So the next day, Leigh-Anne came over to Perrie's house at two p.m. as scheduled. She had watched Finding Nemo with Sairah earlier and her sister 'didn't get it' until Leigh and Rachel had explained how it was similar to their lives and Sairah got it. Now Sairah was asking if there were any Marvin plushies. Rachel says there's a sequel about Dory. This franchise was crazy!
Leigh-Anne knocked on Perrie's door with her 'Perrie Revival Project' T-shirt on and an extra T-shirt in her backpack for Perrie. Her shirt was tucked into her shorts and she wore white sneakers on her feet. The T-shirt was white too. It's my colour.
The door was opened by a confused looking Denise Edwards. "Oh . . . Leigh-Anne darling. Y-you're here."
"Hi Mrs. Edwards. Long time no see." Leigh-Anne waved. "I messaged Perrie to tell her I would be over in a minu-"
"Here I am!" Perrie zoomed past her mother and met Leigh at the door. "Ooo I love the style you chose for the font! Who printed it on such short notice?" She was talking about Leigh's T-shirt of course.
Leigh did a little pose. "Marcy knew a guy and he works fast." She brought her backpack to her front. "Here's yours Perrie. I hope you like it."
Mrs. Edwards was watching this with an open mouth. Her and her husband had gone to bed with thoughts of their daughter's wellbeing plaguing their minds. She had barely slept because she was so worried about the girl and her sudden drop in mental wellbeing but this morning they had found the very same girl that they nearly spent the whole night worrying about, happily cooking in their kitchen with instructions from a video on YouTube. It was the strangest thing. Perrie had seemed like her normal self. The same girl who had been lying in bed for days was up and about, cooking. Once Perrie had seen them she had instructed them to sit while she continued to make them something delicious. And delicious it was. Though she and the girl's father had been shocked, they had managed to ask her what suddenly changed her attitude and behaviour and Perrie had said that Leigh-Anne visited the night before and gave her instructions on what to do to not be depressed anymore.
This shocked Denise because Perrie had sounded very serious about not wanting to see Leigh-Anne ever again when she was at the hospital. So why had she been so happy about Leigh-Anne somehow breaking into her room at night time?
The therapist had come in a little after breakfast and Perrie had actually talked to him. The guy had left her room seeming very confused. He had not even said a word to Denise and her husband because he just appeared to need to spend time alone to reflect on what had happened with Perrie overnight.
She had been very worried that Perrie scared the man away so she'd asked her daughter what she had told him and Perrie had gladly said that she expressed to him that she was willing to work on herself so she could be better since being depressed and empty as an individual meant that she could not date Leigh-Anne. That seemed to be a great motivator. And then she was watching dog videos on her phone and then Leigh-Anne came. She watched as the two girls behaved like best friends as they usually did.
Perrie was now wearing her own Perre revival project T-shirt. "Yay. Now we match."
"Twinsies!" Leigh said.
"Couple goals!" Perrie spoke at the same time as Leigh. "I mean twinsies!"
"Right. No relationship talk." Leigh held a finger up to Perrie then turned to the girl's mother. "Anyway, we're leaving now. Um . . . I'm excited for everything we have planned for D's Angels in July. It's gonna be a lot of work but I'm sure it'll be fun since everyone's so nice."
"Yeah. D's Angels. Yeah." Perrie was staring at Leigh-Anne.
"Mmmhmm. I look forward to everything we have planned as well." Denise smiled at Leigh-Anne. Was it a good idea to let Perrie run around with her? "Where exactly are you girls going?"
Leigh found it so weird to see her in a bathrobe and without makeup. She always looked so stunning when she was around her. She's pretty. "We're going to adopt a puppy. Perrie did not you tell your parents?"
"Oh yeah. Leigh thinks having a dog will give me the will to live." Perrie smiled at her mother.
"Um . . . okay. Have fun then- oh but watch out for the paps. My publicist informed me of plenty of rumours and speculations spreading about you two. Perrie some videos of you being harassed at a club got released but I'm working on having the footage taken down and the perpetrators arrested. And um . . . Lee-Lee love have you been made aware of all of the um . . . talk surrounding you?" Denise folded her arms.
