"You two didn't show up at school?" Eric asked, upset.
"Jake, take her into her room and lay her down." Billy ordered.
Jake sighed and walked into the house, taking Layla to her bedroom. Leah followed him and shut then door behind them and locking it. Jake lowered Layla to the bed and looked around, seeing Leah behind him. She went to the bed and pulled Layla's shoes off and pressed the back of her hand to Layla's forehead. She grabbed the two pill bottles and took one out of each and grabbed the half empty bottle of water on her nightstand. Jake gently shook Layla awake enough to take the medicine before letting her lay back down. Leah stood up and pulled the covers over Layla. Jake turned to her and smiled, loving how caring and kind she was.
Leah pulled Jake to her and kissed him deeply, pulling him as close as she could. Jake eagerly kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. Leah pulled back and led Jake out of the room before punching him in the shoulder.
"What the hell?!" Jake whined, grabbing his shoulder.
"You two left and you didn't even tell me?" Leah nearly growled out. "Then Layla doesn't even answer her phone? Do you even know the horrible, terrifying thoughts than ran through my head?!"
"I'm sorry, I-" Jake said, but was cut off.
"You're lucky you're safe." Leah said, crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry." Jake said, looking down. Man, she could really lay the guilt on him in just a few words. Maybe that was part of being Imprinted. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Leah said, coming back up to him and wrapping her arms around him. "But now you have to go out there and talk to your dad and Eric and Sam. They're pissed."
"How about we sneak out the back?" Jake asked, smiling hopefully.
"No chance." Leah said, pushing him to the front door. "I'm not sure who is the maddest, honestly."
Jake took a deep breath and went out the front door, Leah following him.
"Jake." Sam said. "Start talking."
"It started this morning when Layla and I were heading to Anna's for breakfast. It was 7 in the morning...how was I supposed to know that he'd pick that exact time to bring that blonde bimbo in there? Anyway, Layla was upset and she asked me if we could skip school. She wanted to go to Seattle, but settled on Port Angeles. She had so much fun. But soon the medicine wore off and she started throwing up. She threw her phone somewhere in the back of the Escalade." Jake said as quickly as he could.
"And neither of you thought to call any of us, let us know where you were?" Eric asked. "I get a call from the school saying Layla is absent. But she wasn't in her bedroom and her vehicle was gone. So I called everyone and asked them if they've seen her."
"I get a call saying you're absent too, and no one has seen you, either. You know I trust you, Jake, but you can't be doing stuff like that." Billy said.
"I'm sorry. But honestly, I wouldn't take it back. After everything that she's been through since coming here, I think she deserved this." Jake said.
"And we deserve to know that you two planned to take the day off." Sam said.
"You'll be glad we did." Jake said. "She got a call. She's planning to go to some charity dance thing. In Seattle."
"So?" Sam said.
"With Edward." Jake replied.
"Oh, no. No. Not happening." Sam said.
"What's wrong with Edward? He's Dr. Cullen's boy, right?" Eric asked, oblivious to the fact that the Cullens were vampires. "Sam, you're not her father. If anyone gets to decide this, it's me."
"You don't know Edward and his family like we do, Eric." Billy said, coming to Sam's defense. "Wait, who was the 'he' and the 'blonde bimbo'? Why did it upset Layla?"
"Embry and that cow, Audrey." Leah said. "Layla really likes him and she asked him out and he shot her down. Then, he comes in and bathes her, literally. Then she calls and he nearly runs out the door to go to her."
"He WHAT?!" Eric cried out. "He bathed her?!"
"I think, Eric, that we need to head over to the house and grab a drink or two." Billy said.
Eric followed Billy, still in a bit of shock. Sam rounded on Jake. "What do you mean she's going to some dance with that leech? She can't go!" he said.
"I know that. You know that. Leah knows that. But Layla won't listen to me. She said I'm not her boss." Jake said.
"Then I'm going to go to the leech itself." Sam said. "Did Embry really bring Audrey in there?"
"Yeah. He acted like everything was normal. Layla was too polite, you know? She even paid for their breakfast before walking out." Jake said.
"If you all are going to talk about me, do it away from my bedroom window. It's not that thick and I can hear everything." Layla said, sticking her head out of the bedroom window. "And why would you call Edward and his family leeches? That's not nice at all."
"Because..." Jake said.
"They try to suck everything good out of our lives." Leah finished.
"Wow, that almost sounded like the truth. If they're not good people, then why did Carlisle do surgery on me? Why did Edward help me prank you all? Why wouldn't Rosalie and Emmett have just offed me last year?" Layla asked, glaring at them.
"Why would they have offed you last year?" Jake asked.
"I may or may not have been at a club they were at and I may or may not have ended up making out with Rosalie a little bit." Layla said. "I'd just turned 16 and, yeah."
"Is there anyone you haven't made out with?" Sam asked, looking irritated.
"Ugh, yeah, you." Layla said. "Why are you so upset? So I like to kiss people."
"You played with Embry's heart!" Sam accused.
"It wasn't his heard I played with, Samuel, but his penis." Layla said. "Besides, last time I checked, I was the one who asked him out and I was the one who got rejected."
"You know he really likes you." Sam said. "That's all we hear."
