Layla's alarm went off at 6:00 AM the next morning and she groaned, trying to bury deeper warm body that was taking up half her bed. She heard a very feminine whine and her cell phone clatter to the floor, still blaring it's alarm. Layla tried leaning over to grab her phone from the floor to turn the alarm off, but stopped halfway leaning over, running into a pair of boobs. Layla moved her hand down, not remembering that it was Leah who stayed the night with her.
"If you're going to grope me then I'd appreciate you videotaping it. Jake's been itching to see girl on girl." Leah said.
Layla chuckled softly and flopped on Leah, too tired to bend over any further to grab her phone. "Leah?"
"Yeah?" Leah asked.
"Since you're so pretty, will you get my phone?" Layla asked.
Leah's arm went to the floor and grabbed the phone, silencing the alarm before hanging it to Layla. Layla looked at her phone, still laying halfway on Leah. Layla flipped through the music on her phone, turning it 'Party Up' by DMX and turning the volume up. Leah groaned and laughed at her music choice.
"Will you help my do my hair?" Layla asked.
"I thought you were going to stay home today?" Leah asked.
"I don't want to be alone with my thoughts all day." Layla said.
"I feel you. Yeah, come on, we'll make you look so good no one will expect anything." Leah said. "But first, medicine."
Leah grabbed the two bottle and shook one out of each, making sure Layla took both before. Once she was satisfied, Leah helped Layla out of bed, doing her hair while Layla did her own makeup. When they finished, Layla picked out her clothes, and with Leah's help, got dressed.
"Do you ever wear give up on life pants?" Leah asked.
"I'm not sure what give up on life pants are, but it sounds like I need some." Layla said.
"Sweatpants. And sweatshirts." Leah said, grinning.
"Do my VS pants and shirts count?" Layla asked.
"Nope. I'm talking full on gray, too big, so comfortable, probably all stretched out, with questionable spots." Leah said.
"Oh. Then no. My mother would have shit her pants had I worn something like that." Layla said. "I must get some at once."
Leah laughed, helping Layla stand up again and grabbed her bags and headed out to her Escalade. It was parked in the driveway with the keys hidden under the floor mat. Leah helped Layla in and then drove to Jake's, honking the horn.
"You're driving. I'm going back to bed." Leah said, sticking her tongue out at Jake.
"Lucky." Jake said, bending down to kiss Leah.
"You've still got to pick the other guys up." Leah said.
"It's only 7. Why did I have to wake up this early again? Class doesn't start for almost an hour." Jake whined.
"Because I can't cook and I figured you all would like to go out to breakfast." Leah suggested.
"Did any of the others agree to this?" Jake asked.
"Nope." Leah said, smirking.
Jake kissed Leah once again and slid into the drivers seat. Layla was reclined in the passenger seat, turning the seat warmer on for her seat. Jake chuckled and pulled out of his driveway, watching Leah walk into her house.
"I may or may not have copped a feel this morning." Layla said, looking over at Jake.
"Did you record it?" Jake asked excitedly.
"I forgot she spent the night and I felt a body next to me. I had to see who it was." Layla said. "And no, sorry. Mama don't do that for free." Layla said, yawning.
Jake laughed, just imagining how that went. He pulled out of the reservation and headed to a little diner for breakfast. Leah had brought up a good idea yesterday while Layla was in the hospital. Until Paul could be trusted in the same state as Layla, one of them needed to either stay the night or do individual patrols by her bedroom window. He wasn't sure how to bring it up with Layla, nor was he sure how she'd take it. He decided he just wouldn't tell her.
"I thought we could go to Anna's for breakfast. It's the best greasy spoon hole in the wall diner." Jake said.
"Sounds good to me." Layla said.
Jake pulled in ten minutes later and helped Layla out, locking the doors behind her. They walked in and Jake grabbed a couple of menus, picking a booth for them to sit in. He looked around to see who had made it out so early. Two elderly couples sat across the diner from them. He smiled, wondering if that would be him and Leah in about 60 years. He really hoped so.
Embry walked in with a blonde girl trailing him, clinging to his arm like she'd fall to the ground if she didn't. He looked mildly irritated but didn't speak up.
