CHAPTER 34

Embry POV:

I went to school the next day still confused as hell about everything that had happened the day before. Quil asked about the meeting on the way to school. I tried to explain things to him, but it came out sounding ridiculous.

"So, your dad stayed away because he is this weird kind of werewolf that kills people, no matter who they are, and he didn't want to kill Sam or his mom?" Quil summed up.

"Uh, yea."

"And your dad imprinted on your mom before you were born, and they still are imprinted?"

"Yes."

"Uh-huh. Well, is he better now? I mean, your mom's been hanging out with him like every night." I glared at him. "What! She has! He hasn't killed her so I figure he must be better or something."

"He says that now he has weeks between phases instead of days, and he knows what he feels like right before the fever hits him, so I guess he is a little better at predicting it."

Quil just nodded. "Weird shit, man."

"You're telling me?" He looked at me and laughed.

We got to school and went our separate ways to class. I hit my morning classes, trying to concentrate, but it wasn't easy. I finally headed to the lunch room. I was sitting at a table with Jared and Kim, waiting for Quil, when Seth plopped down beside me. "Hey, bro!" He said with a grin.

"Hey, Seth," I said as I took a bite of my lunch. The school pizza was surprisingly good today.

"I know you had kind of rough time yesterday. Um, Leah told me. But are you still going to help me today?" he asked.

I looked at him and said, "Huh? Help you with what?"

Seth gave me a disappointed look then opened his milk carton. "Never mind."

Oh yea! I told him I would help him get his girl! "Seth, dude. I'm sorry, I forgot! I got all this shit going on in my head. Sure, man, I'll help ya. Is she here in the cafeteria?"

He brightened right up and nodded. "She's sitting at the first table by the window. She's the one in yellow. Her name is Ashley."

"Whoa, good choice, bro! She's pretty cute. OK, here's what you do. We are going to stroll by and you're going to glance over at the table, smile a little and say, 'Hey girls, what's up?' then look her right in the eye, give her a smile and a nod and say, 'Hey, Ashley.' Then keep walking right out of the cafeteria. See you acknowledge all the girls at the table, but you single out Ashley in front of them. They love that!"

"OK, then what?" he asked.

"Then, you wait for her to come to you." I could see confusion in her face. "Don't worry, dude, she will," I added with a smile. I shoved the last bite of pizza in my mouth.

Seth shrugged and started inhaling his lunch. Quil finally joined us and we all ate and talked. Quil was in the middle of a Claire story when Seth said, "I'm done. Can we go now, Embry?" Quil stopped talking and we all looked at Seth. He smiled and said, "Sorry, but this is important! Embry's helping me get a girl, OK?" They all laughed and I said, "Alright, let's go."

Seth and I took our trays up and dropped them off. I leaned over and said, "You ready, dude?" He nodded, but I thought he looked pretty nervous. "Seth, remember, you gotta play it cool. Don't ever let them see your fear." He nodded again. "OK, let's roll."

We turned to make our way toward Ashley's table. "We are going to just chat as we make our way slowly to her table, got it?"

"Yea, OK."

"Now smile and laugh, but not too loud. Just a small laugh," I said then I laughed. Seth looked at me and laughed. "Good, dude, you're doing good. Now say something to me."

"I feel fucking stupid doing this," he said with a smile. I nodded and smiled.

"OK, here we are, go for it, Seth," I said quietly. He took a deep breath and nodded.

We cruised by the table and Seth smoothly looked over and said, "Hey girls, what's up?" then he looked his girl in the eye, gave a brilliant smile and a small nod and said, "Hey, Ashley." Then we walked on out of the cafeteria.

I turned to him and said, "Bro! That was perfect! You're a natural, Seth. You made me proud, dude!" He was grinning and we high-fived. Just then, I noticed Ashley and her posse of girls was making their way out into the hallway. I smacked his arm and said, "Quick, lean down and get a drink from the fountain!" I whispered.

He stepped over and leaned down to take a drink. He stood up just as Ashley was passing. She stopped and said, "Hey, Seth. Walk me to class?" He looked over at me and grinned. I winked at him. He looked back at his girl and said smoothly, "Sure." He turned and walked away with her. That's my boy!

