A/N: In this story, Seth and Leah don't phase until a few months after they did in the books.

Bella's POV

I was currently in the kitchen making breakfast. It was about seven.. I was up pretty early, given that it was Saturday, but it would be a long day and I wanted to get a jump start on it.

I had just started the eggs when Charlie came down. "Hey, Bells. You're up early," he commented.

"I wanted to get a head start. It's gonna be a long day. Coffee's all ready and breakfast will be soon," I told him as I poured the scrambled eggs into the pan.

"Thanks. Why's it gonna be such a long day?" Charlie asked as he went to grab his coffee. He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured some coffee into it.

"Well, I'm working from nine to one today. Mrs. Newton was desperate, so I agreed last minute. Then I'm coming back here to whip something up for the party at the Clearwaters," I said. It was Harry and Sue's anniversary and they were throwing a party to celebrate.

Charlie, who was about to take sip of his coffee, stopped dead. "You're going to that."

I looked at him as if he grew a second head. "Of course. You're the one who jokes that Leah, Seth, and I are joined at the hip. Why wouldn't I be going?"

"The Blacks are going to be there. Jake will be there," Charlie said. He sounded like he thought I was crazy for even thinking about going.

"Yes, I know. Seth told me when he asked me to come. I'm going, Dad," I said firmly.

"Why? You'll just be hurt seeing him and knowing that what he's done and will keep doing," Charlie said.

I added cheese to the eggs and put the cover on the pan before turning to my father. "Because if I stay away just because Jake's there, I send him the message that I'm still affected by him. And, yeah, I still am, but he doesn't get the satisfaction of knowing that. He doesn't get to laugh at my expense." I was so happy to have Leah and Seth. They had showed me a better way of dealing with hurt from Jacob and Edward. When I looked back at myself, I had been so pathetic after Edward left. I let him destroy me and I shouldn't have. I couldn't help being hurt, but I could decide whether or not I let it destroy me.

Charlie looked at me in disbelief and then smiled. "I am really glad you made friends with Leah and Seth. They've both been so good for you if this is the new attitude you have thanks to them."

"Yeah, they have. So you're coming too, right?" I asked. Charlie needed to be there even more than me. He'd been friends with Harry since before I was born. I didn't want him throwing away another friendship because mine with Jacob ended.

"I wasn't gonna, but now I will. If you can be grown up enough to put your feelings aside to be with your friends than I have no excuse not to do the same. I'm proud of you, Bells. I want you to have a good time with Leah and Seth and let Jacob Black kill himself over what he let slip through his fingers," Charlie said with a smile.

I smiled back at him and then turned back to breakfast.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

I pulled my truck up to the Clearwater house at around seven. I could see Charlie was already there, as his cruiser was parked on the lawn. We had taken separate cars, as I would be arriving a bit later than my dad.

I grabbed the potato salad that I made from the passenger seat and got out of the truck. Then I headed towards the backyard where the party was. It was a full house. I was pretty sure everyone on the reservation was there, including Sam and his gang.

I felt a little disgusted that Harry would allow Sam there. Talking to him and defending him was one thing, though that was kind of messed up too, but how could he invite the man who broke his daughter's heart to his house where she'd be forced to see him. Leah had to feel like her parents were slapping her in the face.

I saw my father standing with Sue Clearwater by the food table and walked over to them. "Hey."

"Hey, kiddo. You're finally here." Charlie said.

"Yeah, I lost track of time," I told him before turning to Sue. "HI, Sue, I made a potato salad."

Sue smiled at me. "You didn't have to do that, but I appreciate it. Thanks for coming."

"Of course. Happy Anniversary," I said.

"Thank you. You should find Leah and Seth. They've been waiting for you," Sue said as she put my salad on the table.

"Yeah, I was just about to. I'll see you guys later," I said before going to look for my friends. Finally, I found them in back by the forest with a boy I recognized as Jake's friend, Quil. I immediately went to see them.

"It's about time. I was starting to think you chickened out and then I was going to have to find you and drag your ass here, after I beat it," Leah said.

I laughed. I loved Leah. She was the brazen, forceful friend I needed. I needed someone who wasn't going to mollycoddle me, someone who made me face my pain and work to get over it. That was Leah. "Nope, I'm done letting assholes run my life."

"Oh, man, clearly my sister is rubbing off on you. I'm not sure whether or not that's good or bad," Seth joked before pulling me into a hug.

I returned the hug gladly. "I think we both know it's an improvement."

"Being more like me is always an improvement," Leah said with a smirk.

After pulling away from Seth, I smiled at Quil. "Hey, Quil. I didn't know you were friends with Leah and Seth."

"Hi, Bella. We haven't been the best friends, but Seth and I have been hanging out a bit since Jake took off on me," Quil said. His voice became a bit sad at the last part.

"Well, there's proof that it wasn't just you, Bella. Black's just an asshole," Leah said.

I nodded, not really wanting to talk about it further.

"The jackass is glaring at us," Seth said with a glare of his own.

I turned automatically to see what Seth was looking at and saw Jacob standing several feet away with Embry glaring daggers at Seth. I immediately looked away. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of my attention. My eyes instead caught Sam, who was talking with Harry. Sam would occasionally look towards me. They were talking about me.

"Hey, guys, I'll be right back. I'm gonna get something to eat," I said before making my way towards the crowd. I wanted to hear what Sam was saying to Harry. I got just a few feet away before I started to coherently hear them.

"I'm done talking to you about this, Sam. I am not going to aid in that young girl getting her heart broken again," Harry said firmly.

"I don't want that either, Harry. That is why you need to put a stop to this. We both know it's going to happen. Seth is showing signs," Sam said quietly.