"Hey, you wanna go to McDonald's instead?" Jake asked, trying to distract Layla.
"I thought this was the best place for breakfast?" Layla asked, looking up at Jake.
"I changed my mind." Jake said. "Come on, let's go."
Layla shrugged and grabbed her purse and scooted out of the booth and turned to head for the door. She stopped for a moment when she saw Embry and the bleached blonde cow. 'Oh,' she thought, 'that's why he wants to leave.' Layla steeled herself, trying not to think of how tender and caring Embry was last night and how he left as soon as his little girlfriend called. Jake was trying to herd her to the door as Embry looked up and saw Layla and Jake standing up, looking awkwardly between them and the door.
"Layla? You shouldn't be up, yet. Are you okay?" Embry asked, standing up.
"Oh, I am doing quite well, but thank you for your concern, Embry." Layla said, trying to keep her tone even and polite. "I do hope you are doing quite well, too."
"Uh, hello? Embry, who are they?" Audrey asked.
"How very rude of us, Jake. Just where are our manners? We haven't even introduced ourselves to this poor girl." Layla said, looking over at her, plastering a huge smile on her face. "I'm Layla, and this is my very good friend Jake."
Layla held out her hand to Audrey, trying to convince herself that, if Audrey accepted, that it was not nice to break every finger she had. Audrey shook her hand and smiled coldly, scooting closer to Embry.
"I'm Audrey, Embry's girlfriend." Audrey said.
"Such a pleasure to meet you, honey." Layla said. "Jake, do you have the keys?"
"Sure do. Catch you later, man." Jake said, looking at Embry.
Layla pulled a $50 from her purse and laid it on their table. "Breakfast is on me. I can only imagine his appetite." Layla said.
Layla started walking away and Jake followed her, grinning. He helped Layla into the Escalade before getting into the driver's seat. She turned the seat warmers on and leaned back into the seat, curling on her side. Jake started the engine and started driving down the road, heading back to the reservation.
"Are you okay?" Jake asked, his voice soft.
"Just spiffy." Layla said, staring out of the window.
Jake took 'spiffy' to mean that she was anything but. He could nearly guarantee he know how Layla felt about Embry, especially after last night. The way she looked so relaxed, so at ease in Embry's arms after he bathed her. Then how her body tensed after Embry's phone rang; Jake could see a look of betrayal and confusion on her face when he accepted her call and left. He also saw the way she clung to Leah as they lay in bed together last night that she wanted it to be Embry there instead.
"Do you wanna skip school?" Layla asked, turning her head to look at Jake.
"I'm down for that." Jake said. "Where do you want to go?"
"As far as we can get from the rez for a few hours." Layla said. "How far is Seattle?"
"Like...4 hours?" Jake said. "Not enough time to do a whole lot if we go there. We could go to Port Angeles."
"Hit it." Layla said.
"Do you want to tell anyone?" Jake asked.
"And have them try to tell us no?" Layla snorted. "We'll be back in time. Maybe."
Jake smiled and made a U-Turn and headed for Port Angeles. The drive took a little over an hour and before Layla knew it, she had fallen asleep again, curled up in the seat. Jake pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant and gently scratched Layla's back until she shivered and woke up, turning over and looking at him.
"We're here. I'm starving, how about you?" Jake asked.
"Embry isn't there with that cow is he?" Layla asked, stretching.
"If he is, we'll let all the air out of the tires." Jake said.
"You're my best friend. Besides Leah." Layla said.
Jake got out and helped Layla out and they walked into the restaurant together. Layla dragged Jake into store after store, momentarily forgetting all about Paul, Embry, school, her mother, and anything that had brought her down. Jake and Layla had just walked by a bookstore and Layla stopped, pulling on Jake's hand.
"Can I live here?" Layla asked.
"Maybe." Jake said, taking her into the store.
Layla went from aisle to aisle, picking out books like she were a kid in a candy store being given a free pass. She missed her books back home so bad she couldn't stand it! She started piling books into Jake's arms when she couldn't even pick one up anymore. He loved seeing her so excited and happy that he was willing to do nearly anything to see that smile. Her phone rang as she pulled out another book and set it happily on the pile in his arms.
