AN:

Thank you to Wotcher-Tonks for pointing out that it's not exactly clear why Embry and Quil are on the same "frequency" as Jake. I had it in my head that they eventually joined Jacob's pack sometime after the Final Showdown with the Volturi, but I can't find where in Breaking Dawn it says that. So I might have imagined it. But even if it's not cannon, I've seen it in "fanon," and in this fic, Quil and Embry are in Jacob's pack.

Secondly, Leah's descriptions of Bella are biased, and Leah isn't always a nice person. As readers of SM's books, we've spent a lot of time in Bella's mind, so we know her a lot better than does Leah. Leah sees Bella from the outside and filters what she sees through her own issues. (I think Bella's actions in the books especially with regards to Jacob would seem quite selfish if they weren't narrated by her). Leah is also doing a fair amount of projecting her own fears about being with Jacob onto Bella and imagining Bella wouldn't approve.

Just like Leah doesn't know what's going on in Bella's head, Bella doesn't know what's going on in Leah's head. Bella was distraught after her daughter turned up missing. Furthermore, Leah has been so cruel in the past that it's not likely that anyone (here, Embry and even Bella) is going to assume that she's being nice, even when she's trying.

Lastly, Embry doesn't really think Leah can even be nice, since he's borne the brunt of a lot of her teasing in the past about his father.

Whew! If you thought that was a long author's note, wait until you see the one at the end of this chapter!

Jacob's panic is palatable. Shit, Nessie, what happened? is just about the only thought in his mind. Over and over. He's tweaking. And he hears me think that. But unlike Bella, he doesn't care.

How long have we been out here searching? It feels like hours. Definitely at least two, thinks Quil.

We don't even know if she's out here. That's Embry. He's not really in a good mood. I guess his nose still hurts.

Of course she's out here! Where else would she be? Shit! Oh god, oh god, oh god…. Jacob, of course.

Jacob, seriously, calm down. You're no good when you're freaking out like this. I think in what I hope is a "nice" way. Embry, Quil and Seth all chime in their agreement.

Wait! I think. I'm the farthest out. Up in the mountains. I think I might have smelled something. Not sure though, checking it out. And in just a few minutes, Edward's at my side. Damn the boy can run fast. I wonder if I could out run him, or any of his family. Then again, I wasn't really running, since Jacob doesn't think I can run and smell at the same time.

"You smell something?" Edward asks.

Yeah, I think so. Not sure… I think I've got it again, there!

You've found her? Jacob asks, hovering on the brink of relief. Scared to relax, in case it's a false start.

"Nessie!" says Edward, and Jacob hears it through me. I hope Edward will fill me and the Pack in, and of course he hears my thought. "I can hear her! We must be getting closer!" he says, overjoyed.

Relief washes over Jacob, too. It makes me feel better, having him feel better. Damn hive mind.

Edward and I are running as fast as we can now, toward where Edward hears her thoughts. I wonder if she knows we're coming. "No," Edward tells me.

I get to her first; guess I am faster than the loveleechy. She's in a clearing. Thank god she's alright! Oh, Nessie! That's Jacob. Anyway, the clearing is a small one. And it's very, very far from her home. How did she get this far? Leah, ask her if she's alright! She's sitting there, fine as can be. Next to a boy. Who?I kind of recognize him, like I saw him through one of my packbrother's thoughts. Nahuel, Jacob thinks. He's a male Nessie. What are they doing?

Uh, Jake, this is Quil, now, cutting into Jacob's monologue that was cutting into my monologue. Just watch what Leah sees. She can't possibly answer all your questions that fast. And it looks to me like Nessie is in one piece. As Quil thinks it, his thoughts carry lots of support for Jacob. He knows if Claire ever went missing, he'd be nonfunctional.

Edward runs to his daughter. She startles when she sees him. I can't tell if Edward's angry or relieved. Relieved that Nessie's okay; he's hugging her and covering her with kisses. It's actually almost cute. But he doesn't seem too happy with Nahuel. The boy interests me. And that's what he is, too. A boy. He looks no older than seventeen, he's older than that, thinks Jacob, who is racing as quickly as his lupine legs can carry him toward the clearing where his imprint is. Mr. Nessie in action. That's how we know that Nessie is immortal.

What do you mean, he's a boy? That's Seth, hurt because he's seventeen, too.

He still looks younger than Edward, and Edward's allegedly seventeen, too. What I mean is that guys your age aren't men yet. Nor are girls.

The only girl I know who is a man is you, Leah. Embry. Still being a jackass even after his nose got broken.

Shut up. I mean boys aren't men at that age and girls aren't women. It's like… a development thing. Teenage boys have different musculature than guys my age. And then I accidentally picture Jacob's chest. And shove it out of my mind as quickly as possible. Uh, like how Jacob looks older than Nahuel. Nice cover, Leah. Jacob does look a lot older than his years, and certainly a lot older than Nahuel.

Leah, we all know you're deprived and haven't gotten any in a long, long time, but seriously, stop thinking about the development of male bodies and focus on Nessie. I know Jacob would appreciate it. That's Embry. I don't know if I've mentioned this but Embry's an asshat.

Jacob is silent. Trying to block out his thoughts. I wonder if he's just trying to ignore the "Leah hasn't gotten any" comment.

Tell the leeches that we've found her. Jacob, and it's an Alpha command. The others start howling. I can barely hear them. Damn, we're spread out. Add "messenger for the bloodsuckers" to our resumes, I guess.

I wonder if I should go over, closer to where Nessie is with her dad. Or if I should run off and leave them in peace. Edward looks up and waves me over. "You might as well. Jacob will be here in a second." And sure enough, Jacob breaks through into the meadow.

Nessie is in Edward's arms, but she reaches out to pet Jake. Edward and I can both see what she's telling him.

"It didn't work, it didn't work, it didn't work," she says, or thinks, or shows. Whatever the hell you call her particular brand of communication.

