Disclaimer: No. *imagine a Sammy-huff and eye-roll*
15. Breakfast
"That fucker touched my car!" He rounded on the wolves who skipped back a step at his outburst. "How could you let him near my baby?" He shouted. Sam's wolf bared his teeth at him and Leah rolled her eyes in an 'it's just a freaking car idiot' look.
Sam had climbed out of the rear seat, stretching so that his shirt rode up his stomach a little. Dean didn't miss Leah giving Sammy an appreciative once-over at the view she was being offered. Sam noticed too and instantly dropped his arms and pulled at the hem of his t-shirt, turning a shade of red as he looked past the grinning silver wolf and to the paper in his brother's hand.
"What's it say?"
"That Doc Fucking Cullen touched my car."
Sam looked skyward as if praying for patience. "Dude. The note."
"They're laying the scent trail at noon and want us back by then."
"What time is it now?"
Dean glanced at his wrist. "Nine." Wow – a whole four hours sleep.
"I'm starved." Sam said while sleepily rubbing his stomach.
Dean turned to the wolves. "We're gonna… you know… go into town for some chow." He said awkwardly. Why was it that when he addressed the wolves he didn't know what to say to them? It didn't help that they looked at him as if he were a moron. "If you guys wanna… I… We'll…" Fuck.
The wolves darted into the trees and two people came out a moment later. Leah was stunning but tired in the morning sunshine, coming out of the trees running a hand through her short hair. Her boobs were perky even if the rest of her wasn't. The other figure to come out of the woods was nearly as big as Jake, shorter but broadly built. But shorter than Jake still meant he was as tall as Sam, and Dean hid his smile at his brother standing up a little straighter.
Dean didn't miss the double take Sam gave Leah before he gestured at her. "Sam, this is the lovely Leah." Leah nodded at Sam before she turned and smiled at Dean.
The tall Native dude nodded at the brothers. "I'm Embry."
"So you're the one who's going to watch my brother's back?" Dean asked, sizing up the guy and accepting him immediately like he had with Jake. The guy had an easy going demeanor that spoke volumes about him. Although Dean wished these guys wore shirts. Like Jake, Embry wore a pair of shorts and nothing else and Dean was gonna start suffering from a major case of Pec-Envy soon if he wasn't careful.
Embry laughed. "You're lucky you didn't get Paul."
"That the one I kicked into the rocks?" Sam leaned casually against the Impala's open door.
"He deserved it. He was told to back down and he didn't. But I gotta say, even though I was pissed at the time, now it's just funny as hell." Embry shrugged and smiled a wide honest smile. Dean had to admit – he liked this guy too.
"I don't know how your orders work about going into town. If you want to get something to eat with us… or…" Dean floundered. Leah was watching him and as embarrassing as it was, he was distracted by her.
Come on! Really! I shouldn't be acting like some over-eager, prom night virgin around her. He chastised himself.
"Breakfast sounds awesome." Leah yawned happily as she stretched cramped muscles. Dean noticed her shirt stretching across her chest and didn't look away fast enough because she snapped her fingers in front of his face again. "Hey!"
"Sorry." Idiot.
Leah closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths and Embry was trying not to laugh outright. "Do you mind stopping by my house though?" She asked. "If I walk into Minnie's barefoot again and have to listen to that woman yell at me about my state of dress… I'm gonna give her something to start screamin' about."
"Sure. No problem." Leah could have asked him to drive her to Canada and he would have just to spend a couple hours in the car with her.
"If it's all the same to you," Embry drawled, "I'd rather go home for a few more hours of sleep. It's sunny and the bloodsuckers aren't gonna be anywhere near town."
"Whatever man." Sam shrugged. "Get in, we'll give you a lift."
Embry stood back a minute to admire the classic Chevy. "That is a sweet-ass ride."
Embry's standing with him just shot up another notch. "Thanks man. I rebuilt her myself." Dean said proudly.
"Sweet."
Leah was already getting into the car when Embry came close enough to Dean to murmur softly while passing. "She likes you… but if you aren't careful, she'll eat you alive."