Leigh-Anne was about to comment on Perrie being harassed but she stopped when Perrie's mother asked her about this. "T-talk? What talk?" All she'd been doing these days was playing piano, hanging out with Sairah and spending time with Marcy. Rachel was always there so she spent a lot of time with her too. She'd mainly been at home but she thought it was best to stay there since the outside world seemed to drive her a little nuts. But I'm ready to head out again. Ha-cha-cha! That sounded like something Perrie might say.
"People are talking about you?" Perrie didn't care much for this conversation until she heard that part. "Oh because of her appearance on The Brit Life? I'd been feeling low but I did pick up that a lot of people were happy to see you Leigh."
"Really? Aww that's nice. I watched the episode and I really liked how it all came together." Leigh-Anne bounced in place. "Me and Craig were great and so was everyone else. I laughed a lot at certain jokes and it kind of made me want my character to have more funny lines you know. I could deliver a good joke like Craig."
Perrie was sure she couldn't. "Yes. Dream big baby." Leigh is cute but she ain't funny. Maybe that could be an element to Christel's character.
Denise smiled at how they interacted. "Not the show darling. Although I did hear that you were a hit and that fans want you with the main character. You've got star quality." She winked.
Leigh blushed and swayed a bit. "Thank you Mrs. Edwards."
"What I was talking about was the rumours about your sister and yourself having a feud and her possibly being the reason why you had bruises while on set of another show and . . what else? Self harming? I've just heard patches of the speculations from my publicist who I've told to keep tabs on all of the girls in D's Angels for me."
Leigh-Anne had never heard of this. "O-oh."
Perrie cringed. "People know about our business? Did Sairah say that she um . . . assaulted you?"
"She didn't share that with anyone." Leigh-Anne didn't understand. "But I guess people maybe thought that she'd be the only one to hit me? I'd had a red mark on my cheek and cuts on my lip when I went in to shoot the day after and everyone was staring a lot since I was already sick and . . . sigh . . . I guess they told other people and people said Sairah would be the only person who'd do that. Oh boy." This was weird. People were speculating about events that actually happened in her life. "Did you say self-harm? People think I hurt myself?"
"Yes dear. A photo was released of you walking your dog with . . . your aid? Yes. You were walking through your neighbourhood and there were bandages on your upper arms. Now that I'm looking it seems as if you have scars there." Perrie's mother looked closer.
Leigh rubbed one of the areas. "It was from the procedure I did to regulate my white blood cells." She mumbled with eyes on her feet.
Perrie felt like her mom was making Leigh-Anne uncomfortable. "People need to f*ck off and mind their business."
Denise thought about what Leigh-Anne just said. "You were ill?"
"Yeah. I had on and off again fevers so I had to go to the doctor and they brought me to the hospital." Leigh was looking at one of the hedges in Perrie's yard.
"I see . . ." Denise rubbed her chest. "And your sister did assault you?"
"Yeah. W-we had a fight but I don't even remember that she hit me but that's a whole other story." Leigh-Anne said.
"You don't remember?"
Perrie rolled her eyes. "Mam we'll be careful out there okay? We'll be vigilant of the paps."
Denise turned away from Leigh-Anne to look at her daughter. "Okay because I heard also that there's speculations that you two aren't friends and- let's just say that people have been talking about you so they may approach." She had to admit that she felt very sorry for Leigh-Anne though. Perrie had attempted suicide and that was very shocking to her but Leigh-Anne seemed to have been going through it before that happened. Poor darling. Leigh looked too sensitive to handle the things she had described. She seems better now so that's good.
Perrie was kind of mad at her mom. Was she trying to make Leigh anxious? "I don't think anything will happen. We're just going to have a fun time choosing me a best friend right Leigh?"
Leigh snapped out of her thoughts at the mention of this. "Yeah. I can't wait to see all the dogs."
"Neither can I." Perrie waved at her mom. "Bye mam."
"Bye Mrs. Edwards." Leigh-Anne started running to the garage.
"No." Perrie muttered. "Nooo!" Leigh was racing without alerting her.
"Loser!" Leigh-Anne squealed as she saw Perrie catching up.
