I'm not one-hundred percent happy with this, but I did try. So, there's a brightside.

Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed, alerted, or favorited last chapter. I'm not quite sure how many more chapters this story has, but I'm starting to think it's not going to be very long. We'll see.

Thanks for reading, drop me a comment if you can, and I apologize for any OOCness.

I don't own 'em, and I am sorry for what transpires.

Bye!

"Hey, Leah, it's Emmett… again." He wanted to ask where she's been the past three days. Wanted to know why she suddenly started avoiding him. Wanted to know what the hell he did because he must have done something; made her uncomfortable somehow. Maybe tackling her into the river hadn't been the best idea, but she hadn't seemed bothered by it at the time. He would have smelled any discomfort on her. Something must have happened, and it was worrying him that she wouldn't answer her phone.

But he didn't demand any answers from her. Instead, he sighed, running a hand through his hair, and said, "Just call me back please." He hung up his cell phone, lightly tossing it on the couch, and started pacing across the living room floor.

When Leah first started avoiding him, Emmett had called Jacob. If anyone knew what was going on with her, it'd be him, but he said she was fine. Had, in fact, been seen walking across the beach ("or more like stalking, but sometimes, even when she's happy, Leah looks pissed") earlier that morning. Seth, having been in the same room with Jacob, the unmistakable sound of Zelda in the background, confirmed his sister was fine, quite loudly, followed by several swear words when he messed up in the game.

"I can ask her to call you," Jacob suggested but when Emmett declined, he still gave the vampire Leah's number. "You know, just in case."

He had only called three times, not wanting to come off sounding pushy or stalkerish (Forks had already gotten enough of that from his brother), but Leah had neglected to answer each time. A few times, Emmett almost ran to her house, demanded to know what was going on, but he didn't want this to turn into a big fight between the two. She had just started trusting him; he didn't want to screw it up. That is, if it hadn't already been screwed up.

"Maybe you should go talk to her," Renesme suggested from the stairway, watching her uncle worriedly.

"I'd like that Nessie, but I have a feeling she won't answer the door," Emmett replied softly, glancing over at her.

"But I miss Leah." It hadn't been lost on Emmett, how much time Renesme had been spending around Leah over the past few weeks. Between Jacob and Emmett, Renesme had become attached to Leah like she became attached to everyone else she met, and Leah was slowly starting to warm up to the younger girl, too.

"I miss her, too, Ness," Emmett admitted softly, starting to pace again, albeit much slower.

"Then let's go." Renesme jumped off the stairs, heading towards her uncle, grabbing his hand. At first, he very nearly resisted, but he really did miss Leah, wanted to see her more than anything, and allowed himself to be dragged to the door.

The drive to Leah's place felt longer than it actually was, Emmett very nearly turning around several times, but he eventually crossed the line separating the vampires from the werewolves. Renesme sat in her seat, nose pressed to the window, practically bouncing with excitement. She tended to get that way whenever she was anywhere near Jacob.

"Can we stop and see Jacob first?" she asked curiously, turning to look at her uncle.

"How about I drop you off and pick you up on the way back," Emmett suggested glancing over at her.

"But I want to see Leah."

"I'll bring her with me," Emmett said, hoping he could keep that promise. Renesme finally nodded, agreeing to the suggestion, and Emmett stopped out front of Jacob's house. Renesme jumped out of the jeep, waving good-bye to her uncle, and raced towards Jacob's front door. Emmett waited until she was inside, Billy answering the door with a friendly smile, before pulling back onto the gravel road.

Twilight

Leah smelled him moments before she heard his jeep stop in front of her house. She made no move to get off her bed, even when he knocked on the front door, glaring at her ceiling. She wasn't mad at Emmett, she could never be mad at him, even if she tried (and she had tried, several times). She was mostly mad at herself and her stupid feelings.

Why did they have to ruin a perfectly good friendship? She was fine with just being his friend, could have kept being his friend, having him in her life, but life never seemed to go her way anymore. She was a ball of screwed up, and Emmett really did not deserve a friend like her.

She understood how stupid she sounded. Just because she was in love with him didn't mean they couldn't still be friends, but it'd be hard on Leah, being in love with someone she could never have. Seeing him every day, being the best friend he needed, while she sat in a pool of her own misery, pining. She did not want to pine over Emmett. She just wanted to be his fricking friend.

Someone knocked on her door, startling her, and Seth called, "Leah, Emmett's downstairs."

"Tell him to go away," Leah called back, grabbing a pillow and covering her face with it.

"He said he's not leaving until you two talk."

"Tell him that's a tad controlling."

"He says he's sorry for whatever he did," Seth murmured sadly, and Leah felt her heart clench. Emmett actually thought this was his fault. She sighed heavily. Why did the guy always assume he did something wrong?