Dean just stared after the guy dumbstruck for a second before claiming his rightful place behind the steering wheel. Embry's words running circles in his head… she likes you…
It took them twenty minutes to get to La Push from the trail. The Cult's 'Love Removal Machine' was playing on the radio and Dean was tapping out the beat on the steering wheel happily. Some rock station out of Seattle was giving good reception today. Must have been in a good mood due to the sunshine because all they'd been able to pick up in this town before was country music and some pop station that had promptly been turned off.
Dean couldn't help but constantly glance in the rearview mirror at Leah. She was looking sideways out of the side window, not paying attention to him at all. She looked really tired but it didn't diminish her looks any – not in his eyes. Dean could feel something in his stomach churning. He didn't know if he liked the feeling or not but it seemed to be reaching towards Leah, so he didn't think he minded too much.
Embry – it turned out – was a chatterbox.
The guy was asking questions left and right. Where did they come from, what did they do to the arrows that took down the Cullens, what size engine block the Impala had, if bigfoot was real or not. Sam seemed happy enough to answer the guy's questions until he moaned, "I hope mom's not home. I just wanna get some z's"
"You should just tell her." Leah turned away from the window to answer her friend. "Sam said that you could."
Dean was confused. "What? Your mom?"
"Dude, you still live with your parents?" Sam kidded.
"I'm sixteen man. I think its law."
"You're sixteen?!" Both brothers exclaimed. Dude in the backseat was no where near sixteen.
"Yeah…" Embry said unsurely, as if he thought they were suddenly acting like a couple funny-farm escapees.
"No way!" Dean laughed, then suddenly something else came to him. If the mid-twenties guy in the backseat was a kid… how old was Leah? He abruptly turned his eyes to her in the rearview. "How old are you?" He tried to hide the looming panic in his voice.
Please don't be sixteen... Please don't be sixteen…
"I'm twenty-one." Her eyebrows knit together for a moment before she went back to staring out the window.
Hallelujah! Halle-fucking-lujah!
Dean tried not to look so psyched about that. He had rules – not many, but he did have them. Rule number one was they had to be legal.
"So your mom doesn't know about your little furry problem?" Sam turned in his seat to ask Embry.
"No. So she gets super pissed about me being out all night when I'm supposed to be grounded."
"You get yelled at for protecting people and you're too much of an idiot to tell her what's happened to you." Leah snapped.
Embry turned to face her, his eyes narrowed as he replied, "Are you seriously telling me that you wouldn't have kept all this from your parents if you had the choice?"
Leah sighed in frustration and turned back to the window and ignored him. Dean remembered her words from last night – that she felt responsible for her dad's heart attack because of her phasing. Dean didn't blame the guy from keeping this a secret from his mom.
"So how many people know about what you guys do?" Sam asked.
"Just the Elder's Council, and some of our parents know, the ones that remember their grandparents phasing." Embry answered.
"So does it skip generations?" Sam kept up the questions, squirreling away knowledge for later like he's done since he was a kid.
"Not really. If the vampires were here permanently, there would be wolves every generation. It's part of the tribe history that The Protectors come in times of need. But this is the largest pack in history. When the Cullens were here before, there were only three wolves – like usual. It's always in three's because the vampires never travel in anything more than pairs. But the Cullens are a large family, so this time there's so many of us."
"The Cullens were here before?"
"Yeah… back in the thirties. They came back because they didn't think there would be anyone in our tribe left alive that would have remembered them. But Old Quil is still kicking, and he's the last remaining wolf from his pack. They didn't stay long the first time they were here, and there were only five of them then. Now there's seven of them and they were going to school and posing as teenagers so they could stay a few years."
"So the more vampires there are – the more wolves crop up." Dean surmised.
"You got it Pontiac."
