Author's Note: So sorry that this has taken so long to update! Things have been crazy over in my corner of the world. Hopefully this chapter can serve as an apology! Chapter five is also on it's way, hopefully the wait won't be too long!
Enjoy!
Alone at home, Leah sits on the couch with last Sunday's paper in her left hand and a stubby pencil in the other. Her brow creases as she works on Seth's unfinished sudoku puzzle, erasing some of his notes and adding in a few of her own. There's a knock on the door, and Leah yells, "One second!" without looking away.
She writes down the number 9 in one of the boxes, considers her move with the pencil tip in her mouth, then erases it. There's another knock on the door. "Coming!" she yells, setting down the paper and the pencil.
When she opens it, she is facing Jacob Black, who is waving a fresh pack of Newport menthols in front of her. She smirks, stepping out of the door frame. "You don't smoke," she says, more of a question than a statement.
Jacob shakes his head and smiles. "But you do." Leah smiles bigger than Jacob's ever witnessed in his life. The rare sight makes Jacob's heart soar, and he's more than happy to hand the box over to her.
The two sit on the top step of her porch, and Jacob watches as Leah hurriedly tears open the cellophane wrapping. She throws the wrapping in his lap, turns the back upside down, and begins to smack it against her hand. She stop after a moment, and the way she deftly flips open the top of the box, unwrapping the gold foil paper reminds him of Christmas. Leah looks over to Jake, smiles again and nudges him on the shoulder. She plucks a cigarette from the middle of the box and puts it in her mouth, leaning back to fish an ever-present lighter out of her pocket.
Jake watches in awe as she flicks the fire to life, holding it up to the cigarette. She inhales and the tip of the cigarette turns orange. Leah closes her eyes, holds the smoke inside, then finally exhales.
"Thank you," she says, quietly. "It's not often boys come by with presents." She inhales the smoke again, and exhales, saying, "How did you know Newports are my brand?"
Jake smirks, touches his pointer finger to his temple and then to hers. Leah laughs, and though it seems like nothing, it's the most genuine laugh he can remember hearing from her. He looks at her in wonder, noting the faint pink scars on her face, now barely noticeable.
Leah sighs contentedly. She looks to Jake and smiles once more, asks, "Do you want a drag?"
He bites his lip as he decides what to do. After a moment, he pinches the cigarette from in between her fingertips and places it on his own lips. He inhales the smoke, feels the menthol on his tongue and the fire in his throat. He coughs heavily, sending puffs of gray smoke into the air. Leah smirks. He holds the cigarette out for her, smiles and asks, "What's your favorite movie?"
Leah raises one eyebrow and grabs for the cigarette. "Really? Are we doing this?" Jake pulls his hand away from her, hiding the square. Leah glares at him, touches her pointer finger to her temple and then to his.
"Ha!" Jake sneaks another quick drag from the cigarette, fakes how much he is enjoying it just to torment Leah, and then blows the smoke right into her face. "You know I don't know that. How could I possibly know that? When have you ever thought about your favorite movie when we were phased?"
Leah pushes up against him, reaches her arm around his body and grabs the cigarette from his fingers. She inhales the last of the cigarette, imitates Jake's expression, and blows the smoke in his face. "It's The Notebook." She flicks the cigarette butt onto her front lawn. "It's, like, so cute, ohmygod I cry, like, everytime!"
"That wouldn't surprise me," Jake says, cooly. Leah's smirk fades. They stare at each other a moment more before Leah breaks away and reaches for the cigarette box. She puts another in her mouth and lights up.
"The Virgin Suicides," she mumbles, cigarette bobbing up and down between her lips. She takes another drag, then passes it onto Jake, who takes a short drag and hands it back to her.
"What's that about?"
Leah exhales. "It's about these virgins," she says, turning her head to him. "They commit suicide." She smirks and Jacob plucks the cigarette right out of her lips. "And you, Mr. Black?"
Jake laughs and takes a drag. "You know, I'm gonna have to go with The Notebook. I literally bawl like a baby every single time." Leah rolls her eyes, but smiles at him. "What's your favorite color?"
"Easy. Orange. You?" she says, sucking in the smoke.
"Green. Favorite band?"
"Sublime."
Jacob takes the last drag and crushes the cigarette on the porch. He smiles and says, "Me too."
A smile spreads across her lips as she nods her head. "No way! I never met another Indian who liked Sublime! Sam used to-" She stops when she realizes Jacob isn't smiling anymore. "Well," she says, shrugging. "Yeah, you're the only other one."
