Piper ~ H.S

~Sixty-Two~

I immediately began to laugh as I hugged her back. "It's good to see you too, Ash! I missed you loads!"

"Whoa, I guess you've been really enjoying dining at all the fancy London restaurants," she giggled a bit as we pulled away, "you look like you've put on a few."

"Wait, what?" My eyes widened a little, "Are you serious? I've gained weight?"

"Well, just a little bit," she tried to assure me, "you just look a bit rounder in the face, that's all."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Ash," I immediately rolled my eyes.

"Hey, I'm just being honest!" She said with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, I know. I appreciate it," I told her as we sat down at our table in the café, "but fuck...I hope it's not too obvious, though."

"No, it's not really," she said, "I think that only someone who knows your face really well would notice it."

"Well, then how come Harry hasn't said anything?" I bit down on my bottom lip slightly.

"Oh come on, Leah. Of course Harry won't notice," Ashley giggled, "regardless of whether you've gained a bit of weight or not, you'll always be beautiful to that man."

"Oh, well..." I felt myself blush as I began to break out a shy smile, "I...I hope so."

"Of course you will be! Don't even try to argue!" She lightly kicked me under our table – causing me to laugh and hold my hands up in surrender.

A waiter came over to take our orders. I ordered a small cappuccino and a slice of chocolate cake, while Ashley ordered a large mochaccino and a blueberry muffin. The orders had come to us within minutes, and once our food & coffees were set down in front of us, Ashley & I just instantly started chatting away.

"So, how have you been, Lee?" Ashley asked me as she cut her muffin in half, "Has your period stopped giving you grief?"

"Oh! That's something I wanted to talk to you about, actually," I told her after taking a sip of my coffee, "my period was so weird this month, Ash. I even think it's over already."

"Wait, what?" Her eyes widened, "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Like, my bleeding was so fucking light – I sometimes felt like I stained the toilet paper more than my pad. And then the bleeding got even lighter yesterday, and now this morning it's just completely stopped."

"Woah," Ashley seemed startled, "that's...weird."

"I know! That's why I wanted your opinion," I said, "you know how I'm on birth control, right?"

Ashley nodded.

"Harry thinks that my weird period this month is from taking birth control," I said, "and I think I agree with him, but...just so I can get another girl's opinion, what do you think?"

"Oh yeah," Ashley immediately nodded again, "it's definitely the pills, babes."

"Really?" My eyebrows rose, "You really think so?"

"Definitely," she said without hesitation, "see, me and Aidan have just started going for birth control, too. And seriously, Lee – as soon as I switched to those pills, my next cycle got totally fucked up. My period came way later than it was supposed to, and when it finally did come, the flow was so much lighter."

"Wow," my eyebrows rose even higher, "no shit?"

"No shit," Ashley shook her head, "trust me, Leah – it's the birth control."