"Do you know what Plato said in 'Symposium' about love?" Layla asked. "We had to memorize it in drama class a couple years ago, and it's always stuck with me."

"What did he say?" Embry asked, his ear pressed against Layla's chest as she spoke.

"That, according to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves. And when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the others sight, as I may say, even for a moment." Layla said, easily recalling Plato's words. "Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete."

Embry heard her voice and felt the soft vibration of her voice in her chest, keeping time with her heart rate. At that moment, he felt so relaxed, his stress melting away. He didn't even care that he had been throwing up and miserable just hours before. When his brothers had abandoned him, Layla had stepped up and put him in her bed, cleaning up after him, bathing him, holding him, feeding him. Calming him with her voice, the words she spoke, the rhythm of her heart. A knock sounding at her window startled him out of his thoughts. He heard Layla's heart rate speed up slightly. She leaned over and looked at the window before waving her hand. Her window opened and Sam stuck his head in.

"How's he doing?" Sam asked.

"He's right here." Layla said, moving her blanket, showing Embry still draped over her.

"He looks like a blob of jelly." Sam said. "How you feeling, brother?"

"Mmm. 'm okay.' Embry muttered.

"He hasn't thrown up in about 6 hours, so I think he's over the worst of it." Layla said, finger combing his hair out of his face.

Sam climbed through the window, bringing a paper bag full of food from Emily, setting it on Layla's nightstand.

"I found this outside. I picked it up because I thought maybe one of the others dropped it, but it's yours. It's been ringing every hour and honestly, I don't know how you stand her, man." Sam said, holding up a cell phone. "She's whiny as fuck, dude."

Layla stiffened and Embry felt it, wanting to groan and kick Sam out. "I threw it out there on purpose." he said.

Layla slid from the bed, out of Embry's grasp. "Since you're here, Sam, will you sit with Embry for a bit? I need to shower and change clothes." Layla asked.

"No problem. But if he gets me sick, I'm going to be the next one in this bed." Sam said. He paused for a second, hearing a growl coming from Embry. "What? Dude, I'm not going to be sick around Emily."

Layla grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom across the hall. She shut the door and turned the water on and hopped in.

"You were getting pretty close to her, don't you think?" Sam asked, looking at Embry who sat up, glaring at him.

"I'm sick." Embry grumbled.

"Layla just said you haven't thrown up in several hours." Sam said. "What are you getting at, exactly?"

"Well, you all left when I started throwing up. Layla brought me here, took care of me, everything." Embry said.

"I know that. I meant now. I come in here and see you're still laying on her, your face nearly between her boobs, like it's the most natural and intimate thing in the world." Sam said. "Meanwhile, your annoying girlfriend has been calling the phone you tossed out."

"She didn't want me going to Jake's party." Embry admitted.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"She knows it was here and that Layla was going to be here." Embry said.

"You know this is killing Layla?" Sam asked. "Literally."

"She's not dying." Embry said, frowning.

"The way you're acting with her." Sam said.

Before Embry could reply, Layla walked in, her wet hair hanging just below her shoulders. She smiled softly at Sam and Embry, going to her clothes racks and flipping through clothes until she could find what she wanted to change into. She grabbed her hair dryer and makeup.

"Hey, Layla, do you love Embry?" Sam asked, looking straight at Embry.

"W-What?" Layla asked, dropping her hair dryer.

"Do you?" Sam asked.

Layla bent to pick up the hair dryer, staring at it in her hands. "In a perfect world, when he's with her, he would be wishing he was with me; when he looked at her, he would be looking at me; when he smiled at her, his smile would be for me; when he thought about someone, he would be thinking about me. In a perfect world, he would realize that she wasn't the one he was supposed to be with and I would still be standing here waiting for him still when he finally knows this. But this isn't a perfect world and people do get hurt, you smile when you feel like crying, you act like you're okay when you're falling apart inside and you let it go. You move on, because there's nothing else you can do." Layla said, finally looking up and over to Embry. "Sometimes I wish I had never met you, because then I could go to sleep at night not knowing there was someone like you out there."