"You said there were five before, but seven now?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, Jasper and Alice joined them. Apparently Doc Cullen didn't change them, they just showed up on his doorstep one day. The fortune teller had a vision of them, and so they went to find them. Bella said that Alice doesn't remember being human, or who changed her. And Jasper was in the civil war. He's their Captain of the Guard or some shit like that. They're all looking to him when it comes to this fighting stuff. I'll give him credit though, he's taught us all how to take these newborns out – and I wouldn't want to take him on one-on-one. Dude's the fucking Terminator – and I mean T2 the T-1000 shit."
"So is that why you guys were there last night? He was teaching you how to fight them?"
"Yeah. We were just supposed to watch as he taught the other Cullens how to fight. It wouldn't really have been wise to fight with them, things get out of hand too easily and… well… we hate them." The kid shrugged.
"But you're in an alliance with them." Sam stated, brow furrowing.
"If I can't fight them but they're offering me another vampire to kill… I'm willing to look past our differences." Embry smirked happily at the thought of fighting the incoming army.
"Dude, you so need a girlfriend." Dean laughed.
"Or two." Embry chuckled and gave them a shit-eating grin. Yup. Embry was okay in his book.
"It's the next driveway." Leah sat forward and said her first words in minutes.
Dean pulled into the driveway of a small but neat, white, wood-sided house. There was an old Buick in the yard and rose bushes under the window. It looked like a nice home.
Getting out of the car, Embry said, "Hey Lee, do you think there's any of those blueberry muffins your mom made left?"
"No genius." She snapped back. "You and Seth scarfed them all down before we left on patrols last night." Dean and Sam got out of the car as Leah dashed towards the front door. "I'll just be a minute." She called over her shoulder. Dean didn't mind waiting. He had a great view of Leah running up the steps.
Embry laughed at him. "You got it bad man."
"That is a good lookin' woman. You telling me you don't look?" Dean glanced at the kid.
"I like having my balls attached, thanks." Sam burst out laughing at the statement. "And speaking of balls… You two have some set on you don't-cha?" Embry smirked. "You walk up to a group of vampires and tell them you're taking their human away?" The guy snorted in laughter. "I thought Jake was gonna rupture a spleen."
"How was old Jake doing this morning?" Dean mused.
"Oh, he's still pissed at you for calling up your friend, but he'll get over it."
"What about you?" Sam asked shrewdly. Embry was watching his back after all.
Embry shrugged. "Can't say I was happy about it, but I can't say I blame you either. You don't know us, and you don't know the Cullens. Why should you trust us not to double cross you?"
"But you're not going to double cross us. Are you." Sam said it as a statement and not a question.
Embry shook his head. "Like Jake said – we make a deal, we stick to it." The kid looked off into the trees surrounding the house. He looked back at Dean and smiled evilly. "You know… If you really want to mess with her… take off that scent-hidey thing you're wearing."
"Why?" Dean asked, puzzled.
"Trust me." He winked and started to head for the trees that surrounded the house. "I'll meet you back at the clearing." He called over his shoulder and disappeared.
"What the hell did that mean?" Sam asked, staring off after his wolf with a quizzical look on his face.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna do it." Dean smirked and pulled the amulet from around his neck and tucked it into his pocket. She had asked him to put the amulet back on last night saying that the vampires had control issues. Did Embry know something he didn't?
Leah came bounding out of the house a minute later. She was in worn faded jeans, a white tank top and two dollar flip-flops. Her hair was standing up in damp spikes and the scent of soap and shampoo preceded her on the light breeze.
She. Looked. Beautiful.
She came to an abrupt halt several feet from the car, took a deep breath, looked towards the trees where Embry disappeared and muttered under her breath, "I'm gonna fuckin' kill him."
The drive to town was pure torture. The close confines of the car was filled with the scent of the handsome driver. Leah was practically squirming in the backseat, almost at the point of sitting on her hands to keep them from twisting themselves in his hair. She'd had to roll down her window and nearly stick her head out like a damn dog just so she wouldn't go crazy.
Stupid fucking Embry. Asshole did this to me. She cursed him, knowing full well he'd told the human to take off his necklace that hid his incredibly mouthwatering scent.
Stop it Leah!
