History repeats itself


As soon as he was gone, I did the most unexpected thing. I smiled, truly smiled. An expression I hadn't been able to pull off in months. "Paul.." I breathed, shocked at my body's reaction to this. My head was spinning and my heart was pumping faster than ever. I felt happy, genuinely happy.

I was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to go to Emily's house, although, I hadn't stepped foot into her house since she ran off with Sam. We weren't really talking to each other either, neither did I have the intention of doing so anytime in the near future. Emily deserved to be shunned by me. No one put a gun to her head, she wasn't given the option of life or death when Sam first asked her out. She could've said no for the sake of her cousin. That's when I learned that sometimes, blood traitors did exist.

But despite all of that, I should've expected that my emotions would contradict my logic, it wasn't uncommon. My legs started moving beneath me and I felt as if a cloud of adrenaline rain had drenched me from head to toe. The smooth sand sunk my feet, and I put extra strain into running until I reached the dirt ground of the woods. The sweet scent of earth and wood filled my senses and I was able to maneuver my way out of the woods easily. The trees behind me were my second home, or my first. I spent more time there than I did in my own house. My body had become so fit and agile, I barely perspired. It was as if I was taking a very slow walk in the middle of Alaska.

I slowed my pace once I started to see more people around me along the dirt roads. A few of the elders waved at me, and I waved back.

Rachel Black sidestepped me, "Hey Leah, where are you going in such a hurry?"

I stopped in my tracks, Rachel was supposed to be in college. I looked up at her enviable beauty, she had long dark brown hair with eyes to match, but most prominently, she looked like a girl. As insane as it sounded, it was something I felt that I had lost when I had to cut my hair. It was a little longer than the guys had their hair, but it was still a little above my chin. My hair used to be full, thick mane of black, just like Rachel's.

I smiled, trying to look enthused. "Hey Rachel, why are you down so early?"

She shrugged her shoulders gracefully, "I was feeling kinda homesick." She down-turned her scarlet red lips, "Where is everyone? Jacob wasn't home, and I went to Pauls but his mom said he was at your cousins house."

The disappointment was so painful, that I literally felt as if I had fallen off a mountaintop. Paul and Rachel had a 'thing' before she went up to college. He was crazy about her, he told me. I scolded myself mentally, how could I forget? He had told me last year in confidence, and I even tried to get them together! it just seemed so far away, as if it happened ages ago. So much had happened, and Rachel had been gone for so long, it just didn't seem as important as it used to be.

"Yeah, they're all at Emily's house.."

"Cool, are you heading over there now?" she asked endearingly.

"No. I'm not, I actually have to get something from my house first." I lied.

Her eagerness wasn't moved, "Oh ok, I'll see you there!"

I ran back home, not because I had to get anything, but because I wanted to find Seth. Now with Rachel there, I didn't want to show up alone. It was stupid and weak, two things I stood strongly against, but I excused myself just this once. But he wasn't home, no one was. I scowled under my breath and fell into my couch to kill time. After fifteen minutes I decided that was long enough for me to get whatever it was that I told Rachel I needed and headed back up to Emily's. My excitement had dwindled, and I actually didn't really feel like going anymore. But if I had any chance of getting my old self back, I had to act like her. And in this case, the old me wouldn't stay home and let the night go by without doing anything about it.

Emily lived in a small place by the outer ends of the woods. There were fallen leaves on her roof and porch and it was hidden by tall trees and bushes. Inside, I could hear Jacob's familiar laugh and Seth whining about something. But then I heard something else, something that made my stomach plunge. Rachel was calling out to Paul, and before I knew it, the front door swung open and Rachel toppled out of it with Paul's hand in hers.

"Hey Leah!" Rachel said cheerily causing Paul to hastily let go of her hand.

"You made it." he smiled, walking towards me much to Rachel's dismay.

"I made it…" I repeated, not knowing what else to say.

My face was pressed into his strong chest as he pulled me into a hug. My arms stay limply hanging from my sides as I softly inhaled his scent. He smelled like muffins, meaning that was probably what Emily had baked them inside.

"Come on." he said after he pulled away and then grabbed my wrist to lead me inside. I saw Rachel pout from the corner of my eyes and heard her say solemnly, "Yeah, come on in."

"Whoa that was quick! You and Rachel have a good time?" Embry guffawed openly, not noticing Leah behind him.

"Cool it man, that's my sister you're talking about." Jacob said with disgust.

I was beginning to feel nauseous. It was all going to end the same way wasn't it? Rachel came down and Paul realized that she was better than me, probably regretting everything he had told me at the beach. As soon as I came into view, the room silenced. And it wasn't because I had walked in, it was because I had walked in holding Paul's hand. I caught Seth's eye and he winked, failing to hide the happiness on his face.

"Leah!" he was the first to break the silence as he ran up to me and hugged me, "You listened to me." he whispered into my ear, and pulled away. "Want a muffin? They're strawberry."

