A/N This came at the urging that Leah is my favorite character in the Twilight Saga. A lot of fics out there portray her very depressed post BD, but SM herself says that isn't the case, and that she's actually relatively happy with being Beta of Jake's pack. Don't believe me? Check out a transcript of the BD concert in LA. I want to write a story portraying her as such. I also remembered that Leah is quite the beauty, and I couldn't help but wonder if she had any admirers while she was dating Sam.

This takes place Post BD, and switches POV every other chapter. Enjoy!

Standard Disclaimer. All Smeyers except for my character I created and this plot.

Book One: Wanted

Chapter One

I arrived in La Push just on schedule. I hadn't been here in the longest time, and taking time off from school seemed like a pretty good idea. It wasn't like I was doing anything there. My mom only sent me there on one request: "Get a degree in something!" She didn't care what. She only said, after she shipped me off, that the next time I saw her, I better have some diploma.

My morals got the best of me. I knew that there was no point in wasting my mother's money, especially since she was the only breadwinner. I got the chance, and school just didn't seem where I wanted to be. I couldn't find any interests in the majors at UCLA in the five semesters I had spent there.

Maybe I was just homesick.

My mom greeted me with open arms as I came out of my car. "I'm so happy to see you!" she squealed.

"I missed you, too, Mom," I smiled, hugging her.

"Wait until you see how much your brother's grown. He's nearly as big as you!"

Big? I couldn't imagine my runt of a brother to reach my 6' 7" height, even if he jumped. My mom must've been exaggerating. He was a good foot under me when I left two and a half years ago. He couldn't have grown that much.

A mysterious figure walked out of my house, coming leisurely over to where my mother and I were. It was definitely a familiar face. I had to look at him once… twice… three times over to finally understand what I was seeing.

"Embry?" I asked.

He smiled. "Yep."

My brother had grown. Not only did it seem visible he went through a major growth spurt, seeming around 6'3", but he definitely had been working out. His muscles were coming out of his shirt, his biceps bigger than my own. He looked more like my age than his actual seventeen year old self.

"Are you on steroids or something, Em?" I asked curiously.

He laughed, his voice throaty and deep. "No, no steroids, Vince. Just grew. You've been gone a while, you know."

"I can see that now," I muttered under my breath.

After I had put my stuff back into my old room, I caught up with Embry and my mother. They said they hadn't been doing anything much different than before I left. The only distinction was that Embry got out more.

"No girls, mind you," my mom laughed.

"Mom!"

I laughed at his embarrassment. At least that much hadn't changed. Embry was tongue tied when it came to the opposite sex. He certainly didn't get that from me. I dated a lot. Not in La Push, but LA had plenty of girls for me. Some more shallow, some more materialistic, but all in all, every girl I'd been with was…

Well, fake, I guess.

"I do hang out with girls, Mom," Embry insisted.

"Like who? And don't go saying Leah. She doesn't count."

Leah.

I hadn't forgotten that name since I'd been gone, but it had been a while since I heard it. In high school, I had always had a special place in my heart for that girl. She was laid back for the most part –although she could have a quick temper -didn't care about what the world thought about her, and beautiful. She was a year behind me in school, but we were only a few months apart in age.

But along with the memories I had of Leah, there was always one thing flowed with it, a sort of "Where's Waldo?" persona.

Sam.

He was her beloved boyfriend. They seemed like they'd last forever with everything they did together. She was just so happy with him. PDA didn't faze either of them, and I'd witnessed my fair share of unneeded make out sessions from the two of them.

And every time I did, my heart stung.

I liked Leah, really liked her. She couldn't compare to any of the girls back in California I was with. Believe me, I tried to replace her, but nothing even compared.

She had some sort of hold on me.

"How is Leah?" I asked quietly.

"She's… well, she's… Leah, I guess," Embry chuckled. "She's her. She hangs with me, Jake, and Quil nowadays."

I noticed one name missing. "What about Sam?"

"He's engaged."

Engaged? They were getting married?

He must've caught on, since he said, "With Emily Young."

My eyebrows rose. "From the Makah tribe?"

He nodded.

"But… isn't that… Isn't she her cousin?"

"She is. It's complicated. Bad breakup, you would call it. But Sam and Emily are getting married soon. Leah's going to be a bride's maid."

"Oh." I knew he was trying to push the subject away, but I let my curiosity get the best of me. "Is she… Is she seeing anyone?"

I could feel my mother's gaze, but I ignored it as I looked at Embry. He looked torn. "I wouldn't, Vince. She… she doesn't date."

Later that day, I sat out on First Beach by myself, just trying to haphazardly get my groundings. Embry had left that evening, saying he was going to go see Quil, and my mother went to his friend Jared's house to talk to his mother.

So Leah was single, but by the way Embry told me, it didn't seem like a good thing. He of all people knew how I felt about her, as one sided and unrequited as it was. I couldn't imagine how she could be by herself, alone. In my mind, she was always smiling. It pained me to even think that she was unhappy.

What was wrong with me? Wasn't this just a little crush or something? I wanted to see her so badly, but I fought the urge to go see the Clearwaters.