"Hey!" she answered the phone, smiling. "I'm good, how are you?"
Jake wondered who the call was from, but whoever it was, Layla was happy to talk to them.
"Oh, I just got the best dress ever. Mhm. Dark red and it has the slit up the thigh. No, you and Emmett are not going to win the competition. Because. Because. No, he'll see your boobs in that dress and get distracted!" Layla said, giggling.
'Emmett?! Oh...oh no.' Jake thought.
"Layla, it's getting time. We have to go if we want to be back by 3." Jake said.
Layla waved her hand in acknowledgment that she heard him and made her way to the registers. "I'm wearing heels because Edward's, like, fifty feet taller than me and I need to be able to reach his shoulder so we can dance." Layla said.
The clerk rang up her books and Layla dug through her purse, pulling her bank card out of her wallet and handing it to the clerk. Jake grabbed the bags of books and tugged Layla's arm to follow him back to the Escalade. Layla said her goodbyes and hung up, still happy.
"So...a dance competition? With Edward? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jake asked, loading Layla's bags into the back.
"I miss having dances and parties to go to where you get dressed up and have a date and dance the night away." Layla said, getting into the passenger seat.
"The school has dances and you could go with one of us." Jake said.
"Let's see...you're with Leah, Sam's with Emily, Paul is out of the question, Embry's with the cow, Quil's nearly always busy babysitting, Jared and Colin are really close with Embry and I wouldn't do that to them." Layla said.
"Seth would dance with you." Jake said.
"Seth would do the dance with no pants with me. I doubt he'd learn to ballroom dance and put on a tux just so I could dance." Layla said. "Edward and his family know how to ballroom dance, and they told me about a competition for charity they do every year near Seattle. It starts at 6 am and ends when there's only one couple left on the floor, and their charity of choice gets all the proceedings." she explained.
"Oh, no. No, no, no. You're absolutely...no. Not going to happen." Jake said.
"Are you my father?" Layla asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, but-" Jake said.
"Then don't even. I've already told Edward I'm going and we've been signed up. You're not going to stop me from going." Layla said.
"I'll tell Eric." Jake threatened.
"Go for it. Tell your dad, too." Layla said. "Print out fliers and post them around. You want my mother's number so you can tell her, too?"
Jake bit back and growl and sped toward La Push. There was absolutely no way she could go. Sam would have a shit fit and so would everyone else. They could stop her from going and spending all morning and probably all night with that family of vampires. If she wouldn't listen to him, she had to listen to someone else. And if that didn't work, threatening the vampires might.
Layla curled up in her seat, wincing. The medication was wearing off and she was feeling every single bump, pothole, and curve. Jake slowed down and drove carefully, trying to avoid anything that might bump Layla. Layla's phone started ringing again and Layla threw it into the backseat.
"Why'd you do that?" Jake asked.
"Too loud." Layla whined, curling on her other side. "Stop. Pull over."
"What? Why?" Jake asked, slowing down.
"I'm going to be sick." Layla groaned.
Jake pulled over and ran to her door and opened in, getting her out just in time. Layla leaned over the guard rail and started throwing up. After heaving several times, Layla slid down and pressed her face against the cold, albeit dirty, guardrail, closing her eyes. Her body shook with effort as she tried not to give in to the need to throw up more. Jake knelt beside her and rubbed her back gently, seeing the sweat rolling down her face.
After nearly half an hour, Jake lifted an exhausted Layla from the side of the road and into the backseat, emptying out a plastic bag and giving it to her in case she felt nauseous again. They finally made it back to the reservation around 5:00 that evening. Leah, Sam, Billy, and Eric were all sitting on the front porch, waiting for them to get home. Jake took a deep breath and put the Escalade in park and got out, getting Layla from the backseat, thinking that they'd only think of her and not start yelled.
"Where in the hell have you two been?" Eric asked, looking from Jake to Layla.
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Author's Note: Thank you to my lovely reviewers! Makes my entire day! So, who's excited for a new Sam/OC fic? Anyone? Maybe? Let me know!