Chapter 11 revelations

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing.

AN: just a reminder that this is part three of a continuing sequence of events from my other stories 'what was she doing?' and 'What was he thinking?' – so if you are feeling lost as to what happened or why people are behaving the way they are, maybe you need to read those as well – homework… look at that, I'm assigning homework...

Leah had let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. When he threw the towel at her, she had thought for a second it might be the lower towel and just the thought had taken her breath away.

Jacob Black was spectacular.

When had Jake gotten so good looking? She knew he had grown a bit more when he stepped up to the Alpha but he had a smoking bod now. It was like the way a guy filled out in their mid 20's. He had actually grown with the Alpha mantle and his wolf had too. Human Jake was now 6ft 7 and wolf Jake was officially the biggest, strongest, fastest… you name it and Jacob Black was it. So when had he gotten to be the sexiest?

And if he was in proportion? Wow, that just didn't bear thinking about. She had always studiously avoided checking out the pack junk.

But it was the way he held himself now. Like he knew what he had and he knew what to do with it, as well. All kinds of confident was little Jacob Black now. When had that happened? She spent so much time and effort bitching and moaning about her life, she hadn't noticed any changes in his.

Jake was a man.

She had heard the guys talking about clubbing, but she had not even thought that Jake would be getting any tail. And she had been so careful to keep herself physically distant from all the pack; she hadn't even smelt women on him. Or alternatively she had been such a bitch to them all, they had all avoided being near her.

She had been especially bitchy to him because he had finally seemed to get over Bella. Even going out clubbing was a kind of betrayal to her. If Jake could get over it; then it made her look worse. She was still clinging pathetically to her hope that Sam would stop phasing and go back to her. He had called her on it and he was right.

She was in the shower; she felt weak and shaky as if she really had walked all those miles in her dream, but she felt like she had some of her answers now. She would have to talk to Billy or old Quil about what the hell had happened.

Maybe; maybe she would just work it out herself. She voted for doing it herself; old men couldn't help her now; they hadn't bothered to help her before. She was an unexpected anomaly to them; a female shifter. The first in all the record books and they didn't know what to do with her.

And what the hell was she going to do with the information that she had slept with Jake? Slept in the true sense of the word, but she could not imagine the ribbing the pack would give her for that. And slept with her brother. Ugh.

She heard a tap on the door. "Leah? Clothes are on the bed. Come to breakfast when you are ready."

"Thanks Jake," she called back. She found her panties hanging on the towel rack.

Bella was cooking breakfast all right; she could smell it. She made her way slowly to the kitchen. She could hear their voices laughing and chatting and she could hear cooking noises; spoons and spatulas banging on saucepans. Bella's domain; the kitchen.

They all looked up when she stopped in the doorway. Jake was sitting with his arm around Bella's hips as she dished up bacon and eggs for him. Paul was leaning against the sink with a coffee mug in his hand.

They all seemed to be waiting for her. She took a deep breath and took that last step into the kitchen. Paul grabbed another mug out and poured some coffee for her. Jake pulled back the chair next to him and Bella plonked an empty plate in front of her and then heaped it up with food. The toaster popped and Paul threw it onto their plates.

She studied them all. They seemed extremely comfortable together. And then another realization came to her; these were her friends. They had looked after her when she was literally defenceless.

She was amazed she still had any; she had been such a bitch for so long.

"How do you feel?" asked Bella, when she eventually sat with her own plate of food. Paul placed a fresh coffee in front of her and kissed her and then sat himself.

"Shaky, but okay. I feel like I walked miles."

"You didn't fall again?" Jake spoke quickly; he sounded worried.

She shook her head. "No, no falling. But my legs feel weird; you know shaky."

"Hmm." He frowned at her. "Okay then."

Everyone was silent for a while, but it was a companionable silence while everyone ate. She picked at her food.

"I need to thank you guys for all looking after me. I mean I don't know what happened, I fell asleep at my house and I wake up here two days later."

She cleared her throat. "I guess you are all wondering what happened to me?"

"No," said Bella, "We know you went on a vision quest; or at least that is what we think you did. Charles worked that out. But whatever you learnt about yourself, it is your information to share or not. It's up to you."

"Oh." Leah hadn't expected that.

"But…" started Paul, but Bella frowned at him and he fell silent.

Jake was watching her and demolishing his breakfast.

"There is one thing I want to ask," she looked at Bella. "Would it be okay if I stayed here for another day or so?"

"Of course," said Paul, "you're welcome to stay as long as you need."

"It's just…"

"Don't worry about explaining…" Bella started.