Denise smiled at how much fun they seemed to be having just by running around like children. I hope things will get better for both of them from here. She was not sure how she felt about the drama. The most she had heard about her other models was that they were getting more deals in their own countries and gaining more fans but with Perrie and Leigh-Anne there was so much happening. It's ultimately good for the brand so I guess it's fine. But she did want to see them both better.
______________
When Perrie and Leigh-Anne entered the nearest dog shelter, Leigh-Anne got excited.
"Okay so we're going to pick out a dog for you so we need to first of all talk to the front desk lady . . ." Leigh walked up to the desk. "Good afternoon ma'am. Me and my friend here- well just my friend. She'd like a dog that's cute and fun and young that she can take care of." She turned to Perrie with a smile.
Perrie had never been to a dog shelter before. This seemed nice. Just like in the Dodo videos. "Leigh we should make our own video to send to the Dodo." She was getting her phone out.
"That sounds like such an amazing idea!" Leigh-Anne loved dog videos so much that it would only make sense that she and Perrie would be in one together.
Perrie held her phone up. "We're getting me a dog."
The lady at the desk didn't even have time to say anything yet.
"A dog." Leigh said over Perrie's shoulder before facing the lady again. "Sorry. We're excited."
"So I see." The woman nodded. "So you want a puppy?"
"Preferably but if you only have senior dogs that would be fine too." Leigh-Anne shrugged.
"We have puppies. Don't worry." She called someone on her desk phone and a girl came from the main area wearing a uniform similar to the front desk worker.
"Hi. Heard someone wanted a puppy?" She said perkily.
Leigh-Anne was even more excited. "Yes. My friend Perrie. We're reviving her."
"Revival behbeh." Perrie pointed to her shirt.
"Revival . . . okay and how old are you girls?" The girl asked.
"Sixteen." They said together.
"Do your parents know you're getting a dog?" She asked Perrie.
"Yeah. And don't worry. I'm more than equipped to raise a puppy." Perrie assured her.
The girl shrugged. "Okay. Come on. I'll show you our finest puppies right now." She started leading them away.
Leigh-Anne and Perrie entered a world with tons of dogs lined up in cages on the walls of a hall way.
Perrie held her chest as she looked at how sad some of them seemed. "Aww."
Leigh-Anne saw one dog wagging his tail and barking at her but she wasn't here for a dog. Maybe I can come back for one later. They were just too cute.
"Puppies are this way." The girl took a turn down the hall.
Leigh-Anne and Perrie followed her and ended up standing before a caged area with a green carpet where a bunch of little puppies played around with toys and balls.
Perrie gasped. "Awww! Puppies!"
"Puppies!" Leigh clapped but stopped. "Wait um . . . Lucy?" She read the girl's name tag.
Lucy raised her brows.
"Why do the puppies get to play and dance while the bigger dogs stay locked up in cages? That's not fair." Leigh-Anne hoped that this wasn't a rude question.
Lucy sighed. "We'd have all of them presented in a big pen for them to play and run around but we don't have the space and it'd be hard for visitors to see them you know? Don't worry. They get to run around now and then. They're not always locked up." She winked then tilted her head. "Do I know you?"
Leigh-Anne was blank. "I don't think so? I'm only now just meeting you so I don't think we've met." She hoped she wasn't forgetting someone she had met before.
Perrie was inspecting the puppies. They were all really adorable and each puppy was different. "Hmm . . ." She scanned the pen and spotted one particularly fuzzy puppy lying on his front and watching the others play. He seemed content to just lie there and he looked like a dream in Perrie's eyes. "Why's that one just lying around?"
Lucy stopped trying to figure out where she saw the other girl to answer the question. "Oh he's a diva."
Perrie blinked. "Wow. And here I thought that a classic Dodo tragic backstory was about to be told."
Leigh-Anne giggled. "Nope. He's just got an attitude." She flipped her hair on the word 'attitude'.
Perrie was still recording all of this. "I like it. Does he have a name?"
"We call him Hatchi but you can give him a different name if you'd like." Lucy told her. "Is that your pick? You want Hatchi?"
"Yes please!" Perrie clapped.
"Wow that didn't take long did it?" Leigh nudged Perrie then bumped her hip against hers.
"I know what I like when I see it." Perrie felt smug.
A few moments later, Perrie was filling out some forms at the front desk with Lucy standing next to the front desk lady.