Jared and Kim walked up just as Seth was walking away. Jared smiled and said, "Girls of LaPush High School, watch out! There's a new ladies man on the prowl!" We cracked up as Kim just rolled her eyes.

Leah POV:

I couldn't get what happened yesterday out of my mind. Watching Embry meet his dad was awesome, but seeing Sam face him was so different. Sam's pain was so raw! I had never seen him show that much emotion in all the years I had known him. I felt so responsible for that pain.

The guy from the cable company had been here this morning and hooked us up so we could now get to the internet. It was awesome! I was trying hard to concentrate on my college class, but my thoughts kept going back to Sam. I just felt like I had to see him. I closed the laptop and headed downstairs and out the door.

I walked up to Sam and Emily's house and stopped at the front porch. What am I doing here? Haven't I caused enough trouble? But I have to see him and make sure he's OK. I walked in the door and called out, "Hey, Emily!" She was in the kitchen, as usual.

"Hey, Leah! What's up, girl?" she called back with a smile.

"Not much. Ooh, cookies," I said as I picked one up and put it in my mouth. I laughed as I chewed then said, "I'm getting as bad as the guys! I should ask before I shove one in my mouth."

Emily smiled and said, "You don't have to ask! Have another one."

I picked up another cookie. They were really good! "Is Sam around?" I asked.

"Yea, he's out back in the garden, why?" she asked as she put a tray of cookies in the oven.

"I just can't get what happened yesterday out of my head. I guess I just wanted to make sure he was OK."

She gave me a small smile. "It was pretty intense, wasn't it?" I nodded. "I couldn't believe it when he hauled off and punched him. We talked about that before we went! He told me he would try to control himself." She shook her head then added, "He's been pretty quiet, but we finally talked a little this morning. I think he'll be OK, but it will take some time."

"Would it be alright if I went out back and talked to him? I just feel so responsible for what he's going through. I hate that he's in so much pain. I won't make him talk about it. I just want to see him."

She hesitated then nodded and said, "Sure."

I turned to go then stopped. I turned back to Emily and asked, "Are you OK with how things are? I mean with me and Sam? Does it bother you that we're friends?"

"No, Leah. It's a weird situation for all of us, but I know Sam loves me and you love Embry. What happened between you was very intense, but it is in the past. I'm glad that you can be friends. Really, I am."

"Thanks, Em. It means so much to have both of you back in my life." I smiled as I walked over to hug her. "Me, too, baby girl," she said. "I'll be back," I said as I headed down the hall for the back door. I walked outside onto the back porch and looked out to the garden. Sam was kneeling, pulling weeds. I walked over to the garden and said, "Hey, Sam. Need some help?"

He looked up at me then quickly looked back to his weeding, as he said, "I don't think you want to be around me right now, Leah."

I kneeled down next to him. "Yea, I do. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment."

That made him smile. "OK, whatever. Start weeding." I smiled at him and took the next row over and started pulling weeds.

We worked in silence for quite awhile. Finally he sat back and wiped his forehead with his arm and said, "Leah, I'm OK. You don't have to babysit me."

I smiled slyly and looked at him. "Is that what I'm doing? I thought I was pulling weeds."

He looked me in the eye and said, "Leah, I've known you long enough to know exactly why you're here. You feel responsible for what I went through yesterday, which you are by the way, and you're here to make sure I'm going to be OK. That about it?"

I sat down and laughed. He smiled at me. "God, I hate it when you do that! You know me better than I know myself, I think."

"Yea, I do," he said with a smile. "Look, Leah. Yesterday hurt like hell, I'm not going to lie to you. Seeing him . . . well, it was hard. Damn hard. But . . ." he put his head down and said quietly, "It was good, too."

I closed my eyes and was so thankful to hear him say that. I felt, for the first time, that maybe, just maybe, this would really work out.

"You pushed me into doing something I didn't want to do, I won't lie. I was pretty pissed at you. But, I guess you know me better than I know myself, too. I needed to face him. We need to move past this." I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes. "But don't get the big idea that I need you meddling in my life anymore, OK? I'm a big boy, Leah. I can take care of myself and my family."

"Yea, I get that. I know you can."

