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Chapter Nine: Bitches and Popcorn

The towel fastened around me loosened as I jumped backwards, almost exposing my body to one of the last people I'd ever want to see it.

"Shit, Swan, if you give everyone who crawls in your window a free show I can see why it became a doggie-door," Leah sneered, picking up a nail file from my bedside and proceeding to attend to her fingernails. It only took a few seconds for her to realise her once long, feminine talons were now stubby, dirt-stained stumps. She sighed and threw it over her shoulder. "What are you doing home so early anyway?"

Her stare was curious, but careful, and I was so lost as to why she was in my room that I just gaped at her like a dying fish. She raised an eyebrow as she sat up straighter on the bed.

"Have you been crying?" she said, actually sounding slightly concerned. "Did that little Newton prick get handsy? Wonder how he'd manage to cop a feel with two wrist-stumps." Her eyes narrowed contemplatively, as if actually planning to relieve Mike of his hands and making it look accidental. I couldn't help the soft snort of laughter I let out, and she smirked at me knowingly.

Just then, the last two days came flooding back. It seemed Leah and I had, in fact, become closer. When she'd gathered that I had a date, she even offered to help me get ready, even though she was slightly disgusted by my choice of company for the evening. I still wasn't sure if she was genuinely supporting me, or if some part of her got a sick thrill out of being the one to tell Jake that I was dating again and watching for any kind of reaction, but the comfort of having someone who knew all about the monsters in the darkness, and in fact, was one herself made me grateful she was around. We hadn't directly talked about what happened with Jacob and Melanie yet, though. I didn't know if it was for my benefit or hers. It had to have brought back plenty of painful memories.

"No, he didn't get handsy. I pretty much spent the whole night pre-occupied with where we were and realised it was useless. Even if I was ready to move on with someone else, there's no way it'd be Mike," I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the towel tighter around me. I'd never seen Leah naked, but something told me that if I had, I'd want to sit in a dark room wearing a burlap sack for the rest of my life. There would be no comparison.

She clapped sarcastically. "Bravo, Bella. It's not every day someone grows a brain in the space of six hours." I scoffed and hit her with a pillow.

"No need to be a bitch about it," I admonished, and she gave me a condescending look. "Just because you are one." She let out a filthy laugh and moved off the bed, looking around my bedroom thoughtfully. She stopped at the window, where the beginnings of a shower of rain was making tracks down the glass.

"Well, forgive me for assuming the worst. I saw you slam a door in his face and spend the next hour throwing up and taking a rape-shower. The kid is nasty, Swan. I told you it wouldn't end well."

Of course – she'd still been patrolling around my house tonight. I sighed. It seemed it would be a while before the Pack was fully out of my life. "Alright, mighty Leah. You win. Please, bestow more of your worldly wisdom upon me."

She snorted disdainfully. "Please. You're so not ready to use the force yet. Although rule number one in the moving-on handbook: Your next conquest should always be at least marginally hotter than he who you're hoping to move on from."

"You mean like how you hooked up with Paul just before he phased?" I asked, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Not really, that was more of an example of poor judgement and too much tequila,"she scoffed. "For a while, I thought there was something about me that turned every guy I slept with into a steroid-fuelled rage monster. Turns out I just have bad taste."

I shook my head ruefully. "Either that, or the Reservation's too damn small."

She pressed her lips together and nodded sagely. "That too."

I moved across the room to my underwear drawer, rifling though it for something that didn't feel like it was trying to cut my butt in two. "All quiet on the Western front?" I hedged. The Pack was putting themselves on the line for my protection. The least I could do was ask how things were going.

"Yep," she replied, sounding thoroughly bored. "Bitch is keeping her distance, for whatever reason. Isn't it obvious, since the most interesting thing to happen all evening was your disaster of a date?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "Thought I'd ask. What are you up to for the rest of the night?"

"Patrol, then I'm supposed to be relieved in about twenty minutes and I was going to head home and try to catch Seth downloading porn. Kid's like an after-school special waiting to happen."

I laughed softly, imagining her poor baby brother's shame at being caught. It's not as if he had many secrets anyway, but being caught in a compromising position by your sister – one as cutting and sarcastic as Leah, had to be hell. "Why don't you hang out here? Charlie's on the night shift and since I heaved up my noodles, I was going to make some popcorn and do some channel-surfing."

Leah looked contemplative, and a little wary. "Sounds like a slumber party to me, Swan."

"It's not a slumber party. I guess I'd rather have someone else to talk to than the relentless inner-monologue in my head," I confessed. The truth was, I was dreading being left alone. Talking to anyone, even if it was Leah, kept my mind off the tide of self flagellation. She studied me for a long moment, seeming to understand where the invitation had come from.

"Sure," she shrugged. "Seth could use a break, anyway. But if you so much as look at those toe-separators and nail polish, I'm out of here."

I laughed softly. "Deal."

The feeling of being make-up free and dressed in light pyjamas felt far more familiar and comforting, It had been Leah's suggestion that I dress in tight jeans and a plunging shirt for the date, but it felt too foreign to me. My favourite, well-worn sleepwear had, for the first time since I'd come to this reality, actually made me feel a little more like my old self, and I welcomed it. I had just taken the second bag of pop-corn out of the microwave when a soft yip from outside caught my attention. I turned in the direction of the family room, about to call Leah when I saw it was needless. She appeared in the door way, swiftly walking past me and towards the back door. "That'll be the night-shift," she clarified. Swinging the door open, she poked her head out, drawing in a long breath and frowning.