"No," Leah interrupted, "I think that I need to explain." She took a deep breath; this shit was hard. "One of the things that I realized is that my house is not my home to me; it is where my father died and," her voice caught, "I know it was not my fault but I just can't…"

Bella rushed to her and hugged her hard. That actually felt good; no wonder Jake hugged her all the time. She didn't think Bella had ever hugged her before. Her voice was muffled in Bella's chest, "I saw my father; he told me it wasn't my fault and he told me I had to let it go, but it is so hard…"

Jake and Paul exchanged a look.

"Fuck Leah, didn't anyone tell you it wasn't your fault?" Paul asked.

"I don't remember. There was so much stuff going on. Seth and I had just phased …I mean that's what caused the heart attack… when I … and we only just managed to get ourselves human again for the funeral, remember? I didn't think Seth would make it through the whole thing; I was so worried about him."

"Oh Leah, you poor thing. I never knew you blamed yourself. It was a heart attack wasn't it? Surely it could have happened at anytime?"

"That's what he said," she sobbed. Paul had grabbed the tissue box from the living room and he placed it in front of her with a pat on her shoulder. "But it was the shock of seeing me phase… his face…" she ground to a halt.

Jake was still watching her. He reached across the corner of the table and squeezed her hand.

"I'm s… sorry," she sobbed.

"Oh for heaven's sake," scolded Bella. "You have to work through this; you have to get it all off your chest, otherwise you will make yourself sick." She hugged her again. "You stay as long as you need." She returned to her seat, but she looked worried.

Leah got herself back under control. She exhaled loudly. "One down," she said wiping at her face.

"Okay," agreed Jake, "what's next?"

She smiled at him. "Maybe later, I'm not sure I can do it all at once," she confessed.

"You should go see your Mum and Seth; they were both really worried about you."

"Seth bailed on the bed thing."

"Yeah he did, coward."

"Hey, is that Charlie's cruiser?" Paul interrupted.

Jake and Leah tilted their head to listen.

"Sounds like it," added Paul.

"Guess you'd know," joked Jake.

"Can't tell you how many times my super hearing saved my life," Paul chuckled with a leering glance at Bella.

She rolled her eyes; "Yeah, yeah Mr Irresistible."

The door banged and they heard Charlie call out. "Just a quick visit," he shouted. "Hey Leah, you're awake," he said as he entered the kitchen.

"Wicked detective skills there, Charlie," teased Paul with a twinkle in his eye.

"Watch it boy," Charlie told him as Bella handed him a coffee. He pulled up a chair, "I could still shoot you, you know. Don't give me a reason…"

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this early morning visit, Dad?"

"I popped out to talk to Sam Uley about that deputy job but he said no."

"Really? Why?" from Bella.

"Too dangerous he said. Reckon his woman… what's her name… Emily … might have had something to do with that. She wasn't pleased at the thought of him doing police work."

Paul snorted. Leah was looking confused. Jake thought to explain. "Charlie sacked a deputy and he was hoping to get Sam to replace him. He needs someone with better ties to the Native American community. I suggested Sam. I thought he would leap at the chance to have a solid job, but…" Jake shrugged.

Leah could not believe it. She had asked for a purpose and here it was on a freaking platter. It was also a paying job and one at which, she had no doubt she would excel.

"What about me?" she asked Charlie. "I could do it."

Everyone looked at her. Her chin lifted and she tried to look confident. Given she had been crying her heart out 5 minutes earlier; she looked pretty good; pretty together.

"Yes," breathed Bella, "and she is female. That is another one of your boxes ticked, Dad."

"How old are you Leah?"

"Twenty; nearly twenty one."

"You finished high school?"

"Yes."

"She got a scholarship," put in Jake, "but she couldn't take it up."

Leah looked at him. How did he know that? She had let that go when she got engaged; when the whole compass of her world was Sam Uley.

"Really?" said Charlie. He sounded impressed by that. He chuckled, "Sue will kill me."

"You'll be the most organised you have ever been in your life Charlie," Paul said.

Everyone glared at him.

"What? I meant it in a good way. The woman could organise a herd of cats." he waved airily in Leah's direction.

Jake's eyes twinkled; he knew what Paul meant.

Charlie gave her an assessing look. "We could start part time and see how we all go," he suggested. He stood and Leah did as well. He reached across and shook her hand. "Welcome aboard," he said. He kissed Bella, "I had better get back; at least my trip out wasn't wasted. See you guys later."

Leah sat back down and looked at Jake. "That's two," she said. He laughed.

"Ooh," said Paul, "you'll get to wear a uniform…"

"And carry handcuffs," added Jake.

"Humph," said Bella. "It's all 'ewww' when I say that about Sam, but its all sexy now it's Leah?"

The boys looked unapologetic.

Leah ducked her head, tried to eat her breakfast and stay out of this one.

FF_2154210_ - 25/11/2010 02:20:00 AM