A/N: I don't own Twilight. So here is chapter 85 of Static. We're getting so, so, so close to the end. You may or may not have caught this at the end of the last chapter, but I'm planning to update the rest of this story Wednesdays/Thursdays and Saturdays/Sundays just so I can finish this story out in a timely manner. Ideally, I'd drop all my classes and stay in my dorm writing the entire time so I could finish next week, but I can't. I'm desperately trying to get this story finished by February 1st.

That being said, I'm also getting together this HUGE final author's note that nobody besides myself will probably read, but if anybody has ANY questions regarding the story AT ALL and don't have an account/don't want to log in to PM me, then feel absolutely free to ask them in the reviews for these next few chapters. I have so much to say to my anonymous readers, but… they're anonymous. So if you have any burning questions and want them answered, don't be afraid to ask.

Here's chapter 85. By the way, I lied—this chapter actually starts with a significant amount of Leah x Kim fluff, so if you don't care, Jacob comes somewhere towards the end.

Enjoy.

LXXXV.

you got your moment now, you got your legacy
let's leave the world for the ones who change everything

Bella's funeral was a few days later, just the morning after the wake. Leah woke up long before her alarm clock went off—she hadn't slept well. When she opened her eyes, she was facing the wall against her bed. She stirred, turning over. The early morning light was just slipping through the curtains.

Kim's head poked out from underneath the cover in her respective bed. Her voice was gentle and tired. She'd just woken up, too. "Are you up?" she asked.

"Yeah. Come over."

Kim took off the cover and padded over to Leah's bed, slipping into her comforter. Kim and Leah never wore anything to bed besides underwear and a t-shirt. Their bare legs pressed against each other as they gently wrapped their bodies together in a tender embrace. They intertwined into one figure, one being. Kim made invisible shapes in the space of Leah's bare back right where it began to curve into her backside. Leah ran her fingers through Kim's dark brown curls.

Just one more touch was all it took, and it was a wrap for them. Kim leaned in first, putting her lips against Leah's bottom one. This was how it always started for them, but it knocked Leah off her feet, anyway. Kim knew what she was doing, and she did it well.

Kim worked her mouth against Leah's effortlessly, with her hands grasping Leah like she was afraid she'd go away. Leah felt Kim's fingernails digging into her. It hurt just enough where it was still pleasurable. Kim didn't know how rough she could be at times—for someone so small, she exuded a lot of power.

Leah pulled away for a moment, a natural grin upon her face. Kim was still hard at work, moving her mouth down to Leah's collarbone. Her fingers graced Leah's hipbones, her nails still digging deep.

Leah shifted so she could lay back and rest her eyes, her hands still in Kim's curls. "You don't fight fair," she said, her voice just above a whisper.

"Hmm?" Kim hummed into her skin.

"Your fingernails are getting long."

Kim glanced up at Leah with a certain look in her eyes, and she laid a kiss on her collarbone again. She went slow, carefully utilizing her swift, talented tongue, all while maintaining eye contact.

"It's a style preference," she told Leah. Then she smiled, beaming like the sun. That smile would have knocked Leah off her feet had she been standing.

Leah began to smile back, but her expression was quickly replaced with something much different. She shivered, but not from the cold. Kim touched her, and now Leah was moaning softly.

Leah guided Kim's head up so they could meet to kiss. Leah kissed her gently, her head and stomach still fluttering. This is it, she thought. Bliss.

They kissed for a while, their hands exploring the other's body. They were lost in their pleasant, gasp-filled bliss until Leah's alarm clock made them come back down to Earth.

Kim pulled away slightly, a sad smile on her face as Leah turned off the wailing alarm. Leah sighed, and Kim pressed her forehead against hers, her eyes closed.

"I wish you could stay," Kim whispered.

"I almost wish I could get out of it," Leah admitted.

"I could just get you off instead."

"Sex," Leah said, slightly giggling, "isn't a weapon. And, anyway, I don't think it would be that inappropriate if you came with me to the funeral. You went to the wake last night. You and Bella were still friends."

"I just feel so…" Kim trailed off and moved back, adjusting her top.

Leah scooted back. "What?" she asked. "We all feel bad about what happened."

"Leah, it's my fault she's dead," Kim told her.

"Stop." Leah's tone was suddenly severe. "No, it's not. It's not."

"I gave her the gun," Kim admitted, and that was when the tears started rolling. Something about seeing Kim sad had made Leah a lot more empathetic. Kim had always carried more empathy than anything else. Everyone else's feelings were Kim's feelings, and now Kim's feelings were Leah's feelings.

Leah started to cry, too, and Kim was just shaking her head.

"It was the gun that I used to scare off Jared," Kim continued.

"You didn't put bullets in it."

