"Wow," Bella breathed, brow wrinkled in thought. "Okay."
Both girls sat on Bella's bed, Leigh cross-legged and chewing on her bottom lip, Bella staring at the swirling pattern on the purple bedsheet beneath them. The brunette reached over and took Leigh's hand, surprising them both.
"I'm so sorry," she said, meeting Leigh's eyes for the first time in days.
Leigh managed a half-smile. "Thanks."
It had been easier than she'd expected to tell Bella. Once she'd started, the words started to tumble from her lips, pouring out of her and melting the tension from her shoulders. She'd only been with the girl for ten minutes or so, but she already felt a thousand times better. There was something calming about Bella.
"What would radiotherapy include?"
Leigh tilted her head back, looking at the ceiling for a moment, before rubbing her eyes. "I'll have to go to the hospital every day after school, I think. I'll probably lose my hair."
Bella squeezed her hand a little tighter. "Is there no alternative?"
"I don't know," Leigh sniffed. "We need to actually talk to the doctor. I have a CT scan tomorrow."
There was a pause.
"Would you like me to come with you?"
Leigh blinked at the brunette in surprise. No one had ever offered that before, other than her family. She was oddly touched by the gesture.
"Thank you," she said. "But don't worry. My mother and little brother will be there. I won't be by myself."
Bella nodded. "Okay."
Leigh clung to Bella's hand as if her life depended on it.
"Does this change things for you at school?" Bella asked. "Like, what symptoms will you get?"
Leigh blew out her cheeks, shrugging. "I assume it will be like last time. Bone and joint pain, if I cut myself I'll bleed, like, a lot more than people normally do."
Bella winced. "I'm bad with blood."
Leigh took herself by surprise by chuckling. "I'll make sure not to bleed near you, don't worry."
Bella smiled.
"I'll probably lose weight, that happened last time," Leigh continued. "Oh, I got a shit tonne of nose bleeds last time, as well. That was fun."
Bella looked down at their entwined hands, shaking her head. "That sucks."
"Yeah," Leigh hummed. "I don't know what will happen if it's spread to my nervous system, though." Her stomach churned. "That's new territory."
The brunette grimaced. "I understand why you don't do gym, now."
Leigh snorted in a quiet laugh. "Yeah. Today was probably the last time I'll surf for a while."
She tried not to let the sinking feeling in her stomach show on her face, but she knew that Bella noticed.
"If there's anything I can do," Bella said softly. "Tell me. I'll drive you to appointments, or to and from school, I'll give you my notes if you have to miss classes-
"Bella," Leigh cut her off, a new fondness in her smile. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
The girls held eye contact for a few moments, before Leigh suddenly tensed.
"Please don't tell anyone else about this," she whispered.
Bella's brow wrinkled and she shook her head. "I would never."
Feeling reassured, Leigh finally fully relaxed. She groaned as her muscles whined in release, tilting her head back and rolling her neck. She felt calm with Bella. It was a nice change to the constant edginess she felt around her mother, underlying affection-laced irritation around her brother, and discomfort around her dad.
When she'd moved to Forks, she had convinced herself that it would be better if nobody knew. She wouldn't be 'the cancer kid' anymore. Yet, she felt so much better now that she'd told somebody.
Her mind was a changeable thing.
"Wait," Bella said, lips curving upwards in amusement. "Is that why you've always got, like, ridiculously healthy lunches?"
Leigh laughed. "Yeah. My mother is convinced that a green juice and some carrot sticks is going to make me better."
Bella laughed along with her, the sound rare but pleasing.
"Hey," Bella said after a few moments. "I have to tell you something, too."
Leigh lifted an eyebrow in interest as the brunette released her hand and returned to her desk, picking up her laptop.
"When we were at the beach," she said, "I ended up talking to Jacob. I asked him why his friends were so... anti-Cullen."
Leigh paused. "Okay?"
"He told me stories," she said. "Legends about his ancestors' tribes, and said that they made a treaty with the Cullens, like, hundreds of years ago so that they wouldn't hunt on their land, or they would expose them to the pale faces."
Leigh frowned, watching as Bella began to frantically tap away on her laptop keyboard. "Expose them for what?"
"He didn't explicitly say," Bella replied. "He told me that his tribe called the Cullens 'The Cold Ones', or something?" She turned the laptop around so the screen was facing Leigh. "So I looked it up."
Leigh was in a state of slight shock. Firstly, this was the longest amount of time she had heard Bella speak for, and secondly, she appeared to be going slightly insane.
