A tense silence fell over the trio. Emmett's eyes widened in surprise, and Rosalie gave Leah an incredulous look, her arm tightening around Emmett. "Excuse me?" the blonde asked, her voice calm, almost deadly, her golden eyes flashing.

"You heard me you cold-blooded leech," Leah snarled, her jealously taking hold of her, using her body to address its displeasure over Rosalie touching her imprintee.

"You must be mistaken, little bitch," Rosalie said taking a step towards Leah, her fingertips slowly skimming across Emmett's skin as she let him go. "Spending all your time on all-fours doesn't exactly help the brain comprehend human feelings."

"You're one to talk, you overgrown mosquito," Leah snarked back. "Last I checked I'm more human than you'll ever be, and I understand what happened a lot more than you ever will. I imprinted on him," she nodded Emmett's way, "some divine power or whatever thinks we're meant to be together, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"I could rip your head off," Rosalie suggested in a soft voice, a feral smile crossing her face. "That'd solve a lot of problems."

"Put your money where your mouth is," Leah challenged spreading her arms, partially shifting. She had been looking for a fight since she imprinted (hell since she had been dragged into this vampire shit storm), but before Rosalie could take more than a few steps towards Leah, Emmett grabbed her around the middle and held her back.

"As much fun as this potential, estrogen-filled death match sounds," he started, trying and failing to make a joke, "I think it's time you leave." His golden eyes settled on Leah's face, something she couldn't quite pinpoint flashing in them.

Leah very nearly ignored Emmett, wanting to remove every, single limb from Rosalie's body, but she refrained. Against her better instincts, and no matter how much she hated the vampires, the last thing she wanted was to upset Emmett. So, with a frustrated sigh, she turned on her heel and stalked away.

"This isn't over, mutt," Rosalie yelled after her, and Leah fought the urge to respond. She listened to Rosalie's angry ranting, taking in all the insults, all the death threats, unable to fight the partially satisfied smile slipping onto her face.

The same smile that dropped a moment later when she thought about what she saw in Emmett's eyes. Yes, he had told her to leave, and yes he seemed slightly more concerned for Rosalie than Leah, but Leah knew what she had seen. He was feeling something for her, something other than mistrust and anger; something Leah's heart told her wasn't bad.

She had heard stories, about the imprintee being drawn to the imprinter. Had seen it firsthand with her fellow pack mates, but, with the exception of Sam (and that hurt marginally less since she imprinted) they didn't have to worry about someone interfering. Of course, if Emmett did choose Rosalie over her there wasn't much she could do; it wasn't like she could make him choose her.

And just what the hell was she talking about? Why did she suddenly care about this imprinting thing? Yes, she told Emmett, but only because he deserved to know. That had nothing to do with her needing to be with him; because she didn't need to be with him. Meant to be or not, Leah didn't need a guy in her life; especially a guy that didn't even have a pulse.

Her pain returned, full force, but she shoved it to the back of her mind, pulling her sweater over her head. She tossed it on Jacob's car's hood, adding her shoes and jeans, hoping he'd pick them up when he left. She then shifted, sprinting into the woods, needing to clear her head. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Sadly, it wasn't working as well as she had hoped.

Twilight

"Wait, explain this to me again," Jasper said later that night, lounging on a tree branch, leg dangling over the edge.

"There's not much to explain, dude," Emmett responded throwing small boulders across the clearing, watching them soar over the river and land on the other side, kicking up dust as they landed heavily in the dirt. "She told me she imprinted on me."

"Leah?" Jasper gave Emmett an incredulous look. "The same Leah who barely tolerates us? The one I am fairly certain wanted to kill both Bella and Renesme."

"No, the writer," Emmett deadpanned, glaring up at his brother. "Yes, that Leah."

"What are you going to do?" Jasper asked after a beat, picking at his thumbnail.

Emmett didn't respond right away, his eyes tracking the new boulder he threw. What was he going to do? He loved Rose, always would love Rose. She was his other half, understood him in ways even Edward's telepathy or Alice's visions could do, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel something when it came to Leah.

