The Life We Live
Chapter 5
Pairing: Bella / Leah
Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change
I heard the pounding of paws on the ground approaching my house. I perked up immediately, on full alert in case the owner of those paws was a threat. I didn't think it was Jake, knowing him he was off licking the wounds that I gave him. And if he was smart he would stay away from the reservation, but I was increasingly thinking that he probably wasn't that smart.
I sniffed the air, trying to pick up a scent. I faintly smelt a woodsy scent, smelling of the Quileute shifters. This put me on edge, but upon closer inspection I smelt the familiar scent of my mate. I couldn't quite articulate how she smelt to me, but I knew that it was the best thing I'd ever smelt. I smiled to myself; Leah was heading this way, at a very quick pace. She must be in her wolf form, which is why I hadn't recognized her right away. It had been a week since I had last seen her and I wasn't going to lie, it was taking a toll on me. We may not have bonded or even gotten familiar yet, but my wolf still recognized her as my mate. The separation was painful for my wolf. She was pining to be near her mate and as much as I wanted to give her what she wanted, I knew that would be all but impossible for me to do right now.
The shifters were currently on high alert. Sam and the others obviously found me to be a threat and were running patrols every night. And even though none of them could ever dream of figuring out my human form on their own, it didn't hurt to be more safe than sorry. I didn't want to have to hurt the pack if they, by some miracle, found out and attacked me. Even though they didn't treat my mate with the respect she deserves, a couple of them were still her family, both by blood and friendship. And I suppose by extension, my own as well.
But needless to say I was ecstatic that she was seeking me out herself. This meant she was ready to pursue me in some way or another. I would take this as slow as she wanted, allow her to take the lead so to speak. It may be considered manipulative of me to do so; to know her feelings without her knowing of my own. But to confess my feelings to her, I'd have to give her answers that I didn't think she could quite handle yet. I'd made a lot of mistakes in my past, some of them I still regret to this day. But I knew without a doubt that once it was time to come clean about myself, I wouldn't hesitate to give her any answer she wanted.
I heard her approach my home, still within the safety of the forest. I could faintly make out the sound of her shifting back to her human form and dressing herself. I must say that I was impressed that she could shift so quietly that even my ears had to strain a little bit to hear it. I was casually sat at my kitchen table when I heard a knock on the front door. I took a breath and walked to open the door.
Leah was standing on my front porch, as I expected. I had to kick back a chuckle at the sight of her shifting her weight from foot to foot, looking a little nervous. I suppose if I were in her position, I would have been nervous as well. I smiled at my mate. "Leah, it's good to see you again. Is there something I can do for you?"
She bit her lip and it took a lot of willpower to not moan at the sight. I mean, come on, my mate was gorgeous. "Hi Bella, I hope this isn't a bad time. I was just.. in the neighborhood and thought I'd come and see if you wanted to do something?" I internally chuckled. I nodded at her.
"No, it's totally fine. I wasn't doing anything really anyways. Do you want to come in?" Her eyes widened for a sliver of a second and then a glint of triumph shone in them. She nodded at me as I stepped aside to allow her to walk into my entryway. Shutting the door behind her, I gestured to my kitchen. She glanced at me and walked in the direction of my pointing hand. She sat on a stool at my counter, resting her elbows on the flat surface, grasping her hands together.
I glanced at the clock, it was only around 7:30, fairly early for me. Obviously because of my supernatural genetics, among other things, I was a mainly nocturnal creature, so I was wide awake and aware for this. I spoke up first, "So Leah, what did you have in mind to do tonight?" She seemed lost in thought, so I gently laid a hand on her shoulder. This brought her immediately out of whatever she was so lost in and she proceeded to lightly blush. I covered a small laugh and she pouted at me. Gods, this woman would be the death of me.
"I honestly didn't think I'd even get this far, so I don't exactly know. I just figured, without Ja.. I mean.. in a small town like this, you could use the company?" I knew she was about to say without Jake. I wanted to snort at that. I suppose that was another thing, since I was staying off the reservation. I still technically didn't know Jake wasn't there anymore. For all I was suppose to know, he was still there, I just hadn't visited him.
"Well, tell you what, I haven't had dinner yet, so do you want to go to the local cafe and grab something with me?" She smiled at my suggestion. I could sense a little relief from her. "Well, just let me grab my wallet and keys so we can head out." She nodded and followed me to the front door. She stood by my stairs as I grabbed my key ring out of the dish I always left on the counter and grabbed my wallet out of the jacket that was laying on one of my kitchen chairs. I caught up with Leah by my front door. I opened the door and gestured outside. "Ladies first?" She giggled at my antics and stepped out into the warm spring evening. I shut the door behind me and locked it.
I turned to Leah. "So, the cafe isn't far from here, you fancy a short walk, it's a really nice night." She smiled at me.