"Honey, why would you ever want to run away?" asks Edward, still clearly distraught.

But that's not right. That's not what Nessie is trying to show us. "It didn't work." This time she says it audibly, her voice sounding much older than the 5th grader she looks like. And then I make sense of the picture she's showing us. It's Nahuel. Biting her.

Christ.

It takes a lot less time to get back to the house. Because we're running top-speed, and straight ahead. Not that I even know why I am going. Seriously, Leah, we should just go, thinks Quil. Come on guys, we really, really do not need to get more involved with these ridiculous vamp problems.

Yeah, Jake, catch you later, dude. Embry, saying goodbye. The two of them run with us awhile longer and then veer off toward the Rez. Seth is just as confused about what to do as I am. It really doesn't concern us, I guess, but Seth's friends with Edward, and I'm friends (really?) with Rosalie and Alice… so….

The only thing Jake can think about is to worry about Nessie and what she's thinking and why in the hell she told Nahuel to bite her.

Seth, let's go home, baby bro. I think.

Yeah, okay, that's probably best….

Wait. That's Jacob. You Clearwaters, come back with me.

We'll just be in the way. I think, but Jacob's sends his adamant refusal. Typical male, not listening to reason.

My brother starts to argue, Uh, Leah? Isn't that—

Seriously, you two, shut up and just come to the Cullens'. Things are about to get really bad and you guys can help keep everyone calm. Jacob again.

Jake, you sure I'm the best person for that job? I think.

But we go, anyway. I just want to see what the hell is going on with Nessie and this Nahuel guy.

Bella's in the center of the room, clutching her baby daughter and covering her face with kisses. Nessie is clasped to her chest while her mother shakes in relief, and probably a thousand other emotions. And then everyone else gathers around, every one of the leeches petting Nessie, saying how glad they are that she's okay. "Nessie, Nessie" everyone's saying. For about five mintues.

And then Nessie says, yes, in her audible voice, "Why is everyone treating me like a child?" And the girl sounds kind of pissed.

"Because you are a child, honey," says Bella, still stroking her daughter's ringlets.

"Am I, mother?"

"You've been alive for less than four years…" Bella says, still in her comforting tone.

"And I look like I'm older than that, and mentally I'm much, much older."

And at that moment, I'm truly grateful that I'm not a part of this family. Because, seriously, I thought I had issues.

As for Nahuel, when he moves Edward looks up and glares at him. "Don't go anywhere. I'm not finished with you," he practically growls. I've never really seen Edward pissed before. It's slightly terrifying.

They've been talking and arguing for hours. Good thing I don't have anything better to do with my life. I'm on one of the sofas. Rosalie is sitting next to me. She's spent at least an hour holding hands with Nessie trying, like everyone else, to figure out what the hell is going on. Nessie tried explaining it with her voice, just so everyone (Esme, Carlisle, Mr. and Mrs. Loveleechy, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice… I don't think Seth, Nahuel and I really count as participants) could hear. And now she's touching them, showing them. I think everyone sort of knows, now, but no one understands.

So now Rosalie is with me. Talking about what Nessie said and what she showed. As if I have anything to contribute to this conversation.

Oh. Am I comforting her? That's…. weird.

She's just mostly saying, over and over again, that she had no idea Nessie felt this way. That's basically what all the other bloodsuckers are saying, too. Everyone feels responsible. Rosalie, because she's Nessie's aunt, the one who defended her when she was inside Bella, killing her. Because she's one of the primary caretakers of Nessie, after Edward and Bella.

Jacob's doing the same thing. He's imprinted on Nessie, so he should have seen this coming. Edward and Bella think they are failures as parents. Alice feels responsible because she can't See Nessie, except that maybe she can. No one knows what to make of that. But Alice feels guilty—if her vision was of Nessie, then why couldn't she see more? Esme and Carlisle hate themselves because they feel like they should have the most experience with childrearing. Jasper and Emmett are just sort of generally feeling bad because everyone else is, I guess.

They're also trying to figure out how Nessie managed to give them all the slip. (I don't really care how she did it. It just seems to me that she's a hell of a lot smarter, or at least more devious and clever, than any of them gave her credit for being.) She keeps explaining over and over that she wasn't running away. She just needed to try this. Try being bitten. Why? Well, because Nahuel is the male of her species. He has venom; she doesn't. She wanted to see what the venom would do to her. Would it make her a vampire? She would have asked one of them to bite her, but none of them would have agreed, she said.

This revelation does not please Jake. He doesn't understand why Nessie wants to be bitten. She tries to explain to them all that it's not even about being a vampire. It's about… and here she has trouble explaining. It's about being something. Something that makes sense. No one understands. Except…I might. But I don't say anything. I don't even know why I'm here.

So I tell Rosalie it's not her fault. She's staring at the ceiling. I say it again, and I mean it. "Honestly, she is probably just, you know, unsure of her place in the world."

"How could she be unsure? We all love her. We all love her so much," Rosalie says.

Sleep is nice. Sleep is very nice. At times, one might even say sleep is nicer than sex. I wish I were having it right now. Sleep, I mean. Or, actually, I wouldn't say no to sex, either. I roll over. Sex with Jacob could be pretty nice. He wasn't bad at the whole making out thing. Okay, he was really good at it. I'm blushing just remembering it. Both times. In the forest and in his room. Oh god in his room. That was pretty hot when he was on top of me. I can't believe he pinned me like that. Bold move, Jacob. I approve.

I never made out with Sam in the forest. Once, in an empty classroom during lunch at school. That was at the start of my junior year. I thought guys were supposed to like that kind of thing—getting action in strange places. Granted, school isn't that strange, and we were just kissing, plus some awkward pawing at me on Sam's part…. But still. And the sad thing is it was definitely my idea. I dragged him into that classroom. Maybe Sam is just incurably boring in that respect.

I wonder if Jacob is like that too. But since he pinned me so quickly… maybe not.