Both Embry and Sam were shocked by Layla's reply, how deep and honest and raw it was. She walked back across the hall to the bathroom, gently shutting the door and turning the hair dryer on, taking a deep, shaky breath and starting the work on drying her hair.

"I think it would be best that we both just go before she gets back." Sam said quietly. "I wasn't expecting her to say that."

Embry felt his inner wolf clawing at his chest, feeling like screaming until his lungs gave out. He let Sam pull him out of her bedroom reluctantly, wanting to stay and wait for her to come out. Sam shook his head and all but forced him out of the house. Embry ran for the forest, phasing as soon as he passed the first tree. Sam ran after him, a little relieved he could still phase. Sam slid his pants off and tied them to his leg and phased, running after him.

Layla finished her hair, deciding to pull it up into a messy bun. She looked at her makeup and decided against it, suddenly not feeling like putting in the effort. She picked her things up and walked back to her bedroom, ready to apologize for what she said to Embry, but he and Sam were both gone. She walked over to her bed, pulling the pillow that Embry had laid on to her face. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She slung the pillow to the other end of her bedroom. Layla got up, ripping the sheets and pillowcases off her bed, spraying everything down with disinfectant. Tears fell down her cheeks as she piled everything into the washer, to the highest setting, wanting to wash away the smell of him more than anything. She couldn't do this. Not anymore. If you were to ask her why she loved Embry, she couldn't give you an exact reason. All she knew was that it needed to end, before she lost what was left of her sanity.

Layla changed clothes and grabbed her purse and her keys, needing to get out of the house. She slipped her shoes on and walked outside, going to her Escalade and getting in, pulling out of the driveway and out of the reservation. She headed for Port Angeles, wanting to get away from everyone and everything, hoping a little shopping would clear her mind. She pulled into the parking lot of a cluster of her favorite stores and parked, going in. She had walked out of a clothing store when she laid eyes on Audrey, the bleached blonde cow. She turned around and headed for the exit when she heard someone calling after her.

"Hey! You!" Audrey yelled, jogging after her.

Layla, not wanting to even look at her again, kept heading for the door.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Audrey called out, grabbing Layla's arm.

"Unless you want that arm ripped from your body, you better let go of me." Layla said, not in the mood.

Audrey let go of Layla's arm and moved to stand in front of her, crossing her arms. "And where is my boyfriend?" Audrey asked, her tone snotty.

"In whatever barn you left him in." Layla replied, stepping to the side to walk away.

"Then I know he's not in your bed." Audrey said.

"Actually, he was." Layla said, stopping and smirking.

"Why? Did you tie him up?" Audrey said, laughing. "That's the only way he'd be there."

"Oh, honey. No. He thought of your vagina and started throwing up. Said something like it was like throwing a hot dog down an empty hallway." Layla replied.

"I've heard all about you from him. Said that you are so desperate to be with him. How. Fucking. Pathetic." Audrey said, laughing.

"Are you sure you didn't just hear the echo coming from your crotch?" Layla said, smirking.

"Oh, you bitch!" Audrey yelled.

"I've been called worse by better people." Layla said.

"He's so stupid for hanging around you and those freaks, anyway." Audrey said.

"Oh, no, freaks? Your vocabulary is both limited in its capacity and proof that public education continues to fail the masses." Layla said.

"Yeah, how would you feel if I kicked your ass?" Audrey threatened.

Layla set her purse and bags down, pulling her earrings off and setting them in her purse. "Probably the same way Embry feels during sex with you. Nothing. At all." she said.

Audrey moved her hand and slapped Layla.

"That's all I needed." Layla said, grinning.

Layla reared back and punched Audrey in the nose, shattering it. Audrey cried out, trying to grab Layla's hair and pull it. Layla ducked, using her arm and hitting the backs of Audrey's knees, taking her legs out from under her. Layla stood over top of her, delivering a swift and hard kick. Layla pulled her up to her knees by her hair.

