Suggested listening: "Brave New World" by Richard Ashcroft, "Better" by Regina Spektor, "Undertow" by Ivy

7. Labour of Love (Part 2)

"Did you even go to bed last night?"

Leah blinked as Quil padded onto the balcony. "Not unless this deck chair counts as bed."

She'd spent all night staring at the ocean. She'd functioned – just. When Quil had returned she'd shovelled the dinner than she'd somehow unwittingly ruined down her throat (she was certain now that what she'd added to Quil's meal was definitely not chilli flakes) and then she'd taken three bottles of wine and sat vacantly, hoping that each swig of alcohol would lessen her guilt for all the pain she'd caused.

It was a fool's mission. Wolf metabolism ensured that even twice as much booze wouldn't have gotten her drunk, but somewhere between bottles two and three, when the faint rays of light began colouring the sky, she'd accepted that while she'd wronged Jacob Black in more ways than she could count, it was his responsibility to get his life back on course.

After all, it was her presence that had complicated it so terribly in the first place.

"You wanna talk about it?" Quil asked, his voice barely audible over the crashing waves. He'd left her to herself the night before, keeping within distance but giving her the privacy she desperately needed - and she appreciated it more than she knew how to say. She couldn't begrudge him enquiring now, when she was clearly on a twelve-hour moping bender.

She gave him a tired smile. "I'm fine." Saying the words helped her realise that they were true. Feeling remorse wasn't the same as feeling destroyed. She'd lived enough to know the difference.

"You'd better be," Quil replied, his tone light. "It'd be pretty shitty if you called in sick on your first day of work. Mum texted me and said you can pick up the keys from her. I'd drop you down myself but I've got work and then patrol so I'll be out the whole day."

Her fatigued body took a while to understand what he was saying. The job she had accepted the day before seemed like an agreement made light years ago, one that she'd expected to be rescinded given the serve she'd given Billy. She found it interesting that he'd kept his word and filed that behaviour away in her mind for further consideration later.

"I'd forgotten that the library's on the same block as the corner store," Leah admitted, feeling the need to offer Quil something to explain her quietness. It was a sort of Ateara compound: Quil Senior on one side - doing whatever he did - and Joy Ateara and her son next door, manning the family business.

"I haven't," Quil lamented. "Even when the place was as dead as a doornail I could never get away with closing early cos Gramps would have ratted me out to Mom." He was smiling but there was a sadness in his eyes, one that Leah understood perfectly.

"I went to the cemetery to pay my respects," Leah whispered. Quil raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything. "Tiffany Call was there."

If Quil was surprised he didn't show it. He flopped down in the chair next to her. "They were close. I never really understood how that happened, but he was always very fond of her."

Leah bit back a smile. "She's pretty easy to like."

"I always thought so too," Quil replied amiably.

"Very lonely though…" Leah knew it wasn't her place, but it was hard to understand how on a reservation so small Tiffany had never met her granddaughter. It would take a lot of effort to orchestrate that kind of isolation.

He sighed. "I've tried countless times to bridge that gap, Leah," Quil answered her unspoken question. "It hasn't done any good. Georgia's tried, Seth's tried. Rachel and Paul have even given it a shot. The harder we push, the more Embry digs his heels in and it's not exactly easy to be at odds with a pissed of Alpha wolf. He's not pleasant to those that question his decisions."

Leah gaped incredulously. "Are you for real? He's gone mad with power!"

Quil shook his head. "Nah… he's just mad, Leah. I can't say I blame him. We can't force him to let her into her life. He has to get there on his own."

Leah furrowed her brow. She couldn't disagree more. It had been years. Embry clearly wasn't going to find his own way back to Tiffany without a significant kick up the butt.

"It's really not fair to that little girl," she warned, thinking of Victoria.

Quil held up his hands. "You don't need to sell me on the benefits of being close to grandparents, Leah. They're absolutely irreplaceable. I'm on board, but right now there's nothing we can do."