And she didn't miss the driver looking in the mirror at her with a smile in his eyes and a smirk on his lips.
His lips… Stop it!
She should have known Embry would have stabbed her in the back. When she phased back after pulling away from Dean last night, Embry had noticed she was a little off. No one else was paying attention to her, but Embry had been a bit stumped, telling her she seemed… different. When he'd finally cottoned on, he'd had a field day. Eventually, everyone else started to pay attention once Embry had crowed, 'You've got the hots for him! Oh that is fucking hysterical!' To say that she wasn't on the short end of the stick with everyone else after that would be an outright lie. That was one thing that really sucked about the wolf mind-meld mess. You couldn't just walk away from a conversation if it was pissing you off. They were in your head until you phased back to two legs. Sam was particularly peeved about it, until she'd growled at him that he lost all rights to what goes on in her bed the minute he climbed into Emily's. It shut him up. As of this morning, he still wasn't speaking to her – which wasn't a bad thing.
So she was sitting in the backseat, her window wide open and taking shallow breaths that weren't doing a whole hell of a lot of good anyway. Getting madder and madder at Embry for doing this to her.
And the human.
He had to have some idea of what he was doing to her, and he was enjoying himself at her expense and that was pissing her off even more. She didn't know if she should punch him or try to start something a whole hell of a lot more recreational. And as soon as that thought crossed her mind it started a domino effect of wanting lips and hands and clothes on the floor and…
Stop it!
And she couldn't ask him to put the magical trinket back on. She'd used the excuse of the vampire's lack of control last night. There were no bloodsuckers here now and the only one in danger of losing control was her.
"So you were only in the house for like five minutes," Dean said, looking into the rearview as he spoke. "What did you do? Run through your shower?" In truth, she had. One minute under the shower head to smear some shampoo in her hair and soap across her body because she had to get her own scent off her. Embry had been smirking to himself the whole drive while she'd tried to stay silent and look out the window instead of at the block of handsome in the front seat. The human's senses were too weak to pick up what theirs could and for that she was glad. It was bad enough she was wearing a goddamn neon sign around her neck for her pack.
The way he was looking at her had her heart hammering in her chest and she could smell the want rolling off him just as bad now as on the dark path last night. She tried to regain her self control as she looked squarely into his reflected green orbs, "I didn't want to keep you waiting."
His eyes went wide for a second and he suddenly jerked the wheel because he'd drifted too far to the left. His brother clapped a hand to his mouth to hide a laugh and covered it up with a cough. And all she could think was 'what did I do?' when a fresh wave of lust wafted to the backseat and giving her a fresh dose of hormones to rocket around in her body.
I'm gonna fucking kill Embry.
Thankfully, they arrived at Minnie's Diner in one piece and with Leah fully dressed. She actually hadn't been this fully dressed in ages. Jeans, bra, even underwear… she felt almost human again.
Dean pushed open the door to the establishment and walked in first, scanning the room before walking out of the way to let the others in behind him.
"Do you think there's a vampire hiding under the booth in the corner?" She snarked at him.
"Sammy, you wanna tell her how many diners we've been jumped in?" He stated flatly without looking at her.
"I can't count that high." Sam deadpanned as he too 'casually' scanned the room before following his brother to a booth near the back. Dean stood back to allow her to take the inner seat before dropping down on the bench next to her.
Great. Just freaking great.
Then she noticed how he angled himself to face the restaurant, how he could see the whole place from his seat and had a wall behind him so no one could come up from behind.
Paranoid much?
"Well… Miss Clearwater," a voice drawled from the counter.
Crap.
"I see your wearing shoes of a sort today."
Leah eyes involuntarily rolled. "Good morning Minnie." She called in a false sugary-sweet voice. Dean rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. Her dad had been a favorite patron of the place, and Minnie had taken it upon herself to try to 'steer' her back onto the righteous path. Basically, to give her grief for all of her shortcomings – namely, the way she dressed, the way she spoke, and the way she acted.
Minnie was going to have her work cut out for her.
