A/N: If you're reading this, thank you for your patience! I have split this chapter (which was becoming ridiculously long) into three parts as this first bit is complete but the other sections need more work. Hopefully I'll be able to post the next sections soon-ish if people are still interested. : )

6. Labour of Love (Part 1)

"Leah?" Jacob was frantic. "Leah – is that really you? Babe where the hell are you?" Leah paused. Even though he had seemed every bit this desperate when he had spoken to Embry the other day, it was different when she was directly at the other end of the call. She couldn't deny his panic or the genuine affection driving it. She took a deep, steadying breath. "It's me Jake. I'm somewhere safe and-"

"Where?" He interrupted in that no-nonsense voice that was just shy of an order but laced with authority. She could hear rustling in the background and she smiled, picturing her favourite southern vampire typing hurriedly on his laptop.

"Somewhere with an untraceable phone. So tell Jasper not to waste his time."

The rustling persisted and Leah sighed. Neither Jake or the Cullens were particularly good at taking 'no' for an answer.

"So," she continued awkwardly. "How are you?"

It was a silly question.

"How am I? How am I? I'm going fucking crazy, woman! It's been more than seven months! I'm certain I've developed an ulcer worrying about you, which is pretty incredible seeing as we're meant to be immortals with super healing powers. What kind of person leaves their boyfriend of four years with a shitty dear john letter? Not even a letter. It was a post it! And-"

"I'm sorry." This time Leah interrupted. "You know I suck at relationships, especially when they're over."

'I don't understand. Why are we suddenly over?"

Leah frowned. Maybe she should have left a more detailed note. At the time she had agonised over every word: "It's not working and it's time for me to go. Be happy, you deserve it." There was a murmuring in the background and Leah heard Jasper telling Jacob that it was impossible to pinpoint where Leah was.

"Because of Renesmee," Leah answered firmly. "And it wasn't sudden Jacob."

"What?" Jacob exploded. "What did she do? She misses you just as much as I do, so I'm sure this is a big misunderstanding. I'll get her on the phone right now and you two can sort this shit out."

"She didn't do anything Jacob – other than grow up, and that's the problem." His bewildered soundlessness made her want to fill in the blanks. "She's your imprint. Your soulmate. Her, not me. It was only a matter of time before you-"

"I'm not Sam, Leah. Don't you dare heap his bullshit on me."

"I'm not," Leah objected. "I saw the way things were with you and her."

"Nothing happened Leah. I have no idea what you think was going on but-"

"I'm not saying that you were cheating." Not physically anyway, she thought. "But things were changing between the two of you, and you can't ask me to wait with you until you're done with me. It's not fair Jacob."

"I haven't touched her," he hissed.

Leah couldn't stifle the laugh bubbling in her throat. "Jacob, you are always touching everyone." It was one of his more endearing features, his need to show affection in tactile ways.

"You know what I mean."

Leah gulped. His obsessive search for her was surprising enough, but she was utterly unprepared for Jacob to have waited for her all this time. It made her doubt herself. She sifted the memories in her head: the way Jacob had taken to holding Renesmee's hand when they were walking along, carrying a far different meaning after she had gone through puberty than when she had been a small child; the way he absentmindedly tucked loose wisps of hair behind her ear when they were talking; the way Renesmee looked at Jacob when he was shirtless and about to phase. She steeled her resolve. "Jacob can you honestly tell me that in the many months I've been away that you haven't had a 'Do I lean in?' moment with her or a single second where it occurred to you that Renesmee is not a child anymore and things could be different with her if you let them?"

He paused. A small silence - just enough to convince Leah that she hadn't misinterpreted things. She braced herself for the pain but it wasn't as sharp as she expected it to be. Then again, she had grieved for the loss of what they had for most of the last year they were together. The hurt she felt now was more connected to upsetting Jacob than breaking up with him.

"See?" she added softly, taking no joy in being right.

"That's not fair Leah. Of course I've thought about it, but I haven't done anything because I love you."

"You promised!" she protested.

"I promised not to say it as a way of keeping you happy, but you were obviously fucking miserable so why shouldn't I tell you how I feel? I loved you when you left and I still love you. I'll probably love you when I'm grey and toothless. I've been calling La Push every day like a maniac hoping that you'd show up there!"

"Oh," Leah did her best to feign ignorance. "How is everyone?"

"They seem fine," Jacob replied irritably. "Worried about you, given that I hadn't heard from you in months. You should call your family, Leah. This shit between us doesn't give you licence to ignore everyone that cares about you."

"I'll ring them," Leah answered weakly. Lying was hard. She had no idea how Embry did it so effortlessly. "But in the meantime Jacob, you need to let go. I had no idea you would wait like this. It isn't good for you. The universe picked someone especially for you just like you wanted it to. Don't fuck it up."

"I DID NOT want it to!"