I roll over again, Scott whimpers in his sleep. Damn dog, sleeping when I can't. I look at my clock. It's 2:37 am. I wonder what Jacob's doing, and I wonder what Nessie's doing. Probably sleeping. She's probably tired after her exciting day of running away and throwing her entire family into an unholy panic.

Maybe Jacob is sleeping over there. On his giant dog bed. I could go over. And what? Seduce him? Cuddle with him? Then I wonder if Nessie already is (cuddling, not seducing), and the thought makes me irrationally jealous. Why should I care? It's not like she has breasts or anything.

It's 2:34 now. Yay time passing. Seth and I left the Cullens' house… nearly two hours ago? Mom was nearly fit to be tied, us running off after vampire problems like that. But I guess Seth had actually called her on his cell once we found Nessie, so she was slightly more okay than she would have been otherwise. I wonder if she told Charlie. I wonder if Charlie even knew his granddaughter… was what? On a secret date with some dude form the Amazon? That's actually kind of funny.

Well, what else was I going to do on a Friday?

Sleep, Leah. Stop imagining making love to Jacob. God, how did I even get this way?

I wait until afternoon to call Rosalie. I called Jacob, first. But Jacob, of course, doesn't have a cell phone. So I call his home phone and Paul answered. Freaking Paul. He said Jacob wasn't there. Then he asked what was going on with the bloodsuckers and why were we all running around—their pack heard us howling. I told him that I wasn't going to reveal important pack secrets to him. Sam, or Jared, Sam's beta, maybe. Or they could ask Jacob. And I said it with as much bitchiness as possible. Jake would be proud.

So anyway, then I call Rosalie. She, at least, lives in the 21st century and has a cell phone. She says that everything is fine. "Really, fine," she says, but she sounds tired. I tell her that. "Leah, vampires don't get tired."

"Well, maybe you're hungry?" I suggest. And then I'm appalled that I am having this conversation with a vampire. Come to think of it, her eyes were getting pretty black.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm going hunting with Bella and Esme tonight. So maybe I'll see you tomorrow, after I get back?"

I tell her yes. She says Alice is around, and wants to talk to me—Rosalie says she wants to know about the whole kissing-Jacob thing. But she also says that Alice has her hands full right now trying to deal with the Nessie situation. I think the leeches are spending a lot of time talking together.

"Oh, yeah, as long as we're talking about Jacob, um, I made out with him again."

"Really? When?"

"Er, yeah, sort of right before Bella called to tell Jacob that Nessie was missing."

"So were you like going at it when Bella called?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Damn," She says, and then there's a pause. "I'm not sure what to say. Awhile ago I would have said that the Mutt should have been guarding Nessie and then she wouldn't have run off. But, I've talked to Nessie….I don't think it would have mattered." She sighs, and then continues, "I think a lot of it is just trying to assert herself, like you said last night…you know, we've kept her at home mostly; until her growth slows down or stops we can't risk sending her to school. So that's the first thought on my mind. The second is that ew, why would anyone want to make out with that dog."

"Well, I'm just as much of a wolf as he is."

"Yeah, exactly. So, I guess the last thing I was going to say was that it must have sucked to be interrupted like that. Wait," she says, like it's just occurring you her, "You guys were going at it and he answered the phone? I would castrate Emmett if he ever did that."

"He didn't answer until Bella said on the answering machine that Nessie was in trouble."

"Ah. Still."

"Yeah. The worst part was having to adjust my shirt while he was on the phone with her."

"Oh. Wow. So this was going to go somewhere?"

I make a noncommittal noise. "I really haven't given it much thought." This is a lie. It's basically all I think about at night. And other times, too.

She's laughing, because she knows I'm lying. "I'm so glad you called. It's nice to have something to laugh about. Things have been pretty tense over here. Edward's on the verge of murdering Nahuel. It's not even his fault, you know. Nessie wrote him a letter. Who writes letters these days?"

"What, they don't have a special myspace or facebook for mythological creatures?" I ask. She laughs at that. Pretty hard, too.

"That'd be great. Instead of poking you could have 'suck the blood of…'"

"Well, you would. Mine would be 'shed on…'"

As soon as we stop giggling, she says, "So yeah, she wrote him this letter, and he came up to see her. Edward doesn't understand why Jacob's not more angry."

"How is Jacob?" I ask, trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible.

"Oh, he's fine. He's here. I'll tell him to call you—oh, hang on, my husband just came in." There's a pause, and then I hear he speaking away from the phone. "It's Leah. No. Ugh, you are so immature. Leah? Yeah, sorry, Emmett's asking me with rather crude hand gestures if you and Jacob have had sex and I'm telling him to mind his own business. No, Emmett, go away, I'm trying to talk to Leah… No! They haven't….I know because she told me…No, that's different, we're girls, so we get to talk about this…No, we don't talk about you….of course she's being honest with me."

"Rosalie?"

"Yes? Sorry, it's Emmett. He won't leave."

"It's okay," I say, laughing. Emmett's pretty amusing. And then I hear a fumbling noise, like someone trying to take the phone away.

Which is what must have happened, because Emmett says, "Hey, there, Lady Wolf! So guess what?" He doesn't wait for me to speak but says, "I totally went to the store and bought condoms for Jacob!"

"……I see," I say weakly. "Um, what did he say?"

"Oh, I haven't given them to him yet. I'm waiting until this whole Nahuel thing blows over."

I hear the fumbling noise again, and then it's Rosalie, "Sorry about that. Emmett doesn't have any friends of his own. Anyway, um, I promised Bella that I'd tell you that she wants to talk to you."

"Oh."

"Yesterday was not a good day for any of us over here. Bella was in pretty bad shape when Nessie was missing. She knows she shouldn't have yelled at you like that. She's really sorry."

"'Kay. Tell her that's fine. Um."

"She wants to talk to you. She was pretty insistent."

"Oh."

