eight: wanted
By the time Jacob showed up, Leah was back in her human form. But she was crying unattractively, crying like she had right before she'd phased for the very first time. Jacob found Leah curled up on the threadbare sofa, sobbing. He mumbled incomprehensibly under his breath. He had never been good with emotional girls, and had always steered clear of upset sisters and angry Bella or Renesmee. "Leah?" he ventured.
Leah looked up at him. Jacob had to admit, she looked liked a trainwreck. Her black eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Her skin was blotchy, and her hair was in tangled knots around her head. "Oh, it's you." She noticed his scrutiny and smiled sheepishly despite herself. "I know, I know, I look like crap." She tried to laugh, but the effort was feeble.
"Um..." Jacob tried to think of something appropriate to say in this situation. "Why are you so worked up about an imprint?" He bit his lip a millisecond after he realized what had just come out of his mouth. That just underlined his tactlessness.
Leah glared malevolently, one thing she hadn't forgotten how to do from her enemy days with Jacob. "Because," she stressed. "This is all wrong. He's not my type, not at all, and he has a girlfriend, and I just know how this is going to end." Her voice cracked, and then she was crying again.
Come on, Jacob complained to himself. How was he supposed to deal with a sobbing girl? He stared at his best friend, and said awkwardly, "Um. Please stop crying. It's really weirding me out."
"Oh, sorry," Leah said sarcastically through tears. "My main goal is to not weird you out by being female. Sorry for ruining that."
Jacob grimaced. "Okay. I deserved that," he admitted. "But I don't know what you want me to do here, Leah. Do you want me to tell you it's going to be fine? Do you want me to tell you that he'll fall in love with you and dump his girlfriend, or do you want me to tell you he's going to forget about you? Or do you just want me to watch you cry? I need answers, Leah, because I can't help you without them."
Leah dried her eyes from most of the wetness, although some tears still flowed freely. "This is kind of a weird situation, Jake. I don't know what I want. I don't want him to fall in love with me, because I don't like him. But it hurts when he's with his girlfriend, and then I do want him to fall in love with me, because that doesn't hurt. So I don't know what I want from you." Her black eyes were glassy.
Jacob bit back a sarcastic, "Oh, thanks," because he didn't want to set Leah off again. So instead, he sank down into the tattered couch next to his best friend and tentatively wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She hid her face in his chest and sobbed. He thought that maybe, maybe that's what she wanted, and held on tight.
omg omg mega mega thanks and love to the awesome SimplyDazzling, who flatters me out of my skin. Keenan and Seth cookies, babe. and thanks for everyone else reviewing. you guys are the creme to my Oreo. review again! then check out "Meteor" and my MI fics!