Jacob nods once, and Leah looks down at her hands. They are both silent for what seems like an eternity. Out of nervous habit, Leah reaches for the cigarettes. Jacob puts his hand over hers. "Cool it with the smokes," he says, with a harshness he doesn't intend. Leah looks up at him, almost frightened, and bites her lip. Jake shakes his head, tries to shake out his aggression. "I mean, you should save them for some other time," he murmurs. Leah drops her gaze and drops the cigarettes back onto the porch.
She sighs and folds her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry," she breathes. "It's just," she sighs again and shakes her head. She looks up to him with renewed sincerity. "What is this?" she asks. Jacob doesn't know what to say, just sits there with his mouth slightly open. "I mean, is this a date?"
Jacob opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Leah sighs again, bites her lower lip. "It's just-" she shrugs and looks back down at her hands. "I guess I haven't really been on a date in like, two years," she whispers.
"Leah, I-" he starts. "I don't... I'm sorry," he says. She shrugs, and he swears he can feel his heart crack. Desperate to fix what he's done, he turns his body toward her and puts his hands over hers. "I understand." She doesn't respond, just continues to look down, no matter how hard he tries to catch her eyes. Jacob lifts one of his hands off of hers and taps his index finger on her temple, then on his own.
She looks up at him and smiles weakly. "We're fucked up aren't we?" she breathes. Jacob's eyebrows knit together. "Both holding on to something that doesn't belong to us."
He sighs and leans in toward her, placing a tentative kiss on her forehead. With his lips still on her forehead, he says, "We belong to each other." Leah closes her eyes for a second, contemplating Jacob's statement. She pulls away from him, smiles and nods curtly.
"Thanks," she whispers. Jacob smiles and tangles his fingers in hers, squeezing her hand. Leah studies his kind face, his welcoming eyes and tries to imitate what she sees, hoping to show Jacob that she is capable of being more than a heartless bitch. She doesn't quite know if it's working, so she leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
They share a moment of peace, but soon, both notice something odd in the forest. The tip of the tallest tree is swaying back and forth rhythmically, almost like a metronome. A flock of birds flies from the tree top and into the blue sky. The swaying is becoming deeper and deeper, until finally, the tip of the tree pulls all the way to the left then snaps violently back to the right.
The sound of splitting branches fills the air at the exact same time as a loud, frantic yell. Leah immediately lifts her head off of Jacob's shoulder, and slowly starts toward the forest. Jacob stands, unsure if he should follow her or not. A nanosecond later, a loud thud reverberates through the forest, and Jake can swear he feels its impact underneath his own feet. A broken yelp pierces both of their ears.
Leah looks back at Jake frantically, then bounds off into the forest, yelling, "Seth!" Jacob follows right after her.
The two find him in the middle of the trees, laying still on the forest floor. Broken branches and leaves are scattered around him. Leah drops to her knees in front of him. She's moving her head back and forth, surveying the damage. Seth's elbow and ankle are bent at unnatural angles, broken by the impact. Leah looks back at Jake, her expression completely panicked. Her mouth is open, but no sounds are coming out.
Help me, she mouths. Jake rushes to Seth's other side and tries, as gently as he can, to wedge his arms underneath the boy. Seth cringes as he yells. "Seth, it's okay, I got you," Jacob coos. He moves past Leah, who is still on her knees, and toward the Clearwater house. After a few steps, Jacob looks back to her and calls out, "Leah, come on!"
Soon the trio is at the house, and Leah is holding the door open for Jake and Seth. Jake holds the younger boy as Leah runs her fingers through her hair.
"We should put him in my parent's room," she says. "His bed is so small." Jacob nods and heads over to the open door at the end of the hallway, maneuvers himself so as not to jostle Seth. He sets him down on the bed as gently as he can, but still, Seth cries out from the movement.
Jake turns back to Leah, who is holding her head in her hands. "Leah," he says. She looks up to him, and Jacob is taken aback completely. There are tears in her eyes, she looks lost and is gasping for air. He pulls her close, rubbing her back.
"Leah, everything is all right. Boys get hurt sometimes, it's okay," he reassures. He leans back and tries to catch her eyes. She's avoiding his gaze, looking around the room frantically, unsure of what to do. He takes her chin in one of his hands, forcing her to look at him. "Hey," he says softly, "It's okay. You just need to tell me what to do."
