like you do | leah clearwater

not a kid anymore

Juliet felt like she couldn't breathe every time she saw Bella and Edward sitting on the couch together. Her heart jumped, horrified at how close Bella was comfortable being with one of them. Bella had, rather selfishly, given Charlie an ultimatum the day after she got home. Either Edward was allowed to come over, or she would move out. Charlie had no choice but to allow it, setting certain hours he could come over. After school until nine, and weekends from ten to ten. Juliet thought it was far too much, but she knew why Charlie didn't want to push it any farther. She'd begun spending any time that she wasn't working at Sam and Emily's, doing anything she could to stay as far away from the house while Edward was there as she could be.

"You're so tense." Leah sighed, her hand rubbing Juliet's back. "I already told you, my mom said it was alright." Juliet ran a hand over her face, letting out a deep breath.

"It's not fair to Sue, I don't want to put her out like that." Juliet's voice was quiet. "She's already dealing with so much with Seth, I..." Juliet frowned. Seth had finally phased, a few weeks after Bella came home. Quil had too, just a day after Seth. It was nice to have him around again, to be able to really talk to him. He'd, of course, forgiven his three friends for being so distant and keeping secrets the second he phased back to his human form.

"My mom will tell you herself, she wants you here Jules." Leah frowned. "Everyone does. Sam...Sam even told me he would let you stay with them, if you wanted to. You need to get out of that house."

"But Charlie-"

"Will be safe." Leah interrupted. "Jared's got him today, Paul does tomorrow. Someone will be following him every day, okay? And watching the house at night. Nothing will happen to him." Juliet sighed. Leah was right, as she always was, but Juliet just couldn't do it. Leaving Charlie there, completely unaware of the monster that sat in his living room everyday, was too much for her to bare. "Please, Juliet." Leah was begging now. Begging. One look into her eyes, and Juliet broke.

"Someone will be there everyday?" She asked quietly.

"24/7." Leah nodded. "Everyone is ready to do anything to protect Charlie. We won't let one of them even get close enough to touch him." Juliet's eyes nervously flitted around the room before finally returning to Leah's face.

"Okay." Juliet's hand rested against Leah's cheek. "But give me some time to figure out how to tell my dad. This...probably won't be easy for him to understand." Leah nodded, pulling Juliet into a hug.

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"You want to move out?" Charlie's face and voice were just as sad as she'd feared they'd be.

"I just..." She hugged herself, looking at the floor. "I wanna start my life, dad. And it's not like I'll be far. It's just La Push." His face brightened some.

"Oh." She looked back up at him. "La Push. So you'd be moving in with Leah somewhere, then?" Relief washed over her.

"Yeah." She nodded. "We're looking at places right now. But until we find somewhere, I was just gonna stay at Sue's." Charlie looked confused. "She's just...so busy with work all the time, you know? And apparently Seth's been having some trouble so I thought I could help her out, take some of the stress off of her." It wasn't a total lie, though Juliet still hated not being able to tell him everything. She just wanted to scream that Edward was a vampire, to tell him that Bella wasn't safe. But she knew she'd only put him in more danger if she did. Besides, it wasn't her secret to tell.

"Yeah, she mentioned something about that to me the other day." He nodded. He sighed, standing up and moving in front of Juliet. His hands came to rest on her shoulders. "You're such a good kid, Jules."

"Dad, I'm not a kid anymore." She sighed.

"You know what I mean." He huffed. They looked at each other for a few moments. "You'll still visit right? At least call a few times a week." She laughed lightly.

"Of course, dad." She nodded. "You'll see me all the time, I promise. I'll even start bringing you lunch at work if you want." It was Charlie's turn to laugh.

"I get it, I get it." He dropped his hands, sighing. "Go, call Leah. I'm sure she's waiting." Juliet chucked.

"I love you dad." Juliet said as she moved towards the phone, and Charlie moved towards the living room.

"I love you too, Jules."

——————

"This everything?" Jake sighed, pushing the last bag into Juliet's truck. Leah had to work, so Jake had offered to help her move her stuff. She was extremely grateful that Jake had offered.

"It's all I'm taking right now, yeah." She nodded, and Jake shut the truck bed. "When we get our own place, I'll get the rest of my stuff." He nodded, and she held up her fist. "Thanks for your help, man."

"Course." He bumped her fist. "I didn't want you to be here alone, and I had to come down anyway."

"Why?" She raised an eyebrow. He motioned to the shiny red motorcycle sitting in front of the house.

"I had to bring Bella her bike back, didn't I?" She laughed.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you, Jake?" He laughed loudly. "Because holy shit I love you."

"You're getting sappier with your old age." He quipped.

"If I didn't know you weren't practically made of steel now, I'd punch you." She snorted. "Anyway, I should get going. I wanna get started before Leah comes home."

"Don't forget, my dad's doing a cookout tonight." He said as he began to back slowly towards the house.

"Yeah, we'll be there." She nodded. "Hey, tell Edward hi for me!" She called, and Jake laughed loudly again, holding up his thumb.

"You got it." He laughed. She climbed into her truck and rolled down the window, waving to him out the window before pulling out of the driveway.