Blood Moon

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

The Truth Comes Out

As a child, Leah was very close to her cousin, Emily Young. They were more like sisters than cousins, sharing everything, from secrets, to make up, to girlie gossip. This closeness had continued throughout their teenage years, right up until high school, when as a freshman, Leah started dating, and then falling in love with, Sam Uley. They were involved in a serious relationship for three years, when during Leah's junior year of high school, Sam abruptly disappeared, and her life was thrown into upheaval. Two weeks later, he reappeared, without giving an adequate explanation for his absence, and from that time on he was a changed person.

Leah tried to give him space to resolve his problems, hoping that eventually he would feel able to confide in her about what was bothering him. Of course, throughout this tense and difficult time, the one person she relied on to keep her emotionally balanced was Emily. She told her cousin everything, heeding her sage advice to give Sam room to breathe.

"He'll come back to you, Leah. He loves you." Emily said with certainty. "Why don't I come and stay with you for a while? We can hang out, have fun. It will be just like old times."

Eager for some respite from her romantic troubles, Leah eagerly agreed. It was a decision she would come to bitterly regret.

Emily came to La Push for a visit, and that's when Sam saw her for the first time since his disappearance and imprinted on her immediately. That same night, confused and overwhelmed with guilt by his newfound attachment to Emily, he went to Leah and broke up with her.

At first Emily rejected Sam's romantic overtures, going straight to Leah, and telling her that Sam was pursuing her. Feeling upset and completely betrayed, Leah became furious with him and relied on Emily's rejection to keep him at bay.

But a few weeks later, when she found out that Emily and Sam were now engaged in a relationship, she turned completely resentful and blamed them both for her pain, believing that Emily had been lying the whole time about her attraction to Sam.

When Leah first heard that Emily had been mauled by a bear, she was highly concerned for her well-being, but it all turned into rage and bitterness when she found out that she and Sam were together.

During this tense time, with little support from her family, with both parents pushing her to resolve her issues with her cousin, Leah just became more embittered. She didn't want to be near either of them, but then something happened that would dramatically change the course of her life, ensuring that she would never be able to escape the aftereffects of the debilitating love triangle, that however much she longed to be free, her fate would forever be tied with theirs.

Bella was unaware of all this as she allowed Leah to drag her to the edge of the clifftop, away from the curious eyes and ears of the wolf pack. She was regretting her rash decision to go and talk to Leah. It was watching Jared and Kim together which had prompted her to act. Her secret reservations about imprinting, the impact it would have on the future of her relationship with Jacob, beginning to eat away at the insecure part of her brain.

Leah stood in front of Bella, tall and proud, her emotions locked down behind an inscrutable mask. She looked just as beautiful as she always had done, with her perfect copper skin, and eyelashes like feather dusters. The only difference was her hair. Where once it was long and sleek, she now wore it in a short pixie cut. The more severe hairstyle only made her seem more exotic, more mysterious. It made Bella feel small and drab in comparison.

"I didn't mean to – to upset you." She faltered, fumbling for the right words to say.

"Cut the crap, Swan!" Leah snapped impatiently. "Just tell me what you want to know."

"I- I don't want to know anything. I just came over to pay my respects." Bella tried to backtrack, but her excuses sounded weak, even to her own ears. "Harry was one of my father's closest friends, and I – "

"Don't you dare even breathe his name." Leah cut in harshly, her eyes flashing with the anger she was struggling to suppress. "For the last time, Swan…what do you want from me?"

Bella tried to summon up the courage to continue. She quailed under Leah's fury, lamenting again her stupid decision to approach the older girl. Leah was clearly still grieving, her emotions were raw, untamed. Bella didn't blame her for being angry. So much had happened to her in such a short space of time – the loss of Sam to her cousin, then Harry dying unexpectedly from a heart attack. How did a person even begin to deal with all of that?

"I'm sorry, Leah." She said again, trying to keep her voice steady. "It was selfish of me to approach you. I wasn't thinking straight."

"You got that right." Leah fumed. "But we're here now. So just say what you want to say. I'm fast losing patience."

Bella's nervous gaze flicked to the cliff's edge. She worried if she did share what was on her mind with the other girl, that Leah might just get it into her head to fling her off the edge. She wouldn't blame her. Leah's frustration was reaching boiling point.

"Okay, here's the thing." Bella took a deep breath as she finally decided to take the plunge. "I guess you are in on the secret now, just like me. Otherwise, you wouldn't be present here tonight."

Leah's expression became inscrutable as she eyed Bella critically.