The woman walked over with a couple menus in one hand and the other hand on her hip. At about five-ten and sixty pounds overweight with a Peg Bundy hairdo – Minnie was an imposing woman. Even if she was a hundred and two. She seemed to stare at the hunters as if she scraped them off the bottom of her shoe.
"Well it's nice to see you boys in here again with someone more your age." She frowned down at them.
"Oh, are you boys bringing other girls here?" She asked with mock hurt in her voice. Inside she was growling to know who it had been and how serious the situation had been.
"Young Jessica Stanley!" Minnie said with indignation. "This one had dinner with her and you, young man, are much too old for the likes of her." She pointed her arthritic fingers at Sam.
Jessica Stanley? Ha! Oh I would have loved to see that.
Leah noticed Sam looking down at his hands as if in embarrassment while Dean said, "I didn't realize there was a law in this town that said talking to people was illegal." He smiled at up at her, and if Minnie wasn't just the oldest and meanest woman in Forks, then the panty melting charm of the hunter might have worked.
As it was… "It's a little early for you to be coming in here with gentlemen callers, isn't it Leah?" She placed the menus on the table with none of the friendliness of most diners.
Leah leaned forward on her elbows to stare up at the woman. She could feel her temper rising, and she could also smell Dean's scent wafting up to caress her face. The combination of the two was going to be catastrophic – she could tell. But she didn't want anything to get back to her mom, who would be disappointed in her for giving her elders a hard time – even if they deserved it. So she took a deep breath – which was a mistake as she was sitting next to Dean – and said in her most civil voice, "It's after ten Minnie."
"In my day, young ladies never met boys until at least lunch time."
"In your day, boys asked girls to marry them by knocking them over their head with a club and dragging them back to their cave."
Crap.
Dean tried to hide a snort behind a cough and Sam suddenly found the window to be the most interesting thing in the joint.
Mom is going to freak. She was mentally slapping the side of her head and repeating 'stupid, stupid.'
"And in my day…" she snarled back, "… young people knew their place."
"Where was that? At the back of the tent scraping the meat off the mammoth carcass?" She just couldn't get her mouth to stop moving. She could hear a little voice inside her head that sounded suspiciously like Seth pleading, 'just shut up Leah.'
"Leah Clearwater! Is that how your father raised you?" She demanded.
And that did it.
"Don't you dare bring up my father you nosy old crone!" She yelled back, standing up and slapping her hand against the table top. There was an ominous creak from the particle board under the cheap Formica top.
Minnie turned scarlet.
"Out! Get out!" Minnie pointed at the door they had only walked through minutes ago. "I will not have rotten little smart-mouthed children insulting me in my own restaurant!"
"You know what? Fine!" She seethed, nearly pushing Dean out of the booth in her haste to get out of the diner. "I don't really think I could stomach that rubbery stuff you call 'bacon' anyways!" She was so steamed that she didn't even notice at first that Sam and Dean were having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Sorry we offended you ma'am." Sam said with a solemn look that didn't reach his dancing eyes.
"Come on boys," She purposefully looped her arm through Dean's grinning to herself at his reaction to her touch and feeling her stomach drop in the process. "Let's go to Darcy's. The food's better and it doesn't reek of Vicks Vap-o-Rub and Bengay." She sent a last scowl over her shoulder at the old tyrant before barging her way through the glass door.
Once back to the car Dean doubled over laughing. "You got some mouth on you Leah Clearwater." He squeezed out between gasps for air. "I thought the old biddy was gonna blow a gasket."
"Old broad likes to get under my skin." She muttered. "I swear it's a past-time for her or something."
"So where's this 'Darcy's' anyway?" Dean asked, pulling the keys from his jeans pockets.
"Not far. The food is good but it's more of a bistro kind of thing than a diner. It's big for the tourists that come through here."
"There are tourists that come here?"
"Yeah… Four or five. They're lost mostly." She snickered. She honestly didn't understand why anyone would want to visit this pinprick of a town.
