I wake up, it's a bad dream

No one on my side

I was fighting

But I just feel to tired to be fighting

"Bad Dream"

-Keane

Chapter 24:

Why are all my friends idiots?

It was like watching a horror movie in slow motion. Bella lunged for Jacob's throat, but Seth put himself in front of him protectively. Bella couldn't stop herself as she threw her arms out angrily. There was an agonizing snap before he went sailing across the yard. I saw the pain on Jacob's face when he realized that Seth was hurt.

Seth! I was at his side instantly, Seth, you okay?

I heard him moan in pain, but he tried to sound tough, I think so. Something's broken, though.

I was seeing red. That god damn vampire. I was going to kill her. I turned to face her and let out a snarl.

Jacob quickly stopped me. "Leah, don't."

Was he fucking kidding me? She had just attacked my brother.

"She didn't mean it…" Jacob defended her.

Oh, well then that makes it all better, I snarled sarcastically.

I'm fine, Leah. Really. Seth struggled to stand up. I could see that he wasn't bearing weight on his right front leg.

"Seth, are you alright?" Jacob asked calmly. Seth nodded his head, but I saw him wince in pain. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have expected you to do that. It was...incredibly noble…and stupid…" He added. Really god damn stupid.

You're welcome, Seth frowned.

Almost immediately, I heard Bella apologizing, "Seth, oh my God, I didn't see you. I didn't know you were going to…I'm just…I am so sorry…" And she did sound remorseful. Of course, maybe she was just afraid that I would tear her limbs off if she didn't apologize.

Carlisle was trying to assess Seth's injuries. "It would be a lot easier to treat you if you phased."

You got it, Doc, Seth groaned out through the pain.

Feeling my brother's pain was enraging me. When he phased, the pain was gone, but it still didn't help me get rid of my rage. It was taking every ounce of self-control I had not to bite Bella's miserable head right off of her stupid vampire body. Esme quickly threw a blanket over Seth and helped him into the house. Carlisle followed. I heard the X-Ray machine whirring in the house. I wasn't sure what to do.

"Leah, Carlisle will take care of him. Why don't you release some steam by running a little?" Jacob suggested.

I shook my head. No way I was leaving Seth now. Even though I knew Carlisle would take care of my brother, there was no guarantee that Bella wouldn't freak out again. And if she did, this time, I wasn't going to sit and wait for Jacob to tell me it was okay to attack her. If she even looked at Seth or Jake the wrong way, I would claw her eyes out.

I glanced through the door. Seth was on the couch, and Carlisle was measuring his arm for a brace.

"You sure it's the shoulder, Doc?" Seth questioned.

"And the collar bone," Carlisle nodded. Damn, that X-Ray processed fast. I had always wondered how Carlisle had gotten permission to bring home the whole Radiology Lab. Sooo…I'm just going to drag this X-Ray machine home, that's cool, right? As if it were normal to lug that kind of machinery home and have it laying around your house.

Carlisle glanced at Bella and then back to Seth. "You're fortunate it wasn't worse." I saw him glare at Edward. The look he gave his son was that of one who was disappointed. So Carlisle thought Edward had let this happen. I was on the same page as the bloodsucker…I mean, Carlisle. Damn it, I was starting to like him.

I heard the phone ring. It was still laughable to me that the vampire's had a phone line. I heard Esme's soft voice whisper something about answering.

"Let it ring," Edward disagreed.

"It's probably Charlie." Carlisle sounded concerned. I could tell by the tone in his voice that he didn't like keeping things from Charlie. Guess that was the father in him.

"We still have nothing to tell him," Edward shrugged.

I heard Esme sigh. Guess she didn't like lying to Charlie either. Who knew vampires had morals?

A few minutes later Esme, Alice, and Emmett disappeared to hunt. Rosalie stayed behind. She and Jacob were trying to keep Nessie calm.

I looked back inside the house.

Edward bowed his head.

"I'm sorry Seth. This is my fault." Damn straight it was. Edward looked like he felt terrible. I sighed. As much as I hated him, and couldn't stand the fact that Seth was hurt, it really wasn't Edward's fault. I had seen him jump forward pretty quickly to pull Bella away from Seth and Jacob. Besides, it wasn't his strength and temper that had broken Seth's shoulder and collar bone.

So much for keeping Seth from doing something idiotic and impulsive, I sighed.

