Two Ghosts {Leah Clearwater}

23: Couple Antics

When Pandora wasn't at the Cullens planning Bella's wedding with Alice, she was with Leah. The two had taken to being around each other all the time, a recent development since they both almost lost each other on different occasions. While Leah didn't necessarily like the idea of Pandora spending countless hours in a house full of vampires, she trusted the Cullens enough to keep Pandora safe. Or rather, she trusted Alice enough to keep Pandora safe. Leah and Alice had a strange relationship, the two not speaking to each other, but Leah didn't insult Alice the way she did with the rest of the Cullens and vampires. Leah trusted Alice to look out for Pandora ever since the vampire attack, and Alice took pride in earning the trust of the wolf.

Pandora sighed when her phone started ringing, glancing at it before silencing it and putting it back in her purse.

"Your sister?" Leah asked. The two were at the mall, picking up some things Alice wanted for the reception. "You know she's going to keep calling until you actually talk to her."

"You sound like Alice," Pandora grumbled before shaking her head. "I already know how the conversation would go down: she would tell me I'm making a mistake for taking a gap year, I'd tell her it's my life and she doesn't understand why I need to take one, and it would just keep going on like that because Luna doesn't understand me nor does she listen to anything I say to her."

Leah sighed, "it doesn't hurt to try."

Pandora didn't say anything, letting the noisy mall fill the silence. She soon became distracted by completing the tasks Alice had sent her out for.

Pandora couldn't help but notice the way Leah's hand kept brushing against her own, as if she were debating whether or not to hold Pandora's hand. The two had never really been out in public as a couple before; preferring to be alone or with the pack, people who know about them and wouldn't judge them. But walking through the mall in Port Angeles felt different; there, people could judge them or worse, say something to them. Washington was more liberal than other states when it came to the LGBTQ+ community, but that didn't mean that there was no discrimination. While Pandora had never faced anything herself, she heard enough stories about people acting out towards her community to make her wary. It wasn't that she was ashamed about being gay, she just wanted to keep herself safe. And if she was wary of other's reactions, she couldn't help but wonder what Leah was thinking.

Pandora glanced at Leah, the two locking eyes. Reaching her hand out, pinky first, Pandora brushed her hand against Leah's, her eyebrows raising for a moment in a silent question. Leah's lips tugged slightly into a smile, her fingers interlocking with Pandora's.

Pandora looked away, a small smile on her face before she started to talk about something mundane to Leah. Pandora noticed the looks some people gave them; some indifferent, some with narrowed eyes, and many with small smiles of their own as they glanced at the couple. Pandora could feel Leah's thumb rub circles into the back of her hand occasionally, sending tingles up her arm. Their arms brushed occasionally as they walked, their hands never letting go. Pandora couldn't help but think about how perfectly their hands fit together, as if the spaces between her fingers were meant for Leah's.

They were on their way back to the Cullens, the windows down as Leah drove. Music blasted, and the two sang loudly as the wind blew through their hair.

Pandora glanced at Leah, starstruck by the way her face was lit up with a smile. Reaching forward, Pandora turned down the music so that it was playing softly in the background.

"Everything okay?" Leah asked, glancing at Pandora. Pandora nodded, reaching out to rest her hand on Leah's thigh.

"I just love this," Pandora admitted. "Being carefree; being with you. I love you."

Leah laughed as she pulled into the Cullen's driveway. "You do?" She asked with a cheeky smile as she turned off the engine.

Pandora pouted, taking her hand back. "Actually I hate you. I was trying to be sweet and say I love you first since I know we were both thinking it, but I changed my mind."

"Dora," Leah rolled her eyes and turned to face Pandora they best she could while in the car. "I love you too."

Pandora grinned, "I know." Placing a quick kiss on Leah's lips, Pandora jumped out of the car. She could hear Leah laugh as she climbed out after her. The two grabbed the bags from the trunk, making their way into the house.

Alice greeted them with a knowing smile, instructing them to put the bags in the dining room where the rest of the wedding things had been stored.

"You two have a good time at the mall?" Alice asked as she trailed behind them.

"Why do you ask?" Pandora asked, throwing a look towards Alice.

"No reason," Alice shrugged. "I just like to be kept in the loop, especially when I can't see what's going on."

"Which is just another way of saying that you like the gossip," Leah countered as she rolled her eyes.

"I just like to know that my favorite couple is doing well," Alice crossed her arms. "You both are my friends; like or not, I'm invested in your relationship."

Pandora snorted while Leah rolled her eyes. "We're doing great, Al. Trust me, you'd know if we weren't."

"That's true," Alice shrugged. "I wouldn't be able to get you to leave the house if something happened. Leah, thank you for keeping Pandora from becoming a hermit."

"I wouldn't be a hermit! I do leave the house without someone making me."

Pandora watched as Leah and Alice shared a look, Alice smiling smugly as Leah shook her head in amusement.

"Both of you are awful, I need to find new friends." Pandora muttered.

I love Pandora and Leah so much and so does Alice lol she ships them so hard