He didn't understand it himself, but it was this pull, this instinct that knew he and Leah were more than former enemies turned into reluctant allies. The first time he really felt it, had been at the park that morning, when he was up close to Leah.

He'd also be lying if he said he almost followed Leah earlier, after he told her to leave, virtually saving her from Rosalie. He hadn't wanted to see her go, and wasn't that a kick to the balls for him.

"I don't know," he finally said, tilting his head back, blowing out a burst of unneeded air. "I guess I can always have them naked mud wrestle fight to the death. Winner gets me." He forced a grin onto his face, but he knew he didn't fool Jasper.

"Whatever you decide," Jasper said softly, jumping out of the tree and landing softly next to Emmett, "you need to be prepared for a backlash." Jasper then clapped him on the shoulder and walked away, disappearing into the forest, heading back to their house.

"I know," Emmett said into the darkness, sinking onto a fallen tree. He missed the old days, when he was just an intimidating figure that stood in the background, letting enemies know not to fuck with the Cullens. When did his life become a goddamn Nicolas Sparks novel?

The smell of dog dropped him back to reality, but he didn't look up. The werewolves weren't exactly a threat anymore, and even if they tried something, Emmett was still faster than the majority of them (though, he'd seem Seth Clearwater beat Edward in a footrace a few months back; that had been a show).

"I'm sorry," Leah said softly, hovering an arm's length away from Emmett.

"Renesme forgives you," Emmett stated slowly. He knew that wasn't what Leah wanted to talk about, but he'd much rather prolong the conversation for as long as humanly (ha ha) possible.

"I never wanted this to happen," Leah continued moving closer to Emmett, but still remaining out of his reach. "No offense, but I don't exactly-"

"I get it," Emmett interrupted her, snatching a stick from the ground. He began doodling in the dirt, drawing stick figures. "And, if it helps any, I-"

"Yeah, you mentioned it at the park," Leah supplied moving so she was standing in front of Emmett. She sighed, looking down at his doodles. "I'm not going to force you to be with me. That's the last thing I'd do, but-"

"Yeah, Jacob explained it to us." He drew a stick dog to go along with the stick people, one stick person glaring daggers at the dog. "Or he explained as much as he could; even he was a little confused by it."

"It isn't exactly fully explained in our legends." Leah crouched down, using her fingers to add a sun to Emmett's drawing.

The two sat in silence for several minutes; both concentrating on the dirt doodles, but Emmett was the first to break the silence. "What will happen to you if I don't choose you?"

"It'll feel like a piece of my soul is missing," she explained, eyes locked on the wolf's head she was carefully drawing. "I'll feel pain, but it's easily manageable after awhile. Or so I am told." She stood up, dusting her hands on her jeans, and said, "Rosalie should be lucky you two aren't in the pack. She and I would probably have to fight to the death."

Emmett grunted in reply, moving the stick over to Leah's wolf drawing. He began tracing a pattern next to it, keeping his eyes down, and he said, "Yeah, lucky her."

Leah was silent for another moment before half-heartedly joking, "Probably would result in naked wrestling, too." She then walked away, leaving Emmett chuckling softly. His chuckles died when he realized what he drew; an eye, similar to his own, watching the wolf with something akin to desire.

With a frustrated sigh, he threw the stick down and kicked dirt over the drawing, pushing himself to his feet. He debated going home, but that was the last place he wanted to be, so he ran into the woods, just needing to clear his head. It was times like these he wished vampires could sleep because no matter how much 'head clearing' he did, he was still going to be thinking about everything that had been hurtled at him today.

It didn't exactly help that he still wanted, almost physically needed, to go after Leah. He was so screwed.

Happy New Year to everyone reading this :)

I think I may have stepped in OOC goo in this chapter. Don't know yet, but if I did apologies to you guys.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited last chapter. You guys are awesome.

Thanks for reading, drop me a comment if you can, and I'll see you in the next chapter.

P.S. Everyone affiliated with this series is not mine