Maybe it wasn't all bad. I tried Seth's way of seeing the good in things. Maybe now that Bella had attacked him, Seth would be able to see the dangers of associating with vampires.

That theory lasted all of about two seconds. I heard Seth tell Bella that he didn't hold anything against her. He was forgiving her? My brother was such an idiot sometimes. I felt my body burning with fury. I had to cool myself down before overheating. I jogged to the river behind the Cullen's house and leaped in. The water was cool and refreshing against my fur.

After a few minutes of absorbing the relaxing current, I hopped out and shook the water out of my fur. Then, I went right back to worrying about my brother. I started pacing along the river. I glanced at the back window of the house, trying to see if I could see what was going on. Had Carlisle fixed him up yet? Where was he?

I saw Bella glide by the window. She noticed me pacing.

You are so damn lucky that that window is between us, bitch, I snarled. I knew she couldn't hear me, but I was sure the glare spoke for itself. For a moment, I wished that she was the freak that could read minds and not her stupid dead husband.

I was overheated again. I hated that Seth was so comfortable with the vampires. That is what had gotten him hurt in the first place.

I could hear Jacob bickering with Rosalie about whose turn it was to hold Nessie.

"It's too bad she isn't venomous to you," Rosalie murmured.

"You're just jealous because you can't bite me. You know you want me." Jacob knew that would irk Rosalie. It did. She growled.

I heard Jasper speaking to Bella inside, telling her that everything was okay, and that no one was angry with her.

Speak for yourself, bloodsucker. I let out a loud snarl.

I trotted back towards the house to check on Seth. As I made my way back, I could hear the edge in Bella's voice fade. And I could feel the atmosphere around me calming. Jasper must be working his mojo. That calming thing he could do was more convenient than Pot and Valium combined.

I looked in the window and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Seth snoring comfortably on the couch.

Guess Doc gave him some good pain meds, I shrugged.

I heard shuffling around outside the door. Jacob and Rosalie came inside, carrying Nessie. Oh goody, it was time to play "measure the spawn" again. Since Nessie was growing so fast, they did all kinds of tests on her to see how much she was changing. I thought it was really stupid. Babies are constantly changing, and she was half vampire, so I'm sure that she was going to go through some interesting phases of growing.

"It's time to measure Ness…" Carlisle stopped short of finishing that sentence and quickly used her full name. I chuckled. Was he afraid of Bella? I guess Bella really did seem to hate that name. I smiled. Bingo. Something to antagonize the hell out of her with. If there was ever a reason for me to talk to her as a human again, I would see how many times I could squeeze "Nessie" into the sentence just to piss her off.

I watched as they carefully explained to Bella about Nessie's growth spurts. She looked terrified. I liked that look on her. I imagine her face would look something like that if I lunged for her throat.

After the kid was done being measured, it was time for her to sit in her mommy's arms and gossip about everything she had seen since she was born. Bella watched with stupid facial expressions.

Then, in a flash, Edward snatched Nessie away from Bella. Great, he was going to be controlling with his daughter too. Macho jerk. After Edward explained he had overreacted to some thought that Nessie had shared with Bella, he quickly surrendered the baby back to her. Bella cooed like an idiot. I couldn't stand this mushy crap much longer.

As the time slowly passed, I continued to watch my brother sleep. I wasn't surprised when Jacob crashed next to him. Two sleeping werewolves in a house full of vampires. I shook my head disapprovingly.

As the sun set, I could smell the rest of the Cullens coming back from their hunt…or so they would have Bella believe. Truthfully, they hadn't really gone hunting. As a present for her transformation, Esme had restored a house for her and Edward to live in, and boink in.

I saw Alice hesitate from the trees. She looked almost as if she were preparing herself to go and be with her family. What could be causing her irritation? I pondered that. Maybe she didn't like Bella as a vampire. I chuckled a bark as Emmett and Esme came up behind Alice. I started to get uncomfortable all out in the open and vulnerable for the vampires to see, so I slunk into the trees beside the house.

A few minutes later I heard Alice exclaim happily, "Happy Birthday!"

I grunted. To hell with this boring shit. I didn't have to stick around and listen to them chat about how old Bella wasn't getting. There had to be something better to do around here.

I ran for a few hours just to run. I didn't have to patrol anymore. Sam's pack was no longer a threat. After a while, I decided that maybe I would just go home. It would be nice to sleep in an actual bed again.