"You did so!" Leah yelled. "Right after sparkly Eddikins realised he could read Renesmee's mind while she was in utero, you took off in one of his posh cars and literally sat in a park staring at girls trying to force an imprint!"

It was one of Jacob's lowest moments. Leah still remembered how much it had hurt him. How he'd so desperately wanted to forget and the only things he'd noticed were girls that had features he could link to Bella. The universe had really listened to him on that front. Baby Renesmee might have looked like Edward, but the passing of time had seen her grow into a young woman that very much resembled Jacob's first love.

"Whatever," Jacob responded gruffly, clearly annoyed by the extent of Leah's recall. "That was then and this is now. Right now I can tell you that I'm not going to date her – I can even get her to confirm she has zero interest in me if that helps. Just come back. Nothing's right without you here."

An explanation niggled at Leah as she listened to him, one that she wasn't sure how to voice. "Jacob," she began, filtering the words in her head as much as possible, "Is it me you miss or is it just having other wolves around?" Her mind returned to her interaction with Embry earlier in the day and the image of the butterfly that fluttered at his nose.

"What are you talking about? It's been just you and me for years – how could I miss anything but you?"

"Yes," Leah agreed, smiling as another plausible way of driving the point home occurred to her, "but there's you and me and our pack of two and there's you and me romantically. Which one do you really miss?"

"I don't understand the distinction you're making," Jacob huffed.

"Well," Leah tried to shake the image of the butterfly again, replacing it first with the pack surrounding Collin at his birthday barbeque and then again with Gunnar and Eira, "I've met some wolves on my travels and I can't deny that it's comforting to be around them. To know you're not alone."

Jacob was quiet again and Leah wondered if there was as much silence in this conversation as there was actual discussion.

"Wolf-wolves or us wolves," he finally asked.

"Us wolves," she clarified, smiling to herself as she stirred the pasta sauce Quil had left on the stove. "I met this one wolf who was literally a thousand years old," she continued, realising that if she couldn't talk about the pack, she could talk about Gunnar.

"I see," Jacob replied tersely.

"A little bit odd," Leah reflected as she added salt, basil and a liberal does of what she hoped were chilli flakes to Quil's mixture, "But he was definitely interesting."

"Uh-huh," Jacob mused and Leah noticed the acidity in his tone.

"It was just a thought," she hurried on. "I've always been there with you at the Cullens so you haven't had to be the only wolf attached to a coven. Maybe it's not the best environment for you." She was dangerously close to leading him back to La Push and she wanted to palm her forehead at her stupidity. Everyone she knew seemed convinced that Jacob's return would lead to a blood bath with Embry and after the battle scars she'd seen on the pack she wasn't sure their fear was misplaced.

"It's starting to sound like your refusal to come home has a lot more to do with your social life than the one you imagine me having with Nessie."

Leah blinked. What did that mean?

"Here you are telling me that you don't love me because you think I'm destined for my imprint when it turns out you've got other people you'd rather spend time with," Jacob hissed. "What is it with the chicks in my life digging disgustingly older guys? It's not necrophilia so you're one up on Bella, but it's still gross Leah."

Leah snorted. "Are you crazy? I left long before I met Gunnar and Eira, another female wolf, so you can't suggest that they were my reason for leaving and my interaction with them consisted of having a cup of tea. I'm just saying it was nice. That's all, asshole." Leah reverted to cranky bitch with ease. Jacob deserved it.

"Eira," Jacob repeated, sounding pleased.

"Yes, Eira. She's about a thousand too from what I could gather. Am I allowed to have older female friends or is that gross too?" Leah enquired sourly.

"I'm sorry," Jacob was immediately conciliatory. "I never imagined there were other wolves. Tell me everything."

Leah recapped what she could remember of Gunnar and Eira, leaving out Gunnar's advances and his revelation that a true Alpha would not imprint. There was no way she could say that without Jacob jumping to the same conclusion about Embry that she had. She chose instead to focus on what they looked like and the simplistic way they lived. "They're sort of the opposite of the Cullens really," she concluded. "Living in the middle of nowhere and keeping to themselves." As opposed to repeating senior year indefinitely.

"I want to meet them," Jacob declared. "How can we make that happen?"

Leah's illustrative example was fast getting out of control. "I don't know where they are Jake – they seemed sort of nomadic…" Leah knew she had to improvise, "And they had to go somewhere right after I met them, which is why I didn't really get to know them that well."

"Oh, that's a pity." Leah couldn't help but notice that Jacob didn't sound as disappointed as she expected him to be. In fact, the way his words sounded, she could picture him smirking as he ran his hands through his hair. "If being around other wolves for a few minutes made you feel so good Leah, maybe that's a sign that you really want to come back to me."

Leah sighed. Now they were right back where they started.

"Leah," he pleaded, "Leah tell me where you are and we can sort everything out okay?."