A thought niggled at Leah. "You don't mind that I took the job do you?" Old Quil had been the keeper of tribal records for as long as she remembered. She was never going to be able to live up to his legacy.

Quil gave her a sunny grin and the tension between them eased. "Not at all. I think he'd be chuffed that it's you that's stepped up. 'Sides, none of the rest of us have your qualifications. You're the best person for the job."

"You don't want to try it yourself?"

"Nah," he scoffed. "I've always wanted to be a fisherman. Always." He paused, "Except for a brief period when I was about six when I wanted to be an astronaut."

Leah snorted.

"Hey! Don't knock it, chica! What did you want to be when you were a kid?"

Leah combed her memory, trying to think of her earliest aspirations. When the recollection registered she blushed. "I wanted to be a horse. My Dad waited a few years before breaking it to me that it wasn't possible."

Quil snickered. "And after that?"

"A famous singer. With back up dancers."

They were both laughing now.

Quil stilled, eyeing her carefully. "And these days? What do you want to be when you grow up, Leah?

She let out a shaky breath and hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't know," she confessed. Being an immortal wolf should have made her life full of options. In theory she could do anything she wanted, or everything she wanted if enough time passed, but if anything she only felt more uncertain of her place in the world.

He gave her a thoughtful look before resuming his trademark goofy grin. "Plenty of time yet, chica. Now that I've cut your hair you've got a little while before people mistake you for a hobo." Leah groaned. "-and in the meantime you can revive your singing ambitions tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?" Leah repeated slowly.

"Yep. Collin's Karaoke bachelor party at the bar."

"Oh." Leah paused. Was she really ready for another wolf function so soon? Especially when she'd pretty much promised Collin at his birthday party that she'd come to his wedding? She'd gone years without pack parties and now she was drowning in them. "I might skip it."

Quil eyed her carefully. "It's going to be fun. Are you sure?" He wasn't pushing but she could tell he didn't like her decision.

"Yeah," Leah answered, feeling more confident in her words as she spoke them. "I've got a lot of stuff to organise. Besides, who the hell has a buck's night on a Thursday? Didn't he say it would be Friday at the barbeque?"

"That was his original plan, but Jenny made him promise not to have it on Friday because she didn't trust him to be sober by the wedding on Saturday."

"Smart girl." Even with their super-metabolism Leah could imagine most of the pack writing themselves off.

"It takes one to know one." Quil smiled at her and patted her hand. "Now hurry up before you look dumb by turning up late!"

~~~TAC~~~

It was beginning to rain as Leah made her way to the Ateara corner store. She kept her head down, keen not to have Washington's terrible weather ruin her attempt to look presentable and professional. She ended up borrowing a black cable-knit sweater of Quil's that had become much too slim-fitting for his brawny frame after he had repeatedly tossed it in the dryer. It draped to her mid-thigh and with a belt and leggings, both of which she'd found in her lone box of possessions, she almost passed for stylish.

She was blinking back the drizzle that rested on her eyelids when an all too familiar scent hit her and she found her head snapping up involuntarily. Embry was already staring at her, his brow knotted and face pulled into a frown. She stopped in her tracks, shivering although she wasn't cold. Even through his scowl, the lines of his face were sculpted and graceful and for a moment Leah forgot what she was doing and just stared. She might have stayed in a trance – her looking at him and him looking at her, but he pulled his eyes away and his expression changed so drastically from almighty to amused that curiosity forced her to follow his gaze. Several feet in front of him was Victoria, clad in a pink raincoat and pushing her own stroller up the hill.

"Hurry up Daddy!" she called over her shoulder.

"Yes M'am!" Embry saluted his daughter with a grin on his face and it was hard to believe that he was the same person that seemed troubled only moments earlier.

The change in his disposition released her from her frozen state and she moved forward, giving the pair a tentative wave.

"Aunt Leah!" Victoria called as they neared each other.

Aunt?Leah thought to herself. "Hi there! Excellent stroller pushing. I can see you're practically all grown up."

"Me BIG!" The little girl agreed.

Embry started laughing and Leah found herself joining in. Compared to her father, or any of the wolves, Victoria was absolutely tiny.

"Go home?" she asked her father.

"Sure, champ. Are you done jumping in puddles?"

Victoria cocked her head to one side before shaking it and laughing. "Splash!" she shrieked. "Splashy! Splashy! Splashy!" She took off like a rocket, running down the path towards the marina, jumping in the small pools that had formed in the potholes in the road.

"Hey!" Embry shouted, tucking the stroller under his arm like a football and charging off after her.

"Sorry," he called to Leah over his shoulder. "I can't let her outta sight for a second."

"I get it!" she said softly, knowing his ears would hear her regardless of the weather and his hyperactive child.

"See you at Collin's tomorrow?" his voice drifted back to her, even as he moved further away.

"Sure," Leah answered without really thinking. She watched as Victoria picked a small bug off the road and Embry arrived at her side just in time to prevent her from doing whatever it was that children that age did with bugs.

She waited for another minute, wondering if any other words would waft down the road, but she soon realised that she had been forgotten in the wake of the bug drama and was now quite soggy and late. With one last lingering glance toward Embry she spun on her heel and continued on her way.