She gave them directions to the bistro. It was one of those big older houses that had been converted into a commercial section downstairs with a residence upstairs. The house was painted bright yellow and had colorful hanging baskets of flowers all over the covered front porch, which was littered with little tables for two. They didn't bother with the seating on the porch, and went straight inside. A young woman Leah recognized but didn't recall her name greeted them at the door.
Sarah? Stephanie? Stella?
"Good morning. I'm Stacey and I'll be your server this morning." Her smile was friendly, but her eyes were blatantly on Sam. Dean nudged Leah in the arm and she tried not to giggle at Sam's ears turning pink. "Table for three?" She asked hopefully and Leah knew that Stacey was praying that there wasn't a fourth – a female fourth – to their dining party.
"Yes. Thank you." Dean stepped forward, grabbing Leah's elbow as he went so that the waitress could see that Sam was here all by his lonesome. Stacey gave Sam a wide smile that shot the ear color up to a full blown red. Uncomfortable and embarrassed at the attention, Sam followed behind the rest of them to a secluded booth.
Again, Dean took the spot where he could see the whole place, leaving Leah to sit next to him and breathing him in with every breath she took. His scent and the smells wafting from the kitchen were an unbelievable combination and she knew exactly what she wanted – although she didn't really think that pie, berries and bed sheets went really well together. But Dean looked like the adventurous type…
I am in so much trouble.
They looked over the short menu. It was only one page, and she already knew what she wanted to eat but the image she'd just banished swam across her vision again so she tried to push it down. She could smell everything that was prepared in the kitchen with her super sniffer and her mouth was watering either from the food or Dean. It didn't really matter which anymore.
Stacey came back with a carafe of coffee. Filling up the cups she asked what they wanted while sneaking peeks at Sam from under her bangs.
Dean started. "I'll have the Lumberjack's Breakfast."
"Your eggs?"
"Scrambled."
"What about you Sugar?" She smiled at Sam.
Sam suddenly found the menu to be incredibly interesting as he refrained from looking at the pretty waitress who was nearly writing her phone number in ketchup on the table. It was hard for Leah to not laugh at the whole thing and she could feel Dean's arm next to her was vibrating slightly as he tried to hold it in as well.
Why isn't he taking the bait? She's pretty. Is he gay?
"I'll have the short-stack with strawberries and a fruit cup."
Leah clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from busting up.
Is this guy for real? A short-stack and a frigging fruit cup? Oh… That is priceless.
She could feel Stacey staring at her, but she couldn't help herself. Evidently, her laughter was infectious because Dean's shoulders were shaking and he actually bumped a fist against the table top a couple times. She tried to rein herself in by taking a deep breath and getting a fresh dose of Dean for her trouble. He settled into her stomach and seemed to caress his way up to her lungs and ribcage.
Get a hold of yourself!!
"I'll have the Quiche Florentine and the Lumberjack's Breakfast please. Over easy." She managed to gasp out.
"You sure about that? They're both big servings." Stacey had a quizzical look on her face as she watched her.
"You kidding? This guy had me up half the night." She jerked her thumb at Dean. "I'm starved." A flood of embarrassment washed over Stacey's face at Leah's poor choice of words. They also sent Dean snorting again.
Stacey turned from the table and started to hurry to the kitchen when Leah shouted out, "And bring me one of those cinnamon buns you've got baking back there!"
"Hungry Leah?" Dean smirked, still chuckling at the implication Leah had given the server.
"You run all night in a fur coat and see how hungry you get." She snickered at him. "I hope you got the funds to cover this Slick. I don't exactly run with my wallet in my mouth."
"I guess that's the price of protection."
"You are getting the best."
"I can tell."
Sam cleared his throat nosily, stopping the flirting that was starting to build. Truthfully, Leah was grateful because the Dean that had settled in her lungs a moment ago started going south the second he locked eyes with her and gave her a crooked smile.
His smile… Aarrgg!
"So… Quiche Florentine… What the hell is that?" Dean asked, eyeing her the whole time.
"You've never tried it?"
"It sounds French." He said, as if that explained anything.