Leah nods and takes a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. "My mom," she starts, her voice quivering. "She's at your house." Jacob nods and runs out of the door. Leah lets out a huge sigh, then turns back to Seth. Her brother is breathing raggedly, wincing with every tiny movement. Leah stifles a gasp, and falls to Seth's side.
"What the hell were you doing up there?" she demands.
"I just wanted to see the bird's nest."
"The bir-" she yells, then bites her lip. "Are you retarded? That tree has got to be a hundred feet tall!"
"I thought I could do it," Seth whimpers.
"Seth, you-" She sighs heavily, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "You could have-" She can't bring herself to finish the sentence.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs. His quiet apology sends the tears flowing down Leah's eyes. She leans her head on Seth's bare stomach, choking back her sobs. Seth reaches his good hand down to Leah's head and strokes her hair. "It's okay, Leah," he breathes. "I'm here."
The sound of the front door flying open distracts Leah from her tears. She looks up to find her mother and Jacob coming through the bedroom door. Sue flings her bags to the corner of the room, rushing to Seth's side. She takes one look at her daughter, reassuringly rubs her back, then coos, "Leah, move out of the way so I can look at him." She nods, moving toward Jacob.
"Can you move your arm?" she asks. Seth bites his lip and tries as hard as he can, but to no affect. "How about your shoulder or your foot?" He tries once again, to the same end.
Sue sighs and rubs her temples. "Seth, you are never, ever, ever, going to do something stupid like this again, okay?" Seth nods. "I'm going to pop your shoulder back in, and it will hurt like hell, but I promise it will feel better if you let me do it, okay?" He bites his lip and nods weakly as Sue places one hand on his shoulder and the other on his biceps. She leans into him and begins to push his shoulder back into the right place.
Seth winces and screams at the top of his lungs, begs, "No-no-no, stop it!" through gasps of air. Leah squeezes her eyes shut and curls into Jacob. He puts his arms around her, pressing her close to himself. Finally, there is a loud pop, and Seth lets out a sigh of relief.
Sue smiles weakly at her son, then grabs a pair of folded up socks from her dresser and puts them in Seth's hand. "Can you try and squeeze this for me, honey?" Seth nods weakly and tightens his grip ever so slightly. Sue traces her hands along his arm, feeling for his injury. He winces, but tries to keep the sound down as much as possible, so as not to upset Leah anymore. Sue sighs. "It's a damn shame we can't take you to the doctor. This is going to hurt, Seth," she warns. Seth nods, but is not totally prepared when his mother lifts his arm, aligning the bones in the right way. He cries out loudly and beads of sweat roll down his brow. Leah's arms fly up to cover her ears as she presses even closer to Jacob.
Sue turns to the two of them, then looks to Jacob. "The brace." Jacob breaks away from Leah for a moment, reaches for his old metal brace in one of Sue's bags and hands it to her. He resumes his position with Leah, and watches as Sue fastens the velcro over Seth's sinewy arm.
She moves down his body, to his leg and does the same. Seth bites his lip as she twists his foot back into its correct position, pulling his leg straight. Sue grabs the other brace, and straps it on while Seth lets out a cathartic sigh.
With all the hard work done, Sue kneels by Seth's shoulders. She strokes his head a few times, wiping away the sweat and dirt. "Seth," she whispers. "Are you okay?" He smiles timidly in response. Sue nods and her jaw tightens. "Please don't ever scare me like this again." Seth, eyes closed, nods weakly. "You and your sister, you both mean the world to me." Sue looks down, taking deep breaths. Leah closes her eyes and buries herself in Jacob. "If I ever lost one of you-" she starts. Tears threaten the corners of her eyes. She looks up to Seth, reaches her hand to his face and gently pinches his cheek. "You look more like your father everyday." When Seth catches her eyes, he sees all the words that his mother can't say. Sue shakes her head, then leans in and kisses him on the forehead.
"I'll let you rest," she says quietly. "I'm going to go to the store to buy some pain killers." As she passes Leah and Jacob on the way out of the room, she stops and puts her hand on Jacob's shoulder. She looks at him, then to Leah, and then fixes her gaze on Jacob. "Thank you," she says, heavy with words left unsaid, then excuses herself. Jacob nods, but isn't entirely sure what she's thanking him for.
Seth takes a deep breath then opens his eyes and smiles. Both Leah and Jacob's brows pull together.
"So what," Seth murmurs. "Are you two together now?"
Leah looks up at Jacob then back to her brother. She shakes her head, stutters "I-"
Jacob takes her hand in his, looks down at her, then to Seth. "Yeah, we are."
Seth smiles weakly.
"It's about time."