Paul laughed and looked down at me, "They're really good, you won't regret it."

You wont regret it. I didn't know exactly what to feel or how to act, I might have been over thinking that last part. But to me, the words just seemed to disguise a double meaning. So I once again referenced the old me. I let go of Paul and walked over to the table where most of the guys were sitting and reached over to grab a muffin.

"They better be, or I'll make you choke on yours." I smirked, and the room geared into conversation again.

I made my way to Seth and plopped down next to him. "Thanks little brother, I can't believe you actually said something worth listening to."

Instead of being affronted, Seth was already used to his sister's sarcasm and laughed, "Hey, I'm not so little anymore. I'm taller than you little sister." He snatched my muffin and took a big bite out of it. "So, Paul told you?"

I stared at him, my eyes surely popping out of their sockets. "You knew?"

"Duh. Paul was a freaking wreck. I guess he couldn't take it anymore, and finally told me like…three months ago."

"Three months ago?"

"I'm worried, I feel like you don't catch on to things like you used to. Yes Leah, three months ago." He emphasized the last three words very slowly, like if he was talking to an idiot.

I laughed, "Thanks, I get it now!"

"Why'd you leave him back there? He looks like love sick puppy.." Seth chuckled, urging me to look back at him. Paul was staring at me with a confused expression wrinkling his handsome face.

I turned back to Seth, "So? Now he can talk to Rachel all he wants." I snapped.

"He's not into Rachel anymore." He raised his eyebrows, "See how slow you are? We need to do something about this."

"How do you know he's not?"

"Because once you imprint on someone, you're hooked." Seth looked like he was about to say more, but bit his lip. He glanced over at Sam and Emily really fast and then averted his eyes. I followed him, taking a quick look at them when oddly enough, I saw Sam eyeing Paul suspiciously.

"Does Sam know?" I blurted, grabbing a throw pillow and positioning it on my lap. I passed my hand over the roughly woven fabric, it outlined an old Quilete tribal print.

Sam shrugged, "I don't think so. I mean, I'm pretty sure Paul didn't tell him anything. That'd be stupid."

"I think you're stupid." Jacob said airily as he walked by.

"Hey!" Seth disagreed, throwing my muffin at him.

I narrowed my eyes."Really? That was my muffin!"

"Not anymore." Seth frowned. Jacob stared at me expectedly, probably waiting to see if I'd blow up at Seth for throwing my muffin away. They all knew I had a short fuse, and it had gotten even shorter lately.

"Jake, you could've saved it." I scowled.

His deep brown eyes examined me hesitantly, and grinned. "Could've being the operative word."

I shook my head disapprovingly, "Jerk."

"Thank you." He said smugly.

The guys started guffawing over a fight Embry had lost against a bear and Jacob quickly left to join in. I smiled, and turned back to Seth to see his face light up with enthusiasm. He laughed boisterously as the boys bantered on, sniping Embry. Paul stood close by, Rachel not far behind. She would talk to Emily occasionally, but mostly hovered around Paul.

"Hey, I'm really glad to see you here." My attention drifted from Paul to the girl beside me. My expression purely read disdain when I saw Emily, speaking to me. I looked ahead of me, ignoring her.

"Leah, can we talk…please?" she begged, "There's so much I need to -"

"I didn't come to see you. I came because Seth asked me to." I plainly stated, still not looking at her, "Unfortunately, the pack has acquired the nasty habit of choosing to meet here."

I couldn't tell how my words affected her, and admittedly, I didn't care. The last thing I wanted to do was look into the eyes of my deceitful cousin. The same cousin that managed to make my life a living hell, the same cousin that made me want to stay in bed all day and never leave the comforting solitude of my room.

'I know it still hurts.."

That was it. I had taken just about enough of her. "You don't know anything, Emily!" I hissed through my teeth, "You don't know the agony..the pain I endured because of you and Sam!"

I felt like it was okay to look at her now, and I was glad I did, because he face revealed a rewarding expression – fear. I was pleased with myself, and the scar on her face made it all even more worthwhile. It was karma, that's exactly what it was. An eye for an eye. She ran off with Sam, turning her back on a girl she once considered to be her sister – shattering her so broken, it was almost incurable.

"I shouldn't have come." I felt my throat tighten, threatening tears prickling at my eyes and decided that if they were stubborn enough to fall, it wouldn't happen here.

I stormed off, past the guys questioning faces, and into the outermost stretch of woods, back to where I felt most comfortable.

A/N: First off, you guys are all beyond amazing.
Thank you for all of your encouraging reviews, I love them!
And of course, thank you if you've added my story to your favorites or on alert (:

Now, Second off (that doesn't make sense, but I'll keep it there anyways lol), it might be a while before I update again :|
School started and it's already terrible, but as soon as I have a chance to write, I definitely will.

But anywhoo, Please keep your reviews coming!
Who knows, they might get me to update sooner (;