~~~TAC~~~

Leah's induction to her new job consisted of Joy Ateara handing her a jumble of metal.

"This is for the main room that's open to the public and this is for the office," Quil's mother pointed at the different keys on a large chain. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you which books in the office should never be brought into the public access room."

"Right," Leah mumbled, her thoughts still hanging on the enigmatic wolf she'd crossed paths with on her way into work. "Is there much that falls in that category?"

"Not sure really," Joy called over her shoulder, her attention already on a customer waiting at the register. "Let me know if you need anything else."

Leah waited for a moment before she realised that Joy had dismissed her. She made her way next door and let herself into the library. Compared to the archives she'd grown used to at College it was tiny, a modest sized room with bookshelves lining the walls and three rows of glass cases housing artefacts filling out the balance of the room. It didn't look any different to when she'd visited in her junior year of High School.

She made her way to the door in the furthest corner – she might not have even spotted it if she hadn't been looking for it. It was painted the same colour as the walls, camouflaging it from unsuspecting onlookers. She turned the handle and pushed it without success before fumbling for the keys in her pocket. The hinges groaned as it opened and Leah found herself peering into the smallest room she had ever seen. There was a large desk piled with books and an even larger cabinet behind it. Every item on the desk was laced with a fine layer of dust.

"It hasn't been touched since he died," Leah spoke into the silence. She picked up the book at the top of the pile. It was a leather-bound tome with pages and pages of handwritten notes. She squinted as she tried to make sense of the words on the page, but Old Quil's writing may as well have been hieroglyphs. It took her at least ten minutes before she recognised the words "Taha Aki" and that did her no good because she was still bewildered by all the words on either side of his name.

"Leah? Are you here?" a familiar voice called, interrupting her study.

"Mom!"

Leah rushed out of the office, meeting Sue in the centre of the room and flinging her arms around her. The two women held each other for a long time, the elder gripping her daughter with a fierceness that would have harmed a mere mortal.

Even when Sue pulled her head back to look at Leah, she kept one hand snaked across her waist. "Are you okay?" She tucked a lock of hair behind Leah's ear. "I've been very worried about you. More than six months with no contact! I thought-" Sue's words gave way to sobs and she dabbed her cheek as a large tear streaked down her face.

"Mom." Leah closed the distance between them again. "I'm fine, really."

Sue wiped her face, pausing as she breathed deeply. "You do seem to be thriving." She took a step back, eyes flashing. "So, I'll take the opportunity to make this clear then."

Leah froze. She knew that tone all too well.

"I don't care who you date and why you break up with them, but if you so much as disappear again for even a weekend without leaving me with contact details, I will force Charlie to list you as a missing person and there won't be any corner of this country you can be at without me hunting you down and bringing you back." Sue paused for effect. "Do you understand me?"