"Say one more word to me about my family." Layla taunted. "Say one more word about Embry."

Audrey was breathing hard. "He'll never love you. He loves me!" she whispered.

Layla narrowed her eyes and pulled Audrey backwards by her hair, climbing on top of her, wailing away at her with punch after punch. After a few moments, Layla was pulled back by her arms.

"Let me go!" Layla said, trying to jerk away.

"We were called by security. You two ladies are coming with us down to the station." the voice said.

"Jesus." Layla muttered.

"No, Miss. Officer Jordan and Officer Beck." the officer said.

Layla groaned. "At least grab my purse and my bags." she said, looking back at the officers.

Another officer pulled Audrey up just as officer Jordan was securing a pair of handcuffs on Layla's wrists. A fourth officer picked up Layla's bags and purse and followed them out to the police cars parked out front. Layla and Audrey were put into separate cars and driven to the police station.

They arrived fifteen minutes later and put into the juvenile cells. Layla was let out and given one phone call. She figured her dad would be at Billy's, so she dialed his number.

"Black Residence." Billy said, answering the phone.

"Hey, Billy. Is dad there?" Layla asked.

"Layla? Why does the caller ID say Clallam County Police?" Billy asked.

"I might have been arrested. Is dad there?" Layla asked again.

"He went out to the store. What happened?" Billy asked.

"Long story, and they only gave me 3 minutes. Can you or Sam or someone come down here and bail me out?" Layla asked.

"Yeah, we'll be down there as soon as we can. Oh, this is hilarious." Billy said, laughing.

"Absolutely hilarious. Just hurry." Layla said, hanging up.

Billy hung the phone up and rolled out to his porch, yelling for Sam. He figured Sam would want to be there when he went to go get Layla.

Layla sat in the cell, crossing her legs and tapping her foot. They finally gave in to letting her have her purse after checking to make sure she had no sharp objects, drugs, or weapons. Layla pulled out her compact, her cheek pink from where Audrey had slapped her. Layla touched up her makeup and looked at her hair, deciding nothing much could be done about it. She put her earrings back in and looked at her watch, sighing.

Two hours later, Billy and Sam came and stood in front of the cell Layla was in.

"You know, I thought Billy was lying, saying that you were in jail. But I'll be damned." Sam said.

Layla stood and brought her purse up to the bars, pulling out enough cash for the bail and holding it out. "Just bail me out?" she asked.

"Can we get copies of her mugshot?" Billy asked, looking over at the officer behind the desk.

"The one where she didn't flip us off, or the one where she did after we used the flash?" the officer asked, grinning.

"You're supposed to tell someone that you're using flash." Layla called out, smiling softly.

Billy took the cash from Layla and paid her bail. He signed her release as the responsible adult.

"We have the security video. The judge looked at it and decided that, mostly, what you did was self defense because the other girl did strike first." the officer said.

"Can we see it?" Sam asked.

"Technically, no." the officer said. "But, off the record, it was also recorded on several cell phones and was uploaded to the internet."

The officer came over to the cell and unlocked the door, sliding it open and letting Layla out.

"Tell Gladys that she's good. She was the most gentle pat down." Layla said. "And get your wife that body pillow. It can wrap around and she can prop her tummy on it. My...a friend swore by it with her last pregnancy."

"I'll definitely do that. Don't get into anymore fights." the officer said.

"We'll see." Layla said, grinning.

Billy, Sam, and Layla left the station after having gotten Layla's shopping bags. Billy dropped Layla and Sam off at Layla's Escalade.

"Can I drive?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Layla said, tossing the keys to him.

Sam got in the drivers seat while Layla got into the passenger seat. Sam pulled out and started driving back toward La Push.

"So, tell me exactly what started the fight and who won." Sam said.

...

A/N: Oh, snap! Leave me some love!