Leigh held Perrie's phone to record for this part. Hatchi was in a little cage next to her foot. "Perrie's excited," she made the phone face her face. "I'm excited. Let's see if Hatchi's excited." She ran to where the dog cage was and got on her knees. "Hatchi seems scared but I think he'll adjust."
"Leigh why are you putting your knees on the dirty ground?" Perrie stopped filling out the forms to ask this.
Leigh-Anne looked up and climbed to her feet. She noticed the workers laughing at her so laughed with them though she was embarrassed. "I wanted a good angle."
Lucy turned to the front desk girl and pointed at Leigh-Anne. "Doesn't she look familiar?"
The girl at the desk tilted her head. "Wait. Were you . . ." She gradually smiled. "Christel? Brit Life??"
Lucy gasped. "Yes she is!"
Perrie now realized the commotion. "Ah?"
Leigh-Anne watched as the girls squealed. "Oh um yes. I played Christel in the Brit life." People usually recognized Perrie first but now they recognized her before Perrie. Did they not know who Perrie was? Oh wait that's probably why she asked me if she knew me. She saw me in the show. Ohhh! She laughed to herself.
"Oh my God I love that show. Will you be back for season four? Please come back! Trey needs Christel as his love interest! You two just fit perfectly together!" Lucy said with a wide grin. "No way this is huge. Can I have a picture?"
"Wait I read up on you and you're in some model group. Is she in it?" The front desk girl pointed to Perrie.
Leigh was trying to keep up with everything they were saying. "Yes Perrie's in D's Angels and yes you can have a picture and I don't know if I'll be in season four but they told me that if people liked my character they'd bring me back as a regular or something."
Lucy screamed when she heard this. "That's perfect!" She ran around the desk and got her phone out for the picture.
Leigh-Anne smiled as it was taken and watched how happy it made Lucy. "I'd be very glad to head back to that show because everyone there was nice."
"Are you really also going to be in an episode of Truth Hurts? I keep hearing stuff about you. You're like a celebrity and yet here you are adopting a dog." The girl at the desk laughed.
Perrie found these forms difficult. I'll just say anything I guess. She kept writing.
Leigh had been told that it would be best if she didn't let people know she would be in that show since it was supposed to be a surprise. "I guess you'll see if I'm in that or not." She shrugged.
"She's in it." Lucy whispered. She rested her elbow on the desk. "But I heard that um . . . you're sick? Gosh there's so much stuff happening. I get recommended articles about you so I end up reading them."
Leigh thought back to what Perrie's mom had been saying. "It's okay. There's no need to worry about me. I was sick but I feel a lot better now and everything's okay so don't speculate and wonder and get your heads twisted alright?" She smiled when she was done.
"But what happened? People were saying you were hurt and . . ." Lucy tilted her head. "You have scars on your arms."
Perrie finally finished. "Okay. All done. Now I'm a dog mom." She started doing a dance as she handed the front desk girl back the forms. "So I can just take the dog home now right? Hatchi I mean."
The girl turned away from Leigh-Anne to take the forms. "Let me just look through these quickly."
"The scars are um . . . I was sick so I did a procedure and um . . . it's nothing to worry about really." Leigh-Anne hoped that that would suffice. She went closer to Perrie.
Perrie watched as the girl read everything. "Is it good? Did I pass?"
"Pass?" She laughed. "I guess so."
"Awesome." Perrie picked up the dog cage. "Alright, thanks for everything- you know what? Leigh we gotta flex my pup around town so let's get him some accessories and then walk him around for everyone to see."
Leigh liked that. "Okay let's do it!" She snapped her fingers. "Thanks for everything Lucy and . . . Sam? Thanks for everything guys. Bye." She started skipping to the door.
Perrie said her thanks much softer then danced after Leigh-Anne.
"Bye girls!" They said.
Lucy turned to Sam after. "We met celebrities!" She started posting the picture she had taken on her social media.
Perrie and Leigh-Anne walked hand in hand down the sidewalk to their next destination.
"Do you know where the pet store is?" Leigh asked as she swung her hand in Perrie's.
"It's gotta be close to a pet adoption place right?" Perrie was looking at every building they passed. "Hmm- oh look!"
Leigh saw what Perrie was pointing at. "A pet store."
