Chapter 73

Bella sat in the living room and smiled as Carlisle and Masen entered the house after their guys night out. She waved her cell phone in her hand, "I heard you two made quite the impression on Jessica," she laughed.

Both of them smiled.

Bella read a text message aloud to both of them,"Wow! So... why was the cutie with Dr. Cullen missing from the wedding? Or was he there and just had a major growth spurt? Is he a cousin or something? Looks exactly like your father in law (wow can't believe he's your father in law.. weird!) Anyway, how old is he?"

Masen laughed and clutched his chest, "What can I say, Bella?"

Emmett pretended to nonchalantly pass through the living room and snuck a thumbs up at Masen. Bella shook her head.

"Where'd you guys see Jessica?"

"She slammed into us when were coming out of the movie," Masen explained.

"She slammed into you?"

"She was texting," Masen told her, "Or on her cell phone, I forget."

Bella laughed, "I'll tell her you're too young for her."

"Tell her I'm taken," Masen said, tossing his hat onto the couch. With that, the doorbell rang and Jacob and Leah entered, both dressed nicely. Leah had begun to regularly wear make up and continued to style her long, dark hair elegantly around her face.

"Hey guys," Bella said.

"Hi Bella," Jacob said, "Where's your daughter?" He smiled and winked at her playfully.

She made a face at her friend, knowing he would never do that in front of Edward. "She's with her father," Bella smiled and raised her eyebrows, "They're in the other room."

"Hey Leah," Masen said.

"Hey," she looked to Carlisle, "Hi, Dr. Cullen."

He smiled, "Carlisle."

She smiled back, "It'll just take some getting used to."

Masen looked at his father, then walked over and gave him a hug, "Thanks for the movie. I had a good time."

Carlisle nodded with a smile, "Me too."

Leah looked at them as if she were intruding on their time together, "I'm sorry. I can come back. I don't want to interrupt if you guys were doing something."

"Don't be silly," Carlisle told her, "We just went to a movie and had a good night. I'm going to relax. You're more than welcome to stay."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He patted Masen's shoulder again and went upstairs.

Jacob entered the room a few minutes later, "Hey, I think Sam wants us to have a meeting quick." He looked at Leah.

Masen felt a hint of jealousy, having been told of Leah and Sam's past. He quickly ignored it, and looked at Leah, "You can go."

She shook her head, then turned to Jacob, "I already told Sam I don't want to be involved anymore."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at her, "Leah..."

"Sorry, Jake. I'm not going. You can tell him that."

There was a short, unspoken tension that lingered between the two of them before Jacob shrugged it off, "Okay," he faced Renesme and gave her a quick kiss, "I'll be back in a half hour. Is that okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah. That's fine." He went to leave and she gave him a long hug before he opened the front door.

Right away Leah heard Sam's voice, and she made a disapproving face and rolled her eyes. Renesme shrugged with a helpless expression, and Masen stood silently to the side waiting to see what would happen.

"She's still part of the pack," Sam's voice came from outside.

Renesme and Leah exchanged glances and ran to look out the window.

"Let it go, Sam," Jacob told him. The two of the continued to argue at the edge of the woods.

Leah slammed her foot down and burst through the door to fight her own battle. Masen and Renesme quickly followed.

"Sam, I'm not going," Leah protested, "I respect you all, but I'm done. I'm not part of the pack anymore."

"It's in your blood Leah," Sam told her firmly, "It's not a choice."

"It is a choice. I'm this is my choice," she yelled, "Go have your meeting. Jacob will fill me in. He's the real chief, anyway."

Sam raised his voice, "Leah-" he started.

Masen jumped in between them, "She doesn't want to go, Sam."

Sam backed down a little, not wanting to have conflict with him, "Masen," he said calmly, "Just let me and Leah handle this."

"There is no you and Leah anymore," Masen said defensively, "Jacob can tell her whatever the pack talks about."

"I don't interfere with your family," Sam said, "It's important. She needs to come."

Masen looked from Sam to Leah, who was standing shaking her head, "Fill me in, Jacob," she said, not taking her eyes away from Sam.

He shook his head angrily and disappeared into the woods. Jacob followed on neutral grounds, leaving the girls standing by the edge of the woods with Masen.

"I'm going back in," Renesme said, breaking the silence after a few seconds. She walked toward the front door.

Masen and Leah stood in silence, not knowing that most of their family members had come onto the deck outside.

Leah was still visibly angry, and stood with her hands on her hips, slightly turned away from Masen. He approached her and without warning, grabbed her face with both hands and planted a kiss on her lips.

She turned to him, overly stunned and didn't say anything. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide.

He smiled, "I've just been meaning to do that," then added, "Go to the meeting. I don't want to cause a ruckus with your family."

Leah still looked like she was in shock and watched as Masen walked back toward the house, looking over his shoulder for a moment before turning away. She suddenly felt the same feeling that she had when she first imprinted on him; light as a feather.

A small smile creeped on her lips that no one else saw, before she darted off into the woods.