A/N: Thank you Jezebel Jai-Braxlin for beta reading this chapter.

November 19th, 2008

"Robbie wants to meet with the pack after school today."

I tried to suppress my surprise. Joselyn was sitting right beside me, and I didn't have an excuse on hand for why I was surprised at what I'd heard from the other end of the phone call.

"Really?" I asked, wracking my brain for a way to ask Jake for more information while being ambiguous.

"Really," Jake confirmed. "I'm as surprised as you are. I wasn't expecting him to ask for one any time soon."

I hadn't either. There had never been a time when Robbie acted ready. I'd thought Seth and Al both coming out would help boost Robbie's confidence, but outwardly at least, it hadn't. I was even tempted to believe this meeting wasn't for what I thought it was, not that Robbie could have anything else to say. Not anything that constituted a pack meeting like this.

"I'll just be glad to get this over with," Jake said. "I'm happy for them, but repeating this over and over is getting old."

"You say that to any of their faces, and I'll punch you in yours."

Jake laughed on the other end of the line. "You know, I remember a time when Leah Clearwater wouldn't have dared defend anyone like that."

"I always would have defended Seth like that."

"Fair enough." I could picture Jake's shrug perfectly in my mind. "But not the others. You used to try so hard to be cold and tough. Sometimes I manage to forget that these days."

"Shut the fuck up, Black, or I'll punch you in the face anyway."

"Is that going to be your go-to threat from now on?"

"Would you prefer the balls? Because I'm willing."

Jake laughed, which only made me feel angrier. "Okay, okay. No more mentioning the fact that you have a heart, Leah. We'll keep pretending that it's made of stone."

I didn't bother with a retort, but I couldn't help the satisfied smile on my face. That was the way I preferred things. Of course, I also preferred believing no one noticed my kinder moments, an illusion Jake felt the need to shatter.

"I'll be at there," I said. "Do you need me to call any of the others?"

"Nah. You have class. I can take care of it. Most of them are in school anyway. We can't call. Robbie will round them up after. That gives him plenty of chances to chicken out if he wants."

I rolled my eyes. "He won't chicken out once he's worked up the courage. The embarrassment of not following through is enough of a deterrent."

"Probably," Jake agreed. "Just one thing, can you tell Embry when you see him? It'll be easier than calling. I only have to get ahold of Quil."

"Yeah, I got it. Bye, Jake."

"Bye."

While Embry and I ran back to La Push later that day, I couldn't shake the anxious feeling dominating my mind. I wasn't sure what the explanation for it was. Jake was right when he said we'd done this enough by now that it should have become nothing. Yet I knew how Robbie had felt. The memory of that day on the beach kept running through my mind on campus, and I was impressed I managed to keep it from my thoughts while we were phased.

I knew Robbie had to have resolved himself to the idea of coming out. The positive reactions to Seth and Al had alleviated some of the fear, but it couldn't have gotten all of it. And because I had experienced Robbie's fear in a way Seth and Al hadn't shared theirs with me, it felt stronger and more real. Of course, I couldn't share any of that with Embry, so I was sending him little more than anxiety as we ran.

What's up with you, Leah? he asked once we weren't far from La Push.

I sent him a mental shrug, not sure what else to say. Just stuff over the meeting, I guess. These things are never exactly pleasant.

Were you this worked up before Seth and Al came out too?

Another mental shrug. Of course I was worried about Seth. He's my baby brother.

Robbie will be fine, Leah. You know that. It's not like anyone will react differently than they did with Seth or Al.

I made sure Embry got a big dose of my annoyance. I don't actually think anything bad will happen, Call. It's how nerve-wracking this is for Robbie that's got me.

He'll be fine too. Great actually, I would imagine.

I didn't argue. Embry was right. I had no good reason to second-guess that outcome. None of that changed the fact that my stomach was churning as we reached the Black house.

We were the last ones to arrive, a feeling I was getting used to at these meetings. That wasn't a problem when it saved me from having to wait around in the awkward tension. This time was better than the last two, I would allow for that. Robbie was the only one not at ease. Seth was even grinning, which I assumed was out of happiness for Robbie and also getting to have another pack member who was out. Al wasn't showing as much outwardly, but I did get the impression that he was pleased.

I wondered why neither one of them talked to Robbie as much as they did each other when they realized he was in the same boat. But whatever reason had caused them to keep distance between themselves, they were happy for him.

Robbie looked as anxious as Seth and Al had. He stood up once Embry and I had taken our seats. I noticed that he was shaking a bit, but it wasn't like the vibrations signaling that we were about to phase. These weren't supernatural; they were the normal human shaking that came along with nerves.

Everyone watched him, and it made Robbie shift his weight on his feet. His eyes scanned over us, looking for signs of what we were thinking. When his eyes landed on me, I tried my best to look encouraging, even offering the kid a smile. He should be thankful.

As far as I knew, I was the only one in this room he'd ever said this to. I wasn't surprised when he decided to keep his eyes on me while he spoke, but it did make me feel pressured to school my features carefully. I didn't want anything I did to be interpreted as negative.

"Right," Robbie said after being quiet for a bit longer than was normal. The word came out mangled, and Robbie cleared his throat. "I know that we all know why we're here. We've done this enough. But I figured I needed to do this anyway. It's not going to feel real otherwise."

He took a deep breath to gather himself. I smiled at him again.

"I'm bisexual. Like Al. I get that most of-all of you, actually, have figured that out for yourselves, but there it is. I've said it."

The usual quietness followed the confession. I was happy that this should be the last time we'd have this moment. Well, actually, it wouldn't be since this knowledge was only within our pack. There was another pack of wolves who would find out in time, but judging by Robbie's behavior, we might be waiting on that one.

