LOVE, LEIA (letters to tom) • Tom Holland au •

TWENTY FIVE

Along with her unimaginable amount of disappointment and anger, Leia walked out of the hospital. With no intention of actually leaving her location— in hopes of seeing her father awake and well, she sat on a bench by the sidewalk, a few minutes away from the hospital.

She sat there with both her palms against her face, still refusing to believe that her own blood had the audacity to keep a secret this big and important from her.

With tears forming in her eyes, Leia took her phone from her back pocket, dialling her mother, mentally preparing her explanation about what had happened to her father.

Upon the third ring, her mother picked up. "hello? Leia, dear! How are you? It's been what? A week? I was thinking you'd already forgotten about your mother" she rambled, and Leia let her. Not in a well mind state to put that much effort into stopping her mother.

"yeah.. Sorry, mom. Hey, listen.. You see, dad was rushed to the hospital earlier today— after coughing blood. Turns out he has lung cancer. I didn't know. Apparently he's had it for quite a while now-"

"oh no. It's happening isn't it?" her mother cut her off, her words making Leia's brows shoot up in confusion.

"what? What do you mean? What's happening?" she asked calmly, trying to wrap her head around the situation

"the doctors said it's getting worse didn't they? I knew this would happen.. I told him to push through with the medication but he was just too stubborn!"

"you knew?" Leia spoke into the phone, her voice barely audible. "you knew and you didn't tell me?"

"oh honey.. I'm sorry. I was going to but your dad.. He was just-"

"stubborn. I know" she let out a sigh, feeling betrayed and hurt. "look, mom.. I'll call you later. I have to go" without waiting for her mother's response, she hung up.

Unsure of what to do, Leia decided to call Tom. He was the only one she had whom she trusted wholeheartedly anyway. It seemed as if everyone she knew she couldn't trust

"hey! I knew you'd call. You couldn't possibly survive that long without hearing my voice" Tom laughed from the other line, making Leia chuckle lightly. His jolly mood immediately made her feel bad for wanting to tell him such horrible news about her life which he had completely nothing to do with .

"Ha ha very funny. Coming from you that means a lot. Weren't you just texting me the other day? If I'm not mistaken you were begging me to facetime you because you missed me too much" Leia teased back, deciding on not telling him what happened. She didn't want to rain on his parade after all.

"okay, you got me. I've been caught red handed, I'm guilty as charged." Tom spoke and Leia could already picture his adorable grin which he probably had. She just knew him too well. "so, what's wrong?" he asked suddenly

"hm? What do you mean?" Leia asked, making her voice seem higher to make him believe that everything was okay. It's not like she wanted to keep it from him, it was just that she felt as if she's been drowning him with her own family drama that she knew it was unfair to him.

"Leia, I can tell from your voice that something's wrong. I don't even have to see you to know, you could be laughing like your life depended on it and I'd still know that something's bothering you. So what is it?" he spoke, his voice sounding more serious.

"I.. Tom.. I" Leia stuttered, not expecting him to be able to tell. She had honestly thought that she was doing well in hiding it.

"look, Tommy.. I called because I was going to tell you— there's no point in lying anymore. I changed my mind because I didn't want to be a burden. I felt like I've been drowning you with my personal problems and it's unfair to you. I'm sorry" she explained, tears falling from her eyes.

"shh.. Leia, love.. Listen, you're my other half, okay? It'd only hurt me more if I knew that you're going through something and I'm not there to hold you. You're family is my family. You're problem is my problem. Okay?" by the time Tom was done talking, Leia was a sobbing mess. She was just so grateful to have Tom and she definitely wasn't going to take him for granted. Ever.

"I love you" were the only words that came out of Leia's mouth. She was speechless.

"I love you more. God, I actually love you so much. Now tell me what's going on"

"my dad's been rushed to the hospital.. Turns out he has lung cancer. Everyone knew Tom, even my mom.. And none of them told me." she paused to breathe, then continued "it's not fair! I-I.. I thought I had him, you know? After all this time I finally have a father, who's going to take care of me, who's going to be overprotective over my first boyfriend— and now he's going to be taken from me. I can't.. I" Leia sobbed, unable to handle her emotions

"shhh, Leia.. It's going to be okay. I'm booking the soonest flight there and I'm going to be there by your side and I'm going to cuddle you until everything's okay"

"what?!" Leia gasped inbetween sobs, "no you're not! See? This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you! You can't just leave everything behind there! You have a life there and what about your family? W-what about your maths exam? You promised me you'd ace it" the panic in her voice was obvious, and although it was untimely, it made Tom laugh, which also made Leia even more mad than she already was

"calm down, baby-"

"don't 'baby' me, Tom! Don't be foolish" Tom laughed louder at that

"babe, it's alright okay? I'm going there asap and you've got nothing to do about it. So sit there beside your dad, pray for his well-being and hold his had while you wait for me to get there so I can hold yours." he stated sternly, but with a slight smile on his face

"I hate you now" Leia frowned

"I love you too. Now go do as I said. I'll be there soon" and with that he hung up, leaving Leia a flustered wreck.

A/n:

I don't double check the chapters after writing them so I apologize in advance for any typographical errors that you may come across. Also, if I were to write a social media spin-off to this book would you guys be interested? Let me know x