dark paradise

chapter two: home again

For the first few weeks after her father's death, Leah had been on Layla's side. She had stuck beside her sister when Seth ran off to Sam, and they had both burned with fury when their mother and Billy had told them it was completely normal. Nothing about her father's death had been normal. The funeral had felt rushed, and Sue (because she hadn't acted like Layla's mother ever since her dad had died) had even allowed Sam to say a few words. Even after he had crushed Leah's heart a year before hand.

Yet, one day after school, when Layla was sat completing some work for her senior year, Leah had come home ecstatic. She talked to Sue in hushed tones before sprinting out of the house, and Layla only just caught a glimpse of Jacob Black's car driving away.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing Layla, it doesn't concern you. I have to go tell Billy the good news!" Ever since then Leah had barely talked to her sister, instead choosing to run around after stupid Jacob Black. Layla had decided to put all her energy into her studies and her duties in the ocean. Her grades had gone from C's to A's, yet her family still decided to celebrate Leah going from F's to D's because her life was 'very complex' at the moment. It was such bullshit. Layla had never felt more alone.

~~

"It's here! It's here!"

Leah had come squealing (when did Leah ever squeal?) into the room, placing down a large box that seemed to contain a cake. Layla racked her brain from where she was sat at the table doing some chemistry but she couldn't seem to remember it being anyone's birthday anytime soon. Well, besides hers in three weeks. She was the middle child, born 13 months after Leah, and it was obvious that her parents had not planned to have her.

"Oh he's going to be delighted! This will be the best birthday he has ever had!" Sue gushed to Leah and Seth, before running off and bringing back a big banner and a packet of balloons.

"What's going on? Who's birthday is it?"

The room goes still as Sue turns to face her other daughter, her face going a bit pale.

"Oh, well," she begins, turning to Leah for help, "It's Paul Lahote's birthday today and we're throwing him a party."

Layla stared, dumbfounded at her family, since when was anyone friends with Paul Lahote? She rolled her eyes, it's not like she would be staying for this stupid party even if she was invited. No doubt Bella Swan would be here trying to crawl her way into Sam Uley's pants and Layla did definitely NOT want to get in the middle of that. No thank you.

"Why the fuck are you throwing a party for Paul Lahote?" she spits out once Sue had left the room, turning to face Seth with fire burning in her eyes. Leah and Seth both take a step back, never seeing such anger in their sister before.

"He's our... friend," Leah stutters before gaining her confidence back, "And besides, it doesn't concern you. You're not invited. You're not in Paul's family." Paul's family? What was Leah babbling on about? The only person in Paul's family was Sam Uley since they were distant cousins, and possibly Embry Call if the rumours were anything to go by.

"You're not in Paul's family either," Leah bites back, stiffly holding her hands by her side, "You're supposed to be in my family." Seth wrings his hands nervously as he looks at Leah, who is frowning at Layla.

"Look, things have happened that you're not a part of. Paul is our family now, alright? If you're going to stand and whine about it, just leave. I won't have you bring down his mood on his birthday of all days."

Layla stares at Leah, not expecting her sister to say such harsh words. Paul Lahote was an asshole, everyone knew it. He was a man-whore who slept around and used to do drugs on the daily. If Leah wanted to get involved with that idiot, Layla wasn't going to stop her. It was clear that her family was in the ocean, not stood in a cramped La Push home.

"Fine," Layla grinds out, "Tell Paul I hope he has a fabulous birthday." She sends one last harsh glare to Leah before turning and stomping out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her. She's that angry she doesn't notice the people walking up the road to her house.

"Hey, Layla, what's wrong?"

She turns to see stupid Sam Uley there, with a stupid worried look on his face. White rage bubbles under her skin as she meets his eyes. This was the man who had taken away her baby brother. Her baby brother who she used to play with everyday, who she used to read books to before he went to sleep.

"Nothing," she snarls at him, the boys looking at each other with worried looks. Sam seems to have gone slack, a far away look in his eyes. Layla turns her rage to Paul, who takes a step back at the angry girl in front of him.

"I hope you have a wonderful fucking birthday," she snaps, "And if you see Jacob, tell him to stop fucking my sister on my bed." She sends Sam the middle finger before storming off down the path towards the beach. If Leah didn't want her to come home, she wouldn't come home.

Once again, Layla found herself stood at the top of the cliff, watching the waves below her. She took one last look at La Push before diving into the cold water. She had until Monday to come back, and she just hoped that Leah had started to feel guilty about what she said when she did arrive back home.

~~

It was Sunday evening when Layla finally staggered through the door. In her rage she had accidentally caused two hurricanes and swam to Australia and back. On a good note though, she had restored quite a bit of the Great Barrier Reef, which had been on her bucket list for a week or so. So all in all, she would say that she had had quite a successful weekend.

As she stumbled up to her house, because all she wanted to do was sleep, she could faintly make out Bella Swan and Leah sitting in their room. Layla groaned internally, Bella Swan was the most self-centered person she knew. But then again, Leah did have an ego the size of the moon so maybe they balanced each other out quite well. What Layla did not expect to find in her house was her mother, Sam Uley and Jacob Black sat on her couch having tea like they were catching up in a cafe.

"Layla, oh my god," Sue cried, reaching up to pull her into a hug, "Where on earth have you been? We've been searching for you all weekend!" Sam and Jacob hung back quietly, clearly not knowing what to say. Through her peripheral vision, Layla can make out Leah, Bella and Seth standing awkwardly by the kitchen.

"You must be hungry, I have some chicken left over, let me go get it for you," Sue claims, before pulling Layla into a hug once more.

"I'm vegetarian," she frowns, pushing her hair out of her eyes, "And I'm not hungry, thanks." Since becoming Poseidon 2.0, she had learnt all about the different vegetarian options in the ocean, such as seaweed, and she found she had a new acquired taste for them. Perks of being a goddess she presumed.

"What? Since when were you vegetarian?" Sue frowns, looking to Leah for support, "As your mother, you need to tell me where you have been. I will not have one of my daughters frolicking off with people who I don't know." Layla rolls her eyes at Sue's behaviour. Seth and Leah were allowed to go running off with Sam every second of the day but God Forbid if Layla takes one night off to herself. Sue probably only knew Layla was missing because Sam told her.

"I've been out, at a friends," she frowns, going over to the fridge and popping open a can of beer, "Look, I'm not talking to you with them here." Layla snarls at Sam who frowns back, clearly trying to figure her out.

"They deserve to be here, they're part of our family now," Leah says hotly, reaching out and wrapping her arm around Jacob. Layla just snorts, feeling a bit more at ease when the beer starts making it's way down her throat.

"They're not part of my family."

"Layla Clearwater," Sue gasps, "You take that back right now." Just another perk of being the middle, unwanted child. Leah and Seth both had middle names, Layla did not.

"No, they're not part of my family. I'm off to bed. See you tomorrow." Layla sends the middle finger to a frowning Leah and ignores Sue's cries for her to 'get back here and apologise to young Samuel and Jacob'. She throws herself down onto her bed and wishes for a simpler time, one where her family all got along.