"Thank God," Quil exclaimed, sinking back into the couch like it was him who'd been stressed out over this confession. "I'm glad this is over for us. The entire pack knows everything. This means everyone around me will stop frantically trying to cover their thoughts, right? Because it's been painful to watch. You guys are all goddamn obvious."

Any of the other wolves might have taken Quil's comments as Quil being Quil, but Robbie shifted his weight again. I knew he felt self-conscious over Quil's comments on his past behavior.

"Shut up, Ateara." I shot at Quil. I wished I had something to throw at him besides words.

Quil smirked, opening one eye from where he'd thrown his head back against the couch. "Thank you ever so much for saying 'please,' Clearwater. I've never gotten that from you before."

"I'm still covering my thoughts," Embry threw out there, deflecting attention in a way he was good at. "It's not like I need you knowing every single thing that goes through my head."

He aimed a light punch at Quil's stomach, and Quil put up a huge fuss as if it had actually hurt him even as he was grinning.

"Why though?" he asked once he'd given up on getting an apology from Embry. "What do you people have to hide from me? I can take it."

Quil had always been one of the wolves who controlled their thoughts the least. It wasn't from a lack of skill either. He'd never been interested in learning how to do it. He was the closest wolf I knew to an open book. At least since Seth had closed himself off. The more time passed, the less likely it was that Seth would ever be that open again.

"I wouldn't call it hiding so much as 'things we don't feel the need to blatantly share,'" I said with a roll of my eyes. "It's like knowing your parents have had sex but not wanting them to say as much to you." I smirked as the guys made gagging noises and yelled at me. "There are just some things you don't spread to everyone, Ateara."

Quil still had a look of disgust on his face. "Fair enough, but none of us are parents. I might as well get sex thoughts from you guys. It's not like I'll be getting any for about two decades. Although, it's not like anyone here seems to be getting any either."

They room went quiet, with everyone shifting in their seats. Well, everyone except Quil and Jake who would happily talk about their lack of romantic lives like normal people discussed new relationships. It was something they were proud of. Although I wasn't so sure the younger guys were ashamed of their non-existing relationships as much as they were nervous about any talk of sex. I tended to forget they were still at ages where sex was something whispered about in secret.

But the awkwardness over a discussion of sex was better than keeping everyone's attention on Robbie, who had sat back down and looked more relaxed. Hopefully, it would stay that way.

November 27th, 2008

Thanksgiving was another holiday spent with both packs except this time our families were there too. I wasn't sure what to expect from that or why Emily was so intent on doing this, but my mom was all for it. No one else mentioned it being a disastrous idea despite Halloween. Now they wanted to add family members like Embry's mom who had no idea about us, and they expected it to go well. It was hard for me to get why I was the only one against the idea.

But Emily was over the moon about it, and everyone was inclined to go along with the whims of a pregnant woman. It turned out that was an excellent negotiation tool with the guys. Most of them, especially the younger ones, were worried Emily was going to turn into the stereotypical moody pregnant woman. They were willing to go to great pains to keep her happy, even though she'd shown no signs of mood swings.

The best part of this Thanksgiving was that Nessie was the only Cullen invited. I could still remember last Thanksgiving, the day my mom and Charlie had announced their engagement. This Thanksgiving would have an easy time beating that one.

Bella and Edward had decided to sit out Thanksgiving this year. Apparently, Thanksgiving felt like a pointless holiday to vampires who couldn't eat. Who knew?

I knew the idea of that had bothered my mom at first. She'd been worried that Charlie would be upset over not celebrating Thanksgiving with his daughter, but Charlie was oblivious that Mom was even worried about him. He spent enough time with Bella that one holiday off wasn't too bad of a deal. He'd have his granddaughter at least. Eventually, Mom had gotten that and stopped worrying about it.

A couple of hours into the event itself, I had to admit that things were going better than they could have been. The family members not in on the secret had adopted the same attitude Charlie had used with Bella. They didn't understand everything, but they pretended like there was nothing to be confused about. Even Embry's mother, always confrontational about Embry's strange behavior, was nothing but friendly.

Sure, Seth and Al still weren't speaking to each other much, but they'd tired out of constant glaring. Ignoring on their part made it easier for the rest of us to act ignorant of there being a problem. Especially since they had stepped up their efforts to act fine in order for the holiday to go over smoothly.

Everything was a standard mixture of the average pack get together and the average family Thanksgiving. Nothing noteworthy happened until we were halfway through the meal, and Robbie burst out, "I'm bisexual," to the entire table.

I dropped the hand that had been lifting my fork to my mouth and stared. Judging by the quiet, everyone else was having a similar reaction, but I was too focused on Robbie to confirm that. Robbie fidgeted. His eyes were wide. It looked like he hadn't been planning to say it, and it had somehow come out on its own.

Leave it to Quil to be the one to break the silence again.

"Thank God. That's completely out of the way. Cheers, Robbie." He held up a fork speared with both turkey and ham.

Robbie flushed and stared down at his plate, moving some mashed potatoes around with his fork.

"I just wanted to get it out of the way," he muttered. "I hadn't meant to do that until five seconds ago."

"Just think," I said. "Now you don't have to do it again."

He glanced up to give me a halfhearted smile and then turned his gaze downward again. Everyone else was quick to go back to their food, and Robbie brightened up after that. A weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he began talking much more excitedly than he had been at the beginning of the meal.

A/N: This is the second-to-last chapter of this story, but there will be a third. (It may be a bit before it's out though because of stuff that I'll talk about a bit more at the end of the next chapter.) I'm going to try my hardest to get the last chapter up tomorrow, but I can't guarantee that it will be.