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The Cullens had gone to Sweden about one year and a half ago. Since then, the wolves had stopped phasing and could go back to their normal life.
Leah was finally finding her way in the world. She had studied hard and passed the entrance exam for the Port Angeles Community College, where she was taking Arts and Communications classes. She had a part-time job in a local cafeteria, so she could easily conciliate studies and work.
Even though she would never admit, the best part of recovering the control over her body was finally, finally letting her hair grow again. She missed the soft, long silk strands. They were almost at her waist now, and she could wear them the way her mood demanded – bun, low ponytail, high ponytail, french braids.
It was a spring Saturday. She was studying for an important exam in the house porch while drinking a strawberry iced tea. Seth was watching some stupid basketball game, but her current normal human ears couldn’t be bothered by the tv’s noise.
Now, her body temperature was also normal, around 97 degrees instead of 108. She missed this, the normal life, the feeling of the soft vernal breeze. She also missed feeling the real heat, not the one generated by her high body temperature. And she was longing for the day when she would feel so hot that she would have to braid her hair just to feel the refreshing sensation around her neck.
And so she did. She took her dark hair in her hands, only the strands at the top of the head, and started to weave a french braid, capturing the remaining threads and braiding then until it reached her middle back.
“Oh”, she sighed, satisfied with herself for still being capable of taking care of herself as a lady, although that was a funny thought.
After one last sip of her ending tea, she went back to studying the Impressionists – which she found rather boring.
“Hey, Leah.”
The sound of the deep, lively voice caught her attention. Her gaze found Jacob around four meters away from the house.
“What do you want?”
“My tv is not working, so I came to watch the game with Seth.”
“Were you invited?”
“I don’t need that”, he answered with a smirk. Leah wanted to punch him every time he acted so pretentious, but she knew she was no better.
“Of course you do, that is my house and I make the rules.”
“It’s Seth’s too, and I know he won’t mind.”
Leah groaned and rolled her eyes in a dramatic way, then came back to whatever she was reading about Edgar Degas and his ballerinas. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Jacob getting closer. He stood behind her and leaned a little bit, enough to identify what she was trying to read.
“This seems so boring. Seriously, Leah, how can you stand it?”
“Art is not for morons like you, Jacob. A basketball game, in the other hand, fits you perfectly.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Leah laughed, clearly having fun with the situation.
The years had been good for them. They still drove each other crazy to the breaking point. However, it was not in an offensive way; it was their strange, particular way of connecting.
“Your hair is long.”
“Yeah, it’s breaking news.”
“C’mon, Leah. Stop it.”
She looked at him over her shoulder, leaning until her body found the back of the chair. His eyes were analyzing her, she could tell.
“Your is not”, she observed. “Why? Seth and Embry both let their hair grow back, Quil is starting too.”
“I got used to it.”
“I see.”
Leah’s attention flew back to the book. She turned the page, and Claude Monet came to the spotlight.
“It suits you”, he started again. Now, she could no longer feel the soft breeze caressing her skin, Jacob was blocking the airflow.
“What? Art?”
“Not only.”
She only understood what he was talking about when she felt his fingers involving her braid’s tip. Something between a shiver and an electric chock hit her body. And then, when he let down her hair and his fingers accidentally touched her back, she felt her breath stuck in her lungs.
“Gonna watch the game”, he said while walking towards the front door.
Right after he entered the house, Leah finally let out the sigh she was holding. Her breath was warm and her heartbeat was almost breaking her ribs. A weird sensation started to craw her stomach, and she felt like an elephant was running inside her.
Thanks to their normal human ears, though, Jacob wouldn’t be able to hear whatever the heck he did with her body at that moment. She never felt more grateful for human hearing as she felt now.