Lightness Within All (Paul Lahote)

Little Leaf.

It had been a week since Bayla and Bella has found out the truth about Jacob and the rest of the pack and somehow Bayla had found herself excited for the times they would hangout with them .
Bella would always go off with Jacob, not paying much attention to anyone else where as Bayla would sit in Emily's kitchen with the pack, happy to be there as she listened to Embry a horrible jokes and Jared constant chatter about leeches that somehow fascinated Bayla instead of scaring her.

She had warmed up to paul, always greeting him the same way she did the others but she found herself hanging on to every word he said, blush creeping onto her cheeks as he complimented her, and found her heart speed up at the touch of his hand on hers. She wasn't sure why she felt that way towards him and no one else but she deemed it as a silly crush and tried to push it aside and focus on the friendship instead .

Still as they sat in Emily's living room his arm lazily around her shoulder she found herself only thinking of the warmth he provided instead of the situation they were discussing .
"Well as long as she's after Bella we have bait" Embry said with a small smirk, causing Bayla to give him a disapproving look and Jake to throw a small metal fork at the side of his head.

"Bella's not bait!" Jacob said, defending Bella though no one would really use her as bait.
"I need to leave town" Bella said, sighing as she sunk into the couch beside her sister .
Bayla turned her attention to Bella and shook her head, not wanting her to leave anywhere.
"No. You can't do that she'll just follow you bells" Bayla said her heart beating rapidly at the thought.

Paul rubbed her shoulder gently offering her comfort and she sunk further into his side, letting him calm her though she didn't realize that he was doing it.
"Little leaf is right.. it will make it harder on us." Sam said, looking towards Bayla as she curled into pauls side and played mindlessly with the ends of her shirt .

"Little leaf... why do people call you that?" Jared asked as he propped his feet up on the table across from him.
"Some old lady on the res called me it one time..it just stuck " Bayla said meeting Jared's eyes as he nodded .
Sam let out a below laugh and everyone turned their attention towards him.
"That "old lady" was Sue Clearwater, she gave you that name for a reason Bayla" Sam said still laughing as everyone started to chuckle at the old lady phrase.

Bayla felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she started to laugh along, not realizing who the woman was and she shook her head in embarrassment.
"Oops" Bayla mumbled as Sam cleared his throat and became more serious, telling the tale of how she got her nickname .

"Harry told me the story of how that name came to be....you and Jake we're out playing in the yard, it was autumn and the leaves had just fallen off all of the trees. You couldn't have been but 7 or 8 but you were picking up all of the leaves off the ground and putting them in a wagon. When she asked you what you were going to do with them you told her you were taking them home to take care of them.. she told you the leaves would die and new ones would take their place, apparently you were so set on not letting them die you yelled at her and said just because they have fallen off the trees doesn't mean there useless, they are beautiful and deserve a second chance...hence the name Little Leaf.. she always said you were like a leaf, beautiful, small and fragile but the world would be lifeless without you to bring it color" Sam said, smiling as he remembered Harry Clearwater telling him the story a few weeks back .

"Well they got the small part right" Bella said nudging her sisters side and showing a huge grin .
Bayla only laughed and shook her head, not sure what to say.
"Yea and fragile" Embry said laughing as he picture Bayla trying to fight somebody off .

Bayla sat up and gave him a hard look that reminded him of a small puppy trying to assert its aggressiveness
"Hey I might not be as strong as you would boys but I'm strong " Bayla said, only earning laughs from the pack and even Bella who tried to hide her smirk .

"Of course you are hun" Paul said even though he was hiding his own laugh and smirk that the boys could call from a mile away .
Bayla crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes, sinking back into the couch.

The rest of the day was spend trying to devise a plan to catch Victoria with aggressive looks from Sam to Bella which went unnoticed to most but Bayla who was mostly listening in on the conversation as her sister tried to help with the plan.
It wasn't that she didn't want to catch Victoria but in a way she felt for the woman, Bella had gotten her boyfriend killed by her act of senselessness and Victoria wanted revenge, a little aggressive but Bayla felt for her, felt for the pain she must be feeling and as the pack talked away she stayed curled up under Paul's arm where she felt the most safe.

As the sun fell down and Bella got a call from Charlie the two were quick to head back home where Bella had a dampened look on her face.
"Bella what's wrong?" Bayla asked once the two were alike in Bella's room .
Bella glanced at her younger sister, noticing the small bags underneath her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to bother her .
"I'm just tired Bay...hey, I was thinking, tomorrow do you maybe wanna go cliff diving?" Bella asked, a little sadness overtaking her voice .

Bayla sat for a minute and thought, the boys had all said it was fun, a total rush as Paul had called it. She loved the water and everything it provided and figured maybe it would be fun . As her emerald eyes met Bella's she nodded her head Yea and Bella returned a half hearted smile .
" I never told you how good of a sister you are..your great Bayla." Bella said looking down at the photo of her and Edward.

"You are to Bells" Bayla said. And in
Bayla's eyes she was a good sister, despite her distance ways, her stupidity at some points, and her selfish manner Bella was a good sister.
She had dried her tears when she was crying, always included her in things, and been more than happy when Bayla told her she wanted to visit Emily more often. 
In Bayla's eyes she could do no wrong, but that would quickly change.
All she thought of Bella would soon change and it would be a house divided, leaving a lonely and cold feeling amongst the two sisters.