Well, I tried to, anyways.

When I went to sleep that night, I didn't think my mind got the memo that I really didn't want to start thinking about Leah all over again. I tried to go to sleep, only to have ideas flow through my mind.

Maybe she's hurt by what happened.

Maybe she needs someone to cheer her up.

Maybe she needs me to cheer her up.

Bring her flowers. See if she even remembers me. It's been awhile. Surely a girl like her has been busy.

A girl like her. It'd been a few years since I saw her. She was average height -about five foot three -and rail thin. She had a long oval face and piercing dark –almost black –eyes. Her hair flowed down her back, nearly to her waist. She had the most beautiful, perfect copper skin, and her long eyelashes only made her eyes look that much better.

Surely some flowers would be nice… and safe. People always give flowers for even the oddest of occasions. Maybe this was one of them; a festive time for the annual "a guy who was a year ahead of you but had the biggest crush ever is now back in town" day.

That should be good enough reason. If that wasn't, then I just simply needed closure from her. See how she's doing, that she's fine, and leave as quickly as I had come.

I chuckled as I drifted. I doubted that was going to happen.

It took me awhile to find a proper florist. I wasn't going to ask my mom or brother, because they would ask too many questions. I looked up in the phone book and found one, but they were closed on Sundays. What kind of florist was closed on Sundays?

Apparently, the first three I called. The fourth one specialized in funerals.

Finally, I came to one. It was open seven days a week. And the most depressing thing they specialized in was graduations. The only problem was that it took me forever to find it. It was outside of La Push, in some building off the highway to the east.

I finally found the address and parked the car. Hopefully, the hardest part was over. Now, I would just get a dozen of the first thing I saw, pay for it, and be on my way.

That was easier said than done. Although the shop was on the third floor of a sketchy looking building, it was covered with fauna. Roses, daisies, orchids, lilies –it was all there.

But I just needed one.

I guess I was visibly overwhelmed, since a small elderly lady came up to me and said, "Not used to this, my dear?"

I shook my head and chuckled. "You guessed right."

"Oh, I'll help you. What's the occasion?"

"Well, it's not much of an occasion. I'm seeing this girl I haven't seen in years –"

Her eyes brightened. "A girl?" she smiled.

I nodded shyly.

"You have to make a good impression. It's been years, you say?"

"Yes. I just want to say hi to her. See if she remembers me at all."

"Remembering… ha!" She seemed to strike gold and hurriedly pulled me to follow her through the rows of flowers. When she finally stopped, she pointed to one. "Forget me nots," she said simply.

They were small purple buds. Something simple, nothing extravagant. Something different than your average bunch of flowers, nothing like the rest.

It was Leah.

"Perfect."

My hands seemed to shake as I walked up to the Clearwater home. The last I heard of them, their father Harry had died nearly a year ago from a heart attack. I couldn't make it to the funereal, as hard as I tried, all because of some meaningless midterm in Economics I couldn't get out of. He was a great family man, and was always kind to me growing up. My father had left my mom before I was born, and I didn't remember anything about him. As for Embry's dad… well, that was unknown to everyone except my mother and me. I knew exactly who his father was, but there was no way I was telling anyone that secret soon.

I rang the door bell, and a man came to answer it moments later. His eyes went wide. "Vincent?" he asked.

I recognized that voice. "Seth?"

He smiled that toothy grin he always had. "Long time, no see," he said as he shook my hand.

"What's with you kids?" I asked. "You're all so big now!"

He laughed. "It's been a few years, Vince." He eyed what was in my hands curiously. "My mom's out in Forks, if those are for her."

"No, not for her. Is…" I had to take a deep breath to be able to say it. "Is Leah around?"

"Leah?" he seemed confused. "Uh, yeah. Hold on a sec. You can come in, if you want. It's freezing outside."

I made my way into the living room and sat on the couch as he went upstairs. My leg was beginning to tremble. This was getting out of hand. It was just a girl. That's all. This was closure. Give her the flowers, say hi, and then leave. Why was she making me so nervous?

Because I've hardly gone a whole day without at least thinking about her.

I guess, if you wanted to, you could just call it a very serious crush.

I laughed inwardly. A crush. Is that all she was to me? Not a strong willed, clever beauty that I never got the chance to be with before I left? Just a crush?

I doubted it.

Some feet padded lightly down the stairs, and my head shot up, taking in the sight.

It was the same girl, but it wasn't. She was a woman. She wasn't skinny anymore. Lean, maybe, but from her shorts and tee shirt –which was an odd ensemble; it was nearly forty degrees outside –you could tell she had feminine curves. She was taller –doesn't anyone stop growing around here? –seeming closer to six feet than five. Her waist long hair was replaced by a short hairstyle, it only coming a little past her ears.

She wasn't as pretty as I remembered her, not as pretty as I had dreamed.

She was even more beautiful.

"Vinnie?"

Any inaccuracies are not intentional. I don't know if it's true, but in this fic, Sam and Leah went out from freshmen year to the beginning of senior year.

Want to read more? Review and alert… Honestly, I don't continue stories unless people ask me to.

Cocoa