Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Twilight saga, Stephenie Meyer does.

-Leah-

I snuggled my face into the pillow, drawing upon my energy reserves to find the will to get up and change clothes (as well as wash my face and brush my teeth). My energy reserves weren't enough however, so I crawled under the thin covers and tried to relax and clear my mind so I could sleep. Before succumbing to the lull of sleep, I detachedly thought that there was a bright side to the news that Rachel had presented me with.

Derek wasn't a drunk.

-Alex-

I shivered and pulled the blankets tighter around me, allowing myself to curl into a ball. Despite my body's insistence that I sleep, my mind refused to rest. It kept on trying to think about everything that Leah had said tonight and that was a topic that I didn't want to go near. The possibilities were scary as hell.

I switched my thoughts to Rachel before I could think too much about those things, and a claw of guilt scratched at my stomach. I had been a bad boyfriend. I made her lie to the police. I hurt her by avoiding the mention of marriage -and to rub salt into the wound, I overall dragged out our relationship because I was a coward and wasn't man enough to just end it all. The list of reasons could go on and on. I guess that mean that I'm not only a cruddy boyfriend, but a bad person too.

Am I worse than Leah?

Which is more of an injustice? Killing someone to protect others or hurting someone to protect yourself? I hugged my knees to my chest, a chill running through my body.

Exactly how far would Leah go to protect the secrets of her tribe? Would she really kill more people? Her tear stained face flashed through my mind; her horrified expression after witnessing the morning news; the way she hugged me back after I assured her that she had used her best judgment…

What if I told someone about the werewolves of the Quileute Indian Reservation? Would Leah's best judgment decide to kill me?

I covered my mouth with my hands, mortified. My first thought was Leah would never do that. My second thought was oh yes she would.

There was a thud in the kitchen. Panic crushed my lungs and another shiver coursed through my body. I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened the grip that I had on my face; determined not to make a sound. Whether the sound would have come out as a cry or a scream, I wasn't sure.

As much as I would have preferred to feign sleep, I realized I couldn't. Whoever was in my house would only come and find me. Hoping the intruder wasn't Leah, I shakily climbed out of bed. I tugged the sleeves over my hands and crossed my arms, wanting to preserve what little heat I had.

As quietly as I could manage, I left my room and padded my way down the hallway. I ducked into the bathroom and listened for any other sounds. Footsteps. My front door opened and then shut. I rushed out of my bathroom and into my living room and to the door. I opened it and peered out. A figure was leaving the apartment building with something tucked under their arm. As the door shut behind the man, I decided that I didn't really care. The past few days have been so abnormal that being materialistic sounded petty.

Let the thief steal my laptop; it was old anyway.

I went back inside my apartment and turned on the shower, needing something other than layers of clothes to obtain warmth. I stripped quickly and was about to step into the running water when the weight of what I had done halted my movements. I had just allowed someone to steal my laptop.

The dump-worthy computer had the essay on it.

Cursing aloud, I pulled on my clothes -not bothering with socks or a hoody- and ran out of my apartment faster than I had ever thought possible. I followed the shoeprints to the road where they disappeared.

Someone had the Quileute Legends in their possession, and it was all my fault.

I trudged back to the shower again with numb feet, and told myself that there was no reason to panic. The man might have been a friend of Leah's. Maybe even…shoot, what were their names again? I know they told me on the phone…Sam! It could have been Sam, or even her brother, Seth.

I let out a relieved sigh and poured some shampoo into my palm. It was probably one of them. Leah was leaving in the morning -which it was by now- and she would need a ride home. She probably didn't want to wake me up by calling…

I felt sick; the uneasy, hollow feeling that you get when you spin around too many times too fast. My chest ached and my throat felt tight. As I lathered the shampoo to my scalp, I decided that I was one messed up son of a gun. Not even a half an hour ago, I had been contemplating the likelihood of Leah killing me; and now I was wishing that she could stay at Peninsula College.

I had started thinking about what I should say to convince her not to leave, when I stopped myself. Not only was it kinda pathetic, the act of asking her to stay in general was stupid. The longer Leah stays, the chances of her being found out increases. And I don't think either of us wants a repeat of Stephen Mayor.

--

My meal-plan was pretty good and for that, I was thankful. I filled my plate with breakfast foods and headed towards the usual table. I changed direction, however, when I remembered that the mundane table consisted of Rachel. I knew that we had agreed to stay friends, but that didn't necessarily mean that I was forgiven. I sat with some guys that I knew well enough and ate with them.

Five minutes through breakfast, Sean interrupted the conversation. "Alex, would you face your girlfriend already? She's been looking this way since you sat down."

"Hmm?" I hummed with a mouthful of pancakes and turned around. Sure enough, Rachel was looking at me. She gestured to for me to come over there. I held my index finger, signaling for her to hang on a sec.

I swallowed and grabbed my plate. "Thanks." I nodded to Sean.

"Oh wait, before you go, have you seen Derek?" asked Evan.

"Nah." I said. "He had a little too much to drink at the party last night."

"Really? I thought he stopped drinking because his dad won't hire him if he does that kind of stuff."

I shrugged. "Maybe the stress got to him."

Sean and Evan made noises of agreement. I took my plate over to my usual table and sat down next to Rachel.

"What's up?" I asked, ignoring the few glares that were sent by her friends. It was official. I was labeled the ex-boyfriend. Rachel looked at them and smiled half-heartedly. And as if the smile was some kind of code for 'please leave', her friends made excuses and left.

Rachel sighed tiredly, her smile vanishing. She looked up at me. "Leah left. She wasn't in bed this morning or anything so…I guess I was just wondering if she had said anything to you."

"No, she didn't tell me anything."

Rachel stared at the barely-touched food and I could see the tears in her eyes. "So she didn't tell you?" she asked quietly.

"Tell me what?"

"About what Derek had told her."

I had no idea what she was talking about. After a long second, it clicked. Rachel was talking about how Derek had lied to Leah about me dying. How did she know about that? I didn't think Leah would tell Rachel about that…

"It was because of me."

"What?"

"Derek told her that stuff because I had asked him to. I felt bad and told Leah the truth and she got upset with me. So I was kinda hoping that you've talked to her."

Numbly, I looked down at my plate and decided that I wasn't hungry anymore. I stood up and threw my plate away. After a moment of indecision, I chose to walk back to the table instead of leaving the cafeteria.

"So you just asked and Derek agreed?" I asked, hardly able to believe that it was that simple. Hell, just thinking that he actually told Leah that I was dying while sober was bad enough.

Rachel glanced at me and then hesitated. When I sat down next to her, silently telling her that I wasn't going anywhere, she began to poke at her food. "No, he didn't just agree," she said quietly. "I…I got to go. My class starts soon."

Rachel stood up abruptly and left before I could stop her. She hadn't even thrown away her food. I left the abandoned plate there and headed back towards Sean and Evan.

God, I wished Leah was here.

Awesome A/N: This fic got nominated for the Indies Twific Awards for Most Original Story Line!!!! See my profile for the link to the website.

Important A/N: To those of you who are reading my Paul fic, I am rewriting it. Not only so it can be better but because the theme of the story has changed. I will update but it won't really be part of the story -just a filler chapter because it is against rules to post an authors note as a chapter. Also, my Collin fic WILL BE CONTINUED.

Not as important A/N: This fanfiction is going to be long. I have a plot idea and it's a dangerous one; I just hope it isn't too cliché. Thank you so much to all of my readers (that includes you phantom readers who read but never review)!! I am really, really sorry about the lack of updating. I never expected my summer to be so busy…Love you all and thank you a million and one times for sticking with me through this story! ;)