Lyla?" I ask shakily. "Get out."

She opens her mouth and steps forward, hand slightly outstretched. "Sam-"

"Get out!" I scream, bunching my hands in fists and spreading my feet defensively.

Mrs. Fuller steps between us, raising her hands at me in a placating gesture of peace.

"Samantha," she scolds, disappointment scrunching her brow. The look...it makes me feel strange. Like there is a squirming in my gut and it feels really crappy. "I know you're angry, and you have the right to feel however you feel, but lower your voice. You can express yourself without yelling."

A warm hand presses into my lower back, reminding me that this one other secret is about to come to an end.

"Sam," she asks, caressing the skin showing from my ridding shirt and the back of my hand. "Who is she?"

Looking into her eyes, I can tell that she already knows, but she's confused. All she knows is that I miss my sister, that I was taken away from her, so she doesn't know why I would be angry at her now.

"Leah, this is my sister. She's the one who sent me to foster care. She's the reason I went through everything I've been through."

Leah's dark eyes flash, warring with emotions. Anger, sadness, understanding, happiness, confusion, guilt, indecision, and then acceptance. I don't know why she would feel guilty.

She slowly moves her gaze from me to my sister, taking in all our similarities. Lyla looks distressed, wringing her fingers together like you would a wet cloth.

"Are you a friend of Sammy?" She asks nervously, smile strained.

"I'm her girlfriend," Leah comments frostily. Her tone is unfriendly but polite; her face shows compassion and acceptance.

Lyla blinks wide-eyed and rubs the back of her neck.

"Ah...well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised; she had the biggest crush on Minnie Mouse when she was little."

That surprises me. I don't remember that.

"What are you doing here, Lyla?" I ask again, voice calmer now even though my emotions are frayed. I blame the alcohol.

"I wanted to talk to you," she crosses her arms, but it's not a defensive move. It looks like it's for support. "I miss you."

"You got rid of me," I say passively, unknowingly mimicking her stance.

"Perhaps we should..." Mrs. Fuller points her thumb out the door hesitantly, sensing that this is a private conversation. Lyla is just starting to nod her head when I snatch up Leah's hand to keep her from leaving.

I need her. I don't want her to go.

She meets my eyes and nods in acknowledgment. She'll stay.

"You got rid of me," I say again once Mrs. Fuller disappears down the hall. Leah pulls me into her, enveloping me from behind in the perfect comfort that I need.

Lyla shakes her head, tears teetering at the edge of her eyes. "I didn't want you to leave; I thought I was doing what was best for you."

That argument just seems so pathetic to me.

"It would have been best for me if you had kept me," I snarl, for the first time glad for the restraints holding me in place. Of course, I can easily break Leah's hold if I wanted, but just them being wrapped around me is enough to keep my grounded. "It would have been best for me if you wanted me."

"I love you Sammy; I wanted you," she cries, reaching out for me.

I sniff in response, my own tears blurring her face from my vision.

"But I wasn't good enough. I would have been better. Why didn't you tell me; I could have been better?"

"No, Sammy, no, it wasn't your fault." She pulls me out of Leah's arms and into her own much cooler one's. They feel foreign now and not like how I remember. Leah lets me go reluctantly, and I cling to my sister, sobbing.

"Why wasn't I good enough? I could have been better; why didn't you tell me to be better?"

Lyla holds me tight, and it's so uncomfortable, but I miss her so much.

"It's me; it's me that wasn't good enough. I'm sorry, Sammy, I'm so sorry."

I clutch at her back, not caring that I'm snotting all over her pretty green shirt, or that she's squeezing me in one of her too-tight hugs... Or that she is the cause of so much bad. Because there is one thing absolutely good that happened that wouldn't have otherwise.

I'm happy now. Leah is the best thing that ever happened to me.

And it's because she sent me away. How messed up is that? How different would things have been if she had kept me?

How different would I be? I can't even remember who I was before everything.

A/N: So, I hope you don't think Sam forgive her too soon... I'm my defense, it has actually been several weeks and Sam is a bit drunk. I know I didn't spend a lot of time describing the struggle Sam had about Lyla, but I feel that I would mostly just be repeating myself and I know that I always quickly got bored when other stories spent and ultra long time on things.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

~Silver~