"Are you still thinking about it?"
Leigh-Anne was at her mother's place, she was in the living room, laying on the sofa with her hands covering her face. She just moved a little when her sister decided to sit at the end of the couch and started stroking her leg.
She wasn't proud of it, she wasn't proud of the way she had been feeling, she wasn't proud of having left Jade's house in that way. It wasn't how things were supposed to go, how she had envisioned them. Thank you for opening up to me; You can always count on me; I love you and I'm happy you decided to share this sad memory with us. Those are the words she should have pronounced. A hug; a reassuring smile; drying her tears; a simple gesture to show Jade all her support, but she didn't do it. She just basically ran away and took refuge at her mom's house.
A murmured yes could be heard as she didn't seem to have the slightest intention of changing position. Sairah sighed and looked at her seriously. She knew that the girls, and Little Mix in general, were a tricky field; she didn't want to aggravate the situation by saying the wrong words, but she also wanted to be helpful and reassuring.
"Okay I texted Andre, you and the kids are sleeping here tonight" Debbie informed walking inside the room. She shared a look with her older daughter, wanting to test the waters before trying to understand what was going on in the singer's mind.
"I explained the situation a little, I didn't want him to get worried"
"Okay, thanks" Leigh replied quickly not much interested.
Debbie nodded and sat on the armchair in front of her daughters. "It's a lot of information to digest", she said. "However you are feeling, you are entitled to your emotions Leigh-Anne" she tried to reassure, wanting to understand what thoughts were crossing her daughter's mind.
"Really?" Leigh asked finally looking at the woman.
"Of course" Debbie nodded
"Well", Leigh started while sitting up to be able to look at them. "I'm not sure this all trying to be friends again was a good idea. I think I'm done"
"What?" Sairah asked confused almost jumping on her seat.
"I think I'm done with them"
"Sweetheart I'm not following you" her mom replied calmly, trying to understand better.
"For years I have thought that what Perrie did had broken us, I was sure it was just that stupid contract"
"But?"
"It wasn't that. We were done way before she decided to sign it" Leigh looked at her seriously, and Debbie could immediately understand all the pain behind that unexpected realization.
"Okay..." the woman replied a little bit surprised by those words. "Why do you think that?"
"They were my best friends" Leigh started talking, already feeling the tears form at the sides of her eyes. "They were going through the roughest time of their lives and they didn't even tell me" she explained slowly, almost not wanting to be affected by her own words.
"Leigh, as you said they were struggling" Sairah tried to make her reflect
"I know", she said turning a little bit to face her sister. "But they completely let me out, that's not what friendship and sisterhood are supposed to be" she explained but Sairah immediately shook her head, moved a little bit closer, and took her hand.
"Leigh, let's start from the begging okay?" she said noticing the tears fall. "Perrie, she just had a baby. She was stressed, she was overwhelmed and the anxiety won" she recalled looking at her mom who seemed to agree with what she was saying. "Leigh-Anne, you can't keep blaming her for making that choice"
"I don't blame her for that-"
"And you can't blame her for not coming to you. Leigh, it's not as easy as it may seem"
"I know that..." Leigh said taking a tissue. "The signs were there, I knew that she was stressed but I thought It was just connected to having a new baby... I just couldn't put the pieces together" she dried her tears. "She is not the problem I guess" the singer sighed.
"Jade?" Her mom guessed
"I guess so"
"What's the matter?"
"I don't understand her. Everything with her is always so complicated" Leigh tried to explain. "She gets pregnant and doesn't tell us" she started recalling.
"Maybe they just wanted to wait-"
"Five months?" Leigh snapped a little
"Go on"
"She goes through the hardest and most heartbreaking moment of her life. And she still thinks we don't deserve to know what's going on with her"
"Leigh" Debbie stated calmly, noticing how her daughter was starting to get upset. "It must have been terrible for her; I can't even imagine how heartbroken she must have felt"
"Mom" Leigh raised her voice a little and then sighed while the tears coated her eyes. "I was in Jamaica dancing, partying, doing activities with the twins and she was in L.A going through that!" She finally shared that thought, the realization that was hurting her the most.
"I was sending her selfies and photos of us on the beach while she... my best friend, my sister was living in hell. Do you get that?" Leigh looked at her mom, breathing out in a vain attempt of calming herself.
"Leigh-"
"I was sending stupid selfies while she had just lost her baby and was going through the hardest time of her life" she repeated while sniffing. "And she just let me do that, 'cause apparently I was not deserving enough to know what was going on over there!"
"Leigh-Anne it's not that simple..."
"It is mom! She just needed to call me and I would have rushed there immediately. I would have cried with her, I would have screamed with her if that's what she needed. I would have told her that drowning all the pain in alcohol wasn't going to help. And maybe I would have gotten upset at witnessing what she was putting herself through, all that emotional punishment. But I would have stayed right by her side, 'cause that's what friends do".
Sairah looked at her sister feeling her heart crack. It wasn't common to see Leigh in that emotional state, so vulnerable and fragile. Nevertheless, that was also proof of the love she had for the girls, of how crucial it was to save their relationship, no matter how difficult or painful it was going to be.
"No Jade doesn't act like that" Leigh resumed talking. "You know what she does?"
"What?" Sairah sighed, perfectly knowing that her sister was going to answer in any case.
"She fucking cuts you off for weeks. She doesn't reply to your texts, she rejects your calls" the singer explained with a bit of irony in her voice. "And when she finally reappears she lies straight to your face"
"What are you talking about?"
"Sometime later, when we finally facetimed" Leigh recalled. "We noticed the wound on her head and she told us that she fell on a night out cause she was drunk"
"Oh"
"Exactly" Leigh looked at her seriously. "Perrie and I made so many jokes about it" she explained mentally slapping herself at that thought.
"It's okay, you didn't know"
"And that is exactly the problem. She preferred hearing our jokes over and over rather than telling us what was going on!"
"Sweetheart" her mom look at her and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure-" she stopped when the doorbell interrupted her.
"I told him it was better to let you stay here to clear your mind" Debbie rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'll be back", she said walking out of the room.
"He's just worried, it's normal he is your husband. He wants to understand better what happened" Sairah embraced her sister in a tight hug. "Everything is going to be fine", she said stroking her hair. "It's seriously a lot to digest, but I know how much you love those girls. Don't give up on them" she suggested and her sister just nodded and stayed between her arms.
"Look who we have here!" Debbie said walking back to the living room.
"Hey" Sairah greeted a little bit nervously causing Leigh to move from her embrace and look toward the direction of the steps.
"Hey" Jade greeted back and smiled when her eyes met Leigh's. "Do you fancy a talk?" The brunette observed the older girl who was looking at her confused.
"We aren't going to make the same mistake again hun" she explained.
_______________
Hi everyone, here is chapter 17!
Leigh's reaction has been explained:
- Do you think she has the right to feel that way?
- How do you think Jade will react?
- What do you think will happen next.
Thank you for taking the time to read,
Don't forget to vote and leave a comment 😊