Leah gulped. While half the reservation was afraid of her, there was only one person that could silence Leah with only a look, and that was because the ferocity that defined her was most definitely hereditary. "Noted," she told her mother, deciding that any kind of protesting would be utterly futile. She didn't feel that she'd had much of a choice when it came to what needed to be done to leave Jacob and the Cullens, but she understood how it would have affected her mother- how it obviously hadaffected her.

"I'm sorry," Leah offered. "I would never hurt you on purpose." Seeing her mother made her realise how much she'd missed her and she felt more than a little guilt that the first tears she'd seen her mother cry since the death of her father were ones she had caused. She leaned in to offer her mother another elongated hug.

"I can't believe you're here," Sue whispered when they finally moved away.

Leah bit her lip. "I can't believe how much has happened… how much I didn't know." She wanted to yell at her mother – the only person besides Seth that she'd kept contact with over the years until she'd left the Cullens. Unlike Seth, Sue wasn't bound by Alpha commands. So why had her mother kept so many secrets?

Sue eyed her daughter carefully. "You're angry."

Leah shrugged. She was, but she was also well aware that a sparring match with her mother would not be pretty.

Sue frowned. "You didn't see what I saw, Leah. I'm a nurse. I looked after Sam after Embry became Alpha and I treated the whole pack after the Wolf War." Leah watched as her mother's brow furrowed at the memory. "I've never seen anything more brutal in my life."

"You could have told me," Leah insisted.

"Not while your mind was connected to Jacob's," Sue disagreed. She placed her hands on Leah's shoulders so they were staring right into each other's eyes. "Leah, the second Jacob sets foot on these lands again, Embry will most likely kill him. I don't think he actually wants to, but that will make very little difference."

Leah considered the scars she had seen on Sam and Embry. She'd taken a lot of hits in the Newborn Battle and again when training to face the Volturi, but nothing had ever left a mark.

She couldn't fathom the level of destruction that would be required to defy their supernatural healing.

"On another note, you're not the only person I kept secrets from," Sue mused, interrupting Leah's thoughts.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Mom?"

"There's a large box in my basement that has a significant amount of the belongings you left with the Cullens packed in it."

Leah's mouth fell open. "How did you manage that?"

Sue's eyes twinkled and she tapped her head. "Bella calls home every week. I spoke to her a few months after you left and got her to box what she could when everyone was out and send it to Charlie's work. I knew Edward wouldn't be able to read Bella's mind, and even if Alice saw Bella sending something, she'd never be able to see it arriving because Seth's a Deputy and was at the station when the carton was delivered."

"Oh my gosh, Mom! Thank you!" Leah had resigned herself to rebuilding her wardrobe from scratch with nothing but Quil's sweater on her back. She didn't consider herself materialistic, but she was thrilled to know she would regain some of her possessions. It had been more than a little confronting to discover that her old room – and the entirety of the house she grew up in - was so different to what she had left behind. She considered asking her mother about the decision to rent out the house, but thought better of it. She'd been gone for more than four years, she couldn't really begrudge Sue from making an income from what otherwise would have been unused space.

Sue grinned. "You're welcome. I've actually got to go work a double shift tonight, but I'll have someone collect the carton tomorrow and deliver it first thing so you've got a fresh change of clothes before work."

The small gesture lifted the strain between the two women and Leah found herself making plans to have dinner with her mother and Charlie on Friday night. It was only when Leah promised several times that she would definitely be there that Sue dashed off towards the hospital, running exceedingly late and beaming with happiness.

The rest of the day flew by.

Leah had never thought of the Tribal Library as being a social hot spot but it seemed like it was. Her mother had barely left when Emily arrived, children in tow. Levi tore around the display cases, zoning right in on a collection of children's books in the far corner that Leah hadn't even spotted until he materialised and made a mess of them.

Collin and Brady popped in on their way to the rec centre – something to do with wedding plans although Leah wasn't sure what.