"After she's hunted you should talk to her. Actually, she'll be in a much better mood after she's hunted."

"Yeah, okay," I say lamely. I don't really have anything to talk to Bella about. Nothing. Well, I could tell her about Jacob. Maybe Jacob already has? Maybe they had a little late-night talk last night, sometime around 3 am (or 2:37 am…) where he told Bella that… that what? That he likes me? That he wants me? Except that Bella and Jacob have got their hands full with Spawn. And Jacob even said that when Nessie is around, she's all he can think about.

Which means he probably wasn't laying awake last night imagining my body pressed against his…

Damn. Not helpful.

I know Jake hasn't been home since Friday because I've been calling over there every day. Today is Thursday. It's been basically six days since I last saw Jacob—technically I was over at the Casa de Leeches very early on Saturday morning.

Paul never answered the phone again—Rachel did, on Sunday, though. I guess they are over there a lot, or at least on the weekends. Rachel's almost done with her degree at the University of Washington, but Jake said she comes home as many weekends as she can manage. It's kind of a serious drive, but she's making it more and more, because of Paul. Paul's Jacob's age, too, which is… weird. Kind of a serious age difference, since Rachel's almost a year older than I am. Makes me feel less creepy for how I look at Jake. I wonder how often Rebecca, Rachel's twin, comes home. I guess not often.

Billy answers the phone, mostly. Once I left a message on the machine. I could call over now, see if Jake's back. Or I could eat ice cream. Ice cream it is.

I've eaten the ice cream. The problem with pints is that they go too quickly. Mom's got some casserole in there that I could eat. Except that there's a note that says, "Attention monster children: DO NOT EAT." I guess that means she doesn't want us to eat it. Or something. Yeah, so I eat a lot for a girl. But not as much as the other wolves. I need a lot of calories to run around on pointless patrols all the time. And like, keep my fur glossy.

So I pick up the phone and call. It's Billy. Again. "You're sure calling my son a lot."

"Um, yes."

"Is it Pack business?"

"Um, yes."

"The last girl who called over here this much was Bella."

"Yes. Um…"

"I don't like the Cullens," he says. Points for randomness. I wonder what he would think if he knew that I was friends with a few of them. Not that I will ever be a leech lover. "…My son has imprinted on their little half-bred daughter."

"Yeah, I know."

"The Tribal Council isn't sure exactly what imprinting means," he says, somewhat mysteriously.

"I see."

"I don't want Cold Ones for in-laws," says Billy, somewhat conspiratorially.

"I see."

"You know," he says, in what I think he thinks is a subtle manner, "They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"I can't cook." Why lie?

"You could have Sue cook something and then bring it over here and pretend like you made it." Um. 'Kay. Is he being serious? Is he honestly trying to pimp out his son?

"Then I could have little Quileute grandchildren. That don't drink blood."

Okay, this is awkward. Beyond awkward. Borerline fawkward. Yes, it's a new word. "You'll have that anyway, with your daughters," I say. But honestly, why am I arguing with him? Must just be habit.

"But I could have more."

Okay, so he's greedy. Or maybe he just figures mini-JakeNessies would somehow like bring down the overall mix. Christmas would be hard. Little JakeNessies chomping their cousins. And Rebecca isn't even in the know. 'Dad, why do Jake's kids have that weird glow? Why do they keep going for the throat?' That wouldn't be good. Oh, god, especially if they had boy children. Venomous ones. I wonder what the venom would do to a wolf? Or the child of a wolf? (I care more about Paul's future kids being chomped than I do Paul. Paul's an idiot.)

"You know, male half-vampires are venomous," I tell Billy.

There's a half-second pause, and then all in a rush, he says, "Jake likes lasagna. And steak. How are you at steak? You know, he's not even that picky of an eater. I'm sure your cooking is fine and can you do fish? Jake likes fish. Hell, you could probably just buy something from the store and microwave it—"

"Billy," I say, in what I hope is my most Mission Impossible spy sounding voice, "I'm working on it."

"I'm in your corner," he says in an equally conspiratorial voice.

"And I don't think Jacob wants to marry Nessie, or anything," I tell him, hoping to allay the worst of his fears.

The front door opens and Mom and Charlie come. "Oh, hey, gotta go, Mom and Charlie are home," I whisper to Billy before I hang up as quickly as possible.

Mom looks at me in confusion. "Who were you talking to?"

"No one," I say.

"Hello, Leah," Charlie says, coming into the kitchen. "Um, I had a message on my answering machine this morning….. from Bells…. She asked me to tell you she wanted to see you?" Yeah, so Bella's been calling here a lot, and I've been 'forgetting' to answer the phone. Yay caller-ID! I don't want to talk to Bella. I will probably end up saying something really, really bitchy to Bella and generally making things worse.

"Uh, yeah," I answer.

Mom has a sort of pained expression. She's on the Council and she knows about the shapeshifting, so she has to hate the leeches. It's a requirement to being on the Council. But one of the 'Cold Ones' is Charlie's daughter. Kinda makes it awkward. (or fawkward?) "Honey, maybe you should just go see her," she finally says.

Ugh. Bella could just like, send me a note. Or flowers or something. Flowers with a little "I'm sorry" note attached. Wait, what if she's expecting me to apologize to her?

There must have been a time when my life wasn't this dramatic.

Neutral ground. One of the two coffee shops in Forks. We're having coffees. None of that fancy mocha javachip whipped cream Starbucks stuff. In Forks there's, you know, coffee. We might be close to Seattle physically, but not so much culturally.

Bella doesn't drink hers and instead is thinking about pouring it out into a potted plant near our table. I know this is her intention because she's eyeing the plant and the distance between us and the plant, and also the waitress, to see if she could do it without the woman noticing.

I just sigh and proceed to drink Bella's coffee, too.

"I'm sorry," she says. It's the first time either of us has spoken, outside of ordering. I am about to respond (must swallow coffee first) but she says, "Seriously. I panicked when Nessie, er, Renesmee was gone."