I froze. What signs was he talking about. What was happening with Seth? The only thing I noticed with Seth was that he'd bulked up quite a bit and even gotten taller. He seemed fine otherwise. Leah was the same way now that I thought about it.

"I don't need you to tell me the signs Sam. But I am not going to encourage my son to abandon that girl because of it. Besides, Seth would never do that. He's not that kind of man," Harry said.

"It will happen anyway when he joins us," Sam said.

My eyes went wide. Sam wanted Seth? He wanted to recruit Seth into his weird cult. I could only picture the boy who'd come looking for me in the rain and drove me home hanging around with those assholes and turning against everyone he cared about.

No, Seth would never do that. He would never let Sam lead him around the way Jacob had. He wouldn't turn on me for the guy that treated his sister like trash. Seth wasn't like that. He would tell Sam to go to hell. But he shouldn't even have to do that. Sam needed to leave Seth alone.

Apparently I was lost in my own thoughts for a while because when I came back to reality, Sam and Harry had been left the area. I looked around and saw Sam with the rest of his group by the entrance to the backyard. I made a split second decision and walked over to them. Sam would not do this. He didn't get to hover over Seth the way he did Jacob. He didn't even get to attempt to take Seth's life from him. I wouldn't let him.

They all became aware as I walked over, most of them were tense and nervous, wondering what I would say to them. The only one who didn't seem to be was Paul. He just looked pissed to be in my presence.

"You're all going to have to think for yourselves for five minutes because I need to speak with your master," I said, my cold eyes never leaving Sam.

They all looked put out at how I referred to them. Paul looked ready to attack, but Sam put a hand on his shoulder. Apparently this dude really did control all of them. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Seth was right and they really were robots.

"Go," Sam said after a minute.

Like good minions, they all walked away. Jacob seemed slightly hesitant, but one glare from Sam had him leaving as well.

"What do you need, Bella?" Sam asked.

"Leave Seth alone," I practically snarled at him.

Sam looked taken aback for a second, but he quickly recovered. "What did you hear?"

I didn't even pretend that I wasn't listening to his conversation with Harry. "If you wanted privacy, you shouldn't have started talking in a yard full of people. Seth is off limits to you. You're not gonna recruit him for your twisted little gang!"

"Back off, Bella. You don't know what you're talking about," Sam said with a fierce glare.

I had to admit, Sam could look scary, but I wasn't afraid. For one, I'd been around practically indestructible vampires, and for another, I was too angry to be afraid of him. He was making a habit out of messing with my friends. He'd gotten his hands on Jake and turned him into a mindless idiot and a world class jerk. Don't get me wrong, Jake made his choice and I blamed him plenty, but I could blame Sam too. However, I wasn't going to let him go after Seth. "You can go to hell, Uley. I am not afraid of you. You're a useless bastard who uses women and turns grown men into useless tools!"

Sam was clearly shocked. I wasn't sure if he was shocked that just I would talk to him about this or that anybody would, but he was taken by surprise. Whichever it was, it gave me some satisfaction to know that I'd thrown him off his game.

"Stay the hell away from Seth. I swear to God if you try to get your hands on him, I will kill you," I threatened in a deadly quiet tone.

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He had no words.

"Why don't you take your disciples and get out of here? It's bad enough that Leah has to see you around the reservation with her cousin draped over you. Do you really have so little respect for her that you'd force your presence on her at her own home?" I asked

A flash of shame came onto Sam's face and he walked away.

Seth walked over a second later. "What did he say to you? Are you okay?"

"i'm fine. I did most of the talking. I think I may have gotten him to leave," I said. I turned out to be right as Sam headed out with every one of his group except Jacob. I was annoyed that Jacob was staying, but it wasn't that surprising. His dad was still there and he probably wanted to stay to help him get home, or at least that's probably the reason he gave Sam.

"How'd you get him to leave?" Seth wondered.

"I told him he was a jackass for inflicting his presence on Leah. Apparently he's not completely heartless and agreed," I said. I decided not to tell him about Sam wanting to recruit him now. Sam didn't deserve another thought on him tonight. I'd tell Seth later.

"Thanks for doing that for Leah. He should never have been here," Seth said.

I nodded in agreement.

"You wanna dance with me?" Seth asked. The music was on and a few people were already dancing to it.

'That's a very bad idea. I think it would it would put a cramp in the party if I had to be taken to the hospital because I tripped and broke something," I said.

Seth chuckled. "I won't let you fall, Bella. Come on, we'll go slow," Seth said.

I sighed and grabbed his hand. "Okay, but if I do break something, you take full responsibility for the ruined party."

"Deal," Seth said before leading me to an open space on the grass. We started slow dancing to the song that was playing.

I had to admit that it was nice dancing with Seth. It was much different than the one time I danced with Edward. I enjoyed it a lot more. I didn't know why, but it was just better with Seth. I was more comfortable with him. I was never really comfortable with Edward. I loved him, but I also felt like we didn't belong. Well, I more felt that I didn't deserve him. I felt like he was too good for me and I waited for it to end. I had no fears now with Seth. Even when I realized Sam wanted to pull him into his gang, I didn't fear him leaving. Seth wouldn't do that. I didn't have to be afraid of Seth abandoning me.

The thoughts of Edward and Seth hit me. I was comparing Edward and Seth. It was like I was comparing an old boyfriend to a new one. Seth wasn't my boyfriend though. He was a good friend, but nothing more. However, I wasn't sure my feelings for Seth were just friendly anymore. With how I was feeling with him now, they almost couldn't be. I couldn't really deny it. I had feelings, more than friendly feelings, for Seth Clearwater.