"Yeah, sure. That sounds great. I need the exercise anyways." I laughed and glanced at her body. That was such a lie, but oh well. She was in extremely good shape, but I suppose that probably came from being a shifter.
We walked in silence until she spoke up. "So Bella, I still hardly know anything about you, besides the fact you're friends with Jake. Tell me about yourself." This was a little touchy of a subject for me because I had to dance around a lot of the truth for now. But I tried to give her as honest of an answer as I could.
"Well, I moved to Forks not too long ago. My parents had lived here at one point, and I figured I wanted to come live here, you know. See the sights of where my parents lived." She gave me a quizzical look.
"Well, and I hope this isn't too invasive of me, but does that mean you don't live with your parents?" I nodded at her question.
"That would be correct. I'm living alone right now. My parents… Well.. I just wanted to be on my own for a while. I inherited quite a bit from my family so I've just been traveling around recently. You know, until I figure out what I want to do." It wasn't a total lie, but it was pretty far from the actual truth. She nodded at me in understanding.
"But anyways, what's your story then? You've heard mine." I knew I was deflecting attention off of me, but I didn't think I could lie much more to my mate. And I didn't want to come clean on the first date, so to speak. She sighed.
"There's not a lot really. I'm not too interesting. I still live with my mom and brother, Seth, on the reservation. My father passed away not too long ago, heart attack. So it's just us three. And I there's the guys in the pa.. I mean some of the guys I hang out with. I'm not exactly liked by some of them, but they put up with me because of Sam." I raised my eyebrow. If Sam was as important to Leah as I think he is, I'd have to thank him sometime.
"You seem pretty interesting to me Leah." I whispered. She blushed deeply, although since it was getting dark out, she probably thought I couldn't tell. I laughed to myself, gods she was cute. The rest of our walk was made mostly in silence. It was one of those comfortable silences that you only think exists in movies and books. It was slightly awkward, but not nearly as awkward as it could have been. As we stopped in front of the cafe, I held the door open for her. She laughed.
"You really are the perfect gentleman aren't you?" I chuckled at her statement.
"I do aim to please." I said in a slightly husky tone. I couldn't help myself, and the blush on Leah's face was worth it. As I followed her into the cafe, I observed my surroundings. It was mostly empty, save for a couple sitting at one of the tables, with mugs of tea sat in front of them, discussing arbitrary things. I approached the counter, Leah standing beside me. The waitress smiled politely at both of us. "What can I get you ladies?"
"Hi. Can I get a ham and turkey sandwich with a cup of herbal tea please?" She nodded.
"And for you?" She asked Leah.
"Uh, just a ceasar salad with a water." The waitress nodded again and placed our order. I handed her a few bills. Leah tried to protest but I wouldn't hear of it. She eventually gave up and let me pay.
"Your food will be right out, if you want to take a seat, I can bring you ladies your food when it's ready." We both thanked her and found a table in the corner. Leaning back in my chair, I observed my mate. She still looked a little nervous, but still more at ease than when we were at my place.
Soon the waitress brought us our food. We both thanked her again. I was curious as to why exactly Leah had asked me out, seemingly out of the blue. But I knew better than to ask her straight out. So instead I just initiated some small talk. "So Leah, like you said, we don't know much about each other, so do you want to ask each other questions for a while?" She nodded.
"Okay, so.. Favorite color?" She laughed.
"Very creative Bella. But if you must know I'm torn between blue and yellow right now." I nodded. It didn't escape my notice that those were both my eye colors, in human and wolf form respectively.
"Good picks, for sure. Mine has probably a mix of yellow and orange." She looked at me quizzically. I shrugged my shoulders. Yeah, my favorite color was her shifted eye color, sue me. "Your turn, go ahead. Ask me something." She thought for a second.
"Any siblings?" I shook my head.
"Nope, only child. My parents Renee and Charles decided to stop at me. I did have an extremely close friend named Jaymen at one point though. We were as good as siblings when we were younger." I sighed. I hadn't seen Jaymen in a while now. I missed her a lot, but phoenixes tended to be free spirits, just following their feet, or wings I suppose. I knew our paths would cross again, but it didn't keep me from missing her.
"Where is she now?" I looked up at Leah. A look of sympathy in her eyes. I let out a breath.
"No idea, when I started traveling, we sort of lost touch. She's what you would call a drifter, going where the wind takes her. I have no idea where she is right now." Leah reached across the table to place a hand on mine. She smiled at me, and I gave her a small smile in return.
"I'm sure you'll see each other again. If you were that close, you'll see her again." I nodded my head, grateful for her reassuring words.
"Anyways, what the story with you and Sam?" Leah's eyes widened a little and sighed. I quickly backed up. "I mean, if you're comfortable telling me, you don't have to feel obligated to tell me about it." She shook her head.