I shrug. "It's okay." I debate telling her if Scott went missing I'd flip out too, and decide it might not be wise to compare her daughter to my dog.

She sighs heavily. "I don't know what I'm going to do. My daughter is very special. And unique. I suppose all parents say that about their children," she laughs quietly, almost ironically (ironic laughter is good in my book. Yet I still hate Bella). "She told me she wanted to meet Nahuel and see if his venom would work on her, but now she is even more discouraged than ever. Nahuel is like her only because of his parentage. He doesn't have her gift, and her gift is something that makes her truly different."

What the hell? Why is Bella telling me this? Am I supposed to care? Is there a freaking sign over my head that says "Please, Bella, tell me your problems?"

But I promised my mom this morning that I'd be nice, so I don't say anything. Just bite my lip, nod, and have a sip. That's going to be my modus operandi for the rest of the conversation. Nod. Bite lip. Sip Coffee. Because I have a feeling we're just getting started.

"You know, Nahuel was at our house this whole time," she says. I do a Nod. Then Bite the Lip. "Well, not really our house. At the main house. Nessie stays with us, of course. Edward doesn't want them anywhere near each other. Except for Friday night, we were all over at the main house all night, still arguing, and she fell asleep there with Jacob. Did you know my sisters got him a dog bed?"

I Nod again and throw in a Coffee Sip to cover that I'm embarrassed, but fortunately she keeps talking. "So yeah, Nahuel's been over with us all this whole time, talking things over. Trying to understand what's going on with Nessie. Not that he really knows, either. But Carlisle got blood samples from him, and venom samples. He says he wants to study him, and Nessie, and he said Jake too. Anyway, Nahuel's leaving today. Edward and Nessie are taking him to SeaTac." She's talking a lot, and Bella never struck me as loquacious. She must be nervous.

"You know, you could just have him fly from Port Angeles to SeaTac," I say. Then Sip my Coffee.

"That's what I said. Edward said he wanted to be sure Nahuel was actually on a plane out of the country. He's not taking any chances. Oh, um, don't tell anyone I said that."

I Nod and Sip my Coffee. Well, her coffee. The waitress keeps refilling both our cups. Oh man, am I going to be wired. She's not saying anything. I guess that means I should speak. What should I say? Let's go with….

"Wait, so, vampires don't sleep, so why do you and Edward need your own house?"

And it's Bella's turn to look embarrassed. She doesn't blush, because she can't. But she looks mighty uncomfortable. "Um, you know, because we're married." Is it just me, or did her voice get suddenly much higher and more awkward.

Oh. Oh, I see. "Your in-laws got you an entire house just so you could have sex?"

She nods meekly.

"How do you not wake up Nessie?" I ask, genuinely curious. Not that I actually want to know anything about Mr. and Mrs. Loveleechy in bed, but like, I have this problem, see, where sometimes I open my mouth and words come out and I can't stop them. It's always made me very popular.

"We're quiet. Sometimes we leave her at the main house. Anyway," she says, clearly trying to change the subject. The only problem is she doesn't know what to change it to. Then she alights on something. "Oh, Rosalie said that you said that you wanted to talk to Jake?"

I nod. And then I contemplate telling her that I'd like to do a little more than talk to Jake. But then it hits me. And no, this isn't another one of my lame evasive maneuvers that I use to get out of doing something I don't want to do. It's not my place to tell Bella—it's Jacob's. She's his best friend, and she's certainly not my friend. So if Jake hasn't told her yet, then I shouldn't.

"He's over at the house. He dragged his dogbed into the forest, you know. I don't know what form he's been sleeping in, but he's pretty messed up about the Renesmee thing. You could come see him….It'd be a nice break from all the drama," she suggests.

Huh. So all this time I could have just wandered into the forest and found him on his dog bed? What the hell?

"Yeah, okay, whatever," I say, really, really excited actually to see Jacob. I've always been especially good at expressing my enthusiasm.

Bella drives me back in her Ferrari, the Ferrari that she clearly doesn't appreciate. I'm not like a car person or anything, but it's a freaking Ferrari. "Oh, it's raining," she says, sounding disappointed. Um, yes. This is the Pacific Northwest. Next thing she'll be lamenting that the ocean is salty. "We'll have to walk up to the house in the rain," she says, as she parks the car in the massive garage.

"Um, are vampires made of sugar?" I ask, before I can stop myself. "Do you melt in the rain?"

And to her credit, she laughs. "No, I just really don't like rain."

"Good thing you live in Forks, then," I say.

She laughs again and nods.

As we enter the house, Rosalie and Alice are sitting on the main floor. They both say hi to me, and look at me curiously, wondering why I'm there, and showing up in the company of Bella none the less.

"Leah wanted to see Jacob about something," Bella begins, "he hasn't been back to La Push since the other night." She says 'the other night' with a certain emphasis. I wonder if it will still be 'the other night' in twenty years.

"Oh, really?" Rosalie is asking, "Jacob is upstairs," she gives me a significant look.

"He left his dog bed in the rain, you know," says Alice, "we are going to have to have it dry cleaned."

"Maybe that was his plan," I say.

"Really? I thought he loved that thing. Good memories and all…" says Rosalie. I glare at her over Bella's shoulder.

"So, I'd go up with you to talk to him," Bella is saying, "but he's asleep, and you're probably much better at waking him up than I am. And also, you probably want to talk about pack stuff or secret shapeshifter business…"

I start for the stairs. It's kinda funny that the bloodsuckers feel comfortable letting two werewolves chill unsupervised in their house. "Second door on the left," calls Alice after me.

It's a different room than had the dog bed in it before. Even the door smells kind of funny, (I mean, the whole house reeks of leech, but this room smells slightly different). Oh. It's Nahuel's sent. Sort of like Nessie's, sort of different.