"What he means," Sam cut in, "Is that the only French food my brother acquaints himself with is their Fries."
"Damn straight."
"Well," Leah leaned her forearms against the table top, "I think that you will be begging me for a piece before the meal is done."
He gave her a cocky grin that made her stomach do back-flips. "Are we still talking about food?"
Oh fuck…
"Dude!" Sam snorted into his coffee cup, narrowly missing spraying everyone. Sam grabbed a handful of napkins from the dispenser and started to mop up the mess. "Honestly!" He cast a disdainful glare at the two of them and Leah didn't think that Sam was over the ribbing about his breakfast choice.
"So what's the real deal with Embry not wanting to tell his mom about you guys?" Sam asked as he pushed the soggy lump of napkins to the side.
"It a bit complicated. The wolf thing is entirely in the bloodlines and Embry's mom is from the Makah Reservation."
"So?"
"So genius," she rolled her eyes at him, "…that means that Embry's father is Quileute and likely one of three men that his mother never disclosed to him."
"Embry doesn't know who his father is?" Dean questioned.
"No. And if he goes to his mom about this, not only does he run the risk of scaring her to death, it will also bring up the entirely painful game of 'Who's your Daddy?'"
"Which is one of three men in your tribe."
"All of them married and with children at the time." She qualified.
"Does he think he knows who it is?"
"We're all kinda hoping its Sam's dad because he was always an ass and not much of a father anyways. But it could be Jake's dad or even Quil's dad."
"What about your father?" Sam asked while looking up from under his shaggy hair.
"It's not in my dad's line. It was completely my mom's fault. Her and Quil's dad are brother and sister."
"And 'Old Quil' that Embry mentioned earlier…?"
"Is my Grandfather. Yes."
"So if this was a regular pack and there was only supposed to be three…" Dean trailed off.
"It would have been Sam, Jake and Quil. And Jake is supposed to be Alpha but he won't take it."
"Why not?" Sam put his cup down.
She shrugged. "You know… I'm not really sure. I'm not saying this because I hate Sam Uley… but Jake would be a better choice. The guys listen to him more easily. Sam tends to be a monumental prick on his best of days."
The conversation was halted as Stacey came back with a bunch of plates balanced on her arms. Leah smiled as the scent hit her and Stacey skillfully managed to set the plates down without dropping anything. Leah never understood how waitresses could do that. She'd drop everything.
Leah pulled both plates in front of her and gave a soft sigh of happiness. She didn't miss Dean staring at her plate as if it was long lost sibling.
"You just let me know if there's anything you need." Stacey said, looking only at Sam's side of the table and ignoring her and Dean. Sam was undeniably good looking, but how could anyone ignore Dean? Sam gave her a shy nod and Stacey walked away with an extra swing to her hips.
"What is wrong with you?" Leah exasperated. "Do you want her crawl into your lap before you bite?"
"What are you going on about?" Sam raised an eyebrow at her as if he hadn't a clue what she was referring to.
"She's talking about the pretty waitress that's trying to get your attention, Dude." Dean said around a mouthful of bacon.
"You're imagining things." Sam said while pouring a liberal amount of syrup on his pancakes.
Maybe he is gay… But what a waste…
"Whatever man." Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. "You just do your little emo thing and we'll enjoy our food." He looked at Leah's plate as he said it.
Leah sunk her fork into her quiche and let it melt in her mouth. Egg and mushroom and ham and cheese all served in a flaky crust. Did food seriously get any better? Closing her eyes she gave an appreciative 'mmmm'. She opened her eyes to see Dean staring at her in a way that made the Dean in her chest plummet all the way from the Canadian border down to Mexico.
"You want to try it don't you?" She said, very carefully keeping her voice level. If he didn't stop looking at her like that…
"Yup." His hand brushed her knee under the table – whether on purpose or accidentally – she didn't know. All she knew was that if he did it again, things were going to get a little too Animal Planet in here. She cursed Embry again because the whole thing wouldn't be so bad if he was wearing that damn amulet.