"Vampires, Leigh," Bella said. "The Cold Ones are vampires."
Leigh blinked at her. "You think the Cullens are vampires?"
Bella squirmed at that. "No. Yes. Maybe - I don't know, okay? It's just..." she trailed off, licking her bottom lip and shaking her head. "Edward pushed Tyler's truck away, with his hand."
"He did?" Leigh said, trying to look surprised.
"Yeah, and he was standing on the other side of the lot when it happened," Bella answered. "How is that possible?"
Leigh shrugged. "Adrenaline?"
Bella stared at her for a moment, before sighing. "I'm being crazy, aren't I?"
Leigh grinned at her. "Only a little."
The brunette chuckled, cheeks flushing. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine," Leigh said. "I'm not bashing your theory, I just think you need to do a little more research before you fetch the pitchforks and crucifixes."
Bella scoffed. "I wouldn't do that, anyway."
Leigh narrowed her eyes a fraction. "What's going on with you and Edward, anyway? One minute, you hate each other, the next, you're inviting him to the beach."
The brunette blushed an even deeper scarlet. "It was to be polite."
"Uh-huh."
"I don't know," Bella mumbled. "I don't understand it either. He's just..." she trailed off, unable to find the words.
Leigh smirked slightly. "I see."
"Shut up."
"I didn't say anything!"
"I know what you're implying."
"I think you're projecting, sweetheart."
Leigh squeaked in disbelief as Bella shoved her shoulder. It was a feeble push, but she was astonished nonetheless.
"Won't your parents be worried?" Bella asked, not even attempting to be subtle in her changing the subject.
Leigh scowled. "Probably. I should get going."
"I'll drive you back," Bella said.
"You don't have to-
"Charlie will if I don't," she said. "He's a cop. He wouldn't dream of having a teenage girl walk the streets alone at..." She glanced at the clock and let out a dramatic gasp. "8:45 at night!"
Leigh looked at her in mild bewilderment. Seeing her more confident brought Leigh unpredictable joy. "The horror."
~~~
"He's not here," Jess said, smirking at Bella.
Leigh lifted her head lazily, sprawled across the top of a picnic bench to the side of where Bella and Jess were sat. The sun had finally showed its face in Forks, and the entire student body was practically lapping it up. Leigh was no different - she missed the California sunshine.
"Whenever the weather's nice, the Cullens disappear."
Bella glanced at Leigh, a subtle suggestion in her slight eyebrow raise. Leigh tried not to smile.
"What, do they just ditch?" Bella asked.
"No, um," Jess answered. "Dr and Mrs Cullen yank them out for, like, hiking and camping and stuff. I tried that out on my parents; not even close."
Leigh chuckled.
"Guys!"
Angela, once again, appeared out of nowhere, practically falling into the seat beside Bella in a pile of slender limbs and excitement.
"I'm going to the prom with Eric!" she announced gleefully. "I just asked him! I took control."
"Good for you, Angela," Leigh hummed in approval.
"I told you that would happen," Bella said, smiling.
Angela pulled Bella in for a hug, before pouting. "Are you sure you have to go out of town?"
Leigh pushed herself up onto her elbows. "What? You're not coming to prom?"
Bella winced. "Yeah, uh, I have to go to Jacksonville that weekend. See my mum."
"Bella," Leigh whined.
"It's a little family thing," Bella said.
"Okay, we should go shopping in Port Angeles before all the good dresses get cleaned out," Jess said, tilting her head back and basking in the sunshine.
The bell rang, the shrill, nasal buzzing raising the hairs on the back of Leigh's neck. She hadn't known pure disgust before she'd heard the sound of a school bell.
"Port Angeles?" Bella repeated. "Mind if I come?"
"Yeah, I need your opinion," Angela said, as if it were obvious.
"You want to come too, Leigh?" Jess asked as she hopped up from her seat.
Leigh paused in shoving her half-finished homework into her bag. "When? Tonight?"
"Yeah," Jess said.
"Oh, I, uh," Leigh started, scooping her hair onto one shoulder. "I can't. I have, uh, a thing."
Angela and Jess looked at her in suspicion. She flashed Bella a look of pleading.
"Oh, right, that Church thing," Bella said, nodding as if it was something they'd discussed at length.
"Yeah," Leigh said, grateful for the excuse. "My mother forces us to go to this, like, special service. Can't get out of it."
Angela nodded in understanding, whilst Jess looked as disgusted as Leigh would have felt, had the service been real. But, thankfully, they dropped it.