"No it's fine. I just haven't really talked with anyone except my family about Sam before. I'm not really sure how to go about it. I suppose it started in high school, he was my high school sweetheart. We were in love and after high school, he proposed to me and we were engaged for a while. Until a few things outside our control happened and we had to separate. He ended up marrying my cousin, Emily. At the time, I was crushed, heartbroken. But over time I came to terms with it. Sam and I are like siblings now, he's the older brother I never had, and had always wanted. He looks out for me, he.. pushes me in directions that I would never go otherwise." I nodded my head. I got a taste of that at the bonfire. He had been the one to push Leah to talk to me and take me home.
"Well, I'm glad you have someone like that, who is there for you." I stared at my hands. I had been alone for so long now, I couldn't remember the last time I had someone to rely on, someone to vent my problems to, someone to encourage me, cheer me up. But thinking about it, I had that person now. I had my mate, regardless of the fact we hardly knew each other. Even in the short amount of time I've known her, I'd been more truthful about myself to her than anyone in.. a long thought gave me hope, that I wasn't going to be alone for much longer. I glanced at the clock. We had been sitting at that table for about an hour now. I looked over at Leah. She was lost in thought again, something I noticed was a habit of hers.
"Leah." She snapped herself out of her thoughts, looking at me. "You ready to head back?" She nodded. We gather up our stuff, threw the trash from our meal in the garbage and headed back out into the night. Darkness had fallen and if I wasn't a dangerous creature of the night, I probably would have been nervous to walk back to my place.
After walking in silence for most of the way, I looked over at Leah, she was walking beside me, and she glanced over in my direction. Our eyes met and I immediately felt our connection. It was so overwhelmingly powerful that if I wasn't as experienced and old as I was, my jaw would have dropped as I gazed into her eyes. We both broke eye contact and looked ahead. Leah rubbed the back on her neck, blushing again. I think I was also blushing, because my face felt slightly warmer than normal. I almost wanted to laugh. She managed to turn an extremely old and powerful Lycan into a blushing teenage girl. Leah's voice broke the silence.
"So, Bella. I had a good time tonight. I'm glad I decided to drop by." I smiled at her.
"So did I. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had in.. a while." Truth be told, I hadn't ever had as good an evening. But I chalked that up to spending quality time with my mate for nearly the first time.
"So, would you be up to do it.. again?" She hesitantly asked me. I could sense her nervousness. I just chuckled.
"Of course Leah. I would love to spend more time with you. Your company is very enjoyable and I'd love to get to know you better." She grinned at me. At that point we had reached my front door. She walked with me up to my porch. "Wait a second, do you have a pen and paper?" I nodded, as I unlocked the door.
"Sure, come on in for a second." She stepped into my entry way for the second time today. I quickly grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil from the kitchen and handed them to her. She messily wrote down a number on it and handed it back to me.
"Here, it's my phone number. Text me, or call me sometime so we can hang out again." I grinned and nodded, promising to text her later. She nodded at me and abruptly pulled me into a hug, which I returned as soon as I snapped out of my surprise. As we stepped apart, Leah looked like she was glowing, all smiles. "I had a really good time tonight Bella. Thanks." She turned to open the door and walked back out into the cold night air. I waved at her and as she ran off I shut my door. I quietly listened to her drift out of human hearing distance. As soon as she did, she let off a loud yell of triumph.
I laughed at her actions, but at the same time felt warmth inside. I heard her run towards the treeline, immediately shifting and running back in the direction of the reservation. I laughed a shook my head. My mate was certainly something. I was looking forward to our next outing. I quickly grabbed my phone and added Leah into the contacts. I also shot her a text so she would have my number as well.
Hey Leah.
I hope you got home okay. I'm sure you know this already, but I did have a good time tonight. I'm looking forward to our next date night ;) Sleep well.
- Bella
I had contemplated the idea that calling it a date night might have been too much, but decided to opportunity to tease her was too good to pass up. I knew one this for sure, my future was going to be filled with my mate, and I was completely okay with that.
A/N: Okay, so I'm completely horrible at writing date scenes. It might be because I've never actually been out on a legit date myself. I've done the dinner/dance thing before, but that's not really too casual like this was meant to be. Oh well, I tried. I'm hoping that it goes at least decently. I did have a little bit of writers block for this, but I stumbled through it. I'm much better at writing back story and action sequences honestly.
But since I want this relationship to progress at a slower pace, fillers and fluff are going to be a major part of this story. I do know that in almost all of my previous stories, it was either an established relationship, or I simply had the mating bond nearly instant on both parties. However, I don't want this story to be like that. I was to progress at a natural, slower pace. So apologies to those who want the relationship to progress quickly. I'm not to going to draw it out chapter upon chapter, but they're not going to jump in the sack after the first date.
And as for making Bella seem really over powered. That's always something I've struggled with. I don't want to make her unbeatable, that's not the intention. And I'm planning to work things into her back story that cripples her. But based on her powers alone, I totally understand she's completely over powered.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the relationship progression in this chapter.
A Charmed Vampire