"Let's go little lady." Perrie walked with a bounce into the store. "We have arrived!"
Leigh's eyes widened at this announcement. "Perrie." She whispered before laughing.
Perrie noticed that a few people looked at her. "I was just being dramatic."
"Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Princewel!"
Leigh saw some girls running up to them. "Um I think you caught a few people's attention." She whispered as two young teenagers walked up to them.
Perrie got an arm shoved in her face. "Oh shit."
"Can you sign it??" The girl asked.
"What's that?" The other girl pointed at the cage Perrie held.
"I saw you! I saw you in The Brit Life! You were so good! I ship Trestal so hard!" The first girl held her arm down.
"Trestal?" Leigh-Anne gathered what that meant. "That's our ship name?" She smiled.
"Yes!" The girls said.
Leigh-Anne giggled. "I like that."
"Yeah uh we can sign whatever and take pictures but we gotta get stuff for my dog so we can't stay and chat long." Perrie was trying to see if she could spot a leash.
"I saw the Brit Life too. You're Christel? Wicked." The guy at the cashier's desk got his phone out to record.
"Have you got a pen?" Leigh asked as the girls begged for them to sign them.
Perrie saw older people coming up to them. Oh shit. Was everyone here a fan? Did they all know them?
"They're the Disney girls." One man pointed at them while whispering to a woman.
"My daughter loves them- excuse me!" She started walking briskly towards them and more people were approaching.
Perrie had to set Hatchi's cage down to sign the girls' arms. "There we go."
Leigh had signed their arms already and was now taking pictures. "Did you like that?"
"Yes. Thank you. Perrie!" They were asking Perrie to take pictures with them.
"You were in that show and they was talking about you on the gossip channel. My daughter likes it. Do me a favour and say hi to 'er." Some man raised his phone to Leigh's face.
"Oh okay. What's her name?" Leigh had to speak over a lot of people who were talking at once.
The cashier guy had his phone out and was recording this. "Leigh-Anne and Perrie from D's Angels are here!" He was doing poses as he went live with this. "Mertin's Pet Store! Check it! Come see 'em here!"
Perrie gasped when she heard this. "Aye! Don't spill our location ya f*ck!"
Leigh finished recording that video and was now signing some other stuff.
Perrie groaned before signing more things but realized that this probably wouldn't work out. "Okay um we can't stay here Leigh. He just told everyone where we are and I think more people would come here." The paparazzi haven't even shown their faces yet and we're already being surrounded. How annoying?
"So we should go?" Leigh asked.
"Yes." Perrie waved and opened the door to run out with Leigh-Anne.
Leigh ran after her and some people followed. "Oh no. They're chasing us!" This reminded her of that time at the ice cream truck.
The cashier guy came out with his phone. "Leigh-Anne and Perrie are here!" He announced.
"What is wrong with that guy?" Perrie was so mad but she didn't bother to show it.
The two of them took a sharp corner and kept running, hoping that the people would not continue to chase them.
Leigh looked over her shoulder and saw that no one was following anymore. "Okay I think we can stop running now."
Perrie saw that the people were gone too. "Hmm alright." She stopped to pant and rested Hatchi's cage down. "Jeez. Couldn't even get some doggy supplies."
"I know." Leigh found that both thrilling and scary.
Perrie finally caught her breath. "Okay uh . . . I think I actually know a place that sells pet stuff somewhere further down so let's go there. We're gonna have to go back to the car to drive there though."
"Okay." Leigh-Anne started following Perrie to her car.
They were able to buy lots of toys and other fun things for Hatchi at the other pet store without much issues but that may have been because not many people had been there. The cashier had been a fan of The Brit Life though so they had asked Leigh-Anne for a picture.
Right now they were in Perrie's car again but not because she was driving.
Leigh watched as Perrie placed Hatchi on her lap and tried to get his collar on. This was so adorable. She continued recording for the Dodo. "Do you think they'd really accept our video Perrie? I really want to be featured on their channel."
"I hope so. If not I'll just throw cash at 'em." Perrie finally got the collar on. "There you go."
Hatchi's tale was wagging as he stood on her lap.
Leigh scratched his neck. "I think he's getting more comfortable."