With a small, humorless huff, Leah threw her pillow off her face and rolled to her feet. She couldn't allow Emmett to take the blame. This was her problem, not his, and him shouldering it would just irritate and worry her at the same time (imprinting was a complicated thing).

She opened her door, Seth nearly falling into her room, and shoved past her brother, heading down the stairs. Emmett stood on her porch, back to her, muttering under his breath. She knew he knew she was standing behind him, so she couldn't exactly race back upstairs like a teenager (and that above everything else was pissing her off; how much like a teenager she was acting).

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open, stepping outside. Closing it behind her, she pulled her sweater tighter around her, staving off a phantom breeze, and said, "Why are you here?"

"Why are you avoiding me?" Emmett retorted turning to look at her, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. He hung his head, obviously asking the wrong question, and quickly muttered, "Sorry."

"Look, I've got a lot of studying to do…" Leah turned to leave, but Emmett gently caught her arm, stopping her mid-step.

"Did I do something?" he asked slowly, softly.

Leah turned to look at him, her heart skipping at the look of desperation on his face, and shook her head. "It's something I did." She then extracted her arm, heading back towards the front door.

"But you didn't do anything," Emmett called after her, causing her to stop.

Leah closed her eyes, bowing her head, and whispered, "I did."

"I don't under…"

"I'm in love with you, okay?" She whirled around to face him, her fists clenched at her sides. "I did the one thing I was trying to avoid. I fell in love with you, and since I can't have you I just… I think we shouldn't be friends for a while." Her pain returned, piercing her in the chest, nearly bringing her to her knees, but she fought to stay standing, forcing herself to walk back towards her house.

"Leah."

"Go home, Emmett," Leah said quietly, silently begging him to leave her alone. "J-just go home." She was nearly to her door when he grabbed her again, just below her elbow, cool hands leaving her hot skin tingling, and turned her towards him, pressing a cold, burning kiss to her lips.

Her heart sped up, her breath catching in her throat, but she returned the kiss readily, fire meeting ice, leaving her shivering and wanting more, only to remember that Emmett had a wife. Rosalie was still in the picture. What the flying fuck were they doing?

She wrenched away from Emmett, slamming into her front door, breathing heavily, shaking. She met his gaze, surprise written all over his face, and said, "I-I…"

"I have to go," Emmett said softly and he was at his jeep in a blink of an eye, already behind the wheel, backing out of Leah's driveway. Still standing by her door, limbs still a little rubbery, Leah felt as if she betrayed Rosalie.

How is this my life, she thought leaning her head back, closing her eyes. That could never, ever happen again, she'd make sure of it.

Twilight

Emmett was about halfway home, silently cursing himself for what he had just done, when he remembered he hadn't been alone. Renesme was still at Jacob's. He turned around, knowing Edward and Bella would kill him if he had forgotten their daughter.

Luckily for him-there was just no way he could face Leah now-Jacob was waiting at the border, Renesme and him sitting on the hood of his car, playing Slap-Jack. Emmett screeched to a halt, throwing open his door, and hurried towards the pair.

"Sorry," he apologized quickly, ruffling his hair. "I'm just so used to her being up here," he pointed at his head, "that I forgot I brought her with me." He knew his jesting fell flat, fooling neither Jacob nor Renesme, but neither called him out on his bullshit.

"I could keep her for a while," Jacob suggested laying another card on their growing pile, "if you need to go somewhere." Obviously, Jacob either knew, or suspected, and Emmett wasn't quite sure how he felt about that, but at least he didn't have to spend ten extra, very awkward, minutes explaining that he had not only betrayed his wife, but his best friend's trust.

"I, I couldn't…"

"I was heading back towards your place anyway," Jacob stated as Renesme slapped the pile, giggling, but it sounded forced, her dark eyes continuing to shoot Emmett worried glances. "Take your time, I'll tell the others you went hiking."

"Alright," Emmett finally agreed, nodding. Jacob wasn't going to hurt Renesme, he'd die before he hurt her, and Emmett really needed to get away, clear his head, and think about what he did. Because he fucked up, there's no denying that, and he knew that he'd have to tell Rosalie. He'd also have to apologize to Leah, keep Rosie from killing Leah, and pretty much hope both women could forgive him. But first, he had to deal with all these feelings, sort through them; try to find a meaning that made sense.

He headed back towards his jeep, slowly getting inside. He backed up, giving Jacob and Renesme a small wave, and headed back down the road, the pedal to the floor. He had to get away from Forks for a while, go somewhere where he could think without being disturbed.

He was halfway to California when he realized Leah had kissed him back.