"Not when I was with Jared. I put them back when it was done, though. I just… I planned to get rid of the gun, but I never did, so when Edward was threatening Bella, I gave it to her. I told her she didn't have to use it, but that doesn't mean anything. I gave her the gun and she used it and now she's gone."

"It's not your fault," Leah said tearfully. "Bella's psycho ex would have hurt somebody, anyway, and you know Bella. She has—she had issues."

"Leah, I gave her the—"

"You didn't tell her to kill herself, Kim. You didn't."

Kim was quiet.

"It's not your fault," Leah assured her. "But I get why you don't wanna come, and that's okay."

"Yeah?"

Leah nodded. "Yeah. Just take care of yourself." She sighed. "I'm gonna get dressed. Jacob's picking me up soon. Are you gonna help me with my makeup or do I have to go in there looking a mess?"

Kim smiled a sad, tearful smile. She wiped her tears away, and then wiped Leah's tears away. "You never look a mess," she told her.

"You have too much faith in me, Bambi."

Jacob was waiting for her in the parking lot when Leah finally entered his car, newspaper in hand. She normally didn't care to read the newspaper, but the front page had caught her eye. It was about what had happened at the beach, and the cover featured a picture of Edward Cullen smiling in a high school senior portrait. The photo was years old, but Leah supposed the media didn't care. Edward had to have a good image no matter what he did or who he was.

"You read the newspaper?" Jacob asked her. He was clad in a black suit and tie.

Leah shut the car door. "I guess I do now."

She put on her seatbelt, and he began to drive to the funeral home. It wasn't that far at all, but he drove agonizingly slow, like he regretted the decision to come.

Leah stared at Jacob as he drove. He had dark circles under his eyes, and healing cuts decorating his face. He looked like he had a lot on his mind—and why wouldn't he? Leah felt bad for him. She was overly glad that he was alive, of course, but she knew he didn't want to be here. He wanted to get out of the badlands before he could get hurt again, but he was still here.

They both knew that, though.

They drove in mostly silence until Jacob said in a tone that was almost bored, "So Paul was a millionaire."

"False," Leah replied, flipping through the newspaper. "Multimillionaire. He won the lottery."

"And he didn't tell anyone?"

"He told me and Kim, but that's it."

"That hardly sounds like him."

"I know." She started to read the article, which mostly focused on Edward Cullen, the Dartmouth pre-med student who had been brutally murdered at the beach (and his killing of Paul was to be blamed on his mental health status, which he had been apparently trying so hard to overcome), as well as his brother, Jasper Cullen, the University of Washington undergrad who had been murdered mysteriously months before by local rapper and drug dealer Quil "Delinquent V" Ateara. It was painted as the worst of all tragedies.

"I'm gonna throw up reading this article," Leah said.

"What's it say?" Jacob asked.

"Just a whole bunch of shit to make Edward and Jasper look good," she replied. "I don't know what father and brother's statuses as a doctor and a lawyer have to do with any of this. Meanwhile, Bella was the pregnant daughter of the chief of police who had mental health issues. Paul was a Mexican criminal with an 'iffy' and 'dangerous' past. Oh, wow—it even mentions how he beat up his alcoholic father four years ago and went to juvie for it. Gotta love that."

"I hate that shit," he said.

"I know." She shook her head as she read the paper. "They even mention how 'hashtag-pray-for-Forks' has been going on for a while. People were trying to donate to Cullens out of sympathy, as if they're not filthy rich. I mean, it's whatever, I get it, Jasper was a cute white boy with a promising future. But where's 'hashtag-pray-for-La-Push'? It was a bloodbath and we can't even get a fucking hashtag?"

Leah kept reading over the bullshit article, and then she heard a choked sob come from Jacob. She turned to him, and she saw that he was crying. She'd never seen him cry before. He was really breaking down, with the tears and red eyes and everything, but he was trying so hard to hold it back. It was too late, though. Far too late. He looked like a small child. It was so hard to watch.

"Pull over," she told him, her voice gentle. They were almost at the funeral home, but that didn't matter. Jacob did as told, and then he cut the engine.

They sat at the side of the road. It was an overcast morning in July, which was typical of the badlands, but everything felt wrong. Out of place.

Leah unbuckled her seatbelt and then leaned over in the car, hugging him tightly. She felt him sob from deep in his chest as he held her. It was a hearty, unapologetic sob. It was actually the first time that Jacob cried since everything had happened. No matter what they were, though, she would always support him. So she let him cry. He cried for a while. He was still crying a little when they switched spots and he let her drive the rest of the way.

Nothing was right anymore, but at least they were in the right place for now.

A/N: So that was that. There's more Jacob/Leah in the next chapter.

Again, if you have any questions about any parts of the story, let me know! I'm putting a Q&A in the final author's note, which will be posted the same day as the final chapter.

Thanks as always,

HS