"Yeah me too. I'm surprised he didn't pee in his box while all those people were surrounding us." Perrie felt like things were getting worse with the amount of people who recognized them. Oh well.
"His leash." Leigh handed Perrie the leash they had bought. "We're going to strut around with him after this right?"
"Yup. Hatchi's going to have his first walk with us."
Leigh-Anne was glad that Perrie seemed to be enjoying Hatchi already. "Isn't life wonderful Perrie?" Just sneaking that in there. She really didn't want anyone she knew or anyone for that matter to think of ending their life. Especially not because of me.
"Yeah it's great." Perrie said absently. "Alright the leash is on and we're ready to walk."
"Okay. Let me just get a little bag so we can pick up his poo if he has to go." Leigh stretched to the back area to get some bags that they had bought.
"Good idea." Perrie saw a flash outside and turned. Ah come on.
Two guys with cameras were standing boldly next to her car and taking pictures.
Where did they even come from? "Top of the morning to ya." Perrie said.
"Perrie Edwards back from the hospital." One of them said.
Perrie felt mortified. "Uh what? Hospital? Me? Where?"
"Let's go Perrie- oh boy." Leigh saw the cameras and shook her head. "You can't just take pictures of people without their permission." The only thing she disliked about being well-known was this. Ever since people had taken pictures of her changing in the locker room she had been scared of unauthorized photos of her being taken.
"Leigh-Anne Princewel, what are you hiding? Do you self-harm?" One of them asked.
So these are the annoying types? There were only two of them so Perrie guessed that she could just ignore them. "Come on. I'm gonna drive a bit lower down." She strapped herself in with Hatchi on her lap.
Leigh-Anne put her seatbelt on too.
Perrie moved out of her parking space and drove down some distance until she felt they were far enough. "Okay. Now we're in business."
"Yass!" Leigh opened her door and ran to the sidewalk.
Perrie hopped onto the sidewalk with Hatchi. "Oo he looks so handsome in his collar and leash."
"The leash is part of his outfit too?" Leigh asked as she recorded using Perrie's phone. "I feel like for our Dodo video we should be saying more substantial stuff like . . . Hatchi's the best dog. And then the wholesome music will follow."
"We can record a voiceover later." Perrie admired how her puppy walked briskly on his little puppy legs. "Aww. Baby boy."
Leigh was so glad that Perrie seemed to love Hatchi already. "He needs you Perrie." She just threw that in there.
"Guess he does." Perrie admired how Hatchi panted as they walked.
"Who's gonna do the voiceover? Me or you?" Leigh was not sure how to do that.
"We can do it together. Hatchi's Kyro's brother." Perrie said smartly.
Leigh-Anne smiled at that angle. "So I'm Hatchi's mum too?"
"Yup."
Leigh-Anne wondered if that was a good angle for Perrie to have. "Why? Because I adopted him with you?"
"That and because you're my girl." Perrie bumped Leigh's arm.
"Perrie no. We're not doing that. You're trying to be an individual." Leigh whined.
"Oh yeah." Perrie forgot that she had attempted suicide recently. "Okay so Hatchi's being raised by a single mam?"
"I can be his aunt." Leigh-Anne suggested.
Perrie sighed. "Fine. But we're not sisters. You're the friend aunt."
"Gotcha." Leigh-Anne danced as they walked. "Would you say that the Perrie Revival Project is going well so far?"
"Of course bitch. I feel good as new. Definitely revived." Perrie danced to Leigh's imaginary music. They must have looked crazy out here.
"Okay here's your first test." Leigh-Anne started running away.
Perrie was shocked. "Hey! Where are you going?"
Leigh turned around when she reached the end of the street. "I'm not your friend anymore!" She ran around the corner and giggled behind a store. Or is this too much for her too soon? Her heart started hammering and she ran back to Perrie. "Sorry Perrie. I just realized that that was probably too much too soon." She said with eyes on her feet.
Perrie did not seem moved. She was just as dandy as she was before. "Okay."
Leigh tilted her head. "Wait you didn't panic while I said I wasn't your friend?"
Perrie shook her head. "I knew you didn't mean it."
Leigh was about to commend her but she said that and then . . . "Oh. So if it was real you'd crash and burn?"