"So, I guess you also know about the whole imprinting thing." Bella continued in a rush, her breathing coming hard and fast.

"So that's what this is all about – fucking imprinting!" Leah swore.

The cliffs behind them were a black knife edge against the livid sky. Staring at them, Bella remembered the day Jacob had told her about Sam and his 'gang'. She thought of the boys – the werewolves – throwing themselves into the empty air. She thought about her own infamous cliff dive, another reckless attempt to hear Edward's voice. The image of herself falling, spiraling down to the churning black water below was still vivid in her mind. She could hear Edward's furious, perfect, velvet voice in her head…the familiar burning in her chest flared agonizingly.

Bella put her hand over her racing heart, gasping for breath. She was no longer falling from the cliff, she was now back in her room, her face imprisoned between Edward's hard, cold hands as he kissed her against her will. The remembered sound of his voice now only induced pain and fear, where once it had brought her joy.

Leah stared at her, perplexed. "You are seriously messed up, girl. What is wrong with you?"

Just like a computer can be overloaded, so can the brain. That was what was happening to Bella now. Her ability to process the fear had exceeded her capacity to contain it. Her thoughts became so scattered that it stole her breath, and cut off the rational part of her brain, allowing the panic to take over. What had started off as a concern about imprinting had diverted to the real reason she was struggling – Edward's assault- because that was what it was, no matter how she tried to rationalize his actions.

With black spots forming in front of her eyes, she felt a heavy hand grip her right shoulder. Leah's voice, sounding from far away, urged her to slow down her breathing.

"Copy me." She encouraged, none of her former hostility in her tone. "Breathe in. One, two. Breath out. One, two."

Bella latched onto the sound of Leah's voice. With her hands pressed tightly to her chest, she followed the calming rhythm of the older girl's vocalized commands, matching each breath with each word. Soon her vision began to clear, the tightness in her throat and in her chest eased, and she finally began to think rationally again.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. "You must think me nothing but a weak fool."

"I don't think that." Leah admitted with surprising sincerity. "I've had panic attacks before – the last one being the night Sam broke up with me. Luckily mom taught me how to control them."

Bella glanced up at Leah's face. Her perfect features were no longer twisted in a bitter scowl, but showed pain instead. There was remorse there. An oblique understanding and empathy that was surprising.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Leah. I really am. I can only say that I've been where you are. I know how painfully debilitating a broken heart can be. I let it nearly kill me. It was only with the help of those I love that I managed to survive it – "

"One of those people being Jake?"

"Yes." Bella confirmed with a weak smile. "He was the main instigator. Without his endless patience and support, I don't like to think of what state I would be in right now."

"That's why you are so concerned about imprinting? You're worried that wanted happened to me and Sam could happen to you and Jake?"

"Yes." Bella hung her head in shame. "I never really gave it much consideration before, but seeing Jared and Kim together tonight, brought it all into sharp focus. It spooked me, seeing them like that, so….so…." She didn't have the words to describe it.

"I know what you mean." Leah said, the usual bitterness coloring her tone. "It's sickening, isn't it? It's like they're under some kind of spell. All they see is each other, everything, and everyone around them ceases to exist, ceases to matter."

"Something like that." Bella agreed with a small sigh. She felt tired now, her emotional break down taking its toll on her energy reserves. "This thing with Jacob is all so new – I'm just afraid to risk my heart again – especially after the way things ended with Edward." She winced when she said his name.

Leah looked at her sharply. "I heard he was back in town."

Bella recoiled, the memory of the kiss he had forced on her still fresh in her mind. "Yes, he's back." She choked out.

"For you?"

"Yes – for me." Bella felt nausea rise in her throat. She was scared that she was going to be sick. She clutched her throat, grimacing at the acidic bile burning the sensitive tissue there.

"You don't sound happy about that?" Leah surmised, her eyes narrowing. "Why is that? I thought you would be doing cartwheels. Isn't that what you've been hoping for all these months, that he would come back?"

Bella shook her head. "It wasn't like I expected. It was…it was…awful…so awful."

Tears of shame leaked out of her eyes- shame that she hadn't fought back, shame that she had just lain there and let him kiss her, shame that she had been so frozen, so scared that she hadn't found the will, or the courage, to even defend herself verbally.

"I'm a coward." She cried fitfully. "A weak, spineless coward."

"What are you talking about?" Leah demanded. "Did he do something to you?"

Bella collapsed to the ground, drawing her knees up to her chest, she rested her head on them. "Yes." She confirmed in a pained whisper. "Edward assaulted me." She finally admitted aloud.

A/N-thanks for reading!