Chapter 29: Chapter 29

"Be careful." Juliet mumbled into Leah's shoulder. It was time. The pack was headed to the final training session with Cullen's, and then they would set up in the woods to wait for the newborns to arrive. Juliet wouldn't see Leah, or any of them, until it was all over, and who knows when that would be. As much as Juliet didn't like it, she knew the pack had training, and were quite literally built to hunt vampires. "Please."

"I will be." Leah replied. One of her hands was rubbing circles on Juliet's back, with her other hand resting on the back of Juliet's head. "Just stay here, okay? We'll be home soon."

"I love you." Juliet raised her head. "So much."

"I love you too, Jules." Leah smiled lightly before leaning in and connecting their lips. When they pulled away, Leah rested her forehead against Juliet's. "I'll be home before you know it."

"I doubt that." Juliet mumbled, and Leah chuckled lightly.

"Leah, it's time." Seth stuck his head outside. Leah looked back at him and nodded, so he retreated back into the house.

"I love you." Leah's hand left Juliet's hair, her fingers moving softly over Juliet's cheek.

"I love you, too." With a final kiss, and another whispered 'I love you' Leah got up and headed inside, going to meet up with Sam and the boys in the front. After a few minutes, Emily came out onto the porch and sat down next to Juliet.

"It's gonna be okay, Jules." Emily said, holding her hand out. Juliet took it, letting out a breath as she nodded.

"I know, I know."

———————

Emily was in the kitchen, scrubbing it down for the third time in dawn, Kim was at the table, working on her school work, Claire had finally went down for her nap in Sam and Emily's room, and Juliet was sitting outside in the grass. The house was impossibly tense, and Juliet felt like she could barely breathe so she'd relocated outside. It'd been nearly 15 hours since the pack had left, and each second felt like another hour. Collin and Brady had stopped by in the morning, and the battle still hadn't started then. Now they were off patrolling somewhere on the reservation, and they had no way of contacting them. Juliet's eyes scanned over the page, though her brain was barely absorbing any of the words.

'Life isn't fair, it's just fairer than death, that's all.'

Those were all that stuck in her brain. She marked her page and shut the book, letting it drop into the grass next to her with a sigh. It didn't stop the words from repeating in her head. She ran a hand over her face, and was thinking about laying down and cloud watching when a loud howl made her jump. Abandoning her copy of The Princess Bride in the grass, Juliet shot to her feet and hurried inside. Kim was watching the front door intently, and Juliet could see Emily talking to Brady. She dropped her book on the table, sharing a look with Kim as Emily nodded and Brady ran back off towards the woods.

"What happened?" Kim asked quickly.

"No one died." Were the first words out of Emily's mouth. The relief was overwhelming. Juliet leaned on the table and let out a breath as Kim laughed happily. "But...Jake got hurt."

"What?" Juliet's eyes widened.

"There was a stray vampire, one they didn't see." Emily sighed. "Leah...went after it on her own. Jake noticed and went over to help which caught Leah off guard so it attacked. She's not hurt!" Emily hurried at the sight of Juliet's expression. "Jake, though...Brady said the whole right side of his body was crushed."

"Oh my god." Kim gasped. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"I don't know." Emily frowned. "The guys took him back to Billy's, Dr. Cullen is heading there now."

"Billy's?" Juliet's eyes widened. "No, no, no, they should bring him here! My dad's at Billy's!" There was a beat of silence, of worry. "I'm going over there, maybe I can get him out before they bring Jake back." Emily could only nod and Juliet hurried to grab her jacket off the back of one of the chairs. As she ran back to her truck, she dug her keys from one of her pockets. The drive was unbearable. She could only pray that Charlie had either already gone home, or that she would get there in time-though she had no idea how she'd get him to leave. When she finally turned onto the Black's property, she realized it was too late.

The pack, save Sam, Seth and Jake, were all standing outside of Billy's house. Charlie's cruiser was still parked out front, as well as a black Mercedes Juliet could only assume was Carlisle's. None of the guys looked up to acknowledge her arrival, but Leah did. She stomped away from the group as Juliet parked next to the cruiser and was waiting when Juliet finally scrambled out and onto the grass.

"Leah!" Juliet's arms were quickly wrapped around Leah, and she could tell how tense she was. Leah was stubborn, and there was no doubt she was mad at Jake for getting in her way, but Juliet decided to deal with that later. Before Leah could speak, a loud scream of pain ripped Billy's house, loud enough to be crystal clear even with all the doors and windows shut.

"Fucking idiot." Leah mumbled, watching as Juliet looked back at the house. "I had it! If he woulda just stayed out of the way, nothing would've happened." Juliet looked back at up at Leah.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Juliet had realized her hands were shaking until she moved them to rest against the sides of Leah's face.

"We're all fine." Leah shot a look back at the house. "Dumbass." She mumbled.

"Leah, what were you thinking?" Juliet's voice wasn't angry, but Leah wished it had been. "You could've gotten killed! You should've waited for help."

"I don't need-"

"I don't care what you think you need, that was so stupid!" Leah really wished Juliet would just be mad at her. But instead, it was sad, and her eyes were sadder. "Don't you understand what that would've done to your mom if you'd died? To Seth? To me?" While Leah was still angry with Jake, she felt more guilty than anything. "Or if you'd gotten bit? The whole thing was dangerous enough without you running off on your own!" Leah sighed, eyeing the pack behind her. Unlike Juliet, they were angry with Leah. Everyone except Sam blamed her for what happened, but then again, Sam never blamed her for anything. Leah looked back down at Juliet and sighed. "I'm just glad nothing more serious happened, but Leah you were being so stupid." Leah sighed again.

"Come on." She mumbled. "Sam wanted me to go check on Seth, he's at home." Juliet didn't argue, glancing back and sharing a look with Quil and Embry before following Leah to her truck. A few minutes later, Sue's arms were around both girls as they stood in the front yard of the Clearwater house. "We're fine, mom." Leah sighed. "Totally fine."

"I know, I'm just..." Sue pulled away. She didn't have to finish, they knew what she meant. "Come in and rest. I'm cooking, whatever you want okay? And Seth's already taking a nap." They followed Sue inside, and sure enough, Seth was sprawled out on the couch dead asleep. Leah pulled Juliet upstairs silently, and only started talking when the bedroom door shut behind them.

"I'm sorry, Jules." Were the first words out of her mouth. "I'm sorry I worried you, and I'm sorry Jake got himself hurt because of me. I just..." Leah plopped down onto the bed with an exasperated sigh, and Juliet sat next to her. Juliet reached over, lacing her hands together with Leah's. "I know that the guys think I'm just an annoyance. I know that they all hate me, but I just wanted to...to prove that I deserved to be there. That I deserve to be in the pack." Juliet frowned, though Leah didn't see it at she continued to stare at their hands. "I hate feeling so fucking useless all the time."

"You're not useless, Leah." Juliet asserted. "And you deserve to be there just as much it not more than the guys. And you don't need to prove yourself to anyone. The guys are just fucking idiots. They don't see how amazing you are because they're so wrapped up in themselves. Don't let them make you think less of yourself, okay? You're the strongest, smartest, most amazing person I've ever met, Leah. Next to you, they're nothing." This made Leah chuckle lightly. Juliet untangled one of her hands and placed it on the side of Leah's face, pushing gently so Leah would look at her. "You're perfect, Leah. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I don't about perfect..." Leah rolled her eyes. "But thank you." A small smile settled on her lips, and Juliet mirrored it. "I don't think I've ever told you how much I love you."

"You don't need to." Juliet leaned over, her lips brushing against Leah's as she spoke. "I love you, too."