"Is it a Quileute thing? To just completely choose someone else over the person you like?" Layla said, looking Sam directly in the eye. "Then, when that person finds someone else, to just piss and moan like an incompetent jerk off?"
Sam was about to say something back to Layla when Leah stepped up, standing as a physical barrier between him and Layla, with Jake standing right beside her.
"She's right, Sam. I know that, technically, you couldn't help it, but that didn't stop it from hurting like fucking hell. Then you ordered everyone else to stay away from me because you couldn't stand the thought of me with one of them?" Leah said, crossing her arms.
"I didn't want to see it!" Sam said.
"And I wanted to see you trailing after my own cousin like a lovesick puppy?" Leah growled.
"You don't even know how it feels, Sam, to want someone and be forbidden from it. Do you know how long I've wanted to be with Leah and couldn't because of your order?" Jake said. "Three long, terrible years. Do you know how I was finally able to defy your order?"
"I wondered." Sam admitted.
"Because Layla and I got high and it quieted the wolf. It was so freeing to not be under that order. The best day of my life, hands down, was when I was finally able to walk up to Leah and kiss her, to tell her she's my Imprint, and to hear those very words from her own mouth as well." Jake said.
Sam rubbed his face and tugged his long hair. "Then can you tell me why Embry is denying the one who's painfully obviously his Imprint?" he asked.
"Imprint? I keep hearing you all say it. What is an Imprint?" Layla asked.
"The Quileute version of soul mate, basically." Leah said, smiling at Jake.
"That's nice." Layla said. "Well, it's time for all good homies to go to bed." she added, shutting her window.
Sam, Leah, and Jake walked off so Layla could get some rest. "Why is Embry denying his wolf it's Imprint?" Leah asked.
"I don't know." Sam said. "You notice he's not phasing like he did when he first started? Less and less, and it's only been to protect Layla from Paul. He hasn't phased since."
"Maybe we should lock them in a room together until everything works out." Jake muttered.
"When did you say that dance competition thing was that she's doing with the leech?" Sam asked.
Weeks passed and Embry grew more withdrawn, spending all his free time with Audrey, but never looked any happier. Layla had been spending more of her free time with Alice and Rosalie, going shopping with them, anything she could to avoid seeing Embry and Audrey always together. She held no romantic feelings toward Edward. Or Seth. Or anyone else on the reservation. At least she had the dance competition to look forward to. She already had her dress and shoes picked out and been approved by both Alice and Rosalie. The night before saw Layla laying on Alice and Jasper's bed, getting her nails painted by Rosalie.
"It's so cute how you think you and Edward are going to win." Rosalie sighed, looking up at Layla.
"Isn't it? It's equally cute how you think you and Emmett are going to win." Alice said, smirking.
"You two are so freaking sweet that I'm getting cavities at the thought you two thinking you can out dance me." Layla said, blowing on her nails. "We both know that Emmett is going to see your tits in that dress and is going to drag you to the nearest room and nail you."
"Probably." Rosalie said, grinning.
"My girl over here will take one look at Jasper in that 3 piece and probably drag him off." Layla added.
"Maybe. He does look so good in a suit. It just hugs him perfectly, and there's not a thing out of place." Alice said.
"There's one thing out of place." Rosalie muttered.
Layla started laughing, loving how dirty minded Rosalie was getting. She looked over at the clock on the beside table and groaned. It was nearly seven.
"If I don't head home, my dad will have a cow." Layla said. "I will see you two at the dance tomorrow morning."
"You better be ready." Rosalie said. "I didn't just spend twenty minutes doing your nails for you to sleep through your alarm."
"Yes, mother." Layla said, grinning.
Layla bid goodbye to Alice and Rosalie and went downstairs and out the door to her Escalade, driving home. Layla made it home nearly half an hour later and went to her bedroom, laying out her dress and shoes and jewelry for the following morning before setting her cell phone alarm. She put her pajamas on and crawled in to bed, hoping 4 hours was long enough for her to be able to dance all day and all evening.
Layla's alarm woke her up way too early and she grabbed her phone, sliding the alarm off. She sat up and looked around, trying to open one eye at a time. She stumbled to the shower and turned it on, stepping in, hoping the jolt of cold water then hot water would wake her up. She washed and stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself.
In less than 2 hours, she had fixed her hair, makeup, and put her dress, shoes, and jewelry on. She walked to the front door and nearly screamed when she saw Leah standing there, getting ready to knock.
"You startled the hell out of me!" Layla said.
"You look hot." Leah said, grinning. "Come to the house, Seth and Mom want to see your dress.
"Can I do that later? I really need to get going." Layla said.
"No, no. It'll be too late." Leah said, pulling Layla with her.
Jake joined them after wolf whistling at Layla. He grabbed Leah's hand and kissed it. Leah ushered Layla into the house.
"Where are they?" Layla asked.
"In the basement. Mom made Seth get up early so he could bring some boxes down from the rafters." Layla said.
"I love you, but you all are a pile of lovely crazy." Layla said.
"Go through that door I have to get the camera!" Leah said.
Layla opened the door and carefully walked down the stairs. "Sue! Seth!" she called out. The door slammed and locked behind Layla and she turned around, nearly stumbling down the last few steps.
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Author's Note: Whatcha think? Embry can/will be a butthole though, omg, before he finally comes to his senses. If you leave me a review, I'll post another chapter tonight :D