I stick my head in. There's a massive bed along one wall. This must have been the room they were letting Nahuel use while he was here. Except that now, Jacob's taking a nap in it. He's got his head in the upper-right corner and his feet in the lower-left. And yes, he's snoring. Really loudly. But for some reason, it's cute.

I just stand there for a second. God, he's so freakin' beautiful. It's a cliché to say that someone looks calm when they are sleeping, but he does. All the worries that have been plaguing him lately, about Nessie, about Nessie running off, and even before that, about Nessie and imprinting, seem lifted. Still, there's dark circles under his eyes. Poor boy. He's on his side, with his hair in his face. It's grown out to his shoulders, about an inch longer than mine.

I take a step toward him and then another. And I don't know why, but I kick off my shoes (beat-up sneakers, not the purple pumps) and climb onto the corner of the bed. "Jacob?" I say. He doesn't wake up. "Jake?" I put my hand on his side and try to shake him. He sort of makes a noise of protest but doesn't open his eyes.

I lean over his face and brush his hair back with my finger tips. I could just stare at him for ever. I hover over him and whisper, "Jacob?" and then I bite his ear very gently and start kissing his neck. This should wake him up.

It does. His eyes fly open and he grabs my waist. "Mmm, nice dream," he mutters and then drags me down next to him. I don't know how, but he's somehow pulled the covers over me. It's like being in a tent….

….a Sexy Jacob Love Tent.

Jacob seems to be pretty entertained kissing my neck and he's being a lot bolder with his hands today. Absolutely no hesitation, just straight for my breasts. I grab a handful of his hair right next to the scalp and pull his mouth to mine. After we've been kissing for awhile, he pulls away and looks at me.

"Um. You're very realistic for Dream Leah," he says weakly.

"That's because I'm Real Leah," I tell him and then kiss him again. He looks down at his hand and starts to move it. I put mine on his to keep it there. "It's okay. You can touch me," I tell him.

He blushes. It's cute.

And then in a second he's shoving our bodies as close together as possible. "God, Leah, I need you," he whispers, and I realize that he's not (just) talking about sex. He sets me down and in his eyes I see all the worries and fears are back. I lean up and kiss his eyelids.

"Jacob, it will be alright," I say quietly.

"I missed you," he says quietly.

I know that the only reason we're here, together, with our bodies touching like this, is because Nessie's away, maybe even in Seattle. But I just want to comfort him. And myself, too. No one has ever comforted me this way.

He's just holding me now, trembling. I start petting his head, running my fingers through his hair. God, it's funny, because he's so big…laying on top of me, with his head buried in the crook of his neck. And I'm just running my hands over him.

But the way I was thinking of comforting him had less snuggling. I'm really temped to just take of my shirt and get his mind off all his little Alpha problems. But I really, really don't want Jacob to loose his virginity in the Cullens' house.

Even as I think this, I hear Rosalie down the hall. She's saying loudly, "Yes, Bella, okay, we can go upstairs if you really want to, but let's just go really slowly…"

I jump out of the bed and smooth my clothes. Jacob gets up more slowly, clearly exhausted. "Wait, did Blondie honestly just give us warning?"

I nod.

"You told her?"

I shrug. He looks upset that I divulged our make-out secrets to the blonde vamp. What can I say? It's a girl thing. "I'm going to the hall," I say.

"Yeah, be there in a bit," he says, blushing. I start to ask why he's not going now and then I look down. Oh. Oh.

And god, is it a good thing that they gave us warning, because I'd left the door open. Rosalie is walking down the hall toward me when I pop out of the door. She winks at me. Right behind her is Bella, obviously oblivious.

"Get your pack stuff straightened out?" Bella asks. I nod. She goes into a room farther down the hall. She opens the door and I can see an entire floor-to-ceiling wall of bookcases. Huh. I hear another door somewhere in the house open and shut—I wonder which of the leeches is home.

Rosalie and I are alone in the hall. She flashes me the thumbs-up and whispers, "I wanted you to stop moaning or whatever before Bella walked by and heard."

I smack her on the arm. She giggles. The door across from us, the one to Emmett and Rosalie's suite, opens. Emmett comes out into the hall. "Oh, hey, Lady Wolf."

Jacob comes out, clearly just having gotten himself under control. "Oh, it's Blondie. Wanna hear a blonde joke?"

"Is it better than the ones you've been telling me for the last six days straight?"

But they are interrupted by Emmett, whose face lit up the second Jake came into the hall. "Hey, Jacob, I got a present for you," he says, chuckling. (A chuckle being the male version of the giggle). Emmett disappears for a second and then comes back and throws Jacob, yes, the box of condoms.

Jake just sort of looks at it. And then looks at me. And then looks at Emmett. "Leah, please stop discussing details of your…of my… personal life with the leeches!"

"I didn't exactly tell Emmett anything."

"She told me everything," Emmett says, wiggling his eyebrows. I could just kill him.

Farther down the hall Jasper emerges, hurriedly. "Guys! Whatever the hell you're thinking about, stop it! Edward's just gotten home and he's pissed about you for some reason.

And as soon as the words are out of Jasper's mouth, Edward appears at the top of the stairs.

"What's going on here?" Edward asks, sounding very suspicious.

"What do you mean?" asks Rosalie, the very picture of innocence.

"There is obviously something you don't want me to know about." He says, while I'm trying my hardest to think about Sam and how he broke my heart.

"Well, you and Em are thinking about, well, about sex, obviously, and Jazz…I'm not even going to touch that with a ten foot pole," says Edward, to which Jasper grins. (Remind me to thank the leeches later for their quick ability to cover me and Jake.) And then Edward looks at me, and his expression softens, and he says, "I'm sorry, Leah, I hope my brothers weren't upsetting you." His brow furrows. "Sorry. I thought…" He looks at Jacob. "I thought you had reverted, or something, to how you were before you imprinted. But now I get that you were all just trying to protect Leah."

