Justice:
We go to the table and sit down. I'm in between Jake and Lily.
"Sam!" Emily yells from the kitchen
"Yeah?" he responds
"Come help me bring everything to the table!" she yells
Sam gets up and leaves. The whole pack snickers.
"I think we all know who the real alpha here is." Paul snickers
Sam and Emily come back with a ton of food.
"Okay guys I have chicken soup, chicken breast, Caesar salad, mashed potatoes, and bread." Emily announces
I grab a bowl and grab some chicken soup. I'm really not hungry but if I don't eat, Jake will say something in front of the pack.
Watching the pack eat always makes me laugh. They're insane.
I slowly sip at my soup as the pack gobbles down tons of food.
"Are they always like this?" Lily says, mouth agape.
"yes." Kim and I laugh at the same time.
"How are you feeling baby?" Jake leans over and checks up on me
"Better." I answer truthfully.
Being around the pack, my family, has made me feel more like me. Whatever normal was, I'm starting to feel it again.
"Hey guys, where's Leah?" I ask
"Outside, sulking. She's still pissed at Jake." Seth laughs
I'm confused, "Why is she mad at Jake?"
"Jake didn't tell you?" Quil asks
"Tell me what?" I ask
Jake glares at Quil and Seth.
"Tell me Quil." I demand
"We were on our way back to Sam and Emily's house after the newborn fight. There was one more vamp there. Leah was stupid and went after it by herself and Jake went to help her. Because of her stupidity, Jake got hurt and couldn't go get you from the pack house. If Leah wasn't so full of herself, you wouldn't have been taken." Quil explains
My chest tightens as I listen to Quil's story.
"Leah's going to pay." Jake snarls
"Jake stop." I say gently, putting my hand on top of his, "I'm going to go talk to her."
"JJ-" Jake calls but I ignore him. I love Jake to death and I'm glad he imprinted on me but damn. Sometimes he gets so over-protective.
I grab a plate of food and a Coke for Leah and head outside. Leah's sitting on the picnic table outside close to the woods.
"I brought you some food." I say gently as I walk up to her.
"Go away. I'm pretty sure your guard dog doesn't want you around me." she snaps
"Good thing I don't care about what Jake wants right now." I say sitting down next to her and placing the plate in front of her, "Eat. That's the only thing I've heard the past few days. Now it's my turn to say it."
Leah starts eating but doesn't talk, so I decide to talk to her, "I remember this one time when I was little, my family and I were at a park having a picnic and I was being picky about eating so my dad promised me that if I had a hot dog, we could get snow cones. I was so excited about the snow cone, I ate the hot dog too quickly and vomited all over the rest of the picnic." I laugh, "Even after all of that, I still wanted the snow cone."
Leah just looks at me like I'm crazy but then she surprises me and asks, "What happen to your dad? I mean, we all know about your mom and her boyfriend but not your dad."
I sign, "My dad disappeared. I don't know what happen to him. When he disappeared, my mom just couldn't take it anymore and we moved here because of my mom's boyfriend."
"I know how that is." Leah sighs sadly, "At least my mom doesn't have an abusive boyfriend."
"Yeah." I say, "Leah, I just want you to know that I don't blame you. It honestly must suck being the only girl in the pack."
Leah smiles a little bit, "Sam being the alpha doesn't help."
"That has to be awful. I'm sorry about everything that's happen to you. Let me know if you need anything." I smile, "I hope someday we can be friends." then I stand up to leave.
"Justice, wait."
I turned around and look at her. She walks up and hugs me tightly. Surprised, I hug her back.
"Thank you." she says quietly
Jake:
JJ just left to talk to Leah. Personally, I don't want her too. I want her to be here with the rest of the pack and get better. She actually ate today. I'm pretty sure it's just because the pack is here but I don't care.
"So Jake," Sam says interrupting my thoughts, "how's Justice?"
I sigh, "She's not great. She's puts up this front that she's getting better but I don't believe her."
"I told Jay that she just needs to break down. Stop trying to be so strong and just grieve." Emily chimes in
"That's a good idea." I agree, "but I'm not going to tell my girlfriend 'Hey break down because it might make you feel better'. She has to do it on her own."
"I just want my friend back." Lily says quietly. Embry wraps his arms around her and kisses her head.
"She'll get better." I say, looking out the window.
Jay is sitting down with Leah, talking to her. I can't hear what they're saying but I hope it's going well. I really don't feel like fighting Leah today, last time that happen, my imprint was kidnapped by a sadistic bloodsucker.
Then Jay gets up quickly. I stand up from my chair and so does Sam. We're both ready to pounce if Leah phases.
Then Leah does something that surprises me. She hugs Jay and Jay hugs back. Leah looks like she's about to cry.
Sam and I turn and give each other the same, confused look.
Then Jay walks back to the house.
"Well that was weird." Seth says
"That's an understatement." Jared agrees
Jay walks back in the house, "Hi." she chirps.
"Crap! I left the dessert in the oven!" Emily yells and runs to the kitchen.
Justice:
"What was that about?" Kim asks
"Leah and I are friends now." I shrug
"Good luck with that." Paul laughs
Emily walks back in with some brownies and the pack finally stops paying attention to me and goes to the brownies.
After dessert, Jake and I leave. He has patrol tomorrow and wants to rest.
Jake is driving back to his house, but in all honest, I want to go home. I'm ready to see my mom. I want to know how she's doing, get her life back on track, get Mark away from her.
"Hey Jake." I say breaking the silence
"What's up baby?" he says, focusing on the rode.
"I'm ready to go home."
"We are headed home." he says shooting me a confused look before looking back at the road.
I look down, "No Jake. My home. I want to see my mom."
"Absolutely not." he says not missing a beat.
"Jake please! I want to help my mom, get her life back on track, get Mark away from her!" I plead
"Why? So he can hurt you again? You've already been through so much!" he says raising his voice
"So has my mom! Jake, I'll be fine." I say
Jake let's out a sigh, "Fine. But I'm going to have someone patrol your house just in case."
"Thanks." I say, holding his hand tightly.
"I'm not happy about this." he sighs.
"I know. But I love you." I smile
"I love you too." he says looking at me and smiling.
When we get to my house, Jake walks me to the front door.
"Okay, call me if anything goes wrong." he says, concern filling his eyes
"I will."
"And text me tonight." he continues
"Okay."
"And I'll pick you up after patrol tomorrow. We can go out to dinner or something." he says
"Jake! Okay!" I laugh, wrapping my arms around him.
"I'm just looking out for you." he smiles kissing my forehead.
"I will be fine." I smile
"And please eat something." he says
"I did tonight! Didn't you see!" I say
"Yes but you still need more." he says pulling me close
"Bye Old Yeller, see you tomorrow." I say, kissing him lightly on the lips and walking inside.
"Mom!" I call