Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Catharsis

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 04:

During the weeks following the concert, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Sam still hadn’t phased with the pack, nor had he told anyone that he had imprinted on Bella-and that included Bella. Six weeks had gone by since the concert, and today, they were working on figuring out an assignment for Physics class.

They were on the roof of the Swan’s house when Chief Swan came home together with Tribal Chief Billy Black and Elder Harry Clearwater.

“What the hell are you kids doing on the roof?” Charlie asked, just as they dropped a box down from the roof.

“Well?” Harry asked, looking at the box, as he helped Billy out and into his wheelchair.

“We are working on our physics assignment. We have to drop an egg from the roof without it cracking”

“Just wrap it up in my old, letterman’s jacket and drop it. That’s how mine stayed safe.”

“Charlie, that was a damn fluke. You didn’t do your assignment so you charmed the cafeteria ladies out of an egg and prayed that it didn’t break. The spirits were with you that day, my friend,” Harry said. He looked up at Sam and Bella. “No matter what, don’t bundle it up in a tissue box between a bunch of tissues. It doesn’t work.”

Meanwhile, Billy reached down and picked up the box that they just dropped-the tissue box with the now cracked egg inside. “Ha-ha! They just tried it your way and failed, Harry!”

Harry shook his head. “You should have come to see me first.”

“Great! Now what are we supposed to do?” Sam wondered out loud. “We just used all the eggs from my mom’s fridge.”

“Don’t worry, we still have the six in our fridge.” Bella nodded her head.

“First of all, you need a bigger box-one of those boxes that hold a dozen bottles of wine is perfect. You also need bubble wrap and cotton batting. Go and find those things and come back here. I’ll help you with the project,” Billy said. “And no, Charlie’s idea of using a letterman’s jacket is a bad idea.”

“Dad, do we have bubble wrap or batting?” Bella asked.

“No, but you can take apart one of the pillows in the guest room,” Charlie suggested.

“Good idea.”

“And you can ask Old Quil for the box and the bubble wrap,” Harry recommended.

“Sounds great.”

“And while you’re at it, take this money and grab us a case of Rainier.”

“Uh, we’re minors, I’ll have you know.”

“Just tell him that we sent you on an errand.”

“Uncle Harry, you’re really a bad influence,” Bella informed him.

“I know that.”

Her father handed her another twenty. “Have Joy do up some chicken wings for us while you’re at it.”

“Dad, this is only enough for the three of you. What are Sam and I supposed to eat?”

Charlie dug out another twenty. “Is this enough?”

“That should do. Thank you. It was great doing business with you.”

The three fathers chuckled as Bella and Sam took off for La Push.

“Sam and Bella look happy,” Harry noted. He knew that his daughter played a large part in breaking his heart and he felt guilty for it. The effects of Leah imprinting on Sam’s brother had taken a toll on the poor kid. He was happy that he was back in school and making friends. He was also happy that Bella was no longer with the bloodsucker.

“Yeah, they have the same friend group, and he’s her physics partner for the year,” Charlie noted. “I’m telling you, things have been great so far this year. She’s a lot happier. On Wednesday night, I came home from work, and there must have been a dozen kids in my kitchen baking.”

“Baking what?”

“All kinds of stuff for a bake sale to support the prom. Some kids were baking, others were sitting at the dining table, packaging things up. We also had a stream of deliveries coming into the house of baked goods from area families.”

“Did you help them?”

“Of course I did. I was the taste tester.”

That got both Billy and Harry laughing out loud.

---

Meanwhile, Bella and Sam were at Old Quil Ateara’s store getting the supplies.

“I can’t sell you beer. You should know that. You’re both underage.”

“Bella tried to tell Elder Clearwater, but he insisted you would.”

Bella raised her right hand. “On my honor, I swear that Sam and I won’t drink this beer. I mean we went to a Keith Urban concert in Tulip and had soda.”

“Tulalip, Bella-not Tulip,” Sam corrected.

“Yeah, there. Anyway, we’re honest kids. All we want to do is complete our physics assignment.”

“And we need our dinner-we have forty dollars for chicken wings. If you can throw in some fries, we’d greatly appreciate it,” Sam added politely.

“Spirits,” Old Quil cursed. “Alright, I’ll load the beer in the trunk for you while you’re waiting for the wings. I can’t have you be seen carrying it out. The things I do for Elder Clearwater.” He shook his head. “Now what else do you need?”

The kids told him about the project and he quickly gave them two boxes and a whole bunch of bubble wrap from deliveries he’d received. He also gave them advice, “If I were you, I’d nest the egg in a cot-like contraption within the box. You can make it out of pipe cleaner. Let me see if I have some. Watch the store for me for a second.”

