The Bonds Between Us • E.Cullen x Fem oc x B. Swan

Chaper 72

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"Hey can I come over." Cori whispered into the phone. It was well into the night, but the red head couldn't sleep. Bella's word's swirling around her head.

"It's like 1 am." A sleepy voice on the other end of the phone said. "Please. I-" Cori caught herself before she full on started to cry, though a sniffle rang through. "Fine, but you better bring snacks." The voice said as they hung up the phone.

Grabbing a few bags of chips and the M&M's that her father had just bought, she headed out the door. Climbing into her Jeep, Cori started it, and hoped it wasn't too loud.

Passing by Bella's house, she could see the string lights were still on in her bedroom, and the red head wondered if she was still up as well or if she fell asleep with them on.

The sign for the reservation was seen, and quickly enough she passed it, having only one destination in mind.

Finding the house she wanted, she pulled off to the side, turning off the engine, and got out.

Knocking lightly on the door, it opened to have a pajama clad Leah Clearwater standing in the doorway. Cori was still in her pajama's as well, a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt that she threw on a bralette under.

"What's going on?" Leah asked, as for under the moonlight alone she could see the stress on the girls face. "I need someone to talk to who's not biased." Cori told her and Leah nodded. "Okay, come on. We can go to my room." Leah told her and Cori nodded.

Setting down the chips and candy, Leah sat down two soda's. "What's going on?" Leah asked her, and was surprisingly gentle. "Bella confronted Jacob yesterday." "Why?" Leah asked. "He had been ignoring her. He was sick. At least that was what Billy told us. I don't like him, but I went to check on him for her, and was turned away. When we went to check on him yesterday, he was in cutoffs and cut all his hair off. He even got a tattoo. Bella got mad and asked him what happened and he told her to go home. That he wasn't safe anymore. Then that's when it happened." Cori said as another sniffle made its way, along with a couple of tears.

"Cori?" "She told him that he can't break up with her. She tried to change it, but it had been said. We just got back together! Does she love him?" Cori cried as tears streamed down her face.

Leah sighed as she saw her self in her friend. When Sam had distanced himself from her, doubt crawled into her body and practically lived there, and she could see the same thing happening to Cori.

"Cori you said last time we hung out that Jacob was there for her when you kinda went awall and no contact when they left. He was her crutch, and seems like he still is. Being ripped away from that isn't easy." Leah told her. "With that being said, what she said wasn't acceptable either. This is something you two need to talk about together. You know I'd be here for you, and what ever you need, but this is something that you both have to figure out together."

Cori's tears slowly stopped as she wiped them away. "I'm so afraid I'm going to lose her to any little thing. She knew I didn't like him. She knew that. Why would she say that though?" Cori asked, just trying to get some sort of an answer before facing Bella herself.

"I can't tell you that. Maybe there was a little bit of truth to her words, maybe there wasn't. She has to answer that. I can't." Leah told her. "Okay." Cori nodded, her voice somber. She wanted answers, but not right now. She was tired.

"I'm gonna go home." Cori told Leah, but the copper skinned girl swiped her keys from her. "No. You're staying here for tonight. You're not thinking straight." Leah told her and Cori just nodded.

Scooting over on her bed, Leah slept against the wall, and Cori slept against the edge.

When Sue came to wake her daughter up in the morning, she got a surprise as the girls were cuddled up into each other, Cori's head resting right under Leah's chin.

"Girls, it's time to get up." Sue whispered, shaking the girls gently on the legs.

Cori came around first, trying to figure out where she was, that was until the thing the was cuddled up to breathed. With a single shove, Leah was thrown back, not hard, but enough to have both Clearwater's eyes wide as they looked to her.

"I'm sorry." Cori said as she seemingly wanted the floor to swallow her whole. "Can I ask when you got here Cori?" Sue asked. "Last night. Leah let me in." "She had some stuff she needed to talk about. Girl stuff." Leah told her mother and Sue nodded. "Okay, just making sure you're alright dear." Sue said before headed towards the door. "Breakfast will be done soon."

As the mother walked back out to the front of the house, Cori sat on the edge of the bed with a torn look on her face. "Cori?" "I wish I had a mom like yours." Cori told Leah and the girl just kinda stopped.

Leah had heard about Cori's mother, Margery Austin. She was a vile woman who broke up her own marriage for her own gain. She got a large stain on her name when she came snooping around the Rez, and eventual herself and Joshua Uley were seen together.

The Uley man was a menace anyway, but then to drag yet another family down, unfortunately this time with a willing partner, it just cemented his dislike in the community.

The woman unfortunately known as Cori's mother abandoned her husband and child to live the life she wanted, and didn't care who she hurt in the process. And for that, Leah hated her.

A/N: A little break this chapter, but Cori needed a little bit of a break.