He takes a step toward me. "I'm sorry, you know, that I hear your thoughts. I don't want to invade people's privacy. And I will never think less of you because you still love Sam." He turns to Jacob, then, "But seriously, get a better strategy for blocking out thoughts. The sex thing is so overplayed by Emmett already."

And it almost works. We almost manage to convince Edward. But something about the idea that I'm still in love with Sam (which I was just thinking as my mental shield) gets under Jacob's skin. It shouldn't. He should know better. But he's exhausted and upset already and so…

I'm guessing he is remembering what happened between us, looking for signs that I was imagining Sam's body above mine, and not his. Because Edward snaps his attention back to Jacob. And glares at him.

"Stop it!" Edward demands. And Jacob realizes what Edward has just seen and he throws up his hands.

"It's not like that," he stammers.

"I thought you'd imprinted on my daughter? I thought you didn't think about sex anymore! And the least you could do is leave Leah out of your twisted little fantasies!"

I don't know what Jacob's thinking, but I know what I'm thinking, and what I am thinking is that they probably aren't fantasies. They've probably happened.

Edward's mouth falls open. And then, for the first time, he looks at what Jacob is clutching. Emmett's box of condoms.

"Oh!" says Edward. There's a pause. Jacob's probably mentally explaining that particular piece of evidence. And that all we've done is make out. "Okay, I've got it! You made out! Stop thinking about it! I really, really don't want to know what Leah tastes like!"

"Damn!" shouts Emmett and high-fives Jacob. "You move fast, boy!"

"Edward means kissing," I say quickly.

"Oh. Well, I want my high-five back," Emmett says to Jacob.

Edward, meanwhile, is glaring at Jacob, "Bella and I didn't kiss like that until we were engaged!" He says it really huffily too. It would be funny if he didn't look like he's about to rip Jacob's throat out.

Emmett steps forward toward Edward and sort of manhandles him toward the stairs. "Okay, Edward, let's just go down here and you can read Proust or play the piano…" and he literally picks Edward up and carries him downstairs.

"Why were you thinking about Sam?" Rosalie asks as soon as Edward's gone.

I roll my eyes at her, "The same reason you and your husband were thinking about sex. I do it when we're in wolf form too, to block out other thoughts—I mean, lately. Obviously I used to think about Sam for actual reasons," I turn to Jacob and tell him, "and you should know that that's only a cover. Okay?"

"Of all the people I thought would freak out about you guys, Edward's not one of them." says Rosalie thoughtfully. Jasper nods—he's come all the way out of the room and into the hall.

Jacob moves out from behind me and leans against the wall. He sighs and begins to explain, "before Edward and Bella got married, when I really really liked her, couldn't help but think about her, and stuff, a lot. Anyway, it sort of drove Edward crazy, but I guess I wasn't the only guy doing it. When I imprinted on Nessie, I….couldn't think about, you know, kissing—

"—sex," interjects Rosalie.

"So Edward was really impressed that I didn't think about what would happen when Nessie is all grown up. But it's because I can't. And anyway, That's more than gross, it's illegal."

"So Edward is upset that you, his possible future son-in-law, still thinks about sex?"

Jacob nods. "But I wish everyone would stop acting like I don't have a choice about marrying her." We hear a crashing noise at the bottom of the stairs and then Edward appears in the hallway. He seems to have eluded his captor. "Okay. Okay, you two have my blessing," he says to me and Jacob. "If that's the sort of man you are, thinking about women other than your soulmate, I don't want you with my daughter."

Edward's really annoying me right now. Acting like making out is a sin. Jake imprinted on a fetus, for crying out loud. Edward looks at me and answers my thoughts, "Jacob should have more respect for your virtue."

"My virtue?"

"If he is going to pursue those kinds of activities with you, he should marry you."

"Oh, my god, Edward, do you hear yourself?" I say, loudly. "It's second freaking base. Boobs. Do. Not. Equal. Marriage!" And of course it is then that Carlisle and Bella emerge from the library room. Carlisle blinks.

"Good afternoon, Miss Clearwater."

"Hi, Dr. Cullen."

Then he notices the condom box in Jacob's hand and says, "Well, that explains the venereal disease conversation. I'm still trying to figure out the dead strippers. Is everything alright here, kids?"

Edward turns to his father and tries to explain, but Jacob cuts him off. "Edward, maybe you and I should just go for a walk?" Edward nods reluctantly and they head downstairs. Jacob smiles at me over his shoulder.

Farther down the hall, Alice sticks her head out of a door. "What just happened? What did I miss?"

I leave. Because it isn't my place to stay and explain things to anyone. Rosalie already knows what's going on, and Alice, Jasper and Emmett, too. And I don't care what they tell their family.

And Jacob doesn't call me that night. I guess he's busy explaining things to Edward. I wonder if he tells Bella, and what he says. I try to sleep, but I can't. So in the very early hours of morning, I leave my house. Maybe running around the Cascades will clear my mind.

But Jacob is standing there, outside my house, in human form. He startles when he sees me. "How'd you know I was out here?"

"I didn't."

"Oh," he says, and there's an awkward pause. "Um, Leah…I wanted to say goodbye to you before I left."

What? Of course, Edward talked him out of this. God damn I really hate my life sometimes. Stupid men, just as soon as you think you've found one—

"I just need some time…to think…" he says, that tired old male cliché.

"Just break up with me already," I spit with as much anger as I can muster on very little sleep. But he takes a step toward me and puts his arms on my shoulders.

"First off, does that mean we're dating? Second off, I'm not breaking up with you, Leah. I'm going to Canada. And it's not to get away from you, it's to get away from Nessie," he says it gently, like I might bolt.

"Did Edward put you up to this?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No. You're the first person I've told. And I meant what I said last month about how jealous I was that you could just leave. So I'm finally making a decision."

I hear what he's saying, but I don't want him to. "Did you borrow Edward's Play Book and get to the chapter called 'leave the girl?'"