As I was coming in the front door, my mother was going out. I just gave her a slight smirk. She was going to see Charlie; I could tell by the smile on her face.

"Oh, Leah…I didn't think you would be coming home tonight." My mother was obviously surprised at my presence.

"I figured now that Sam's off our case, I could use my bed every now and then." I yawned. "So where are you headed? You have a hot date?"

I saw her blush. Answer to the question: Yes.

"Charlie's a bit preoccupied, what with Bella and all…" I saw her thoughts drift. I felt bad for her. She hated lying to Charlie, just like everyone else. It really did blow to have to keep a secret that big from someone you cared about. "I thought maybe a night out would help him take his mind off of her."

"You should wear a more revealing top. I guarantee that if he sees cleavage, he won't even remember he has a daughter," I suggested.

She laughed, but then her face became serious again.

"How did things go tonight? Was there a fight?" I could see the anticipation in her eyes.

Well, if you consider Seth trying to take on a newborn vampire by himself a battle… I knew I couldn't tell her what had happened. It really wasn't my place. If Seth wanted to tell her, he would. Plus, she would probably kill me for letting him get hurt, and then jump in the car, speed over the Cullen's, and kill Bella. Hmm…maybe I should tell her…

I decided against it.

"It was actually pretty boring. Bella has some freaky weird self-control thing where she doesn't want to drink our blood." This was such an odd conversation to be having with my mother.

My mom nodded, "And where's Seth?" Damn it, I was hoping she would not notice his absence.

"He's…sleeping over at the leeches," I frowned. I knew she wouldn't like that. I could see her face crinkle with worry. I tried to make her feel better. "Don't worry, Jacob's there with him. They both crashed. It's really been a long day." I noticed my fatigue was coming back.

After a moment, my mother seemed satisfied.

"Get some rest, sweetie." She furrowed her brow. "You look exhausted." I felt exhausted.

"Have a good time!" I called after her.

She smiled as she walked out the front door. I heard someone walking up on the front porch. At first, I figured it was Charlie. It wasn't until I heard the voice that I realized the visitor wasn't for her.

"Hey, Ms. C. Wow, you look fantastic." What was Embry doing here?

"Thank you, Embry. Leah's inside if you want to say hello to her. But I think she's getting ready to go to bed, so you might want to make it a quick visit." My mother advised.

"Sweet." He walked to the front door. "Have fun with Charlie." He waved as he walked through the front door. He saw me and smiled. "Hi, Leah."

"Uh…hey, Embry…" How did he even know I was home? I shrugged. Guess he'd been running in the vicinity.

The room was silent. There was kind of a nervous tension that filled the air. I tapped my foot in anticipation.

"What are Jake and Seth up to?" he questioned.

"They're probably having dreams about tiny, little, happy vampire children dancing around in tutu's or something," I shrugged. "They both crashed about an hour ago." I yawned again. I wasn't far behind them.

Embry could see that I was sleepy.

"Yeah, your mom said you were tired. But I was wondering, could I talk to you about something?"

I looked outside. The sun had completely set. And my eyes were barely staying open. No way I could have a lucid conversation.

"I dunno. Maybe tomorrow. I'm really fighting my weariness." I could feel my eyelids getting heavy.

I saw him frown and lock his jaw, but he nodded with a sigh, "Well, get some rest. I'll try and catch you another time."

"Cool," I nodded. We went in separate directions. I was able to keep myself awake for a nice warm shower. I bet I looked like some drunk sorority girl as I stumbled down the hallway to my bedroom.

I stubbed my toe on the edge of the bed, but I didn't care. I literally fell face forward on to my mattress and shoved my face into my pillow. God, it felt so soft. I hadn't slept in days. Not a really good sleep anyway. I had taken naps and snoozed a little while on patrols, but I hadn't truly ever drifted completely out of consciousness. That was something you couldn't do when you were constantly waiting for a battle to start. You were always on alert.

But now that everything was over, and Sam had given in, I could truly relax. Everything that had happened since I broke away from the pack was all a blur. Talking to Billy. Being with Jacob and Seth. My freedom from Sam. Befriending Embry. Renesmee's birth. Seth getting hurt. All of it completely faded from my thoughts.

And for the first time in a long time, I actually drifted out of consciousness completely.

It felt great.