"I'm really done Jake," she whispered. "And I need you to respect that – if not for me then for Renesmee. I'm sure you being hung up on me isn't making her feel that great."

"She doesn't care," Jacob snapped.

She knew him so well she could tell that he was upset about more than just her rejection, and she couldn't help but notice that this was the second time in their discussion that Jacob had seemed adamant that Nessie wasn't interested in him. It was a suggestion drastically at odds with the facts as Leah knew them. "Okay Jake, I'll bite. What happened?"

"Nothing," Jacob countered. "The friendship's a little… strained these days that's all."

Leah rolled her eyes. It wasn't like Jacob to be cagey and it certainly wasn't her style to indulge it. "What's the deal, Black? Last time I saw you two, Renesmee was so far up your ass Bella practically had to give you an enema to spend any time with her daughter. You were nauseatingly in synch. What gives?"

"She found out."

"Found out what?" Leah was beyond frustrated. If Jacob had been there she would have shaken him.

"She found out about me and Bella."

Leah swore. She'd always known that was going to be a difficult pill to swallow. It certainly would have been a deal-breaker for her. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Edward and Bella were discussing the way I've been since you left and comparing it with various things my sixteen-year-old self said and did while chasing Bella and she overheard."

Leah groaned. She almost felt sorry for Renesmee.

"She said it was disgusting," Jacob added. "She hasn't spoken much to anyone other than Rosalie and her high school friends since then."

"Her high school friends are your high school friends, Jacob."

"Not anymore. Nessie couldn't exactly tell her pals that she was angry at me for something that happened when she wasn't born, so she made it sound like it was something that happened in the last year or so – which means that as far as they're concerned I cheated on you, my long term girlfriend with Bella who is as good as your step sister and married to boot. Now all her friends – who remember think that Nessie is Bella's sister and therefore also as good as your stepsister think I'm some kind of incestuous playboy, and the reason that you left town. Polly actually warned Renesmee that I would probably 'try it on her' next, which is what caused her to declare that I was a 'disgusting mangy dog' who she wouldn't give the time of day even if I was the last person on earth".

Leah bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. She didn't want to mock Jacob's pain at being ostracised by his imprint, but the story was so gloriously high school that it was almost impossible to keep the giggles from escaping.

"So now you know why there's absolutely no risk of Nessie wanting me romantically. She doesn't even want to be around me as a friend. You can come home Leah, the imprint isn't going to threaten us."

Leah frowned. He just wasn't taking no for an answer and she was exhausted from repeating the reasons she had left. She had to find another way.

"I can't be with you romantically Jake, but if you're prepared to leave the Cullens then I'm willing to travel together. We could go somewhere else and start over."

It was a big gamble, but the only thing she could think of that might force Jacob to accept that it was over. She just had to trust that she could accurately pick his reaction.

"What? I can't leave! Nessie's here. Even if she hates my guts my wolf needs to be able to check in on her, to know she's happy and safe."

"Exactly," Leah had him where she wanted him now. "Being with you means being with vampires. Forever. That was never what I wanted. I wanted to go to college-".

"You did that!" Jacob interrupted.

"And stop phasing," Leah finished, ignoring Jacob. "You know that I wanted to see what happened if wasn't actively going wolf and there's no chance of that if I'm anywhere near vampires. Being with you means I don't get to work out whether my body would go back to normal. No kids, no ageing, no staying in the same place for more than a few years. That isn't my idea of a fun future Jacob. You know that."

Jacob didn't say anything. Leah could only hope that being mute was tantamount to acceptance.

"I've gotta go Jacob. Take care of you okay? Finish high school this time around."

"Don't hang up," Jacob begged. He sounded so broken that Leah couldn't bring herself to end the call.

"I'm sorry things are so hard for you right now." She meant it. She really had thought her leaving would make Jacob's life easier. She searched for something that she could say to improve his outlook.

"Jake?"

"Yeah."

"Can I give you some advice?" She continued without waiting for him to answer. "The next time Renesmee's bitching you out, ask yourself why she cares so much that she won't speak to you or her parents, why she's turned this into a drama she's shared with her friends. If she wasn't the slightest bit interested in you, then who you loved in the past wouldn't matter." Leah couldn't help but wonder how Renesmee would explain her relationship with Jacob to her friends when she finally did acknowledge what she wanted, but that was a problem for another day and certainly not one she wanted to burden Jacob with. "I really gotta go now okay Jake?"

"Please," he breathed and Leah almost felt her conviction wobbling.

"See ya Jake, I'll call again sometime." She pulled the phone away from her face and was reaching for the button to end the call when he raised his voice frantically.

"DON'T GO!" He shouted. She heard him but she disconnected anyway.

She was so drained by their discussion that she didn't consider that he'd used the timbre that he had always been sparing with - the Alpha command – and it hadn't affected her at all.