"Leah, I'm not Edward. And you are most certainly not Bella."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you aren't going to fall apart and do tons of stupid shit to get my attention while I'm gone. I need to do this. Leah… I want to be with you. But I need to figure out what's going on with this imprint thing. I need to get away from Nessie for awhile. It will do us both good—her and me, I mean. It's too…co-dependent. I need to find Jacob again, the person I was before I imprinted, and the person I can still almost be when she's not standing right in front of me."

"And you think you are going to 'Find Jacob' in Canada? You think he's hiding under a rock up there?"

He just sighs and pets my arms. "This is going to be hardest thing I've ever done. To leave behind an imprint, well, it's supposed to be excruciating agony. Like being cut into pieces by glass shards. But if it doesn't kill me, then maybe when I come home I'll know what the hell is going on with me." He takes a deep breath and looks me in the eye. It's hard for me not to break eye contact, but I don't. "When I come back, I want do deserve you. I want to make love to you, and I want you to know that you have me and not just the pieces of Jacob that Nessie hasn't claimed yet."

"We could make love now, before you go," I say, and I mean it almost as a joke. I make snide comments when I can't deal with emotion. Again, another trait that's made me very popular in the past. But it's not entirely a joke, because I feel like if I wrap my legs and arms around this boy, this man, then maybe everything will be alright.

"If we made love now then I'd never leave." He smiles at me almost sadly and then leans forward and kisses me. It's I who breaks it.

"Jake, you're coming back, right?" I ask, my voice betraying emotion that I don't want him to hear.

"Sure, sure," he says, and then realizes I need a better answer. "Yes. I am. But while I'm gone, you're in charge of the Pack." He pauses, and then adds, "and check in on Nessie every once in a while for me, okay? Remind her that I meant everything I said when I gave her the promise bracelet."

"What? Jacob, imprints are nontransferable."

"I know. But I think she needs you right now more than she needs me. "I don't have time to wonder what that means, because he reaches into his pocket and pulls out two slightly crumpled envelopes. "And give this to her, okay? And there's one for Bella."

He hands me the letters and I look at them. "What, I don't get a letter?" I ask.

"No. But you get me. Notice I'm not saying goodbye to anyone else."

And then we kiss. It's somewhere between the gentle kisses he gave me last week after Bella interrupted us and the rough, hungry kisses of… well, the rest of the time. Our tongues press together and oh god I don't want him to leave.

But eventually we stop kissing. And he pulls away. "Leah, I'm sorry…If I don't leave now, I won't be able to." Before he disappears into the early morning mist, he turns back and says, "Be a good beta-Alpha for me, Tiny," and then he's gone. And somewhere out there the largest Russet wolf ever to walk the earth is running.

When I get to the Cullens' on this most detested of errands, Nessie's already waiting for me on the lawn. Wordlessly I hand her the letter. She just looks at the envelope and looks at me.

"In many of the books I've read, men often explain themselves through letters. I thought it was merely a literary device."

Her mother comes out of the main house and sees me there. I hand her the other letter and she starts to ask me thousands of questions. But I'm not paying attention to Bella, because Nessie is looking at me. And then she says, in her tiny voice, far too mature for her, "Do you love him, Leah Clearater?"

I say nothing, but she holds her hands to me and I let the pictures wash over me.

I'm not sure how long we stand there like that, with the fog condensing all around us. But at some point, the others have come out of the house, and Bella's read her letter and wants to talk to me. I look over Nessie's head and see Jasper.

"Nessie, honey, Leah needs to go right now, but she'll be back later to talk to you, okay?" Jasper says quietly. My eyes meet his and he mouths one word to me, "go."

So I do. Bella tries to stop me, but Jasper says something to her and just like that, I'm gone, too, and echoing through the fog I hear, "you were wild here, once." But it could just be my imagination.

The morning fog has burned off, or at least it's not here this high up. I'm in that special place in the woods on the mountain where I used to go to not think about Sam (Okay, to wallow in self-pity about Sam). The place where I kissed Jacob after the wedding.

Without the fog, it's actually sunny up here. Honest to god sun.

I stay in wolf form, because this time, there are no tears I need to let fall. It's strange, but I'm…not sad. Not angry. Happy? Maybe.

Up here, all I can see as far as I look is sun hitting fur trees on mountain after mountain.

So I sit for awhile, basking in the endless daylight.

AN: Yup, I put up the whole giant chapter at once instead of splitting it! So if you aren't dead yet, then yay!

You may have noticed that this fanfic is now listed as "complete." I know what you are thinking—but it's not over! Jacob and Leah haven't fully gotten together! Yes, I know. But this fanfic is Leah's story. The next part of this story is Leah's and Jacob's and Nessie's, and yes, I've already started writing it. I thought about making it one giant fic, but I sort of wanted to keep the length down (it's a little too late for that, I know. But a long fic with one story arc is okay, but with two story arcs is getting a little silly).

Sometime around Chapter 3 of this fanfic, I started wondering about things that would happen after this part of the story, and some of the scenes are so firmly etched in my mind that I must write them.

It's going to center on questions like: what would happen if Nessie started school? (Yeah, I know there are a lot of those out there, but mine will be a) Blackwater and b)narrated by Leah and c) not about Nessie's high school drama.) Even more importantly, what are the other wolves, especially Sam's pack, going to think about Leah and Jacob? There's going to be a lot more happening at La Push, and more Wolf Drama than you can imagine. And yes, it will deal with what exactly is going on with Nessie with the biting thing, and with Alice being able to see her and many other things besides.

And this is my promise: The first chapter will involve the Return of Jacob. None of that New Moon stuff.

So I'll be putting up the sequel as soon as possible. If you're interested, check it out. I'm considering "Red Sky at Morning" as a possible title.

So please, please review! I love reviews! Reviews make me happy! Reviews will help inspire me to put up Part II asap. And thank you, seriously, thank you, to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you. You warmed my little Blackwater heart!