While Old Quil loaded the beer and went looking for the pipe cleaner, two customers walked into the store. “Crap,” Sam muttered under his breath as he realized it was Embry and Leah.

“Hi, Sam,” they both greeted.

“Hey,” he replied.

“What are you doing here?” Leah asked.

“Oh, uh, Old Quil is helping us with supplies for a physics assignment.”

Leah looked up to see who the other person was. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Bella-Bella Swan. Bella, meet Leah Clearwater and Embry Call.”

“Oh, really nice to meet you,” she greeted. “I know your dad, he talks about you and your brother Seth all the time. He’s super nice. He’s always over at our house on the weekends.”

Leah was taken aback by how friendly the girl was. She expected the famous vampire girl to be an aloof bitch, but this girl was actually quite nice. She had heard, through rumors, that she had been traumatized by her ex and was actually in counseling to get through it. Still, she wondered what Sam was doing with her. Of course, she couldn’t ask him because he was still barely speaking to Embry and her.

Bella, meanwhile, was carefully keeping an eye on Sam. He seemed very upset in the presence of Leah and Embry, but she had no idea why. The three of them all stood around awkwardly staring at each other. Bella simply watched them, while twiddling her thumbs.

While they were standing there, another customer walked in, picked up a box of Cheerios and some baby wipes and went to the register to cash out. Old Quil still wasn’t back yet, and Sam was still in a stare down contest of some kind, so Bella shrugged her shoulders, went to the register, and rang the lady up.

After the first customer, there were two more customers.

“Wow! I should hire you to work here,” Old Quil stated, noting her ease with the cash register. “Where did you learn to use a cash register?”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been working part-time since I was fourteen. There are no cash registers that I can’t use.”

“It’s good to know. Come and see me in the summertime.”

“Sure, sure, but I usually work at Newton’s in the summer.”

“Well, consider it then. I know where to find you so you won’t get away so easily.” He winked at her, and then said, “I found the pipe cleaner. Try to make a nest for the egg to keep it supported. You can have these.”

“Thank you.”

Old Quil handed Sam the chicken wings and fries. “You two kids better get going if you’re going to finish your homework. Let me know how it goes, Sam. Come and visit me again, Bella.”

They thanked him and left the store. Sam didn’t bother saying goodbye to Leah and Embry. He just drove off as soon as Bella was settled into her seat.

After a few minutes of silence, Bella decided that she’d had enough. “Alright, what gives Sam? There was so much tension between you and your so-called friends that you could slice it with a knife.”

Sam chose to focus on the road, ignoring Bella.

“Oh, so you’re going to ignore me now, huh? Well, if you feel it’s better to keep it bottled up, you go ahead and do that. I will tell you, though, that I personally feel better when I talk to someone. Why do you think I go to your mom?”

“Can you be completely honest with her?”

“Yep, we have no secrets-absolutely none.”

Sam highly doubted that. It wasn’t as if Bella could discuss vampires with his mother. “Come on. Everyone has secrets.”

“With your mother-no, I have no secrets. I’m completely honest with her.” Bella sighed. “Listen, I’m not a professional counselor like your mother is, but I am your friend. If you need to talk, I’m here for you. Truly, I am. I will listen to you without judging you. I promise.” She smiled at him. “You know, maybe after we finish this assignment, we can grab some ice cream at Sully’s.”

“That sounds good. Thanks for being my friend, Bella.”

“You’re welcome, Sam.”

---

As soon as they completed the project… scratch that… as soon as Billy completed the project, Sam and Bella took off for some ice cream at Sully’s. They grabbed their cones ‘to go’ and went for a drive in his truck.

They had a silent ride until Sam mustered up the confidence to talk. “Leah is my ex-girlfriend,” he admitted.

“Ah,” she replied. “I’m assuming that things didn’t end too well between you?”

“Embry Call is my younger half-brother. Things happened which were out of my control-out of anyone’s control, really-to break us up.”

“What happened?” Bella asked just as she realized that Sam had driven them to the Cullens house, and parked.

“They happened,” he replied, pointing to the empty house. “They caused a lot of problems for our tribe-especially for some of us younger Quileutes.” He turned to Bella and realized that she was staring at the house with a blank expression on her face.

“The Cullens caused problems for a lot of people. I should know, I… I dated Edward Cullen,” she whispered.

“I know.”

“Do you think I was stupid for dating him?” she asked him, looking straight into his eyes.

“No. I think you were used by him. Vampires have the power of allure. They can lure humans in to be attracted to them. It’s how they get their food.”

Bella wasn’t surprised that Sam knew about vampires. His mother did, so why wouldn’t he know? “And what about wolves? Can vampires lure wolves in?”

“No, wolves kill vampires.”

She nodded her head. “Are you a wolf, Sam?”

“I am. Are you going to stop being my friend?”

