When Leah looks at Jacob she sees salvation and a major pain in the ass.

When Jacob looks at Leah he sees his saving grace and the only person who can piss him off more than Paul.

Together they wade through all the silly, crazy, messed up stuff life has thrown at them and they both secretly pray for forever, not that they'll say it out loud. Because that's what they are.

They're raised voices and sweet kisses. Bittersweet icing on a cake made of pain and anger with a lovely lonely filling. He isn't Prince Charming and she's no beautiful Princess and their life isn't a fairytale.

It's sweaty faces and tangled bed sheets, whispered words and secret things. Wanting and needing, loving and hating. Rough hands sliding over smooth skin, desire and warm hugs when it all becomes too much. Calloused fingers wiping away salty tears, strong words and slaps in the face, support, a squeeze on the shoulder, a kiss on the forehead. Dark eyes that can't look away. A fire that never stops burning. Dreams and illusions that neither can let go of. They are whys and hows and who cares. They are forgotten, useless memories. They are things better left unsaid. They are yeses and nos and everything in between. They are light and dark, the start and finish, what is and what could have been. They are a mystery. Something undefined. Harmony and discord. They are those who drowned in sorrow but found a life line in each other. They are stubborn personalities clashing over silly things.

A pretty smile, a harsh sound, a broken voice. They're two frayed souls with messily stitched back together hearts. They're everything, totally and completely, the heat that gathers in your stomach, the electricity that sparks throughout your entire body. They claim they're shattered but everyone knows they glued each other back together. They're fear and weakness, courage and strength. They're the sunrise that lights up a cold, dank world. They're the end of bitter feelings wrapped up in thinly veiled insults and the beginning of trust and affection in two snarky packages. They are two puzzle pieces that have been forced together and can now never be ripped apart. A fragile thread, a steel rod that can never be destroyed. They are what takes a barely beating heart and gives it a reason to continue on. They are an endless struggle. They are all the hope and wishes for a future filled with happiness. They are kisses in the rain, dances in the snow, fights on the beach and silence on a cliff. They are what no one believes can last. They are an impossibility. They are the phoenix risen from the ashes. They are castoffs. They are sloppy seconds. They are what someone was foolish enough to give up.

They are love pure and simple. They are the embodiment of the beauty and the tragedy of it all. It killed and saved them. They are what fills each other with hope beyond the stars.

Leah is Jacob's reason to get up and face the cruel, harsh world.

Jacob is Leah's reason to fight back against a life that keeps chewing her up and spitting her back out.

They are Leah and Jacob. And together they are no longer alone. Together they are whole. And that is the promise that makes it all worth the suffering.

The greatest thing in life is to love and be loved. Finally Leah Clearwater and Jacob Black can see the truth in that.

It's what they are.