And the heat in the pit of her stomach was churning and reaching for him…
She scooted over a little in her seat to add an extra inch or two between them while picking up her knife and slicing the pie in half. Picking up the plate, she slid it onto his and earned a happy-little-kid-on-Christmas-morning smile out of him. He took a huge bite out of it, his eyes going wide. "Oh my God." He said around a full mouth which should have disgusted her but didn't. "This is incredible." He swallowed thickly. "It's like everything good in the world all wrapped up in a pie crust." He took another huge, lustful bite and Leah had to look away and try to focus on her own plate.
They ate in silence for awhile. Leah was really packing it away – bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'wolfing it down'. Sam had finished first and asked her how her meal was. "It's awesome. How was your fruit cup?" She tried to say it without sounding like she was making fun of him – she really did. It just didn't come out that way and Dean went into a fresh round of shoulder shaking as he tried to swallow back the laughter.
Stacey came back with Leah's cinnamon bun, drizzled in icing and piping hot. The cinnamon and sugar smells were enough to make her stomach purr in satisfaction. Stacey re-filled their coffees from the carafe she was carrying, asking if everything had been alright, and if she could get them anything else. Again – she didn't look at one side of the table.
"No. Thank you. Everything was great." Sam said and actually smiling at her this time instead of trying to ignore her.
"Just the check then Sugar?"
"Please."
"Here you go guys." She said while slipping the check face-down in front of Sam and smiling. "Have a great day." She shot Sam one last hopeful smile before walking away.
Dean reached over and snagged the check as Leah dug into her cinnamon paradise. It was hot and gooey and sweet and just what she needed.
Dean started laughing as he read the check. "Hey dude." He flipped it over so they could all see it. Stacey had written her name and number on the check.
"Okay, is that obvious enough for you?" Leah after swallowing a huge mouthful.
"You gonna call her Sammy?" Dean asked, taking a couple of bills out of his wallet and tossing them on the table.
"No."
"Why not?" Both Dean and Leah asked simultaneously.
Sam crossed his arms and huffed in a way that Leah thought would be very annoying if she had to witness it all the time. "Because we're on a case and we have bigger things to worry about right now."
"The case?" Dean scowled. "Dude, we'll be done tomorrow night with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises for the pretty waitress to kiss better while you tell her you got them hiking."
"If we make it through the fight."
"Of course you'll make it through the fight." Leah rolled her eyes for the hundredth time in twelve hours. What was it about these guys that caused that? "Do you think we're going to let anything happen to you?"
"There are at least twenty newborns coming to this block party Leah." Sam placed his coffee cup heavily on the table. "We're outnumbered and it will be a damn miracle if we all make it out in one piece."
"Melodramatic much Sammy?" Dean shook his head and gave his brother a goofy grin.
"Not to mention all the other shit we have to deal with if we make it out of here alive. Time's running out Dean."
"Sam!" Dean hissed with a look that clearly said 'don't say another fucking word.' Leah wondered what was whirring in the younger brother's mind and what time was running out on.
"Look." Sam said in a completely pissed off fashion. "I've got bigger things on my plate right now than getting a date. Okay?"
"How about getting laid?" Dean smirked, trying to get a smile out of his brother. It worked for Leah, who snorted in laughter.
"Dean…" Sam pinched the bridge of his nose as if the two of them were giving him a headache.
"Alright. Alright. No friendly encounters of the feminine kind for Sammy. I got it." Dean pushed up from the table and Leah grabbed the rest of her cinnamon bun off her plate and trailed him out the door. Sam followed, leaving the check with Stacey's number scrawled on it lying on the table where Dean left it.
Leah kinda felt bad for the girl.
A/N: Whoo! I get a little long winded in Leah mode, don't I? You know I never really planned on the whole Leah angle but I'm glad it punched me in the face in true Leah style. Let me know what you think. And I know I said that the other chapter was as light and fluffy as it was gonna get, but I need to do some character and relationship development because I keep forgetting that you guys – as awesome as you are – can't read my mind.