He stood up and said, "Come on, let's go clean up." I stood up and walked with him to the garden hose. He turned it on and ran the water over his hands then he ran it over mine. We washed the dirt off and dried our hands on a towel he had hanging on the porch railing.

I looked at him and said, "Sam? I'm sorry for bringing all that pain on you. I know I apologized before, but seeing you yesterday . . ." I closed my eyes to try and keep the tears that suddenly sprung up from falling, "I didn't realize how raw that pain was." I opened my eyes and put my hand on his arm. "I'm sorry."

He put his hand on top of mine and said, "Quit apologizing, Leah. What's done is done. I hope maybe the old man and I can work this shit out. I mean, I'm going to be a dad soon. How can I be a good dad if I can't get past all this with my own dad?" He smiled then and added, "It'll be OK, Leah. I think it will be OK."

I put my arms around his waist and laid my head on his chest. "I hope so, Sam. I really do." He put his arms around me and held me. He rested his chin on my head and said, "Just let me work it out in my own time, Le Le, OK?"

"I will. I promise." I pulled back and looked at him. "But I'll be here for you if you need me."

He smiled and said, "Yea, I know." He put a quick kiss on my forehead and let me go. "Come on, I'm thirsty. Let's go get something to drink." I nodded and followed him inside.

Embry POV:

I dropped Quil off at Claire's after school and headed over to Jake's to work for awhile. I walked into the garage to find him making out with Bella. "Whoa, sorry, dude," I said as I turned to go back out.

He pulled away and turned his head to say, "It's OK, Embry. Just having some fun while I was waiting for you to get here." He smiled at Bella and she smiled back.

"Well, I don't want to spoil the fun, bro. I can find something else to do for awhile, you know," I told him with a grin.

Bella broke away and walked toward me. "It's OK, Embry. I have to go do some grocery shopping before dinner. I'll see you guys later." She reached up and patted my cheek as she walked by and I smiled.

I watched Jake as he watched Bella walk to her truck. "Dude, you got it so good," I said.

"Don't I know it! Man, are we lucky, or what?" he said with a grin. "Hey, come here, I got something to show you." He pulled me out behind the garage to show me a red Jeep. "I went to see Mr. Collins today for some parts and he shows me this. I had told him that we were trying to keep an eye out for a car for Leah. He tells me that some guy had this Jeep and the engine blew on it. Collins thinks the guy drove it too hard, cause the rest of the it is in great shape for a Jeep that's 15 years old! Newer tires, good brakes, good transmission. So the guy just tells Collins he can keep it cause it would cost more to fix than it was worth. The guy is obviously an idiot! Anyway, so Mr. Collins told me if we want it, we can have it. But we have to get a new engine for it. So I took it! We can go to the junkyard and find an engine for it easy! The only thing is, you'll have to teach her how to drive stick."

"I can do that! This is fucking awesome, Jake! When can we get down to the junkyard?" Man I couldn't believe this! She would be so excited.

"Whenever you want. Just let me know," he answered. I popped the hood on it and started poking around.

"How did you get it here?" I asked him.

"I had Sam come with me and we towed it here with the truck." He looked over at me and added, "We talked a little about your Dad. He told me about popping him one. Man, I can't believe he did that!"

"Neither could I! But, I'm pretty sure he could have moved out of the way. He took it on purpose. Sam said it was for his mom."

Jake nodded. "At least he stuck around to hear his story. You know, why he left."

I looked at him and said, "I see why you said I needed to hear it from him. What a weird story, huh? I don't think I would have believed it if I hadn't heard it from him."

Jake nodded. "Sam didn't really want to say much more about it. So, are you going to see him? Your dad?"

"Yea, I guess. He told me he wants to be my father. He said he missed the first 18 years of my life and he didn't want to miss any more. He asked me if I was OK just being friends and getting to know each other first. I agreed. I mean, I always wanted to know my dad. Now I have the chance."

Jake smiled at me and said, "I'm glad, Em. Make him take you fishing. You always wanted to do that with your dad. This time, he can dig the hook out of your hand instead of me!" I shoved him and said, "Shut up, dude!" He just laughed.

I thought about that though. It would be cool to go fishing with my dad. I smiled as I realized that I could actually ask him.