Seth dropped by with lunch that Georgia had made for them and even Kim was there briefly to return a book.

Leah had imagined that her work would be quiet and solitary but so far it was turning out to be quite the opposite. She was exhausted by mid-afternoon when Paul strode in the front door, clad in a bright fluorescent vest that was streaked with grit.

"Hi Leah, I'm here to take you home."

She blinked at him in confusion. "It's 3pm, Paul."

"It's a community library, not a bank. You set the hours and you should be very much influenced by the fact that you've got less than an hour before the storm hits."

Leah glanced out the window. The morning drizzle had grown into something fiercer, with dark clouds filling the sky.

"Your call, Clearwater. If you don't go now, you'll probably end up camping here overnight."

Leah accepted his offer and found herself sandwiched in Paul's truck along with a filthy Sam and Jared as all three had just completed a job. She was grateful that it was a short ride as no vehicle was built to house four werewolves.

She had barely let herself into the apartment when the sky split open with thick rain that obscured everything from view and hissing winds that whistled past and rattled the windows.

She couldn't help but feel sorry for Quil, no doubt stuck sheltering somewhere. It wouldn't be possible to scent anything through the downpour and his patrol would be almost pointless. She tidied the house and made herself an early dinner which she tried eating in front of the television – until the image and the lights cut out and Leah realised that the storm was taking out power lines.

