𝖔𝖍 𝖙𝖔 𝖇𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊

10

Diana sighs in relief as she chucks her bag down by the door and discards her keys on top of the shoe rack. Between training, work and checking up on Bella- who has fallen into a depressed state after being found in the woods due to the Cullens' departure- she mentally exhausted. Her only feeling of relief at the moment is that she gets to come home to Leah.

The slayer is growing more and more worried that she's going through something similar to what Athalia went through. Her old sister used to be fine before she was introduced to the world of the supernatural. She had loving parents, with a stable income but after going through trauma after trauma with the rest of the slayers she had changed- and not for the better.

If her suspicions are right, then she has failed to protect yet another sister from losing themselves to the hidden horrors in the world and she's beginning to hate herself for it. It only makes her more certain that her telling the vampires to leave was the right decision.

She rubs her eyes tiredly as she begins boiling the kettle to pour herself some coffee. Diana never usually gets this tired, but the emotional toll of everything is really getting to her at the moment.

Leah, who heard Diana get in, pops her head out of her room. "You're back already?" She asks in surprise, the blonde usually spends hours at the Swan house trying to get her sister to talk to her.

Diana nods in response, leaning back on the counter and crossing her arms. "Yeah, my dad got home earlier than usual to keep an eye on her." She replies, jumping up when her water stops boiling.

"My mum gave me a plate of food to give to you, it's in the microwave." Leah tells her quietly, slowly making her way towards her friend. She hates seeing Diana like this, especially compared to how full of life she usually is. It breaks her heart to see her so down in the dumps, so she wants to change that. "Hey, why don't we go on that hiking trail you're always on about tomorrow?" She suggests, a hopeful expression overtaking her face as Diana lights up a little."

The blonde quirks up her eyebrow, Leah never usually wants to do things like that with her. "You really want to?" A small grin appears on her face as she looks over at the taller girl.

"Why not? I could do with the fresh air seeing as I'm in the shop most of the time." Leah shrugs, taking the plate of food out of the fridge and removing the clingfilm wrap before shoving it in the microwave to heat it up. "We'll make a day of it, make a picnic and what not."

Diana squeals and jumps into Leah's arms, the girl yelping in surprise as she collided with her body and stumbles back a bit before steadying herself. "You're the best." The blonde tells her with a laugh.

Her face softens as she returns the hug, placing her chin on top of the shorter girl's head. "I know." She whispers back softly, taking a sharp inhale as the smell of Diana's citrusy perfume fills her nose. Despite how tough the girl can be, she feels so frail in Leah's arms and the overwhelming urge to protect her overcomes her- like it did that day at the river when they first met. Diana has always been there for her, through thick and thin, and now she finally has the opportunity to return the favour and she isn't going to mess it up.

The two of them pull away when the microwave dings, signalling that Diana's dinner is ready. Already knowing her next move, Leah hands the girl a fork and watches in amusement as she sits down at the counter and begins wolfing down her food. "Is ten alright?"

Leah snaps out of her thoughts at the question. "For what?" She asks, gnawing at her lip in annoyance for getting so distracted.

"For the walk tomorrow, are you alright if we set off at ten?" The blonde laughs at the girl's distracted expression.