The Only Exception

Jacob and the rest were out patrolling. Except for Seth and Leah, who were sitting with me in the living room, doing really nothing.

None of us bothered Emily, who was in the kitchen cooking her worries away. At least she had her way of escaping the pain in her chest. She worried about the man who imprinted on her. The man who was her life.

I envied her for that, because I couldn’t tame the feelings in my chest, the feelings of hurt and worry every time he was away. Nor could I ignore the annoying thoughts that rambled in my head, telling me the worst outcomes of things:

He could get hurt. He could disappear; get ripped from my life within seconds, my love gone in the blink of an eye. The mere thought of it sent ripples of shivers down my spine, and I breathed in deeply.

What would I do if I suddenly lost him? I wouldn't be able to carry on with my life, that was for sure. I couldn't just... go out and get married, have kids. Just thinking about it made my throat hurt as my heart clenched.

I had to get these thoughts out of my head, they were messing with me. Of course nothing would happen to him. I was being ridiculous.

But still, those thoughts swarmed my head within minutes as soon as he was out the door. Immediately, that uneasy feeling would settle in the pit of my stomach and bring my fingers close to trembling if I thought too much about it.

I needed something to get my mind off him, like Emily did with her endless baking and cooking. I needed something to tame my emotions, my thoughts. But what?

My innocent, unending thinking was interrupted by Leah, who sat diagonally from me on the couch. She gave me a small glare before rolling her eyes. I didn’t expect this.

“You should stop with your moping around and just ignore what’s going on. Everything is going to fine.” Leah grumbled, her eyes were fixated on mine as her hands pulled at the thread coming from the couch.

I chewed on my bottom lip, taking everything in. “I’m not moping, I –“

Leah scoffed and shook her head, “You think everything is going to be ruined and you’re scared – I get that. But seriously, we don’t need your depression and anxiety around here.” She’d stomped out of the room before I even got the chance to think of what she just said.

Sitting back in the chair I sighed, I had a lot more to think about now. While I played with my fingers, I glanced over to Seth, who had flopped onto his belly and was currently looking at me.

“Can I help you?” I asked as nicely as I could.

Seth shrugged and let out a breath, “You shouldn’t let Leah get to you like that, Braylin. She’s just doing that to make herself feel better.”

Tilting my head to the side I asked, “How so?”

Clearing his throat, Seth pushed himself so he was leaning over the arm of the couch. “She’s probably the only one around here that anyone can’t stand. All she does is make rude remarks and comments to us when on patrol and not.”

Again, I didn’t really understand what he was trying to say. He got my message from the look on my face and shook his head, smiling a little.

“You know about Sam and Leah, right? That whole crazy story?” I gaped at Seth, no, I hadn’t known a thing. Once again, I wasn’t told something that apparently everyone else did.

Seth, rolling his eyes, explained. “Before Emily had ever made her way here, and before Sam ever made his transformation, it was Leah and Sam that were together.” He paused, letting that sink into my mind.

I nodded at him to keep going. “Well, yeah, they were together – and completely in love, I tell ‘ya.” Seth rolled his eyes, I got the signal that he didn’t like Leah and Sam’s mushy relationship – if you could call it that.

“What happened?” I asked quietly.

Seth, once again, sighed, “Well after Sam’s transformation, he wasn’t around a lot, and that worried Leah to the point of where she’d lock herself in her room because she was so sick with worry and anxiety. But once he’d come back, Sam and Leah were together again – but Sam never told Leah about the wolf thing.”

Making an ‘o’ shape with my mouth, I nodded, urging him to continue. “But everything really changed when Emily came up for a family visit. Leah was actually looking forward to introduce Sam to Emily. But she, of course, ended up regretting it when Sam looked into Emily’s eyes and got lost. Leah was heartbroken. She felt betrayed and didn’t trust anyone. She doesn’t even trust Sue.” Seth sighed, looking down to the floor and shaking his head.

I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked, and confused on this. I hated knowing that no one would tell me things. This proved the question that I now had to ask myself. Could I trust anyone to tell me anything, anymore?

Of course, the answer would be, no.

“I’m sorry that, that had to happen, Seth. But thank you for telling me.” I said.

Seth shrugged and fell back down onto the couch. “Sure, sure. But it doesn’t bother me. She just hasn’t learned to let go. She needs to know how to put others before herself.”

My mind began to spin as the last of Seth’s words ran through my ears and around my brain. He was right; Leah did need to learn how to put others before herself.

And the same went for me.

It was all the same – almost. Our lives were definitely different but this one thing, this one thing Leah and I had in common. And if she couldn’t learn to put others before her, I’d accomplish it first.

The idea instantly flashed into my head. Oddly enough, I was sure to be attacked by vampires. The reason? Well, that’s unknown. But what I did know was that if half of these vampires were being formed to kill me, or do whatever with me – all because when they caught Bella’s scent, they found mine and called for a double kill.

I would have to put the others before me – the ones that I loved – and make sure that whatever I were to do, no matter who I hurt or who hurt me, I’d need to let go, too.