The fatigue of her sleepless night was catching up to her and with nothing to distract her, Leah nestled back into the couch cushions, telling herself she was just taking a short break to rest her eyes.

~~~TAC~~~

She dreamed of Jacob and Renesmee; revisiting the memory of one of her less than dignified visits to their school.

It wasn't that she was snooping. She'd driven down to the preppy college with every intention of surprising Jacob with lunch, but when she'd pulled into a parking spot across the road from the academy and spotted them sitting together on the carefully manicured front lawns she hadn't been able to resist watching them.

He was effortlessly handsome, his muscled physique straining against the crisp white shirt he was required to wear as a uniform. She was laughing at something he was saying while stuffing an oversized sandwich into her mouth. Her auburn locks fell across her porcelain skin and she was leaning towards him conspiratorially as he spoke. She didn't sparkle like her parents but she was luminous in her own way, with an otherworldly beauty that seemed perfectly suited to the Quileute wolf that had imprinted on her.

"Your dreams are certainly not boring," a familiar voice stated from the passenger seat of the car.

Leah let out a startled yelp as she turned to face Gunnar.

"What the fuck are youdoing here?" she screeched.

"Visiting," he replied nonchalantly. "I wouldn't be here if you weren't open to me doing so ástin mín."

"Right," Leah mumbled. At least it was better than those dreams where she was busting to go to the toilet but the only one available was smack bang in the middle of a supermarket with everyone looking on.

"Who are we watching today?" Gunnar asked, ignoring her lack of enthusiasm.

"Today?" Leah repeated. He acted like he'd watched things with her before.

He smiled. "It's quite endearing to meet a young woman who truly does not know what she does not know."

Leah crinkled her nose. She was certain that Gunnar was being sexist. Or ageist. Or both – but she was too confused by him to call him out on it.

"That's Jacob," she eventually said, deciding to answer Gunnar's question and ignore his commentary.

Gunnar shifted his gaze to the couple in the distance. "He is a wolf… and a powerful one at that."

"Let's not tell him," Leah mumbled. "He already thinks he's king shit."

Gunnar chuckled. "A king? No my dear, a king is one who is worthy of a Queen." He fell silent as he watched Jacob playing with the ends of Renesme's curls. "A prince maybe, but not a King. Youth and enthusiasm can only get you so far."

Leah snickered. "Maybe it was that that convinced me." Enthusiastic was a perfect description of Jacob. Endlessly buoyant and eager to please, Jacob had been impossible for her to resist.

Gunnar watched Leah watching Jacob.

"He was your lover too."

It didn't sound like a question, so Leah decided not to answer. Instead she observed Gunnar raking his eyes across Jacob and Renesmee as the dappled light cast shadows on them both.

"You coupled with him even though he has a mate?"

This time the question lingered in the air.

"I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. She was a child when he imprinted. He was certain it wouldn't make a difference. He was my Alpha and I wanted to believe him."

Gunnar swivelled in his seat so his whole body was facing her.

"Another false chieftan? With a woman such as you, maybe it wouldn't…" His sentence hung in the air unfinished, "although Bjarke and Eira live in shadows so they might never have to know," he added, almost to himself.

The name sounded familiar and Leah wracked her brain for the reason why. "Bjarke is your brother."

Gunnar's eyebrow twitched. "Indeed. A prince among men. My kin, my life … and the architect of my loneliness."

Leah averted her eyes from his gaze. "That's a lot of titles for one guy."

Calloused fingers cupped her jaw, pulling her focus back to the Viking intruder. "Modern people are remarkably disinterested in titles." His thumb brushed across her cheek. "It doesn't matter anymore." The edges of his lips quirked upwards. "I find myself less and less worried by them these days."

Leah found herself unable to look away. "Why is that?" she asked.

He smiled now, leaning towards her. "The man you are watching was born to lick your paws and pay you obseisances." His lips were inches away from hers. "I would not even need to raise a hand to him for you to know it."

Leah felt her head inclining, her body making decisions long before her mind had a chance to catch up. She drew a shaky breath as Gunnar's face advanced ever closer, but millimetres before his lips reached hers it hit her – that sickly sweet stench that was equal parts familiar and nauseating.

"Dragur!" Gunnar hissed, grabbing at the car door.

"Wait!" Leah shrieked, clamping down on his thigh as tightly as she could. She had forgotten this part of the memory: Alice sauntering over to Renesmee and Jacob to offer them a ride home. In the dying light she didn't sparkle, but the cloying scent, coupled with her supernatural gait gave her away. "It's just Alice," Leah hurried to add. "She is not threat to anyone."

Gunnar paused, watching as Jacob spoke and Alice responded with a high pitched laugh that shook at the windows.

"The man you call your leader fraternises with vampires!"

Leah snorted. "Tell me something I don't know!"

"All vampires are threats. The ridiculousness of what your false chief is doing makes me forget that we're in your remembrance. He is not normal. He should be clawing her eyes out."

Gunnar seemed to have calmed down dramatically, but Leah clicked the auto-lock button for good measure. "You're not listening to me. That vampire hasn't tasted human blood in decades. She calls herself a vegetarian because she lives entirely off animal blood… and besides" she paused for effect. "What exactly do you think his mate is?"