"What are you doing here? I thought Brady was on Swan-watch tonight," she said into the darkness. "And shouldn't you be at home, I don't know... broodingly listening to angry emo music and planning some sort of terrorist attack on the unkind world?"

I moved towards the door, still holding the popcorn and frowned. I couldn't see a thing in the moonlight, but I didn't doubt that she could. Another yip was her reply and she rolled her eyes.

"I can't understand that, but I'm pretty sure I could break your knuckles for that tone."

"Who is it?" I asked, still straining to see around her in the darkness, but it was pretty pointless since I couldn't even look beyond her shoulder. A static rippled through the air, and a quiet, baritone voice called out from the direction of the trees, along with the approach of slight, barefooted steps.

"I said, he's got his hands full with summer school, so I'm taking over for the night, Mom." Embry sounded bored and fed-up, and clearly not in the mood for Leah's jibes. I could see his face beyond her tall frame, and it matched his tone pretty accurately.

"And I don't listen to that stuff any more. You've finally converted me into a Little Monster. Gaga is my queen. Paws up!" he curled his fingers into his palm and held a hand up beside his head, baring a row of shiny white teeth and mock-growling.

Leah sighed and and folded her arms. "Yeah well, I'm going to stick around for a while, so you can trot off home to write more angsty poetry," she sneered. Embry blinked and studied her face, no doubt wondering whether to believe her or not.

"Why?" he said, a crease appearing between his brows. She scoffed and drew her head back, no doubt summoning the strength to stay civil.

"Because Swan needs her moustache bleached," she said sarcastically. "It's none of your business." She moved back then, fully revealing me to Embry for the first time. He was dressed in denim cut-offs and nothing else. His hair was slicked back on his head – wet from the rain that was starting to ease off and his torso glistened with the residue. He froze slightly, as if just realising I was there. There was a short pause before he schooled his features into a look of indifference.

"Hi, Bella. How'd the date go?" he said, and I didn't miss the slightly bitter edge to his voice. I was slightly taken aback – Embry had never so much as looked at me with anything but kindness before, but seemingly he hadn't forgotten how I spoke to him the last time we'd seen each other. One large hand came out and he buried it in the popcorn, taking a handful and cramming it in his mouth. He raised an eyebrow challengingly, daring me to object. His overall posture and expression got my defences up, and I refused to whimper and apologise. What I did with my Saturday night was none of his, Jake's or any of the Pack's business.

"Nice to see I still make the front page of The Daily Howl," I sneered, and Leah laughed, laying an approving hand on my shoulder as she moved back into the kitchen. He shrugged one shoulder as he finished the popcorn. "Not so much front page, but at least you're in the highlights," he said.

"Yeah, it's about time I was off the radar completely, don't you think? It's not as if I'm part of the Pack."

Embry's bravado faded visibly from his face, his throat bobbing as he swallowed and he shoved his hands roughly into his pockets. He toed the ground frustratedly, letting a few moments of silence pass between us. "That guy's an ass, you know..." he muttered, studying the concrete step intently. I rolled my eyes – I should have expected this.

"Yeah, maybe he is, but at least he's consistent," I replied cuttingly. His eyes shot back to mine, and he looked into them guiltily, no doubt realising that he was pretty much overstepping a line with his comments. Mike may have made me want to finger-skit him in the forehead, but at least if he left me, it would be his own choice.

"Sure... I guess you have a point," he said, his gaze lingering on mine for a fraction of a second before he cleared his throat. "Anyway.. I'll uh... be out here." he stepped backwards on the step, about to turn back to the trees.

Leah called out from behind me, emptying the first bag of popcorn into a large mixing bowl. "Why? I'm already here, and I'm staying over."

Embry frowned, turning, and leaned past me. He smelled like the grass just after a rainfall, and the familiarity made me wince. "You're not exactly going to be on alert if you're stuffing your face and watching Molly Ringwald movies," he said.

"Please. That's what you guys seem to forget – us chicks are so much better at multi-tasking. Run along now, pup," she said dismissively. He sighed and gave me an indecipherable look, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully before nodding,

"Fine. See you... whenever, Bella," he said quietly, his eyes looking at nothing before disappearing into the forest before I could even answer.

I'd gotten myself comfortable on the couch beside Leah, feet tucked under me and popcorn on my lap when she looked past me, into the kitchen, contemplating something beyond. I frowned at her, turning to look at what held her attention but unsurprisingly, there was nothing. I ignored it for a few minutes, surfing through the channels and settling on a movie purely because Jake Gyllenhaal had flashed on screen during my quest for something suitable. Leah continued to divide her attention between the TV and the kitchen, and I was about to ask her what was going on when she broke the silence herself.

"He's still outside, you know," she said.

A/N: Alright! So maybe it wasn't the werewolf you were hoping for on her bed, but at least he still made an appearance, right?

I'm enjoying having Leah as Bella's confidante. She's a favourite of mine, and one thing I regretted with my other stories was giving her a smaller role. You'll be seeing quite a bit more of her in this one. :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts. It's finally taking shape now. :)