“Never. You will always be my friend. Always.” Bella reached for Sam’s hand and patted it. “You’re hot,” she noted.

“Thank you very much. I do my best.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your temperature runs hot. I suppose it makes sense, considering vampires are the cold ones. Now, tell me, what happened between Embry, Leah, and you.”

“I’ll tell you, but it’s not a pretty story.”

“Well, try me. I’ll listen.”

“Two years ago in September, I had everything going for me. I was a star football player, I had dreams of going to college, and I had a girlfriend, whom I thought was my world. That all changed when the Cullens moved to town. Because I went to school with them, I changed into a wolf almost immediately. I had no idea what happened. All I know is that I roamed the woods for two weeks until Old Quil ran into me in the woods while he was hunting. He knew what I was and helped me change back to human form, and then he explained what had happened. After that I was too embarrassed to go back to school.”

“Wow, that must have been harsh.”

“It was,” Sam admitted, before continuing his story. “Anyway, I spent my first year as a wolf making sure no vampires came into La Push. I also scoured the archives and learned all I could about previous wolfpacks. Fast forward things by a year, and four other wolves changed, Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote, Embry Call, and Leah Clearwater. If it were just them changing, it wouldn’t have affected me so much, it was the fact that Embry and Leah imprinted on each other that changed things.”

“How did it change things? What’s imprinting?”

“Imprinting is the wolf’s way of finding his or her soulmate.”

“Ah… I can see where that would be a problem.”

“It was horrible. You see, wolves can communicate telepathically while in wolf form, so I was subjected to all of their thoughts the entire time we were phased together. So, I knew that they felt guilty, but also that they couldn’t help but love each other. I also could see them having sex with each other. That about killed me because I thought I was in love with Leah at the time.”

“Are you still in love with her?” Bella asked.

“No, I’m over her. It’s still uncomfortable being around them, though.”

“I can see why that would be the case. I don’t ever want to be around Edward Cullen ever again.”

“You won’t be, if I can help it.”

“Thanks, Sam. You’re such a good friend.”

Damn it! He didn’t want to be just her friend, but at this point, that’s all he was to her.

“Why did you bring me here, Sam?”

“I don’t know. I guess… I guess I needed to break it to you that I knew Edward Cullen was a vampire. Can you tell me what happened between you and him?”

“Are you ready for a long story?”

When Sam nodded his head, indicating that he was ready, Bella dove straight into an explanation of what happened between Edward, the Cullens, and her. At certain points of the story, he became angry on her behalf, especially when she told him about the incident in Arizona with James.

“You said that there were two other nomads with this James guy. What happened to the other two?” Sam asked, with a worried expression on his face.

“The dreadlocked guy, Laurent, went to live with another vampire coven called the Denalis in Alaska. The other vampire, a female named Victoria-James’ mate-simply disappeared from the area.

“Wait a minute. Are you saying that the Cullens killed James and didn’t do anything about his mate?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Bella, can’t you see? You could still be in danger. If Victoria comes back for revenge, she’s going to come straight for you.”

“That’s what Jasper said, but Carlisle insisted it would be inhumane to kill without provocation.”

“We’ll get back to that. Tell me the rest of your story.”

Bella explained everything thoroughly to Sam, who held his emotions steady until the very end when he heard that Edward had flung her into a table.

“That abusive prick! It’s a wonder you weren’t injured more than the cut on your arm.”

“I know.”

“We can add physical abuse to the list of the boy wonder’s more heinous accomplishments together with emotional and mental. Grrr! I get angry when I think of what he did to you!”

“Well, I get angry when I think of your ex-girlfriend and your brother. How dare they invade your thoughts with their private ones. Can’t they control what they think? I mean Edward wasn’t able to control his telepathy, but Jasper and Carlisle were able to block their thoughts from him. Why can’t you do the same?”

Sam stroked his chin with two fingers. Could they control their thoughts? If so, how? He really needed to delve into the archives again because there had to be a way to keep private thoughts to oneself. He had a right to keep his thoughts to himself, didn’t he? And so did everyone else. As alpha, he had a responsibility to learn all he could about the state of being a shapeshifter.

“You know, I’ll have to research that. Maybe you can help me?”

“I will. I mean I figured out that Edward was a vampire on my own. I know a great bookstore in Port Angeles we can go to that might have some information. I’ll show you where it is.”

“Can we go tomorrow?”

“Sure, we can. Just pick me up at my place in the morning.”

“I will.” He turned to her and smiled. “Thanks for listening to me.”

“You’re welcome, Sam. Now that we have everything out in the open, we can be completely honest with each other going forward. No more secrets.”

“Right. No more secrets,” he agreed, except for the fact that he failed to tell her that she was his imprint. That was a pretty big secret to keep.