Gunnar scrutinised the scene in front of them as Alice nestled in next to Renesmee and Jacob, her small hands reaching out to braid Renesmee's hair. He was quiet as he peered at them although his body was trembling. Leah knew that feeling, that desperation to attack even when you knew it was neither necessary or appropriate. The clouds moved and a shaft of light fell directly on Renesmee. Leah felt Gunnar tense as he saw the way she glowed.

Gunnar narrowed his eyes as he turned to her. "It would not be possible for mate magic to bind wolf and Dragur."

Leah shrugged. "If you say so, buddy. She literally tore her way out of her human mother's womb so I've got a different perspective on what is and isn't possible."

"I can hear her heartbeat."

"Me too. She's part human, part vampire."

Gunnar drew a shaky breath. "And you spend time with this creature?"

"Yep" Leah said popping the 'P' as she spoke. "I've pretty much lived with her for her entire life."

Gunnar leaned across the gear box, grabbing Leah's waist and wrenching her towards him. "Where are you?"

"Hey!" Leah gasped.

"You are not safe! I cannot for a moment understand the hell you've been dragged into, nor do I seek to." He was squeezing her so tightly it was almost painful. "Tell me where you are and I will liberate you."

"Ow," Leah grabbed his wrists and his grip eased slightly. "I'm not with them anymore, okay? I left."

"Thank the gods." Gunnar moved his hands up, cupping her face in his palms. "When you left where did you go?"

"Home," Leah whispered. Something held her back from telling him exactly where that was.

Gunnar tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Your brevity is not assisting us. You need to stop thinking about this time in your life," he inclined his head to Jacob, Alice and Renesemee, "and imagine where you currently lie."

The world around them flickered, the fancy College giving way to complete blackness. Instead of sitting in the car, they were now perched on Quil's sofa.

Gunnar cast his eyes around the darkened room. "Good. You're in a dwelling." One hand was still on her cheek but the other pulled her body closer. "Tell me where."

Leah looked at the stubble on his tight-set jaw, his eyes glittering with intensity. "I'm not planning on staying."

Gunnar's eyes flashed. "It doesn't matter. You need only tell me where you are this very moment and I will come for you."

Leah frowned. "This is the strangest dream I've ever had."

Lightening crashed, throwing a shard of light through the window. Gunnar glanced about one more time before standing, lifting her while he moved as if she weighed nothing. "You need to go outside. Look to the stars and moon and I will find you."

The green in his eyes and his accented baritone was mesmerising. Leah couldn't see anything else.

"That's it. Keep going."

A cold wind passed over her, but she didn't break his gaze.

"LEAH!" A familiar voice called.

Leah shook her head, the sound distracting her from Gunnar. A force yanked her from behind and Gunnar's expression twisted into desperate fury before he disappeared entirely.

"LEAH!" She turned to see Quil, sopping wet as rain pelted him. "What the hell, Leah?"

"Quil? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" He gaped at her as water sheeted across his face. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Leah looked down. She was drenched and waist deep in water. Hadn't she just been inside?

She blinked, wiping away the large raindrops that landed on her lashes. It was impossible to see more than a foot in front of her.

"I don't know," she told him truthfully. She knew she had been dreaming, of Jacob, of Gunnar. A thought niggled in the back of her head but reaching for it only served to make it vanish. "I guess I was sleepwalking?"

Quil opened his mouth as if to say something but his jaw hung slack and incredulous. Leah shivered. The motion spurned her friend into action and he hefted her over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Leah shrieked.

"Saving your ass, Leah." Quil jogged up to his apartment. "Sleepwalking, I've heard of… but sleepwalking out into a marina during torrential downpour? That's not normal."

He reached the front door and kicked it open. "I'll never be normal," Leah told him sadly as he set her down.

"You and me both, chica."

He directed her to change, eyes averted as she dried herself and pulled on a fresh sleep shirt. He must have changed too although Leah was so dazed she had no memory of him doing so. When she turned towards the spare room he grabbed her hand. "I don't want to sound creepy, but there's no way I'm letting you out of my sight right now." He tugged her towards his room and Leah looked uncertainly at his double bed.

"Quil," she warned.

He raised a hand. "Don't even worry about it Leah. It's never been like that with us okay?" He smiled earnestly at her. "I won't get a wink of sleep after what just happened unless I know you're safe – so shut up and get in the bed."

Leah climbed on to the queen mattress which seemed tiny as soon as both of them were positioned on it. Quil snaked a hand out and laced his fingers firmly through hers.

"Sleepwalking," he muttered to himself sceptically before passing out.

Leah stared at the ceiling, trying to make sense of how Quil had found her and her fragmented memories of the dream with Gunnar.

It felt so real, she thought to herself. More than a memory, something tangible, tempting and terrifying.

The last thing she saw before sleep claimed her was his emerald eyes, incandescent with fury and determination, begging her to tell him where she was.

A/N: This chapter – which is ridiculously long even by my standards- nearly killed me. It was written backwards, in small chunks, with agonising periods of reflection and amidst a time of great personal turmoil. I have never been so close to giving up (but I'm determined to keep going).

I also write in another fandom (Choices TRR) on another site if anyone plays Choices app games and is interested in reading my other work. Let me know in your review and I'll pm you with the details when I reply : )