"Yeah. Most likely." Perrie said simply before whistling and continuing to walk Hatchi.
"But Hatchi needs you." Leigh caught up with her.
Perrie looked down at the little puppy. "Oh yeah." She pouted. "Okay well I'd stick around for him."
"Just him? What about for cooking?" Leigh asked while tapping her fingers.
"I like to cook don't I?" Perrie felt big and bad. "Leigh I don't know. Maybe as we continue I'll feel better and better but for now I'm still clingy to you." She wrapped an arm around Leigh.
Leigh-Anne sighed. "Fine. I understand but we have a lot of work to do."
Perrie nodded.
"I'll be here for you while you get through this okay?" Leigh-Anne said gently, stopping Perrie for some time.
Perrie smiled a little. "Thanks Leigh. You're the best."
Leigh-Anne hugged her and released her with a smile. "This kind of reminds me of when we went to Los Angeles."
"You can say L.A you know. You're so proper." Perrie cackled.
Leigh smiled. "L.A baby."
"Now you're getting it." Perrie laughed at her. "So how are you and Sairah now? I didn't even ask."
"We're quite good. Me and her play games all the time and it's fun. It's great because there's no more name calling and she never laughs at me." Leigh tapped her fingers. "But she told me something the other day that kinda stayed on my mind."
"What?" Perrie wondered what it was. It seemed to bother Leigh a bit.
Leigh stopped walking and pulled Perrie over to the side to whisper in her ear.
Hatchi started barking.
Perrie and Leigh gasped at how cute he sounded.
"What is he barking at though?" Perrie looked across the street and saw four black vans parking along the sidewalk. "Oh shit."
Leigh looked too. "Is there a convention in town or something?"
Perrie shook up herself. "It's paps. And they came in large numbers."
"Oh- oh." Leigh saw the people hopping out of their vans with their cameras. Some started snapping as soon as they came out. "Why are there so many of them today?"
"Guess it's 'cause of the drama me mam was talking about and the fact that we haven't been around? I don't know but let's just try to ignore 'em." Perrie told Leigh-Anne to continue. "Go ahead."
"Okay but um . . . I was going to tell you a secret Perrie." Leigh was moving her foot awkwardly and staring at it.
"They won't hear." Perrie told her. "It's okay."
Leigh decided that it probably wasn't a big deal. She brought her lips to Perrie's ear. "Sairah told me she met my dad at that game convention we went to and that he's different and changed and it turns out that he's the one who helped Jesy with getting back home when she ran away. Jesy told me about that on the beach." She pulled away.
Perrie gasped. "I actually knew about most of that but it's crazy that you know now."
Leigh-Anne awkwardly played with her fingers.
"So like . . . how does that make you feel? Are you scared of him showing up? He'll leave you alone you know." Perrie said quietly.
"I know but . . . it's like I'm both scared and curious? If he's different then he might be nice. Sairah kind of said he was nice and peaceful and Jesy said he gave her advice so he's nice but at the same time he hurt all of us." Leigh was speaking softly too. "But he apologized so . . . I don't know." She swayed a bit. "Would I be out of my mind to take a trip to London to go meet him? I don't even know how I feel. It's like . . . maybe I should meet him too you know? If I have a bad reaction so be it but what if it's good and he can be . . . he did so many bad things but he's clearly different and I believe in apologies and people changing. Look at you Perrie. You weren't nearly as bad as him but you changed a lot and then there's Jesy who isn't as bad and even though Sairah hit me we still get along so maybe . . ." Leigh rubbed a hand down her face. "It's stressful."
"Don't stress yourself out babe. That's the last thing we want." Perrie rubbed Leigh's arms.
Leigh took a deep breath and released it.
"Do you want to meet him? Cause if you do I think you should. Just let Marcy come with you so in case you freak out she can bring you home." Perrie said.
Leigh-Anne twisted her mouth. "I guess so. But when should I do it? We're going to be pretty busy soon."
"Mmm you recently went through a health scare so I think you should wait until you're more stable."
"Good point." Leigh-Anne agreed with that. "Okay I'll give it some time for me to think about it."
"Yeah. That's what's best to do." Perrie was glad Leigh talked to her about this.
Leigh felt ready to walk again so she started and Perrie followed with Hatchi. "There's something else that bothers me but I don't even ugh. Jade knows about it so maybe I should just tell you."
Perrie was a bit lost. "What?"
Leigh-Anne rubbed her arm. "While Sairah was talking to our dad at the back of the game convention, she was so mad that she let out a secret about me that was supposed to be only between me and her." She felt self-conscious as she spoke about this, her eyes on the ground. "Jade was there when she said it and so was Chris Drew and some guards so they know so I think I should tell you since Jade knows. You've always been the best at keeping my secrets so maybe I should just tell you."
Perrie was getting worried. "Wh-what is it?"
"Remember the thing I remembered that I only wanted to tell Sairah?"
Perrie took a while to recall. "Oh that? Sairah let that slip to Jade and that American man?"
Leigh nodded. "It seems as if no one else has heard but I'm a bit worried that it may get out."
"What is it?" Perrie was kind of scared to know.
"It's just really awkward and embarrassing and weird and messed up. I don't even know if I should tell you after everything you've been through recently." Leigh-Anne was trying to avert her eyes. "But it feels strange that those people know but you don't. I mean I'd rather if only Sairah knew, Sairah and Marcy and Dr Jung but a few other people know now so . . ." She sighed. "Do you think you'd be able to handle hearing something sick and messed up right now?"
Perrie gulped. "Yeah. Tell me. I've got thick skin." Why was Leigh talking like she murdered somebody? She said it was embarrassing. "Oh shit. You were molested." She whispered.
"Uh um . . . I don't know if it counts as that but . . . okay look." Leigh stopped walking again and pulled Perrie to the side. She started speaking in Perrie's ear. "When I was four my mum tried to get me to help her with an abortion in the bathroom. She gave me some stick and told me to shove it up her you know what and it was so scary to me that I had a seizure." She pulled away and covered her face.
Perrie gasped. "Abortion?" She whispered.
Leigh nodded.
"Oh no." Perrie could only imagine how traumatizing that must have been. "Damn Leigh. You shouldn't be embarrassed. That wasn't your fault."
"I know but how many kids have seen their mum's . . . opened . . . I feel weird about it now that I remember. And if I ever told anyone about it they'd probably make fun of me 'cause my mum's crazy." Leigh wiped a tear away. "It's just the weirdest thing really. I'm surprised Jade doesn't look at me funny."
"Wait was that why Chris Drew was being so nice to you after they came back inside?" Perrie asked.
Leigh gasped. "Oh yeah. It must have been." She twitched a little. "He knows and I don't even know him that well."
"I don't think it'll get out. It's been a pretty long time so I don't think anyone ran their mouth. You're safe. Oh and I certainly won't run my mouth. I didn't even tell our friends that you were talking to Sierra and seeing her before you and Jesy did that." Perrie did a zipped lip motion.
Leigh felt touched. Even when she was mad she kept that secret for me. Bless her. She hugged Perrie.
Perrie rubbed her cheek against Leigh's.
Leigh pulled away. "I guess you're right. It's been a while and I haven't heard people I don't know asking me about it so I guess everyone kept the secret. And you will too. Promise me that even if I make you ten times angrier than you were that time that you won't tell anyone?"
"Again, my lips are sealed." Perrie assured. "But damn. That was heavy."
"Mhmm." Leigh hoped that it would not interfere with Perrie's healing. "Sometimes I feel kind of bad that I'm a bit ashamed of my mum but . . . oh boy."
"Leigh-Anne you shouldn't beat yourself up mate. You've already acknowledged that she was in a horrible situation right? You know her pain. You're more sympathetic. But I mean I guess . . . I don't know." Perrie shook her head.
"I'm really glad that Sairah didn't mention her when she talked about the game and everything too." Leigh-Anne hoped that her mother wasn't crying in heaven because of how mean she was being. "I do wish I could have helped her though. It really wasn't her fault."
"Exactly." Perrie pulled Leigh close and squeezed her up to herself.
Leigh-Anne smiled into it. "Okay we should continue playing with Hatchi around town-"
"Leigh-Anne and Perrie!"
The two of them stopped and turned around only to see a group of people running towards them.
"Okay we should run." Perrie picked Hatchi up and the two of them started running. They would definitely be going home after this.